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As arguably Counter-Strike's best map, Dust2 has been remade and remixed countless times in those decades—not least by Valve, whose latest rendition looks generations ahead of that dusty orange original. But over the last few months, one mapper has been busy updating the iconic map within the constraints of the original Counter-Strike. The end result is Dust 2020, a map so stunning it defies the limitations of the game's ageing engine. Created by artist Daniil Lebedev, Dust2 2020 doesn't just update the original map—it expands it, adding entirely new routes and a verticality that never existed before. A tour from YouTuber 3Kliksphilip shows off these new paths, but also dives into some of the technical feats Lebedev has accomplished with the severely limited engine.It's frankly staggering what the mapper has managed to pull off. In lieu of even the simplest reflections, Lebedev has used clever layered textures to give the domed roofs a certain shine. Shadows are pre-baked into textures, and techniques used to gloss over Half-Life's monsters are repurposed to create oil puddlesBridges creak under strain and canopies tear open when dropped through. Hell, I wouldn't be shocked if the single car at Long-A had more polygons than a typical launch Counter-Strike map. It's a complete transformation that may annoy some Dust2 purists, but it's damned impressive to walk around. Granted, all these improvements come at a cost. You'll need a beefy 128MB of RAM to run the map. But it gives the iconic map a real sense of place it never had before—a grander, denser space that nevertheless retains that familiar Dust2 feeling. At the very least, it's a fair bit more impressive than Valve's own anniversary offering, which let CS:GO players run about on the original map in the new engine. Dust2 2020 is available to download over on GameBanana.A one-time dog sledder, pancake flipper, alien wrangler and indie darling, Nat now scours the internet looking for the hottest PC gaming news. Destined to become Scotland's first Battlemech pilot.

Microsoft’s regular schedule of releases for Windows 10 is expected to drop a major update in the latter stages of 2021. Despite being some way off, the Windows 10 21H2 Update, currently being referred to as ‘Sun Valley’, is shaping up to be a significant step forward for the operating system. Microsoft is yet to officially reveal the 21H2 update to Windows 10, but through leaks, rumors, and the Windows Insider Program, we’ll begin to piece together a good picture throughout the months leading up to its release. There’s already a good deal of chatter about Windows 10 21H2. As we begin to build a picture of what to expect, here is everything we know so far about 2021’s second major release of Windows 10.The first update for 2021, Windows 10 21H1 has already been announced and is in the later stages of testing before release in the first half of the year. What we can safely expect is that the second update will be released between June and December. Windows Central reports that the internal timeline for the Windows 10 21H2 release points to October, with testing through the Windows Insider channels before then. Isolated features may appear in the Dev Channel first, with a ‘final build’ decided upon in June to then begin testing through the Beta Channel. Windows 10 21H2 ‘Sun Valley’ update name At this time there is no confirmed name from Microsoft. Based on the naming convention for Windows 10 updates, however, it’s safe to assume that its official designation will be Windows 10 21H2. The ‘21’ refers to the year and ‘H2’ refers to the second half of the year. With Windows 10 21H1 confirmed for the first half of 2021, there’s no reason not to assume Microsoft is continuing this trend. The name being tossed around at the moment is ‘Sun Valley’ which is unlikely to be its release name. This is an internal codename for parts of the next version of Windows 10 which is being worked on and has been outed to the public by way of leaks from those with insider knowledge of Microsoft’s workings. ‘Sun Valley’ was first reported as a codename for the UI enhancements Microsoft is working on for the 21H2 release. The other name being touted for the Windows 10 21H2 project is ‘Cobalt,’ encapsulating everything in the release including the UI improvements and the under-the-hood enhancements.

Hearthstone's latest expansion went live earlier this week, and it's fair to say I've been having a lot of fun with Forged in the Barrens. Yes, there are some decks which currently feel oppressively strong—No Minion Mage and Secret Paladin in particular, not to mention those pesky Watch Posts—but as is often the case around annual set rotation, the freshness from so many old cards leaving Standard is keeping me queuing. However, it's also fair to say that this has been one of the buggier rollouts in recent years, which is understandable given the number of fundamental systems being tweaked, what with the recent introduction of Classic mode and the Core set to also contend with. Consequently, on Monday, April 5, a hotfix will be deployed that addresses a lot of the issues discovered so far. You can read the full list of fixes on the Blizzard forum here, but among the more notable are giving Manrik's Wife* a Mana cost so she can be played from hand, and preventing Silverleaf Poison from drawing two cards when applied to the Kingsbane weapon in Wild. The most interesting change, to me, is: "Fixed a bug where Totemic Call could still give the Wrath of Air Totem when playing with certain Shaman Hero skins.For context, with the launch of Forged in the Barrens, the Shaman hero power was changed so that it could no longer roll the Wrath of Air Totem (which is the one that grants +1 Spell Damage.) It was replaced with the Strength Totem, which gives a friendly minion +1 Attack at the end of your turn. Or at least that's what Blizzard thought had happened. It turns out that if you played with Shaman hero skins other than the default Thrall one, you could still summon Wrath of Air, which proved particularly relevant because Shaman's current deck—like this double Doomhammer variant—makes good use of Spell Damage. I'm not sure exactly what skins are affected, but can confirm that the Lady Vashj and Thunder King ones work. As several Control Warlock opponents have found to their cost. Obviously, you can't be certain that your opponent knows about the bug and is exploiting to gain a very marginal edge, unless you queue into Clarkinator, because I definitely will be. Those 15 wins I need for my 1K Shaman portrait aren't going to Doomhammer themselves, y'know. [*In case you're wondering what the deal is with Manrik's Wife anyway, this should help.]

