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How he went from football sensation to BBC star How he went from football sensation to BBC star PA Media Final whistle: Gary Lineker hosted Match of the Day for 25 years Gary Lineker, who will leave Match of the Day at the end of this season, BBC News understands, has been the steady hand who guided millions of fans through football’s agonies and ecstasies. As host of the flagship show for 25 years, he is also one of the corporation’s highest-profile presenters, earning £1.3 million last year. His one-line pay-offs at the end of each show, summing up both the fans’ mood and the match, may have looked seamless. But they were the result of years of honing his craft and presenting skills. Getty Images Gary Lineker celebrated qualifying for Euro 92 after the match between Poland and England in 1991 As a former footballer of considerable pedigree – including England captain and striker, with 48 goals in 80 appearances – he famously never received a red or yellow card during his career. His ability to keep his cool on the pitch stood him in good stead for a career in live broadcasting when he retired as a player in 1994. Even while he was still at school, he had his sights set on sports journalism, deciding it would be his fall-back if football didn’t work out. Clearly it did. Known for his ability to find gaps in the opposition’s defence, and his “poacher’s instinct” , Lineker was the 1986 World Cup Golden Boot winner, and the top goal-scorer in England three times, each with a different club: Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. But while his sports career was at its peak at the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, Lineker spent time with journalists staying in the same hotel as the England team. “As early as my mid-20s, I knew which direction I wanted to go in when I retired from playing,” he told the BBC in 2014. “I would watch the newspaper guys write their opening paragraphs and sit with the radio journalists and talk to them about how they did their job.” His ultimate aim was to end up as the presenter rather than a pundit. But he admitted his transition into radio and TV “took a lot of work”. Lineker won the Golden Boot, for leading goal scorer, at Mexico’s 1986 World Cup His early broadcasting attempts were “fairly appalling”, he told the BBC’s Media Show’s Ros Atkins in 2021. Starting out on Radio 5 Live “was all part of the learning process”, he said. “I managed to stumble my way through it, and I learned from really good people alongside me who were incredibly helpful in the early days.” Lineker built on that experience, writing all his own scripts and carving out a role for himself. Having watched ex-sports stars David Gower presenting the cricket and Sue Barker presenting the tennis, he questioned why it wasn’t the same in football. “I just thought, as a player who’s played right at the top, if I could ****** presenting it would give me a niche,” he told BBC Radio 4 podcast Don’t Tell Me the Score in 2019. “It would give me an advantage over all the others.” Meanwhile, his popularity as a footballer endured. In 1991, Arthur Smith and Chris England wrote a stage play called An Evening With Gary Lineker, about a couple trying to rekindle their marriage during the 1990 World Cup semi-final. Starring Caroline Quentin, Clive Owen, Paul Merton and Martin Clunes, it was filmed for TV in 1994 – with Lineker making a cameo appearance. David Gower, Nick Hancock, Rory McGrath and Gary Lineker on They Think It’s All Over in 2002 He also began building his wider TV career, appearing as a team captain on BBC One’s comedy panel show, They Think It’s All Over, from 1995 to 2003. As a presenter, he got himself noticed when he stood in for Des Lynam on the Saturday afternoon sports show Grandstand, in 1997. By the mid-90s, Lineker was also appearing on Match of the Day as a pundit. This gave him a prime learning spot – right next to its experienced and slick host Lynam. “Des was very helpful – I used to ask a lot of questions about the little things that he did, and picked up some of his nuances,” the former footballer said. “He told me to be brave occasionally with closing lines, and not to be afraid to try to be amusing. “Again, the little pay-offs I sometimes make at the end of the show are something that came from him.” PA Media Lineker said Des Lynam was “the doyen of sports presenters and a tough act to follow” By 1999, Lineker was hosting the show, and reaching audiences the BBC sometimes struggled to attract and retain. People would also tune in to see his chemistry with the show’s pundits – including other former footballers such as Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, Micah Richards and Alan Hansen. Lineker’s questions kept the analysis flowing, while he was always willing to share a joke and opinion of his own. He also memorably introduced the show in his pants in 2016, having pledged to “do the first MOTD of next season in just my undies” if his former club Leicester won the Premier League, which they did. Shearer and Wright couldn’t keep straight faces. Their friendships often shone through. In June this year, Lineker and Shearer sent an emotional message of support to Hansen, after hearing the news that he was seriously ill in hospital. Getty Images Climbing to the top: Lineker tries out a climbing wall But despite his rapport with his colleagues, off-screen matters were not as straightforward. As one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters, regularly topping the list of the staff whose salaries are declared, he faced constant scrutiny. Lineker did not shy away from speaking out about his own views, particularly on social media, while simultaneously working for a broadcaster committed to impartiality. In March last year, he posted on X about the government’s asylum policy – resulting in the BBC briefly suspending him. Shearer, Wright and other BBC sport presenters refused to appear on air, in protest at his absence. Match of the Day was reduced to a 20-minute edition ****** its host, pundits and commentary – and the story made headline news for several days, with politicians and media commentators all weighing in on the issue. BBC director general Tim Davie subsequently apologised to licence fee payers for the disruption, calling it a “difficult day” for the corporation. Lineker was reinstated nine days later. The presenter later said the response to his tweet was “silly – it shouldn’t have been”. “I love the BBC. I’ve been there for nearly 30 years but people make mistakes, they recognise that and they addressed it and in the end, thankfully, we’re all back to work,” he said. Getty Images Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have fronted many major football tourments The headlines and dramas generated by his online views reinforced not only his high celebrity status – but also how keen the BBC was to hang on to him. The incident prompted a review of BBC social media guidelines. Last September, new rules were published for BBC flagship presenters, saying they should be allowed to express views on issues and policies, but stop short of political campaigning. Lineker said the recommendations were “all very sensible”. By February this year, he said he was using X less often, saying the platform had become “increasingly toxic” under its new owner, Elon Musk. Despite this, he and the BBC are still parting company, and its flagship football show no longer has a host. Lineker has plenty of outside business interests, including the successful podcast production company he co-founded, called Goalhanger. It produces shows including The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Entertainment and The Rest Is Politics, which won the Champion prize at this year’s Podcast Awards. But for the BBC, Lineker’s departure comes hot on the heels of several scandals. Former Match of the Day and The One Show host Jermaine Jeanas was sacked in August following complaints about workplace conduct. In September, the BBC apologised to Amanda Abbington and upheld some of her complaints against her 2023 Strictly dance partner Giovanni Pernice, while clearing him of the most serious allegations. In the same month, Mr Davie said he could not see disgraced ex-news presenter Huw Edwards working at the corporation again. Edwards was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he admitted charges of making indecent images of children. So the BBC is in need of some good headlines – and Lineker’s departure means it now has to find an exceptional host to fill his shoes, which will not be an easy task. Source link #football #sensation #BBC #star Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Qian Sima and the Shiji – the Devotion of a True Historian Qian Sima and the Shiji – the Devotion of a True Historian Active during the Han Dynasty ******* in China’s history, Sima Qian is widely considered to be the father of ******** historiography. A celebrated historian, he is best known for his seminal work, the Shiji, or “Records of the Grand Historian”. Written during the late 2nd century BC, this monumental work stands out as one of the first compiled histories of ancient China, reaching all the way back in time to the mythical “Yellow Emperor”, who reportedly reigned for a hundred years, starting in 2698 BC. Qian Sima was, however, very devoted to his work, and produced one of the foremost historical works from the *******. What made his approach to writing history so successful? And what was his legacy for the ******** people? Shiji and the Foundation of ******** Historiography Sima Qian was born roughly around 145 BC, during the early years of the Han Dynasty, while it was ruled by Emperor Wu. He was the son of the noted astronomer, scholar, and historian, Sima Tan, and this meant that he too was deeply immersed in these subjects, even from an early age. And the fact that his father became the official Court Astronomer for the Emperor, allowed him to access many ancient texts and historical records from the royal libraries. Because of this, it was Sima Qian’s father that deeply influenced his early learning and lit up inside him an incredible passion for history. Portrait of Sima Qian. (Public Domain) However, Sima Tan ***** in 110 BC. He left behind an unfinished literary work, which his son would eagerly pick up and begin working on it. This would later become his seminal achievement – the “Records of the Grand Historian”, or Shiji. From the get-go, this work was envisioned to be the most expansive historical record. It chronicled ******** history from its murky, fabled and legendary beginnings, all the way to the time in which Sima Qian lived. And what is more, it would focus on both the common people of China, as well as its royalty. This, in itself, was a major task for a writer of that time. A Monumental Chapter of History Shiji was a grand achievement. It differed immensely from all the previous records of ******** history – it was the first true book that was detailed and written with meticulous precision. It covered the philosophies, the economy, the politics, culture, and history of the ******** people. And even its structure was truly groundbreaking. The whole of the book was composed from 130 chapters, which were further split into five distinct categories. These were: Benji (Basic Annals), Shijia (Hereditary Houses), Biao (Tables), Shu (Treatises), and Liezhuan (Biographies). Each of these represented a distinct aspect of ******** history. Pages from a Ming dynasty (1457-1464) printed edition of the Shiji, volume eleven. (Public Domain) The basic annals focused on the major rulers and emperors in ******** history and tracked all their reign times and significant events that transpired during that time. In the “hereditary houses” section, Sima Qian chronicled the histories of important aristocratic families and regional leaders, some of whom were prominent figures in ******** folklore. On the other hand, in the “tables” section, he records the chronological reigns, important events, and royal lineages in table form – making it so much easier to grasp the content of his book. The chapters that fall under the “treatises” section cover specialized subjects, such as rites, music, astronomy, and economics, while “biographies” contain the lives and deeds of many notable people from ******** history. The Scholar Devoted to Immortal Legacy Sima Qian was extremely dedicated to completing the “Shiji”, which he considered to be his life’s work. However, one event almost prevented him from finishing it. In 99 BC, he was caught up in an affair for supporting General Li Ling, who was blamed for a military defeat by the Emperor himself. The Emperor saw Sima Qian’s support as treachery and had him imprisoned for three years. To save his life and to complete his seminal work, Sima Qian accepted to be castrated as punishment and thus be freed. Living the rest of his days as a eunuch and the official court archivist, he was able to devote his efforts to finish the Shiji. In poignant letters he wrote about his fate as a eunuch, and the great embarrassment and pain that he endured during his days in prison. However, he emphasized that he chose this path only because that would allow him to complete his book and leave a lasting legacy to the people of China. Only in this way, he wrote, would he be remembered forever. And that is exactly what happened. Because today, centuries after his ******, Sima Qian ******** one of the most important figures in ******** history. Top image: Portrait of Sima Qian and the Shiji. Source: National Palace Museum./CC BY 4.0 By Aleksa Vučković References Hardy, G. 1999. Worlds of Bronze and Bamboo: Sima Qian’s Conquest of History. Columbia University Press. Klein, S. E. 2019. Reading Sima Qian from Han to Song: The Father of History in Pre-Modern China. BRILL. Martin, R. T. 2018. Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Source link #Qian #Sima #Shiji #Devotion #True #Historian Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Free ***** Announces Collab With Football Anime Blue Lock Free ***** Announces Collab With Football Anime Blue Lock In an effort to reach a larger audience, developer Gerana has unveiled a collaboration between its free-to-play battle royale title, Free *****, and the ever-popular football anime Blue Lock. The Free ***** x Blue Lock collab will introduce in-game content straight from the ********* anime series, with items, iconic jerseys, emotes, and other cosmetics that players can unlock and equip. The entire collab runs between November 20 and December 8, so it’s an extremely limited-time event you won’t want to miss! For long-time fans of the animated series, you’ll be happy to learn all about Isagi’s Spatial Awareness and Nagi’s Trapping emotes, available as unlocks during the collab, that you can use mid-round in the battle royale game. While emotes certainly prove interesting and can shake up the battlefield experience, it’s the cosmetics that most people seek from these collaborations. For the Free ***** and Blue Lock collab, you can expect the following: ******* Skins Vehicle Skins Avatars Banners Isagi’s Team Z Costumes Nagi’s Team V Costumes Football Uniform Costumes Related: How to Get Free Diamonds in Free ***** (2024 Guide) What is Blue Lock? If you’re a long-time fan of Free ***** but don’t yet know about Blue Lock, let us enlighten you on the truly exceptional anime. It’s a highly-rated series out of Japan, focusing on the ********* Football Association. The JFA launches a secretive training program designed to test the country’s best football players to the extreme, with each challenge resulting in the weakest member of the team being eliminated. Only one prospective player can win the training regimen and earn a place on the team vying for the World Cup. With an average rating of 4.8 on Crunchyroll and an astounding three seasons to catch up on, Blue Lock continues to bring in new and returning fans, making this collab with Free ***** a surefire success for Garena! Are you a fan of Free *****? Do you prefer Blue Lock? Either way, discuss them at the Insider Gaming community forum! November 20 is proving a big day for gaming fans, with the NieR: Automata DLC coming to Stellar Blade on the same day, along with a photo mode and a huge update to the action-packed adventure! Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Free #***** #Announces #Collab #Football #Anime #Blue #Lock Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: Is it finally time to update? Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: Is it finally time to update? Jacob ****** / Digital Trends Windows 11 is the newest version of Windows, and it’s one of the best Windows versions ever released. It draws on its predecessors, like Windows 10, but today it’s very much its own operating system, with a unique look, advanced features, and the most secure and stable platform for modern Windows application. If you’ve been holding out on upgrading, or aren’t running the latest version, we have everything you need to know about the most recent version of Windows 11. Windows 11 2024 update (24H2) The latest version of Windows 11, is the 2024 update known as 24H2. It initially rolled out to Windows Insiders in February 2024, but has since been released to the wider Windows user base starting October 1. It introduced a number of new and enhanced features to Windows, improving its fundamentals, as well as adding new capabilities, especially those running it on Copilot+ PCs and laptops. The Phone Link app has been added to the Start menu to make it more readily accessible, and includes additional information like your phone’s battery level, connectivity, and any calls or messages you’ve received recently. You can even use AI to respond to those messages, and use your phone’s camera as a webcam for your video calls and conferences. Windows search has been improved and made more accessible, by letting you search for documents and files by using descriptive phrases, rather than just the file’s name. The right-click context menu, too, has been made more intuitive, with the addition of text labels to basic functions like Cut, Copy, and Rename. Archiving can now also use the TAR and 7z compression formats. Following the launch of more efficient Intel and AMD CPUs in fall 2024, Microsoft has expanded the power setting options in Windows 11. When setting your power mode, you can now enable a new Energy Saver feature, which lowers the power demand from background applications. You can have it enabled at a battery level trigger, too, helping to extend your battery when you need it most. Copilot has been expanded and further integrated into Windows 11 in this update, too. Its icon is now much like all other apps and can be moved around, rather than having a dedicated spot in the taskbar. When opening the Copilot app, it now has its own app Windows, rather than popping out from the side of the screen. Copilot+ laptops and PCs will have the ability to quickly engage AI tasks based on what you’re doing. For example, if looking at an image, you can press the Windows key and click to bring up a “Click to do” context menu for quick sharing, or searching on Bing based on that image. If you’re working within a document, you can do the same to quickly access generative text functions and abilities. They can also use more of the AI functions in Paint. While all Windows 11 users can use AI to generate images, Copilot+ users can use Cocreator to enhance your artwork. Create something yourself, and Cocreator can upscale it, change the style, or just complete the drawing that you started. Microsoft Technically, the much-maligned Recall feature is part of this update, but due to its controversies, it’s not been rolled out at the time of writing, and will only be available to Insiders first. Windows Studio Effects adds AI capabilities to video calls on Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams, among others. You can use a Quick Settings panel to engage eye-contact filters, to make you look like you’re looking directly at the camera. You can also introduce background effects like blur and enhanced lighting. Live Captioning gives Copilot+ owners that ability to have captions for any spoken audio on their PC, and have it translated into any of 40 different languages. Optional language pack downloads are required for most languages, however. Automatic Super Resolution offers something equivalent to FSR and DLSS in games without support for either. It’s also available within the Photo app, which gives you a quick and easy way to upscale an image to make it higher resolution — great for prints or adding detail to older pictures. Windows 11 also now enjoys improved support for Bluetooth LE audio and Wi-Fi 7, a singular unified Teams app (no more Teams for Work and personal Teams), “HDR Background support,” lets you have an HDR image as your wallpaper, and Sudo for Windows lets you use higher-level commands within the Command Line. How to update Windows Digital Trends If you’re running Windows 11 and want to update to the latest version, search for “Windows update” and select Check for updates. Install the important ones, and when prompted, restart your PC or laptop. You may need to do this several times, depending on how many updates have been released since your last update. If you’re running Windows 10, however, the upgrade process has a few more steps. For starters, you need to make sure that your PC or laptop meets the Windows 11 system requirements. Processor: 1GHz or faster with two or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC). The processor must be Intel 8th-generation or newer or AMD Ryzen 2000 series or newer. Microsoft’s website has a full list of supported processors. RAM: 4GB, if your PC has less than 4GB, you can consider adding additional RAM. Check with your PC maker first. Storage: 64GB or larger. Our guide on how to manage storage space can help you tidy things up in preparation for Windows 11. System Firmware: UEFI with Secure Boot capabilities. Using the UEFI and BIOS is straightforward. TPM: Version 2.0. See our guide on TPM 2.0 for more information. Graphics card: DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver Display: High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9 inches diagonally, 8 bits per ****** channel. Internet: Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account. If you can meet or exceed those relatively modest specifications, you should be absolutely fine. There are a few different ways you can update to Windows 11, though. The most straightforward is just to run Windows Update and select to download and install Windows 11. However, if you want additional help, or would rather upgrade a different way, follow our guide on how to upgrade to Windows 11. Differences between Windows 11 and Windows 10 Microsoft Windows 11 draws a lot from Windows 10 in its design, but it is both quite distinct in its layout and in its features. There are relatively small changes, like a new Start menu and Taskbar, as well as some defining features. Better design and features Arif Bacchus/ Digital Trends Windows 11 makes a big visual departure for Microsoft. In the newer operating system, Microsoft centers the Taskbar and the Start menu on the screen. This makes it look a bit more like macOS and ChromeOS. However, you can still move it back to the left if you want. But if you want to pin your Taskbar to the right or the left of the screen, then we have bad news. You can no longer do that natively, as in Windows 11, the Taskbar only stays on the bottom. Paid third-party apps like Start11 can change it if you want, however. Outside of the main visual change, Windows 11 comes with rounded corners on windows, new app icons, and new Fluent Emojis, which are exclusive to Windows 11. Still, Windows 11 hasn’t seen the 3D emojis Microsoft teased during the initial launch. There are multiple small feature additions, as well, including live captions for your browser and Focus mode, which allow you to customize notification settings for a set time while you work. One big area Microsoft has focused on is File Explorer. The latest update adds tabs, and Microsoft is reportedly prepping a large redesign of File Explorer in 2023. This redesign is said to bring Microsoft services and OneDrive into File Explorer, as well as a new details menu when you select a file or folder. Start menu and Taskbar Arif Bacchus/ Digital Trends The Start menu in Windows 11 it is a bit more simplistic. You only see a static list of apps, followed by your most frequented documents at the bottom. Critically, Live Tiles are gone in Windows 11, which makes the Start menu look much tidier. As for the Taskbar, Microsoft has collapsed the search box into an icon and also removed the Cortana functions in Windows 11. This spot is now reserved for Copilot, though you can now move that icon around on the taskbar as you wish, thanks to the 24H2 update. You’ll also find a dedicated icon for Microsoft Teams in the Taskbar, which is integrated into Windows 11. You’re free to remove the icon if you don’t use Teams, though. The other big change also involves moving the weather in the Taskbar to the left side of the screen. This was known as News and Interests in Windows 10, but in Windows 11, that gets replaced by Widgets (read our