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Everything coming to Fortnite OG Chapter 1 Season 2 Everything coming to Fortnite OG Chapter 1 Season 2 Since its release, Fortnite’s OG mode has been a smashing success, transporting players back in time to the glory days of Epic’s battle royale with its faithful recreation of the Chapter 1 map and gameplay elements. Peak concurrent player counts and a revitalized player base is both indicators that the original allure of Fortnite is still very much alive and well. Fortnite OG’s success stems from its ability to combine classic and new gameplay components. It offers a more straightforward battle royale experience while also including modern features like Zero Build mode and movement mechanics. Players love this mode because it stays true to the basics of the game, like including a double pump meta that was insanely popular when it came out. Now that the initial OG Chapter 1 Season 1 comes to an end, Epic has brought another iconic Season 2, which brings back legendary POIs, remixed versions of fan-favorite skins and much more. Here are all the new additions made to Fortnite OG mode with Chapter 1 Season 2 update. All new additions to Fortnite OG in Chapter 1 Season 2 Return of Tilted Towers and many more iconic POIs Epic Games In Chapter 1 Season 2, points of interest from the first Season 2 are back, so be ready to make the HOA at Snobby Shores mad again! The following are some of the nostalgic POIs that are in store: Tilted Towers – Let’s be honest: you’re going to drop here first. Tilted Towers’ towering high-rises attract both chests and danger! Take cover and loot in the numerous housing complexes and workplaces, or brave the streets of the concrete jungle. Junk Junction – This scrapyard paradise is a treasure trove of loot, but keep an eye out – every car stack and debris pile in Junk Junction could be hiding a clever opponent! Even if the coast is clear, you will be under the careful eye of the Metal Llama. Haunted Hills – Lurking just beneath Junk Junction is the scariest location in Haunted Hills, Chapter 1 Season 2! This decaying POI is riddled with abandoned tombs and deteriorating architecture, and enemy players will just add to the dread. Snobby Shores – At Snobby Shores, players can anticipate luxurious homes and a treasure trove of loot that will ensure they stay ahead of the competition. Are you ready to uncover the hidden underground bunker nestled within this lavish enclave? Shifty Shafts – This is no ordinary mining facility! Venture into the depths and uncover the intricate maze of tunnels that lies in wait. Shifty Shafts delivers intense close-quarters combat that will test even the most seasoned players, but with a bit of luck, you might just hit the jackpot! OG loot pool is back! Epic Games OG Chapter 1 Season 2 will expand the loot pool with gear from the classic Chapter 1 Season 2 being added on a regular basis: Small Shield Potion (live now!) – Need a quick boost to your defense? This is your go-to drink, offering 25 Shield each ‘til you’re at 50! Multi-Surface Damage Trap (live now!) – The spike is mightier than the sword. Place the upgraded Damage Trap on a floor, ceiling, or wall to ambush unsuspecting enemies! Boogie Bomb – Throw this funky orb into the fray to unleash a momentary, disco-fueled dance party on your foes. Let the rhythm take over and turn the tide of battle in style! Suppressed Pistol – The ideal weapon for stealthy attacks. Be quick on the draw and even quicker on the reload to make the most of this sneaky sidearm! Cozy Campfire – Need to heal up after a frantic fight? Choose a place for this benign Trap and restore your HP for up to 25 seconds at 2 HP per second. A great opportunity to tell your friends a quick story! Chug Jug – The ultimate lifeline in a firefight, this whopping beverage takes quite a bit to consume, but grants full Health and full Shield. Just make sure you’re not interrupted before you chug it all! You can drink the Chug Jug while moving. “Chug along,” as they say! Minigun – With no magazine limit, this weapon is the perfect tool for razing buildings or going on a haphazard offensive. Fire away for too long, though, and you’ll become vulnerable with the Minigun’s prolonged cooldown *******! Crossbow – Swap bullets for arrows. Fun fact: The Crossbow was first introduced as Cupid’s Crossbow before becoming the Crossbow in Season 3! Impulse Grenade – Launch yourself to outmaneuver incoming attacks, or end an elevated skirmish by sending enemies to the ground below towards elimination! New OG Pass with remixed skins Epic Games The latest OG Pass has arrived, featuring a whopping 45 tiers of rewards inspired by the beloved Chapter 1 Season 2. Players can now unlock items that draw inspiration from the iconic Sparkle Specialist and ****** Knight, both of which were standout Outfits in the Chapter 1 Season 2 Battle Pass. Additionally, the beloved Cuddle Team Leader, which first graced the Shop during the same season, is also part of this exciting lineup. As with the other Passes in Fortnite, players can unlock and claim rewards in the OG Pass by accumulating XP across any Fortnite experience. The OG Pass offers a streamlined experience featuring a blend of free and premium rewards on a single track. Unlock premium rewards as you rack up XP by purchasing the Pass for just 1,000 V-Bucks, or snag it through Fortnite Crew! The Pass features three exclusive Outfits as part of its premium rewards lineup: Sparkle Diva: Shine in style. (Sparkle Diva is claimable right away upon purchasing the OG Pass!) Cuddle Team Specialist: Strategy. Stealth. Snuggles. Knight Conqueror: The snarling scourge of Fatal Fields. Naturally, players will discover that there’s a wealth of content beyond just Outfits to unlock! The Chapter 1 Season 2 OG Pass boasts an impressive array of accessories, featuring Back Blings, Gliders, and Pickaxes that are sure to enhance your gameplay experience. Get ready to dazzle in every match with the Sparkle Satchel Back Bling, soar in style on the Cuddle Team Sierra Glider, and make your mark with the Conqueror’s Axe Pickaxe—no second guessing needed! This Season’s OG Pass also has an unlockable alt Style for each Outfit and for many of the accessories! The Pass will be available to progress in until the Season ends on March 25, 2025. Check out our full Fortnite OG tier list which features all the best weapons you can use in the game. Source link #coming #Fortnite #Chapter #Season Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Third Point pushes back on a pitch to take Soho House private Third Point pushes back on a pitch to take Soho House private Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA Images | Getty Images Company: Soho House & Co Inc (SHCO) Business: Soho House provides a global membership platform of physical and digital spaces that connects diverse groups of members from across the world. The members use the platform to work, socialize, connect and create all over the world. The company’s segments include United Kingdom, North America and Europe, and the rest of the world. Soho House’s global portfolio consists of approximately 42 Soho Houses, nine Soho Works, Scorpios Beach Club in Mykonos, Soho Home (its interiors and lifestyle retail brand) and its digital channels. Stock Market Value: ~$1.53B ($7.87 per share) Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Soho House shares over the past year Activist: Third Point Ownership: 9.89% Average Cost: $7.64 Activist Commentary: Third Point is a multi-strategy hedge fund founded by Dan Loeb, that will selectively take activist positions. Loeb is one of the true pioneers in the field of shareholder activism and one of a handful of activists who shaped what has become modern day shareholder activism. He invented the poison-pen letter in a time when it was often necessary. As times have changed, he has transitioned from the poison pen to the power of the argument. Third Point has amicably obtained board representation at companies like Baxter and Disney, but the firm will not hesitate to launch a proxy fight if it is being ignored. What’s happening On Jan. 29, Third Point sent a letter announcing that it supports Soho House’s decision to explore a take-private transaction but has concerns about the process that was undertaken which resulted in a proposed transaction with the chairman of the Board. They believe that several qualified parties with significant experience investing in the hospitality industry would be interested in paying a superior price to the current deal. Behind the scenes Soho House is a global membership platform of physical and digital spaces that connects a diverse group of members to work, socialize, connect, create and have fun. The company operates a global network of 45 Soho House private members’ clubs, along with other ventures such as 8 Soho Works co-working spaces. Soho House, previously Membership Collective Group, went public in 2021 raising $420 million at a $2.8 billion valuation and a $14 stock price. Since going public, revenue more than doubled from $561 million to $1.2 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased to $99 million, while the stock price declined from $14 to below $5 per share as of mid-December. The company has an attractive recurring revenue model, as opposed to hospitality peers who must constantly fight for their next customer, a substantial wait list for membership, and a reasonably priced, yet luxury offering. Importantly, their houses have a steep maturity curve, with new houses needing time to develop their membership base resulting in early loss-making. However, as they mature in profitability and durability, they can contribute, on average, 35%+ house-level margin, with some well above that. On Dec. 19, Soho House announced that it had received an offer from a new third-party consortium to acquire the company for about $9 per share conditioned on certain significant shareholders, including Soho House’s executive chairman Ron Burkle and The Yucaipa Companies and its affiliates, rolling over their equity interests as part of the transaction. The offer, supported by Burkle and Yucaipa, sent shares up 47%. Just a day earlier, shares closed at $4.91. Soho House did not disclose a lot of details about this offer, but one thing that you could probably assume is that with 46.7% of the outstanding shares and 62.3% of the voting power, Burkle would likely end up controlling the private entity. So, to recap, Burkle took the company public at $14 per share and used the $420 million raised to fund its growth. Management ran the company down from $14 per share to $4.91 per share. Now that they see an opportunity for a turnaround, they seem willing to take it private at a cheap price, which wouldn’t benefit the public shareholders. Enter Dan Loeb and