How to Complete The Poppy Field in STALKER 2
How to Complete The Poppy Field in STALKER 2
Early in your first playthrough of STALKER 2, you’ll come across a mission called ‘The Poppy Field’, and it can quickly become one of the most aggravating tasks you’ll be asked to complete. It’s also slightly branching with a couple of choices to make, but you can ‘trick’ the quest to get all the benefits possible.
Read on to learn how to complete The Poppy Field in STALKER 2.
The Poppy Field Walkthrough
In The Poppy Field, you’ll be tasked with finding an ‘icon’ in an anomalous region and returning it to the requester in a timely fashion. That sounds simple, right?
Well, The Poppy Field is housing a secret – it’s an anomaly-ridden zone that’ll put you to sleep faster than you can blink, and once you fall asleep in the poppies, you’re not waking up again. It has claimed many lives, and it won’t think twice before taking you out of the equation.
With that being said, how do you complete The Poppy Field in STALKER 2?
Firstly, you’ll want to search the outskirts of the field for a building containing a man called Pomor. He’ll offer you a unique deal – enter the field and bring back weapons and ammo from ***** soldiers to get a special reward and he’ll help locate the cellar that contains the icon.
Before you venture into the field, you’ll want to stock up on energy drinks. They can be purchased from food vendors like Warlock in Zalissya, but they’re also scattered around the buildings that occupy the poppy field.
Here’s how to complete The Poppy Field in full now that you’ve found Pomor:
Skirt the outside of the poppy field, darting in to quickly loot the bodies as requested by Pomor. Don’t let your stamina bar empty, but move as quickly as possible, downing an energy drink once every 10 – 20 seconds if possible.
Collect all the weapons and ammo from the bodies, leaving the poppy field with each pick-up.
Take the weapons back to Pomor and he’ll tell you where to find the icon – but he’ll also offer to buy it from you, which is what you’ll be doing next.
Run around the edge of the poppy field and find the cellar, diving down and grabbing the icon while still consuming energy drinks (there will be some in the cellar itself).
Return to Pomor and complete the trade, giving him the icon and securing Unknown Stalker’s AR416 as a unique *******.
Double-cross Pomor and ***** him, taking back the icon, getting a key to Pomor’s stash room, and still keeping his reward.
Return to icon to Mityay in Zalissya as intended to get the full reward for The Poppy Field.
If you don’t take energy drinks to complete The Poppy Field, you’ll find yourself constantly passing out and dying in the field – it pays to prepare for this quest.
For more STALKER 2 guides, check out how to deal with anomalies in STALKER 2
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Seat belt treatment: Panthers’ Jaycee ***** has been strapping in opposing WRs since college
Seat belt treatment: Panthers’ Jaycee ***** has been strapping in opposing WRs since college
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — During a late-September game between two south Charlotte high schools, Myers Park cornerback Orlando Brown broke up a deep pass against Ardrey Kell and celebrated with a seat belt gesture after “locking down” the wide receiver.
Watch a football game at any level and you’re likely to see a defensive back punctuating a pass breakup or interception with the seat belt, a celebration that traces its origins to Columbia, S.C., during the COVID-19-shortened season of 2020.
That’s where a pair of starters in the South Carolina secondary — Jaycee ***** and ******* Mukuamu — came up with the move during a walk-through while the Gamecocks were preparing to play at LSU that week.
“A lot of guys were saying ‘strap’ at the time. So I had just started saying seat belt. Like (when you) seat belt, you strap. We both were thinking about a gesture to do. And we came up with the across the chest,” ***** said.
“We were going to do it whoever got the first stop of the game. We did it in practice all week. When we did it in practice, it was just a funny thing. And then when I got a stop in the game, I just did it in the game. And it took off from there.”
After defending a first-quarter fade pass in the end zone intended for LSU freshman tight end Arik Gilbert, ***** pulled an imaginary seat belt over his chest and snapped it into place. The Tigers would go on to win 52-24. But when *****’s personal trainer posted a video of the play on social media after the game, a new move was born.
Let him know! @I_Am_OD3 pic.twitter.com/k4wDyrPH5s
— Jaycee ***** (@jayceehorn_10) January 3, 2021
Four years later, ***** has noticed everyone from Pop Warner players to women’s basketball standouts doing the seat belt after defensive stops. Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander has added his own flourish to what he calls the sword. In fact, Alexander claims to have started the craze, which ***** adamantly disputes.
“You can check,” said *****, the Carolina Panthers’ fourth-year corner. “The first time anybody ever did the seat belt we were playing LSU in Baton Rouge my last year. Go see if you see a seat belt celebration anywhere before that game.”
Mukuamu, a safety for the Dallas Cowboys, appreciates how widespread the celebration has become. But like *****, he wants to make sure folks understand its history.
“It’s worldwide. I think that’s like the first thing DBs want to do once they get a bat-down. They want to put the seat belt on,” he said. “But remember: Seat belt started at South Carolina.”
That ***** would be at the forefront of an iconic celebration makes sense. The 24-year-old comes by it naturally.
During a nationally televised game at the Superdome in 2003, New Orleans Saints receiver Joe ***** — Jaycee’s father — famously celebrated the second of his four touchdowns in a rout of the New York Giants by snatching a flip phone he’d stashed in the padding around the goal post and pretending to phone home. *****’s choreographed call earned him a fine from the NFL of $30,000 — the same amount levied against Michael Thomas when the Saints’ receiver paid homage to ***** with his own cell phone celebration 15 years later.
Jaycee ***** said he’s not in the same class as his dad when it comes to showmanship. “He was way more splashy than me,” he said. “Receivers be divas, so he was definitely one of them.”
The younger ***** credits his dad for instilling in him a game-day demeanor that is equal parts confidence and aggression.
“A lot of that comes from him and my older brother. That’s just the style he wanted us to play with,” ***** said. “He ***** near wanted us to think of it as war when we stepped between the lines. That’s the mentality he had, and I try to play with that, too.”
Jaycee ***** has defended a career-high 10 passes this season. (Photo: Carolina Panthers)
Joe ***** settled in an exclusive community in suburban Atlanta after ending his career with the Falcons. There was a field that hosted youth league games minutes from his house, but Joe had his boys play in the more rugged Metro Atlanta league that produced such NFL stars as Cam Newton and Eric Berry.
“This league plays rain, sleet or snow in the hood,” Joe ***** told The Athletic in 2021. “I’ll say that with a capital H — in the Hood. And (Jaycee) grew up with that attitude.”
***** and Mukuamu, a South Carolina native who moved to Louisiana before his senior year of high school, arrived in Columbia in 2018. Both played as freshmen and were close on and off the field.
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Midway through their junior season, the start of which was delayed for a month due to COVID, the two started kicking around the idea of a signature celebration.
“Throughout the whole year, Jaycee just kept saying like car seat, seat belt, whatever. And then one day in walkthroughs, I just did like this,” said Mukuamu, showing a reporter the across-the-chest gesture. “It was right before the LSU game. We were like, ‘It’s hard.’ The first time it ever came out was the LSU game. He ended up doing it first. … It just took off.”
Not long after ***** debuted it, Mukuamu followed with another seat belt after intercepting Tigers quarterback TJ Finley and returning the pick 56 yards to set up a Gamecocks’ field goal.
The move might have remained an inside joke between ***** and Mukuamu had Oliver Davis, an Atlanta-based defensive backs coach, not put a video of *****’s first seat belt on his Instagram story.
“He posted it and it was blowing up,” ***** said. “All the kids in Atlanta were doing it. There were other college kids doing it.”
***** and Mukuamu only played two more games for South Carolina following the LSU loss. After Will Muschamp was fired in November after a 2-5 start to the 10-game schedule, both defensive backs opted out to prepare for the NFL draft. ***** revealed at his pro day he had several family members who contracted COVID, including an aunt who ***** of complications from it.
Matt Rhule attended *****’s pro day in Columbia, where the junior enhanced his draft status by running a 4.37-second 40, pumping out 19 reps on the 225-pound bench press and posting a 41.5-inch vertical jump. A month later the Panthers took ***** with the No. 8 pick, one spot ahead of Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain.
Before *****’s rookie year, he and his agent Trey Smith tried to trademark the seat belt, but were told a move or a dance can’t be trademarked. ***** had printed some T-shirts of him doing the seat belt for friends and family, but his idea to launch a seat belt-styled clothing line ***** with the trademark ruling.
“After that I started seeing other sports doing it. Then they put it on Madden. I’m like, ‘*****, they done took my celly,’” ***** said. “It is what it is. It still brought joy to me to see everybody doing it.”
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Mukuamu has taken the same approach, even when Cowboys rookie cornerback Caelen Carson, a fifth-round pick from Wake Forest, showed up in Dallas with the X handle of “@walkinseatbelt.”
“I just let people ride with it,” Mukuamu said. “We’re all DBs at the end of the day. So it’s just something cool to do.”
