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Boeing strikes ‘largest-ever’ 787 jet order with Qatar Airways, White House says Boeing strikes ‘largest-ever’ 787 jet order with Qatar Airways, White House says U.S. President Donald Trump, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. Brian Snyder | Reuters Boeing and GE Aerospace secured a $96 billion agreement to sell Qatar Airways up to 210 aircraft, the White House said Wednesday. The deal for the 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft, struck during President Donald Trump’s state visit with the emir of Qatar, is Boeing’s “largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” according to the White House. Further details about the agreement were not immediately clear. Boeing did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg appeared alongside Trump at the Amiri Diwan in Doha earlier Wednesday for a signing ceremony on the aircraft deal. “It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing,” Trump said after Ortberg signed the agreement. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. Source link #Boeing #strikes #largestever #jet #order #Qatar #Airways #White #House Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

WiiM’s first smart speaker looks like a HomePod for audiophiles – The Verge WiiM’s first smart speaker looks like a HomePod for audiophiles – The Verge WiiM’s first smart speaker looks like a HomePod for audiophiles The VergeSay hello to the WiiM AMP Ultra, Sound & Sub Pro Darko.AudioThis Speaker Has One Thing Sonos’ Era 100 Doesn’t: a Touchscreen CNETWiiM ramps up its plans to replace Sonos with its first Hi-Res wireless speaker and subwoofer, plus a new streaming amp TechRadarThe all-new Amp Ultra is exactly the WiiM product we wanted next What Hi-Fi? Source link #WiiMs #smart #speaker #HomePod #audiophiles #Verge Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

FBC Firebreak Preview – Full Remedy Charm in a brilliant classic co-op shooter | Video Gamer FBC Firebreak Preview – Full Remedy Charm in a brilliant classic co-op shooter | Video Gamer Remedy : The Oldest House is teeming with dangerous paranatural hazards, like a Furnace spewing fire across the Maintenance Sector or pink Exogenic Mass that explodes if you touch it. It’s up to you, as a Firebreaker, to face these hazards with your friends, contain them, and get out in one piece. Source link #FBC #Firebreak #Preview #Full #Remedy #Charm #brilliant #classic #coop #shooter #Video #Gamer Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Intel is seemingly preparing a huge Battlemage GPU reveal at Computex 2025 – and it’s expected to be a higher-end offering Intel is seemingly preparing a huge Battlemage GPU reveal at Computex 2025 – and it’s expected to be a higher-end offering Intel just teased a new Battlemage Arc GPU, asking gaming fans to ‘stay tuned’ It’s expected to be revealed at Computex 2025 alongside new Arc Pro and AI GPUs It could be a great opportunity for Team Blue to catch up to its rivals, with a more powerful, higher-end GPU compared to the Arc B570 and B580 With Computex 2025 now upon us, it’s nearly time for plenty of tech reveals from handheld gaming PCs, processors, and GPUs – and Intel has hinted at a few big reveals to challenge its rivals, Nvidia and AMD. In a post on X, Intel announced that it will be revealing new Arc Pro and AI GPUs at Computex; most importantly, it’s just hinted at a new Battlemage GPU, with ‘stay tuned’ replies to users who flooded the replies with requests for the GPU purported as the ‘Arc B770’ for gamers. Multiple rumors have been widespread regarding Team Blue potentially releasing a higher-end GPU as an upgrade from its previous GPUs (reported by VideoCardz), after its Arc B570 and Arc B580 GPUs launched late last year. You may like One in particular seemingly revealed Intel’s plans for a new Arc B580 with 24GB of VRAM, which is a significant upgrade from the current model’s 12GB. It’s also expected to come alongside other 24GB Pro GPUs for workstations. Thanks to Intel’s new teasers, these rumors now have more credibility, although it’s not exactly clear if it will be unveiling both a new Arc B580 24GB GPU and an entirely new Arc B770, or just the latter alone. However, one clear thing is that gamers will be getting a new Battlemage GPU, and one that is more powerful than any of Team Blue’s previous offerings – and a Computex 2025 reveal looks imminent. (Image credit: Acer, Intel) Intel has an opportunity to bridge the gap and catch up to Nvidia and AMD It’s no secret that despite the successes and impressive gaming performance from both the Intel Arc B580 and Arc B570, Team Blue still has some catching up to do with Nvidia and AMD. Fortunately, this rumored GPU sounds like it might be the start of that. Both of its recent Battlemage GPUs aren’t high-tier GPUs, but still manage to provide great performance results at 1080p and 1440p resolutions as budget options – but now, it sounds like Intel is making an effort in providing GPUs that are closer to middle or high tier (or at the very least more powerful GPUs than what is available). Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. While nothing is guaranteed, I’m hoping this is indeed the case because affordable GPUs need a greater focus for budget gamers; AMD’s Radeon RX 9070 and 9060 series are a prime example of this (despite the inflation issues of partner cards). I’m still keeping my expectations low, as I’m anticipating that there won’t be any ‘high-end’ GPUs like the rumored Arc B580 24GB might suggest; at least, I don’t see any of Intel’s new GPUs matching or competing against the likes of an RTX 5070 Ti. However, the rumors indicate that Intel is potentially cooking something that will make gamers take it more seriously when it comes to the GPU market – and I’m hoping it’s a major surprise. You may also like… Source link #Intel #seemingly #preparing #huge #Battlemage #GPU #reveal #Computex #expected #higherend #offering Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Boeing strikes ‘largest-ever’ 787 jet order with Qatar Airways, White House says Boeing strikes ‘largest-ever’ 787 jet order with Qatar Airways, White House says U.S. President Donald Trump, Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. Brian Snyder | Reuters Boeing and GE Aerospace secured a $96 billion agreement to sell Qatar Airways up to 210 aircraft, the White House said Wednesday. The deal for the 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft, struck during President Donald Trump’s state visit with the emir of Qatar, is Boeing’s “largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” according to the White House. Further details about the agreement were not immediately clear. Boeing did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment. This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. Source link #Boeing #strikes #largestever #jet #order #Qatar #Airways #White #House Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Firms in Guangdong welcome ‘ceasefire’ but look to diversify Firms in Guangdong welcome ‘ceasefire’ but look to diversify Laura Bicker China correspondent BBC Derek Wang spent almost half a million dollars setting up his company There’s a vast empty space in the middle of the factory floor in Foshan in southern China where workers should be welding high-end air fryers for the US market. Derek Wang says his American customers were wowed by his air fryer models – which are controlled via smartphones and can also bake, roast and grill. But then on 2 April, Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs hit all ******** goods entering the US, eventually reaching 145% – and his clients asked him to pause production. “I tried to keep smiling through my anxiety for the sake of my 40 workers,” he told the BBC. On Wednesday, as a deal to ease the trade war came into effect, Mr Wang said his US buyers were back on the phone. Both countries still face some tariffs. There is at least a 30% tax on all ******** goods entering the US and Beijing has kept a 10% levy on American goods coming into the country, down from 125%. But this surprise agreement after a weekend of negotiations in Switzerland has given factories and businesses some breathing room. “At this time, our US client is willing to pay for the tariffs. Of course, we had to bargain with them as they asked us to lower some of our costs,” he said. Watch: Inside the ******** sofa factory left deserted by Trump tariffs Mr Wang, who studied engineering in Delaware in the US, spent three years helping develop the air fryer model. It cost him $500,000 to set up his company and he said the tariffs came as a shock. “It felt like my parents were getting a divorce. China and US are the most important economic and cultural powers in the world. Their sudden separation would lead to a world that we cannot imagine. Tariffs as high as 145% would mean we have to say goodbye to one another. But he adds, “there’s a saying in ********: good fortune comes out of bad”. Mr Wang believes his “good fortune” is that this trade war has accelerated his plan to diversify away from doing business with America. This is one of the reasons why Beijing believes it has the upper hand in its negotiations with Washington. China has choices and officials have been actively encouraging the country’s firms to do more business in places like Africa, South America and South East Asia. Many other ******** businesses have also told the BBC that they are looking to diversify away from the US to reduce their reliance on the market – suggesting in the long-term there could be more of a separation between the US and China, rather than a divorce. Factories have closed in the nearby city of Dongguan because of Trump’s tariffs… Donald Trump has