roundup of the best Windows 11 widgets). You’ll still see the weather, but you’ll also see other things like your favorite news, sports scores, traffic, and more. Windows 11 introduces Virtual Desktops as well, which allow you to maintain separate desktop workspaces for work, gaming, or whatever else you want. Improved gaming features Jacob ****** / Digital Trends / Digital Trends If you want the best Windows OS for gaming, Windows 11 is for you. It’s received numerous updates to improve gaming performance, and it supports features like Auto HDR and DirectStorage, that helps games load faster. Some of these features, like DirectStorage, are available on Windows 10 as well. Microsoft has made it clear that gaming is a big focus for Windows 11, so it’s the better platform for gamers now, especially with some of the performance bugs worked out. Microsoft added enhanced refresh rate support in Windows 11 in 2023, fixing issues for gamers with multiple monitors. More titles support DirectStorage, as well, such as Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart. Although Windows 10 is still arguably more popular for gaming, Windows 11 is getting better all the time. Here’s how to optimize it to make it even better. Snap Layouts and multitasking Arif Bacchus/Digital Trends The multitasking improvements in Windows 11 are exclusive; they aren’t being backported to Windows 10. In Windows 11, you can increase your multitasking and system performance with Snap Layouts that group your windows and save them to the taskbar. This is available in Windows 10, but Windows 11 makes it easier to access Snap Layouts and provides more configurations. Microsoft has updated Snap Layouts with even more functionality since its launch, too. Windows 11 solves a big issue with multi-monitor setups, too. Windows 11 remembers how you had your windows on your external monitor and will save them in that state when you disconnect from a monitor and then plug it back in. This is one of the most annoying problems with Windows 10 that Windows 11 finally addresses. Copilot Luke Larsen / Digital Trends One of the biggest and latest updates to Windows 11, was the introduction of AI through Copilot. Microsoft is packing AI features into Windows 11, and none of those features are going back to Windows 10. Some of the most impressive AI features aren’t even available to all Windows 11 PCs. All of these features fall under the Copilot banner, which is Microsoft’s AI chatbot. It runs on the same backbone as ChatGPT, and in Windows 11, it’s integrated into the OS. You’ll find a Copilot icon in the taskbar that you can open. Beyond being a version of Bing Chat on your desktop, Copilot can take prompts from your clipboard, as well as interact with plug-ins. Windows 10 doesn’t get Copilot, at least not on the desktop. You can still access Copilot through Microsoft Edge, but you don’t get access to the clipboard sharing available in Windows 11. In addition, Windows 11 is the only OS with access to Copilot+ features. This is a new class of device that includes several AI features that run locally. The most prominent is Recall, which takes a snapshot of everything you do on your PC. It’s like normal Copilot, but with your personal context built in. Recall and other Copilot+ features not only require the latest version of Windows 11 but also specific hardware. Enhanced tablet mode Microsoft Windows 10 has a traditional tablet mode that makes your PC go to a full-screen Start menu experience. In Windows 11, this is removed. Instead, Windows 11 behaves more like an iPad, where when you switch your device to a tablet, things become easier to touch. That includes new gestures for opening the Start menu, dismissing windows, and more, none of which are present in Windows 10. In addition to tablets, this feature has bolstered Windows 11 devices like the Asus ROG Ally. In addition, Windows 11 brings deeper pen functionality. You can still use Whiteboard to collaborate visually, but Windows 11 also brings support for up to four app shortcuts through your pen. Voice navigation is also improved in Windows 11, allowing you to use your voice to launch apps, enter keyboard and mouse inputs, control the operating system, and basically anything else you could need. In short, Windows 11 allows you to fully control the OS with your voice. Performance Windows 11 does a lot of work in memory management to favor the app windows you have open and running in the foreground. This should ensure that they get more CPU power over other system resources. Windows 11 also suspends some data in RAM while your PC sleeps, helping it wake from sleep 25% faster than Windows 10, and has enhanced scheduling to perform better with multi-architecture CPUs, like Intel’s latest Arrow Lake chips. Microsoft has added performance improvements since launch. In 2022, Windows 11 received an update that boosted solid-state drive (SSD) speeds, for example. Windows 11 is snappier than Windows 10, but the differences are small in real-world use. The various optimizations in Windows 11 help it to run faster on weaker laptops, but you’re not giving up a ton of performance with Windows 10. Collaboration and remote work Microsoft You can use Windows 11 or Windows 10 for remote work, but Windows 11’s collaboration features are much better. It supports background blur, eye contact adjustments for meetings, and automatic framing — none of which are present on Windows 10. These AI-powered features are available through Microsoft Teams, though some of them may depend on the hardware you have on your computer. Android apps One of the defining features of Windows 11 when it first launched was Android app support. Although you can still install Android apps on Windows 11, the marketplace for these apps (the Amazon App Store) will close on March 5, 2025. You’ll still be able to use apps that you’ve already installed beyond that point, but the storefront will no longer be accessible. Android apps separated Windows 11 from Windows 10 in a big way, but that’s changing soon. If you were hoping to upgrade to Windows 11 to use your favorite Android apps, you’ll be disappointed. Differences between Windows and Mac Windows 11 and MacOS are very different operating systems that nonetheless achieve much the same: providing a fast and stable platform that’s feature-rich, and capable of running all the apps you need. However, the way they operate is distinct, which means that the way you do things on either can be quite different. The Windows 11 Taskbar functions a lot like a mix of the macOS Dock and menu bar, and the inclusion of the Start Menu takes the place of Launchpad. Finder and File Explorer share a lot in common, though. Some important distinctions come up quickly, though, once you dig into the operating system. For example, the way you take a screenshot on a Mac, is quite different from how you take a screenshot on Windows. Where Windows has screen snapping, macOS has Split Views. The best keyboard shortcuts on Mac are distinct from those on Windows, even if they do much the same things. Most importantly, the Command key and Control key function similarly but are on a different spot on your keyboard. You also have access to very different apps on each platform. While there are plenty that work on both Widows and macOS, there are also a number that are specific. Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are big examples of Mac exclusives, but don’t forget Apple’s various office apps, like Pages, where Windows has Microsoft 365 apps, like Word. Gaming is inarguably better on Windows, too, with greater game compatibility and better support for high-end graphics cards. Windows has Copilot, while macOS has Apple Intelligence and the new integration of ChatGPT. Source link #Windows #Windows #finally #time #update Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Flight hit by gunfire while approaching Haiti capital Flight hit by gunfire while approaching Haiti capital A Spirit Airlines flight destined for the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has been struck by gunfire, forcing it to be diverted to the neighbouring Dominican Republic. Spirit said in a statement that the plane had been damaged and taken out of commission upon landing in the northern Dominican city of Santiago. A flight attendant was injured in the incident, Spirit said. The Miami Herald had reported that the attendant was grazed by a bullet. No passengers were injured, Spirit added. A video circulating on social media, which appears to have been taken by a Spirit employee but which Reuters was unable to immediately verify, shows where a bullet had come through near the back exit door to then strike the overhead bin across the aisle. All flights in and out of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince have been halted, the US embassy to the Caribbean nation said in a travel advisory. The embassy “is aware of gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince which may include armed *********, and disruptions to roads, ports and airports,” it said. Spirit said that it had suspended flights to Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien, in Haiti’s north, “pending further evaluation.” JetBlue and ********* Airlines will cancel flights through Thursday, they said separately, and will monitor to determine whether more cancellations may be needed. The passengers aboard the Spirit flight on Monday will be taken back in another aircraft to Fort Lauderdale, where the flight departed from, Spirit said. Armed gangs in Haiti’s capital have shot at aircraft in recent weeks as the security situation deteriorates. Last month, a UN helicopter was hit by gunfire over Port-au-Prince. Source link #Flight #hit #gunfire #approaching #Haiti #capital Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Half-Life 2: Episode 3 fan game, Project Borealis, gets a free demo Half-Life 2: Episode 3 fan game, Project Borealis, gets a free demo A free demo for Project Borealis, a fan-made game inspired by the cliffhanger from Half-Life 2: Episode Two, has been released. Announced in 2017, the game aims to flesh out what was interpreted by some to be a Half-Life 2: Episode 3 synopsis published that same year by ex-Valve writer Marc Laidlaw. The group of fans making the game, collectively known as Icebreaker Industries, describe Project Borealis: Prologue as “a condensed, standalone game experience showcasing an early look and feel” of the final product. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it promises “a faithful recreation of iconic Half-Life 2 movement and gameplay mechanics” with completely updated visuals and an original score. “Project Borealis represents a fan-made effort to realize a cohesive story conclusion to the episodic series,” reads a description on the prologue’s Steam page. “This prologue chapter invites players back into the HEV suit of Gordon Freeman, offering a glimpse into the next chapter of his journey.” Players need to own a copy of Half-Life 2 to play Project Borealis: Prologue. Valve co-founder and CEO Gabe Newell said in 2021 that the company had multiple games in development and was keen to make more single-player experiences following Half-Life Alyx’s release the previous year. The company’s most recent release was last year’s multiplayer tactical FPS Counter-Strike 2. Its next looks set to be multiplayer hero shooter Deadlock, which was officially announced in August. Source link #HalfLife #Episode #fan #game #Project #Borealis #free #demo Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