While the iPad is undoubtedly the all-conquering best tablet range right now, without the best iPad apps it's basically just a souped-up Chromebook. Nobody wants that - so we're here to help you, whether you want the best iPad Pro apps to make use of the Apple Pencil, the best iPad mini apps to work on a smaller screen or just something to reivigorate your time with a tablet. We've spent hundreds of hours testing the best free and paid-for iPad apps, and have helpfully split them into multiple categories on the following pages to let you browse for what you actually need. Of course, if you need a better iPad, our list of the best iPads around is there for you too - but if you've just been given a new tablet, then these are the titles that you need to be checking out - starting with our favorite new app this month.Oh, and if you're looking for something fun, then we've also rounded up the best iPad games you can download right now. Looking for an upgrade? Check out the best cheap iPad deals available now

The cryptocurrency mining and Ethereum mining boom continues to roll on, and if you've read our best mining GPUs and want to see what all the fuss is about, we've got the details on the most po[CENSORED]r ways of mining with your PC. Besides the actual hardware for mining — which basically means having one of the best graphics cards — you'll need to decide on the software you want to run, and how you want to get paid. There are three primary approaches to mining, and we'll cover these in order of ease of getting started. Advertisement Before we continue, let's be clear: We're all about providing information, both good and bad. There are GPU shortages, other PC component shortages, GPU pricing is stratospheric, and clearly, there are a bunch of people who think mining is awesome. This has all happened before, and we've seen how it ends — or at least where it goes temporarily. Anyone that had the foresight to put together a big mining farm sometime in the past year or two and save all the Ethereum and/or Bitcoin it generated (while eating the costs) looks pretty smart today. Trying to do the same thing right now? It will cost more, profits will be lower (or not even materialize for potentially years, if ever), and there are loads of other concerns that we'll get into. Case in point: Just look at the past couple of months. We originally posted this article with data taken from before February 16, 2021. Two weeks later, we saw record prices for Bitcoin and Ethereum come and go, difficulty of mining increased, and potential profits dropped by at least 25 percent. Then Bitcoin rebounded and hit a new record high of over $61,000, while Ethereum has mostly stayed in the $1,800–$1,900 range, and mining profits improved along with those prices. Just in the past week, we've seen a low of around $51,000 for Bitcoin and a high of nearly $60,000; Ethereum ranged from $1,568 to $1,860. Regardless of price, longer-term stability will almost certainly be at lower profits than we see right now. For that to happen, the difficulty of finding a block will need to increase — and it has. Ethereum difficulty increased about 15% during the month of March, 16% in February, and 24% in January. Unlike the volatility in price, difficulty has been on a steady upward climb, day after day, since the last Ethereum update in January 2020.

Three days into the Elite Dangerous: Odyssey Alpha, and the mood around the space sim's next update is a little sour. Now, Frontier has addressed two major issues with the early test—though it perhaps fails to address some of Odyssey's more fundamental problems. Writing in an initial feedback post on Steam last night, Frontier addresses blowback to the game's budget taxi service, Apex Interstellar. The studio is aware that having Apex as the only traversal option exacerbates issues, along with the sheer scale of the massive solar system used for testing. But the root of the problem, in that it sucks to spend most of your time twiddling your thumbs as someone else flies around space, is something Frontier is looking to solve. "There’s no doubt that the time spent during these trips is less engaging than Odyssey’s other features, given the currently limited options for interaction during the journey," Frontier explains. Short term, the studio hopes to move the Alpha start point to a more central location and make it clear when a mission will send you on an extremely long trip. But it also sounds like Frontier want to improve the interactivity of the flights themselves, mentioning an "increased number of loadout and cosmetic customisation" to use during the flight.I have some ideas of my own, of course. They mostly involve cramming the shuttle full of obnoxious tourists. But don't expect taxis to simply get faster—the developer is (rightly) very clear that turning the system into a glorified fast-travel would be a massively destructive move. Frontier also responds to criticism that on-foot combat is incredibly punishing right now. While I hadn't noticed it, PVP combat is apparently rife with criminals blasting pilots with little penalty—with stronger punishments supposedly in store for these murderers. What I have seen, however, is that even Threat 0 missions feature absolutely brutal NPCs, and Frontier plans to "reassess" how mission difficulty is communicated up-front. It's reassuring to see issues addressed so quickly into the Alpha's lifespan. But Frontier's response doesn't hit at some of the more underlying problems affecting Odyssey. Stations are still lifeless spaces full of dead-eyed Pixar characters, and the current loop of taking long flights to undercooked missions is simply a miserable way to play. Hopefully, these problems are alleviated when the Odyssey alpha opens up, and these features are given greater context within Elite's wider galaxy.

