Microsoft Launches Beta For AI Chatbot That Reads Your Xbox Profile
Microsoft Launches Beta For AI Chatbot That Reads Your Xbox Profile
Microsoft announced today that it is rolling out a beta version of Copilot for Gaming to mobile platforms. Testers on iOS and Android can now try out Microsoft’s first attempt at integrating an AI assistant with its Xbox platform.
In a blog post, Microsoft shared that users of the beta version of the Xbox app for mobile can now try out Copilot for Gaming’s chatbot functionality. The AI assistant is designed to link into your Xbox account and be able to answer questions about your Xbox history, current gameplay, games in general, and other topics.
Copilot for Gaming is now in beta on the Xbox mobile app (via Microsoft).
Microsoft suggests that Copilot will be able to answer particularly specific or context-sensitive questions, such as advice on certain encounters in games, guidance on improving your Gamerscore, or particularly rare Achievements in certain games. Right now, Copilot incorporates your Xbox profile with information gathered from Bing searches, but Microsoft says that deeper personalization is in development. It’s currently unclear exactly how often and in what way Copilot will be gathering information from profiles, and Microsoft has yet to explain how its answers might cite sources that it crawls while searching Bing. Finally, while Copilot is currently reactive–it waits for you to ask it something–Microsoft also states that proactive guidance for in-game activity is in the works.
The Copilot for Gaming beta is available in a bunch of countries (including the US and Canada), but it has yet to launch in the *** and Europe. The company is working on bringing it to more regions in the future.
Microsoft has been quite active in announcing AI functionality coming to games. Earlier in May, for instance, it shared its plans for integrating Copilot directly into Minecraft. The tech giant has also increasingly proposed using AI to generate game content, such as its creation of a Quake II level using an AI model.
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Chip software stocks sink on report Trump ordered halt to China sales
Chip software stocks sink on report Trump ordered halt to China sales
Shares of chip design software makers Cadence and Synopsys slipped in Wednesday trading after the Financial Times reported that the White House told them to stop selling to clients in China.
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Wet suits for street life: Bunbury man helping homeless community tackle cold South West nights
Wet suits for street life: Bunbury man helping homeless community tackle cold South West nights
A Bunbury man is helping the homeless community tackle the cold, by giving out wet suits for the rainy, windy nights approaching over winter.
Robert Green is set to start his charity Wet Suits for Street Life, and has put the call out for people to donate wet suits to help those without a roof over their heads keep warm.
Mr Green said he felt compelled to help the cause while driving around Bunbury earlier this month, noticing how many people were living outside in the cold.
“I was in town the other night and I saw a guy walking down the street with a trolley, a pair of safety boots, shorts and a fluoro jacket on,” he said.
“I don’t feel the cold, but it was freezing, I felt it.
“Then I drove up the street a bit more and there’s someone on a bench asleep. I thought, how did they do it? Seriously? How do they do that?”
Thinking about what he could do to help, Mr Green then stumbled across the idea of wet suits as a temporary solution.
“When I was younger we’d be going surfing down the coast and when you’re young, you don’t care a lot,” he said.
“We used to sleep in our wet suits in dunes and have it on ready to go surfing straight away in the morning.
“The beauty of a wet suit, rather than a blanket, is if it gets wet, you still keep warm.”
Mr Green put a post out on social media asking if anyone wanted to donate their unused wet suits and received a flurry of responses from the community.
“It’s really warming in the heart, I know there’s good people out there,” he said.
“It’s about planting the seed and seeing who picks up and grows with it.”
Determined to make a positive difference and help people in any way he can, Mr Green is now spending his time driving around the community collecting wet suits, before he hits the streets to distribute them.
He said his long-term vision was to make custom “dry suits”, but in the meantime encouraged people to contact him on 0428 970 001 if they would like to offer a wet suit or lend a hand.
“There’s an old saying I like — a problem shared is a problem halved,” he said.
“It’s a beautiful one.”
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The Fall of Avalon Mechanic Has Dying Light’s DNA All Over It
The Fall of Avalon Mechanic Has Dying Light’s DNA All Over It
In the world of dark fantasy RPGs, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon has carved out a solid reputation for its immersive world and rich narrative. This open-world role-playing adventure throws players into a hauntingly beautiful realm of myths and monsters, where nearly every decision matters.
Yet, among all the major choices and monstrous encounters, one of the most frustratingly consistent challenges is lockpicking. No, it’s not a bad mechanic, but that small, mighty mechanic is the bane of adventurers everywhere, just like it was in Dying Light. The similarity between the two systems doesn’t end at frustration either.
Lockpicking in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a familiar struggle
If you’ve spent any time scavenging in Dying Light, chances are your memories of lockpicks involve a lot of patience, minor rage, and eventually… loot. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon taps into that same emotional rollercoaster.
In fact, Tainted Grail’s lockpick system feels so familiar, it’s as if it was lifted straight from Dying Light’s design playbook. The mechanics, the emotional rhythm, even the satisfying clunk when a chest finally opens, all echo the same structure.
The mini-game in both titles revolves around a two-part system: one tool rotates the lockpick, and the other turns the actual lock. Your job? Find the sweet spot where the lock turns completely, without snapping your pick like a twig.
Misjudge the angle too many times, and snap! Say goodbye to your lockpick. It’s a precise and often punishing task, especially when that chest in front of you doesn’t give you good loot and costs you 2-3 lockpicks.
Just like Dying Light, locked doors and chests are everywhere in Tainted Grail, rewarding your effort (and broken tools) with powerful weapons, useful gear, or key quest items. It’s a small mechanic, but it holds a big place in the heart of the looter-RPG fanbase.
How to pick locks in Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon?
Snap! There goes another one, and your last shred of patience. | Image Credit: Boomstick Gaming on YT
To get started with lockpicking in Tainted Grail, you’ll need lockpicks and plenty of them. These fragile tools break easily, especially while you’re still mastering the system. Even though the process is simple in theory, but its hard to put the knowledge to work. Here’s the process:
Set the lockpick at an angle (you can rotate the top lockpick)
Then, try rotating the lower lock
If the lock resists, tweak your angle left or right
The key (no pun intended) is to adjust the angle based on feedback
Once it’s fully rotated.. voilà
Keep trying until you find the exact spot that allows the lock to fully turn. This might take a few tries and a handful of lockpicks, but eventually you will get the hang of it.
Additionally, the game’s lock difficulty scales with the area and the loot behind the lock, so don’t be surprised if you break a few picks on chests later in the run. But don’t worry, as players can craft lockpicks in Tainted Grail by crafting them with Iron Ore at grindstone tables, buy them, or even find them.
So, whether you’re sneaking through a cursed ruin in Tainted Grail or parkouring through zombie-infested alleys in Dying Light, one thing remains true: lockpicking is an art form that will chew through your inventory if you’re not careful.
In the end, just try to remember that every broken lockpick is just another step closer to sweet, sweet loot.
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No, Nintendo – Your Latest Cheap Trick to Make Me Buy the Switch 2 Will Fail
No, Nintendo – Your Latest Cheap Trick to Make Me Buy the Switch 2 Will Fail
The hype for the Nintendo Switch 2 is real, and it’s everywhere. We’re just days away from its global release, and anticipation is through the roof. Fans are holding their breath to finally get the next-gen handheld in their hands to see if it can live up to expectations.
