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Netgear Orbi 870 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router review: Solid performance can’t mask high price and feature regression Netgear Orbi 870 Wi-Fi 7 mesh router review: Solid performance can’t mask high price and feature regression 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. Netgear has long maintained its line of Orbi routers, dating way back to the Wi-Fi 5 days. Its most recent Orbi routers leverage the current Wi-Fi 7 standard, and we’ve already looked at the flagship Orbi 970 and the entry-level Orbi 770. Now, Netgear is completing the range with the mid-level Orbi 870, which is the subject of our review today. Unlike other cheaper mesh routers, the Orbi 870 is a complete, tri-band solution. However, there are some hardware downgrades compared to the Orbi 970 that you’ll need to keep in mind. While the Orbi 970 router offers a 10 Gbps WAN port and one 10 Gbps LAN port, the Orbi 870 router only provides a 10 Gbps WAN – the four LAN ports are limited to 2.5 Gbps. Priced at $549, $999, and $1,299 for one-, two-, and three-node systems, respectively, the Orbi 870 isn’t cheap. It does offer consistent performance but is not good enough to make our list of best Wi-Fi routers. Design of the Netgear Orbi 870 Netgear’s Orbi routers traditionally have come in white, but in recent years, the company has offered a ****** Edition. Our review unit was the ****** Edition, with a router and two satellites. The Orbi 870 ****** Edition is exclusively active on Netgear.com, while the standard white versions are available on Netgear.com and various retail partners. While some manufacturers use an identical port setup for the main router and satellite nodes, the Orbi 870 differs. The Orbi 870 router has a single 10 Gbps WAN port and four 2.5 Gbps LAN ports. On the other hand, the two Orbi 870 satellites from our review sample only have four 2.5 Gbps ports. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) While I have nothing against 2.5 Gbps ports, I would have liked to have seen at least one 5 Gbps LAN port on the router and the satellites. If Amazon can do it with the cheaper Eero 7 Pro, Netgear can oblige on the Orbi 870. It’s disappointing for a modern, Wi-Fi 7 mesh router with an as-tested price of $1,299 to drop the ball with only 2.5 Gbps wired connectivity. In addition to the WAN and LAN ports on the back of each node, there’s also a pin-hole reset button and a sync button. You won’t find a USB port here, as you might see on competitive offerings in the Asus ZenWiFi mesh router family. Each node is quite large, measuring 5.78 x 4.43 inches with a height of 10.64 inches. Given the size, these wireless units will stick out like a sore thumb in your home or office. If you plan on placing a unit on a bookshelf, check your shelf clearance before purchasing one. Besides the step backward on the port front compared to the Orbi 970, the Orbi 870 also has some downgrades on the wireless front. The 2.4 GHz band uses a 2×2 setup with a maximum speed of 688 Mbps compared to 4×4 and 1,147 Mbps for the Orbi 970. Likewise, the Orbi 970 has two 5 GHz wireless bands (4×4 8,647 Mbps band for a dedicated backhaul and a 4×4 5,765 Mbps band for client traffic) compared to just one for the Orbi 870. The Orbi 870 also uses a slower quad-core processor than its more expensive sibling (1.5 GHz versus 2.2 GHz) and has fewer internal antennas (8 versus 12). A single Orbi 870 router or satellite covers 3,000 square feet. As configured with a router and two satellites, our review unit covers 9,000 square feet. Netgear Orbi 870 Specifications Swipe to scroll horizontally Wi-Fi Standard Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) Wi-Fi Bands 2.4 GHz: 2×2 (Tx/Rx), up to 688 Mbps 5 GHz: 4×4 (Tx/Rx), up to 8,647 Mbps 6 GHz: 4×4 (Tx/Rx), up to 11,530 Mbps CPU 1.5 GHz quad-core processor Memory 2GB RAM, 4GB Flash Coverage 9,000 square feet as tested (one router, two satellites) Ports 1x 10G for WAN, 4x 2.5G for LAN (router), 4x 2.5G for LAN (satellites) Setting up the Netgear Orbi 870 The Netgear Orbi 870 supports setup via a web browser or a smartphone app (Android and iOS). I opted to go the app route for setup since I already have the Orbi app installed on my iPhone. The first step of the process was to scan the QR code on the front of the Orbi 870 router, which identified the unit’s configuration and asked me to join it wirelessly. I then breezed through the mundane tasks of naming the wireless SSID and creating a password. After tapping through the various options as quickly as possible, I made an admin login and password to use when logging in to the GUI. Once I had completed these steps, the setup program asked that I plug in the two satellites, which would take several minutes to configure. From start to finish, the network was fully up and running in less than 10 minutes. Netgear Orbi 870 Software As I’ve mentioned in previous Orbi reviews, the desktop browser interface hasn’t changed much in the many years since the first Orbi routers debuted. Netgear adheres to the adage: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” With that said, two primary tabs remain on the web GUI’s left-side: Basic and Advanced. As expected, Basic provides quick and easy controls over your internet connection and wireless settings. You’ll also find a list of connected clients (wired and wireless) and controls for adding a guest network or an additional Orbi satellite. 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 Advanced tab is available for power users wanting more network control. You can configure wireless bands for your guest and IoT networks, configure DNS settings, backup your router settings for transferring to another network, perform firmware updates, and more. While you’ll have more control over your network than what you’d find in something like Amazon’s Eero 7 family, it pales compared to the Asus ZenWiFi mesh routers running AsusWRT 5.0. For the $1,299 MSRP of the Orbi 870 (as tested), it’d be nice to have more control over custom SSIDs, and even support for smartphone tethering/internet sharing in the case of an ISP outage or Time Machine backup support. Of course, you’d need USB ports for those latter two features, which should be included at this price point. As I mentioned earlier, Netgear also has an Orbi smartphone app. You can use this instead of or in addition to the browser-based GUI. Most configuration options present via the web GUI also apply to the Orbi app. Orbi 870 routers come standard with a 30-day trial of Netgear Armor. Netgear Armor supports up to 50 connected devices and includes virus/malware protection, VPN access, data breach monitoring, and ad/tracker blocking. Interestingly, the flagship Orbi 970 comes with a year of Netgear Armor, compared to the relatively short trial ******* for the Orbi 870 and Orbi 770. If you’d like to continue the subscription after the trial ******* ends, it costs $99.99/year. Performance of the Netgear Orbi 870 As is always the case with our router testing, our client system is a Windows 11 SFF desktop with an MSI Pro B650M-A Wi-Fi motherboard, AMD Ryzen 5 7600, 32GB of DDR5, a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and an MSI Herald-BE Wi-Fi 7 PCIe adapter. The case has an integrated handle for easily toting it around for distance testing. The iPerf3 throughput and ping tests are conducted with a Windows 11 server equipped with a 10 Gbps wired network card connected to a 2.5 Gbps LAN port on the Orbi 870 router. Wireless tests are performed at 6-foot and 25-foot distances. All wireless tests are first run with the network free of added traffic from other connected clients. Tests are then performed to simulate traffic from additional users accessing the network (for our testing, we use six clients streaming 4K video from YouTube). Image 1 of 12 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) I will say this about the Orbi 870: it was consistent in performance on the 6 GHz and 5 GHz bands at 6-foot and 25-foot distances with and without added traffic on the network. In our uncongested iPerf3 tests, the Orbi 870 hit 2,257 Mbps at 6 feet (which is the upper limit of the 2.5 Gbps port taking into consideration overhead) and 1,011 Mbps at 25 feet. With congested traffic, performance fell to 1,807 Mbps and 888 Mbps respectively. This performance put the Orbi 870 in second place behind the Asus ZenWiFi BT10 and ahead of the third-place Orbi 770. Switching to the 5 GHz band, the Orbi 870 shot to the top of the class in throughput performance with uncongested and congested traffic. The Orbi 870 managed to achieve 1,637 Mbps at 6 feet with no traffic and 1,317 Mbps with traffic. Stretched to 25 feet, the Orbi 870 managed 801 Mbps with no traffic, and 727 Mbps with traffic. Things weren’t as performant on the 2.4 GHz band, but the Orbi 870 was still competitive. The cheaper Orbi 770 was the outlier, with 158 Mbps at 6 feet and 92 Mbps at 25 feet without additional client traffic, putting it well ahead of the others. The Orbi 870 slipped into third place with 119 Mbps at 6 feet and 46 Mbps at 25 feet. With plenty of video streams coursing through the network, the Orbi 870 dropped to 64 Mbps at close range and 43 Mbps at long range. Once again, the Orbi 770 bested all competitors. Bottom Line The Netgear Orbi 870, like its Orbi 770 and Orbi 970 siblings, is a consistent wireless performer. It was among the fastest in our 6 GHz band throughput tests and the first-place competitor in 5 GHz tests. Its 2.4 GHz performance could be better, but that band will likely be relegated to lower-priority smart home/IoT devices that don’t need a lot of bandwidth. In other words, the Orbi 870 delivers good wireless performance where it matters the most. The main issue with the Orbi 870 and the Orbi family in general is regarding bang for your buck. With an as-tested price of $1,299 for a three-node system, the Orbi 870 is a hard sell, even given its performance chops. Although it features a 10 Gbps WAN port, you won’t find 10 Gbps or even 5 Gbps LAN ports on the router or satellites. In addition, there are no USB ports for hooking up an external hard drive or thumb drive. If you want the whole software/protection suite Netgear offers, Netgear Armor costs $99/year while Netgear Armor Plus costs $149/year. You’ll need to factor that added cost into your budget once the 30-day free trial expires. Asus’ ZenWiFi BT10 offers similar performance at the same $1,299 price. You’ll also get a 10 Gbps WAN port, a 10 Gbps LAN port, USB ports, and the highly configurable and superior functionality of the AsusWRT 5.0 software stack. The ZenWiFi BT8 is cheaper still, coming in at $729 for a three-node system. The TP-Link Deco BE65 Pro is also worth considering, as it can easily be purchased for less than $500. Source link #Netgear #Orbi #WiFi #mesh #router #review #Solid #performance #mask #high #price #feature #regression Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Julia Fox and Others Try Nearly Nude Looks at Oscars and Vanity Fair Julia Fox and Others Try Nearly Nude Looks at Oscars and Vanity Fair About a month after Bianca Censori caused a commotion for posing on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards in a completely sheer minidress, another woman with ties to Ye arrived in a similarly nearly naked look to Vanity Fair’s Oscars after-party on Sunday. This time, it was Julia Fox, who previously dated the rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West. Ms. Fox’s sheer garment of choice, by the Turkish designer Dilara Findikoglu, was a maxi dress that involved some ruching to give it a bit more shape. Strands of Ms. Fox’s wavy hair extensions were strategically placed underneath the dress, covering the necessary areas. It was a look that drew a great deal of attention and one that invited numerous comparisons to Ms. Censori, whose outfit reveal at the Grammys was bold enough that some falsely said it had led to her and Ye, her husband, being asked to leave. On Sunday night, Ms. Fox was not the only one at the Vanity Fair party in a provocative look. Historically, Vanity Fair’s annual event has allowed celebrities the freedom to be a little more risqué and experimental in their fashion choices after the comparatively conservative red carpet at the Oscars. In 2023, Emily Ratajkowski wore a long-sleeved, see-through chain mail gown by Feben. Hunter Schafer’s Ann Demeulemeester look from 2023 consisted of a single leather feather for a bandeau top and a silky slip skirt. In 2024, Vanessa Hudgens revealed her baby bump in a sheer ****** Alberta Ferretti dress with a cape. This year, though, naked dressing seemed to particularly thrive at the event. Zoë Kravitz wore a satin long-sleeved gown by Saint Laurent that exposed her bottom through a bead-embellished mesh cutout on the back of the dress. Olivia Wilde also opted for a barely-there get-up, wearing a frilled peignoir-style dress from Chloé that she styled with a pair of matching briefs and a clutch bag. Kendall Jenner and Ms. Ratajkowski both arrived in ****** lacy dresses: Ms. Jenner in vintage Mugler and Ms. Ratajkowski in Ludovic de Saint Sernin. And Megan Thee Stallion wore a moss-green ensemble with a long skirt and feathers around the bodice but no top, requiring her to wear matching green pasties. A few men also participated in the trend, at least to some extent. The actress Elizabeth Hurley showed up to the Vanity Fair party in a sheer, crystal-studded number with her son Damian Hurley, who revealed his bare chest underneath a silvery suit. The actor Jeremy Pope wore a ****** jumpsuit that exposed a large portion of his upper body, and the actor Michael Urie wore a skin-baring suit. The trend was present at the Oscars main event as well. Doja Cat swapped her strapless leopard-print Balmain dress for a nude slip covered in more than a million cascading Swarovski crystals for her performance of “Diamonds Are Forever” during a tribute to the music of the James Bond film franchise. In Doja Cat’s case, nearly nude dressing is a consistent theme. At last year’s Met Gala, she wore a wet, white T-shirt gown. And at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2023, she opted for a Monse dress made of cobweb-like fabric that bared her nipples and thong, perhaps her most naked look thus far. Source link #Julia #Fox #Nude #Oscars #Vanity #Fair Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Democrat’s No-Nonsense Hand Gesture At Conservative CNN Pundit Has People Fired Up. Here’s Why. Democrat’s No-Nonsense Hand Gesture At Conservative CNN Pundit Has People Fired Up. Here’s Why. Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) found quite the effective way to prevent conservative commentator Scott Jennings from interrupting her during a joint appearance on CNN on Thursday — and the moment is resonating with many people. During one point in a segment of “NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” Strickland discussed President Donald Trump, his billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the mass layoffs and dismantling of federal agencies that the so-called Department of Government Efficiency has directed since Trump took office in January. “All these random cuts they’re making, all these departments that they don’t even hardly know very well, are hurting the American people,” Strickland said. “How is putting veterans out of work lowering the cost of living?” Jennings then tried to interject, but the congresswoman wasn’t having it. She quickly held up her index finger in a gesture to silence Jennings — and it worked. The conservative pundit stopped talking and Strickland continued on with her remarks without missing a beat. (Catch the moment at the 2:20 mark in the video below.) It was a brief moment, but its significance was loud and clear for many on X, formerly Twitter, who celebrated the gesture. “With one motion, she says ‘oh I’m not done,’” one X user wrote. “That finger, displayed for a millisecond, had Jennings shook,” wrote another. Others reveled in the fact that Jennings — a staunch defender of Trump who is known to engage in contentious debates on CNN — appeared “dumbfounded” and said it was empowering to watch a woman silence him the way she did. Kari J. Winter, professor of American studies at the University at Buffalo, told HuffPost that she believes people are celebrating this moment between Strickland and Jennings because “we’re living in a moment where aggression from MAGA folks is so extreme and constant … and a lot of times Democrats look like deer caught in the ***********.” Winter ― whose expertise includes gender, feminism, race, class, slavery, politics of food and literature ― said that Democrats are often “not responding forcefully” and that Strickland delivered a “perfect gesture” toward Jennings in that moment. “There was so much strength behind it,” she said, adding that Strickland used her finger to “maintain the floor when a man — and a very aggressive man — was trying to take the floor away from her.” “She needed to finish making the point that she was making,” Winter continued. “I think that was a beautiful, powerful moment, and I would like to see that emulated much more in the country right now.” People against the MAGA movement appreciate seeing folks firmly stand up to right-wingers. “We really need to see more of it,” Winter said about gestures like Strickland’s on CNN. “I really hope that people will realize that the time for courage and strength is now. And too many people are allowing themselves to be intimidated and silenced.” She then said that— as was the case with Strickland, who is ****** and Korean American — “so often it is ****** women and women of color who are taking the lead in exemplifying strength and courage.” Winter emphasized that Strickland’s gesture wasn’t “aggressive,” and that it was an example of a woman being “assertive” and asserting her right to occupy her own space, and to use her voice. Karen Beckwith, a political science professor at Case Western Reserve University, said that Strickland — a former mayor and city councilmember — is an experienced elected official who knows how to “hold her own in the face of continued interruption and contentious discussion.” Beckwith, whose expertise includes gender, politics and political movements, told HuffPost that the exchange on CNN reminded her of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2020 vice presidential debate with former Vice President Mike Pence, in which Harris was “continually interrupted by him.” She recalled the moment Harris told Pence: “If you don’t mind letting me finish, we can then have a conversation, OK?” Beckwith said that Harris speaking directly to Pence in a civil tone was an effective technique to “hold the floor.” The moment highlighted the frequency in which “men interrupt and try to silence women, setting the issue of uncivil interruption firmly on the political agenda,” she added. Women deserve the right to stand firm — and the space to speak their minds. While political panels on cable news networks are known to get testy, with people often interrupting each other, Winter pointed out research has shown that women are more likely to be interrupted than men. “There has been research going back at least ’til the 1990s that show that men interrupt women a lot more than women interrupt men,” she said. “So there’s that very strong gender dynamic right now.” Jackie Vernon-Thompson, founder and CEO of the From the Inside-Out School of Etiquette, explained to HuffPost that she would generally recommend anyone — regardless of gender — to respond to interruptions “subtly and gracefully.” But, she added, that there are “times a woman must stand firmly and gesture to someone that such behavior towards her is not acceptable.” Vernon-Thompson said that Strickland’s gesture to Jennings as he tried to interrupt her conveyed, “Not today, sir!” “It tickled me a bit,” she said. Winter said that women being intentional about taking up space in political debates and conversations, like Strickland did on CNN on Thursday, is “an inspiring and powerful thing that we need to do.” She emphasized that Strickland is an “eloquent” elected official who “has a lot of substantial things to say.” “She’s an elected representative,” Winter said, “she deserves the space to say her piece.” Related… Source link #Democrats #NoNonsense #Hand #Gesture #Conservative #CNN #Pundit #People #Fired #Heres Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Merle Oberon, a Hollywood Star With a Career-Ending Secret Merle Oberon, a Hollywood Star With a Career-Ending Secret The Academy Awards always bring with them a series of firsts. First ****** man to win for best costume design (Paul Tazewell). First openly trans person to be nominated for an Oscar (Karla Sofía Gascón). First Latvian film to win an Oscar (“Flow”). But one first that’s often overlooked is Merle Oberon’s. In 1936, Merle became the first Asian actress to be nominated for an Oscar for her role in “The Dark Angel.” There was, however, no barrage of splashy news headlines to follow. This was because Merle wasn’t widely known to be a person of color: Years before, as she was beginning her career, she decided to pass as white, hiding her South Asian identity to make it in an industry that was resistant to anything else. “The inspiring thing about Merle is that she succeeded in a system that was stacked against her at every turn,” said Padma Lakshmi, the host of the Hulu documentary series “Taste the Nation.” “That subterfuge that she engaged in regarding her identity was a necessary tactic that she needed to employ.” In February, when Mindy Kaling received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, many news publications reported that she was the first South Asian woman to be given the honor — but 65 years prior, Merle was awarded a star. In 2023, ahead of Michelle Yeoh becoming the Academy’s first Asian best actress winner, some articles incorrectly stated that she was also the first person of Asian descent to be nominated. Now the subject of the new biography “Love, Queenie,” by Mayukh Sen, and on the heels of the 97th Academy Awards, Merle and her legacy are still relevant: Almost 90 years ago, she secretly paved a path in Hollywood that has remained largely invisible to the public. What can her story tell us about representation and the film industry today? Dark Beginnings Originally named Estelle Merle Thompson, Merle was born under dark circumstances in Bombay, India. Her mother, Constance Selby, was only 14 when she gave birth to Merle in 1911. Constance had been ****** by her stepfather, so Charlotte Selby, Constance’s mother, raised Merle as her own. Merle grew up believing that Charlotte (her grandmother) was her mother and that Constance (her mother) was her sister. Life in India was less than pleasant. Charlotte and Merle moved to what was then known as Calcutta, modern-day Kolkata, and were living in poverty. Because her birth father was white, Merle was considered Anglo Indian, an identity that subjected her to daily prejudice in school. The year Merle was born, the census recorded around 100,000 Anglo Indians out of a population of over 315 million. “Theirs was a community that the ruling class preferred not to acknowledge: Anglo-Indians were breathing evidence of Britain’s imperial malfeasance,” Mr. Sen writes in his book. But she found hope in at least one place: the movies. Growing up, she watched films at the theaters and developed aspirations of one day being in them herself. So, in 1929, when an opportunity to move to England and build a new life presented itself, Merle leaped. She pretended to be the wife of an English jockey she was romantically involved with in Calcutta; he paid for her to come to England, and Charlotte, who was darker-skinned, pretended to be Merle’s servant. This gut-wrenching ruse was the gateway to a new life. In London, Merle came to know Alexander Korda, a studio executive who helped invent her back story: She was the daughter of two European parents, and her birthplace had been the just-exotic-enough island of Tasmania. As Merle acted in films, including “Men of Tomorrow” and “Wedding Rehearsal,” her profile rose, and the British press grew smitten with the rising star. In 1934, with Hollywood ambitions, Merle arrived in the United States to star in “Folies Bergère de Paris,” her first American film. Though she wasn’t starting from scratch, she faced a new set of prejudices and challenges. Speculations about her race abounded — Mr. Sen notes in his book that a 1935 article in The Washington Post referred to Merle’s “parentage” as “one-half Indian (Hindu, not Dakota).” The rumors had the potential to tear down her career and her existence in the country altogether. “In the decades leading up to Oberon’s arrival in Hollywood, the United States had passed a series of increasingly strict anti-Asian immigration laws,” said Vivek Bald, a documentary filmmaker and the author of “Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America.” The Immigration Act of 1917 created an “Asiatic Barred Zone,” banning the entry of people from most Asian countries. Around the same time, immigrants from many European countries were coming to the United States in large numbers. “That ******* — the late 19th and early 20th century — is now celebrated as a kind of golden age of immigration,” Mr. Bald said. “But for Asians, it was an age of immigrant exclusion.” Merle’s cover story was more than just a personal branding ploy. It was also her passport. Hollywood was exclusionary in its own ways, too. It had begun enforcing the Hays Code, which restricted or banned the portrayal of interracial romance, nudity and other subjects viewed as obscene in movies. This climate made it difficult, often impossible, for many performers of color to be cast, and Merle had to “move very cautiously in those early days,” Mr. Sen said. Merle was just one of several actresses — Carol Channing, Raquel Welch, among others — for whom success also meant not being able to publicly embrace their heritage or hiding it altogether. A ‘Quiet Milestone’ Soon after moving to America, Merle came to know Samuel Goldwyn, a film producer who had plans to remake “The Dark Angel,” a silent film from 1925. He