Long gone are the days of limiting your Raspberry Pi with large-capacity microSD cards and SSDs. Thanks to Dr. Scott Baker's latest project, makers are finally free to use 360K floppy disks for all their legacy storage needs! The best Raspberry Pi projects are made from scratch and this one definitely fits the bill. Dr. Baker has created a custom HAT for the Raspberry Pi designed to interface with a floppy disk drive. It's able to read, write and even format old 360K floppies with a custom, Python-based application. The project relies on a WD-37C65 controller—a vintage chip from Western Digital. While Dr. Baker is using it with a Tandom TM100-2A floppy drive, it's also compatible with 1.44MB, 3.5-inch drives.The controller has been adapted to a HAT that plugs directly onto the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins and provides access to a floppy header, used for connecting floppy drives.

DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH) is not exactly a new technology, and it is something that is supported by all of the big-name browsers. Google has already implemented the privacy and security boosting feature in the Windows, macOS and mobile versions of its Chrome browser, and now the company is working to bring it to Linux. With the platform attracting a very security-minded groups of users, the only surprise here is that it has taken Google this long to bring DoH to Chrome for Linux. Once implemented, the change means that both DNS queries and DNS responses will be securely transmitted over HTTPS. But the Linux implementation is set to differ slightly from versions of the browser for other platforms. Here's our list of the best VPN services around These are the best Linux distros for business And here’s our pick of the best Linux laptops The reason it has taken longer for Chrome for Linux to benefit from DNS-over-HTTPS is that it makes use of Chrome's own built-in DNS client, and this is disabled by default on Linux. This has been the case for quite some time because of Chrome's failure to respect advanced Linux DNS configuration through nsswitch.conf, which is in turn because of the complexity and variety of Linux distributions.The solution that the Chromium Project has come up with involves building support for the browser to read and parse DNS configuration that have been put in place. It also needs to be able to disable DNS-over-HTTPS on configurations that do not support it. Safe as houses In the design document, the team behind the project explains: " As Chrome's resolver does not support changing such mechanisms or their order, Chrome's support for respecting nsswitch.conf will be limited to detection of whether or not the configuration is a common configuration compatible with Chrome behavior". As a fallback, Chrome will not autoupgrade to DoH or use the built-in resolver unless a DoH server is explicitly selected via Chrome configuration settings. At the moment it is not clear exactly when DoH support will arrive in the Linux version of Chrome, but it is thought to be version 91 or 92. This means that the feature should be available for testing in a matter of weeks, and will hopefully roll out on a wider basis soon after this. Check out our guide to the

Two years ago, PUBG Corp began testing a lighter, free version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds that'd run on less powerful hardware. But now, PUBG Lite's publisher is pulling the plug, shutting down the game's servers next month. Krafton, the publisher overseeing PUBG Lite development, posted a statement on the game's website announcing the closure. Starting today, PUBG Lite is no longer available for download, with the servers ultimately going offline on April 29th. "We are deeply grateful for the passion and support from the astounding number of PUBG LITE fans that have been with us. During the strenuous times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that PUBG LITE was able to provide our fans a fun way to stay safe. "Unfortunately, we have made the difficult decision to close service after much deliberation and the time has come for our journey to end. We regretfully inform you that service of PUBG LITE is scheduled to end on April 29th, 2021 (UTC)."Entirely separate from the core PUBG client, with its own development team and servers, PUBG Lite came with vastly lower recommended hardware requirements. The game was first tested in Thailand, before expanding to select other countries, and eventually featured the Erangel, Sanhok, Bodie, and Vikendi maps. Sure, there was no cross-play with regular old PUBG, but it was a valuable option for folks without the graphical horsepower to run the demanding base game. PUBG itself is still going strong, recently adding Metal Gear-style Fulton balloons for yeeting your squad. But while it never got the same amount of love, it's still a shame to see the more accessible client fizzle out like this. Thanks,A one-time dog sledder, pancake flipper, alien wrangler and indie darling, Nat now scours the internet looking for the hottest PC gaming news. Destined to become Scotland's first Battlemech pilot.

