Pelican Press

Can Trump win a trade war with China? Can Trump win a trade war with China? The economic battle between the world’s two biggest economies has escalated Source link #Trump #win #trade #war #China Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

SCP: Fragmented Minds Preview – Thumb Culture SCP: Fragmented Minds Preview – Thumb Culture “I love it when studios have a go at making a game of the SCP universe. And HST Studios is shooting their shot. Entering early access is SCP: Fragmented Minds, a new survival horror where we will fight or hide while trying to uncover the truth in an abandoned facility.” Kyle @ Thumb Culture Source link #SCP #Fragmented #Minds #Preview #Thumb #Culture Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Disgusted’: Looters take advantage of deadly floods as 24-hour patrols put in place in Far North Queensland ‘Disgusted’: Looters take advantage of deadly floods as 24-hour patrols put in place in Far North Queensland Criminals have taken advantage of evacuation orders in areas of Far North Queensland rocked by the death of two people, leaving police “disgusted”. Residents in Ingham, Railway Estate and Rosslea were evacuated as the state was smashed by deadly floods, with a 63-year-old and 82-year-old woman both losing their lives in and around Ingham. Queensland Police are now investigating reports of property damage and looting across the suburbs. Camera IconIngham was lashed by floods. NewsWire/ Adam Head Credit: News Corp Australia Townsville Superintendent Chris Lawson said he was “disgusted” by the behaviour, and assured the community 24-hour patrols were being conducted. “The Queensland Police Service has zero tolerance for stealing, especially during a disaster,” Superintendent Lawson said. “I am disgusted by these reports of people in our community taking advantage of this weather event and the devastation it has caused across our region. “As we move into the recovery phase, police will continue to target offenders and hold them responsible for their actions.” The crackdown comes after the “ferocious” floods washed away headstones at a Georgetown cemetery, northwest of Townsville. “It gives you an indication of how ferocious this system is and how it continues to pack a punch,” Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to visit Townsville on Thursday, just days after the Ollera Creek Bridge on the Bruce Highway was broken apart. Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said areas including Emerald and Ingham had received widespread rainfalls of between 50 and 150mm over the last 24 hours. Central parts of the state also received falls of up to 100mm. “That’s likely to continue today, with widespread showers, rain and thunderstorms,” Mr Narramore said. He said “major flooding” was occuring at the Herbert River, with flood warnings issued across the state. Camera IconFlood warnings continue to be issued across Far North Queensland. NewsWire/ Adam Head Credit: News Corp Australia Ingham was expected to be hit by more than 200mm of rain from Wednesday to Saturday. A major warning is in place for the Herbert River, while moderate warnings are in place for Burdekin River, Connors and Isaac Rivers, Murray River and Ross River. Minor warnings were put in place for the Tully River, Bohle River, Don River, Haughton River Catchment and Mulgrave River, with the ****** River and Bluewater Creek, Proserpine River and Russell River also issued alerts. Parts of the Burdekin, Gulf Country, and Thomson River Catchments were issued a flood watch while an initial minor flood warning was put in place for the Barcoo River. More to come. Source link #Disgusted #Looters #advantage #deadly #floods #24hour #patrols #put #place #North #Queensland Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How to use Apple Invites to plan your next event How to use Apple Invites to plan your next event Apple’s Invites app is a simple way to throw together an event invitation directly from your iPhone or web browser. The app is free to download from the App Store, and technically you don’t even need an iPhone or an Apple Account to RSVP to an event. If you want to create your own invitations you will need to be an iCloud+ subscriber, but the barrier to entry is relatively low. The subscription is bundled into Apple’s pricier Apple One plans (the bundle that includes things like Apple TV+, Apple Music, and Apple News+), and you can also pay for it separately starting at $0.99 per month. iCloud+ subscriptions get you extra cloud storage, a custom domain for your iCloud email, and Apple’s Private Relay feature on top of your new invite-creating privileges. What is Apple Invites? Apple Invites is Apple’s attempt to offer an event planning and invitation creating service like Partiful or Evite. The app lets you create and RSVP to events, and includes integrations with other Apple services, like collaborative playlists from Apple Music and shared albums from Apple Photos. Invites also supports Image Playground if you want to use AI to create an image for your invite, rather than relying on Apple’s built-in options or one of your own photos. How to create an event invite with Apple Invites To create an event invitation with Apple Invites you’ll need to head to the iCloud website or have an iPhone running iOS 18 or later with the Invites app installed. To take advantage of Invites’ integration with Apple Intelligence you’ll also need an iPhone that supports the feature (an iPhone 15 Pro and up). To create your event, first open the Apple Invites app. Then tap on “Create an Event” if its your first time opening the app or the small “+” in the top right corner of your screen if you already have events you’ve made or been invited to. You should then see an empty invite screen. Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget From here, tap on “Add Background” and select from Apple’s premade background (Emoji, Photographic, and Color options) or a new photo, a picture from your photo library, or an Image Playground creation by tapping on one of the circular icons at the top of the screen. Next, you’ll want to title your event by tapping on “Event Title” and typing in whatever you want to call it. Apple also lets you choose from four different font options to add some extra style. Tap on “Date and Time” to choose the day and time the event starts and ends, then tap on “Location” to search and select the location where you’ll be hosting your event. You can give the location a name if you want, too. Finally, by tapping on “Add a description” you can add an event description with extra information and enter a separate host name if you’d prefer the invitation to not show your first and last name. Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget Those are the basics you need to fill out for an invitation, but Invites includes two other features that are specific to Apple software. By tapping on “Create Album” you can create a shared photo album that guests can add to during the event and access after. The album’s name will be the name of the event, but you can enter a new name under Album Name and tap “Done” if you want to save your changes. You can also tap on “Add Playlist” to create a shared playlist that guests can add songs to before and during the event. You’ll have to select an existing playlist or create a new one from scratch. If you create a playlist, it will have the name of your event by default with the option to edit it if you want. Once you’re done creating your invitation, to see what it looks like to guests, tap on “Preview” in the top right hand corner and then “Next” to start inviting guests. How to invite guests to an Apple Invites event Once your event invite is created you can start sending it to your guests a couple of different ways. You can send the invite as a public link or invite individual people from your contact list. Inside your invitation, tap on Invite Guests to start sending your invitation. If you tap on the Messages or Mail icons you can send a link to your invitation through those respective apps. By tapping on “Share Link,” you can share a link to the invite through any app in your iOS share sheet. And if you tap on “Copy Link,” your invite link will be copied to your clipboard so you can paste it anywhere. Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget You can also send a one time link to individual guests by tapping on “Choose a Guest.” Apple Invites will ask to access your contacts and then display every contact you have saved. Tap on one to share a unique invitation link through Messages, Mail or the iOS share sheet. Unlike public links, these links can only be used once. How to send a note to guests of an Apple Invites event If you want to update your guests on information about your event or remind them of something they might need to bring, you can send anyone who’s invited a note directly through the Apple Invites app. From inside your invitation, tap on “Send a Note” and then enter in whatever text you want to send and tap on “Send Note.” How to delete an Apple Invites event If you need to cancel your event, you can delete it by tapping on the event, then tapping on the three-dot menu in the top right corner. Tap on “Event Settings,” then scroll down and tap on “Delete Event.” Confirm you want to delete the event by tapping “Delete Event.” Source link #Apple #Invites #plan #event Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Massachusetts schools announce closures ahead of winter storm on Thursday Massachusetts schools announce closures ahead of winter storm on Thursday Schools in Massachusetts started announcing closures on Wednesday ahead of a winter storm that’s expected to bring a messy mix of snow, ice, and rain to the region on Thursday. Boston 25 meteorologists have us on a WEATHER ALERT and the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for nearly all of Massachusetts. Roads are expected to become quickly covered in snow with chilly temperatures in place, making travel challenging for most of the day. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Snow is projected to arrive between 8 and 10 a.m., persisting into the afternoon before ice mixes in. A flip to mixed precipitation will follow in some areas, including pockets of rain and freezing drizzle, ending between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Some parts of the state could see up to 5 inches of snow. As of Wednesday afternoon, there were a few closures announced but the list is expected to grow into the evening. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW Source link #Massachusetts #schools #announce #closures #ahead #winter #storm #Thursday Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Trump’s birthright citizenship order blocked by Maryland judge Trump’s birthright citizenship order blocked by Maryland judge Washington — A federal judge in Maryland on Wednesday temporarily blocked President Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship from taking effect nationwide, becoming the second to rule against the president amid a rush of legal challenges to his directive. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, appointed by former President Joe Biden, agreed to grant a preliminary injunction sought by immigrants-rights groups after conducting a hearing on the request. The organizations, led by Maryland-based CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, filed a lawsuit arguing Mr. Trump’s executive order targeting birthright citizenship violates the Constitution and federal law. “This is a victory for our families, for our country, and for the Constitution of the United States. This is the level of fight that will be required for the next four years of the Trump administration,” George Escobar, chief of Programs and Services of CASA, one of the groups that challenged the order, said. “The pregnant women who took this case up against President Trump — and so many immigrants across the country — can breathe easier knowing that their precious children are citizens and afforded the full rights that come with that.” The suit brought in Maryland is one of at least eight that were filed in courts from coast to coast soon after Mr. Trump signed the order on his first day in office. Entitled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” the directive denies U.S. citizenship to children born to mothers who are in the country unlawfully or temporarily on visas, and whose fathers are neither citizens nor lawful residents. The immigrants-rights’ groups are suing alongside five women who are pregnant and live in the U.S. They now fear their children will be denied U.S. citizenship because of their immigration status and that of their fathers, according to the filing. “Every day, babies are being born in the United States whose constitutionally guaranteed citizenship will be called into doubt under the Executive Order,” they wrote in their suit. Swapna Reddy, co-executive director of the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, said the court’s decision was the right one and warned that Mr. Trump’s executive order “has created chaos for so many families, including ASAP members, who are scared their children will not be able to live a life free of fear in the only country they will have ever known.” Boardman is not the first judge to block Mr. Trump’s birthright citizenship order. Last month, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour halted its enforcement in a case brought by four Democrat-led states, Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Oregon. Coughenour issued a 14-day temporary restraining order to remain in place while he considered a request for a preliminary injunction and called Mr. Trump’s directive on birthright citizenship “blatantly unconstitutional.” Coughenour, who sits on the federal court in Seattle, is set to hold a hearing Thursday to consider whether to issue a preliminary injunction. Melissa Quinn Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts. Source link #Trumps #birthright #citizenship #order #blocked #Maryland #judge Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Super Bowl: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift – an NFL love story that almost never was Super Bowl: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift – an NFL love story that almost never was Kelce was 20 and coming to the end of his first year playing at the University of Cincinnati when the Bearcats were invited to play in the Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, in January 2010. It was an exhibition rather than a championship game so Kelce and his team-mates had time to unwind beforehand at the Superdome, which will host Super Bowl 59. If you spend any time in the French Quarter, it is easy to get carried along with the party atmosphere – and the Bearcats certainly had a good time. Perhaps too good. They were beaten 51-24 by Florida, with Kelce having just one carry. Worse was to follow when it emerged Kelce had failed a drugs test, testing positive for **********. Competition rules meant Kelce had to serve a one-year suspension, but his older brother Jason Kelce, who was also on the team, convinced the coaches to give him another chance. Kelce converted from a part-time quarterback to a full-time tight end, before entering the NFL draft in 2013. Some character concerns remained and he was selected later than he had hoped – 63rd overall by the Chiefs, who had just appointed Andy Reid as their new head coach. Reid already knew Jason, having drafted him two years earlier while coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and he told him: “You’re vouching for this guy.” Source link #Super #Bowl #Travis #Kelce #Taylor #Swift #NFL #love #story Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Assassin’s Creed Shadows Game Size Revealed on Mac App Store Assassin’s Creed Shadows Game Size Revealed on Mac App Store Assassin’s Creed Shadows is confirmed as the largest game in the franchise’s history, at a whopping 123.2 GB in size. The Assassin’s Creed Shadows game size was revealed through its listing on the Mac App Store. The title can be pre-ordered now for $69.99. Players will need macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with an Apple M1 chip or later to play the game. The 123.2 GB file size is the largest in the franchise’s history, more than double that of recent instalments like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Odyssey, which needed around 50 GB and 45 GB only, respectively. With such a massive file size for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, players will expect Ubisoft to go all out on the game. The visual fidelity and attention to detail should be second to no past Assassin’s Creed title if the game size exceeds the previous instalments by that much. If you are wondering about Assassin’s Creed Shadows PC system requirements, check out the details here. Players should note that SSD storage with 123.2 GB of free space is mandatory for any preset. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an upcoming historical, open-world action-adventure by Ubisoft set in Feudal Japan. Players will experience this adventure through the eyes of 2 characters: Naoe, a shinobi Assassin and Yasuke, a legendary samurai. Both characters feature distinct playstyles. Naoe is more stealthy and agile, whereas Yasuke is the tank responsible for dealing the heavy blows. If you are interested in the game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Mac on March 20, 2025. In other news, Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ art book recently leaked online on an 18+ website, showcasing new art for the game. Also, the game’s graphic content will be censored in Japan. What are your thoughts on Assassin’s Creed Shadows Game size? Let us know in the comments or on our new community forum! For more information from Insider Gaming, read about the EA CEO’s comments on the Switch 2. Don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Assassins #Creed #Shadows #Game #Size #Revealed #Mac #App #Store Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Iran willing to give Trump diplomacy ‘another chance’ Iran willing to give Trump diplomacy ‘another chance’ Iran is ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes between the arch foes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, a day after President Donald Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on the country. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said US concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons were not a complicated issue and could be resolved given Tehran’s opposition to weapons of mass destruction. “The clerical establishment’s will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance, but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel’s sabotage,” said the senior official. The official said Tehran wanted the United States to “rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal” with the Islamic Republic. Trump said on Wednesday he preferred a verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran, according to a post on his Truth Social account. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Tehran has long said its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and it has no intention to build nuclear weapons. But with its regional allies either dismantled or gravely weakened since the start of the ******-Israel conflict in Gaza in October 2023, and mounting discontent among many Iranians at the state of the economy, analysts say the clerical establishment has few options other than to strike a deal with Trump. The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria in December, a crucial ally of Tehran, has severely disrupted Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance”, a network of regional armed groups, militants and allied states, to counter Israel and the United States, while asserting its influence throughout the Middle East. In 2018, then-President Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy. The harsh measures prompted Tehran to violate the nuclear pact’s nuclear limitations. The official also said Tehran disagreed with “any displacement of Gazans, but Iran-US talks are a separate matter”, referring to Trump’s remarks that the US would take over war-ravaged Gaza and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere. “Iran does not agree with any displacement of Palestinians and has communicated this through various channels. However, this issue and the path of Iran’s nuclear agreement are two separate matters and should be pursued separately,” the official said. Source link #Iran #give #Trump #diplomacy #chance Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Rocket Lab’s Growth Strategy: Small Rockets, Massive Potential Rocket Lab’s Growth Strategy: Small Rockets, Massive Potential Investors in the commercial space industry are showing increased interest in Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (NASDAQ:). Due to its focus on innovation and market demands, the company has grown from a small launch provider to a major player in the space economy. Rocket Lab’s success in the small launch market has positioned it for continued growth, making it an attractive option for investors looking to capitalize on the expanding space industry. Electron’s Unmatched Launch Cadence Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle has established itself as a market leader, achieving a remarkable 100% mission success rate in 2024 and consistently demonstrating high launch frequency and rapid turnaround times. This operational excellence and reliability have secured a substantial portion of the small satellite launch market and have attracted contracts from commercial and government clients. This consistent success and rapid delivery of payloads are two of the key components of Rocket Lab’s competitive advantage. Neutron: The Next Chapter of Growth Rocket Lab is strategically investing in the Neutron program, a medium-lift, reusable launch vehicle with a projected payload