would, also, remake Merle in the process. Merle won the lead role as Kitty, one corner of a love triangle in the saga set in World War I-era England. Goldwyn made “a concerted effort to align her with whiteness,” Mr. Sen said. Crew members forced Merle to undergo skin-bleaching treatments in order to appear lighter on camera. The film came out in 1935, and the reviews were glowing. The following year, Merle was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress. This, however, would be a “quiet milestone,” Mr. Sen said. Merle couldn’t tear down the facade she had built then, or even decades later, as immigration restrictions eased up. Merle didn’t win. The award instead went to Bette Davis for her portrayal of a blonde actress in “Dangerous.” In the following years, Merle’s career declined. “This coincided with the popularity of color technology in American cinema,” Mr. Sen said. Because of how her skin appeared onscreen, he continued, “Merle, in fact, lost out on certain roles after she underwent color tests.” In 1979, at age 68, Merle died of a stroke. Even after her death, her appearance — which many viewed as unconventionally attractive — remained a topic of conversation. Merle was stunning, but she did not look like Katharine Hepburn. “A diminutive 5 feet 2 inches tall, Miss Oberon was of an almost exotic beauty, with perfect skin, dark hair and a slight ****** to her eyes that was further accentuated by makeup,” reads her obituary in The Times. Her South Asian heritage wasn’t publicly confirmed until 1983, with the publication of Charles Higham and Roy Moseley’s biography “Princess Merle.” An Uphill Battle As Merle was building her acting career during the 1930s, “the United States went through a kind of ‘India craze,’” Mr. Bald said. Even though immigration from India was heavily restricted, Americans became more interested in yoga, Eastern religions and Indian-inspired interior décor, such as wood carvings and tiger skins. “India and Indians were simultaneously vilified and desired,” Mr. Bald said. As such, Hollywood films of that era that depicted Indian people or their culture were filled with stereotypes, or they glorified British rule. Today the film industry is more accepting of South Asian people. “We have a rapidly growing number of South Asian American writers, directors, producers and actors working both in Hollywood and at a grass roots level, who are challenging previous narratives and creating complex, multifaceted South Asian stories,” Mr. Bald said. Consider, for example, Simone Ashley, the star of “Bridgerton”; Poorna Jagannathan, the actress in “Never Have I Ever”; and Mira Nair, the filmmaker behind “The Namesake” and “Mississippi Masala.” But still, it remains an uphill battle. Many roles for South Asian actors are limited to those that are one-dimensional or solely about their race. And in many ways, the tropes present in Merle’s time still persist. They “may have shifted and taken on new forms, but mainstream films and television have recycled them,” Mr. Bald said, citing the depiction of the terrorist or the model ********* figure in more recent years. What stands out looking back at Merle’s oeuvre is that she was a woman of South Asian descent who starred in roles that did not center her identity. “Here was a South Asian woman playing Anne Boleyn and Cathy from ‘Wuthering Heights,’ two roles that are canonically white,” Mr. Sen said. “You can draw a direct line between Merle’s strides and those of South Asian performers like Dev Patel playing David Copperfield.” He added: “Her career is a statement of refusal against this notion that your racial background should determine and limit the roles that were available to you.” This story is part of a series on how Asian Americans are shaping American popular culture. The series is funded through a grant from The Asian American Foundation. Funders have no control over the selection and focus of stories or the editing process and do not review stories before publication. The Times retains full editorial control of this series. Source link #Merle #Oberon #Hollywood #Star #CareerEnding #Secret Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Gene Hackman Lost His Wife and Caregiver, and Spent 7 Days Alone – The New York Times Gene Hackman Lost His Wife and Caregiver, and Spent 7 Days Alone – The New York Times Gene Hackman Lost His Wife and Caregiver, and Spent 7 Days Alone The New York TimesActor Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa died of natural causes one week apart BBC.comGene Hackman’s cause of death was heart disease, wife died of hantavirus days earlier, officials say CBS NewsInvestigators shared key update on the deaths of Gene Hackman and his wife. Here’s what we learned CNN Source link #Gene #Hackman #Lost #Wife #Caregiver #Spent #Days #York #Times Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

No, printing your Social Security record won’t protect you — but doing this will No, printing your Social Security record won’t protect you — but doing this will The government has access to the back door of your financial accounts, so protecting your Social Security account won’t do much. – Getty Images/iStockphoto I have a work record that goes back to 1989, when my mom helped me file my first tax return and listed my occupation at age 17 as “waitress.” The money I made that summer after I graduated high school — also when I learned all of the high-level executive-function skills that turned me into a reporter eventually — is still listed on my Social Security statement, the original of which is probably sitting in a box in my closet. It’s a lovely souvenir of all the grease stains, burned fingertips and mild ******* harassment I suffered, but it means literally nothing for my future ability to collect Social Security when I am of age. In my ensuing 141 quarters of work, I have made far more, and Social Security only counts the highest earnings when it calculates my benefit when I claim it. I’m still nine years away from my minimum age to apply, and 17 years away from the maximum age of 70. I haven’t earned all that would count toward the algorithm that controls how much of a monthly check I get. (At least, I hope my earnings continue to increase.) This is why I don’t understand the advice going around for people who are concerned about the sanctity of their government-held information to print their Social Security record as proof of their earnings history. Yes, it’s a good idea to check your statement — that’s why the government used to mail them to every taxpayer every five years. If you see a mistake, you certainly should call the number listed, especially if it’s a high-earning year that will count toward your benefit. It’s also good to be aware of your projected Social Security monthly check amount so you can do long-term financial planning. But otherwise, there’s nothing that a hard copy is going to do for you. None of the information on there is sensitive. It’s all a duplication of your tax records, which you probably are more likely to have a paper copy of in your files — I found my 1989 tax return in my mom’s files after she died. The information never changes for prior years. The only new thing each year is your most current tax-filing information. I have a stack of the forms that the government sent me in my files, and the electronic ones I just keep on my hard drive. I downloaded my 2024 statement when I started to see all the advice about printing a hard copy, and looked back at the 2023 and 2022 ones I had saved, and they were all identical, except for one additional line. Story Continues Why do I have so many statements saved? Isn’t what’s good for the goose, good for the gander? I do this for a living — I download them to be able to eventually make points like this. I play the long game. If you are already collecting Social Security benefits, your earnings history no longer matters. What you need to be worried about is what happens if the current chaos in the government will delay or impede a check being deposited in your account, either just once or on an ongoing basis. Even missing just one check could be a disaster for most households in this country, especially the 40% that rely solely on Social Security as their only income. If this happens, you’ll need to contact Social Security — check to make sure the office closest to you hasn’t been eliminated by cuts, and attempt to make an appointment first — and wait in a longer-than-usual line. Going in person to Social Security has never been fun, but it will likely be less so if checks don’t land. What you’ll need then is the bank statement or check stub showing the last payment you received. You should also take your 1099 SSA statement from your prior year’s tax return (or your current one) to prove what you get. If you don’t have a copy of this, you need it to file your current taxes. One should have come in the mail for 2024. If not, you can download it from your Social Security account, which is a good reason to make sure you have a log-in and know how to use it. The other scary thing the government can do concerning Social Security is go into your bank account and claw back a payment it thinks you have received in error. This tends to happen most after an individual has died and they receive a scheduled payment before the system catches up. Social Security only pays out a month of benefits if you live the whole month – it doesn’t prorate up to the date of death. So if a person dies on Feb. 28, and they got a check on March 3 that they didn’t earn, the government can reach back into the account and take back the money. Freezing your credit, printing out statements, calling to complain — none of this will help. The government has ********* access to financial accounts. Just ask New York City, which had $80 million deposited for migrants recently until the federal government took it back, and now the city is suing. You have to go full-on into conspiracy theories to think of other possible outcomes of rogue actors having unfettered ********* access to every individual’s financial life in this country. The same with what congressional action may take place in terms of cutting benefits or changing eligibility ages or taxation. In the face of this, worrying about your Social Security number getting on the dark web is small potatoes — it’s no doubt already there. This is something completely different. There is one thing that could be useful: File your taxes. It’s long been advised that filing your taxes as early as possible thwarts identity thieves. It also encourages you to get your financial documents in order and assess your goals. Everything you need for your taxes serves as proof of what you earned or held in assets. Your W-2 and 1099 wage statements confirm your job and income, and the amount of taxes you paid into Social Security and Medicare for future calculations. Your brokerage and interest statements will confirm your holdings in a comprehensive way, should anything go awry with computer systems down the road. Instead of trying to keep up with your daily balance by printing statements every day, take these year-end statements as a proxy. Your mortgage-interest statements and property-tax bills will ascertain your stake in the property you own. If you want to take it a step further, take all of that information and go see an estate attorney to solidify a plan in case you are incapacitated or you die. If you won’t want the state involved in your affairs because you don’t trust it, then you need to speak for yourself. A previous version of this column misstated the way the Social Security benefit is calculated. It has been corrected. Got a question about investing, how it fits into your overall financial plan and what strategies can help you make the most out of your money? You can write to me at . Please put “Fix My Portfolio” in the subject line. You can also join the Retirement conversation in our . Source link #printing #Social #Security #record #wont #protect Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Stylish Butter Yellow Clothing and Accessories for Spring Stylish Butter Yellow Clothing and Accessories for Spring Butter yellow has been applied to a wide spread of items lately: ********* dresses, jeans, jackets, hair clips, handbags and stand mixers. It has been slathered onto the walls of restaurants and home kitchens, and has oozed onto red carpets and the stages of major pop-music tours. Like the dairy product the color is named for, butter yellow ranges in tone from golden to almost white. And it has claimed the attention — not to mention the dollars — of a growing number of people. “It will be the fashion color for the spring season,” said Jodi Kahn, the vice president of luxury fashion at Neiman Marcus. This spring, the department store went all-in on butter yellow, offering it in the form of items like Alaïa sunglasses, Vince sneakers and basketball-style shorts by Dries Van Noten. Ms. Kahn said the color’s biggest selling point was its mood-lifting property. Butter yellow “has a bit of positivity and warmth,” she said, adding that it goes well with many neutral tones — white, navy, brown — that tend to populate