But as excitement builds, the company is once again pulling a classic move that stirs more frustration than joy. It used to be that simply being a Nintendo fan was enough. Now, you need to own the correct device within its ecosystem just to access basic features.
That’s not progress, it’s division. And for me, it’s one of the reasons I’m not buying the Switch 2.
Nintendo hides great new features behind the new paywall
I recently saw the update for the Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Classics games on the Online service, and I’ll admit, at first, I was excited. The update introduced three features that I (and so many other fans) have always wanted: rewind, a CRT filter, and customizable controls.
The rewind feature lets you jump back in time when you mess up. The CRT filter gives games that nostalgic old-school feel, mimicking the visuals many fans grew up with. And the ability to remap controls is a basic quality-of-life fix that should’ve been there from day one.
But then I looked closer and realized only one of these is available on the original Switch. Just customizable controls. The other two? Exclusive to the Switch 2. That’s right: I’ll need to shell out money on the latest hardware if I want to rewind or enjoy the CRT filter.
That’s not just disappointing, it honestly feels like manipulation. Nintendo knows how much players would love these features. But it decided to dangle them just out of reach, turning basic quality-of-life improvements into marketing bait. This is a hardware-based paywall, locking away basic features as bait for their next console.
The Original Switch isn’t dead, stop treating it like it is
If loyalty were currency, the company is cashing in way too hard. | Image Credit: Nintendo
Look, I get it. The original Switch is old. It’s been around since 2017. It can’t run the latest AAA third-party games or support ray tracing or whatever the Switch 2 will bring. And that’s fine. I’ve accepted that.
But what I won’t accept is Nintendo pretending that basic, low-level features like rewind and CRT filters somehow require cutting-edge hardware. They don’t. These are simple enhancements, and there’s no technical reason they couldn’t exist on the original Switch.
That’s not just bad business, it’s a betrayal of loyalty. And frankly, it’s insulting. Nintendo’s strategy seems to rely on fan loyalty as a resource they can spend, but let me be clear: mine is running out.
So why are they being withheld? It’s simple: to push as many of us as possible toward the Switch 2, whether we want it or not. The frustrating part is not about the missing features themselves, but the message behind it: intentionally phasing out the old hardware by starving it of support.
I wasn’t already thrilled about the Switch 2. The higher price of both the console and its games, and the closed system. But this kind of cheap trick? It doesn’t make me want to upgrade. It makes me want to opt out entirely.
Let’s not forget, the Nintendo of America President said (via CBC) that if people were concerned about the price of the Switch 2, they could just buy the original Switch to join the ecosystem. But how can we, if even simple features are being carved out and hidden behind new hardware?
You can do better, Nintendo. Your fans have given you their time, money, and trust for years. You owe them more than this.
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Jefferies sees upside ahead for these stocks — and they pay solid dividends
Jefferies sees upside ahead for these stocks — and they pay solid dividends
With earnings season mostly in the rearview mirror, certain names stand out as winners moving forward, according to Jefferies. The firm recently highlighted several buy-rated stocks of companies that beat on earnings and issued solid guidance. It also favors domestic names over foreign, although international stocks are currently outperforming those in the United States. The iShares MSCI All Country World Index ex U.S. ETF (ACWX) has gained about 14% in 2025, while the S & P 500 is fractionally higher so far this year. However, domestically-oriented names are cheap on an absolute basis, as well as relative to names with foreign exposure, U.S. small-mid cap strategist Steven DeSanctis said in a note Tuesday. “Looking across several macro variables and relative performance of Domestic vs. Foreign, performance favors being domestically oriented,” he wrote. The strategist added that if oil prices continue to fall and the dollar remains weak, those factors are favorable for domestic names. While the dollar strengthened for the second day on Wednesday, Jefferies thinks the greenback could be in for an extended ******* of weakness. These names are among those that made the cut; they are mostly mid-cap companies. They also pay dividends, so investors are paid to wait for the stocks to rise. Lamb Weston has 41% upside to Jefferies’ $75 price target, as of Tuesday’s close, and it has a 2.78% dividend yield. The company, which makes frozen potato products, posted a beat on both the top and bottom lines when it reported fiscal third-quarter results in April. Adjusted earnings were $1.10 per share, versus the 86 cents per share expected from analysts polled by FactSet. Revenue came in at $1.52 billion versus the $1.49 billion consensus estimate. Lamb Weston also reiterated its guidance for the full year. That was “much needed in our view to stem the negative sentiment,” said DeSanctis, who acknowledged the company still faces some headwinds. “LW is now engaged with a strategic advisor to explore value creation and operational/cost saving opportunities after an activist got involved in fall ’24, with the value of its integrated assets (notably in the US) possibly attractive to potential suitors,” he noted. Shares are down 20% year to date. Virtu Financial , on the other hand, is up more than 15% so far this year. Jefferies’ $47 price target implies about 14% upside from Tuesday’s close. The high-frequency trading company’s first-quarter normalized adjusted earnings were $1.30 per share, topping the $1.20 a share consensus estimate, according to FactSet. The results led Jefferies to increase its estimates for 2025 and 2026 earnings to $4.10 and $4.05 per share, respectively, from $3.74 and $3.78 per share. Elevated volatility and increased retail participation have been key drivers of Virtu Financial’s recent earnings strength, as well as the company’s growth initiatives, Jefferies analyst Daniel Fannon said in an April note after the company’s earnings report. “While the sustainability of activity is always an unknown, the diversity of asset class/product contribution to the performance is notable (this quarter, metals were highlighted for the first time in recent history),” he wrote. “The growth and investor participation within Virtu’s underlying markets, such as options, ETFs, crypto, and equity ownership more broadly continue to represent longer-term tailwinds to Virtu’s growth outlook.” The stock pays a 2.33% dividend yield. Lastly, STAG Industrial has a 4.21% dividend yield and is up nearly 5% so far this year. The real estate investment trust, which focuses on industrial properties in the U.S., has 29% upside to Jefferies’ $45 price target, as of Tuesday’s close. The company’s first-quarter core funds from operations came in at 61 cents per share, 1 cent above the FactSet consensus estimate. Its revenue was $205.6 million, above the $201.1 million expected by analysts. Cash-leashing spreads — which is the difference between money collected on new and renewal leases compared to expiring lease — jumped 27.3%, analyst Jonathan Petersen pointed out in an April 29 note, after the company reported earnings. “We expect leasing spreads will continue to trend positively vs coastal peers over the next few years driven by demand related to onshoring of manufacturing and supply chain reconfiguration,” he wrote.
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Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos was unlawfully detained by ICE
Harvard researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos was unlawfully detained by ICE
A federal judge in Vermont on Wednesday released a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher from immigration custody as she deals with a criminal charge of smuggling frog embryos into the United States.
Colleagues and academics also testified on Kseniia Petrova’s behalf, saying she is doing valuable research to advance cures for *******.
“It is excellent science,” Michael West, a scientist and entrepreneur in the biotech industry, testified on Petrova’s research papers. He said he does not know Petrova, but has become acquainted with her published work, citing one in which she explains that “by mapping embryonic development, novel ways of intervening in the biology of regeneration and aging.”