Third Point who, on Jan. 29, 2025, filed a 13D declaring beneficial ownership of 9.89% of the company’s Class A stock with an accompanying letter to the board of Soho House. In the letter, Loeb applauded the decision to return the company to private ownership, but he lambasted the board for its failure to ensure a fair sales process that maximizes value for all shareholders. Instead, he accused them of engaging in an opaque process that resulted in a “sweetheart deal” with Soho House’s chairman. Loeb thinks that an independent and rigorous sales process would yield several interested and qualified parties with significant investing experience in the hospitality sector. He urged the company to launch a process of this nature and warned that transactions involving controlling shareholders, especially in instances of super-voting control rather than economic interest, are subject to the most exacting standards under Delaware law, and that the board’s conduct could expose them to liability for failing to discharge their fiduciary duties. This is not a typical activist campaign for Third Point. This is not Third Point opportunistically using activism to create value. Instead, Third Point was a cornerstone investor in the Soho House IPO and is not the type of investor to stand by quietly while management fails to maximize value for shareholders. This is a $40 million investment for Third Point that is now worth $43 million. Third Point manages more than $11 billion. This investment will not move the needle for the firm, but Loeb is the type of person who will do everything he can to maximize the value of every investment. Additionally, the best activists — like Loeb — have activism in their blood and cannot morally stand idly by while management harms shareholders. There is no doubt that this is an example of poor corporate governance – an opaque, poorly disclosed ***** of the company at a low price to the majority shareholder without running a sales process. But Ron Burkle is not a bad person. While some members of the board might be less sophisticated public company directors not fully aware of their duties and liability, they are not bad people either. As a 46.7% owner with super-voting Class B shares and voting control of a company he took public and ran for many years, Burkle and the board probably thought they could get this by the shareholders without any challenge. Well, that is not the case anymore. So, one of the following three things is going to happen now: (i) Burkle will increase his offer to a value closer to the IPO price, (ii) someone else will come in and offer more for the company – there are certainly interested buyers out there who might have seen any offer to Burkle as futile but might now see a path to an acquisition with Third Point involved; or (iii) Third Point will commence a lawsuit against Soho House and the directors. We do not see it coming to this. The board has smart lawyers and advisors who will inform the directors of their reputational and potential financial liability. We expect that Burkle and the board will ultimately do the right thing and make a fair offer to acquire the company if they really want it. Third Point is a multi-strategy hedge fund founded by Dan Loeb, a true pioneer of shareholder activism. In addition to selectively taking activist positions, the firm has generated impressive returns in credit, venture and growth strategies as well. While Third Point is known by many for its poison-pen letters, that was the Third Point of 15 years ago. The modern-day Third Point succeeds at its activism through the power of the argument and respect. Activists are often criticized and avoided, but this is a situation where one is spending his own money to protect the value for all shareholders, and just about everyone would welcome that. Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. Source link #Point #pushes #pitch #Soho #House #private Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Just Like Rockstar, Sony Takes Down 60 FPS Bloodborne Mod but Likely for a Good Reason Just Like Rockstar, Sony Takes Down 60 FPS Bloodborne Mod but Likely for a Good Reason The community backing for Bloodborne remains immense, even a whole 9 years after its initial launch for the PlayStation 4. While the title is generally recognized as one of the greatest video games ever made, many modders still take it upon themselves to improve the game further. One of the most popular mods ever made from the game was recently forced to be shut down by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The Bloodborne 60 FPS patch was confirmed to have been taken down today – but it could be for a very good reason. Sony issues DMCA takedown for Bloodborne 60 FPS patch The 60 FPS patch for Bloodborne has been taken down | Image Credit: FromSoftware The creator of the 60 FPS patch for Bloodborne, Lance McDonald broke the news of its DMCA takedown to be from none other than Sony themselves. Sony also requested Lance to remove all links to the patch he may have posted on the internet, to which he has complied. Attached to the post was a link to Lance’s YouTube channel, as well as a picture of him with Shuhei Yoshida. On February 21st, 2021, I created and released a patch for Bloodborne which makes the game run at 60fps. Today I received a DMCA takedown notification on behalf of Sony Interactive Entertainment asking that I remove links to the patch I posted on the internet, so I’ve now done so — Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) January 31, 2025 For the uninitiated, Lance McDonald’s patch used certain optimizations and tweaks to get the game running on jailbroken PlayStation 4 hardware at 60 FPS, instead of 30. This effort is even more impressive when you dig a bit deeper into its development. The PS4 version of the game was hard-coded to run at 30 FPS in most regions, and could barely even maintain it to being with. The mod makes the game run at 720p along with a few hacks in order to hit the 60 FPS mark (50 FPS on a base PS4, but the change is immediately apparent). Historically, Sony has never been as opposed to mod development and game preservation (at least in recent years – past the Bleem! lawsuit), especially when compared to the likes of Nintendo. There is no way to play Bloodborne outside of the PS4 | Image Credit: FromSoftware Regardless, the removal of such an important mod is quite unfortunate and sets up a bad precedent for game preservation. After all, there is no way to play Bloodborne outside of the PS4 and PS5 currently – with the PS5 ‘version’ simply being a PS4 copy running via backward compatibility. This move is nothing short of baffling – and the sudden takedown of the mod so close to the game’s 10th anniversary draws in a lot of curious speculation. With the tenth anniversary approaching, could a remaster be on the cards? Bloodborne is almost 10 years old | image Credit: FromSoftware Bloodborne reaches 10 years of age on March 25, 2025, which could call for some celebratory announcements from Sony. Fans have been clamoring for a remaster and/or remake of the game (which it so desperately needs) since the reveal of the PlayStation 4 Pro. Sony could secretly be preparing a remaster of the game ahead of its tenth anniversary, with a potential PC port being in the cards. This could most likely explain the sudden DMCA takedown of the mod, barring which would make little sense. A recent string of takedowns was recently issued by Rockstar Games as well, for the Grand Theft Auto Vice City and GTA 4 mods released for GTA 5. Rockstar could also be preparing for a re-release of the classic GTA games on modern hardware (with hopefully better ports this time around). Both companies could potentially be wanting to steer would-be players away from playing a last-gen version of the game for much cheaper or free with potentially the same performance that the remaster would bring. This would incentivize the player base to spend for a remake. However, it should be noted that most would purchase a proper port regardless, given its easier setup and better quality-of-life improvements. Another probable reason would be no reason at all, other than Sony deciding to drop the hammer on mods because it could potentially infringe on their property’s rights, which is something more akin to what Nintendo would do. Source link #Rockstar #Sony #Takes #FPS #Bloodborne #Mod #Good #Reason Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Snag a budget gaming laptop for $700 with this Best Buy deal Snag a budget gaming laptop for $700 with this Best Buy deal If you’re on a budget, there are some great gaming laptop deals that can keep costs down right now. It’s easy to think you need to spend thousands, but in reality it’s surprising what you can buy for $700. Right now, you can buy the Asus TUF A16 gaming laptop for $700 instead of $1,100. Perfect for students on a budget but still wanting to game on the move, we’re here to tell you all about one of the better laptop deals available today. Why you should buy the Asus TUF A16 gaming laptop The Asus TUF A16 gaming laptop won’t be the kind of device you see among the best gaming laptops, but that isn’t to say it’s not worth checking out. It’s well suited for anyone on a tight budget but still looking to game. This particular model has an AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS processor along with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. In an ideal world we’d like to see more, but at this price, we won’t complain too much. The storage space means you’ll need to stick to only having a few AAA games installed, but if you’re more of an indie fan, you’ll find the space goes much further. Either way, storage is the easiest thing to upgrade later. The graphics card is an AMD Radeon RX7700S, which is pretty good for the price, and it’s teamed up with a sizeable 16-inch screen with 165Hz refresh rate. The high refresh rate is important, as it means it can handle fast moving action. A 1920 x 1080 display makes this a tempting proposition among the best budget gaming laptops. Asus is one of the best gaming laptop brands, so you’re in safe hands here. The Asus TUF Gaming A16 features in our look at the best Asus gaming laptops for more than just core specs. It also has Wi-Fi 6 support, a mixture of USB-C and USB-A ports, and Dolby Atmos sound. The RGB backlit keyboard is a great bonus. Usually $1,100, the Asus TUF Gaming A16 is an even better value for your money right now. It’s currently on ***** at Best Buy, so you’ll pay only $700. This is a great deal, especially if you’re a student or someone with a tight budget and limited space at home. Check it out for yourself before the deal ends very soon. Source link #Snag #budget #gaming #laptop #Buy #deal Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Here are