Rainstorm.

Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri will lead a team focused on Windows software, devices portfolio and semiconductor chips, the company said on Monday, while announcing the departure of longtime product chief Panos Panay. The team led by Davuluri will "build silicon, systems and devices that span Windows, client and cloud for an AI world," according to a staff email by Rajesh Jha, executive vice president of experiences and devices group at Microsoft. Reuters has seen a copy of the email. Microsoft has made big bets on generative AI, integrating the technology into a wide array of its products, including cloud, search and productivity software and services such as its Office suite. The rejigging of teams comes as Panay steps down after nearly 20 years with the Redmond, Washington-based company, where he helmed the creation of the Surface line of computers and more recently oversaw the launch of the Windows 11 operating system. Davuluri will report to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella, the email said. Microsoft is also creating a team to work on web services and Windows experiences with a focus on AI-based offerings. The company is hosting a "special event" on September 21, where it is expected to announce updates to its Surface lineup, among other updates. https://www.gadgets360.com/internet/news/microsoft-product-chief-panos-panay-resignation-pavan-davuluri-lead-windows-team-4402216

Xbox Game Pass’s streaming powers are remarkable, but so far they’ve been limited to titles that have been released on Xbox consoles. Game Pass includes a ton of PC games (and plenty that are available on both), but in order to play them, you have to download the files locally and play them on a gaming PC. According to recently-revealed court documents, Microsoft was planning on adding PC games to the Game Pass streaming setup, competing directly with services like Nvidia’s GeForce Now. The info is not official, even though it was scrounged from internal Microsoft documents. As with a lot of corporate revelations as of late, you can thank a lawsuit for the news. This tidbit was revealed in an internal email chain presented as evidence in the US Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit, as Microsoft attempts to buy game publishing giant Activision Blizzard. A string of communications between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and other executives back in 2021 showed them discussing Google’s Stadia game streaming platform, which has since flopped. The Verge breaks it down: Specifically, the execs were discussing Google’s ability to leverage its cloud computing muscle to offer Stadia to third-party companies as a white-label service (something that Google did, eventually, try out). Microsoft, itself a pretty huge player in the cloud computing world, might be able to compete. “I am assuming we will do the same for Game Pass PC, right?” Nadella asks, to which Microsoft’s gaming boss Phil Spencer and Xbox creator lead Sarah Bond respond in the affirmative. The issue is that Xbox Cloud Gaming’s streaming system is currently based on customized Xbox hardware, essentially stripped-down servers made out of the same chips you’d find in an Xbox Series X console. Though it’s all based on AMD x64 hardware, it’s incredibly fine-tuned to create a consistent console experience, and it can’t run PC games designed for a regular desktop with a discrete graphics card (at least not without a lot of extra software work). In order to deliver modern PC games a la GeForce Now or the late, not-so-great Stadia, Microsoft would need to update and augment some of the hardware of its Azure cloud platform. These emails indicate that Satya Nadella wanted this to happen, and his executive team was working on it at least conceptually two years ago. Will we see it come to fruition? That’s a lot less clear two years later. Spencer says in a later email that Nvidia’s service is “to date our #1 competitor,” and that remains true as Stadia has collapsed. Newer players in the market like Amazon’s Luna service and the revamped PlayStation Plus seem tepid at best. Meanwhile Microsoft is still going hard for conventional, locally played games and streamed Xbox titles. The mega-RPG Starfield, by Microsoft subsidiary Bethesda, is available as a local title on PC and Xbox, with the console version streaming to Game Pass subscribers as well. We may or may not see an expansion of PC-only games offered up for streaming play, but it seems like a natural extension of the everything, everywhere strategy of Game Pass. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2072865/microsoft-wants-to-stream-pc-game-pass-games-too.html

Star Citizen is an exciting space game that places players amid the stars where they can experience immersive combat, trading, and more. Cloud Imperium hopes to offer interstellar adventures like no other online game has with Star Citizen‘s full release, and has been working to frequently update the alpha build for fans currently traversing the stars. The developer has just announced the massive upcoming Alpha 3.20 update, revealing that the patch will bring full HDR support to the game. In a post about the Alpha 3.20 patch, Cloud Imperium writes, “We’re excited to announce that High Dynamic Range (HDR) support is on its way to Star Citizen, and it’s set to make its debut in the upcoming patch Alpha 3.20.” The dev goes on to say the studio understands “that many of you have been eagerly awaiting this feature,” and has therefore “been working on optimizing the game to ensure you can fully immerse yourself in its beauty.” Cloud Imperium explains how HDR aids in immersion with “higher peak brightness while maintaining the darkness of shadow tones, therefore increasing the contrast ratio.” With the new setting, you’ll notice more visible details and bright highlights. Think of sunny days with snowy surfaces. The update comes after the recent Star Citizen public test access changes, which introduced a new priority system favoring the game’s most active players. For the most optimal experience, you should dim your room’s lights to see the new setting’s full effects. The dev says, “In a bright environment, even the best displays will reflect 1-2% of the ambient lighting, resulting in muddy shadow tones and a perceived loss of contrast.” You’ll choose how much HDR power or “peak brightness” your game uses with a new slider, which Cloud Imperium recommends pushing to the maximum. Be sure to activate HDR via your Windows settings before trying to do so in-game, since it won’t be available to toggle otherwise. It’s also important to note that not every build supports the setting, so you’ll have to make sure you’re able to make use of it hardware-wise first. For more information on the Alpha 3.20 patch as well as Cloud Imperium’s complete explanation of the game’s upcoming HDR support, you can find the dev’s post on the Star Citizen forums. If you’re searching for something new to play while you wait for Star Citizen’s full release, you can hop into some of these other great multiplayer games with your friends. Alternatively, browse through a few of the other most exciting upcoming PC games in the works right now. https://www.pcgamesn.com/star-citizen/update-hdr-support

Unlike its rivals AMD and Intel, Nvidia yet has to implement a multi-chiplet design for high-performance compute GPUs, but it looks like the company might be on track to finally use this design layout with its next-generation Blackwell generation of GPUs. At least so says renowned hardware leaker @kopite7kimi, who tends to have accurate information about Nvidia's intentions. For now, this is all a pure speculation though. "After the dramas of GA100 and GH100, it seems that GB100 is finally going to use MCM," @kopite7kimi wrote in an X post. "Maybe GB100=2*GB102." Nvidia's GA100 and GH100 compute GPUs feature a die size 826 mm² and 814 mm², which is very close to the maximum reticle size of 858 mm2. Producing such large chips with good yields is hard, but it looks like TSMC does it pretty well since Nvidia literally ships tons of H100 and A100 compute GPUs every quarter. While Nvidia has consistently managed to increase performance of its compute GPUs quite tangibly with every new generation so far, reticle size is still an issue. Using a multi-chiplet design would enable Nvidia to add more transistors into its next-generation compute GPU and increase performance gain over its H100 more significantly than it would do with architectural improvements alone. Since both AMD and Intel have already adopted multi-chiplet designs for their compute GPUs and will only further increase chiplet and transistor count going forward, Nvidia might not have a choice but to embrace a multi-tile design too. It remains to be seen whether the company would go with a dual-chiplet (like AMD's Instinct MI250) or multi-chiplet (like AMD's Instinct MI300 or Intel's Ponte Vecchio) approach, but the company just cannot ignore advantages presented by modern packaging technologies. If we continue to speculate, we might assume that Nvidia will adopt multi-tile design only for its Blackwell GPUs for AI and HPC compute, whereas its gaming GPUs will remain monolithic. This might make sense since making two GPUs work in parallel is hard. But then again, Nvidia might not be able to ignore multi-chiplet designs even for client PCs in the High-NA era since ASML's next-generation scanners will halve reticle size (to 429 mm2) and Nvidia will not be able to address high-end gaming machines with monstrous monolithic GPUs like the AD102 (609 mm2) unless they use at least two chiplets. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidias-next-gen-blackwell-gpus-rumored-to-use-multi-chiplet-design