could be about to bring in a new feature which makes web apps look slicker, and more like standard Windows 10 apps, as well as adding useful extra functionality. This possibility was flagged up by Techtsp (via Windows Central) and it revolves around the title bar of web apps (PWAs, or Progressive Web Apps). In their current form, web apps still have a title bar at the top effectively marking them as an Edge window, taking up space, looking rather clunky, and only offering basic window controls (like close, minimize or maximize) while doing so. How to use Windows 10 These are the best antivirus apps We’ve also picked out the best web browsers The plan in the works, as described by Amanda Baker, a software engineer on the Microsoft Edge team, is to remove that title bar, instead having a customizable top bar that will make the web app look much more like a normal application. The Windows Control Overlay feature will facilitate this change, giving developers full access to the bar along the top, and the ability to customize it and add more features, like a search box or navigation controls, or a logo. RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU... video playing Xiaomi Mi 11 | Everything you need to know Galaxy S21 | Everything you need to know 26/01/21 Galaxy S21 | Everything you need to know Galaxy S21 Ultra | Everything you need... 26/01/21 Galaxy S21 Ultra | Everything you need to know IPhone 12 Pro | Everything you need... 24/12/20 IPhone 12 Pro | Everything you need to know in 1 minute AirPods Max | Everything you need... 24/12/20 AirPods Max | Everything you need to know in 1 minute PS5 | Everything you need to know in 1... 14/12/20 PS5 | Everything you need to know in 1 minute All of which should add useful extra functionality, while making the web app not only look more streamlined, but also ensuring that it performs better on the accessibility front. That’s because without the current title bar, there’ll be more screen real-estate to show the actual content of the application when doing things like zooming in (which may be necessary for the visually impaired). In a technical document explaining the idea, Baker wrote: “Instead of leaving most of the title bar as empty space and including the title of the app in the standard browser font, a developer can fill this area with the content that they usually place just below it: a custom logo, a search box, or navigation controls for example.”Developers at Microsoft have reportedly already got the basic code required to make all this happen in place, and as Techtsp notes, the Windows Control Overlay feature is already present in chrome://flags. However, it’ll likely be months before we actually see this coming through and being used by web developers (assuming the report is on the money). As ever, time will tell, but this could be an impressive step forward for web apps running via Microsoft Edge.Check out the

This Raspberry Pi Pico creation comes to us from a company called Picosoft. The Japan-based dev team has designed a Python machine known as Orange-Python that boots directly into a MicroPython interface. Some of the best Raspberry Pi projects we've come across use a custom interface. The MicroPython program developed for the Orange-Python is very small—small enough to be flashed onto the Pico and stored locally.The whole operation is powered by an RP2040 on a Raspberry Pi Pico. The only extra accessories you need are a keyboard, VGA monitor and something to supply power via microUSB. When the Orange-Python system boots, it loads into a mode called Read Evaluate Print Loop (or REPL). This is an interactive interface that works like programming on an old BASIC computer. You can see it in action on Twitter. The team even managed to program a Tetris-style demo.

Polish horror developer Bloober Team has backed out of acquisition talks with several potential buyers, according to a new report by local outlet Bankier.pl (via VGC). Bloober, the developer of games like The Medium, Blair Witch and Observer, had reportedly been in talks with over a dozen companies from across the globe. But in a press release sent to Bankier, the studio now claims that it has walked away from talks, feeling any acquisition put it at risk of "losing its overriding strategic objectives." "At this stage it would be incompatible with the culture of the organisation, and would significantly limit the potential growth of the company’s value in the coming years, especially taking into account the projects implemented and planned," the press release continued. Bloober Team is currently rumoured to be working on Observer 2, though wider hints from the studio suggest it's been pegged to develop a new Silent Hill (something Andy K would prefer go to Remedy). But thanks to its recent successes, Bloober reckons it now has enough spare cash floating around to start investing in new games from external studios."Moreover, the company, having spare financial resources, has the possibility of making investments aimed at increasing its fundamental value." We rated The Medium quite highly—as did many others, evidently, given that the game recouped its development costs within a few days. It'll be interesting to see what new voices in horror end up financially elevated by that game's success.

could finally be getting a fix for one of its most annoying quirks, as Microsoft is looking to separate the taskbar from the Explorer.exe process in the upcoming Windows 10 21H2 update. So, why is this a big deal? Explorer.exe is a critical process in Windows 10 that runs Windows Explorer (the way you view files and folders in Windows 10), and it also handles other parts of the user interface – including the taskbar, which runs along the bottom of your screen.If you’ve used Windows 10 for a while, you may have encountered a problem where Explorer.exe crashes. This means that some windows become unresponsive – and it also means the taskbar stops working. This can be pretty annoying, as the taskbar can allow you to switch programs, or quickly restart your PC to fix the problem. However, it looks like Microsoft is solving this problem. In a preview release of Windows 10 21H2, which is sent out to testers (known as Windows Insiders) to try out new features and check for bugs, references to taskbar.dll have been spotted, and as Windows Latest points out, this could hint that Microsoft is removing the taskbar from Explorer.exe.This move would mean that if Explorer.exe became unresponsive, it should't affect the taskbar. Running the taskbar in its own process should also result in performance improvements, with the taskbar feeling a lot more responsive. Jump lists, which are small menus that appear when you right-click an app and show open windows or regularly used files and settings, could also see an improvement in performance. However, these are early days, so a lot of this is just guesswork at the moment, as the taskbar.dll doesn’t appear to work properly in the early build. So, it may end up never seeing the light of day, or this could be for some other unknown feature that Microsoft is planning for the taskbar. However, we’d love to see Microsoft find a way to ensure that the taskbar, which is such an important part of the Windows 10 user interface, performs better than ever, and doesn’t crash if Explorer.exe becomes unresponsive.