wardrobes. After being adopted by high-end labels like Jacquemus and Auralee, the color has gone on to infiltrate the offerings of brands across the pricing spectrum. Mass retailers like the Gap, Banana Republic and Abercrombie & Fitch are selling butter yellow clothing, as are independent brands based in various cities, such as Rachel Comey in New York, High Sport in Los Angeles and Cecilie Telle in London. Contemporary labels like Tory Burch and Simkhai have also embraced it, and brands like Bottega Veneta and Chloé are among those that have kept the color in the luxury space. Butter yellow items on the runways at the fall 2025 fashion shows of Gucci, Marni, Versace and Jil Sander late last month suggested that interest in the sunny tone would not melt away soon. Harling Ross Anton, 33, a writer who focuses on fashion and style, has long evangelized the merits of wearing butter yellow: In 2018, she posted a photo of herself in a monochromatic pale yellow outfit on Instagram and, in the caption, described it as a “stick of butter” aesthetic. While the color has become more mainstream, it has not deterred Ms. Ross Anton’s interest in dressing like a block of Land O’Lakes. “There is a charisma to it,” she said. Cynthia Erivo wore a Jacquemus ensemble in the color to an Oscar party last Friday and, two days later, Timothée Chalamet coated himself in a butter yellow Givenchy suit at the awards ceremony itself. Others celebrities who have embraced the color include the singer Sabrina Carpenter, whose wardrobe for her Short n’ Sweet tour included several buttery lingerie-inspired looks, many of which were heavily embellished with rhinestones. Compared with other yellows like mustard or neon, butter yellow has wider appeal, said Tina Burgos, 52, the owner of Covet + Lou, a boutique in Newton, Mass. That is because the color is “more subdued and works on more skin tones,” Ms. Burgos said. The butter yellow items at her store include Mary Jane wedge shoes by Rachel Comey; cashmere sweaters by Demylee, a knitwear brand in New York; and baubles like beaded key chains. Jake & Jones, a boutique in Santa Barbara, Calif., sells a similarly eclectic assortment of butter yellow products. Baggu shoulder bags, Cawley silk trapeze dresses and quirky boxy jackets by Eleph, a Dutch label, are among them. Jennifer Steinwurtzel, 44, the owner of Jake & Jones, said she first noticed butter yellow blossoming in Scandinavian style capitals like Copenhagen, where brands were offering sunny clothing as an antidote to long, dark winters. A sign to her that butter yellow’s popularity had reached a new saturation point was when one of her employees renovated a kitchen in the color last year. As butter yellow has proliferated in fashion, it has also bubbled up in the culinary world. In February, KitchenAid named “butter” its color of the year and released a stand mixer in the shade for the occasion. In January, the restaurant Cafe Commerce opened on the Upper East Side of Manhattan with a pale yellow dining room. Cafe Commerce’s chef-owner, Harold Moore, 51, said the color he chose for the restaurant — a soft yellow called “saffron” from Fine Paints of Europe, which sells 2.5-liter cans for $175 — reflected a cozy, flattering light. He used the same color in his former restaurant Commerce, which closed in 2015, he added. “You want people to be comfortable and you want them to look good — those two things come together in that yellow tint,” Mr. Moore said. The chef Molly Baz, 36, became associated with the color after hosting YouTube cooking shows watched by millions in the butter yellow kitchen of her home in Altadena, Calif. She said she had been tagged in numerous posts on Instagram by people who had renovated their kitchens in the same color. Ms. Baz, whose home was destroyed in the Los Angeles wildfires, called butter yellow “playful, cheery and inviting,” adding: “It made you want to eat.” But she characterized her interest in it as a moment in time.“We will, in all likelihood, embrace a new color story in this next chapter in which we rebuild and leave the butter kitchen as a marker of a truly glorious past,” she said. The ethics behind our shopping reporting. When Times reporters write about products, they never accept merchandise, money or favors from the brands. We do not earn a commission on purchases made from this article. Source link #Stylish #Butter #Yellow #Clothing #Accessories #Spring Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Woman Says Her Wealthy Boyfriend Is Making Her Pay Rent, Even Though He Owns the House They’re Living in Woman Says Her Wealthy Boyfriend Is Making Her Pay Rent, Even Though He Owns the House They’re Living in A woman says her wealthy, homeowner boyfriend wants her to start paying rent — but she’s not sure he’s coming from the most logical place. On the U.K.-based forum Mumsnet, the woman wrote that she recently moved in with her partner after dating for three years to a two-bedroom home that he owns “outright.” “He bought it with money from a family trust set up for him when he was born. He rents out one bedroom to his friend for [about $900 a month]. We share the other bedroom. He wants me to pay him [around $450 a month] on top of all bills, which are split equally three-ways,” the woman wrote. “We also split the cost of any house repairs that need doing.” According to the woman, her boyfriend “says the arrangement will make us both richer — as I will be paying less than market rent for a similar room.” However, the woman explained that her boyfriend’s request for rent came as a surprise to her. “When we first spoke about finances, before I moved in, he said that the money I saved in rent could be put towards making our lives ‘*******,’ ” she said. “When discussing this recently, he said that this was still true, that the money I pay him can go towards his masters course fees, for example, and that this will benefit us both long-term.” Related: Man Says Girlfriend Called Him ‘Stingy’ for Not Wanting to Pay for Her Friend’s Meal – Including Appetizers, Dessert and Drinks Since her boyfriend doesn’t have a mortgage, the woman wrote that she “can’t see why” she should pay him rent. “The amount is small, but I’m not sure how I feel about it in principle,” she explained, noting, still, that she is “benefitting hugely,” given that she is paying way less than if she were to rent a place on her own at market rates. The woman did highlight, however, that she is “very much sharing” the room with her boyfriend, who she said still hasn’t made space for many of her things that are “currently in boxes in cupboards/storage.” The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! The woman added, “I also end up doing most of the housework and I worry that if I am giving him money on top of that and on top of bills, etc., I will become resentful. I’m also not sure what his motivations are for asking me to give him money, since he doesn’t really need it.” Related: Woman, Who Lives at Home, Asks Parents If She Can Skip Rent While **** Sitting. Their Response Leaves Her ‘Gobsmacked’ Some of the Mumsnet forum users also expressed concerns about the boyfriend’s motivation behind asking the woman for rent. “Long term, will he ever put you on his deeds? Will you sell, then buy together, and he ring fences all his cash? Will he be a [stay-at-home] in that case, as you’ll be earning to pay your half?! Lots to think about there,” one person wrote. Another person added, “Personally I think it’s unfair to charge ‘rent’ to a partner. Contribute yes, but you’re letting a man who’s been given a property in all essence and who’s getting a passive and healthy income … charge you rent for what? Living in boxes and out of a bag. Secure your own finances instead of lining his pocket.” Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Others, meanwhile, weren’t so sure that it was wrong of the man to ask for some financial help from his girlfriend, though they thought he went about it the wrong way. “In principle, it makes sense that you should pay some sort of rent as you live there, but that should have been clearly agreed between you before you moved in,” said one user. Read the original article on People Source link #Woman #Wealthy #Boyfriend #Making #Pay #Rent #Owns #House #Theyre #Living Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

At Anrealage, Light Up Dresses Made Us Look At Anrealage, Light Up Dresses Made Us Look What’s the difference between a gimmick and a good idea? One makes you grimace, the other makes you grin. By that metric, the mesmerizing, mirthful runway show from the Japanese label Anrealage, held in Paris on Tuesday afternoon, was a very good idea. Because after already seeing clothes so square they looked like something out of “Minecraft,” and after witnessing platform shoes shaped like slip-on Cybertrucks, when then the label’s blocky designs agitated to life like an arcade game, the only proper response was to grin. As the designer Kunihiko Morinaga explained after the show, these clothes were produced from yarns laced all over with teensy LED “******.” Picture a Times Square billboard packaged into a swaying sack dress. Each design had a battery pack and sensor, allowing the display to be manipulated backstage. (The material is proprietary to Anrealage and was developed with MPLUSPLUS, a Japanese technology design studio.) The result was like “Tron” crossed with “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Three flickering dresses recalled the lights of a skyscraper in the hands of a hyperactive toddler. A pair of models marched side by side, their tartan smocks ping-ponging colors back and forth to each other to form new kaleidoscopic tartans as they advanced. For the finale, models clustered together, their frocks devolving into the pixely static of a TV on the ******, then resolving into a stained-glass motif, a seeming nod to the American Cathedral where the show was put on. This collection, Mr. Morinaga said backstage through a translator, was inspired by quite an archaic technology: two-sided advertising placards that “sandwich men” use to shill for businesses. “Before the design was always fixed, but now we can move the design,” Mr. Morinaga said. Here was a fashion show that fully seemed to accept our tech-addled age. It was, at least, a reminder of how static fashion can be. Almost all other labels showing at Paris Fashion Week will continue to use the same wools and cottons that have been in circulation for centuries. Not Mr. Morinaga. He is fashion’s Carl Sagan, tilting toward the cosmos to question how far one man can take a dress. His previous exploits include clothes that inflated on the runway and tabula rasa ensembles that took on patterns when subjected to UV light. It is a missed opportunity that an Olympic team didn’t tap Mr. Morinaga to weave his wizardry onto their opening ceremony kits for the Paris Games. “Fashion is something that never stops and is always moving and changing,” Mr. Morinaga said, summing up his ethos. He is striding into the future. Even if there aren’t many who seem to be willing to join him there. Yet. As we stepped out onto the Parisian streets, it was tough to picture someone in a digitized “Starry Night” dress striding beside me. None of our clothes yet had LCD screens on them. What we were wearing were those grins. And maybe that was Mr. Morinaga’s intent all along. Source link #Anrealage #Light #Dresses Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