suggested that he may speak to ******** President Xi Jinping by the end of this week. The world’s two largest economies will now enter talks after agreeing to a ceasefire in their economic war for 90 days. Beijing has framed this deal as a win – not just for China but for all countries facing US tariffs. But it has come at a cost. A short walk through Shunde district – known as the “capital of home appliances” – presents a sobering assessment of a struggling manufacturing sector. Factory workers use the cooler evenings in Foshan to let off a little steam. They spill out into every corner of the local park. During the day they pack, mould and assemble nearly everything that you would find in your kitchen – from gas stoves and washing machines to kettles and fridges. At night, after leaving work, one group line dances in one corner of the small park, while a heated basketball match takes place in another part. Posters lining the walls of the streets tout “stable work and easy” jobs involving packing and screwing products for 30 days in a home appliance factory for 16 yuan an hour, to assembling air conditioning units for 20 yuan an hour. But agents told us that several factories had stopped hiring, especially those linked to the US – some had even shut down parts of their production line. … leaving workers struggling to find jobs The BBC was told that several of these workers will sleep in the park to save money. Many of them travel to Foshan from their home towns, which can be hundreds of kilometres away. Several nearby hostels offer rooms for 20 yuan a night, which can be at least an hour’s pay. Many will want to pocket whatever they earn to send it back to their families. This is the picture of China that President Trump’s team have tried to present – one of sluggish growth, rising unemployment and a chronic housing crisis. “We’re not looking to hurt China,” Mr Trump said after the trade agreement was announced, while adding that China was “being hurt very badly”. “They were closing up factories. They were having a lot of unrest, and they were very happy to be able to do something with us.” This may be overstating Beijing’s economic woes. This country is still leading the world when it comes to the production of electric vehicles and solar panels, and it is making significant headway in artificial intelligence technology. Officials in China have also continued to stress this country can take the pain of an economic war. But it is being keenly felt by some on the frontline and that may be part of why Beijing has started talking to the US. ******** business owners say their confidence in the US has been shaken This latest “ceasefire” has prompted a rush of orders between the two countries as businesses wonder if it can last. He Ke, or HK to his American clients, has called his workers back from their home towns to restart his sofa business, Gongyuan Furniture. It ground to a halt even before Mr Trump’s tariffs hit 145%. “We had a day off straightaway,” said Mr He. “Once the tariffs hit 50%, we had already come to a standstill. When they hit 145%, we certainly could not do business. It was just not possible.” His production line with around 200 workers once took up all four floors of the building. Since the Covid pandemic, he has only needed one floor and around 40 staff. But he still has the odd high-profile client – he claims Elon Musk sits on one of his sofas. At a sofa company, production was halted and workers sent home when Trump’s tariffs kicked in Some workers have already returned and are lifting a soft chair onto a compressor machine to get it ready to box and ship. Sewing machines hum in the background as workers stitch fabric into the right shape to cover memory foam cushions. Mr He says he has seen many changes in Foshan since he started making sofas in 2013. “We feel that the global economy is not good. The domestic economy has also been hit and this affects the life of people here. In the past, when we went out to spend money, we spent a lot of money. We did not think about whether the price was high or cheap. We will buy it as long as we like it. Now, when we want to buy a relatively expensive things, we have to think twice, because the money is not easy to earn.” Like Mr Wang and his air fryers, Mr He also says he is looking at diversifying his sales away from the US, but he has hope that the world’s two biggest economies can come to an agreement in the next 90 days. “I am just a small businessman. But I do understand that the game between these two countries is temporary. I think if they want to survive with each other for a long time, they will definitely sit down and talk things over.” Source link #Firms #Guangdong #ceasefire #diversify Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

This 3.5-inch hub will turn your PC case’s front panel into a USB paradise This 3.5-inch hub will turn your PC case’s front panel into a USB paradise Have you ever experienced a lack of USB ports on your PC? Delock has introduced a new front-panel USB hub designed to enhance your case’s connectivity by providing 10 additional USB Type-A ports for connecting peripherals and other devices. Though we’ve progressed significantly from the bulky old PC cases, the number of USB ports on today’s best PC cases hasn’t changed much. Unless you opt for a specialized case, you’re likely to find only two to four USB Type-A ports these days. The shift towards USB Type-C ports further complicates things. Over recent years, the availability of USB Type-A ports has declined, with some modern cases featuring just one. This is why front-panel hubs will remain relevant since some users will always require more traditional USB Type-A ports to be available at the front of their cases. Sometimes you may want to connect a card reader or something that doesn’t require a lot of bandwidth, so it doesn’t make sense to use up one of the faster USB interfaces on your motherboard. Delock’s front panel fits into a standard 3.5-inch bay inside your case. It provides 10 USB Type-A ports. The panel utilizes the VLI VL813 hub controller, so we’re looking at USB 3.0 specifications with maximum transfer speeds up to 5 Gbps. The 5 Gbps USB Type-A ports are far from the fastest, but they’ll do the job for everyday usage. Logically, they’re backward compatible with older USB specifications. If you’re transferring considerable data, you’re better served with the speedy USB ports on your motherboard’s rear panel. You may like The hub requires two connections. It communicates with your system’s motherboard through a 19-pin USB header and draws its power from a 15-pin SATA power cable. The delivery scope is minimal. You receive the 3.5-inch hub, four Philips head screws to install it inside your case’s 3.5-inch bay, and a user manual in case you have any questions about the product. The Delock 3.5-inch hub can be found in several countries, though its availability in the U.S. is still unclear. It appears on Amazon U.K. but does not have pricing or stock information. In Germany, it can be purchased from a Delock retailer for €84.59 (~$94.76), suggesting a price of approximately $79.63 before the 19% VAT (value-added tax) is added. Delock’s hub is certainly expensive, especially since USB 3.0 front panel hubs begin around $13, with top-tier models nearing $30. Nevertheless, other brands typically don’t provide as many USB Type-A ports as Delock does. While the maximum we’ve observed is eight ports, the Delock hub features an impressive ten. Follow Tom’s Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Source link #3.5inch #hub #turn #cases #front #panel #USB #paradise Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

You can now 3D print real Philips parts at home, and it could completely change product repairs forever You can now 3D print real Philips parts at home, and it could completely change product repairs forever Philips Fixables opens the door to DIY repairs with a program built around 3D printing files One tiny 3D printed part might mark a big shift in how repairs are done Don’t get too excited, only one part is available, and it’s not widely accessible yet Philips has launched an initiative called Philips Fixables, a program that allows customers to download and 3D print replacement parts for certain products. According to Tom’s Hardware, this is an early-stage effort with a limited rollout so far, but one that signals broader changes in how tech companies may begin supporting product longevity. The project is currently being piloted in the Czech Republic, where Philips is collaborating with Prusa Research and LePub. You may like A rare move toward open-source repair At present, the program includes just one part – a 3mm comb attachment for a Philips shaver – but the company says additional components will be added over time. To print a compatible part, customers will download the corresponding file from Printables.com, a platform widely used by hobbyists and makers. While the best 3D printers can replicate intricate parts with impressive accuracy, successful results will depend heavily on users following Philips’s recommended print settings. The company warns that deviations, such as reducing infill to save time or filament, could result in weaker or unusable parts. As with any new idea, it remains to be seen whether this will succeed in practice. Users may end up printing inferior parts that repeatedly fail, leading to frustration rather than effective repairs. Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! It’s also unclear how quickly Philips will expand the program or what types of components will be included next. The Philips Fixables website allows customers to request specific parts. If approved, Philips says it will notify users when those parts become available for download. However, there’s currently no public timeline for turnaround, nor are there transparent criteria for determining which parts will be accepted. That may limit the program’s usefulness in its early form. Still, the move is noteworthy. In an era where the best 3D printers and laser engravers are often restricted by proprietary ecosystems, offering open-source repair files, even in a limited capacity, is rare. This initiative echoes recent efforts by other companies, such as Logitech’s partnership with iFixit, which also champions repair over replacement. You might also like Source link #print #real #Philips #parts #home #completely #change #product #repairs Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

