Pelican Press

Let me tell you about singer Manolis Lidakis who passed away at 64 Let me tell you about singer Manolis Lidakis who passed away at 64 Singer Manolis Lidakis passed away at 64 in his home island Crete, two days before his birthday. A sudden death for a modest artist, highly regarded for this character and his path in the Greek music industry. Α great, an angel’s voice, a unique interpretation for songs, a huge passion for music and old-school singer. Although successful, he was never a part of the “life-style-boyzoukia” Greek music scene, he choose to live away from the bright lights of publicity and the gossip tv magazines. Some of his loyal fans considered him as “one of us.” I got to know Manolis Lidakis when on a trip to Greece in early 2000’s I heard his interpretation of “Απονιά” – Heartlessness -, a song from the early 1970’s which I honestly never liked. I fell in love with Manolis immediately, bought the CD and heard it for hours and months. Video: “Απονιά” Manolis Lidakis (28 February 1960 Heraklio – 26 February 2025 Herakleio) Manolis was reportedly found by friends in an apartment the artist was using to recover in Anissara, Hersonissos, since end of January when he was discharged from the hospital where he was undergoing therapy and needed a break. The cause of his death is not known, but last November, his sister had told media that streptococcus had entered in his knee after an operation. He had suffering for quite some time from health problems, had cancelled concerts in last summer. Last September he criticized on his FB account the health conditions in public hospitals urging Minister Adonis Georgiadis to resign. Manolis had complained that an orthopedic surgery he needed was postponed three times. Even if in the last years he was spending his time in Crete nad had hardly appearances, it was good to know that he was there, waiting for him to come up with a new song. He will be greatly missed. Source link #singer #Manolis #Lidakis #passed Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Collision between ******* school bus, tram hurts 11 Collision between ******* school bus, tram hurts 11 The driver of a school bus in Germany has been seriously injured, and nine children and a supervisor suffered slight injuries, when their bus collided with a tram in Munich. The school class was returning to school from a swimming lesson when the collision occurred as the bus was attempting to negotiate a turn. The injured were taken to hospital. The bus was severely damaged and the tram completely derailed. Police in the Bavarian capital reported that no one aboard the tram had been injured. Source link #Collision #******* #school #bus #tram #hurts Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trials of Mana adds in controller support and achievements in surprise new update Trials of Mana adds in controller support and achievements in surprise new update Trials of Mana has received a suite of new additions with controller support and achievements You’ll be able to use your gamepad of choice with the Apple Arcade and iOS versions No word on Android yet, but could be incoming soon While Square Enix may be making new strides on mobile, especially with the hugely popular Final Fantasy 7 spin-offs, it’s had a presence for a while. Case in point with Trials of Mana, their 3D action RPG that’s now finally received a long-awaited update adding controller support and achievements to both the regular and Apple Arcade versions of this release. It’s a rather fitting time for this update considering that Visions of Mana released just last year (and is also collaborating with Last Cloudia) but I think the effusive reaction we’ve seen from fans also points to one major issue. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that the 3D controls for most mobile releases can be a bit finicky, at best, and for many, it seems to have put them off playing. This is a genuine shame considering that Square Enix’s Mana series has been the discerning choice for JRPG fans who’ve made their way through Final Fantasy one too many times and want something different. And although the touchpad controls are more than sufficient for most people, it’s still too big of a hurdle for some fans. Self-control Still, if this new update is what is needed to get some people to give Trials of Mana a chance then that’s a good thing. Trials of Mana is still available in both its mainline and plus form, although unfortunately, it doesn’t look as if Android has had the same update. But with its lush visuals and familiar gameplay style I’m sure those of you who’ve been putting off playing Trials of Mana can now jump in and enjoy it with this latest update! If you’re looking to expand your repertoire of RPGS, don’t get stuck browsing every release in the app store. Instead, dig into our list of the top 25 best RPGs for iOS and Android! Source link #Trials #Mana #adds #controller #support #achievements #surprise #update Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

OnePlus Reveals Plans to Replace Alert Slider With a Customisable Smart Button OnePlus Reveals Plans to Replace Alert Slider With a Customisable Smart Button OnePlus is planning to replace the iconic Alert Slider with a new customisable smart button, the company revealed on Monday. The Alert Slider, which has been a mainstay on all OnePlus flagship smartphones till date, is a physical switch that allows users to quickly change the sound profile of the device without waking it up. However, now the company is considering the hardware limitations of the slider and wants to replace it with a more modern solution. Interestingly, the company’s alternative is an Apple-like Action Button. OnePlus Wants to Replace the Alert Slider In a community post, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau announced the company’s plans to replace the Alert Slider. He began the long post by calling the slider his favourite feature and “a symbol of thoughtful design.” However, he also added that the consumer tech brand has been exploring how to improve the functionality of the hardware for the last three years. The CEO highlighted that the Alert Slider is a large piece of hardware that can only perform one function — change the sound profile of the device. The company had also debated customising the slider, however, it was not possible due to its function being locked to its physical position, Lau added. OnePlus is now planning to replace the slider with a customisable, smart button that can be programmed according to the user’s preference, and offers a personalised experience. Lau said this change will also allow the company to utilise the device’s space better, explore new layouts, and make structural improvements. While the CEO did not share any further details about how this new button might work or when users can expect to see it in devices, he asked the community to share their feedback on the change. He also invited suggestions on the functionalities they would want to see with the button. Lau added that users will still be able to use the button to change sound profiles. It goes without saying that OnePlus’ plans to replace the Alert Slider with a smart button is similar to what Apple did with the iPhone 15 series. The Pro models in the series saw a new button dubbed the Action Button which replaced the Mute Switch. The Cupertino-based tech giant has now added it to all of its smartphones in the iPhone 16 series. Source link #OnePlus #Reveals #Plans #Replace #Alert #Slider #Customisable #Smart #Button Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

S&P 500 Earnings Yield Climbs as Growth Outlook Dims S&P 500 Earnings Yield Climbs as Growth Outlook Dims Excellent chart sourced from Gary Morrow (@garysmorrow on X) showing the or the OEX, reaching it’s most oversold since October, ‘2022, and yet sitting right on longer-term support at the light green zone, stretching back to June ’24. The leadership of the last two years, mainly the Mag 7 and financials, continue to take a beating, but even Netflix (NASDAQ:) was hammered this week. JPMorgan (NYSE:) is trading $40 or roughly 15% off its all-time high near $280 hit February 19th, ’25 (at Friday’s low tick of $239), and it’s doubtful the “macro” has changed that much. S&P 500 Earnings and Recession Watch: Not to bury the lede, but the earnings yield jumped to 4.69% this past week, its highest print since the 4.68% hit on January 10, ’25, and only exceeded by the September 6, ’24 print of 4.82%. Personally, I’d prefer it to sit above 5% and let the market climb the wall of worry, but the highest EY in 8 weeks, along with the above chart of the S&P 100, might indicate a tradeable bottom is getting close. Plus, there are just 3 weeks left in the first quarter, so readers should expect somewhat of a bounce with the now at its highest since December ’24. Anyway, none of this is a prediction; I’m just reading the tea leaves. The forward 4-quarter estimate fell $0.04 this week to $270.40 from $270.46 last week and $272.67 to start the quarter. The forward PE fell to 21.34x this week, versus the 22x last week and the high print for the quarter of 22.6 for the week ending 2/14/25. High-yield credit spreads have risen to 288 after bottoming at 259 on 1/24/25 (per the Bespoke data). While the revenue upside surprise for Q4 ’24 earnings is relatively average at +1.2%, the EPS upside surprise for S&P 500 earnings is the third strongest of the last 5 quarters at 6.9%. The weakest of the last 5 quarters was Q2 ’24 at just +4.6% EPS upside surprise. The aforementioned S&P 500 earnings yield ended last week at 4.69%, the highest since last September 6th, ’24’s 4.82%. The difference in the S&P 500 earnings yield in early March ’25 is that the S&P 500 EPS estimates are not climbing as sharply as the estimates were in ’24. Here are two tables this blog follows, i.e. expected sector EPS growth rates within the S&P 500: To give readers an idea of how strong Q4 ’24 S&P 500 earnings were, the total S&P 500 expected EPS growth rate for 2024 was 10%, while the current S&P 500 EPS expected growth rate for calendar ’24 is now 12%. That’s a big gain in just a few months. Conversely, analysts have lowered expected 2025 S&P 500 EPS sector growth rates from 14% to 10.7% in the exact same *******, some of which is expected given the increase in Q4 ’24 but also tariff unease in the last few months. The tech sector is expecting slower growth in 2025, given the above estimates, than was seen in ’24, but not by much. Readers can compare the growth for 2024 vs 2025 above. Some of the expected ’25 slowdown is undoubtedly tariffs, and uncertainty over their impact on individual