Pelican Press

Maker builds Raspberry Pi-powered Rick and Morty watch to remotely control smart home Maker builds Raspberry Pi-powered Rick and Morty watch to remotely control smart home Raspberry Pi controlled smart homes are cool enough on their own but Donutsorelse has kicked things up a notch with this awesome Rick and Morty-themed wrist watch control system! This Raspberry Pi wearable is integrated with AI for a seamless experience, enabling Donutsorelse to control a variety of smart home services in his home—as well as a few Rock and Morty easter eggs, like an awesome Mr. Meeseeks box. I Let AI Control My Smart Home | Rick and Morty Invention – YouTube Watch On According to Donutsorelse, this was part of a Halloween costume in which he was dressed up as Rick. The idea was to create something that wasn’t just useful but also complimented the costume with features that would behave just like one of Rick’s many inventions. This meant the integration of AI to help with sentence interpretation when registering voice commands. Donutsorelse is using the word “butler” as a keyword to trigger commands. The Raspberry Pi is working alongside a DFRobot Unihiker board which is responsible for listening for audio input. It’s connected to a Blues Notecarrier F card, adding remote support which means you can use the device pretty much anywhere as long as it has a signal—presumably in this universe, at least. There is also a Flask server at play that manages the various requests and integrates the AI API. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Donutsorelse) (Image credit: Donutsorelse) The Raspberry Pi used in this project is a Compute Module 4 as part of an M5Stack CM4Stack Development Kit but Donutsorelse insists you could use a Raspberry Pi 3 B instead. It’s working alongside the DFRobot Unihiker which has a touchscreen and the BluesNotecarrier F that provides the cellular wireless support. A Python script is responsible for managing much of the overall workflow. It utilizes OpenAI to help with understanding voice requests. This makes it possible to say things like “Butler, turn on all of the lights.” instead of requiring specific explanations like “Butler, turn on the living room light, turn on the hallway light, turn on the kitchen light.” If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you can check out the build details over at Hackster. There you’ll also find lots of information about its assembly as well as the source code. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Maker #builds #Raspberry #Pipowered #Rick #Morty #watch #remotely #control #smart #home Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Jefferies says these cheap stocks can see sharp postelection gains Jefferies says these cheap stocks can see sharp postelection gains Select cheap names could be poised to jump in a postelection market, according to Jefferies. The market went on a tear in the week following President-elect Donald Trump’s win at the polls, with the S & P 500 , Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average touching fresh highs Monday. The rally has taken a breather since then, however. Indeed, after the 2016 and 2020 election, names with the cheapest valuations eventually performed well, while momentum plays lagged, Jefferies equity strategist Steven DeSanctis noted. This was especially the case for small-cap and midcap companies versus their larger peers, he added. To identify solid plays that could be poised for strong performance after the election, Jefferies searched for buy-rated names that were in the cheapest quintiles based on the firm’s valuation model. It then zeroed in on names with higher beta, as well as those with recent upward revisions. Higher beta names are more volatile compared to the market, but they can offer a greater reward for those willing to take the risk. “The cheapest names have lagged in November, since June 30th, and really since the start of the year. The rolling 12-month difference between Q1 and Q5 has moves back to what we would consider a pretty extreme level, thus we see cheaper being better going forward,” DeSanctis added. Here are a few of the names Jefferies turned up. Alcoa is a stock that has recently gotten cheaper but could outperform next year, particularly as the company may benefit from tightening aluminum and alumina markets, Jefferies found. The firm’s $50 price target suggests 21% potential upside for the stock, which has gained 21% this year. “Aside from our expectation of rising prices for the commodities it produces, Alcoa is also taking measures to continue its operational improvements under new mgmt,” the note read. “This stock is under-owned, in our view, and is poised to outperform in 2025.” William Oplinger, Alcoa’s CEO, recently told CNBC that he expects strong aluminum demand in the near and long term. He highlighted continued strength in the packaging industry and automotive and transportation businesses, as well as in building construction spurred by lower interest rates around the world. Looking ahead, the executive added that aluminum is crucial to the energy transition as it is used in electrical conductors, photovoltaic cells and electric vehicles. Jefferies included cruise operator Carnival in the list, saying it likes the company for several reasons, including the fact that Carnival’s bookings for next year are at an all-time high. Further, the company’s efforts to decrease its financial leverage would accelerate in a lower interest rate environment. The company’s CEO Josh Weinstein is also “an agent of change,” the firm added. Jefferies’ $26 price target on the stock suggests nearly 7% potential upside for Carnival shares from its latest close. Carnival’s stock is up 31% year to date, and it reached a fresh 52-week high on Thursday. ******* Airlines , financial technology company SoFi and retailer Boot Barn also made the cut. ******* Airlines is among the strongest names on the list, as its shares have more than doubled in 2024. Source link #Jefferies #cheap #stocks #sharp #postelection #gains Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Thune faces first loyalty test: What to do with Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks Thune faces first loyalty test: What to do with Trump’s most controversial Cabinet picks A series of controversial Cabinet picks have become an early test for how Senate leader-in-waiting John Thune will balance proving his loyalty to Donald Trump with the interests of his wide-ranging conference. So far, he seems to be giving the president-elect wide deference. Trump hasn’t finished his selections yet, but three picks for some of the most influential roles in the Cabinet are already prompting anxiety among GOP senators who must decide whether to confirm them: Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Pete Hegseth for secretary of Defense and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence. And POLITICO first reported another pick Thursday afternoon: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Health and Human Services secretary. Broadly, *********** senators, led by Thune (R-S.D.), say Trump should be allowed to fill out his Cabinet the way he wants — though a couple are openly expressing doubts, especially on Gaetz. Nominees can only afford to lose three votes on the Senate floor and still get confirmed. “We don’t know until we start the process,” Thune said about Gaetz’s chances of getting confirmed. “And that’s what we intend to do with him and all the other potential nominees.” The wait-and-see approach isn’t a ringing endorsement, and Thune will have his work cut out for him if he moves forward on confirming each nominee. In addition to publicly aired doubts from Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said Thursday he wanted to see a House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz that details an investigation into several allegations against the attorney general nominee, including that he had **** with a minor. The chair of that panel has indicated the report won’t be released now, because Gaetz resigned from the House on Wednesday night. The Department of Justice conducted its own investigation as part of a **** trafficking probe and, according to Gaetz’s lawyers and DOJ officials, decided not to bring ********* charges. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. There are issues with Hegseth, Gabbard and Kennedy, too. Combat veteran Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has said Hegseth needs to “explain” his recent comments on a podcast that “we should not have women in combat roles.” Gabbard has sparked concern within the intelligence community due to her sympathetic views on autocrats like Russia’s Vladimir ****** and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. And some senators have dodged questions about confirming Kennedy — who has touted for years the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism — before reports of his official pick. There’s a general theory on Senate-confirmed nominations that new presidents will offer a sort of sacrificial lamb, a nominee meant to go down to make others look better or provide cover to purple-state senators to approve others. But GOP leaders said they don’t think that’s Trump’s intention here, and regardless, more than one ******** could sour Thune and Trump’s relationship early in the term. Thune has vowed to advance Trump’s agenda, and his nominees are the first test on how effectively he can deliver. “He’s got a hard job,” said one GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly. “Be careful what you ask for. He knew it was going to be hard. He knew President Trump was going to put people in there that people [were] going to question.” But, the senator noted, Thune ******** responsible for getting members “on the same page, and that’s tough as Republicans.” Compare it to 2017, when *********** senators had a slightly slimmer majority to confirm Trump’s picks in his first term. At the time, Trump had to withdraw his secretary of Labor nominee Andrew Puzder after it became clear he didn’t have the votes in a 52-48 Senate majority. Puzder faced multiple accusations of misconduct, most notably his admission that he did not pay taxes on the services of an undocumented immigrant who worked for him for years. Puzder was the only Cabinet nominee that Trump had to pull in his first year, though he was far from alone over the four-year term. Senate Republicans, even those closely aligned with Trump, aren’t eager to hop into another bruising series of confirmation fights — or deal with cascading withdrawals again. And in a further sign of the general levels of deference to Trump, leading GOP senators aren’t actively pushing back on suggestions that the president-elect use recess appointments for picks that may not have the votes in the Senate. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said she doesn’t think there’s been “any serious discussions on how to move forward on a recess appointment, because hopefully it’ll prove unnecessary.” Republicans frequently brushed off questions about confirming the controversial nominees by pointing to the need for a thorough vetting process. And some argued that even if that process turned up negative information on nominees, it was in Trump’s best interest to find out before they were confirmed. “We need to have a complete vetting of the nominees — not only so we know that the nominee is qualified but also to protect the president,” Cornyn said. “I’m sure it’s not in his best interest to have any surprises.” “I don’t have any preconceived notions about it,” Cornyn later added about Kennedy’s planned nomination to HHS. But he said he’s “sure” Kennedy’s strong anti-vaccine position “will come up.” With regards to Gabbard, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — a close Trump ally — noted that “we have different foreign policy positions at times” but that he intended to give broad latitude to the president-elect in selecting his government. “I’m gonna do with Trump what I do with everybody: Let you pick your people,” he told POLITICO. “Defer to your choice, unless it’s too far.” Collins, who voted against multiple Trump nominees in his first term, said she “can’t imagine” that the issues contained in the House Ethics Committee’s report about Gaetz wouldn’t “become public, either through the committee’s extensive investigation or the FBI report or questions asked by committee members at Mr. Gaetz hearing.” “Mr. Gaetz is an example of where the Senate’s role is critical to take a look at allegations and at his fitness for a very important job,” Collins added. And Murkowski, after saying Wednesday that Gaetz was not a “serious” pick, declined to weigh in on Trump’s selections on Thursday, saying she needs to meet with her constituents. Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who’s broken with Trump on occasion, said he needed to learn more about each of the picks, especially Gaetz. “I don’t know enough to be concerned right now,” he told reporters. “I think it would be responsible for me to learn more about each of these nominees.” Others in the conference said nothing, even an adverse report from the House Ethics Committee, would shake their confidence and willingness to confirm Gaetz as attorney general. “He’s very talented, and anyone who has spent any time with him knows he’s very smart and capable. I’m going to vote to confirm him,” said Sen.-elect Jim Banks (R-Ind.). “I’m not gonna speculate about what [the Ethics report] says or what it doesn’t say, because we don’t know what it says.” Joe Gould contributed to this report. Source link #Thune #faces #loyalty #test #Trumps #controversial #Cabinet #picks Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Five guilty of murdering Bristol teens Five guilty of murdering Bristol teens Family handout Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, had been friends since nursery A group of teenagers and a man have been found guilty of murdering two best friends in a case of mistaken identity. Mason Rist, 15, and Max Dixon, 16, were stabbed to ****** yards from Mason’s front door in Knowle West, Bristol, on 27 January. Anthony Snook, 45, Riley Tolliver, 18, and two boys, 17 and 16, had all denied *******. A 15-year-old boy admitted murdering Mason but denied ******** Max, however a jury at Bristol Crown Court found each member of the group guilty of both murders. The jury of nine men and three women took 18 hours 45 minutes deliberating before returning the verdicts. As the jury foreman returned the verdicts none of the defendants showed any reaction from the dock. They sat impassively and stared straight ahead. Members of Mason and Max’s families, who were sat in the public gallery, cried as the guilty verdicts were given. Other relatives cheered and punched the air. Snook will be sentenced on 19 November, with the four teenagers due to be sentenced on 16 December. During the trial, the court heard Max and Mason each received fatal stab wounds from two machetes. One of the weapons used had a blade length of 42cm (16.5in), while a second was 41cm (16in). CCTV captured the moments before the “horrific” stabbing The jury was told how Max and Mason had been wrongly identified as being responsible for throwing bricks at a house in the neighbouring Hartcliffe area earlier that evening. The five accused had set off from Hartcliffe heading to Knowle West “*****-bent on revenge”, Ray Tully QC told the court. Snook, from Hartcliffe, Bristol, claimed he “didn’t know” the teenagers were going to ***** the boys when he drove them to the area in his Audi Q2. Mr Tully said the four younger defendants were all armed and argued all five people were responsible for their deaths, which the jury accepted. During the trial, the jury was shown CCTV captured from Mason’s home. It showed the Audi slow down as it passed Max arriving at Mason’s home in Ilminster Avenue shortly after 23:00 BST on the Saturday night. The car then drives out of frame, and Max and Mason leave the house together. Seconds later, the same camera captures the Audi reappearing and four people jump out, chasing the boys down the road, before inflicting the fatal injuries in an ******* lasting 33 seconds. ‘Absolutely petrified’ Members of the community rushed to Max and Mason who collapsed in the street to try and save them before paramedics arrived. The friends ***** in hospital within 15 minutes of each other in the early hours of Sunday morning. Det Sup Gary Haskins, head of Avon and Somerset Police’s major ****** investigation team, said: “These were two boys going about their business just out being friends. “They were cut down in the prime of their lives. They must have been absolutely petrified. “They were attacked for no reason whatsoever by individuals they didn’t know. “Unfortunately in the course of running away from their attackers they sustained injuries… so severe sadly they succumbed to those injuries. They were unsurvivable injuries.” Det Supt Haskins said that within 59 minutes of the ******* on Max and Mason, Snook was in custody. “He [Snook] was the ****** who could have changed the course of this incident. “He’s the one that could have stopped this from happening.” He added: “These individuals, as a collective, went after those two boys. “They armed themselves together, they travelled together, they travelled back from the ******* together, and they were intent on causing harm to whoever they came across.” Source link #guilty #murdering #Bristol #teens Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Volleyball players, coach sue San Jose State, Mountain West for allowing transgender athlete Volleyball players, coach sue San Jose State, Mountain West for allowing transgender athlete A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday in Colorado against the Mountain West and its commissioner, Gloria Nevarez, seeks emergency injunctive relief that would declare a transgender San Jose State women’s volleyball player ineligible for the upcoming conference tournament in Las Vegas on Nov. 27-30. The plaintiffs include San Jose State co-captain Brooke Slusser, assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose and two former Spartans players, as well as players from four other conference schools. They allege that the school and conference violated the U.S. Constitution and Title IX by allowing a transgender athlete to play for a women’s sports team and by suppressing free speech rights of those that spoke out in protest. San Jose State University, its head volleyball coach Todd Kress, and two school administrators, as well as the trustees board for the California State University system, are also named as defendants. The controversy flared in September when Slusser, who transferred to San Jose State prior to the 2023 season, joined a federal lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s transgender policy and went public with assertions about her teammate’s gender identification. In the lawsuit, Slusser said the teammate, who was also her roommate, “was born male and identifies as a ‘transgender woman,’” and came out to her during a conversation in April. Slusser has since spoken with numerous media outlets about her experience with her teammate. The Athletic is not naming the athlete because the athlete has not publicly identified. A Mountain West spokesperson did not return a message seeking comment. “The Mountain West Conference prioritizes the best interests of our student-athletes and takes great care to adhere to NCAA and MW policies,” the conference said in a Thursday statement. “While we are unable to comment on the pending litigation of this particular situation, we take seriously all concerns of student-athlete ******** and fairness.” In October, Nevarez told the Associated Press: “The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss.” “We have not been served with the lawsuit. We obtained a copy of the 132-page document late Wednesday afternoon,” SJSU said in a statement. “We will not comment at this time.” As the season began, several schools — Southern Utah, Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and Nevada — forfeited matches with the Spartans. The lawsuit alleges that the Mountain West’s handbook did not originally include a policy for transgender athletes, but added one on Sept. 27, around the same time the controversy