3 AI ETFs Tapping Into the Heart of the AI Revolution 3 AI ETFs Tapping Into the Heart of the AI Revolution One theme emerging from the first quarter earnings season is that the AI revolution is alive and well. Many companies, like Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:). and Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:)., confirmed significant capital expenditure (CapEx) programs focusing on building out the AI infrastructure. Not surprisingly, many technology stocks with an AI focus that sold off sharply in early April have made a nice comeback. Investors looking to get involved in this space may want to consider owning shares in an exchange-traded fund (ETF). These funds trade like stocks but contain a collection of stocks (usually around 30). This helps remove the risk entailed from owning any of these stocks individually. The three ETFs in this article approach AI from different angles. This niche focus means that investors could own one or more of these ETFs as part of an overall AI portfolio. 1. This Fund Is Investing in Where the Future of AI Is Moving The Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (NASDAQ:) focuses on the applications that will change the way we think about artificial intelligence. While the fund does carry some of the biggest names in the chip sector, its broader focus is on companies that seek to embed AI into the physical world with a heavy concentration in industrial and healthcare applications. The fund’s holdings include some of the top names in the chip sector, as well as areas like robotics and healthcare. For example, NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:). is a top holding with over 8% weight in the fund. However, Intuitive Surgical Inc (NASDAQ:). also carries about 8% weight. Fans of small-cap names also get exposure to companies like SoundHound AI (NASDAQ:) Inc., although these funds carry less weight. Like many individual AI stocks, the BOTZ ETF sold off sharply in early April. However, investors can see that it’s made up most of those gains and is approaching its 200-day simple moving average (SMA). 2. Recent Activity in This ETF Shows Data Centers Aren’t a Dead Trade As its name implies, the Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (NASDAQ:) is focused on AI infrastructure. This earnings season, many tech companies like Meta and Microsoft are confirming that they will continue to spend on AI, but maybe at slightly lower levels. However, the key is that they’re still spending, and this fund doesn’t force you into the risk that may come from a single company. Not surprisingly, over 50% of the fund’s industry exposure is in real estate investment trusts (REITs) like Equinix (NASDAQ:), Crown Castle (NYSE:), and American Tower (NYSE:). REITs will likely be among the biggest winners as data centers are built. This is a relatively young fund, having launched in 2021. As of this writing, it had only about $230 million in assets under management (AUM). However, of the three ETFs on this list, the DTCR ETF has the lowest expense ratio at 0.50%. 3. This ETF Lets You Explore Top Investments in Generative AI The Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (NYSE:) focuses on companies in the generative AI space. It has a heavy Magnificent Seven focus, as well as names like Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:). and Broadcom (NASDAQ:) Inc. This fund is full of heavy hitters in the technology sector, with a heavy focus on software. The fund’s focus on generative AI explains why it’s the youngest of the three funds on this list, having only launched in 2023. One thing that’s different about this actively managed fund is that it doesn’t track a particular index. It uses a proprietary methodology to score and select the companies. Investors should note that it has an expense ratio of around 0.75%, so it’s pricey. However, investors are paying for exposure to some of the most sought-after names in the broader AI space. Original Post Source link #ETFs #Tapping #Heart #Revolution Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Wickham residents can finally see local doctor with 12-month trial medical centre trial Wickham residents can finally see local doctor with 12-month trial medical centre trial Wickham residents no longer have to travel to Karratha to see a doctor with Rio Tinto securing operator Panaceum Group to run a mobile medical centre in the remote town over the next 12-months Source link #Wickham #residents #finally #local #doctor #12month #trial #medical #centre #trial Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Dungeon Crawler Carl Hardcover Books – The Inevitable Ruin Will Have Exclusive Chapters Dungeon Crawler Carl Hardcover Books – The Inevitable Ruin Will Have Exclusive Chapters Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is one of the most popular LitRPG series, a burgeoning subgenre of fantasy and sci-fi that injects video game tropes like stats, health bars, and inventory screens into prose novels. Dinniman’s darkly comedic series has become a mainstream hit over the past few years; the sixth novel in the series just released in hardcover on May 13, and it’s now been confirmed that Book 7, The Inevitable Ruin, will receive a hardcover edition with bonus content in September. At 896 pages–over 170 pages longer than the paperback–The Inevitable Ruin’s hardcover edition will take the crown as the biggest book in the series to date. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman Penguin Random House imprint Ace began releasing hardcover editions of Dinniman’s bestselling series last fall. The first three hardcovers were published in 2024, and Books 4-6 hit store shelves in the past two months. Once The Inevitable Ruin arrives in hardcover format this September, the full series, as it stands now, will be available as a matching set. Book 8, Carl’s Book of *****, is expected to release in 2026. You can save big on Dungeon Crawler Carl hardcover books at Amazon. To start your adventure, grab Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book 1) for $19.77 (was $30). Dungeon Crawler Carl (Hardcover) — $19.77 ($30) Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Hardcover) — $18.27 ($30) The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Hardcover)— $22.49 ($30) The Gate of the Feral Gods (Hardcover) — $22.87 ($30) The Butcher’s Masquerade (Hardcover) — $19.79 ($35) The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Hardcover) — $34 ($39) The Inevitable Ruin (Hardcover) – $36.27 ($39) | Releases September 23 If you’re new to the series: Dungeon Carl Crawler is a quintessential example of the LitRPG genre. When bored aliens transform Earth into a giant video-game style dungeon, Coast Guard veteran Carl becomes a participant in a life-or-death tournament. Carl is accompanied by a cat named Princess Donut. Throughout the series, the duo squares off against a wide array of monsters and solves puzzles. In case the name Princess Donut didn’t give it away, Dungeon Crawler Carl doesn’t take itself too seriously. Despite the high stakes, the series frequently leans into the ridiculousness of the scenario with darkly humorous dialogue and over-the-top violence. $36.27 (was $39) | Releases September 23 The Inevitable Ruin was available in paperback (shown above) when it was published back in November, but now that the hardcover edition has been confirmed, Book 7 has joined the rest of the series in being out of print in paperback. If you want to read The Inevitable Ruin, you’ll have to wait until September 23 for the hardcover or read the $6 Kindle ebook edition. Ace hasn’t unveiled the cover art for the hardcover edition, but it will undoubtedly have the same style as the previous six books. We’ll update this story with the official art once it’s available. As mentioned, the hardcover edition has new exclusive content, and it will actually wind up being even longer than The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (832 pages). The paperback edition of The Inevitable Ruin was “only” 722 pages, but the hardcover clocks in at 896 pages. It’s also worth noting that many Dungeon Crawler Carl fans listen to the series on audiobook. Superbly narrated by Jeff Hays, all seven audiobook productions are exclusive to Audible. The highly rated audiobook version of The Inevitable Ruin released in February. Subscribers can purchase each novel with a Credit ($15 each), and Audible Premium Plus members can use their free monthly Credit on The Inevitable Ruin or any other Dungeon Crawler Carl book. The full series is available to read for no extra charge for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Alternatively, you can buy all seven Dungeon Crawler Carl ebooks for $39. The first three books cost $5 each, while the last four are $6 each. Check out the cover art for the first six hardcover editions below. Source link #Dungeon #Crawler #Carl #Hardcover #Books #Inevitable #Ruin #Exclusive #Chapters Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Why we must reform the Computer Misuse Act: A cyber pro speaks out Why we must