capacity of 13,000 kg to low Earth orbit. This expansion will significantly increase Rocket Lab’s capabilities and offer substantial cost efficiencies through its reusable design. The successful hot-fire test of the Archimedes engine mitigates key technological risks and paves the way for Neutron’s much-anticipated debut. The Neutron program positions Rocket Lab to target the growing market for deploying large satellite constellations. Successful development of this program will open the doors to more lucrative contracts and a broader range of customers. The company’s success in already securing launch agreements for Neutron missions demonstrates industry confidence and reinforces Rocket Lab’s appeal to investors who are looking for growth. Once Neutron starts commercial flights, these launch agreements will create an entirely new revenue stream, further enhancing Rocket Lab’s long-term prospects. Growth Momentum Builds Rocket Lab’s financial reports have shown consistent revenue growth, with a significant acceleration in 2024, putting the company in a strong position for future expansion. Quarterly revenue reports from 2023 and 2024 show this upward trend. In 2023, quarterly revenue was approximately $50 – 60 million. This increased to over $100 million per quarter by mid-2024. Revenue guidance for Q4 2024 suggests a potential record quarter of $125 – $135 million. This growth trajectory demonstrates strong demand for Rocket Lab’s services and effective execution against a growing backlog of launch requests. While current profitability metrics reflect the ongoing investment in growth initiatives, key indicators point towards future margin expansion. Non-GAAP gross margins consistently exceeding 30% demonstrate a healthy core business capable of generating increasing profits as scale increases. Operating expenses, while substantial, are strategically allocated to research and development, primarily for the Neutron program, which is poised to unlock significant new revenue streams in the medium-lift market. Rocket Lab’s earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2024) is anticipated to be released on February 27, 2025, and will be a key catalyst. Meeting or exceeding its $125–$135 million revenue guidance could further solidify the growth narrative and likely positively impact investor sentiment. For investors focused on long-term capital appreciation, Rocket Lab’s current financial picture may present a compelling entry point into a company with significant disruptive potential within the space economy. Diversifying Revenue Streams and Enhancing Profitability Rocket Lab’s growth strategy centers around strategic diversification into spacecraft manufacturing and comprehensive space systems solutions. This expansion beyond launch services establishes multiple revenue streams, mitigates risk, and allows Rocket Lab to access higher-margin opportunities within the growing space economy. The Space Systems division is quickly becoming a significant revenue generator, complementing the established launch business and positioning Rocket Lab for sustained long-term growth. The Space Systems segment includes the adaptable and flight-proven Photon spacecraft platform, which can be used for a variety of missions. Rocket Lab also designs and manufactures a wide range of spacecraft components and subsystems in-house. This includes everything from high-performance space-grade solar cells produced at its Albuquerque facility to critical components like star trackers and reaction wheels. Additionally, proprietary software suites like MAX Flight and MAX Ground Data improve mission capabilities and operational efficiency for Rocket Lab and its customers. Space Systems offers inherently attractive profit margins compared to the capital-intensive launch services sector. By manufacturing and selling spacecraft platforms, components, and software, Rocket Lab captures a greater share of the value chain and generates recurring revenue streams through mission operations and support services. This strategic focus on Space Systems is expected to drive margin expansion over time, improving the company’s overall financial health and enhancing its long-term investment appeal. As the space economy continues to evolve beyond launch-centric models, Rocket Lab’s diversified Space Systems business positions it to capitalize on the broader range of opportunities and establish itself as a comprehensive space solutions provider. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (RKLB) Price Chart for Wednesday, February, 5, 2025 A Growth Stock Poised for Continued Success Rocket Lab’s impressive revenue growth, technological innovation, and strategic diversification make it a compelling investment opportunity for investors interested in high-growth potential within the space sector. The anticipated success of the Neutron program will significantly increase revenue generation and contribute to profitability. While some near-term risks remain, Rocket Lab’s consistent execution, strong backlog, and strategic partnerships provide a strong foundation for its continued success and expansion. Original Post Source link #Rocket #Labs #Growth #Strategy #Small #Rockets #Massive #Potential Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Video shows portion of a home floating down California river after mudslide Video shows portion of a home floating down California river after mudslide Video shows portion of a home floating down California river after mudslide Source link #Video #shows #portion #home #floating #California #river #mudslide Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Catch Up On Jurassic Park Ahead Of The New Film With This Discounted 4K Blu-Ray Collection Catch Up On Jurassic Park Ahead Of The New Film With This Discounted 4K Blu-Ray Collection Jurassic World Rebirth is the next installment in the long-running dinosaur series, and it’s expected to hit theaters this July. If you’re looking to catch up on the rest of the films in the series before the new entry, consider checking out the massive Jurassic World Ultimate Collection 4K Blu-ray, which is currently on ***** at Amazon for just $70 (was $100). This bundles together all six Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies and is loaded with bonus features that explore the behind-the-scenes production, making this a worthwhile collection even if you’ve seen all the movies a million times already. $70 (was $100) This massive bundle pulls together 4K Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray, and digital copies of the following movies: Jurassic Park The Lost World: Jurassic Park Jurassic Park 3 Jurassic World Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Jurassic World: Dominion You’ll also benefit from a variety of bonus features spread throughout the 8-disc collection, including deleted scenes, featurettes, and interviews with the cast. Jurassic World Ultimate Collection 4K Blu-Ray Bonus Features The full list of bonus features is absolutely staggering, as each of the six films has a full list of content. However, here’s a closer look at the bonus content for Jurassic Park to give you an idea of what you can expect to find through the entire bundle. Return to Jurassic Park: Dawn of a New Era Return to Jurassic Park: Making Prehistory Return to Jurassic Park: The Next Step in Evolution The Making of Jurassic Park Original Featurette on the Making of the Film Steven Spielberg Directs Jurassic Park Hurricane in Kauai Featurette Early Pre-Production Meetings Location Scouting Phil Tippett Animatics: Raptors in the Kitchen Animatics: T-Rex Attack ILM And Jurassic Park: Before and After the Visual Effects Foley Artists Storyboards Production Archives: Photographs, Design Sketches and Conceptual Paintings Jurassic Park: Making the Game Trailer For more prehistoric thrills, check out the original novels by Michael Crichton. You’ll find paperback versions of Jurassic Park and The Lost World for cheap on Amazon, or you can pick up a gorgeous hardcover volume that combines both tales for $40 at Barnes & Noble. For something truly unique, check out The Jurassic Park Collection from the Folio Society, which features wonderful illustrations to help bring the novels to life, Prefer gaming over reading? The Jurassic Park: Classic Games Collection for Switch is on ***** for $30 (was $40) at Amazon. Featuring seven classic games, it’s a fun way to check out the gaming history of Jurassic Park. Alternatively, you could pick up the hilarious UNO Attack: Jurassic World Domination Edition for $31.63, which fires out cards from a dinosaur’s mouth. Rounding out the Jurassic World deals, Lego recently released two newJurassic World sets, including a new Triceratops skull display model and a playset featuring a tiny T-Rex. These new kits join the existing line of Jurassic World and Jurassic Park Lego sets that are available at Amazon, many of which are on *****. Check the list below for all the best Lego Jurassic World deals. Jurassic World Lego Deals Source link #Catch #Jurassic #Park #Ahead #Film #Discounted #BluRay #Collection Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

IBM, best Dow stock in past 3 months, has a disappointing AI message IBM, best Dow stock in past 3 months, has a disappointing AI message IBM has been the best-performing stock in the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past three months, climbing 27%, but according to Scott Nations, president and chief investment officer of Nations Indexes, the original tech stock has more to prove in artificial intelligence. Nations appeared on CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on Wednesday to share his views on three stocks on the move lately. He said he’s taking a wait-and-see approach to IBM after a strong run. Here were his quick takes during “Three-Stock Lunch.” IBM IBM last week reported fourth-quarter results whose earnings and revenue topped Wall Street estimates. The tech firm said software revenue grew 10% to $7.9 billion from the year-earlier *******, partially due to demand for artificial intelligence technology and strong performance from its Red Hat Linux operating system. Still, Nations said there are nagging worries about the stock despite IBM’s robust earnings. IBM shares touched an all-time on Wednesday. IBM is “approaching AI differently than some of the other big names, taking more of the DeepSeek approach; we’re going to have to see if that works for them,” Nations said. “So I’m holding until we get a little bit more clarity.” China’s DeepSeek shook global stock markets after revealing that it had built a powerful artificial intelligence model for just $6 million. Some have disputed the shockingly low cost of developing the AI models, while others believe DeepSeek has sharply cut the cost of running powerful AI models and that the firm’s decision to release its technology for free has altered the course of the industry. In a statement, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said the company has secured $5 billion in bookings for its