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The Harbour Masters 64 Discord has announced the development of "Starship," a native PC Port of Star Fox 64 subsequently demoed on Twitch and YouTube by Star Fox speedrunner Rakanai. Harbour Masters 64 is the development community behind Ship of Harkinian , a 2022 native PC port of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. "Harbour Masters 64 is pleased to announce the development of Starship—a PC port of Star Fox 64 (aka "Lylat Wars")! Led by Sonic Dreamcaster and Samplywx," reads the announcement on the Harbour Masters 64 Discord. "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many others over the course of several months, we have gotten the game to a state where we feel comfortable showcasing it for you." You've been able to play Star Fox 64 on your PC for many years now via emulation, but native ports represent a new threshold of quality. Emulation is a broad tool that will allow most, if not all, of a console's games to run on PC (or a powerful enough device like a Steam Deck or smartphone) to an acceptable standard. A native port, meanwhile, is a specific effort to make a game run on PC without a demanding emulation layer. Native ports require painstaking decompilation of a game's source code and a great deal of development effort, but result in a far superior experience. Some advantages include: High resolution support without stretching the UI or otherwise compromising the experience. Ultrawide support. Elimination of persistent glitches present in emulation. High framerate support without introducing speedup glitches. Lower system demands. Modding potential. All pretty desirable, exciting stuff, and the beta gameplay shown off by Rakanai is incredibly crisp—N64-era art still holds up remarkably well even at super-high resolutions and fast framerates. What's more, native ports are, like emulation, perfectly legal—you still have to supply your own ROM to run native ports like Starship. In the past, I've found the OpenGOAL native ports of the Jak and Daxter games to be absolutely essential compared to straight up emulation. Rakanai said on-stream that the Starship port of Star Fox 64 is planned to release sometime in December—just in time for everybody's time off for the holidays. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Charlotte Hornets will be without point guard LaMelo Ball for at least two weeks because of a strained left calf. Ball felt discomfort in his calf after Wednesday night’s loss to the Miami Heat and did not play against the New York Knicks on Friday. The team said he will be reevaluated on Dec. 11, which is two weeks from the date of the original injury. Ball has been hot for the Hornets, averaging 40.3 points in his last four games. He is averaging a career-best 31.1 points and 4.7 3-pointers per game for the season, which ranks second in the NBA. He also is averaging 5.4 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.1 steals in 18 starts. Ball has had a history of injury problems, mostly to his ankles, since coming to the league as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft. The only Hornets player to ever receive a max contract extension, Ball has played in just 202 games with 182 starts in five seasons. The team also said guard Tre Mann’s lower back soreness has been diagnosed as a disk irritation. His absence from the lineup began on Nov. 23 against Milwaukee. He will continue his rehabilitation and be reevaluated in two weeks. “They are competitors and they want to be out there on the court to compete and hoop, but they also want to be out there for their teammates,” Hornets coach Charles Lee said prior to Saturday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks. "I just walked past ’Melo as I was coming in here to do media, and he’s like, ‘I’m going to take care of everything I need to do on this return to play program and I’m going to attack it with the right mindset.’ I have all the confidence in the world in our performance staff and in those guys.” AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
McKewon: After seniors build bowl bridge, Matt Rhule and Nebraska football’s ‘Leap Year’ is here
Stocks closed with solid gains as Wall Street put the finishing touches on one of its best months of the year. The S&P rose 0.6 percent while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 188 points, or 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq added 0.8 percent. Friday was an abbreviated trading day, with stocks closing at 1 p.m. ET and the bond market an hour later. Investors were looking to see how much shoppers are willing to spend on gifts for the holidays. Black Friday unofficially kicked ff the holiday shopping season, although retailer had been offering early deals for weeks. Macy’s and Best Buy each gained around 2 percent. On Friday: The S&P 500 rose 33.64 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,032.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 188.59 points, or 0.4 percent, to 44,910.65. The Nasdaq composite rose 157.69 points, or 0.8 percent, to 19,218.17. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 8.58 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,434.77. For the week: The S&P 500 is up 63.04 points, or 1.1 percent. The Dow is up 614.14 points, or 1.4 percent. The Nasdaq is up 214.52 points, or 1.1 percent. The Russell 2000 is up 28.10 points, or 1.2 percent. For the year: The S&P 500 is up 1,262.55 points, or 26.5 percent. The Dow is up 7,221.11 points, or 19.2 percent. The Nasdaq is up 4,206.81 points, or 28 percent. The Russell 2000 is up 407.70 points, or 20.1 percent. The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors. They are meant for general informational purposes only and should not be construed or interpreted as a recommendation or solicitation. The Epoch Times does not provide investment, tax, legal, financial planning, estate planning, or any other personal finance advice. The Epoch Times holds no liability for the accuracy or timeliness of the information provided.Almost three quarters of Scottish businesses are confident about their prospects next year, a survey has suggested. The Bank of Scotland’s business barometer poll showed 73% of Scottish businesses expect to see turnover increase in 2025, up from 60% polled in 2023. Almost a quarter (23%) of businesses expect to see their revenue rise by between six and 10% over the next 12 months, with just over a fifth (21%) expecting it to grow by even more. The poll found that 70% of businesses were confident they would become more profitable in 2025, a two per cent increase when compared