the stocks that will be hurt the most from Trump’s new tariffs Here are the stocks that will be hurt the most from Trump’s new tariffs President Donald Trump ‘s proposed tariffs on some of the U.S.’s major trading partners — Mexico, Canada and China — present a challenging headwind for U.S. companies that depend on the affected countries for imports and manufacturing. While forecasts on the full economic impact of tariffs vary across Wall Street, the levies are widely expected to negatively hit U.S. growth and place upward pressure on inflation. Goldman Sachs estimates across-the-board tariffs on Canada and Mexico — excluding China from its calculations — will result in a 0.7% increase in core prices and a 0.4% hit to gross domestic product. Trouble ahead for consumer names The implementation of these levies will hurt U.S. companies that have imports and supply chains integrated along the regions. Many U.S. fashion retailers also rely upon the countries and face risks from the tariffs. Western clothing and cowboy boot company Boot Barn is exposed to tariff downsides, according to Bank of America. Thirty percent of the company’s production comes out of China, while 25% is from Mexico, according to analyst Christopher Nardone. In addition, major U.S. automakers will face serious challenges to their business strategies as a result of the tariffs. Although many of these companies have factories across the U.S., the six top-selling automakers have at least one plant in Mexico. Austan Goolsbee, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said Friday on ” Squawk on the Street ” that automakers in the Midwest — which he likened to “the Saudi Arabia of the auto industry” — are concerned by what the tariffs mean for their businesses. “When I’m talking to senior auto executives, they’re very concerned about what tariffs might do to their prices or to their profit margins,” he said. “We do have to work these through before we can express confidence on where we are on the underlying economy.” Bank of America analyst John Murphy highlighted Ford Motor and General Motors as names that will be “extremely challenged” by the tariffs. “Ford and General Motors produce 15-20% and 30-35% of their total vehicles in Canada and Mexico respectively,” he wrote in a Friday note. F GM 1Y mountain Ford and General Motors over the past year “If the tariffs are imposed and remain for an extended *******, it will cause extreme stress through the automotive value chain,” Murphy said. The analyst said that the 25% tariff on ******** and ********* imports will result in an additional $50 billion in costs for the auto industry. Spirits at risk Companies that produce alcoholic beverages may also take hit from tariffs. Mexico comprised 83% of U.S. beer imports and almost half of spirits imports by volume in 2024, according to Bank of America analyst Brian Callen. “Tariffs brew trouble for alcohol,” Callen said in a Monday note. Beer and tequila production is at particular risk, he added. Constellation Brands and Diageo could see margin compression, the analyst added. STZ 1Y mountain Constellation Brands over the past year Bernstein also highlighted Constellation as the U.S. brand that will be most affected under Trump’s tariffs. Constellation holds the brand licensing rights for Corona and Modelo in the U.S., and 89% of the company’s profits are derived from its beer portfolio of super premium ******** imports, said analyst Nadine Sarwat in a Jan. 20 note. In addition to supply-side risks, the potential for higher inflation resulting from tariffs is further downside risk for Constellation, she added. “Widespread use of import tariffs could lead to stronger US inflation, placing further pressure on an already fragile US consumer, especially at the low-income end,” Sarwat said. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Source link #stocks #hurt #Trumps #tariffs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Commander describes the moment a US Navy destroyer blasted an enemy drone out of the sky with a 5-inch deck gun Commander describes the moment a US Navy destroyer blasted an enemy drone out of the sky with a 5-inch deck gun A US Navy destroyer used its deck gun to shoot down a Houthi drone in the Red Sea last year. A top commander revealed details of the battle for the first time this week. USS Stockdale and other American forces thwarted the massive Houthi missile and drone attack. A US Navy destroyer operating in the Red Sea last year used its five-inch deck gun to shoot a Houthi drone out of the sky, a top commander revealed this week. The American destroyer, USS Stockdale, was sailing from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden in November when the attack unfolded, said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East. “As we were heading south, I would say that we were in for a fight, and everybody in the crew knew it,” Cooper, who was aboard the Stockdale at the time, told the WEST 2025 conference on Thursday. After a few quiet hours, the Houthis suddenly launched a ballistic missile from Yemen in the direction of the Stockdale. They launched a second, and a third, and then a fourth missile. “It was a complex, sophisticated, coordinated attack,” Cooper recalled. The sailors aboard the ship thwarted the initial attack around midnight, but it wasn’t over. A few minutes later, the Houthis fired an anti-ship cruise missile, but it was shot down by fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The USS Stockdale sails alongside the Egyptian Navy El Suez-class corvette ENS Abu Qir in October.US Navy photo The battle continued into the night. The rebels fired more missiles and drones, which were destroyed by US fighter jets and warships. The Navy responded by launching strikes into Yemen. At nearly 2 a.m. local time, a low-flying Houthi drone crossed in front of the Stockdale, but it was detected late. A kill order was given. “To be frank, I thought there was no way they were going to hit it. A couple of seconds later, the five-inch gun is blasting away, and sure enough, they downed that thing,” Cooper said. “It just doesn’t happen.” He said that people erupted in cheers for a solid 15 seconds after the intercept. “It’s a big high-five when you shoot something down with a missile,” he said. “But there’s a lot of high-fives when you shoot something down with a gun, kind of World War II-style.” The MK-45 is a five-inch artillery gun mounted to the deck of a warship. It is one of many ways a vessel can protect itself, along with surface-to-air missiles, which have been the tool of choice for the US during the Houthi conflict. The Stockdale fended off multiple attacks in the fall while it was deployed to the Middle East. A five-inch deck gun on a Navy destroyer.US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sean Rinner/Released Over the past 15 months, the rebels have launched over 140 attacks on commercial vessels and targeted US Navy warships more than 170 times with anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, Cooper said. US forces have shot down around 480 Houthi drones. The Houthis have claimed that their attacks on civilian and merchant ships are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. After Israel and ****** signed cease-fire deal earlier this month, the rebels said they would limit their Red Sea operations. Beyond their attacks on shipping lanes, the Houthis have also fired 40 medium-range ballistic missiles and around 300 long-range drones at Israel, Cooper said. Most of the projectiles have been shot down by American and Israeli forces. The new Trump administration could dramatically affect the US military’s approach to the Houthis. Shortly after the inauguration, the White House announced that it was re-designating the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, reversing a decision by former President Joe Biden to remove the rebels from that list. Read the original article on Business Insider Source link #Commander #describes #moment #Navy #destroyer #blasted #enemy #drone #sky #5inch #deck #gun Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Ridge Racer 64 sees its first-ever re-release on Nintendo Switch Online Ridge Racer 64 sees its first-ever re-release on Nintendo Switch Online Ridge Racer 64 is now available for Nintendo Switch Online. For those keeping track, this is the first time in 25 years the game has been available (legally) on anything but the Nintendo 64 itself. Who wants to dust off an old consoleThe classic racing game is available to all Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers starting today. Ridge Racer 64 first hit shelves in 2000, near the end of the console’s lifespan. That put it in competition with other games like Gran Turismo 4 and Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed. Less than a year after its launch, the PlayStation 2 released and dominated console sales for years to come — and that means Ridge Racer 64 flew under the radar for a lot of people. Despite being 25 years old, the graphics still hold up well. There’s a certain charm that accompanies the somewhat blocky textures, and hearing the announcer shout his trademark line of “Riiiiiiidge Racer!” is a dose of pure nostalgia. The game only has three tracks, but three varied environments create a total of nine courses to test your skills on. Nintendo 64 – January 2025 – Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack Players start the game out with four vehicles to choose from, but there are a total of 32 in the game that can be unlocked, including the megacar-inspired Atomic Purple, based off the Lotec C1000. Please enable Javascript to view this content Be aware, though: this game has a notorious difficulty spike in the later part of the game that stumped many racers. There are multiple different gameplay modes, including Car Attack and Time Attack, as well as several multiplayer game types that let you challenge your friends. Tossing Ridge Racer 64 into the lineup brings the number of N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online to a whopping 38. This includes other major titles like Perfect Dark, Turok 2, and Banjo-Tooie. A Nintendo Switch Online membership costs $4 per month or $20 per year, but to get access to ***** Genesis and Nintendo 64 titles, you’ll need to pay $50 in total (though a family plan is $80 and allows up to eight people to use it, for those that want to save a few bucks.) Source link #Ridge #Racer #sees #firstever #rerelease #Nintendo #Switch #Online Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