When Derwin James broke up Joe Burrow’s Hail Mary pass on the final play of Sunday night’s NFL game, the Los Angeles Chargers’ safety ran off the field doing the seat belt. Safety Nick Emmanwori has kept the tradition going at South Carolina, while Brown — the Myers Park corner and son of Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Thomas Brown — is among the high school players strapping opponents up.
“The cool thing for me is I’ve seen it in some basketball games, women’s basketball players doing it,” ***** said. “I’ve seen little kids doing it on social media (in) Little League games.
Alexander, the Charlotte native and two-time Pro Bowler, suggested he was the inspiration for all the NFL defensive backs copying the move.
“Everybody’s doing my celebration,” Alexander told Green Bay reporters last fall. “Man, c’mon, man. Might as well just put on 23 jerseys around the league, man. *****.”
Jaire Alexander on the Packers CB group: “It’s gonna be Strap City. We might as well go ahead and start marketing that right now. We just waiting on 21 (Eric Stokes) to get back.” pic.twitter.com/Ie2FYvLy6R
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) July 31, 2023
Alexander’s move is slightly different. He raises his arms to the sky and then brings them down across his chest to his opposite hip, as if putting a sword back in a sheath. Alexander corrected reporters last year who referred to it as a seat belt.
“No,” he said. “It’s a sword.”
So maybe there’s room in NFL secondaries for both the seat belt and the sword.
“He does his own. They do it like where they point to the sky and then strap,” ***** said. “But that came from South Carolina, man. ******* Mukuamu and Jaycee *****. Them the two guys that created the seat belt.”
Panthers special teams captain Sam Franklin doesn’t do either. After making plays in punt coverage, Franklin puts his hands at waist level and pushes them toward the ground, indicating his opponents are “little kids.” But Franklin likes what *****’s celebration stands for.
“You’ve gotta go out there and have a great rep to put a seat belt on somebody,” he said. “The seat belt is basically saying, ‘I secured your **** home safe.’ That’s what the seat belt’s for. You’ve gotta ******* them back to the sideline safely.”
After a couple of injury-plagued seasons, ***** is having the best year of his career. With seven games remaining, ***** already has surpassed his previous season high for passes defensed with 10. His 45.8 completion percentage allowed ranks fourth among defensive backs with a minimum of 250 coverage snaps, according to Next Gen Stats.
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So ***** has had reason to celebrate, but the irony is he rarely throws on the seat belt these days. By his estimate, he’s done it three times this season, including after a pass breakup against former teammate DJ Moore during a Week 5 loss at Chicago.
The unique move he and Mukuamu came up with in the shadow of Williams-Bryce Stadium has gotten too popular for *****’s liking.
“I don’t do it no more like that ‘cause they took the sauce. It ain’t the same no more when everybody’s doing it,” ***** said. “It’s gotta be like a special (play).”
***** isn’t retiring the seat belt, just saving it for big moments. So buckle up: You never know when it’s coming.
(Top photo of *****: Brooke Sutton / Getty Images)
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How Mistletoe Became a Christmas Kissing Tradition
How Mistletoe Became a Christmas Kissing Tradition
The mistletoe plant has white berries, not red like the fake ones have.
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The yuletide decorations are up: a trimmed tree, jolly stockings on the mantel and—wait, what’s that white-berried weed hanging from the ceiling? And why are people so amorous when they find themselves beneath it?
Mistletoe, a parasitic plant, is actually accustomed to the suspension: In nature, it grows only on other trees’ branches. And it’s long been associated with mystical power: In Norse myth, the **** Balder is mistakenly ******* by an arrow of mistletoe—after which the plant becomes synonymous with his grieving mother’s undying love. While mistletoe’s berries are poisonous, ancient Romans and Greeks used its leaves medicinally, to treat cramps, epilepsy and ulcers. And first-century Celtic druids apparently used mistletoe to make a sacred fertility elixir—one historic use that presaged the plant’s now-dominant identity as an excuse for kissing.
The first known reference to smooching under the plant dates to a 1784 English poem, in which three men “kiss beneath the mistletoe” the lips of a “girl not turn’d of twenty.” By then, any woman or girl who walked beneath this vegetal decor had to stop and wait to be kissed. One historian suggests the tradition was thought up by a “particularly lusty and inventive” British boy, whose trick spread around the country, then the world. As the ********* author Washington Irving wrote around 1820, each berry on a sprig of mistletoe had come to represent a kiss that a man was allowed to bestow upon a young woman standing underneath the plant, and “when the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases.” As for the girl on the receiving end, the era’s (otherwise chaste) social customs dictated she never refuse a kiss under the mistletoe, lest she invite bad luck on the marriage market.
Today’s typical mistletoe decor differs from its 19th-century precedent in a few ways. Its berries aren’t poisonous—because the stuff’s usually fake; those false berries are often mistakenly red, rather than white; and the sprigs are (one hopes) no longer being used to force kisses upon unwilling recipients. Still, at family gatherings and in cheesy movies, mistletoe ******** the catalyst of many an awkward or playful holiday *****.
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Nibble ******* Brings The Gaming Fashion Show to rAge Expo 2024
Nibble ******* Brings The Gaming Fashion Show to rAge Expo 2024
Nibble ******* is set to rock the rAge Expo with an exhilarating gaming fashion show!
This event promises to blend cosplay, fandom merchandise, and street fashion into an eye-catching celebration of style and creativity. The fashion show will not feature professional models. Instead, members of the gaming community will take centre stage, highlighting how fandom culture is accessible to everyone.
This year’s Gaming Fashion Show theme is influenced by Techwear, urban casual, and Afrofuturism. Expect to see a blend of streetwear fashion, with looks that are big on TikTok and Instagram, and rapidly making their way into South ******** culture.
Nibble ******* team. Left to right seated Ruth Bleeker, Aidan Kruger, Dharshan Moonasar, Lukhanyo Gqokoma. Standing Glenn Marc (CEOFounder)
“This year’s fashion show is all about celebrating how gaming culture influences fashion in the real world,” says Ruth Bleeker, Managing Director at Nibble *******. “We’re showcasing everything from full cosplay outfits to more casual gaming-inspired streetwear, focusing on how fandom, identity, and style intersect.
“In addition, we’ll have SPOT (sophisticated agile mobile ******) from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) at the expo as well as participation from their dynamic Fashion Department – which is really exciting!”
No matter if you’re a gaming enthusiast, a fashion lover, or someone who appreciates handcrafted art and unique gifts, rAge expo has something for everyone. Immerse yourself in the gaming culture, discover cutting-edge technology, celebrate artistic expression, and find the perfect festive gifts—all under one roof!
Get your tickets and join us at rAge Expo 2024!
Date: 29 November – 1 December 2024
Times: 09h00 to 18h00 on Friday & Saturday 09h00 to 16h00 on Sunday
Venue: Johannesburg Expo Centre (NASREC)
All ages are welcome. Children under 7 are free.
TICKET PRICES:
Day Pass Ticket @ R200 per person Weekend Pass Ticket @ R420 per person
Get your tickets at Howler or click the banner.
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Best early ****** Friday deals under $100: Amazon Echo, TVs, headphones
Best early ****** Friday deals under $100: Amazon Echo, TVs, headphones
Beats
Update 11/19/24: ****** Friday is still over a week away, but you can already start your shopping with the ****** Friday deals under $100 that we’ve gathered here. There’s a possibility that these affordable items get even ******* discounts when the ***** officially launches, but we won’t blame you if you’re already tempted by today’s prices.
****** Friday will start on November 29, but if you’ve already got the ***** to shop, check out the early ****** Friday deals under $100 that we’ve gathered here. The offers cover smart home devices, laptops, TVs, kitchen gadgets, and so much more, so if you want to start enjoying discounts without blowing your entire budget for the shopping event, take a look at our favorite bargains below.
For larger potential purchases, you can also take a look at our ****** Friday deals across all retailers. If you’re already willing to spend a lot to avoid the chaos of the holiday season, we’ve got a lot of other roundups for you to browse, including ****** Friday TV deals and ****** Friday gaming laptop deals. You should hurry with your transactions though, as there’s a chance that stocks run out even before ****** Friday begins.
Amazon Echo Pop — $18 $40 55% off
Amazon
The Amazon Echo Pop is the most affordable entry in its line of smart speakers that are powered by Amazon’s Alexa. It’s a great way to access Alexa without spending too much cash, says our guide on which Amazon Echo should you buy, and it offers pretty decent sound for its price. You can get it at 55% off, for a discount of $22.
Samsung Galaxy A03s (Straight Talk) — $40 $60 33% off
Samsung
The Samsung Galaxy A03s is an inexpensive smartphone that’s currently even more affordable with this 33% discount that brings its price down by $20. It features a 6.5-inch HD+ screen, octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. This smartphone is locked to Straight Talk though, which will be fine if you want a prepaid plan for it anyway.
Microsoft Xbox Core wireless gaming controller — $45 $60 25% off
Microsoft
The Microsoft Xbox Core wireless gaming controller isn’t just for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S — it’s also compatible with the Xbox One X and the PC, as well as mobile devices running on Android or iOS. It features Bluetooth technology for wireless connections, a 3.5mm port for headsets, and up to 40 hours of battery life. It’s on ***** at 25% off, for savings of $15.
