What Rubio told U.S. diplomats about the future of foreign aid, as most programs paused
What Rubio told U.S. diplomats about the future of foreign aid, as most programs paused
The United States does not plan to stop distributing foreign aid around the world but needs to do a better job explaining and defending programs receiving assistance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told U.S. diplomats behind closed doors Wednesday.
“The United States is not walking away from foreign aid. It’s not. We’re going to continue to provide foreign aid and to be involved in programs, but it has to be programs that we can defend. It has to be programs that we can explain. It has to be programs that we can justify. Otherwise, we do endanger foreign aid,” Rubio told about 200 staffers at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala City, according to a partial transcript of his remarks obtained by CBS News.
“This is not about politics, but foreign aid is the least popular thing government spends money on,” Rubio added. “And I spent a lot of time in my career defending it and explaining it, but it’s harder and harder to do across the board – it really is. But for those of us in charge of doing the work of foreign policy, we understand it is essential.”
The State Department and embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
Over 14 years in the U.S. Senate, Rubio served at different times as top Republican on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees and became a lead GOP voice on foreign policy matters.
This week he is on his first overseas mission, a five-day tour of Central America and the Caribbean that is designed to reinforce his belief that the U.S. needs to more directly engage its closest neighbors as it seeks to curb ******** immigration and the trade of illicit drugs.
The trip has coincided with a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. Agency for International Development that came to a head last weekend as Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency confronted top agency officials, seeking to learn more about the scope of foreign aid. President Trump signed an executive order Monday essentially folding the agency’s functions into the State Department and named Rubio its acting administrator.
As part of the overhaul, USAID staff were told Tuesday that most staff would be placed on leave Friday night, with exceptions for “mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.”
Wednesday morning, when Rubio met with embassy personnel in Guatemala, he was asked by the head of USAID in Guatemala about the future of the agency.
“That’s a question that deserves a straight and honest answer, and I’ll give it to you,” Rubio said, according to the transcript.
He said he is hoping to choose all “specially designated programs” by Friday amid a broader review of all foreign aid.
The secretary said he is now seeking input directly from ambassadors around the globe after receiving a list of USAID programs in Guatemala from U.S. Ambassador Tobin Bradley early Wednesday. But he also faulted agency officials in Washington for failing to cooperate with Musk’s team.
“We hope to achieve — over the next 36 to 48 hours — what I’d hope to do in a more orderly way, from the top down… Now we’re going to have to achieve it from the bottom up, defining what those special missions are,” he said.
Rubio cited USAID funding to combat Ebola and some projects run by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS, or PEPFAR, as early examples of exceptions that will continue.
“It has to be done in a way that’s transparent, and we weren’t getting those answers. We just weren’t, at least not from the top down,” Rubio said. “So now, we’re going to have to pursue it from the bottom up. That’s always been our goal with our intention here, and that’s going to continue to be our goal and our intention.”
On Saturday, two top security officials at USAID headquarters in Washington were placed on administrative leave, two sources confirmed to CBS News. Multiple sources said they were fired for attempting to block a DOGE team from accessing classified material in restricted areas.
Even though Rubio is seeking to continue some funding as a broader review of foreign aid continues, it is unclear how the programs can continue if USAID staffers are locked out of their computers and office space and don’t have access to funds.
The email sent Tuesday to USAID staffers said the agency plans to consider “case-by-case” exceptions of staffers who need to stay on the job, and return travel extensions are possible based on “personal or family hardship, mobility, or safety concerns.”
Rubio told diplomats Wednesday those exceptions “came from input from the ground, not from anybody else.” He cited examples of USAID employees who are married and have children with State Department staffers assigned to the same embassy.
“So now you’re basically leaving them with the option of saying, ‘So I have to leave behind my spouse and my children, potentially, and uproot myself and go.’ That’s not our intention. We don’t want to achieve that,” he said.
He also noted, “There are members of [USAID] that are in the third trimester of a pregnancy.” Others, he said, might require special medical attention.
“We have a case, I know in particular, of someone who has to go to dialysis three times a week,” he said. “And so to be ordered to leave is disruptive in terms of, like, continuing with the course of care. And there are people that are deployed in places, frankly, where we don’t want them stranded with them, because, it’s not, you can’t just catch a commercial flight and come home.”
He concluded his lengthy answer by asking the diplomats for grace.
“I know it’s hard to ask for patience. I know it’s hard to ask for trust, because you’ve never met me before. I’ve never been in charge of the State Department. I’ve never been acting USAID administrator before. I don’t get paid double for doing that, by the way.”
Ed O’Keefe
Ed O’Keefe is CBS News senior White House and political correspondent. He previously worked for The Washington Post covering presidential campaigns, Congress and federal agencies. His primary focus is on President Biden, Vice President Harris and political issues across the country.
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The same Boeing passenger plane keeps being diverted after take-off… what’s going on?
The same Boeing passenger plane keeps being diverted after take-off… what’s going on?
It was a bad few weeks for one particular Boeing plane, which appears to have been diverted four times in 25 days.
An American Airlines 787-8 Dreamliner with the registration code N819AN appeared to repeatedly take off and then changing its direction back to its departure airport throughout January into February.
The incident was first pointed out by a user on Bluesky last week who said of the plane “If I’m getting the full picture, this 787 has had an incredibly bad month or so – like not quite like much I’ve really seen before really. Diversions, aborted take-offs, out of service, etc.”
The first incident happened on 7 January. A flight from Amsterdam, Netherlands, to Philadelphia, USA, ended up lasting only one hour and 46 minutes after changing its course and flying back to its departing airport, Amsterdam Schiphol, according to data collected by FlightAware.
The plane did several circles around North Holland, chopping and changing its direction before flying out into the North Sea, turning around, and then landing back at the airport.
Only three days later, another diversion happened with the same Boeing jet. On 10 January, the American Airlines flight left Philadelphia International at 10.17am for a journey to Dublin, Ireland. Just over an hour into the flight, it turned back to Philadelphia, unable to complete its transatlantic journey.
The plane flew over New Jersey and out into the Atlantic Ocean before doing a U-turn back to the airport in Philadelphia.
The unlucky streak continued for the aircraft, when two flights cancelled: one Dublin to Philadelphia journey on 13 January and a Barcelona, Spain, lfight to Philadelphia the day after.
It is unclear what caused the cancellations, but this was not the end of this Boeing plane’s flight turmoil, as two more diversions followed suit.
On 19 January, the plane yet again changed its intended destination of Philadelphia following its departure from Barcelona just after 2pm, spending very little time in the air – landing back in Barcelona following only 34 minutes of travel time.
The Boeing jet completed a flight from Barcelona to Dallas Fort Worth, where American Airlines has a maintenance hangar, on 23 January, and stayed there for several days.
The most recent diversion occurred on 1 February, on a flight from Zurich, Switzerland, to Philadelphia, having departed at 10.39am. It didn’t even last an hour in the air, and was back at Zurich’s airport at 11.24am after circling the airspace near the airport a number of times.
In between these diversions and cancellations, there has been successful completion of flights, such as a recent flight from Zurich to Philadelphia on Wednesday 5 February, that left on time and completed its eight-and-a-half-hour flight to the United States.
American Airlines has yet to comment on what caused all these diversions. The Independent has contacted the airline for further information.
