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Nvidia finally admits looming RTX 50-series GPU shortage — RTX 5090, RTX 5080 stockouts may happen Nvidia finally admits looming RTX 50-series GPU shortage — RTX 5090, RTX 5080 stockouts may happen Nvidia finally admitted in the official forums (via VideoCardz) that gamers may have difficulty finding stock for the RTX 5090 and RTX 5080, which compete with the best graphics cards. “We expect significant demand for the GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 and believe stock-outs may happen,” Tim@Nvidia posted in Nvidia’s forums. “Nvidia & our partners are shipping more stock to retail every day to help get GPUs into the hands of gamers.” PC retailers have been saying that the RTX 5090 supply is in dire straits. One *** reseller says inventory is below 10 units—a small number for such a powerful GPU that will likely face increased demand for its performance, especially in AI applications. We’ve even seen scalpers selling “rights” to the flagship GPU, offering it at a markup of three times the MSRP. We already expected this with the RTX 5090, primarily as smaller companies working with AI tech are acquiring it for training their LLMs. We’ve even seen manufacturers like TinyBox AI offer accelerators powered by four RTX 4090s offered for $25,000. But disappointing is that the “stock out” will also include the RTX 5080, a more affordable GPU that many enthusiasts and hardcore gamers will likely choose for their builds in 2025. The situation is similar to the Intel Arc B580, with demand outstripping supply in retailers despite receiving weekly restocks from Intel. Even today, one and a half months since the $249 GPU champion arrived, finding one on Amazon and Best Buy is still challenging. So, if you want to be among the first to get an RTX 5090 or RTX 5080, you should line up at your nearest major PC retailer as soon as (or even before) it opens tomorrow, or else you might come home empty-handed, that is if it has a stock of these GPUs in the first place. Also, you should avoid buying GPUs from a scalper—it’s not worth paying over the MSRP to get your hands on a new GPU, especially if you’re just using it for games. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Nvidia #finally #admits #looming #RTX #50series #GPU #shortage #RTX #RTX #stockouts #happen Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Elon Musk’s X partners with Visa to offer digital wallet Elon Musk’s X partners with Visa to offer digital wallet Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Tuesday announced the launch of a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payments services provided by Visa. X struck a deal with Visa, the largest U.S. credit card network, to be the first partner for what it is calling the X Money Account, CEO Linda Yaccarino announced in a post on the platform. Visa will enable X users to move funds between traditional bank accounts and their digital wallet and make instant peer-to-peer payments, like with Zelle or Venmo. It’s the first concrete move from X to create a financial ecosystem for the social media site, which was called Twitter before Musk purchased it in 2022. At the time, Musk said the $44 billion acquisition was a way to create an “everything app.” He later said the platform would enable users to conduct their “entire financial world” on it. In 2021 while Jack Dorsey was still at the helm of X (then Twitter), the company launched a bitcoin tipping feature that allowed users to add their crypto wallet addresses and receive payments in the world’s largest digital token. But attaining status as a money service business in the U.S. required navigating a far more complex regulatory landscape. For over a year, Musk has been applying for these licenses for X. According to its website, X Payments LLC is licensed in 41 states and registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). The X Money service is expected to launch in the first quarter, and deals with more financial partners are likely, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. One of the first use cases for X Money is to allow creators on the site to accept payments and store funds without external institutions, said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. In November 2022, Musk suggested to the platform’s advertisers in a meeting publicly broadcast on Spaces that its coming payments product might ultimately offer certain banking features, such as a high-yield money market account. Representatives from Visa declined to comment on the matter. Source link #Elon #Musks #partners #Visa #offer #digital #wallet Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Tech execs lose billions in net worth in line with Monday's market declines Tech execs lose billions in net worth in line with Monday's market declines CNBC’s Robert Frank reports on the wealth losses from Monday’s selloff. Source link #Tech #execs #lose #billions #net #worth #line #Monday039s #market #declines Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Techland is planning ‘multiple unannounced’ Dying Light projects Techland is planning ‘multiple unannounced’ Dying Light projects Techland has teased plans to release a number of unannounced Dying Light projects. The Polish studio spoke about its plans for the zombie series in a press release marking its tenth anniversary. It claimed that the franchise has reached 45 million players since the original game was released in January 2015. Dying Light players have racked up 67 billion zombie kills and over one billion hours of playtime, according to Techland. The original game was followed by 2022’s Dying Light 2: Stay Human, while Dying Light: The Beast is scheduled for release this summer. “And our plans to grow the franchise don’t stop at Dying Light: The Beast,” Techland said. “We’ll continue the series with multiple unannounced projects and will also go beyond video games with new board games, exclusive merchandise, original webcomic series and more on the horizon.” The original Dying Light and its sequel will also receive free updates “very soon”. A patch for the first game will reintroduce events, add new rewards, improve the visual quality and deliver a remastered soundtrack with new music from the original composer. Dying Light 2 will receive more prologue changes and the permanent release of co-op focused roguelite mode Tower Raid. Announced last August, Dying Light: The Beast was originally planned as story DLC for Dying Light 2, “but after two years of work, its size and scope has changed so much that it evolved into a standalone, self-contained experience,” according to Techland. Taking around 18 hours to complete, its plot revolves around Kyle Crane, the undercover agent who was the main protagonist in the first Dying Light. Source link #Techland #planning #multiple #unannounced #Dying #Light #projects Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

DeepSeek live – all the latest news about the ChatGPT rival, as privacy concerns emerge DeepSeek live – all the latest news about the ChatGPT rival, as privacy concerns emerge A quick DeepSeek refresher (Image credit: Getty Images) A bit confused about DeepSeek? Here’s a quick primer. The free AI chatbot was actually released on January 20, but has exploded in popularity over the past few days as tech fans realized its significance. As the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen noted on X (formerly Twitter), “Deepseek R1 is AI’s Sputnik moment”. The app is currently top of the free charts on Apple’s App Store and Play Store in the US and many other countries, despite being made in China – which was the subject of a trade ban on advanced chips from the likes of Nvidia. Ironically, it’s those trade restrictions that appear to have sparked the ingenuity behind of DeepSeek, which was created using a tiny amount of the enormous compute power that’s behind today’s major AI models. Benchmark tests show that it can perform tasks like answering questions and generating code as well as the current top AI models around. However, you may have trouble creating a DeepSeek account – it was forced to pause sign-ups following a major cyber-attack. Source link #DeepSeek #live #latest #news #ChatGPT #rival #privacy #concerns #emerge Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

What China’s DeepSeek AI model means for U.S. power stocks after Monday’s sell-off What China’s DeepSeek AI model means for U.S. power stocks after Monday’s sell-off The power stocks most exposed to artificial intelligence sold off steeply Monday, as some investors fear that models developed in China could prove more energy efficient, potentially undermining the thesis that electricity demand in the U.S. will surge as the tech sector builds out data centers. But the sell-off does not take into account the broader context of power demand growth in the U.S., said Shahriar Pourreza, senior managing director of power and utilities at Guggenheim Securities. “What we’re telling people is it’s a little too early. It’s a bit of a knee jerk reaction,” Pourreza told CNBC on Monday. Investors panicked as the AI assistant developed by China’s open-source laboratory DeepSeek has shot ahead of OpenAI’s ChatGPT to become the most downloaded-free app in Apple ‘s application store. Vistra Corp. plunged 28% on Monday, while Constellation Energy , Talen Energy and GE Vernova fell more than 20%. Those stocks have been considered some of the best ways for investors to play rising power demand from AI data centers. On Tuesday, Vistra shares were up slight. The stock had been the second best performer in 2024 behind Palantir, nearly tripling in value. Constellation shares, which nearly doubled, also ranked among the top stocks last year. It was logging a second day of losses on Tuesday. Talen shares, which have nearly tripled over the past 12 months, were up nealry 4% on Tuesday. While details are still emerging, DeepSeek’s servers could be 50% to 75% less power intensive than Nvidia ‘s GPU platform, according to a Monday note from BMO Capital Markets. DeepSeek’s AI model has raised doubts about “the high expectations for cloud capex, chip growth and power requirements” as a consequence, according to a note from Bank of America. But the vast majority of power demand growth in the U.S. is coming from electrification and the expansion of domestic manufacturing among other themes, Pourreza said. Many investors dove into stocks such as Constellation, Vistra and Talen just on the AI angle, the analyst said, but “the outlook for data centers was just the cherry on top” on the power demand theme. “What we’re telling people is the fundamentals are still very healthy,” Pourreza told CNBC. The U.S. still has an acute need to grow its power supply and the emergence of DeepSeek “may signal a need to actually accelerate capacity additions,” BMO analysts told clients. The need to invest in the grid in the U.S. and Europe is “still a fundamental requirement,” according to Bank of America. “Electrical grids in Europe and the US remain under-invested and one of the critical bottlenecks in terms of meeting load growth requirements,” Bank of America analysts told clients Monday. Guggenheim has not changed its outlook for Constellation, Vistra and Talen. The firm has a price target of $378 for Constellation, implying upside of 37% from current levels. Vistra has a target of $212, suggesting upside of about 55%. Talen’s target is $258, indicating 48% upside. Source link #Chinas #DeepSeek #model #means #U.S #power #stocks #Mondays #selloff Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Starbucks adds two former Taco Bell executives ahead of earnings Starbucks adds two former Taco Bell executives ahead of earnings Brian Niccols, CEO of Starbucks, speaking with CNBC on Oct. 31st, 2024. CNBC Starbucks announced another stage in its leadership shakeup on Tuesday, as CEO Brian Niccol will bring in two more executives who spent time at his former employer Taco Bell while dividing key leadership roles. “As we focus on our ‘Back to Starbucks’ plan, we need a new operating model for our retail team, with clear ownership and accountability and an appropriate scope for each role,” Niccol said in a letter to employees shared on the company’s website. Before spending six years at Chipotle, Niccol served as CEO of Yum Brands’ Taco Bell. Since starting at Starbucks in September, he’s already poached some of his former colleagues to help with his transformation of the coffee giant. For example, he tapped Chipotle and Yum Brands alum Tressie Lieberman as Starbucks’ global chief brand office in the fall. The newest changes to the Starbucks organization include splitting the role of North American president into two jobs; the company’s current North American president, Sara Trilling, will depart the company. Trilling has been with Starbucks since 2002. Starting in February, Meredith Sandland will hold the role of chief store development officer. Sandland is currently CEO of Empower Delivery, a restaurant software company. Previously, she served as chief operating officer of Kitchen United and as Taco Bell’s chief development officer. Additionally, Mike Grams will join the company in February as North America chief stores officer. Grams has been with Taco Bell for more than 30 years, starting as a restaurant general manager and working his way up to become the chain’s global chief operating officer, according to his LinkedIn. Both Sandland and Grams will be tasked with implementing Niccol’s vision to go “back to Starbucks.” The strategy includes decreasing service times to four minutes per order, making its stores more welcoming and cozy and slashing the menu. Arthur Valdez, Starbucks’ chief supply officer, also plans to leave the company. He joined in 2023 after seven years at Target. Starbucks has already identified his replacement and will share that news in the coming weeks, Niccol said in the letter. Starbucks is expected to report its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday. Wall Street is expecting the company’s same-store sales to fall for the fourth consecutive quarter as consumers in the U.S. and China opt to get their caffeine fix elsewhere. Source link #Starbucks #adds #Taco #Bell #executives #ahead #earnings Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Denmark increasing military spending amid Trump Greenland acquisition talk – The Hill Denmark increasing military spending amid Trump Greenland acquisition talk – The Hill Denmark increasing military spending amid Trump Greenland acquisition talk The HillGreenland’s Prime Minister Wants the Nightmare to End The AtlanticMette Frederiksen’s diplomatic dash to save Greenland from Trump POLITICO EuropeTrump Alarms Denmark in an Icy Exchange Over Greenland The New York Times Source link #Denmark #increasing #military #spending #Trump #Greenland #acquisition #talk #Hill Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