HP DeskJet 2755e wireless ****** inkjet printer — $50 $85 41% off
HP
The HP DeskJet 2755e is an affordable wireless ****** inkjet printer that’s on ***** with a 41% discount, slashing its price by $35. It can print up to five pages per minute, and it can also function as a copier or scanner. The printer also comes with three months of HP’s Instant Ink, a program that will send you ink when your cartridges are running low so there will be no interruption to your printing schedule.
Ninja AF100 air fryer — $59 $89 34% off
Ninja
The Ninja AF100 air fryer will let you cook fried food using little to no oil, so you and your family won’t consume too much grease. This air fryer, which is down by $30 following a 34% discount, comes with a basket offering a capacity of 4 quarts, a wide temperature range of 105 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and easy cleaning as the basket and crisper plate are dishwasher safe.
Keurig K-Select coffee maker — $70 $150 53% off
Keurig
The Keurig K-Select coffee maker is a great choice for making single-serve beverages using Keurig’s K-Cup pods, which come in a wide range of flavors. You can brew cups of 6 ounces, 8 ounces, 10 ounces, and 12 ounces with this coffee maker, and all it takes is a single press of a button. It will be yours for less than half-price following a 53% discount, which translates to $80 in savings.
Amazon ***** HD 10 tablet (32GB) — $75 $140 46% off
Amazon
The Amazon ***** HD 10 is the tablet that you want to buy if you want to maximize Amazon’s Alexa, as the device supports voice commands for the digital assistant. It features a 10.1-inch touchscreen with Full HD resolution, a battery life of 13 hours, and 32GB of storage that you can expand by up to 1TB through a microSD card. The tablet is on ***** at 46% off, for savings of $65.
Asus CX1700CK Chromebook — $81 $299 73% off
ASUS
Chromebooks are generally more affordable than Windows-based laptops, and the Asus CX1700CK Chromebook is the perfect example with its 73% discount that further reduces its price by $218. Inside are the Intel Celeron N4500 processor, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and 4GB of RAM, and its 17.3-inch Full HD screen is big and sharp for its cost.
Insignia 32-inch F20 Series HD TV — $90 $130 31% off
Insignia
You don’t have to spend a lot if you want a smart TV, as the 32-inch Insignia F20 Series HD TV, which runs on Amazon’s ***** TV platform, is even less expensive: $40 after a 31% discount. The TV also comes with an Alexa Voice Remote for voice commands to Amazon’s Alexa, and it also supports Apple’s AirPlay so you can stream videos, photos, and music to the TV.
Beats Solo 4 wireless headphones — $100 $200 50% off
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Beats Solo 4 were just released earlier this year, but they’re already on ***** at 50% off, so you can enjoy savings of $100. These wireless headphones don’t offer active noise cancellation or Bluetooth multipoint, but they’re lightweight and comfortable to wear, and provide fantastic sound quality while also supporting spatial audio. They can last up to 50 hours from a full charge, and a quick 10 minutes of charging will replenish 5 hours of usage.
How to choose deals under $100 on ****** Friday
There are so many ****** Friday deals under $100 that it’s going to be tough to narrow down your choices, but we’re here to help you out. You should begin by thinking about what you really need — you wouldn’t want to make a purchase just because it’s affordable. If you want easier access to your favorite digital assistant, get a smart speaker; if you want entertainment for your children in their room, get an affordable TV; and if you want to cook more recipes, get kitchen gadgets like an air fryer.
You’re going to have to be vigilant when shopping ****** Friday deals that are selling for less than $100, as some of these products sacrifice quality for low prices. We highly recommend sticking to trusted brands so that you won’t find yourself regretting your purchases for the shopping event. It may also help to set your maximum budget before you start looking at these ****** Friday deals under $100, so that you won’t go overboard.
How we chose these ****** Friday deals under $100
It’s a given that ****** Friday deals under $100 will be affordable, especially for the huge discounts that knock down the prices of certain products from more than $100. For our recommendations above, we focused on the bargains that will give you the best value for your money, whether that means getting a helpful device for next to nothing or taking advantage of huge savings.
These ****** Friday deals under $100 may be available from more than one retailer, but we assure you that the prices that we have here are the lowest for the shopping event. We’ll keep looking for better bargains until the end of ****** Friday, and we’ll update this page whenever we find them. You may want to leave a bookmark so you can stay tuned whenever we find lower prices or add even more deals.
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Olympic gold medal cyclists Conor Leahy and Sam Welsford named ****** athletes of the year
Olympic gold medal cyclists Conor Leahy and Sam Welsford named ****** athletes of the year
Olympic gold medal cyclists Conor Leahy and Sam Welsford have been named ****** West *********** Institute of Sport Athletes of the Year
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‘What’s a first down?’: Meet Tobi Haastrup, the accidental superstar and coveted recruit
‘What’s a first down?’: Meet Tobi Haastrup, the accidental superstar and coveted recruit
Tobi Haastrup had no idea what to do.
The 17-year-old had never lined up in a defensive stance before. He wasn’t sure what it meant to jump offsides and had never heard of a tackle for loss. Come to think of it, he didn’t exactly know what downs were, either, or how they worked. But here he was, working out last summer with the Mayde Creek High football team in Houston.
“Everything was new to me,” said Haastrup, born and raised in England.
But who needs to know the rules when you are 6 feet 4 and 235 pounds and run a 10.7-second 100-meter dash?
Mayde Creek defensive line coach Dechristeon Wilson, also the school’s assistant track coach, urged Haastrup to try football heading into his senior year. At best, Haastrup would take to the sport. At worst, he’d leave high school with no regrets.
“Little did I know,” Haastrup said.
On Aug. 30, he played in his first-ever football game and finished with five sacks and about three offsides penalties.
Within a week, more than a dozen FBS schools, including Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee and Texas A&M, reached out with scholarship offers.
Three months later, Haastrup is up to 23 offers and is one of the most coveted uncommitted Class of 2025 prospects leading up to the early signing ******* next month. The accidental superstar who never attended a summer camp or took an official visit before this fall is ranked No. 279 nationally in the 247Sports Composite.
With official visits to Boston College, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Texas Tech and, most recently, USC already in the books, Haastrup has two final stops on what has become a hectic college tour. He will be at Michigan this week and Oregon next week ahead of a Dec. 2 decision and Dec. 4 signing.
And to think, three months ago, he knew nothing of the Big Ten or SEC.
“It’s overwhelming at times,” he said. “But I thank **** each and every day for the experiences.”
Haastrup was born in England and spent the first nine years of his life in Southeast London, where he didn’t follow ********* football in any capacity.
The family moved to the Sacramento, Calif., area in 2016 and then, three years later, relocated to Houston, where Tobi, the youngest of three children, started to come into his own as a sprinter and shot-putter.
But he never thought much about football. That changed this past summer.
Mike Arogbonlo was hired as Mayde Creek’s head coach in May after a stint as the quarterbacks coach at Texas powerhouse Duncanville High. A few of his new assistant coaches wasted little time in filling him in on priority No. 1.
“The first thing I was told by the coaching staff was (how big it would be) if I could get this **** to come out that looks great, is fast — he’s a great athlete,” Arogbonlo said of Haastrup. “I said, ‘OK.’ And I went and found him, and we started talking.”
Haastrup and Arogbonlo hit it off quickly, bonding over their families’ ********* roots. There was an innocence to Haastrup that Arogbonlo appreciated, having spent time around arrogant five-stars at his previous stops. More than anything, Haastrup was willing to learn and had no problem acknowledging what he didn’t know.
“It just kind of takes you back to the basics,” Arogbonlo said. “There were a lot of questions that he had: ‘What’s a first down? Where’s the down marker? What’s a defensive end, and what’s the difference between a defensive end and an outside linebacker?’ He didn’t know any of those things. But he’s been like a sponge, just soaking in whatever he can.”
Wilson realized the Mayde Creek coaches needed to simplify the game for Haastrup as much as possible. He decided to relate football to track whenever he could. Exploding out of a D-lineman’s stance was just like springing out of track blocks. The same speed Haastrup used in races would be what got him to the quarterback, too. The only difference was Haastrup would need to learn to run around a curve instead of down a straightaway, which Wilson prepared him for with various figure-eight drills in practice. The duo worked on ghost moves, bull rushing and other basic pass-rushing techniques, with Wilson letting Haastrup pick his favorites come game time.
“With him, it was like, ‘Oh, I’ve gotta take it back — way back,’” Wilson said. “Like I’m teaching younger and younger kids. Like I’m teaching my nephew or someone. But I love that because it was like a blank canvas.”
When the season rolled around, Haastrup’s biggest issue was lining up offsides. He’d be so focused on his pass-rush technique that he forgot the basics and kept picking up 5-yard penalties.
“All I knew was, ‘Get down and just see ball, get ball,’” he said.