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Avowed preload guide: release date, file size, and more
Avowed preload guide: release date, file size, and more
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Avowed release date
Avowed file size
Avowed preload options
Avowed preorder details
We don’t know for sure if Avowed will be one of the best Xbox Series X games, but hopes are high that it will be. This year is packed with amazing upcoming video games like Doom The Dark Ages and The Outer Worlds 2, but Avowed is the first to kick off Xbox’s year. RPG fans are beyond excited to visit the Living Lands for the first time knowing the level of quality Obsidian is capable of. Besides knowing what type of character you want to be and what weapons you want to play with, you need to make sure your console or PC is ready to let you into the action as soon as the game launches. Here are all the preload details you need to know about Avowed.
Avowed release date
Xbox
Avowed is coming out for everyone on February 18, but those who preorder the Premium Edition will be entitled to 5 days early access and can start playing on February 13.
Avowed file size
Xbox Game Studios / Obsidian
Avowed will be just under 72GB on PC, so having 75GB free is the recommended requirement.
The Xbox file size hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, but it shouldn’t be too different from the PC version. If you want to be safe, make sure you have at least 100GB of space clear on your console.
Avowed preload options
Xbox Game Studios
Anyone who has preordered Avowed can already preload the game on Xbox consoles. That includes preorders through Game Pass, regardless of which version you preorder. Simply visit the store page on your console and choose to preinstall it. For now, the file will only be around 325MB but will be much larger closer to launch.
PC players will have to wait a little longer before preloading becomes available, if at all. Until we get official word on whether or not PC players will be able to preload, it might be safer to assume you will have to download the game completely at launch.
Avowed preorder details
Obsidian Entertainment
Preorders for Avowed are currently live if you want to begin preloading. There are two digital versions and one physical that you can claim. Here’s what each one includes:
Digital Standard Edition – $70
Digital Premium Edition – $90
Avowed
Early access up to five days
Two premium skin packs
Digital artbook and soundtrack
Premium Edition Steelbook (Physical) – $95
Avowed (digital code)
Steelbook case
Map of the Living Lands
Everything included in the Digital Premium Edition
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Everything you need to know about OpenAI’s browser-based agent, Operator
Everything you need to know about OpenAI’s browser-based agent, Operator
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What is Operator?
When was Operator released?
How does Operator work?
What can Operator do and how well can it do it?
How can I try Operator for myself?
OpenAI has finally entered the agentic AI race with the release of its Operator AI in January. The agentic system is designed to work autonomously on its user’s behalf and is primed to compete against already established industry rivals like Claude’s Computer Use API and Microsoft’s Copilot agents — at least, once it sheds its “research preview” status. Here’s everything you need to know about OpenAI’s new agent and when you might be able to try it for yourself.
What is Operator?
OpenAI’s Operator is an agent AI, meaning that it is designed to take autonomous action based on the information available to it. But unlike conventional programs, AI agents are able to review changing conditions in real-time and react accordingly, rather than simply execute predetermined commands. As such, AI agents are able to perform a variety of complex, multi-step tasks ranging from transcribing, summarizing and generating action items from a business meeting to booking the flight, hotel accommodations, and rental car for an upcoming vacation based on your family’s various schedules to autonomously researching topics and assembling multi-page studies on those subjects.
Operator works slightly differently than other agents currently available. While Claude’s Computer Use is an API and Microsoft’s AI agents work within the Copilot chat UI itself, Operator is designed to, well, operate, within a dedicated web browser window that runs on OpenAI’s servers and executes its tasks remotely. Your local web browser has nothing to do with the process and can be used normally even when Operator is running.
The Operator app is powered by a new “Computer-Using Agent” model (CUA) that is, in turn, built atop GPT-4o, which provides the app’s multimodal abilities. OpenAI says CUA was trained in a similar fashion to its o1 and o3 reasoning models. As such the CUA model will break down complex tasks into their component problems before trying to solve them sequentially, backtracking if it runs into any logical roadblocks.
Introduction to Operator & Agents
When was Operator released?
OpenAI released Operator on January 23, 2025. It’s currently only available to $200/month Pro users in the U.S. through the operator.chatgpt.com website. “Our plan is to expand to Plus, Team, and Enterprise users and integrate these capabilities into ChatGPT in the future,” the company wrote in its announcement post.
How does Operator work?
Users can activate the agent from the ChatGPT home screen, which pops up a dedicated web browser page in a side window for Operator to carry out its tasks. The AI provides a running narrative of what it is currently doing and the user can take over the process at any time. Operator will ask for the user’s help in certain tasks, such as logging in to specific secured websites, as well as get the user’s confirmation before executing important tasks. It can interact with websites both visually (i.e. through screen shots) and tactically, when it mimics the user’s keyboard taps and mouse clicks.
What can Operator do and how well can it do it?
Since it is limited to the browser, Operator can only perform simple internet-based tasks currently, such as reserving concert tickets, ordering DoorDash, or filling out Instacart orders. The company also claims that the agent will be able to automate tasks like booking hotels and airlines, reserving tables at restaurants, and even doing your online shopping.
OpenAI has pitted Operator against Anthropic’s Computer Use, as well as Google DeepMind’s Mariner agent, in a number of industry benchmarks and claims that Operator has beaten them across the board. On the OSWorld benchmark, which measures how well an agent can complete tasks like merging PDF files, CUA beat out Computer Use 38.1% to 22.0% — for reference, humans average around 72% success on those tasks. On the WebVoyager benchmark CUA outscored Mariner 87% to 83.5%. Computer Use scored a paltry 56%.
However, initial user reactions to the AI agent have been mixed. For example, New York Times columnist Kevin Roost wrote, “In all, I found that using Operator was usually more trouble than it was worth. Most of what it did for me I could have done faster myself, with fewer headaches.”
“Even when it worked,” he continued, “it asked for so many confirmations and reassurances before acting that I felt less like I had a virtual assistant and more like I was supervising the world’s most insecure intern.”
How can I try Operator for myself?
In order to get access to OpenAI’s Operator agent, you will need to sign up for OpenAI’s Pro tier subscription and then access it via the operator.chatgpt.com website.
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Bessent says Trump is focused on the 10-year yield, won’t push Fed to cut rates
Bessent says Trump is focused on the 10-year yield, won’t push Fed to cut rates
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent speaks, at the White House, in Washington, U.S. February 3, 2025.
Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
The Trump administration is more focused on keeping Treasury yields low rather than on what the Federal Reserve does, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday.
While in the past Trump has implored the Fed to cut its benchmark rate, Bessent said the current strategy is using the levers of fiscal policy to keep rates low. The benchmark the administration is using will be the 10-year Treasury, not the federal funds rate that the central bank controls, he added.
“The president wants lower rates,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, who served as director of the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term. “He and I are focused on the 10-year Treasury and what is the yield of that.”
Beginning in September 2024, the Fed engaged in a rate-cutting cycle that took a full percentage point off the funds rate. The benchmark sets what banks charge each other for short-term lending but historically has influenced a host of other rates for things like car loans, mortgages and credit cards.
However, Treasury yields actually jumped following the Fed cuts, as did market-based indicators of inflation expectations. Since Trump has taken office, though, the 10-year Treasury has been moving mostly lower and dropped about 10 basis points, or 0.1 percentage point, in Wednesday trading.
Stock Chart IconStock chart icon
10-year yield
Bessent indicated that Trump will not be hectoring the Fed to cut, as he did during his first term.