Telecom regulator TRAI on Thursday invited public comments to explore ways and means to make smartphone affordable in the country for digital inclusion. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as part of its consultation paper on "Digital Inclusion in the Era of Emerging Technologies" will assess if measures taken by the government such as focussing on local manufacturing are sufficient to bring down the prices of smartphones in India. "What measures should be taken to make digital devices and digital connectivity affordable to the citizens for empowering them to maximize the benefits of an inclusive digital society?" TRAI asked in the consultation paper. In the paper, TRAI has cited example of smartphone financing and exploring viability of second hand smartphones in the country. The regulator sees that the rapid pace of technological advancements and launch of 5G enabled services including artificial intelligence and machine learning can widen digital divide if not made affordable and accessible to marginalized communities and underserved regions. "Unequal access of infrastructure, limited digital literacy, and affordability issues could hinder the equitable distribution and utilization of emerging technologies, exacerbating existing disparities in digital inclusion. To ensure comprehensive digital inclusion, it is imperative to address the gaps which are likely to arise due to emerging technologies," TRAI said. The regulator has fixed October 16 as last date for giving comments and October 31 for counter comments on the paper. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/news/trai-invites-public-comments-ways-means-make-smartphone-affordable-india-4397758

The Windows 11 Photos app is testing a pair of key AI-powered features, continuing a surprising and welcome renaissance in Microsoft’s multimedia apps. Microsoft said Thursday that the Photos app is adding background blur, the “portrait mode” that’s become common smartphones. Even better, the OneDrive app now has smarter search capabilities for photos, so that you’ll be able to search by the content of the picture, such as a beach scene or “snow.” We criticized Microsoft earlier this year for the fact the old Photos app was better than the new one. And in some sense, it is: in Photos Legacy, you can search for content, such as the previously mentioned beach scenes. Provided that you’ve connected Photos to OneDrive (which you can do in the drop-down menu on the left-hand rail) you can now use the regular Photos app as a front door to OneDrive photo searches. We should point out, too, that in May Microsoft re-introduced Spot Fix to Photos, which allows you to highlight a small area and use AI to filter out any anomalies. (Think specks of dust on a laptop.) Background blur, though, hints at another feature we recently lobbied for: Paint3D’s Magic Select, which has now been added to Paint. Really, Background Blur and Magic Select perform the same task. They identify and separate the foreground subject from the background. Magic Select cuts it away; Background Blur simply applies an AI blur filter to the background. There’s one problem: the portrait mode/background blur feature that Microsoft has shown us before was pretty poor. That came courtesy of the Surface Duo 2, the dual-screen smartphone that apparently Microsoft has abandoned. In our photo of a statue, the Duo applied the background blur feature on only part of the scene. We’ll have to see if Photos is any better. If nothing else, Background Blur is adjustable. Microsoft is providing these new features in the Canary and Dev Channels of Microsoft Photos, so there’s no guarantee that you’ll eventually see it. There’s a good chance, though, and it’s great to see Photos gain some unexpected new improvements. Can Magic Select be next? https://www.pcworld.com/article/2069425/microsoft-photos-renaissance-continues-with-new-ai-features.html

Although the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) yet has to formally ratify the Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) specification, the technology is coming to market. Intel has already unveiled its first Wi-Fi 7 controllers and adapters, which will be coming to the market in various forms this year. Intel currently lists two M.2-2230 draft Wi-Fi 7 adapters (as noticed by @ghost_motley): the Intel BE200 and the Intel BE202. Both adapters support 2x2 TX/RX streams, use 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands, and the BE200 has a maximum speed of 5 Gbit/s, which is significantly below the maximum transfer rate supported by the standard. The exact differences between the two parts is unknown at this point, but Intel claims that the BE200 is Wi-Fi 7 pre-certified. Both Intel's BE200 and BE202 support PCIe and USB interfaces and can be used for desktop motherboards and laptops. The BE200 will be used by the upcoming Gigabyte Aorus Z790 Master X motherboard (PCB revision 1.2), as noticed by @momomo_us. Meanwhile, some other versions of the platform will use Qualcomm's Wi-Fi 7 QCNCM865 (PCB rev. 1.0) and MediaTek's Wi-Fi 7 MT7927, RZ738 (PCB rev. 1.1). To take advantage of Wi-Fi 7, users will also need to use Wi-Fi 7-compliant routers and access points. Wi-Fi 7 promises a maximum aggregated bitrate of 40 Gbit/s, positioning it as a potential successor to wired Ethernet for the majority of users. To achieve these impressive rates, Wi-Fi 7 will harness three frequency bands: 2.40 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz, will expand channel width to 320 MHz, and incorporate 4096-QAM. However, many client devices will likely operate at slower speeds, as Intel's BE200 example demonstrates. The technology will also build upon the foundations set by its predecessors. It will mandatorily support features like MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) and OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access), which were introduced and supported by Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E. These enhancements are expected to optimize the efficiency and capacity of wireless connections. Intel originally envisioned Wi-Fi 7's application in bandwidth-demanding tasks, especially in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets that used Intel's WiGig technology. While the IEEE plans to formally adopt the IEEE 802.11be specification by 2025, Intel and others are optimistic about the technology's performance and have already launched their first Wi-Fi 7-compliant controllers and adapters. That said, it will likely be years before Wi-Fi 7 devices are ubiquitous. Full certification of the spec isn't expected until sometime in 2024, with the major rollout of compatible client devices coming after that. So if you recently bought a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E router, it should serve you well for now. But a year or two down the road, you may want to consider upgrading -- especially if you have a need for wireless speed and a desire to be on the cutting edge of consumer tech. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intels-wi-fi-7-adapters-chipsets-arriving-soon