What’s the Secret to a Long-Lasting Marriage? Tell Us Yours. What’s the Secret to a Long-Lasting Marriage? Tell Us Yours. Marriage is one of life’s most significant commitments, impacting the way we grow and navigate the world. The New York Times Weddings section has spent decades chronicling the stories of couples who found each other in extraordinary — and sometimes very ordinary — ways. Many of these relationships have stood the test of time, enduring personal reinvention, global crises, health issues and life’s other trials and triumphs. So what’s the secret to a long-lasting marriage? We’re looking for couples from all walks of life — whether they were featured in a Times wedding announcement or not — who have faced challenges, embraced change and found ways to sustain their love for 30 years or more. Selected couples will be interviewed and photographed as a part of an upcoming project. We look forward to hearing from you. Source link #Whats #Secret #LongLasting #Marriage Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump Supporters Who Were Fired From Their Government Jobs Are Having Some Serious Voter’s Remorse, And They’re Not Holding Back Trump Supporters Who Were Fired From Their Government Jobs Are Having Some Serious Voter’s Remorse, And They’re Not Holding Back Over 62,000 federal workers across February have reportedly been fired by the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk. A person in a suit sits at a desk in an office with official emblems in the background, engaged in conversation, suitable for a Work & Money article These firings have included federal employees working in the Defense Department, USAID, CIA, Social Security Administration, Department of Justice, Department of Agriculture, and many others. Person holding a sign with “Delete Doge” and a crossed-out face, suggesting cryptocurrency protest or commentary Ironically, many of those fired have been Trump-voters and some are expressing anger about being targeted by the job cuts. Here’s what they’re saying over on the r/LeopardsAteMyFace subreddit: 1.There’s the veteran father who supported Trump, but was recently fired from the VA: Summary of a post by a veteran about dealing with management issues at work, feeling unsupported by previous policies, and planning to join a march 2.There’s the woman who hung a Trump campaign sign outside her house but was “abruptly” fired from her civil service job: Protesters rally in Parkersburg, WV, against firings at the Treasury Department. Jennifer Piggott’s support for Trump cost her a Treasury job 3.There’s the Gen Z Trump-voter who is concerned about the uncertainty of their partner’s government job because he is the “sole provider.” A message expressing concern over a husband’s job security after a recent promotion, highlighting emotional and traditional family dynamics 4.There’s the Trump-voting veteran who is advocating for people to join him in Washington to protest the Trump administration’s mass firing of veteran employees: Text post from Reddit’s r/Veteranpolitics suggests reviving the Bonus Expeditionary Force for veterans’ employment, citing current job circumstances 5.There’s the self-described “devoted supporter” of Trump who is asking for advice after being laid off from the General Services Administration: Dan Thomas shares his long-time conservative views but expresses concern about financial struggles and supporting the cause, seeking advice from others 6.There’s the Trump-voting ex-federal worker who says he wishes he voted for Kamala Harris: 7.There’s the federal worker who voted for Trump three times who is angry about the narrative being portrayed that federal workers are “lazy and worthless”: A federal worker shares their dedication, refutes lazy stereotypes, supports government work value, and advocates for eliminating inefficiency A person expresses frustration over perceived government corruption, claiming politicians receive undue benefits and highlighting job insecurity 8.And finally, there’s the Trump voter who was recently fired from their federal job and described Trump’s cuts as having “no concern about all the damage that is being done”: A worker discusses fears over job security and government cuts, criticizing changes and authority given to Elon Musk, and expresses uncertainty about job stability What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below. Source link #Trump #Supporters #Fired #Government #Jobs #Voters #Remorse #Theyre #Holding Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Adidas Has Sold Its Last Yeezy Sneaker Adidas Has Sold Its Last Yeezy Sneaker Adidas said Wednesday that it had sold its last pair of Yeezys, a wildly popular and profitable sneaker brand it developed with the rapper and designer Ye, as it tried to move past the publicity nightmare that followed after Ye’s antisemitic comments. The sportswear giant severed ties with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, in 2022 after he posted antisemitic remarks on social media and made other offensive comments publicly. Adidas had said that ending its nearly decade-long collaboration with the American entertainer cost it nearly 250 million euros that year. The rapper apologized to the Jewish community in 2022 only to later retract his apology in a barrage of social media posts in February in which he declared he was a Nazi. The ***** of Adidas’s remaining Yeezy inventory generated about €50 million in the fourth quarter of 2024, boosting the company’s overall revenue to €5.97 billion, up 24 percent from a year earlier, Adidas said Wednesday in an earnings report. But the sports brand was cautious in its outlook, cutting its revenue growth forecast for 2025 to 10 percent, from 12 percent last year. It was the first time, the company said, that the outlook did not include revenue from the Yeezy line. The breakup was hardest felt in North America, where the apparel was driven by the Grammy-winning rapper’s popularity. “Sales in North America declined 2 percent solely due to significantly lower Yeezy sales,” said Adidas, which is based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Bjorn Gulden, who became chief executive in 2023, said the company would cut up to 500 jobs at its headquarters to shift decision-making to offices around the globe. “We need to reduce complexity,” he said, adding that it made little sense for employees in Germany to decide what was needed in markets abroad. After ending its ties with Ye, the apparel company struggled with slowing sales and revelations that it had ignored the rapper’s misconduct for years. The severed contract also left Adidas with mountains of sneakers and clothing, and potential losses of €1.2 billion in sales and about €500 million in profit last year. Under Mr. Gulden, Adidas decided in 2023 not to write off the remaining Yeezy stock but sell it and donate part of the profit to organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. On Wednesday, Mr. Gulden struck an optimistic tone, signaling the company’s eagerness to put the Yeezy scandal behind it with new celebrity collaborations and a focus on other popular sneaker lines, like the Samba, a decades’ old brand that has had a resurgence in popularity. “With all the challenges out there, let’s not forget that there are so many fun things to look forward to in 2025,” Mr. Gulden said.’ Melissa Eddy contributed reporting from Berlin. Source link #Adidas #Sold #Yeezy #Sneaker Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

South Carolina inmate has chosen to die by firing squad. If carried out tonight, it will be the 1st ever in the state. – Yahoo South Carolina inmate has chosen to die by firing squad. If carried out tonight, it will be the 1st ever in the state. – Yahoo South Carolina inmate has chosen to die by firing squad. If carried out tonight, it will be the 1st ever in the state. YahooSouth Carolina inmate executed by firing squad for first time in US since 2010 CNNA firing squad is executing Brad Keith Sigmon in South Carolina today. What to know. USA TODAYIs a firing squad execution more humane than lethal injection? NewsNation Now Source link #South #Carolina #inmate #chosen #die #firing #squad #carried #tonight #1st #state #Yahoo Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Democrats Wore Pink to Protest Trump’s Congress Speech. But Was It a Moment? Democrats Wore Pink to Protest Trump’s Congress Speech. But Was It a Moment? Forget white suffragist pantsuits, the political uniform of the female Trump opposition during the president’s first term. On Tuesday night during President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, about three dozen members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus wore bright hues of pink. Amid the sea of dark suits in the House chamber, all that pink was impossible to miss. It was also impossible not to wonder if the members of Congress were falling back on an old performance strategy rather than grappling with their ******* problems. There were congresswomen in hot pink. In shell pink. In baby pink. In pink jackets and pink skirts. There were even some congressmen in pink ties. Nancy Pelosi wore a bright pink pantsuit; Representative Jill Tokuda of Hawaii, a bubble-gum pink blazer with “We the people” scrawled in ****** on her lapels; Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez of New Mexico, chair of the caucus, a raspberry jacket and cotton candy colored palazzo pants. “We decided to use a strong color because what’s happening now is more extreme than ever,” said Ms. Fernandez, referring to Mr. Trump’s policies and executive orders on women’s health care and Ukraine, among other things. Pink is, she said, “the color of women’s power, of persistence and of resistance.” As a color, pink has been associated in modern times with stereotyping and marginalizing women and gay people. In the 1970s, the term “pink collar jobs” referred to jobs overwhelmingly assumed by women: secretary, nurse, cleaning lady. Later the term “pink ghetto” was coined to refer to low-paid female labor. But Elsa Schiaparelli also called the color “shocking!” and “Barbie” made pink a feminist flag. It speaks of the female body and flesh in an almost visceral way. (There’s a reason breast ******* awareness adopted the pink ribbon.) It also recalls 2017 and Mr. Trump’s first term, when thousands of women around the country knitted pink ****** hats to wear at a protest march the day after his swearing-in. Though the hats have not reappeared, by adopting the color and extending it to their entire outfit, the congresswomen are attempting to reclaim it as a sign of opposition. It made for a striking contrast with the subdued gray Dior suit worn by Melania Trump and the ****** Oscar de la Renta of Ivanka Trump. Not to mention casting the blush colored trouser suit of Usha Vance, from the Los Angeles label the Sei, in a somewhat confusing light. Other colors were used as a form of quiet repudiation during Mr. Trump’s speech — Representative Bill Foster of Illinois wore a tie striped in yellow and blue to support Ukraine, as did a number of his colleagues. But it was the pink that seemed to symbolize the complications, both good (it was a start at a unified response) and bad (it risked coming across as superficial and kind of flimsy), of linking a protest to a color. Still, the lawmakers believed it was worth wearing something that would stand out. Mr. Trump may have the microphone, Ms. Fernandez said, “but with color, right in front of him, we could register our protest.” Or at least try to. (The protest was, of course, not merely a matter of color. Democrats brought guests to the address, focusing on people who had been harmed by Mr. Trump’s policies, and carried paddles that read “Musk Steals,” “Lies” and “Save Medicaid.”) While it’s hard to know whether the pink bothered Mr. Trump or spurred him on, it’s clear that Mr. Trump is hypersensitive to the power of costume, especially at times of high public pageantry and peak television viewership. Look at how he greeted the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky last week before their diplomacy-busting meeting by commenting on his choice of attire, sarcastically observing of the long-sleeve military shirt and trousers he had worn to the White House, “You’re all dressed up today.” Mr. Trump has his own patriotic uniform, and Vice President JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson both styled themselves to match for the joint address. Little wonder that at almost every State of the Union during Mr. Trump’s first term, dress became a form of silent protest: those white suits in 2017, 2019 and 2020; ****** for #MeToo in 2018. By the time of Joe Biden’s last State of the Union, when the presidential race was underway, it was a visual sign of the battle lines being drawn on both sides of the party aisle — and a preview of what was to come. Source link #Democrats #Wore #Pink #Protest #Trumps #Congress #Speech #Moment Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Fed up over bullying, women take secret video of “monster” boss Fed up over bullying, women take secret video of “monster” boss When Aleisha Goodwin, an estate coordinator at the Clark County Public Administrator’s Office, reached out to Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff ******* in March 2022 to describe the problems she and her co-workers said they were experiencing with their boss, she said they were at their breaking point. “We were desperate,” Goodwin told “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant in “The Assassination of Jeff *******.” After ******* spoke with Goodwin and her colleagues Rita Reid, Jessica Coleman and Noraine Pagdanganan, they were relieved to find out that ******* would take on their story. “He did something, and he fought for us,” Goodwin said. “And he is 100 percent our hero.” The women could have never imagined that just five months after meeting him, their hero Jeff ******* would be dead. Jeff ******* / Credit: © Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc./Kevin Cannon On Sept. 3, 2022, *******’s body was found on the side of his Las Vegas home by a concerned neighbor. According to investigators, ******* had been murdered 24 hours earlier, suffering seven stab wounds to the neck and torso. As the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department began its investigation, it discovered surveillance video from across the street that captured the attack. The video showed the alleged assailant walking into *******’s side yard and hiding behind the gate. Moments later, according to police, ******* opened his garage door, walked to the side of his house, and was ambushed by the assailant. “The attack seemed personal in nature,” Rhonda Prast, the former assistant managing editor for Investigations at the Review-Journal, told “48 Hours.” But