reform the Computer Misuse Act: A cyber pro speaks out Eight years ago, Simon Whittaker, head of cyber security at Belfast-based consultancy Instil, narrowly avoided having his front door smashed in by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) (see photo of warrant below) and was only saved from an expensive repair job because a relative was home at the time. Whittaker was the innocent victim of a misunderstanding that arose when his work as a cyber security professional butted heads with legislation contained in the ***’s Computer Misuse Act (CMA) of 1990 that at first glance seems sensible. “What happened to me is that we were working with a client who was working with an NHS Trust, demonstrating some of their software,” he explains. “Their software picked up information from various dark web sources and posted this information on Pastebin.” This post was made on Tuesday 9 May 2017 (remember this date – it’s important) and the information contained several keywords, including “NHS” and “ransomware” (see screenshot of Pastebin page below). This accidental act was enough to trip alarm bells somewhere in the depths of Britain’s intelligence apparatus. The National Crime Agency (NCA) got involved, emails whizzed back and forth over the Atlantic to the Americans. Unbeknownst to Whittaker and his family, a crisis was developing. A redacted PSNI warrant “We ended up with eight coppers at our door and a lot of people very upset,” says Whittaker. “It cost us about £3,000 in legal fees, when all that had happened was a few words had been posted on Pastebin. “We talk about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, but it’s quite accurate, inasmuch as they had identified the smallest amount of evidence – that wasn’t even evidence because nothing happened – but it was enough.” And the punchline? It just so happens that the posts were identified on Friday 12 May as part of the investigation into the WannaCry attack, which caused chaos across the NHS. Whittaker’s home was raided the following Monday. A redacted screenshot of the PasteBin post Security theatre So, what is the CMA, and how did it almost land Whittaker in the nick? It’s a big question that speaks not only to his unpleasant experience, but to wider issues of legal overreach, government inertia and, ultimately, the ability of Britain’s burgeoning cyber security economy to function to its full potential. Indeed, the CyberUp campaign for CMA reform estimates that the ***’s security firms lose billions every year because the CMA effectively binds them. In a nutshell, it defines the broad offence of Unauthorised Access to a Computer. At face value, this is hard to argue with because it appears to make cyber crime ********. However, in its broad application, what the offence actually does is to make all hacking ********. As such, it is now woefully outdated because it completely fails to account for the fact that, from time to time, legitimate security professionals and ethical hackers must access a computer without authorisation if they are to do their jobs. “It’s so frustrating, the idea that there’s a piece of legislation that’s been around for so long that was originally brought in because they didn’t have any legislation,” says Whittaker. “Somebody broke into Prince Philip’s email account, a BT account, and they didn’t have any legislation to do them under, so they got them under the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act.” Whittaker is referring to a 1985 incident in which security writer and educator Robert Schifreen hacked the BT Prestel service – an early email precursor – and accessed the Duke of Edinburgh’s mailbox. Schifreen’s archive, preserved at the National Museum of Computing, reveals how he hacked Prestel to raise awareness of potential vulnerabilities in such systems. In a 2016 interview, Schifreen told Ars Technica that he waited until after 6pm on the day of the hack to be sure that the IT team had gone home for the evening and couldn’t interfere. He even tried to tell BT what he was doing. The CMA was the Thatcher government’s response to this, and 35 years on, the offence of Unauthorised Access to a Computer is now at the core of a five-year-plus campaign led by the CyberUp group and backed in Parliament by, among others, Lord Chris Holmes. Whittaker says it is very clear that in 1990, it was impossible to predict that research would fall into the information security domain. “Nobody expected there would be people open to bug bounties or to having their IT researched and investigated. I don’t think anybody back then realised that this was going to be a thing – and if you look at the underlying message of the CMA, which is, ‘Don’t touch other people’s stuff’, there is some sense to that,” he says. “But what the CMA doesn’t do is put any kind of allowance for research or understanding that there are cyber professionals out there whose job it is to try to break things, to try to keep the nation secure and organisations safe,” he adds. “The CMA was a piece of legislation that was very broad, and the idea that it’s still there after this amount of time, and hasn’t been adapted in accordance with the changes we’ve seen over the last 20, 25 years that I’ve been in the industry, is quite bizarre,” says Whittaker. “The legislation around ******* hasn’t changed since 1861 in the Offences Against the Person Act. It’s not like the offence of ******* has changed hugely since 1861, whereas the computing world has changed dramatically since 1990.” One hand tied behind our backs Cutting to the core of the problem, what the CMA does in practice is force security professionals in the *** to operate with one eye on the letter of the law and one hand tied behind their backs. Whittaker recounts another story from Instil’s archives. “We had a look on Shodan, and identified there was an open Elasticsearch bucket that was dropping credentials for a very large mobile phone and fixed-line provider in Spain. “Every time a new order came in, it dropped their data into this bucket, which then provided names, addresses, telephone numbers, bank details, lots of really interesting stuff,” he says. “We were very concerned about reporting this. Because we had found it, we were concerned there was going to be blame associated with us. Why were you looking? What were you doing? What was happening here? We engaged our lawyers to help us do that responsible disclosure to them. “We did it privately – we’ve never spoken about it to anybody, but we spoke with the organisation and they were ultimately very grateful. Their CISO was very understanding, but it still cost us about two grand in legal fees to be able to do it.” Whittaker can recount many other stories of how people who are just trying to do some public-spirited research into similar issues have had to either stop and not do it, or travel to another jurisdiction to do it, because of the CMA. Penetration testing within the limits of the law To more deeply understand how the CMA hamstrings the ***’s cyber professionals, let’s go back in time again, this time to the early 2000s, when Whittaker, then working in software development, caught the cyber bug after a job took him to Russia following an acquisition. “One of the first things the Russians asked us was, “Have you ever had a security or pen test?’ We said, ‘No, but don’t worry, we’re really good at this stuff’, and within 20 seconds, they had torn us to pieces and broken us in multiple different ways. I was watching the test and I said, ‘That’s so cool, how do I work out how to do that?’” If the amendment comes, it will enable us to be able to compete and to protect ourselves and our citizens in a much better way Simon Whittaker, Instil About 20 years down the line, Whittaker’s company, founded as Vertical Structure, but now merging into Instil – is a Crest-accredited penetration tester, and certified by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) as a Cyber Essentials certifying body and an assured service provider for the Cyber Essentials programme. “We teach people how to break things. We teach people how to break into their own systems. We teach people how to break into their own cloud infrastructure, how to do threat modelling, so they can start to understand how to think about threats,” he explains. But in practice, this means Whittaker and his team are teaching people to do things that a court could argue is against the CMA in some way, shape or form, so in addition to the technicalities, he is also very careful to teach his clients all about the law and how to operate within its confines when brushing up against hard limits. “The pieces of paper have to be signed, the scope has to be agreed on,” says Whittaker. “When we’re teaching juniors, we spend probably half a day going through the CMA and detailing to them exactly how nervous they have to be about this stuff, making sure they are aware of it. “It is definitely at the forefront of our minds. And if there is a breach in scope, you stop. You contact the client and say, ‘Listen, we’ve scanned too many IPs, we’ve done this, we’ve done that’. You speak to the client regularly about making sure that doesn’t happen. “In all of our considerations, we would rather pull back on the project rather than risk hitting a third party when we’re pen testing,” says Whittaker. He looks, maybe a little wistfully, to the work of security researchers at larger US or Israeli security organisations that have a little leeway in such things, or to the work of those in more lenient jurisdictions, such as the Baltics, where the cyber research wings of prominent virtual private network providers churn out large volumes of research, often on big flaws in consumer technology. “You hear, for instance, stories about broadband provider X that sent this box that