company earnings for the next few quarters, but some is a sudden burst of “recession” talk by the Street, probably driven by the sharp drop in Atlanta Nowcast’s expectation of Q1 ’25 growth of -2.4%. Most take that recent Atlanta Fed Nowcast with strong amount of skepticism, but I have to add this to the discussion: this past week, a short break was taken from the grind, and I flew from Chicago Midway to Central Florida for a few days of bass fishing, and a shot at some real sunlight. While sitting at Chicago’s Midway Airport having a late breakfast Wednesday morning, I commented to the woman serving me that the airport seemed unusually quiet relative to the last few times I’d flown out of Midway on Southwest Airlines (NYSE:). She told me airport traffic started to slow in late January ’25 and that while they were waiting for the spring break rush to start, it hadn’t happened yet, and the restaurant manager had been cutting some shifts for some workers. Because Midway is a smaller airport than Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, whenever you are there, it always feels like you are surrounded by the hustle and bustle, but last Wednesday, March 5, ’25, Midway was very quiet. Conclusion The next Fed announcement on monetary policy is due out Wednesday, March 19th, (one week from this coming Wednesday), and the probabilities still reflect (as of today), just a 3% chance of a fed funds rate cut, and hence a 97% probability the fed funds rate remains at a midpoint of 4.375%. Briefing.com is expecting a +0.3% increase in the this coming Wednesday, March 10th, down from the prior +0.4% (January ’25 inflation read, which was a little stronger than the +0.3% expected), so yes, like the January ’25 that was released in late February ’25, the February ’25 Core CPI is expected to improve this coming week. The Core CPI print is what matters. There’s a number of signs indicating that the larger-cap stocks, which have been the majority of the rally since late ’22, but also in this secular bull market that’s been ongoing for 14 years, could be looking to bottom. The tariffs throw everything off in terms of the valuations and the changing EPS and revenue estimates, so we won’t really know until Q1 ’25. S&P 500 earnings start in mid-April ’25. The probability of a recession – or at least a decent slowdown in US GDP growth – is higher than when ’25 started too. **** Disclaimer: None of this is advice or a recommendation, but only an opinion. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing can and does involve the loss of principal even for short periods of time. None of the information posted above may be updated, and if updated, may not be done so, in a timely fashion. All S&P 500 EPS and revenue data is sourced from LSEG. Source link #Earnings #Yield #Climbs #Growth #Outlook #Dims Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Ultra-Orthodox MP raids National Gallery, destroys paintings for “insulting our religion” Ultra-Orthodox MP raids National Gallery, destroys paintings for “insulting our religion” An MP of ultra-orthodox nationalist party Niki stormed the National Gallery in Athens on Monday morning, broke protective glass, grabbed and destroyed paintings, shouting that they “insult our religion.” 54-year-old MP Nikolaos Papadopoulos, a thoracic surgeon by profession from Thessaloniki, had also ‘advertized’ his ‘achievement’ on social media targeting other like-minded Christian-Talibans. The MP has been arrested and faces charges of aggravated vandalism, which is a felony, state broadcaster ERT reported. Prior to the incident, Papadopoulos had sent a letter to the gallery’s administration requesting the removal of certain pieces from the exhibition and had also tabled an official question to Parliament for Culture Minister Lina Mendoni accusing her of “anti-Christian dogmatism.” The Exhibition Exhibition “the Allure of the Strange” features ten Greek artists, who exhibit their works, where “from different starting points they embrace and depict the strange, the hybrid, and the grotesque,” ​​states the exhibition’s Press Release. The exhibition started on January 22 and is scheduled to end on September 30, 2025. According to media, one painting that “drove the arch-conservative MP crazy” depicts the “Virgin Mary” holding “baby Jesus Christ” in her arms. He commented on his website that “it directly insults their holy faces.” he second painting that angered Papadopoulos depicts “Saint George” and is entitled “The Butcher of the Avenue.” Both painting are artworks by Christoforos Katsadiotis. These two works are clearly influenced by the thematic paintings “Los caprichos” by Francisco Goya, which satirize Spanish society and the behaviors of people related to immorality and superstition. The artist is said to have intended these paintings to “mimic censorship and human flaws,” as they deal with nightmares, themes of corruption, greed, superstition, and mental disorders—a mirror of society. MP Nikolaos Papadopoulos remained arrested, however, still in the National Gallery on Monday afternoon, until the judicial procedure is concluded as he is protected by “lawmakers’ immunity.” Source link #UltraOrthodox #raids #National #Gallery #destroys #paintings #insulting #religion Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Kevin O’Leary Says, ‘Prices Aren’t Going Down!’ Eggs, Energy, And Housing Remain ‘Sky-High,’ But He Thinks It’s Part Of A ******* Strategy Kevin O’Leary Says, ‘Prices Aren’t Going Down!’ Eggs, Energy, And Housing Remain ‘Sky-High,’ But He Thinks It’s Part Of A ******* Strategy Kevin O’Leary Says, ‘Prices Aren’t Going Down!’ Eggs, Energy, And Housing Remain ‘Sky-High,’ But He Thinks It’s Part Of A ******* Strategy Kevin O’Leary, also known as Mr. Wonderful, is speaking directly as always. In a recent post on X, the investor and “Shark Tank” star said, “Prices aren’t going down! Eggs, energy, housing—all still sky-high.” And now, with tariffs on Mexico and Canada, things could get even more expensive. Don’t Miss: O’Leary warns that tariffs could make an already tough housing market even worse. “Lumber prices up, housing even more expensive,” he posted. He explains that if tariffs are placed on Canada and Mexico, it would drive up the cost of lumber, which is a key material for home construction. According to O’Leary, the lumber industry isn’t in a position to quickly adjust. “The lumber industry just yesterday and today said, ‘Look, we can’t make up this capacity for at least four to five years,’” he said. That means even if demand remains steady, prices could stay high for years to come. Trending: The $1.3 Billion Startup Investment *****: How This Company’s Explosive Growth Is Opening Doors For Everyday Investors With A New $500 Minimum O’Leary also points out that Canada is at a disadvantage in these negotiations. With the federal leadership in limbo, provincial leaders from Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan are scrambling to handle trade talks in Washington. These provinces are especially affected because they are key players in trade, particularly in the energy sector. Despite the immediate concerns, O’Leary believes this is part of a long-term strategy to bring more investment back to the U.S. “These are volatile times,” he admitted. However, he sees the negotiations as part of a push to “get back more investment into the U.S. and a balance on trade imbalances, country by country by country.” Story Continues See Also: BlackRock is calling 2025 the year of alternative assets. One firm from NYC has quietly built a group of 60,000+ investors who have all joined in on an alt asset class previously exclusive to billionaires like Bezos and Gates. ********* Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently announced that Canada would impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports in response to President Donald Trump’s 25% levies on ********* goods. The measures include a 25% tariff on CA$30 billion worth of U.S. goods, effective immediately, with an additional CA$125 billion in U.S. products facing the same tariff in three weeks. Trump fired back with a post on Truth Social, warning that any retaliatory tariffs from Canada would be met with equal measures. “Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts on a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” Trump wrote. While no one knows exactly how this will play out, uncertainty is here to stay, at least for now. “[If tariffs] go on, there won’t be any immediate change to anything. It’ll be a continued negotiation,” O’Leary noted. For consumers, that means no quick drop in prices anytime soon. Read Next: Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge’s one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today’s competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? This article Kevin O’Leary Says, ‘Prices Aren’t Going Down!’ Eggs, Energy, And Housing Remain ‘Sky-High,’ But He Thinks It’s Part Of A ******* Strategy originally appeared on Benzinga.com © 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Source link #Kevin #OLeary #Prices #Arent #Eggs #Energy #Housing #Remain #SkyHigh #Thinks #Part #******* #Strategy Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Verdansk Officially Returning To Call of Duty: Warzone Verdansk Officially Returning To Call of Duty: Warzone · · March 10, 2025 Activision has confirmed that Verdansk is officially returning to Call of Duty: Warzone as part of Season 3. The announcement came via social media posts on Monday morning. “As we celebrate Call of Duty: Warzone’s 5 Year Anniversary, it’s time to revisit a place of unforgettable memories,” the game’s official social media account said. PODCAST: The Future Of Call of Duty—Insider Gaming Weekly Verdansk will be returning alongside the start of Season 3 on April 3. In addition to the announcement, Activision released a new trailer to get players ready for what’s to come. As far was what else fans can expect in Season 3 of Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6, that information will be fully revealed when the launch gets closer. Season 3 was originally planned for a release later this month, but was delayed so the developers can “[take] time to deliver a great experience” for players. The announcement of Verdansk’s return is likely just the first for what fans hope is a big new season for the game. For more Insider Gaming, check out what upcoming PS5 game was just rated by the ESRB in the North America. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Verdansk #Officially #Returning #Call #Duty #Warzone Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Valentino's Paris show inside staged public toilets Valentino's Paris show inside staged public toilets Valentino has explored the boundaries between public and private, parading its high creations inside a provocative public toilet setting at Paris Fashion Week. Source link #Valentino039s #Paris #show #staged #public #toilets Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Introduces Its Own Solid Snake, Sort Of Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Introduces Its Own Solid Snake, Sort Of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach has an official June release date locked in, and judging by the new trailer, a few nods to the Metal Gear Solid series that Hideo Kojima worked on during his tenure at Konami. During the new look at the game, a character by the name of Neil–played by Italian actor Luca Marinelli–was introduced. While his dark past with the Bridges organization was teased, it’s the brief moment where Neil dons a bandana that had Metal Gear Solid fans pointing at their screens: Solid Snake, is that you? Gallery As seen in the image above, Neil looks remarkably similar to Solid Snake once he dresses up for a fight. Back in a 2020 Instagram post, Kojima mentioned that Marinelli would be the “spitting image” of Snake if he ever decided to wear the character’s bandana, and it looks like that prediction has come true in Death Stranding 2. What’s also interesting to note here is that the character is flanked by several soldiers, similar to how Death Stranding’s antagonist Clifford Unger would surround himself with troops whenever he appeared in the game. That suggests that Neil has died and has become a post-death entity, someone who finds himself driven to complete his unfinished business and can journey to battlefield beaches. Another reference to Metal Gear Solid can be seen in the brief scene where Heartman takes control of the DHV Magellan submersible, fusing it with a gigantic entity from the tar to take on other titans. Yoji Shinkawa, who was the art director on 1998’s Metal Gear Solid, also worked on Death Stranding 2 so it’s not too surprising to see a few visual callbacks with the design of the Magellan. There’s also a hint of Pacific Rim in the control interface here for Magellan Man, which is a nice allusion to the film’s director and Deadman’s visual inspiration, Guillermo del Toro. Magellan Man is ready to rumble. Gallery Death Stranding 2: On the Beach will launch for PS5 on June 26, and anyone who purchases the digital deluxe or collector’s edition can start playing two days early on June 24. Source link #Death #Stranding #Beach #Introduces #Solid #Snake #Sort Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nvidia’s GeForce graphics driver woes continue for some users, despite 572.75 hotfix’s overclock and ****** screen promises Nvidia’s GeForce graphics driver woes continue for some users, despite 572.75 hotfix’s overclock and ****** screen promises Nvidia’s new GeForce Hotfix Display Driver 572.75 supposedly fixes overclocking issue for some ****** screen login issues remain, as users voice further complaints It adds to the growing list of Team Green’s controversies amid the RTX 5000 series launch Nvidia’s recent Game Ready Drivers have come with a list of issues, which appear to have begun with the launch of its RTX 5000 series and seem to be affecting all manner of RTX GPU owners. However, while Team Green is working hard to resolve driver hiccups, some users are still frustrated. As highlighted on Nvidia’s support page, a new GeForce Hotfix Display Driver 572.75 has been released with patch notes addressing an overclocking issue, including ****** screen problems (notably on RTX 5000 series GPUs). This comes after the previous Game Ready Driver 572.70 that added support for the new RTX 5070 GPU and was supposed to solve a ****** screen booting issue that leaves users stuck at a blank login screen when connected via DisplayPort on certain monitors. Unfortunately, it appears as though the latter remains for some users. It’s not exactly clear whether the issue stems from the drivers’ dedicated support for Team Green’s new Blackwell GPUs – one thing that is clear though, is that the ****** screen issue mostly occurs during system boot which renders PCs inoperable (beyond the BIOS) until repaired via Windows recovery mode. Having faced ****** screen issues myself, I have switched back to driver 572.47, and it’s been smooth sailing without any glaring problems to note. Due to reports that this latest hotfix doesn’t appear to have completely fixed the issues, it’s yet another reason why it may be best to avoid updating drivers for now unless necessary. Comment from r/nvidia Comment from r/nvidia Comment from r/nvidia (Image credit: Andreas Merchel / Shutterstock) More momentum for AMD… It’s no secret that the RTX 5000 series launch has been a bit of a mess – from reports of missing ROPs, limited availability, inflated prices (partner cards), and now driver issues, it’s left some fans of Team Green in a sour mood. AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 series has also just launched, enjoying heaps of praise for its performance capabilities at affordable prices – and while it’s not a perfect launch since prices at some retailers are above MSRP, Team Red has been off to a much better start compared to its main rival. The tide appears to be turning drastically now, as AMD’s Radeon GPU drivers were often criticized for issues in the past – which some used as a reason to avoid Radeon GPUs – but this is now happening with Nvidia’s Game Ready Drivers. Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. If this same pattern continues, I expect AMD GPUs to become much more popular among PC gamers – and as one who has been crying out for competition against Nvidia’s market domination, it’s pleasing to see – though I’d rather AMD’s success didn’t come at the cost of poor experiences for Nvidia GPU owners. You may also like… Source link #Nvidias #GeForce #graphics #driver #woes #continue #users #hotfixs #overclock #****** #screen #promises Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Are These 8%+ Yielding CEFs Really Too Pricy? Are These 8%+ Yielding CEFs Really Too Pricy? I recently got some reader feedback that made me realize something: When it comes to our favorite income investments—8%+ yielding closed-end funds (CEFs)—there are still a lot of misconceptions out there. It’s key that we put those right, because they’re causing some investors to miss out on CEFs, and the big (and often monthly) dividends they provide. And I know I don’t have to tell you that in turbulent times like these, high payouts like those are a lifesaver. This reader wrote in response to a recent piece I wrote about how CEFs can be better than ETFs, pointing out two things: The three CEFs I mentioned in the piece have higher expense ratios than passive funds. There are cheaper ways to buy stocks that the CEFs I wrote about in that article own (more on them below), such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:), a major holding of all three of these CEFs. Let’s address both of these concerns because they are valid—and both are often cited by financial advisors and the mainstream media as reasons to avoid CEFs and invest in ETFs, like the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (ASX:). Following that advice can cost you significant dividends: CEFs currently yield 8.5% on average, while SPY, the largest ETF by market cap, yields a paltry 1.4%. So, let’s dig into the first issue. CEFs Have Higher Fees … Right? I am not going to disagree with the feedback here because it is true. On average, CEFs have management fees of 2.9%, which sounds very high compared to what you’d pay on the average index fund. I should note before we go further, though, that the two CEFs we’ll get into below (both of which appeared in the article)—the Virtus AllianzGI Artificial Intell & Tech Opps (NYSE:) and the Columbia Seligman Premium Technology Growth Closed Fund (NYSE:)—charge much less: about 2.7% for AIO and 1.1% for STK. The fees for the BlackRock (NYSE:) Science & Technology (NYSE:), the other fund mentioned in that article, are about the same as STK, at 1.09%, but we’re going to focus more on the other two funds, and the opportunity we have in them, today. Here’s where our reader picked up on a common misunderstanding about CEF fees, suggesting that these fees are taken out of the income and total returns these funds provide. In other words, if the fee were to be taken out of AIO’s dividend, its 7.8% yield would actually amount to 5.1%, net of fees. But this isn’t how CEF fees work. Let’s take the most important detail first: The fees that CEFs charge are taken out of the fund’s portfolio before distributing dividends. The fund will not remove it from the yield you receive: If AIO yields 7.8%, that means you will get $780 a year for every $10,000 you invest. The fees are taken care of on the back end, before AIO reports its capital gains and pays out distributions, so all the profits I’m about to show you are net of fees. Are the fees justified? In my opinion, getting $78,000 on a million-dollar nest egg is worth it since the low-fee alternative offers $14,000 in dividends on that same million bucks. Also, I should point out that those CEF fees tend to remain as low as possible because of competition. The fees that CEFs charge are a combination of administrative fees, payment to fund managers (which is often the smallest part of the fund’s assets, typically around 0.07%), and payment for things like leverage costs (both of these funds typically borrow money to fund investments, and AIO is currently borrowing more than STK, which is why its fees are higher). In the end, though, this one chart is why I think the fees are justified, even without accounting for these funds’ much higher yields. CEFs Deliver Total Returns That Outrun the Index—Even With Fees Included Both AIO (in blue) and STK (in purple) have outperformed the since AIO’s inception (it was released in late 2019, which is why this chart goes only that far). And STK’s outperformance goes back much further. STK Demolishes the Index Fund Now, to be sure, these funds are weighted toward tech, but it is also worth pointing out that the S&P 500 has been increasingly weighted to tech stocks (now about 45% of the index), which explains some of the outperformance here. But with fees as “high” as the ones they’re charging, you’d expect SPY to be more competitive (again, net of fees). To be sure, the SPY shareholder paid less in fees. But the SPY shareholders also missed out on $1.137 of profits for every dollar they would have put into STK when it launched. Cheaper