generative AI business, which includes sales and future sales in the company’s software and consulting division. “We closed the year with double-digit revenue growth in Software for the quarter, led by further acceleration in Red Hat,” Krishna said in a statement. “Clients globally continue to turn to IBM to transform with AI.” Uber Nations is buying the dip in Uber after the the ride-hailing company sold off sharply Wednesday following a quarterly earnings miss and soft guidance about future results. The money manager likes the fact that Uber is accelerating stock repurchases. Uber also announced it is gearing up for the public launch of robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, through its partnership with Alphabet’s Waymo division. Uber estimates that the autonomous vehicle market in the U.S. alone is a trillion-dollar opportunity, but CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said it will take “many, many years” to build out the business. Even with the company’s “aggressive investments” in the technology, it is unlikely to affect Uber’s outlook in the near term, he said. Mattel Mattel’s shares soared 14% to a 52-week high Wednesday after the Barbie maker posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter results. Mattel reported profits of 35 cents per share, excluding one-time items, on revenue of $1.65 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG forecast 20 cents per share on revenue of $1.63 billion. Nations said he would buy the stock if it dips below $20 per share. Mattel briefly traded as low as $20.18 Wednesday morning. He added that investors could be cheering on the toymaker’s increased stock buyback authorization. “What really gets people interested are the stock buybacks — $600 million in 2023 and 2024 combined, another $600 million this year,” Nations said. Source link #IBM #Dow #stock #months #disappointing #message Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

CIA offers 'buyouts' to every spy as it works to remake agency in Trump's vision – The Independent CIA offers 'buyouts' to every spy as it works to remake agency in Trump's vision – The Independent CIA offers ‘buyouts’ to every spy as it works to remake agency in Trump’s vision The IndependentTrump Live Updates: Musk-Led Federal Buyouts Expand to CIA as White House Eyes Cuts The New York TimesCIA offers buyouts to workforce as new director aims to align with Trump’s priorities KATU Source link #CIA #offers #039buyouts039 #spy #works #remake #agency #Trump039s #vision #Independent Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

25 Years Into The Sims, EA Is Still Making The Same Mistakes 25 Years Into The Sims, EA Is Still Making The Same Mistakes The Sims celebrated its 25-year anniversary on February 4, 2025. Below, we take a deep dive on how it’s reached its current state and why EA and its fans don’t always see eye to eye on what’s best for it. Sims franchise just celebrated its 25th anniversary, and the festivities included legacy editions of The Sims and The Sims 2, along with the announcement of several new DLCs for The Sims 4. Acknowledging the series’ past while looking toward its future certainly sounds like the right way to honor a franchise that has been around for a quarter of a century, but EA has hit a few snags along the way. The Sims 1 and 2 re-releases launched with some pretty serious bugs, and with over 70 expansions, not everyone agrees that more DLC is what The Sims 4 really needs. The Sims 4 has been around for nearly half the franchise’s lifetime, celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2024. But as EA continues to provide glimpses of what the future holds for The Sims 4 and the franchise overall–including the mysterious, still-in-development Project Rene–long-time Sims fans are beginning to feel a hint of deja vu. For those who witnessed The Sims 4’s extremely rocky launch, Project Rene feels like Groundhog Day. The Sims 4 wasn’t quite dead on arrival, but its launch was definitely a rocky one. When The Sims 4 launched in September 2014, it was in pretty rough condition. GameSpot gave it a middling 6/10, noting the game’s lack of depth and, perhaps most glaringly, its lack of features. Sims themselves arguably looked better than ever, but some players were surprised that EA had taken the art style in a more cartoonish direction than previous iterations of the game. But what really had long-time Simmers simmering with anger was the fact that gameplay itself had seemingly been gutted. Prior to The Sims 4, each iteration of the game had included whatever new features were introduced in the last game. Removing a feature–especially one as popular as the ability to choose custom colors and textures–was unheard of. Of course, there were new features. Create-A-Sim–referred to by players as CAS–now included the ability to customize a Sim’s face by clicking and dragging facial features themselves, giving players much more control over a Sim’s bone structure. But features like eyelashes and fingernails (which had been present in The Sims 3) were absent when the game launched, and hairstyles (especially those intended for non-white Sims) were extremely limited. Another glaring issue was the absence of any option to customize a clothing item’s color or texture. This feature was introduced in The Sims 3 and became pivotal to The Sims experience. Its absence from The Sims 4 meant that if players didn’t like the handful of color swatches available for a given clothing item, there was nothing they could do about it. Creating matching outfits was therefore a huge challenge, as even color swatches that were meant to be identical often differed from each other in-game. The Sims 4 included 24 hair colors, a large step back from the any-shade-you-want color-picker players had access to in The Sims 3. EA claims that a color wheel for custom Sim hair colors would be impossible to implement in The Sims 4, but it’s worth noting that Sim-cats, Sim-dogs, and Sim-horses can be any color a player’s heart desires. Players can even design the pattern of their ****’s coat. Somehow, turning a Sim-cat into a multicolored Lisa Frank-esque monstrosity is baked into the game’s DNA, but customizing a Sim’s hair color is an engineering problem EA says it doesn’t have the resources to solve. The ability to tweak the lightness and darkness of the game’s default hair shades was recently added to the game, but the game still lacks any ability to truly create custom hair colors, let alone the multicolored custom paintjobs Sim-pets have access to. Customization woes followed the game into Build Mode and Buy Mode as well. The Sims 4’s Build Mode was easily the best the franchise had ever seen, with powerful tools that gave players more control than ever over their Sims’ homes, but those tools were hampered by the lack of a texture selector and color picker. The same color-matching issues found in CAS were also present in the game’s furniture, flooring, walls, and roofs, making home decoration just as painful as Sim creation. The Sims 4 launched with neighborhood maps so flat some players thought they’d been left in the game by accident. Live Mode–the game’s main mode, in which Sims live out their lives in the outfits and homes players have created for them–also felt anemic. The moodlets and memories of The Sims 3 had been replaced with dynamic emotions that could turn on a dime simply due to the way a room was decorated. Despite being popular features of previous Sims games, things like vehicles and pools were inexplicably absent from The Sims 4. Even the toddler life stage was missing–after spending a few days as a baby, Sims would just morph into a roughly 9-year-old child and start attending school. The game’s once-vibrant open-world neighborhoods were replaced with a map so empty players initially thought it was leftover placeholder art that devs had forgotten to remove from the final release, and players encountered long loading screens any time a Sim wanted to explore further than their own doorstep. Even the game’s pre-made houses had issues–stairs led directly into walls, bathrooms had no toilets, and the impressive premade builds found in previous Sims games were notably absent. The launch of The Sims 4 left players who had grown fond of the franchise wondering, “How did this happen?” It felt as though EA had plucked out the game’s most charming, useful features, and the question on most players’ minds was, “Why?” The answer to that question was Project Olympus. Back in 2002–fresh off the success of The Sims’ initial launch–EA released The Sims Online: an MMO version of The Sims in which players could take their Sims into various chat rooms, dress them up, and make friends. The main issue The Sims Online faced was the fact that in 2002, the average America Online subscriber’s internet connection could barely handle a trip to the official Sims website, let alone maintain a sustained connection with other players. The Sims Online shut down in 2008, having done little to justify its budget, which was estimated to be over $25 million, but EA felt there was still potential in an MMO Sims game. The Sims Online sold roughly 2 million copies in its lifetime–it wasn’t a failure, it was just ahead of its time. So the same year The Sims Online servers went offline for good, The Sims 4 entered production as Project Olympus. Olympus was envisioned as–you guessed it–an online, MMO-style Sims experience. From 2008 to roughly 2013, The Sims 4 was developed as an MMO meant to run on mobile devices and PC. One mistake EA wanted to avoid repeating was creating a game that struggled to run on the average Simmer’s PC. As much as players loved The Sims 3, it put a lot of strain on most PCs, and crashes were common. Thus, The Sims 4 was stripped of various features–most notably its open-world neighborhoods and color/texture customization options–in order to ensure it could run on just about any machine. But in 2013, with just a year of development time left on the clock, EA decided to change course. The Sims 4 would not, in fact, be an always-online MMO. It would be the next iteration of The Sims, with all the features players had come to know and love. (Well, some of them, anyway.) It’s hard to say exactly why EA decided to reroute its course at the last moment, but one popular theory is that the rocky launch of 2013’s SimCity gave EA cold feet. 2013’s SimCity could not be played or saved without an internet connection, even for those wanting to play solo. Server issues and other bugs only bogged the game down more, and the game’s reception was generally negative. EA apologized for the way the game launched, but said that creating an offline mode for the game didn’t fit their vision and was an intensive undertaking that simply couldn’t be managed. Meanwhile, players quickly found that modifying a single line of code made offline play instantly accessible. EA would eventually release an offline mode as a part of SimCity 2013’s 10th update. Leaked images from The Sims 4’s website showed a toolbar with icons