BirSaNN

• Name: @BirSaNN • Time & Date: 12:24 / 12/04/2022 • Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/syWImI1

iQoo 11 5G's launch event will officially commence on December 8 at 2:30PM IST. iQoo 11 5G's launch event has been rescheduled for December 8 after the Chinese smartphone manufacturer postponed its initial plans to introduce the handset on December 2. iQoo Indonesia confirmed the development on the Instagram handle. Some of the key specifications of the latest iQoo flagship smartphone have already been hinted, as spotted on various listings. The launch event which is also rumoured to feature the iQoo Neo 7 SE smartphone, will commence at 4PM local time (2:30PM IST). However, iQoo has not confirmed the launch event to feature the iQoo 7 SE alongside the iQoo 11 5Gsmartphone. According to the Instagram post shared on iQoo Indonesia's Instagram handle, the iQoo 11 5G will be unveiled at the company's launch event on December 8, scheduled to start at 2:30PM IST. Another post from the company on Instagram has also confirmed that the iQoo 11 5G smartphone will arrive in a BMW Motorsport-themed edition. iQoo had confirmed that the iQoo 11 5G smartphone will arrive with Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC paired with LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. Meanwhile, the smartphone will be reportedly launched with 8GB and 12GB RAM variants, along with 256GB and 512GB of onboard storage options. iQoo 11 Pro Confirmed to Feature 200W Charging Support Ahead of Launch According to rumours, the iQoo 11 5G may also sport an E6 AMOLED display that offers up to 2K resolution, and a 144Hz refresh rate. Rumours around the camera on the iQoo 11 5G had suggested that the smartphone will feature a triple rear camera setup comprising of a 50-megapixel primary camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide lens, and a 12-megapixel telephoto unit. The handset could also feature a 16-megapixel selfie camera in the front. Other expected specification of the upcoming iQoo 11 5G suggest that the smartphone could be powered by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 120W of fast charging. iQoo Neo 7 SE Leaked Renders Tip Colourways, Triple Rear Cameras iQoo Neo 7 SE to Come With 5,000mAh Battery, 120W Charging Support Meanwhile, the iQoo Neo 7 SE has been rumoured to be driven by a MediaTek Dimensity 8200 SoC. The rumour arising from a leaked live image of the iQoo Neo 7 SE also tips the smartphone to feature an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, and up to 12GB RAM. The iQoo Neo 7 SE has been confirmed to feature a 5,000mAh battery with support for 120W fast charging. Are the gaming-centric Asus ROG Phone 6 and 6 Pro worth the price jump? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts. link: https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/news/iqoo-11-launch-with-snapdragon-8-gen-2-soc-rescheduled-to-december-8-3574653

Apple's latest iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models feature various improvements over their predecessors. One of the major additions that Apple announced on stage is Emergency SOS via Satellite which allows users to contact emergency services through satellite connectivity where cellular or WiFi connections are not available. Today, we are reporting the first case where the iPhone 14's Emergency SOS feature saved the life of a stranded man in Alaska. Scroll down to read more details on the matter. A Stranded Man in Alaska Sent an Emergency SOS via Satellite Using His iPhone 14 That Saved His Life On the morning of December 1, Alaska State Troopers received an alert stating that a man has been stranded who was traveling by snow machine from Noorvik to Kotzebue. The man was in a cold, remote location with no cellular connectivity when he activated the Emergency SOS via satellite feature on his iPhone 14. The alert was sent to the authorities and he received the required assistance just in time. RELATED STORY Omar Sohail Engineer Removes ‘Chin’ Bezel From M1 iMac, Giving It a Uniform Design Like Apple’s Standalone Monitors The rescue team found the man in a remote location where satellite connectivity was available but limited. According to Apple, satellite connectivity might not be available in areas that are above 62° latitude. In contrast, Noorvik and Kotzebue are close to 69° latitude. The rescue team reached the location with impressive accuracy and "completeness of information included in the initial alert." iPhone 14's Emergency SOS feature worked with the local search authorities along with the Northwest Arctic Borough Search and Rescue Coordinator to send searchers to the GPS coordinates. If you are unfamiliar, the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature is available on all iPhone 14 models. It can be activated at times of need when no network solutions such as WiFi or cellular are available. At this point, the feature is free to use for two years but the company will add a plan when it sees fit. Satellite connectivity is currently available in North America and the company will expand it to other regions in the near future. link: https://wccftech.com/iphone-14s-emergency-sos-via-satellite-feature-saves-life-of-a-stranded-man-in-alaska/

At IEDM, Intel Research has showcased how Moore's Law is Alive & how Chipzilla plans to offer next-gen chips with a Trillion transistors by 2030. Intel Research Fuels Moore’s Law and Paves the Way to a Trillion Transistors by 2030 Press Release: At IEDM 2022, on the 75th anniversary of the transistor, Intel targets new 10x density improvement in packaging technology and uses novel material just 3 atoms thick to advance transistor scaling. What’s New: Today, Intel unveiled research breakthroughs fueling its innovation pipeline for keeping Moore’s Law on track to a trillion transistors on a package in the next decade. At IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) 2022, Intel researchers showcased advancements in 3D packaging technology with a new 10x improvement in density; novel materials for 2D transistor scaling beyond RibbonFET, including super-thin material just 3 atoms thick; new possibilities in energy efficiency and memory for higher-performing computing; and advancements for quantum computing. “Seventy-five years since the invention of the transistor, innovation driving Moore’s Law continues to address the world’s exponentially increasing demand for computing. At IEDM 2022, Intel is showcasing both the forward-thinking and concrete research advancements needed to break through current and future barriers, deliver to this insatiable demand, and keep Moore’s Law alive and well for years to come.” — Gary Patton, Intel vice president, and general manager of Components Research and Design Enablement What’s Happening at IEDM: Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the transistor, Dr. Ann Kelleher, Intel executive vice president and general manager of Technology Development, will lead a plenary session at IEDM. Kelleher will outline the paths forward for continued industry innovation – rallying the ecosystem around a systems-based strategy to address the world’s increasing demand for computing and more effectively innovate to advance at a Moore’s Law pace. The session, “Celebrating 75 Years of the Transistor! A Look at the Evolution of Moore’s Law Innovation," takes place at 9:45 a.m. PST on Monday, Dec. 5. Why It Matters: Moore’s Law is vital to addressing the world’s insatiable computing needs as surging data consumption and the drive toward increased artificial intelligence (AI) brings about the greatest acceleration in demand ever. Continuous innovation is the cornerstone of Moore’s Law. Many of the key innovation milestones for continued power, performance, and cost improvements over the past two decades – including strained silicon, Hi-K metal gate, and FinFET – in personal computers, graphics processors, and data centers started with Intel’s Components Research Group. Further research, including RibbonFET gate-all-around (GAA) transistors, PowerVia back-side power delivery technology, and packaging breakthroughs like EMIB and Foveros Direct, are on the roadmap today. At IEDM 2022, Intel’s Components Research Group showed its commitment to innovating across three key areas to continue Moore’s Law: new 3D hybrid bonding packaging technology to enable seamless integration of chiplets; super-thin, 2D materials to fit more transistors onto a single chip; and new possibilities in energy efficiency and memory for higher-performing computing. link: https://wccftech.com/moores-law-lives-on-intel-paves-way-to-a-trillion-transistors-in-next-gen-chips-by-2030/