But as time progressed, Haastrup started to get more comfortable. By midseason, he settled in and didn’t need to look to the sideline as much for guidance. Through film study, he was able to pick up how opposing offensive linemen set their feet and eventually developed countermoves he could utilize.
Mayde Creek went just 5-5 this season, but Haastrup finished with 20 tackles for loss and nine sacks, playing at the Class 6A level of Texas high school football.
“A couple of (colleges) were weary,” Arogbonlo said. “They wanted to see him play two or three games (before offering).
“The main question was always, ‘Is he 6-3 or 6-4?’ And I would tell coaches, ‘I don’t care what he is. He’s a 10.7 100-meter runner at 240 pounds. This is a no-miss (prospect) because at worst he’s playing special teams.’”
Arogbonlo said he fields a call or two from a college coach every day about Haastrup, who is starting to get a feel for which programs are historically the most successful and which conferences are the most competitive. Wilson, the school’s recruiting coordinator, has helped guide Haastrup through the process, encouraging him to trust his instincts.
Haastrup’s coaches believe his decision will go down to the wire.
Academics are important to Haastrup, who eventually wants to attend medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon. His 19-year-old sister is studying neuroscience at Texas A&M.
Development will be a major part of the decision, too.
“Because I’m still so new to the sport,” he said, “it’s definitely going to be one of the most important decisions I make in my life.”
In a college football world in which prospects are often first identified in eighth or ninth grade, Haastrup’s story is rare.
“Football can take you places you never thought you would go,” Wilson said.
In Haastrup’s case, he’s just getting started.
“(Whoever gets him), they’re getting a **** with a lot of upside,” Arogbonlo said. “I suspect with more time, with nutrition, with the training table on the next level, with the coaching staffs, I just expect a huge growth. I really believe he’s a Sunday player. That’s the kind of **** I think he is.
“If **** could make a football player, he made Tobi.”
(Photo courtesy of Jimmie Aggison / The Houston Defender)
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Gladiator II: Historians on the Fate of the Real Roman Royalty Featured in the Film
Gladiator II: Historians on the Fate of the Real Roman Royalty Featured in the Film
Stephan Blum & Michael La Corte/The Conversation
Twenty-four years after Gladiator, Ridley Scott has returned with a sweeping sequel to his epic tale. Thanks to cutting-edge CGI, Rome’s grandeur – and its downfall – have never looked so breathtaking.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Gladiator II.
Gladiator II picks up years after the original film, taking place during the reign of the co-emperors Caracalla (played by Fred Hechinger) and Geta (Joseph Quinn) in the early 3rd century AD. The film follows Lucius (Paul Mescal), the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus (protagonist of the first Gladiator movie). Now an ******, he’s been living in the ancient northwest ******** kingdom, Numidia, under the guise of a new identity to escape Roman politics.
When Roman forces, led by Tribun Marcus Acacius (Pedro Pascal), invade Numidia, tragedy strikes. Lucius’s wife is ******* and he is captured. Purchased as a ****** by the Roman Macrinus (portrayed masterfully by Denzel Washington), Lucius is transported to Rome. There he is forced into the brutal world of gladiatorial combat, fighting to bring his captor profit in the arena.
But which of these characters were based on real ancient people – and how far did their fates match the arc they have in Scott’s sequel?
The opening invasion scene in Numidia, set in 200 AD, diverges from the real history. After Julius Caesar’s victory at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 AD, Numidia (modern-day Algeria) was divided. The eastern part formed the province ******* Nova and the western region around Cirta became a Roman colony. By the early 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (not depicted in the film) made Numidia an independent province.
The film’s portrayal of a rebellious Numidian city seems more like a playful nod to the French comic series Asterix and Obelix, where a small village defies Roman domination. Instead of reflecting the complexities of Roman imperialism, the film adopts the trope of a tiny, indomitable group holding out against an empire in a heavily fortified harbor city.
This blending of myth and history evokes a comic strip sensibility rather than a serious historical narrative, prioritizing spectacle over accuracy.
History Rewritten for the Big Screen
Set in 200 AD, the film places Caracalla and Geta at the center of political intrigue. This is despite the fact that the real imperial heirs were still only children, around nine and ten years old at the time.
Portraying the young boys as cunning political operators is a stretch that even the most imaginative screenwriter might struggle to defend. Furthermore, in 200 AD, their father, Septimius Severus, was still very much alive and in control of the empire, continuing his rule for another 11 years.
Then there is Lucilla (Connie Nielsen), the second daughter of Marcus Aurelius. The film casts her in a prominent role though, inconveniently, in real life she had been ********* around 181 or 182 AD – nearly two decades before the events of Gladiator II.
The portrayal of Macrinus is another historical misstep. Although he rose to power under Septimius Severus and Caracalla, Macrinus did not become emperor until 217 AD.
Denzel Washington plays Macrinus in the film. (YouTube Screenshot)
The film dramatizes Macrinus’s role by showing him guiding Caracalla in Geta’s ******* and even directly assassinating Caracalla in the Circus Maximus, adding a fictional layer to historical events. But in fact, while Macrinus was involved in the *********** to eliminate Caracalla, he did not physically ***** the emperor himself.
Historical accounts such as those by Cassius Dio or Historia Augusta do not support the movie’s portrayal of Macrinus stabbing Caracalla in such a public setting.
Caracalla was actually murdered in 217 AD during a journey from Edessa in Turkey to Carrhae in Syria. The *********, a soldier named Martialis, struck Caracalla with a fatal *****, reportedly at the behest of Macrinus’ supporters, who sought to elevate him to the throne.
Leaving aside the inaccurate timeline, the film is an opulent portrayal of Roman lifestyle in the mid-imperial *******. With impressive battle scenes, gladiator duels, grand festivities and stunning costumes, there’s still plenty to enjoy, even for the most fastidious history buff.
Top image: Pedro Pascal plays General Acacius and Paul Mescal plays Lucius in Gladiator II from Paramount Pictures. Source: Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures
This article was originally published under the title ‘Gladiator II: historians on the fate of the real Roman royalty featured in the film’ by Stephan Blum & Michael La Corte on The Conversation, and has been republished under a Creative Commons License.
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Unknown 9: Awakening developer Reflector Entertainment has suffered layoffs
Unknown 9: Awakening developer Reflector Entertainment has suffered layoffs
Unknown 9: Awakening developer Reflector Entertainment has suffered layoffs, according to several former developers posting on social media.
As first noticed by Kotaku’s Ethan Gach (via Game Developer), several ex-Reflector Entertainment employees have taken to social media to confirm that they are no longer with the company.
Anna Karina Bermudez, a former narrative and game designer on the project, wrote on LinkedIn: “Unfortunately, I was affected by the layoffs at Reflector Entertainment, which means I’m currently looking for a job as a Narrative Designer or Game Writer. If you hear of any opportunities, please let me know.”
Manou Deneuvel, a former brand manager on the project, wrote: “Hi everyone. I was affected by the layoffs at Reflector Entertainment, and I’m seeking a new role in Marketing or Social Media/Community Management, effective immediately. If you hear of any opportunities or just want to catch up, please reach out.”
Unknown 9: Awakening was released on October 17. At the time of writing, the game has 74 user reviews on Steam, suggesting the game hasn’t sold particularly well.
The Steam description of the game reads: “You are Haroona, a Quaestor born with the ability to venture into a mysterious dimension that overlaps our own, known only as the Fold.
“On her quest for powerful hidden knowledge, Haroona will learn to master her unique connection to the Fold, which allows her to channel its powers into our world, but such power does not go unnoticed and Haroona quickly becomes the target of a splinter faction calling themselves the Ascendants, who want to use the Fold to alter the course of human history.”
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Google Home reminds me of everything that’s wrong with smart homes and how desperately we need to fix it
Google Home reminds me of everything that’s wrong with smart homes and how desperately we need to fix it
Few things in the tech world are as fraught as smart home updates. Changing out a hub, a smart lock, an intelligent thermostat, or a web-connected security camera is not like updating an app or setting up a new laptop.
This is your home. It’s your life. It’s your temperature. It’s your security. The very term “smart home” promises an integrated system where one node speaks to another, and all of them operate in tandem to make your home safer, more comfortable, and easier to manage. Smarter.
And yet, it never works out that way. As I’ve written, my smart home is a non-homogenous mess. Recently, I stayed at a friend’s home that was built just a few years ago. She smartly standardized on Amazon’s Alexa for all her smart home bits. In my house, we have Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, Google Home, some Kasa, a bit of Govee, and vestiges of Nest.
On the bright side, I’ve owned some of my smart home gadgets for the better part of a decade. I’m impressed at how well my Nest Outdoor cam still works, even if the power cable now sheds its crumbling white skin. I owned a Dropcam that was so old that Nest and Google stopped supporting it last year. My Nest Hello Video Doorbell is first generation and so old that the cover glass fell off, leaving the camera lens exposed (I superglued it back in place).
Aside from their impressive build and longevity, I keep using the same smart home gear because no one in my home likes it when I upgrade. My wife, in particular, hates new technology. If something works, why touch it? I would agree, except for my job – which has been defined by 38 years of trying new stuff.
