Review: ‘Halo Infinite’ is best single-player game yet from 343 Industries 

On-demand busing attracts new Seattle-area riders | How Microsoft scored with NFL Surface deal ADVERTISEMENT [GeekWire]( SPONSOR MESSAGE: Artificial intelligence is changing the way we live, work & play: [Sign up at pnw.ai to receive the latest AI news, jobs and more in your inbox.]( TODAY'S TOP STORIES ‘Halo Infinite’ is a single-player success: In its best moments, the new video game shows why the “Halo” franchise became popular in the first place. At its worst, the game from the Xbox studio 343 Industries feels like it’s going through the motions, content to invoke nostalgia and sustain the brand. GeekWire games contributor Thomas Wilde offers his review of [what works and what doesn’t.]( On-demand busing attracts new riders: On Bainbridge Island, Wash., Kitsap Transit has been experimenting with door-to-door transit using small buses at a fraction of the price of Uber or Lyft rides. The concept hasn’t just won back previous riders, but it’s attracting a new category of customers who previously didn’t use public buses. [Read more.]( How Microsoft scored with NFL Surface deal: When Microsoft signed a six-figure deal with the National Football League in 2013 to have coaches and players use its tablet on the sidelines, it was a big risk. Today it looks more like a shrewd marketing move as the partnership and the exposure changed football and perhaps saved the Surface brand. [Read more.]( Startup funding news: Cyrus lands $18 million and buys startup developing COVID-19 therapeutic; Barn2Door raises $6 million to advance software to connect farmers to customers; Koch Investment Group invests $100 million in Vancouver, B.C.-based Standard Lithium. [Read the roundup.]( Omicron in Washington state: Three different cases of the COVID-19 variant [have been identified in three counties]( affecting patients ages 20-39. In case you missed it: Can psilocybin help relieve the mental health burden of clinicians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? That’s a question University of Washington researchers aim to address in a new clinical trial testing the psychedelic drug in combination with psychotherapy. [Read more.]( Thanks for reading, and have a great day. — GeekWire reporter Kurt Schlosser, kurt@geekwire.com. SPONSOR MESSAGE [Black-Box vs. Explainable AI: How to Reduce Business Risk and Infuse Transparency]( A key challenge on the journey to Enterprise AI is figuring out how to balance model performance and interpretability stemming from the difference between black-box and white-box models. As organizations scale their data science, machine learning, and AI efforts, they are bound to reach this impasse, learning when to prioritize white-box models over black-box ones. [Download the Ebook Now.]( LATEST HEADLINES [Funding news: Cyrus lands $18M and buys startup developing COVID-19 therapeutic; Spare Labs snags $18M for mobility software]( [Seattle-area counties’ experiment with on-demand, door-to-door public bus service is showing promise]( [Review: ‘Halo Infinite’ is the best single-player game yet from 343 Industries]( [Week in Review: Most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of Nov. 28, 2021]( [Surface saver: How Microsoft’s deal with the NFL turned into a marketing boon for its tablet]( SPONSORED: GEEK REAL ESTATE [Among the Highest in Washington State for 2021: Château De Chêne]( [First cases of Omicron variant found in Washington state; patients range from 20-39 years old]( GEEKWORK: TODAY'S TECH JOBS - [INRIX: Data Acquisition Manager, Global Partnerships]( - [Allied Stone: ERP Analyst]( - [INRIX: Software Developer – Data Management]( - [INRIX: Senior Backend Developer]( - [Trovares: Senior Sales Engineer]( - [INRIX: Director of Engineering – Geospatial Platform]( - [GeekWire: Technology Reporter and News Assistant]( - [INRIX: Head of Product – Financial Services]( - [MobileCoin: Senior Full Stack Developer]( - [Howard Hughes Medical Institute: System Administrator/IT Specialist – Scientific Computing]( [FIND MORE JOBS ON GEEKWORK]( [HIRING? BUY A FEATURED LISTING TO APPEAR HERE]( [About GeekWire]( [Contact Us]( [Advertise]( Copyright © 2021 GeekWire LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted to receive emails from GeekWire LLC.  Our mailing address is: GeekWire LLC 123 NW 36th St, Suite 203 Seattle, WA 98107  [change email frequency or address]( | [unsubscribe](