for a user profile, DMs, IMs, a friends list, and other social MMO features. In the wake of the SimCity debacle, EA opted for a 180-degree turn. The Sims 4’s launch was pushed back from March 2014 to September 2014, while the dev team worked to turn the streamlined MMO back into something players would recognize as a mainline Sims game. But developers just didn’t have enough time to pull this off, and the end result was a game that felt distinctly hollow. In the years after its launch, The Sims 4 was slowly improved. Free updates to the base game reintroduced toddlers, pools, and more hairstyles, though cars and texture/color customization options still remain absent. As for the game’s lack of furniture and clothing variety, EA’s solution seems to be “release as much DLC as humanly possible.” While The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 each had a total of 20 expansions and DLC packs, The Sims 4 alone has over 70 DLC packs, which, if bought separately, cost over $1,600. This much DLC has led to another problem: recurrent bugs. Each time the game is updated, a plethora of bugs seem to rise to the surface, and until very recently, they weren’t fixed quickly. The launch of the Get To Work expansion pack reintroduced Alien-Sims to the franchise, but a bug that caused their faces to warp when they move into a new life stage was left unaddressed for years. The My Wedding Stories pack completely broke the game’s wedding mechanic, leaving players with no choice but to disable the pack if they wanted their Sims to experience bug-free nuptials. (This issue was addressed by EA in 2024, two years after My Wedding Stories launched.) The Eco Lifestyle pack and Laundry Day pack both launched with a multitude of issues, and for years, it felt as though fixing The Sims 4 was the last thing on EA’s to-do list. But in 2024, things changed. EA released several free updates that added new content to the base game, and addressed a number of long-term issues, including the bug that made wedding guests sit down in the middle of the aisle and generally just refuse to cooperate while Sims were trying to get married. Missing features from The Sims 3–like eyelashes and manicures–were finally implemented. Most notably, EA released two expansions that really seemed to embrace the series’ wacky, off-the-wall roots: Lovestruck and Life & Death. The Lovestruck expansion added some desperately needed depth to Sim romances. In addition to the iconic vibrating heart bed first seen in 2001’s Hot Date expansion pack, Lovestruck also introduced jealousy settings and polyamory. In previous Sims titles, a cheating spouse could be easily caught, and Sims did not respond well to being cheated on. In The Sims 4, a Sim’s partner needs to be close by–like, uncomfortably close by–to even notice that their spouse is being unfaithful. The Lovestruck expansion allows players to set the tone for Sim relationships. Some Sims may not be happy to find their beau in bed with the maid, while others might offer them a high-five. Some Sim-couples may have an excellent relationship, while others may be distrustful of one another. Lovestruck added some much-needed depth to the way Sims interact with each other, and while some players may feel it’s too little too late, others are just happy to see the game improve. 2024’s Life & Death expansion also served as a ray of hope for jaded Simmers. Life & Death implemented a touch of much-missed morbid mischief that the squeaky-clean Sims 4 desperately needed. Despite being rated T for Teen, The Sims 4 has an overly safe, distinctly Disney-esque feel to it. But the Life & Death expansion allows players to work for the Grim Reaper, adds a number of ghoulish new ways for Sims to kick the bucket, and allows Ghost-Sims to live interesting, enriching, occasionally hilarious lives. It would seem that The Sims 4 got its fairytale ending just in time for the series’ 25th anniversary, but a closer look reveals that rather than finally righting the ship, EA appears to once again be chasing its elusive white whale: an online Sims experience that, frankly, nobody asked for. For years, fans of the franchise who became frustrated with The Sims 4 have been anxiously awaiting any news about The Sims 5. For these players, nothing can truly get the franchise where it needs to be like a fresh start. Unfortunately, it seems that The Sims 5 is no longer in the cards. Instead, Project Rene–an online, MMO-style game that’s just as much about socialization and connection as it is about creating and playing with Sims–is next on the agenda. Sound familiar? On the bright side, screenshots from a 2022 Project Rene playtest do show texture and color customization options. We’ve only seen a glimpse of Project Rene so far, so it’s hard to judge it. But given EA’s previous struggles to turn The Sims into an MMO, some fans of the franchise are skeptical–especially those who have been around since the days of The Sims Online. Although a screenshot from a Project Rene playtest showing texture/color customization options similar to The Sims 3 has offered a ray of hope, it’s hard not to feel like EA has fundamentally misunderstood what Simmers really want. The implementation of recent features like login rewards underscores this misunderstanding–any Simmer will tell you that The Sims isn’t a game you play every single day forever. Like Animal Crossing, it’s a set-your-own-pace sort of game that you frantically play every single day for a week after deciding you need to recreate the Twilight trilogy in Sim-form. Then you forget about it for a few months until the latest expansion pack (or a stray creative urge) sucks you back in. Trying to copy and paste Roblox’s Dress To Impress into The Sims likely won’t go over well unless Project Rene also launches with a traditional offline mode alongside its social MMO mode. When original The Sims creator Will Wright first pitched the game, he wanted to call it “Dollhouse.” After all, that’s what The Sims effectively is: a digital dollhouse, full of potential stories to tell and lives to live out. Ultimately, Maxis and EA decided on “The Sims,” for fear that “Dollhouse” was too feminine, and might be off-putting to male players. 25 years later, it’s abundantly clear that the franchise is a hit with players of all genders, but it’s concerning that after a quarter of a century, EA is still trying to make its Sims MMO dream a reality, seemingly oblivious to the fact the majority of Sims players ultimately want one thing: to be left alone to play with their dolls. Source link #Years #Sims #Making #Mistakes Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The superconductivity of layered graphene is surprisingly strange The superconductivity of layered graphene is surprisingly strange An illustration representing the ultra-thin material graphene Science Photo Library/Alamy Why do cold thin sheets of carbon offer no resistance to electric currents? Two experiments are bringing us closer to an answer – and maybe even to practical room-temperature superconductors. Kin Chung Fong at Northeastern University in Massachusetts was stunned when another physicist, Abhishek Banerjee at Harvard University, told him a number over dinner. They were studying different aspects of graphene – sheets of carbon only one atom thick – but both made the same estimate about how hard it should be for an electric current flowing through graphene to suddenly change. Past experiments have shown that very cold stacks of two or three layers of graphene can superconduct, or perfectly conduct electricity without resistance and energy loss, if some of the sheets are rotated by a special angle. But why this happens remained mysterious. The two physicists thought the property they estimated at dinner, called kinetic inductance, might illuminate the answer. “The feeling was like when you are in a wood hiking [through] the forest, and suddenly you find, well, wait a minute, I’m not the only person in this deep forest,” says Fong. Together with other colleagues, they turned their idea into two experiments. One group measured kinetic inductance for two layers of stacked-and-twisted graphene; a second group focused on three layers. Joel Wang at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was in the group that worked on two-ply graphene, says that measuring kinetic inductance had previously been prohibitively difficult. Because multilayer graphene can only be produced in very small pieces, standard techniques for measuring its superconducting currents – such as exposing it to particles or magnetic fields – produced excessively weak signals. Instead, both teams had to innovate a setup where the tiny graphene flakes were exposed to microwaves while the researchers slowly varied properties like temperature, which must be kept very low for superconductivity to occur at all. We know that multilayer graphene superconducts because the electrons inside of it pair up, and these pairs flow in currents more easily than individual particles. But electrons typically repel each other. How exactly the particles come together and what properties these pairs have is still not understood. “Theory is [running] behind experiments here,” says Miuko Tanaka at the University of Tokyo, who was also in the two-ply group. For two layers of graphene, her team found that the superconducting current is much “stiffer” – it resists change more – than is predicted by any conventional theory of superconductivity. They traced this anomaly back to something called quantum geometry. Specifically, the shape of the electrons’ wavefunctions, which encode all their properties and possible behaviours, seemed to drive this exotic type of superconductivity. In trilayer graphene, researchers found surprising similarities between the kinetic inductance of their sample and the behaviour of a family of completely different superconductors – ones that maintain their special properties at much higher temperatures. Because of this, both Banerjee and Tanaka say these experiments may do more than shed light on why graphene superconducts – they could also reveal key properties required for room-temperature superconductors. Physicists have been searching for such materials for decades in the hope that using them could radically decrease the energy consumption of many devices. “We are finding interesting laws which seem to emerge in both these material systems. Maybe what we are uncovering is something deeper,” says Banerjee. Both teams are planning on performing similar experiments with other very thin superconductors. “Recently, there have been so many new two-dimensional superconductors that are interesting, surprising and kind of unusual,” says Zeyu Hao, also at Harvard University, who was on the team researching three-layer graphene. For example, earlier this month a different team published research showing that two-layered crystals of a material called tungsten diselenide exhibit superconductivity when the layers are twisted relative to one another. In the meantime, Hao’s colleague Mary