FFXIV might be one of the biggest and best MMORPGs going, but it’s only fairly recently managed to attract its audience to the PvP space with the addition of Crystalline Conflict. As FFXIV celebrates the ten-year anniversary of its rebirth and prepares to sail towards a new adventure with the FFXIV Dawntrail release date next year, PCGamesN asks Square Enix’s FFXIV battle system designer Hikaru Tamaki what makes the mode so special, and what he loves most about it. Final Fantasy 14 has risen to heights beyond anything expected after its initial, failed launch back in 2010, with its reworked A Realm Reborn and the award-winning expansions that followed propelling it to the very peak of the genre, but Square Enix has long struggled to find a footing in the PvP side of things – until the arrival of Crystalline Conflict, that is, which released with the Endwalker expansion’s patch 6.1 in April 2022. I ask Tamaki why he thinks the mode is great for players to jump into, even those who might not be familiar with FFXIV PvP. He notes that the ease of jumping into a game without high commitment makes it easier to try out than other modes. “The time per match is short in Crystalline Conflict, allowing for fast-paced play whether you win or lose, and rewards for participation include EXP for your job and Series EXP for exclusive rewards.” There’s also the option to play casual matches, where there’s no risk of dropping down to a lower tier if you lose. “So I’d love for players to take it easy and enjoy the content,” Tamaki adds. Another key feature in Crystalline Conflict’s favor is its visual clarity. Over the years, FFXIV has gotten increasingly better about striking a balance between good-looking effects and making sure players can clearly tell what’s going on. This becomes especially important for bigger mechanics, such as the eruptions in the Volcanic Heart map – something Takami says he’s rather fond of. “I think we succeeded in making it visually appealing and flashy, while incorporating the bomb monster, which is po[CENSORED]r throughout the mainline Final Fantasy franchise,” he explains. “As with other mechanics, we are conscious of making sure that even beginners and those who enjoy spectating can tell that something great is playing out in front of them.” Map-specific tricks and mechanics are a big part of the appeal of the various Crystalline Conflict maps, making each stand out from the others. I ask Tamaki which is his favorite, and he tells me, “As a mechanic, it’s simple, but the sprint lanes are my favorite. Simply moving faster can be exhilarating, and it can also be used strategically, such as chasing after or running away from enemies.” “From a more developer’s perspective,” he adds, “the sprint lane is also a useful mechanic in that it can be incorporated as a conduit of sorts between points that are slightly separated from each other, regardless of the map’s characteristics, and it allows battles to occur at various points over a large area of the map.” As for what we can expect for the future of the mode, Tamaki says, “Personally, I am looking for a little more expandability for jobs controlled by the player.” While he notes that new maps and improvements to the systems and UI will continue to roll out, the most recent of which are due to arrive with FFXIV patch 6.5, he thinks that “if we can make some enhancements to the actual characters and actions players can operate, they will be able to appreciate a sensation of ‘change’ as they play the content.” So which jobs does Tamaki prefer to play in the mode? “Partially because I’m originally a fan of healers anyway but my favorite would be Astrologian with its particularly high healing potency,” he responds. “Depending on how the actions are used, it can make a significant contribution on the offensive side, and I like the fact that there are many options available. My answer is dark knight for tanks, and for DPS, I often play ninja and dancer!” As for which jobs he’d recommend to new Crystalline Conflict players, he notes that “it’s best to play what you actually feel comfortable with,” but suggests players consider starting out on tanks or using ranged jobs that might be a bit more survivable, as newcomers to the mode won’t be used to PvP-specific actions. “I think the first barrier for newcomers would be PvP-specific actions such as Guard and Recuperate,” Tamaki says. “Sprint and limit breaks work on a different system from PvE as well.” He recommends playing the larger-scale Frontline mode as a way to get to grips with these, but notes that the team is considering ways to introduce “a system for players to learn about the functions of such actions and the specific methods for using them.” Also recommended are the jobs “that are not so difficult to play, but with powerful limit breaks that make it easy for players to enjoy the sensation of making an active contribution to the team.” Tamaki points to the Warrior as a good tank pick, but also suggests that “Dragoon from melee DPS, Machinist from physical ranged DPS, Summoner from magical ranged DPS, and White Mage from healers are especially recommended!” Once you’ve dominated on the battlefields of Crystalline Conflict, why not relax and work on your FFXIV Island Sanctuary with the help of our comprehensive guide? We’ve also picked out the best single-player MMOs if you fancy more games as well-suited as FFXIV to playing by yourself. https://www.pcgamesn.com/100-best-free-pc-games

Liz Truss will blame the UK’s economic problems on “25 years of economic consensus” as she doubles down on the policy proposals that helped trigger financial turmoil and caused her to be ousted from Downing Street after just 49 days. The former prime minister will give a speech at the Institute for Government on Monday, almost exactly a year since her government’s “mini-budget”, which caused the pound to crash and ultimately led to her downfall. Speaking days after it emerged that the UK economy shrank by 0.5% in July, Truss will say the UK’s current economic problems are not her fault. “I believe that the reason for the problems we have is the 25 years of economic consensus that have led us to this period of stagnation,” she will say, according to extracts from her speech briefed in advance. “And I believe it is vital that we understand that and shatter that economic consensus, if we are to avoid worse problems in the future.” Truss will add: “Some say this is a crisis of capitalism – that free markets are responsible. But that’s not borne out by the facts. Quite the opposite is true. The fact is that since the Labour government was elected in 1997, we have moved towards being a more corporatist social democracy in Britain than we were in the 1980s and 1990s.” Truss has spent the past few months attempting to rehabilitate her political reputation after her turbulent time in No 10 – the shortest ever term for a prime minister. Last week she gave an interview to the Mail on Sunday in which she accused the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility of being part of “an orthodoxy that was gradually moving to the left”. In her speech on Monday she will say: “Free market economists went off to lucrative jobs in the City, allowing academic institutions and thinktanks to be captured by the left.” Truss’s opponents reacted to news of the speech by renewing their criticisms of her premiership. Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader, likened the speech to “an arsonist giving a talk on fire safety”, while Labour urged her successor, Rishi Sunak, to block her planned resignation honours list. The former Bank of England governor Mark Carney said Truss created “Argentina on the Channel” not “Singapore on Thames”. Carney was in Montreal on Saturday at the Global Progress Action Summit, and made the comment in a reference to Argentina’s history of being unable to services its debts and Truss’s mini-budget of unfunded tax cuts. Truss is writing a book about her period in office entitled Ten Years To Save the West, which is due to come out next spring. But further details about that time emerged over the weekend in extracts from a forthcoming book by the Telegraph’s political editor, Ben Riley-Smith. According to the book, senior officials at No 10 and the Treasury had to intervene to persuade Truss to abandon many of her policies after being warned by City executives that the UK would enter a financial crisis within days if she did not. Extracts revealed that several people at the top of government – including the incoming Treasury permanent secretary, James Bowler, and the cabinet secretary, Simon Case – were brought in over the course of a single day last September to warn her of the potential consequences of her policies. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/sep/17/liz-truss-speech-uk-economic-problems-left-consensus

I’ve gone to get fish and chips, and a bush has started chirping at me. Not just one chirp, either. A barrage. I’ve never met such a chatty bush. Swanage is hot, sandy, lazy. A seaside minibreak, wringing the last drops of summer from the year. A squabble of herring gulls argue over a chip. Crows loiter with intent to scavenge. A pied wagtail bounces overhead, lands on a patch of sandy grass, and struts its wind-up toy walk, on the lookout for scraps. British seasiders play fast and loose with the foodstuffs, and there are easy pickings to be had. So the chatty bush is no surprise. They are house sparrows, the ultimate LBJ (little brown job) and as enthusiastic a devourer of our leftovers as you’ll find. Thirty of them, give or take, babbling and chattering and falling over each other to say hello. Spadger, spug, squidgie, sparky, sprog – the wealth of folk names is a reflection of their former ubiquity. This encounter lifts the heart in strange and unfathomable ways. Back in the day they were so commonplace that 30 in a bush would barely have merited a glance. But times change, and now, on the comparatively rare occasions I do see them on my south London patch, I greet them with the exuberance reserved for old friends. The po[CENSORED]tion decline has been sharp – up to 70% between 1977 and 2018, with signs of a slight increase since then. The usual reasons are suspected – habitat loss, lack of suitable food, closing up of the little spaces where they like to nest. But sparrows are hardy and adaptable, and they like being around us. Recent research shows that the relationship goes back 11,000 years, to the development of agriculture. Their worldwide dispersal only actually came in the last two centuries, coinciding with Victorian expansion of empire, and enabled by genes that allow them to digest starchy grains – an ability lacking in their ancestors. Further along the beach, a Punch and Judy show – another declining species – blares out a tale of cartoon violence and sausages to an appreciative crowd. The gulls and crows – Jets and Sharks – bicker over a discarded sandwich. A lone sparrow pops up to the fringe of the bush and gives an enquiring chirp. Cocking its head, it clearly realises I’m a dead loss and disappears back into the depths. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/18/country-diary-a-bush-full-of-chatty-sparrows-is-a-bittersweet-delight