Nickname: @BirSaNN Video author: ★WishingTikal★ Name of the game: The Last Airbender Link video: Rate this video 1-10: 10/5

Battlefield 2042 developer to "lean into previous games" to revitalize it Stay classy Battlefield 2042 developer DICE looks to be learning the lesson ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it’ a little late. Having made tons of changes to the series’ formula with last year’s shooter, the team has spent all of this year, not just fixing the game, but now making it more like the old games. “In Battlefield 2042 Season 5 you’re going to see us lean into previous games and how they can show up in the world of 2042,” senior producer Ryan MacArthur said in a roadmap blog post(opens in new tab). Season 4 is set to drop in late December 2022, whilst Season 5 will usher in the new year in early 2023. According to DICE, it shall see “a mix of veteran developers alongside those working on their first game breathing in new life [into Battlefield 2042].” Season's greetings A key part of this is the return of classes, a classic feature of the series that was stripped out with Battlefield 2042 and replaced with specialists: characters with unique abilities that didn’t fit into class roles. With the 3.2 update, DICE is assigning all the current specialists “defined roles with a set of gadgets and equipment that best suit their purpose on the battlefield,” MacArthur writes. There is one more specialist to come with Season 4, and DICE plans to add them to the Recon class. “With the return to classes and our roster of 14 in total, we are happy with the amount of specialists and variety of gameplay that they will allow you to experience. "So our focus will be continuing to listen to your feedback in order to expand the sandbox in other ways by bringing design and balance changes for your class-based combat, along with continuing to expand on skins and cosmetics to give you more ways to stand out on the battlefield.” As well as the final specialist, the next update brings a new map that MacArthur describes as “smaller, shorter, and linear designed for up close and personal, close-quarters combat that Battlefield is famous for.” While MacArthur keeps details of Season 5 slight, he does say that the "new Season 5 map coming will be a forgotten battleground that last saw combat in the Battlefield 4 era. An overgrown area, engulfed with vegetation and by the 2042 war. It will encourage a combination of vehicular and infantry combat meaning teamplay is the key to victory.” We can look forward to that in 2023. Love to run and gun? Check out our picks of the best FPS games ever. Jasmine Gould-Wilson Jasmine is a freelance writer and podcaster based in the UK. Whether it's a Sims 4 lore deep-dive or a guide to securing kills in Dead By Daylight, her work is featured on TheGamer as well as the door of her mother's fridge. When she's not aggressively championing the Oxford comma on Twitter, you can find her scoping out the local music scene or buying gaudy Halloween decorations all year round. With contributions from libk: https://www.techradar.com/news/battlefield-2042-developer-to-lean-into-previous-games-to-revitalize-it

In addition to new catch-up mechanics, future updates will also make changes to set crafting and Helliquary boss raids. Diablo Immortal will introduce changes to make it far easier for players that are falling behind their server's Paragon level to catch up, developer Blizzard has announced. In a Q&A blog post, Blizzard outlined some of the changes players can expect to see in the free-to-play mobile game in the coming weeks and months. Some of those changes will be to help players catch up who may have taken time away from the game and fallen behind. Each Diablo Immortal server has a server Paragon Level that increases over time. Players have their own personal Paragon level as well, and if a player's own Paragon level is below that of the server, they earn increased experience points. However, it sounds like the system isn't currently doing enough to help players get back up to speed, so Blizzard will be increasing the amount of experience earned by players significantly behind their server's Paragon level. Additionally, Blizzard is looking to increase the rate at which those players earn Legendary and Set items, so that those lapsed players can more rapidly increase their Combat Rating and participate in higher-level content. "In Immortal's current form, there's a situation where a player can catch up in experience, but their Combat Rating is still too low to participate in various activities," Blizzard notes. While catch-up system changes aren't coming immediately, some other adjustments are. Players will soon be able to re-customize the facial appearance of their characters and stay grouped together to fight multiple Helliquary raid bosses come Diablo Immortal's next major update, which is slated to arrive December 14. That update will also include improvements to the game's recently implemented Set item crafting system and new story content. Diablo Immortal is co-developed by China's NetEase games, which has long partnered with Blizzard to release various games like World of Warcraft and Overwatch in China. Blizzard recently announced it would be ending its partnership with NetEase next year, which will result in multiple Blizzard games being taken offline in the region. Support for Diablo Immortal in China, however, will continue, as the game is covered under a separate agreement. link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/diablo-immortal-will-receive-new-catch-up-mechanics-to-prevent-players-from-being-left-behind/1100-6509584/