Kreidel, now at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, already has an application in mind for stacked-and-twisted graphene. She is working on particle detectors for space missions, many of which use superconductors. They could be made smaller and lighter – a crucial advantage in space flight – if they were made from multilayer graphene, she says. Source link #superconductivity #layered #graphene #surprisingly #strange Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen discusses Wegovy CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen discusses Wegovy It’s been a rocky few months for Novo Nordisk. Prescription data from IQVIA suggests Novo’s obesity drug Wegovy is losing ground to rival Zepbound from Eli Lilly. Wegovy’s potential successor, CagriSema, came up short of investor expectations in a closely watched Phase 3 trial. Novo’s stock has fallen more than 20% over the last year, and people feared things would get even worse when the company released fourth-quarter earnings and its 2025 outlook on Wednesday. Instead, Novo beat fourth-quarter expectations and provided a sales growth forecast between 16% and 24% – in line with the 20% Wall Street was looking for. Novo’s stock rose more than 4% on Wednesday. In an interview with CNBC, Novo Chief Executive Officer Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen brushed off concerns that Novo is falling behind Lilly. “We are quite confident that as we move into the year and we’ll be supplying more and more of the starter doses, we can see a nice step up in our volume and serving more and more patients,” Jorgensen said. “And the guidance we have given for this year, you can say, testifies to an underlying significant ramp in our business. So we’re quite confident both in the demand in the market and also our ability to supply and compete in that market.” Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty Images People taking Wegovy start off on the lowest dose – or the starter dose – then work their way up to stronger formulations so their bodies can get used to the drug. At times, Novo has limited the amount of starter doses it shipped because it struggled to make enough of the drug and wanted to make sure people who were already on the medication could stay on it. Novo’s 2025 sales guidance implies a 30% increase in the number of patients taking one of the company’s GLP-1 drugs, such as Ozempic, the company said on its earnings call. The company also tried to reassure investors about CagriSema’s effectiveness. Jorgensen said some people lost weight very quickly, and another group lost weight continuously, showing no sign of stopping by the time the trial ended, so they might need longer treatment. “I’m very confident in the potency of the biology we have here,” he said. People are watching an earlier-stage treatment – amycretin – even closer. That experimental drug recently showed promising results in a phase 1b/2a trial. Jorgensen said Novo is talking to the FDA about possibly moving straight to a phase three trial. Source link #CEO #Lars #Fruergaard #Jorgensen #discusses #Wegovy Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

As Trump shuts down USAID missions, officials warn Ebola outbreak in Uganda will spread As Trump shuts down USAID missions, officials warn Ebola outbreak in Uganda will spread Some health officials in the U.S. fear the shutdown of U.S. Agency for International Development missions may have disastrous results, as the stalling of foreign aid has forced delays in what they said was the “chaotic” early U.S. response to Uganda’s swelling Ebola outbreak. The outbreak marks Uganda’s eighth from an Ebola virus. The first confirmed case in the outbreak was a nurse at a hospital in the nation’s capital, Kampala, who contracted Ebola on Jan. 20 or Jan. 21 and died on Jan. 29. There are now six confirmed and six suspect cases. In two of the suspect cases, according to an internal slide shared with CBS News, health authorities have identified no epidemiological link to the other cases. More than a dozen Americans in Uganda are also among those so far known to have been exposed to Sudan virus, the type of Ebola that had infected the initial case. Those people so far have not shown symptoms, two people familiar with the situation told CBS News. There is no vaccine or treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration for Sudan virus. This Ebola strain has been fatal in at least 41% of reported cases during past outbreaks, according to the World Health Organization. The new outbreak coincides with the Trump administration’s pause in foreign aid — including its response to international outbreaks that could spread. This has spawned uncertainty among health nonprofits, which now face unpaid debts and a sweeping freeze on much of their U.S. funding. “What we’re talking about are disaster relief workers, we’re talking about health workers and people who are doing good and protecting America around the world,” Dr. Atul Gawande, a former USAID global health director, told CBS News on Monday. The pause has resulted in understaffed contact tracing and screening of departing international travelers in Uganda, one U.S. official said, since many experts funded by the U.S. around the region have been laid off or ordered to stop work. USAID is set to put virtually all its staff on leave on Friday and is shutting down overseas missions. “It puts the world at risk,” said one USAID official in a message. “I’m not an alarmist, but this is very bad,” the official added. In 2022, an outbreak of Sudan virus in Uganda prompted a large American response. The U.S. ramped up screening and preparedness for the virus here and sent staff and resources to aid Uganda’s efforts to contain its spread. Uganda’s healthcare system had already been stretched thin in recent months, battling a separate outbreak of a different disease – mpox – that has resulted in at least 2,031 cases, according to the WHO. Spokespeople for the State Department and USAID did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Trump has also ordered the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO, which was paired with a demand for all U.S. government staff to immediately sever collaboration with the U.N. agency that is helping to coordinate the response within the country. A U.S. health official said that CDC usually works closely with the WHO and a country’s health authorities, often meeting daily to coordinate the response to outbreaks like this. Despite the president’s order regarding WHO, “CDC has been cleared to speak one-on-one with WHO counterparts related to response activities in Uganda,” a CDC spokesperson said in a statement. The CDC said such conversations are also allowed regarding responses to other outbreaks of concern in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Attempts by U.S. agencies to deploy staff to aid the outbreak response have also been delayed, one official said, amid government-wide pauses to travel and spending. While officials secured a waiver on Saturday from the State Department to free up some funds for the response, many recipients of U.S. funds have been reluctant to accept the money because of the turmoil in Washington, two people familiar with the situation said. Nonprofits have also been grappling with a growing number of demands imposed by the Trump administration as a condition for receiving funds, like a sweeping order to purge all mentions of gender and diversity “at every level and activity, regardless of your location or the citizenship of employees or contractors” supported by U.S. dollars. In Uganda, groups are still waiting for clarification from their in-country contacts at USAID about how the waiver would apply to their work, the people said, wary of incurring more expenses that might never be repaid. Following Mr. Trump’s executive orders, the country’s health ministry urged all staff backed by CDC and USAID to “continue working in the spirit of patriotism as volunteers,” in a letter obtained by CBS News, as Ugandan officials sought “to restore normalcy.” “Radio silence” from the CDC The growing outbreak in Uganda has also left some state and local health authorities befuddled with the “radio silence” from the CDC, officials told CBS News. In past outbreaks, CDC officials were quick to start ramping up preparedness for the possibility of cases spreading to the U.S. External meetings and information sharing that health authorities usually rely on to communicate with CDC officials were canceled amid the communications “pause” across the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The communications pause was initially expected to end this past weekend, but many federal health officials say they’re still facing delays or denials in getting approval to publish information or participate in external meetings. “HHS continues to increase staff levels as we look forward to the new Secretary leading the agency. HHS has approved numerous communications related to critical health and safety needs and will continue to do so,” Andrew Nixon, the department’s communications director, told CBS News in an earlier statement. As a stopgap, some states have been working on informal partnerships to ramp up their own preparedness for the arrival of potential cases, officials said. The CDC was able to publish a travel alert on Wednesday about travel to Uganda, but it left out links and information from the WHO’s updates about the outbreak. Other donors stepping in Not all health experts are alarmed about the current situation. Two U.S. infectious disease physicians who have worked with outbreaks in the country expressed confidence that other groups and countries would be able to fill the void left by American support, but acknowledged they’re concerned about the possibility of undetected spread and delays in the response. In past outbreaks of Ebola, the U.S. has often funded many of the key steps to contain the outbreak in its earliest days, including rushing to set up isolation facilities and support the outbreak response from an array of non-governmental organizations with workers in the country. U.S.