with the previous year. Revenue and profitability growth was firms’ top priority at 52%, though 40% said they will be targeting improved productivity, and the same proportion said they will be aiming to enhance their technology – such as automation or AI – or upskill their staff (both 29%). More than one in five (22%) want to improve their environmental sustainability. Other areas businesses are hoping to build upon AI-assisted technology (19%), and 24% will be investing in expanding into new UK markets and 23% plan to invest in staff training. The business barometer has surveyed 1,200 businesses every month since 2002, providing early signals about UK economic trends. Martyn Kendrick, Scotland director at Bank of Scotland commercial banking, said: “Scottish businesses are looking ahead to 2025 with stronger growth expectations, and setting out clear plans to drive this expansion through investments in new technology, new markets and their own teams. “As we enter the new year, we’ll continue to by their side to help them pursue their ambitions and seize all opportunities that lie ahead.”HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Ashlon Jackson scored a career-high 30 points and No. 14 Duke defeated No. 10 Kansas State, 73-62 on Monday, in the semifinals of the Ball Dawgs Classic. The Blue Devils (6-1) overcame an early 11-point deficit behind Jackon’s shooting hand to advance to Wednesday’s championship game against the winner of the game between No. 9 Oklahoma and DePaul. Jackson, who has scored in double figures in all six of Duke’s games, shot 12 of 19 (63.1%) from the floor, including 6 of 9 (66.7%) from 3-point range. Reigan Richardson added 16 points for the Blue Devils. Kansas State (5-1) was led by Ayoka Lee, who had 16 points. Serena Sundell scored 15 and Kennedy Taylor came off the bench to add 11 for the Wildcats. Kansas State: With her 16-point performance, Lee needs 48 points to pass Kendra Wecker (2001-05) for the Kansas State career scoring record. Wecker scored 2,333 points. Lee, the 2024-25 Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, is averaging 15.3 points. Duke: Jackson hit her season average of 13.3 points by the 3:54 mark of the second quarter when her pull-up jumper gave her 14. The junior guard was 8 of 11 from the floor, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range, and had 20 points by halftime. With the Blue Devils trailing by six midway through the second quarter, Jackson triggered a 15-0 run with 13 of the team’s points to help Duke take a lead they’d never relinquish. Duke will face the winner of No. 9 Oklahoma-DePaul on Wednesday in the championship game, while Kansas State will face the loser in the consolation game. Get poll alerts and updates on AP Top 25 basketball throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
ISSAQUAH, Wash., Dec. 12, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Costco Wholesale Corporation ("Costco” or the "Company”) (Nasdaq: COST) today announced its operating results for the first quarter of fiscal 2025 (twelve weeks), ended November 24, 2024. Net sales for the first quarter increased 7.5 percent, to $60.99 billion from $56.72 billion last year. Comparable sales for the first quarter fiscal 2025 were as follows: Net income for the quarter was $1,798 million, $4.04 per diluted share, compared to $1,589 million, $3.58 per diluted share, last year. This year's results included a tax benefit of $100 million, $0.22 per diluted share, related to stock-based compensation. Last year's results included a tax benefit of $44 million, $0.10 per diluted share, also related to stock-based compensation. Costco currently operates 897 warehouses, including 617 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 109 in Canada, 41 in Mexico, 36 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 19 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, seven in China, five in Spain, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden. Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia. A conference call to discuss these results is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. (PT) today, December 12, 2024, and is available via a webcast on investor.costco.com (click "Events & Presentations”). Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For these purposes, forward-looking statements are statements that address activities, events, conditions or developments that the Company expects or anticipates may occur in the future. In some cases forward-looking statements can be identified because they contain words such as "anticipate,” "believe,” "continue,” "could,” "estimate,” "expect,” "intend,” "likely,” "may,” "might,” "plan,” "potential,” "predict,” "project,” "seek,” "should,” "target,” "will,” "would,” or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events, results or performance to differ materially from those indicated by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, domestic and international economic conditions, including exchange rates, inflation or deflation, the effects of competition and regulation, uncertainties in the financial markets, consumer and small business spending patterns and debt levels, breaches of security or privacy of member or business information, conditions affecting the acquisition, development, ownership or use of real estate, capital spending, actions of vendors, rising costs associated with employees (generally including health-care costs and wages), workforce interruptions, energy and certain commodities, geopolitical conditions (including tariffs), the ability to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, regulatory and other impacts related to environmental and social matters, public-health related factors, and other risks identified from time to time in the Company's public statements and reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company does not undertake to update these statements, except as required by law. Comparable sales and comparable sales excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange are intended as supplemental information and are not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
AP Business SummaryBrief at 5:07 p.m. ESTMore Scots business owners anticipate higher turnover in 2025, poll suggests