An AI ******’s artwork just auctioned for more than $1 million An AI ******’s artwork just auctioned for more than $1 million A painting of British computer scientist and codebreaker Alan Turing that was created by an AI-powered ****** has fetched $1.08 million at auction. The astonishing amount marks a record ***** for a piece of art created by a humanoid ******, and is sure to provoke discussion about the effect AI is having on art and how it is created. The painting of Turing was created by Ai-Da, an AI-powered ****** introduced by Briton Aidan Meller in 2019 as “the first ultrarealistic humanoid AI ****** artist.” Sotheby’s, which auctioned AI ****: Portrait of Alan Turing on Friday, estimated that it would fetch up to $180,000, but the bids racked up, with the anonymous winner handing over more than $1 million for the piece. Ai-Da, named after Ada Lovelace, who is widely recognized as the world’s first computer programmer, comes up with ideas through verbal exchanges with her creators, and this time suggested painting an image of Turing during a discussion about “AI for good,” according to an Agence France-Presse report. The ****** then selected the style, ******, content, tone, and texture for the painting before processing a picture of Turing in preparation for painting the artwork. Using a robotic hand, Ai-Da is only able to paint on a relatively small canvas, and the final image was enlarged using a printer. Turing made significant contributions to computer science, cryptography, and machine learning, most notably via his role in breaking the ******* Enigma code during World War II and for formulating the concept of the Turing machine, which ***** the groundwork for modern computing and AI. “AI **** goes beyond a simple tribute, reflecting on Turing’s profound question: ‘Can machines think?’” Sotheby’s said on its website. “This query is fundamental to Ai-Da’s existence, as she embodies Turing’s vision of machine intelligence capable of simulating human thought.” It described Ai-Da’s portrait of Turing as “a symbolic reflection on the blurred line between human and machine capabilities, particularly as she herself is a product of AI algorithms that allow her to draw, paint, and perform.” Sotheby’s said that in creating the image, Ai-Da “honors Turing as a ‘****’ of AI — a figure whose insights made it possible for machines like her to enter domains traditionally reserved for human creativity.” It noted, too, that the ***** puts Ai-Da’s artwork among those of famed artists past and present, marking a shift where machines are now part of the creative process. “Ai-Da’s art, therefore, invites viewers to consider both the promises and potential pitfalls of AI — a reflection on how technology can shape, and even redefine, human agency and creativity,” it said. “Her art compels us to confront the evolving definition of what it means to create, to think, and to be as AI becomes more integrated into society.” Source link #robots #artwork #auctioned #million Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Thousands rally in Georgia to question the vote and demand a new election Thousands rally in Georgia to question the vote and demand a new election TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Thousands of opposition supporters rallied Monday in Georgia’s capital in continuing protests against the ruling party’s declared victory in the Oct. 26 parliamentary election amid allegations that Russia helped rig the vote. The protesters waved Georgian and ********* Union flags and gathered outside the Georgian parliament. They demanded a new parliamentary election under international supervision and an investigation into the alleged election ******. Giorgi Vashadze, leader of Unity National Movement Coalition, vowed that the opposition will “****** until the end.” “Elections were massively rigged, that is why we don’t recognize election results,” he said. “Our goal is new elections, our goal is to form the new government, which will drive Georgia to ********* integration.” Opposition leaders have vowed to boycott sessions of parliament and hold regular protests until their demands are met. The Central Election Commission said the governing Georgian Dream party won about 54% of the vote. Its leaders have rejected the opposition claims of vote ******. ********* election observers said the election took place in a “divisive” atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical *********. The opposition has accused Georgian Dream, which was established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. It has recently adopted laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to ****** down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights. President Salome Zourabichvili, who has rejected the official results, says Georgia has fallen victim to pressure from Moscow against joining the EU. Zourabichvili, who holds a mostly ceremonial position, has urged the ******* States and EU to support the demonstrations. Officials in Washington and Brussels have urged a full investigation of the election, while the Kremlin has rejected the accusations of interference. Many Georgians viewed the parliamentary election as a pivotal referendum on the country’s effort to join the EU. The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely because of its passage in June of a Russian-style “foreign influence law.” Lawmakers from several EU nations attended Monday’s rally in a show of solidarity with protesters. “Somebody is trying to take your freedom, somebody is trying to take your democracy, your country, your membership in EU and NATO,” Zygimantas Pavilionis, a Lithuanian parliament member, said at the rally. “Don’t give up. ****** for your freedom, ****** for your democracy, ****** for your country , ****** for your membership in EU and NATO.” Source link #Thousands #rally #Georgia #question #vote #demand #election Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

The Very Obvious Reason Behind the Absolute Immersion in All Hidetaka Miyazaki Games The Very Obvious Reason Behind the Absolute Immersion in All Hidetaka Miyazaki Games In the world of gaming, few creators have left as profound an impact as Hidetaka Miyazaki. The FromSoftware president’s unique approach to game design has spawned an entire genre, with titles like Dark Souls and Elden Ring becoming benchmarks for immersive world-building and atmospheric storytelling. The widely regarded mastermind of game design. | Image Credit: thegameawards/YouTube But what makes Miyazaki’s games feel so different from everything else on the market? A recent discussion on social media has sparked an interesting debate about the role of childhood influences in shaping creative vision, particularly when it comes to video game development. As it turns out, the secret ingredient behind the magical worlds of Soulsborne games might have less to do with video games than you’d think. The Unexpected Origins of Miyazaki’s Vision Before he became the mastermind behind some of gaming’s most celebrated titles, Hidetaka Miyazaki‘s relationship with video games was quite different from what you might expect: Hidetaka Miyazaki, one of the greatest gaming directors working right now, did not really start playing video games regularly until he was in his 20s. He grew up on tabletop RPGs, fantasy books, and his own imagination. Which is why Dark Souls feels so unique pic.twitter.com/aHQidamJw2 — Carlos That Notices Things (@QuetzalPhoenix) July 18, 2024 This observation isn’t just speculation. In a 2016 interview with Rolling Stone, Miyazaki revealed the contents of his personal library: First, you’d spot the manga shelf, with Devilman and Berserk lining the top. The neighboring bookshelf is packed with tabletop role-playing game rulebooks, with RuneQuest prominently displayed, alongside the board game Dragon Pass. In fact, Miyazaki’s limited exposure to video games in his youth wasn’t entirely by choice. As he explained to IGN in 2018: Growing up, I was restricted at home from playing video games until I reached University… There was a board game called Sorcery which is one of my favorites and I would often revisit the game. It’s not a video game but it definitely stands out in my mind as a game that impacted me. Perhaps this early restriction was a blessing in disguise, forcing Miyazaki to develop his creativity through other mediums like tabletop RPGs and fantasy literature. This unique foundation would later become the bedrock of his distinctive game design philosophy. From Tabletop to Soulsborne: A Fresh Perspective Diverse influences can certainly enrich creative work. | Image Credit: FromSoftware Evidently, his unique background has profoundly influenced the way Miyazaki approaches game design. The intricate world-building and deep lore of Bloodborne, the interconnected level design of Dark Souls, and the vast open world of Elden Ring all bear hallmarks of someone who spent countless hours imagining fantastical worlds through TTRPGs rather than pixels. The author of the X thread argues that this kind of diverse background is becoming increasingly rare in modern entertainment: Movie makers raised on modern movies are also ***** Pokemon started because the creator liked collecting bugs and exploring as a ****, not playing video games Inbred media [Hidden Content] — Carlos That Notices Things (@QuetzalPhoenix) July 18, 2024 George Lucas grew up in the 50s around hot rods and malt shops, maybe saw a few movies a week. His movies reflect his interests. If all he did was stay in his room and watch movies? He would be a worse director for it. — Carlos That Notices Things (@QuetzalPhoenix) July 18, 2024 While the sentiment might be a bit harsh, there’s an interesting discussion to be had about the value of diverse experiences in creative work. Not everyone agrees with @QuetzalPhoenix’s hot take, though: This is colossally wrong. The golden age of gaming is NOW. And I been around since before they called the ATARI the 2600. All the current issues with games and movies are the EXECUTIVES’ fault. — Edmo (@edmosuassuna) July 18, 2024 The truth, as always, likely ***** somewhere in between. While Bloodborne and other FromSoftware titles certainly benefit from Miyazaki’s unique background, it’s not necessarily true that creators who grew up immersed in their chosen medium are somehow less capable of innovation. After all, many of today’s most innovative games come from developers who grew up with controllers in their hands. What’s undeniable, though, is that Miyazaki’s distinct perspective has helped create some of gaming’s most memorable experiences. And on that note, perhaps the lesson here isn’t that one type of influence is superior to another—but rather that the best creative works often come from a rich tapestry of diverse experiences and inspirations. What do you think about the relationship between a creator’s influences and their work? Has Miyazaki’s unique background contributed to the distinctive feel of FromSoftware’s games? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Source link #Obvious #Reason #Absolute #Immersion #Hidetaka #Miyazaki #Games Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

AMD’s next-gen laptop GPU may rival Nvidia’s RTX 5090 AMD’s next-gen laptop GPU may rival Nvidia’s RTX 5090 AMD hasn’t had much of a presence lately in any of the best gaming laptops — at least not in the graphics department. However, according to a new ***** from Golden Pig Upgrade Pack on Bilibili, AMD isn’t giving up on its laptop GPUs, and is in fact readying four discrete graphics cards made for laptops. The top configuration may actually rival one of Nvidia’s next-gen top GPUs, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be equally as good. The leaker shared a slide detailing the four laptop GPUs that AMD is said to be planning to release in its upcoming RDNA 4 lineup. Although it doesn’t reveal the actual names of the graphics cards, it does show the chip names, as well as power consumption ranges and memory configurations. The flagship card, dubbed R25M-E6 (the M tells us that this is indeed a laptop GPU), is said to come with a power range of 80 watts to 175W, combined with 16GB of VRAM spread across a 256-bit memory bus. This is where it might rival Nvidia’s RTX 5090, as the Nvidia RTX 50-series flagship is said to feature 16GB of memory in its laptop configuration, too. However, newer leaks place it at 24GB of VRAM thanks to the use of newer memory modules, so this could still change. Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming Of course, even if both the AMD flagship and the Nvidia laptop flagship have the same memory configuration, Nvidia’s RTX 5090 is a high-end GPU and it will likely outperform AMD’s halo card for this generation. Golden Pig Upgrade Pack The next GPU in the stack is the R25M-P6, and it sports a total board power (TBP) of 80W to 175W, as well as 12GB of VRAM across a 192-bit memory bus. Then, we’ve got the lower-end cards, the R25M-P6 and the R25M-P4, equipped with 8GB VRAM, a 128-bit bus, and TBPs in the 75W to 150W and 50W to 130W range. It’s hard to say how reliable this information is at this point. This leaker is fairly reputable, but AMD’s RDNA 4 is still a couple of months away at best, so everything is subject to change. AMD may also not announce its laptop graphics cards right away; the company’s CEO, Lisa Su, only confirmed that RDNA 4 is on track to launch in early 2025, so it’s a guessing game right now. The leaked slide also pins the GPUs for a 2025/2026 release, so it could be a while before they’re actually available to buy. We might actually see the Radeon 8000 branding appear in the Strix Halo APU before we ever see it in laptops. According to Wccftech, the RDNA 3.5 graphics that will appear in AMD’s next-gen Ryzen AI 300 Max APUs will use a similar naming scheme to its discrete GPUs. The integrated GPUs are said to sport anywhere from 16 to 40 compute units (CUs), making them capable of rivaling some discrete graphics cards. Reportedly referred to as Radeon 8060S and Radeon 8050S, the iGPUs may have a similar naming scheme to the discrete RX 8000 series — which could be a little misleading given that Strix Halo will run on RDNA 3.5 architecture as opposed to RDNA 4. RDNA 3 was not very easy to find in laptops, but according to Golden Pig Upgrade Pack, AMD is still planning to launch a Navi 33 refresh for laptops in 2025 or 2026. As a result, at least five laptop GPUs are said to be on the horizon. Let’s hope they’ll be easier to come by in consumer laptops than their RDNA 3 counterparts have been. Source link #AMDs #nextgen #laptop #GPU #rival #Nvidias #RTX Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