-funded laboratories have usually been on the front lines of past responses to outbreaks, through institutions like the Uganda Virus Research Institute. Some groups, like Médecins Sans Frontières and the WHO, have tried to cover the shortfall. The WHO recently touted its launch — with the help of Canada and Europe — of a vaccination trial in response to the outbreak. Russia may also help fill the vacuum left by the U.S. departure: state media recently said the nation had launched a mobile lab in Uganda’s capital to help with the outbreak. Alexander Tin Alexander Tin is a digital reporter for CBS News based in the Washington, D.C. bureau. He covers federal public health agencies. Source link #Trump #shuts #USAID #missions #officials #warn #Ebola #outbreak #Uganda #spread Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Australia tops index as virtual power plants take shape Australia tops index as virtual power plants take shape Commercial readiness to harness millions of household and business energy assets may be high but solar-driven consumers risk missing out on potential savings. The falling costs of rooftop solar and electrification, along with the uptake of battery systems and electric vehicles, are beginning to change how power is generated and distributed. Australia ranks first in a virtual power plant readiness index but was found to be lagging on smart meters and new regulations that would allow clusters of homes and businesses to compete with big batteries and traditional power plants. “While we’re at the top this year we could easily be overtaken by other countries,” consumer energy resources specialist Gabrielle Kuiper told AAP. “In particular Britain is doing a lot than better than us in making the most of their participation in virtual power plants,” Dr Kuiper said. The index was applied to 12 countries across five continents at varying levels of economic and electricity market maturity. “We’ve had some market reforms but virtual power plants are still an emerging field and we are certainly not scoring at the top on market access and the technical side of things,” Dr Kuiper said. “The fundamental reason we score the highest is we’ve got the most rooftop solar per person of any country, and we do have significant flexible demand capacity controlled by distribution networks,” she said. Amber Electric, Flow Power and Reposit Power are challenging Australia’s big energy firms as more consumers opt for smarter homes. Further progress depends on establishing clear regulations, market access and fair revenue mechanisms, according to the research report. But the biggest threat to household electricity bills was the plan for nuclear reactors around Australia, because nuclear power was inconsistent with household solar, Dr Kuiper said. If elected, the federal opposition has pledged to build a fleet of nuclear plants on the sites of former coal-fired power stations. “It’s going to be ugly,” Dr Kuiper warned. “Effectively the only way you could make nuclear power plants work effectively would be to switch of people’s solar in the middle of the day and there are technical and commercial issues around that,” she said. Rural Queensland, for example, has 60 per cent of households with rooftop solar, which she said was important for self-reliance, resilience and the changing climate but fundamentally incompatible with building big, centralised infrastructure. While most countries in the study had plans for widespread smart meters, low rates of penetration outside the United Kingdom and France was found to be limiting the spread of virtual power plants. “We haven’t made the most of looking at those data flows and consumer access to real-time data,” Dr Kuiper said. “We’re very behind on thinking about the data flows and the best way to get the data flows in the interests of consumers as opposed to the interests of large energy retailers,” she said. Source link #Australia #tops #index #virtual #power #plants #shape Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

NetEase Refuses To Introduce 1 ******** Hero That’s the Perfect Counter to Iron Fist NetEase Refuses To Introduce 1 ******** Hero That’s the Perfect Counter to Iron Fist Marvel Rivals is currently one of the most popular hero shooter games in the market. The title made by ******** developers, NetEase Games absolutely blew up when it was first released in December 2024 and has an average player count of more than 200,000 players per day. Who is this character that NetEast chose to omit? | Image Credits: NetEase Games This free-to-play game was published in collaboration with Marvel Games and was released for various platforms like the PlayStation 5, Xbox series X/S, and Windows. Marvel Rivals has an ever-growing plethora of playable characters, 37 to be exact, each character bringing their own unique abilities to the game. Then why is NetEase refusing to add this one character to the Marvel Rivals who is the counter for the most broken character? Let’s find out. Is NetEase avoiding Shang Chi because of Simu Liu? Controversial comments made by Shang Chi actor | Image Credits: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Marvel Rivals took the world by storm when it was launched. NetEase used the constantly expanding fan base of Marvel and gave them a hero shooter so fans of Marvel could play with their favorite characters. Some of these famous characters include Iron Man, Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, and much more. There is one hero in the Marvel Universe that gets overshadowed by Iron Fist and that character is Shang Chi. Shang Chi a.k.a the Master of Kung Fu debuted first in the comic book Special Marvel Edition #15 in December 1983. A film was later adapted in 2021 starring Simu Liu. The film was the first big-budget superhero film that featured an Asian actor and it received generally favourable reviews. Although Shang Chi did pretty well in the Box Office, the movie was not released in China because of a controversy surrounding Simu Liu. In a 2017 interview (now deleted) with the CBC (********* Broadcasting Corporation), Liu described China as this third-world country where people are dying of starvation. He further commented about how his family left China when he was five and how his parents thought Canada would be a better place for Liu to grow up. These statements quickly went viral on the ******** social media app Weibo, drawing significant backlash against Liu. Since then, ******** netizens have harbored a lingering resentment towards Liu. Why is NetEase reluctant to bring Shang Chi to Marvel Rivals? NetEase raised eyebrows by not adding Shang Chi in Marvel Rivals | Image Credits: NetEase Games Marvel Rivals developer, NetEase Games is a ******** internet technology company based in the Hangzhou region of China. Although NetEase Games dwell in mobile games and some collaborative games like Diablo Immortal, made in collaboration with Blizzard. The ******** gaming company has been known to align with national sentiment. NetEase Games, being a ******** company that values its national sentiment, might have taken the Simu Liu controversy into account when making character selection decisions for Marvel Rivals. If the company perceived Liu’s comments as controversial or disrespectful to China, it could have influenced their decision to exclude Shang Chi from the game. While all this remains speculation, it wouldn’t be the first time a ******** gaming or entertainment company has made decisions based on their political or national sentiment. Whether this move by NetEase was deliberate or just a creative decision, the fact that Shang Chi is not in Marvel Rivals certainly raised a lot of eyebrows among fans. Source link #NetEase #Refuses #Introduce #******** #Hero #Perfect #Counter #Iron #Fist Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

DeepSeek has burst the AI hype bubble – now all bets are off DeepSeek has burst the AI hype bubble – now all bets are off In poker, the value of the cards in your hand is often less important than what your competitors think you might hold. You don’t need a royal flush as long as you can convince others you have one. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, knows this well, having played poker extensively during his student days. Following the astronomical success of its generative artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, the company has convinced many backers that it holds all the aces, telling the world that scale is the key to progress and that betting on this will reap big rewards. On 21 January, Altman announced Stargate, a $500-billion plan to build vast data centres for future AI models. As he said in an interview in 2023: “It’s totally hopeless to compete with us.” But ******** AI company DeepSeek now looks to have called his bluff. It sent shock waves through Silicon Valley over the past two weeks with the release of AI models that are apparently as capable as OpenAI’s best, but at a fraction of the cost and computational power (see “Does DeepSeek show a way to slash the energy demands of AI?”). This young upstart, with less than a tenth as many employees as OpenAI, has punctured the idea that US companies hold some secret recipe for building AI or that they need such enormous resources to do so. DeepSeek has punctured the idea that US companies hold a secret recipe for building AI For those concerned about the accumulation of power in Silicon Valley, the arrival of competition is welcome, but DeepSeek’s model brings concerns of its own. For one thing, its answers stick closely to the ******** government’s party line, and it even censors itself in real time. Security researchers have also warned that it lacks robust guardrails against inappropriate use. Nevertheless, its arrival on the scene suggests there are huge innovations in generative AI yet to come. Plus, cheaper models that require less computational power should open the door to entirely new applications for the technology, which may also make it affordable to more people and less damaging to the planet. With more players around the table, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Topics: Source link #DeepSeek #burst #hype #bubble #bets Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Workday lays off 1,750 employees, or about 8.5% of its workforce Workday lays off 1,750 employees, or about 8.5% of its workforce NEW YORK (AP) — Workday is cutting about 1,750 jobs, or 8.5% of its workforce. In a Wednesday memo to employees, published in a securities filing, Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach said the layoffs were necessary for ongoing growth efforts at the company — including a particular focus on artificial intelligence investments. “As we start our new fiscal year, we’re at a pivotal moment,” Eschenbach wrote. “Companies everywhere are reimagining how work gets done, and the increasing demand for AI has the potential to drive a new era of growth for Workday.” Workday aims to notify the majority of employees affected by the cuts on Wednesday. “I realize this is tough news, and it affects all of us,” Eschenbach added — encouraging employees to work from or head home for the day. The maker of human resources software also disclosed that it expects to exit certain office space, but didn’t specify a timeline or which locations may be impacted. Still, Eschenbach’s memo notes that the restructuring will work to expand Workday’s global reach by “investing in strategic locations.” And despite the current layoffs, the maker of human resources software says that it still expects to continue hiring in certain locations and positions over the next year. Workday estimates that it will incur between $230 million and $270 million in charges related to the restructuring plan — primarily in severance payments, employee benefits and other related costs. All employees laid off in the U.S. will be offered a minimum of 12 weeks of pay, with additional weeks based on tenure, Eschenbach