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It's time to log off for the week because Sony has referenced Bloodborne in a new trailer celebrating PlayStation's 30th year anniversary. The trailer—a typically grandiose Sony affair—references many other PlayStation games too, ranging from first-party stuff like The Last of Us and God of War, through to third-party games like Batman and Resident Evil. Each featured game is accompanied by text encapsulating one of its themes: Metal Gear Solid 3 is "about honor", for example, and The Last of Us is "about love". God of War is "about family", while Spider-Man is "about sacrifice". And so what: it's just a trailer celebrating a platform's 30th anniversary, and won't be very interesting to anyone except people who love PlayStation and advertising. But then Sony lobs a bomb, bringing the trailer to a close with footage of Bloodborne and the text "it's about persistence"... It probably goes without saying, but just in case: Bloodborne is arguably From Software's most beloved RPG and it's been stuck on the PS4 since 2015. It hasn't received any meaningful updates for either the PS4 Pro or PS5, meaning its distracting performance issues endure. Fans have evolved from wanting a simple title update unlocking the game's frame rate (just like Dark Souls 3 had) to wanting a full-blown remake. That's not to mention the game's no-show on PC, which would make a lot of business sense for Sony, who owns the IP. Whether you love Bloodborne or not, you can probably understand why people get so angry when, for example, a reissue for Horizon Zero Dawn is announced, while Bloodborne languishes. So an acknowledgement of Bloodborne's existence by Sony is a big deal among Bloodborne devotees, especially when the concept of "persistence" is invoked. Sure, the game itself may require "persistence", but Bloodborne's fanbase has been nothing but persistent in its quest to get Sony to either fix or reissue the game. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Your Email Address Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. That's not all: Bloodborne—yes, the 2015 PS4 game—will undergo maintenance on December 3, temporarily bringing it offline. December 3 is also the exact date of the PlayStation's release 30 years ago. As someone in this reddit thread rightfully points out, "this happens at around the same time every damn year". But that's not much fun, is it? The trailer is probably better proof that something is afoot, but I'm sceptical. I have to be; I need to keep myself safe. But it's hard not to take these two not-very-promising hints to mean something could happen. Whether that means a PC release, or just a PS5 polish-up, I'm not sure, but lacking the former, at least Bloodborne emulation is making leaps and bounds at the moment. TOPICS Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day. . Link : Be safe out there: long-suffering Bloodborne fans are in hysterics over a new PlayStation ad | PC Gamer

Link : The Unseen Economics Lesson Within the Beauty of Montecito, CA | RealClearMarkets Last week, and while walking toward the Pavilions grocery store at the Montecito Country Mart, I passed by Clic. Its website describes it as “a globally acclaimed home décor and lifestyle brand.” Its signage lists shops in prominent locales including St. Barth, Marin, and East Hampton. It doesn’t insult Clic one iota to point out that the business serves the very well-to-do. Which is the point of this opinion piece. Though globally acclaimed, no one would expect Clic to eventually have the reach or sales volume of retailers like Best Buy, Target and Walmart. How could it? Though thankfully growing all the time, the rich are very few in number, which explains where Clic locates its shops. It has to be where the money is simply because the wares on its shelves are out of reach for the vast majority of us. Once again, what’s been written so far doesn’t insult Clic, nor does it insult rich people. In truth, it’s meant to open people’s eyes to how the rich become rich, so that the rich will properly be revered. Clic indirectly explains why. While Montecito (and other places like it) is full of shops meant to meet and lead the needs of the very few, the very few who patronize Montecito’s shops have the means to patronize them precisely because they’ve met, led, or are meeting and leading the needs of the many. Which is not nothing. More realistically, it’s something to be thrilled about. It’s a reminder that readers should open the Forbes 400 with excitement, and that they should flip through the pages in celebratory fashion as they see why wealth inequality continues to grow. The rising inequality is a sign of progress. As the gap in rich versus poor wealth increases, the lifestyle gap between rich and poor is rapidly shrinking. Inequality is a byword for the democratization of former luxuries, and that’s a beautiful thing. What’s beautiful exists as a further reminder that as opposed to the rich getting that way by exploiting the common man, the much happier and much more accurate truth is they get that way by expertly serving the common man. Better yet, the greater the wealth the greater the number served. Which is no insight. Consider Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. He was born in 1984. Imagine if he’d been born in 1884. If so, it’s no reach to say that someone possessing his immense talents would have been rich and successful, but it’s similarly no reach to speculate that Zuckerberg’s wealth would have been a tiny fraction of his present net worth. While enterprising ways translate in all manner of business environments, the world wasn’t nearly as connected 140 years ago. And it wasn’t nearly as connected in 1904, which was 100 years before Zuckerberg started Facebook. Where does this lead? The easy, and hopeful answer is ever greater wealth inequality. The latter will be a consequence of technological advances that bring the world even closer together, and in doing so make it possible for the very few to become even richer by virtue of reaching ever more people with their brilliance. If and when, watch the Clics of the world serving the relatively few multiply as happy evidence of an explosion of goods, services and brands that prospered by virtue of serving everyone. Which is just a comment that Montecito’s beauty should be measured in ways well beyond what’s visual to the naked eye. John Tamny is editor of RealClearMarkets, President of the Parkview Institute, a senior fellow at the Market Institute, and a senior economic adviser to Applied Finance Advisors (www.appliedfinance.com). His latest book, released on April 16, 2024 and co-authored with Jack Ryan, is Bringing Adam Smith Into the American Home: A Case Against Homeownership.