Waiting for new hardware to release can be a grueling process. But this maker, known as Guido Burger, took matters into their own hands by creating an Adafruit Feather RP2040 before it was officially released. The new board from Adafruit is available for sale as of now, but stock is limited. It uses the new RP2040 chip found on the Raspberry Pi Pico. Check out our Adafruit Feather RP2040 review for a closer look at the specs and what it can do.Adafruit released the files on Github for any user interested in creating or modifying the board. However, RP2040 chips aren't widely available. In order to pull off this project, Guido Burger had to reflow an RP2040 from a Raspberry Pi Pico module. While the design files are available for free, users still need to purchase PCBs and assemble the components. This is more expensive and time-consuming but also makes customization an option.

In February, Electronic Arts finally pulled the plug on BioWare's big-bust third-person shooter Anthem, declaring that "not everything we had planned as a studio before COVID-19 can be accomplished without putting undue stress on our teams." With its fate sealed, game director Jonathan Warner announced today that after nearly a decade at the studio, he's moving on to other things. "So, today is my last day at BioWare, I’m moving on to do new things," Warner tweeted. "BioWare has been home to my grateful heart for nearly 10 years and I want to wish them all the best. DA ME and SWTOR are in good hands and I can’t wait to play from this side of the screen." So, today is my last day at BioWare, I’m moving on to do new things.BioWare has been home to my grateful heart for nearly 10 years and I want to wish them all the best. DA ME and SWTOR are in good hands and I can’t wait to play from this side of the screen. #ThankYou #BioWare pic.twitter.com/g5zp7hkSV5March 26, 2021Along with Anthem, Warner is credited as game director on Mass Effect: Andromeda and as a producer on Mass Effect (for the Mass Effect Trilogy) and Mass Effect 3: Citadel, and his LinkedIn page also lists him as BioWare's chief of staff, a position he's held since May 2019. Prior to joining the studio, he was a producer at The Walt Disney Company and a test lead at Microsoft Games Studio. Despite significant hype (remember the Neill Blomkamp short film?) and a modicum of pre-release promise, Anthem was a tremendous disappointment at launch, to the point that BioWare had to acknowledge that its issues were beyond the help of mere patches. In late 2019 it was reported that a "complete overhaul" was in the works, which BioWare eventually confirmed. But it was never able to gain meaningful traction, and the effort was abandoned in February.

Europe may be one of the saloon’s last bastions, but Ford has just announced that the Mondeo — which was once wildly po[CENSORED]r, especially in the UK — will be cancelled in 2022 and not replaced. It's part of a wider decline of the Ford saloon, once a bedrock of its range, offering the likes of the much-loved, and much-aspired to, Granada (pictured). In America, it announced plans to eliminate saloons, estates, minivans, and hatchbacks in 2018, and it quickly put its plan into motion by consigning the Fiesta, Focus, and Taurus nameplates to the automotive attic — at least in America. Production of its last saloon, the Fusion, ended in August 2020 in Hermosillo, Mexico. The only model that hasn’t been cancelled or replaced by an SUV is the Mustang. Ford’s decision represents a stunning about-face because its saloons regularly appeared on the list of its best-sellers for decades. Times change, markets evolve and the unthinkable sometimes becomes inevitable. Ford of Australia unknowingly blazed this path; it canned the rear-wheel-drive Falcon in 2016 and hasn’t looked back. Join us for a look at the rise and fall of the Ford saloon car, and some of its other related models and other shapes that aren't SUVs:

As Australia's players posed for photos with the gleaming silverware, some of the Sri Lankans got up to do the same, only to be halted in their tracks by their combative captain Arjuna Ranatunga. "Arjuna told them: 'no pictures now because we're going to win the World Cup'," recalls Sri Lankan broadcaster Roshan Abeysinghe. "'Once we win, then you can take as many pictures as you like.'" The following night, under the lights at the Gaddafi Stadium, the pre-tournament 66-1 outsiders duly crushed the vaunted Australians to complete one of cricket's greatest underdog tales. The story of how a proud island nation overcame bombings, boycotts and near-bankruptcy at its cricket board to reach the top of the world 25 years ago this month is the subject of a Sportsworld documentary on the BBC World Service. Short presentational grey line In many ways it was fitting that Mark Taylor's men provided the opponents in Sri Lanka's first World Cup final, given that many trace the origins of their success back to their acrimonious tour of Australia just a few months earlier. The infamous no-balling of Muttiah Muralitharan by umpire Darrell Hair in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne - likened by ABC commentator Jim Maxwell to "a public execution" - was the nadir of a humiliating experience for the Sri Lankans who also faced relentless sledging and allegations of ball-tampering. And according to Sri Lanka's then coach Dav Whatmore, whose hiring had ironically been bankrolled by the Australian board, the players emerged from the tour with a siege mentality. "It wasn't a case of us sitting in a room and saying we are galvanised," says Whatmore. "It's just an inner feeling that you get as a group where you close ranks and you really want to protect not just Murali but Sri Lankan cricket. You could feel it in the air that we were all united." Unity in the dressing room was not reflected in the country at large. A suicide bombing in Colombo on 31 January was one of the deadliest attacks in a civil war that raged from 1983 to 2009, and prompted both Australia and the West Indies to pull out of their World Cup matches in the city. While many in the cricket world understood the stance, the Sri Lankan public saw it as an affront to their nation - and found support from their closest cricketing neighbours. World Cup co-hosts India and Pakistan put aside their antipathy towards each other and sent a combined XI to play a warm-up match against the Sri Lankans. "We were so disappointed that teams were pulling out because this was a huge moment for Sri Lanka to be hosting World Cup matches for the first time," says Roshan Mahanama, a key pillar of the Sri Lankan middle order at the time. "But India and Pakistan came to show that it was safe - and Zimbabwe and Kenya followed suit." Having spent the first week of the tournament watching on as the main contenders got their campaigns under way, Sri Lanka let out their frustrations on Andy Flower's Zimbabwe, chasing down a target of 229 with a remarkable 13 overs to spare. But if that was impressive, then it was victory over India in Delhi that really served notice of Sri Lanka's title-winning potential. Set an imposing 272 thanks to Sachin Tendulkar's run-a-ball 137, Sri Lanka made a blistering start thanks to openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana and powered home in the penultimate over. "It wasn't until we played India that I thought we would go deep in the tournament," says Whatmore. "It was a skittish target to chase down in India with a screaming crowd for the home team. But when I saw the way the boys reacted to chasing that target that was the point when I thought if we don't win it, we will go a long way towards shaping who does." Buoyed by their deeds in Delhi, Sri Lanka returned to Kandy and treated their home crowd to a display of power hitting previously unseen in the 50-over game. In racking up 398-5 they set a new record for an international match that was unbroken for 10 years. "If you were the crowd and you weren't concentrating those balls were coming at you like scud missiles," says Whatmore. "It was just an avalanche." England's more prosaic approach to 50-over batting was brutally exposed in a one-sided quarter-final as Jayasuriya's 44-ball 82 powered Sri Lanka into the final four and another meeting with the Indians. In front of more than 100,000 fans in Calcutta, Sri Lanka posted 251-8 thanks to half-centuries from Aravinda de Silva and Mahanama. At 98-1, India looked on course for the final but Tendulkar's stumping sparked an extraordinary collapse to 120-8 that was all too much for the partisan crowd. As glass bottles rained onto the outfield and fires raged in the stands, match referee Clive Lloyd awarded the victory to Sri Lanka. Defeating India made Sri Lanka instant heroes in Pakistan as they flew into Lahore to the final. Stories abound of Sri Lankan flags flying all over the city and players treated like royalty when they stepped onto the streets. "On the morning of the final, I was having breakfast with Arjuna and we were looking for some of our players," recalls Mahanama. "They had gone shopping for carpets. That's how relaxed they were!" Whatmore estimates that more than 90% of the crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium were cheering for his team as they won the toss and inserted an Australian side featuring the Waugh brothers, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. If De Silva was Sri Lanka's star performer with the ball - claiming three wickets in Australia's 241-7 - it was with bat in hand that the diminutive stroke-player provided the final's most enduring motifs. Arriving at the crease following the cheap dismissal of both openers, he scored all around the wicket in a perfectly-paced hundred before allowing Ranatunga to apply the coup de grace in the 47th over. When the captain guided Glenn McGrath to the third man boundary it capped off the most remarkable of triumphs and sealed ownership of the trophy his players had ogled the night before. "It was one of the best things that happened to me in my entire life," Ranatunga told World Service at a celebration event in Colombo to mark the 25th anniversary of the success. "Nobody expected us to win a World Cup but fortunately I had 13 committed cricketers who were more keen on doing justice for their country than themselves."