President-elect Trump’s 2024 election win sets up economic change President-elect Trump’s 2024 election win sets up economic change When President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2025, he will assume a key position within the U.S. economy. On the campaign trail, the former President promised to eliminate regulations that hold back key U.S. industries and extend tax cuts that expire after 2025. He also proposed raising tariffs that affect prices of foreign goods imported to the U.S. “Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world,” the former President said at the September presidential debate. The goal of the tariffs is to generate revenue and bring industrial jobs back to the country. The side effect could be higher retail prices for many U.S. consumers. “Ironically, this would not promote a revitalization of the industrial sector,” said Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The President-elect has also promised to embark on a large deportation operation when he enters office. Analysts believe Trump’s fiscal ideas could influence the trajectory of employment, inflation, and more in the U.S. — particularly if the *********** party wins both chambers of Congress. Watch the video above to see how the U.S. economy may change under President-elect Trump. Source link #Presidentelect #Trumps #election #win #sets #economic #change Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Pizza Chain Transforms Your PS5 Into a Pizza Warmer With Free 3D Printed Design Pizza Chain Transforms Your PS5 Into a Pizza Warmer With Free 3D Printed Design Forgot the PS5 Pro, Pizza Hut is giving every PS5 owner the opportunity to upgrade their consoles with the ultimate upgrade, a pizza warmer. Source link #Pizza #Chain #Transforms #PS5 #Pizza #Warmer #Free #Printed #Design Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

This custom Raspberry Pi voice assistant is built around ChatGPT This custom Raspberry Pi voice assistant is built around ChatGPT If there’s one thing the Raspberry Pi is good for, it’s a little bit of everything. Home automation and voice assistant projects definitely aren’t unheard of—you can find quite a few around online. But today we’ve got an impressive voice assistant project made from scratch to share that we think is really impressive. Maker and developer Suryatejadev has created a custom voice assistant using our favorite single board computer (SBC), the Raspberry Pi 5, along with a little bit of help from AI thanks to ChatGPT. The concept is simple, but it’s obvious that it took a fair bit of work to put together. The Raspberry Pi listens for audio using a microphone. This audio is then processed and parsed through ChatGPT so the command can be interpreted. Responses from ChatGPT can then be played back through the Raspberry Pi 5 with the help of a speaker. This setup is very similar to what you find with a more commercial system like Alexa but with the added benefit of bypassing Amazon servers for a little more privacy. We’ve covered similar projects the past with things like TextyMcSpeechy, which makes it easier to implement unique voice profiles in voice assistant projects. We’ve also seen some with a lot of personality and character, like this Bender-themed voice assistant from ‘Futurama’. However, this project by Suryatejadev is more barebones and easy to build on if you want to make something of your own. The main board powering this particular setup is a Raspberry Pi 5, which comes with plenty of power for handling the various components of the project. However, you’ll still need a fan to keep the unit cool as the Pi 5 is notorious for running warm. You can use any compatible microphone for audio input and any speaker you’d like for audio output. The Raspberry Pi is programmed to listen for a keyword, in this case “corgi.” When the keyword is detected, the Pi barks in response. Audio can also be detected using a phone using an application called “Easy Voice Recorder.” The Pi can listen to audio through this app if both the phone and Pi are running “Syncthing.” Audio is converted into text using OpenAI, which is then parsed to a ChatGPT API. Responses are converted into audio using an OpenAI model and then played through whatever speaker you’re using. Suryatejadev was kind enough to make the project open source and has shared plenty of details about the workflow for anyone interested in knowing more. The Raspberry Pi uses a custom Python script to handle the audio input and share it with ChatGPT. All of the source code is available over at GitHub to download and explore. If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, you can check it out over at the official project page. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #custom #Raspberry #voice #assistant #built #ChatGPT Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Airlines suspend flights as Spirit plane hit by gunfire Airlines suspend flights as Spirit plane hit by gunfire Several airlines have suspended flights to Haiti after a passenger plane from the US was hit by gunfire as it tried to land in Port-au-Prince. Spirit Airlines Flight 951 from Fort Lauderdale in Florida was diverted to the neighbouring Dominican Republic where it landed safely at Santiago Airport. A flight attendant suffered minor injuries, the airline said in a statement, adding that no passengers were hurt. It is the second time in three weeks that aircraft have been shot at over the Haitian capital. Haiti is in the grip of a deep political crisis with armed gangs controlling large parts of the country. On Monday, a new prime minister was installed by the country’s ruling council after the previous leader, Garry Conille, was ousted less than six months into the job. The Spirit Airlines flight had been scheduled to land at Toussaint Louverture International Airport on Monday just before 12:00 local time (17:00 GMT) when it was hit. Unverified video of the incident shared on social media appeared to show several bullet holes on the inside of the aircraft, where the crew sit during take-off and landing. Spirit Airlines said that damage “consistent with gunfire” was found when the plane was inspected at Santiago Airport. The aicraft was taken out of commission, Spirit added. The airline said it had also suspended flights to Haiti “pending further evaluation”. Two other US airlines, ********* Airlines and JetBlue, have also suspended flights to Haiti until at least Thursday. The security situation has further deteriorated in Haiti in recent months. In October, gang members opened ***** at a UN helicopter, causing some airlines to temporarily cancel flights to the Caribbean nation. A UN-backed policing mission, led by officers from Kenya, had begun in June in an attempt to wrest back control from gangs. Spirit is a low-cost airline, based in Florida, which flies throughout the ******* States, Caribbean and ****** America. Source link #Airlines #suspend #flights #Spirit #plane #hit #gunfire Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Pokémon TCG Pocket: best decks to play right now Pokémon TCG Pocket: best decks to play right now At the start of your Pokémon TCG Pocket journey, you will mostly be focused on getting as many decent cards in your collection as possible. Once you’ve finally battled some friends and crafted some cards, you’ll be able to make a great deck. Unfortunately, even a good deck can’t rival some of the best decks anyone can create in Pokémon TCG Pocket. Players have finally cracked down on the game’s meta, so if you want to compete in the big leagues against others online, you should create some of the best decks listed below. Mewtwo ex deck Nintendo x2 Mewtwo ex x2 Ralts x2 Kirlia x2 Gardevoir x2 Potion x2 X Speed x2 Poké Ball x2 Professor’s Research x2 Giovanni x1 Red Card x1 Sabrina This Psychic deck becomes unstoppable with this setup if you start the game with the right cards. Your main attackers are your Mewtwo ex cards, but if successful, you should only need to use one to win. Ralts can evolve into Kirlia, which when evolved to Gardevoir has a passive ability to give any Psychic card in the active spot an extra Psychic energy. Since the Mewtwo’s most powerful ability requires four energy but will spend two, you can keep spamming this move each turn even with just one Gardevoir on your bench. Articuno ex deck Nintendo x2 Articuno ex x1 Froakie x1 Frogadier x1 Greninja x2 Potion x2 X Speed x2 Poké Ball x2 Professor’s Research x2 Giovanni x2 Misty x2 Sabrina x1 Red Card All the Articuno ex deck needs are two of its star players to win, alongside Greninja helping from the bench. Although Greninja isn’t crucial for this deck to work, they can deal 20 damage to any of your opponent’s Pokémon from the bench every turn. Otherwise, Articuno ex’s best move only requires three energy and deals 80 damage to the active Pokémon while simultaneously dealing 10 damage to all benched Pokémon. If you pull a Misty card and successfully gain enough energy on an early turn, Articuno ex is a deadly deck to face off against. Pikachu ex deck Nintendo x2 Pikachu ex x2 Zapdos ex x2 Helioptile x2 Heliolisk x2 Potion x2 X Speed x2 Poké Ball x2 Professor’s Research x2 Giovanni x1 Red Card x1 Sabrina The Pikachu ex deck is versatile since all this card needs is three other Lightning-type Pokémon sitting on the bench to get a full output of 90 damage each turn. While it’s best to have two Zapdos (or Zapdos ex), you can try other Lightning Pokémon if you don’t have Helioptile and Heliolisk. You could swap them with two Voltorbs and Electrodes, which have similar health and damage outputs, Pincurchin can paralyze your ******, or Eevee to Jolteon can deal up to 160 damage if you’re lucky with coin flips. Dragonite deck Nintendo x2 Dratini x2 Dragonair x2 Dragonite x2 Koffing x2 Weezing x2 Potion x2 Poké Ball x2 Professor’s Research x2 Koga x1 Sabrina x1 X Speed This is the only non-ex deck on this list, but it’s still just as powerful as the rest. It’s important to ensure you only allow Water and Lightning energy for this deck and not Dark because you won’t be using it for Koffing and Weezing. They’ll act as decoys to tank hits while you start building up to a Dragonite, but can still do damage in the meantime with Weezing’s ability to poison your opponent. Then use Koga to immediately put Weezing into your hand and replace it with your Dragonite. If you don’t have Koffing and Weezing, you can swap them out for any other Pokémon with a good chunk of health to withstand hits. Venusaur ex deck Nintendo x2 Bulbasaur x2 Ivysaur x2 Venusaur ex x2 Petilil x2 Lilligant x2 Poké Ball x2 Professor’s Research x2 Erika x1 X Speed x1 Red Card x1 Sabrina x1 Potion The Venusaur ex deck is the best Grass-type deck that utilizes Lilligant’s ability to grant extra energy to a benched Pokémon anytime they use their main *******. This will help you build up to a Venusaur ex with enough energy early on. You can then swap in the Venusaur ex that can deal 100 damage while healing itself for 30 HP. We also recommend you bring more Erika cards with you than Potions since Erika can heal 50 HP to any Grass-type Pokémon, while a Potion only heals 20. Starmie ex deck Nintendo x2 Staryu x2 Starmie ex x2 Froakie x2 Frogadier x2 Greninja x2 Potion x2 Poké Ball x2 Misty x2 Professor’s Research x1 Sabrina x1 Red Card Starmie ex is one of the most powerful cards in Pokémon TCG Pocket since it has no retreat cost and only needs two energy to deal 90 damage. Pair this with a Greninja or two on the bench so they can both deal 20 damage each turn to any of your opponent’s Pokémon. You should also bring Misty along for a chance to give yourself a bunch of Water energy if the coin flips go your way. If you don’t have the cards for Greninja, you could replace them with Articuno ex or Lapras ex instead. Charizard ex deck Nintendo x2 Charmander x2 Charmeleon x2 Charizard ex x2 Moltres ex x2 Potion x2 Poké Ball x2 Professor’s Research x2 X Speed x2 Red Card x2 Sabrina The Charizard ex deck relies on the Moltres ex’s Inferno Dance ability that can give your benched Charizard cards extra ***** energy depending on your coin flips. It has 140 HP to tank hits until you’ve finally built up to a Charizard ex, and with four energy it can deal a whopping 200 damage (although it consumes two energy). Since this deck is already so powerful, you won’t need a Giovanni with you. Blastoise ex deck Nintendo x2 Squirtle x2 Wartortle x2 Blastoise ex x2 Lapras ex x2 Potion x2 Poké Ball x2 X Speed x2 Misty x2 Professor’s Research x1 Red Card x1 Sabrina One of the most underrated ex cards is the Blastoise ex. Only needing three energy, its Hydro Bazooka move deals 100 damage on its own, but if your card has two extra Water energy attached, it’ll do 60 more damage. This pairs well with the Lapras ex card since it doesn’t take much energy and can act as a tank while you build up to a Blastoise. If you don’t have a Lapras ex, go for Articuno ex instead. It shouldn’t be difficult to get energy with two Misty cards on hand either. Source link #Pokémon #TCG #Pocket #decks #play Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

