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Forget The Game Awards, Let’s Talk About How AMD Copied Nvidia to Discontinue its Most Popular Budget GPU Forget The Game Awards, Let’s Talk About How AMD Copied Nvidia to Discontinue its Most Popular Budget GPU When will AMD stop following in the footsteps of Nvidia? The company seems to be in fierce competition with Nvidia in terms of graphic cards. Nvidia has discontinued its RTX 3060 GPU for good. Image Credit: Nvidia AMD has copied Nvidia by discontinuing one of its best-selling budget GPUs. Fans of the card are not at all happy about it. AMD wants to force people to shift their focus to other cards to boost their sales. AMD seems to have juiced out this card’s potential. AMD Shatters Your Plans of Buying A New Budget GPU AMD follows Nvidia’s footsteps and discontinues its Radeon RX 6600. Image Credit: AMD Nvidia discontinued one of its most popular GPUs in August of this year. The RTX 3060 was one of the best in the market and was dominating sales like nothing else. However, Nvidia’s decision to discontinue it was due to the company’s attempt to shift people’s focus towards the 40 series GPUs, which were being overlooked due to the successful run of 3060. AMD, following in the footsteps of Nvidia, follows along the same narrative. It discontinued its best-selling budget GPU, the Radeon RX 6600. This GPU was on par with the RTX 3060; many people preferred the RX 6600 over the RTX 3050 and 3060. Fans were devastated by the news of AMD shutting down its best-selling GPU. It did not make much sense at first, but players have now realized that this is the company’s attempt to shift consumers’ focus towards the current generation 7000 series since they were being overshadowed by the previous generation GPUs, which no company wants to see. Even Nvidia has attempted the same thing. It is set to release its new RTX 50 series next year, which will cause a massive price drop in the current 40 series GPUs. To eliminate the risk of people preferring 30 over the 40 series, the company eventually decided to discontinue it. AMD Has Caught Up To The Hype of Nvidia The 40 series GPUs seem to have taken 3060’s place now. Image Credit: Nvidia Nvidia is one of the most hyped-up companies. For the longest time, Nvidia’s GPUs were considered to be the best in the market. AMD had a slow start but now seems to have caught up with Nvidia. There are many people who are now preferring to go for AMD cards due to the budget options available. AMD flourishes in the budget section since it knows how to make a powerful machine with a tight budget. RX 6600 was the people’s favorite GPU. The news of its discontinuation deeply hurt a lot of people. You can still purchase the existing stock from your nearest store. It will be available in the market until all the retailers eventually run out of it. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments below. Source link #Forget #Game #Awards #Lets #Talk #AMD #Copied #Nvidia #Discontinue #Popular #Budget #GPU Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Here’s How James Webb Space Telescope Helps Us Look Back in Time Here’s How James Webb Space Telescope Helps Us Look Back in Time Observing space allows scientists to peer into the universe’s past. This is possible because light requires time to travel over vast cosmic distances. By capturing light from celestial objects, telescopes act as windows into earlier periods of the universe’s history. Light travels at approximately 186,000 miles (300,000 kilometres) per second. Despite this incredible speed, the immense distances in space mean that light takes noticeable amounts of time to reach Earth. For instance, the Moon is about 239,000 miles away from Earth, and its light takes 1.3 seconds to arrive. Similarly, light from Neptune, the farthest planet in our solar system, takes approximately four hours to reach us. Measuring Galactic Distances Through Light Within the Milky Way galaxy, distances are expressed in light-years, referring to the distance light travels in one year. Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system, is over four light-years away. Observing it reveals how it appeared over four years ago, as the light seen today began its journey then. Galaxies outside the Milky Way lie even farther away. The Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way’s nearest large neighbour, is located about 2.5 million light-years away. When scientists study Andromeda, they observe light that began its journey before early humans roamed the Earth. The Universe’s Oldest Light The James Webb Space Telescope has the capability to detect light from galaxies billions of light-years away. This light originated when the universe was in its infancy, allowing astronomers to study its early stages. Observations of such distant galaxies provide valuable insights into the universe’s evolution over its 13.8-billion-year history. Astronomical research using telescopes like Webb has transformed our understanding of time and space, enabling a deeper exploration of the universe’s origins and its continual transformation. Source link #Heres #James #Webb #Space #Telescope #Helps #Time Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

India central bank plans 2025 launch of cloud services India central bank plans 2025 launch of cloud services The Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee raised the key lending rate or the repo rate to 5.40%. Vivek Prakash | Bloomberg | Getty Images India’s central bank will launch a pilot program in 2025 offering local cloud data storage to financial firms at affordable prices, according to two sources aware of the matter, who declined to be identified as conversations are confidential. The Reserve Bank of India’s planned cloud platform will use local IT firms, pitting it against the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and IBM Cloud, in a first-of-its-kind initiative from a major global central bank. The burgeoning cloud services market in Asia’s third largest economy was estimated at $8.3 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow to $24.2 billion by 2028, according to a report, opens new tab by International Data Corporation, but it is largely dominated by foreign firms. “We want to start implementing on a smaller scale in the next few months,” said one of the two sources, a senior executive working on the project. The pilot will be expanded in phases over the next few years, the source said, adding the cloud service will be built keeping in mind the needs of smaller banking and financial services firms who find existing offerings unaffordable. In December last year, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das announced plans to set up a public cloud for the financial services industry. Details of the project have not been previously reported. The RBI did not respond to an email from Reuters seeking details of the project. Initial work on the cloud is being driven by the research wing of the central bank called the Indian Financial Technology and Allied Services. It will then be developed further in partnership with one or more private sector technology firms, according to the sources. Consultancy firm EY has been appointed as an advisor to the project. The project will initially be funded by the central bank’s asset development fund of 229.74 billion Indian rupees ($2.72 billion), the second source said, adding that at a later stage the central bank will invite financial firms to hold equity. Reuters could not determine the estimated final cost of the project. Data localization imperative Setting up a cloud service built in partnership with local IT firms is a further step in the central bank’s push for localization of payments and financial data. The RBI has invited only companies incorporated in India with prior experience of building cloud-related solutions to bid for the project, as per a procurement document published on IFTAS website in October. Companies can apply by themselves or as part of a consortium and would be required to set up data centre facilities in Mumbai and Hyderabad. “We have a humongous amount of interest (from private players who want to partner). A significant number of IT companies as well as Indian cloud services companies have expressed their interest,” the source added. Source link #India #central #bank #plans #launch #cloud #services Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Activision Sneakily Lessens ****** Ops 6 Battle Pass COD Points Rewards by 300 CP Activision Sneakily Lessens ****** Ops 6 Battle Pass COD Points Rewards by 300 CP Activision has reduced the COD Points players can earn when completing the ****** Ops 6 Battle Pass by a significant amount without any warning. Source link #Activision #Sneakily #Lessens #****** #Ops #Battle #Pass #COD #Points #Rewards Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