West said that Petrova’s medical research skills are highly sought after and that he himself would hire her “in a heartbeat.”
Petrova, 30, is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service in Louisiana. She is expected to be brought to Massachusetts as early as Friday in preparation for a bail hearing next week on the smuggling charge, lawyers said in court.
“We are gratified that today’s hearing gave us the opportunity to present clear and convincing evidence that Kseniia Petrova was not carrying anything dangerous or unlawful, and that customs officers at Logan International Airport had no legal authority to revoke her visa or detain her,” Petrova’s lawyer Gregory Romanovsky said in a statement. “At today’s hearing, we demonstrated that Kseniia is neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, and does not belong in immigration detention.”
Petrova had been vacationing in France, where she stopped at a lab specializing in splicing superfine sections of frog embryos and obtained a package of samples to be used for research.
As she passed through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in Boston Logan International Airport in February, Petrova was questioned about the samples. She told The Associated Press in an interview last month that she did not realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country. After an interrogation, Petrova was told her visa was being canceled.
After being detained by immigration officials, she filed a petition in Vermont seeking her release. She was briefly detained in Vermont before she was brought to Louisiana.
Petrova was charged with smuggling earlier this month as U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Burlington set the hearing date on her petition. Reiss ruled Wednesday that the immigration officers’ actions were unlawful, that Petrova didn’t present a danger, and that the embryos were non-living, non-hazardous and “posed a threat to no one.”
Petrova’s lawyer, Gregory Romanovsky, had asked Reiss to issue an order to stop the possibility of ICE re-detaining her if she is also released from detention in Massachusetts.
Reiss said she was reluctant “to enjoin an executive agency from undertaking future actions which are uncertain” and would rely on U.S. Department of Justice attorney Jeffrey Hartman’s comments that the government has no intention at this time to re-arrest Petrova.
Romanovsky had said Customs and Border Protection officials had no legal basis for canceling Petrova’s visa and detaining her.
The Department of Homeland Security had said in a statement on the social media platform X that Petrova was detained after “lying to federal officers about carrying substances into the country.” They allege that messages on her phone “revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them.”
Harvard had said in a statement that the university “continues to monitor the situation.”
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Storm Winds Blanket Australia in Thick Dust
Storm Winds Blanket Australia in Thick Dust
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Storm Winds Blanket Australia in Thick DustA dust storm filled *********** skies with an orange haze caused by long-term drought conditions in parts of Australia.
There’s the Avondale sign there. Avondale, I should say. I can only just see it. God, bloody terrible. Righto. I better get in there and get out of it. This is just out the front. Can’t see a thing out these driveways down there. Just dust everywhere back there. Up there is a shearing shed. Can’t see a thing.
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Diddy trial live updates: Stylist Deonte Nash testifies that Cassie was kicked, punched by Sean Combs – The Washington Post
Diddy trial live updates: Stylist Deonte Nash testifies that Cassie was kicked, punched by Sean Combs – The Washington Post
Diddy trial live updates: Stylist Deonte Nash testifies that Cassie was kicked, punched by Sean Combs The Washington PostSean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial takeaways: LAPD officer, arson investigator and Cassie Ventura’s stylist testify as judge denies motion for a mistrial YahooWhen Diddy’s Ex-Assistant Asked Cassie About Leaving Him, Her Reply Involved Jay-Z People.comFormer Sean Combs employee Capricorn Clark says he kidnapped her NPRSean Combs’ inner circle reveals a world of guns, abuse, kidnapping and death threats Los Angeles Times
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Tim Deegan is retiring, but he’ll still be looking at the clouds, forecasting weather
Tim Deegan is retiring, but he’ll still be looking at the clouds, forecasting weather
Tim Deegan has kept a framed forecast on his desk at First Coast News for years.
It isn’t one of the tens of thousands of forecasts he’s delivered to Jacksonville viewers in the last 43 years at WTLV-Ch. 12 and WJXX-Ch. 25, or even one from when he first appeared on television in Texas.
This forecast goes back to when he was 6 years old, growing up in Wilmington, Delaware.
He had severe asthma and when his parents kept him inside, he’d often end up looking out a window and not just seeing the sky, but wondering what it meant. Why did this cloud lead to thunderstorms and that one didn’t? And how did someone predict that?
After his father finished reading the Philadelphia Inquirer, Tim would take it and turn to Page 2 to look at the weather map and forecast. And if there was one thing he paid attention to on television, it was when Dr. Francis Davis came on to give his forecast. Davis was a broadcasting pioneer, a meteorologist first and foremost, hired to be on television.
Not that Deegan thought much about this, or television in general, at that age. He just knew he was fascinated by all things weather. So at some point he started doing his own quite detailed forecasts.
His father took one of these forecasts to work. A secretary saved it and later gave it back to Tim’s parents, who gave it back to him, framed as a graduation gift, when he got his meteorology degree at Texas A&M and headed down this career path.
It’s sitting on his desk along with some items that you’d find on many a work desk — family photos and such — but quite a few others that have some sort of tie to weather. A stack of books that’s heavy on weather (titles such as “Isaac’s Storm” and “Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World”). A photo of the eye of Hurricane Cleo in 1964. His latest journal with hand-written daily notes.
While he uses all the modern-day tools to forecast the weather, he has continued to keep journals, which feel like a continuation of the framed piece of paper from 1966.
“Tim’s weather report,” it says at the top of the page.
At the bottom of the page, there’s a map of the United States, with arrows and fronts drawn on it. It includes an hour-by-hour forecast, on the 30-minutes, with kids’ handwriting and a misspelled word but some precise predictions for the vicinity.
At twelve 30 PM, tempeture about 32 degrees, chance of snow 71 p
Not 70 percent or 75 percent. Seventy-one percent.
“If I was anywhere near that good now …” he said with a laugh, while showing that forecast to a couple of visitors to the station.
After he announced last fall that he was planning to retire on May 30, 2025 — something that has been planned ever since he signed his last contract three years ago and stopped doing the 11 p.m. news — someone asked how many broadcasts he’s done. He did some rough math and came up with 40,000.
Now 65, he says he has kept that childhood forecast on his desk not just for pure nostalgia, but as a reminder to himself.
If something about the job ever was irritating him, he could look at that forecast and say to himself, “You know, they’re paying me basically to do what I’ve been doing since I was six.’”
The unplanned path to TV
When he went to college, he knew he wanted to get his meteorology degree. But he still had no interest in television.
“I was going to grow long hair and a beard and do research,” he said. “I was convinced anybody on TV was a clown.”
This was the era when people doing the weather were, first and foremost, entertainers. And in the case of NBC’s longtime weatherman Willard Scott, he had first appeared on television as some famous clowns, Bozo and the original Ronald McDonald.
But a few things happened. First, Deegan spent part of a summer actually doing research, working in a basement, doing computer programming, not seeing clouds for months. Between that and failing Differential Equations twice, he realized he didn’t want to get more degrees and do research.
Second, after he passed Differential Equations on his third attempt, he returned to A&M for one final semester. At the time, following a budget battle in Congress, the National Weather Service had a hiring freeze. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do beyond enjoying some Aggies football games that fall. Maybe try to join the Peace Corps.