VScript's the name, and potential's the game. For a game that's 15 years old, Team Fortress 2 retains a remarkably vibrant community: it's perpetually among the most-played games on Steam. There are over 97,000 people playing it as I write. This is also a community that, this year, decided enough was enough and began pressuring Valve to pay them some more attention. The developer can be a bit of a black box at times, and its habit of minimal public comment followed by surprise updates can be frustrating for those invested in its games. Roadmaps? Where we're going we don't need roadmaps! And once again Valve has done a Valve. A new update for Team Fortress 2(opens in new tab) adds a feature that is going to be absolutely core to this game's future and functionality but, I'll warn you up front, it doesn't sound very sexy. Team Fortress 2 now has VScript support, a system that is already embedded in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Left 4 Dead 2, and which allows mappers to embed script code into maps. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Home News FPS Team Fortress 2 Team Fortress 2's most important update in years gives its community the keys to the kingdom By Rich Stanton published 1 day ago VScript's the name, and potential's the game. (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab) COMMENTS The Spy from TF2 looks shocked (Image credit: Valve) Audio player loading… For a game that's 15 years old, Team Fortress 2 retains a remarkably vibrant community: it's perpetually among the most-played games on Steam. There are over 97,000 people playing it as I write. This is also a community that, this year, decided enough was enough and began pressuring Valve to pay them some more attention. The developer can be a bit of a black box at times, and its habit of minimal public comment followed by surprise updates can be frustrating for those invested in its games. Roadmaps? Where we're going we don't need roadmaps! And once again Valve has done a Valve. A new update for Team Fortress 2(opens in new tab) adds a feature that is going to be absolutely core to this game's future and functionality but, I'll warn you up front, it doesn't sound very sexy. Team Fortress 2 now has VScript support, a system that is already embedded in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Left 4 Dead 2, and which allows mappers to embed script code into maps. Valve lists some of the major features as follows: Interface with entities and the world like regular Hammer logic Simplify things that were previously incredibly complicated/tedious in Hammer logic Interact with and control bots, bosses, player attributes, entities, and game state closely, allowing for enhanced, modified or entirely custom game modes React to game events and change the outcome of certain things, such as damage calculations This video gives an overview(opens in new tab) of VScript's potential and some of the things people have already been building during its beta period. The upshot is that mapmakers and modders in Team Fortress 2 are now going to have a much easier time making seriously impressive things and getting the elements of TF2 working in ways that couldn't be done before (or if they could, were a total nightmare). One of the earliest examples is making a 3D golf game, while others showcase enormous character models and potential modes. Here for example is Dodgeball, long one of the most po[CENSORED]r TF2 mods, but now in VScript. link" https://www.pcgamer.com/team-fortress-2s-most-important-update-in-years-gives-its-community-the-keys-to-the-kingdom/

Liz Truss took a "Spinal Tap approach" to government, with the volume turned up to 11, her former chief speechwriter has told the BBC. Asa Bennett said Ms Truss demanded "fast action" to put "rocket boosters" on the British economy. It was a "bitter regret" that it "didn't come off like that", he added. Ms Truss's government lasted just seven weeks after its mini-budget spooked financial markets, prompting Tory MPs to revolt and forcing her resignation. Spinal Tap are a spoof heavy metal group created by a team of comedians and musicians, who famously had amplifiers that were "one louder" than 10. Mr Bennett, who had previously worked for Ms Truss when she headed the Department for International and the Foreign Office, was interviewed by the BBC's Nick Robinson for a Radio 4 documentary, Liz Truss's Big Gamble. 'Trusted her instincts' Asked whether she regretted her approach in Downing Street, Mr Bennett said: "I think Liz felt that she's gambled before in her life and then she could gamble again on this. "And yes, the stakes would be high, but the pay-off was worth it in the sense of taking that fast action. I told Truss she was going too fast, says Kwarteng How much market chaos did the mini-budget cause? Truss defends tax-cutting goals in farewell speech The prime minister who resigned after just 45 days "And at the same time Liz was someone who knew what she thought, known it for years, and so finally had the biggest chance yet to make her programme a reality. "Of course, it will be no doubt a bitter regret for us all and her most of all that it didn't come off like that." He said if Ms Truss had been made aware of the risks, she was generally someone who would have trusted her instincts. "And so when she hears these things, she's someone who feels that she can have the courage of her convictions. She's heard all the views. She was at the Treasury [as chief secretary] in the past, and she would be clear in her mind how to do things better." Mr Bennett said the then-prime minister regarded the Treasury's approach to economic policy as "this sort of tired, stale, status quo sort of thinking". "And that is why she felt it really was time to take the hard decisions and root it out by trying to break with the sort of consensus, the cosy consensus that meant that Britain had been flagging along with international competitiveness," he added. 'Take things up a notch' On the decision to sack the Treasury's top civil servant, Sir Tom Scholar, Mr Bennett suggested Ms Truss saw him as a symbol of the "senior Treasury civil servants who have presided in her mind over persistently low growth, chronically and persistently low productivity". The Treasury orthodoxy "was something that just had to change because it was not able to unleash Britain's potential in her view", he said. He said Ms Truss had spent years sitting around the cabinet table and felt she knew what the solutions were to the country's economic problems. "She also knew that this was the moment to put rocket boosters on the economy and get growth going." She was, he said, "someone who would always try and take things up a notch. I think she always liked to be the one that was ready to push the envelope and would only back down if there was good reason". 'Human hand grenade' "I think Liz was someone who would take this sort of Spinal Tap approach, turn it up to 11, and only if necessary, turn it down again," he added. Boris Johnson's former top aide Dominic Cummings dubbed Ms Truss the "human hand grenade". Mr Bennett said Ms Truss came to regard the nickname as "a compliment, not an insult". "She's been dismissed and mocked by people in Westminster and the media over the years... and so she's found then that she could laugh these things off. "She can embrace the jokes, and that's a part of her personality. Then she could see that she was bullet-proof as a result." Six days before Ms Truss announced she would be resigning as prime minister, she sacked her long-time political ally and friend, Kwasi Kwarteng, as chancellor. Mr Bennett said that was very hard for her. "Liz and Kwasi are very, very close friends, longstanding friends. They lived in the same area of London. They'd known each other for a while. "They had written books together. They knew that they both thought the same way about what needed to be done. "And so that's why it was such a hard decision, no doubt, for her to have to decide that he had to go at least to try and save her premiership." Most of the mini-budget's tax-cutting measures were then ditched. In her farewell speech outside No 10, Ms Truss defended her low-tax vision, saying: "We simply can not afford to be a low-growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth." But in an earlier interview, she said she took responsibility for going "too far, too fast" with the tax cuts in the mini-budget. Liz Truss's Big Gamble, the inside story of the UK's shortest-ever premiership, will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 20:00 on 3 December and will be available on BBC Sounds. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63834307