Ways to Buy Stocks? The second criticism also has some merit, although maybe not in the way the reader meant. Let me explain. Premiums to NAV Do Mean These Funds Trade for More Than Their Assets Both of these funds have a fixed number of shares they issue to the general public (this is fixed at the IPO). This is why the fund is called a closed-end fund. While those shares trade on exchanges, like any stock, the issuer can’t issue new shares to grow the fund. The price of a share of a CEF will fluctuate according to supply and demand, which means its market price can drift up or down from the liquidation value of all of its assets on the open market, which is called the net asset value, or NAV. Above, you can see AIO is trading at a 6.5% premium to NAV as I write this, while STK’s 1.5% premium is smaller than the 10%+ premiums it’s had in the past and is pretty close to trading at par. So, yes, you can get Microsoft cheaper than you can by buying it with AIO (by the way, MSFT is 3.24% of AIO’s portfolio, its second-largest position). How? By buying STK! But, of course, these are still both premiums. Lucky for us, we can do even better, by purchasing a heavily discounted CEF like the 9.4%-yielding Liberty All-Star Growth Fund (ASG), a recommendation at a 7.9% discount to NAV, with Microsoft as its top position, at 4% of assets, followed by NVIDIA (NASDAQ:) at 3.3%. And check this out. “Swappable” CEF Discounts See how ASG (in blue) is at that 7.9% discount as of this writing, while AIO (in purple) is at a 6.5% premium, but in 2020, ASG traded at a premium and AIO traded at a discount? If you’re thinking there’s an opportunity here to buy ASG when it’s discounted, sell when it’s at a premium, then buy AIO when it’s at a discount and do the opposite trade when AIO swings to a premium, you’re right. Disclosure: Brett Owens and Michael Foster are contrarian income investors who look for undervalued stocks/funds across the U.S. markets. Click here to learn how to profit from their strategies in the latest report, “7 Great Dividend Growth Stocks for a Secure Retirement.” Source link #Yielding #CEFs #Pricy Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Spy claims by Kremlin against British diplomat and spouse of another in Moscow are ‘baseless,’ says No10 Spy claims by Kremlin against British diplomat and spouse of another in Moscow are ‘baseless,’ says No10 Moscow from where two people ‘connected’ to the *** embassy are being expelled from Russia (PA Archive) Two people linked to Britain’s embassy in Moscow are being expelled from the country days after three Bulgarians were found guilty in a London court of being part of a Russian spy ring. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Monday that two individuals connected to Britain’s embassy in Moscow had been ordered to leave the country for performing intelligence work, Russian state news agency TASS reported. The two are understood to be one British diplomat and the spouse of another. Downing Street said the spy claims against both individuals are “baseless”. TASS cited the FSB as saying that both individuals had deliberately declared false information about themselves when entering Russia and that the FSB had uncovered what it called “signs of intelligence and sabotage work” by both which threatened Russia’s national security. They had been given two weeks to leave Russia. There was no immediate comment from Britain. On Friday, three Bulgarians were found guilty in a London court of being part of a Russian spy unit run by Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek to carry out surveillance for the Kremlin in Britain and other European countries. The timing raised suspicions that the explusions from Moscow ae a ****-for-tat response. Court artist sketches of Bulgarian nationals (l to r) Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova, Orlin Roussev, Ivan Stoyanov and Bizer Dzhambazov (PA Archive) Marsalek tasked the sophisticated British-based Bulgarian team with spying on Ukrainian soldiers being trained at a US base in Germany, with a view to tracking their movements on the battlefield after Russia’s 2022 invasion, British prosecutors said. Austrian national Marsalek is wanted by ******* authorities as the former chief operating officer of collapsed payments company Wirecard, accused of a major fraud. Marsalek, whose current whereabouts are unknown but is believed to be in Russia, also discussed kidnapping journalists who were critical of the Kremlin and taking them back to Russia, prosecutors said. “This was spying on an almost industrial scale on behalf of Russia, the Russian state and Russian intelligence services,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of London police’s Counter Terrorism Command. “We know that Marsalek was a go-between, between this group and Russian intelligence services.” A selfie picture of Biser Dzhambazov and Vanya Gaberova (Metropolitan Police/PA) (PA Media) There was no immediate comment from the Russian embassy in London, although the Kremlin has always rejected such spying allegations. The Bulgarian unit’s leader was Orlin Roussev, 47, who with his deputy Biser Dzhambazov, 43, and another man, Ivan Stoyanov, pleaded guilty to spying for Russia shortly before the trial, admitting charges of conspiring to collect information intended to be directly or indirectly useful to an enemy. Roussev paid Dzhambazov more than 200,000 euros ($216,880), some of which he transferred on to the defendants, prosecutors said. On Friday, a jury at London’s Old Bailey court found Katrin Ivanova, 43, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, guilty of the same offence, while Ivanova was also convicted of possessing false identity documents. The two women told the jury he had misled them and all three claimed they either had no idea what the activity they had been involved in was about, or that they thought they were working for Interpol. Their conversations, which were at the centre of the prosecution’s case, contained half-baked plans and jokes about Russian operations on British soil, including the 2018 poisoning of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England. Police said the evidence showed the Bulgarians carried out six serious operations under the instruction of Marsalek from 2021 until their arrest in 2023. One of these was a plan to use an IMSI catcher to intercept mobile phone signals at the Patch barracks, a US base near Stuttgart where Ukrainian troops were believed to be training to use surface-to-air Patriot missiles. The pair later discussed plans to deploy the IMSI catcher in Britain in February 2023, shortly before five of the spy ring were arrested. Another operation involved spying on Christo Grozev, a Bulgarian who worked for investigative website Bellingcat. Grozev was the lead investigator on Bellingcat’s reports about Skripal’s poisoning. Marsalek and Roussev discussed stealing Grozev’s computer and possibly kidnapping him and taking him to Russia or even killing him, said prosecutor Alison Morgan. The group also targeted British-based Russian Roman Dobrokhotov, editor in chief of The Insider, Bergey Ryskaliyev, a former Kazakh politician granted asylum in Britain, and Russian dissident Kiril Kachur. The sixth operation involved staging a fake protest outside the Kazakh embassy in London, with a view to enabling Russia to pass information to Kazakh intelligence and gain favour with Kazakhstan, Morgan said. Ivanova was convicted of possessing false identity documents after several documents – including fake Belgian, Bulgarian and French passports bearing Marsalek’s photo – were found at her and Dzhambazov’s home in north London. Police also recovered 75 different passports and ID documents in 55 different names. The trial heard Roussev and Dzhambazov referred to the other Bulgarians as “the minions”, an apparent reference to the small, yellow characters in the Despicable Me animated film series. A plush toy with a spy camera was also found by police. The group will be sentenced in May but the judge Nicholas Hilliard warned them that they faced jail terms. In February the Foreign Office stripped a Russian diplomat of their accreditation, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy saying the the *** will be “unapologetic” in standing up to Mr Putin. That move was in response to what the Foreign Office said was a “baseless” decision to expel a British diplomat from Russia on suspicion of spying in November last year. Source link #Spy #claims #Kremlin #British #diplomat #spouse #Moscow #baseless #No10 Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Rated for PS5 by ESRB Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Rated for PS5 by ESRB VGChartz’s Evan Norris: “From the beginning, 2024 had its work cut out for it. The previous year, 2023, was one of the best in a long time, thanks to a plethora of unusually great games that included Tears of the Kingdom, Baldur’s Gate III, and Resident Evil 4. In the end, 2024 failed to surpass its predecessor, but it turned out plenty of extraordinary experiences in the process. Among those experiences are Astro Bot, a 3D platforming tour-de-force that proves PlayStation studios offer far more than just cinematic third-person action games; Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, an action-RPG that builds upon the successful framework of Final Fantasy VII Remake, a GotY contender itself; Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which did what Hollywood could not and made Indy compelling again; The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a different and joyfully experimental take on the evergreen series; and Metaphor: ReFantazio, yet another in a long line of deep and engaging role-playing games from Atlus.” Source link #Indiana #Jones #Great #Circle #Rated #PS5 #ESRB Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nvidia RTX 5050, RTX 5060, and RTX 5060 Ti specs leak — expect 8GB/16GB flavors and higher TGPs Nvidia RTX 5050, RTX 5060, and RTX 5060 Ti specs leak — expect 8GB/16GB flavors and higher TGPs Nvidia GeForce RTX 5050 and RTX 5060 series GPUs leaks, via renowned industry insider Kopite, reveal minimal changes across the board, especially in the VRAM department. Earlier today, the leaker spilled the beans surrounding Nvidia’s upcoming budget GPU offerings in a series of tweets. From the looks of it, after three long years we’re finally getting another 50-class GPU from Nvidia, but there isn’t much to show for it. As shown by the Steam Hardware Survey, Nvidia’s 60-class GPUs are extremely popular among gamers, with flagship-grade SKUs nowhere in sight. While it’s hard to estimate how