iPhone 17 Air to Be Apple’s Thinnest-Ever Phone; A19 Chips to Be Built Using TSMC’s New Technology: Report iPhone 17 Air to Be Apple’s Thinnest-Ever Phone; A19 Chips to Be Built Using TSMC’s New Technology: Report iPhone 16 range was launched in September, but details about Apple’s next-generation smartphones have already begun to surface online. The Cupertino-based company could discontinue the iPhone Plus model next year and replace it with an iPhone 17 Slim version, according to recent reports. A well-known analyst now states that the purported Slim model will be thinner than the iPhone 6. Additionally, the analysts claimed that Apple’s next-generation A19 chips for the iPhone 17 lineup will be manufactured using updated technology from TSMC. iPhone 17 Air Could Be Only 6mm Thick Jeff Pu of Haitong International Tech Research in his latest research note (via MacRumors) claims that the iPhone 17 Air will be around 6mm thick. “We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model,” the analyst reportedly stated. Apple’s thinnest iPhone to date is the iPhone 6 with a thickness of 6.9mm. If the latest claim turns out to be true, the iPhone 17 Air will be Apple’s thinnest iPhone ever. The latest iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max have a thickness of 8.25mm, while the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus are slimmer at 7.8mm. The analyst reportedly stated that Apple’s A19 and A19 Pro chips for the iPhone 17 series will be manufactured with TSMC’s latest third-generation 3nm process called ‘N3P’. Both iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Air are said to run on the A19 chip, while the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are said to ship with the A19 Pro chip. The current A18 and A18 Pro chips for the iPhone 16 lineup are built with TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process known as ‘N3E’. The A17 Pro chip that powers the iPhone 15 Pro series is based on TSMC’s first-generation 3nm process ‘N3B’. The A19 chips manufactured using the N3P process are said to offer increased transistor density. Therefore, we can expect iPhone 17 models to provide improved performance and power efficiency compared to the iPhone 16 models. Source link #iPhone #Air #Apples #ThinnestEver #Phone #A19 #Chips #Built #TSMCs #Technology #Report Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Ukraine vows to ‘never submit’ as war reaches 1,000th day Ukraine vows to ‘never submit’ as war reaches 1,000th day Ukraine has said it will never give in to Russia’s aggression as it marks 1,000 days since the Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of the country. “Ukraine will never submit to the occupiers, and the Russian military will be punished for violating international law,” the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Zelensky will later address a special session of the ********* Parliament as the country marks the milestone. It comes as eight people, including a child, were ******* in a drone ******* on Ukraine’s northeastern region of Sumy overnight, where 89 were also ******* in a separate strike on Sunday. The drone ******* on a residential building in the small town of Hlukhiv injured 12 people including two children, Ukraine’s national police force said. President Zelensky wrote on X that the building was a dormitory at a local school. “Russia continues to terrorize our border regions,” Zelensky wrote. In a video shared by the president, emergency workers could be seen sifting through the rubble as they continued to search for victims on Tuesday morning. Zelensky said the ******* confirmed that ****** “wants the war to continue, he is not interested in talking about peace”. He will address members of the ********* Parliament via videolink from Kyiv on Tuesday, 1,000 days on from Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country on 24 February 2022. It follows US President Joe Biden’s decision to give Ukraine the green light to use long-range missiles supplied by the US to strike Russia on Monday. Local media earlier reported Zelensky would also unveil an “internal resilience plan” to Ukraine’s parliament on Tuesday. The country’s military commander in chief wrote on Telegram that the country had faced 1,000 days of “extremely complex, fierce battle for our existence” and “destroying the ******”. “In the frozen trenches of Donetsk region and in the burning steppes of Kherson region under shells, hail, and anti-aircraft guns – we are fighting for the right to life.” He added: “Every dark night, even if there are a thousand of them, always ends with dawn.” On Tuesday, the Kremlin approved its updated nuclear doctrine – which says that any aggression from a non-nuclear state, if backed by a nuclear power, will be regarded as a ****** ******* on Russia. It says Russia can use nuclear weapons in the case of a critical threat to its sovereignty, even if only with conventional weapons, an ******* on Belarus, or a massive launch of military aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, or other airborne vehicles crossing Russian borders. Eleven children were among those ******* by a separate Russian strike on Sumy late on Sunday, which saw the region’s power cut off and over 400 people evacuated. Russian missiles and drones also targeted power structure across Ukraine on Sunday, ******** at least 10 people and causing blackouts. The EU’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell Fontelles also said on Tuesday the EU continued to stand with Ukraine, but that it “need[ed] to do more and quicker”. “The ********* Union will continue to advance support to help achieve victory for Ukraine and to bring peace to our continent,” he said in a video shared on X. “History will judge us based on our actions and reactions,” read the caption. The presenter of Ukraine’s ******* News TV stream, launched at the beginning of the invasion to provide information on the war, said the country was “holding firm – despite the pressure on the front line, the damage to the energy system and the constant bombardment”. Biden’s move to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with US-made long-range missiles was welcomed as a step that could redress the balance between both countries’ forces. It is thought that Ukraine was only given permission to use the missiles to defend its forces inside Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv launched a surprise incursion in August and an ******** from Russian and Korean troops was expected within days. Source link #Ukraine #vows #submit #war #reaches #1000th #day Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Silent Hill 2 Fans Livid After Massive Oversight at The Game Awards Nominations Silent Hill 2 Fans Livid After Massive Oversight at The Game Awards Nominations Silent Hill 2 (SH2) Remake fans are fuming after the beloved horror remake was overlooked for the Game of the Year (GOTY) category at The Game Awards 2024. Fans had high hopes for the remake of the 2001 classic since it was well-received by both critics and fans. Image Credit: Bloober Team Despite receiving nominations in other categories, Silent Hill 2’s exclusion from the GOTY shortlist is a hit to these hopes. While some think there is an ongoing disregard for the horror genre, most fans are calling out the fact that Elden Ring’s Shadow of The Erdtree, a DLC, got into the nominations. The Silent Hill 2 Community Thinks GOTY Was In The Cards ⛶ Regardless of the difficulty you’re on, Mary is not an easy ******. ⛶ ⛶ ⛶ ⛶ The 2024 GOTY lineup features Astro ****, Balatro, ****** Myth: Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Metaphor: ReFantazio. For many fans of the SH2 Remake, it has been a better pill to ********, especially with a DLC earning a nomination over it. Many point out that if other remakes, like Resident Evil 4 last year, earned a nod, there is no justifiable reason for SH2 to be left out. The remake honored the essence of the original while improving upon it in more ways than one, so much so that even the original game’s director was utterly praised for it. Comment byu/RaidensWig from discussion insilenthill Fans believe there is bias against horror games, especially remakes, despite their narrative and technical achievements. The unprecedented decision by the Game Awards jury to allow DLCs for the GOTY category left many scratching their heads. Comment byu/RaidensWig from discussion insilenthill Adding to the frustration is how the game was nominated for other award categories. Luke Roberts’ nomination for Best Performance is more than deserving as his portrayal brought a new level of depth and nuance to the protagonist’s haunting journey. Comment byu/RaidensWig from discussion insilenthill The remake was also nominated for Best Score & Music and Best Audio because of its improvements over just the visuals. But these nominations feel like consolation prizes to a community that expected a proper celebration of the game’s all-around excellence. What Even Makes a Game Of The Year? You can’t deny that Shadow of The Erdtree was good, but GOTY? | Image Credit: FromSoftware On social media and forums like Reddit, the backlash has been intense. Posts like “Silent Hill 2 wasn’t nominated for Game of the Year. We’ve been robbed!” have received thousands of upvotes, as players are shocked and disappointed. The remake’s exclusion has started debates on what criteria define “Game of the