Link : BARCS takes in 100 animals in 48 hours (msn.com) More than 100 animals were brought into the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter in the last 48 hours, according to the shelter. "That's both dogs and cats, mainly dogs," said assistant director of communications for BARCS, Noelle Patterson. "About half of them came in through Baltimore City Animal Control, and the other half was split between owner surrenders and stray pets coming in." Patterson said this is rare for this time of year, especially considering the cases varied. "It wasn't like a hoarding case or a large number of animals from a single residence," Patterson said. With temperatures dropping, BARCS reminded people you must have a space for animals to get away from the cold, along with food and water, if they're kept outside. BARCS is waiving all adoption fees for animals, which created a line at their counter Wednesday night. "To know that I'm helping out, it really makes a big difference," said Kira Abraham, who is adopting a cat. "Obviously, you can get an animal from anywhere, but to know that I'm making a difference and also helping other animals in the process is really great." "We've been over capacity again and again. Unfortunately, this whole year, we've seen an increase in intakes across the board, especially for dogs," Patterson said. "We feel like a broken record -- we're telling our community again and again that we're out of space. (On Tuesday), we ended the day at negative-12 dog kennels." A number of people came out Wednesday night to adopt dogs and cats, but BARCS said they still need more people adopting and fostering. "(We're an) open-emission shelter, we never turn away an animal in need, and we have a contract with Baltimore City Animal Control, so we have to take in every animal that comes in, and sometimes they're held for a hearing, sometimes they're held for stray hold," Patterson said. "We have to hold them for at least 72 hours if they come in as a stray, and so when we're out of space, we're out of space, but we have to keep bringing animals in, which means that euthanasia is always a possibility, and we never want to see that happen. But it is the possibility, and it is important that our community knows that." Patterson said BARCS encourages people to temporarily house stray animals if they find one and are able to. "They can come to us, we can scan them for a microchip, we can also get them updated in (the system), and we can give them supplies that they would need," Patterson said. "But if people can keep stray pets in their homes and try to locate the owner from there, that owner is most likely in the area where they found that pet, so they're more likely to be reunited, and it also frees up space here."