When Google unveiled its new Google Nest Learning thermostat 4th Generation, I was intrigued. It’s a ******** redesign with a much larger and more expressive screen face, though thankfully still not a touch screen. When Google offered to send me one, I agreed but with some trepidation: where would I install it? Which of my two classic Nest thermostats would I replace? How would I tell my wife?
In the end, I replaced my original 2nd-gen Nest Learning Thermostat in my kitchen and initially did not inform my wife. Instead, I waited for her to notice. She did after a day or so, and in any case, that turned out to be the least of my problems.
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A new home
Google Home struggled to find my new thermostat. Then, after the transfer to Google Home Public preview, it lost the new thermostat. (Image credit: Future)
It’s been a decade since Google bought Nest, but to its credit, Google kept the Nest name and app alive. I manage both my thermostats and multiple Nest cams through the app. In recent months, though, Google has persistently asked me to switch my login to Google and to start using Google Home. I ignored these entreaties, and I did so until I installed the new Google Nest Learning Thermostat. It only works with Google Home.
During installation, Google offers to migrate your account. Again, I didn’t want to do this because I am not the only person controlling our smart home, and I worried that switching to a new app and platform would shock everyone. With this new thermostat, though, I had no choice. The platform automatically migrates existing Nest devices to the new platform to ease the whole process.
Well, it would if it worked.
After installing the new Google Nest thermostat, I found that my upstairs Nest Learning Thermostat second generation was marooned in the Nest app, which now only recognized my Google login. This also meant that my wife lost access to the Nest App and our old equipment because she didn’t have my Google login details (I gave them to her.)
No matter what I did, I could not migrate my existing hardware to Google Home. Managing two nest Thermostats on two separate apps was the opposite of smart. Frustrated and out of options, I contacted Google and soon learned that I’d stepped into a smart homework in progress.
Google told me it was already migrating legacy Nest hardware, like my old Nest Hello video doorbell and the 2nd gen Nest thermostat, to Google Home. In fact, they’d already completed some of the work. However, I could only access this progress by switching to Google Home’s Public Preview, which is like public beta software where you get still-under-development updates that might not always be as stable as the fully baked versions (Google gives this stuff a “labs” feel by using a beaker icon atop the app to indicate you’re running the public preview).
I switched to the Public Preview, and soon, my Google Home was automatically ingesting my old hardware. Each camera and the old Nest thermostat took just a few minutes to walk from the old Nest app to my new Google Home system. I was saved.
[Narrarator: He was not saved]
The missing device
Some things went better than others in the transition. The key is to use the Public Preview. (Image credit: Future)
I scanned through my suddenly flush Google Home, grinning at all my key smart home devices in one place. All but one: the brand new Nest Learning Thermostat 4th Gen. It was nowhere to be found. While switching to the Google Home Public Preview, that thermostat disappeared.
I tried restarting the thermostat and even did multiple factory resets. Each time, it would connect to Google Home, find my WiFi network, start “Finishing setup,” and then fail.
I contacted Google again, and they asked for the serial number and my account ID. Desperate, I gave them both.
While I waited for their help, I tried again to connect the Google Nest Learning thermostat to my Google Home. This time, though, I saw something new: The thermostat was downloading something. I assume it was an update forced by Google and the Public Preview app. It never ceases to amaze me how even the newest consumer electronics hardware always needs an update, usually right after unboxing.
This process was hard. For me. A tech “expert”. Imagine what this would be like for an average home consumer, one who can’t email someone in Google’s corporate offices.
Encouraged, I continued the setup in Google Home. After five minutes or so, the installation was completed, and I finally had the new thermostat nestled alongside the old thermostat and my two Nest cameras.
There was just one thing left to do: Invite my wife to control this Google Home system with me. Google Home makes this simple: There’s a big plus next to my Google ID. I hit that, found the email address associated with my wife’s Google Home app installation, and hit send. Naturally, it *******, not once but every one of the half-dozen times I tried.
Back to Google.
Not good enough
It is a lovely new Google Nest Learning Thermostat (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
The solution should have been obvious to me: I can’t invite my wife unless she, too, is running the Google Home Public Preview. That makes sense, though a message in the app to that effect would’ve been helpful.
It is wonderful to have full control of so many key smart home pieces in one app, and I admit that Google Home is a better app than the aging code Nest provided. But this process was hard. For me. A tech “expert.” Imagine what this would be like for an average home consumer, one who can’t email someone in Google’s corporate offices.
It’s also unreasonable to think consumers will upgrade their homes wholesale. They will have aging smart home technology. It will always be the manufacturer’s job to deliver complete solutions that adapt to the new and support the old. Shipping products that force unsupported change – even if it’s temporary – is bad form.
Google was enormously helpful in this process, and when I asked them for comment on my experience, a Google Spokesperson sent me this statement:
The Home app is designed to provide an easier, more personalized, and more organized way to manage all your compatible third-party and Google Nest devices in one place. You can now manage all of your Nest Cams in the Home app, and we’ll continue to bring over support for additional Nest devices and features while maintaining privacy, security, and experiences for our customers. Each device has its own complexity and requires migrating infrastructure, updates to device software, and evaluating if the hardware can be supported. –
Google, by the way, is not alone in this. I’ve long complained that Apple Homekit is a mess and has yet to improve my smart home life. Amazon Alexa wins points for simplicity, but I still wonder why I can’t effectively create an “I’ll be away” schedule using just my voice.
We will fail as a smart home industry until Google and others solve this. And if someone says to me “Matter will make it all better,.” I may just punch them.
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Target: save on furniture, tech & clothing
Walmart: cheap TVs, ****** vacs, furniture & appliances
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Comcast to spinoff MSNBC, more cable brands into new company
Comcast to spinoff MSNBC, more cable brands into new company
Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, is announcing a major shakeup in some of its key assets. The company is expected to spin off its cable networks into a separate company and would cleave off some of NBCUniversal’s best-known brands, including MSNBC, E!, Syfy, Golf Channel, USA, CNBC and Oxygen. NBC’s Brian Cheung reports for TODAY.
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NHL player poll: As sports ******** increases, so do harassing messages — and Venmo requests
NHL player poll: As sports ******** increases, so do harassing messages — and Venmo requests
There doesn’t have to be a milestone moment or viral play for an NHL player’s phone to be flooded with notifications in the wake of a game. Maybe there’s a text from a parent, a reminder from a partner, a few messages of congratulations or condolences. Not to mention the usual spate of emails and push alerts that inevitably pile up when you’ve been away from your phone for a few hours.
But these days, as sports ******** becomes more and more prevalent in the hockey world, there’s a new app jockeying for space atop players’ home screens.
“I’ve been sent Venmo requests before,” one NHL player surveyed in The Athletic’s player poll said. “Like, ‘Hey, I bet on you guys to win and you blew it. So give me back my 50 bucks.’”
That player said he found it “comical.”
“I think I paid one guy back once,” he said with a laugh. “Sent him like 20 bucks.”
Of course, the Internet being what it is, it’s not always terribly funny. Almost one-third of the 161 players polled said they’ve been getting more harassing messages from fans since sports ******** has become legal in more states.
GO DEEPER
NHL player poll: Injury transparency? Want Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s record? Expand to 34 teams?
“Oh, almost every day,” one goaltender said. “Honestly, I’d say 75 percent of them are them being **** about something. ‘How did you let in that late goal? I had the under. Thanks a lot. You f—ing *****.’ Things like that constantly. I feel like, as a goalie, we’re a little bit more exposed to it, too.”
“Together with a couple ****** threats and a few other things,” another player added.
Perhaps the biggest revelation from The Athletic’s anonymous player poll was how common the Venmo requests are.
“They’re demands, not requests,” one player clarified. “’You owe me $200 because you were on the ice when …’ and it’s insane. It’s really bad when you play against Toronto because it seems like everybody is ******** on Leafs games. But that’s Toronto for you.”
Apparently, NHL players need to do a better job of masking their identities on cash apps.
“Yeah, that’s real,” another player said. “When you ruin a guy’s parlay or something? Hundred percent, that’s real. I got one last game where some guy bet on my number of shots or something and then he’s DM’ing me: ‘You f—ed my parlay!’ Pardon my language, but that’s what he said.”
“Yeah, 100 percent,” said another player. “I’ve gotten plenty of them show up in my inbox before. Like I kept them from hitting some parlay or something or, ‘Here’s my Venmo. Send me $100.’”
“Oh, yeah,” one player said. “People on social media are way crazier now because they have more skin in the game. I think that’s for all sports.”
“I get messages all the time, and these are people probably ******** $1.50,” said another.
Some such requests are obvious gags. But other messages carry a more sinister tone.
“Not here, but to be honest, mostly in Russia,” one player said. “Like it’s getting crazy. You’re up 2-0 and lose, you get messages, like, ‘You f—ing ********, I’m gonna f—ing ***** you.’”
One player said he gets at least one or two such messages every day from gamblers. But two-thirds of the players who responded said they don’t get any. It could depend on how high-profile a player is. Not a lot of fans are ******** on fourth-liners and third-pairing defensemen. As one player joked, “I don’t think I’m the ******** favorite.”