Year.” The official description describes it as “Recognizing a game that delivers the absolute best experience across all creative and technical fields.” By those standards, fans argue that Silent Hill 2 should have been a contender. Especially given its strong story, technical improvements, and how it connected with both new and long-time fans. You can’t even argue that it didn’t have widespread acclaim and successful sales figures. The game sold over a million copies within days of release. Nevertheless, there have been silver linings for the game and its developer, Bloober Team. The remake’s success has instilled a new level of confidence in the team. Bloober Team producer Jacek Zieba told IGN that overcoming skepticism from fans and critics to deliver a game of such high impact has been a validating moment for the studio. Now we wait and see what unfolds when The Game Awards go live on December 12th. Whether or not Silent Hill 2 takes home any awards this year, the passion of its community is bright. Source link #Silent #Hill #Fans #Livid #Massive #Oversight #Game #Awards #Nominations Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Post Office scandal: Inquiry’s final phase exposes dysfunction past and present Post Office scandal: Inquiry’s final phase exposes dysfunction past and present It is 25 years since Horizon was introduced and the same number of years since subpostmasters began experiencing problems with it. About 16 years has passed since Computer Weekly’s first investigation into problems with the IT system, and it was just a few months after that when subpostmasters formed a campaign group to seek justice for the suffering they had endured due to errors in the system. It was six years ago that subpostmasters took the Post Office to the High Court to try to prove that it was the Post Office’s branch computer system causing unexplained losses, not them. And five years ago, they did just that. It was a mere four years ago that the first group of six subpostmasters had their convictions based on data from the Horizon system overturned at Southwark Crown Court, before 39 more joined them at the Court of Appeal four months later. More have followed. Over three years ago, a public inquiry was established, initially as a non-statutory review before, under pressure, the government converted it to a statutory public inquiry in May 2021. A little short of a year ago, an ITV dramatisation of what we now know as The Post Office Horizon scandal was broadcast, putting it at the top of the news agenda, where it has remained since. And just few days ago, the statutory public inquiry looking at all these things – and more – ended after nearly three years. The final phase of the inquiry, which examined current practice and procedure and recommendations for the future, left inquiry followers in little doubt of the scale of the problems at the Post Office. Read more about how the scandal unfolded: Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know. Core of the problem – and still a problem It all began with a computer system that didn’t work properly. This was proven to be the case in the High Court in 2019, and according to evidence presented in the latest phase of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, looking at the here and now, subpostmasters are still struggling with the system. Phase seven kicked off with Gavin Ellison, from research company YouGov, which was commissioned by the public inquiry to carry out a survey of subpostmasters to better understand their experiences of Horizon and the wider technology platform they use in branches. The results were not reassuring. Perhaps the most startling finding was that three-quarters of 1,000 current subpostmasters have used their own branch money to cover discrepancies or resolved the issue themselves since 2020. It also revealed that 57% of subpostmasters have experienced unexplained shortfalls, with 19% reporting unexplained transactions and 14% having had transactions go missing. Two-thirds said they were experiencing these issues at least once a month. Also giving ***** evidence in this phase was the National Federation of Subpostmasters CEO, Calum Greenhow. He told the inquiry that subpostmasters are currently living with disputed but unresolved debts to the Post Office. He said some cases have been going on for years, and demanded the Post Office bring that to an open and transparent conclusion. Read more about YouGov’s survey of subpostmasters: Post Office system still causing unexplained shortfalls for over half of subpostmasters. Read more about Calum Greenhow’s ***** evidence: Subpostmasters living years with disputed but unresolved debts to the Post Office, inquiry told. Chaos in reaching the horizon Saf Ismail, subpostmaster non-executive director at Post Office, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry The YouGov numbers are another reminder to the Post Office that the Horizon system must go. Ever since the High Court judgment in 2019, which confirmed the system was error-prone, it has been obvious it is time to replace it. But the system is still hanging around, and the Post Office has made some huge mistakes in its rushed attempts to move away from Fujitsu’s software and services. During a phase seven hearing, former Post Office chairman Henry Staunton and chief financial officer Alisdair Cameron said the New Branch IT (NBIT) project to replace the Horizon service lacks governance. Saf Ismail, subpostmaster and non-executive director at the Post Office, also described some of the problems being experienced. Ismail told the inquiry that major mistakes when moving to a cloud platform resulted in £35m being spent with the sole gain to the Post Office being a new air-conditioning system. The NBIT project was supposed to replace Horizon in 2025, after being announced in May 2022, but as revealed by Computer Weekly in May this year, the project hit major problems and the Post Office has requested £1bn of extra public funding from HM Treasury to get it back on track. The project has now been paused while the Post Office’s new leadership team decides the way forward. Read more evidence to the inquiry revealing NBIT troubles: Post Office spending over £80,000 a week on engineers who can’t work as IT project burns cash. Read more about Saf Ismail’s ***** evidence: Post Office IT procurement mess saw £35m spent on air-conditioning, says board member. Is there still rot at the core? Rachel Scarrabelotti, company secretary of the Post Office, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Police have been investigating individuals linked to the Post Office scandal since 2020, and earlier this year, following public uproar in relation to the Horizon scandal, a national investigation was announced by the Metropolitan Police. But what was less known was the extent of the Post Office’s internal investigations related to the scandal. During the appearance of the Post Office’s current company secretary, Rachel Scarrabelotti, a shocking revelation emerged that the Post Office was investigating one of its own senior managers, who had allegedly instructed staff to ******** documents that might be of interest to the public inquiry. The investigation has now been passed on to the police. Read more about Rachel Scarrabelotti’s ***** evidence to the inquiry: Post Office senior executive suspended over allegations of destroying evidence. Culture of internal investigation John Bartlett, director of assurance and complex investigations at Post Office, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Former police officer John Bartlett, who now heads up the Post Office’s internal investigations, like the Met Police, has his hands full. The inquiry heard his department had, in August this year as a snapshot, six major internal investigations on the go. During Bartlett’s ***** evidence, a document titled Post Office ad hoc board report was revealed, outlining the internal investigations underway at the Post Office in August. They included Project Acer, an investigation into a manager who allegedly instructed staff to ******** material that could be of interest to the public inquiry, and Project Willow, which alleges that former transformation boss Chris Brocklesby misrepresented the off-the-shelf option to replace Horizon. The document also revealed Project Alder, an investigation into allegations that contractors tasked with processing subpostmaster compensation schemes were deliberately going slow to extend their contracts, and Project Phoenix, which was investigating whether current Post Office staff were involved in the investigations and wrongful prosecutions of subpostmasters. Then there’s Project Tiger, an investigation, overseen by acting CEO Neil Brocklehurst, set up to look into complaints from former subpostmaster and campaigner Tim McCormack about the Post Office’s handling of his recent freedom of information request responses. Read more about internal investigations at the Post Office: Former Post Office IT boss alleged to have misrepresented alternative to in-house build. Who is the subject of the Post Office’s Project Tiger investigation? Man on a mission Nigel