I tried a web browser without tabs, bookmarks, or navigation I tried a web browser without tabs, bookmarks, or navigation Trails can be collapsed to help organize your sidebar. Digital Trends When it comes to web browsers, I am an inveterate tab hoarder (current count: over 400). It’s my main vice and is a hard habit to kick. I often find myself falling down the “Wikipedia *****,” opening tab after tab on topics that interest me, and before long I’m confronted with a mass of pages and no idea how I got to where I am. In other words, I think I need help. But there’s been a glimmer of hope on the horizon, as I’ve come across a strangely named browser called Horse that claims it can banish tab hoarding and offer a much better way to peruse the internet. Can it end my annoying tab habit (tabit?) once and for all? Goodbye tabs Digital Trends Horse works very differently from normal browsers. It’s built by two people and has a small community of users, making it a far cry from behemoths like Chrome and Firefox, the latter of which is my long-time browser of choice. Horse brands itself as a tool for students and researchers, but also insists it’s ideal for a broader array of people — journalists, designers, developers, shoppers, and more. Oh, and I nearly forgot the kicker: There are no bookmarks, no viewing history and no tabs. Instead of tabs, Horse uses what it calls “Trails.” These are nested pages that can be used to organize topics. Every time you click a new link, it becomes a new entry in the list of nested pages, which are housed in the sidebar. This makes it simple to see how you got to where you are currently browsing. The idea is to make organization simpler and prevent you being overwhelmed when you ***** deep into a topic. I’ll be honest: I was skeptical of Horse at first. Could I really break tabs’ vice-like grip over me? What would happen to those 400+ tabs currently waiting for me in Firefox? I know they’re still out there, after all. Picking up Horse would mean abandoning them all for good. The lack of bookmarks was also a concern to me. Surprise surprise, I have a huge number of bookmarks in Firefox, but saving pages for later is less tidy in Horse. I can’t bookmark a tab, close it, and come back to it later if I need to. If I want to save it, it must always be open, which I worried would cause the sidebar to become messy. In other words, this was going to take some getting used to. But I quickly found out that there might just be something interesting lurking in Horse’s approach. Forging a new Trail Digital Trends In use, Horse is a world away from what you expect from a plain old regular web browser. There’s certainly a learning curve, but it’s far from insurmountable. In the end, there’s a lot to like about it. Let’s start with Trails, the key feature of Horse. Every time you click a link, a new page (called a “SubTrail”) appears in the sidebar nested underneath the last page you were on. After a few clicks, you start to see a clear hierarchy of where you’ve navigated on the web. It’s something I quickly found myself enjoying. You can see your browsing history right there in front of you, and it’s super fast to get back to any page you want to by selecting it in the sidebar, even if it’s been many clicks since you visited it. On a regular browser, navigating that far back is much more cumbersome. Interestingly, there’s no back button in Horse because it’s quick enough to just select the previous page from your Trail. This stumped me at first — I spent a few confusing seconds aimlessly searching for a button that wasn’t there — but it feels natural quickly enough. Trails do create something of a mess of links, though. You can manually drag and drop pages into other Trails, which is a neat little feature, but your sidebar will quickly fill up with pages and Trails. If you want to see your history at all times, that’s great, but it can feel a bit cluttered. Fortunately, Horse lets you shuffle this mess out of the way (at least partially), as each Trail can be collapsed so that you only see the Trail header text (called, appropriately, the TrailHead). I’d still rather have bookmarks so that I can clear out the sidebar without losing the pages forever, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. You don’t have to open a SubTrail by clicking a new link — you manually open a new SubTrail and type in your link or search query instead. That’s handy for organization, say if you are reading a page and get an idea to visit a related website and want to keep the two pages closely associated within the Trail list. You can also create “SideTrails,” which are additional pages added to a Trail that are not nested underneath another page. It sounds confusing, but it makes a lot more sense once you start using the browser. Horse also lets you drag and drop pages to reorder them, add emojis to their titles, and rename them. That means that you can use it as a sort of ersatz to-do list app, such as by putting the most important page at the top of a Trail and adding due dates to the page titles. When you complete a task, you can delete it from the Trail. It’s not something I used a whole lot, and it’s unlikely to replace your dedicated to-do app, but it’s interesting to see that Horse is flexible enough to work this way (even if it is a bit rudimentary). I should also note that Horse is a beautifully designed browser. It’s very minimalist, with visual features that are all excellently considered, from the fonts and icons to the use of ****** and translucency. It’s apparent that Horse’s creators spent just as much time thinking about how it looks as they did thinking about how it works. Missing features Trails are subdivided into SideTrails and SubTrails, each of which has its own uses. Digital Trends It’s not all great, though, and Horse is notably missing a few key features from other browsers. One absence that I’ve really noticed is the lack of extension support. I use a lot of fantastic browser extensions with Firefox, from privacy-protecting safeguards like Consent-O-Matic to money savers such as Honey. Almost none of these work in Horse. While it has its own password manager and comes with two external extensions included (Ghostery for ad blocking and Dark Reader for dark mode), it’s not much to go on compared to rival products. The developer says they aim to add broader extension support but that it’s out of their budget right now. Hopefully that’ll change soon. There are other small ********. It would be helpful if the URL bar autofilled sites after you’ve been there once before, for example, instead of requiring you to type the whole thing every time. Horse also has a few too many top-level dividers in the sidebar — Trails can take the form of Areas (Trails that have a large header at the top) or folders (Trails that, uhh, don’t have a large header) and it was never immediately clear why I should use one and not the other. Then there’s the price. We are all used to browsers being free, but Horse requires payment up front. Its price of $20 a year or $60 for lifetime access means you have to really consider if it’s right for you. Compounding that is the fact that Horse doesn’t offer a free trial – there is a 14-day refund *******, but not everyone wants to shell out just to see if they like a product. This stance feels like it will prevent curious people from giving the browser a fair try, which could be a problem when Horse does things so differently to every other browser and really requires hands-on time to understand it. An impressive achievement You can use Horse as a makeshift to-do list app, although dedicated alternatives will always come out on top. Digital Trends Horse is an impressive achievement for a two-person team — it’s not just yet another browser to be added to the pile but one that actually attempts to rethink how a browser should work on a fundamental level. For the most part, it succeeds, and I’m confident its shortcomings will be addressed in time. That brings me to my final question: Is Horse worth its price tag? Answering that depends on your specific needs. If you just want a slightly different browser, it’s probably not what you’re looking for. But if you’re after one that addresses a pain point, specifically one relating to tabs and online research, it’s an intriguing offering and one that you might find is worth the price. I’m glad there’s a one-off purchase option. Many people are wary of subscriptions, and $60 for lifetime access feels reasonable. That said, the $20 annual charge for the rolling subscription isn’t outrageous either, even if it is more than you’d usually pay for a browser (considering most are free). It’s hard to get past our conditioned feeling that web browsers should be free, and it’s absolutely valid to feel that you’d rather stick to cost-free alternatives. But Horse definitely brings something new to the table, and it doesn’t take long for its Trails system to prove its worth to your browsing experience. If you fall within its target audience, it might be just what you’ve been needing to tame your tab overload. Source link #web #browser #tabs #bookmarks #navigation Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Edinburgh University warns students not to be ‘snobs’ Edinburgh University warns students not to be ‘snobs’ BBC Olivia Gallosi and Ronni Sharp Edinburgh University has warned students from privileged backgrounds not to be “snobs” towards their peers from Scottish and working-class backgrounds. The institution admitted class-related prejudice was a problem on campus. It said individuals from less well-off backgrounds were being “inadvertently or deliberately shamed by more privileged students”. The guidance was issued after the newly-formed Scottish Social Mobility Society complained lecturers and students regularly mocked and mimicked individuals from north of the border. “At the University of Edinburgh students who come from middle to lower socioeconomic backgrounds are in a *********,” it said. “However, in wider *** society they are the majority.” Examples of shaming included comments about “clothing and lack of knowledge or regional accents”. Getty Images There are currently 50,000 students at Edinburgh University More than 70% of the university’s students are from England, the rest of the *** or overseas. Those attending private schools make up 40% of the intake. One student quoted in the guidance said they had been told by their peers “you can’t be working class because you’re at university”. “We were discussing inheritance tax in class and people have explicitly said that they have more money because they ‘just work *******’, the student said. Olivia Gallosi, from Inverness, is a third-year student at Edinburgh University. She told BBC Scotland News she had come across discrimination. “A lot of people turn their nose up at you if you didn’t go to private school,” she said. “I’ve got a slight English accent because I was born there so people are nice and then they find out I’m actually Scottish and then their opinion changes. “I’ve got friends who refused to come to Edinburgh because they didn’t want to put up with the treatment of Scottish students so they went to surrounding unis because it is way worse here than anywhere else.” Ronni Sharp said she was aware of the problem “straight away” – as soon as she moved into halls of residence. “When I was in first year I