exploded, that stated that schools would have to forfeit if they refused to play a match. The lawsuit also alleges that San Jose State officials in an April 2024 meeting instructed players not to speak about their teammate’s **** or gender identity outside of the team. According to the complaint, shortly after Slusser first went public, an administrator reminded her that “speaking disrespectfully against the school or the NCAA would be against your letter of intent and could affect your scholarship,” which she took as retaliation. Two of the plaintiffs, former San Jose State walk-ons Elle Patterson and Alyssa Sugai, said in the lawsuit that they lost potential scholarship opportunities to their transgender teammate in previous seasons because they were not getting as much playing time while playing the same position. Patterson told her coaches she could not afford to pay her own way for another season and left the team. Sugai transferred. Neither knew the player identified as transgender when they arrived on campus, they said in the lawsuit. “The reason that (the transgender athlete) outperformed Sugai was not effort but was Retained Male Advantage, which Sugai could not match because Sugai is a woman,” the suit says. The lawsuit says Batie-Smoose, an associate head coach under Kress for two seasons, observed that Kress was becoming “hostile” toward Slusser and herself after she raised concerns about ”preferential treatment” for the transgender athlete. On Oct. 29, Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint with San Jose State, the Mountain West and NCAA alleging discrimination against women and gave an interview to an *********** website. Days later, the school suspended her. The NCAA’s transgender participation policy, adopted in 2022, states that transgender women may compete on women’s teams after completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment if they meet their sport’s standard for documented testosterone levels prior to regular-season competition. (Photo: David Buono / Icon Sportswire 2023) Source link #Volleyball #players #coach #sue #San #Jose #State #Mountain #West #allowing #transgender #athlete Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘We are devastated’: *** indie games show WASD is permanently cancelled ‘We are devastated’: *** indie games show WASD is permanently cancelled *** games industry show WASD has been permanently cancelled as the company behind the event enters liquidation. Citing skyrocketing industry costs, the event, which showcased the best of the ***’s independent games industry is no more. Co-founder David Lilley told the BBC: “increasing costs and less demand for stand space means running events is just not viable for us anymore.” Independent publishing label Lost in Cult commented on the news: “We are devastated to hear the news about WASD. “Our first ever bookstand was at WASD. We got eyes on our work from people who otherwise would not have come across us in online spaces. ” WASD was formed in the wake of EGX Rezzed, another ***-based industry show that also focussed on independent games. WASD was one of the ***’s last video game events open to the public. EGX, the ***’s largest gaming show, is now part of MCM Comic-****, with both shows being held together. Fans who attended the event earlier this year claimed that the EGX portion of the show was much smaller than in previous years, with little support from larger publishers. The official website for WASD went offline earlier this year, leading many to suspect that the future of the event was in peril. BAFTA-winning roguelike Vampire Survivors was shown off at the event’s inaugural show. Source link #devastated #indie #games #show #WASD #permanently #cancelled Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

IT leaders raise concerns over IT security overspend IT leaders raise concerns over IT security overspend IT leaders say they are overspending on cyber security tools, a survey of 800 IT leaders from Flexera has found. The poll reported that 31% of the IT decision-makers who took part in the survey ranked IT security tools as the top area of overspending. This represents a six-point increase from last year’s survey (25%). Even though reducing IT security risks ranked second (28%) behind artificial intelligence (AI) in terms of priorities over the next 12 months, the findings suggest that the conversations around the inflation of security tools and difficulties in integrating separate tooling together are ongoing. Last year, analyst IDC surveyed 503 IT decision-makers in North America looking at cloud-native application protection platforms; data security; endpoint detection and response; extended detection and response; network security; next-generation firewall; security information and event management; security service edge; and vulnerability and exposure management. The respondents had anywhere from 41 to 60 security tools in their environment, with 25% reporting 21 to 40 tools. Beyond IT security tools, the Flexera survey found that 68% of IT leaders say business units are spending far more on cloud and software as a service (SaaS) than they are aware of. According to those surveyed, the estimated average amount of overspending across cloud, software, SaaS and hardware is around 20-25%. When asked about their top IT spending challenges, 45% said it was controlling growth in IT spend; for 40%, the biggest challenge was tackling IT spending efficiency and avoiding waste; and 39% saw their biggest challenge as managing price hikes from their software providers. Flexera said the responses suggest that IT leaders ******* more thorough visibility across their entire technology investment, yet are continually juggling unknowns as they seek to determine the best course of action to correct overspending and better balance their piece of the budget. The survey results also suggest that AI is redefining IT leaders’ priorities. Almost half (48%) of the IT leaders polled put integrating AI as their top priority for the next 12 months. “While IT leaders are facing a myriad of challenges and opportunities, artificial intelligence seems to pose the biggest potential gains in the short- and long-term,” said Conal Gallagher, chief information officer at Flexera. “There’s an extraordinary expense required of AI projects, creating an even greater sense of urgency to not only understand the impact of the investment, but to quickly demonstrate returns that advance core business objectives,” he added. “AI is not only disrupting and transforming IT – for example, creating more focus on compute resources and data quality – but planting the seeds to change the way we all work. It’s no surprise that IT is at the forefront of recognising and ushering in this disruption, helping to be a guiding force for their organisations.” Source link #leaders #raise #concerns #security #overspend Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Wood says ARK Innovation fund shouldn’t be ‘huge slice of any portfolio’ Wood says ARK Innovation fund shouldn’t be ‘huge slice of any portfolio’ Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, speaks during an interview on CNBC on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, February 27, 2023. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Cathie Wood is defending her underperforming ARK Innovation exchange traded fund following a rocky stretch. “We have a volatile fund,” she told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday. “We should not be a huge slice of any portfolio. We are more of a satellite strategy now, although we think this is the way the world is going.” Shares of the technology fund have lost near two thirds of their value from their pandemic heyday, when market excitement and the meme stock craze drove shares to nearly $160 and led the fund to more than double in 2020, soaring 149%. Since then, the fund has underperformed, fueling skepticism over the Ark Invest CEO’s investment strategies. Shares are up 2.8% this year, far behind the S&P 500’s 24% gain, and over the past three years have lost about 23% annually, according to FactSet data. Wood acknowledged that several “interesting behaviors” during the Covid-19 pandemic sent ARKK shares higher, but asserted that many of the technologies and research underpinning her firm’s investments are “much more advanced.” She called out the multiomics life sciences and health care sectors as the biggest drag on the fund. This should change as new genome therapy editing companies such as Intellia Therapeutics emerge as providing alternative ********-curing methods. “We think we’re a very good complement to the broad-based benchmarks out there, because we don’t look anything like them,” she said of her fund. “And truth will win out.” Source link #Wood #ARK #Innovation #fund #shouldnt #huge #slice #portfolio Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Harvard Suspends Pro-Palestine Students Who Stage ‘Pray-In’ Protest at Library Harvard Suspends Pro-Palestine Students Who Stage ‘Pray-In’ Protest at Library As Harvard University workshops its image in the wake of criticisms over its handling of antisemitism on its Boston campus, the Ivy League college has suspended a group of students for staging a pro-Palestine “pray-in” last week in the Harvard Divinity School’s library. During the event, reported on by The Harvard Crimson, the school’s student-run newspaper, more than 55 graduate students demanded Harvard “divest from *******’s war in Gaza and end censorship on campus.” The protest seemingly centered on calls from left-leaning students who have condemned the Harvard Management Company (HMC), the entity responsible for managing the school’s endowment, for alleged investments in organizations with ties to *******. In March of this year, the Harvard Law School’s Student Council voted 12-4 (with three abstentions) to pass a resolution calling on the HMC to “divest completely from weapons manufacturers, firms, academic programs, corporations, and all other institutions” that purportedly benefit ******* in some way. Two members of the student government resigned following the vote. When they resigned, the pair said they left the board because they “strongly disagree with the resolution.” Last Monday, the group of students staged a “pray-in” that lasted about 45 minutes before it was broken up and participants were suspended for violating a university-wide policy intended “to prevent students from feeling unsafe or distracted in spaces like libraries and classrooms.” In her email announcing the suspensions, Harvard Divinity School Dean Marla F. Frederick said she understands the “importance of prayer.” “At HDS we honor the importance of prayer and what it represents for so many,” wrote the dean. “And, as one colleague reminded us recently, ‘prayer is protest.’ In and of itself, advocacy for the cause of people under duress — whether in *******, Gaza, or other parts of the world — is noble.” One of the student participants, Stephanie Tabashneck, called Frederick’s actions “inconceivable.” “There’s a serious tension there between the ideals that HDS purports to uphold and the consequences that they impose on students who are living out these very ideals,” she said. “Harvard doesn’t support free speech. And I say this as someone who is ******* and both concerned about antisemitism and concerned about the genocide of the ************ people.” All of this comes amidst a cloud of controversy for Harvard. In January of this year, now-former Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned, according to CBN News, after she was unable to state unequivocally during a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C., that calls on campus for the genocide of ******* people would, in fact, violate the school’s conduct policy. At the time, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to serve as U.S. ambassador to the ******* Nations, questioned Gay, asking the embattled university leader, “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules on bullying and harassment? Yes or no?” In response, Gay said, “It can be, depending on the context.” Gay, who also faced significant allegations of plagiarism, later apologized, telling The Harvard Crimson, “What I should have had the presence of mind to do in that moment was return to my guiding truth, which is that calls for ********* against our ******* community — threats to our ******* students — have no place at Harvard, and will never go unchallenged.” You can read more about that here. ***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwire’s daily newsletter and download the CBN News app to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly ********** perspective.*** Source link #Harvard #Suspends #ProPalestine #Students #Stage #PrayIn #Protest #Library Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Broadband upstream growth rate doubles downstream increase in Q3 Broadband upstream growth rate doubles downstream increase in Q3 Having predicted in February 2024 that global broadband data consumption records were set to be broken – on track to approach or surpass 700GB per month by the end of the year and a terabyte (TB) within the next five years – the latest OpenVault Broadband Insights (OVBI) quarterly update has found consumption tracking up in the third quarter of 2024, but with the surprise that upstream usage increased at more than double the rate of downstream growth. This represents a new milestone, according to the software-as-a-service-based revenue and network improvement solutions provider. The OBVI update found year-on-year upstream growth ticked higher to 13.9% in the third quarter of 2024, while downstream usage increased by 6.8% – the lowest figure since the analysis began breaking out downstream and upstream data in 2017. The average downstream speed was 564Mbps, an increase of 13.2% compared with the third quarter of 2023, and the average upstream speed was 31Mbps, up 11%. Overall growth was 7.2%, the lowest year-over-year rate ever recorded, with the monthly average data consumed by subscribers in the third quarter of 2024 being 590.1GB. Average data usage was nearly flat, up less than 1% from the 585.8GB observed in the second quarter of 2024, said to be consistent with historical seasonal patterns. The monthly median usage of 389.3GB was up 7% from the same ******* a year ago (363.8GB) and up 1.7% from the previous quarter. The category of “super power users” – consuming 2TB or more per month – increased by 25% year-on-year, while “extreme power users – consuming 5TB or more per month – increased by 44% since the third quarter of 2023. In addition to the focus on upstream and downstream growth rates, the latest OVBI report also looked for the first time at usage by selected demographic groups. Households with incomes under $50,000 per year had the highest average monthly data usage, at 639GB, despite having the slowest average internet speeds of 530Mbps. Consumption and speeds ranged from 397GB and 578Mbps for a single-person household, to 1.125TB and 833Mbps for a household of four. Speeds and subscriber behaviour were consistent between urban and rural markets, demonstrating the impact of providers’ upgrades in rural areas. The expanding gap between upstream and downstream growth rates continues a trend that OpenVault analysis has identified throughout the modern broadband era. With the exception of the pandemic *******, downstream growth rates have slowed each year, while the rate of increase in the upstream has trended steadily upward, even as the total volume of downstream and upstream usage continues to rise. Concluding its analysis with a call to action for broadband providers, the OBVI said addressing upstream constraints within the DOCSIS environment will be essential as subscriber behaviour evolves, putting added pressure on networks. It added that with upstream data usage now growing at more than twice the rate of downstream usage, the need for ongoing monitoring and network adaptability to maintain a high quality of experience amid rising demand would be crucial. Source link #Broadband #upstream #growth #rate #doubles #downstream #increase Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

McIlroy moves closer to clinching Race to Dubai title McIlroy moves closer to clinching Race to Dubai title The path is clear for Rory McIlroy to clinch the year-long Race to Dubai title and be crowned the ********* tour’s best player for a sixth time. The Northern Irishman is also well in contention to win the season-ending World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. McIlroy hit a fairway wood from 265 yards to 15 feet at No.18 and two-putted for a closing birdie in his second round on Friday, giving him a three-under 69 that left him one ******* off the lead held by France’s Antoine Rozner (65) on nine-under par. McIlroy was tied with England’s Tyrrell Hatton (69) for second place in the tournament but his lead in the year-long Race to Dubai standings now looks impregnable. Thriston Lawrence is the only player who can stop McIlroy winning that title — and to do that he needs a victory. That appeared unlikely, with a 71 leaving Lawrence at level par for the week and nine off the lead at halfway. “At this point, I’m just trying to win the golf tournament,” McIlroy said, “and if I win the golf tournament, then everything else that happens alongside that is nice.” Rozner, ranked No. 154, was the surprise leader after making six birdies in an eight-***** span from the ninth. The Frenchman is one of many players in the 50-man field seeking a high finish to secure one of the 10 PGA Tour cards on offer for next season. Winning the tournament will guarantee that bonus prize, so it’s potentially a life-changing weekend for players like Rozner. “I need a really good weekend for that,” said Rozner, who won the last of his three ********* tour titles in Mauritius in December 2022. “I’m going to try to focus on having two solid days. See how it goes at the end. “I think if I can have a chance on Sunday to either win it or get one of those cards, it would be great.” Adam Scott, the leading *********** challenger is tied for 12th, five shots off the pace at four under after a second-round 71. Min Woo Lee is a couple of shots further back at two under after a bogey six at the last left him ********* a level-par 72. Source link #McIlroy #moves #closer #clinching #Race #Dubai #title Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

A Step Closer to Reading the Inca Khipus Data Recording System A Step Closer to Reading the Inca Khipus Data Recording System Karen Thompson/The Conversation For more than a millennium, many Andean peoples used an object called a “khipu” (also spelled “quipu” and pronounced “key-****”) to record and communicate information. Khipus were made with cords or strings with knots tied into them. And experts understand that many, but not all, of these knots were used to represent numbers. In a new study published today, I make a numeric connection between two important khipus from history – the first being being the largest khipu ever known and the other one of the most complex. What were khipus used for? While khipus were used in earlier times, they were especially important to the Inca Empire, which lasted from around 1438 AD to 1532 AD (when the empire was conquered by the Spanish). Since the Inca did not leave any written records, khipus are understood to have been their main system of communication and record-keeping. Khipus were commonly made from either cotton or fibers sourced from camelids (the group of animals that includes camels, llamas and alpacas). These materials could be dyed or left naturally ********. Some khipus even include plant fibers, while several incorporate human hair. It seems specially-trained khipu makers (“khipukamayuqs”) made very deliberate decisions when constructing these record-keeping tools. These decisions related to the colors used, the direction of spin and ply of the cord fibers, the spacing and type of the cord attachments, and the structure and position of the knots. Early Spanish chroniclers wrote about the khipu’s various numeric applications, which included recording storehouse inventories, population censuses and tax and tribute obligations. A New Numeric Connection For more than a century, researchers have been studying khipu features in