Railton, interim chair of the Post Office, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Post Office interim chairman Nigel Railton didn’t pussyfoot around the thorny issue of the NBIT project. He came right out with a claim that the NBIT project was “set up to fail” and needed to be reset. He said two fundamental mistakes were made at the project’s outset – one was the decision to set the goal “to get off Horizon” rather than building a system for the future, and the second was the decision to build in-house. Railton said there are many “horror stories” of people trying to build systems in-house, adding: “I think, based on my experience, that this was always set up to fail in the first place.” Computer Weekly revealed later that the “writing is on the wall” for the Post Office’s plan to build the NBIT system in-house as it considers dumping it in favour of an off-the-shelf electronic point of ***** (EPOS) alternative. He also said the project is too reliant on third parties and likened it to the NHS being reliant on locum staff. A message has been sent to staff that the organisation is reassessing the project. Read more about Nigel Railton’s evidence: Post Office IT transformation project was ‘set up to fail’, chairman tells inquiry. Man who ******* his mission Nick Read, outgoing Post Office CEO, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry While Railton has set out his stall, one man that ******* to achieve this is outgoing CEO Nick Read. He was brought in to steady the ship following the High Court judgment in 2019 and the exit of his disgraced predecessor Paula Vennells. The inquiry had a taste of Read’s reputation before his arrival to give evidence. A damning whistleblowing letter, sent in May this year, was revealed during a recent hearing of the inquiry. It described a culture of ***** and cover-ups in the organisation that employs him and has paid him millions of pounds to clean up. A letter from Post Office staff to MPs, statutory inquiry chair Wyn Williams (pictured above) and the Post Office chairman, demanded their intervention and an investigation into the organisation’s leadership. During Read’s evidence, it was revealed that the Post Office CEO job description advertised in 2019 didn’t mention the landmark High Court judgment against the organisation and its ramifications on the role. Nor were candidates made aware of the large and complex IT project that was required to replace the Post Office’s troubled Horizon IT system. Read admitted, during his appearance at the inquiry, that the Post Office he led “dragged its feet” when dealing with employees who could have been involved in the wrongful prosecution of subpostmasters using flawed evidence. He also revealed that the company so far estimates that individuals running branches repaid around £36m to cover the unexplained shortfalls. Read more about Nick Read at the inquiry: Under-***** Nick Read was unprepared for Post Office challenge. Post Office dragging its feet in getting rid of tainted staff, despite government ‘green light’. Post Office currently believes it took £36m from subpostmasters with unexplained losses. Cost-cutting discussions ‘like drawing teeth’ Kevin Hollinrake MP, former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Former Post Office minister Kevin Hollinrake was critical of Read’s inability to cut costs within the organisation to help it escape its financial struggles. During his appearance at the inquiry, Hollinrake revealed that 143 people working for the perpetually loss-making and government-backed Post Office earn over £100,000 per year. Yet Hollinrake described his meetings with Read about cutting costs as being like “drawing teeth”, with the CEO seemingly unable to grasp the nettle. But politicians also received criticism. During his appearance at the inquiry, Simon Recaldin, who heads up the Post Office’s schemes to provide financial redress to victims of the scandal, described the government’s take it or leave it offer of £600,000 to subpostmasters wrongly convicted as “political”. He told the inquiry the Post Office was not consulted on the offer, and while he supported it, he questioned how the policy was “imposed on the Post Office”. Read more about Kevin Hollinrake’s evidence to the inquiry: Post Office was reluctant to cut costs despite 143 central staff earning more than £100,000. Read more from Simon Recaldin at the inquiry: Government’s £600,000 offer to Horizon scandal victims was ‘political’. Marriage of convenience on the rocks Chris Brocklesby, former chief transformation officer of the Post Office, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry There is a long history between Fujitsu and the Post Office, which began when the government decided the Post Office would take the Horizon system in the late 1990s. In 1998, following a meeting between the British ambassador to Japan and Fujitsu executives, the British embassy in Tokyo wrote to the *** government warning it of serious economic repercussions, including *** job losses and reductions in trade, if the Horizon contract with the Post Office were, as feared, to be cancelled. The system was developed by government IT specialist IT supplier ICL, which was acquired by Fujitsu. This saved ICL and gave Fujitsu access to a lucrative public sector market, which it still enjoys today. But although the relationship has, at times, been toxic, the companies have been joined at the hip when it comes to defending the Horizon system and shifting blame for shortfalls onto the subpostmasters. Not anymore – the relationship has fallen apart and the two organisations can’t wait to see the back of each other. Chris Brocklesby, chief transformation officer at the Post Office until recently, gave evidence to the inquiry in phase seven. He described a strained relationship between the two organisations. He also said when he arrived at the Post Office in August 2023, there was no realistic plan in place for the delivery of a Horizon replacement, despite the plan of record being that NBIT would be deployed by March 2025. Brocklesby said when he started his role, little to no software had been delivered. Fujitsu knew this, but was still demanding that the Post Office appoint someone to manage its exit from the Horizon contract. During the hearing, he accused Fujitsu of “game playing”. Later evidence in the inquiry revealed there is currently a standstill agreement over potential civil litigation between the supplier and the Post Office, meaning the two organisations have agreed not to take legal action against each other for a certain ******* of time. Read more about Chris Brocklesby’s ***** evidence: Post Office and Fujitsu – from blood brothers to bad blood. Post Office misappropriated funds Civil servants have featured throughout the public inquiry, with the evidence accompanying them often of the most revelatory variety. Alex Chisholm, former chief operating officer and permanent secretary for the Cabinet Office, was no exception. During his evidence, it was revealed that the Post Office wrongly spent millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to fund its High Court legal battle with subpostmasters. The Post Office had wrongly spent at least £2.3m of public money in this way, and also wrongly requested a further £2.4m, before civil servants spotted it and put a stop to it. Also appearing before the inquiry was Lorna Gratton, the civil ******** who currently sits as a non-executive director of the Post Office on behalf of the government. Her evidence session revealed that the Horizon system is going to be investigated again, with a third party to be appointed imminently. In relation to the discrepancies that subpostmasters continue to experience when using the Horizon system, she told the inquiry: “The Post Office executive team are in the process of appointing an independent third-party review of Horizon and its robustness.” Read more about Alex Chisholm’s ***** evidence at the inquiry: Post Office wrongly used public funds to pay for legal battle. Read more about Lorna Gratton’s appearance at the inquiry: Post Office appointing third-party reviewer of current Horizon system. Fujitsu’s fighting talk Paul Patterson, Fujitsu’s ********* head, during the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry Fujitsu boss Paul Patterson was profusely apologetic when he first gave ***** evidence in January, during phase four of the inquiry, but this time around, Patterson appeared to have done many rounds of sparring with company lawyers. He came out fighting. Gone was the apologetic, grovelling executive, replaced by an aggressive figure punching back. During his appearance, Patterson said the past seven months of inquiry hearings had revealed that many organisations were to blame for the scandal – not just Fujitsu and its faulty software. This is true, but where was this in his last appearance and where was he for the previous 24 months of the inquiry? He also described the perilous state that Horizon is in having reached the end of its life and been starved of investment. Read more about Paul Patterson’s latest ***** evidence to the inquiry: Post Office scandal not