I’m loving the Lenovo Legion Go S, but there’s one problem I can’t get over I’m loving the Lenovo Legion Go S, but there’s one problem I can’t get over Table of Contents Table of Contents From riches to rags Windows doesn’t work The Z2 Go is a touch slower It’s becoming clear how spoiled I’ve been with handheld gaming PCs. I’ve handled most of them, from the original Steam Deck up to the ROG Ally X, and I’ve learned to love, hate, but mostly tolerate the different pain points of each device. The new Lenovo Legion Go S immediately felt like an upgrade with its rapid-fire triggers, large 8-inch display, and cozy design that nestled into my hands perfectly. There’s just one problem — Windows is awful. There, I said it. Windows on a handheld is a horrible experience and the Lenovo Legion Go S made that abundantly clear after just a couple of days. I’m still knee-deep in benchmarking the device and the Ryzen Z2 Go chip inside of it — don’t worry, I have a few early comparisons for you here — but I need to say my piece on Windows. From riches to rags Jacob ****** / Digital Trends Let me back up for a moment. I’ve been a die-hard Steam Deck user since day one. Even with so many competing devices, I never felt the need to switch. Windows offered broader game support, sure, but I much preferred the experience of using SteamOS, even if that meant sacrificing game support and, in some cases, performance. That was until I discovered Bazzite, which I promptly flashed onto the ROG Ally X. Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Bazzite is becoming increasingly popular, but if you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically SteamOS. It’s a fork of Valve’s open-source operating system, and it behaves almost identically to a Steam Deck. There are a few minor quirks — the menu for changing power modes is bound to a rear button, for example — but they really aren’t worth complaining about. They’re small and very easy to adapt to. It’s been a winning combo for me. I get the best performance available in a handheld right now via the Z1 Extreme, and I get a seamless software experience with Bazzite. I knew that I wouldn’t enjoy Windows as much on the Lenovo Legion Go S; I’ve used plenty of Windows handhelds in the past. I wasn’t prepared for just how much worse it would be in 2025, though, and how little Microsoft has done to improve the experience across devices. Before getting to the truly gory details, I want to describe the experience of unboxing the Lenovo Legion Go S to set the stage. I ripped it out of the packaging, plugged it into the wall, and went to boot the system. It took me an hour to get through the Windows setup process, and a decent chunk of that was spent tapping through offers for Office 365, OneDrive, and tailored app recommendations that aren’t at all relevant to a handheld gaming PC. After all of the Windows updates were installed, I was finally on the desktop. But then there were more problems. Updates from the Microsoft Store wouldn’t work until I manually ran another Windows update. The Xbox app wouldn’t work because it needed an update, which I couldn’t do because the default scaling in Windows pushed the Update button off the edge of the screen. And while setting everything up, the device went from 100% capacity down to just 60%. Windows doesn’t work Exactly what I want when launching a game — a OneDrive notification. Jacob ****** / Digital Trends You need to spend some time setting up and updating any new device, but the process on the Lenovo Legion Go S — and all Windows handhelds — is long, cumbersome, and frankly, annoying. It makes the device feel like it’s not working properly; like you’ve hacked some OS on a system that wasn’t built to support it. And maybe that’s because Windows wasn’t built to support this form factor, and it might never be. The OS itself is conflicted about what it wants to do, and in that process, it completely sacrifices the handheld experience. Let me give you some examples. Microsoft offers a default taskbar in Windows 11 filled with its own apps, and it’s centered on the screen. Not a problem on the desktop, but on the Lenovo Legion Go S, the default icons take up the entire taskbar. If you open even a single additional app like, for example, Steam or the Xbox app, it’s pushed off to a separate menu that you have to tap to expand before selecting the app you want to focus on. Another example: power settings. Out of the box, the Lenovo Legion Go S is set to sleep after a few minutes regardless of whether you have the device plugged in or not. That was a rude awakening when I plugged the handheld in overnight to download a bunch of games, only to find all of those downloads failed in the morning because the device put itself to sleep. The Steam Deck can’t continue downloads while the screen is off, but it at the very least keeps the screen on and the device active while downloads are running. Surely we could make some room here for, you know, useful applications for a handheld. Jacob ****** / Digital Trends Those are just two examples, and that’s not to mention the performance overhead of Windows and the issues with sleeping while a game is running. Performance advantages and game support don’t matter. At every turn, it feels like Windows is trying to fight you for using a handheld gaming device. These are all solvable issues, but it’s completely unreasonable that a USB-C hub, monitor, keyboard, and mouse feel all but required to set Windows up properly before you can install a single game. And even when it is set up properly, you’ll still run into issues, from greedy notifications demanding precious screen space to crashed games and lost progress when you accidentally tap the power button during gameplay. It’d be one thing if this was the experience all handhelds had to settle for, but it isn’t. Lenovo is actually releasing a version of the Legion Go S with SteamOS installed, and it’s worth waiting for. The Z2 Go is a touch slower Jacob ****** / Digital Trends I know there are a lot of questions about how the Ryzen Z2 Go stacks up to the Ryzen Z1 Extreme in the Lenovo Legion Go S. I ran a few preliminary tests, but I’ll have a full run-down of performance in my review of the Legion Go S once I’m finished with it. But, to give you an idea, the Ryzen Z2 Go is a bit slower than the Ryzen Z1 Extreme, at least in my early tests. That’s not too surprising considering both chips are packing 12 RDNA 3 Compute Units (CUs) You can see my results below for Dying Light 2, Horizon Zero Dawn (not the remastered version), and 3DMark Fire Strike. The Ryzen Z2 Go in the Lenovo Legion Go S is a stone’s throw away from the suite of other Ryzen Z1 Extreme handhelds, landing just below the base ROG Ally and original Lenovo Legion Go. Horizon Zero Dawn Dying Light 2 3DMark Fire Strike Lenovo Legion Go S (Ryzen Z2 Go) 34 fps 21 fps 3,736 Lenovo Legion Go (Ryzen Z1 Extreme) 35 fps 25 fps 5,652 Asus ROG Ally X (Ryzen Z1 Extreme) 50 fps 26 fps 6,652 But there’s that pesky Fire Strike result. There’s a problem with the Ryzen Z2 Go, and that’s the fact that it only comes with four CPU cores. Worse, they’re based on the older Zen 3 architecture, not the newer Zen 4 architecture available in the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. There are plenty of games where four cores is enough, and it looks like Horizon Zero Dawn and Dying Light 2 are among them. For other games that scale before four, you’ll run into issues. This is just an early look at the Lenovo Legion Go S. I plan on running it through all of my normal benchmarks and battery tests, as well as give a verdict on the screen and software. For now, I’ll leave you with this. The Lenovo Legion Go S is a fantastic device. But Windows on any handheld right now is lacking. With SteamOS getting broader support for games each day, I’m finding it difficult to put up with the hassle. I’ll probably recommend the Legion Go S once I’m finished with my review process, but with the caveat that you should wait for the SteamOS version. Source link #loving #Lenovo #Legion #problem Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

NASA's new SPHEREx space telescope to launch in February — it can do what the JWST can't – Space.com NASA's new SPHEREx space telescope to launch in February — it can do what the JWST can't – Space.com NASA’s new SPHEREx space telescope to launch in February — it can do what the JWST can’t Space.com6 Things to Know About SPHEREx, NASA’s Newest Space Telescope NASANASA’s SPHEREx to Capture First All-Sky Spectral Survey and Explore Universe’s Origins PetaPixelNASA’s SPHEREx Mission Set To Revolutionize Our Cosmic Understanding Evrim AğacıThe SPHEREx Target List of Ice Sources (SPLICES) Astrobiology News Source link #NASA039s #SPHEREx #space #telescope #launch #February #JWST #can039t #Space.com Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

All free skins in Marvel Rivals and how to get them All free skins in Marvel Rivals and how to get them Table of Contents Table of Contents All free Marvel Rivals costumes available to claim All expired free Marvel Rivals costumes As a free-to-play hero shooter, Marvel Rivals has an enormous universe and an amazing cast of iconic characters. This game makes sure that any player may jump into the action without spending any money on unlocking characters, launching with 33 fully playable heroes and villains from the Marvel universe. Players may put together their own squad from a roster of legendary Marvel characters, like the strategic brains of Mister Fantastic and the sheer might of The Hulk, and battle it out across breathtaking, dynamic environments. When it comes to in-game purchases, Marvel Rivals focuses on cosmetic upgrades and Battle Passes, but the basic gameplay is still open to everyone. Players can add a touch of character customization to their heroes with a wide selection of skins, drawing inspiration from comics, movies, and original ideas. Each skin has its own special place in Marvel legend. With these cosmetics, which range from rare to legendary, you can personalize your gaming experience without affecting the competitive balance. To give an extra element of intrigue and incentive to the game, Marvel Rivals has also revealed that players can acquire rare costumes for free. If you want to enjoy some additional cosmetic skins or costumes for your favorite Marvel character, here’s how to get them all. All free Marvel Rivals costumes available to claim NetEase Games Currently, there are 9 free costumes you can claim from Marvel Rivals by completing some in-game and external tasks like Heroic Achievements, in-game events, Competitive rewards, redeeming codes, and so on. Here’s a full list of every Marvel Rivals character costume available to claim for free as of February 2025: Star-Lord Dancing Lion outfit: Complete Fortune & Colors pass in Marvel Rivals during Spring Festival event – Expires on February 14, 2025 Invisible Woman Blood Shield outfit: Reach Gold Rank in Competitive Season 1 – Expires on April 11, 2025 Iron Man Armor Model 42 outfit: Redeem code in-game (nwarh4k3xqy) – Expires