DeepSeek vs ChatGPT – how do they compare? DeepSeek vs ChatGPT – how do they compare? Graham Fraser Technology Reporter Getty Images The emergence of ******** AI app DeepSeek has shocked financial markets, and prompted US President Donald Trump to describe it as “a wake-up call” for the US tech industry. DeepSeek’s claim that its R1 artificial intelligence (AI) model was made at a fraction of the cost of its rivals has raised questions about the future about of the whole industry, and caused some the world’s biggest companies to sink in value. DeepSeek has become the most downloaded free app in the US just a week after it was launched. So how does it compare to its much more established and apparently much more expensive US rivals, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini? Writing AssistanceGetty Images Kenny Dalglish in action for Scotland in 1985 When you ask ChatGPT what the most popular reasons to use ChatGPT are, it says that assisting people to write is one of them. From gathering and summarising information in a helpful format to even writing blog posts on a topic, ChatGPT has become an AI companion for many across different workplaces. As a proud Scottish football fan, I asked ChatGPT and DeepSeek to summarise the best Scottish football players ever, before asking the chatbots to “draft a blog post summarising the best Scottish football players in history”. DeepSeek responded in seconds, with a top ten list – Kenny Dalglish of Liverpool and Celtic was number one. It helpfully summarised which position the players played in, their clubs, and a brief list of their achievements. DeepSeek also detailed two non-Scottish players – Rangers legend Brian Laudrup, who is Danish, and Celtic hero Henrik Larsson. For the latter, it added “although Swedish, Larsson is often included in discussions of Scottish football legends due to his impact at Celtic”. For its subsequent blog post, it did go into detail of Laudrup’s nationality before giving a succinct account of the careers of the players. ChatGPT’s answer to the same question contained many of the same names, with “King Kenny” once again at the top of the list. Its detailed blog post briefly and accurately went into the careers of all the players. It concluded: “While the game has changed over the decades, the impact of these Scottish greats remains timeless.” Indeed. For this fun test, DeepSeek was certainly comparable to its best-known US competitor. CodingGetty Images The emergence of advanced AI models has made a difference to people who code. When ChatGPT experienced an outage last week, X had a number of amusing posts from developers saying they couldn’t do their work without the faithful tool by their side. How does DeepSeek compare here? Javier Aguirre, an AI researcher at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, specialises in researching in medicine and AI. In a post on LinkedIn on Tuesday, he wrote: “I am quite impressed with Deepseek. While coding, we usually try to explode AI chatbots to the limit to see their capabilities in assisting with coding. “Today I had a really tricky and complex problem. Even chatGPT o1 was not able to reason enough to solve it. I gave a try to Deepseek and it solved it at once and straight to the point.” He also pointed out that for coders, the combination of models can lead to success. This was echoed by Addy Osmani, who is the Head of Chrome Developer Experience at Google. In a post to his 208k followers on LinkedIn, he spoke about combining DeepSeek with US AI firm Anthropic’s tool Claude Sonnet. In 2023, Amazon invested $4bn into Anthropic. Mr Osmani said: “Code with AI? DeepSeek R1 + Claude Sonnet may be the best new hybrid coding model. Yes, engineers are using them together. Mr Osmani also said DeepSeek was “significantly cheaper” to use than both Claude Sonnet and OpenAI’s o1 model. Brainstorming ideasGetty Images What about brainstorming? I asked ChatGPT and DeepSeek to give me “ideas for a story for children about a boy who lives on the moon”. ChatGPT responded in seconds with six neatly summarised ideas. One was about a boy called Max who worked as a postman on the moon and was sent on an adventure. Another was about Oliver, who was drawn by the sounds of a mysterious orchestra made up of aliens. None of these stories are going to challenge Harry Potter or Roald Dahl any time soon, but it is a start for more refined ideas to flourish perhaps. DeepSeek, on the other hand, responded with just one idea – “Luna and the Boy Who Chased the Stars”. Its response was 387 words (with no mention of anyone or thing called “Luna”), and comprised a story about a curious boy called Milo who lived on the moon. It struck me that while ChatGPT gave me ideas, DeepSeek wrote a full story. It wasn’t particularly good, with a simple focus on a character going from A to B, but it was a start – and it was impressive how quickly it delivered it. Learning and researchIWM/ Getty Images One of the most famous images from the First World War is this picture of British soldiers from the Battle of the Somme in 1916 One of my memories from high school is my history teacher explaining to us how the First World War came about following a complex situation regarding many European powers, with the conflict finally sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. How would the chatbots deal with explaining such a complex and nuanced piece of history? Pretty well. ChatGPT gave a detailed account and outlined the key factors. DeepSeek’s account was not as detailed, but its brief overview did cover all the main points and events. Google’s Gemini assistant gave a similar synopsis to ChatGPT and DeepSeek, and also gave the user the opportunity to click on links from reputable sources such as the Imperial War Museum in the ***. As I saw on other tasks and prompts, DeepSeek was certainly comparable to its US competitors. Steaming ahead The tasks I set the chatbots were simple but they point to something much more significant – the winner of the so-called AI race is far from decided. For all the vast resources US firms have poured into the tech, their ******** rival has shown their achievements can be emulated. Prof Neil Lawrence, DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at Department of Computer Science and Technology, at the University of Cambridge, said this was just the start. “I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the type of innovation we can expect in these models,” he said. He highlighted an example from history – James Watt is synonymous with the steam engine, even though he improved it rather than invented it. “There’s plenty of space for budding James Watts to emerge, and that they are less likely to come from established players,” he said. Source link #DeepSeek #ChatGPT #compare Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Democratic Sen. Gary Peters won’t run for re-election in battleground Michigan Democratic Sen. Gary Peters won’t run for re-election in battleground Michigan U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) speaks during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 20, 2024. Mike Segar | Reuters Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced Tuesday that he won’t run for re-election in Michigan in 2026, creating a pivotal open-seat election next year in one of the most tightly divided swing states in the U.S. Peters made the announcement in an interview with The Detroit News, where he said he wouldn’t resign but won’t seek re-election because he “never saw service in Congress as something you do your whole life.” “I always thought there would be a time that I would step aside and pass the reins for the next generation,” he told the paper. “I think this is pretty normal for everybody to say, I’ve done a job, and I’m proud of the job I did, but there are other things I want to do in my life. There are other ways that I can give back to the community.” Peters also released a video and press release announcing his decision. Peters’ decision will have implications for the fight for control of the Senate in two years and, potentially, for Michigan’s closely watched race for governor. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate, plus the tie-breaking vice presidency. Peters’ retirement in a state President Donald Trump has twice won narrowly (and lost once) could add another degree of difficulty to his party’s efforts to win the majority. Peters has repeatedly faced tough election fights in the competitive state. So while his race would have likely been competitive if he decided to run again, the open race only raises the likelihood of a competitive Senate election in Michigan next year, when it could be one of the top battlegrounds on the Senate map next year. It’s unclear who might run to replace Peters from either party. To the extent people in Michigan were looking forward to 2026 elections already, much of the attention in the state has been focused right now on the wide open race for governor, since two-term Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited. Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is the only major Democrat in the race for governor right now while Michigan state Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt is the only major GOP candidate in the race. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a former Democrat, left the party and is mounting an independent bid. But many potential candidates on both sides of the aisle were expected to consider running for governor. It’s possible this opening could sway some of those politicians to decide to mount a Senate bid instead. Peters told The Detroit News he wouldn’t run for another public office in 2026 and is focused on finishing his Senate term. Source link #Democratic #Sen #Gary #Peters #wont #run #reelection #battleground #Michigan Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Bump! Superbrawl is alive, and out now worldwide for Android and select regions for iOS Bump! Superbrawl is alive, and out now worldwide for Android and select regions for iOS Bump! Superbrawl, Ubisoft’s 1v1 turn-based multiplayer title is finally out worldwide You can get it now on the iOS App Store and Google Play Superbrawl lets you pit a lineup of heroes against other players in multiple modes If there’s one thing you can say about a lot of releases on mobile, it’s that some publishers and developers never say die. Case in point, Ubisoft, who have finally released their long-in-development Bump! Superbrawl worldwide this week! As spotted by the folks at GamingOnPhone, Bump! Superbrawl finally slunk onto mobile with little fanfare a few days ago. We covered this way back in 2023 and noted the interesting and distinctive gameplay of its turn-based 1v1 PvP format, but since it hit soft launch in Poland we’ve heard little in the way of promotion from Ubisoft. But now, you’ll be able to download and play it for yourself. Combining multiplayer PvP, action, strategy and more, Bump! Superbrawl sees you exploring the idyllic city of Arcadia as you unlock heroes and pit them against other players’ lineups. It comes with a huge variety of features and multiple modes, including Zone Capture (conquest), Heist and VIP. Supersneaky Given it’s been a little under two years since we last covered it, I reckon you could be forgiven for not remembering Bump! Superbrawl; but then again the tactic of announcing something, putting it into soft launch and leaving it forgotten seems to be a Ubisoft favourite. You only need to look as far as the long-winded development time of Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence, which have gone through long periods of radio silence, so to see that sometimes Ubisoft’s mobile release strategy seems to be a little bit lacklustre. Still, at least we’ve got one launch that’s finally hit global storefronts, and one that looks interesting to boot. But if you’re looking to keep up with all the top, current releases in one place why not check out our regular feature of the top five new mobile games to try this week? Source link #Bump #Superbrawl #alive #worldwide #Android #select #regions #iOS Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Republican attorneys general call out Costco for maintaining DEI policies Republican attorneys general call out Costco for maintaining DEI policies Maryland lawmakers vow to uphold the state’s commitment to DEI Maryland lawmakers vow to uphold the state’s commitment to DEI 00:49 Republican attorneys general from 19 states want Costco Wholesale to ditch its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, making the call days after the retailer successfully defended its DEI policies as good for business to shareholders. In a letter on Monday to Costco CEO Ron Vachris, the AGs accuse the retailer of “clinging to DEI policies that courts and businesses have rejected as ********,” and called on it to account for the legal risks of its actions. Led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, the Republican officials instructed Costco to let them know within 30 days whether it would get rid of its DEI policies or explain why not. Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The GOP letter came after Costco shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that the wholesale club operator evaluate any risks associated to its DEI practices. The shareholder behind the resolution, the National Center for Public Policy Research, argued that DEI “may sound benign,” but in fact is “weaponized language concealing a radical Marxist agenda.” Costco’s board, however, urged against the conservative think tank’s motion ahead of its annual meeting. “Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the ‘treasure hunt’ that our customers value,” the retailer stated. Costco’s “commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary. The report requested by this proposal would not provide meaningful additional information,” it added. Trump signs executive orders to address DEI, transgender troops in U.S. military 02:31 A day after Costco held its ground on its DEI policies, discount store chain Target joined Walmart and other corporations in scaling back on diversity initiatives under attack from conservative activists emboldened by high court decisions and President Trump, who recently banned DEI programs across the federal government. Intended as a means of promoting fairness in the workplace and open paths for people of color, women and expanded to include ******* orientation and gender identity, DEI programs gained momentum after the 2020 ******* of George Floyd. Kate Gibson Kate Gibson is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch in New York, where she covers business and consumer finance. Source link #Republican #attorneys #general #call #Costco #maintaining #DEI #policies Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Jimmy Butler suspension: Heat sideline star indefinitely without pay after he walks out of shootaround – CBS Sports Jimmy Butler suspension: Heat sideline star indefinitely without pay after he walks out of shootaround – CBS Sports Jimmy Butler suspension: Heat sideline star indefinitely without pay after he walks out of shootaround CBS SportsEager to trade Butler, Heat explores non-Phoenix options. Why there’s some urgency Miami HeraldSuspended Jimmy Butler, Heat relationship has deteriorated and a trade can’t come fast enough USA TODAYThe Heat trying to out-petty Jimmy Butler isn’t going to work Yahoo Sports Source link #Jimmy #Butler #suspension #Heat #sideline #star #indefinitely #pay #walks #shootaround #CBS #Sports Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

2025 NFL Mock Draft: How many QBs in Rounds 1-2? Could Abdul Carter be Titans’ top pick? 2025 NFL Mock Draft: How many QBs in Rounds 1-2? Could Abdul Carter be Titans’ top pick? We’re still three months away from the 2025 NFL Draft, but with the early round order set for all but the Super Bowl participants and practices underway for all-star events such as the Shrine Bowl and Senior Bowl, it’s evaluation season. Plenty of questions remain. Will a third quarterback join likely top-10 picks Shedeur Sanders and Cam Ward in Round 1? Would Tennessee trade out of the top spot if a QB-desperate team makes an aggressive offer? Or, if the Titans stay put, would they take a quarterback or lean toward Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter? The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner (making the odd picks) and Scott Dochterman (evens) alternated selections, and there were no projected trades in this two-round mock draft. (Note: The Super Bowl results will determine the official order for picks 31-32 and 63-64; the order reflected here uses regular-season positioning.) GO DEEPER 2025 NFL Draft consensus Big Board: Which players have climbed into the top 50? 1. Tennessee Titans: Abdul Carter, Edge, Penn State The ideal option for the Titans would be to trade this pick. I can understand why many would argue for a quarterback here, but I’m not completely sold on either Ward or Sanders being the answer to a team’s prayers — at least not right away. Carter is the closest thing we’ve seen to Micah Parsons since … Micah Parsons. He’s a true game-changer who has improved almost every time he’s taken the field, had dominant stretches in the College Football Playoff and isn’t close to his ceiling yet. Your @bigten Defensive Player of the Week, Abdul Carter #B1GFootball x @PennStateFball pic.twitter.com/BNFBu402q3 — Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 30, 2024 2. Cleveland Browns: Travis Hunter, CB/WR, Colorado After the financial and emotional anchor ownership put on management with the lengthy Deshaun Watson contract, the Browns need a jolt. Normally, a quarterback would make sense, but perhaps not with the Watson situation still unsettled. In this case, the Browns would have two of the NFL’s best athletes: Hunter and defensive end Myles Garrett. So, which position will Hunter play in the NFL? It doesn’t matter. The Heisman Trophy winner will see some action on both sides of the ball before reaching his All-Pro potential at one of them. 3. New York Giants: Cam Ward, QB, Miami I’m still torn between Ward and Sanders for QB1, and there are days it feels like Sanders is more ready right now to lead a successful offense. But, long-term, Ward — who improved every day of his lengthy college career — could have the higher ceiling. 4. New England Patriots: Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona I’d like to write “Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State” here but, incredibly, we’re still two years away from Smith hearing his name called. So, the choice for New England comes down to a playmaker for Drake Maye or a defender. There’s no real wrong answer — but if you have a young quarterback, it’s best to provide him a receiver with whom he can grow. No Patriots receiver caught more than three touchdown passes last season and only one averaged more than 11 yards per catch. McMillan has Mike Evans-like skills, which would be helpful for Josh McDaniels’ remodeled offense under new coach Mike Vrabel. GO DEEPER Is 2025 NFL Draft’s sleeper QB prospect at the Senior Bowl? Storylines to watch in Mobile 5. Jacksonville Jaguars: Will Campbell, OT, LSU The Jaguars could go a number of directions here — and they might have to choose a different one, as Campbell could be off the board before we get to this spot. But if OT1 is still available, Jacksonville has to pounce, because protecting Trevor Lawrence should be priority No. 1. Campbell, a three-year starting left tackle, could be a culture-changer who is athletic enough to play guard, if needed. 6. Las Vegas Raiders: Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado Is there a more perfect arrangement than Sanders heading to the Raiders? A polarizing prospect who’s had to deal with plenty of scrutiny (including for his early season criticism of his own offensive line), Sanders was a driving force in Colorado turning from the worst power-conference program into Big 12 regular-season co-champion. Sanders has the arm and swagger to lead right away. How he handles pressure situations will determine whether he succeeds or fails, and how the Raiders’ front office — including Tom Brady — evaluates him. 7. New York Jets: Mason Graham, DT, Michigan Not sure we can rule out a top-five spot for Graham. He’s clearly the top interior tackle in this class and the type of versatile difference-maker inside (at age 21) every team covets. He can play in any scheme, inside or out, and he will absolutely help a team’s culture. The Jets could use all of that. Graham with the SACK The @UMichFootball defense is on a roll in the first half pic.twitter.com/IYSRiADV8X — FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 28, 2024 8. Carolina Panthers: James Pearce Jr., Edge, Tennessee Pearce flashed All-American-level ability during his tenure with the Vols, but he still has to gain consistency to reach his potential. He’s a quick-twitch edge rusher with the ability to get to the quarterback and could drop into coverage, if necessary. But the Panthers allowed 6.0 yards per play (worst in the NFL) and need someone who can impact the passing game. If Pearce hits the high end of his development, he could become an impact defender in the Danielle Hunter mold. 9. New Orleans Saints: Mykel Williams, Edge, Georgia Production has not matched talent to this point, but Williams has top-five traits — not unlike former Georgia (and current Jacksonville) standout Travon Walker, who was the No. 1 pick in 2022. Williams is a projection as much as anything right now, but if he tests off the charts, he might not make it this far. 10. Chicago Bears: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas Chicago spent the No. 1 pick last year on quarterback Caleb Williams … then promptly gave up 68 sacks this season. For Williams to make strides under new coach and offensive guru Ben Johnson, the Bears need to improve up front. Banks (6-foot-4, 320 pounds) won the Outland Trophy as the nation’s top interior lineman and has positional flexibility. The Bears need a plug-and-play offensive lineman in the worst way, and Banks will start somewhere on day one. 11. San Francisco 49ers: Joshua Simmons, OT, Ohio State Like Banks, Simmons is a super-athletic prospect who probably could wear a few different hats if a team asks him to. He suffered a season-ending knee injury midway through the season, and it took Ohio State a while to figure out how to play without him. He would be a perfect fit for everything Kyle Shanahan does. 12. Dallas Cowboys: Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State The Heisman Trophy runner-up, Jeanty resembles a young Ezekiel Elliott coming out of Ohio State, only with a little more wiggle. Jeanty (5-9, 215) led the country in rushing yards (2,601), rushing touchdowns (29) and all-purpose yards per game (185.8), and he exploded for 25 runs of 20-plus yards. He also converted 106 of his attempts into first downs. He’s the type of player Dallas needed last year, so the Cowboys would be happy to add him now. GO DEEPER Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty took full advantage of stage provided by 12-team Playoff 13. Miami Dolphins: Malaki Starks, S, Georgia Miami should be open to trading back for anyone who has even a passing interest here. An offensive lineman also could be an option (perhaps Missouri’s Armand Membou?). But Starks would be a phenomenal consolation prize. He is one of the 10 best players in this draft, regardless of position, and can wear any hat in the secondary. His game — and versatility — is not unlike that of Lions standout Brian Branch. 14. Indianapolis Colts: Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State After completing just 56.3 percent of their passes this season with 20 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, the Colts need something to elevate their passing game. A tight end is a great friend to a young quarterback such as Anthony Richardson, and there’s none better this year than Warren (6-6, 261). This fall, he caught 104 passes for 1,233 yards and eight touchdowns. He also was a short-yardage quarterback (218 rushing yards and four more scores plus a passing touchdown). In an overtime win at USC, Warren had 17 receptions for 224 yards. 15. Atlanta Falcons: Will Johnson, CB, Michigan It’s hard to place Johnson right now, for a few reasons. Not many teams in the top 10 need a cornerback, and despite the fact Johnson is likely the best pure corner in this class (by a solid margin), he did miss most of this season with multiple injuries. All that said, this spot feels like it’s close to his draft floor. 16. Arizona Cardinals: Derrick Harmon, DT, Oregon As the Cardinals remake their defense and attempt to become more physical up front, Harmon (6-5, 310) would fill a void instantly on the interior. A year after transferring from Michigan State, he provided pressure and power for Oregon’s line with 45 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, five sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, a pair of forced fumbles and four pass breakups. 