who would have wanted to kill *******? One of the names that came to the top of the list was the Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles. Based on the four women’s accounts, ******* had written a series of stories describing a toxic workplace under Telles. Robert Telles / Credit: Las Vegas Review-Journal, Inc./Kevin Cannon According to the women, the trouble began almost immediately after Telles took office in January 2019. Reid, a supervisor, was Telles’ second in command and a 12-year veteran of the office. She recalled a conversation she had with Telles. “He came in very abruptly into the office and he slammed his palms down on my desk,” Reid told “48 Hours.” “He leaned forward, and he said, ‘we’re ripping off the bandage. You no longer supervise anyone, no one reports to you … They all report to me.” The women said they were ordered not to speak to each other in the office. “It felt dangerous to even have a ‘hello, good morning,’ conversation with coworkers in passing,” Coleman told “48 Hours.” If caught, Goodwin said the consequences could be severe. She remembered getting called into Telles’ office after he saw her and two other women talking. “We walked into his office, and he said, ‘sit down and shut up. You’re not gonna talk … I’m gonna talk,'” said Goodwin. From left, Rita Reid, Jessica Coleman, Noraine Pagdanganan and Aleisha Goodwin. / Credit: CBS News Despite years of service, all the women said they were fearful of losing their jobs. Telles, they believed, had started an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate in the office named Roberta. According to Goodwin, Roberta used that relationship with Telles to assume power and privilege in the office. The women knew they needed proof of the alleged affair for the county to believe them, so they decided to follow Telles and Roberta. According to Goodwin, the pair would meet at the same place, a parking garage in a nearby mall. The women said the alleged lovers would park next to each other and would ultimately end up in the back seat of Roberta’s car. The women documented the meet ups with pictures and videos. “You can see the shadows. And you can see those heads going together,” said Goodwin. “It was so unbelievable, and it just took a minute to digest,” said Reid. “At that moment, it was like so real.” When ******* saw the videos, he reached out to Roberta for comment. She replied, “I have not had an inappropriate relationship with him.” Telles also denied they were having an affair. The women followed and videotaped Robert Telles, pictured leaving the back seat of the car of an alleged lover – a subordinate – at a parking garage where the suspected trysts took place. Both Telles and his alleged lover denied they were having an affair. / Credit: Aleisha Goodwin In May 2022, the Review-Journal published *******’s article headlined, “County office in turmoil with secret video and claims of bullying, hostility.” The article had a swift effect on the Public Administrator’s Office and the county sent in an outside consultant. ******* went on to publish three more articles about Telles, which chronicled his loss for reelection in the primary, ironically, to his second in command, Rita Reid. ******* was working on another story about Telles, but he would not survive to write it. Five days after his *******, police arrested Telles after, they said, his DNA was discovered under *******’s fingernails. The story very quickly became national news, according to Review-Journal investigations editor Art Kane – who has written a book about *******’s *******, “The Last Story: The ******* of an Investigative Journalist in Las Vegas,” which is expected to be released in April. “A reporter killed by a politician for a story that he wrote,” Kane told “48 Hours.” “If he’s the guy … that’s pretty unheard of.” Telles was booked into the Clark County Detention Center. Six weeks later, he was indicted by a grand jury for ******* with use of a deadly weapon. He pleaded not guilty. Van Sant interviewed Telles at the Clark County Detention Center. Telles denied killing ******* and when he was asked about the evidence against him, including his DNA under *******’s fingernails, he said, “I say that evidence or so-called evidence was planted … And we will go ahead and prove that at trial.” On Oct. 16, 2024, Telles was sentenced to serve at least 28 years in Nevada state prison for killing *******. A judge invoked sentencing enhancements for elements including use of a deadly weapon, lying in wait and the age of the reporter to add eight years to the minimum 20-year sentence that a jury set in August after finding Telles guilty of *******. Eye Opener: Russia rejects ceasefire deal U.S. Army soldiers accused of selling classified materials to China Canadians show their displeasure with President Trump Source link #Fed #bullying #women #secret #video #monster #boss Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Their Parents Met Online. Then They Matched in Real Life. Their Parents Met Online. Then They Matched in Real Life. The first time Dr. Sunpreet Singh Tandon and Dr. Shalini Moningi spoke, they already had their families’ approval. Their parents first connected in 2022 on Shaadi.com, an Indian matchmaking website where relatives can create accounts on behalf of single family members. After speaking on the phone a year later, Dr. Moningi’s and Dr. Tandon’s parents felt confident in their matchmaking skills and exchanged their children’s phone numbers. Then, it was up to the children what to do next. “I’d been set up before and gone on these first dates, and I was just tired and irritated that evening, so I saw a text as an item on my to-do list,” said Dr. Moningi, who, nevertheless, reached out first with a short greeting. After Dr. Tandon responded, they began texting regularly, then moved to phone calls, and a connection soon developed. But there was one not-so-minor challenge: They lived a two-hour flight apart, with Dr. Moningi in Boston and Dr. Tandon in Cleveland. Dr. Moningi, 36, is an assistant professor at the department of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School — specifically, in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber ******* Institute. She was born in Cuttack, India, and raised in Al Bukayriyah, Saudi Arabia, then Philadelphia, and, finally, Charleston, W.Va. She has a bachelor’s in chemistry and philosophy from West Virginia University and a medical degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In April, Dr. Moningi will start a new role as an assistant professor in the department of radiation oncology at the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Tandon, 37, was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, and spent his childhood in Grand Falls-Windsor, Canada, before moving with his family to Mankato, Minn., then to Andalusia, Ala., and then to Kent, Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in integrated life sciences from Kent State University and a medical degree from Northeast Ohio Medical University. He is a staff radiologist at Fairview Hospital in the Cleveland Clinic system. In January 2024, Dr. Tandon flew to Boston from Cleveland for his first date with Dr. Moningi. “I was hopeful but I didn’t want to get crushed,” Dr. Tandon said. They had brunch at Buttermilk & Bourbon, where Dr. Moningi discovered that Dr. Tandon doesn’t drink coffee or alcohol. “My grandma would have loved him,” she said. “What a good boy.” They walked to the Massachusetts State House afterward — one of Dr. Tandon’s goals is to visit every state capitol in the United States — and visited the Museum of Fine Arts. At the end of the 24-hour trip, Dr. Tandon invited Dr. Moningi to visit him in Cleveland. She thought he was being polite until he called her as soon as his plane landed. From that point on, the two spoke on the phone daily. “We connected on our Midwest values, our love for our friends and family and home and our community,” Dr. Moningi said. “My cellphone usage has skyrocketed,” Dr. Tandon said. In September, Dr. Tandon proposed during a hike at the Rocky River Reservation in Cleveland. [Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.] “She didn’t say yes initially,” Dr. Tandon said. “I was holding her hand, I gave my spiel, and she just looked at me. She was waiting until I got on the ground.” After, they met both of their families in Richfield, Ohio, to visit the Gurdwara Guru Nanak Foundation, a Sikh place of worship, and then the Sree Venkateswara Temple, a Hindu temple, to receive blessings for their union. Dr. Tandon’s family practices the Sikh religion and Dr. Moningi’s family is Hindu. Dr. Moningi and Dr. Tandon were married on Feb. 22 at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in a Hindu ceremony led by Srinathan Kadambi, the head priest of the Hindu Society of North East Florida, in front of 230 guests. On the morning of their wedding, the couple also participated in a Sikh marriage ceremony at the Jacksonville Gurdwara, led by the gyani, or congregation leader, Amandeep Singh. “In a gurdwara, it’s all about equality, so whether you’re a king or pauper, everyone sits on the floor,” Dr. Tandon said. Dr. Moningi and Dr. Tandon chose the wedding location because it is close to Dr. Moningi’s parents’ home in Jacksonville, Fla., and because the city holds a deeper meaning for the family. Dr. Moningi’s younger brother, Sanat Moningi, died in San Francisco in 2018 at 24. After several years of mourning, Dr. Moningi’s parents moved to Jacksonville from Charleston, where Sanat grew up. The new city, Dr. Moningi said, “represents a lot of the strength of our family and moving forward and being strong and surviving something we never could have imagined happening. It’s about having Sanat with us but moving forward.” They honored Sanat at the reception with a memorial during which Dr. Moningi’s and Sanat’s friends talked about his life and accomplishments. “There were so many people who supported me and my family through a really bad time that were there with us,” Dr. Moningi said. “Every person from different stages of my life was in the same place, which was very cool and meant a lot.” Source link #Parents #Met #Online #Matched #Real #Life Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Europe’s Defenses Risk Faltering Within Weeks Without US Support – Bloomberg Europe’s Defenses Risk Faltering Within Weeks Without US Support – Bloomberg Europe’s Defenses Risk Faltering Within Weeks Without US Support BloombergThe dangerous tension in Europe’s response to Trump The EconomistCan Europe Back Ukraine’s Fight Alone? New Lines MagazineWillpower, Not Manpower, is Europe’s Main Limitation for a Force in Ukraine War On The RocksHow European leaders are responding to Trump’s approach to Ukraine and Europe Atlantic Council Source link #Europes #Defenses #Risk #Faltering #Weeks #Support #Bloomberg Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

A Cheeto Shaped Like the Pokemon Charizard Sells for Nearly $90,000 A Cheeto Shaped Like the Pokemon Charizard Sells for Nearly $90,000 Jordan Tkacsik was perusing his friend Paul Bartlett’s sports memorabilia and trading card shop last year when he noticed something unusual in a section full of Pokémon collectibles. It was a Cheetos cheese puff, but not just any Cheeto. Rather, it was a Flamin’ Hot Cheeto that bore an uncanny resemblance to Charizard, an orange dragon-like creature that is one of the Pokémon universe’s original and most beloved characters. The Cheeto itself was housed in a small plastic container — “It sort of looked like a travel-size Q-Tip case,” Mr. Tkacsik said — and the three-inch cheesy treat even had a name: Cheetozard. Mr. Tkacsik was not exactly a Pokémon aficionado, but he knew it was an unusual item. He could also sense that it was important to Mr. Bartlett, the owner of 1st and Goal Collectibles in Canton, Ga. So Mr. Tkacsik offered to design and build an improved case for Cheetozard. “I sort of made it my mission to see if I could do it,” he said. Still, Mr. Tkacsik had no way of knowing that Cheetozard was bound for global celebrity. On Sunday, the dragon-shaped snack sold at auction for $72,000 (plus fees that pushed the price to nearly $90,000) amid a bidding frenzy. Goldin Auctions, which sold the Cheeto, declined to disclose the buyer’s and seller’s identities, citing client confidentiality. But at a time when a banana taped to a wall can fetch $6.2 million, a Pokémon-themed Cheeto selling for a mere five figures might be considered a bargain. “Goldin specializes in rare and one-of-a-kind collectibles, and the Cheetozard is exactly this,” Dave Amerman, the head of consignment at Goldin, said in a statement. “Part of what makes this item so fun and unique is that it bridges two fandoms — Pokémon and Cheetos.” The story of how Cheetozard emerged from snack-food obscurity starts, to some extent, with Mr. Bartlett, 37. He said he was “heavily invested in Pokémon” when, in 2019, he came across a listing for Cheetozard on eBay. The asking price was $500. Mr. Bartlett’s offer of $350 was accepted. After receiving the plastic-encased snack, Mr. Bartlett put it in a