An ancient worm unearthed in China has one of the oldest fossilized brains ever found. The brain's shape could also help solve a centuries-old debate about the evolution of arthropods. A 525 million-year-old fossilized worm unearthed in China has what is likely the oldest example of a brain ever discovered. The surprising shape of the brain offers clues about the evolution of arthropods — a group that includes insects, arachnids and crustaceans — and could help solve a mystery that's been puzzling researchers for more than a century. The ancient critter, known as Cardiodictyon catenulum, was discovered in 1984 along with numerous other fossils, collectively known as Chengjiang fauna, at a site in China's Yunnan province. The worm-like creature belongs to the phylum Lobopodia — a group of extinct, seafloor-dwelling arthropod ancestors with armored shells and stubby legs that were abundant during the Cambrian period (541 million to 485.4 million years ago). In a new study, published Nov. 24 in the journal Arthropod Evolution(opens in new tab), another team of scientists reanalyzed the fossilized specimen and found that it had been hiding an astonishing secret — a preserved nervous system, including a brain. "To our knowledge, this is the oldest fossilized brain we know of, so far," study lead author Nicholas Strausfeld(opens in new tab), a neurobiologist at The University of Arizona in Tucson, said in a statement(opens in new tab). Related: Perfectly preserved 310-million-year-old fossilized brain found It took almost 40 years for scientists to discover C. catenulum's brain because researchers previously believed that any soft tissue in the animal had been lost over time. "Until very recently, the common understanding was [that] brains don't fossilize," study co-author Frank Hirth(opens in new tab), an evolutionary neuroscientist at King's College London in the U.K., said in the statement. Due to the small size and age of the fossil, past researchers "would not even dare to look at it in hopes of finding a brain," he added. But recent investigations of similar fossils dating to around the same time have changed this preconception. To date, primitive fossilized brains have also been found in a 500 million-year-old penis worm relative; an exceptionally well-preserved bug-like critter from around 500 million years ago; a 520 million-year-old "sea monster"; and dozens of three-eyed sea creatures dating to around 506 million years ago. Upending arthropod evolution As surprising as it was to find the ancient brain, the researchers were more taken aback by the shape and structure of the critter's cranium. The head and brain are both non-segmented, meaning that they are not split up into multiple parts. But, the rest of the fossil's body is divided into segments. "This anatomy was completely unexpected," Strausfeld said. For more than a century, researchers thought that the brains and heads of long-extinct arthropods were segmented just like those of modern arthropods; most fossils of other ancient arthropod ancestors also display segmented heads and brains, he added. Related: Ancient armored 'worm' is the Cambrian ancestor to three major animal groups Even more surprising, C. catenulum had small clumps of nerves, known as ganglia, running through its segmented body. As a result of this discovery, the researchers believe that the segmented brains and heads seen in modern arthropods may have evolved separately from the rest of the nervous system, which likely became segmented first. However, the study authors noted that C. catenulum's fossilized brain still shares some key characteristics with modern arthropod brains, which suggests that the "basic brain plan" has not changed too drastically in the last half-a-billion years, Strausfeld said. The researchers next want to compare the fossilized brain with the brains of other animal groups to try and uncover more about how different brains have diversified over time. link: https://www.livescience.com/oldest-fossilized-brain-worm

This Swiss Army truck is an unstoppable force in the off-road world. Now picture it in your driveway. Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer military vehicles are a product of Austria and designed to be able to topple off-road obstacles deep or tall. This 1974 710K uses an 89-hp air-cooled 2.5-liter four-cylinder with a five-speed manual transmission. Locking front and rear differentials and portal axles made the Pinz an incredible tool for armies across the world during and after the Cold War. Currently located in Portland, Oregon, this Pinzie is up for auction on Bring a Trailer until December 8. I've never been good at conflict. Argue with my mother-in-law? No, thank you. Plot a revolution? Ugh, way too much work. No, the closest I came to enacting a new order was getting enough people in our office to agree to a recycling bin for the kitchen. It turns out clicking is an incredible tool for modern democracy, and today's Bring a Trailer pick is, in its own way. No stranger to war, this 1975 Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer 710K has served its time but is currently parked somewhere in Portland, Oregon. After this auction ends, its next deployment could be anywhere. reply all Pinzgauer military utes were built in Austria, named after the region's indigenous Norico-Pinzgauer draft horse and used by armies across the world from the U.K. to Saudi Arabia (following #pinzgauer on Instagram returns an interesting mix of horses, cattle, and mud). Many of the Pinzies for sale today were once enlisted by the Swiss Army. The early editions of this off-road eponym come in two different drivelines. The 710 has four-wheel drive, while the 712 is six-wheel drive. A four-wheel-drive 716 and six-wheel-drive 718 followed in the 1980s. Under the 710K Pinz's center armrest sits an 89-hp air-cooled 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission. The K denotation signifies that it's a hardtop wagon and has a five-passenger capacity. Other versions such as the 712AMB-Y (three-door ambulance) and 712FW (fire truck) have more specific duties. To ride in a Pinzgauer is to experience off-roading without the fear of getting stuck. Its ground clearance is measured in feet. This 710K has a two-speed transfer case, front and rear locking differentials, and portal axles that allow the axles to sit higher than the wheel centers for the sake of ground clearance. The biggest obstacle facing a Pinz is the highway. Due to their extreme levels of capability, the 710 can only reach as much as 68 mph. That's more than the 6x6's 62-mph limit, but these military utility trucks were built to dominate intensive operations, not paved ovals. Its engine and electrical systems were designed to be well protected and waterpoof. They use two oil pumps to prevent starvation because that's just how tilted this mini Unimog can get. With more than 27 inches of fording depth, a river or ditch won't stop a Pinzgauer. They're also capable of out-towing a new Jeep Gladiator, though its ratings change depending on whether you're pulling through mud or on pavement. The current owner has outfitted this 710K with some meaningful updates. The black steel 16-inch wheels are from a Ford Transit, and they're wrapped in BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM3 tires. Rancho shocks and Mastercraft limiting straps have also been installed. To make it more livable, the seller is including heated front seats and a backup rearview-mirror camera. Looking back at previous auctions, the value of these rad little Pinzies spans wider than its front track. A supremely refurbished 1986 718 sold for $100,000 in May 2022. A noticeably cleaner softtop 1974 710 sold for $12,200 in 2018. Bidding for this example is at $700 as of this writing with five days left at auction. As strongly as we wish for world peace, we're hoping this one goes to a good home that will treat it to some mud play. link: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42133883/1975-pinzgauer-710k-is-todays-bring-a-trailer-auction-pick/