17. Cincinnati Bengals: Luther Burden III, WR, Missouri You’d love to be able to give Joe Burrow more help elsewhere, but Cincinnati has made some interesting personnel decisions and could be in the market for a receiver again. Burden is another player in this class who has top-10 talent but might have a wide range in Round 1 — in his case, not just because of his smallish frame but also because his 2023 season was much better than his 2024. LUTHER BURDEN III ON 4TH AND 5 @MizzouFootball TAKES THE LEAD WITH 1:10 TO GO! pic.twitter.com/HzGC9P23Qt — SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 17, 2024 18. Seattle Seahawks: Donovan Jackson, G/T, Ohio State Perhaps no player elevated his stock throughout the College Football Playoff more than Jackson, who kicked to left tackle out of necessity and proved he could do that job just as capably as play guard. Jackson (6-4, 320) allowed zero sacks and just two pressures over his final eight games at left tackle. 19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Jalon Walker, Edge/LB, Georgia In case you’re starting to sense a theme, Walker also could have a pretty wide draft range. But he’s a first-round playmaker. A lighter version of Carter who probably can do more than Penn State’s superstar from a coverage standpoint, Walker would fill multiple needs in Tampa Bay. 20. Denver Broncos: Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State The most polished route runner in the draft, Egbuka fits any and all offenses. He was a possession-type receiver in setting Ohio State’s career receptions record (205), but he’s skilled beyond that description — plus, he blocks. It’s not farfetched to envision Egbuka becoming a valued player for more than a decade, perhaps like former NFL receiver Anquan Boldin. 21. Pittsburgh Steelers: Matthew Golden, WR, Texas This might be a little high for Golden, but he’s another player who really took advantage of the extended College Football Playoff this year. He was the true star receiver for the Longhorns this season after spending two years at Houston. Had he not gone off the board a pick earlier, Egbuka would have been an ideal selection for the Steelers. 4th and 13… pic.twitter.com/Wb9PNc857j — Texas Football (@TexasFootball) January 3, 2025 22. Los Angeles Chargers: Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan A perfect spot for Jim Harbaugh to scoop up one of his former Wolverines. Loveland somehow caught 56 passes for 582 yards and five touchdowns this season, despite playing in the worst passing offense in power-conference football. A solid blocker, too, he would start immediately for the Chargers and give Justin Herbert a quality third-down threat. 23. Green Bay Packers: Mike Green, Edge, Marshall Green was a 215-pound linebacker/tight end when he left high school. Now a verified 6-3, 251 as of Senior Bowl weigh-in, he still moves like a 215-pounder off the edge — and an explosive one, at that. The FBS sacks leader in 2024 with 17, Green is still a bit untested, but his traits are ridiculous and his workouts will draw crowds. Green and Rashan Gary could be electric together. 24. Minnesota Vikings: Nick Emmanwori, S, South Carolina As the Vikings prepare for the post-Harrison Smith world, they need another third-level playmaker. Emmanwori was that and more for the Gamecocks — he had two pick sixes this season (and a third called back because of roughing the passer). Emmanwori can hit and cover, plus he’s a high-energy player. You’re getting the full package. 25. Houston Texas: Tyler Booker, G, Alabama Booker would fill a huge need along the offensive interior, easily Houston’s biggest issue right now in front of C.J. Stroud. Booker started all three years at Alabama and is an absolute mauler. He’s not always technically perfect, but he has first-round power and can be a difference-maker inside. GO DEEPER The Chiefs’ reach for immortality, Bills, Eagles (and refs) be damned: Sando’s Pick Six 26. Los Angeles Rams: Armand Membou, OT, Missouri The Rams could be looking at two new starting offensive tackles, and Membou (6-3, 315) has positional flexibility. He started for two seasons at right tackle but has the build for a potential move to guard, either in the short term or permanently. Either way, after measuring in with 34-inch arms at the Senior Bowl, he should have a shot at playing tackle fairly early in his NFL career. 27. Baltimore Ravens: Shemar Stewart, Edge, Texas A&M Stewart is yet another guy with a potentially wild range of draft outcomes. All of the edges with Round 1 buzz — Pearce, Williams, Green, JT Tuimoloau and Stewart — will hold pretty different spots on the board depending on the team. Testing and workouts will do a lot to sort it all out. Either way, in Stewart, Baltimore would be getting a super long and versatile edge who fits its style. 28. Detroit Lions: JT Tuimoloau, Edge, Ohio State Tuimoloau (6-5, 270) was a machine during Ohio State’s championship run. In four College Football Playoff games, he had a combined 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss, nearly doubling his season totals (six sacks, 11 TFLs during the regular season). With oft-injured Marcus Davenport likely hitting free agency and Za’Darius Smith possibly in need of a reworked contract, the Lions could rotate Tuimoloau for a year opposite Aidan Hutchinson, then have him step in as a long-term starter. I don’t think JT Tuimoloau gets enough credit for how impactful he was (stats and tape) during OSU’s National Title run. Four playoff gms: 20 pressures, 10 TFL, 6.5 sacks, 1 FF, A+ vs. the run. pic.twitter.com/2zDCXf0X3Z — Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) January 21, 2025 29. Washington Commanders: Josh Conerly Jr., OT, Oregon The Commanders’ dream season has shown us all how valuable Jayden Daniels is. And though Conerly is hardly a finished product, his ability to move and be a factor in the run game might be a perfect match here. He’s also athletic enough to play inside if Washington wants him to. 30. Buffalo Bills: Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas Barron has positional flexibility in the secondary, because of his coverage skills and hitting prowess — he could play corner, nickel or safety. He earned the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and tied for the SEC lead with five interceptions. Anywhere he plays, Barron would elevate the Buffalo secondary. 31. Philadelphia Eagles: Shavon Revel Jr., CB, East Carolina The country didn’t get to see Revel much, as a September knee injury cost him his season. But a year after drafting Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, finding another rangy and athletic chess piece would be a steal for the Eagles and a great investment — a combination Philly always does well. 32. Kansas City Chiefs: Aireontae Ersery, OT, Minnesota The Big Ten’s offensive lineman of the year, Ersery would land with his hometown Chiefs and immediately find a home along the offensive line. He was a late bloomer who blossomed with the Gophers and could become a Year 1 candidate at right tackle. Round 2 33. Cleveland Browns: Cameron Williams, OT, Texas 34. New York Giants: Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina 35. Tennessee: Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama The Titans can roll the dice on a talented QB they’re not sure about at No. 1 … or they can do the exact same thing at No. 35. With Carter available early, this might be the preferred path. 36. Jacksonville Jaguars: Benjamin Morrison, CB, Notre Dame 37. Las Vegas Raiders: Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa 38. New England Patriots: Donovan Ezeiruaku, Edge, Boston College 39. Chicago Bears (from CAR): Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan 40. New Orleans Saints: Harold Fannin Jr., TE, Bowling Green 41. Chicago Bears: Wyatt Milum, iOL/OT, West Virginia Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart passed for 4,279 yards and 29 touchdowns in his final college season. (Petre Thomas / Imagn Images) 42. New York Jets: Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss The Jets have a giant question mark at quarterback, and this is the right spot to take a shot. Dart led college football’s most electrifying offense and has the type of arm that can guide any aerial attack. 43. San Francisco 49ers: Tyleik Williams, DT, Ohio State 44. Dallas Cowboys: Jonah Savaiinaea, OL, Arizona 45. Indianapolis Colts: Jack Sawyer, Edge, Ohio State 46. Atlanta Falcons: Nic Scourton, Edge, Texas A&M 47. Arizona Cardinals: Landon Jackson, Edge, Arkansas 48. Miami Dolphins: Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama 49. Cincinnati Bengals: Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss 50. Seattle Seahawks: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas The Seahawks need to look to the future after a season that saw 34-year-old Geno Smith throw 15 interceptions and 21 touchdowns. Ewers is accurate and tough. Whether he’s NFL starting material remains to be seen, but he’s definitely worth taking a flier on 50 picks into the draft. 51. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Arareye’h Thomas, CB, Florida State 52. Denver Broncos: Cody Simon, LB, Ohio State 53. Pittsburgh Steelers: Tyler Shough, QB, Louisville We probably have too many quarterbacks in Round 2, but this is a weird class and it’s hard to say when the inevitable QB run will happen. It’s possible Shough goes higher than the QB6 spot he’s claimed here. #Louisville QB Tyler Shough might be the most interesting non-1st round QB prospect in this class. Will be a 26-yr old rookie, but he has a pro skill-set. Prototypical size (6045v, 225v), passing twitch and drive velocity. Late on this read, but that’s a 30-yd frozen rope. pic.twitter.com/YmqEvJZCdx — Dane Brugler (@dpbrugler) December 19, 2024 54. Los Angeles Chargers: Princely Umanmielen, Edge, Ole Miss 55. Green Bay Packers: Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford 56. Buffalo Bills (from MIN): Xavier Watts, S, Notre Dame 57. Houston Texans: Jayden Higgins, WR, Iowa State 58. Carolina Panthers (from LAR): Tre Harris, WR, Ole Miss 59. Baltimore Ravens: Marcus Mbow, OT/G, Purdue 60. Detroit Lions: Grey Zabel, OL, North Dakota State 61. Washington Commanders: Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky 62. Buffalo Bills: Carson Schwesinger, LB, UCLA 63. Philadelphia Eagles: Savion Williams, WR, TCU 64. Kansas City Chiefs: Sebastian Castro, DB, Iowa GO DEEPER A beginner’s guide to college football’s 2025 offseason (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos of Abdul Carter and Tetairoa McMillan: Scott Taetsch, Ric Tapia / Getty Images) Source link #NFL #Mock #Draft #QBs #Rounds #Abdul #Carter #Titans #top #pick Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

GTA Trevor Actor Wants A Very Definitive Exit In GTA 6 GTA Trevor Actor Wants A Very Definitive Exit In GTA 6 First a hello, then sent to hell. That’s the scenario the actor behind Grand Theft Auto V’s Trevor would like to see for the character in Grand Theft Auto VI. While Steve Ogg hasn’t reportedly done any work on the next entry in the franchise, he’d love to see Trevor “pass the torch” to new leads in a way that sees his brains turning into pink goo. Speaking with ScreenRant, Ogg explained that his wish for GTA VI is “if Trevor appeared in it just to be killed at the beginning.” This would be a full-circle moment for Trevor if Rockstar followed along with Ogg’s suggestion. That’s because Trevor kills GTA IV: The Lost and the Damned protagonist Johnny Klebitz in GTA V. “Pass the torch, stomp Trevor’s head in, and sort of put an end to that and allow a new generation to take over,” Ogg said. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. GTA 6 (Grand Theft Auto VI) Official Trailer 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 JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy enter Last year, Ogg was reflecting on the past with Trevor instead of looking into the future. For instance, the actor revealed he recorded lines for a James Bond-like story DLC for GTA V that would have seen Trevor going undercover. However, that add-on obviously never happened, and it was reportedly scrapped because of the success of GTA Online. As for GTA VI, the wait for the second trailer broke a sad record last month. It’s now been over 400 days since the first trailer debuted, with no end in sight. Meanwhile, an analyst believes GTA VI could cost as much as $100. A research company predicts the game will sell 40 million copies and make $3 billion in its first year of availability. GTA VI is planned to launch this coming fall. Source link #GTA #Trevor #Actor #Definitive #Exit #GTA Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Sam Altman said startups with only $10 million were ‘totally hopeless’ competing with OpenAI, DeepSeek’s disruption says otherwise Sam Altman said startups with only $10 million were ‘totally hopeless’ competing with OpenAI, DeepSeek’s disruption says otherwise Sam Altman’s comments on the prospects of startups hoping to break through in the AI business may have come back to bite him. Several posts on X (and probably other platforms) ridicule the OpenAI boss and co-founder’s dismissal of potential competition emanating from the startup scene, particularly those with only limited financial resources in the range of $10 million. Altman’s comments were made during a Q&A session after a ‘Conversations’ presentation to India VCs, recorded in June 2023. The comments seem way off the mark in early 2025, with DeepSeek now on the scene claiming its groundbreaking model only cost $5.6 million to train. This is pretty hilarious in retrospect.In India in 2023, Altman was asked how if a small, smart team with a budget of $10 million could build something substantial within AI.His reply: “It’s totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundation models” [Hidden Content] 28, 2025 Entrepreneur Arnaud Bertrand reckons that Altman’s response in the above clip is “pretty hilarious in retrospect.” In other words, Bertrand thinks Altman’s dismissal of the Indian VC’s question about startups challenging the likes of OpenAI showed a startling lack of foresight. The video begins with the VC stating that there is a very vibrant startup ecosystem in India. He goes on to muse whether Altman might see a gap in the AI business, one which an Indian startup could fill. More specifically, the VC asks whether a trio of super-smart engineers from India “with say, not $100M, but $10M – could build something truly substantial?” Altman’s response was quite dismissive of the VC’s well-mannered query. “Look, the way this works is we’re going to tell you it’s totally hopeless to compete with us on training foundation models. You shouldn’t try, and it’s your job to try anyway, and I believe both of those things,” was Altman’s disjointed stream-of-consciousness style reply, followed by audience titters. “I think it is pretty hopeless,” he added, possibly wishing to soften his initial response. deepseek’s r1 is an impressive model, particularly around what they’re able to deliver for the price.we will obviously deliver much better models and also it’s legit invigorating to have a new competitor! we will pull up some releases.January 28, 2025 To Altman’s credit, earlier today he posted a thread on X praising the catalyst behind his recent social media ridiculing. The launch of China’s DeepSeek has caused significant AI business and tech industry tremors, and Altman has now publicly admitted it is “an impressive model, particularly around what they’re able to deliver for the price.” Nevertheless, like the funding-hungry CEO he is, Altman quickly turned the thread around to OpenAI promising jam tomorrow, with the execution of the firm’s roadmap, amazing next-gen AI models, and “bringing you all AGI and beyond.” Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #Sam #Altman #startups #million #totally #hopeless #competing #OpenAI #DeepSeeks #disruption Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Macron to visit Louvre after alarm over Macron to visit Louvre after alarm over The Louvre is crumbling and needs a massive injection of state cash if it is to cope with ever-rising visitor numbers, the museum’s president has said. Laurence des Cars issued the stark warning in a leaked letter to the government raising the alarm over power-cuts, flooding, and failing infrastructure. She said that the famous glass pyramid – which since 1989 has housed the unique access point to the galleries – was “structurally unable to cope”, and that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, which is seen by 20,000 people every day, may have to be moved. French President Emmanuel Macron, who has taken a personal interest in the museum’s problems, will visit the Louvre on Wednesday amid speculation that he may announce a new investment plan. However his powers have been significantly curtailed since he lost control of parliament six months ago, and the precarious state of France’s finances – with the 2025 budget still in dispute – makes any big financial commitment highly contentious. According to Christian Galani of Louvre employees’ trade union, “not a day goes by without some new sign of the building’s decline – paint flaking, exhibition and storage rooms flooded, power-cuts, late-payments to contractors because there’s no money.” In November 2023 a temporary exhibition in the Sully wing had to be moved after just a few days because of a flood. Big variations in temperature – from 10C in winter to 30C in summer – cause discomfort to staff and visitors, as well as posing a threat to the conservation of art-works. The temperature problem is most starkly felt in the pyramid of architect Ieoh Ming Pei, which was designed to cope with four million annual visitors but today faces more than double that. Every day some 30,000 people pass through the turnstiles, making the Louvre the most visited museum in the world. In her letter, Laurence des Cars raised the need for better toilets, cafés and rest areas. She also said that “in the view of everyone, the presentation of the Mona Lisa… is something that needs to be looked at.” Around three-quarters of the museum’s visitors go to see Leonardo da Vinci’s painting, but the experience has become a trial, with a constant crowd being funnelled through the Salle des Etats and getting on average 50 seconds to observe the picture and take photos. “The public… has no way of comprehending the artist’s work, which raises questions over our whole mission of public service,” Ms des Cars said. Among the options under consideration is the opening of a new entrance to the Louvre beneath the colonnades at the palace’s eastern end. Currently there is a large open space here, with an empty moat that is not original but was created in the 1960s. By digging underground at the moat, and in the neighbouring Cour Carrée, new spaces could be created to ease congestion, improve facilities, and possibly house a re-located Mona Lisa. Another option for the painting would be to remove it from the main collection and require visitors to pay an extra fee. The Louvre received a state subsidy of €96m (£80m) in 2024. In 2023 it had receipts of €161m from tickets and events, as well as €83m from its sponsorship arrangement with the Louvre Abu Dhabi. With more state money unlikely, the museum is looking increasingly to the corporate donors and philanthropists that raised €840m to rescue Notre Dame cathedral after the fire. Culture Minister Rachida Dati is also known to support increasing entrance fees for non-EU visitors. Source link #Macron #visit #Louvre #alarm Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Early look at 2025 College Football Playoff, Heisman Trophy and conference title predictions Early look at 2025 College Football Playoff, Heisman Trophy and conference title predictions Will Ohio State repeat? Can Arch Manning lead Texas back to championship glory? Which teams will re-enter the College Football Playoff conversation after missing the bracket in 2024? We’re already thinking ahead to all the possibilities of the 2025 college football season. After Stewart Mandel published his initial Top 25 last Tuesday, led by Penn State at No. 1, we’re back with a survey of 31 college football writers and editors at The Athletic for their early national championship, Heisman Trophy, conference title and Playoff picks — plus some bold predictions. Who will win the national championship? Nine teams received at least one early national championship vote from our 31 staff members. Texas dominated the survey by earning nearly half of the votes, though there’s no consensus among the 16 people who didn’t choose the Longhorns. Texas has made the College Football Playoff semifinals in back-to-back seasons, finishing in the AP top five in consecutive years for the first time since 2008-09. Is it ready to take the next step under Steve Sarkisian? All eyes are on Arch Manning — former five-star recruit, grandson of Archie and nephew of Peyton and Eli — who is set for some of the highest expectations for a first-year starting quarterback in college football history. Texas does return a handful of other standouts to help him, including potential All-Americans Anthony Hill Jr. and Colin Simmons on defense. Beyond Texas, it may be a surprise to see that LSU received the second-most national championship votes in our survey, albeit with a modest four. The Tigers missed the Playoff in 2024, but they are No. 4 in Stewart Mandel’s initial Top 25, return quarterback Garrett Nussmeier and brought in one of the nation’s top transfer portal classes. Each of Mandel’s top eight teams received at least one vote, including three for his No. 1, Penn State, which got a wave of crucial players to return and plucked defensive coordinator Jim Knowles from Ohio State. The ninth team is Alabama, which is 14th in Mandel’s Top 25. Just two voters believe Ohio State will win back-to-back titles, while one chose Notre Dame to get back to the championship game and this time win the title for the first time since 1988. The only team on the list that has never won a national title is Oregon. GO DEEPER Way too early Top 25 for the 2025 college football season Who will win the Heisman Trophy? Player Team Pos Votes Jeremiah Smith WR 15 Arch Manning QB 7 LaNorris Sellers QB 3 DJ Lagway QB 2 Jeremiyah Love RB 2 Cade Klubnik QB 1 Drew Allar QB 1 Manning has the famous family, the name recognition and the team with the most national championship votes at the position that most commonly wins the Heisman Trophy, but he’s second in our early survey behind superstar Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024, Smith had 76 receptions for 1,316 and 15 touchdowns as a freshman for the national champions, making countless highlight-reel catches capped by a 56-yarder on third-and-11 that all but clinched the title against Notre Dame. He enters the 2025 season with name recognition too as the presumed consensus best player in college football and is a big reason why the Buckeyes will have hopes of repeating despite their roster turnover — including at quarterback, where fellow 2024 five-star Julian Sayin is the favorite to take over for Will Howard. Beyond the two frontrunners, a pair of rising stars in the SEC — South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and Florida’s DJ Lagway — got multiple votes, as did standout Notre Dame tailback Jeremiyah Love. Name 3 teams that missed the Playoff in 2024 but will make it in 2025 There is bound to be turnover in the 12-team Playoff field from 2024 to 2025, and we asked staffers to name three new teams that will make the bracket. Alabama is unsurprisingly a top candidate, though perhaps the loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl put a damper on enthusiasm for a 2025 breakthrough in Kalen DeBoer’s second season because the Crimson Tide ended up earning merely the second-most votes — three behind LSU, despite the Tigers finishing unranked with four losses. Miami and BYU join Alabama as teams that just missed the Playoff in 2024 and have optimism for a breakthrough next season. BYU received 16 votes to win the Big 12, so more than half of the staff believes the Cougars are a good bet to make the Playoff, even if they didn’t make as many lists here (where voters were limited to three choices). Of the 18 teams that received at least one vote, eight finished unranked in the AP poll in 2024: Michigan, Kansas State, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Iowa and Washington State. Which 2024 semifinalist is most likely to miss the 2025 Playoff? There’s no guarantee that any of the four semifinalists will miss the Playoff next season, and Penn State (No. 1), Texas (No. 2), Notre Dame (No. 3) and Ohio State (No. 6) are all highly ranked in Mandel’s early Top 25. So which of these teams is most likely to miss the bracket? National runner-up Notre Dame is the most common top choice, receiving 19 of 31 votes as it seeks to replace a handful of key defenders led by All-American safety Xavier Watts, plus quarterback Riley Leonard and defensive coordinator Al Golden. National champion Ohio State is second with seven votes, as the Buckeyes return Smith and Caleb Downs but lose a ton of talent to the NFL after so many players opted to come back for their senior seasons last year. Who will win the Big Ten championship? Despite the belief of some that Ohio State will miss the Playoff, it’s the slight favorite to do something it didn’t do in 2024 and win the Big Ten, edging Penn State by one vote. The Buckeyes haven’t won the Big Ten since 2020, while Penn State has soaring expectations for its first conference title since 2016. Oregon, which went undefeated in Big Ten play in its first season in the conference, received five votes despite the loss of quarterback Dillon Gabriel, while one voter believes Michigan will build on its late-season momentum for a Year 2 Big Ten title breakthrough under Sherrone Moore. GO DEEPER How Penn State refueled its roster to run it back in 2025: ‘Everyone’s finally getting it now’ Who will win the SEC championship? Texas lost two SEC games in 2024, both to Georgia: in the regular season in Austin and the SEC title game. Those two are the top vote-getters again, with 19 choosing the Longhorns to win the SEC in their second attempt after joining the conference from the Big 12. Georgia, LSU and Alabama are familiar choices for the title behind Texas, as those three teams have accounted for 11 SEC championships in a row. One voter did pick Ole Miss, which is still searching for its first conference title since 1963. GO DEEPER Texas’ Arch Manning era is here at last. But what will he have around him? Who will win the ACC championship? Despite having what seemed like a relatively down season with a 10-4 final record, Clemson won its eighth ACC title in 10 years to earn a Playoff bid. It’s favored for another with quarterback Cade Klubnik returning to lead an offense that started hitting its stride again as the season progressed. Miami, with Georgia transfer Carson Beck coming in at quarterback, is the only other ACC team to receive multiple votes. SMU, a Playoff team and the ACC runner-up in its first year in the conference didn’t receive any votes. Who will win the Big 12 championship? BYU lost a four-way tiebreaker to Arizona State and Iowa State at 7-2 in the Big 12 title game race, and our staff likes the Cougars