Pelican Press

Kai Cenat and Franklin Voice Actor Visiting Grove Street IRL Might Be the GTA 6 Easter Egg That Everyone Has Been Waiting For Kai Cenat and Franklin Voice Actor Visiting Grove Street IRL Might Be the GTA 6 Easter Egg That Everyone Has Been Waiting For Twitch superstar Kai Cenat has quickly become a household name, thanks to his unmatched energy and rise as the platform’s most-subscribed streamer. Recently, Cenat’s Mafiathon 2 took an exciting turn when he was visited by Shawn Fonteno, the voice actor for Franklin Clinton from Grand Theft Auto V. This surprise visit sent waves of excitement through the livestream. His recent livestream saw an unexpected appearance from GTA 5’s Franklin Voice actor. | Image Credit: Kai Cenat’s Twitch The moment turned into a monumental one later when the two decided to visit none other than the iconic Grove Street in Los Santos in real life. These unexpected encounters felt like a potential sign of something much ******* on the horizon. With GTA 6 still shrouded in mystery and the gaming community eagerly waiting for its next big reveal, Rockstar could use Twitch’s biggest influencer to introduce the second trailer for the game. Kai Cenat Meets Franklin’s Voice Actor During Mafiathon 2 The developer has the opportunity to leverage the popularity of Cenat to promote the game. | Image Credit: Rockstar Games In a surprising twist during his recent Mafiathon 2, Kai Cenat was visited by none other than the voice actor of Franklin, one of the main protagonists in GTA 5. The voice actor was there to drop off some Rockstar Games merch. However, what happened next left fans even more shocked. The two of them visited the infamous Grove Street, the heart of GTA: San Andreas, in real life. For longtime fans of the GTA franchise, Grove Street holds significant meaning. The place is synonymous with San Andreas’ protagonist CJ and the epic gang culture of the game. It’s an iconic place, and just the mention of it is enough to ignite nostalgia among fans. So when both of them visited the street, the online community went into a frenzy. Kai Cenat went to Grove Street with Franklin from GTA 5. pic.twitter.com/QuWmSp231w — DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) November 21, 2024 Grove street — Lyrical~Lines (@Williamsmeek3) November 21, 2024 Grove Street…. Home — JoShmo (@JoShmo3000) November 21, 2024 Bro doing side quests in irl — Tyler (@tyler9360) November 21, 2024 However, this unexpected meeting and visit to the iconic street also sparked various rumors and theories in the community about the potential connection to GTA 6. Players have been discussing questions like could Rockstar Games be setting the stage for a major announcement, such as the release of the long-awaited second GTA 6 trailer. Given Cenat’s massive presence in the gaming community, there is a possibility that Rockstar could use him as a catalyst to announce the next chapter in GTA 6 marketing. Cenat’s fanbase is very diverse, making him the ideal influencer to help boost the appeal of the announcement of a second trailer. Could Rockstar Leverage Cenat for the GTA 6 Reveal? Cenat has proven that his livestream has great appeal and is a way to promote things. | Image credit: Rockstar Games GTA 6 is arguably the most anticipated title in gaming history. Ever since Rockstar dropped the first trailer back in 2023, players have been excited about the game and want to learn more details. However, after the first trailer, there is no new official information about the game from the studio, sparking various speculations about potential delays. Various interviews and different sources confirmed that the game is still on track and will be launched in Spring 2025. Recently, there were rumors that the second trailer for the game would drop very soon but it didn’t. With Franklin’s voice actor visiting Cenat and the huge reaction from the community, Rockstar has a chance to introduce GTA 6‘s second trailer through him. This is not the first time that Cenat’s influence has been recognized by a major brand. A few weeks ago, McDonald‘s used Cenat’s popularity to help launch their new Chicken Big Mac, capitalizing on his widespread appeal and cross-cultural influence. It’s not far-fetched that Rockstar could do the same. In the end, all eyes are on Rockstar to see if it will try to capitalize on the growing momentum and interest that Kai Cenat continues to generate to catapult its much-anticipated title to new heights. Source link #Kai #Cenat #Franklin #Voice #Actor #Visiting #Grove #Street #IRL #GTA #Easter #Egg #Waiting Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Hurry! The 3-in-1 Ninja Luxe Café coffee machine is back in stock, but probably not for long Hurry! The 3-in-1 Ninja Luxe Café coffee machine is back in stock, but probably not for long The Ninja Luxe Café coffee maker is back in stock at Ninja’s online store Stock sold out fast after its launch earlier this year The machine can prepare espresso, filter, and cold brew coffee A few months ago, Ninja launched the Luxe Café: a feature-packed three-in-one coffee machine that can prepare espresso, cold-brew, and filter coffee, and looks great while doing it. It proved enormously popular and quickly sold out, but now it’s back in stock at Ninja’s online store. You’ll need to be speedy though – the company has warned that it’s likely to sell out again soon. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the Ninja Luxe Café when it debuted in the US in August, and we were very impressed. Bean-to-cup coffee machines never come cheap, and at £549.99 this certainly isn’t cheap, but it does give you an awful lot of features for your money, and our reviewer Danielle Abraham reported that it delivered consistently tasty results. It’s not just for experienced baristas, either. Danielle explained that it “manages to take much of the guesswork out of perfecting espresso and coffee drinks thanks to grind size suggestions, a weight-based dosage system, and an automatic milk frother, making it ideal for beginners.” See our full Ninja Luxe Café review for more details. Today’s best Ninja Luxe Café deal The only downside is that the Ninja Luxe Café isn’t included in any promotions, and you’re not going to see it in this year’s ****** Friday sales either. Don’t worry if your budget won’t stretch that far, though. I’m rounding up all this year’s best ****** Friday espresso machine deals from big brands including Ninja, De’Longhi, Philips, and Smeg so you can find a great coffee maker at a price that won’t keep you awake at night (unlike all that caffeine). If you don’t want the hassle of handling coffee beans and would prefer to stick with pods, I’ve also compiled a list of the hottest and freshest ****** Friday Nespresso deals, which I’m keeping updated with the latest offers on coffee machines and capsules. You might also like Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable ****** Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content. Source link #Hurry #3in1 #Ninja #Luxe #Café #coffee #machine #stock #long Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Press briefing on next week’s plenary session | News Press briefing on next week’s plenary session | News When: Friday 22 November at 11.00 Where: Anna Politkovskaya press room in Brussels and via Interactio Key topics next week include: Election of the 2024-2029 ********* Commission, preceded by a debate with Ursula von der Leyen on its programme Debate and vote on the 2025 EU budget Debate and vote on support for Ukraine and Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea Debate on the escalating ********* and the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East Vote on Georgia’s democratic crisis after the elections and alleged electoral ****** Debate on the outcome of the COP29 climate talks Debate on the results of G20 Summit Debate and vote on protecting EU citizens from tobacco smoke exposure International Day for the Elimination of ********* against Women Interpretation of the press briefing will be available in English and French. Journalists wishing to actively participate and ask questions, please connect via Interactio using this link: You can follow it live from 11.00 on Friday in Parliament’s Anna Politkovskaya press room room or via Parliament’s webstreaming and EbS. Information for the media – Use Interactio to ask questions Interactio is only supported on iPad (with the Safari browser) and Mac/Windows (with the Google Chrome browser). When connecting, enter your name and the media you are representing in the first name / last name fields. For better sound quality, use headphones and a microphone. Interpretation is only possible for interventions with video. Journalists who have never used Interactio before are asked to connect 30 minutes before the start of the press conference to perform a connection test. IT assistance can be provided if necessary. When connected, open the chat window (upper right corner) to be able to see the service messages. For more details, check the connection guidelines and recommendations for remote speakers. Source link #Press #briefing #weeks #plenary #session #News Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Stock market today: Live updates Stock market today: Live updates Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on Oct. 8, 2024. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images Stocks seesawed in early trading Thursday as Nvidia gyrated following the release of its latest quarterly results. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 95 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite pulled back 0.9%. Nvidia reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and issued strong guidance Wednesday after the bell. But shares of the AI-chip juggernaut, up more than 190% this year, slipped about 1%. Some traders cited the chipmaker’s slowing revenue growth from previous quarters as cause for concern — or that the chipmaker didn’t exceed the most optimistic estimate in its forecast for the next quarter. The stock briefly punched into the green after slipping in the premarket as investors bought the dip, and most Wall Street analysts gave bullish reports on the earnings and raised their price targets. However, that gain was short-lived and the stock was last about flat. “Any weakness will likely be bought for investors but traders who require beats and raises every quarter could lighten their exposure if no big beats happen for a few quarters,” Eric Clark, portfolio manager of the Rational Dynamic Brands Fund, said about Nvidia. “When growth & momentum investors leave a stock, they generally leave skid marks.” Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Nvidia 1-day Market sentiment also got a boost from the crypto market. Bitcoin crossed the $98,000 level for the first time late Wednesday as investors maintained their hopes that a second Donald Trump presidency will bring in supportive regulation for the industry. It was last trading around $97,451. In other news, Snowflake popped nearly 30% after topping Wall Street’s estimates. Source link #Stock #market #today #Live #updates Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chornobyl Review – DualShockers S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chornobyl Review – DualShockers DualShockers Writes “If you want to know if this modern Stalker entry captures the essence of the past titles, then check out our S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chornobyl Review” Source link #S.T.A.L.K.E.R #Heart #Chornobyl #Review #DualShockers Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Lake of Darkness review: This bold, experimental slice of deep-space sci-fi is just brilliant Lake of Darkness review: This bold, experimental slice of deep-space sci-fi is just brilliant Something evil may be lurking in a ****** ***** in Adam Roberts’s new novel Liuzishan/Getty Images Lake of Darkness Adam Roberts (Gollancz) I WAS recently asked for my definition of “hard science fiction” and I burbled something along the lines of “it has to have a lot of science in it, and also spaceships”. I’m not sure the spaceships bit is right. But if, for the sake of this article, my terrible definition is the one in play, then Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts hits the mark 100 per cent. In this case, the spaceships are two deep-space… Source link #Lake #Darkness #review #bold #experimental #slice #deepspace #scifi #brilliant Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nokia lands five-year extension on Microsoft Azure datacentre networking deal Nokia lands five-year extension on Microsoft Azure datacentre networking deal Nokia has secured a five-year extension of its long-standing agreement to supply routers and switches to Microsoft Azure datacentres worldwide. The contract will see the Finnish networking company roll out its open source SONiC-based datacentre switches to new and existing Microsoft Azure datacentres. This is in support of the public cloud giant’s push to upgrade all its facilities from 100GE to 400GE connectivity capabilities so that it can future-proof its datacentres so they are equipped to cope with increasing amounts of data traffic in the years to come. Nokia will also, from February 2025, start deploying the Nokia 7250 IXR-10e routes throughout Azure datacentres to enable large-scale interconnectivity. As well as contributing to an uptick in data transfer speeds, the contract will help to improve the scalability and reliability of Azure datacentres, Nokia claimed. This is important because Microsoft has ambitious plans to grow its datacentre footprint over the coming years, as it rushes to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) technologies from its customer base. “The partnership will [also] grow Nokia’s global footprint to over 30 countries and strengthen its role as a strategic supplier for Microsoft’s worldwide cloud infrastructure,” the company said, in a statement. Vach Kompella, senior vice-president and general manager of the IP networks business at Nokia, said the company is looking forward to progressing its relationship with Microsoft into a new phase, adding: “We are pleased to move to the next phase of our relationship with Microsoft by expanding the agreement’s product scope, geographical reach and time commitment to five years. “As a result of this new deal, Nokia will further increase the scalability and reliability of Microsoft Azure datacenters around the world. This win affirms Nokia’s commitment to being a strategic supplier for tier-one hyperscaler companies, and highlights that our multi-year strategic investments and approach have put us on the right trajectory.” David Maltz, technical fellow and corporate vice-president at Microsoft Azure Networking, said the new deal will expand on the work the two firms have collaborated on together over the past six years, which has focused on developing routers running SONiC to sustainably accelerate the expansion of its datacentres. “As leaders in the advancement of cloud compute, we are continuously expanding our global footprint to support the massive growth in compute workloads. Over the past six years, we have worked with Nokia’s engineers to develop their routers running SONiC to rapidly advance our expansion at the quality our customers demand,” added Maltz. News of the deal follows on from an admission in Nokia’s most recent financial results that it is gunning for growth by targeting the datacentre market with its networking kit, with the company’s CEO Pekka Lundmark stating there exists “significant” growth opportunities in both the hyperscale and smaller ends of the market for Nokia. Source link #Nokia #lands #fiveyear #extension #Microsoft #Azure #datacentre #networking #deal Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Goldman’s hedge fund stock list is up 30% in 2024. Here’s what’s in it Goldman’s hedge fund stock list is up 30% in 2024. Here’s what’s in it Goldman Sachs’ list of top-performing longs in hedge funds has seen outsized gains in 2024, a sign that moves made by these firms have paid off this year. The bank’s so-called very important positions, or “VIP,” list has climbed about 30% year to date. That means it has outperformed both the S & P 500, which is up 24% in 2024, and the overall group of hedge funds tracked by Goldman, which has risen about 14%. Goldman strategist Ben Snider noted that hedge funds shifted somewhat to cyclical industrials from defensives in the third quarter, allowing them to benefit from the postelection rally. Notably, financial exposure grew to an overweight level not seen in at least 15 years, while these firms trimmed back on health care, consumer staples and real estate. Snider also pointed out that the firms by and large bought into two places: China and bitcoin. He found about one out of every four funds held at least one China ADR, the highest share since 2012. The funds also added exposure to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) , bringing total exchange-traded fund holdings within long portfolios to the highest level since 2012. Goldman has a running list of its very important stock picks within hedge fund long holdings. Snider said these are the “stocks that matter most.” To find these names, Goldman looks at the positions that appear most among the top 10 largest positions within portfolios. The firm only looks at funds with between 10 and 200 distinct equity positions to avoid including quantitative funds or those meant to track private equity investments. Here are 15 names that made the list: Netflix made the grade. The streaming giant hit a 52-week high on Wednesday after Pivotal Research raised its price target to $1,100, a new high on Wall Street . Pivotal’s call comes after the media giant broke records as it streamed a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul . Shares have jumped more than 81% in 2024. While most analysts surveyed by LSEG have a buy or strong buy rating on Netflix, consensus price targets suggest the stock may pull back by about 12%. NFLX APP YTD mountain Netflix vs. AppLovin, year to date AppLovin also made news on Wall Street this week after Piper Sandler said shares have more room to advance — even after its monster surge of more than 700% year to date. “APP’s impressive revenue growth has occurred despite a challenged overall market,” analyst James Callahan wrote to clients. “Today, volumes are driving the majority of revenue growth vs pricing which we view to be positive as APP takes volume share and can ultimately grow pricing as the auction normalizes.” AppLovin is new to the list. However, most analysts surveyed by LSEG rate the stock a buy or strong buy, consensus price targets suggests shares may drop more than 23%. Eli Lilly was also included in the group. Shares have fallen more than 9% in November as President-elect Donald Trump picked vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services . Still, the stock is higher by more than 29% in 2024. Despite those concerns, the majority of analysts polled by LSEG have a buy or strong buy rating on Eli Lilly. The average price target suggests shares can climb another 32.5%. Source link #Goldmans #hedge #fund #stock #list #Heres #whats Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

As Canada Post strike continues, 85K passports are stuck in the mail – National As Canada Post strike continues, 85K passports are stuck in the mail – National Tens of thousands of passports are stuck waiting to be mailed as a nationwide Canada Post strike continues. Employment and Social Development Canada told Global News that as of Tuesday, approximately 85,000 passports that were printed and ready to be mailed are being held by Service Canada. “In anticipation of a potential labour disruption, Service Canada put a temporary hold on mailing out passport packages after November 8, 2024,” Maja Stefanovska, an ESDC spokesperson, said. “By holding residential mail several days in advance of a work stoppage, Service Canada has reduced the risk of having any passports held in Canada Post distribution centres.” Passports will be mailed out once the strike ends and regular mail service resumes. More than 55,000 Canada Post workers went on strike Friday, halting mail and parcel services across the country. Some post offices have also been shuttered amid the job action. Story continues below advertisement 3:04 Concerns raised over Canada Post strike impact The Crown corporation and the ********* Union of Postal Workers are holding talks this week with a special mediator, appointed by the federal government. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. A Canada Post spokesperson told The ********* Press on Tuesday that the two sides were able to make “some progress” on smaller issues, but “there’s still a lot of ground to cover.” The union is calling for a cumulative wage hike of 24 per cent over four years, while Canada Post has offered an 11.5 per cent increase. Other sticking points include job security, benefits and contract work for parcel delivery on weekends. The postal strike, now its seventh day, is negatively impacting small businesses, charities and remote communities, Canada Post says. 1:47 Sticking points remain on Day 4 of Canada Post strike Trending Now ***** cyclone slams B.C.: Highways closed, thousands without power, trees down Ottawa looking to give GST relief on some items before Christmas Service Canada has warned that mail correspondence from some programs and services may be impacted due to the Canada Post strike. This includes the passport program, employment insurance benefits, apprenticeship grants and social insurance numbers sent via mail. Story continues below advertisement “Canadians who have applied for a new passport and chose to get it by mail will have it sent to them as soon as mail service resumes,” Service Canada says on its website Those who are in urgent need of their passport can contact the Passport Program at 1-800-567-6868 or visit a Service Canada centre and request to have their passport transferred to a location that offers pickup service. “Canadians who will be travelling in the next 6 weeks should apply for their passport as early as possible at a Service Canada point of service that offers 10-business day service to avoid any delays by mail,” Service Canada says. Anyone travelling after more than six weeks can submit their application by courier or in person at a Service Canada location offering 20 business-day service. “If a client mailed their passport application just prior to the start of the Canada Post labour dispute, it’s possible that Service Canada has not received the application,” ESDC’s Stefanovska said. “In these cases, we will not be able to process the application until mail service resumes.” — with files from The ********* Press More on Canada More videos &copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Source link #Canada #Post #strike #continues #85K #passports #stuck #mail #National Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Home sales surged in October before mortgage rates jumped Home sales surged in October before mortgage rates jumped A home with a “Sold” sign from a real estate company in North Patchogue, New York. Steve Pfost | Newsday | Getty Images A sharp drop in mortgage rates brought homebuyers off the fence in October after a slow summer. Sales of previously owned homes last month rose 3.4% from September to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 3.96 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were 2.9% higher than October of last year, marking the first annual increase in over three years. This count is based on signed contracts, meaning most of the deals were made in August and September. During that time, the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage was falling. It started August around 6.6% and fell to a low of 6.11% by mid-September, according to Mortgage News Daily. “The worst of the downturn in home sales could be over, with increasing inventory leading to more transactions,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a release. “Additional job gains and continued economic growth appear assured, resulting in growing housing demand. However, for most first-time homebuyers, mortgage financing is critically important. While mortgage rates remain elevated, they are expected to stabilize.” There were 1.37 million units for ***** at the end of October, an increase of 19.1% from October 2023. That puts inventory at a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace. It is still on the leaner side, as a 6-month supply is considered balanced between buyer and seller. Tight supply continues to put upward pressure on prices. The median price of an existing home sold in October was $407,200, an increase of 4% from the year before. By price category, the higher end of the market is seeing more activity than the lower end. “We still need another 30% in inventory just to get us back to the pre-Covid conditions,” Yun said. The share of all-cash buyers pulled back to 27%, down from 29% in October 2023. That is still high historically, but lower mortgage rates likely caused that share to drop. First-time buyers made up 27% of sales, down from 28% the year before and still historically low. They usually make up 40% of sales. Mortgage rates are much higher now, at 7.05% on the 30-year fixed. A new report from Redfin, however, showed a recent surge in the number of potential buyers contacting its agents, particularly after the election. Its so-called demand index rose 17% year-over-year during a one-week ******* in mid-November to the highest level since August 2023. “The burst of buyers and sellers jumping into the market is the result of pent-up demand from people who were waiting for the election to pass, and for the Fed to cut interest rates a second time,” said Chen Zhao, Redfin’s economic research lead. “Now we’re keeping a close eye on whether this is a short post-election *****, or if it translates into a steady improvement in pending sales,” Source link #Home #sales #surged #October #mortgage #rates #jumped Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Crown of Bones is Century Games’ newest release, now in soft launch Crown of Bones is Century Games’ newest release, now in soft launch Century Games, the developer behind Whiteout Survival, has just soft-launched a new strategy game Called Crown of Bones, it sees you step into the shoes (toe bones?) of a skeleton king Lead your army of skeletal minions, upgrade them and duke it out with mortals With the success of Whiteout Survival, it’s little surprise that Century Games is continuing to branch out. But you may not have spotted their latest release, Crown of Bones, which has quietly slipped into soft launch in a number of regions, including the US and Europe. As for what it’s about? Well, that’s another story entirely. Going off of what info is available, Crown of Bones is a very casual-focused strategy title that sees you taking on the role of a Skeleton King leading an army of equally thin-looking warriors. As you journey through the land duking it out with enemies you’ll slowly upgrade your skeletal horde and experience a variety of environments, from temperate farmland to arid deserts. Like Century Games’ Whiteout Survival, this is very much on the family-friendly side of things, as they’re eager to point out, with cutesy and inoffensive graphics. There’s a big focus on upgrades, collectibles and the constant increase of challenges and levels, allowing you to even pit yourself against friends and strangers on the leaderboards. Zandri Dust anyone? There’s not too much to say about Crown of Bones at the moment, apart from the fact that if Whiteout Survival is anything to go by I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes significant inspiration from other strategy releases. At the same time, I can hardly blame them for that, as the casual-focused take on cold survival that emulated Frostpunk in their previous release proved to be a major success for the developer. As we see more of Crown of Bones, however, I think I’ll get more of a sense of where this new release sits. After all, Whiteout Survival proved to be a major hit, so maybe Crown of Bones is going to be their new flagship? Either way, once you’ve had a chance to try it, if you’re hankering for more to play why not check out the latest entry in our regular feature of the top five new mobile games to try this week? Source link #Crown #Bones #Century #Games #newest #release #soft #launch Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Putting food waste in the bin felt wrong until I learned where it went Putting food waste in the bin felt wrong until I learned where it went Allerton Waste Recovery Park A.P.S. (***)/Alamy A few years ago, I spent an interesting if pungent day visiting two of Europe’s most advanced waste processing facilities, a state-of-the-art rubbish dump near Espoo in Finland and a power station in nearby Vantaa. Together, they are playing a pivotal role in greater Helsinki’s push towards a circular economy, ensuring that every scrap of the city’s municipal waste is either recycled or turned into energy or heat, so nothing is sent to landfill. I remember thinking, “How brilliant, I wish we could do that”. It turns out we in the *** can,… Source link #Putting #food #waste #bin #felt #wrong #learned Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Walmart Stock Soars After Q3, Uptrend Shows No Signs of Slowing Walmart Stock Soars After Q3, Uptrend Shows No Signs of Slowing Walmart outperformed in Q3 and raised guidance for the year: the outlook for Q4 is likely cautious. Resilient consumer spending drove strength in all segments and categories, suggesting the holiday quarter will be merry and bright. Analysts’ trends point to a $100 price tag for Walmart, which may be reached before the end of the year. Walmart’s (NYSE:) Q3 and guidance for Q4 revealed that the tailwinds driving its business remain strong and steady, driving outperformance and another increase to the outlook. The news sent shares to a new all-time high, ******* a strong technical signal that suggests this market will continue to trend higher. It is a strong signal because the stock is already in an uptrend; it is showing support at a high price point with rising volume, and the stochastic and MACD indicators show a healthy market with room to move higher. The post-release move created a gap driven by fundamental qualities, not hype, and new highs are likely. Walmart Results Point to a Merry Holiday Season for Retailers Walmart had a strong quarter. The company grew revenue by 5.5% to outpace MarketBeat’s reported consensus by nearly 200 basis points. The strength was driven by growth in all segments and product categories, with Walmart U.S. up 5%, Sams up 7.2% ex-fuel, and International up 8%. eCommerce, ads, volume, and membership revenue underpinned the growth and are expected to remain solid moving forward. eCommerce is up 27%, ads revenue 28%, and volume is up by a low single-digit amount in all segments. Membership revenue at Sam’s Club, an indicator of future sales growth, rose 15%. Margin news is also good. The company widened its ****** margin incrementally and reduced costs to drive leverage gains on the bottom line. The company’s operating income rose nearly 9%, free cash flow by 45%, and adjusted earnings by 13.7%. The adjusted earnings also outpaced the consensus figure, outpacing the top-line strength by 800 basis points, leaving the balance sheet and capital return in fortress condition. The guidance is bullish but may also be cautious because it is the third increase this year. The company increased its revenue, margin, and earnings forecast, expecting all to be above the consensus. Comments about the consumer include resilience, stability, and steady, which all suggest sustained consumer momentum through the end of the year and holiday spending growth above the low-single-digit consensus figure—good news for retailers. The critical detail is that this massive company continues to grow and produce free cash flow growth. The free cash flow is important because it helps to sustain the robust capital return outlook. Walmart pays dividends and buys back significant shares, reducing the count by 0.35% so far in fiscal 2025. It is also a dividend compounder, increasing its dividend distribution annually. Analysts’ Sentiment Strengthens the Tailwinds for WMT Stock Price The analysts’ sentiment trends in 2024 support the price action in Walmart stock. Since early 2024, the stock has garnered numerous price target increases, new coverage, and upgrades, lifting the consensus sentiment to Strong Buy from Moderate Buy and the price target by 45%. These trends are unlikely to end now that Q4 guidance is in. Analysts’ sentiment will be leading this stock to even higher highs. The freshest targets put Walmart stock near $100 or more than 10% above the critical support target, and the high end will likely rise over the next two quarters. The risk is that consumer trends will