is rubbish and can be accessed remotely. I can hack all of those things, but I can’t go and do the research in a responsible, formal way, because if I do, I run the risk of being arrested or sued,” he says. “It’s really frustrating for smaller organisations like ourselves. We want to be able to do this research. We want to be able to help. We want to be able to provide this information. But it’s very complicated.” What would reform of the CMA mean? The Computer Misuse Act is currently up for reform as part of a wider Home Office review of the act, but progress has been shaky and stalled out several times thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic and the successive collapses of Boris Johnson’s and Liz Truss’s governments. It’s frustrating for smaller organisations like ourselves. We want to be able to do this research. We want to be able to help. We want to be able to provide this information. But [the law makes it] very complicated Simon Whittaker, Instil Cut to 2024 and a new Labour government, and things seemed to be moving again. But then in December 2024, attempts by Lord Holmes and other peers to have the Data (Access and Use) Bill amended to introduce a statutory defence for cyber professionals were rebuffed by the government, with under-secretary of state at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Baroness Margaret Jones saying reform was a complex issue. The government is considering improved defences through engagement with the security community, but Jones claims that to date, there is no consensus on how to do this within the industry, which is holding matters back. More recently, science minister Patrick Vallance weighed in after police highlighted their concerns that allowing unauthorised access to systems under the pretext of identifying vulnerabilities could be exploited by cyber criminals. He said: “The introduction of these specific amendments could unintentionally pose more risk to the ***’s cyber security, not least by inadvertently creating a loophole for cyber criminals to exploit to defend themselves against a prosecution.” But after many years and frequent engagement with the government, the campaigners, while keeping things civil, are clearly frustrated – and understandably so. They want things to be moving faster. Whittaker says reform would be the difference between night and day for his security practice. “It would allow us to be more secure in our research. I’d love to be able to just look at things in more detail and help people secure themselves. It would allow us to focus on our jobs instead of being worried that we’re going to breach something or that something else is going to go wrong. It would be a step change from what we currently see – that ability to perform in a useful way,” he says. “All we are trying to do is give our teams, these experts that we have right here in Belfast and around the country, the ability to be able to compete on a global scale. If the amendment comes, it will enable us to be able to compete and to protect ourselves and our citizens in a much better way,” he concludes. And when all is said and done, isn’t keeping the *** safe in the ever-changing, ever-expanding threat landscape more important than enforcing a blanket definition of hacking as an ******** act when cyber criminals around the world know full well they’re breaking the law and simply don’t give a damn? Source link #reform #Computer #Misuse #Act #cyber #pro #speaks Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

We Asked 3 Dietitians Their Favorite Plant-Based Milk—They All Said the Same Thing We Asked 3 Dietitians Their Favorite Plant-Based Milk—They All Said the Same Thing Reviewed by Dietitian Karen Ansel, M.S., RDN Getty Images. EatingWell design. Plant-based milks can vary substantially in terms of nutrition. Dietitians say fortified soy milk has as much protein and nutrition as cow’s milk. It’s also packed with vitamins, minerals and protective isoflavones. If you’re a vegan, have a cow’s milk allergy or milk doesn’t agree with your stomach, you may be looking for a plant-based milk alternative to pour on your morning cereal or whisk into a matcha latte. Yet, with so many plant-based milk alternatives to choose from, the options may seem overwhelming. To cut through the noise, we reached out to three dietitians to get their expert opinion on the best plant-based milk. And they all came up with the same answer: fortified soy milk. Read on to learn why they’re such big fans of this nutritious plant milk, plus tasty ways to include more of it in your day. Why Dietitians Love Fortified Soy Milk Before we dive in, you might have noticed that our experts didn’t just recommend soy milk. They all specifically emphasized that it should be fortified. But what does “fortified” actually mean? Simply put, fortified foods have nutrients added during processing to enhance their nutritional profile. In the case of soy milk, nutrients, like calcium and vitamin D, are added to make it more nutritionally comparable to cow’s milk. This is important since plant-based milks naturally don’t always contain the same levels of these beneficial nutrients. Provides Complete Protein “Fortified soy milk is one of the best plant-based alternatives because soy is a complete protein,” says Celine Thompson, M.S., RDN. “This means it provides all nine essential amino acids the body can’t make on its own.” Essential amino acids are the protein building blocks our bodies need to manufacture their own protein supply for all kinds of important jobs. Without enough of them, you may experience a long list of health issues, including muscle loss, weakened immunity and fatigue. How does fortified soy milk stack up to other plant-based milks? While other plant milks—like oat, almond and rice milks—may provide some protein, they don’t contain the complete protein you’d get from soy milk. These milk alternatives can still be part of a healthy diet. However, depending on the rest of your diet, you may need to pair them with other protein-rich foods to get enough of the high-quality protein your body needs. Has as Much Protein as Dairy Milk “Soy milk is a great option because its protein content matches dairy milk, with most brands containing 7 to 9 grams of protein per 8-ounce serving,” says Tiffany Bruno, M.S., RDN. By comparison, an 8-ounce serving of rice or almond milk only has about 1 gram of protein, and oat milk has a little less than 3 grams. “Soy milk is also a high-quality protein source,” she adds. In fact, when scientists have tested soy milks’ protein quality in labs, they’ve found that it is comparable to the quality of protein in dairy milk, she says. One study that compared the nutritional profile of 219 plant-based milk alternatives found that fortified soy-based products most closely mimic the nutrient content of dairy milk, particularly protein. No wonder it’s the only plant milk the USDA recommends for people who don’t drink cow’s milk. It’s Loaded with Vitamins and Minerals Fortified soy milk contains many of the same vitamins and minerals found in cow’s milk, making it a nutritionally comparable alternative. In addition to calcium and vitamin D, soy milk is often fortified with vitamin B12, says Amy Brownstein, M.S., RDN. That’s especially important for vegans and strict vegetarians who may struggle to get enough of this crucial nutrient, which is only found in animal foods. Fortified soy milk may also include added vitamin A, which promotes healthy skin and vision, plus riboflavin, a B vitamin that plays a key role in energy metabolism. Soy milk is also rich in potassium, a mineral we need for healthy blood pressure, so it’s also a great choice for heart health. May Protect Against ******* There are lots of unfounded myths about soy, especially when it comes to *******. Yet, you might be surprised to learn that research has found that soy foods like soy milk may protect against *******. For instance, one meta-analysis of 52 studies found that people who drank the most soy milk were 25% less likely to develop ******* (and overall soy food consumption reduced ******* risk by 31%). What makes soy milk such a potent foe against *******? “Fortified soy milk is also a good source of isoflavones,” says Lauren Harris-Pincus, M.S., RDN. Isoflavones are natural compounds, called phytoestrogens, found in certain plants, particularly soybeans, that may help prevent *******. Ways to Enjoy Fortified Soy Milk Whether you’re new to fortified soy milk or could simply use more ways to add it to your rotation, these tips can help. Blend It into Smoothies: Fortified soy milk is a perfect base for smoothies, offering a ******* texture and nutrient boost. Blend it with fruits, vegetables and a handful of nuts or seeds for a delicious, satisfying drink. For a double dose of soy goodness, try this ******* Banana-Cocoa Soy Smoothie. It’s made with soy milk and tofu! Or, swap in fortified soy milk for the cow’s milk in this Golden-Milk Shake. Fold It into Baked Goods: Soy milk is an excellent substitute for cow’s and plant milks in baked goods, providing calcium, vitamins and protein. Swap it in for your go-to milk in vegan pancakes, your favorite muffin recipe or our five-star Vegan Carrot Cake. Brew a Steaming Soy Latte: Swap in fortified soy milk for the plant-based milk in a turmeric, lavender or matcha latte. The Bottom Line If you’re trying to find the best plant-based milk, dietitians unanimously recommend fortified soy milk. Its complete protein and ample calcium and vitamins A and D, plus B vitamins, make it an easy winner. In fact, it’s the only plant milk that’s nutritionally comparable to cow’s milk. In addition to its impressive nutrient profile, soy milk is rich in isoflavones, which may help prevent *******, and its potassium is great for your