to sustain their 2024 success and jump to the top of the league in 2025. More than half of voters picked BYU, which returns quarterback Jake Retzlaff and is No. 10 in Mandel’s Top 25. Arizona State, which received five votes, is aiming for a second consecutive title but will have to do it without All-American tailback Cam Skattebo. Not surprisingly, the Big 12 had the widest variety of conference championship choices, with six of 16 teams receiving a vote. One voter also declared that Kansas will make the Playoff. Which Group of 5 team will get an automatic bid? No Ashton Jeanty, no problem. Nearly half of voters like Boise State to return to the Playoff as one of the five highest-ranked conference champions despite the loss of the Heisman runner-up. Navy, UNLV and Memphis were the only other teams to receive multiple votes. Who will win Texas at Ohio State on Aug. 30? Week 1 of the 2025 college football season features a loaded slate, including LSU at Clemson, Notre Dame at Miami and Alabama at Florida State, among others. LSU-Clemson could be a top-five matchup, as could the biggest headliner: Manning and Texas visiting Ohio State in a matchup of the 2024 national champion and our early 2025 favorite. Both teams are breaking in a new starting quarterback, but Manning has more experience than Sayin and Texas may have fewer holes, making it the choice of 71 percent of our staff. Bold predictions We asked everyone to submit their early bold predictions and hot takes for the 2025 college football season. Here are some of the most notable and interesting early calls: Scott Dochterman: After Notre Dame played five Big Ten opponents in 2024, conversations commenced between Irish leadership and Big Ten brass about a union similar to what the Irish enjoy with the ACC. Perhaps in football, a six-game annual scheduling agreement (three home, three away) with the USC series remaining intact and one game annually on the West Coast? Bruce Feldman: Florida makes the Playoff. Matt Baker: There were only five Power 4 head coaching changes this cycle. There will be at least five in the SEC alone next cycle. Chris Vannini: Multiple starting players leave their teams during the season over not receiving promised NIL/revenue-sharing money. Sam Khan Jr.: Clemson will make the national championship game, Texas Tech will make the Big 12 championship game and Auburn will finish in the Top 25. Lindsay Schnell: After getting trounced by Notre Dame in South Bend, USC will fire Lincoln Riley, a striking fall from grace for a coach who many believed was destined for multiple national championships when he took over in L.A. Ralph D. Russo: Brian Kelly and LSU face Notre Dame in the national title game and Kelly beats his old team to win his first championship. Kennington Smith: Iowa will elevate to a top-50 offense. Grace Raynor: Rivals Clemson and South Carolina will have Heisman finalists in Cade Klubnik and LaNorris Sellers. Stewart Mandel: Wisconsin fires Luke Fickell and Cincinnati fires Scott Satterfield, and Fickell goes back to Cincinnati. Pete Sampson: Texas wins the national title and Steve Sarkisian heads to the NFL and drafts Arch Manning No. 1 overall. GO DEEPER A beginner’s guide to college football’s 2025 offseason (Top photos of Arch Manning and Jeremiah Smith: Tim Warner and Jamie Schwaberow / Getty Images) Source link #Early #College #Football #Playoff #Heisman #Trophy #conference #title #predictions Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

How To Find Pink Floyd Fight in Mortal Kombat 1 How To Find Pink Floyd Fight in Mortal Kombat 1 The Pink Floyd fight in Mortal Kombat 1 is one of the most incredible Easter Eggs in the fighting series’ history, and we have everything you need to know such as making him appear, and the story behind the encounter. Mortal Kombat‘s content has always perfectly juxtaposed its attitude. MK’s violence and excessive gore and mutilation have been the subject of much controversy for over 30 years. It’s also the same series that has provided players with the chance to finish fights with Friendships and Babalities and has Dan Forden popping up to shout Toasty! from time to time. There are secrets galore sprinkled into each entry, and MK1 is no different. Floyd AKA Pink Floyd has appeared in Mortal Kombat 1, offering a unique fight and cool rewards. Thanks to the fastidious work of fans, the Floyd fight is no longer a secret. How To Unlock Floyd in Mortal Kombat 1 It happened. Credit to kevinmcolon on X. Unlocking Floyd requires a Mortal Kombat 1 player profile to complete 10 challenges out of 37 to make the pink ninja appear. Firstly, thanks to thetiny, on X, for uncovering this secret and everything attached. I can’t even begin to fathom how much work this took and how you figure this out, but credit to all involved. Here’s a step-by-step guide on what to do, and then I’ll explain further: Make sure you’re on your primary Mortal Kombat 1 player profile you want to fight Floyd. Complete the 10 challenges uniquely associated with your profile—it’s random. Once you’ve done the 10th challenge and the fight has finished, a cutscene follows. You’re in a field, and Pink Floyd appears with a message saying, “You found Floyd!” You now fight Floyd! A limited amount of retries are given if you lose to Floyd. If you lose, you need to repeat steps 1-6. A quick note: Certain users have reported unlocking Floyd in less than 10 Challenges. A notification does signify when you’ve completed one of your assigned challenges, so keep track of how many you’ve done. It might end up being 10, or you may need less—pray the Earthrealm Gods are smiling at you. Every Floyd Challenge in Mortal Kombat 1 There are 37 Challenges attached to Pink Floyd, and I credit thetiny one again for their due diligence and putting together this incredible list of tasks. Many of these can be done with a second player to make the grind easier. Here are all 37 Challenges associated with Floyd. Floyd Challenge Name Requirement Required Fighter Required Kameo Total Disrespect Taunt 4 times in a match. No No Jumping Gets You Nowhere Win without jumping. No No Klean Sweep Win while having performed 13 Sweeps. No No Get Over Here Already Win as Scorpion and do a Fatality or an Animality. Scorpion No Flipping Out Flip Stance exactly 16 times and win the match. No No Up & Away Perform 5 Uppercuts exactly in one match and win. No No No Elder God Get first hit against Raiden Raiden No I Make The Rules Double Flawless as Liu Kang Liu Kang No No Luna Double Flawless as Reptile Reptile No Fire & Ice 400-Damage combo using Scorpion and Sub-Zero Kameo Scorpion Sub-Zero Ice & Fire 5-Hit combo using Sub-Zero using and Scorpion Kameo Sub-Zero Scorpion Perfect Kouple As Johnny Cage, have Sonya as your Kameo and Double Flawless. Johnny Cage Sonya Get The Horns As Shao Khan, let Motaro do the Fatal Blow (Press R1 during Fatal Blow). Shao Khan Motaro Hip Hop 4 Ever Jump exactly 22 times and win the match. No No Yeet!!! Throw exactly 7 times and win the match. No No This Is Where You Fall Down Lose to Johnny Cage with less than 9 seconds left. Johnny Cage No Timed Out Lose by running out of time. No No You ***** Lose to Shao Khan in the final round when he has 1% health. Shao Khan No I’m Down Too Win by spamming Down 2 times (Uppercut) into Brutality. No No Fists of Fury Win by using Punches only. No No Kicking It Win by using Kicks only. No No Sans ***** Win by using Front Kicks only. No No Losing Is Winning. Lose without doing anything. No No Keep Kalm & Finish Press 0 buttons in Round, win Round 2 and 3. No No Demonic Duo Use Jataaka’s Blessing on Ashrah until you regain an entire Super Meter. Ashrah Sareena Frosty!!! Use Kameo Sub-Zero to freeze yourself and let Enemy attack you and get frozen. Sub-Zero Sub-Zero Toasty!!! Use Flame Aura 3 times on yourself & the enemy. Scorpion Scorpion Ka Ballin Land 7 Mileena Ball Rolls. Mileena No. Hat Trick Hit your enemy with every hat from you and your Kameo including Upwards Hat. Kung Lao Kung Lao Fatal Finish Win 5 matches with a Fatality. No No You Finish Yet??? Do Fatal Finish 5 times. No No Inner Beast Use an Animality. No No Shaolin Monks Flawless Victory on the Wu Shi Academy. No No Door Buster Succeed in Baraka’s Test Your Might (Chapter 5, the last 2 episodes) in Story Mode. Baraka No Climb The Pyramid Replay Chapter 15 and reach the top of the pyramid. No No Challenge Accepted Complete a Daily Challenge in Towers of Time! (Press Start in Towers menu) No No Quest Keeper Complete a Weekly Challenge in Towers of Time! (Press Start in Towers menu) No No Floyd Fight Rewards in Mortal Kombat 1 You get a new Stage, Legendary Palettes, and special Kombat Kards for beating the Pink Floyd fight in Mortal Kombat 1. X user @SiCK_WAYZ is one of the many incredible players able to defeat Floyd—as they have shown. Thanks to their win, I can share with you the full extent of the fight’s rewards: Stage: Field—Sunset (Common) Palette: Scorpion Palette—Fires of Amaranth (Legendary) Palette: Sub-Zero Palette—Pink Ice (Legendary) Palette: Scorpion Palette—Fuchsia Flames (Legendary) Palette: Sub-Zero Palette—Fresh Powder (Legendary) Kombat Kard: Background (Common) Kombat Kard: Foreground (Common) Kombat Kard: Background (Common)— A different one. Kombat Kard: Foreground (Common)— A different one. Who is Pink Floyd in Mortal Kombat 1? Congratulations. Credit to @SiCK_WAYZ on X Floyd is the newest color-palette swap ninja Mortal Kombat was known for in its early days. It’s also an Easter Egg paying homage to Pink Floyd—the iconic English rock band. The origins of Mortal Kombat saw the now-defunct Midway reuse the same ninja sprite. It would be the same character and animation but with different colors to indicate it’s a new fighter. Scorpion was yellow, Sub-Zero was blue, green was used for Reptile, and so forth. It was cheaper, saved on design and programming costs, and was worked into the game’s lore. We’ve also had Ermac—a humorous play on the infamous MK error macro bug—in all red and Smoke in grey. The all-purple Rain is another with a musical association as the ninja’s name comes from Prince’s Purple Rain song—an artist who MK co-creator Ed Boon is a huge fan. A pink ninja is about one of the few remaining colors left. In steps Floyd. The character was hard to track down and is even harder to find, but at least you know the ludicrous amount of hoops required to jump through to get there now! I know this is a lot of information to get your head around. But I wish you well in your konquest to complete challenges and set you up with a Pink Floyd showdown. Also, let me know how you get on against the fiendish foe. For more MK news, check out rumors of MK1 DLC being canceled, and Ed Boon addressing this talk. SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Find #Pink #Floyd #Fight #Mortal #Kombat Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Parents, toss infant self-feeding devices ‘immediately’: Health Canada – National Parents, toss infant self-feeding devices ‘immediately’: Health Canada – National Descrease article font size Increase article font size Health Canada has issued an urgent advisory for parents and caregivers to stop using infant self-feeding devices sold on AliExpress.ca, citing serious choking and suffocation hazards. Infant self-feeding devices are banned in Canada and pose life-threatening risks that violate the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, the health agency warned. “Consumers who have these affected products should immediately stop using them and dispose of the items,” Health Canada said. The advisory, issued on Jan. 24, explains these devices allow infants to hold a bottle and feed before they have developed the necessary muscles to do so safely. They also position the bottle in a way that makes it hard for the infant to stop feeding when needed. Get weekly health news Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday. As a result, Health Canada said, these products pose a choking or suffocation hazard to the infants using them, which can end in illness or death from aspirating the feeding liquid. Story continues below advertisement “When feeding, infants regurgitate small amounts of liquid food; therefore, they should be monitored at all times while feeding to ensure the caregiver can intervene if any concerning fluid intake or behaviours appear while the infant is feeding,” the agency added. This advisory involves the following products: Baby Bottle Kids Cup Silicone Sippy Children Training Cute Baby Drinking Water Straw Feeding Bottle Hands-free Bottle (300 millilitres). Baby Cups Can Be Rotated Magic Cup Kids Leak-proof Drinking Water Bottle Hand Free Cup BPA Free (330 ml). Baby Feeding Bottle Long Straw Hands-free Bottle Nipple Multifunctional Baby Bottle Kids Cup Silicone Sippy Mouth NO BPA. Erduo Newborn Baby Water Feeding Bottles Gourdes Drinking Bottle Children with Straw Hands Free Silicone Baby Item Newborn Set. Trending Now Navy identifies sailor who died in Halifax-area basin incident, says 911 call came in ‘This is insane s—‘: Bill Gates criticizes Elon Musk for far-right support Health Canada has banned infant self-feeding devices in Canada under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act. The products have been removed from ***** online from AliExpress.ca and Health Canada said it has contacted the foreign third-party sellers and is advising consumers to stop using the infant self-feeding devices immediately. AliExpress.ca reported that 60 units of the affected products were sold in Canada. So far, no incidents or injuries related to these products have been reported to Health Canada. More on Health More videos &copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc. Source link #Parents #toss #infant #selffeeding #devices #immediately #Health #Canada #National Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Trump Says Microsoft Is One Of Multiple Companies Eyeing TikTok Purchase Trump Says Microsoft Is One Of Multiple Companies Eyeing TikTok Purchase Microsoft is one of multiple companies looking to strike a deal to take ownership of the popular social media app TikTok, according to United States president Donald Trump. Asked on Monday aboard Air Force One if Microsoft was in the mix to make a deal, Trump told reporters, including the AP, “I would say yes.” In 2020, Microsoft officially announced plans to buy TikTok, which sent the company’s share price surging. Microsoft later abandoned its buyout attempt, with CEO Satya Nadella saying the deal was the “strangest thing I’ve ever worked on.” Now, Microsoft may be back at the negotiating table. Trump said other companies are in the mix to buy TikTok as well, but he didn’t name them outright. It was previously reported that Activision founder Bobby Kotick was assembling an investment group to buy TikTok. The AI company Perplexity has also discussed a potential deal that would give the US government a 50% ownership stake in TikTok. “I like bidding wars because you make your best deals,” Trump said. Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court upheld TikTok’s ban, and the platform briefly went dark. It’s back online, though the app remains unavailable for new users from the App Store and Google Play. Trump recently extended the deadline for TikTok to find a new owner in the US by 75 days, with the deadline now being April 4. Republicans and Democrats alike have raised concerns about national security over TikTok based on the company’s ownership by a ******** company, ByteDance. How a potential ***** of TikTok might come together remains a mystery, whether it comes as a ***** of TikTok’s US operations, the platform entirely, or some other kind of deal beyond a total divestiture by ByteDance. ByteDance is holding steady and saying over and over that it will not sell. Source link #Trump #Microsoft #Multiple #Companies #Eyeing #TikTok #Purchase Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The advent of DeepSeek is positive for this ‘Mag 7’ giant, analysts say The advent of DeepSeek is positive for this ‘Mag 7’ giant, analysts say Shares of Apple may actually benefit from the emergence of DeepSeek’s artificial intelligence technology, according to Wall Street analysts. Tech stocks melted down on Monday after ******** startup DeepSeek emerged as a new threat to current levels of investment in AI. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 3.1% lower, but Apple was an exception, climbing 3.2% Monday. AAPL 5D mountain Apple shares over the past five days The reason that Apple managed to buck a massive technology selloff comes down to iPhone maker being “the ultimate play on having an LLM in your pocket,” according to Bank of America, referring to large language models ised in AI. In fact, BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan believes the emergence of DeepSeek could eventually help Apple’s bottom line. “On a day when AI stocks were down double-digit percent, Apple shares were up 3% as investors realize the potential for edge AI and there is a flight to safety driven by Apple’s earnings resiliency,” Mohan wrote. “If DeepSeek is truly able to lower the cost of AI inferencing and better models are developed faster and cheaper, then edge AI applications and Apple as the edge device maker, stands to benefit.” In a Tuesday note, TD Cowen analyst Krish Sankar agreed. “Market focus on DeepSeek and efficient AI models (similar to AAPL’s AFM LLM) could accelerate AI app innovation and mobile upgrades,” Sankar said, referring to the Apple Foundation Model . “The advent of low-cost, efficient LLM models such as DeepSeek R1 could drive smartphone upgrade interest but creation of productive, end applications is still an important element.” Besides potentially benefiting from DeepSeek’s technology, Baird analyst William Power said that Apple faces “limited competitive impact from DeepSeek AI” versus other peers. “While DeepSeek AI has raised concerns for some of the AI infrastructure leaders, AAPL is less exposed, and is arguably well positioned to benefit from the potential expansion of GenAI capabilities,” he wrote, “without spending tens of billions of dollars on LLMs or infrastructure.” — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report. Source link #advent #DeepSeek #positive #Mag #giant #analysts Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

University confirms plans to cut 400 jobs University confirms plans to cut 400 jobs Cardiff University has confirmed plans to cut 400 full-time jobs amid a funding shortfall. The proposals to save money could also involve school and subject closures and school mergers, with nursing, music and modern languages among the subjects being cut. The University and College Union said it would fight plans for compulsory redundancies. The university said it would only make compulsory redundancies “if absolutely necessary”. Vice-Chancellor, Professor Wendy Larner said “it is no longer an option for us to continue as we are”. She said the university needed to “take difficult decisions” due to “declining international student applications and increasing cost pressures, and the need to adapt to survive”. “I know that these proposals impact some staff more than others and they will cause a great deal of uncertainly and anxiety for those potentially impacted,” she added. Source link #University #confirms #plans #cut #jobs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Mike Vanderjagt was money for the Colts, but one big playoff miss changed things forever Mike Vanderjagt was money for the Colts, but one big playoff miss changed things forever He wore spandex sleeves, highlights in his hair and a diamond stud in his ear. He once called himself “the best kicker in history” and had the numbers to back it up. Before games, he used to slip a dollar bill under his wristband. “Because I was money,” Mike Vanderjagt says. He’d chirp at coaches on the practice field — “Left half or right half?” — because simply splitting the uprights for an hour straight was too easy. “Boring,” he called it. As a soccer phenom, he nearly made the ********* U-18 national team; as a quarterback, he earned a scholarship to Michigan State; as a kicker, he was cut three times in the CFL and once in the Arena League. Then he landed a tryout with the Indianapolis Colts and stayed eight years. He married a Colts cheerleader. He got a Colts tattoo on his left shoulder. He lit up reporters’ microphones with soundbites that stirred headlines and sometimes got him in hot water. Once, in the days before a divisional playoff game, Vanderjagt called the mid-dynasty Patriots “ripe for the picking.” (They were not.) Famously, he went on a radio show and questioned his quarterback’s mettle and his coach’s fire. But you can get away with that when you’re the best in the league, and in the early 2000s, Vanderjagt was, clutch and ****** and unapologetic about it. He led the NFL in scoring in 1999. Four years later, he was the first kicker in history to finish a full season without a miss: 83 of 83 on field goals and extra points. He used to taunt the opposing sideline before game-winners, rubbing his thumb over his index finger — he was money, remember. “It took 20 years for someone to retire above me,” he says, a nod to his 86.5 career make percentage. “I mean, 81.8 was the best at the time … I was miles ahead. I raised the standard.” He was. He did. But today Vanderjagt has no relationship with the team he left as its all-time leading scorer. “Let’s be honest,” he says, “clearly, I should be in the Ring of Honor.” But he’s not. And he’s never going to be. And plenty of it has to do with one afternoon in January 2006. “Whatever you do, don’t be a kicker,” Vanderjagt warned his son a few years back. “Because no matter how good you are, they’ll only ever remember you for the ones you miss.” Especially in the playoffs. He thinks he could’ve been more. Vanderjagt once went 21 months without missing in an NFL game. He was a Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro. He retired with the best field goal percentage in league history. Still. “I had a lot more to offer than just being a kicker,” he says. “That’s just how I feel.” As a high school senior in Ontario, he averaged 31 points a game on the basketball court. “And that was without a 3-point line,” he notes. On the soccer field, he was one of the best young goalies in Canada, the last cut of the U-18 national team. At one point, his mom weighed sending him to Europe to train. “In hindsight, I wish she had,” he says. Vanderjagt believes he would’ve made it. Instead, he took that scholarship to Michigan State, showed up to the first practice and realized he wasn’t going to last. “That was big-boy football,” he says. He landed at a junior college in California, but the program folded a year later. Realizing his future rested in kicking and not quarterbacking, he transferred to West Virginia and, before his senior year, was drafted into the CFL. He was cut four times in four years, including by the Arena Football League’s Minnesota Fighting Pike. Then, in the summer of 1998, after two years and two Grey Cups with the Toronto Argonauts, he got a shot with the Colts. Something clicked. His motion was smooth, almost effortless, honed from all those years booting soccer ******. “I feel like I was in the zone for seven of my eight years in Indy,” Vanderjagt says. “I wasn’t technically minded at all. They just put the ball down and I kicked it through.” He landed in Indy at the right time. The Colts were taking off. Future Hall of Famers Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison were inching into their primes, and Vanderjagt became another offensive weapon. He oozed confidence on the sideline, especially when the score grew tight in the fourth quarter. He knew the team’s belief in him hinged on his belief in himself. He couldn’t let them see him sweat. So he never did. “The more you convince the 52 other guys that there’s nothing to worry about come field goal time, the more comfortable you are,” Vanderjagt says. “Because then they aren’t going, ‘Oh my God, is he gonna make it?’ They’re going, ‘This dude’s got it.’” One night in Denver late in the 2002 season, the Colts were down three but driving late in the fourth quarter. Snow blanketed the grass. The wind whipped. Vanderjagt stared out at a field he couldn’t see. “Can you make it?” Tony Dungy asked him. “Of course I can make it,” Vanderjagt told his coach. “All right, field goal,” Dungy decided. “I’m like, ah sh–,” Vanderjagt says, laughing at the memory. He could barely make out the uprights, but he was good from 54 yards. Overtime. Moments later, the Colts were driving again. “Do you wanna win?” Vanderjagt asked Dungy, pleading for another attempt. “Or do you wanna keep playing?” Dungy wanted to win. Vanderjagt was good from 51. To that point, no kicker in history had ever made kicks from 50-plus to send a game into overtime, then win it. Vanderjagt had done so in a blizzard. He gave the Colts the swagger they needed as they climbed into the Super Bowl conversation. Vanderjagt became the best in the league, finishing at higher than 85 percent in six of his eight seasons in Indianapolis. Off the field, he started a charity and visited children’s hospitals. He used to hit the bars with James and Reggie Wayne. (Years later, Vanderjagt opened a restaurant with James in Marco Island, Fla., aptly named Vandy’s with an Edge.) On game days, he’d chop it up with Harrison at the end of the bench. “Vandy, you see that move I just put on that guy?” Harrison would ask. “Yeah, I saw it Marv,” Vanderjagt would tell him. But for years, stellar seasons soured in the playoffs. The Colts couldn’t break through. A few weeks after a dispiriting 41-0 loss to the Jets in the 2002 wild-card round, Vanderjagt went on a Toronto-based radio show and unloaded on his coach and quarterback. “He’s just a mild-mannered guy,” he said of Dungy. “He doesn’t get too excited, he doesn’t get too down. And I don’t think that works.” And of Manning, who was 0-3 in the postseason to that point: “I’m like, ‘God, Peyton, come on, show some enthusiasm. You’re the quarterback.’ I just don’t see it from him. Some guys have it, and some guys don’t.” It did not go over well. Vanderjagt retired in 2007 with a 86.5 career make percentage, at the time the best in league history. (Donald Miralle / Getty Images) Google Mike Vanderjagt and the first video that comes up isn’t of Mike Vanderjagt. It’s of Manning, at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, fuming about the Colts’ “****** kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off.” When he saw the clip, Vanderjagt was incensed. He hadn’t had an ounce to drink before the interview in Toronto. No matter. The soundbite followed him for years. He heard it from fans on the street. He heard it from opponents before he lined up to kick. Announcers mentioned it on the air during Colts games. He was forever stamped “the liquored-up kicker.” He’d done the unthinkable in Indianapolis: he’d crossed Peyton Manning. Some in the organization never forgave him. Same goes for the fan base. “Look, I regret doing the interview, obviously,” Vanderjagt says now. “That’s one of the most obvious things in the world for me. I shouldn’t have said it. I take the onus to the fact that I shouldn’t have said it.” But, the way he remembers it, the issue was squashed quickly. Vanderjagt confronted Manning a few weeks later in the Colts’ weight room. The conversation went something like this: Vanderjagt: “What the hell were you thinking?” Manning: “What was I thinking? What were you thinking?” Vanderjagt thought about it for a moment, realizing he was the one who’d started the mess. “Yeah, you’re right,” he finally said. Both agreed they were in the wrong. Both apologized. They buried it and moved on. A few months later, when the Colts reported for the first day of offseason workouts, Vanderjagt showed up in a Manning No. 18 jersey. The following season, he didn’t miss a kick. The Colts made a run to the AFC Championship Game. Vanderjagt and Manning ended up playing three seasons together after the “****** kicker” comments, and two decades later they remain friendly — Manning still reaches out to Vanderjagt on his birthday each year. At one point, with his son growing older, Vanderjagt decided he wanted to pass on a few of the lessons he’d learned from his nine years in the NFL. So he started by emailing his old quarterback. “As I raise my son,” Vanderjagt wrote Manning, “I want to raise him to live life without any regrets. And one of the biggest regrets I have is how I handled that interview in Toronto.” Manning’s response was succinct. “Listen man, I value your friendship. We’re way past this.” Vanderjagt gets it. A star quarterback beefing with his kicker in public? The headlines write themselves. “It’s such a juicy story that two teammates hate each other,” he says. “But we really didn’t.” Winning is the NFL’s great salve, and the Colts kept winning. By 2005 they were the best team in football, primed for a Super Bowl run. “A juggernaut,” former defensive end Robert Mathis called them. “We felt unstoppable,” added linebacker Gary Brackett. Then came the playoff opener, the 21-3 deficit the Colts dug themselves against the Steelers in the divisional round and the gripping theater that followed. After two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the Colts needed a 46-yarder from Vanderjagt to send the game into overtime. Twenty-one seconds remained. Their dream season rested on his right leg. He hadn’t missed inside the dome all season. Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher called timeout, hoping to ice him. Vanderjagt stared Cowher down. Then he brashly pointed his finger at the coach. What all that cocksure was hiding: Vanderjagt was at war with his mechanics, and by that point in the season his confidence was badly shaken. He’d boot 50 ****** in practice and miss half of them. He somehow went 4-for-4 in a win over the Jaguars late in the year and was presented with a game ball afterward. “How on earth am I getting a game ball?” he muttered to himself. As Vanderjagt lined up, he had no idea where the ball was going to end up. It’s the worst feeling a kicker can have. “I was more surprised when it went in that year than when it didn’t,” he says. Every once in a while Vanderjagt will run into someone from Pittsburgh, and he always tells them the same thing: you’re welcome. “It is what it is,” he says. He missed that kick by a mile — “the worst kick I’ve ever seen,” Colts linebacker Cato June later called it — and the Colts fell 21-18. The ball went so far right the TV cameras could barely track it. Three weeks later, the Steelers won the franchise’s fifth Super Bowl. But what’s been largely forgotten: Vanderjagt didn’t lose the Colts the game. They came in overconfident, thinking they would roll over a team they’d routed 26-7 in the regular season. The defense was gashed for three quarters. The offense punted on six of its first seven possessions. It took a stirring rally, a bad call — a Troy Polamalu interception was incorrectly overturned — and Jerome Bettis’ fumble 2 yards from the goal line just for them to have a chance. “For the record, we played like sh– as a team,” Vanderjagt says. “We were favored by 6.5 and we were losing the whole game.” Even then, down three with under a minute left, Manning got greedy, taking two deep shots to Wayne from the Steelers’ 28-yard-line. On the second, a dump-off to a wide-open James would’ve likely gotten the Colts down to the Steelers’ 15. Instead, Vanderjagt was left with a 46-yarder. Still, it was a kick he should have made. And he wasn’t close. Inside a stunned locker room, Vanderjagt stood at his stall and waited for reporters. He knew he had to own it. “I don’t make any excuses about anything,” he said. A few days later, Colts’ PR chief Craig Kelley passed along an unusual request: “The Late Show with David Letterman” wanted Vanderjagt to come on as a guest. “You go on that show and you’re not coming back,” Vanderjagt remembers team president Bill Polian warning him. Vanderjagt was an impending free agent. He figured after the Pittsburgh miss, his days in Indy were numbered. So not only did he go on the show, but also he kicked a 46-yard field goal on the streets of New York City with Letterman holding. This time, he made it. “No regrets whatsoever,” Vanderjagt says. Polian was irate. “They weren’t bringing me back,” Vanderjagt says. “When you listen to Bill Polian’s radio show the day after the game and you’re the most accurate kicker in history and you get thrown under the bus for why we lost, you’re just like, ‘I deserve better.’ Listen, I needed to go somewhere else. It was a Bill Polian thing. I’m just not a very good ****-kisser. I’m not good at being fake. “But hey, had I stayed, I probably wouldn’t have been any good anyway.” That’s because, by that point, Vanderjagt wasn’t the same. He likens it to a golfer fighting his swing, unable to find the fairway no matter how much he tinkers with it. Two days after the Colts signed Adam Vinatieri to replace him, Vanderjagt agreed to a three-year deal with the Cowboys. But he missed five kicks early in the 2006 season and was cut after Week 12. A few NFL tryouts the following year went nowhere. He was finished. Vanderjagt didn’t watch much of the Colts’ Super Bowl run in the winter of 2007. It still stung. He’d been a part of the climb but didn’t make it to the summit. When he learned that owner Jim Irsay gifted James — who also left the organization after the 2005 season — a Super Bowl ring a few months after the championship, Vanderjagt was thrilled. He loves Edgerrin. But he couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t get one as well. “Outside of Indianapolis, I’m not known for one kick,” says Vanderjagt, who also says he hasn’t heard from the Colts organization nearly 20 years after his playoff miss. (Bob Rosato / Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) These days, he lives in upstate New York and coaches special teams at the local high school. In the offseason, he trains aspiring kickers, two of whom made it to NFL training camps this summer. He’s also a motivational speaker who built a million-dollar business in sports graphics. And Vanderjagt — who’s still eighth all-time in field goal percentage — says he gets fan mail every day. “Every day,” he insists. “And nobody mentions the one kick. Outside of Indianapolis, I’m not known for one kick.” The miss against the Steelers doesn’t haunt him. He refused to let one miss stain eight stellar seasons. “Look, there are kicks I’d like to have back, and Pittsburgh is certainly one of them,” he says. “But it’s one kick in a long career where I made a sh– ton of big ones. It just happened to be at the end. It wasn’t an exclamation point on a bad career — it was a blip on the radar.” Still, it strained his relationship with the Colts. Vanderjagt says he hasn’t heard from Irsay or anyone in the organization since he left almost 20 years ago. “But I don’t know how many ex-players do,” he says. The answer is plenty. Ten of Vanderjagt’s former teammates have been inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor since 2011. Plenty more are invited back to home games every season. When Dwight Freeney went into the Hall of Fame last August, Vanderjagt sent him a congratulatory text. “Appreciate the invite,” he joked at the end. Freeney was surprised. He’d told the Colts to invite every one of his former teammates to come celebrate with him in Canton. Vanderjagt, who nominated himself for the Hall of Fame each of the past two years, didn’t hear a thing. “You were a great teammate, Mike,” Freeney wrote back. So for Vanderjagt, his focus rests with the young kickers he coaches. The aim is simple: he wants to help them earn college scholarships. Some of the kids marvel at his old stats. Some can’t believe his “Madden” rating. “I was a 99 one year,” Vanderjagt boasts. “They couldn’t get over that.” More than anything, Vanderjagt works to sharpen their resolve. The position can be the loneliest in football, unceasing in expectation but unforgiving in failure. He knows better than most. Miss a big one and all the makes seem to disappear. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Darron Cummings, Al Behrman / AP Photo) Source link #Mike #Vanderjagt #money #Colts #big #playoff #changed Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Real Reason Why Rockstar Witnessed a Mutiny for Its Most Immoral Game That Made GTA Violence Look Normal Real Reason Why Rockstar Witnessed a Mutiny for Its Most Immoral Game That Made GTA Violence Look Normal Although the Grand Theft Auto series by Rockstar has long been criticized for its ludicrous and frequently unsettling portrayals of extreme but realistic situations, it also uses the justification that it is a parody. However, it is nothing in front of Manhunt. This game took a chance by heavily relying on the most mature aspects of the same world after the high-profile controversy that followed Grand Theft Auto 3‘s success in the early 2000s. Manhunt was released on November 18, 2003. | Credit: Rockstar Games. Manhunt accomplishes a number of particularly gloomy things that make it worthwhile to play again, even though it’s unlikely that the developer will ever create a project with this tone again. However, the game’s over-the-top dark and eerie environment brought a lot of backlash towards Rockstar. Manhunt was probably the most disturbing project by Rockstar Games Video game violence peaked with Manhunt. | Credit: Rockstar Games. Manhunt is a unique title in Rockstar Games’ library that crosses the boundary between stealth action and grim survival horror. James Earl Cash, a death row inmate forced to take part in a complex snuff film ring, is the main character of Manhunt, which plays it much more straight. This was not well received at Rockstar after the backlash brought on by GTA 3‘s success. Former developer Jeff Williams made an enlightening comment about the perception of Manhunt at Rockstar Games in a since-deleted blog post that GamesRadar shared, describing some of his time there: Manhunt, though, just made us all feel icky. It was all about the violence, and it was realistic violence. We all knew there was no way we could explain away that game. There was no way to rationalize it. We were crossing a line. Despite being set in a portion of the Grand Theft Auto universe, Manhunt has likely been forgotten in terms of its connection to the current franchise. It is difficult to believe that the violent dynamic of Manhunt could be on Rockstar’s agenda, given that the emphasis on cleaner realism appears to be at an all-time high in the GTA 6 trailer and that the boundaries between parody and reality are more hazy than ever. Rockstar titles have had their share of messed-up moments, but for those who aren’t prepared for something so visceral, exploring its darkest title is probably going to be shocking. And if you are done with this extreme game and want to put your bravado to more tests, then you can check out these ones for size. Will we ever get something like Manhunt? Butcher’s Creek is 2024’s Manhunt. | Credit: David Szymanski. We might not ever get Manhunt. But there’s a saying, “You can kill the man, but not his ideas.” And Butcher’s Creek is exactly proving that. David Szymanski ignited the boomer shooter renaissance with Dusk, drawing inspiration from id Software’s classic Doom. He has returned with Butcher’s Creek, a brand-new, incredibly violent first-person shooter that is reminiscent of Condemned and Manhunt. The game has already been released on Steam. You portray an enraged, violent snuff film enthusiast in Butcher’s Creek who is pursuing a death cult. These men, dressed in plaid shirts and burlap sacks, abduct their victims, take them back to a hideout in the woods, and then capture the killings on VHS. You would play the vengeful hero in many other first-person shooter games, intent on stopping the cult’s horrible actions. You want to keep the tapes in Butcher’s Creek for yourself, and you’ve even brought your own camera so you can snap pictures of the cult members you’ve killed. Sounds scary, yes? Because it is. Seems like we have got an unofficial Manhunt sequel before GTA 6. Let us know your thoughts about Manhunt or even Butcher’s Creek in the comments below! Source link #Real #Reason #Rockstar #Witnessed #Mutiny #Immoral #Game #GTA #Violence #Normal Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]