much Nvidia rakes in from the budget segment, it undoubtedly plays a key role in shaping mind share and consumer sentiment. The cheapest GPU in the top-five list goes for $300. This speaks volumes about how much the average user is willing to spend on their graphics card. As per their usual leaks, Kopite has detailed specifications of Nvidia’s soon-to-be-announced budget GPUs, likely at GTC in a few days. The RTX 5060 Ti reportedly carries the GB206-300-A1 GPU core, with 4,608 CUDA cores (36 SMs) and a 128-bit memory interface. Going by rumored data from the same leaker, this should be a fully enabled GB206 die, coming in 8GB and 16GB (clamshell) flavors with a 180W TGP (Total Graphics Power). With 75W from the PCIe slot, the 5060 Ti falls comfortably within range of a single 8-pin connector (150W), even for some custom variants. Swipe to scroll horizontally GPU Name RTX 5060 Ti RTX 4060 Ti RTX 5060 RTX 4060 RTX 5050 Family Blackwell Ada Lovelace Blackwell Ada Lovelace Blackwell Board Name PG152-SKU10/15 PG190-SKU361 PG152-SKU25 PG173-SKU371 PG152-SKU50 GPU Core GB206-300-A1 AD106-350-A1 GB206-250-A1 AD107-400-A1 GB207-300-A1 CUDA Cores 4,608 4,352 3,840 3,072 2,560 SMs 36 34 30 24 20 Bus Width 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit 128-bit Memory 16GB/8GB GDDR7 16GB/8GB GDDR6 8GB GDDR7 8GB GDDR6 8GB GDDR6 TGP 180W 165W/160W 150W 115W 130W The vanilla RTX 5060 only purportedly offers an 8GB configuration, but that’s expected since all these GPUs are limited to a 128-bit bus. With 3,840 CUDA cores (30 SMs), it is expected to be built using binned GB206 dies (GB206-250-A1) that otherwise did not qualify for the more powerful RTX 5060 Ti. The TGP has been upped to 150W from 115W, though you could tune that with a pinch of undervolting if needed. Nvidia might be able to extract a decent uplift versus the RTX 4060 considering the 25% more CUDA cores, 30% higher TGP, and other architectural refinements. Lastly, the budget RTX 5050 drops to the entry-level GB207, with a fully functional die provided Kopite’s data is solid. The GB207 design limits it to just 20 SMs or 2,560 CUDA cores. Assuming a 10% architectural uplift from Ada Lovelace to Blackwell, normalized for core counts and frequencies, the RTX 5050 might struggle against the RTX 4060 in certain scenarios. In any case, we’d love to see this GPU hit shelves for under $200, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Nvidia’s GTC runs from March 17 to 21, where we can expect to learn more about budget Blackwell among other AI, data science, and robotics related developments. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Nvidia #RTX #RTX #RTX #specs #leak #expect #8GB16GB #flavors #higher #TGPs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

S&P 500 could fall further and reach 5,300, says chart analyst Stockton S&P 500 could fall further and reach 5,300, says chart analyst Stockton The S & P 500 is coming off its worst week of the year, and chart analyst Katie Stockton sees even more pain ahead. Fairlead Strategies’ founder told CNBC’s ” Squawk Box ” she sees the S & P 500 falling to around 5,300 before regaining its footing. That’s 8.1% below Friday’s close of 5,770.20. “We have very weak momentum, and it’s evident behind the market. And if you take a step back and look at the major indexes, they look like a double-top formation in the shape of an M, and that’s not a good sign,” Stockton said. The S & P 500 last week fell 3.1%, its biggest weekly decline since September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite also suffered steep losses last week, dropping 2.4% and 3.5%, respectively. .SPX YTD mountain SPX year to date Those declines come as fears of an economic recession pick up steam, with the Trump administration moving forward with tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico. Levies on some goods from Canada and Mexico are exempt until April, but increased duties on ******** imports have already gone into effect. The uncertainty around tariffs has pushed investors out of riskier assets like stocks and into safe havens such as U.S. Treasurys. Earlier this year, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hit a high of 4.89%. Since then, it has dropped to 4.22%. (Yields move inversely to prices). Gold, another perceived safety hedge, hit a record at around $2,974 per ounce last month and remains above $2,900. One possible silver lining? Friday’s stock market gains after the Fevruary jobs report could mark the beginning of a rebound, according to BTIG chief market technician Jonathan Krinsky. “NFP days have often marked inflection points over the last year. We think tactically, at least, Friday once again marked a turn before a rally takes hold,” he said, referring to the non-farm payroll report. “SPX is oversold and showing downside exhaustion signals, while small-caps are down six weeks in a row, a streak seen only four other times since 2000. They have never been down seven weeks in a row.” Elsewhere Monday morning on Wall Street, Piper Sandler upgraded Samsara , a Cloud software provider that helps businesses build an Internet of Things connecting sensors and other devices, to overweight from neutral, calling for a 40% pop after a post-earnings sell-off last week . “Expectations have been high for Samsara the last +6 months and, following FQ4′s print, have largely been reset as investors are realizing +30% is not likely to be sustained,” analyst James Fish said. “However, we think +20% is easily obtainable over the next few years.” Source link #fall #reach #chart #analyst #Stockton Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Kugler says Fed should hold interest rates amid inflation risks Kugler says Fed should hold interest rates amid inflation risks Adriana Kugler, member of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve, speaks on the economy in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024. Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images Inflation could prove sticky while prices might pick up again, Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler warned, signaling that the U.S. central bank should keep interest rates steady for the time. “I’m actually quite concerned about some of the persistence in inflation that we have been seeing,” she told CNBC’s Silvia Amaro during a fireside chat at the Conference on Monetary Policy Transmission and the Labor Market on Friday. She pointed to a recent acceleration of inflation expectations, which she said she watches closely for their effect on how businesses set prices and how workers negotiate wages. This in turn means they could feed back into inflation. Several recent data points have indicated concerns from consumers about prices increasing, with the latest Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board showing 12-month inflation expectations jumped to 6% in February, up from 5.2% the prior month. “I have been one of those who has supported strongly any policy that really keeps inflation expectations well anchored. And I think that’s critical, and it has served us well,” Kugler said. Looking ahead, the Fed’s Kugler indicated that prices could also rise again. “I think you know there is reason to believe, potentially, that there could be price increases and more persistent inflation,” she said, adding that higher prices could come from “some of the policies that maybe are being considered and some that have already been put into place.” Such policies could also impact economic activity, Kugler noted. “We need to probably take account of some of this persistence that I mentioned, because of different categories of prices, because of inflation expectations, and potentially because some of the new policies that are ahead of us,” Kugler said. Touching on the frequently changing developments surrounding the U.S. administration’s decision to impose tariffs on goods imported from key trading partners, including negotiations and potential retaliatory moves, the Fed’s Kugler said there was still “considerable uncertainty.” Analysts and economists have widely indicated that they expect potential tariffs, and any reciprocal measures to bump prices higher for countries on both sides of the measures. In prepared remarks Kugler gave at the conference, she likewise warned of inflation risks also weighing in on the outlook for interest rates from the Fed. “Given the recent increase in inflation expectations and the key inflation categories that have not shown progress toward our 2 percent target, it could be appropriate to continue holding the policy rate at its current level for some time,” she said in the address. The Fed has cut interest rates three times since September, for a combined full percentage point, before holding steady in January. The bank’s overnight borrowing rate currently sits in a range between 4.25%-4.5%. According to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, traders were last pricing in a 97% chance of the central bank also leaving rates unchanged when it next meets later this month. The picture then appears to become less clear, with an around 63% likelihood of rates also being held at the Fed’s May meeting, before tipping toward a rate cut in June. Source link #Kugler #Fed #hold #interest #rates #inflation #risks Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Resident Evil Director Teases A “Different” House Of The Dead Movie, Could Start Shooting This Year Resident Evil Director Teases A “Different” House Of The Dead Movie, Could Start Shooting This Year Barbarian director Zach Cregger may be helming the next Resident Evil movie, but Paul W.S. Anderson–the man who directed or produced the first six Resident Evil movies–is turning his attention to bringing *****’s House of the Dead back to the big screen. According to Anderson, that film may begin production as soon as this year. “The script is almost done,” Anderson told Variety. “We’re aiming to shoot in the fourth quarter of this year. I’m really going to push the envelope on this one. It’s going to be something different for me.” Anderson added that he’s attempting to recreate the feel of the arcade game by dropping audiences in on the story and letting it play out in real-time until the end of the movie. “It’s going to be immersive and very, very scary,” explained Anderson. “It’ll all play out in real time, so it reflects the experience of playing the video game. The only time it stops is when you beat the game or you die. That’s going to be the only way out.” Uwe Boll directed the first House of the Dead movie in 2003, but Anderson’s film is a fresh start that will be based on The House of the Dead 3. There are two main characters