he charming town of Hamburg has added an exciting new patio home community that is open and ready for buyers. Called ‘The Cottages,’ Wetzl Development’s completed model is ready for tours. “Wetzl Development has been building in the Southtowns for over 40 years. Both apartment complexes and single-family luxury homes. Stonebridge Patio Homes is also one of our developments,” said Wetzl Development Project Coordinator. The three streets surrounding the development are Newton Road, McKinley Parkway and Boston State Road. The Cottages have a beautiful view of the Boston Hills and are minutes away from the Village of Hamburg with all its dining and shopping options. Just down the road are Hamburg Brewing, Pellicano Vineyard Hamburg Winery and access to Route 219. The 18 Mile Creek Golf Course is literally across the street. Wetzl Development broke ground in October 2020, with 17 of the 45 lots sold. With six floorplans to choose from that range from 1,233-2,254 square feet, there is a model for everyone. The homes are inspired by English cottages designed with a modern twist. Each model also comes with standard features as well as various options. The model was based on the flexible Andover plan has 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. Some of the models make room for a third and fourth bedroom, and come with a second-floor loft options. All plans come with a full basement with 8’ ceiling height and two car garages. A first-floor laundry is also featured in all of the models. Depending on your lifestyle, the floorplans really are varied with some including breakfast areas. Patios are also an option that can be added. Interior features include 8’/9’ ceilings on the first and second floors (if the model has one). Buyers have the choice of gas or electric for the range and dryer. Buyers also have choices of hardwood or ceramic tile in the foyer, mudroom, laundry, kitchen and bathroom. Walk-in showers and closets are standard in the master bedrooms and all patio homes also have a fireplace in the family room. There rae granite countertops in the kitchen and Wilson art laminated countertops in the bath. Kohler fixtures are used as are Whirlpool/Frigidaire dishwasher and microwave. Exterior features include 30-year architectural roof singles, Pella Pro Line windows, maintenance free vinyl siding and a partial stone front. Each home is also landscaped. For those looking for a maintenance-free lifestyle, The Cottages are condo status, with an HOA set to be $150 per month that covers all plowing and shoveling, lawn mowing, front home landscaping, water/sewer, and trash pickup. The model, located at 6385 Boston State Road, Hamburg is open Saturday and Sunday om 1 to 4 p.m. and by appointment. Prices start in the $390’s. For more information regarding The Cottages, contact Brenda Pope at 716-649-3499, ext. #1 or Judy Black at 716-310-4085. To see floorplans,

The prime minister called on activists to remind voters about the "incredible scientific breakthrough" of the vaccine ahead of May's elections in England. Mr Johnson said one difference between the Tories and Labour was a belief in the need for "capitalist energy". The party leader said the UK would recover "jab by jab, job by job". He told activists at a virtual party forum: "Let's not be put off our stride. Let's remember that across the country it is Conservatives, Conservative councils and Conservative councillors that deliver better value for money. And let's take our great one nation message to the people." The 6 May elections will include polls for district and county councils, police and crime commissioners and city mayors, including in London. Voting in Scottish and Welsh parliament elections will take place on the same day and there will be a parliamentary by-election in Hartlepool. 'Covid-safe' English local polls to go ahead in May Door-to-door campaigning to be allowed from March In a pre-recorded speech filmed and broadcast by the Conservative Party, Mr Johnson championed investment in communities through measures like the reversal of the Beeching railway cuts and money for new green buses. He said that Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget showed the party was "holding taxes down and spending wisely" and harnessing the advantages brought about through Brexit. Mr Johnson said he had spoken with "amazing" scientists in Scotland at a plant making a "variant-busting vaccine". And in Northern Ireland, the PM said he had visited engineers working on 3D technology. In Wales, he championed a Wrexham factory that is packaging vials of vaccine "to fight and defeat the armies of disease". Meanwhile, opponents "would literally try to smash up" the United Kingdom "and destroy forever the formula for British success", he said.

this is just a description. I am used it like laughing with my friends, But in serious times I don't do that for sure

We hear you all asking the same question — “Gateway is still a thing?” Yes, it is, and as it turns out, it knows a thing or two about gaming laptop deals. It may be called the Gateway Creator Series, but everything from the 120Hz display and 10th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU to the RTX 2060 GPU just screams “gaming.” This tech might be last-gen at this point, but this still an impressive machine, seeing as it's selling for under $800!If you’re more “gamer” than “creator” and your budget is tight, this is an absolute steal of a special offer. A 10th Gen Intel Core i5 CPU, RTX 2060 GPU with 6GB GDDR6, 8GB DDR4 RAM and a 256GB SSD puts this at a serious mid tier spec with a real beginner’s budget price. Plus, Gateway didn't skimp on the display, with an FHD panel and 120Hz refresh rate. View Deal Catching our team off guard with its sheer value for money, the Gateway Creator Series features a 15.6-inch FHD display with a 120Hz refresh rate and audio tuned by THX for an immersive experience. Under the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i5-10300H processor with a clock speed up to 4.5GHz, alongside an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU and 6GB GDDR6. Multitasking is handled with 8GB DDR4 RAM. The 256GB NVMe SSD is on the smaller side, but we’ll forgive that at such a low price point. Besides, you can just boost the storage with an external SSD.

The latest development build of Microsoft Edge for Linux debuts two crucial functions for Linux users. The re-imagined Chrome-based Microsoft Edge is the first web browser from the Redmond-based software giant that’s officially supported on Linux. The cross-platform browser that’s already available on macOS, besides iOS and Android, is still under active development on Linux and can only be downloaded from under the Dev channel. Starting with version 91.0.831.1, the browser has rolled out the sign-in and sync features for Linux users as well.For now the features only work with Microsoft accounts. Microsoft also points out that the features only support personal Microsoft Accounts, which means that Azure Active Directory (AAD) accounts are not yet supported.Once signed in, the browser will sync your favorites, passwords, extensions, and other settings, across all the installations of the browser using the same Microsoft account. Note however that the feature is disabled by default and will have to be explicitly enabled under the edge://flag settings by enabling the MSA sign in option. The Dev channel is meant for early-bird testers and should be used with caution. Enabling the feature can have all sorts of consequences, including the browser misbehaving or even crashing completely.