on March 5, 2025 Peni Parker Blue Tarantula outfit: Free unlock in Season 1 Battle Pass – Expires on April 11, 2025 Scarlet Witch Emporium Matron outfit: Free unlock in Season 1 Battle Pass – Expires on April 11, 2025 Spider-Man Scarlet Spider outfit: Exclusive PlayStation costume – No expiration date Star-Lord Jovial Star outfit: Earn 200 Heroic Achievement points – No expiration date Storm Ivory Breeze outfit: Earn 200 Heroic Achievement points – No expiration date Thor Reborn From Ragnarok outfit: Complete Midnight Features event pass – February 7, 2025 All expired free Marvel Rivals costumes Alongside the currently available costumes, here’s a list of all the costumes that are expired and were previously available in Marvel Rivals: Hela Will of Galacta outfit: Earn via Twitch Drops during Season 1 launch – Expired on January 25, 2025 Hela Empress of the Cosmos outfit: Free to claim from Season 0 Battle Pass – Expired on January 10, 2025 Moon Knight Golden Moonlight outfit: Reach Gold rank in Competitive Season 0 – Expired on January 10, 2025 Peni Parker Ven#m outfit: PlayStation Plus exclusive reward – Expired on January 10, 2025 Jeff The Land Shark Cuddly Fuzzlefin outfit: Winter Celebration event pass – Expired on January 9, 2025 Magneto Will of Galacta outfit: Earn via Twitch Drops during Season 0 launch – Expired on December 21, 2024 Venom Cyan Clash outfit: Earn during Marvel Rivals Beta Test – Expired on August 5, 2024 Scarlet Witch Moonlit Witch outfit: Earn during Marvel Rivals Alpha Test – Expired on May 20, 2024 While these aren’t just the only skins players will be able to claim for free in Marvel Rivals, each new season or event brings an opportunity for players to grab some free cosmetic items. However, if you’re still looking to buy the new Spider-Man 2 PS5 skin in the game, head over to our coverage on that. Source link #free #skins #Marvel #Rivals Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Here’s how PC gamers are trolling GPU scalper bots Here’s how PC gamers are trolling GPU scalper bots In response to the recent launch of Nvidia’s latest RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 graphics cards, eBay users have taken matters into their own hands to combat scalpers and automated purchasing bots. By listing fake products—such as photographs or drawings of the RTX 5090, sometimes humorously framed—sellers aim to deceive bots programmed to acquire these high-demand items for resale at inflated prices. These deceptive listings often mimic the appearance of genuine product offers, complete with pricing around the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) or lower. Subtle warnings like “read description” are included to alert human buyers. Upon reviewing the description, it becomes evident that the listing is for an image or drawing of the graphics card, not the actual hardware. Some sellers even specify that purchasers will receive a digital image via email or a random item from a donation store, clearly indicating the non-physical nature of the product. For instance, this listing asks users to read the description where it says – “THIS IS JUST A PICTURE OF THE RTX 5090 GRAPHICS CARD PRINTED IN ****** AND WHITE FROM MY PRINTER. HUMANS DO NOT BUY! ZERO RETURNS! SALES ARE FINAL!” Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming This tactic has proven effective. A search for “RTX 5090” on eBay reveals numerous such listings, with some even recording sales. While it’s unclear whether these purchases were made by bots or unsuspecting individuals, the prevalence of these fake listings has made it challenging for scalpers to identify genuine products. eBay The motivation behind these actions stems from widespread frustration over the limited availability of Nvidia’s latest RTX 50-series desktop GPUs, which went on ***** just yesterday, January 30. Despite the company’s efforts, the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 have been in short supply since their release, leading to significant demand and prompting enthusiasts to camp outside retailers in hopes of securing a unit. Gamers Nexus has done an excellent deep dive on the ongoing RTX 50-series GPU shortages. The video suggests that major retailers such as Micro Center, Best Buy, and Newegg had extremely limited stocks that were depleted within hours, leaving many enthusiasts empty-handed. In Japan, the situation was equally chaotic. Eager customers were seen hopping fences of neighboring properties to secure a GPU. To manage overwhelming demand and prevent scalping, a Japanese retailer implemented a lottery system just to buy one GPU. However, the lottery concluded before many attendees arrived, leading to further frustration among consumers. Notably, Nvidia acknowledged that its new RTX 5090 and 5080 graphics cards would face significant demand, potentially leading to stock shortages. Tim Adams, Nvidia’s head of GeForce community, stated in the company’s forums, “We expect significant demand for the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 and believe stock-outs may happen.” He emphasized that the company and its partners are continuously shipping more stock to retailers to meet consumer demand. Reports suggest that these supply challenges may persist for up to three months, exacerbating the situation and giving scalpers more opportunities to exploit the market. While system integrators might offer a way to get an RTX 50-series GPU, expect to pay a premium—and likely end up with extra parts you don’t need if you already own a PC. Source link #Heres #gamers #trolling #GPU #scalper #bots Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

King Charles to feature in new Amazon Prime Video documentary King Charles to feature in new Amazon Prime Video documentary King Charles is set to feature in a new documentary for Amazon Prime Video. Filming has already started, with the project expected to highlight his environmental charity work in the *** and overseas. The King has long been a champion of nature and green causes, and explored the themes in his 2010 book, entitled Harmony: A New Way of Looking At Our World. A Buckingham Palace source told BBC News that the King was “greatly looking forward” to seeing how the concepts from his book could be communicated to new audiences. The decision to partner with US media giant Amazon marks a departure for the Royal Family who have typically worked with British networks for big on-screen appearances. The exception is the Sussexes, who have a multi-million pound deal with rival streaming platform Netflix. Prince Harry and Meghan starred in a 2022 Netflix docuseries, called Harry & Meghan, about their relationship and their decision to step down as senior royals. Both were also named as executive producers for the recent Polo documentary, and Meghan also has a new lifestyle show on the streaming service. With Love, Meghan, will be out in March having been postponed due to the Los Angeles wildfires. Filming for the King’s documentary is taking place at Dumfries House in Scotland. According to The Times, which first reported the news, a number of platforms were considered before Amazon was selected. The newspaper added that the film is due out at the end of this year or early 2026. As Prince of Wales, Charles spent decades campaigning and convening meetings to drive action on environmental issues. His 2010 book, which he co-authored with Tony Juniper and Ian Skelly, called for a shift in how everyone interacts with nature. As King he is subject to different rules – the monarch is obliged to remain politically neutral. But he has not cooled on climate action. In December 2023, he warned the COP28 climate summit in Dubai that “our survivability will be imperilled” unless humans restore the balance with the natural world. A Buckingham Palace source said: “It’s astonishing, really, what has been put into practice since publication of the original book, 15 years ago, and how many of those pioneering ideas have been adopted in different ways. “This is a chance to ‘show, not tell’, how they can transform people, placed, and ultimately the planet. I think many will be genuinely amazed at the scale, scope and vision of it all, for which Dumfries House continues to be the ‘living laboratory’.” Source link #King #Charles #feature #Amazon #Prime #Video #documentary Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Marcus Rashford: Aston Villa closing in on loan deal for Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford: Aston Villa closing in on loan deal for Manchester United striker Aston Villa are closing in on a loan deal for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford before Monday’s transfer deadline. Sources have told BBC Sport talks are at an advanced stage, but there is work to be done to finalise the move. The prospect of working with Villa boss Unai Emery is understood to be an attractive one for the 27-year-old. Rashford has not featured for United since being dropped by head coach Ruben Amorim for the Manchester derby on 12 December. Amorim said on Wednesday he felt his side would be better with Rashford in it, but the player had not met the standards he demands of his squad. Source link #Marcus #Rashford #Aston #Villa #closing #loan #deal #Manchester #United #striker Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Don’t miss this $300 discount for the new Dell XPS 13 laptop with Copilot Don’t miss this $300 discount for the new Dell XPS 13 laptop with Copilot Dell is an excellent source of laptop deals, and here’s one that you wouldn’t want to miss — the Dell XPS 13 9350 at $300 off, which brings its price down to a more affordable $1,160 from $1,460. We’re not sure how much time is remaining before this offer expires though, so if you’re interested, we highly recommend completing your transaction right away. If you want a powerful device with access to Microsoft’s Copilot, you won’t regret taking advantage of this bargain, but you should act fast to make sure that you don’t miss out. Why you should buy the Dell XPS 13 9350 It’s been just over a year since the Dell XPS reset. We’ve had the Dell XPS 13 9340 with Intel’s Meteor Lake chips, the Dell XPS 13 9345 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, and now the Dell XPS 13 9350 with Intel’s Lunar Lake chips. Securing a spot in our list of the best 13-inch laptops as an innovative and sleek device, the Dell XPS 13 9350 offers speedy performance with its Intel Core Ultra 7 256V Series 2 processor, 16GB of RAM, and Intel Arc Graphics. It’s a Copilot+ PC, which means it’s built to run Microsoft’s Copilot, a powerful AI assistant, and it ships with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed for access to the operating system’s more advanced features. The Dell XPS 13 9350 is equipped with a 13.4-inch screen with Full HD+ resolution and peak brightness of 500 nits for sharp details and lifelike colors, and a 512GB SSD for ample storage space for your apps and files. The laptop also promises excellent battery life for additional portability, and it looks very attractive with its nearly bezel-less display and modern design. The Dell XPS 13 9350 already provides amazing value at its sticker price of $1,460, so it’s a steal for its discounted price of $1,160 from Dell. You need to be quick though, as Dell XPS deals usually don’t last long because of the popularity of this line of laptops. If you want to make sure that you get the Dell XPS 13 9350 with a $300 discount, you should add it to your cart and complete the checkout process as soon as possible. Any hesitation may cause you to lose your chance at these savings. Source link #Dont #discount #Dell #XPS #laptop #Copilot Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