Great Britain reached the Davis Cup Finals last eight in remarkable fashion as Dan Evans and Neal Skupski saved four match points before winning a nerve-wracking decider against France. In front of a partisan British crowd in Manchester, Evans and Skupski beat Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6). Evans won from a set and a break down in the singles but Cameron Norrie lost. Evans and Skupski, roared on by the home fans, recovered to seal victory. "It was bonkers. I don't know what we've all sat through for nine hours," British captain Leon Smith said. Great Britain will now go on to the knockout phase of the men's team competition - known as the Final Eight - in Spanish city Malaga in November. Four nations - Britain, Australia, France and Switzerland - played in the round-robin event at Manchester's AO Arena, with the top two countries going through. Britain, who last won the Davis Cup in 2015, finished as Group B winners and will play Serbia or Italy when the draw is made on Tuesday. Australia progressed as runners-up, with defending champions Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland and the Netherlands completing the line-up. But notable absences will be hosts Spain, who failed to make it out of Group C, and 32-time champions the United States, who were stunned by Finland in their final Group D tie. 'No panic' for Evans and Skupski in nerve-wracking finale With Australia already qualified and Switzerland eliminated, Britain knew nothing other than a victory in the best-of-three tie against France would enable them to progress. What few of the 13,000 crowd - a record for a Davis Cup tie in the UK - would have predicted was the dramatic manner in which their goal was finally achieved. Evans, 33, laid the platform for the win when he fought back to beat French teenager Arthur Fils 3-6 6-3 6-4. British number one Norrie, 28, could not get his side over the line as he lost 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5 to Ugo Humbert, teeing up the winner-takes-all doubles match. Evans and Skupski, who have become Smith's first-choice doubles pair, recovered from a strong start by their experienced rivals before growing in confidence as the boisterous home fans lifted their spirits. Despite being unable to make a dent on the French pair's serve in the opening two sets, Evans and Skupski went up a gear in the tie-break to level the match. A nail-biting deciding set also remained on serve - but only after Evans recovered from a double fault which brought up three match points at 5-4. Evans found a first serve to save one as Roger-Vasselin hit a forehand into the net, boldly watched another return go just long on the second and then saw another forehand from the Frenchman went wide on the third. The British pair saved another match point on Skupski's serve at 6-5 before converting their second opportunity in the deciding tie-break. "There was no panic," said 33-year-old Skupski, who is the world doubles number three and this year's Wimbledon champion. "We just went to the next point. I knew if we got through that game somehow the momentum was going to swing our way." But notable absences will be hosts Spain, who failed to make it out of Group C, and 32-time champions the United States, who were stunned by Finland in their final Group D tie. 'No panic' for Evans and Skupski in nerve-wracking finale With Australia already qualified and Switzerland eliminated, Britain knew nothing other than a victory in the best-of-three tie against France would enable them to progress. What few of the 13,000 crowd - a record for a Davis Cup tie in the UK - would have predicted was the dramatic manner in which their goal was finally achieved. Evans, 33, laid the platform for the win when he fought back to beat French teenager Arthur Fils 3-6 6-3 6-4. British number one Norrie, 28, could not get his side over the line as he lost 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-5 to Ugo Humbert, teeing up the winner-takes-all doubles match. Evans and Skupski, who have become Smith's first-choice doubles pair, recovered from a strong start by their experienced rivals before growing in confidence as the boisterous home fans lifted their spirits. Despite being unable to make a dent on the French pair's serve in the opening two sets, Evans and Skupski went up a gear in the tie-break to level the match. A nail-biting deciding set also remained on serve - but only after Evans recovered from a double fault which brought up three match points at 5-4. Evans found a first serve to save one as Roger-Vasselin hit a forehand into the net, boldly watched another return go just long on the second and then saw another forehand from the Frenchman went wide on the third. The British pair saved another match point on Skupski's serve at 6-5 before converting their second opportunity in the deciding tie-break. "There was no panic," said 33-year-old Skupski, who is the world doubles number three and this year's Wimbledon champion. "We just went to the next point. I knew if we got through that game somehow the momentum was going to swing our way." https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/66838065

A masked doctor leans down into a black plastic body bag, and gently mani[CENSORED]tes the legs of the man inside. "First we determine age, sex and length," he explains. "He's in the putrefaction stage now, because of the water." In a hospital car park in the eastern Libyan city of Derna, the final details of one of its many victims are being carefully checked and logged. This is now one of the most vital jobs here, and one of the most distressing. The man is unrecognisable after spending a week in the sea. His body washed ashore that morning. Expert hands gently probe, looking for identifying marks and taking a DNA swab. That's important, in case there's a family still alive to claim him. More than 10,000 people remain officially missing, according to figures from the UN's Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The Red Crescent has been issuing its own numbers. The UN says the death toll so far stands at some 11,300. The final total remains unclear - although the one thing that is certain is the sheer scale of this catastrophe. Mohammed Miftah knows in his heart his family are among the victims. When he went to find his sister and her husband at their home after the floods, it had been washed away. He's heard nothing from them since. He shows me a video he took as the torrent rose, brown water pouring in through his front door. A car is carried on the current and wedges into the open space, blocking it completely. "I saw cars coming down and I came out running," he recalls. "I thought that was it, that I was going to die. We could see our neighbours waving flashlights. In just a few moments, the lights went out, and they had disappeared. "That was the hardest thing." As international aid begins to arrive in earnest, the Health Minister of Libya's eastern government has announced that four Greek rescue workers were killed in an accident on the road to Derna. Fifteen more were injured. They were on their way to join teams already on the ground from France and Italy. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have also flown in tons of extra supplies. The next step is making sure they're used properly and fairly. Abdullah Bathily, the Head of the UN's International Support Mission in Libya, told BBC Arabic the country now needs to create a transparent mechanism to manage all of its international donations. It's a concern borne from the well-known challenges of coordinating between the government in Tripoli which is internationally recognised, and the eastern Libyan government, which isn't. Back in the centre of Derna there are some points of light amid the mud and debris that has enveloped this city. On one street corner, hundreds of colourful clothes lie scattered in piles. Across the road a huge queue forms as fuel is handed out to survivors. As the donations keep coming, one man arrives and places a box of warm scarves at the feet of an elderly woman. He kisses her head tenderly, as she smiles and begins to choose one. These are Libyans helping Libyans in one of their worst moments of crisis. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66838559