As Morgan Rogers was completing the final bits of paperwork to sign for Aston Villa, he walked across the gymnasium at Bodymoor Heath. The facility at the training ground is newly refurbished and spacious. The room lends itself, in particular, for small-sided games of basketball to break out, with hoops attached to the walls. Rogers noticed Villa staff playing. Basketball and key figures from Villa’s recent history are interconnected. Co-owner Wes Edens has a controlling stake in the Milwaukee Bucks franchise in the NBA and Damian Vidagany, director of football operations and Unai Emery’s key ally, played semi-pro basketball for over a decade. In November 2023, Vidagany, Emery and Monchi, president of football operations, flew to meet Edens and watched a Bucks game court-side. The basketball hoops inside Bodymoor Heath are there due to po[CENSORED]r interest as much as anything. “Football and basketball are different because in the NBA, they were playing on the Friday and then on the Saturday,” said Emery a week later. “But they are similar in how you can manage your players.” Modern-day coaches sometimes lean into other sports when learning about methodology and what similarities can be distinguished. Basketball is a highly transitional sport, its attraction based on quick scoring and fast attacks, going from one end and then the other. Making fewer passes means the defensive team is invariably less organised and leaves more gaps to exploit. Transitions only last a matter of seconds but in that window comes opportunity. Last season, Villa were among the best sides at that in Europe. Emery built a team that baited opponents into pressing before ripping through the space left and boasted multiple final-third dribblers, all with ability to bypass pressure and carry the ball at length. Villa blended control with a knowing of when to attack spaces quickly, in turn manufacturing their own transitions when opponents were disorganised, akin to basketball. This season has been different. A consequence of Villa becoming a European contender has meant opposing sides have set out to nullify their best strengths. A winless run of eight games carried defensive issues which had been a long-running theme but, more concerningly in comparison to last season, a lack of inspiration going forward. Emery insisted the “small details” were letting Villa down, in and out of possession. It was perhaps why Emery did not see much of Rogers’ exquisite finish for Villa’s first goal in the much needed 3-1 win over Brentford. During the build-up, he turned his back away from play and nodded after Boubacar Kamara (44) escaped pressure and played forward, generating the type of transition that was customary at their best. Kamara’s pass set off Rogers (27) with vast space to drive into. He combined with Ollie Watkins (11), who simultaneously made his trademark run inside the left channel and Rogers applied a finish that matched the quality of the move. Kamara and Youri Tielemans served as Villa’s thermostat, knowing when to cool down play by taking additional touches and when to entice opponents into pressing and playing forward quickly. In a thirteen-minute window, Villa scored three times and finally held the same purpose in their play as last season. “We knew they were good at that (transitions),” said Brentford head coach Thomas Frank following his side’s 3-1 loss. “We definitely didn’t handle it well enough and that’s something I need to look into. There are some tactical bits I’m not satisfied with, like Villa having so many opportunities running forward. I can’t say why it was, just that we didn’t handle that well enough.” Watkins was fouled inside the box after Leon Bailey’s long ball over the top, another occasion when a Villa player successfully recognised when to retain possession and when to hurt the spaces behind Brentford’s backline. Watkins scored from the spot and Matty Cash snuck in at the far post six minutes later. It was not until Brentford scored against the run of play in the second half in which Villa’s scar tissue re-emerged, with players’ decision-making suddenly shaky. Yet nothing should detract from the promising signs in Villa’s attacking work. Even after Brentford’s goal, they created chances regularly, passing forward decisively when Brentford, in search of another goal, pushed players further upfield and left more space on transition. Brentford have traditionally been a hard style match-up for Villa. They thrive on turnovers, counter-pressing and making matches like a ping-pong game. In the same fixture last season, Brentford scored three goals in nine minutes to hold Villa to a draw.Knowing when to indulge Brentford in those games was Villa’s biggest challenge. With that, it required a deep know-how and understanding of when to go up and down the gears, explaining why Emery’s starting lineup consisted of a spine that held Emiliano Martinez, Tyrone Mings, Kamara, John McGinn and Watkins — five of his most experienced players — together. They were letting us have transitions and to create chances,” said Emery. “They were playing man to man in the high press and we were breaking it, trying to connect with players forward. We wanted to exploit the space in behind. Sometimes we struggled in our buildup, but we needed to adapt and to keep calm when they were pressing well.” Emery was pleased Brentford gave Villa a basketball-style game at certain stages, allowing his players to shake from their stasis. Carving open low blocks, as Emery says, remains “the next step” for Villa, but this victory provides a reminder that they can still be excellent when attacking quickly. (Top photo: Watkins hugs Rogers after the stunning opening goal. David Rogers/Getty Images) Link : Aston Villa and the basketball style that could shake them from their stasis - The Athletic (nytimes.com)