safe. “And then I totally forgot about it,” he said. In fact, he said, it was not until last year that he was reminded of its existence. And he had no idea that it had any sort of cultural value until he posted a photo of it on Instagram that was shared widely overnight. Suddenly aware of the stakes, Mr. Bartlett sought to protect his investment by reaching out to several companies that authenticate collectibles to see if one could manufacture a custom case for Cheetozard. “But they all said the same thing — that they thought their encapsulation machines would end up breaking the Cheeto,” Mr. Bartlett said. Enter Mr. Tkacsik, 40, who offered his help free of charge. He described how he fed photos of Cheetozard into a computer-assisted design program to produce templates for an inner container that would give the snack a snug fit. Mr. Tkacsik was too nervous to handle the Cheeto himself, lest he compromise its structural integrity. “Oh, it never left the shop,” Mr. Tkacsik said. “I never wanted that responsibility.” Mr. Tkacsik wound up building a four-part case that is fairly impenetrable, he said. The lid, for example, cannot be removed without disassembling the hardware. Mr. Tkacsik’s primary objective was to protect the Cheeto from “common injury,” he said. He was not so concerned about decay. “From a food-grade standpoint, Cheetos have so many preservatives in there anyway,” he said. As for Mr. Bartlett, he thought he had found a buyer for Cheetozard on eBay last year. But he said he had to cancel the $10,000 ***** after eBay refused to let him hand-deliver it. “I wasn’t going to ship a fragile Cheeto through the mail,” he said. Plan B was a trip to Atlanta for Collect-A-****, a trade show where Mr. Bartlett said he met with a representative from Arena Club, an online marketplace for trading cards. Arena Club ultimately paid Mr. Bartlett $10,000 for Cheetozard, which was then included as a mystery prize in an Arena Club Slab Pack that sold for $250. Arena Club later assisted that buyer in delivering Cheetozard to Goldin, which included the cheese puff in a pop culture auction that started on Feb. 10. Mr. Bartlett said he had a strong feeling about what would happen next. “I was like, ‘Man, this is going to sell for close to $100,000, and I’m going to be sick,’” he recalled. On Saturday night, with the leading bid at $18,000, Cheetozard went into extended bidding, which meant that each additional bid within 30 minutes prolonged the auction. That led to a flurry of activity before the winning bid finally came in at $72,000 — plus $15,840 in fees — early Sunday morning. It was the most expensive item of food that Goldin had ever auctioned, a spokeswoman said, and it came complete with Mr. Tkacsik’s protective case. “I still don’t know anything about Pokémon,” he said. Source link #Cheeto #Shaped #Pokemon #Charizard #Sells Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Man Utd vs Arsenal: Key stats & why the Premier League table doesn’t lie Man Utd vs Arsenal: Key stats & why the Premier League table doesn’t lie Arsenal have won their past four Premier League games against United – the longest such streak in the history of this rivalry – but did lose on penalties to Amorim’s 10-man side in the FA Cup in January. The underlying numbers still suggest a United victory in their third-round tie was unexpected. Mikel Arteta’s side were dominant in almost all metrics, as they had been in the league encounter a month previously, only to find United’s second-choice keeper Altay Bayindir inspired as he denied the Gunners. Across the two games, Arsenal’s expected goals was 5.3 and United’s 0.5 Arsenal had 13 shots on target to United’s six The Gunners managed 15 successful crosses to just two from United. In fact, the only area where Amorim’s side laid a blow was in fouls, committing 50% more than their opponents. “It’s a big club which has struggled a little bit but we know the quality they have when they’re really on it,” said Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard. “They have a lot of good individual players that we have to be ready for. “But we go there to win. We’re Arsenal and we’re not scared. There’s always more to play for at the end of the season but every game in this league is so important from the start to the end.” Source link #Man #Utd #Arsenal #Key #stats #Premier #League #table #doesnt #lie Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Capcom’s Unique Trolly Problem Solution in Monster Hunter Wilds is Something Helldivers 2 Will Never Be Able to Implement Capcom’s Unique Trolly Problem Solution in Monster Hunter Wilds is Something Helldivers 2 Will Never Be Able to Implement Monster Hunter Wilds has managed to establish itself as a Game of the Year contender within just a matter of days. Capcom’s latest entry in the iconic RPG franchise is gaining positive reception from both critics and fans alike. Monster Hunter Wilds is making waves in the gaming sphere. (Image via Capcom) Why is Monster Hunter Wilds a success? Well, it’s all thanks to the visual improvements, new quality-of-life features, and an elevated monster-hunting experience. However, what truly sets the game apart is its use of the trolley problem solution that Helldivers 2 can never successfully replicate. Capcom’s unique approach in Monster Hunter Wilds In Monster Hunter Wilds, Capcom presents gamers with quite an interesting take on the classic trolley problem. It’s based around Dragontorch, where a powerful monster that both sustains and wrecks the surrounding landscape lives. If the monster is left alive, it will continue to harvest the land’s energy and push chaos. However, if gamers cut Dragontorch from the fertile lands, it’s equally terrible. Instead of these two solutions, Capcom allows gamers to the Hunter to eliminate the monster altogether. The decision to eliminate the monster might seem simple, but it’s quite a different take when it comes to the traditional trolley problem. Rather than waiting to see where the trolley takes itself, the Hunter takes it out. Monster Hunter Wilds completely removes the dilemma of players choosing between two evils and allows them to control their destinies. It’s something that we don’t see in the video gaming industry that often. Even Arrowhead can’t dare to bring this approach in Helldivers 2. In the game, we are introduced to the narrative of a constant cycle of warfare. However, the concept of eliminating the trolley altogether, the war, would go against the very core design of Helldivers 2. The entire point of the game is standing up for democracy against humanity’s greatest rivals, not peace. Monster Hunter Wilds is setting new highs for Steam Monster Hunter Wilds is a smash-hit. (Image via Capcom) Monster Hunter Wilds isn’t just breaking records for Capcom; it’s proving to be a success for Steam as well. Valve’s platform has recently set a new high by reaching a peak of over 40 million concurrently active players. According to SteamDB, the platform surpassed its highest player count on March 2nd, 2025. It’s quite an impressive achievement, showing how Valve has managed to establish the best digital storefront for gamers. Ever since May 2024, it’s been recording peak concurrent users almost every month. Many in the community feel that Steam reaching new highs was all due to the release of Monster Hunter Wilds on February 28th. Right after the release of the game, it gained over 1,300,000 concurrent active players and has managed to maintain that level. With the development team’s unique approach to Monster Hunter Wilds, it’s likely that these numbers will continue to grow for both Steam and Capcom. With that said, are you enjoying Monster Hunter Wilds? Let us know in the comments below! Source link #Capcoms #Unique #Trolly #Problem #Solution #Monster #Hunter #Wilds #Helldivers #Implement Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Run Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi 5 with Botspot Virtual Machine Run Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi 5 with Botspot Virtual Machine We’ve previously installed Windows on a Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 with varying levels of success. But it seems that Botspot is taking a shot at running Windows 11 on a Raspberry Pi with BVM (Botspot Virtual Machine). BVM offers a simple installation process, most of which is automated via the terminal. There is also a GUI application available from the terminal which makes it even easier to use. Windows 11 Arm in a virtual machine (VM) on your Raspberry Pi 5 has some caveats. Because it is KVM, there is no significant speed difference to running Windows 11 bare metal on the Pi 5. That said, it isn’t speedy, so don’t expect to be playing triple A games here. Older games (like 10-15 years ago) and web games should work ok. Windows 11 will have access to Linux host’s Ethernet and Wi-Fi connections, and also to the host audio. Windows 11 on Arm’s Prism emulator should enable x86 and x64 apps to work, but your mileage may vary. With a little configuration, host USB devices can be seen by Windows 11 and the Windows 11 drive can be mounted in the host OS. We will cover both of these features in the steps below. For this project I used the latest Raspberry Pi 5 16GB, and I ran the host OS, Raspberry Pi OS from a 128GB Makerdisk PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD using a Pineboards HatDrive! Nano. I would recommend using an NVMe SSD or USB 3 drive as it provides better performance than micro SD. You can run this VM on a Raspberry Pi 5 with as low as 2GB of RAM, but I would recommend using a Raspberry Pi 5 4GB at the very least with the support of ZRAM. For this how to you will need A Raspberry Pi 5 4GB or greater running Raspberry Pi OS An NVMe SSD and PCIe HAT+ board for your Raspberry Pi 5. You’ll need at least 50GB of freespace Active cooling for your Raspberry Pi 1. Open a terminal and clone the git repository. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. git clone [Hidden Content] 2. Run BVM for the first time. This will install all of the dependencies necessary to run the virtual machine. bvm/bvm help 3. Create a Windows 11 configuration file. bvm/bvm new-vm ~/win11 4. Download Windows 11 and all of the necessary drivers. bvm/bvm download ~/win11 5. Prepare the Windows 11 downloads for the first boot. bvm/bvm prepare ~/win11 6. Run Windows 11 in the VM for the first time. This will take some time, so grab a drink and wait it out. The VM window will open and perform an automated install. The windows will close automatically when done. Once complete, you can optionally delete all of the ISO files from /home/pi/win11/unattended. bvm/bvm firstboot ~/win11 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) 7. Boot Windows 11 in headless mode. This will give us better performance than just running the VM directly. bvm/bvm boot-nodisplay ~/win11 8. Open another terminal and connect to the headless Windows 11 session using a remote desktop. The Windows 11 desktop will appear and you can now run Windows 11 in a VM on your Raspberry Pi 5. bvm/bvm connect ~/win11 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) 9. When you are done, shutdown Windows 11 just like a “normal” OS install. If you’re not a fan of the terminal, then bvm has a GUI frontend which follows a simple numbered process. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) To use the GUI, open a terminal and run the following command. bvm/bvm gui It uses the same commands behind the scenes, the GUI just makes it a little friendlier to use. Enable USB device passthrough via bvm-config This is a relatively new feature, so your mileage may vary. Not all devices will work as expected. But, this is a really cool feature 1. Ensure that BVM and the Windows 11 VM is shutdown. 2. Connect the USB device that you wish to use. 3. Open a terminal and list the attached USB devices. lsusb 4. Find your device ID and copy the ID. I’m using a USB DVD writer as my test device. id.jpg 5. Open the config file for editing. nano ~/win11/bvm-config 6. Look for the usb_passthrough entry and replace the ID with the ID of your device. 7. Save and close the editor by pressing CTRL+X, then Y and Enter. 8. Repeat Steps 8 and 9 in the previous section to start Windows 11 in headless mode, and then connect using RDP. 9. Your USB device is now accessible to Windows 11. In my case, the USB DVD writer was accessible as a drive. We can also make the following changes via the bvm-config file. Change the username and password for the account. Set the language. Change the remote desktop connection port. Keep the “bloat” (debloat happens by default). Force the VM’s RAM allocation. Set the VM’s disk size (40GB by default). Enable / disable animations / transparency. Just look for the relevant line in bvm-config and read the comments that explain how the configuration can be changed. Mount Windows 11 as a drive on the host OS We can mount the Windows 11 VM as a drive on the host OS, making it easier to bulk transfer files between the two operating systems. Note that we can only mount the Windows 11 VM while the VM is not running. 