“He wants lower rates. He is not calling for the Fed to lower rates,” Bessent said. Trump believes that “if we deregulate the economy, if we get this tax bill done, if we get energy down, then rates will take care of themselves and the dollar will take care of itself.”
One priority of the administration is to get the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made permanent, while it also will focus on energy exploration and deficit reduction.
“We cut the spending, we cut the size of government, we get more efficiency in government, and we’re going to go into a good interest rate cycle,” Bessent said.
The Treasury secretary’s statement on targeting bond yields “is consistent with our view that he has essentially one job – to try to prevent the 10y yield from breaking 5 percent at which point we think Trumponomics breaks down, with equities rolling over and housing and other rate sensitive sectors breaking lower,” wrote Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI.
The 10-year last traded at 4.45%, down from its mid-January peak of 4.8%.
A few days ago, Trump in fact said he agreed with the Fed’s Jan. 29 decision to keep the funds rate steady, which Guha said “eases tension” between the two sides and could be positive for markets.
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Qualcomm claims it owns 10% of U.S. Windows PC retail market for devices priced $800 and up
Qualcomm claims it owns 10% of U.S. Windows PC retail market for devices priced $800 and up
Qualcomm just released its first-quarter financial results for fiscal year 2025, covering the ******* from October to December 2024, and it has made some bold claims to investors. According to analyst Sravan Kundojjala, the company said that 10% of Windows PC sales in the U.S., worth $800 and above, are powered by Snapdragon X chips. This is quite an assertion, especially as it only captured 0.8% percent of the market in the third quarter of 2024, having only sold 720,000 units.
– Auto revenue up 61% y/y to $961M; 6 quarters of q/q growth- On track for $4B+ revenue target for FY26- IoT revenue up 36% y/y to $1.5B; 3 quarters of q/q growth- 80 PC designs (planned/launched) for ’25; 100+ designs in ‘26- Claims 10% Windows PC retail share in the US…February 6, 2025
This headline PC shipments figure rings somewhat true, especially with the qualifiers included in the statement. The Windows PC retail market is tied to consumer purchases only, so Qualcomm probably didn’t consider institutional purchases, like those coming from the government and other private businesses. Aside from that, it also only counted PCs worth $800 or more, which is slightly above the average laptop selling price of $750 in 2024.
Whatever the case, we’re going to see more Snapdragon laptops and PCs this coming year. Qualcomm has already announced an 8-core Snapdragon X chip that will bring down prices to around $600, making its devices more accessible for buyers. We’ve also seen mini-PCs with these chips coming to market a few months after the company abruptly canceled its $899 dev kit. These new devices are part of the 80 or so models planned to arrive (or already launched) in 2025, with a further 100+ more coming next year.
Windows on Arm PCs still have a long way to go to reach market share parity with x86_64 devices, especially as they continue to have some compatibility issues with legacy software and gaming. However, they also come with several advantages, especially in the efficiency department. We’ve even seen Snapdragon X Elite laptops lasting more than 15 hours of real-world use on a single charge, finally allowing Windows devices to somewhat catch up with the battery life you can find on Apple’s MacBooks.
With continued development, we might eventually see a time when Windows devices are evenly split between Arm and x86 processors. But it will likely take time, and we can only wait and see if the Qualcomm CEO’s prediction that the Snapdragon X chips will take 50% of the Windows PC market by 2029 will come true.
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Google defends AI tool after cheese gaffe in Super Bowl ad
Google defends AI tool after cheese gaffe in Super Bowl ad
Google has reedited an advert for its leading artificial intelligence (AI) tool, Gemini, after it overestimated the global appetite for Gouda.
The commercial – which was supposed to showcase Gemini’s abilities – was created to be broadcast during the Super Bowl.
It showed the tool helping a cheesemonger in Wisconsin write a product description by informing him Gouda accounts for “50 to 60 percent of global cheese consumption”.
However, a blogger pointed out on X that the stat was “unequivocally false” as the Dutch cheese was nowhere near that popular.
Replying to him, Google executive Jerry Dischler, insisted this was not a “hallucination” – where AI systems invent untrue information – blaming the websites Gemini had scraped the information from instead.
“Gemini is grounded in the Web – and users can always check the results and references,” he wrote.
“In this case, multiple sites across the web include the 50-60% stat.”
The ad has now been reedited to remove the error.
Google has posted it on YouTube – which it owns – and it no longer contains any reference to what percentage of the world consumes the hard cheese.
In a statement, Google told the BBC it had spoken to the cheesemonger featured in the ad to ask him what he would do.
“Following his suggestion to have Gemini rewrite the product description without the stat, we updated the UI to reflect what the business would do,” the statement added.
The incident is embarrassing for Google, given the extremely high profile of the Super Bowl and the extra scrutiny ads for it receive.
Blogger Nate Hawke – who spotted the error – said it was an example of “AI slop”.
But it’s not the first time the tech giant has found itself on the back foot over its AI products.
A year ago, Gemini was “paused” following criticism of the “woke” images it generated, such as an image of the US Founding Fathers which inaccurately included a ****** man.
It’s even had previous issues with cheese.
In May last year, its AI overviews search feature was criticised after it told some users to use “non-toxic glue” when they searched for ‘how to make cheese stick to pizza better’.
The search engine’s AI-generated responses also said geologists recommend humans eat one rock per day.
Problems with AI tools are not limited to Google – in January, Apple was forced to suspend its news alert summariser after it invented a slew of inaccurate headlines.
Adverts at the Super Bowl themselves are also no stranger to controversy.
Last year, Uber Eats made a last minute change to its advertisement after criticism that it inappropriately made light of food allergies.
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Apple’s AI-focused M5 chip enters mass production
Apple’s AI-focused M5 chip enters mass production
Apple has begun the mass production of its M5 chip, which is set to power next-generation products, including the upcoming Mac series and iPad. Coinciding with long-standing reports, the Cupertino-based tech brand is establishing a new node process for packaging the semiconductor. The technology is intended to provide improved AI performance on the devices it powers, according to ETnews.
Industry sources told the Korean publication that Apple began packaging the M5 chip last month. Taiwan’s TSMC began the initial production of the M5 chip circuit using its 3nm process (N3P). The technology is expected to improve the power efficiency of the M5 chip by between 5% and 10%, and performance by 5% in comparison to the previous M4 chip, which will aid in improving AI performance on upcoming Mac and iPad models.
Apple is known to be releasing a series of M5 chips, including the M5, M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra, each with its own performance and application levels.
Other companies assisting in packaging the M5 chip series are ASE in Taiwan, Amkor in the U.S., and JCET in China. The additional outsourcing suppliers are preparing to need extra facilities to expand the mass production of the high-end chips, including Pro, Max, and Ultra, ETnews detailed.
“Orders for equipment to expand the mass production volume of the M5 are continuously being made,” an industry insider told the publication.
“As it has begun full-scale production, it will be installed in Apple devices that will be released in the future,” they added.
Previous rumors suggested that Apple’s M5 launch might be lackluster, but that was before the brand made its intent in the AI market apparent. Notable analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in December 2024 that the earliest M5 models should begin mass production during the first and second quarter of 2025, while the M5 Ultra would likely begin mass production in 2026. He added that higher-end chips would be “better suited for AI inferencing.”