said Wednesday, adding that affected workers in other countries will be offered packages based on local standards. The job cuts at Workday arrive as layoffs continue across the tech sector — including from big names like Intel, Cisco and Apple over the past year — amid a broader wave of industry consolidation. Many companies have turned to restructuring as they grapple with how to stay competitive with evolving consumer spending, while also boosting AI-related investments. Workday plans to release earnings results for its full 2025 fiscal year later this month. In the third quarter, the Pleasanton, California-based company posted a net income of $193 million and revenue of $2.16 billion — up from a net income of $132 million and revenue of $2.09 billion in the ******* prior. Shares for Workday were up more than 2.5% by midday trading Wednesday. Source link #Workday #lays #employees #workforce Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Rumbleverse Developer Iron Galaxy Lays Off More Than 60 People, Trying To Avoid Shutdown Rumbleverse Developer Iron Galaxy Lays Off More Than 60 People, Trying To Avoid Shutdown Iron Galaxy Studios, the developer behind shuttered battle royale Rumbleverse and support studio on many other projects, has announced it is laying off 66 developers as part of an effort to save the company. This was confirmed in a post on the company’s website, where the studio called the layoffs “a means of last resort” for the studio’s survival. “For several years now, we have watched our industry undergo significant change. So many of our friends and colleagues who work in game development have suffered a series of painful adjustments…All the while at Iron Galaxy, we’ve been making sacrifices to keep our teams intact,” the post explains. “It has been our hope that we could emerge from this long winter alongside all the teammates who have come to work with us over the years. Today, we’re making the unfortunate announcement that we have run out of room to maneuver amidst this slow recovery.” Iron Galaxy Studios was founded in 2008 and has studios in Chicago, Orlando, Nashville, and Austin. According to LinkedIn, the company had over 200 employees at the time of layoffs. Iron Galaxy has long been a co-developer and support studio on projects like Killer Instinct, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, and Fallout 76. The studio is best known for its original projects, which included the beloved-yet-shuttered battle royale game Rumbleverse and games like Divekick and Extinction. As for what Iron Galaxy will focus on following these layoffs, the post says the company “is still committed to serving our partners in the creation of games” and wants to “work with the best companies in the world on the most beloved player experiences.” Source link #Rumbleverse #Developer #Iron #Galaxy #Lays #People #Avoid #Shutdown Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How do CPU, GPU and DPU differ from one another? How do CPU, GPU and DPU differ from one another? In computing, processor often refers to the central processing unit. The CPU is the most ubiquitous processor, but it is not the sole processing unit available to data centers. GPUs and DPUs can manage increasingly complex processing loads and computing tasks. All three processing units support complex computing, but each is suited for different tasks or workloads. By using multiple types of processing units in your data center, you can have all the units support each other and further speed up large or complex tasks. What is a CPU? The CPU is often described as the computer’s brain and the main processor. The CPU uses logic circuitry to interpret, process and execute instructions and commands sent to it from the OS, programs or various computer components. The CPU is integral to system operations. It performs everything from basic arithmetic and logic to I/O operations. It also handles sending instructions and feeding data to specialized hardware, such as graphics cards. In the early days of computer history, a CPU often had a single processing core. Today, CPUs can contain multiple cores to perform many instructions at once. This increases overall system performance and speed throughout the data center. What is a GPU? Graphics processing units (GPUs) were initially designed to complement the CPU. The units have multiple similarities: They’re both critical computing engines that can handle data, but GPUs specifically accelerate graphics rendering. Although CPUs can send instructions to a graphics card, they can only handle a few software threads at a time. Multiple processing cores are great for serial processing — executing a wide variety of workloads or a series of tasks by focusing on completing individual tasks quickly — but image rendering is complex. A GPU contains many more cores than a CPU, which enables it to tackle thousands of operations at once rather than just a few. This work breaks down the complex graphics rendering tasks, which involve manipulating computer graphics and image processing simultaneously, consistently and at high speeds. For example, the GPU can accelerate the intensive tasks of ray tracing, bump mapping, lighting computations and smooth decoding to render animations or videos and output them to a display. GPUs perform parallel operations rather than serial operations. Although the GPU was intended to process computer graphics, its parallel processing architecture made it a clear fit for other complex workloads, such as supercomputing, AI, machine learning (ML), database calculation and big data analysis. Its ability to handle complex mathematical processes efficiently enables the GPU to enhance performance for data center applications and greatly speed up data center workloads. GPUs can support big data and scientific computing scenarios, streamline container orchestration and process work in a fraction of the time CPUs do. What is a DPU? The data processing unit (DPU) offloads networking and communication workloads from the CPU. It combines processing cores with hardware accelerator blocks and a high-performance network interface to tackle data-centric workloads at scale. This architectural approach ensures that the right data reaches its destination in the correct format. The DPU is essentially designed to process data moving around the data center. It focuses on data transfer, data reduction, data security and data analytics, as well as encryption and compression. This means it supports more efficient data storage and frees up the CPU to focus on application processing. A DPU can also address server node inefficiency when placed at the heart of data-centric infrastructure. It can mitigate sprawl and deliver high availability and reliability. Additionally, it ensures quick accessibility and shareability of data, regardless of the amount needed for processing and transferring. DPU processing is specific to uses with large-scale data-processing needs, such as data centers supporting cloud environments or supercomputers driving complex AI, ML and deep learning algorithms. CPUs, GPUs and DPUs differ in number of cores and style of processing. The future of processing units The CPU, GPU and DPU were each created to adapt to an evolving IT landscape and meet increasingly complex computing needs. Data centers are the first market segment to adopt DPUs because of the technology’s ability to process massive amounts of data. DPUs also offload much of the strain on CPUs and GPUs that power AI and ML applications. In the future, new processing units might further transform technology operations, but for now, the DPU represents an exciting recent advancement that drives efficiency at scale for data centers. Editor’s note: The site editor updated this piece in 2025 to ensure all information is up to date. A YouTube video was also added to further explain processing units. Jacob Roundy is a freelance writer and editor with more than a decade of experience with specializing in a variety of technology topics, such as data centers, business intelligence, AI/ML, climate change and sustainability. His writing focuses on demystifying tech, tracking trends in the industry, and providing practical guidance to IT leaders and administrators. Source link #CPU #GPU #DPU #differ Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

New ETFs from BlackRock take aim at $6 trillion money market industry New ETFs from BlackRock take aim at $6 trillion money market industry BlackRock’s gigantic ETF business has expanded into a new trillion-dollar category. The asset manager on Wednesday launched two money market ETFs — iShares Prime Money Market ETF (PMMF) and iShares Government Money Market ETF (GMMF) . Typically a sleepy corner of the investment world, money market funds have surged in popularity since the Federal Reserve began hiking interest rates in early 2022. The industry had more than $6.8 trillion in assets in the week ended Jan. 29, according to the Investment Company Institute. Of that total, roughly $5.6 trillion was in government funds, and $1.1 trillion in prime funds, which invest more in corporate short-term debt . “We think the time is ripe to be able to innovate in the money market space with the ETF wrapper,” said Steve Laipply, global co-head of iShares fixed income ETFs for BlackRock. Both funds will look similar to traditional money market funds in their category. The government money market fund will hold mostly short-term government debt like Treasury bills, while the prime fund can hold somewhat riskier items like commercial paper in addition to government debt. Prime funds typically have a higher yield than government funds. The BlackRock funds each come with an expense ratio of 0.2%, putting their cost to investors in the same ballpark as the biggest traditional money market products. The ETFs are too new to have official yields, but those should be around 4% if they are in-line with similar products. BlackRock isn’t the first firm to try out this concept. Texas Capital launched a government money market ETF ( MMKT ) in September. That fund has about $50 million in assets and has light trading volume relative to other ETFs, according to FactSet. The Texas Capital fund sports a seven-day yield of 4.42%. Like the Texas Capital ETF, both of the BlackRock funds will abide by SEC regulation 2a-7, which qualifies them as money market funds. It remains to be seen which types of investors will embrace money market ETFs. While ETFs offer intraday liquidity for investors, some financial advisors and their clients may prefer the long-term track records and simplicity of traditional money market funds, many of which are designed to trade at $1. The entrance of BlackRock in to the space could be a beacon for other industry players to jump in with their own funds, given the company’s scale and reputation. BlackRock oversaw about $11.6 trillion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2024. Source link #ETFs #BlackRock #aim #trillion #money #market #industry Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]