heart. So, go ahead and pour it over cereal, froth it into a latte, blend it into a smoothie or whisk it into your favorite baked goods! In return, you’ll get all the nutrition and ******* goodness of cow’s milk! Read the original article on EATINGWELL Source link #Asked #Dietitians #Favorite #PlantBased #MilkThey Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Giants’ daunting first four games of 2025 NFL schedule include Commanders opener and prime-time Taylor Swift – New York Post Giants’ daunting first four games of 2025 NFL schedule include Commanders opener and prime-time Taylor Swift – New York Post Giants’ daunting first four games of 2025 NFL schedule include Commanders opener and prime-time Taylor Swift New York Post2025 NFL schedule release live updates: Thanksgiving, Christmas, international games and more ahead of full announcement Yahoo Sports2025 NFL schedule release: Cowboys to host Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs in Thanksgiving game on CBS NFL.comThe schedule leaks are inevitable NBC SportsPlanning to secure NFL tickets? Here’s a look at travel tips and gameday essentials USA Today Source link #Giants #daunting #games #NFL #schedule #include #Commanders #opener #********** #Taylor #Swift #York #Post Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Post Office confirms end of in-house NBIT system, £410M procurement plan to go ahead Post Office confirms end of in-house NBIT system, £410M procurement plan to go ahead Post Office to source external software and service providers to replace Horizon Fujitsu’s Horizon gets a one-year extension due to the delays Horizon/NBIT replacements to cost £492 million The Post Office is abandoning its in-house effort to replace the controversial Horizon system with the previously-announced New Branch IT (NBIT) system, instead turning to external suppliers for a suitable option. As part of the new procurement plan, worth £492 million, the Post Office is seeking a replacement service provider for £322.8 million and a software provider, which it will award a £169.2 million contract to. The announcement, posted to the Government website, comes around four years after the Post Office first revealed plans for NBIT after widespread controversy relating to its outgoing system, which just received an extension. You may like Post Office wants external suppliers to build it a new system Introduced in 1999 and developed by ICL and Fujitsu, the Horizon system resulted in a miscarriage of justice on a huge scale, with faulty accounting software leading to the false prosecutions of hundreds of subpostmasters. More than 60 people had died before getting justice, and a public inquiry is still ongoing. Fujitsu has been awarded contracts totalling £2.44 billion since 1999, and with the Post Office confirming that NBIT would not arrive by March 2025, Fujitsu was given a further year to continue providing the Post Office with its Horizon software. The first of two lots centers around the migration from datacenters to the cloud, including the introduction of a cloud-native platform with enhanced reporting and a zero-trust security architecture. It’s on offer as a five-year contract, from June 2026 to June 2031, and will be worth £322.8 million. Two one-year extensions could take this to June 2033 if the Post Office deems it necessary to “ensure key transformations and transitions have concluded.” The second lot, a longer 12-year contract worth £169.2 million, will see a third party provide a modular, cloud-hosting retail electronic POS platform, including self-service, pick-up/drop-off and mobile POS. Two optional one-year extensions are also available. Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! A Post Office spokesperson said (via The Register): “We are committed to moving away from Fujitsu and off the Horizon system and we have a plan in place to introduce a new IT system in stages for postmasters and strategic partners. We will continue to ensure we comply with public procurement regulations as we transform our technology.” You might also like Source link #Post #Office #confirms #inhouse #NBIT #system #410M #procurement #plan #ahead Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Teamfight Tactics’ fan-favourite set returns in Revival: Remix Rumble Teamfight Tactics’ fan-favourite set returns in Revival: Remix Rumble Teamfight Tactics is holding another set revival with Revival: Remix Rumble Experience the music-themed set with new augments and additions Cyber City’s Hack mechanic also makes a welcome appearance to coincide with this revival League of Legends has leaned surprisingly far into its musical associations these past few years. Be it the iconic soundtrack to Arcane, or the kookie crossover of idols and MOBA warriors with K/DA. But it’s in Teamfight Tactics that a fan-favourite set is making a return with Revival: Remix Rumble and is set to be available until July 29th! But what exactly is Remix Rumble? Well, this music-themed set offers new augments that will enhance certain characters. K/DA champions, for example, are affected by the Mesmerising Performance and Rap Queen augments (but not just those!), which grant enhanced effects or twist up the gameplay. The current set in Teamfight Tactics will also complement, rather than be supplanted by, the new set revival! Opening encounters will feature Hacks, the core mechanic of the Cyber City set. Encounters can include Ahri, who grants you Headliners that appear as 1 level higher, Akali, who gives Headliner champions a plus one to their traits, and Zac, who introduces the aforementioned Cyber City hacks! Mashup It’s not just these additions making a return, as the highly requested Revival Ladder is also making a comeback. You’ll be able to unlock new ranks and rewards for your skill and gameplay style via this progression system. Naturally, there’s also an event pass available for 975 RP that includes a host of Remix Rumble-themed rewards, as well as a new little legend with the Pentakill Siege Minion joining the lineup. While Teamfight Tactics might differ quite a bit from the original League of Legends in terms of genre and gameplay, it undoubtedly helps bring the fun and excitement of the iconic MOBA to mobile. Want to experience the best that PC to mobile conversions have to offer? Check out our list of the top 25 PC to mobile conversions on iOS! Source link #Teamfight #Tactics #fanfavourite #set #returns #Revival #Remix #Rumble Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Databricks adds Postgres database with $1B Neon acquisition Databricks adds Postgres database with $1B Neon acquisition BREAKING — Databricks on Wednesday reached an agreement to acquire Neon, developer of a cloud-based dataset platform built on PostgreSQL, in a move aimed at better enabling developers and autonomous AI agents to build applications. Databricks did not disclose financial terms, but multiple reports value the deal at about $1 billion. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., Neon is a 2021 PostgreSQL database startup that raised $129.6 million before its acquisition by Databricks. With the acquisition, Databricks, a San Francisco-based data management vendor that has expanded into AI development, adds open source database capabilities that simplify developing data and AI applications and potentially serve as the underlying database for agentic AI development. Databricks has made a series of acquisitions over the past two years to build an environment for generative AI development as enterprise interest in developing AI tools has surged. The vendor’s June 2023 acquisition of MosaicML provided the foundation for what is now Mosaic AI while subsequent acquisitions of vendors, including Arcion, Einblick and Lilac AI, all added complementary AI development capabilities. In addition, Databricks’ acquisition of BladeBridge added data migration capabilities that aid AI development, and the purchase of Tabular added support for Apache Iceberg tables that can also be used when building AI applications. Like the purchase of Neon, the acquisitions of MosaicML and Tabular were valued at $1 billion or above. Databricks, however, has raised significant venture capital funding, including $10 billion in December, which has enabled the vendor to strategically buy other companies to add technology. By acquiring Neon, Databricks adds yet another set of capabilities aimed at making it faster and easier to build AI applications. Neon enables users to create PostgreSQL instances — new running environments of the PostgreSQL database server — in seconds. In addition, with compute and storage separate from one another, Neon databases automatically scale as workloads change. And because they are simple to set up and run, not only can developers create new instances, but also agents can be trained to do so, with more than 80% of Neon databases created by agents, according to Databricks. Following the acquisition, which remains subject to due diligence and other customary closing conditions, Neon’s staff — including co-founders Nikita Shamgunov, Heikki Linnakangas and Stas Kelvich — will join Databricks. This story will be updated later. Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for Informa TechTarget and a journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He covers analytics and data management. Source link #Databricks #adds #Postgres #database #Neon #acquisition Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Suicide Squad Flop Still Hurting WB Games Revenue Suicide Squad Flop Still Hurting WB Games Revenue Paul Tassi: “Sony recently reiterated its commitment to live service games with one big hit last year (Helldivers 2), one big cancellation (The Last of Us Factions) and one big failure (Concord). It’s no great surprise it is continuing down this road, given the way the industry is trending and the limited shelf life of its famed single player games. But it immediately made me think of a game that Sony is allegedly releasing that I have to believe is pre-destined to fail, Fairgame$.” Source link #Suicide #Squad #Flop #Hurting #Games #Revenue Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Openreach connects first customers under Project Gigabit partnership Openreach connects first customers under Project Gigabit partnership The ***’s leading broadband provider Openreach has connected the first premises in 38 different communities in “hard-to-reach remote and rural locations” across the country with full-fibre as part of its Project Gigabit partnership with the *** government. The £5bn Project Gigabit programme was introduced in 2021 with the aim of accelerating the ***’s recovery from Covid-19, boosting high-growth sectors such as tech and the creative industries, and levelling up the country by spreading wealth and creating jobs. At its launch, the previous *** government said the scheme would prioritise areas with slow connections that would otherwise be left behind in commercial broadband companies’ plans and give rural communities access to the fastest internet on the market, helping to grow the economy. Project Gigabit specifically targets places typically regarded as too expensive for commercial providers to reach in their build and which would otherwise be left with poor digital infrastructure. It was designed from the outset to help meet the growing demand for reliable connectivity, stimulating local rural economies and reducing regional disparities by enabling remote working and attracting new businesses. One of the first acts by the new Labour administration that was elected in July 2024 was to reconfirm the original objectives to build a broadband infrastructure that would see 85% of the *** have gigabit-capable connectivity by the end of 2025 and full nationwide coverage by 2030. A month later, the *** government announced that it was investing up to £800m to modernise broadband infrastructure in rural areas of England, Scotland and Wales and hit the Project Gigabit targets. Explaining why it was ramping up the broadband access scheme, the *** government said hundreds of thousands of rural homes and businesses were still struggling to fulfil basic online tasks due to outdated infrastructure, making it necessary to obtain major internet speed upgrades and narrow the existing digital divide. Part of the move saw Openreach engaged to deliver access to gigabit-capable broadband to 290,000 homes and businesses across the nation. Rural *** communities now able to access ultra-fast broadband speeds, include: Lacock and Broad Hinton in Wiltshire, Dane End in Hertfordshire, Castle Caereinion and Llanwrin in Powys, and Meeth in Devon. Other regions that Openreach is working to upgrade broadband infrastructure under Project Gigabit include Lancashire, North Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire, West and Mid Surrey, Staffordshire, West Berkshire, Hertfordshire, and Worcestershire, as well as parts of Devon, Somerset, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Wales, Essex, and North-East England. The upgrade plan is expected to drive productivity gains, support more than 620,000 people back into the workforce, and enable more than one million to work from home, contributing an additional £19bn annually. Openreach noted that research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) shows that full-fibre broadband could deliver a £66bn boost to the *** economy by 2029. Commenting on the news, Openreach deputy CEO Katie Milligan said: “Bringing full fibre broadband to the ***’s most remote and rural homes is a monumental achievement. These communities have faced connectivity challenges for far too long, but our partnership with Project Gigabit is changing that. “We want to make sure that every corner of the *** has access to the fastest and most reliable broadband technology, so this is just the beginning. We’re continuing to innovate and push the boundaries of what’s possible as we want no community to be left behind.” *** telecoms minister Chris Bryant added: “Poor connectivity has kept rural communities back for too long, but through Project Gigabit we’re removing barriers to opportunity and bringing fast, reliable broadband to homes and businesses that need it most.” In terms of its commercial full-fibre build out, Openreach added that it was currently reaching more than 70,000 new premises every week and that, “under the right investment conditions”, it was on track to build to 25 million homes and businesses by the end of 2026 and could reach as many as 30 million by the end of 2030. Source link #Openreach #connects #customers #Project #Gigabit #partnership Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

2025 Lexus LBX Morizo RR review 2025 Lexus LBX Morizo RR review Nothing says collector’s item like a limited-run Lexus performance model boasting cracking driving dynamics and a unique nameplate. Source link #Lexus #LBX #Morizo #review Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

WWE 2K25’s first DLC pack New Wave is out today, adding four new wrestlers with an unknown celebrity to come WWE 2K25’s first DLC pack New Wave is out today, adding four new wrestlers with an unknown celebrity to come The first of five DLC packs for WWE 2K25 is available today. The New Wave Pack contains four playable superstars, all of whom joined the WWE roster in recent history. The pack includes Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin of the tag team Motor City Machine Guns, as well as NXT stars Stephanie Vaquer and Guilia. It also includes MyFaction cards for each of the new wrestlers, as well as 40 new moves and taunts to use in the game’s creation suites. 2K says the New Wave Pack will also include a “special celebrity guest character”, who’s set to be revealed via “an exciting announcement from WWE” in the coming weeks. As well as the New Wave Pack, 2K says the second chapter of The Island mode will also be “arriving soon”, and will feature 11 new quests, 44 new matches, new unlockable content (including Xavier Woods’ video game alter ego Zero and Paul Bearer’s ghost) and new branded gear. The New Wave Pack is the first of five packs previously confirmed for WWE 2K25. The second will be the Dunk & Destruction Pack, releasing next month, which will include Abyss, the Great Khali and three NBA basketball stars. This will then be followed by the Fearless Pack in July, which includes New Jack, Jordynne Grace, Penta, Bull Nakano and another celebrity guest still to be officially announced. Then comes the Attitude Era Superstars Pack in September, which includes D’Lo Brown, Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, Victoria and Mark Henry. Finally, the Saturday Night’s Main Event Pack will be released in November, adding Jesse Ventura, Mr Wonderful, Tito Santana, the Junk Yard Dog and Sid Justice to the game. VGC’s WWE 2K25 review calls it “another solid grapple ’em up”, criticising its new mode The Island but otherwise praising the game’s depth and detail. “With a string of improvements across all its existing modes, WWE 2K25 outdoes its predecessor in pretty much every way,” we wrote. “The weak link is the new Island mode with its cynical pay-to-win mechanics, but throw a Cena taunt in its face and pretend it doesn’t exist and you’ll find more than enough elsewhere in the game to keep you entertained for months.” Source link #WWE #2K25s #DLC #pack #Wave #today #adding #wrestlers #unknown #celebrity Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

New Uber features include a way for riders to avoid surge pricing New Uber features include a way for riders to avoid surge pricing Travelers walk past a sign pointing toward the Uber ride-share vehicle pickup area at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Feb. 8, 2023. Mario Tama | Getty Images Uber is giving commuters new ways to travel and cut costs on frequent rides. The ride-hailing company on Wednesday announced a route share feature on its platform, prepaid ride passes and special deals week for UberOne members at its annual Go-Get showcase. Uber’s new features come as the company accelerates its leadership position in the ridesharing market and seeks to offer more affordable alternatives for users. It also follows last week’s first-quarter earnings as Uber swung to a profit but fell short of revenue estimates. “The goal for us as we build our products is to put people at the center of everything, and right now for us, it means making things a little easier, a little more predictable, and above all, just a little more — or a lot more — affordable,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the event. Here are some of the big announcements from the annual product event. Route Share Users looking to save money on regular routes and willing to walk a short distance can select a shared ride with up to two other passengers through the new route share feature. The prepopulated routes run every twenty minutes along busy areas between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on weekdays. The initial program is slated to kick off in seven cities, including New York, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago. Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwards Uber said its new route share fares will cost up to 50% less than an UberX option, and that it’s working to partner with employers on qualifying the feature for commuter benefits. Users can book a seat between 7 days and 10 minutes before a pickup departure. Ride Passes Riders on Uber can now pre-purchase two different types of ride passes to hold fares on frequented routes during a one-hour ******* every day. For $2.99 a month, riders can buy a price lock pass that holds a price between two locations for one hour every day. The pass expires after 30 days or savings total $50. The feature gives riders a way to avoid surge pricing. Ride Passes roll out in 10 cities on Wednesday, including Dallas, Orlando and San Francisco, and can be purchased for up to 10 routes a month. Uber will charge users a lower price if the fare is cheaper than the pass at departure time. The company also debuted a pre-paid pass option, allowing users to pay in advance and stock up on regular monthly trips. Uber’s pass option comes in bundles of 5,10,15 and 20-ride increments, with corresponding discounts between 5% and 20%. Both pass options will be available on teen accounts in the fall, Uber said. The route share and ride passes will be available in a new commuter hub feature on the app coming later this year. Shared autonomous rides Uber is also expanding its autonomous vehicle partnership with Volkswagen. The company will start testing shared AV rides later this year and is aiming for a launch in Los Angeles in 2026. Uber rolled out autonomous rides in Austin, Texas, in March through its agreement with Alphabet-owned Waymo and is preparing for an Atlanta launch this summer. The company announced the partnership in May 2023. Autonomous Waymo rides are also currently offered through the Uber app in Phoenix, but the company doesn’t directly manage that fleet. Khosrowshahi called AVs “the single greatest opportunity ahead for Uber” during the company’s earnings call last week and said the Austin debut “exceeded” expectations. The company previously had an AV unit that it sold in 2020 as it faced high costs and a series of safety challenges, including a fatal accident. Along with Volkswagen and Waymo, Uber has joined forces with Avride, May Mobility, and self-driving trucking company Aurora for autonomous ride-sharing and freight services in the U.S. The company has partnerships with WeRide, Pony.AI and Momenta internationally. Uber One Member Days Uber is taking a page out of Amazon’s book by offering its own variation of the e-commerce giant’s beloved Prime Day, with special offers between May 16 and 23 for UberOne members. Some of those deals include 50% off shared rides and 20% off Uber ******. The platform is also adding a new benefit of 10% back in Uber credits for users that use Uber Rent or book Lime rides. UberEats partnership with OpenTable UberEats also announced a partnership with OneTable to allow users to book reservations and rides. The new feature, powered by OneTable, launches in six countries including the U.S. and Australia. Through the partnership, users can book restaurant reservations and get a discount on rides. OneTable members will also be able to transfer points to Uber and UberEats. The company is also offering OneTable VIPs a six-month free trial of Uber One. Source link #Uber #features #include #riders #avoid #surge #pricing Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

United passengers endured a double diversion and a 28-hour journey over the Pacific United passengers endured a double diversion and a 28-hour journey over the Pacific United Airlines Flight 870 took 28 hours to reach San Francisco. After leaving Sydney, it diverted to Samoa, then stopped again in Hawaii. Airlines sometimes choose to stop again after a diversion, as it may be easier to find replacement staff. United Airlines passengers spent 28 hours traveling across the Pacific Ocean as their flight made two unscheduled landings. Flight 870, from Sydney to San Francisco, typically takes around 13 hours. The Boeing 777 departed Australia on Sunday at around 11:30 a.m. local time, an hour later than scheduled, according to data from Flightradar24. If passengers were irritated by the delayed takeoff, they had a lot more awaiting them. Four-and-a-half hours into the journey, the plane turned southeast toward the Pacific island nation of Samoa, per Flightradar24. It landed in the capital, Apia, two hours later. An airline spokesperson told *** the flight “diverted to Apia to address a potential medical concern with a customer.” The plane spent more than three hours on the ground in Samoa before taking off again, but it only traveled as far as Hawaii. The six-hour flight to Honolulu also saw passengers cross the International Date Line. So when it landed in the state capital around 7:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, this was technically earlier than when the passengers left Australia. However, they then had to wait another seven hours before they could depart again for the final leg of their journey to San Francisco. Flight 870 ultimately concluded there at around 10:30 p.m. PT, some 15 hours later than expected. The United spokesperson said the flight “made an additional stop in Honolulu to swap crew members.” It looks like this was because the emergency meant the crew would have exceeded their maximum working hours. As the carrier doesn’t typically fly to Samoa, it wouldn’t have been able to find a new flight crew there without disrupting other journeys. By contrast, United serves several cities from Honolulu. This tactic for minimising disruption is not uncommon. Last month, a British Airways flight from the Bahamas to London also made two stops after a medical emergency. It first diverted to Canada’s remote Gander International Airport, before stopping again in Iceland. British Airways arranged for the second stop because it was easier to send a replacement crew there than to Canada. Read the original article on Business Insider Source link #United #passengers #endured #double #diversion #28hour #journey #Pacific Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Dow Jones Today: Stocks Inch Higher as Market Aims To Extend Rally; AMD Jumps on Share Buyback Plan, Nvidia Rises Again – Investopedia Dow Jones Today: Stocks Inch Higher as Market Aims To Extend Rally; AMD Jumps on Share Buyback Plan, Nvidia Rises Again – Investopedia Dow Jones Today: Stocks Inch Higher as Market Aims To Extend Rally; AMD Jumps on Share Buyback Plan, Nvidia Rises Again InvestopediaStocks Market News Today: Dow, S&P 500 Open Higher — Live Updates WSJUS Stocks Creep Higher as Global Trade Optimism Buoys Big Tech Bloomberg.comStock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures muted after S&P 500 recovers all 2025 losses Yahoo FinanceStocks open higher after S&P 500 wipes out 2025 losses; investors await Fed speakers MarketWatch Source link #Dow #Jones #Today #Stocks #Inch #Higher #Market #Aims #Extend #Rally #AMD #Jumps #Share #Buyback #Plan #Nvidia #Rises #Investopedia Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content]

Those Clair Obscur Plushies Are Fake, Dev Looking Into Making Official Ones Those Clair Obscur Plushies Are Fake, Dev Looking Into Making Official Ones Sorry, Expeditioners, but any Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 plushies you may have noticed online are unofficial knock-offs. Developer Sandfall Interactive took to the game’s Bluesky account to share the unfortunate news that these third-party websites are selling unofficial plushies of fan-favorite traveling companion, Esquie. Even worse, many have been created using AI-generated artwork. You need a javascript enabled browser to watch videos. Size:640 × 360480 × 270 Want us to remember this setting for all your devices? Sign up or Sign in now! Please use a html5 video capable browser to watch videos. This video has an invalid file format. Sorry, but you can’t access this content! Please enter your date of birth to view this video JanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031Year202520242023202220212020201920182017201620152014201320122011201020092008200720062005200420032002200120001999199819971996199519941993199219911990198919881987198619851984198319821981198019791978197719761975197419731972197119701969196819671966196519641963196219611960195919581957195619551954195319521951195019491948194719461945194419431942194119401939193819371936193519341933193219311930192919281927192619251924192319221921192019191918191719161915191419131912191119101909190819071906190519041903190219011900 By clicking ‘enter’, you agree to GameSpot’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy enter Now Playing: Becoming A Parry Master In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 In 13 Minutes “We’ve noticed a number of suspicious websites popping up, claiming to sell Esquie plushies,” the post begins. “Any third-party websites selling Esquie plushies are NOT officially licensed. Many of them are using AI-generated artwork to advertise, and we strongly recommend against purchasing from these sources.” However, don’t let the bad news get you down too much, as the thread continued with the reveal that the team is looking into making our dreams come true with licensed plushies. “We are looking into making official Esquie plushies, and we want to bring them to you as soon as we can,” a follow-up reply states. “In the meantime, please be patient — and don’t get scammed!” Though the team didn’t elaborate on timing for any potential plushies, it’s great to see Sandfall Interactive working on continuing to bring fans what they want. Tomorrow comes! Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has earned widespread acclaim from critics and players alike, with sales topping 2 million just 12 days after release. Even its sweeping classical soundtrack is topping charts. In our review, we called the game “a moving tale, complemented by engaging combat that blends aspects of traditional JRPGs with reactive, parry-heavy action.” Source link #Clair #Obscur #Plushies #Fake #Dev #Making #Official Pelican News View the full article at [Hidden Content] For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]