hopes that patterns may emerge from a collective view. In recent decades their data have been digitized, which is now freely available via the Open Khipu Repository and the Khipu Field Guide. For my research, I analyzed the data from two khipus found in northern Chile and first recorded by ethno-mathematician Marcia Ascher and anthropologist Robert Ascher in the 1970s. One of these is the largest khipu ever found – spanning more than five meters in length and comprising more than 1800 cords (see the picture below). The other khipu (pictured in the header image) has almost 600 cords in complicated arrangements. Archaeologists Percy Dauelsberg and Junius Bird hold one of the largest khipu’s ever found. (Permission to reproduce image provided to the author courtesy of Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino., Author provided (no reuse)) I noticed both khipus used red/white “divider” cords to separate groups of either tens or sevens. The larger khipu was divided into ten groups, with each group having seven cords. The smaller khipu was divided into seven groups, with each group having ten cords (and many subsidiary cords). After examining and manipulating the data, I realized the smaller and more complex khipu is a summary and reallocation of the information in the larger khipu. In other words, the two khipus record the same data, but represent it differently. This is the most complicated numeric connection between khipus made to date. It was only possible because of the availability of data and digital tools that make searching for patterns easier – and which wouldn’t have been available to Marcia Ascher back in the 1970s. New Khipu Clues While the numbers in these two khipus are counting and allocating something, we don’t yet know what that was. Why would it be necessary to have two khipus recording the same information in two different ways? We can only speculate. Perhaps the larger khipu recorded the collection of different amounts of food crops from the community, while the other recorded how these foods were distributed between those in need, or between storehouses. Both ways of looking at the numbers would have been important to the people who used these khipus. Khipus used ******** cords adorned with knots at specific points. (Jack Zalium/ CC BY-NC 2.0) Experts believe only a tiny fraction of the khipus made throughout history have survived. This is partly because the institutions that used them eventually either became obsolete or used other means of recording after the conquest, combined with a climate that was less than ideal for textile preservation. Today, about 1,600 khipus remain, residing mainly in collections in the Americas and Europe. Fewer than half of these have had their features digitally saved in research databases. Through continued digitization efforts, we hope to discover more khipu clues – and make new numeric connections that add to our understanding of ancient Andean peoples. Top image: Khipu no. 780 at Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, Santiago, uses almost 600 cords in complicated arrangements to convey information. Source: Permission to reproduce image provided to the author courtesy of Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino., Author provided (no reuse) This article was originally published under the title, ‘The Incas used mysterious stringy objects called ‘khipus’ to record data. We just got a step closer to understanding them’ by Karen Thompson on The Conversation, and has been republished under a Creative Commons License. Source link #Step #Closer #Reading #Inca #Khipus #Data #Recording #System Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Hundreds of hotel workers go on strike at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip Hundreds of hotel workers go on strike at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip ******* Hotels Las Vegas is illuminated on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, in Las Vegas. Benjamin Hager | Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP Hundreds of hotel workers at a casino near the Las Vegas Strip went on strike just before dawn Friday after a long and highly publicized ****** for a new contract. The strike at ******* Hotels Las Vegas marks the first open-ended strike in 22 years for the Culinary Workers Union, the largest labor union in Nevada, with about 60,000 members. The union posted on the social platform X on Friday morning: “@VirginHotelsLV casino is ON STRIKE! ******* hotel workers are walking out RIGHT NOW at ******* Las Vegas for a fair contract! Stand with the workers, DO NOT CROSS THE STRIKE LINE!” Workers at the casino also walked off the job for 48 hours earlier this year as negotiations escalated, hoping to pressure ******* Hotels to agree to a new five-year deal with increased wages and better benefits. Housekeepers, ********* and food servers, porters and bellhops were among those on the picket line Friday outside the hotel-casino, which was formerly the Hard Rock Las Vegas. It comes exactly a year after casinos up and down the Strip narrowly avoided tens of thousands of hospitality workers walking off the job on the weekend the city was set to host its first Formula One race on the famous boulevard. But agreements were reached just before the union’s deadline for a strike, giving workers a roughly 32% salary increase over the life of the contract, including a 10% bump in pay in the first year. After the breakthrough deals last November, the Culinary Union quickly reached similar agreements for the rest of its members at major hotel casinos on the Strip, downtown and at off-Strip properties — with the exception of ******* Hotels. The contracts on the Strip alone cover more than 40,000 workers. Bethany Khan, a spokesperson for the union, said ******* Hotels is the “final holdout.” The union’s contract covering about 700 employees there expired in June. The union says ******* Hotels does not want to give its workers any wage increases during the first three years of a new five-year contract. “We are worth more than zero wage increases,” Merla Paramo, a casino porter, said in a statement provided by the union. ******* Hotels said Thursday in a statement that it agreed to some wage increases before the fourth year of a new contract, but the union declined the proposal. ******* Hotels did not provide specifics on its proposal. “Our dedication to our team members’ well-being and achieving sustainable performance at our property ******** steadfast, and we are fully committed to finding a fair resolution that is in their best interest,” the statement reads. While Friday’s walkout is far smaller in scale than the strikes planned for last year on the Strip, disruptions are still likely because of ******* Hotels’ location. The 1,500-room property is just off the Strip and along a common route to the tourist corridor from the city’s international airport. The hotel-casino sits on a recognizable lot where an 80-foot(24-meter) neon guitar sign stood for decades. It was removed in 2017 after the Hard Rock closed. Culinary Union members last went on strike in 2002 for 10 days at the Golden Gate hotel casino in downtown Las Vegas. Source link #Hundreds #hotel #workers #strike #casino #Las #Vegas #Strip Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Microsoft’s PC-Only Games Are An “Anomaly,” Says Phil Spencer Microsoft’s PC-Only Games Are An “Anomaly,” Says Phil Spencer Between World of Warcraft: The War Within, Ara: History Untold, and the early-access release of Towerborne, Microsoft has an unusually prominent slate of PC-only games this fall. Of those three titles, Towerborne will eventually make it to Xbox Series X|S, but don’t get used to having Microsoft games skipping consoles. The company’s gaming CEO, Phil Spencer, has indicated that this was “an anomaly” that’s unlikely to be repeated. “This is historical,” Spencer told Game FIle. “There might always be some anomalies, but I look at those three as an anomaly. We want our games playable across as many screens as possible. We think about the Xbox platform as the Xbox console, PC, and cloud. We want all the games playable across all of those. We want them to be Play Anywhere.” While there don’t appear to be any plans to bring World of Warcraft to Xbox consoles, Spencer has been bullish about sharing select Microsoft-owned titles with Sony’s PlayStation. The most prominent example is Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6, but even upcoming games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will get a PS5 release after an initial debut on Xbox consoles and PC. Spencer also mentioned his larger goal of allowing players to own a title regardless of where they’re playing it. “We want to get to the point where, when you buy, whether you’re buying on cloud–which we’re getting ready to introduce–buying on PC and buying on console, you own it across all of the Xbox ecosystem,” said Spencer. Source link #Microsofts #PCOnly #Games #Anomaly #Phil #Spencer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