had a job and people were very judgemental about it. “They were like why are you working you’re supposed to be having fun and I was like ‘I’ve got rent to pay’. “Scottish students find that a lot here at Edinburgh University. “There needs to be more awareness of embracing everyone’s pasts and cultures.” Shanley Breese founded the Scottish Social Mobility Society Shanley Breese, a law student who founded the Scottish Social Mobility Society, said that when she arrived at the university she had never heard of private schools. She set up the group so her Scottish peers had somewhere to go to feel they could fit in. She said it started in Freshers week when she was asked constantly what school she had gone to. “And I would say you won’t know the school, its in Dumfries and what they were actually referring to was what private school did you go to,” she said. She said that, as a result, it was really hard to make friends and figure out the culture. “It was a really isolating experience and there was no community to turn to,” she said. Shanley said it was hard to meet other Scottish students because most commuted as they had been priced out of town. She said creating the society created a space where Scottish students could communicate their experiences. “I felt so ******* and out of place for not knowing private schools existed and so it affected my academic ability,” she said. ‘Atmosphere of elitism’ “There is an atmosphere at the university of elitism,” Shanley added. She said she had been ridiculed. “My accent has changed so much since starting at uni because i was getting comments if I said a word like ‘canny’. They liked to point it out.” She also said tutors would ask Scottish students to repeat themselves or to speak more clearly. “Accent bias is one of the biggest issues. And they made assumptions from our accents on our intelligence levels and whether we would be friends or not,” she said. A University of Edinburgh spokesman said: “We are incredibly proud of our diverse community and work hard to create an environment that eliminates discrimination and allows all of our students to have the best experience possible during their studies. “Our Dignity and Respect policy sets out clear expectations of behaviour, including recognising when comments or behaviour may be harmful or upsetting to others and acting accordingly. “We have a well-established equality, diversity and inclusion committee which brings together staff and student representatives from across the university to provide oversight on our progress around EDI activities. “After listening to students, we have also introduced and continue to evolve a new support model that provides more dedicated pastoral and academic guidance throughout their studies.” Source link #Edinburgh #University #warns #students #snobs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

A TV show about EA Sports’ Madden games hits Prime Video on November 26 A TV show about EA Sports’ Madden games hits Prime Video on November 26 Madden NFL has been around for almost 40 years (really) so it’s high time the gaming franchise got the documentary treatment. Prime Video has got you covered. The platform just announced that It’s in the Game: Madden NFL will stream on November 26, which is just ahead of Thanksgiving. The four-part docuseries will explore “one of the biggest video games of all time” that “became a worldwide phenomenon, spanning generations.” The show will explore Madden’s “archaic 8-bit origins to its success as an annual must have.” Prime Video says EA Sports has given it access to the vaults, so there should be plenty of new footage for diehard fans. As the story goes, EA founder Trip Hawkins approached commentator John Madden back in 1984 for his endorsement and expertise, but the game took four long years of development before coming out in 1988. This extended development time was allegedly due to Madden himself, who demanded a realistic football experience. I’m sure the documentary will get into all of that. Formerly known as John Madden Football, the franchise became an annual event in 1990 and changed its name to Madden NFL in 1993. These games have sold over 130 million copies worldwide since 1988. The latest iteration, Madden NFL 25, released back in August to fairly middling reviews. Source link #show #Sports #Madden #games #hits #Prime #Video #November Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Might be time to ‘Twist and Shout’ – The Beatles’ AI-restored song ‘Now and Then’ lands Grammy nominations Might be time to ‘Twist and Shout’ – The Beatles’ AI-restored song ‘Now and Then’ lands Grammy nominations The Beatles have scored Grammy nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance for their song “Now and Then,” a ‘lost’ track recovered and restored using AI. This is the first time a song produced with AI assistance has earned such recognition and could portend plenty of arguments ahead over the role of AI in music production. “Now and Then” was released last year and garnered plenty of attention not only for being a Beatles song most have not heard but also for its AI-infused production. Rumors swirled that surviving Beatles members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr used generative AI to clone John Lennon’s voice for the song. That wasn’t true, however. Instead, “stem separation” AI let the producers isolate Lennon’s vocals from an existing demo track that was too low-fidelity to be useful for a real track. The AI tools enhanced Lennon’s voice by removing background noise and tuning up the voice to make the audio better. It’s a bit like how video call platforms use tech to filter out sounds that are not your voice to ensure the person on the other end of the call can hear you. Companies with a lot of archival audio that isn’t good quality are experimenting with stem separation too, including Disney Music Group. The Beatles – Now And Then – The Last Beatles Song (Short Film) – YouTube Watch On AI Grammys The Recording Academy, which gives out the Grammys, has been engaged in trying to work out how to incorporate AI used for music production into its infrastructure. Last year, CEO Harvey Mason Jr. spoke at length about AI and even held a roundtable with record labels, streaming services, artists, and the developers of AI for making music. Apps that use AI to make music, like Tad.AI, Suno, and Udio all face the issue of lawsuits from major music labels, which is only likely to get more complex if questions about award eligibility come into play. Unless you’re in the music business, “Now and Then” is just a nice way to get a little more Beatles music with the aid of modern technology. Whether it’s an omen of a new way of making and selling music is still up in the air. As one of the most popular bands of all time, The Beatles are something of an outlier. The nominations for “Now and Then” are The Beatles’ first Grammy nominations in decades, for obvious reasons. They’ve been nominated a total of four times for Record of the Year now. But “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Hey Jude,” and “Let It Be” all lost the Grammy. With some AI boosting, “Now and Then” might change that losing streak. You might also like… Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable ****** Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content. Source link #time #Twist #Shout #Beatles #AIrestored #song #lands #Grammy #nominations Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Haiti’s main airport shut amid surge in gang *********: U.S. – National Haiti’s main airport shut amid surge in gang *********: U.S. – National By Staff The Associated Press Posted November 11, 2024 2:53 pm 1 min read Descrease article font size Increase article font size Haiti’s main airport temporarily shut down Monday as gangs attempted to seize control, the U.S. embassy reported, the same day a new interim prime minister was expected to take over the direction of a country facing a surge of *********. Firefights between gangs and police broke out in parts of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, with heavily armed officers ducking behind walls as civilians ran in *******. In other upper class neighborhoods, gangs set ***** to homes. The ******* States Embassy in Haiti issued a travel warning saying that the city’s airport was shut down due to “gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince which may include armed *********, and disruptions to roads, ports, and airports.” 1:45 Blinken urges Haiti to hold elections next year as gang ********* grips country It comes after reports that gangs shot at a Spirit airline flight and photos shared with the Associated Press of bullet holes in the plane, though The Associated Press was not able to immediately confirm the incident with authorities. Trending Now Ukraine attacks Moscow with 34 drones, biggest strike on the Russian capital One person is ***** and 16 are injured after a ********* at Tuskegee University Story continues below advertisement Spirit Airlines said in a statement to Reuters that a plane had been damaged after being struck by gunfire and taken out of commission upon landing in the northern Dominican city of Santiago. A flight attendant was injured in the incident, but no passengers were hurt, the airline said. Get daily National news Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. The turmoil comes a day after a council meant to reestablish democratic order in the Caribbean nation fired the interim prime minister Garry Conille, who was at odds with the council, replacing him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé. The council has been marked by infighting and three members were recently accused of ***********. —with files from Reuters More on World More videos &copy 2024 The ********* Press Source link #Haitis #main #airport #shut #surge #gang #********* #U.S #National Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

One Of The Best Lego Minecraft Sets Drops To Best Price Yet At Amazon One Of The Best Lego Minecraft Sets Drops To Best Price Yet At Amazon Minecraft: The Sword Outpost lets you snap together a cool playset featuring a large recreation of the iconic Diamond Sword in its background. The kit includes a few interactive components, such as a lever that collapses part of the playset. You’ll also find figures for a Sentinel Soldier, Guardian Warrior, allay figures, a pig, and Skeleton and Creeper mobs. That makes this a pretty complete playset for fans of the game. Toss in other accessories like a juke box toy and table with cookies, and it’s a fun set that’d make a great holiday gift. Source link #Lego #Minecraft #Sets #Drops #Price #Amazon Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Intel admits defeat on Arrow Lake — but it’s not over yet Intel admits defeat on Arrow Lake — but it’s not over yet Intel’s Arrow Lake CPUs aren’t off to a great start. As you can read in our Core Ultra 9 285K review and Core Ultra 5 245K review, Intel’s latest CPUs miss the mark across productivity and gaming apps, and they’re miles away from some of the best processors you can buy right now. According to Intel, there are several issues with the new platform that it plans to address within a matter of weeks. In an interview with HotHardware, Intel’s Robert Hallock was blunt about the release of Arrow Lake CPUs: “The launch didn’t go as planned … we have a number of things we got to go fix.” Hallock, formerly of AMD, is near the top of Intel’s technical marketing division. Although he didn’t address exactly what’s wrong with Arrow Lake, Hallock promised that Intel is working on updates that could significantly improve performance, and that they’ll arrive in a matter of weeks. “There are BIOS, firmware, OS-level issues that we need to solve,” Hallock said. “We’re going to come back with a full audit, an itemized list, of what went wrong.” It’s not exactly surprising that there’s something wrong with Arrow Lake. As we saw in our reviews of the processors, Intel pulled off some incredible feats with the new CPUs. For instance, the Core Ultra 9 285K, despite only having 24 threads, cleanly beats the 32-thread Ryzen 9 9950X in rendering applications like Cinebench. However, the new CPU takes a beating in games, especially compared to the new Ryzen 7 9800X3D. Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming The performance is disjointed. Intel makes big strides in some applications, while it’s woefully slow in others. Hallock admits that these issues aren’t the fault of users or reviews; he describes the issues with Arrow Lake as “self-inflicted.” Although Hallock didn’t provide a firm timeline for when we’ll see performance updates, they should arrive before the end of the year. Hopefully, they’ll deliver the missing performance so many reviewers — including Digital Trends — spotted during the launch window. Intel has been falling on hard times as of late, with some reports indicating that a potential AMD buyout is on the table. Arrow Lake, with its radically new architecture, looked like a turning point for the company. Up to this point, however, it’s fallen significantly behind the competition from AMD, and even Intel’s own last-gen options. Hopefully, the promised updates will deliver good news. Source link #Intel #admits #defeat #Arrow #Lake Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