weaken in early 2025, but there is no sign of that in Walmart’s results or the economic data. The likely scenario is that consumer health will remain solid through President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration and into the spring. After that, economic tailwinds are expected to form due to falling interest rates and a relaxed tax and regulatory environment that will benefit Walmart and other retailers. In this scenario, Walmart can sustain its growth, the analysts’ upgrade cycle, and the uptrend in its stock price through the end of 2025 and perhaps longer. Original Post Source link #Walmart #Stock #Soars #Uptrend #Shows #Signs #Slowing Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Teen who attacked gurdwara given hospital order Teen who attacked gurdwara given hospital order A teenager who launched an ******* at a gurdwara in Kent has been detained in hospital. The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was held by police after the disturbance inside the Sri Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend on 11 July. Two women were also assaulted outside the building and police recovered a bladed *******. The boy was handed a hospital order at his sentencing at Westminster Magistrates Court. Nobody was seriously injured during the *******, Kent Police previously said. Officers also said the incident was “not terrorism-related”, but was being treated as “religiously aggravated”. At a previous hearing on 5 November, the teenager was found to have committed seven charges of affray, actual bodily harm, threatening a person with a blade, two counts of threats to ***** and two counts of possession of a blade without the mental element of the offences. Source link #Teen #attacked #gurdwara #hospital #order Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

I played 2 hours of Avowed entirely in third-person I played 2 hours of Avowed entirely in third-person When I first played Avowed back in August, it was only through a first-person perspective. The RPG’s third-person camera wasn’t available in that build. While developer Obsidian Entertainment revealed the game through its first-person camera, the developer confirmed that third-person was an accessibility feature planned from day one and wouldn’t be treated as an afterthought. I remembered those words as I went into my second preview round with Avowed. I wanted to see if Obsidian was able to back those words up — and it has. I spent my entire time in the demo playing from the third-person perspective, and Obsidian was able to translate the weight and heaviness of movement and combat from first to third-person perfectly. Digital Trends spoke with Obsidian’s lead VFX artist Ashwin Kumar and director Ryan Warden to discuss how the studio was able to direct the game’s magic and combat systems for both camera perspectives. More Dragon’s Dogma than Dragon Age After recently coming off Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s smooth art direction and lightweight combat, Avowed’s more realistic approach is a refreshing change of pace. Whereas in The Veilguard, where the main protagonist can throw shields effortlessly like frisbees, my character in Avowed has to be more cautious before throwing out attacks due to a stamina meter that I need to manage. Obsidian Entertainment The game’s combat is reminiscent of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s when playing in third-person, where different weapons have their own sense of weight that can deeply impact the pace of battle due to their varying stamina costs. Wielding a giant two-handed ******* does more damage per hit, but they sacrifice speed and require more stamina to ******** them. It’s a typical kind of trade-off you’d see in the best RPGs, but what makes Avowed much more appealing is its character-building system, which isn’t locked to classes. For my own personal build, I decided to wield an ax in one hand and a grimoire book in the other so that I could have both physical and magical prowess. One of my biggest regrets when playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard was that I was stuck playing as a Warrior, a class I picked at the beginning of my journey. Toward the end, my skills and layout became boring, and I wished I picked either the Ranger or Mage instead. With the flexibility of Avowed’s classless system, I could switch between any ******* I wanted, whether it’d be a bow or a wand. I wasn’t pigeonholed into just going up close with swords. With skill points I earned leveling up, I could invest in a wealth of skills. Charge let me ****** into enemies, while Minor Missiles shot magical bolts that hone in on them. It’s incredibly freeing to know that I could tailor my playstyle and not have to be stuck playing a specific archetype or class. A change in perspective One big change I notice when going from the first-person camera to the third-person one is that I’m better able to better gauge the distance between myself and the ******. This was paramount when ********* a stream of ***** from my grimoire. In first-person, I kept missing the initial few seconds of my hit because I wanted to keep my distance but I was too far away. In third-person, I was much more accurate and was able to get all of my hits in. Obsidian Entertainment Ryan Warden tells me that perfecting the cameras could be as subtle as moving it a certain direction. “It was just a lot of iteration and adaptation,” he says. “We had to change the camera slightly. What does that do for our sort of sense of hitting, and what does that do for the degree to which the player is going to fill in the gaps with their learned behaviors?” Kumar chimed in and said that for every interaction Avowed has — whether its combat, locomotion, or abilities — they all have two sets of animations. For example, visual effects in first-person can feel a bit more constrained compared to making them in third-person. “When we’re developing effects for first-person, it needs to be in the view. And if you’re pulled back, you can go full Monty and just have all the effects like surrounding you,” he says. Locking in Later in my demo, I decided to experiment with more ranged weapons, such as the ******* and wand. I was surprised at how natural they felt in both camera perspectives. With my *******, the reticles were perfectly centered, making ********* a smooth experience. Aiming down the sights felt just as natural as it does in Call of Duty. “One of the biggest things about that specific instance is we wanted to not obscure the screen when you’re aiming at something that should be visible down the side,” Kumar says. “So balancing player readability in third-person with ****** readability and having the reticle on the ****** was the biggest concern.” Obsidian Entertainment Wands take a slightly different approach. Instead of a reticle, there are half crescents centered on the screen, indicating the general direction of where your magic bolts will *****. Each bolt is satisfying to unleash, as their homing capabilities always hit the target. When charging the shot, I can see the magic building up at the tip of my wand, but it’s never so big that it obscures the screen. “At one point, the effect of charging it up was a bunch of embers that were flying down the barrel towards the player’s sights and that just wasn’t airing on the side of readability,” Kumar says. Throughout my time with the demo, it became increasingly clear that Obsidian put equal amounts of effort into both camera perspectives to appeal to a wider playerbase. They both have their unique advantages, with the first-person one tending to be more immersive while the third-person one lets me be more aware of my surroundings. I was skeptical before, but like the camera itself, the demo shifted my perspective and I can’t wait to play more of Avowed. Avowed launches on February 18, 2025, for PC and Xbox Series X/S. Source link #played #hours #Avowed #thirdperson Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Is this the pettiest it is possible to be in an academic article? Is this the pettiest it is possible to be in an academic article? Revenge on referees Our news colleagues Jacob Aron and Michael Le Page have drawn Feedback’s attention to a post on social media site BlueSky, which highlighted a scientific paper in awed tones. The study in question was recently published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. There are seven authors. It is about the ways hydrogen atoms can infiltrate certain metal alloys and make them brittle. It focuses on calculating exactly where the hydrogen atoms place themselves in the crystal structure of the metal, in order to understand the mechanism of this embrittlement. At this point, you may be wondering what this piece of research is doing in Feedback. Well, the introduction concludes with the following paragraph: “As strongly requested by the reviewers, here we cite some references [[35], [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], [47]] although they are completely irrelevant to the present work.” For anyone who hasn’t worked in academia, the best way we can explain this is that the authors are being gloriously petty. Their article has been examined by anonymous peer reviewers, who (among other suggestions) have urged them to cite the 13 older studies in the list. The authors, left with no choice but to insert the supposedly irrelevant studies, have refused to incorporate them into their actual text, but instead included them while simultaneously drawing attention to their irrelevance. Or, as BlueSky user @Dave nʎ=2dsinɵ :protein: put it: “Absolute shots fired”. By the way, kudos to @Dave nʎ=2dsinɵ :protein: for having a username that pushed New Scientist‘s font to its limits and sent Feedback to a search engine. The little equation in the middle is, we discovered, Bragg’s law, which describes how crystal lattices scatter incoming waves. Anyway, once Feedback had stopped having flashbacks to our brief time in academia, in which this kind of thing happened to us but we didn’t have the nerve to kick back in print, we did our due diligence and looked up all 13 references. All are concerned with alloys and other composite materials, but none of them seems to be about hydrogen embrittlement. Most are so technical that Feedback was rather defeated in our attempt to fully comprehend them: any readers more familiar with composite materials are welcome to weigh in at the usual address. Still, even with our poor understanding, none of the references seems directly relevant. However, Feedback did notice something curious. Again and again, the same authors appear in the 13 studies’ author lists – and one author was involved in all of them. Feedback doesn’t want to put on a tinfoil hat, especially if it has been embrittled by hydrogen. But we wonder if we might have identified the anonymous peer reviewer. Our question now is: how did this get into print? Did the editors not notice the prank – or did they allow it for reasons of their own? Enquiring minds want to know. A