TSMC discovers unexploded ***** at Kaohsiung chip fab construction site — ***** has since been safely removed TSMC discovers unexploded ***** at Kaohsiung chip fab construction site — ***** has since been safely removed Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) recently discovered an unexploded ***** on the construction site of one of its fabs in Kaohsiung. According to a report by ******* Daily News and official comments from TSMC to The Register, the unexploded ordnance is significantly corroded and weighs around 500 pounds — the typical weight of a single ***** laden on World War II fighter-********. According to PCMag, it was unearthed by a contractor on November 11 at the Nanzih Technology Industrial Park, where work was temporarily disrupted so authorities could dispose of the old explosive properly. 台積電工地再發現未爆彈 國軍八軍團急衝現場拆彈 – YouTube Watch On The ***** was eventually removed by Taiwan’s military forces; it now sits in a warehouse pending disposal. Because of its age and deterioration, with its serial number no longer legible, authorities say it’s nearly impossible to determine the source of the ordnance. Nevertheless, after a short evacuation to safely remove the *****, workers resumed construction at the factory. “Regarding the suspected unexploded ordnance discovered during excavation at the TSMC’s Kaohsiung site in the morning of November 11, the relevant authorities have examined it and determined there are no safety concerns. The object has been removed, and construction at the site is ongoing and ******** on schedule,” a TSMC spokesperson told The Register. This isn’t the first time a vintage ***** has been discovered on this particular TSMC site: A 1,000-pound ***** was discovered in late August this year. This is likely due to the historical significance of the area, as the Nanzih Technology Industrial Parks sit on the site of a former oil plant, manufacturing fuel for the Imperial ********* Navy during World War II. Furthermore, it’s located some eight miles north of Kaohsiung Harbor and five miles southwest of Gangshan Air Base — historical military bases that have been used by the ********* during that time and heavily targeted by the U.S. and Allied Forces. In more recent times, TSMC suffered a ***** ******* in 2022 after one disgruntled employee was “dissatisfied with his colleague” to the point that he planted an explosive in the latter’s motorcycle and detonated it as he approached the vehicle. The bomber was eventually found guilty and is currently serving nine years in prison. However, TSMC is also putting ****** on its own property. According to former TSMC Chairman Mark Liu, its EUV machines have remote self-destruct functions in case of an invasion. Nevertheless, the company’s expansion into the U.S. will hopefully help it survive in case the unthinkable happens, especially as its Arizona fab reportedly delivers 4% better yield than comparable factories in Taiwan. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #TSMC #discovers #unexploded #***** #Kaohsiung #chip #fab #construction #site #***** #safely #removed Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

GM lays off 1,000 employees amid reorganization, cost-cutting GM lays off 1,000 employees amid reorganization, cost-cutting The GM logo is seen on the facade of the General Motors headquarters in Detroit on March 16, 2021. Rebecca Cook | Reuters DETROIT – General Motors ***** off roughly 1,000 employees on Friday as the automaker attempts to cut costs and realign priorities amid changing market conditions, according to a person familiar with the decision. The layoffs, which were announced Friday morning to those impacted, were across the business. Some were due to poor performance, while others were part of a review to reorganize priorities by the automaker, according to the person, who agreed to speak about the decision on the condition of anonymity. A majority of the employees impacted were in suburban Detroit at the automaker’s global technical center in Warren, Michigan, the person said. A small number of hourly employees were included in the layoffs. A spokesman for GM confirmed the layoffs but declined to disclose the total amount. “In order to win in this competitive market, we need to optimize for speed and excellence,” GM spokesperson Kevin Kelly said in an emailed statement. “This includes operating with efficiency, ensuring we have the right team structure, and focusing on our top priorities as a business. As part of this continuous effort, we’ve made a small number of team reductions. We are grateful to those who helped establish a strong foundation that positions GM to lead in the industry moving forward.” Friday’s layoffs follow more than 1,000 salaried employees working in GM’s software and services organization being let go in August. GM’s global salaried workforce was 76,000 as of the end of last year. That included about 53,000 U.S. salaried employees. The ******* Auto Workers union, which represents hourly employees at the automaker, did not immediately respond for comment. Source link #lays #employees #reorganization #costcutting Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Phil Spencer Reveals Why Xbox Isn’t Doing a Mid-Gen Refresh Phil Spencer Reveals Why Xbox Isn’t Doing a Mid-Gen Refresh · · November 15, 2024 Phil Spencer recently discussed the reasons for not releasing a mid-gen refresh console for Xbox Series X/S like the PS5 Pro, stating it’s “******* to show the benefits” for such consoles. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Phil Spencer was asked why Xbox wasn’t working on a mid-gen refresh like the PS5 Pro. In response, Spencer stated that Xbox thinks “about hardware that can create unique value” for the players or creators on its platform. The company doesn’t need to work on “incremental hardware” for its benefit. Phil Spencer asked whether a new mid-gen device provides players with “a unique experience on screen in some way”. He stated that “it’s less like the old days” when going from the original Xbox to 360 meant moving from “standard definition to high definition”.” He concluded by stating, “Now, it’s ******* to show the benefits” for mid-gen consoles. During the same interview, Spencer also confirmed that Xbox would “definitely do more consoles in the future, and other devices”. Spencer means the Xbox Handheld by “other devices”, which was confirmed during another interview a few days ago. However, this console will not arrive for a few years. In other news, Phil Spencer has stated that Avowed wasn’t delayed due to game quality. Also, check out whether Stalker 2 is coming to Xbox Game Pass. What are your thoughts on Phil Spencer’s reason for not creating a mid-gen refresh console? Let us know in the comments or our new community forum! For more from Insider Gaming, read about WASD London entering liquidation as the *** gaming scene crumbles. 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 #Phil #Spencer #Reveals #Xbox #Isnt #MidGen #Refresh Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Apple Records Highest-Ever Quarterly Shipments as Indian Smartphone Market Grew 5.6 Percent in Q3 2024: IDC Apple Records Highest-Ever Quarterly Shipments as Indian Smartphone Market Grew 5.6 Percent in Q3 2024: IDC Smartphone shipments in India grew by 5.6 percent year on year (YoY) and the number of handsets shipped in the country rose to 46 million units, according to data from the International Data Corporation’s (IDC). Apple saw its market share rise to 8.6 percent, up from 5.7 percent in Q3 2023. Other smartphone makers that recorded an increase in market share include Vivo, Oppo, Motorola, and iQOO, while brands like Samsung, Realme, and OnePlus saw a decline in the same *******. Smartphone Companies Shipped 38 Million 5G Smartphones in Q3 2024 According to details from the IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Apple recorded its highest quarterly shipment in India to date, with the iPhone maker shipping as many as 4 million units. Samsung’s share fell to 19 percent in Q3 2024, while Apple’s share rose to 71 percent YoY. The Cupertino firm’s bestselling smartphone models were the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 13 — the latter was launched n 2021 and is no longer sold via Apple’s website in India. These handsets were also the highest shipped models via online channels. The share of 5G smartphones increased to 83 percent, which is considerably higher than 57 percent in Q3 2023. Among these, the shipments of budget 5G handsets nearly touched the 50 percent mark. Meanwhile, the average selling price of 5G smartphones fell 20 percent YoY to $292 (roughly Rs. 24,700). On the other hand, the ASP of smartphones (overall) grew by 0.9 percent YoY up to $258 ((roughly Rs. 21,800). The midrange segment grew by 42 percent YoY, while the flagship segment rose from 2 percent in Q3 2023 to 4 percent in the previous quarter, an increase of 86 percent. According to data provided by the IDC, the highest shipped smartphones with 5G connectivity in the previous quarter were the Redmi 13C, iPhone 15, Oppo K12x, Vivo T3x and Vivo Y28. Vivo’s lead ((in terms of growth) over its rivals remained unchallenged in Q3 2024, buoyed with models such as the Vivo T3 and Vivo V40 series, according to the report. Source link #Apple #Records #HighestEver #Quarterly #Shipments #Indian #Smartphone #Market #Grew #Percent #IDC Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Ron Baron sees Tesla worth $5 trillion in 10 years, says Musk eyeing $30 trillion value one day Ron Baron sees Tesla worth $5 trillion in 10 years, says Musk eyeing $30 trillion value one day Billionaire investor Ron Baron, a longtime Tesla bull and shareholder, believes the electric vehicle company could hit a $5 trillion market capitalization in a decade, saying CEO Elon Musk has an even higher number in mind longer term. “Tesla, I think, is going to be worth $3 or $4 trillion — $5 trillion in 10 years, based upon the business plan that I am aware of. Then Elon believes that longer term it’s going to be worth $30 trillion,” Baron said on CNBC’s ” Squawk Box ” Friday. At $3.65 trillion, Nvidia had the largest market value in the U.S. as of Thursday’s market close, ******* than Apple and Microsoft , according to FactSet data. Tesla closed Thursday with a market cap of $1.12 trillion. Baron first invested $400 million in Tesla between 2014 and 2016, and said the early bet has made him $6 billion so far as the EV company gained mainstream acceptance. Tesla represents 10% of Baron’s entire portfolio across different funds. TSLA ALL mountain Tesla Tesla is seen as a big beneficiary of promised Trump administration policies as Musk has this year been a prominent backer and donor to the president-elect. Musk recently got assigned a starring role by Trump, leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency , along with Vivek Ramaswamy, former *********** presidential candidate. Shares of Tesla have surged about 25% in November alone during the postelection rally to return to a $1 trillion market cap. Baron said he will hold onto his Tesla shares for the long run. “No way I’m going to sell shares. If they get too big I will have to trim a little bit, but no I have no intention” of exiting, he said. The Baron Capital chair has also built his bullish case for Tesla on the prospect for its Optimus humanoid ****** now in development. Last month at a ‘ We, ****** ‘ event, Musk said Tesla has made progress on Optimus and that it will eventually cost between $20,000 and $30,000, adding it will “be a teacher, babysit your kids, walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries … Whatever you can think of it will do.” “The idea is that these robots … he thinks it will be his biggest business ever,” Baron said. “He says everyone will have robots.” Source link #Ron #Baron #sees #Tesla #worth #trillion #years #Musk #eyeing #trillion #day Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Friday Jim Cramer’s top 10 things to watch in the stock market Friday My top 10 things to watch Friday, Nov. 15 1. President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has vast implications for ***** companies. That’s why shares of pharma stocks, and vaccine makers in particular, sold off late Thursday when reports of the pick first surfaced. We own Eli Lilly for the Club. 2. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold most of its stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter after only building its position in the second quarter, regulatory filings show. Did Buffett ever know about the Ulta stake beyond the cursory? Not clear. He never spoke to management. Worth noting: Buffett has two investing lieutenants, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, who control some money. 3. On the other hand, Berkshire built a stake in Domino’s Pizza in the quarter, sending shares of the chain higher Friday. Should you buy Domino’s off of Berkshire’s move? Maybe buy Domino’s off of CEO Russell Weiner. We don’t know how involved Buffett is anymore. Is he titular on these investments? 4. Multiple price target bumps for Club holding Disney after its good quarter and upbeat multiyear earnings guidance . TD Cowen goes to $123 a share from $108, but kept its hold rating on the stock. Wells Fargo goes to $138 from $116 and kept its buy. Bank of America’s new price target of $140, up from $120, is the highest I’ve seen. BofA reiterated its buy call. 5. Alibaba shares rose after the ******** e-commerce and cloud giant, not surprisingly, reported better-than-expected profits. Companywide sales were a bit light. However, year-over-year cloud revenue growth slightly accelerated in the quarter, helped by triple-digit-percentage growth in AI-related products. 6. Shares of Applied Materials are getting crushed after the semiconductor equipment company’s sales outlook for the current quarter came up short of expectations. Analysts lowered their price targets in response, but not too badly. Could the stock’s roughly 9% drop be an overreaction? 7. Palantir is transferring its listing to the Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange, in a move that would make the data analytics software firm eligible for inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 . That index consists of 100 largest nonfinancial companies on the exchange, and it’s tracked by the the popular Invesco QQQ ETF . 8. Kate Spade and Coach owner Tapestry landed a couple price target hikes now that its merger with fellow luxury player Capri has officially been terminated. A federal judge blocked the tie-up last month. Wells Fargo went to $75 a share from $65 and maintained its buy rating on Tapestry stock. Baird went to $64 from $58 and reiterated its buy call. 9. Cowen upped its price target on Mastercard to $587 a share from $533 after the payments network provider’s investor day made clear that its durable growth trajectory is intact. I really liked what Mastercard had to say, too. 10. Morgan Stanley has grown more cautious on the clean technology industry ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, saying there’s uncertainty about changes to the policy environment. Still, analysts lifted their price target on GE Vernova , which makes gas and wind turbines, to $367 a share from $301 and reiterated their buy-equivalent rating. Sign up for my Top 10 Morning Thoughts on the Market email newsletter for free (See here for a full list of the stocks at Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED. *********** presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the stage at a Turning Point Action campaign rally at the Gas South Arena on October 23, 2024 in Duluth, Georgia. Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images My top 10 things to watch Friday, Nov. 15 1. President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to nominate prominent vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services has vast implications for ***** companies. That’s why shares of pharma stocks, and vaccine makers in particular, sold off late Thursday when reports of the pick first surfaced. We own Eli Lilly for the Club. 2. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold most of its stake in Ulta Beauty in the third quarter after only building its position in the second quarter, regulatory filings show. Did Buffett ever know about the Ulta stake beyond the cursory? Not clear. He never spoke to management. Worth noting: Buffett has two investing lieutenants, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs, who control some money. 3. On the other hand, Berkshire built a stake in Domino’s Pizza in the quarter, sending shares of the chain higher Friday. Should you buy Domino’s off of Berkshire’s move? Maybe buy Domino’s off of CEO Russell Weiner. We don’t know how involved Buffett is anymore. Is he titular on these investments? Source link #Jim #Cramers #top #watch #stock #market #Friday Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Valencia chief Carlos Mazón admits flood mistakes but defies calls to quit Valencia chief Carlos Mazón admits flood mistakes but defies calls to quit EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock The sludge after the 29 October flood ******** in Paiporta and Carlos Mazón has faced calls to resign Valencia’s under-***** leader Carlos Mazón has conceded mistakes were made on the day that floods overwhelmed his region but said it was down to two government agencies that people were not given enough warning. More than 220 people lost their lives when areas of Spain were hit by floods on 29 October, and most of the fatalities were in Mazón’s eastern coastal region. Valencia’s ************* leader ignored calls for his resignation during his first appearance before the regional parliament since the floods. He has been widely criticised for spending much of the afternoon having lunch with a journalist rather than focusing on Valencia’s response to the rapidly developing crisis. No alert was sent to residents in the region until 20:11 on the Tuesday, by which time the floods had already reached the congested V31 highway known as the Pista de Silla in the Valencia suburbs. Mazón spoke at length in the regional parliament Les Corts on Friday, defending his handling of the disaster, and explaining that the text alert system had never been used before. A police helicopter hovered above as dozens of protesters, held back by police from the building where Mazón was speaking, chanted ****** calls for him to resign or face arrest. Getty Images Protesters stood outside the parliament building in Valencia, some calling for the regional leader to go to jail “El President a Picassent,” they shouted, saying that the regional leader belonged in a local prison. Some of the protesters held placards that read: “Our hands are stained with mud. Theirs are stained with blood.” He pointed the finger at Spain’s Aemet weather agency as well as the independent Júcar authority that looks after the river basin and water resources. Aemet had issued a red alert early on 29 October and extended it to the entire Valencia area, with the threat of “extreme” danger”. By mid afternoon it was warning of 150-180 mm of rainfall over 12-24 hours. “I’m not going to deny mistakes,” he said, promising that he would not shirk his responsibilities, while explaining that not enough details had been provided. “We did the best we could in the situation we were in, with the information available and with the resources we had, which was clearly not enough.” EPA-EFE/REX Carlos Mazón said it was not necessary for him to be at operational HQ because his colleagues were Spain had not witnessed such a devastating natural disaster in recent history, he insisted and it was “as terrifying as it was unprecedented”. That explained why there was a widespread feeling that help was not coming or it was insufficient, he said, adding: : “I want to apologise to those who felt that way.” “The mismanagement was abhorrent,” one young man told the BBC, adding that lives could have been saved if the disaster had been better handled: “He has declared he’s not willing to step down so we need to keep up the volume against him.” On the outskirts of Valencia in the town of Paiporta, which was hit hardest by the flood, a sludge of mud is everywhere, blocking drains so that many residents cannot use their toilets and the air carries the smell of sewage. Weary residents trudge through the streets as bulldozers try to scoop up the liquid mess. The army is still towing away wrecked cars which were tossed around in the floodwaters. On Florida Street, people are busy at work trying to fix broken doors and clear out the mud. “It’ll be months before it’s back to normal,” said father of two José Sánchez Maigallon, whose 43-year old neighbour was swept away by the torrent. “Everyone has messed up, from the local mayor to the regional president to the government in Madrid.” Eventually Carlos Mazón sought to explain why he had not gone to the Operational Coordination Centre until 19:00 on the evening of the flood as the regional interior minister Salomé Pradas was already there. Pradas herself has since conceded she was not aware of the ES-Alert text message system that was available to warn the local population of the flood risks. Shortly after 20:00 on 29 October a first message was sent out warning of the imminent risk of a dam being breached. Many in Paiporta complain about the slow response of authorities to help survivors. “If it weren’t for the volunteers, we