It’s 30 years since the first SMS landed. Writers, authors and comedians share the txt msgs that changed their life Emma Sidi, Zoe Williams, Michael Donkor, Tom Lamont, Phil Wang, Tim Dowling, Abigail Radnor, Harriet Gibsone, Zoe Lyons and Coco Khan Sat 3 Dec 2022 11.00 GMT 106 ‘I sent a text to my sisters telling them I was gay. No reply came. Why?’ It was 2007: the nation was saying goodbye to Tony Blair and the tightness of my jeans was outrageous. I was 22, fresh out of university and in a thrilling new relationship with the man who would, 11 years later, become my husband. For ages, I kept this relationship from my family, but towards the end of spring I was done with the indignity of sneaking around. I wanted to be open. I eventually told my fairly traditional Ghanaian mother that I was gay and had a boyfriend who I had been seeing for months. Let’s just say that the conversation involved increasingly heated uses of the word “No”. After that talk, I felt a mixture of vulnerability, numbness, anger. But I still wanted to tell my two older sisters. However, the prospect of another face-to-face confrontation wasn’t exactly appealing. So, a few days after I’d come out to my mother, I checked that I had enough credit on my scratched and scraped pay-as-you-go Nokia 3310 and set about composing a text to my siblings. How do you come out in a text message? Verbosely, that’s how. My writing style, especially when I’m under duress, becomes quite … expansive. So the character count was flouted, sentences stretched on, there was no skimping on emotional detail. This message was, in fact, about eight messages strung together. I pressed send, pushed down the subsequent sicky feeling, hid the phone under my pillow for a bit. I waited. But no reply came. Not within the next hour. Not the next morning, either. Nor the day after that. Were my sisters disgusted? As shocked as Mum had been? Upset that I hadn’t spoken to them directly? Perhaps they didn’t know how to respond? Questions like these hounded me over the next few days – it felt like months – of radio silence, while I photocopied and filed at my entry-level publishing job, working even more distractedly than usual. Something stopped me from texting them again. Some self-protective impulse. Maybe fear? And then, at the end of the week, I was having a tense and tentative dinner with my mum, when my sisters made an unexpected appearance. They bundled in, the epitome of breeziness and chattiness, all hooped earrings and headwraps. They were delighted with the menu: plantains with bean stew. They pulled up seats, talked about how good the meal smelled – they were starving. I couldn’t touch the food on my plate. When Mum got up to dish out their servings, I quietly asked if they had received a text from me. My older sister said: “Oh yeah – I got this bitty message from you, like the beginning but then it cut off halfway through. Like mid-sentence. Why? Was it important?” Michael Donkor ‘It read: Listening to our song. i love you baby xxxxx. I knew it couldn’t be from my wife’ Advertisement I was a latecomer to texting. In those early days bombarding people with words felt a bit impolite, and the messages themselves were an unfortunate combination of informal and permanent, like misspelt tattoos. I didn’t get it. For the better part of a decade, the only person I really texted was my wife, because I felt our relationship was strong enough to accommodate the abrupt shorthand required. I could send her a message that just said “celery”. She could send me ones that said “bins” or “where u”. They looked like exchanges between two people barely on speaking terms. Then one day while I was out I got a text from her that said: “I miss you, dreaming of you wishing you was here. Listening to our song. i love you baby xxxxxxx.” I stared at the message for a long time. I knew it couldn’t actually be from my wife, because we don’t have a song. It was so unlike her that I wondered if it was a signal she was being held hostage, but it wasn’t part of a code we’d prearranged. It turned out my wife was visiting a friend with teenage daughters, and this is what they do if you leave your phone unattended for more than a minute. Over the next few years, I would occasionally get a text from my wife that said something like: “I love u so much I am nothing without you let’s renew our wedding vows.” Although I knew what was going on, they were still nice to get. In the end those messages taught me something important about the potential of texting: you could use it to mess with people’s heads. Tim Dowling ‘It was a gift to be able to screenshot our texts. But with new tools came new punishments …’ Bellamy texted me something annoying. I can’t remember what exactly, but he was showing off about some party he was going to or some famous person he was working with. Nothing terrible, just, you know, a little bit annoying. Like I’m starting to be right now. I screenshotted his annoying text and sent it to my friend Alex, who shares with me an understanding that Bellamy can be a little annoying sometimes. Alex will get a kick out of this, I thought. “Wooop.” The screenshot flew across the skies, into space, down again, and then instantly back on to the screen I was speaking to Bellamy on. Yes – I had sent the screenshot straight back to Bellamy. My heart stopped. I looked at the bar under my message. One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. Dot dot dot … When we were first given the means to screenshot our texts, we thought it was a gift – this quick snap of a conversation to share, proof of someone’s foolishness, their selfishness, their dick. But O Prometheus! With new tools came punishments. The end of privacy, the end of trust and, most cruelly of all, the risk – ever present – of sending a screenshot of a conversation straight back to the person the conversation is with. Personally? I’d rather have the eagle eat my guts. Advertisement Accidentally sneering about Bellamy to Bellamy himself would not have been possible before texts. Before smartphones you were unlikely to have a conversation with Sophie, excuse yourself, walk around in a circle back to Sophie and say to her face: “Oh my God, you won’t believe what Sophie just said.” But the first step of gossip these days is charged with the danger of immediately notifying the soon-to-be-slandered of your betrayal. I now load up the screenshot, and check the name of the person I am sending it to three times. I then hand my phone over to a team of scientists, who prove through a process of reverse-cryptography, metadata analysis and tea leaves, that I am in fact sending the screenshot to the intended recipient. Having them all on retainer is expensive, but you can’t put a price on peace of mind. “Well, maybe you shouldn’t be a gossip, Phil,” you may be thinking. “Maybe the occasional embarrassment is a small price to pay for your disloyalty.” Well, to that I say: “Shut up.” You do it, too. We all do. Now that texting has evolved into WhatsApp, every conversation is split in two – its original encrypted form between the intended parties, and a second screenshotted life, floating in 5G, bouncing between smirking commentators, themselves suffering unknown mockery in screenshots they aren’t aware of. But knowing this doesn’t help. Still my shame lingers. In my quiet, private moments, when I’ve put down my phone, and turned off the lights, when I lie in my bed and try to slip into sleep, the words of Bellamy’s reply form in my mind’s eye. “That was meant for Alex, wasn’t it?” Phil Wang Phil Wang tours his new standup Wang in There, Baby! from 23 March to 18 June 2023. His standup special Philly Philly Wang Wang is streaming on Netflix now. ‘His message was so thrilling that I had to sit down on my bed to take it in’ It was a text about vegetarian sausages. But it was so utterly thrilling and unexpected that I had to sit down on the edge of my bed to take it in. Who knew the sentence “Was it you I was discussing the merits of Linda McCartney sausages with the other night?” could make a heart pound? I was in my late 20s and had spent the best of that decade dating, with very little success. The one who had come close to capturing my heart now lived 5,000 miles away and since then there had been a lot of ghosting, egos, neurosis and an abundance of meh. I felt thoroughly deflated. The last date I had been on prior to this text arriving was with someone my flatmate and I had nicknamed “Disinterested Dave”. I needn’t expand. This fateful message was sent in February 2013 after I had spent the majority of my brother’s 30th birthday party chatting to a seemingly nice guy with a lovely smile. We ended up sharing a taxi home as we both wanted early nights – I had a deadline; he had a football match to play in the morning (apparently). There was to be no funny business for a) he was my brother’s friend and b) I was staying at Mum’s that night – a harrowingly awkward combination. Towards the end of the journey, I decided to straight up ask him out – I was so utterly bored with playing games, plus there was something about that smile. “Would you like to go for a drink sometime?” I asked and then quickly realised how excruciating it would be for him to say no. When it was just the two of us. Trapped in a taxi. So I immediately followed up with a flustered: “You don’t have to say yes just because you are sitting next to me.” He was, understandably, a little taken aback, and, while we did end up swapping numbers, I got out of the taxi feeling mortified and sure I wouldn’t hear from him. Advertisement Then he flashed up on my screen a few days later, with his meat-alternative opener. And with that text he sent what everyone battered by the cruel, thankless world of dating craves – a smidgen of hope. I remember replying something about the far superior Tivall vegetarian sausages, which I am sure was the stuff of poetry. I wish I could find those texts. It would be nice to show our kids one day. Abigail Radnor ‘I dashed off a quick question to my prospective mother-in-law: MARRY DAUGHTER ANSWER ASAP?’ Apparently, about 70% of marriage proposers do it the old-fashioned way, seeking the permission of a future parent-in-law before getting down on one knee. I wonder what percentage have asked for that permission via text message. In 2011, I decided to propose to my then girlfriend while we were on holiday in Cornwall. We were staying in a run-down cottage full of dead flies and smelling of old curtains and medicine. I bought tea lights, laying them out in what I trusted were mesmerising and sexy patterns on the patio. These candles, repeatedly extinguished by the breeze, required constant maintenance. Steaks were cooking. Distracted, it occurred to me very late in the process to ask permission. I dashed off a quick message to my prospective mother-in-law, and, although the exact wording has been lost to our family history, I know it was written at speed and in not a lot more detail than: “MARRY DAUGHTER ANSWER ASAP?” I ran about relighting candles. I finished preparing the steaks. Time was up and I popped the question. Later, I found a reply from my mother-in-law, who had given us her blessing, also forgiving me for a method of request that now makes me squirm. Had an emoji been available to me then I would have sent her an embarrassed face. I might send her one now. Tom Lamont ‘I woke up covered in my own vomit and sent a text blaming a random. Had I got away with it?’ Advertisement Damn those 90s brainiacs who invented the text! Did they not consider for a second adding an “un-send” feature? Did they not factor in the social hell that would inevitably come from giving literally anyone the ability to ping across instant messages to people they fancy, or have grossly wronged? We all live with the guilt of our historic-chaos texts. From texting aloof, nasty boys that you’re thinking about them rn 😉 to monologues to your BFF lamenting how she’s offended you, there’s a lot that can be, and is, texted and instantly regretted. For example, the time I forwarded an offensive gif to the new guy I was dating because I misunderstood the premise. I refuse to go into this in detail, but when he replied “y the [CENSORED] hav u sent me this?” I saw what was happening in the background of the boomeranging image, and wanted only to go to live on that island with Wilson the volleyball and knock my teeth out with an ice-skate. He dumped me a few weeks later; I was like, “No problemo, buddy. I get it.” My absolute worst text happened when we were 17, and our cool friend (whom I’ll call Sasha) was a promoter for a club in London. This status had secured us Friday-night entry. For us messy teens anchored to the Woking strip of Yates and Wetherspoons, this was a very big deal, and we rose to the occasion. I’ll be honest, I don’t remember much of the evening – but when I woke up stinking of spirits in Sasha’s kid-sister’s bedroom, and became aware of the vomit covering the bed, floor and, somehow, walls, I did have just enough memory to know for sure that “Hell, yeah, that was me.” A “random”, as any non-mate used to be called, was also staying at Sasha’s – one of those teenage boys who is quite hot but has no chat. That guy, let’s call him Marcus, had gone, nowhere to be seen; the other members of our party were still snoozing off the rum and mixers. I escaped under the cover of dawn’s hungover darkness, and texted Sasha that I had woken up among all that puke and remember oh-so clearly that it came from the gob of that Marcus guy. “What a dick!” we texted each other, united in our disgust. Then, I texted our mutual friend Charlotte, telling her the whole story – I had thrown up all over Sasha’s brother’s bedroom, I know it was me, I remember holding my hair back, et cetera, et cetera – but I had blamed mysterious Marcus and got away with it. I had overcome my pissed-out-of-my-mind adversity and come out on top. Advertisement The twist: I, of course, sent that text to Sasha, not Charlotte. Fifteen years on, and I’m still cringing. Sasha was deeply unimpressed. She and I no longer speak. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: no problemo, buddy. I get it. Emma Sidi Emma Sidi stars as Emily Maitlis in Prince Andrew: the Musical on New Year’s Day on Channel 4. ‘I will for ever wince when I think of him reading that’ The first text I ever received was from a boy I sat next to in RE that read: get your tits out. While I never did get my tits out for that particular boy, it represented the free-flowing, remorseless ease with which my fellow teens and I communicated in the early 00s. Nowadays I am frightened to share any honest thoughts over texts in case they’re screengrabbed, but back then I’d monologue left, right and centre, night and day, or at least until I ran out of credit. I could even text without looking, often doing so covertly while sitting at the dinner table with my parents, eyes glazed over as I stared at my plate of cold peas. Naturally, I sent the wrong texts to the wrong people, and vice versa, but my biggest regret was a text I sent aged 16, towards the tail end of a two-month relationship with a puppyish boy at school who looked like The OC’s Seth Cohen. We got on OK but I wanted the cinematic experience I’d seen on TV: I wanted fireworks, I wanted a bed of red roses, I wanted walks on the beach. In all honesty, I wanted him to get his tits out. To vent my frustrations, I messaged my friend Greg to tell him that it wasn’t working with “Seth”. “I don’t fancy him and I want to dump him,” I wrote, possibly with a list of other inadequacies that I can’t quite face to publicly document. The next day, a group of friends, including Greg and my boyfriend, were playing kiss chase in my parents’ garden. After 30 minutes, I noticed that my boyfriend had gone missing, so I went inside to find him, only to see his lanky body arched solemnly over a Nokia 3210 that wasn’t his. Hearing me enter the room, fake-Seth dramatically placed the phone down on a table – the screen open on my message to Greg – and said he thought he should leave. Which he did, after silently waiting 40 minutes for his dad to pick him up. I will for ever wince when I think of that text message; pained by the thought of someone so sweet reading words so brutal and unwarranted. I will for ever curse myself for being so gossipy and cruel. But, most of all, I will for ever be grateful for passcodes. Harriet Gibsone Harriet Gibsone’s memoir Is This OK? is out on 25 May 2023. ‘The first text wasn’t funny. By the 27th, it had soared into surrealism’ Advertisement It was April 2005, and my mother had gone to a stained-glass conference in Iceland, because, of course she had. My sister was texting me roughly every hour, to say “Mum’s gone to Iceland” – a reference to the supermarket slogan. The first time, it wasn’t funny; then around the fifth, the sheer audacity of how unamusing it was became hilarious. Sometimes I sent a reply that was deliberately even less amusing, and then around the 27th text, it soared into surrealism, and I think I genuinely did laugh, out loud, for some considerable length of time. This was when there was still ambiguity about whether “lol” meant “laugh out loud” or “lots of love” (per David Cameron in the Leveson inquiry). So I texted her back: “That actually did make me laugh out loud but please stop now. Please.” She did not stop. These were the days before emojis and photos, so there was very little scope to mix things up. “Mum’s gone to Iceland,” she’d text again. By this time we were on day four, or day 400, who knows? Our dad had died the November before, and for ages our text communication had alternated between the tersely existential (“No metastases yet”) and the grindingly administrative (“Tried to take those meal replacement cans back to Boots but you can’t return prescriptions so I have to THROW 36 CANS OF DISGUSTING BUT SERVICEABLE MILKSHAKE SOUP AWAY”). That sad time was buried, now, underneath a thousand timeless texts: “Mum’s gone to Iceland”; “Stop it now.” On the fifth day, my sister called me, and I ignored the call, reasoning that a joke that wasn’t funny by text was likely to be even less funny vocally; I ignored the next 13 calls, too, finally answering on an in-breath, ready to tell her how much she was bugging me in the form of a yodel. It turned out our mother had had a heart attack. She was fine; Icelandic healthcare is amazing. Still, though. It seems that one fundamental rule of texting had yet to penetrate my consciousness: when someone switches medium, it’s because they want to say a different thing. Zoe Williams ‘Traditionally, I have steered clear of SMS grenades. But then I had to pull out the pin’ The text message after the night before is a cruel mistress. Sometimes it appears like divine intervention, bringing truth and light into the dark fictions of my mind: “What if I said something bad?” goes the hangxiety. “There’s probably a WhatsApp group called ‘Coco is problematic’ being created right now!” But then it arrives: “Great to see you!” and all’s right in the world. And sometimes the messages hurt: the “We need to talk” from a partner let down by the night’s antics. Or the silence to/from an acquaintance that went too far. Advertisement I’ve traditionally steered clear of such SMS grenades, even when necessary (read: people-pleaser!). But the morning after my birthday party a few years back, I had to pull the pin: “Hey, I need to say this … ” It took several hours to draft the message. Revision after revision trying to hit the right tone, searching for “dignified disappointment” but finding only “sad”. I was sad because as a small group of (white) friends peeled away from my party, I stopped them by the exit for a photo. A man, maybe drunk, maybe unwell, but definitely loose and bigger than me, started harassing them. I intervened. He honed in on me, inching closer and closer till he was close enough for me to feel the wet when he spat the P-word into my face. But I was most sad because when he left, my friends did, too, leaving me in shock and, mere minutes later, in tears. I’ve thought a lot about how in this “single-use” era, friendship can also be treated as disposable. Perhaps it’s because we use “friend” too freely, applying it to people who are nice enough, but won’t be there to visit you in hospital, or lend you their last £10 if you need it more. But from that night – from those texts – I’ve learned that good friends aren’t found, they are made, through tests and growth; through openness and honesty about sometimes being wronged and sometimes being wrong, and wanting, above all else, to work it out. Fast-forward three years and many of those same friends were my bridesmaids. We’re closer than ever. The text after the night before might be a cruel mistress. But she’s a damn fine healer, too. Coco Khan ‘It took me three days to work out what that envelope meant’ It was the evening of Christmas Day 1999. The presents had been unwrapped hours before, the traditional bout of festive-gift disappointment was beginning to lose its bitter edge. We had peaked and were all prepared to slip into a snoozy, snorey gentle turkey coma. Suddenly, there was an electrical sound I didn’t recognise, an unfamiliar “ping” emitted from my Motorola V3688. The phone was never far from my side. In fact, the phone was always on my side, as I chose to wear it in a handy, snazzy mobile-phone holster (not because of the high number of calls I was receiving, but because it made me feel a teeny bit like Captain Kirk in Star Trek with his much-coveted flip-open communicator). Popping the holster clip with my thumb and flipping open the phone for closer inspection, I noticed a small envelope symbol had appeared on the top right of the monochrome screen. I showed it to my partner. “What’s that mean?” “Dunno, never seen that before.” My first thought, because panic is my go-to place, was, “Oh crap, the phone is malfunctioning, I bet that’s not covered in my One2One contract.” I started fiddling with the buttons – maybe I could get the cursor thingy up to that mystery envelope. Advertisement Despite being house-brick basic, these early phones were frustratingly difficult to navigate. You could wear a finger down to the bone clicking on buttons just trying to set the sensory challenging ringtone. So, it won’t come as a shock when I tell you that it took me three whole days to work out what to do with that little envelope. When I finally managed to stumble across the right combination of button punches, my efforts were rewarded with a three-word message that appeared on the screen. HAPPY XMAS ZOE. There was the number of the sender at the bottom but no name. I hadn’t worked out how to use the contacts options. I had absolutely no idea who it was from and why on earth they had bothered to send me this “thing”. I distinctly remember thinking, “Huh! That’s silly, that will never catch on!” Zoe Lyons link: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/dec/03/texting-30-years-anniversary-sms