Lochs in the Highlands of Scotland are among the most spectacular and pristine wildlife areas in Britain, attracting tourists from around the world. They are also a production line for what have become supermarket staples: smoked and fresh salmon. The salmon industry says fish health and welfare are at the heart of successful Scottish salmon farming, but a new investigation by Viva!, the vegan campaigning charity, highlights the parasites and jellyfish blighting intensive fish production. Campaigners deployed cameras with underwater drones at salmon farms operated by some of Scotland’s biggest producers. They recorded what they call “monstrous invasions” of sea lice and swarms of jellyfish. Lex Rigby, head of investigations at Viva!, said: “The intensification of fish farming as a ‘solution’ to overfishing has created a breeding ground for disease in which salmon suffer appallingly.” The sea lice – Lepeophtheirus salmonis – feed on the salmons’ skin and are potentially lethal to the fish. They are typically treated with licensed medicines or physical methods including bathing in freshwater. Viva! filmed at salmon farms in Loch Torridon, Loch Carron and Loch Kishorn in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. The footage shows many salmon infested with parasitic sea lice. The farms are operated by leading food producers supplying UK supermarkets and overseas markets, with salmon now one of Britain’s biggest food exports. Footage taken at a seawater farm on Loch Torridon operated by Mowi, the world’s largest supplier of farm-raised salmon, shows several salmon infested with sea lice. The farm’s own official reported counts in 2023 of weekly average female adult sea lice per fish have been between 0.03 and 5.4. Treatments for infestations are started when there is an average of between 0.5 and one adult female lice per fish. Filming at the Bakkafrost salmon farm at West Strome, Loch Carron, also showed fish lice infestations. The farm’s own official reported counts in 2023 of weekly average female adult sea lice per fish have been between zero and 2.14. Filming at three farms operated by Scottish Sea Farms at Loch Kishorn showed sea lice and swarms of jellyfish. A report by the charity WildFish warned in March that the Scottish fish-farming industry was failing to contain sea lice parasites on open-net farms. It found more than two-thirds of active farms (132 out of 192) breached sea lice limits in the industry’s code of good practice on at least one occasion. The report stated: “The rapid expansion of open-net marine salmon and rainbow trout farming in Scotland in the last 30 years has led to increasing concern about parasitic sea lice infestations on these farms, and the threat these pose to the health and survival of wild and farmed salmon.” The Observer reported in January how salmon deaths on fish farms in Scotland nearly doubled last year owing to growing levels of disease, parasites and jellyfish bloom. Micro jellyfish, which may be linked to warming oceans, are a particular threat, blocking or stinging fish gills, leading to death. Salmon Scotland, which represents the producers, said farms were working hard to manage sea lice numbers. It said the industry was transparent about the challenges it faced. Dr Iain Berrill, head of technical at Salmon Scotland, said: “The Scottish salmon sector is committed to our marine environment, and we are constantly innovating to manage naturally occurring challenges like sea lice that affect wild salmon and farm-raised salmon alike. “Salmon farmers work hard year round to manage sea lice numbers using technology and innovation.” Salmon Scotland said various factors are involved in the decline of wild salmon, such as river water quality, which it said is occurring across Europe, even in places where there is no aquaculture. Scottish Sea Farms said the recent sea lice counts at its three Loch Kishorn farms were low, with an average of 0.18 adult females per fish. It said high levels of micro jellyfish were found in June, which threatened the fish, and they were harvested early. Regin Jacobsen, CEO of Bakkafrost, said the company had significantly invested in new technology to combat sea lice, with two vessels in Scotland installed with large tanks for freshwater treatments. “Sea lice do not survive in freshwater, and it is very effective,” he said. “If you don’t have the right tools, the sea lice numbers can escalate. We are now ahead of the problem.” Some within the salmon industry believe that building fish farms on land could tackle issues including disease. In May, AquaCultured Seafood unveiled proposals for the UK’s first land-based farm in Grimsby, a £75m facility with 50 tanks to rear 5,000 tonnes of salmon a year. Animal experts, veterinarians and academics recently wrote to Gillian Martin, the Scottish government’s minister for energy and the environment, asking her to conduct an independent risk assessment of facilities based on land. Abigail Penny, the executive director of Animal Equality UK, said onshore farms would only shift the damaging impacts of salmon farming “from sea to shore”. A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Our recent Vision for Sustainable Aquaculture sets out our support for the development of an aquaculture sector that operates within environmental limits, and recognises the considerable social and economic benefits the sector delivers.” Mowi did not respond to a request for comment. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/16/sea-lice-jellyfish-farmed-scottish-salmon-supermarkets

Preston Brashers, Senior Tax Policy Analyst at Heritage Foundation has a new analysis on the relationship between the Biden Administration’s higher taxes, but lower tax receipts. In 2023, despite implementing tax hikes amounting to over $60 billion, U.S. tax revenues have fallen by almost $400 billion, marking a 13% drop in tax receipts from the previous year. This unusual decline can be attributed to several factors: Slow Economic Growth: Economic growth has slowed, leading to stagnant incomes and reduced tax receipts, especially in capital gains taxes. Explosion of Green Tax Credits: The Inflation Reduction Act introduced numerous green tax credits, which have proven to be more costly than anticipated, potentially exceeding a trillion dollars over a decade. IRS Regulatory Activism: The IRS expanded the size of green tax credits through regulatory interpretations, allowing for loopholes that led to a significant increase in electric vehicle sales through leases. COVID-19-Era Employee Retention Credits (ERC): ERC, initially created for pandemic relief, has seen widespread abuse and fraudulent claims, with billions paid out long after the pandemic ended. Flaws in Budget-Scoring Process: Budget models used by government agencies do not account for economic growth and can be mani[CENSORED]ted by lawmakers, leading to claims of deficit reduction while the national debt continues to grow. The United States will sooner or later be faced with a serious reality check: the sea of debt being accumulated at a breakneck pace is not sustainable. https://uspolicy.org/heritage-biden-raised-taxes-but-tax-revenues-are-way-down-this-year/

The body of a newborn baby has been recovered from a boat carrying migrants during a rescue operation off the Italian island of Lampedusa. The mother is thought to have given birth during the journey from North Africa, the Ansa news agency says, and the death is being investigated. More than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Lampedusa over the past three days. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen is due to visit the island on Sunday after Italy asked for EU help. Italian newspaper Corriere Del Mezzogiorno reports the mother was helped by companions on the small boat after she started having contractions. The child's body was later placed in a white coffin and taken to a cemetery in Lampedusa's Imbriacola district, it adds. Earlier this week a five-month-old baby boy drowned during a rescue operation off the same island, after a boat carrying migrants across the sea from north Africa capsized. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the country was being placed under "unsustainable pressure" as a result of the migrant influx. Ms Meloni is pushing for a European Union naval blockade to prevent boats from crossing the Mediterranean to reach Italian shores. The Italian Red Cross has said it is currently dealing with about 2,500 people at a reception centre designed for 400 arrivals. Volunteers and staff have been providing thousands of meals all week and helping transfer new arrivals to Sicily and elsewhere. Nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, which is about double the number for the same period in 2022. Ms Meloni said she was calling on Ms von der Leyen "to personally realize the gravity of the situation we face" and to "immediately accelerate" the implementation of an agreement with Tunisia. The North African country has become the main departure point for African migrants attempting to reach Europe. The EU deal, which was signed in July, is backed up by €110m ($118m; £90m) of EU cash to stop smuggling, strengthen borders and return migrants. The surge in arrivals led to protests by Lampedusa's residents on Saturday who demonstrated against plans to build a new tent camp to host the migrants. "I have two children at home. In the past years, I did not care about this issue. But now I have an instinct of protection for my children because I don't know what will happen to Lampedusa in the future," one of the protesters told the Reuters news agency. "Lampedusa says stop! We don't want tent camps. This message is for Europe and for the Italian government. Lampedusa residents are tired," another protester said. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66830846