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Save on Disney+, Sling TV, DirecTV and more
Save on Disney+, Sling TV, DirecTV and more
Whether you’re a true cord-cutter or you just want to watch the next season of Stranger Things when it (eventually? maybe?) drops, everyone’s on the lookout for streaming deals nowadays. Plenty have chosen VOD and live TV streaming services over traditional cable in recent years, but the savings that choice got you just a few years ago have somewhat evaporated now. Companies like Netflix, Disney, Max and others have been consistently raising prices to the point where you may question if streaming is even worth it anymore.
We at Engadget still think so, for many reasons, but you can (and should) be smart with your money at the same time. Streaming deals are an option, even if they don’t come around with the same regularity as discounts on AirPods do. If you’re looking to save money and still stream all of the content you want, Engadget can help by laying out the best streaming deals you can get right now, how you can save with bundles and everything you should know before paying for yet another streaming service.
Best streaming deals
True streaming deals can be hard to come by. Most often, they’ll pop up during the ****** Friday shopping *******. On occasion, we’ll see them sparingly throughout the year and they usually take the form of a discounted monthly or annual rate for a limited ******* of time. Also, true streaming deals are typically on the ad-supported versions of a service, but once in a while you’ll find a unicorn of a deal on a tier that has ad-free viewing.
If you’re able to wait for a deal before subscribing to a streaming service, we recommend doing so. You’ll save money upfront and in the long run, and you also have the option to cancel your subscription before the price goes back up to the normal rate. Maybe you find you like the service so much that you’re fine paying full price for it — that’s the ideal situation. But if you’re not compelled to keep that app on rotation in your smart TV, most streaming services make it easy for you to cancel at any time. With that said, these are the best streaming deals you can snag right now.
DirecTV
DirecTV’s recently announced MySports beta package is $50 per month for the first three months if you sign up before the end of February. That means you’ll save a total of $60 for that timeframe. In addition to sports channels like FS1, ESPN and NFL Network, the package includes more than 25 live and local TV channels and unlimited DVR recordings.
$50/month at DirecTV
Sling Orange for $23/month for the first month (50 percent off): New customers can get Sling Orange or Sling Blue for half off the usual price for the first month, bringing the final prices to $23/month and $25.50/month, respectively. Orange is likely best for sports fans, with eight exclusive sports and family channels, while Blue includes 19 exclusive news and entertainment channels. You can get both Orange and Blue access also for half off for one month, or $33 total.
Fubo Essential for $60/month for the first month ($25 off): Fubo has introductory discounts on most of its packages, but Essential may be the best for most people. It offers access to 215 channels, unlimited cloud DVR and up to 10 simultaneous streams. Note that regional sports content is not included here; you’ll have to go up to Pro or Elite plans for that.
YouTube TV for $70/month for the first six months ($78 off): New subscribers can save a total of $78 when they sign up for YouTube TV’s base plan, which includes access to over 100 channels, unlimited DVR space and six household accounts with the ability to stream on three devices at once.
Spotify student discount – Premium + Hulu with ads for $6/month (72 percent off): Spotify’s student offer continues to be one of the best around, giving you access to the Premium tier of the music streamer and Hulu’s ad-supported plan for only $6 monthly. Purchased separately, you’d pay $22 per month for both of the services. Plus, the first month is free when you sign up.
Hulu student discount – subscribe for $2/month (75 percent off): Those with a valid student ID can get Hulu’s ad-supported tier for 75 percent off the typical rate. They’ll keep the same ***** price for as long as they’re a student as well.
Max student discount – subscribe for $5/month (50 percent off): Max offers their ad-supported tier to students for half off the usual rate. You’ll just have to verify that you’re a student through Unidays, and make note that this offer is only good for up to 12 months of service.
Streaming bundle discounts
There’s more consolidation happening now than ever before in the streaming space, and that means there are more streaming bundle options. These bundles offer you access to more content with one subscription price, but those prices are typically higher than paying for a single service by itself (obviously). It may be tempting to just get the bundle, but if only one of those services in the bundle speaks to you, you’ll spend less overall by just paying for the single service.
Speaking of a deep love for a single streaming service: if all of your favorite shows are on Peacock or the latest releases on Max consistently bring you joy, consider paying for one year upfront. Subscribing with an annual plan usually saves you money in the long term over paying on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, not all streaming services (looking at you, Netflix) have an annual subscription option. Here are some of the best streaming bundles you can get right now.
Disney+
As the name implies, you get access to Disney+ and Hulu content with this bundle, both with ads. Considering you’d pay $20/month for each service separately, you’re saving quite a bit by going with this bundle.d
$11/month at Disney+
Disney+ and Hulu Duo Premium for $20/month: This bundle removes the ads from both Disney+ and Hulu (with the exception of select live and linear content) and allows you to download content for offline viewing. You’ll save 43 percent with this bundle, as opposed to paying for both ad-free tiers individually.
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Trio Basic for $17/month: You get full access to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ content with this package, albeit with ads across the board. This bundle price is 47 percent off the total price of all three separate subscriptions.
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ Trio Premium for $27/month: Similarly to the Duo bundles, the Premium version of the Trio removes ads from most content in Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, and you can download content for offline viewing. This price represents a 43-percent savings when compared to paying for all three ad-free tiers separately.
Disney+, Hulu, Max bundle with ads for $17/month: Max may not technically be under the Disney mega-umbrella, but you get full, ad-supported access to its content here along with Disney+ and Hulu. You’ll save 43 percent with this bundle, as opposed to paying for all three services individually.
Disney+, Hulu, Max bundle no ads for $30/month: The major difference between this bundle and the previous is the lack of ads across most content in all three services. Download support for offline watching is included, too. Compared to the $52/month you’d pay for these tiers separately, you’ll save 42 percent with this combination.
Hulu + Live TV with Disney+ and ESPN+ for $96/month: This streaming bundle amalgamation is a bit confusing but it does offer a lot: you get live TV streaming via Hulu’s service plus access to the following VOD services: Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+. Out of those three, only ESPN+ will have ads.
Paramount+ with Showtime for $13/month or $120/year: This includes everything in Paramount+’s Essential plan, except the ads, and also provides access to Showtime content, live CBS streams and download features.
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Ugandan rugby international jailed for *****
Ugandan rugby international jailed for *****
A Ugandan rugby player who claimed asylum in Wales has been jailed for four and a half years after raping a woman in Cardiff.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how Philip Pariyo, 32, became close friends with the woman involved, before he attacked her in a flat in the city in June 2021.
Pariyo had repeatedly denied raping the woman, but was found guilty of the offence in December 2024.
He had represented his country in Rugby Sevens in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before disappearing.
In a letter addressed to Judge Celia Hughes, he said he was “genuinely sorry to those who suffered from my actions”.
An impact statement written by the woman was read to the court, in which she described the long-term physical and mental impact the attack had had on her.
“No one in the world should go through what I did, fighting and begging for my life. It has left lasting impacts on me, and has felt like an open wound that I can never heal from.
“It’s made me feel dirty, numb and tainted. He invaded my body by force and branded me from within. He became an unwanted part of my body that I can’t get rid of.
“No one should fight like their life depends on it for something as simple as consent.”
Pariyo first came to the *** in 2014, when he was part of the Ugandan Rugby Sevens team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
He was one of two players who disappeared after the Games, and the following year it emerged he had moved to Cardiff.
There he had claimed asylum and was playing for St Peter’s Rugby Club in Roath, before becoming a waste management worker for Cardiff Council.
Defending, John Ryan said Pariyo had claimed asylum on the basis of being accused of being ***********, and feared returning to Uganda, where it is ******** to be ***********.