caused by software errors, says combative Fujitsu boss. Post Office requests four-year Horizon contract extension. Source link #Post #Office #scandal #Inquirys #final #phase #exposes #dysfunction #present Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nations League: Steve Clarke & Scotland find way to bounce back yet again Nations League: Steve Clarke & Scotland find way to bounce back yet again Scotland went to Germany on the back of a grim run of form, though, and further disappointment came their way in the summer, as did a barrage of criticism for the head coach for a pedestrian style of play. A change of approach was demanded and it has come in the form of a switch to a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Doak adding much-needed pace and drive out wide. Late concessions at home against Poland and in Portugal, plus a narrow defeat in Croatia, denied the Scots points in their opening three Nations League games. But seven points from their final matches against the same opposition ended the campaign on a high and avoided automatic relegation. “Clarke’s change of system has brought more freedom,” former Scotland midfielder John Collins said on BBC Sportsound. “The players look more comfortable in possession and they have more options in front of them. John Souttar looks like an international centre-back now and Doak has given us pace, power and ************.” Meanwhile, ex-Scotland forward James McFadden added: “We don’t have strikers who will score every game, but we have a manager who will find a way to get the best out of players. “He’s built a really strong squad and we can look forward to World Cup qualifying now regardless of our group.” Source link #Nations #League #Steve #Clarke #Scotland #find #bounce Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Is The Next Generation of Microsoft's Grand Digital Twin of Earth Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Is The Next Generation of Microsoft's Grand Digital Twin of Earth Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 releases tomorrow, but it isn’t just a flight simulator.It includes a next-generation Digital Twin of Earth. Source link #Microsoft #Flight #Simulator #Generation #Microsoft039s #Grand #Digital #Twin #Earth Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Alight looks to enhance Microsoft Teams Experience with Worklife Alight looks to enhance Microsoft Teams Experience with Worklife Cloud-based human capital and technology-enabled services provider Alight has announced a partnership with Microsoft expert Avanade to integrate its Worklife product within the Microsoft Teams platform to allow employers to further enhance their employee benefits experience. The application will be available to employers who use both Microsoft Teams and Alight Worklife, beginning with the next release of the latter. By integrating benefits access directly into employees’ daily software, Alight said that the integration will simplify benefits access, boost awareness, enable greater utilisation and enhance the overall employee experience and wellbeing. Worklife is designed to deliver a personalised and intuitive employee experience with purpose-built workflows and real-time insights directly into Teams through features such as AI personalised recommendations; interactive virtual assistant (IVA); account summary; and ‘seamless’ access. The result is that employees can have personalised information and to-do lists related to their benefits and suggested actions with a dashboard within Teams, highlighting essential benefits and account information at a glance. Alight partnered with Avanade to co-develop the integration to deliver secure user validation, personalised content and account summaries for each employee. Through this integration, employees can access their benefits and wellbeing information within the familiar Teams environment, minimising multiple logins or switching between applications. The synergy also uses Avanade’s experience with Microsoft solutions to enable a user-friendly experience that can enhance both productivity and engagement. Commenting on what the integration could bring, Josh Welch, executive vice-president of product management at Alight, said: “Today’s workforce expects benefits interactions to be simple, intuitive and connected with their daily technology experiences. By partnering with Avanade to deeply integrate the unique content and capabilities of Alight Worklife into Microsoft Teams, we are excited to help employers continue to transform how they can better engage employees in their benefits and enable a better return on those important investments.” Pete Daderko, senior director of Microsoft teams product marketing, added: “People should have in-the-moment access to critical HR information while using their everyday work tools. We continue to see the value in bringing the right HR information to employees where they need it, including Microsoft Teams. The Alight Worklife integration brings key information to employees directly in Teams so they can take actions on key benefits and wellbeing related transactions provided by Alight Worklife.” Katie Brown, general manager of US Midwest at Avanade, said: “Avanade is delighted to partner with Alight as it continues to transform the benefits industry. Employers will be better equipped to meet the needs of their people strategy with a more seamless, intuitive and personalised experience that Alight is bringing to its clients.” Source link #Alight #enhance #Microsoft #Teams #Experience #Worklife Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

****** lowers the threshold for using nuclear weapons ****** lowers the threshold for using nuclear weapons Russian President Vladimir ****** has signed a revised nuclear doctrine declaring a conventional ******* on Russia by any nation that is supported by a nuclear power will be considered a ****** ******* on his country. ******’s endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, 2022. It follows US President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied longer-range missiles. The signing of the doctrine, which says any massive aerial ******* on Russia could trigger a nuclear response, reflects ******’s readiness to threaten use of the country’s nuclear arsenal to force the West to back down as Moscow presses a slow-moving offensive in Ukraine. Source link #****** #lowers #threshold #nuclear #weapons Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Mass Effect TV Series With Fast and Furious Writers Who Can Send a Car to Space Sounds Like a Recipe For Disaster to Fans Mass Effect TV Series With Fast and Furious Writers Who Can Send a Car to Space Sounds Like a Recipe For Disaster to Fans If you are a Mass Effect fan, then this recent update regarding a TV show adaptation of the game might come as a bitter-sweet piece of news to you since most fans are against one aspect of it all. Mass Effect’s TV series is officially under development. Image Credit: Bioware Amazon MGM has confirmed that a Mass Effect TV series is in fact in the works. This is the first update regarding the game since 2021, when we first heard about a collaboration between EA and Amazon MGM. Fans Are Not Extremely Happy About Mass Effect TV Series Fast and Furious 9’s writer could not be trusted with Mass Effect. Image Credit: Bioware The Mass Effect TV series is currently being written by Daniel Casey, who will also act as the executive producer for the series. Casey is known for meddling with over-the-top sci-fi concepts, which fans do not seem to like as much. Casey’s most recent work was Fast and Furious 9, where he sent a car to space. His over-the-top method is not going to hold up in Mass Effect since fans want a detailed and more nuanced adaptation of their favorite sci-fi game. The game revolves around the protagonist fighting against an alien species known as the Andromeda. There are a lot of things that can be explored with the TV series, but if Craig is set to be in charge, then it might just turn out to be a recipe for disaster. Nevertheless, it is confirmed by Variety that Amazon MGM has begun the development of the series with him in charge. The news broke out on the day known to Mass Effect fans as N7 Day which marks the annual celebration of all things Mass Effect. Not much about the series has been revealed as of now. It is not certain whether we will see a straightforward adaptation or something entirely different that belongs to the same universe. Nothing can be said for certain until further details are revealed. The Mass Effect Series Does Not Seem To Be In The Right Hands Not much about the TV series has been revealed as of now. Image Credit: Bioware There has been a wave of video game adaptation in the recent past. Amazon itself has seen massive success with its recently released adaptation of Fallout, the second season of which has already been planned. Even HBO’s The Last of Us did really well in the market and paved the way for other video game adaptations to flourish. However, these adaptations need to stay true to the source material; they cannot go over the top or forget what the game stands for entirely, and Fast and Furious 9 is not exactly a reliable addition to the portfolio. Craig will need to really pull up his socks and treat this adaptation opposite to his approach to the film. The people involved with the game currently include EA’s Michael Gamble, Avi Arad, Michael Gamble, and Karim Zreik, who is working as an executive producer with his Cedar Tree Productions. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments below. Source link #Mass #Effect #Series #Fast #Furious #Writers #Send #Car #Space #Sounds #Recipe #Disaster #Fans Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Google Reportedly Plans to Turn ChromeOS Into Android to Better Compete with iPad Google Reportedly Plans to Turn ChromeOS Into Android to Better Compete with iPad Google has separate operating system (OS) versions based on the device type. There’s Android for smartphones and ChromeOS for Chromebooks. However, there is one such product category where both the OSs overlap — tablets. That is not likely to be the case anymore, according to a new report. Google is said to be planning to embark on a project to fully turn ChromeOS into Android to develop a product which finally competes with the iPad. Google Turning ChromeOS Into Android Citing a source, Android Authority detailed Google’s plans to turn ChromeOS into Android in a report Monday. The publication claims that the Mountain View, California-based technology giant is working on a multi-year project for the development of a hybrid platform that may compete with Apple’s iPadOS which powers the iPad. Google reportedly plans to unify its OS efforts for more efficient management of engineering resources and better compete with the iPad. Instead of merging Android and Chrome OS to develop an entirely new platform, it is claimed to have plans to migrate the latter into the former. This move will result in the availability of more apps on Android and more money for developers due to an increased number of users, as per the report. One of the first devices to run on this hybrid platform is reported to be the purported Pixel Laptop, which is reported to be in development. This device is reported to come with high-end internals and is said to have been codenamed “Snowy”. The company is also said to be developing many new features for providing a desktop-like experience on Android, including better keyboard and mouse support, support for external monitors and multiple desktops, and more. While these efforts are primarily reported to target Google’s internal Android-on-laptop project, they are also speculated to boost the capabilities of tablets, including the purported Pixel Tablet 2 which is slated to come with an upgraded Tensor chip, improved camera, and a new keyboard cover accessory. Source link #Google #Reportedly #Plans #Turn #ChromeOS #Android #Compete #iPad Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trial begins of youth center worker accused of holding down boy while he was ****** Trial begins of youth center worker accused of holding down boy while he was ****** MEREDITH, N.H. (AP) — The trial of a man accused of holding down a teenage boy so colleagues could ***** and ****** him at a New Hampshire youth center in the 1990s is set to begin Tuesday. It’s the second ********* trial to stem from a broad 2019 investigation into historic ****** at the Sununu Youth Services Center in Manchester. Bradley Asbury, now age 70, is among nine men who worked at the Manchester center or an associated facility in Concord who are facing ********* charges. Asbury and a colleague are accused of restraining the boy in the dormitory where Asbury served as house leader in 1997 while a third staffer ****** him and a fourth forced him to perform a **** act. The boy was about 13 years old at the time. Three years earlier, Asbury had been fired from the Concord facility over allegations of physical and psychological ******. But he was later rehired and transferred to Manchester, where he worked until 2001. Asbury is charged with two counts of being an accomplice to aggravated ******* ********. If found guilty, he faces a maximum prison term of 20 years on each count. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment and prosecutors said they don’t comment on active cases. An earlier case against Victor Malavet ended in a mistrial in September after jurors deadlocked on whether he ****** a girl at the Concord facility. A new trial in that case has yet to be scheduled. The investigation has also led to extensive civil litigation. More than 1,100 former residents have filed lawsuits alleging physical, ******* or emotional ****** spanning six decades. In the only civil case to go to trial so far, a jury awarded David Meehan $38 million in May for ****** he says he suffered in the 1990s, though that verdict ******** in dispute as the state seeks to reduce it to $475,000. The Meehan civil trial provided a preview for the current case. Among those testifying was Asbury’s accuser, Michael Gilpatrick, who testified that Asbury and three other staffers were known by teens in the dormitory as “the hit squad.” “The four of them used to roll together, and they would go to different cottages and beat kids,” he said. “They would literally come over and just go door to door and beat every single one of us, down the line.” The Associated Press generally does not identify those who say they were victims of ******* ******** unless they have come forward publicly, as Meehan and Gilpatrick have done. Gilpatrick, who spent three years at the Manchester center in the 1990s, testified that he ended up there after running away from multiple group homes, committing a burglary and stealing food to survive on the streets. He said the ******* ******** involving Asbury happened after he ran away while on a furlough. He had already spent several days locked in his empty room wearing only his underwear when the workers brought him to the house leader’s office and then to a stairwell, he testified. He said the ******** led to an out-of-body experience. “It felt like I hovered over and watched it,” Gilpatrick said. “My body just went blank.” Gilpatrick said Asbury was a bad man. “Not only did he have power over all the kids, he had power over the staff as well.” In 2000, during a state investigation into physical ****** and neglect at the youth center, Asbury denied there was a problem. “That stuff does not take place. It’s not tolerated,” Asbury told The Union Leader. “We don’t have time to ****** them.” The trial highlights the strange dynamic of the state simultaneously defending itself against civil suits relating to the youth center while also prosecuting ********* cases. During the first civil case to go to trial, the state portrayed Asbury as a dedicated worker who won accolades for organizing volunteer work for the teenagers. In the current case, the state intends to portray Asbury in a much darker light. Source link #Trial #begins #youth #center #worker #accused #holding #boy #****** Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Half-Life 2 Breaks Its Record for Concurrent Players 20 Years After Launch Half-Life 2 Breaks Its Record for Concurrent Players 20 Years After Launch Number1TailzFan1d 9h ago You were either too young to play it when it came out or too young now. HL2 alone was worth building a good PC for back in 2004, then you had HL2 Deathmatch and Garry’s Mod soon after which gave a ton of multiplayer fun on top of it. Nothing came close for years in comparison with HL2 in terms of environment interaction and physics either. Source link #HalfLife #Breaks #Record #Concurrent #Players #Years #Launch Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Google Reportedly Plans to Turn ChromeOS Into Android to Better Compete with iPad Google Reportedly Plans to Turn ChromeOS Into Android to Better Compete with iPad Google has separate operating system (OS) versions based on the device type. There’s Android for smartphones and ChromeOS for Chromebooks. However, there is one such product category where both the OSs overlap — tablets. That is not likely to be the case anymore, according to a new report. Google is said to be planning to embark on a project to fully turn ChromeOS into Android to develop a product which finally competes with the iPad. Google Turning ChromeOS Into Android Citing a source, Android Authority detailed Google’s plans to turn ChromeOS into Android in a report Monday. The publication claims that the Mountain View, California-based technology giant is working on a multi-year project for the development of a hybrid platform that may compete with Apple’s iPadOS which powers the iPad. Google reportedly plans to unify its OS efforts for more efficient management of engineering resources and better compete with the iPad. Instead of merging Android and Chrome OS to develop an entirely new platform, it is claimed to have plans to migrate the latter into the former. This move will result in the availability of more apps on Android and more money for developers due to an increased number of users, as per the report. One of the first devices to run on this hybrid platform is reported to be the purported Pixel Laptop, which is reported to be