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised a price cap set by his Western allies on Russian oil exports, calling it "weak". The cap, approved on Friday, is aimed at stopping countries paying more than $60 (£48) for a barrel of seaborne Russian crude oil. Russia says it will not accept a cap on prices for its oil exports. The measure - due to come into force on Monday - intensifies Western pressure on Russia over the invasion. But Mr Zelensky called the price cap "a weak position" and not "serious" enough to damage to the Russian economy. "Russia has already caused huge losses to all countries of the world by deliberately destabilising the energy market," he said in his nightly address. It is "only a matter of time when stronger tools will have to be used", he added. The price cap was put forward in September by the G7 group of industrialised nations (the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the EU) in a bid to hit Moscow's ability to finance the war in Ukraine. In a joint statement, the G7, the European Union and Australia said the decision was taken to "prevent Russia from profiting from its war of aggression against Ukraine". On Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow had prepared for the move but would "not accept" the cap. Though the measures will most certainly be felt by Russia, the blow will be partially softened by its move to sell its oil to other markets such as India and China - which are currently the largest single buyers of Russian crude oil. G7 and allies approve cap on price of Russian oil How can the world cope without Russian oil and gas? The agreement of a price cap comes just days before an EU-wide ban on Russian crude oil imported by sea comes into force, also on 5 December. The price cap - which is meant to affect oil exports worldwide - is meant to complement that. Countries which sign up to the G7-led policy will only be permitted to purchase oil and petroleum products transported via sea that are sold at or below the price cap. Ukraine's Western allies also plan to deny insurance to tankers delivering Russian oil to countries that do not stick to the price cap. This will make it hard for Russia to sell oil above that price. Before the war, in 2021, more than half of Russia's oil exports went to Europe, according to the International Energy Association. Germany was the largest importer, followed by the Netherlands and Poland. But since the war, EU countries have been desperately trying to decrease their dependency. The US has already banned Russian crude oil, while the UK plans to phase it out by the end of the year. link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63848257