The court heard that he first met the woman in 2019 at a ******** in Cardiff.
After that the pair became friends, and in 2021 Pariyo and the woman stayed in the city with two other people – including Pariyo’s girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time.
Judge Celia Hughes said that on the night of the attack, Pariyo had “badgered” the woman for sex, who in turn refused.
He ignored the refusal, and ****** her.
The court heard how the pair went to a chemist the next morning to buy the morning after pill, and Pariyo suggested buying condoms, implying he wanted to have sex with her later that day.
Sentencing, Judge Celia Hughes called it an “appalling attack and violation of a woman you called a friend”.
She said his not guilty plea was in the face of strong evidence against him, and led to the woman having to relive the ordeal in open court.
“Someone with your physical strength and who played at such a high level in your sport should act as a role model to others. But instead you manhandled this woman as entirely as you wished.
“You pleaded not guilty even though you admitted having sex in your text messages.
“She will never be the same strong confident woman she was before she came to Cardiff to see you, because of your ******* greed.”
Judge Celia Hughes also said the sentence would “adversely affect his asylum claim”.
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Google says quantum computing applications are five years away
Google says quantum computing applications are five years away
A few weeks ago at CES 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang posited that practical uses of quantum computing were about 20 years away. Today, Google’s head of quantum Hartmut Neven told Reuters that we could see real-world applications of quantum computing within five years. So, who is right?
According to Huang, current quantum systems don’t have enough “qubits.” In fact, they’re short by around five or six orders of magnitude. But why do we need so many? Well, current research suggests that more qubits result in fewer errors, creating more accurate quantum computers. Let’s talk about why that is.
A qubit is just what it sounds like — a quantum bit. It differs from a binary bit in a normal computer because it can encode more data at once. The problem with qubits is that they’re quantum particles — and quantum particles don’t always do what we want. When we run computations on a quantum computer, every one in a thousand qubits “fails” (i.e. stops doing what we want it to do) and throws off the results.
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Back in the day, we had a similar problem with traditional computers. The ENIAC computer, for example, used over 17,000 vacuum tubes to represent bits and every couple of days tubes would fail and produce errors. But the solution here was straightforward — we just needed to drop the vacuum tubes and find something that didn’t fail so often. Jump forward a few decades, and we’ve got tiny silicon transistors with a failure rate of one in 1 billion billion.
For quantum computing, that solution won’t work. Qubits are quantum particles, and quantum particles are what they are. We can’t build them out of something else and we can’t force them to stay in the state we want — we can only find ways to use them as they are.
This is where the “not enough qubits” part becomes relevant. Just last year, Google used its Willow quantum chip to discover that more qubits equals fewer errors. Essentially, Google built mega qubits out of multiple physical qubits, all of which share the same data. This basically creates a system of failsafes — every time one physical qubit fails, there’s another one to keep things on track. The more physical qubits you have, the more failures you can withstand, leaving you with a better chance of getting an accurate result.
However, since qubits fail a lot and we need to achieve a fairly high accuracy rate to start using quantum computers for real-world problems, we’re going to need a whole lot of qubits to get the job done. Huang thinks it will take as many as 20 years to get the numbers we need, while Neven is hinting that he can get there in five.
Does Google know something that Nvidia doesn’t? Is it just fanning the flames of some friendly competition? Right now, we don’t know the answer. Perhaps Neven just wanted to boost quantum computing stocks after Huang’s comments caused a loss of around $8 billion last month.
Whenever the breakthrough does happen, Google thinks it can use quantum computing to build better batteries for electric cars, develop new drugs, and maybe even create new energy alternatives. To claim that such projects could become possible in as few as five years is pretty out there — but I suppose we won’t have to wait too long to find out how right or how wrong Neven is.
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Counter-Strike 2’s Longest Match Lasted for 71 Rounds With Over 450 Kills
Counter-Strike 2’s Longest Match Lasted for 71 Rounds With Over 450 Kills
The Counter-Strike 2 ESL Pro League keeps setting record after record. Donk’s historic 38-kill performance against Wildcard set a new record for the event in Season 20 of the highly prestigious event. And then came the longest-ever CS2 match of all time, which made fans ***** to their seats for over three hours.
Counter-Strike 2 was released on September 27, 2023. | Credit: Valve.
After 71 rounds of play, M80 defeated Fnatic on Anubis in Group C’s upper bracket semifinal in Season 20 of the ESL Pro League. to set a record for the longest CS2 map ever played. Not only in terms of the length of the match, that semifinal clash also broke many records.
The ESL Pro League Season 20 witnessed the longest-ever Counter-Strike 2 match
ESL Pro League is the biggest even in the Counter-Strike 2 circuit. | Credit: Valve.
That day Anubis demonstrated how evenly matched the two teams were right from the start. Bo1 began and M80 won with a pistol to begin the first half, and Fnatic responded with gunfire. Then the game was evenly poised with a first-half score of 6–6, but nobody realized what they were getting into. It was quite an accomplishment for M80 to rally from an 8–11 deficit and force overtime.
However, the overtime challenged the limits of professional Counter-Strike, putting the stamina of every player to the test. The match lasted an eternity, with M80 ultimately winning 37–34 after an incredible 71 rounds of play, including eight overtimes.
In terms of the total number of rounds played, the game is by far the longest Counter-Strike 2 game ever broadcast on HLTV. Four players in all—two on each team—crossed 50 frags, with M80 winning the series 2-0 thanks to 58 frags from each of Reck and Slaxz.
The MongolZ and TYLOO set the previous LAN record for the most rounds played in a CS2 game with their eXTREMESLAND 2023 match, which lasted 54 rounds. Five overtimes later, the MongolZ defeated TYLOO 28–26.
The match went on way beyond everyone’s expectations
This match even had a bathroom break. | Credit: Valve.
Following M80 vs. Fnatic, the concurrent match between MOUZ and Imperial on the other stream for the ESL Pro League got underway. However, the match on Anubis was still going on when the players from MOUZ came out of their own Best-of-Three series, which also included overtime.
The map took more than three hours to complete, and within this, the whole series between MOUZ and Imperial was wrapped up. The possibility of setting a new record for the longest CS2 map was already generating a lot of buzz online at that time.:
Me: “I got an hour I can play one more” The one more:
@Sppokk
You’d think around round 60 they’d just go “knives only?” and settle it that way
@BBBence1111
Imagine finishing the game being like “damn that was a lot, let’s head home” and then they remind you “there’s still potentially 2 more maps….”
@BeenjiCS2
Imagine if instead of playing normal overtime, they just play bo5 1v1s on the warmup version of the map, like football penalties
@luriluras
One of the very few matches that featured a bathroom break in the middle was this one. Breaks are typically set aside for longer intervals between Maps 3 and 4 of the Bo5 or for times in between maps. However, it is uncommon to see one at CS2 map Round 60. Regretfully, despite 71 rounds of play, the two teams still had work ahead of them, possibly with two more maps in the series.
Despite gaining huge popularity, CS2 couldn’t match the legacy of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
Did you watch this historical map live? Then share with us what was going through in your head at that time, in the comment section.
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Editorial: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should come clean on caravan plot
Editorial: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should come clean on caravan plot
Repeatedly, Anthony Albanese has refused to divulged when and how he was told of the plot.The only conceivable reason for his continued obfuscation on this issue is that he was among the last to know.