Then a notice was posted on a bulletin board. It said a local television station in Bryan/College Station, Texas, was looking for a meteorology student to do morning forecasts. Deegan tried out and got the job.
“And you know why?” he said. “No one else tried out. … It came on at 5:30 a.m. and was mainly for the farmers. I guarantee none of my friends on campus ever saw me.”
He figures that when it comes to the first show, maybe that’s for the best. There isn’t any video of it, but he remembers it.
The day before he’d played in an Ultimate Frisbee game on the A&M football field. On the last play of the game he went up for a catch, collided with two other guys who were coming down and broke his nose.
“So my first day on the air, I have a broken nose and raccoon eyes,” he said.
Not that this fazed him. Even though he hadn’t done TV before, he’d had classes where the undergrads had to get up in front of the PhD students and give their forecasts. So he felt like he was just combining forecasting with talking for a few minutes, drawing a weather map on a white board with red and blue markers.
He remembers that after that first broadcast, his boss was very complimentary but told him to go back and watch the tape. When Deegan did, he realized, “my map looked like a hornet’s nest.”
Still, he felt like he’d stumbled upon something he could do, something he couldn’t believe he’d get paid to do. And as his boss said after seeing the college kid show up with a broken nose, “If people are still following you after how you looked this morning, you’re going to be OK,”
This was an era when local stations were rapidly adding morning shows. Within weeks, Deegan got offered an internship in Corpus Christi. And not long after he started, there was some severe weather. The station needed to record a promo. The chief meteorologist was on vacation. The weekend guy kept trying to record it but kept messing up, reacting with a string of expletives, leading to the owner firing him.
“So suddenly I’m working seven days a week and loving it,” Deegan said. “By the time I graduated, I absolutely knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Surfing and forecasting
It’s shortly before the 5 p.m. newscast. Deegan already has done a 4 p.m. streaming webcast with meteorologist Ross Mummah. It’s more informal than a traditional forecast, and one of many things that didn’t exist when Deegan first walked into this building at age 22.
In 1982, the station was adding to its weather team while launching this market’s first morning show: Good Morning Jacksonville.
He got a small apartment on North Street in Neptune Beach and barely bothered to furnish it. He already was living the dream. Or at least his dream. He could surf and forecast interesting weather?
That’s the simplified version of why this was his first stop out of college — and also why it became his last one.
He gives credit to Ch. 4 meteorologist George Winterling, who retired in 2009 and died in 2023, for long ago setting the tone for forecasting in this market.
“When I was new here, I learned that this market was considered a weather market,” Deegan said. “And what that meant was people expected a serious attempt to forecast. George was basically almost a generation ahead.”
As he walks through the station on the Friday before his final newscast, Deegan talks about how much has changed, in this building, on television and in weather forecasting.
Some of the changes are positive (from newsrooms no longer filled with smoke to significantly more accurate long-range hurricane forecasts). Some are disconcerting. He worries about what cuts to the National Weather Service will mean — particularly cuts that mean fewer weather balloons in the sky.
“The National Weather Service is the only group in the United States that sends up weather balloons,” he said. “Now that may sound old school, but the weather balloons give us a three-dimensional nature to meteorology. The best computer models in the world … they’re using information from those weather balloons. So if we continue to cut the number of weather balloons, that’s going to hurt everybody’s forecasting.”
He’s wearing a red tie with a sun, moon, clouds and a row of kids holding hands. A teacher sent him it after he spoke at a school. When he started doing this job, he had no idea this would end up being part of it. And yet speaking to students became one of his favorite parts of it.
He puts in his earpiece before heading into the studio, explaining that he can’t take it out during the broadcast, which means he’ll hear every commercial in his ear for 90 minutes and probably in his head much later — a part of the job he won’t miss.
Once in the studio, with the clock nearing 5 p.m., anchor Jeannie Blaylock asks visitors if they’ve ever heard Deegan’s mike check, which he proceeds to do.
Around the rough and rugged rock, the ragged rascal ran …
Sometimes he changes “ran” to “surfed” and the crew knows how he began his day.
Deegan’s retirement means that Blaylock, who started at the station in 1985, will have the longest on-air tenure at First Coast News. When it comes to local meteorologists, Action News Jax chief meteorologist Mike Buresh, who has been there since 2002, will have the longest tenure, followed by News4Jax chief meteorologist Richard Nunn, who started in 2004.
And as hurricane season officially begins, Lew Turner will take over as chief meteorologist at First Coast News — timing that, Deegan explains, is a coincidence tied to when his latest contract ends and, this time, retirement begins.
Running with the mayor
It was shortly before dawn at the beach on a recent Sunday morning.
Tim and Donna Deegan — the former First Coast News anchor, his wife since 2002, and the mayor of Jacksonville since 2023 — begin many mornings with a run down to the beach to see the sun come up. So it seemed fitting to talk about Tim’s retirement on one of those runs.
Tim and Donna Deegan start most days with a run on the beach. That won’t change when Tim Deegan retires May 30, 2025, after 43 years as a meteorologist with First Coast News, and Donna Deegan continues to serve as mayor of Jacksonville.
When the sun does start to appear, or at least the first light illuminating the clouds, Donna stops to take pictures.
“As far as morning clouds are concerned, I can honestly say Donna is a better observer than me now,” Tim says.
When people ask him what he’s going to do in retirement, his stock answers are “no socks, no ties” and “have more time to walk the mayor’s dog.”
These are glib answers. But there is truth in them. He doesn’t have grand plans. He’s looking forward to not feeling like a chunk of his life is scheduled down to the second. And really, he started easing toward this when he stopped doing the 11 o’clock news. So he’ll just do more of what he’s already doing. Start the day at the beach. Read lots of books. Make it to more of the mayor’s events.
He prefaces everything by saying how grateful he is to have had his career, to have had people allow him to come into their homes and try to forecast their weather. But he says he’s quite ready to not be on TV.
“I hesitate to tell on myself this way, because I love to learn, but after 43 years of the next new technology, the next new social media thing we need to be on, the next new password, I think there are atoms in my body going, ‘Enough,’’” he said. “I want to keep learning, but hopefully other things.”
He says that in the last 43 years he learned a lot, some of it having to do with forecasting. And before he’s asked about it, he brings up a time when he became the news. In 2013, he was arrested for driving under the influence. He pleaded no contest to the charge, had his license suspended for six months and agreed to perform 50 hours of community service. He also was temporarily off the air.
“It was one of the worst things that happened to me and one of the best,” he said. “I had been in a decades long dark spiral and now through the help of others life seems so bright and free.”
Hair today, grown tomorrow
One thing he plans to do in retirement — something that won’t come as a surprise to family, colleagues and, for that matter, viewers who have watched his hair lately.
Let it grow.
“My next haircut is scheduled for like six months,” he said. “But it’s not because I have a certain length in mind. It’s because I can. It could be that within three months I get tired of it.”
You might say this has been a long-running battle during his career. But it goes back farther than that. In an interview with Blaylock, his mother, Margie, said she thinks he’s more handsome with short hair, but she long ago gave up that fight. And his father once gave him a T-shirt that says: “You need a haircut.”
This is something that management told him more than once through the years.
When he tells a story about decades ago getting it cut quite short — so short that management said it was too short — Donna adds: “Let’s be clear, that was not often the issue.”