fishy tale Speaking of taking ideas from colleagues, assistant news editor Sam Wong flagged an intriguing study in Water Resources Research. This journal is not, we confess, one of Feedback’s daily reads, but we seem to have been missing out. The study is about the biblical miracle of loaves and fishes, in which ****** apparently fed 5000 people using five loaves and two fish. The authors propose a naturalistic explanation: a seiche or standing wave. The idea is that waves blowing over a lake sometimes create a standing wave, causing deep water to rise to the surface. In Lake Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee from the ******, this deep water is low in oxygen – so if it rises to the surface, it can cause fish to asphyxiate en masse. The authors document two such events in Lake Kinneret in 2012. They also note that they seem to be quite rare: there hasn’t been one since 2012. That means most people may not have been aware of the possibility, especially if they had travelled to listen to a charismatic speaker and lacked local knowledge. Feedback is adding this to the long list of scientific explanations for apparent supernatural events, like the manna from heaven being crystallised honeydew from scale insects and the tendency of infrasound to cause spooky sensations that can be interpreted as hauntings. We have also removed our tinfoil hat, as we worry it might act as a conductor for a divine lightning bolt. Moon of Uranus News reaches us from the front of this issue that Voyager 2’s visit to Uranus in 1986 came when the planet wasn’t its usual self, thanks to a gust of solar wind. As a result, many of our ideas about Uranus will have to be rethought – and some believe it is even possible there is life on one or more of its moons. Life on Uranus, you say? Actually, life on Uranus’s moon? We hope it isn’t Klingons. Or as writer Tess Stenson put it: NASA, “get your **** to Uranus”. Feedback spent more time than we should trying to think of puns, but our slate has been wiped clean. Some bright spark, conscious of jokes about the planet’s name, decided to name all Uranus’s moons after Shakespeare characters, choosing respectable names like Rosalind and Oberon. This does mean we can rule out life on one of the moons: Juliet is definitely lifeless, there was a play about it. Meanwhile, astronomers urgently need to find some more satellites so Uranus can be orbited by Bottom. Got a story for Feedback? Send it to *****@*****.tld or New Scientist, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY Consideration of items sent in the post will be delayed You can send stories to Feedback by email at *****@*****.tld. Please include your home address. This week’s and past Feedbacks can be seen on our website. Source link #pettiest #academic #article Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Russia uses intercontinental ballistic missile: Ukraine Russia uses intercontinental ballistic missile: Ukraine Russia has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile during an ******* on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Ukraine’s air force says, in what would be the first use in war of a ******* designed to deliver long-distance nuclear strikes. The launch, if confirmed, highlights rapidly rising tensions in the 33-month-old war after Ukraine fired US and *** missiles at targets inside Russia this week despite warnings by the Kremlin that such action would be a major escalation. Security experts said it would be the first military use of an intercontinental ballistic missile. ICBMs are strategic weapons designed to deliver nuclear warheads and are an important part of Russia’s nuclear deterrent. “Today there was a new Russian missile. All the characteristics – speed, altitude – are (of an) intercontinental ballistic (missile). An expert (investigation) is currently underway,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video statement. The Ukrainian air force said the missile was fired from the Russian region of Astrakhan, more than 700km from Dnipro in central-eastern Ukraine. It did not specify what kind of warhead the missile had or what type of missile it was. There was no suggestion it was nuclear-armed. Asked about the air force statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to contact Russian military for comment. During a weekly briefing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova received a phone call in which she was told by an unidentified man not to comment, video footage showed. Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5800km, according to the Arms Control Association. The RS-26 was first successfully tested in 2012 and is estimated to be 12 metres long and weigh 36 tonnes, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). It said the RS-26 can carry an 800-kg nuclear warhead. The RS-26 is classified as an ICBM under a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the ******* States and Russia but it can be seen as an intermediate-range ballistic missile when used with heavier payloads at ranges below 5500km, CSIS said. The Russian missile ******* targeted enterprises and critical infrastructure in the central-eastern city of Dnipro, the air force said. Ukraine’s air force did not say what the ICBM targeted or whether it had caused any damage but regional governor Serhiy Lysak said the missile ******* damaged an industrial enterprise and set off fires in Dnipro. Two people were hurt. Russia also fired a Kinzhal hypersonic missile and seven Kh-101 cruise missiles, six of which were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said. The NATO military alliance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US ********* Command said it had nothing on the reported use of an ICBM and referred questions to the US Department of Defense. “If true this will be totally unprecedented and the first actual military use of ICBM. Not that it makes a lot of sense given their price and precision,” Andrey Baklitskiy of the ******* Nations Institute for Disarmament Research posted on X. ******* security expert Ulrich Kuehn posted: “It looks as if Russia has today used an intercontinental ballistic missile in a war for the first time in history, against the civilian target Dnipro.” Some military experts said the ICBM launch, if confirmed, could be seen as an act of deterrence following Ukraine’s strikes into Russia with foreign weapons this week. “An ICBM launch can certainly be seen as a threatening gesture, potentially in response to the lifting of restrictions on ATACMS and Storm Shadow. It’s a means of deterrence,” a ********* military source said. Russian war correspondents on Telegram and an official speaking on condition of anonymity said Ukraine fired *** Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russia’s Kursk region bordering Ukraine on Wednesday. Russia’s defence ministry, in its daily report of events over the previous 24 hours on Thursday, said air defences had shot down two Storm Shadow cruise missiles but did not say where. The ******* Kingdom had previously let Ukraine use Storm Shadows within Ukrainian territory. Russia has said the use of foreign weapons to strike Russian territory far from the border would be a major escalation in the conflict. Ukraine says it needs the capability to defend itself by hitting Russian rear bases used to support the February 2022 invasion. Source link #Russia #intercontinental #ballistic #missile #Ukraine Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Neuralink gets approval to start human trials in Canada Neuralink gets approval to start human trials in Canada The first Neuralink clinical trials outside the US will take place in Canada. Neuralink has secured Health Canada’s approval to launch human trials in the country, with the Toronto Western Hospital being the “first and exclusive surgical site” for the procedure. The company first opened its ********* patient registry in March this year, but now it’s actively looking for potential participants. “Recruitment is now open,” it has announced on X. Under the CAN-PRIME study, Neuralink will embed its implant in the brain of the participant so that it can interpret their neural activity. The implant will allow them to control a computer or a smartphone with their brain without the need for wires or any kind of physical movement. Neuralink says the study aims to “evaluate the safety of [its] implant and surgical ****** and assess the initial functionality of [its Brain Computer Interface] for enabling people with quadriplegia to control external devices with their thoughts.” What it learns from the trials could help the company find safer ways to place the implant inside the brain, as well as to enhance the technology’s capabilities. Neuralink’s first human patient (pictured above) received his implant earlier this year. He experienced some issues, wherein the implant’s threads retracted from his brain, though he seems to be doing well these days. On X, he said that he will soon challenge himself to use Neuralink for 72 hours to demonstrate what the technology can do. For its second patient, Neuralink employed mitigation measures to prevent thread retraction. That patient was already using computer-aided design (CAD) software mere weeks after his surgery in July. At the moment, Neuralink is specifically looking for patients who “have limited or no ability to use both hands due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)” for its trials in Canada. To view this content, you’ll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the “Content and social-media partners” setting to do so. We’re happy to announce that Health Canada has approved the launch of our first clinical trial in Canada! Recruitment is now open. If you have quadriplegia due to ALS or SCI, you may qualify. Visit our Patient Registry to learn more and apply.