Wrinkles? Hair loss? Not on your wedding day! Check out these pre-wedding skincare, hair care, beauty and other grooming secrets that every groom should know. Read the full story here Balenciaga's Fall 2025 collection introduces The Zero, a bizarre slip-on shoe made of EVA foam that leaves your foot exposed and feels like you are barefoot. Read the full story here The blood test, called cell-free DNA sequencing, can pick up DNA fragments shed by cancer cells. Read the full story here Ananya Panday shared pictures of herself dressed in a red backless ensemble. The star embraced the colour of this festive season with her sizzling look. Read the full story here From starting early to eating clean and getting healthy sleep, here are a few tips that can give radiant glow to winter brides. Read the full story here Preity Zinta inspired her fans by sharing a video of her doing Hot Pilates. She performed a lunges variation on the Reformer. Check out the clip. Read the full story here Get stylish men’s essentials on sale at Myntra EORS Sale 2024. Save big on clothes, fashion accessories, and footwear to give your wardrobe a glamorous touch. Read the full story here Priyanka Chopra was spotted in New York City recently. She chose a cosy chic ensemble for the night out. Find out the price of her OOTD. Read the full story here Sara and Arjun are having the time of their lives in Dubai. Here’s what the siblings are up to… Read the full story here Sobhita Dhulipala wore a gold Kanjeevaram saree for her wedding. Several Bollywood brides, including Aishwarya Rai and Deepika Padukone, chose sarees Link : Lifestyle News Live Today December 5, 2024: Glow-up from hairline to jawline: Pre-wedding cosmetic treatments for the groom-to-be (msn.com)

Two children were in “extremely critical condition” Wednesday after being shot at a tiny religious K-8 school in Northern California and the gunman died at the scene, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot, police said. The gunman may have targeted the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists in Palermo because of its religious affiliation, but isn't believed to have had a prior connection to the victims or the school, Butte County Sheriff Kory L. Honea said. He didn’t explain further. “Whether or not this is a hate crime or whether or not it’s part of some sort of larger scheme at this point I don’t have enough information to provide an answer to that,” he said. The wounded children, boys ages 5 and 6, are kindergarteners at the school and are being treated at a trauma center in the Sacramento area, officials said. “I am thankful that they’re still alive, but they’ve got a long road ahead of them," Honea said. The shooting occurred shortly after 1 p.m. at the private Christian school with fewer than three dozen students in Palermo, which has about 5,500 people and is about 65 miles (104 kilometers) north of Sacramento. It was the the latest among dozens of school shootings across the U.S. in recent years, including especially deadly ones in Newtown, Connecticut, Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas. The shootings have set off fervent debates about gun control and frayed the nerves of parents whose children are growing up accustomed to doing active shooter drills in their classrooms. But school shootings have done little to move the needle on national gun laws. Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues. Honea said the gunman was dropped off by an Uber driver who is being interviewed by detectives. He said the shooter was in a meeting with an administrator about enrolling a child at the school, which he described as “cordial.” But it seems that was his first visit to the school and he had no prior connection to the victims. Shortly after that, shots rang out, Honea said. The gunman's body was found near the slide and other playground equipment on the grounds of the school, which abuts ranchland where cattle graze. A handgun was found nearby, Honea said. Honea said they were trying to contact the shooter’s family before releasing his name. Laurie Trujillo, a spokesperson for the Northern California Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, said in a statement that they were “deeply saddened by the events that occurred today at our Feather River school.” She added that they are grateful to the sheriff’s office for acting quickly to protect the students. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is a Christian denomination in which members consider the Bible their only creed and believe that the second coming of Christ is near. The Feather River School has been open since 1965, according to its website. After the shooting, authorities rushed students initially to a gymnasium where they stayed until a bus arrived to take them off the grounds and to the Oroville Church of the Nazarene to be reunited with their families, Honea said. Travis Marshall, the senior pastor for the Oroville Church of the Nazarene, called the reunification between parents and their children “very moving.” “Some of the children were incredibly emotional,” he said. “One woman was raising her hands up, praising the Lord” when she found her child. Sixth grader Jocelyn Orlando described what happened to CBS News Sacramento. “We were going in for lunch recess and basically everybody in my classroom heard shooting and most people were screaming,” she said. “We all went into the office, we closed the curtains, locked the doors, basically did what we would do in a school shooting, and then one of the teachers came and we all ran into the gym.” Assemblyman James Gallagher, whose area includes Palermo, said his “heart is breaking for everyone impacted by this tragedy.” “As a community, we’ll all be hugging our loved ones closer today as we pray for the victims and try to make sense of something so senseless," he said in a statement. Link : 2 kindergarteners wounded and gunman dead after shooting at California religious school | The Independent

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