Unsurprisingly, many players have done their best to unplug entirely. That also could explain the two-thirds who said they don’t get such messages.
“I used to know that I got harassing messages,” one player said. “Now I don’t know. Who would read these f—ing idiots? I don’t anymore.”
“That’s why I turned everything off,” another said. “You get some scary messages out there.”
Another: “Good thing I’m not on social media.”
Another: “No one can find me, so I don’t know.”
****** threats and profanity-laced tirades aside, sometimes the players feel the bettors’ pain.
“Sometimes they bet on me to score and I don’t and they want me to give them money,” one player said. “I’m like, ‘I want to score, too!’”
(Graphic: Meech Robinson / The Athletic, with photos from Gary A. Vasquez, Katherine Gawlik and Andre Ringuette / Getty Images)
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Final Fantasy XIV Mobile is an “extension of beloved franchise” but This Move Could Prove to be Detrimental for the Franchise
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile is an “extension of beloved franchise” but This Move Could Prove to be Detrimental for the Franchise
Mobile Gaming is slowly taking over the gaming industry, and it looks like Square Enix has also decided to ***** headfirst with Final Fantasy XIV Mobile into the market. This will be an officially licensed mobile version of the original game and will be developed by Lightspeed Studios under the watchful eye of FFXIV’s visionary producer and director, Naoki Yoshida.
The announcement for the FFXIV’s mobile version has sparked a buzz in the community. | Image Credit: Lightspeed Studios
Since the recent announcement, the excitement among the community is palpable. However, beneath this excitement, they are also questioning whether this is the right move for the franchise. Will FFXIV Mobile be able to maintain the level of quality expected from the studio’s lineup, or will it ruin the legacy of one of the most successful MMORPGs of all time?
Will Final Fantasy XIV Mobile Be a Blessing or a Curse for the Franchise?
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile looks to carry forward the charm and content that made the original game a favorite among the community. The game will offer a variety of playable races, each with its own distinct lore and aesthetics, staying true to the diverse cultures of Eorzea. It was announced that nine jobs will be available at launch, alongside the unique Armoury System.
Besides the different jobs, the mobile version will also carry forward the social aspect of the original game. Players can forge strong connections with other players through social features, whether they’re playing solo, in parties, or meeting new players on their journey. The mobile will feature the mentoring systems as well.
Developed by Lightspeed Studios @__lightspeed___ supervised by Square Enix, FINAL FANTASY XIV MOBILE is annouced today!
For the first reveal of FFXIV MOBILE, #FFXIV Art Team Lead Yusuke Mogi has created a new visual highlighting nine iconic jobs from the title. Which are you… pic.twitter.com/RuisyuqtMu
— FFXIV_MOBILE (@FFXIV_MOBILE_EN) November 20, 2024
With the epic music of the game present, there’s no doubt that FFXIV Mobile will be a great addition to the franchise. However, despite the optimism surrounding the game, there is a growing concern among the community that Square Enix is taking a considerable amount of risk with this new venture.
Ahhh this is so exciting
— Hoshi (@HoshizoraOW) November 20, 2024
I’m cautiously optimistic about this…
As long as they don’t fill it with microtransactions I will probably actually give it a shot (I don’t normally play mobile games).
— Nozomi Kei (@NozomiKeiXIV) November 20, 2024
Really? What a waste of resources. Really should have invested this back into the actual game and put some effort in the current expansion’s writing.
— Roeark (@Roeark) November 20, 2024
The primary worry among the community is the general live-service model itself. As with many mobile games nowadays, FFXIV Mobile may be filled with microtransactions, pay-to-win mechanics, or aggressive monetization that takes away the excitement from the player.
Since the official website says that the game will be cross-play, it also introduces another issue: if the mobile version is not done correctly, the difference in experience/performance between the mobile version and the PC/PS version has the potential to not only divide the gameplay experience but also the community.
It’s important to understand that while FFXIV is a massive success on PC and PlayStation, FFXIV Mobile is a drastic departure from what usually is considered the core experience. Additionally, the mobile market is a different ******, and the pressures of adapting a game of such scale and depth to a smaller screen, particularly with touch controls could lower the original’s magic.
Is this A New Chapter or a Risky Venture?
The venture into the mobile market is a risky one but only time will tell if the game is a success or not. | Image Credit: Lightspeed Studios
Final Fantasy XIV Mobile could prove to be an exciting and well-********* expansion of the Final Fantasy XIV universe. But to achieve success both Square Enix and Lightspeed Studios need to dedicate their time and find the right balance for the gameplay for the mobile platform.
The promise of an accessible, and social experience, combined with the iconic world of Eorzea, is an enticing prospect for both new and returning players. However, if the game fails in any of the following aspects: content, performance, or monetization, it has the potential to severely impact the franchise’s goodwill.
Over the years, FFXIV’s vision has earned the full trust of the players but many ***** that a poor ********** of this mobile venture could undo all the previous efforts. For fans and developers, the mobile release is both an opportunity and a potential risk that could shake the foundation of what makes Final Fantasy XIV great.
In the end, while there are a lot of exciting things in the announcement to be excited about, there is also just as much to be cautious about. Only time will tell whether the mobile version will be able to live up to the legacy of its parent game or not.
Are you excited about the mobile version of FFXIV, or are you planning to stick to the PC/PS version? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X PC processor to skip 2nd generation — Qualcomm previews Oryon 3, says Oryon 2 only intended for mobile chips
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X PC processor to skip 2nd generation — Qualcomm previews Oryon 3, says Oryon 2 only intended for mobile chips
At its latest investor day, Qualcomm hinted on the third generation of its Oryon CPU cores. According to ******* outlet ComputerBase.de (machine translated), it seems that the Oryon 2 will be skipping PCs, and will only be used in the Snapdragon 8 Elite chips. The successor to the Snapdragon X Plus and Elite chips will be powered by the Oryon 3 and is targeted to be launched around the time of Computex 2025, which coincides with the Dell ***** showing Qualcomm’s roadmap for its Arm-based CPUs.
The second-generation Oryon chips were tested “using a Qualcomm reference design on Android 15,” and are expected to exceed the first-generation Oryon chip by 30% in performance and 57% in efficiency. However, the company hasn’t released any information yet about the Oryon 3-powered next-generation Arm CPU chips, so we’ll have to wait for additional information from the company.
In the meantime, we expect the company to deliver more affordable Snapdragon X-powered laptops in early 2025. The products were initially said to be sub-$1,000 and eventually it’s been revealed that these laptops would hit $700. At Investor Day 2024, the floor price for the Qualcomm’s Arm-powered devices is now $600, making it more attainable for more people.
This move to lower the barrier to entry for Snapdragon-powered computers will likely help the company to push into the PC market, especially as it targets $4 billion in PC sales by 2029. The company’s strategy since 2021 has been to use its advantage in the smartphone ecosystem and expand it to other markets like PCs and automobiles.
In line with this, it expects revenue for automotive chip sales to hit $8 billion, especially as 80% of this amount, or $6.4 billion has already been secured in contracts. The company also envisions $4 billion in revenue in industrial chips, while VR will generate at least $2 billion. Qualcomm also expects an additional $4 billion in tablets and wireless headphones sales.
All these sales targets will bring it an additional $22 billion annually by 2029. Although this might seem like a lofty target, Intel, which is currently struggling with its $1.6 billion loss from its data center and foundry business, was still able to secure $29 billion in PC chip sales for 2023.
These numbers show Qualcomm’s positive outlook in the semiconductor industry. However, some experts doubt the company’s ability to get close to their targets, much more hit them. Nevertheless, it’s good for the chip manufacturer to have these lofty goals, as it means that they’ll likely produce highly competitive chips that could push the leading edge of personal computing even further.
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3 Hot Stock Trends to Ride Into 2025
3 Hot Stock Trends to Ride Into 2025
Palo Alto Networks is the leading cyber security stock, and its plan to platformize its offering is working. Analysts raise their targets.
Salesforce is the leading CRM provider, a must-have tool for businesses of all sizes that want to stay relevant.
Booking Holdings’ growth slowed but was less than expected. Cash flow is robust, and the outlook is for growth to sustain in 2025.
Like they say, the trend is your friend, and it’s best to trade with your friend. Stocks like Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:), Salesforce (NYSE:), and Booking Holdings (NASDAQ:) are trending higher and are forecasted to provide friendly returns this year and next. Trends that support their price action include growth, outperformance, cash flow, and outlook for growth and cash flow growth to continue.
Trends supporting their price action also include the analysts, who are bullish and lifting their price targets. The average forecasted gain is a solid double-digit advance and likely a low forecast because of each company’s industry-leading position and operational quality.
1. Palo Alto Analysts Shift Gears: Lift Targets to New Highs
Palo Alto analysts did a head fake in 2024, downgrading sentiment, lowering their price targets, and then quickly reverting to the trend. The trend is upward and includes a price target that is up 40% over the last year and rising in the wake of the CQ3 2024 earnings report.