Even with hair, he manages to bring the conversation back to the weather. He says that he values computer models and modern tools, but when he’s on vacation, he finds himself simply looking at the sky, trying to figure out the weather. He likes old-fashioned methods. And did you know that once upon a time, barometers used hair to measure humidity, particularly blond hair?
“So I’m just trying to be a better meteorologist,” he says.
He’s joking. Sort of. If there’s one thing that hasn’t changed in 43 years, it’s that he really wants to get his latest forecast right. People ask him about the big storms. And of course he recalls being on the air for many days during Matthew and Irma. But he also remembers a sunny day in one of his early years in Jacksonville. The problem with that? The young meteorologist had forecast rain, telling people to plan indoor activities. When it was a beautiful sunny day, he stayed inside.
That hasn’t completely changed. Donna says that if they have a family event and she’s hoping for a certain kind of weather and they get it, she’s happy. And Tim?
“If he didn’t forecast it, he’ll be upset,” she said.
Tim shrugs, as if to say he’s not necessarily proud of this but it’s true. If he called for rain and it rains, he says, “I’m stoked.”
After May 30, he won’t be sharing his forecast with the public five nights a week. Although if you bump into him and ask a question about the weather, be prepared for a long answer.
None of this means he’ll stop forecasting. He’s retiring, not quitting something he’s been doing since he was 6. So he’ll still be looking at the skies and computer models, trying to figure out the weather.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Tim Deegan retires after 43 years as First Coast News meteorologist
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Kevin Costner sued by 'Horizon 2' stunt double for ***** scene she says was 'unscripted' and 'violent' – NBC News
Kevin Costner sued by 'Horizon 2' stunt double for ***** scene she says was 'unscripted' and 'violent' – NBC News
Kevin Costner sued by ‘Horizon 2’ stunt double for ***** scene she says was ‘unscripted’ and ‘violent’ NBC News’Horizon’ Stunt Performer Files ******* Harassment Lawsuit Against Kevin Costner and Film’s Producers People.comStuntwoman Sues Kevin Costner & ‘Horizon’ Over Unscripted ***** Scene DeadlineKevin Costner Sued by Stunt Performer Over Unscripted ‘Horizon 2’ ***** Scene VarietyKevin Costner sued by stunt performer over alleged ‘Horizon 2’ unscripted ***** scene Entertainment Weekly
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Conference League final: Arrests made as fans of Chelsea and Betis clash
Conference League final: Arrests made as fans of Chelsea and Betis clash
Riot police in the Polish city of Wroclaw used a water cannon to stop trouble between Chelsea and Real Betis fans before the Uefa Conference League final.
Hundreds of fans clashed in Wroclaw Market Square on Wednesday afternoon – with the Lower Silesian Police saying 28 supporters had been arrested.
Police indicated that number would rise, with arrests of fans involved in the incident “ongoing”.
The final of the the third-tier European competition is at 20:00 BST at Stadion Wroclaw.
Local authorities estimate that more than 70,000 fans have arrived in the city in the south-west of Poland for the final, a number that covers ticket holders and those attending fan zones and other events around the city.
Tens of thousands of fans are expected to pass through the city’s four major fan zones.
“The police very quickly took action to separate the two groups and prevent the escalation of aggressive behaviour,” Lower Silesian Police posted on X after the trouble started after 3pm local time.
“The officers used technical means in the form of a water cannon and direct coercion. According to the findings so far, no-one was injured.”
In a later statement, they said: “At this moment, we can confirm the arrest of 28 participants in the incident. No one will escape legal responsibility and the police will react decisively and appropriately to the situation.”
On Tuesday evening, several clashes between Chelsea and Betis fans took place near Solny Square.
Riot police intervened using tear gas to disperse the crowds. Chairs and glass bottles were thrown as the confrontation lasted for around five minutes.
There were two further clashes in the evening, with minor damage caused by no major injuries reported. Seven fans including, four Spanish supporters, were arrested.
“Zero tolerance for violence on our streets!” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X, external.
“I thank the police for their decisive actions against the hooligans in Chelsea and Betis shirts in Wroclaw. We warn you: if necessary, the police will be even more ruthless!”
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Marvellous Miss Markham: Bunbury author to launch debut novel at 86 years old
Marvellous Miss Markham: Bunbury author to launch debut novel at 86 years old
An 86-year-old Bunbury woman is set to launch her debut novel, despite a busy life of completing her PhD at 75, being a farmer’s wife, a teacher and a psychologist.
Dr Helen Byles-Drage’s new book, titled Marvellous Miss Markham, is a historical romance set in England during the reign of George IV.
Going by pen name Helen BeDe, she is a farmer’s wife, teacher, psychologist and sociologist who went back to university when she was 75, after retiring from her day job at Bunbury Regional Prison.
She has won multiple prizes for her writing in the past, many of which she achieved while doing a PhD when she returned to university as a mature student.
“I had to find something to fill 24 hours a day,” she said.
“Initially I tried artwork up at ECU here in Bunbury, but I found I could get better marks if I wrote than I did painting, so I switched over to creative writing.
“I began to develop this story, and it was set right at the very beginning of the 19th century.
“I thought, ‘gee, I don’t know enough about this’ — so I did a University Of The Third Age course in social life in the 18th century.”
Byles-Drage said the course opened her eyes to the lack of legal rights women had during the time.
“The fact that women had no legal existence, they were property, they belonged to their father, until he with a dowry, managed to buy them a husband,” she said.
“I knew women were expected to be little house mice at home, but it just rocked me the extent to which they were kept under.
“The fact that a man was perfectly legal to beat a wife, his children or his servants, so long as the rod he used was not thicker than an inch.”
While the novel is set in a historical *******, it still deals with contemporary concerns such as “the need and desire to belong, to be loved, to have some personal power and importance to cope well with life”, the writer said.
On Saturday, Byles-Drage will celebrate the book with a launch at the Bunbury Public Library from 10am, with morning tea and book signing opportunities.
“It’s quite a moment when you hold your own book in your hands,” she said.
“I do want to encourage people to explore and make the most of themselves and try the things they want to do — that are legal of course.”
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State can’t use medication evidence to counter insanity defense in fatal ******, Georgia court says
State can’t use medication evidence to counter insanity defense in fatal ******, Georgia court says
ATLANTA (AP) — In the prosecution of a Georgia woman who caused a fatal car ****** while suffering a psychotic break, the state cannot use evidence that she had stopped taking some of her psychiatric medications to counter her insanity defense, the state’s highest court ruled Wednesday.
Michelle Wierson was driving her Volkswagen Tiguan at high speed through the streets of DeKalb County, in Atlanta’s suburbs, when she hit a Toyota Corolla stopped at a traffic light. The impact pushed the car into the intersection where it collided with another car. Miles Jenness, a 5-year-old passenger in the Toyota, suffered a traumatic brain injury and a severed spine and died days later.
Everyone agrees that Wierson caused the September 2018 wreck. Her defense attorneys filed notice that she intended to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, saying that at the time of the wreck she was suffering from a “delusional compulsion” caused by mental illness that absolves her of criminal liability. The DeKalb County district attorney’s office wanted to present evidence that Wierson had stopped taking some medication prescribed to treat bipolar disorder, arguing that the jury should be allowed to consider that she voluntarily contributed to her mental state.