in that story. The first is a woman named Lisa Rogan, who’s out to save her father. The other is Daniel Curien, the son of the man who is responsible for the zombie outbreak. While there isn’t currently a release date for the new House of the Dead movie, The House of the Dead 2: Remake is expected to arrive on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC in the second quarter of this year. Source link #Resident #Evil #Director #Teases #House #Dead #Movie #Start #Shooting #Year Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Apple’s rumored foldable iPad could take major step towards hiding the screen island Apple’s rumored foldable iPad could take major step towards hiding the screen island Rumors about a foldable all-screen Apple device have been circling for a while — some call it a MacBook and others call it an iPad. Today, 9To5Mac spotted a leak from Digital chat station on Weibo claiming there’s a prototype of the mysterious foldable with Face ID tech hiding beneath the screen. Translations of the leak, originally posted in ********, mention a “metal super-structured lens” with integrated “Face ID Rx and Tx” to do under-screen 3D face recognition. Apple patents for this tech already exist and we all understand why the company would be chasing it — to finally get rid of the infamous notch or “dynamic island” that plagues current iPhone, MacBook, and iPad models. The notch currently exists because it’s difficult for the infrared used in Face ID to travel through a display and difficult to achieve quality results from a camera when the display is blocking the lens. According to one of the Apple patents on this subject, visible light transmission through displays can be less than 20%. If Apple can figure out how to let more light in when needed, sensors like cameras, ambient light sensors, and proximity sensors could work while hidden under the display. It’s unclear, however, how many of the sensors currently in the Dynamic Island are hidden under the screen in this new prototype. This figure from an Apple patent shows just how many display layers light has to travel through to reach a sensor. Apple Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the end of the dreaded notch, even though we have learned to live with it for now. Every time a new iPhone comes, someone somewhere hedges their bets on this being the one to go notchless — but the reality is that it’s a really hard thing to pull off. However, if this leak proves accurate, this tech could be a major step towards the eventual end of the Dynamic Island and in the immediate future, our notches could get significantly smaller. Source link #Apples #rumored #foldable #iPad #major #step #hiding #screen #island Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Tanker and cargo vessel collide off ***: reports Tanker and cargo vessel collide off ***: reports The United Kingdom coastguard is responding to reports of a collision between a tanker and cargo vessel off England’s northeastern coast, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency says. A helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats and nearby vessels with fire-fighting capability were called to the incident, the agency said. The alarm for the incident was raised at 9.48am local time. The BBC reported that the oil tanker involved in the collision was on fire. Reuters could not immediately verify that report. The United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organisation, is aware of the situation, and is checking further, it said. Maritime analytics website Marine Traffic showed a number of vessels including container ships and oil tankers in the area of the North Sea where the collision occurred. The PA news agency reported the collision in the Humber Estuary was believed to involve a US-flagged chemical and oil products tanker called the MV Stena Immaculate. The US tanker was at anchor, according to ship tracking tool Vesselfinder. The site of the collision is off the coast of Hull, about 250km north of London. with PA and AP Source link #Tanker #cargo #vessel #collide #reports Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

X-Out: Resurfaced review – ChristCenteredGamer X-Out: Resurfaced review – ChristCenteredGamer CCG writes – “If youre good at this game it may only take a couple of hours to beat. If youre not doing well, the cheats that unlock if you fail. The asking price is a little steep at $19.99, but I definitely recommend picking it up on ***** if you enjoy shoot em ups.” Source link #XOut #Resurfaced #review #ChristCenteredGamer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i review: The most luxurious ultrabook Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i review: The most luxurious ultrabook Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Every once in a while, we come across a laptop that makes us reconsider what luxury looks like. Lenovo’s 14-inch Yoga Slim 9i ($1,834.99 as tested) is the apex of class and style when it comes to Windows laptops, with a sleek glass lid and an ultra-thin profile that even smaller-screen laptops struggle to match. It also has one of the finest displays we’ve ever laid eyes on. That said, this beauty isn’t without its flaws, so be sure to weigh your options among the best ultrabooks carefully before maxing out your credit card. Design of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i If I were to call any laptop a true luxury item, the Yoga Slim 9i would fit the bill. Its glass lid is the real showstopper, featuring a stunning blue finish that shimmers and changes hues when it catches the light. It’s absolutely beautiful. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) As you open the lid – easily done with one hand – you’ll see the sleek metal chassis. It’s rock solid, with no trace of flex, even when I (inadvisably) tested its strength by picking it up from one corner. The lid isn’t quite as rigid, but it’s still reassuringly stiff. The rounded, reflective chassis edges are yet another luxurious touch. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The design does have its drawbacks. The lid and chassis edges are prone to smudges and fingerprints, so keeping a microfiber cloth handy is a good idea. And while it has passed MIL-STD-810H tests for durability in extreme conditions, you’ll want to handle this with extra care to avoid any unsightly scratches. The Yoga Slim 9i is one of the most portable 14-inch laptops, at 12.32 x 8.01 x 0.57 inches and weighing 2.76 pounds. Its exceptionally thin display bezels are partly thanks to a special webcam design that is based under the screen. You can see more on that in the webcam section, below. The Dell XPS 13 (9350) is a bit more compact, thanks to its 13.4-inch display, measuring 11.62 x 7.84 x 0.58 inches and weighing nearly the same at 2.7 pounds. Despite having an even smaller 13-inch display, the HP Omnibook Ultra is actually larger than the Yoga, coming in at 12.41 x 8.96 x 0.65 inches and 3.47 pounds. The Apple MacBook Pro (M4, 14-inch), sits somewhere in between, with dimensions of 12.31 x 8.71 x 0.61 inches and a weight of 3.4 pounds. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) One trade-off for being this slim is the limited selection of physical connections – just two Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) ports. The Dell XPS 13 (9350) has the same problem. On the bright side, Lenovo positioned one on each edge, giving you some flexibility when plugging in the power adapter. That said, there’s no USB Type-A port, dedicated video output, or even a headphone jack. If you depend on physical connections, you’ll probably need to carry adapters or transition to Bluetooth devices. Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Specifications Swipe to scroll horizontally CPU Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Graphics Intel Arc Graphics 140V Memory 32GB LPDDR5X-8533 Storage 1TB SSD Display 14-inch, 3840 x 2400, 16:10, OLED, 120 Hz, touch Networking Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE201, Bluetooth 5.4 Ports 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) Camera 32 megapixel (photo)/1080p (video) Battery 75 Wh Power Adapter 65W (USB-C) Operating System Windows 11 Home Dimensions (WxDxH) 12.32 x 8.01 x 0.57 inches / 312.93 x 203.5 x 14.5 mm Weight 2.76 pounds / 1.25 kg Price (as configured) $1,834.99 Productivity Performance on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i We tested the Yoga Slim 9i with an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor, 32GB of RAM, Intel Arc Graphics 140V, and a 1TB SSD. The CPU is a “Lunar Lake” chip featuring four performance and four efficient cores. The laptops we’re using in the comparison charts include the 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro (10-core M4, $1,949 as tested), the Dell XPS 13 (9350) (Core Ultra 7 258V, $1,599 as tested), and the HP Omnibook Ultra (AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, $1,748 as tested). Both the Apple and HP laptops have considerably stronger processors for the price. Image 1 of 4 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Yoga Slim 9i was competitive with the XPS in the synthetic Geekbench 6 test, achieving 2,733 points in single-core and 11,038 points in multi-core, compared to the XPS’s 2,660 and 10,486 points, respectively. However, it trailed the HP, which scored 2,847 and 14,838 points. The MacBook bested them all, especially in single-core performance, with an impressive score of 3,807 points in single-core and 15,114 points in multi-core. In our 25GB file transfer test, the Yoga Slim 9i finished last, copying at an average speed of 1,032.87 MBps. The MacBook performed slightly better at 1,167.29 MBps. The XPS showed a marked improvement with 1,533.86 MBps, while the HP led the pack with an impressive 1,708.23 MBps. The Yoga Slim 9i continued its average performance in our Handbrake test, which transcodes a 4K video file to 1080p. It completed the task in 6 minutes and 7 seconds, outperforming the XPS, which took 8 minutes and 35 seconds. However, it fell short compared to the MacBook’s 4 minutes and 27 seconds and the HP’s 4 minutes and 18 seconds. We stress-test ultrabooks with 10 loops of Cinebench 2024. The Yoga 9i scored 582 points on the first run and maintained consistency within five points across subsequent runs, demonstrating stable thermal performance. During the test, the P-cores operated at an average of 3.1 GHz, while the E-cores averaged 3.6 GHz. The average temperature of the processor was 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit). Display on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i The Yoga Slim 9i’s OLED touch display is its hallmark feature. With a 3840 x 2400 resolution (16:10 aspect ratio), it shows remarkable detail, making individual pixels indistinguishable to the human eye. Its picture quality is simply spectacular and the best I’ve seen on a laptop. Colors were incredibly vibrant in Despicable Me 2, and I was glued to BBC’s Planet Earth III for hours. The brightness is also very good; I didn’t use the laptop at maximum brightness most of the time. The wide color space will appear to creators; the Lenovo Vantage app lets you switch between sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color spaces. Additionally, the refresh rate can be toggled between 60 Hz and 120 Hz using the Fn + R keyboard shortcut. The display does have a couple of drawbacks, the most noticeable being its reflective surface, which can produce distracting glare from ambient light. While this wasn’t a major issue for me, I did find myself using higher screen brightness than I would have preferred to counteract the reflections. Another issue, which I initially didn’t notice, is that the top corners of the display are rounded, like some of Microsoft’s Surface devices, resulting in a small portion of the pixels being cut off. For example, the Close (X) button in application windows appears slightly trimmed at the top right. Although this doesn’t impact the laptop’s overall usability, it seems to be a trade-off for achieving such a slim top display bezel. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Yoga’s brightness and color performance were on par with the OLED-equipped XPS 13, delivering 146.5% DCI-P3 color coverage and an average peak brightness of 356 nits — impressive for an OLED display. In comparison, the non-OLED models fell far behind in color reproduction. Among them, the MacBook Pro’s mini-LED screen was the most vibrant, achieving 80.2% DCI-P3 coverage. While the Mac also led in brightness at 556.6 nits, it’s not directly comparable to the OLED displays. Webcam on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i The Yoga Slim 9i introduces what Lenovo calls the CUD (Camera Under Display). When enabled, you’ll notice a circular ****** mark appear at the top of the screen – that’s the webcam. It’s essentially like a notch on a smartphone. This is ingenious in the sense the webcam is invisible except when it’s on; no bezel on top of the screen is needed to accommodate it. That said, I found the webcam quality disappointing, particularly for a laptop this expensive. It displays significant grain and color distortion even under good lighting conditions. Despite a 1080p video resolution, it lacks sharpness, too. The camera also boasts a 32-megapixel photo resolution, but this felt more like a marketing gimmick; the photos showed little improvement over the video quality, and the extra resolution doesn’t do anything to help that. One upside with the webcam is that it does have a physical kill switch on the laptop’s right edge. However, it lacks an infrared sensor, leaving the fingerprint reader as the sole biometric option. Keyboard and Touchpad on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Although many ultraportable laptops often have shallow keyboards, the Yoga Slim 9i surprises with a healthy 1.5 mm key travel. The keys provide satisfying tactile feedback for long typing sessions. I quickly got used to it, managing 112 words per minute with perfect accuracy on my first try in the MonkeyType online typing test and 119 wpm the second time, which is my maximum speed on any laptop. I also appreciate the keys’ soft-touch coating and the two-level white backlighting that makes working in the dark no problem. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The main keyboard is laid out as expected and includes a Function Lock feature (Fn + Esc) to prioritize the F1 through F12 keys. The star key beside F12 is a customizable shortcut key, configurable through the Lenovo Vantage app. One downside, however, is the mismatched sizes of the arrow keys, which I find makes me prone to typos. Only the right column of the keyboard is nonstandard, but in a good way. Arrayed from the top are shortcuts for performance mode (performance, balanced, or quiet), Dolby Atmos equalizer settings (e.g., movie, music, etc.), the display’s blue light filter, and one to launch the Lenovo Vantage app (described later in this review). There’s also a fingerprint reader at the bottom. The fingerprint reader isn’t the power button, which is located on the right edge. The Yoga’s touchpad is also excellent. While it looks slightly small at 4.1 inches x 2.7 inches, it maximizes the available vertical space. My fingers glided across its surface, and the physical clicks provide direct tactile feedback without making too much noise. Audio on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i The Yoga’s speakers sound full-bodied and are plenty loud for personal listening. The bass notes and vocals in Aurosonic’s “Moving Mountains” were engaging, and I noted the crisp sound effects and satisfying bass depth while watching Blade Runner: 2049. The Dolby Atmos settings in the Dolby Access app aid the sound quality. Music mode is good for everything, adding extra detail, while Movie mode noticeably expands the soundstage. As I noted, the Yoga lacks a headphone jack, so you’ll need a Bluetooth or USB Type-C device for alternative sound output, such as the best PC speakers. Upgradeability of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Upgrade prospects for the Yoga Slim 9i are, well, slim. The only replaceable parts are the battery and the SSD, which uses the compact M.2 2230 format, restricting compatible drives. Upgrading the memory is not possible since it is integrated into the Core Ultra 7 “Lunar Lake” processor. The Wi-Fi 7 wireless card is also soldered and not replaceable, though it shouldn’t need replacement anytime soon. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Removing the bottom panel of the Yoga Slim 9i is no simple task. In addition to four visible T5 screws, there are two hidden Philips-head screws concealed beneath the rear rubber foot. I used a plastic trim tool to carefully pry the foot loose. Lenovo used some adhesive to hold it down, but it seems unnecessary as the foot has hooks that go into the chassis. Once reattached, it felt just as stable. However, for those unfamiliar with this design, overlooking these hidden screws could lead to damage when attempting to remove the bottom panel. When reassembling the laptop, that foot fits back in with hooks. I’m not sure it would survive a bunch of openings, but once or twice should be OK. Battery Life on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Our battery life test involves simulated web browsing, streaming video over Wi-Fi, and running OpenGL tests, all with the screen brightness set to 150 nits. The Yoga Slim 9i trailed the group, lasting 11 hours and 3 minutes. The only device with a shorter runtime was the OLED-equipped XPS 13, at 8 hours and 40 minutes, but the normal LCD version lasted 17 hours and 29 minutes. Meanwhile, the Omnibook Ultra (with an IPS screen) lasted 12 hours and 52 minutes, while the MacBook Pro (with a mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR screen) led with 18 hours and 31 minutes. While the Yoga’s battery life is far from unusable, it wouldn’t be our top pick for maximum endurance off the plug. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Heat on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i We measure laptop surface temperatures during our Cinebench 2024 stress test. The Yoga’s touchpad registered 69 degrees F, the center of the keyboard (between the G and H keys) was 86 degrees, and the maximum temperature on the underside was 82 degrees. The laptop felt only lukewarm. Additionally, the fans operated quietly and remained unobtrusive, even in my nearly silent testing room. Software and Warranty on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i The familiar Lenovo Vantage app is the most important pre-installed software on the Yoga Slim 9i. Its user-friendly interface offers many useful features, such as a battery conservation mode, an overnight charging feature that adapts your habits to fully charge the battery before you need it, and a blue light filter for the display. Additionally, the app provides Dolby Atmos audio customization, system diagnostics, a security advisor, a network utility to identify secure wireless networks, system updates, and access to customer support. A McAfee antivirus license is included, though we removed it for testing. There is also the mentioned Dolby Access app for setting Atmos equalizer settings. Lenovo backs the Yoga Slim 9i with a one-year warranty. Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Configurations Lenovo offers the Yoga Slim 9i in two configurations: one features a Core Ultra 7 256V processor paired with 16GB of RAM, while the other includes a Core Ultra 7 258V processor and 32GB of RAM. The two processors are identical apart from the embedded memory capacity. Both models come equipped with a 1TB SSD. At $1,834.99, Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 9i is undeniably expensive, but it’s not unreasonable compared to similar premium laptops. For instance, the Dell XPS 9350, featuring an OLED screen, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, is listed at $1,999.99 on Dell.com as of this writing. The Apple MacBook Pro offers a comparable price point at $1,799.99, equipped with an M4 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. On the other hand, the HP Omnibook Ultra is a more budget-friendly option, priced at $1,499.99 at Best Buy, with an OLED display, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. Bottom Line The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a dazzler, blending luxurious design with a spectacular OLED display. It stands out as one of the most stylish and portable 14-inch laptops on the market. Beyond aesthetic allure, it also features a comfortable keyboard, responsive touchpad, and solid audio performance. That said, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i has its share of limitations. Its connectivity options are minimal, offering only two USB-C ports with no additional features – not even a headphone jack. The under-display webcam, while an impressive technological achievement, delivers disappointing video quality. Moreover, though its battery life can cover a workday, competitors like the non-OLED Dell XPS 13 (9350) and the Apple MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4) offer even longer durations away from the plug, a trade-off