How to trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket How to trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket Table of Contents Table of Contents Trading rules in Pokémon TCG Pocket How to start a trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket How to respond to a trade The ability to trade cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket is finally here, but there are many caveats to know about before you jump into it. With the update that brought you the Space-Time Smackdown card set also comes the ability to trade cards with your friends. Although trading may seem simple at first, there are a lot of rules to it that make it a lot more complicated than it needs to be. So if your friend has a super rare card that you want and you’re ready to make an offer, here’s how to trade cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Trading rules in Pokémon TCG Pocket Before we get into the exact details on making a trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket, you must know about the general rules. There are a few of them that may hinder your ability to trade, so it’s important to know about them before you strike a deal. You can only trade cards of the same rarity. Making a trade requires one Stamina use. You gain one Stamina every 24 hours, or you can purchase them with Trade Hourglasses or Poké Gold. If you want to trade rare cards (anything three diamonds or higher) you’ll need Trade Tokens. You can get Trade Tokens from rare card duplicates. Trades must be completed one card at a time. If you’re trading a card with a flair, the other person must also trade a card with flair. The only cards you cannot trade are one two star or higher in rarity. The Pokemon Company How to start a trade in Pokémon TCG Pocket If you’re the player initiating the trading process, this is how you can start the trade. Step 1: Head to the Social Hub and select the Trade button. Make sure you have enough Stamina to trade, and press the next Trade button. Step 2: Choose which of your friends you’d like to trade with. Then select which of your cards you’d like to offer up. Step 3: Now you must wait for your friend to respond to the trade. Wait until you get the “Trade response received” message to continue. Step 4: Check out your friend’s trader offer and when you’re ready, choose to either accept or deny the offer. The Pokemon Company How to respond to a trade If you’re the player responding to your friend’s trade, this is how you complete it. Step 1: Go to the Trade menu and wait until you get the trade offer notification. Step 2: See if the trade offer is to your liking and decide to either continue the trade or reject it. Step 3: Pick the card from your collection you’d like to trade. Step 4: Wait for your friend to approve or reject the trade. If if is approved, you’ll see a message on the Trade menu telling you the Trade was successful. If successful, select the Trade button to accept the new card. Source link #trade #Pokémon #TCG #Pocket Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Jury convicts man on 1 charge in fatal 2023 Jefferson Highway bicyclist hit-and-run Jury convicts man on 1 charge in fatal 2023 Jefferson Highway bicyclist hit-and-run A Marion County jury on Friday found a Jefferson man not guilty of criminally negligent ********* or driving under the influence but guilty of failing to perform duties of a driver in a 2023 hit-and-run that resulted in the death of a bicyclist on Jefferson Highway. On Aug. 12, 2023, Brian Hammons, 56, was driving a Dodge RAM 3500 pickup truck on Talbot Road SE and turned left onto the highway, Oregon State Police said. Harley Auten, 42, of Jefferson, was bicycling in the southbound bike lane through the intersection and the truck collided with him, police said. Hammons originally left the scene when medical personnel arrived but turned himself in to investigators the following day, according to police. He was indicted by a Marion County Grand Jury on charges of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent *********, driving under the influence of intoxicants and failure to perform duties of a driver. He was acquitted Thursday of second-degree manslaughter. According to a GoFundMe for Auten’s family, he was the primary financial supporter for his mother. Biking was a hobby he’d picked up to lose weight, the GoFundMe said. In a letter to the judge, Hammons mother wrote the ****** was merely an accident and asked for Hammons to be sentenced to probation and community service. She said he stopped and “helped the EMT people, then fear hit him,” and he fled. The verdict concluded a four day trial. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 19. Isabel Funk covers breaking news and public safety for the Statesman Journal. Funk can be reached at *****@*****.tld or on X at @isabeldfunk This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon man convicted on 1 charge in bicyclist hit-and-run Source link #Jury #convicts #man #charge #fatal #Jefferson #Highway #bicyclist #hitandrun Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How to get Fortnite OG Season 2 Victory Umbrella How to get Fortnite OG Season 2 Victory Umbrella Table of Contents Table of Contents How to get a Victory Umbrella in Fortnite OG Season 2 What is the Fortnite OG Season 2 Victory Umbrella? Epic Games has thrilled Fortnite players by reintroducing the beloved OG map with the permanent OG mode, which is now kicking off its eagerly awaited Season 2. This update brings back the legendary Chapter 1 Season 2 map, packed with fan-favorite spots such as Tilted Towers, Shifty Shafts, and Junk Junction. The revival of these iconic locations has sparked excitement among OG gamers while also bringing the exhilarating nostalgia of the past to newer players. Joining this nostalgic adventure is the fresh OG Pass for Season 2, bringing a host of enticing rewards for players ready to jump back into the action. Players can dive into a plethora of revamped skins, featuring exciting new remixes of beloved characters such as the ****** Knight and Cuddle Team Leader, along with an array of new emotes, pickaxes, and gliders to enhance their gameplay experience. Players can also look forward to the return of Mini Shields, Impulse Grenades, and Boogie Bombs in the loot pool, while also welcoming the Minigun and Crossbow to spice up tactical options. For those who aren’t keen on grabbing the OG Pass, fear not—there’s still a free Victory Umbrella for players to grab. Here’s what it looks like and how to get it. How to get a Victory Umbrella in Fortnite OG Season 2 In order to get a Victory Umbrella in Fortnite OG Chapter 1 Season 2, all you need to do is get a Victory Royale while playing the OG game mode in Battle Royale or Zero Build lobbies. You can also get the umbrella if you play the Ranked or Unranked lobbies in either of the OG modes. Once you get a dub, head back to the lobby and you’ll see your fresh Victory Umbrella on the screen. Click on Claim and now it’s ready to be equipped in your Locker. What is the Fortnite OG Season 2 Victory Umbrella? Epic Games The new Fortnite OG Season 2 Victory Umbrella is called the Dragonhearted ‘Brella and looks like a regular metal umbrella that players get in their first-ever Fortnite win. However this season around, the parasol features a Red and Yellow Dragon graffiti on top, commemorating the return of the ****** Knight skin in the game in a remixed version. If you’re on your way to Victory Royale, make sure to check out the best weapons you can use in Fortnite OG mode and slay your enemies easily in even sweaty locations like Tilted Towers. Source link #Fortnite #Season #Victory #Umbrella Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Microsoft is letting anyone use ChatGPT’s $200 reasoning model for free Microsoft is letting anyone use ChatGPT’s $200 reasoning model for free OpenAI’s o1 model is now a part of Microsoft Copilot AI experience. Microsoft 365 users can access the model for free through a new toggle called ‘Think Deeper’ that is now available for Copilot chat. Microsoft AI chief, Mustafa Suleyman recently announced details of the new Microsoft 365 feature on LinkedIn. The feature can assist with advice, planning, and deep diving into various topics, among other tasks. Unlike other Copilot features, which are embedded within Microsoft 365 desktop programs, you can access Think Deeper through the Copilot web-based chat at copilot.microsoft.com or via the downloadable Copilot app. You must have a Microsoft account to access the feature. Microsoft Interacting with Think Deeper is very simple. Through the web, once on the page, you can click the easy sign-on option to log in to your Microsoft account. Once signed in, you will see the Copilot welcome page. Click the small Copilot icon in the right corner of the text box. It will change to a ‘Think Deeper’ icon highlighted ******, indicating it is toggled on. Enter your prompts and allow Copilot to work. When OpenAI announced the o1 model in December 2024, the company detailed it could accurately compute Mathematics Olympiad problems at a rate of 86% and had a PhD-level accuracy in STEM. For a quick demo, I found an SAT-level math problem to input into Copilot. On my first attempt I didn’t have the Think Deeper toggle on, so it gave me a straightforward, but still very detailed answer of how the problem is solved. With the Think Deeper toggle on, Copilot gave me not only the answer to the question but also a psychological analysis of the subject of the problem, a historical perspective about the details included in the problem, and fun facts about other aspects of the problem. Overall, it was an extremely more thorough result than the original answer. Microsoft Previously, the o1 model was exclusive to OpenAI’s paid tiers. The company infamously charges $200 per month for ChatGPT Pro, which allows full access to the model. The o1 model is also