The trial court said the state could use that evidence, but the state Court of Appeals reversed that ruling in a pretrial appeal. The state then appealed to the state Supreme Court, which upheld the intermediate appeals court’s ruling.
An Atlanta-area psychologist with a years-long history of bipolar disorder, Wierson believed at the time of the ****** that she was on a mission from God to save her daughter from being killed, her lawyers have said.
Georgia law outlines two tests for someone seeking to use an insanity defense at trial. Both have to do with the person’s mental state “at the time of” the alleged crime. The first says a person shall not be found guilty of a crime if they “did not have mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong” related to the act. The second says a person shall not be found guilty of a crime if the person acted because of “a delusional compulsion” that “overmastered” their will.
An expert hired by the defense and another engaged by the court found that Wierson met both of those criteria. Justice Andrew Pinson wrote in Wednesday’s majority opinion that the law says nothing about the cause of the person’s mental state at the time of the crime.
“Put simply, the plain language of the insanity-defense statutes gives not even a hint that these defenses would not be available to a person who has ‘brought about’ the relevant mental state voluntarily, whether by not taking medication or otherwise,” he wrote.
Robert Rubin, a lawyer for Wierson, has said that his client is “haunted by the tragic consequences” of her actions. But he said in an email Wednesday that he hopes the Supreme Court ruling will allow the case to be resolved without a trial.
“The Georgia Supreme Court reaffirmed the basic principle that the focus of an insanity case is the defendant’s state of mind at the time of the act,” he wrote. “The State never disputed that our client was insane at the time of the accident. Its attempt to make this case about alleged medication compliance was misplaced and dragged this case out unnecessarily.”
The DeKalb County district attorney’s office did not immediately have a comment Wednesday. Bruce Hagen, a lawyer for the Jenness family said in an email that he was “very disappointed, although not surprised” by the high court’s ruling.
In its ruling on this case, the Supreme Court also overturned its own ruling in a 1982 case that had created an exception to the insanity defenses. That case involved a man diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who, against his doctor’s orders, put himself in a highly stressful situation and ended up killing two people.
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Gigabyte RX 9070 XT thermal gel replacement reportedly lowers VRAM temperatures by 7 degrees
Gigabyte RX 9070 XT thermal gel replacement reportedly lowers VRAM temperatures by 7 degrees
Bilibili content creator and thermal pad vendor DIY电脑周边 (via Uniko’s Hardware) has a video explaining how to replace Gigabyte’s server-grade thermal conductive gel with standard thermal pads, using the Aorus Radeon RX 9070 XT Elite 16G as an example. A customer allegedly sent in the graphics card for a cooling upgrade and got precisely what they requested.
Gigabyte began incorporating thermal conductive gel in its latest AMD and Nvidia gaming graphics cards. However, this putty-like thermal compound received negative feedback due to instances of leakage from some graphics cards, particularly when installed vertically. Following a swift investigation, Gigabyte acknowledged that early production runs had experienced issues with excessive application of the thermal gel. The company has reassured customers that the amount of thermal gel used in the graphics cards has been modified to prevent such problems in the future. The Aorus Radeon RX 9070 XT Elite 16G also features thermal gel, possibly influencing the consumer’s decision to switch to conventional thermal pads.
In the Bilibili video, which you can see here, DIY电脑周边 (DIY Computer Peripherals) demonstrated how to remove Gigabyte’s thermal gel using isopropyl alcohol and a paper towel, followed by scraping away any residue with a plastic spudger. For replacements, he utilized Gilson HD800 and HD1200 thermal pads. The HD800 pad has a thermal conductivity rating of 8 W/mK, which is decent but not the top option available. DIY Computer Peripherals offers a sheet of HD800 for approximately $1.53 on Taobao.
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DIY Computer Peripherals employed a phase change pad on the large Navi 48 silicon, alongside standard thermal pads for additional components such as GDDR6 memory chips, chokes, and MOSFETs. The precise thickness of the thermal pads is vital for effective cooling since being either too thin or too thick can adversely affect performance.
The vendor provided the thickness measurements for each thermal pad featured in the video. For instance, the thermal pads for the GDDR6 memory chips measure 1.25mm, while those for the chokes are 1.5mm thick, among others. However, DIY Computer Peripherals warns that not all thermal pads are alike; each brand has distinct softness and mounting pressure requirements. The thickness mentioned in the video applies specifically to the brand used by the Bilibili creator.
Before replacing the thermal pad, the Aorus Radeon RX 9070 XT Elite 16G operated at a fan speed of 42%, reaching temperatures of 56 degrees Celsius for the core, 88 degrees for the hot spot, and 85 degrees for the VRAM. Following the swap, the RDNA 4 graphics experienced a decrease in fan speed to 40%, with the core temperature at 53 degrees Celsius, the hot spot at 87 degrees Celsius, and the VRAM cooling down to 78 degrees Celsius. Typically, memory chips are inadequately cooled in many graphics cards, making it understandable that the Aorus Radeon RX 9070 XT Elite 16G’s VRAM benefited the most from the upgrade.
If you didn’t receive a graphics card from one of the early Gigabyte batches, thermal gel leakage is unlikely to be a concern. Gigabyte has stated that this issue does not impact the card’s performance or longevity. However, it’s a good idea to contact Gigabyte directly should the problem occur. DIY Computer Peripherals has shown that replacing the thermal gel is feasible, and you don’t lose any cooling performance. In fact, it might enable your graphics card to run more quietly and at cooler temperatures.
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RFK Jr. changes Covid vaccine recommendation
RFK Jr. changes Covid vaccine recommendation
A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the latest health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions.
A wave of outrage is sweeping the scientific and medical world after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to stop recommending routine Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.
Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, on Tuesday said the Covid shot has been removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended immunization schedule for those groups.
“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another Covid shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children,” Kennedy said in a video on X. He offered no scientific evidence to justify the change to the recommendations.
It’s Kennedy’s latest move to change and potentially undermine vaccinations in the U.S. since he took the helm at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the federal agencies that regulate and recommend shots.
It comes a week after Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary set stricter standards for approving shots for healthy Americans.
Some health experts say the dropped recommendation could have devastating consequences, particularly for pregnant women and their babies.
Both are considered to be at higher risk of severe complications from Covid-19 infections, according to the CDC’s website. That can include preterm labor and birth, heart injury, blood clots and kidney damage among pregnant women.
“As ob-gyns who treat patients every day, we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID-19 infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection,” Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement.
He emphasized that “the science has not changed.”
“Following this announcement, we are worried about our patients in the future, who may be less likely to choose vaccination during pregnancy despite the clear and definitive evidence demonstrating its benefit,” Fleischman said.
Studies have found that Covid-19 vaccination reduces the risk of hospitalization from the virus for pregnant women and infants younger than 6 months.
Fleischman and other experts also raised concerns about whether patients will have access to vaccines following Kennedy’s decision. The CDC’s recommendation is crucial because it guides insurance plans on which shots to cover at no cost to patients.