Manchester United were beaten 3-1 by Brighton at Old Trafford as the home crowd turned on manager Erik ten Hag. Ten Hag has enjoyed the overwhelming backing of United fans since his arrival last summer and the majority have supported the Dutchman in his current dispute with winger Jadon Sancho. But they let Ten Hag know they did not agree with his decision to replace new signing Rasmus Hojlund with Anthony Martial 19 minutes into the second period in no uncertain manner, as a cacophony of boos rang round the stadium before the Dane was applauded off. The change didn't make much difference for United, who were behind thanks to a first-half goal from one-time home favourite Danny Welbeck, which was followed up after the interval by efforts from Pascal Gross and substitute Joao Pedro, who were both given far too much space around the United penalty box. Hannibal Mejbri's first United goal gave the hosts some hope, but in a frenetic finish it was the visitors who came closest to finding the net again as Andre Onana made four excellent saves, the best of which came in injury-time to deny on-loan Barcelona man Ansu Fati a debut goal. It was United's first home defeat in 13 months, when Brighton again triumphed here. The Seagulls are now on a run of four successive Premier League wins over their hosts, and this victory brought more boos at the final whistle, though not on anywhere near the same scale as when Hojlund was withdrawn. Ten Hag's side have now conceded 10 goals in their last four games, and have also conceded more than one in four successive league matches for the first time since 1979. Things were not supposed to be like this for United. Six points from their opening five games represents their worst start since the 2014-15 campaign under Louis van Gaal. In addition to the three damaging defeats they suffered, they are also without Sancho, who is training away from the first team after he said on social media he felt he was being made a scapegoat by Ten Hag in a clear challenge to the manager's authority. Fellow winger Antony is also absent, having been given time off to address allegations made by his former partner. With new signings Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat watching from the stands, Ten Hag is clearly struggling with significant membersof his squad missing. Still, United had plenty of experience on show, but with the exception of Marcus Rashford they were largely toothless in attack. The England forward had one first-half effort deflected onto the angle between post and crossbar, and also supplied the low cross which Hojlund, sliding in, probably should have converted. At that point, with the game still goalless and United enjoying an encouraging start, a goal could have been pivotal. As it was, the home side's momentum gradually petered out and there was no repeat of the heroics which saw them come from two goals down to win against Nottingham Forest last month. Brighton on the march While Ten Hag's side is still being viewed as a rebuild in progress, it is worth remembering the Dutchman has been in charge of his team longer than Roberto De Zerbi has been at Brighton. In that regard, the comparisons between the two sides are stark. Six of United's starting line-up were bought during Ten Hag's tenure, while only one De Zerbi's signing - former Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud - started for Brighton. Evidently, De Zerbi has made a massive impact with his attention to detail and tactical acumen, which owner Tony Bloom admitted this week have caught him by surprise. But through Bloom, chief executive Paul Barber, skipper Lewis Dunk and beyond, there is a continuity and vision about Brighton which those in power at Old Trafford would do well to take note of. Simon Adingra is another previously 'unknown' player making a huge impact for the Seagulls this season, as so many have done in recent years. Bought from Danish club Nordsjaelland last year, the Ivorian was loaned out to Bloom's Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise, before returning for the current campaign a more accomplished player. The 21-year-old created the opener by exploiting space on the home side's left flank and delivering a cross which Adam Lallana stepped over to allow Welbeck the room to finish. Kaoru Mitoma also travelled down the Brighton to Union SG loan route before returning to the south coast. The Japanese forward's impact is now well established and it was his pass that allowed Tariq Lamptey to set up Gross for Brighton's second, a goal made somewhat easier to convert for the German by Lisandro Martinez's fruitless dive to win possession inside his own area. With star signin Ansu Fati making his first appearance for the club in the final moments and a European debut against AEK Athens to come on Thursday, these really are unprecedented times for Brighton. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66760559

Buyers of Apple's new iPhone 15 Pro Max in some countries including China, Japan and the United States may have to wait until November to get the smartphone, an early sign of strong demand for the company as it started taking pre-orders on Friday. The indications are likely to ease some worries about demand for Apple's flagship device after a slump in the global smartphone market sapped iPhone sales in the June quarter. The four-to-five week wait period for the Pro Max in China could also allay fears of a financial hit in Apple's third-largest market amid growing competition from Huawei and Beijing's widening curbs on iPhone use by government staff. The wait is slightly shorter for iPhone 15 Pro in China at two to three weeks, according to Apple website. It said it could deliver iPhone 15 on September 22, the day the phone goes on sale in stores. In top market United States, buyers will have to wait for six to seven weeks before getting the Pro Max, the most expensive model in the iPhone 15 model line-up that was launched last week. The wait is five to six weeks for the model in Japan. But like China, the wait is shorter for the Pro model, with a period of just two to three weeks for the 128GB version in the US and Japan. Some analysts said the long wait period also reflected the lower initial supply of Pro Max as Apple faced hurdles in securing supplies of the displays used in the model with thinner bezels than previous iPhones. Those issues have, however, been resolved, said Nabila Popal, research director for worldwide tracker group, at IDC. "We expect Apple to get into full gear by the holiday season with shipments highly skewing towards the Pro Max model, which should give Apple a nice bump in its average-selling price." Strong China orders The high-end iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max models were sold out on the Apple store on Alibaba's Tmall marketplace within a minute of going on sale, Chinese local media reports said. On JD.com, one of Apple's biggest sale channels in China, more than 3.4 million reservations were placed in total for the four iPhone 15 models in the run-up to the e-commerce platform opening orders on Friday evening. "Since the decline of Huawei, the iPhone has been able to attract a massive number of consumers in the more than $600 (nearly Rs. 50,000) segment," said Ivan Lam, senior analyst at Counterpoint. "The new iPhone 15 series, especially the Pro series, will be a good choice for the installed base who are using iPhone 11/12 and looking for an update replacement," Lam said, while adding that Huawei's Mate 60 series will be a challenge to the iPhone. Huawei launched the smartphone with an advanced chip late last month and it could mark a comeback for the Chinese tech firm, which was once the world's biggest smartphone maker before its business was decimated by US export controls, analysts said. State media reported this week that better-than-expected sales had prompted Huawei to raise its second-half shipment target for its Mate 60 series by 20 percent and its forecast for overall new smartphone shipments in 2023 to at least 40 million units. Huawei's Mate 60 launch was unusual in that Huawei did not carry out any pre-marketing or organise a glitzy event. The company is set to hold an event on September 25, where it is expected to discuss its new smartphone. https://www.gadgets360.com/mobiles/news/iphone-15-pro-max-delivery-shifted-november-select-countries-4395964

A severe vulnerability has been found in libwebp, a code library used to render webp images, reports Stack Diary. Webp is a po[CENSORED]r image format used by many sites on the Internet – but also by apps and some other software that use web views – and the vulnerability can be used, among other things, to run malicious code on affected devices. Worse yet, it is reportedly being actively exploited by malicious attackers. The vulnerability has been labelled CVE-2023-4863 and is considered extremely serious. Major browsers such as Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave have already released security fixes. To make sure you have the latest version of a browser, go to Help > About (browser name) in its options menu. If a new update is available, it should then download automatically. The webp image format was developed by Google and has quickly grown in po[CENSORED]rity due to the high and lossless compression of images compared to other formats. https://www.pcworld.com/article/2068973/serious-vulnerability-found-time-to-update-browser.html