First B.C., now Montreal ports: What a pair of shutdowns means for Canada First B.C., now Montreal ports: What a pair of shutdowns means for Canada Locked-out workers at ports in British Columbia were joined on the picket lines by their peers in Montreal on Sunday night, stymying trade at Canada’s two largest marine trading hubs heading into the busy holiday shopping season. While experts tell Global News that consumers will hopefully avoid a Christmas crunch, they also warn that the latest kinks in the ********* supply chain could affect hopes for an economic rebound. “This has been a constant drumbeat of disruptions in the logistics and transportation sector over the last year, year and a half,” says Fraser Johnson, professor of operations management at Western University’s Ivey Business School. “It’s been a constant problem and a lot of headaches for ********* companies.” 5:00 Impact of B.C. port shut down on Canada’s supply chain The labour dispute shutting down cargo container traffic at British Columbia’s ports for a week now has shown little signs of moving towards resolution, with the parties breaking off talks on Saturday. Story continues below advertisement The next day, dock workers in Montreal voted to ******* their employers’ latest offer, leading to another lockout starting Sunday evening. Johnson tells Global News the ports in B.C. represent roughly 45 per cent of inbound marine shipments to Canada, with the Port of Montreal handling 10 per cent. In other words, more than half of all goods coming into Canada by sea are currently disrupted by the twin shutdowns. Risks to Canada’s ‘economic lifeline’ The Port of Vancouver facilitates the import of many goods from Asia, including electronics and other consumer goods, Johnson says. Both Vancouver and Montreal also bring in automotive parts and vehicles, he adds. Johnson says the Port of Vancouver handles about $800 million a day in freight, while the Montreal terminals handle roughly half that, totalling more than $1 billion in daily trade. Story continues below advertisement Both the Vancouver and Montreal ports are also critical for getting ********* exports to the world. ********* agricultural and forestry products, oil and critical minerals all head to Asia and Europe through those channels. “Trade is our economic lifeline. Trade is what drives our economy,” says Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada. “We keep seeing, repeatedly over the last number of years, snags that are affecting our ability to get our products to market.” Get weekly money news Get expert insights, Q&A on markets, housing, inflation, and personal finance information delivered to you every Saturday. Pascal Chan of the ********* Chamber of Commerce says the simultaneous disruptions at the ports means the country is effectively advertising that it’s closed for business. Chan, who is the senior director of transportation, infrastructure and construction at the chamber, says in a statement that the last thing Canadians struggling with high living costs need is another trade disruption. 2:22 Business Matters: Canada’s economy stalled in August amid rail shutdown The shutdowns at the ports come after operations at Canada’s two main railways were halted in August until the government stepped in, while B.C. ports and the St. Lawrence Seaway were disrupted last year. Story continues below advertisement Antunes tells Global News the series of labour disruptions in the ********* supply chain compound trade concerns stoked by Donald Trump’s election victory in the ******* States. During the campaign, Trump proposed putting blanket tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. and championed “America-first” policies that could disrupt global trade patterns. The world is becoming a more “insular” place and borders are becoming “thicker,” Antunes says. If ********* businesses continue to show that they can’t resolve labour disputes at the negotiating table, rising to the point of shutdowns, Antunes says that sends a message that foreign firms are taking ******* risks by setting up shop here. More on Money More videos “When businesses are looking where to invest and they need access to a U.S. consumer, for example, they’ll be looking south of the border more so if we keep having these snags in terms of our ability to get products out,” he says. Global News reached out to Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon’s office on Monday for a comment about whether Ottawa was considering intervening in either dispute to get goods moving through the B.C. and Montreal ports again. “The parties must understand the urgency of the situation and do the work necessary to reach an agreement. Canadians are counting on them,” a spokesperson from MacKinnon’s office said in a statement. The spokesperson also pointed to a Nov. 7 statement from MacKinnon, which said that he was “closely monitoring” negotiations in both regions, adding that talks were progressing at an “insufficient pace.” Story continues below advertisement Port lockouts could intersect with Canada Post strike Trending Now How ********* consumers can spot counterfeit $2 coins Ukraine attacks Moscow with 34 drones, biggest strike on the Russian capital With the busy holiday shopping season nearing, Johnson says he expects minimal impact on consumers. With the labour disruptions anticipated from businesses, many larger retailers were ordering stock in the summer and early fall to ensure their shelves were stocked for the holidays. Any additional inventory needs will likely be routed through ports in the ******* States and shipped up across the ********* land border, he says. But Johnson warns that it’s more likely to be Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses — those without the extensive supply chains of megaretailers like the Walmarts of the world — who feel the pinch from the latest set of port lockouts. “They don’t have the flexibility and the variety of alternatives in terms of shipping products. So we’ll probably see proportionally higher costs and probably greater delays and shortages as a result of the labour disruptions,” he says. Story continues below advertisement 1:56 B.C. port lockout threatens Calgary small retailers as holiday season nears The Retail Council of Canada warned Global News last week that with the chance of a Canada Post strike also looming, consumers and ********* businesses should prepare for a “triple threat” of disruptions in the weeks ahead. Matt Poirier, vice-president of federal government relations for the Retail Council of Canada, said he was concerned about not only getting merchandise on the shelves given the port strikes, but also getting goods to customers who order by delivery. “A lot of small retailers in particular are really reliant on Canada Post to get the ordered goods to their customers,” he said. “It really does change the economics of the business model when you have to start looking at alternatives that could be pricier and especially when everyone else is, the prices spike and the service might not be as reliable.” Story continues below advertisement If the pair of labour disruptions are resolved in a timely fashion, Antunes doesn’t see the lockouts as a “game-changer” for Canada’s economy. But he notes that the shutdowns come at an uncertain time for economic output. Canada’s latest real ****** domestic product figures show the country is barely eking out growth in recent months. Forecasters including the Bank of Canada, which has been lowering its benchmark interest rate in a bid to stimulate growth, are projecting an economic rebound in the next two years. But Antunes says those estimates are anything but a certainty, with consumers still stretched by mortgage renewals and a weakening labour market. “The idea that we’ve successfully managed to get inflation down and have a soft landing and we’re going to see a re-emergence of growth, I think there’s still a lot of question marks around that,” he says. “We’ve only seen a couple of days of disruption here. But again, anything that is longer-lasting will have implications on the strength of our recovery in the near term.” — with files from Global News’ Sean Previl and The ********* Press 1:59 What economic impacts the U.S. election could have on Canada Source link #B.C #Montreal #ports #pair #shutdowns #means #Canada Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

******** police detain driver who ‘drove into a crowd’ ******** police detain driver who ‘drove into a crowd’ Police in the southern ******** city of Zhuhai say they have detained a 62-year-old man after he rammed a car into people exercising at a local sports centre and fled. One of the four hospitals that took in people for treatment said it had more than 20 injured people, state media reported. Police identified the man only by his family name of Fan, consistent with the practice by ******** authorities. The police statement said the vehicle knocked down “a number of” of pedestrians on Monday evening. It was not immediately clear whether it was an ******* or an accident. No motive was mentioned and police said investigations continued. The incident occurred on the eve of China’s annual air show in Zhuhai. The sports centre for the city district of Xiangzhou regularly attracts hundreds of residents. Following the incident, the centre announced it would be closed until further notice. Several attacks have taken place in China in which suspects appear to target random people such as schoolchildren. In October, a 50-year-old man was detained after he allegedly used a ****** to ******* children at a school in Beijing. Five people were injured. In September, three people were ******* in a ****** ******* in a Shanghai supermarket. Source link #******** #police #detain #driver #drove #crowd Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Can You Play Farming Simulator 25 on Game Pass? Can You Play Farming Simulator 25 on Game Pass? As an active subscriber to Xbox Game Pass, I’m constantly on the lookout for new and upcoming titles hitting the monthly subscription platform. Who doesn’t want to test out new releases without paying any additional money? But not every title launches on Game Pass, leaving some communities waiting or caving in and buying a copy on day one. So, which is it for the upcoming farming game we’re all eagerly awaiting? Is Farming Simulator 25 on Game Pass? Is Farming Simulator 25 Coming to Xbox Game Pass? As of right now, Farming Simulator 25 isn’t coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one. It could happen in the future, likely within one year of its launch, as the last game in the franchise did, but for now, we must either buy a copy or wait. For many, that means waiting. Now, I’m a massive fan of farming games in general, and I love Farming Simulator as a whole, but I know from firsthand experience that a Giants Software release is, more often than not, quite buggy. Related: Best Simulator Games Where Can You Play Farming Simulator 25? While most long-time fans of the franchise will ultimately play Farming Simulator 25 on PC, there’s still a growing community on Xbox Series X|S interested in the game. If you’re in the latter camp, you should know the game is approximately $10 more expensive per edition on console. On PC, it’s $49.99 for the Standard Edition but $59.99 on Xbox Series X|S for the same version. In any case, the farming simulation game is coming to: PC PlayStation 5 Xbox Series X|S FS25 will also offer Mac support. Will you grab a copy of Farming Simulator 25 on day one or wait for the inevitable Game Pass release? Let us know in the comments below, or visit the community forums to discuss the game and series more! If you’re a fan of simulation and management games, then you probably want to learn these hotkeys in Planet Coaster 2 for an easier time! Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news and exclusive leaks every week! No Spam. Source link #Play #Farming #Simulator #Game #Pass Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]