[Hidden Content] — Neuralink (@neuralink) November 20, 2024 Source link #Neuralink #approval #start #human #trials #Canada Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Deadly ***** cyclone hits Pacific Northwest, bringing high winds and devastating damage Deadly ***** cyclone hits Pacific Northwest, bringing high winds and devastating damage At least two people have ***** after a ***** cyclone slammed into the Pacific Northwest, snapping tree limbs and damaging homes and roads around Seattle. In northern California, a second powerful system, known as an atmospheric river, is fueling the storm there. Source link #Deadly #***** #cyclone #hits #Pacific #Northwest #bringing #high #winds #devastating #damage Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Avowed Is Full Of Discoveries And The Freedom To Find Them–Or Not Avowed Is Full Of Discoveries And The Freedom To Find Them–Or Not Much has been made about Avowed’s approach to its setting, the Living Lands, and the fact that it is not an open-world game. Instead, Avowed’s world is made up of “open zones”–large geographical areas that are interconnected with other large areas, much like a previous game from developer Obsidian, The Outer Worlds. At least in the first of Avowed’s areas, that means that Obsidian has put a focus on making sure that the entire space provides interesting adventures. Whether you’re chasing side quests handed out by random characters populating the Living Lands’ biggest city, Paradis, or just rambling through the area to see what’s there, there are plenty of rewards for exploration. There are bandit camps, ruins, half-destroyed hovels, and groups of ***** soldiers surrounding the corpses of huge bears. The Living Lands is a place dense with stories and thick with secrets to uncover, and even wandering aimlessly through the wilderness feels like an adventure unto itself. “We have these open zones, and they’re expansive, they have a lot of breadth of them, but they’re manageable enough for our team size to be able to handcraft every part of them and to fill them to the adequate amount of density that we want in that environment,” said region director Berto Ritger in an interview with GameSpot. “So we don’t want big, big, long expanses, of just grass, that has nothing going on. There are moments of serenity and calm in the environment, but there’s always a little bit of something. And we try to have enough variety as well with those things where you’re not finding the same corpse of the potion in his hand over and over.” We recently played the first two hours of Avowed during a preview event at Obsidian, which provided a sense of the way your path through the game’s world begins to unfold. Notably, it’s not long before you wind up with more or less complete freedom about what to do and how to do it, and even in the early going, Avowed provides you with a ton of freedom about how you want to approach the game, its story, and its combat systems. Avowed has a bunch of open zones instead of one giant open world. After delving into Avowed’s expansive character creator, you’re thrown into the world. Obsidian has previously detailed the setup for the story: You play a character named the Envoy, traveling to the Living Lands by the orders of the leader of a major nation of humans and elves, the Aedyr Empire. The empire has interest in the Living Lands, a somewhat isolated island known for its harsh wilderness and harsher denizens. The place has a sort of Wild West frontier vibe–people head there when they are searching for a better life, or when they want to disappear. It’s not a completely uncivilized place, but plenty of the people who’ve made the Living Lands their home are the kind of rough-and-tumble folks you wouldn’t want to tangle with. Into this individualistic, slightly lawless society comes the Aedyr Empire, establishing a foothold in the Living Lands that the locals view suspiciously as the first steps of colonization and the establishment of order. As the emperor’s Envoy, most people immediately view you with anything ranging from mild distrust to outright hostility. You don’t pick a class that determines your fighting style–you’re free to ****** as you please. But the Living Lands also have a major problem: the Dream Scourge, a “soul plague” that’s infecting people, wildlife, and the island itself. Essentially, those afflicted succumb to madness and fungal growths, and with no indication as to what it even is, much less how to stop it, the emperor has dispatched you to conduct an investigation and find a way to deal with the problem. The Dream Scourge is a major threat to life in the Living Lands, and you get a first-hand look at the effects of the madness it inflicts when the Aedyran outpost–filled with your allies–fires its cannons on your approaching Aedyran ship. You survive the wreck and find another crewmate on the beach, and together head to the outpost to find a way to continue your journey to the Living Lands. This early tutorial section is mostly about fights with Xaurip lizard people who’ve taken up residence in the outpost after all the soldiers seem to have lost their minds and murdered each other. Right from the start, Avowed emphasizes its open class approach to combat. Part of character creation is picking your backstory as the Envoy, with options like setting yourself as a war hero or arcane scholar, and what you pick determines your starting *******. You’re not locked into that choice, however, and as soon as you start finding other options, like spears, pistols, swords, shields, and spell-slinging grimoires, you can wield them with no prerequisites or requirements. The demo I played saw me deal with a quite a few of Avowed’s lizard-like Xaurip. I previously got to try Avowed’s combat during an hour-long preview at a Los Angeles Gamescom event, but that demo provided a shorter and more focused look at fighting within the game, with character builds that were set ahead of time by developers. Starting from scratch, things felt a lot more open. I quickly tossed aside my starting dagger for a sword and grimoire, so I was able to slice through enemies or blast them with a flamethrower from my hand, watching their health tick away as they smoldered and charred. Fighting enemies is snappy, fluid, and cinematic. As Obsidian worked out how to do first-person combat that felt good, while also utilizing elements from its top-down Pillars of Eternity games (Avowed and the Pillars series are set in the same world), developers found that getting the right feel for combat meant tuning the timings of attacks so they became quicker, making the whole system feel more responsive. “Because we started with [a] first-person [perspective], first-person almost necessitates a little bit of brevity in what you do, because if it’s third-person, you can see everything that’s happening,” said senior combat designer Max Matzenbacher in an interview with GameSpot. “With a limited perspective, there’s your hands, and there’s only so much that you can do there. If you lose control of your character because they’re recovering for a long time, that’s a major forcing function of just making it feel responsive.” Each of the game’s many zones are quite distinct. There are a lot of options for any given ******, too. You can store two ******* loadouts at a time and swap between them instantly, even mid-******* combo, which means it’s easy to alternate between two completely different setups. Hitting enemies damages their health while also pushing up a meter that tracks their stamina; when it maxes out, your opponent will be stunned, leaving them open for a *******-specific special move that triggers automatically for a ton of damage. Stealth is also always an option–enemies often won’t detect you right away and you can sneak up and clobber them from behind by moving through tall grass or avoiding their sightlines. And there are environmental elements you can utilize to help you out as well, like fiery berries you can ****** with a bow to start a blaze. In both previews I’ve played, I’ve vibed pretty well with Avowed’s combat–although even in the tutorial area, it can be tough. The moment-to-moment thrust is in managing a stamina meter that dictates your attacks and, more critically, your quick, agile dodges that can get you out of harm’s way. Some enemies come at you with unblockable attacks, leaving you no option but to get clear, and staying alive means a lot of sidestepping to slip past a ***** and land one of your own. Most attacks land quickly so you can strike back and then get clear or block an incoming *******, although you can also gamble with stronger charged-up blows using most weapons. Everything is quick and fluid, though, and the ability to constantly dual-wield weapons, whether two of the same blade or a main ******* like a spear and an off-hand ******* like a ******* or grimoire, means it always feels like you have something up your sleeve. Creepy crawlies of all shapes and sizes populate Avowed’s world. While you’re given a lot of freedom in how you want to engage with enemies, the leveling system is more structured. You can spend skill points in any of several skill trees, each named for a different character class, like Fighter or Ranger. That makes it a little easier to get a sense of how you’re building your character along traditional lines, without Avowed locking you into a particular class. You also unlock special abilities that run on cooldown timers, and these give you easy ways to mix together the capabilities of different disciplines without really worrying about the skill tree at all. For instance, you can get the Fighter’s dash-tackle ability, which you can use to wallop enemies for a big stun, or the Ranger’s entangling magic vines that temporarily root enemies to a specific spot. Uncovering the mystery of what happened in the outpost quickly brings you to your first major RPG choice in Avowed. You discover a local resident of the Living Lands locked inside with a ***** soldier. As a representative of the Aedyr Empire, she’s immediately distrustful of you and gives you a sense of how the residents of the island see outsiders. Your crewmate doesn’t think it’s a great idea to let the smuggler out, but you need a boat to reach the Living Lands proper. Whether you choose to trust the smuggler or leave her to rot, however, is up to you. The fungal-like ******** spreading through the world is an ongoing problem for your character. With the smuggler in tow and some more sneaking around and assassinating Xaurips, we eventually made it to Paradis. After parting with your crewmate pal and reluctant smuggler buddy, your journey in Avowed gets its real start, and almost immediately, you’re let off the leash to do as you will. Landing at the Paradis docks, you’re met by a local militia representative, a put-upon guard captain who makes it sarcastically clear she’s not thrilled to see you, and Kai, a guy who’s looking for the “clavager”–essentially Paradis’s mayor, such as there is one. It turns out that the Aedyran ambassador, who you need to speak to, has headed out to investigate some possible Dream Scourge-related weirdness with the clavager, so Kai decides to join you in going to track them down. Paradis is a big place, but for the main point of civilization in the Living Lands, it immediately gives a strange impression. It’s both a bustling city full of people and a place that looks like it’s half-collapsing, combining new structures and crumbling ruins. “One of the things that I was trying to say, the story I was trying to tell, was that this is a really, truly untamed, untamable place,” said lead environment artist Dennis Presnell. “There have been numerous civilizations that have tried to stake their claim, and they have come and gone, and you see evidence of that at the start of the game. When you get to the docks, you see it’s new built on old. But even the new looks like it’s old, and it’s trying to weather the storm, but it’s barely holding on. And when you get to Paradis, you see the same thing. It’s new built on old, and it’s a collection of different cultures that are all trying to make their way in what is probably the safest and most secure place in all of the Living Lands, and