available in ChatGPT Plus for $20 per month with limited access. While the Think Deeper feature and OpenAI o1 model are accessible to all Microsoft users at no cost, many have noted that Microsoft 365 subscribers were recently alerted to a price increase for personal plans, which is set to take effect in the next renewal *******. Source link #Microsoft #letting #ChatGPTs #reasoning #model #free Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Manchester United complete Ayden Heaven signing from Arsenal – The Athletic – The Athletic Manchester United complete Ayden Heaven signing from Arsenal – The Athletic – The Athletic Manchester United complete Ayden Heaven signing from Arsenal – The Athletic The AthleticAyden Heaven signs for Man Utd | 1 February 2025 Man UtdAyden Heaven: Man Utd’s press-baiting defender stolen from Arsenal with the hope of making amends for Gerard Pique mistake Goal.comAyden Heaven joins Manchester United Arseblog NewsAyden Heaven confirms departure from Arsenal ahead of Manchester United move Jeorge Bird’s Arsenal Youth Source link #Manchester #United #complete #Ayden #Heaven #signing #Arsenal #Athletic #Athletic Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The hardest boss fights in video game history The hardest boss fights in video game history Table of Contents Table of Contents Sans – Undertale Mike Tyson – Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Shao Kahn – Mortal Kombat 9 Promised Consort Radahn – Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Absolute Radiance – Hollow Knight Emerald Weapon – Final Fantasy 7 Through the Fire and the Flames – Guitar Hero 3 Absolute Virtue – Final Fantasy 11 (Honorable mention) From the first console generation to the last, there have always been boss fights. These battles upped the difficulty to test players on all the skills they learned up until that point and push them even further beyond. Boss fights come in all shapes and sizes depending on the genre, such as shooters and fighting games, but they always stand as the game’s highest challenge. A perfectly tuned boss fight can be the highlight of a given game, but if it leans a bit too far one way or the other in terms of difficulty, it can fall flat. An easy boss fight is dull, but one that is way, way too hard can completely ruin a game. Thankfully, most games hide their intentionally punishing bosses as secret or optional challenges, but there are a few that have caused many players to give up before seeing the credits roll. We don’t know if any upcoming video games will feature bosses harder than these brutal battles from all of video game history. Sans – Undertale TobyFox One of the most unique aspects of Undertale is the fact that you don’t actually have to kill a single enemy. You can play the game as a complete pacifist and are rewarded for it. However, anyone who opts to go the opposite direction and aim for the genocide ending will be faced with the most difficult boss in the game: Sans. The normally cheerful and joking skeleton will show up as your final opponent to stop your rampage and will probably be successful. Each of his attacks, which play out in various iterations of bullet-hell-style dodging sequences, require near-perfect execution and memorization to avoid. Even though you will have a ton of HP at this point, even a single too early can ruin your run since his attacks will inflict poison and slowly dwindle your health away. Unlike most bosses, this one really makes you feel like you’re not supposed to win. Mike Tyson – Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Nintendo Boses in the NES era were notoriously difficult. Games were much shorter then, so they were extra difficult to make up for it. Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! is one of the first examples of a boss-rush game, where you go from one boss to the next in a gauntlet all the way to the end. There are tricks to each fight, Tyson included, but even if you know the tells it is still incredibly hard to execute. Tyson is fast, can knock you out in one or two shots, and only gives you a few frames to counter with that you need to hit perfectly. Dodge once in the wrong direction or jab one too many times and you will be down for the count. This isn’t so much a boss fight as it is a test to see if you’ve memorized Tyson’s moves and can perfectly execute the counters. Shao Kahn – Mortal Kombat 9 NetherRealms Fighting games are most fun playing against another player, which is what they were primarily designed for. There have always been arcade modes and other single-player offerings, but typically you had to grab a friend or head online to get a reach challenge. That isn’t true for Mortal Kombat 9’s version of Shao Kahn. The lord of Outworld does not fight fair. All of his attacks deal massive damage, he can juggle you off of almost any move, he has way more health than any other character, and can ignore hit-stun whenever he feels like it. Oh, and that’s not even mentioning how obvious it is that he reads your inputs to counter you. Even professional fighting game players struggle to beat this boss without resorting to cheesing him. Promised Consort Radahn – Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree FromSoftware We were spoiled for choices when it came to FromSoftware bosses, but we challenged ourselves to pick only one. In the end, it came down to Isshin from Sekiro and Promised Consort Radahn from Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. In the end, we had to give it to the latter for pushing so many players to the limit. Even Miyazaki himself claimed that this boss was probably the most difficult boss they could make within the limitations of the game. Radahn is huge, fast, and seems to never let up on his attacks. And that’s just the first phase. If you somehow manage to find a way to get enough hits in without getting wiped, he gets an entirely new set of holy AoE attacks that make it nearly impossible to heal, dodge, attack, or even see what is going on. Absolute Radiance – Hollow Knight Team Cherry Hollow Knight shares a lot of elements from the souls-like genre in addition to being a Metroidvania, but the bosses might just give FromSoftware a run for its money. Absolute Radiance is the final boss of the last DLC for the game that expects no less than perfection from the player. There’s only so much you can do to prepare in terms of equipping charms and upgrading your nail so it really does just come down to skill. Between their 6 phases, you will need to deal with rapid-fire beam attacks, summon swords, spikes coming out of the ground, and more. You only get a small window to get your attacks in so you can’t miss your shot or risk another onslaught of attacks. Even the most dedicated Hollow Knight fans have given up in the face of this challenge. Emerald Weapon – Final Fantasy 7 Square Enix Nearly every Final Fantasy game hides away one or more super bosses that are meant to be end-game level challenges. In the original Final Fantasy 7, these were the various Weapons you could attempt on the final disc. Of all the Weapons, Emerald is typically considered the hardest. You need to head underwater to encounter this boss, which means you need to defeat it within a time limit. By default, this is 20 minutes but you can extend it to 30 if you’re willing to waste a Materia slot to equip the Underwater Materia. Odds are you won’t need to worry about that timer since it can deal over 50% of the entire party’s HP with a single attack, counters with a stomp that also hits the entire team, and also has a move that deals damage to everyone based on how much Materia you have equipped. Through the Fire and the Flames – Guitar Hero 3 Harmonix It is a little strange to call a song a boss, but there’s no other way to describe playing Through the Fire and the Flames on Guitar Hero 3. The difficulty of this song is based on the song, as every song is, but we almost think it would be easier to learn the song on a real guitar than keep up with the notes blazing down the track. Words can’t accurately describe how insane it is to watch this song be played by someone skilled enough to somehow keep up. The notes are so clustered to gether that it would be impressive if anyone could hit them all at half the speed the game asks. Absolute Virtue – Final Fantasy 11 (Honorable mention) Square Enix We’re giving one honorable mention to the Absolute Virtue boss from Final Fantasy 11. We didn’t want to include bosses from live-service or MMOs on this list, but we had to highlight just how insane this boss is. Initially, FF11 players thought this boss was actually unbeatable after spending literal hours fighting it with no progress (excluding illegitimate methods). Some teams had gone upwards of 30 hours fighting it but couldn’t take it down. It was so extreme that it remained undefeated for years until Square Enix released a patch that cut its HP almost in half and nerfed many of its stats. To compensate, a 2-hour time limit was also put on the boss. Only with all of that, plus the level cap being raised from 75 to 99, did players finally manage to overcome this legendary boss battle. Source link #hardest #boss #fights #video #game #history Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