Medicare and Medicaid require that the recommended vaccines are free for patients. The Affordable Care Act requires private insurers to cover all vaccines recommended by the CDC’s outside committee of vaccine advisors and director. Children without insurance can get free recommended vaccines through the government-run Vaccines for Children Program.
Pfizer and Moderna are charging up to $150 per dose for their respective Covid shots before insurance, according to the CDC’s website.
“This decision could make it significantly harder for millions of Americans to access vaccines they want for themselves and their families,” Tina Tan, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said in a statement.
Tan added that process for Kennedy’s decision breaks with the precedent of letting federal panels of experts publicly debate scientific evidence and vote on immunization practices. A group of external advisors to the CDC typically gives vaccine advice to the agency’s director.
Trump’s nominee to lead the CDC, acting director Susan Monarez, still needs Senate confirmation.
“This decision bypasses a long-established, evidence-based process used to ensure vaccine safety and ignores the expertise of independent medical experts, including members of CDC committees who are examining the evidence regarding the vaccine to make recommendations for the fall,” Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, said in a statement.
He added that the decision could “strip families of choice,” preventing those who want to vaccinate from getting shots.
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Latest in health-care tech: Hinge Health makes its debut on the New York Stock Exchange
Hinge Health Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during the company’s initial public offering (IPO) in New York, US, on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Did you hear that? That was the sound of the digital health sector breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Digital physical therapy company Hinge Health debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last week in the sector’s first major public exit in several years.
The broader tech IPO market has been in a drought since late 2021, when soaring inflation and rising interest rates pushed investors out of risky assets. And within digital health, there’s been practically no IPO activity.
Hinge, founded in 2014, uses software to help patients treat acute musculoskeletal injuries and chronic pain, as well as carry out post-surgery rehabilitation remotely.
The stock opened at $39.25 on Thursday, rising 23% from its $32 IPO price. It closed up 17% at $37.56 a share, bringing its market capitalization to more than $3 billion. As of Wednesday afternoon, shares are trading at more than $41.
Prior to its IPO, Hinge had raised more than $1 billion from investors including Insight Partners, Atomico, Tiger Global Management and Coatue Management.
Most analysts will officially kick off coverage of the stock around 30 days after its debut. But analysts at Roth shared some initial thoughts about Hinge earlier this month, before it went public. Importantly, they did not participate in the offering, make a recommendation or initiate coverage in their report.
“We watched HNGE’s IPO roadshow presentation and were impressed by the AI products underpinning the platform and rate of care expansion,” including beyond musculoskeletal conditions, the analysts said in a note on May 16.
Hinge said that revenue in its first quarter climbed 50% to $123.8 million, up from $82.7 million during the same ******* last year. The company reported $117.3 million in revenue during its fourth quarter, up 44% from the same ******* in 2023.
The Roth analysts said the company’s recent fundamentals are encouraging, including its accelerating revenues and billings as well as its improved operating margins. Some of the risks facing the company include the competitive digital therapy landscape, its reliance on peer-reviewed data and regulatory overhang, they said.
After Hinge’s debut, another digital health company is preparing to join the fray. Omada Health filed for an IPO earlier this month, though it has yet to share more details about its expected pricing or timeline.
Omada offers virtual care programs to support patients with chronic conditions like prediabetes, diabetes and hypertension.
As we did with Hinge, we’ll be following this offering closely, so stay tuned for updates!
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Toyota Supercharges Joby: $250M Capital Infusion Ignites Stock
Toyota Supercharges Joby: $250M Capital Infusion Ignites Stock
Joby Aviation (NYSE:) saw its stock price climb sharply on May 28, 2025. This surge followed a major announcement that has clearly excited investors about the electric air taxi developer’s future. The company confirmed it has received the first $250 million part of a larger investment from automotive leader Toyota Motor (NYSE:) Corporation.
This significant funding immediately boosted market confidence, and Joby’s shares jumped over 27% to trade around $8.78 during the day. Trading volume was also exceptionally high, with about 67.41 million shares changing hands, far above its average of roughly 12.31 million.
The enthusiastic market response underscores the significance of the strengthened partnership with Toyota in Joby’s plan to launch its innovative eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.
Why Toyota’s $250M is a Game-Changer for Joby
This $250 million capital injection puts cash in the bank for Joby Aviation, marking a crucial deepening of its strategic partnership with Toyota. This payment marks the first installment of a previously announced $500 million total investment from the automotive giant, underscoring its ongoing and strong support.
The money is specifically aimed at two vital areas for Joby: completing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification for its aircraft and preparing for large-scale commercial production. Both steps are expensive and essential for Joby to start its air taxi service.
A Partner’s Conviction: Toyota Now Joby’s Leading Shareholder
Beyond providing capital, Toyota has also significantly increased its ownership stake in Joby Aviation as part of this $250 million investment. A director representing Toyota Motor Corporation purchased approximately 49.7 million shares of Joby Aviation stock.
These shares were bought at an average price of $5.03 each. This large purchase solidifies Toyota as Joby Aviation’s top shareholder. After this transaction, Toyota’s total holding in Joby increased by 68.20%, now totaling 122.57 million shares.
Toyota’s increased investment, ownership, and significant industry expertise and board representation strongly signal market confidence in Joby and its future. Investors can also view this as a powerful insider endorsement.
It suggests Toyota strongly believes in Joby’s technology, management team, and long-term potential for success. This level of commitment from a global manufacturing leader like Toyota directly strengthens the investment case for Joby, providing a degree of validation that exceeds typical market speculation.
Volume and Options Activity Underscore Enthusiasm
The market’s reaction to Toyota’s investment was strong and clear. Besides the immediate stock price jump to around $8.78, trading volume was exceptionally high. Over 70 million shares were traded by midday on the day of the announcement, nearly six times Joby’s recent average volume. This high volume shows that many investors were actively engaging with the stock following the news.
Further highlighting bullish sentiment, there was unusual activity in the options market. The volume of call options increased by approximately 638% compared to normal levels. This suggests that some traders are making speculative bets on Joby’s increasing stock price.
It is also important to note that after this surge, the company’s stock price moved above the average analyst price target of $8.67 that was in place before this Toyota funding news.
Analysts often review their financial models and issue updated price targets when a company announces such a significant positive development.
This reassessment often leads to the issuance of revised price targets that reflect the potential impact of the new information on the company’s future performance and prospects. The Toyota funding news represents a material event that is likely to prompt a widespread review and potential upward adjustment of analyst expectations for Joby Aviation.
What Toyota’s Backing Means for Joby’s Future
Toyota’s $250 million investment tranche marks a significant milestone for Joby Aviation, providing crucial capital and strengthening a strategic alliance with a manufacturing leader. This partnership is essential for Joby’s efforts to scale the production of its electric air taxis.
This development significantly reduces the risks associated with Joby’s commercialization plans, as reflected in the positive stock market response. Bolstered by this financial support and a closer manufacturing relationship with Toyota, Joby Aviation is in a stronger position to execute its commercialization strategy and pursue a leading role in the developing urban air mobility sector.
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Are (even more of) Israel’s allies turning against them?
Are (even more of) Israel’s allies turning against them?
EU says Israeli strikes in Gaza ‘go beyond what is necessary’ to fight ******
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GameStop Buys Bitcoin: Smart Strategy or Big Mistake?