in development. This device is reported to come with high-end internals and is said to have been codenamed “Snowy”. The company is also said to be developing many new features for providing a desktop-like experience on Android, including better keyboard and mouse support, support for external monitors and multiple desktops, and more. While these efforts are primarily reported to target Google’s internal Android-on-laptop project, they are also speculated to boost the capabilities of tablets, including the purported Pixel Tablet 2 which is slated to come with an upgraded Tensor chip, improved camera, and a new keyboard cover accessory. Source link #Google #Reportedly #Plans #Turn #ChromeOS #Android #Compete #iPad Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Change call after student ****** self over results Change call after student ****** self over results Family photo Mared Foulkes was a talented and hard working student, who had wanted to be a pharmacist since she was a child, her parents said The parents of a student who ******* herself after receiving inaccurate exam results are calling for universities to provide better support. Mared Foulkes, from Anglesey, received an email in July 2020 saying that she had ******* an assessment and could not progress to her third year – even though she had already re-sat it and passed. Cardiff University said it has already made changes to the way it operates. But Mared’s family want to see a change in the law on how universities support students with mental health issues, and how they communicate with the families of students. Mared Foulkes was 21, a talented and intelligent student from near Menai Bridge who had already dedicated her life to a career as a pharmacist, working in a chemist in Caernarfon, Gwynedd, to get experience. But on 8 July 2020, she received an email from Cardiff University saying she had ******* one of her assessments and implying that she could not go on to her third year. The email did not mention that she had already re-sat the exam and passed it. Mared’s mother, Iona Foulkes, said: “She came home that evening from work and we had a normal family meal. “Then she decided she wanted to make a cheesecake and said she was going to the local supermarket and asked if I wanted anything. “She took the car keys and left.” But Mared would never return. Family photo Mared Foulkes parents said the incorrect information about her exam results was devastating Two police officers visited the house later that evening to tell her family that she had *****. Mrs Foulkes said: “Every aspect of our family life has been shattered. Our home is heavy with memories and our lives are changed forever. “Passing by Mared’s empty bedroom is achingly hard. “Each day takes is further from the last few hours we had with our beautiful and much-loved daughter, we have not ceased to grieve.” Family photo Mared Foulkes’ parents say universities need to change the way they support students and their families Her parents later found out that Mared had messaged a friend to say “I did *****” during the day. “She had worked so hard at her course,” her mother added. “She had her heart set on becoming a pharmacist from a young age. She had done voluntary work in a hospital in the Philippines and been accepted to study in China. “To be informed that you have ******* two years of study and you couldn’t progress – it must have been horrific. “You are talking about a 21-year-old, a young person getting this information. “It is a tragedy which should never have happened. It shouldn’t be. Something needs to change – quickly – before more families have to endure what we have to live with for the rest of our lives.” Mared’s parents are working with the families of other young people who have ******* themselves to call for changes in the law about the way universities support students and their families. They have started that process with a group of lawyers, who are writing a report which will recommend improvements in the way universities communicate with families. Family photo Cardiff University said Mared Foulkes’ ****** had already led to changes in the way it communicates exam results Nine months before Mared *****, she had visited the university’s support services to discuss her mental health, but her family did not find out until a year after her ******. Mrs Foulkes said: “I fully understand that students are young adults, and some do not wish their parents or guardians to be informed what they do or what their exam results are. “But there should be some way that they can inform parents if something does go wrong.” A spokesperson for Cardiff University said that the way students get their results, and the information they receive has already been changed as a result of Mared’s ******. “We are determined to improve the tone and language of all our written communications to our students,” they said. “We will make explicit reference to where students can access help and support if they are concerned about their results.” However, the spokesperson added that discussing students’ mental health with parents was a difficult issue. “Universities need to balance the legitimate needs of parents to be informed about their children while respecting the rights, privacy and wishes of ****** students who may – for a variety of legitimate and complex reasons – not want their personal information to be shared with their parents,” they said. “We have put a new system in place where we ask students to give us a trusted contact when they enrol. This is someone the university will contact if there are serious concerns about a student’s health or wellbeing. “We know Mared Foulkes’ family feel we could have done things differently and we have apologised for where we did not get things right. “The impact of Mared’s ****** and her parents’ wishes have informed and continue to inform and impact on our approach.” If you’ve been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line. Source link #Change #call #student #****** #results Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Overwatch 2 Players Are Most Likely to Experience Rage Quitters in These Ranks According to Blizzard Overwatch 2 Players Are Most Likely to Experience Rage Quitters in These Ranks According to Blizzard Online multiplayer FPS games tend to be extremely competitive, especially the likes of Overwatch 2, Valorant, CS:GO, Fortnite, and Rainbow Six Siege. Most of these games have a ranking system that enables players to climb the ladder to reach the top. Most rage quitters in Overwatch 2 are from lower ranks. Image Credit: Blizzard You start off with lower ranks like iron or bronze and then slowly make your way through silver and gold, which are considered elo ***** since most people with even a little bit of skill find themselves stuck here, and it is here that you will find the most quitters and toxicity as opposed to some of the higher ranks right up to pro players. People From Lower Ranks In Overwatch 2 Are More Likely To Be Toxic And Quit The Game In Rage Overwatch 2 is an extremely intricate game that relies on teamplay to progress. Image Credit: Blizzard The average player in Overwatch 2 will find it relatively easier to climb the first few ranks to reach gold or silver after putting in some hours in the game. The climb from here on gets a little tricky since it requires you to be more consistent than skilled. However, skill is important, but most of the players in this elo are skilled but lack in maintaining consistency, which eventually leads to a lot of frustration, resulting in rage quitting and spreading toxicity. Even according to Blizzard, there is a high chance that you will witness rage quitters in the lower ranks as opposed to higher up. The most toxic region in the climb will often demoralize many players to the extent that they stop playing the game altogether. Talking about the matter of toxicity in the game, Gavin Winter, Senior Systems Designer, as Blizzard said: We basically know that the leaver rate is pretty directly related to rank, so like the lower the rank, the higher the leaver rate, and the higher the rank, the lower the leaver rate. The problem with rage quitters is a persistent one across many games. It is not something new, and the only way it can be handled is through spreading positivity and creating an environment where players feel comfortable. This can only happen when the game’s community puts in conscious efforts to make things better. Rage Quitting Flourishes In A Toxic Environment Overwatch 2 can get a little frustrating for new players due to its learning curve. Image Credit: Blizzard Multiplayer FPS titles can be quite frustrating at times, especially the ones that are highly competitive, like Overwatch 2 or Valorant. Rage quitters impact the game in a massive way. Even if a single person quits, it takes away a massive chunk of your advantage since all these games require teamwork, and without even one player, it can get pretty hard to find the right balance, which ultimately results in losses and hinders your rank-climb progression. Toxicity is a separate issue from rage quitting; however, both can impact one another. Lower-rank players are the least toxic, and the same goes for higher ranks; the most toxic is in the middle. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments below. Source link #Overwatch #Players #Experience #Rage #Quitters #Ranks #Blizzard Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

****** Friday Oculus Quest 2 deals: the best VR discounts now ****** Friday Oculus Quest 2 deals: the best VR discounts now The holidays are quickly approaching and that means ****** Friday sales will be here in no time, but if you’ve already started looking for lucrative deals, you’re in luck. Retailers including Amazon have started dropping deals that have made us double take, like these Logitech webcam deals, so we’ve collected them for your consideration. All of these are highly rated on Amazon and we’re tried and tested some of these ourselves. The Logitech C920 tops both our best Logitech webcams buying guide and our overall best webcam buying guide, and you get get the Pro version in the deals below with a healthy discount. They come equipped with tools to help you look your best and built-in microphones. If you want a solid, quality general purpose webcam, a Logitech webcam is a good bet. Today’s best Logitech webcam deals in the US Today’s best Logitech webcam deals in the *** Source link #****** #Friday #Oculus #Quest #deals #discounts Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

WA’s housing and homelessness crisis the worst the sector has ever seen WA’s housing and homelessness crisis the worst the sector has ever seen The housing and homelessness crisis is so bad in one major state that a peak body has called on political parties to commit to a bold election platform. Source link #housing #homelessness #crisis #worst #sector Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review – New Twists and Nostalgic Charm – MonsterVine Mario & Luigi: Brothership Review – New Twists and Nostalgic Charm – MonsterVine Travis of Capsule Computers writes: “There have been many different spin-offs featuring Mario and his various allies throughout the years but one that has always remained fairly consistent are the Mario & Luigi RPGs. Or at least they were, until the series vanished for nearly nine years and its original developer, AlphaDream, was shuttered. Now Nintendo has teamed up with a new development team to bring the brothers back together for their first RPG on an actual home console. Well, console/handheld hybrid, with Mario & Luigi: Brothership arriving for the Switch. With a new team behind the wheel and plenty of time between releases, will this latest Mario & Luigi game live up to expectations?” Source link #Mario #Luigi #Brothership #Review #Twists #Nostalgic #Charm #MonsterVine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

****** issues warning to US with new nuclear doctrine ****** issues warning to US with new nuclear doctrine MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir ****** on Tuesday approved an updated nuclear doctrine, saying that Russia could consider using nuclear weapons if it was subject to a conventional missile ******** on it supported by a nuclear power. The decision to change Russia’s official nuclear doctrine is the Kremlin’s answer to a reported decision by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to ***** ********* long-range missiles deep into Russia. The updated doctrine, which outlines the threats which would make Russia’s leadership consider a nuclear strike, said an ******* with conventional missiles, drones or other aircraft could be considered to meet these criteria. It also said any aggression against Russia by a state which was a member of a coalition would be considered by Moscow to be aggression against it by the whole coalition. Just weeks before the November U.S. presidential elections, ****** ordered changes to the nuclear doctrine to say that any conventional ******* on Russia aided by a nuclear power could be considered to be a ****** ******* on Russia. The 2-1/2-year-old Ukraine war has triggered the gravest confrontation between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis – considered to be the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to intentional nuclear war. (Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Anastasia Teterevleva; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan) Source link #****** #issues #warning #nuclear #doctrine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Spotify is now the default music player in the Opera One browser Spotify is now the default music player in the Opera One browser It has long been possible to listen to music from within Opera’s browser. If you go down its sidebar, you’ll see a player icon where you can choose from Apple Music, Spotify and Deezer and then log into any of them with your account details. But now Opera has teamed up with Spotify and has made the music streaming service the default option on the company’s flagship browser with generative AI features, Opera One. After logging into your account and activating the player, you’ll be able to detach it from the sidebar and move it around the screen to a place that wouldn’t interrupt your workflow. The player will float inside the browser and will not disappear if you tab away. It also automatically fades out the audio that’s currently playing when you join meetings and calls. Your songs will remain paused for the duration of the call or meeting and will resume as soon as it’s over. Perhaps the best thing about the companies’ teamup, if you live in a certain location at least, is that you can get Spotify Premium for free if you don’t have a subscription yet. If you’re in Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Poland, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the ***, the US or Vietnam, you can redeem two to three months of Spotify Premium at no cost from within the browser’s sidebar. Source link #Spotify #default #music #player #Opera #browser Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nationwide Building Society backs HPE GreenLake for hybrid cloud push Nationwide Building Society backs HPE GreenLake for hybrid cloud push Nationwide Building Society is drawing on HPE’s private cloud capabilities to help deliver on the next phase of its multi-year hybrid cloud strategy. The company, which has more than 17 million customers in the *** and employs 18,000 people, is in midst of a hybrid cloud-focused digital transformation project, geared towards improving the online experience for its customers. As previously reported by Computer Weekly, this work, which began in 2018, has seen the firm use public cloud technologies, such as those offered by Amazon Web Services, and embrace the use of DevOps-style software development methodologies within its teams. The project has also seen Nationwide adopt different cloud technologies based on what is best for that particular type of data or workload, which is why the company is now adding the HPE Greenlake private cloud setup to its supplier mix too. “Nationwide’s hybrid cloud strategy is vital to our ability to compete and means we can continue to meet the needs and expectations of our customers – HPE GreenLake cloud is a core component of our hybrid cloud strategy,” said Paul Walsh, director of infrastructure and service delivery at Nationwide. “With them, we’re building a cloud platform that will further improve our resilience and agility, enabling us to provide even better levels of service and deliver new capabilities to our developers faster than ever before.” Specifically, Nationwide will use HPE GreenLake management services to automate and orchestrate its infrastructure management workloads and deliver infrastructure-as-code, the company said. “This [will] enable [Nationwide] to focus on innovation, value-add activities and gain better control over application builds and security,” said the company, in a statement. “Faster release cycles will accelerate the time to market, providing consistent customer experiences across all digital platforms.” The HPE GreenLake cloud setup will also provide Nationwide with an overview of its energy consumption and emissions, so that it can take proactive steps to reduce its environmental footprint, the company added. Matt Harris, senior vice-president and managing director for the ***, Ireland, Middle East and ******* at HPE, said the complexities of the deployment highlight why taking a public cloud-only approach would not work for a company like Nationwide. “Nationwide’s modernisation journey showcases the effectiveness of HPE GreenLake cloud, with the storied institution transitioning from complex, legacy technology to a modern, future-proofed hybrid cloud operating model where a one-size-fits-all public cloud could never be the only answer,” said Harris. Nationwide is not the only financial services company tapping into HPE GreenLake to deliver on its hybrid cloud strategy, as Barclays Bank also set out plans in September 2024 to ramp up its use of the technology for that purpose. Source link #Nationwide #Building #Society #backs #HPE #GreenLake #hybrid #cloud #push Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]