1. Open a terminal and run this command to mount the Windows 11 VM. bvm/bvm mount ~/win11 2. Open the Raspberry Pi OS file manager and navigate to /media/pi/bvmmount. Here you have full access to the Windows 11 drive and can read and write files across. 3. Unmount the drive in the file manager using the “eject” button next to its entry. You can now repeat steps 8 and 9 in the first section to start the Windows 11 VM. 4. In Windows 11, navigate to where you copied the files, they will be available for use. Obviously this doesn’t apply if you bulk copied files from Windows 11 to the host OS. Source link #Run #Windows #Raspberry #Botspot #Virtual #Machine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Kieran Culkin Asked for More Kids at the Oscars. When Is an In-Joke Worth the Risk? Kieran Culkin Asked for More Kids at the Oscars. When Is an In-Joke Worth the Risk? Awards shows can be fertile terrain for high-profile displays of affection. On Sunday, the Oscars were the site of what appeared to be a relationship soft launch (Teyana Taylor and Aaron Pierre), declarations of burning desire (Zoe Saldaña, for her husband’s hair) and one very public plea for children. Near the end of his acceptance speech for the best supporting actor award, Kieran Culkin jokingly tried to hold his wife, Jazz Charton, to a promise she made in a parking lot as they were leaving the 75th Emmy Awards to “give” him a fourth child if he won an Oscar. “And she turned to me — I swear to God this happened, it was just over a year ago — she said, ‘I will give you four when you win an Oscar,’” he recalled in front of several thousand people in the Dolby Theater and nearly 20 million more watching at home. “I held my hand out, she shook it, and I have not brought it up once until just now. You remember that, honey?” “No pressure,” he continued. “I love you, I’m really sorry I did this again, and let’s get cracking on those kids — what do you say?” The story seemed to play well in the room, with the in-person audience roaring in laughter at the couple’s long-ago deal. But Mr. Culkin was taking a risk by trotting out the anecdote: Even the most beloved jests and inside jokes — intimacies that every couple amass with time — can read as bizarre or even troubling outside the context of your relationship. “It was very off-putting for me — it just kind of made me cringe,” said Kim Sauers, 31, of Wilmington, N.C., noting the current political climate and recent efforts to restrict women’s control of their bodies. Whether it’s during game night with your friends at home, in a video posted online or, yes, in the middle of a prime-time awards show broadcast, there’s always the possibility that the wisecrack you and your partner think is adorable won’t land quite as well with others. Viewers at home wasted no time sharing their reactions on social media, where it seemed that for every expression of delight in the actor’s speech, there was a condemnation of what was seen as a problematic demand. “He drew it out for so long just to bully her publicly into bearing a child while she repeatedly shook her head ‘no,’” one user wrote on X. “We did not love to see it.” Others on the platform found it sweet. “I actually think it’s adorable that Kieran Culkin used his speech to flirt with his wife and we should all just mind our own business,” another user wrote. Ms. Sauers said she understood the many people who argued that it was a joke, not a man actually collecting on a deal, but said that the choice to bring up the agreement on television was in “poor taste” and that it was tacky to “joke about being owed children.” For her part, Ms. Charton seemed to have been entirely untroubled by her husband’s acceptance speech, even continuing the bit in an Instagram post on Tuesday. “Okay okay hear me out,” she wrote. “Making empty baby pacts may seem foolish but it’s clearly been a great motivator.” “Would he have come this far if I hadn’t kept promising him more kids if he won awards?” she added. “Probably. But who’s to say?” (A representative for Mr. Culkin did not respond to a request for comment.) Ava Lamb-Freeman, 39, a kilt maker in Port Jervis, N.Y., didn’t watch the Academy Awards, but when she later saw Mr. Culkin’s acceptance speech, she said she found his dry sense of humor to be funny. “I felt like it was lighthearted, and that he was joking and more interested in recalling this warm conversation they had,” she said. While she allowed that the speech might prove a little embarrassing in retrospect, she thought that the moment between him and his wife was genuine. A mother of three, Ms. Lamb-Freeman said she understood the difficulty of trying to determine how many children to have. “I also can relate to how complex the negotiation might be when you decide to have another kid, especially past two,” she said. “It’s like this big leap of faith for both parties.” Ms. Lamb-Freeman said she could imagine herself making a similar joke in front of people, but she noted that context mattered. For instance, she most likely wouldn’t have said so in front of couples who were having trouble conceiving. “Like, it’s not going to be funny anymore,” she said. Between you and your partner, it might be perfectly harmless to joke about sending each other to the doghouse, or poking fun at a new wig or an eccentric hat, and that’s OK. For many, teasing can be a sign of a deeper bond where jokes can happen, with the understanding that it’s all in good fun. Ms. Lamb-Freeman described a recent bit with her husband, in which she jokingly offers him opportunities “to redeem himself,” like picking something up for her from the store. While she doesn’t remember exactly what started the bit, it became a playful way to make each other laugh. “But if someone else heard me say that, it’d sound kind of weird,” she said. Send your thoughts, stories and tips to *****@*****.tld. Source link #Kieran #Culkin #Asked #Kids #Oscars #InJoke #Worth #Risk Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Cyclone Alfred no match for Mazda BT-50 Cyclone Alfred no match for Mazda BT-50 Cyclone Alfred found its match in our Mazda BT-50, which was filled with sandbags and visited many vulnerable Brisbane homes this weekend. Source link #Cyclone #Alfred #match #Mazda #BT50 Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

At Tom Ford, the Power of a Perfect Suit At Tom Ford, the Power of a Perfect Suit If you need to find the musician Harrison Patrick Smith in any room that he’s in, just look for the guy in the skinny ****** suit. What the pinstripes are to the Yankees, a shrunken, chauffeur driver’s ****** suit is for Mr. Smith, 28, who performs as the Dare. And so, on Wednesday evening in Paris, Mr. Smith sat at the Acne Studios fashion show wearing, what else? A reedy, single-breasted suit. “They’re all slightly different,” he told me. I’ll take his word for it. The Acne suit he wore looked pretty much identical to every suit I’ve ever seen him in. Same slender cut. Same coal shade. The first one, he said, was cobbled together at his local Goodwill in New York, but he now owns one by Gucci. Maybe, he hoped, Acne would let him keep this one. Mr. Smith said he could use a few more. He’s currently touring Europe, doing his sweaty one-man show. What I thought was that he made a simple idea work. Years ago, he would have been just another guy in a suit, but men’s fashion has devolved, particularly for his baby-faced generation. Mr. Smith always sort of looks as if he’s doing something subversive. Do I even need to point out that he was the only guy in the room wearing a suit? The Dare though, would have looked less daring at the Tom Ford show an hour later. There is no American label this side of Ralph Lauren for whom the suit has mattered more. If a man hovering around middle age — Tom Brady, Jay-Z, David Beckham — made it to a best dressed list, a Tom Ford suit likely graced his shoulders. Mr. Ford has been a leading lobbyist for the meticulous suit since before Mr. Smith was born. Last year, Haider Ackermann, a Colombian-born designer, was named the Tom Ford creative director. This was his first show for the label, and there was nothing to indicate that any of Mr. Ford’s hard-fought elegance had leaked out of the label. Certainly, as I entered, sandwiched between what appeared to be two 50-something clients in glimmering tuxedos, I felt underdressed in my khakis and knit cardigan. All the more so when I spotted Mr. Ford in the front row wearing, of course, a double-breasted suit. Suited waiters ringed the room with martinis extended on silver trays — a signal, as I took it, that Mr. Ackermann intended to lead with tailoring. My dress-code inadequacy swelled. That assumption was wrong. The first men’s looks were oil-slick sportswear: moto jackets with snap-button collars, cropped pebble-grain trousers and animal-skin boots tapering to a witchy pointed toe. I thought not of Mr. Brady, but Buzz Bissinger, the “Friday Night Lights” author whose fondness for uber-lux leather garments nearly sent him to financial ruin. As Mr. Ackermann said backstage, Mr. Ford has always been “about suiting and red carpet, but there’s a daily life too, and I wanted to embrace that moment.” A very glossy daily life, perhaps. But Mr. Ackermann did not hold fire on the tailoring for long. Eventually, the suits came. And kept coming. A charcoal double-breasted suit, worn with a starchy microdot ******-and-white shirt and a broad pinstripe suit peaking out beneath a belted trench were pure Patrick Bateman. No accident, as Mr. Ackermann said on a recent podcast that he had been thinking of “American Psycho,” that chronic touchstone for men’s fashion designers. Backstage, he said he was also envisioning Mr. Ford and the authority that emanates from the founder in his firm-shouldered suits. As the show flowed, Mr. Ackermann maintained the straight-backed architecture that makes Tom Ford suits a genuine benchmark for men, while redecorating the facade. Colors were bracing, and fits sat off the body just enough, while underpinnings aimed to startle traditionalists. Though he smirked off the word backstage, there is still an aspirational glamour to these really excellent suits. But they were also charged with a “well, this is new” unconventionally that could draw in a new generation of clients that thumbed past suits previously. Take the slouchy tweed number worn over a leather shirt, or the almost-tan double-breasted suit with roomy trousers that undulated as the model passed. Slouchy and roomy, it should be said, were not common adjectives during Mr. Ford’s time at the label. (Mr. Ackermann is yet another creative director whose best look may be his own. He took a bow in a capacious double-breasted model with the collar folded over in full self swaddle. Second-skin ease par excellence.) Or consider the two suits — mint and robin’s egg blue — that were each paired with a fresh-as-driven-snow white shirt and white tie combo. Or the Aquafresh green sportcoat worn with sepia trousers, a lighter cigar-brown shirt and a ****** tie. (I can hear the ad now: Nine out of 10 leading fashion stylists endorse this look.) Toward the end, a model in slicked-back hair arrived in a ******-and-white dotted suit jacket with slightly contrasting ******-on-****** dotted trousers. I wish Mr. Smith had been there to see it. It might have convinced him to add a different sort of dark suit to his rotation. Source link #Tom #Ford #Power #Perfect #Suit Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Cyclone ‘like jet airliners over roof’ Cyclone ‘like jet airliners over roof’ A singer in Australia when a cyclone hit said it sounded like “three of four jet airliners roaring over the roof”. David Harrop from Warwickshire, who was in Brisbane, Queensland, for work when the storm landed on Saturday night, said it had been frightening to experience and caused “severe damage” and brought serious flooding. He said a “beautiful” nearby beach had been completely eroded by the winds and the rain had been so heavy it had stripped the branches off trees. The cyclone was downgraded to a tropical storm when it reached land, but still brought winds of up to 85km/h and forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes. Alfred was thought to be the region’s first tropical cyclone in 50 years and Mr Harrop said it caused most of Brisbane to lose its power. “Driving through Brisbane city was like a ghost town, hardly a single person to be seen in the city’s streets,” he said. When the storm was at its most fierce he said the noise came in surges and was eerily quiet at times and the damage had been unpredictable. The house he was staying in was largely unharmed, but others in the area were badly damaged he said. Mr Harrop had hoped to have a holiday in Australia while he was out there, but his plans are now uncertain. But it was not the first cyclone he has experienced. He was in New Zealand two years ago when Cyclone Gabrielle hit and said friends have told him: “Either I’m follow them, or they’re following me.” Follow BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram. More on this story Source link #Cyclone #jet #airliners #roof Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]