the Left 4 Dead-alike co-op shooter that was expected to be out this summer, has been delayed. Publisher Warner Bros. announced today that the game is now set to launch on October 12, instead of arriving on June 22 as planned. "Turtle Rock Studios is working hard to make Back 4 Blood the best game it can possibly be at launch and the team needs more time to do this," the publisher said on Twitter. "Therefore, we will release Back 4 Blood on October 12, 2021. We thank our community for its continued support and are excited to share that there will be an open beta this summer."It's not all bad news, at least: We won't be able to buy in the summer, but at least we'll be able to play it for a bit and see how it's shaping up. As you'd expect from the title, Back 4 Blood is a Left 4 Dead sequel in all but its name, and as we said in our December preview, that formula may not actually hold up quite as well as we remember—it's been more than ten years since Left 4 Dead 2, after all. Warner didn't detail any the specific reasons for the delay, but it's possible that it wants to ensure Turtle Rock can spend a little extra time ensuring that B4B is more than just Left 4 Dead 3.Back 4 Blood is available for pre-purchase on Steam. You can find out more about what's coming atAndy covers the day-to-day happenings in the big, wide world of PC gaming—the stuff we call "news." In his off hours, he wishes he had time to play the 80-hour RPGs and immersive sims he used to love so much.

Ford has announced that its Mondeo will die in 2022 and not be directly replaced. It’s not the biggest surprise in the world as it’s seen its sales sharply decline in Europe in recent years. Yet it still marks a watershed, as the Mondeo came to have cultural and political meaning as, in the UK at least, a marker of ‘Middle England.’ But times have since changed. Join us for a close look into the Mondeo story:

Nick Haining will now start at number eight, with Ryan Wilson drafted in to join the replacements. Chris Harris, Ali Price and George Turner are restored as the Scots look for a first win in Paris since 1999. Fly-half Finn Russell is also back after missing last weekend's win over Italy having suffered a concussion in the defeat by Ireland. Captain Stuart Hogg returns to full-back - with Sean Maitland not in the squad - after deputising for Russell. Huw Jones, Scott Steele and Dave Cherry move to the bench, where they are joined by Adam Hastings after his ban. The Glasgow fly-half has not featured in the tournament this year because of injury and suspension. Wilson joins his club-mate as a late call-up replacement and could win his 50th cap."Given Ryan's Test match experience and his form this season, we believe he will grab his opportunity," said head coach Gregor Townsend. "Nick now has the opportunity from the start to show his abilities in what will be a great challenge for our forward pack. It's disappointing for Matt, who has been playing consistently well throughout the championship." Edinburgh's Haining will be making his third international start and has come off the bench against Ireland and Italy in this season's tournament. Only five England-based players could be selected following an agreement with the Premiership, with Saracens winger Maitland among those left out. France need a big win to leapfrog Wales at the top of the table, while Scotland will finish second in the championship if they win by a margin of eight points. Fly-half Romain Ntamack, the leading points scorer in last year's championship, replaces the injured Matthieu Jalibert as the hosts make five changes. Second-row pair Bernard Le Roux and Swan Rebbadj, flanker Anthony Jelonch and centre Arthur Vincent have also been recalled. Paul Willemse begins a two-match ban after being sent off for making contact with the eye of Wales prop Wyn Jones, while fellow lock Romain Taofifenua drops to the bench, along with flanker Dylan Cretin and wing Teddy Thomas. Gael Fickou has been moved from inside centre to the left wing to accommodate Vincent, while Damian Penaud has switched flanks. The game was originally scheduled for 28 February but was called off after an outbreak of Covid-19 in the France camp, with head coach Fabien Galthie and 11 players testing positive for the virus. France: 15-Brice Dulin, 14-Damian Penaud, 13-Virimi Vakatawa, 12-Arthur Vincent, 11-Gael Fickou, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont; 1-Cyril Baille, 2- Julien Marchand, 3-Mohamed Haouas, 4- Bernard Le Roux, 5-Swan Rebbadj, 6-Anthony Jelonch, Charles Ollivon (capt), 8-Gregory Alldritt. Replacements: 16-Camille Chat, 17-Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18-Uini Atonio, 19-Romain Taofifenua, 20-Dylan Cretin, 21-Baptiste Serin, 22-Anthony Bouthier, 23-Teddy Thomas. Scotland: 15-Stuart Hogg (capt), 14-Darcy Graham, 13-Chris Harris, 12-Sam Johnson, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Ali Price; 1-Rory Sutherland, 2-George Turner, 3-Zander Fagerson, 4-Sam Skinner, 5-Grant Gilchrist, 6-Jamie Ritchie, 7-Hamish Watson, 8-Nick Haining Replacements: 16-Dave Cherry, 17-Oli Kebble, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Alex Craig, 20-Ryan Wilson, 21-Scott Steele, 22-Adam Hastings, 23-Huw Jones