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Fortnite gets a rhythm-based obstacle course in Patchwork Parkour
Fortnite gets a rhythm-based obstacle course in Patchwork Parkour
Fortnite gains a new mode today called Patchwork Parkour, an obstacle course game with a rhythm twist. The idea of an obstacle course — or “obby” game — first started on games like Roblox and Spatial. Developers Harmonix and Look North World partnered up to bring this style of game to Fortnite through the Unreal Editor for Fortnite, or UEFN.
Let the music be your guide as you jump, dash, and dance your way across a variety of hazards, with the camera angle switching from free-roam gameplay to side-scrolling action. Lights flash and flames erupt in time with the beat, but if you get into the music, you can use it as a gauge for when the next hazard might appear. Lava, laser beams, and compactors all pose different threats to the player, and it takes specific timing to avoid an unpleasant end.
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It’s hard to mind too much, especially since the catchy beats will have you playing levels over and over just to hear the music.
Fortnite
Pathwork Parkour is more than just a game type, though. Players can create their own levels and soundtracks using the in-game tools and share them among friends. “Through its harmonious blend of rhythm, gameplay, and creative expression, Patchwork Parkour is designed not only to captivate players but to reimagine the ways music can be enjoyed together. We also hope to inspire creators to dive into the Patchwork toolset, explore its potential, and create their own music-driven experiences in Fortnite,” said Alex Seropian, CEO of Look North World.
Harmonix and Look North World detailed the tools available to players in a post on the Fortnite Creator Portal. It explains the tools available to players like the Note Sequencer, Fusion Patches, Modulators, and more, detailing how to use each tool and build a rhythm-focused level all your own.
Even if you’ve never built something like this before, the tools are easy to learn and the editor relatively forgiving. It can be complicated at first, but the developers designed this tool to be accessible to the majority of gamers.
You can try out Patchwork Parkour for yourself by entering the code 1425-4464-4801. Levels get harder as you play, with more frequent dangers and harder jumps that will call on all your platforming skill to complete.
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Texas brings the ban hammer down on DeepSeek and RedNote
Texas brings the ban hammer down on DeepSeek and RedNote
If you’re a government worker in Texas, you can’t use DeepSeek or many other ********-developed applications on your state-issued device. Texas Governor, Greg Abbott, has instated a ban, preventing state employees from downloading, installing, or using several notable ******** apps on government-sanctioned devices.
Sighting data privacy and national security concerns, the Governor decreed that state workers are prohibited from interacting with ******** AI and social media apps including DeepSeek, RedNote, and Lemon8 on state-owned devices. Additionally, the ban includes ******** stock-trading platforms such as Moomoo, Tiger Brokers, and Webull.
“Texas will not allow the ******** ********** Party to infiltrate our state’s critical infrastructure through data-harvesting AI and social media apps. Texas will continue to protect and defend our state from hostile foreign actors,” Governor Abbott said in a proclamation on the Texas state website.
The ban comes as several ******** apps become more popularized in the U.S. and globally. The open-source AI chatbot DeepSeek has become the top competition for similar brands in the West. At the same time, the app’s legality and data collection protocol was quickly brought into question. Notably, Texas is the first state in the U.S. to ban DeepSeek. The U.S. Navy, Congress, the Pentagon, the Finance Ministry, and NASA have also banned the use of the AI app, all similarly sighting privacy and security concerns.
Several countries have also moved swiftly to ban DeepSeek. Italy was first, with the app disappearing from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store not long after being questioned by the Italian data watchdog group, the Garante, according to Android Headlines.
Taiwan and Australia have also restricted the app from being used in their countries. Some other countries are currently weighing the risks of keeping DeepSeek legal for use, including Ireland, some EU members, the ***, and South Korea.
Texas was also ahead of the game in banning TikTok on state-sanctioned devices in 2022. Since then thirty states put similar TikTok bans in place for government workers, ahead of the federal ban in mid-January, which saw millions of U.S. users take to the ******** app, RedNote. However, interest in the app has waned after access to TikTok was quickly reinstated.
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Amazon set to pass Walmart in revenue for first time
Amazon set to pass Walmart in revenue for first time
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during a keynote address at AWS re:Invent 2024, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, at The Venetian Las Vegas on December 3, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Noah Berger | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Amazon long ago passed Walmart in terms of market cap, but the e-commerce giant is finally poised to leapfrog its brick-and-mortar rival by another key metric: revenue.
For the past dozen years, Walmart held the distinction of being the top revenue generator each quarter. In 2012, it overtook oil giant Exxon Mobil, according to LSEG senior research analyst Tajinder Dhillon.
Walmart remained in the lead after oil prices tumbled in subsequent years from their previously lofty levels of more than $100 per barrel.
In its earnings release after the close of trading Thursday, Amazon is expected to report revenue of $187 billion, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG. Walmart reports on Feb. 20, and is projected to announce sales of $180 billion.
Walmart, which is often dubbed the world’s biggest retailer, in reference to its revenue, still leads the way when it comes to annual sales. The company has turned in more than $600 billion in sales in each of the past two years. That number is expected to reach nearly $681 billion for the latest fiscal year.
Amazon is catching up. Based on fourth-quarter estimates, Amazon’s full year revenue for 2024 will come in at around $638 billion, marking the first time it’s surpassed the $600 billion milestone.
One big reason Amazon has shot up the charts is its cloud business, Amazon Web Services. Revenue at AWS has more than doubled since 2020 and now accounts for about 17% of total sales.
The Covid pandemic also dramatically altered consumer behavior toward online shopping, which has helped Amazon’s annual North America sales increase more than 100% since 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Very few companies ever even reach $100 billion in revenue in a quarter. In addition to Walmart and Amazon, Apple has done so, but only during the holiday quarter, its key iPhone selling *******. Last week, Apple reported revenue for the latest quarter of $124 billion.
The newest member of the exclusive $100 billion club is UnitedHealth, which saw its top line climb past that mark in the first quarter of last year and then again in the third and fourth quarters.
The two companies closest to joining the group, with a little bit of growth, are CVS Health and McKesson. CVS exceeded $95 billion in revenue in the September quarter, while McKesson hit $94 billion.
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While Waiting Review – Main Character Syndrome – MonsterVine
While Waiting Review – Main Character Syndrome – MonsterVine
MonsterVine: “While Waiting turns mundane moments into playful mischief, offering 100 inventive scenarios that range from hilarious to existential.”