Streaming your games is nothing new, in the past we have streamed games from our gaming PC to a Raspberry Pi via Steam Link and Stadia (RIP). But, using Sunshine, a self-hosted game streaming service, we can stream any of our games to a compatible device. In this how-to we will use a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB running Moonlight, an open-source Nvidia gamestream client to stream AAA games from our gaming PC. For The Project You Will Need Raspberry Pi 4 4GB (2GB should be fine) Gaming PC Ethernet connection for PC and Pi Game Controller (USB or Bluetooth) How To Install Sunshine on a Windows PC Sunshine is a self-hosted game streaming server for Moonlight. It provides low latency streaming services and supports AMD, Nvidia and Intel GPU hardware encoding. It works with many of your games and launchers, giving you a games console-like experience. 1. Download the latest installer for your OS. You can find the latest release under Assets. If yours is not listed, click on “Show all assets”. We chose sunshine-windows-installer.exe for our Windows 10 machine. 2. Double click the installer and follow the instructions. You may see a “Windows protected your PC” dialog, if so click More Info and allow the installation. Use the default installation settings, and when complete, Sunshine will open the browser to the documentation page. Bookmark this page. 3. Select Sunshine from the Start menu. This will start a background service and the command prompt will show the current status. Make a note of the URL, if one appears. 4. Open the URL in a browser. In our case it was https://localhost:47990/. 5. Set the username and password. Make a note of the details as they are needed to login to the Sunshine service. 6. Enter your username and password to login to Sunshine. 7. Select Applications from the menu. The Applications menu is where we can create Moonlight launchers for our games. 8. Click on + Add New to create a new game launcher. 9. Give the application a name and, under Detached Commands, enter the full path to the game and click + to save. We prefixed cmd.exe /c to the command so that it spawns a command prompt. We are pointing the launcher to the shortcut file as it will call the GoG launcher and any other required applications. Adding the path and command requires a little trial and error. Some games will want a command prompt, others not. 10. Set the working directory to the required location. We used the details stored in the Cyberpunk 2077 shortcut but this will vary depending on the game. 11. Click on Find Cover to source a thumbnail, select the thumbnail and then click Save. The game has now been added to the Applications library and now our attention shifts to setting up Moonlight on a Raspberry Pi 4. How To Install Moonlight on Raspberry Pi 4 Moonlight is the application on our Raspberry Pi which will stream our games. It establishes a connection with the PC running Sunshine and streams games across the network. Installing Moonlight is relatively straightforward and in use it is even simpler. 1. Connect your Raspberry Pi to the same network as your PC running Sunshine. Ethernet is the best option, it provides a solid and dependable connection, 5 GHz Wi-Fi offers a compromise of fast connections, but no wires. 2. Plug in a game controller. We chose to use USB but a Bluetooth controller can also be used. 3. Open a Terminal and update and then upgrade the software on your Raspberry Pi. The update command will check our local list of repositories against a remote server. Any changes are updated to our local list. Then, we use that list to upgrade the software on the Raspberry Pi. This step can take some time, depending on your connection speed and the number of updates. sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y 4. Download and install Moonlight. This package will download Moonlight and a QT based GUI. sudo apt install moonlight-qt 5. Go to the main Raspberry Pi menu, select Games >> Moonlight. This will open Moonlight, and it will start searching for a server. It should automatically detect the Sunshine server running on your network. 6. Select the server to connect. Moonlight should auto-detect the Sunshine server. If not, click on the + icon in the top right and enter the IP address for the server. 7. Select your game from the list. This will trigger the game to start on the gaming PC. If you are playing with a controller, in our case an Xbox One controller, to exit a game press the View button, Share button left and right bumpers together. Keyboard users, press SHIFT+CTRL+ALT+Q to exit. 8. Settings options are found via the cog menu. Here you can change the streaming resolution, display mode (fullscreen is best) and under Advanced Settings force the Raspberry Pi to use hardware decoding. Now you have everything you need to stream and play your games library from the comfort of your sofa. https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/play-aaa-games-on-your-raspberry-pi

The humanoid shmear, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get you some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further. Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians. We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP. Where Is Xûr Located Today? Xûr's location can be found at Winding Cove in the EDZ on September 15 through September 19. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Winding Cove. When you arrive, make for the rock cliffs at the far end of the cove and look for a cave winding up to a platform next to some Fallen. There you'll find the retail monster who inspires us all. Exotic Engram Trinity Ghoul - Exotic Combat Bow Young Ahamkara's Spine - Exotic Hunter Gauntlets 10 Mobility 19 Resilience 3 Recovery 14 Discipline 9 Intellect 6 Strength Total: 61 Crest of Alpha Lupi - Exotic Titan Chest Armor 7 Mobility 17 Resilience 11 Recovery 2 Discipline 2 Intellect 30 Strength Total: 69 Getaway Artist - Exotic Warlock Gauntlets 3 Mobility 18 Resilience 13 Recovery 10 Discipline 2 Intellect 20 Strength Total: 66 Titans most definitely have the best exotic armor roll this week with a very high stat total on their chestpiece and sky high Strength. Warlocks also have a piece that's worth checking out, especially since it's got such delightfully low Mobility! Exotic Weapons Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon Paracausal Shot Fluted Barrel Alloy Magazine Snapshot Sights Textured Grip Not an amazing Hawkmoon roll this week, so you'd be best served to wait and see if he offers a better one down the road. Legendary Weapons Iota Draconis - Fusion Rifle Chambered Compensator/Extended Barrel Enhanced Battery/Liquid Coils Ensemble Harmony Charge Time Masterwork Interference VI - Grenade Launcher Confined Launch/Linear Compensator Spike Grenades/High-Velocity Rounds Grave Robber Swashbuckler Velocity Masterwork Hoosegow - Rocket Launcher Confined Launch/Quick Launch High-Velocity Rounds/Impact Casing Underdog Quickdraw Blast Radius Masterwork Tears of Contrition - Scout Rifle Extended Barrel/Smallbore Accurized Rounds/Flared Magwell Triple Tap Explosive Payload Extrovert Handling Masterwork Seventh Seraph SI-2 - Sidearm Corkscrew Rifling/Full Bore Steady Rounds/Flared Magwell Hip-Fire Grip Elemental Capacitor Range Masterwork Extraordinary Rendition - Submachine Gun Chambered Compensator/Polygonal Rifling Extended Mag/Steady Rounds Firmly Planted One For All Stability Masterwork Hollow Denial - Trace Rifle Corkscrew Rifling/Hammer-Forged Rifling Projection Fuse/Tactical Battery Lead From Gold Repulsor Brace Extrovert Stability Masterwork My top picks this week are the Tears of Contrition scout rifle with Triple Tap and Explosive Payload (can't go wrong with those) and Interference VI with Spike Grenades and Swashbuckler (even if Grave Robber is a bit of a waste). Warlock Legendary Armor For Warlocks, Xûr is selling the Simulator set which includes: Simulator Gauntlets 17 Mobility 2 Resilience 14 Recovery 2 Discipline 11 Intellect 20 Strength Total: 66 Simulator Chest Armor 10 Mobility 22 Resilience 2 Recovery 16 Discipline 15 Intellect 2 Strength Total: 67 Simulator Helmet 2 Mobility 28 Resilience 2 Recovery 10 Discipline 20 Intellect 2 Strength Total: 64 Simulator Leg Armor 18 Mobility 2 Resilience 10 Recovery 24 Discipline 2 Intellect 7 Strength Total: 63 Simulator Bond Everything is worth considering this week for the Warlocks, except the boots, which have high Mobility combined with a low stat total. The other three pieces are all worth checking out though, including the helmet, which combines low Mobility and high Resilience, even if the stat total isn't amazing. Titan Legendary Armor For Titans, Xûr is selling the Simulator set which includes: Simulator Gauntlets 6 Mobility 20 Resilience 7 Recovery 14 Discipline 16 Intellect 2 Strength Total: 65 Simulator Chest Armor 22 Mobility 10 Resilience 2 Recovery 12 Discipline 6 Intellect 14 Strength Total: 66 Simulator Helmet 12 Mobility 14 Resilience 6 Recovery 20 Discipline 2 Intellect 10 Strength Total: 64 Simulator Leg Armor 22 Mobility 2 Resilience 10 Recovery 15 Discipline 2 Intellect 14 Strength Total: 65 Simulator Mark The only really worthwhile roll this week for Titans are the gauntlets -- everything else has far too high Mobility for any of my punchy brethren to really get excited about. Hunter Legendary Armor For Hunters, Xûr is selling the Simulator set which includes: Simulator Gauntlets 7 Mobility 2 Resilience 24 Recovery 12 Discipline 20 Intellect 2 Strength Total: 67 Simulator Chest Armor 2 Mobility 18 Resilience 12 Recovery 10 Discipline 11 Intellect 10 Strength Total: 63 Simulator Helmet 2 Mobility 28 Resilience 2 Recovery 23 Discipline 7 Intellect 2 Strength Total: 64 Simulator Leg Armor 10 Mobility 2 Resilience 18 Recovery 6 Discipline 14 Intellect 10 Strength Total: 60 Simulator Cloak Hunters got what's probably the best roll this week overall with the gauntlets, which have a high stat total and spikiness in all the right places. That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! What did you think of season of the Witch's major story beat this week? Let us know in the comments! For more on Destiny, check out some of the new weapons and gear you can find in Lightfall or our walkthrough of Lightfall's campaign. https://www.ign.com/articles/destiny-2-where-is-xur-today-location-and-exotic-items-for-september-15-19