The consensus stock price target assumes fair value with the stock trading at a critical support level, but the revision trend suggests a move to the high-end range is coming. That would put the stock near $455 and in alignment with the technical targets. The technical targets put the stock in the range of $450 to $500 in 2025 and above $600 towards the end of 2026.
The analysts’ head-fake was caused by platformization. Palo Alto is the leading cyber security provider, but its cyber security portfolio was fractured. Platformization is intended to make it easier to use and resonate with clients. The plan is working so well that an expected temporary slowdown in growth and impact on profitability is much less than feared, and now the company is set up to sustain mid-teens growth in 2024 and the long term.
The drivers for Palo Alto’s growth are widening business digitization and accelerating cyber threats. The rise of AI is accelerating cyber-attacks, increasing the frequency, time, and cost of mitigating them.
2. Salesforce is a Force to be Reckoned With
Salesforce is among the earliest adopters of AI, having integrated machine learning and data mining into its platform from the start. In 2024, growth is slowing but not as rapidly as forecasted, and margins are widening, strengthening the already robust cash flow and improving shareholder value and the capital return outlook.
Salesforce’s capital return includes dividends, which are a token amount but are on track for significant increases over the coming years, and share buybacks. The company pays out only 8.5% of 2024’s consensus forecast for a yield near 0.5% with shares near $3.25; the buybacks are worth 10X the dividend in and reduced the count by 0.5% at the end of FQ3.
MarketBeat.com tracks 38 analysts covering Salesforce. They show a high conviction in the Moderate Buy rating and are lifting their price targets in 2024. Like with Palo Alto Networks, the consensus target assumes fair value near current trading levels. However, the revision trend is positive and suggests a move above the consensus is likely. The high-end range puts this market near $400 or 25% above the critical support target.
3. Booking Holdings: Slowing Growth Offset by Outperformance and Quality
Booking Holdings is another stock whose share price experienced headwinds because of an expectation for slowing growth. It is also experiencing tailwinds in late 2024 because the slowdown is less than feared, and operational quality is high.
Results in 2024 include growth slowing into the high-single-digit range and outperforming by a wide margin. Margin is an area of strength, with the adjusted EPS growing at double the pace. The outlook for 2025 is for similar performance, and the consensus figures are likely low. The combination of easing interest rates and a business-friendly president will likely create business tailwinds in the back half of the year.
MarketBeat tracks 32 analysts who rate this stock as a Moderate Buy. They see it fairly valued with a consensus of $4750, but the trend is positive, and the figure is rising.
The most recent targets have this stock trading near $5550, or about 10% above all-time highs near $5000.
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Ford to cut 14% of ********* jobs, blaming EV shift and rising competition
Ford to cut 14% of ********* jobs, blaming EV shift and rising competition
Ford Explorer electric cars are parked on car transporters on the Ford factory premises. It is the first electric car from Ford in Europe. The US car manufacturer Ford wants to cut 2,900 jobs in Germany by the end of 2027 in order to reduce costs.
Rolf Vennenbernd | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
Ford said on Wednesday it would cut around 14% of its ********* workforce, blaming significant losses in recent years compounded by weak demand for electric vehicles, a lack of government support for the shift to EVs, and rising competition.
The U.S. company is the latest automaker after Nissan, Stellantis and GM to cut costs as the industry struggles with growing competition from ******** rivals in Europe, waning demand in China, and the challenges of shifting to EVs that remain too expensive for most consumers to buy.
Ford said the 4,000 job cuts would be primarily in Germany and the ******* Kingdom. Globally, the layoffs represent around 2.3% of Ford’s workforce of 174,000.
The measures will be a big ***** for Germany in particular, Europe’s largest economy and biggest car maker where Volkswagen is threatening to close factories, slash wages and cut thousands of jobs to improve its ability to compete.
The country’s deepening political crisis is also adding uncertainty to companies grappling with growing trade tensions with China and the U.S. election victory of Donald Trump.
Ford said the ********* layoffs should take place by the end of 2027.
Europe’s automakers “face significant competitive and economic headwinds while also tackling a misalignment between CO2 regulations and consumer demand for electrified vehicles,” the company said in a statement.
Through September this year, Ford’s sales in Europe fell 17.9%, far outstripping an industrywide decline of 6.1%.
Ford also called on the ******* government in particular to provide more incentives and better charging infrastructure to help consumers transition to EVs.
Berlin ended EV subsidies in December last year. EV sales in Germany in the first nine months of this year were down 28.6%.
“What we lack in Europe and Germany is an unmistakable, clear policy agenda to advance e-mobility, such as public investments in charging infrastructure, meaningful incentives … and greater flexibility in meeting CO2 compliance targets,” Ford’s chief financial officer John Lawler wrote in a letter to the ******* government.
Ford has been undergoing a painful restructuring in Europe, announcing 3,800 job cuts in February 2023. Ford is also closing its Saarlouis plant in Germany next year, with further job cuts.
The ********* Union has slapped tariffs on ********-made EVs, saying they benefit from unfair subsidies from China’s government.
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Clock Tower: Rewind (NS) Review | VGChartz
Clock Tower: Rewind (NS) Review | VGChartz
Travis Bruno of Capsule Computers writes:
“For many, the Clock Tower series is one that they have either never heard of or have only the faintest knowledge of as the horror franchise hasn’t received a new release in over two decades outside of two spiritual successors, one of which some may recognize since it’s often thought that a certain “that dog” from Capcom happened to reference a main ally in one of these successors, Haunting Ground. Even then, the original Clock Tower was left untouched for nearly thirty years as it was only ever released in Japan for the SNES but that has all changed thanks to WayForward. Often thought as one of the influences on creating the survival horror genre, now that this point and click horror game has arrived in the West after nearly thirty years with some updates as Clock Tower: Rewind, is it worth checking out?”
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iQOO 13 Key Specifications Revealed Ahead of December 3 Launch in India
iQOO 13 Key Specifications Revealed Ahead of December 3 Launch in India
iQOO 13 is all set to debut in India in the first week of December. As the launch date nears, the Vivo sub-brand has disclosed more details about the Indian variant of iQOO 13. Like its ******** counterpart, it is confirmed to ship with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, iQOO’s in-house Q2 chip and an LTPO AMOLED display. The iQOO 13 will offer IP68 and IP69 ratings. It is confirmed to receive software updates for four years.
iQOO 13 Indian Variant Specifications Confirmed
In a press release, the company confirmed that the iQOO 13 will be equipped with the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, and the handset is claimed to have scored over 3 million points on the AnTuTu benchmarking platform. It also includes the company’s Q2 chip for gaming and a 7000 sq mm vapour chamber cooling system for thermal management.
The iQOO 13 is teased to feature a Q10 LTPO AMOLED display with 2K resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. It has IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance. iQOO says it will get four software updates and five years of security updates.
Like the ******** variant, the Indian variant of iQOO 13 boasts a triple rear camera unit, comprising a 50-megapixel primary camera with a Sony IMX 921 sensor, a 50-megapixel Sony portrait sensor and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera. It has a 32-megapixel selfie sensor that is capable of ********* 4K videos at 60fps.
The iQOO 13 features a Monster Halo lighting effect on the camera module. This side light offers dynamic alerts for calls, messages, and charging. It houses a 6,000mAh battery with 120W charging support. This is slightly smaller than the 6,150mAh battery unit available on the ******** variant.
The Indian variant of the iQOO 13 is confirmed to arrive in Nardo Grey and Legend Edition colourways. The latter features BMW’s iconic Red, ******, and Blue stripes on a matte white rear panel.
The price of iQOO 13 in China starts at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs. 47,200) for the 12GB RAM + 256GB option and ranges up to CNY 5,199 (roughly Rs. 61,400) for the 16GB + 1TB RAM and storage configuration. We can expect the Indian variant to be priced similarly.
The iQOO 13 will be announced in India on December 3. It will go on ***** through iQOO e-store and Amazon.
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The future of travel in the Middle East
The future of travel in the Middle East
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Capital Connection
Global travel CEOs speak to CNBC’s Emma Graham at Skift Global Forum East in Dubai about the future of travel in the Middle East.
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Software firm Odoo hits $5.3 billion valuation in secondary share *****
Software firm Odoo hits $5.3 billion valuation in secondary share *****
Fabien Pinckaers, CEO of Belgian-based enterprise software startup Odoo.
Odoo
Odoo, a startup taking on SAP in the realm of enterprise software, boosted its valuation to 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in a secondary share round led by Alphabet’s venture fund and Sequoia Capital.
The Belgium-based company develops open-source enterprise resource planning software, with over 80 applications available on its platform offering businesses tools for accounting, customer relationship management, human resources and e-commerce and website building.
Fabien Pinckaers, CEO and co-founder of Odoo, told CNBC in an interview this week that his company didn’t have a need to raise any primary capital as it is “cash profitable” and growing revenue at a rate of 50% year-over-year. Enterprise resource planning, he said, is “still a very fragmented market.”