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Analysts remain optimistic on Disney’s growth despite bumpy earnings reaction
Analysts remain optimistic on Disney’s growth despite bumpy earnings reaction
Analysts walked away from Disney’s first-quarter results more bullish on the stock. Disney’s first-quarter earnings and revenue beat expectations, but the stock has lost 2.4% on Wednesday on concerns of declining subscribers to the company’s Disney+ flagship service. The streaming service saw a 1% decline in subscribers during the quarterly *******, and the company said on Wednesday that it could see another “modest decline” in the second quarter. Despite the decline and tepid guidance, Wall Street’s biggest research shops remain optimistic that Disney can boost its earnings growth and are watching if the company can show accelerating parks revenue and subscriber trends. here’s what they had to say: Morgan Stanley reiterates overweight rating, raises price target to $130 Analyst Benjamin Swinburne upped his price target on Disney by $5 to $130, which implies the stock could gain 17.6%. He called Disney a “winter soldier” and said the company should be in a strong position to increase its adjusted EPS guidance later this year. “Our bullish view reflects confidence in Disney’s ability to accelerate Experiences growth and deliver meaningful earnings and earnings upside from streaming in FY25, combined with a still modest multiple. The F1Q results increase our conviction.” Goldman Sachs keeps buy rating and $140 price target Analyst Michael Ng said he gained confidence in his rating and above-consensus earnings per share forecasts on Disney after the media giant’s results. “We believe the company is a high quality EPS compounder supported by 1) continued progression to scaled long term DTC profitability made possible by wholesale arrangements, bundled offerings, password sharing restrictions and other initiatives; 2) studio performance improvement (from a ******* of under earning) enabled by cost rationalization and organizational restructuring; 3) effective sports rights cost mitigation and cord-cutting headwind management via ESPN DTC flagship, live rights sub-licensing, portfolio curation, and corporate actions; and 4) robust theme park growth enabled by industry tailwinds and a $60bn investment over the next 10-years.” Wolfe Research maintains peer perform rating Analyst Peter Supino said Disney’s relative P/E multiple appears stuck at a discount. It’s underperformance could be an opportunity, however, as the analyst believes that concerns around declining engagement at Hulu and Disney+ could be overrated as he said second-quarter subscriber trends appear better than headline guidance suggests. “Bulls see conservatism, bears see caution. With profit growth strong while park traffic and DTC engagement are weak, the P/E discount to SPX should persist … At today’s lower price and with enhanced confidence in 2025 guidance, we lean more positively on DIS. With stagnant volumes across the company, the P/E discount may be stubborn.” Barclays keeps overweight rating and $125 price target Analyst Kannan Venkateshwar thinks investors are still in the early stages of a “positive earnings revision cycle” for Disney. He cited the company’s theme park growth upside, streaming profitability turnaround and potential content cost cuts in sports as some factors that could lead to upside in the upcoming years. Venkateshwar’s price target suggests roughly 13.1% potential upside. “Disney stock performance post earnings yesterday was surprising given that the quarter was broadly better than expected, and guidance didn’t change vs outlook provided last quarter … We believe the reaction post the quarter was unjustified and we continue to see Disney as one of the most attractive investments in our coverage universe.”
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Investors shouldn't swing for fences even with resilient stock market: Citi – MarketWatch
Investors shouldn't swing for fences even with resilient stock market: Citi – MarketWatch
Investors shouldn’t swing for fences even with resilient stock market: Citi MarketWatchUS Fed meeting a non-event: Citi’s Drew Pettit on what’s next for global markets CNBCTV18
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Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel celebrates third anniversary as the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championships return to Europe
Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel celebrates third anniversary as the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championships return to Europe
Yu-Gi-Oh! is set to bring its World Championships back to Europe for the first time since 2020
The finals will take place in Paris, but meanwhile Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel is set to celebrate its third anniversary
Exclusive rewards and more await you just for logging in!
It’s a big year for fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! as not only are the World Championships set to return to Europe for the first time in five years, but it’s also the third anniversary of the hit mobile adaptation Master Duel! So while some folks will be duelling it out in real life come August, Master Duel fans can log in now for some exclusive rewards!
So, what’s on offer? Well, in total, this is a ten-day log-in campaign, so be prepared to check in at least once per day to get all of these juicy rewards. But in total, you can expect a whopping three 3rd anniversary packs, 1000 Gems and two special versions of Elemental HERO Neos.
Even better, if you’re looking to draw in other fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! to give Master Duel a try. By inputting your exclusive code they’ll net starting bonuses such as additional Cards and Legacy Pack Tickets, while you’ll get free Gems and other goodies the more said code is input.
Mastery
The return of Yu-Gi-Oh! to Europe will, I’m sure, be a point of celebration for many of you as this top TCG has a glut of fans across the continent that sadly seem to often go underrepresented. Meanwhile, Master Duel’s third anniversary falling in the same year means that top rewards are available if you need to scratch that duelling itch ahead of watching the finals in August!
And while chief competitor Pokemon is floundering a bit on mobile with its poorly-received trading feature, Master Duel continues to deliver on the authentic experience, including a banned card list!
But if you’re looking to branch out then you already know what time it is. Be sure to check out our latest entry in the regular feature covering the top five new mobile games to try this week!
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Amazon set to pass Walmart in revenue for first time
Amazon set to pass Walmart in revenue for first time
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy speaks during a keynote address at AWS re:Invent 2024, a conference hosted by Amazon Web Services, at The Venetian Las Vegas on December 3, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Noah Berger | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images
Amazon long ago passed Walmart in terms of market cap, but the e-commerce giant is finally poised to leapfrog its brick-and-mortar rival by another key metric: revenue.
For the past dozen years, Walmart held the distinction of being the top revenue generator each quarter. In 2012, it overtook oil giant Exxon Mobil, according to LSEG senior research analyst Tajinder Dhillon.
Walmart remained in the lead after oil prices tumbled in subsequent years from their previously lofty levels of more than $100 per barrel.
In its earnings release after the close of trading Thursday, Amazon is expected to report revenue of $187 billion, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG. Walmart reports on Feb. 20, and is projected to announce sales of $180 billion.
Walmart, which is often dubbed the world’s biggest retailer, in reference to its revenue, still leads the way when it comes to annual sales. The company has turned in more than $600 billion in sales in each of the past two years. That number is expected to reach nearly $681 billion for the latest fiscal year.
Amazon is catching up. Based on fourth-quarter estimates, Amazon’s full year revenue for 2024 will come in at around $638 billion, marking the first time it’s surpassed the $600 billion milestone.
One big reason Amazon has shot up the charts is its cloud business, Amazon Web Services. Revenue at AWS has more than doubled since 2020 and now accounts for about 17% of total sales.
The Covid pandemic also dramatically altered consumer behavior toward online shopping, which has helped Amazon’s annual North America sales increase more than 100% since 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Very few companies ever even reach $100 billion in revenue in a quarter. In addition to Walmart and Amazon, Apple has done so, but only during the holiday quarter, its key iPhone selling *******. Last week, Apple reported revenue for the latest quarter of $124 billion.
The newest member of the exclusive $100 billion club is UnitedHealth, which saw its top line climb past that mark in the first quarter of last year and then again in the third and fourth quarters.
The two companies closest to joining the group, with a little bit of growth, are CVS Health and McKesson. CVS exceeded $95 billion in revenue in the September quarter, while McKesson hit $94 billion.
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Hospitals experience busiest week of winter so far
Hospitals experience busiest week of winter so far
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Hospitals in England have just had their busiest week of this winter so far.
More than 98,000 patients, on average, were in hospital beds each day last week – the highest level this winter – with 96% of adult beds occupied.
It comes as Norovirus cases continue to climb – with nearly 1,000 beds occupied by patients with the vomiting bug – but flu cases continue fall, after peaking in January.
Nearly 13,800 patients were in hospital even though medically fit to be discharged – a record high this winter.
NHS England emergency-care director Prof Julian Redhead said: “The twin pressures of winter viruses and problems discharging patients means hospitals are close to full – even as more beds have been opened to manage the increased demand.
“While pressures on hospitals remains incredibly high, it’s vital people continue to use NHS services in the normal way – using 111 and 111 online if you need advice and support for health conditions, and only using 999 or attending A&E in life-threatening emergencies.”
The rising pressures on hospitals have led to reports of patients facing long delays in A&E and ambulance queuing outside.
Last month the Royal College of Nursing warned lives were being put at risk by what they called corridor care with patients having to be treated in makeshift areas including car parks, cupboards and nursing stations.
Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said it has been a difficult few months.
“It’s worrying that we are seeing record-breaking pressure despite the tireless efforts of trust leaders and frontline teams who are doing their level best to provide high quality care and to see patients as quickly as possible in very challenging circumstances.”
‘Being sick’
Meanwhile, Amy Douglas, from the *** Health Security Agency, said it was essential for the public to take precautions against Norovirus which was at levels “way above what we would usually see”.
“Just because you’ve had norovirus doesn’t mean you won’t get it again.
“It’s really important that if you have diarrhoea and vomiting, you take steps to avoid passing the infection on.
“Please avoid visiting people in hospitals and care homes to prevent passing on the infection in these settings.
“Do not return to work, school or nursery until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped and don’t prepare food for others in that time either.
“This is because you can still pass on the virus in the days after you stop being sick.”
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OM System’s OM-3 camera marries vintage style with a high-tech stacked sensor
OM System’s OM-3 camera marries vintage style with a high-tech stacked sensor
OM System has unveiled the OM-3 Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera, combining an old-school Olympus-style body with the latest stacked sensor technology. The new model offers buyers many of the capabilities of the company’s flagship $2,300 OM-1 Mark II, including fast shooting speeds and 4K 60p video, at a slightly lower price point.
The OM-3 is a brand new product line for OM System, falling between the OM-1 II and OM-5. It’s quite a bit prettier than either model, though, evoking the older, coveted Olympus PEN-F camera. Like that model, it lacks a raised grip — so users must rely on the leatherette texture and thumb rest to keep hold of it. For travelers, the OM-3 is relatively light at just 17.5 ounces (496 grams) without a lens, a bit less than Fujifilm’s X100 VI.
OM System
The body is replete with dials and switches, including a pair of shooting dials, a mode dial and another to change between shooting photos, video and S&Q. One unusual feature is a “creative dial” at the front (borrowed from the Pen-F) that lets you switch between five modes (standard, mono, color, art and color creator). Those open up screen menus that allow further customization.
Inside, though, the OM-3 is effectively a mini OM-1 II. Like that model, it comes with a 20.37-megapixel stacked BSI sensor that delivers very fast 50fps shooting speeds with continuous autofocus. It also offers the same 1,053-point on-chip phase-detect autofocus system along with pre-capture shooting of up to 70 frames. And despite the small size, it comes with five-axis in-body stabilization, albeit with lower performance (6.5 stops instead of 8) compared to the OM-1 II.
OM System
The other major downgrade is the lower-resolution 2.36-million-dot EVF that’s a bit disappointing given the price (the OM-1 II has a nice 5.76-million-dot EVF). It also comes with just a single UHS-II memory card slot. However, the OM-3 has the same 3.0-inch vari-angle display as the OM-1 II, which is nice for content creators, while also offering identical IP53 weather sealing and the same BLX-1 battery with 590 shots max in standard mode.
On the video side, the OM-3 can shoot 4K video at up to 60p using the full sensor width with 10-bit log recording (though it can’t shoot 10-bit video in standard mode like Panasonic’s latest cameras). It also offers 1080p slow-mo at up to 240fps, albeit with a crop. If you’re willing to use an external recorder, it can capture 4K RAW video at up to 60fps. Like the OM-1 II, the OM-3 has minimal rolling shutter in all video modes, so it should be great for capturing action.
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The OM-3 is now on pre-order for $2,000 (body only), or $2,300 in a kit with the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-45mm f/4 Pro lens. Shipping is expected to begin in late February. Olympus also announced an updated, more rugged version of its 100-400mm zoom, the $1,500 M.Zuiko Digital ED 100-400mm F5.0-6.3 IS II, along with new weather resistant primes, the M.Zuiko Digital 17mm F2.8 II ($550) and M.Zuiko Digital 25mm F1.8 II ($500).
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Apple’s co-founder left 40 years ago today, but that was just the beginning of his story
Apple’s co-founder left 40 years ago today, but that was just the beginning of his story
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Early days at Apple
Outsized influence
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak seemingly had it all: surrounded by a successful company that he helped create and with more money to his name than he knew what to do with, to outside observers it must have all looked pretty sweet.
But Wozniak wasn’t happy at Apple — and 40 years ago today, he quit. That wasn’t the end of the road for the engineering whizz. Instead, he went on to start a set of highly consequential companies and organizations across multiple different disciplines, leaving a mark in a range of different industries.
Early days at Apple
Matthew Pearce
If you’ve heard of Wozniak (or “Woz” for short), you probably know him from Apple, a company he started in 1976 alongside his friend Steve Jobs. The two famously started the company in Jobs’ parents’ home, creating many of their computers in the garage.
Woz was the main engineer of the duo, and he developed all the hardware (including the internal circuit boards) and the operating system of Apple’s first computer, the Apple I, entirely by himself. Woz and Jobs constructed the first batch of 50 computers themselves, and while the Apple I was fairly basic (it lacked a case, power supply, display, and keyboard), it proved to be surprisingly popular.
The firm’s next computer, the Apple II, was the first personal computer in the world that could display color graphics, and much of that was down to Wozniak’s engineering talent — not a bad feat for a guy in his twenties. Released just a year after Apple was founded, the Apple II was one of the first truly successful mass-produced PCs in the world.
Tony Wills / Wikimedia
Wozniak held a strong influence over Apple’s Macintosh project during its early days, but his work was interrupted when he crashed a small plane during take-off, putting him out of action for months. This time on the sidelines gave him time to reflect on his work and his time at Apple — and, perhaps, led to his decision to step away.
As the 1980s progressed and Woz recovered to health, he found the Apple II series was being gradually sidelined by Apple and its leadership. Given that he was deeply embedded in the Apple II division, the disrespect took on a personal angle.
At the same time, Woz was increasingly missing the old days at Apple, when his time was spent more on engineering than management. It was that desire to get more hands-on that ultimately led to him leaving the company.
Outsized influence
Apple
1985 was a consequential year for Apple, with Steve Jobs leaving the company in September. But before that, it was Woz’s turn, as he quit Apple on February 6, 1985. Well, “quit” might be a strong word, as he is still technically on Apple’s employee list to this day. But in 1985 he stepped down from day-to-day activities and left for greener pastures.
The decision was motivated by a desire to get back to “the fun of the early days,” Woz said — something that was apparently no longer possible at Apple. As well as that, he simply felt he was no longer needed at Apple as it expanded and took on younger talent.
His first project outside Apple was the creation of CL 9, a firm that developed the first programmable universal remote. It was the first of many ventures and projects that Woz took on: he started wireless GPS tech firm Wheels of Zeus (WOZ), founded the Silicon Valley Comic ****, spent time teaching elementary students, and created the online educational service Woz U.
Apple
In 1990, he was also a co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), an organization that champions user privacy and defends civil liberties online. Given the tremendous risks to privacy apparent in the modern computing industry, with artificial intelligence and data brokers keeping a watch on your every move, its importance can’t be understated.
The same can be said for Wozniak’s contribution to the tech world. Apple — powered by his engineering prowess — was responsible for driving forward the personal computer, introducing breakthrough features like color displays, the graphical user interface, the mouse, and much more.
Yet he went on to continue his work after he left Apple, taking on the projects that drew his interest over the next four decades. In the end, his influence has lasted beyond the time he spent at the company he founded — and the one he left 40 years ago.
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