for the Yoga’s gorgeous OLED display. Last, while its performance is more than sufficient for everyday tasks, the Core Ultra 7 “Lunar Lake” processor falls short when compared to more robust options like the AMD Ryzen AI-powered HP Omnibook Ultra or the M4-equipped MacBook Pro. In the realm of premium ultrabooks, the Omnibook Ultra and the MacBook Pro remain stronger all-around choices at a comparable price, albeit with added weight and (in the case of the MacBook) the absence of an OLED display. But for those prioritizing elegance, display quality, and portability above all else, the Yoga Slim 9i is an enticing option. Source link #Lenovo #Yoga #Slim #review #luxurious #ultrabook Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Giraffe gives birth at Denver Zoo: How to help pick the name Giraffe gives birth at Denver Zoo: How to help pick the name Giraffe gives birth at Denver Zoo: How to help pick the name Source link #Giraffe #birth #Denver #Zoo #pick Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Watcher of Realms to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with new in-game event and rewards Watcher of Realms to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with new in-game event and rewards Watcher of Realms is set to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a new in-game event Sadie and Ardea will receive new skins, while the new tank hero Malvira will debut Keep an eye out for sign-in rewards, other events and more! When it comes to cultural holidays I think that few have the huge influence that St Patrick’s Day does. While similar cultural institutions from their Celtic cousins, like St David’s Day in Wales, are relatively obscure this celebration is marked all over the world. Even in gaming the cultural influence can be felt, as Watcher of Realms is one of many to mark St Patrick’s Day with new in-game events! Four-Leaf Clover’s Song, as the event is called, features a new skin, hero and free rewards. Malvira, the new hero, debuts as a premier tank hero; boasting shield mechanics and immortality skills that allow her to excel at crowd control and AOE damage output. Not only that, but the heroes Sadie and Ardea will also receive new skins with the Emerald Piper and The Arctic Ripper respectively from a limited-time bundle. That’s on top of the Lucky Sign-in, Fishing Master, Odyssey of Dreams and other events that let you obtain a total of 110 summons this St Patrick’s Day! Paired up Meanwhile, aside from free rewards, you should also keep an eye on the limited-time summoning event taking place from March 14th to the 17th where you’ll have the chance to get a 15x higher summoning rate for Malvira and Sadie, letting you put together a powerful healer-tank duo. Meanwhile, lord Ghan from the Chaos Dominion faction and the fighter ARdea will also have a 15x rate-up event taking place from March 15th to 17th to let you further upgrade them! If you’re looking to get a further boost as you jump into Watcher of Realms don’t forget to check out some of our guides! Our list of Watcher of Realms codes, updated for March 2025, is sure to help with nabbing a little extra boost to help you along. Source link #Watcher #Realms #celebrate #Patricks #Day #ingame #event #rewards Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

New Databricks tools tackle lingering GenAI accuracy issues New Databricks tools tackle lingering GenAI accuracy issues Databricks on Monday unveiled new features, including governance and monitoring capabilities, designed to enable customers to scale generative AI beyond pilot projects and low-risk applications. While studies show widespread interest among enterprises in developing and deploying generative AI tools, they also show that concerns regarding the accuracy of generative AI outputs and data security prevent many from putting such tools into production. For example, a recent survey by Deloitte found that only 30% of respondents expect current generative AI experiments to be fully scaled by the midpoint of the year, with mistakes leading to real-world consequences cited as the top barrier. To alleviate such concerns, Databricks introduced centralized governance for all AI models through the AI governance framework Mosaic AI Gateway and real-time performance observability with Lakehouse Monitoring for Agents, among other features. The tools — now in various stages of testing and preview — do address concerns related to generative AI accuracy, according to Andy Thurai, an analyst at Constellation Research. However, whether enterprises want to use Databricks for governance, observability and other features that address accuracy remains to be seen. “[The] features address the enterprise adoption of GenAI, for sure,” Thurai said. “But … almost every platform provider, every hyperscaler, every model provider and many startups are working to provide similar solutions. While Databricks has a leg up with its data platform, I’m not sure they will fully convert those with enterprise AI needs to their platform.” Based in San Francisco, Databricks is a data platform vendor that helped pioneer the data lakehouse format for data management. Over the past two years, the vendor has expanded to prioritize AI development. Competitors include archrival Snowflake and tech giants such as AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft. New capabilities Given generative AI’s potential to make workers better informed and more efficient, many enterprises have increased their investments in AI development since OpenAI’s November 2022 launch of ChatGPT marked a significant improvement in generative AI capabilities. However, the accuracy of generative AI outputs has been a concern since the recent surge of interest. Even with the requisite volume of high-quality data, AI hallucinations can still occur. In addition, because generative AI models need to be combined with an organization’s proprietary data to understand that organization’s operations, data security is a concern. Therefore, despite enterprises wanting widespread use of generative AI to better inform workers and automate some processes, many only use generative AI on a small scale for internal applications, according to Stephen Catanzano, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, now part of Omdia. For example, enterprises are deploying generative AI chatbots that assist employees but are hesitant to deploy agents that can autonomously take on certain tasks. “Enterprises are primarily using GenAI for low-risk internal use cases due to concerns over accuracy, governance and security,” he said. “The fear of financial and reputational risks, along with challenges in integrating GenAI with enterprise data, is holding them back from major initiatives.” Databricks’ new capabilities include the following features: Custom LLM provider support in Mosaic AI Gateway, now in public preview, so customers can govern all their AI models in a central location, including open source and proprietary SaaS models. Lakehouse Monitoring for Agents, a feature in beta testing that deploys MLflow Tracing and LLM judges so users can track the performance of AI agents. An API in public preview that enables developers to integrate Genie, a conversational interface that lets users interact with data using natural language, into custom-built applications and productivity platforms. Batch inferencing capabilities with Mosaic AI Model Serving to simplify infrastructures needed to integrate unstructured data and train models. Each feature is purposeful, with centralized AI governance potentially the most significant, according to Thurai. “Centralized governance for all AI models is an interesting solution,” he said. “Integrating and managing both open source and proprietary SaaS models in one place and the ability to set governance policies centrally can be compelling for large enterprises which have distributed units that work independently on AI models and consumption.” In addition, real-time monitoring could spur more enterprise adoption of generative AI, Thurai added. Catanzano noted that the new capabilities address some — though not all — concerns preventing enterprises from more widespread generative AI use. Like Thurai, he highlighted Lakehouse Monitoring for Agents to address accuracy and the Mosaic AI Gateway capabilities unifying governance for AI models. “These directly address key enterprise concerns around control, reliability and compliance,” Catanzano said. Regarding the impetus for the new features, customer feedback played a prominent role, according to Craig Wiley, Databricks’ senior director of product. “Our customers are excited by AI agents’ potential but scaling them effectively while ensuring quality and governance remains a challenge,” he said. “Even the most advanced GenAI models struggle to deliver business-specific, accurate, and well-governed outputs, largely because they lack awareness of relevant enterprise data.” Plans While the new capabilities address customer concerns related to accuracy and performance, there are other ways Databricks can improve its AI development and management capabilities, according to Catanzano. For example, model fine-tuning is one area the vendor could improve. Adding industry-specific AI applications, boosting explainability and bias detection, and developing automated AI agent lifecycle management are others. “These advancements would further build enterprise confidence in deploying AI for mission-critical applications,” Catanzano said. Databricks’ actual plans include additional features that simplify developing, governing, deploying and evaluating AI agents, according to Wiley. Among them are tools to develop the agents suggested by Catanzano that solve domain-specific problems. Thurai, meanwhile, noted that while Databricks has a strong AI development suite relative to its competition, it’s difficult to navigate. In addition, while it has consistently added capabilities over the past two years, it could provide more integrations that enable customers to customize their AI development stack. “Things like usability and user experience have been a major customer complaint,” Thurai said. “And integration with more third-party tools such as vector databases, better optimization of AI workloads, fast and efficient analytics for hybrid environments and cost efficiency are areas they could improve.” Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for Informa TechTarget and a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He covers analytics and data management. Source link #Databricks #tools #tackle #lingering #GenAI #accuracy #issues Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]