GameStop Buys Bitcoin: Smart Strategy or Big Mistake?
As dubious as it may seem, GameStop Corp (NYSE:)’s shift to could pay off over time. Evidently, the gaming resale industry is dead money; investing in BTC provides a path forward, but it will be a long road to travel.
The most recent news is that the company made its first purchases, about 4,700 Bitcoins for $512.6 million.
At this pace, assuming the price of Bitcoin remains stable and the core business profitable, the company can amass roughly 43,730 BTC before it will need to seek additional funding.
The question is whether its cash hoard and core business can sustain the operating long enough for it to profit from the move, and the answer is maybe. It depends on several factors, including the price of Bitcoin, its adoption rate, and demand.
The first purchases come with a price near $105,000, which is near the all-time high, and higher prices may not be forthcoming soon.
Bitcoin appears to be topping out and may struggle to set additional highs this year, a critical factor because there are few other ways to make money from Bitcoin other than selling it for a higher price.
Dilution is A Serious Risk for GameStop Investors
Among the critical takeaways for investors in late Q2 2025 is the risk of dilution. GameStop raised its capital through share sales, which increased its share count by nearly 30% in 2024.
If the company continues on this path, it will likely lead to additional dilution and rising debt, as has been the case with Strategy, formerly known as MicroStrategy.
The other option is to slowly liquidate the core business and convert the funds to BTC, but that will only get them so far. In addition to its cash, the primary tangible asset is inventory (of old technology), which was valued at only $480 million at the end of the last fiscal quarter.
MicroStrategy’s share count has more than doubled since 2021, and the debt continues to grow, up nearly 200% in the same time.
MicroStrategy’s shareholder equity is improving due to its strategy, but shareholders can claim an ever-declining amount, and there is an increasingly complicated capital structure to account for.
MicroStrategy’s FQ1 release highlights include an authorization for an increased share count, plans for another share *****, and the appearance of 8% and 10% series A preferred stock on the balance sheet.
Mixed Signals From the Sell-Side Will Keep GME Volatility High
The sell-side data shows mixed signals that will likely keep GameStop’s volatility elevated in 2025. MarketBeat still tracks only one analyst, Wedbush, with a rating, and it is a Sell. The team adjusted its price target in March, expecting a nearly 50% downside to late May price points, and is unlikely to alter its forecast because of the BTC purchases.
Other negative signals include the short interest, which was elevated at the end of April, having risen for three consecutive months to a 12-month high of 11%. 11% isn’t astronomically high, but it is a headwind to the market that can cap gains without bullish catalysts.
The positive signal is from the institutions. The institutions own only 30% of the stock and aren’t buying robustly, but the pace of their activity is elevated and net-bullish, proving some market support in 2025. Their interest appears to be speculative, centered on the cash buildup last year, and hints at a BTC investment.
The price action in GME stock following the announcement is as mixed as the sell-side signals. The market moved higher on the news in premarket trading, gapped up at the open, but reversed course and sold off by more than 10% by lunch. The move suggests significant resistance to higher prices, increased short interest, and a confirmed reduction of the top of the existing trading range.
Buyers beware.
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Cyberpunk 2 Has Entered Pre-Production as Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 Celebrate Massive Sales
Cyberpunk 2 Has Entered Pre-Production as Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 Celebrate Massive Sales
Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher developer CD Projekt revealed its earnings and announced that Cyberpunk 2 is now in pre-production.
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#Cyberpunk #Entered #PreProduction #Cyberpunk #Witcher #Celebrate #Massive #Sales
Pelican News
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Belmont mayor asks ratepayers’ group representative to watch behaviour as residents question meeting procedure
Belmont mayor asks ratepayers’ group representative to watch behaviour as residents question meeting procedure
A ratepayers group has labelled a letter from their mayor about how to behave at council meetings “offensive”.
Belmont Resident and Ratepayer Action Group chair Lisa Hollands received the letter from City of Belmont mayor Robert Rossi after the city’s March 26 council meeting.
Ms Hollands questioned the council three times at that meeting about its livestreaming, beginning by saying she did not give her consent to be on camera and “any perceived consent is under duress”.
She went on to claim residents were on show “more than the councillors”.
During one of her questions Mr Rossi asked her to “soften your tone”, for which she apologised.
Ms Hollands said at the April 15 meeting BRRAG later received a letter from the mayor in which he expressed concerns at Ms Hollands “repeatedly disputing my responses”.
BRRAG said on its Facebook page it found the letter “offensive”.
Camera IconBelmont mayor Robert Rossi will be visiting Japan later this month. Credit: Supplied
“In this letter the mayor commented on his concerns that the BRRAG president needed to be careful and reminded her of disturbance rules, which can include calling the police to remove a person,” Ms Hollands said at the April 15 meeting.
“I found this quite upsetting actually, that you felt you needed to warn me of this disturbance when I only speak during public question time.
“As disturbance is not defined in the standing orders, I would like you to define it for me please Mr mayor.”
A response provided to Ms Hollands by the city on May 15 said the mayor’s letter made no reference to the term “disturbance rules”.
“What the mayor did explain in his response to BRRAG’s letter is that Ms Hollands’ actions in repeatedly disputing the mayor’s responses as presiding member contravenes the standing orders,” it said.
“The mayor’s letter further noted that if Ms Hollands continues with this behaviour . . . being a failure to extend due courtesy and respect to the council and failing to comply with any direction by the presiding member, then the mayor will not hesitate to invoke standing orders 6.3(7) to 6.3(9).”
The council’s rules define a disturbance as “interrupting or interfering with the proceedings, whether by expressing approval or dissent, by conversing aloud or by any other means”.
A reminder that members of the public must extend “due courtesy and respect to both elected members and employees” is read out at the start of Belmont’s council meetings.
Other residents at the April 15 meeting also questioned the city’s handling of questions from the public.
Glenys Godfrey said during her questions at a briefing session the week prior Mr Rossi “rudely cut me off . . . I suspect he was trying to shorten our deputation”.
“You had your time limit and your time limit had stopped,” Mr Rossi said.
“Whatever,” Ms Godfrey replied, before apologising after Mr Rossi said that comment was “inappropriate”.
Janet Gee from Cloverdale asked if the council was against having public submissions and questions as it seemed to “want to put barriers up”.
“The obvious answer is no,” CEO John Christie said.
“We’re not against it because we have public submission time and we have public question time.
“As you’ve seen, we’ve extended public question time now for 45 minutes.”
Ms Gee claimed people who thought their question was misinterpreted and wanted to ask it again were labelled as “causing a disturbance”.
Mr Christie said the city was not trying to prevent anyone asking questions “in a constructive manner”.
Ms Gee tried to ask another question but Mr Rossi told her she had asked her allotted four questions.
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Pelican News
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Elden Ring: Nightreign (PS5) Review – CGMagazine
Elden Ring: Nightreign (PS5) Review – CGMagazine
Elden Ring: Nightreign is both a love letter and a remix of everything FromSoftware fans adore. While the multiplayer focus won’t work for everyone, the sheer amount of challenge, variety, and the ever-elusive dopamine hit make it something special and something to be remembered.
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#Elden #Ring #Nightreign #PS5 #Review #CGMagazine
Pelican News
View the full article at [Hidden Content]
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