There's a small chance an asteroid could hit Earth within the next decade, says NASA – ABC News There's a small chance an asteroid could hit Earth within the next decade, says NASA – ABC News There’s a small chance an asteroid could hit Earth within the next decade, says NASA ABC NewsA newly discovered asteroid has a slim chance of hitting Earth in 2032 CNNESA actively monitoring near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 European Space AgencyAsteroid triggers global defence plan amid chance of collision with Earth in 2032 The GuardianAstronomers discover 196-foot asteroid with 1-in-83 chance of hitting Earth in 2032 Space.com Source link #There039s #small #chance #asteroid #hit #Earth #decade #NASA #ABC #News Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nvidia RTX 5080 vs. RTX 4090 — can it dethrone the last-gen king? Nvidia RTX 5080 vs. RTX 4090 — can it dethrone the last-gen king? Jacob ****** / Digital Trends Table of Contents Table of Contents Pricing and availability Specifications Performance Thermals and sizing Begrudgingly, the 5080 is the “better” option When you come at the king, you best not miss. Fortunately, it’s almost a given that Nvidia’s XX80 GPU would beat the XX90 graphics card that preceded it. That’s just how it tends to go. But we’ve been hearing rumblings of the RTX 5080 underperforming expectations since its original unveiling and Nvidia’s praise sweetened with such a heavy dose of AI. Our RTX 5080 review didn’t do much to change that tale. So, how does the RTX 5080 compare to the RTX 4090? Can it compete? Does it offer a value upgrade for 30-series and 20-series owners looking for the best graphics card they can afford? Let’s find out. Pricing and availability Jacob ****** / Digital Trends The RTX 4090 debuted in October 2022 with an at-the-time record price for a top-consumer graphics card of $1,600. That price bounced around a lot during GPU shortages but ultimately remained relatively constant over the past few years. Stock of the card has all but disappeared at the time of writing, but used models have skyrocketed in price after the mediocre improvements of the RTX 5090. The 4090 is now priced between $1,500 and $2,500 even on second-hand markets. Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming The RTX 5080 is on ***** now, but stock is extremely limited. Its suggested retail price is $1,000, but third-party cards are already up to $1,500, and shortages and scalpers may drive the price up further in the short term. Specifications Nvidia RTX 5080 Nvidia RTX 4090 CUDA Cores 10,752 16,384 RT Cores 84, 4th generation 128, 3rd generation Tensor Cores 336, 5th generation 512, 4th generation Boost clock 2.6GHz 2.5GHz Memory size 16GB GDDR7 24GB GDDR6X Memory bus 256-bit 384-bit Memory speed 30Gbps 21Gbps Memory bandwidth 960GBps 1,008GBps TBP 360W 450W The RTX 5080 is, on paper, a weaker card than the RTX 4090, with around 50% fewer CUDA cores, fewer RT and Tensor cores (albeit from a later generation), 50% less memory, and a narrower memory bus. The RTX 5080 does have a higher boost clock and much faster memory, but we’d be hoping that the new Blackwell architecture does more of the heavy lifting of bridging the gap between these two cards. The RTX 5080 is more efficient than the last-gen king, too, demanding just 360W, whereas the RTX 4090 could easily pull 450W when pushed hard. Jacob ****** / Digital Trends Specs rarely tell the whole story, though, and they certainly don’t cover the new DLSS features that the RTX 5080 supports. Its next-generation Tensor cores let it utilize multi-frame generation, which has the potential to artificially boost frame rates in compatible games by quite some margin. Performance Real-world performance testing is always where the GPU rubber meets the gaming road, and unfortunately despite all its potential, the RTX 5080 really doesn’t impress. Its average performance across our suite of games at 4K and 1440p showed it as a very fast card, and 10-15% faster than the RTX 4080 Super that it’s replacing, but falling far short of the RTX 4090 when we don’t make use of the new multi-frame generation feature. Jacob ****** / Digital Trends In 1440p the gap between the 5080 and 4090 is lessened, but the 4090 still holds sway, particularly in slightly older games. Although we didn’t run into any VRAM issues during testing, it’s worth noting that super-demanding games like Alan Wake 2 have been shown to fill as much as 15GB of VRAM when running at full specifications, so we’re already seeing the 5080 potentially miss out on future gaming features because it just doesn’t have the VRAM room as the 4090 does. Jacob ****** / Digital Trends Ray tracing performance does see the 5080 almost catch up with the 4090, and pull further ahead of the 4080 Super (as well as obliterating AMD’s alternatives), but the additional RT cores in the 4090 keep it more than relevant as the second-best RT graphics card out there — albeit at distance from the 5090. DigitalTrends The frame generation feature is the only real standout for the RTX 5080, and arguably its only big selling point for any 4080 or 4080 Super owners considering an upgrade. In compatible games, it can double or triple frame rates when enabled, though not all gamers will be willing to make the visual fidelity sacrifices that such a boost to FPS demands. The fewer tensor cores on the RTX 5080 (versus the 5090) means that its performance hit from enabling multi-frame gen is more pronounced, too, so you’re more likely to see the artifacts and other issues frame generation can cause. Marvel Rivals – DLSS 4 Gameplay Overall, the RTX 5080 is a better card than the 4080 Super, but it can’t quite eclipse the 4090 without its AI-augmented frame generation. Thermals and sizing At this level of graphics card with these kinds of power demands, you know they are going to run hard and maybe hot, but with the coolers on these cards, they don’t actually get too toasty. The RTX 4090’s cooler is gigantic and still works really well at chilling down that toasty GPU, but the RTX 5080’s is far slimmer (dual slot!), making it a card that’s easier to fit into smaller form factor builds. That’s not nothing, but it’s a very minor selling point for an otherwise underwhelming GPU. Begrudgingly, the 5080 is the “better” option I wish there were enough RTX 4090s out there for everyone to buy at an affordable price because then I’d probably just recommend you buy that instead. It’s still incredibly fast, and though it does demand more power, it has boatloads of VRAM with no signs of saturation on the horizon. But I can’t. Because the RTX 4090 isn’t on ***** anymore, and the second-hand options are massively overpriced. So, where does that leave gamers with around $1,000 burning a hole in their pocket, looking for a GPU upgrade: The RTX 5080 — if you can find it at a good price. If you can’t, one of these might be better. It’s still an improvement over anything besides the 4090 and 5090 (and does get close to the former), and multi-frame generation might not be the game changer Nvidia wants it to be, but in the right setting, it makes a huge difference. There’s a reason we’ve all been using Lossless Scaling so much. The RTX 5080 isn’t the big, new-gen card we’d hoped it would be, and it is absolutely not worth it if you’re already gaming on a 4080 or 4080 Super. For anyone else though, eh? It’s OK. It might be worth waiting to see whether the RX 9070 XT from AMD gets close at a fairer price, but that’s still a couple of months away. At the very least, don’t pay scalper prices for the 5080. It isn’t worth that. Source link #Nvidia #RTX #RTX #dethrone #lastgen #king Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

‘Meet our heroes’: GTA co-creator reveals his new game universe ‘Meet our heroes’: GTA co-creator reveals his new game universe Absurd Ventures, the new transmedia company founded by GTA co-creator Dan Houser, has revealed its new game and animation universe, the ‘Absurdaverse’. “Prepare to meet some new kinds of heroes (and watch them suffer),” reads an announcement published on Friday, alongside an image of twenty colorful characters, ranging from familiar GTA-style protagonists to a Viking and a hooded ghoul. According to Absurd, more information on its plans for Absurdaverse will come this year, including animation projects and an “original story-driven action-comedy adventure game” set to star some of the characters revealed on Friday. In addition to Absurdaverse, Absurd is also working on two further fiction “universes”: American ******, which will begin life as a graphic novel, and A Better Paradise, which is an audio fiction series. Dan Houser co-founded Rockstar in 1998, and eventually left the company in early 2020, after having written and produced its biggest games including GTA 3 – 5, Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, Bully, and Max Payne 3. He announced California-based Absurd Ventures in 2024. Rockstar veterans Lazlow Jones and Michael Unsworth were working alongside Houser at Absurd. Jones was previously responsible for in-game creative audio and video content, while former Red Dead Redemption series writer Unsworth worked on virtually all of Rockstar’s major releases during 16 years at the company. Source link #Meet #heroes #GTA #cocreator #reveals #game #universe Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Microplastics Can Block Blood Flow in The Brain, Study in Mice Shows – ScienceAlert Microplastics Can Block Blood Flow in The Brain, Study in Mice Shows – ScienceAlert Microplastics Can Block Blood Flow in The Brain, Study in Mice Shows ScienceAlert7 Places Microplastics Are Hiding in Your Kitchen and Easy Swaps to Get Them Out CNETCan your water bottle cause heart blockage: This is what the latest study says The Times of IndiaMicroplastics found in the brains of mice within hours of consumption Phys.orgPoints North: A Sticky Solution for Microplastics Great Lakes Now Source link #Microplastics #Block #Blood #Flow #Brain #Study #Mice #Shows #ScienceAlert Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Google will let platforms and devices employees leave voluntarily prior to layoffs Google will let platforms and devices employees leave voluntarily prior to layoffs Google has given US employees in the Platforms and Devices team the option to exit voluntarily before it starts cutting jobs. The news was first reported by 9to5Google. Google’s Platforms and Devices team has 25,000 employees and was formed when the company merged its Android and hardware teams last year. It’s in charge of a bunch of Google products, including Android, Chrome, ChromeOS, Pixel, Nest and Fitbit. However, only employees based in the US who are directly reporting to the division’s VP, Rick Osterloh, can leave voluntarily with a severance package. Osterloh reportedly told the team in a memo that the “voluntary exit plan” is for those struggling to meet the demands of their role or those unhappy with the company’s hybrid work setup. People have until February 20 to sign up for the exit program, and since the memo says they’ll find out if they’ve been accepted on March 25, some people may not be able to leave the company with the severance package it’s offering. Google is scheduled to release its earnings report for the fourth quarter of 2024 in a few days, and it’ll be interesting to see if it reveals a decline in revenue or any other weakness that could’ve led to the buyout and impending layoffs. “The Platforms & Devices team is offering a voluntary exit program that provides US-based Googlers working on this team the ability to voluntarily leave the company with a severance package,” Google said in a statement. “This comes after we brought two large organizations together last year. There’s tremendous momentum on this team and with so much important work ahead, we want everyone to be deeply committed to our mission and focused on building great products, with speed and efficiency.” According to CNBC, employees were pleased with Google’s decision to offer voluntary exits with severance instead of going straight to job cuts. They were apparently aware of Google’s future cost-cutting efforts and asked for voluntary buyouts as an option. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission. Source link #Google #platforms #devices #employees #leave #voluntarily #prior #layoffs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]