The protests that erupted after Mahsa Amini’s death are still rocking Iran. Rabat - An Iranian state security body said the death toll for the Mahsa Amini protests has now reached 200, with President Ebrahim Raisi hailing the country’s rights and freedoms. The death toll of 200 included security forces, Reuters reported, a figure that is lower than the 300 figure that was recently reported by the United Nations. The protests began on September 16, following reports that Iran’s “morality police” tortured 22 year-old Mahsa Amini for not wearing her hijab properly, resulting in her death. Iranian women took to the streets across the country, in one of the biggest challenges to the country’s religious leadership since they came into power in the country’s 1979 revolution. Despite crackdown attempts by law enforcement, protestors have not been phased, with some of the most enduring images from the movement coming when women marched without hijabs and cut their hair in protests. Meanwhile, the Iranian government accused its enemies in the US and Israel of being behind the revolt. Protestors also reported several internet shutdowns since they took to the streets. On Tuesday, a UN-appointed expert said Iranian police had killed more than 300 people while trying to control the protests. Rights group HRANA put the number at 469, and said that 18,210 have been arrested. The protests have gained international support, especially among other women in the Middle East. Recently, Iran’s national football team expressed support for the protestors at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. © Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Your support allows us to continue delivering quality journalism that is accessible to audiences across the globe. Every contribution, however big or small, is valuable for our mission and readers. link: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2022/12/352790/iran-protests-state-security-reports-200-deaths-in-protests

Nick Movie: Bimbisara (2022) Time: August 5, 2022 Netflix / Amazon / HBO?: ? Duration of the movie: 2h 26m Trailer:

Live Performance Title: POP SMOKE - DIOR LIVE (RAW CLIP) @bertobie Signer Name: POP SMOKE Live Performance Location: - Official YouTube Link: Your Opinion About the Track (Music Video): 10/10

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