yet, it’s not.” The people of the Living Lands don’t like the protagonist very much. Not at first anyway. You’re ostensibly sent to find the ambassador to advance the plot, but once you have Kai with you, you’re free to wander off the beaten path. As you set out, you start to get a sense of what the Living Lands are really like. Presnell described the location as more of a living organism than a location, and part of Avowed’s personality is how it treats the Living Lands as something of a strange place that’s not easily understood. “Treating the environment itself as a character is so helpful, and that’s true for any component of the game, because you’re trying to empathize with a piece of land or a particular tree or whatever, but kind of putting yourself in the position of, ‘Okay, if I was this tree and I was **** that I had new neighbors and I had the agency to do something about it, how would I go about that?'” art director Matt Hansen said. “And so there’s a lot of that that’s going into it, as far as how to push that sense of a weird and wondrous frontier.” Side quests are available immediately–I ran into a woman not far from the docks who needed a hand with Xaurips invading her house on some nearby sea cliffs. After clearing them out, I found a strange mural they’d painted in her living room. When I confronted the woman about it, she told the story of how she has dreams about the Xaurip and is worried that, more or less, the Xaurip is her literal soulmate. I offered her some useless words of encouragement, took my reward, and wandered off, wondering what the ***** that could have been all about. (I asked developers about that quest, and apparently there’s more to the tale of the Xaurip soulmate.) You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. Avowed Reveal Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2023 Size:640 × 360480 × 270 Want us to remember this setting for all your devices? Sign up or Sign in now! Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. This video has an invalid file format. Sorry, but you can’t access this content! Please enter your date of birth to view this video JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year20242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy enter “Side quests very much, especially the larger ones, will impact your main story and vice versa,” Ritger said. “Companions will react to those things in real time. Those choices will also heavily impact individual characters, groups of characters, and entire settlements, factions of people, and the states of the regions that you go through. They will also impact the choices that are even available to you. Later in the game, you’ll be locked or locked out of or presented with new choices based on the choices you made much earlier in the game.” Even on the short walk to the next location for the main story, though, there was plenty to see. The area around Paradis is objectively not huge, as I discovered wandering around it, but it’s not especially small, either. Importantly, though, it feels ******* than it is, thanks to how much interesting stuff Obsidian has packed into it. Cutting to one side of the area, I stumbled on a tall ruined building or tower of some kind. It wasn’t marked by an icon or any other clues, but just looked interesting. Climbing in, I found tripwires that triggered huge swinging blades, a set of barely working traps designed to keep people out that were now exposed to sunlight and easy to dodge. Further on, I was attacked by phantoms, which look like spectral, smokey ghosts, and ******** them allowed me to reach a chest filled with a high-quality piece of armor. The entire affair took around 10 minutes and was totally optional, but exploring that little tower was a rewarding diversion that gave a little more of a sense of the Living Lands. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. Avowed Gameplay Trailer | Xbox Games Showcase 2024 Size:640 × 360480 × 270 Want us to remember this setting for all your devices? Sign up or Sign in now! Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. This video has an invalid file format. Sorry, but you can’t access this content! Please enter your date of birth to view this video JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year20242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy enter Avowed appears to be littered with situations like this. I found a decrepit, abandoned house not far away on the river, where journals told me about the struggles of the farmer who used to live there. A little way down the stream was another set of ruins where bandits had set up camp. They promptly ******* me as Kai yelled in the background to warn me my weak starting armor couldn’t handle their much better weapons. And that was all just stuff I happened across on my way back to town. The two-hour demo we played also included some early bits of Avowed’s story–you track down the ambassador, have a weird encounter with a voiceless entity that seems to be the spirit of the Living Lands, and ***** a huge bear afflicted with the Dream Scourge that’s ****** and covered in beautiful, horrific mushrooms. Those points are compelling, but maybe even more so are the little things that Obsidian has seeded throughout the Living Lands that you might miss, like that ailing farmhouse or those weird ruins. That also goes for the time you can spend with your companions; it’s possible to set up camp at certain places where you can tend to things like improving your gear, and during those moments, you can also talk to your pals about whatever’s going on in the plot, their backstories, and more. Even 10 steps off the dock, I was surprised at how deep and expansive my camp conversations with Kai could be. There’s a ton of story material in these moments, but it’s all optional, allowing you to dig as deeply into the narrative and characters as you want. “Ultimately, what we want is for the player to make the experience that they want to have, and that means being able to dig really deep into conversations if they want to, or to minimally engage with them,” said narrative designer Kate Dollarhyde. “And that does, you know, create some design challenges. But ultimately, I think having content that’s missable or skippable or that can be done out of order is ultimately better than the best, most polished linear presentation, because at the end of the day, it just feels more personal. And to me as an RPG player, that is almost always more important to me than a really linear experience.” Though we still have only seen a small portion of Avowed, it’s the freedom to explore and the density of things to find, whether in combat, out in the world, or in conversations, that has me most intrigued. Avowed feels packed with things to discover for yourself, whether you’re following the story or making your own way through the world. What we’ve seen of the Living Lands is full of life, and Obsidian’s willingness to give you so much to discover that you’ll miss some makes Avowed seem like the kind of game it’ll be great to get lost in. Source link #Avowed #Full #Discoveries #Freedom #Find #ThemOr Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Nectar-loving ********** wolves may be the first carnivore pollinators Nectar-loving ********** wolves may be the first carnivore pollinators An ********** wolf licks nectar from the ********** red hot poker flower Adrien Lesaffre ********** wolves feed on the sweet nectar of a local flower, picking up pollen on their snouts as they do so – which may make them the first carnivores discovered to act as pollinators. The ********** wolf (Canis simensis) is the rarest wild canid species in the world and *******’s most threatened carnivore. Endemic to the ********** Highlands, fewer than 500 individuals survive. Sandra Lai at the University of Oxford and her colleagues observed wild ********** wolves lapping up the nectar of ********** red hot poker (Kniphofia foliosa) flowers. Local people in the mountains have traditionally used the nectar as a sweetener for coffee and on flat bread. The wolves are thought to be the first large carnivore species ever to be recorded regularly feeding on nectar. “For large carnivores, such as wolves, nectar-feeding is very unusual, due to the lack of physical adaptations, such as a long ******* or specialised snout, and because most flowers are too fragile or produce too little nectar to be interesting for large animals,” says Lai. The sturdy, nectar-rich flower heads of the poker plant make this behaviour possible, she says. “To my knowledge, no other large carnivorous predator exhibits nectar-feeding, though some omnivorous bears may opportunistically forage for nectar, albeit rarely and poorly documented.” Some of the wolves were seen visiting as many as 30 blooms in a single trip. As they lick the nectar, the wolves’ muzzles get covered in pollen, which they could potentially be transferring from flower to flower as they feed. Nectar feeding is very unusual among carnivores Adrien Lesaffre “The behaviour is interesting because it shows nectar-feeding and pollination by non-flying mammals might be more widespread than currently recognised, and that the ecological significance of these lesser-known pollinators might be more important than we think,” says Lai. “It’s very exciting.” Lai and her colleagues at the ********** Wolf Conservation Programme now hope to dig deeper into the behaviour and its ramifications. “Trying to confirm actual pollination by the wolves would be ideal, but that would be quite challenging,” she says. “I’m also very interested in the social learning aspect of the behaviour. We’ve seen this year adults bringing their juveniles to the flower fields, which could indicate cultural transmission.” Topics: Source link #Nectarloving #********** #wolves #carnivore #pollinators Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review – transfixing Ukrainian dystopia built on underlying tragedy | Games Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review – transfixing Ukrainian dystopia built on underlying tragedy | Games When Ukrainian developer GSC Game World released the apocalyptic adventure Stalker in 2007, it was considered a bleakly improbable piece of speculative fiction. Heavily inspired by cult novel Roadside Picnic, it imagined an alternative timeline in which a scientific experiment in 2006 caused a second Chornobyl disaster and a vast irradiated zone filled with powerful space-time anomalies, in which the only inhabitants were mutants and the titular stalkers: men who wandered the wastelands looking for valuable artefacts. The sequel, however, arrives in a very different world, its lengthy development ******* having been affected by both the Covid pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Now the Stalker vision is a lot less improbable and its speculation has a much greater sense of urgency and authenticity. As if to illustrate the point, Stalker 2 begins with an apartment building being torn apart in a huge **********. As a consequence, the now homeless lead character Skef is drawn into the Zone, carrying a powerful piece of scanning kit that could aid him in his quest for retribution and escape – until he’s beaten unconscious by an unknown gang and wakes to find the scanner has been stolen and now he is alone in the irradiated wastelands. ‘A game of lonely exploration.’ Photograph: GSC Game World What follows is a remorselessly challenging survival adventure in which you must navigate monster-infested landscapes and marauding gangs of feral warriors, looking for your tech and trying to stay alive. The odds are constantly stacked against you: your guns often jam and require constant repair, your food and ammo run dangerously low, each building you come across could be filled with vital recourses or rabid dogs or ****** traps or all of the above. Scattered about the map are various safe houses where stalkers and ne’er-do-wells gather, offering trading opportunities, ******* upgrades, side quests and other resources. You gather what you can before heading back out into the unknown. Photograph: GSC Game World The world of Stalker 2 is starkly beautiful: a hazardous, ever-changing patchwork of grasslands, swamps and forests; the natural world overgrowing the leftovers of civilisation. One moment you’re wandering a rocky pathway in blinding sun, the next, a storm moves in and a howling wind sends leaves and garbage swirling into the darkening sky. Everywhere you go are anomalies – sometimes blobs of floating antimatter, sometimes explosive mini volcanoes in your path – all deadly if you don’t learn to spot and avoid them. Like ****** Stranding, this is very much a game of lonely exploration; of wandering for many minutes with your backpack too full of loot and your energy dwindling, hoping for some shack to hide in for a few quiet moments. It’s so tense, so immersive, you can’t help but get sucked in. The plot is its own sort of swampy landscape. There is so much lore – so many warring factions, religious cults and paramilitary organisations – that your head spins and all the characters, plotlines and allegiances become utterly incomprehensible. It’s not helped by some terribly wooden voice acting and thudding dialogue, nor by the fact that this is a world almost entirely populated by irritable bald men with identical goatee beards. It’s like being trapped in a post-apocalyptic real ale festival. When I finally encountered a woman after several hours of play, it felt like a stumbling upon a desert oasis. I also encountered dozens of bugs during the pre-release *******, from incomplete character models, to side quests that wouldn’t trigger their finish states, to cinematic sequences that slowed toward a near stop. Major patches have since fixed many of these faults, though I can’t imagine the game will run completely smoothly for a few more weeks. But the thing is, I played through them, often deep into the night, transfixed by this flawed, idiosyncratic universe. There is, in this game – perhaps more than any other dystopian fiction the industry has produced in the past few years – a stark sense of desperation and of underlying tragedy. It is hard to wander the scrublands, past the skeletal ******** of obliterated villages, past downed helicopters and the rusted ******** of tanks, and not think of what the makers of this game have seen and lived through. For those in any doubt, GSC Game World commissioned a documentary, War Game, to explore the process. Has Stalker 2 become an allegory for the Russian invasion? Well, one of the main military factions in the game, named the Ward, has invaded the Zone, claiming to be bringing stability but actually more interested in annexing the land into its own state. Interpret that how you like. Photograph: GSC Game World At the very least the game is an exploration of trauma that resonates with a similar fury to Elem Klimov’s Come and See and Michael Herr’s Dispatches. As you keep going, discovering new weapons, upgrading them, making new allies, opening new hubs and map areas, the narrative draws you ever closer to the heart of the Zone and whatever terrors await there. The sense of foreboding, the atmosphere of solitude and the image of humanity just hanging on by a thread are bleak and astonishing. Stalker 2 is a strange, brave and sometimes broken paean to resistance in the face of overwhelming odds. It is utterly uncompromising in its vision, often to a fault, and envelopes you in its dark spell of science, ********* and chaos. Certainly, if you loved Dragon’s Dogma 2, which similarly edged towards self-parody with its offbeat systems, eccentric characters and overall jankiness, you will cope fine with this game’s technical and narrative inconsistencies. Indeed, like the stalkers that inhabit its damaged world, you may shrug, improvise, and carry on. If you thought developers weren’t making vast, outlandish, utterly singular open-world games any more, you were wrong: they are. And some of them have been through ***** to do it. Stalker 2 is out now on PC and Xbox Source link #Stalker #Heart #Chornobyl #review #transfixing #Ukrainian #dystopia #built #underlying #tragedy #Games Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Crypto investor pays $6 million for a banana — and plans to eat it Crypto investor pays $6 million for a banana — and plans to eat it Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped Banana entitled “Comedian,” is on display during a media preview at Sotheby’s in New York, on November 8, 2024. Kena Betancur | Afp | Getty Images A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. Crypto investor Justin Sun paid $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall, highlighting the soaring values of crypto and viral art. Sotheby’s last night auctioned off the infamous banana, titled “Comedian,” created by Italian artist and cultural prankster Maurizio Cattelan. After a heated battle with six others, Sun emerged as the winner, bidding online and paying in crypto. “This is not just an artwork,” Sun said in a statement. “It represents a cultural phenomenon that bridges the worlds of art, memes, and the cryptocurrency community. I believe this piece will inspire more thought and discussion in the future and will become a part of history. I am honored to be the proud owner of this iconic work and look forward to it sparking further inspiration and impact for art enthusiasts around the world.” People look at Italian visual artist Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped Banana entitled “Comedian,” during a press preview at Sotheby’s in New York, on October 25, 2024. The viral artwork was unveiled in 2019, and one of the artwork’s three “editions” is going back on ***** on November 20, 2024, and is estimated by Sotheby’s to sell for between $1m and $1.5m. Timothy A. Clary | Afp | Getty Images “Comedian” shot to fame at its debut at Art Basel Miami in 2019, priced at $120,000. The image of a banana duct-taped to wall, and and priced at six figures, went viral over social media and attracted such massive crowds that the work had to be removed. There were three editions of “Comedian” created and sold, with one going to the Guggenheim Collection thanks to an anonymous donor, and the other two purchased. The seller of the Sotheby’s banana had purchased it from one of the original buyers and was reselling it. For his $6 million, Sun will get a roll of duct tape, instructions on how to “install” the banana and (most importantly) a certificate of authenticity guaranteeing it as an original work of Cattelan’s. The banana is not included, since it will quickly rot and need to be constantly changed for display. In his statement, Sun said he plans to eat the banana “as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture.” Get Inside Wealth directly to your inbox Because the value of the banana is derived from the certificate, rather than the object itself, many in the crypto community likened it to an NFT. The seller, clearly understanding the appeal, accepted crypto as a form of payment. The ***** was part of a series of auctions in New York this week, featuring more than $1 billion worth of art for *****. After two years of declines, the sales suggest a rebound for the art market, driven by the recent stock market rally and increased post-election confidence by wealthy collectors. Sotheby’s on Monday sold a Monet water lilies painting for $65.5 million, and Christie’s on Tuesday sold a painting by the Belgian Surrealist Rene Magritte for $121 million. Source link #Crypto #investor #pays #million #banana #plans #eat Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

******** farmer has near miss with tiger ******** farmer has near miss with tiger Surveillance footage captured the moment a Siberian tiger rammed into a farm gate, moments after a man closed it. News website China Daily reported that another villager suffered a fractured wrist in a separate encounter with the animal. Authorities in north China’s Heilongjiang province warned people to be wary of wild tigers after the moment was shared on social media. Source link #******** #farmer #tiger Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Fortnite is Reportedly Gearing up for a Cyberpunk 2077 Collab Fortnite is Reportedly Gearing up for a Cyberpunk 2077 Collab According to Fortnite Leakers, the next game collaboration will be with Cyberpunk 2077. Popular Fortnite ***** source SamLeakss, via HYPEX, has revealed that Fortnite and Rocket League will soon collaborate with Cyberpunk 2077. In a separate tweet, the leaker clarified that this collaboration is with CD Projekt Red’s game and not the Edgerunners anime. Additionally, the partnership is expected to introduce more content than just vehicles. Given that Fortnite has already incorporated one of CD Projekt Red’s properties into the game (The Witcher), it isn’t unrealistic to expect the possible introduction of another. Players are already speculating what Cyberpunk 2077 content might come to Fortnite, such as new weapons, vehicles, cybernetic enhancements, or a new point of interest (POI) inspired by Night City. It will be interesting to see which Cyberpunk 2077 skins are introduced in Fortnite. While the main character won’t be part of the collection, we could see characters like Johnny Silverhand, played by Keanu Reeves, and Solomon Reed, portrayed by Idris Elba, join the fray. The Witcher collab also introduced the main characters from the series, Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer. In other news, Fortnite will increase its Battle Pass price next month. Also, the Kicks Update and Juice WRLD update will arrive soon in the game. What are your thoughts on the Fortnite x Cyberpunk 2077 collaboration? Let us know in the comments or our new community forum! For more information from Insider Gaming, read about Cyberpunk 2077 not receiving a PS5 Pro Enhanced Update. 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 #Fortnite #Reportedly #Gearing #Cyberpunk #Collab Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]