i vote for v2, beautiful text, effects.

Just over a year ago, President Biden aimed to lead the nation towards innovation and collaboration, promoting research and unity to solve one of modern life’s biggest challenges—cancer. The United States has a long history of innovation, driven by a patent system that protects inventors and encourages investment in research and development. But recent moves by the Biden Administration, including forcing “price negotiations” on ten drugs, have cast doubt on this innovation-friendly environment. Charles Sauer, President of The Market Institute has a new article in Real Clear Health looking at the incentives of healthcare innovation. He writes: “Just a year ago President Biden announced that his administration would begin the pursuit of eradicating cancer, but more recently he scrubbed that mission in pursuit of short-term political gain. On September 12th, 2022, President Biden announced his Cancer Moonshot. It was the 80th anniversary of President Kennedy declaring that we would go to the moon. As a sequel – the speech wasn’t as noble as President Kennedy’s – but the sentiment was a good one. It was President Biden’s goal to lead us in the direction of innovation and collaboration instead of division. The President wanted to promote innovation, promote research, unite the country behind a goal, and solve one of the biggest problems of modern life. To reach that goal the President needed innovation. Fortunately for the President, the US has a long history of innovation. In fact, innovation is baked into the fabric of the country and has been one of the primary things that set us apart from the rest of the world. Our founders created a patent system that wasn’t based on cronyism, race, or sex. Our patent system gave the opportunity for any inventor to have the right to their invention, for a limited time. In exchange for that right, inventors would disclose their innovation and after their time-limited right to exlclude was over the innovation was free for use by anyone. The patent system has driven our country forward, driven technology forward, and driven healthcare forward. Not only do inventors have the right to their invention, but companies and investors know that they can invest in inventions. This means that companies have an incentive to spend valuable resources on research and development, where without a patent system they might not. Without a patent system company “A” could do all of the work and company “B” could come in at the last moment and profit from the innovation. There would be no incentive to innovate, and innovation would likely slow to a trickle as companies started spending less on innovation and more on other aspects of their business. Incentives are simple. Incentives drive people, organizations, and economies. However, the Biden Administration recently released a list of 10 drugs that they would force into what they are calling “price negotiations”. The problem is that you can’t negotiate with the government, the government has all of the power. In this case they not only have all of the power, but if the pharmaceutical company fails to go along with the “negotiation” then the government will assess an onerous tax on these companies. And, out of the 10 drugs his priorities became clear, the President doesn’t actually support his cancer moonshot. The President supports price controls in a bid to buy votes instead of solving actual problems. The problem isn’t actually with the drugs on his list at all. Yes, the list is tragic, yes, it is unprecedented, and yes it is appalling. But, these drugs are already out on the market, so price setting them (what “negotiated prices” should be called) likely won’t have a dramatic effect on supply. The idea that this list conveys is that the incentive to innovate in these areas; heart problems, diabetes, and cancer; is over. Again, incentives are simple. Where incentives exist companies will follow. But, when those incentives go away why would a company risk their valuable resources pursuing the next big thing if the government has already proven that they can come in and take it. And, in reality the problem is even bigger than in these sectors. What if Elon Musk develops a new health clinic in space that is 100x better than anything on earth? Would the government mandate lower prices? President Biden’s list is an admittance that not only could they limit the prices, but they would.” https://uspolicy.org/sauer-houston-the-cancer-moonshot-has-a-problem/

Not only can Australia’s male palm cockatoos keep a beat, they craft their own unique drumsticks and pass the skills down to their sons. New research from the Australian National University, led by Prof Rob Heinsohn, shows these colourful birds make their own unique musical instruments from branches and hard seed pods. According to Heinsohn, a male palm cockatoo “ostentatiously breaks off the branch” in front of a female as a display of strength, before whittling it down to their preferred specifications. “Some leave them long and skinny … others make them short and fat,” said Heinsohn. Once the display is over, the male simply discards his handiwork. The palm cockatoo, found on the Cape York peninsula in Far North Queensland, has been known for its drumming since it was first observed in the 1980s. Each male palm cockatoo has its own distinct rhythm, which forms part of their mating ritual. Heinsohn, who has been involved in palm cockatoo research for years, said that he “can tell who is drumming by the sound of the beat”. Researchers first noticed that each palm cockatoo’s “drumstick” design was unique after collecting hundreds of discarded tools from males visiting their display tree. “There’s no other bird that makes a tool to use in a display like this,” Heinsohn said. Researchers were surprised that there were no similarities between the tools of nearby cockatoos, with each male having his own preferences. Instead, designs are “passed down from father to son”, Heinsohn said. “Sons hang around for a couple of years,” he said, during which time they closely observe their father’s craftsmanship. Even with careful study, “it takes at least 10 years to learn and to be good enough to do this”. In 2021, the palm cockatoo was elevated to endangered status in Queensland. Heinson said, on average, female birds lay one egg every two years and that egg is often taken by predators. The complexity of their mating rituals has also contributed to the low birthrate. In addition to drumming, palm cockatoos use head-bobbing and up to 30 different calls to attract a mate. Though specific tool designs and rhythms are not necessarily more effective, females can be very selective and only “go for males” that are proficient in all mating skills. Looking to the future of palm cockatoo research, Heinsohn wants to investigate whether males tailor their drumstick to produce a specific sound from their nest hollow. These findings were published in a paper, Individual Preferences for Sound Tool Design in a Parrot, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society London. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/15/australian-bird-of-the-year-guardian-birdlife-palm-cockatoo