would have ***** of hunger,” said José Sánchez Maigallon. “They’re the ones bringing us food. And hope.” Across the road, his 62-year old neighbour Antonio shook his head at the task ahead, recalling “a scene from a horror movie”. His mother, Josefa, 92, looked down from her balcony on an army of people at work, some wearing masks and protective clothing. “One day it will be beautiful here again,” she said with a smile. Source link #Valencia #chief #Carlos #Mazón #admits #flood #mistakes #defies #calls #quit Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Avowed’s $90 version will let you play the game 5 days early Avowed’s $90 version will let you play the game 5 days early Avowed is the latest game to offer early access as part of a more expensive edition. For $90/£90, the premium edition of Avowed includes a skin pack, a digital art book, and the game’s soundtrack. It also includes five days early access to the game, meaning premium edition players can start playing the game on February 13, as opposed to February 18, 2025. Many games in recent years have offered early access as a paid perk for buying a more expensive edition of a game. Microsoft‘s Starfield also offered this and offered a premium edition upgrade which meant players who planned to play the game on Game Pass could pay a one-time fee to just receive the premium edition contents. Avowed, developed by Obsidian, will be released on Xbox and PC on February 18. The game will be added to Game Pass one day one. This week Microsoft said that Avowed’s delay wasn’t the result of quality concerns with the game. Announced in July 2020, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG set in the world of Eora, which was originally introduced in Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity series. Game director Patel Carrie Patel has said Avowed will be similar in length to The Outer Worlds and that it has over 10 different endings. In an interview this week, Xbox boss Phil Spencer expressed his dislike of “manipulative” expansions that don’t offer players “a unique point of view”. In a separate Bloomberg interview published this week, the executive said Xbox is still open to more acquisitions following last year’s $69 billion purchase of Activision Blizzard. He also said Xbox wouldn’t rule out any first-party game coming to PS5 or Switch, and that Xbox is working on handheld prototypes. Source link #Avoweds #version #play #game #days #early Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Samsung Galaxy S25 Makes Its Geekbench Appearance With Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, 12GB RAM Samsung Galaxy S25 Makes Its Geekbench Appearance With Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, 12GB RAM Samsung is expected to unveil its Galaxy S25 series in the first half of next year. Several reports have claimed that all models in the Galaxy S25 lineup will pack the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. A new Geekbench listing offers some proof that the leaks could be right. An alleged Korean variant of the vanilla Galaxy S25 has surfaced on the Geekbench benchmarking site with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and 12GB RAM. Samsung could use the Snapdragon 8 Elite with overclocked GPU and CPU cores in the flagship Galaxy S series. First spotted by Jukanlosreve (@Jukanlosreve), a Samsung handset with model number SM-S931N has showed up on the Geekbench database, which is most likely the Korean model of the standard Galaxy S25. It has a Snapdragon chipset under the hood with 4.47GHz clock speed and 3.53GHz base speed, hinting that the handset will ship with a Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset with overclocked CPU scores. The regular Snapdragon 8 Elite chip used in the OnePlus 13 and Xiaomi 15 has a 4.32GHz clock speed. Samsung Galaxy S25 Could Pack 12GB of RAM As per the listing, the Galaxy S25 scored 2,481 points in single-core testing and 8,658 in multi-core testing. The listing suggests an Android 15 operating system and 10.75GB of RAM. This could translate to 12GB on paper. Samsung was initially speculated to use the Exynos 2500 chipsets in the Galaxy S25 lineup and we even saw the Galaxy S25+ on Geekbench with the Exynos SoC. However, several prominent tipsters recently claimed that all Galaxy S25 models worldwide will use the Snapdragon silicon. The US variant of the Galaxy S25 Ultra earlier appeared with the Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC on Geekbench. This year’s Galaxy S24 series came with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC processor in select markets including the US and an Exynos 2400 chip for the rest of the world. However, all 2023 Galaxy S23 series were exclusively powered by Snapdragon chipsets. Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details. Source link #Samsung #Galaxy #S25 #Geekbench #Appearance #Snapdragon #Elite #Galaxy #12GB #RAM Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lag in response to tackle methane emissions, UN says Lag in response to tackle methane emissions, UN says Since a UN initiative began monitoring for methane leaks from oil and gas infrastructure last year, it has issued 1200 alerts to governments and companies. But only 12 of those alerts for major plumes – just one per cent – garnered a “substantive response” with action taken to plug the leaks, according to a report by the UN International Methane Emissions Observatory on Friday. “We had expected (the response rate) to be substantially higher,” the program’s lead architect, Roland Kupers, told a presentation at the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan. Many who were notified of the large methane plumes detected by satellites within their borders had signed up to a global pledge launched three years ago to cut methane emissions by 30 per cent from 2020 levels by 2030. “Governments and oil and gas companies … must stop paying lip service to this challenge,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, under which the Methane Alert and Response System monitoring program is run. “They should recognise a significant opportunity that this system presents and start responding by plugging leaks that are spewing out climate-warming methane.” Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year *******. To date, methane emissions have driven about 0.5 C in global warming, or a third of global temperature rise seen since the mid-19th century. Capping leaks from oil and gas wells and equipment is one of the fastest ways to start tackling the problem, experts say. It also makes financial sense, they say, noting that lost methane means lost product. Methane emissions from the oil and gas industry have remained at a record high since 2019, despite 150 countries signing onto the Global Methane Pledge. Roughly 140 companies have signed onto another effort, the UN’s Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, committing to tackle unintentional methane outputs. From the UN program’s data, Turkmenistan had the most ***** incidents of any country, with nearly 400 plumes detected. The ******* States came in second, with 178 incidents, while this year’s COP29 host Azerbaijan received alerts for 32 plumes. The report’s findings were limited by the fact that methane can sometimes be obscured from satellite detection by cloud cover. The few responses made to ***** alerts were in Algeria, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and the ******* States, the UNEP report said. With a number of satellite programs launched over the last year to track methane, some companies have said they would use the data to comply with any new national methane regulations. Developing countries can also use ***** data to solicit financing to address the problem, and philanthropies last year announced nearly half a billion to support that effort. Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, which joined other national oil and gas companies in last year’s voluntary Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter committing to zero out methane this decade, said it also has so far identified 400 leaks through satellite monitoring. Source link #Lag #response #tackle #methane #emissions Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Splinter Cell Movie Sneaks Back To The Shadows After Being Canceled Splinter Cell Movie Sneaks Back To The Shadows After Being Canceled After years of development *****, Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell movie has been canceled. Originally announced back in 2012, the film would have starred Venom actor Tom Hardy as Sam Fisher, a ******-ops agent who carries out missions with lethal (or non-lethal )efficiency for a secret sub-division of the NSA known as Third Echelon. “That movie would have been awesome,” producer Basil Iwanyk said to The Direct. “Just couldn’t get it right, script-wise, budget-wise. But it was going to be great. We had a million different versions of it, but it was going to be ********* and awesome. That’s one of the ones that got away, which is really sad.” Details on the film were hard to come by during its development years, but in 2017, Iwanyk mentioned how it was going to be a “badass” action movie that attempted to put a fresh spin on the genre. While the Splinter Cell movie is *****, an animated adaptation from John Wick creator Derek Kolstad called Splinter Cell: Deathwatch is on the way. Liev Schrieber voices Fisher in this Netflix series, but it doesn’t have a confirmed release date locked in yet. On the video game side, a remake of the first Splinter Cell game is also in production, but Ubisoft has been keeping very quiet on its progress lately. The last solid piece of information came in 2022, when Ubisoft celebrated the 20th anniversary of Splinter Cell by revealing some of the new tech being used to develop the remake. Meanwhile, filming on Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs recently wrapped up, and the movie is now in post-production. Hunger Games actor Tom Blyth plays one of the lead roles opposite Talk to Me’s Sophia Wilde. Source link #Splinter #Cell #Movie #Sneaks #Shadows #Canceled Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]