“The reason everybody [has] ******* [in this market] is that it’s quite complex,” Pinckaers told CNBC. “Small companies have complex needs from accounting to inventory, to website, e-commerce, point-of-*****. It’s a lot and they don’t have budget, and they need something that is simple and affordable.”
“Nobody succeeded to get both,” he added. “You have complex products like SAP that run well for large companies. But it’s complex and expensive.”
Andrew Reed, partner at Sequoia Capital, added that the market Odoo is addressing “just requires more gestation time than most startups both because the core system is very complex, and making it simple to use for small businesses and various countries is no small feat.”
Humble beginnings
Odoo “is not your traditional Silicon Valley tech story,” according to Reed.
Pinckaers opened the company’s first-ever office 22 years ago on a farm in Belgium. That was all he could afford at the time. Later, as the company started bringing in revenue, Odoo opened two additional offices in Belgium, home to the firm’s research and development, support and technical teams.
Today, Pinckaers resides in India with his family. He’s lived there for a year now, working to expand the company’s presence there, hiring more people, increasing marketing and broadening Odoo’s overall partner network.
Odoo had billings of 370 million euros last year and is on track to top 650 million of billings in 2025 — after that, the company is hoping to top the 1 billion-euro billings milestone by 2027. Billings — or the total sum of all invoices for a given year — is Odoo’s preferred metric for tracking annual revenue performance.
Around 80% of Odoo’s business today accounts for open-source software, with the remaining 20% coming from software licensed for a fee, Pinckaers said. Open source refers to a type of software that allows users to access the underlying code — most often free of charge — which they can then modify and adjust.
In no rush to IPO
Despite Odoo now being at the scale of an IPO-ready business, Pinckaers said he’s in no rush to take the company public. If anything, remaining private has given Odoo flexibility to stay focused on investing for the long term, he said.
Odoo’s private backers aren’t in a rush for the firm to go public, either. Alex Nichols, partner at Alphabet’s CapitalG, told CNBC that he’s not worried about “IPO timing,” adding that factors like public market conditions are ultimately “out of our control.”
Pinckaers built the business to the size it is today primarily by bootstrapping — that is, growing without raising external funding. Odoo hasn’t had to raise primary capital from investors in a decade, opting instead to let early investors and employees sell shares in secondary sales.
The last time Odoo secured primary funding was in 2014, when it raised $10 million in a Series B round. Prior to the latest secondary round, Odoo was most recently valued by investors at 3.2 billion euros.
Odoo’s other backers include the likes of private equity firms Summit Partners, Noshaq, and Wallonie Entreprendre, which all sold a portion of their shares to CapitalG and Sequoia as part of the 500-million-euro investment announced on Wednesday.
Even after selling a portion of its shares, Summit ******** Odoo’s largest institutional shareholder. Pinckaers himself has never sold his own personal shares.
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Call for papers: special issue on antimicrobial resistance
Call for papers: special issue on antimicrobial resistance
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NYT Crossword: answers for Wednesday, November 20
NYT Crossword: answers for Wednesday, November 20
The New York Times crossword puzzle can be tough! If you’re stuck, we’re here to help with a list of today’s clues and answers.
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Quantum Breakthrough Observed as Scientists Define Photon Shape for the First Time
Quantum Breakthrough Observed as Scientists Define Photon Shape for the First Time
A study conducted at the University of Birmingham has identified the precise shape of a single photon, reshaping how interactions between light and matter at the quantum level are understood. The study detailed in Physical Review Letters tells us how photons, or particles of light, are emitted and influenced by their surroundings, offering possibilities for significant technological advancements.
This achievement stems from addressing a longstanding challenge in quantum physics: the near-infinite ways photons can propagate in their environment. Researchers grouped these scenarios into manageable sets, enabling a model to describe not just how photons interact with their emitters but also how energy radiates into the far field. The findings also included the first-ever visualisation of a photon, achieved through complex calculations.
Complex Problems Made Solvable
Dr Benjamin Yuen, a physicist at the University of Birmingham and lead author of the study, explained that the team converted an otherwise insurmountable problem into a computationally solvable framework. As a result, they could depict the shape of a photon—a significant milestone in quantum physics.
Photon Emission Shaped by Environment
The study, published in the Physical Review Letters, also reveals the critical role of environmental factors, including geometry and optical properties, in defining a photon’s characteristics. According to Professor Angela Demetriadou, co-author of the research, these influences extend to the photon’s colour, shape, and likelihood of being emitted. The data, previously dismissed as background noise, now serves as a valuable source of information.
Advancing Light-Matter Applications
This discovery is expected to advance the design of nanophotonic technologies. Dr. Yuen highlighted its potential to develop improved sensors, solar cells, and systems for quantum computing. A more detailed understanding of light-matter interactions could also lead to breakthroughs in secure communication and molecular-level chemical processes.
By visualising a photon for the first time, the research establishes a foundation for future exploration, marking a significant step forward in understanding the quantum world.
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Super Micro Computer Soars 28%: Is It Really Out of the Woods?
Super Micro Computer Soars 28%: Is It Really Out of the Woods?
As the Super Micro Computer accounting debacle matures into a disaster, investors wonder whether it will affect NVIDIA stock next.
Investors can examine the company’s financials and find discrepancies that could cause the stock to sell off soon.
NVIDIA’s financials show a more stable path and character, so investors could consider buying the dip even if it sells off.
One of the biggest debacles in the stock market is whether the technology sector will make it out alright after this quarter. Particularly, the semiconductor industry has grown to represent a larger share of the overall economy and stock market, so it makes names like Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:) and its main supplier, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:), carry more pressure today than ever before.
As if that wasn’t enough, the two are under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. There are rumors that the entire industry is playing a game of hot potato by rerouting orders and marking inventory suspiciously at best. However, markets still seem faithful to the possibility that these accusations won’t be here for longer or won’t materialize enough to send the stock down.
Investors can see this conclusion by how Super Micro Computer has rallied by over 28% in a single day, the day after it met its deadline with the NASDAQ exchange to avoid de-listing, after submitting its new compliance program and hiring a new auditor, it looks like the company may be in the clear for now, but is it out of the woods yet? There is no clear answer, but there are better ways to ask the question, and these may also spill over to affect NVIDIA stock this week.
Accounting Challenges Pose Significant Risks for Super Micro Computer Stock in Upcoming Quarters
The top and bottom lines for Super Micro Computer stock look great. Revenues reached up to $5.3 billion in the latest quarterly earnings results, a jump of 143% from the same quarter last year. With this growth, investors could explore the financials to find more growth.
Net income was $352 million, up from $193.6 million a year ago. However, here’s where the image starts to shift away from reasons to celebrate and into reasons to worry.
The number of outstanding shares increased by 8 million during the 12-month *******, which should raise red flags for investors everywhere.
If the business generated up to $352 million in net income, why would management have to issue more stock and raise money for operations? This discrepancy usually leads investors down a rabbit ***** to the conclusion of suspicious activity and overstating earnings.
Without going into the rabbit *****, the cash flow statement can act as another great gauge and time saver to find all the answers investors seek. The operating cash flow figures will settle all doubts. Super Micro Computer reported a net outflow of $2.5 billion for the quarter.
Two things seem to be wrong with the business. There was positive net income, but there was still a need to raise cash by issuing stock. Then, the cash flow statement shows a net outflow (loss) significantly different from the reported net income, so the business burned $2.5 billion, hence the need to raise capital.
More than that, the company’s accountancy team from Ernst & Young resigned ahead of the due date for quarterly earnings filings, which should raise another red flag for investors. Super Micro Computer has replaced its accountancy team with those from BDO USA as its new independent auditor.
The problem is that regulators have already flagged and fined BDO for breaking rules in the past. So, by connecting the dots, investors can see the issues boiling in Super Micro Computer stock. They overstated their earnings, forced their accountants to leave, and now hired an independent auditor with a ********* past.
How Super Micro Computer’s Issues Could Impact NVIDIA Stock Performance
Now, the other issue becomes whether NVIDIA will be affected, considering that Super Micro Computer represents up to 9% of NVIDIA’s revenue. The connection is very clear: if Super Micro Computer overstated its inventory and sales, then NVIDIA most likely also overstated its own numbers.
Checking in for the same discrepancies as in Super Micro Computer, NVIDIA does have a better profile, making it a somewhat safer subject in this debacle. According to NVIDIA’s latest quarterly figures, investors can deduce the following:
NVIDIA generated up to $16.6 billion in net income and, at the same time, actually bought back stock to retire up to 200,000 shares off the open market. That makes more sense, as the story looks like the business made money this quarter, unlike Super Micro Computer.
Looking into the cash flow statement, NVIDIA’s operating cash flows show a net inflow of $14.5 billion, which reiterates the profit shown in the income statement. Due to the timing of inventory and sales, a healthy margin of $2 billion exists between the two.
That’s an entirely different picture and story than Super Micro Computer’s today, and hence why there could be a dip in NVIDIA stock when and if Super Micro gets into trouble, but now investors know that this is a dip that could be bought.
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