NEW YORK (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won his third Most Valuable Player Award and first in the National League, and Aaron Judge earned his second American League honor on Thursday. Ohtani was a unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229. Judge was a unanimous pick for the first time. Kansas City shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got all 30 second-place votes for 270 points, and Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was third with 21 third-place votes and 229 points. Ohtani was unanimously voted the AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting . He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December. Ohtani joined Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues. He was the first player to twice become an unanimous MVP. He had combined with Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2023 for the first year both MVPs were unanimous. Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title , playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder . “The ultimate goal from the beginning was to win a World Series, which we are able to accomplish,” he said through a translator. “The next goal is for me to do it again and so right now I’m in the middle of rehab and working out and getting stronger.” When Ohtani returns to the mound, could he win MVP and the Cy Young Award in the same year? “That would obviously be great, but right now my focus is just to get to get back healthy, come back stronger, get back on the mound and show everybody what I can do,” Ohtani said. Ohtani became the first primary DH to win an MVP in a season that started with the revelation his longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, had stolen nearly $17 million from the star to fund gambling. Ohtani is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each). Balloting was conducted before the postseason. Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 31 stolen bases and 109 RBIs. Soto batted .288 with 41 homers and 109 RBIs. When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two. Judge had discussed the MVP award with Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, the NL winner in 2015 and ’21. “I was telling him, `Man, I’m going to try to catch up to you with these MVPs here, man,’” Judge recalled. “He’d say, hopefully, he could stay a couple ahead of me, which I think he’ll do.” When Judge won his first MVP award in 2022, he received 28 first-place votes while Ohtani got the other two. He is the Yankees' 22nd MVP winner, four more than any other team. Judge was hitting .207 with six homers and 18 RBIs through April, then batted .352 with 52 homers and 126 RBIs in 127 games. “March and April were not my friend this year.” Judge said. “Just keep putting in the work and things are going to change. You can’t mope. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. Especially in New York, nobody’s going to feel sorry for you. So you just got to go out there and put up the numbers?” AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Thai developers' profits set to plunge this yearNagpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Maharashtra's new chief minister on December 5 at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, as confirmed by BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule. Governor CP Radhakrishnan will administer the oath, marking the culmination of the BJP-led Mahayuti's historic victory in the assembly elections. Speaking to TOI, Bawankule shared, "Further updates on the legislative party leader will follow soon. Stay tuned for developments, which I will post on ‘X'." Sources suggest the BJP legislature party meeting on December 3 will finalise the next CM, with Devendra Fadnavis likely to bag the top post. While Fadnavis remains the clear frontrunner, BJP insiders highlighted the procedural necessity of legislative endorsement before official confirmation. "Despite nods from PM Modi, home minister Amit Shah, and RSS, the party maintains its rule of MLAs electing the legislative party leader to uphold democratic principles," they said. Other names, like Union minister Murlidhar Mohol, briefly surfaced in political circles but were dismissed as baseless. "BJP's tradition of deliberating through elected representatives holds firm," a source added. The forthcoming swearing-in will not just install a new CM, but is expected to introduce a refreshed cabinet. Sources indicated that around 10 BJP ministers and five to seven from Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP will also take oath. BJP plans to prioritise younger faces under 60 years of age, while senior leaders may transition to advisory roles. The December 5 ceremony promises to be a grand political event, showcasing BJP's dominance after its alliance secured 235 of 288 assembly seats. Thousands of party workers and key leaders from all 36 districts will attend, alongside RSS representatives, emphasising unity within the Mahayuti. The event is expected to symbolise not only BJP's political muscle, but also its focus on inclusive leadership, marking the beginning of a new chapter in Maharashtra's governance. The BJP-led Mahayuti coalition's historic victory in the Maharashtra Assembly elections paved the way for this announcement. The alliance secured a commanding 235 seats out of 288, with BJP emerging as the largest party with 132 seats. With Fadnavis widely considered the frontrunner, the event is expected to symbolise BJP's dominant position in the coalition while showcasing unity among partners.
Uncanny: AI video conversation agents can now look back at youA PEDESTRIAN is in hospital in a serious condition after being the victim of a hit-and-run collision in Dublin. The incident occurred at approximately 8:45pm this evening in Rathmines, Dublin . Gardai and emergency services responded to a collision involving a car and a pedestrian on Lower Rathmines Road after the alarm was raised. The car fled the crash scene before emergency services arrived. The male pedestrian, aged in his 40s, was rushed to St James' Hospital . Investigators have said his injuries are understood to be serious. Gardai have launched a probe into the incident and are appealing for witnesses. A statement said: "Gardai are appealing for witnesses following a serious injury traffic collision in Rathmines, Dublin, on Sunday, 22nd December 2024. "At approximately 8:45pm, Gardaí and emergency services responded to a collision involving a car and a pedestrian on Lower Rathmines Road. "The car involved failed to remain at the scene. "The pedestrian, an adult male (40s), was taken by Ambulance to St. James's Hospital. His injuries are understood to be serious. "The scene is currently preserved and traffic diversions are in place. "Gardai are appealing for witnesses to come forward. "Those with camera footage, including motorists with dash-cam, from the area at the time are asked to provide it to investigating Gardai. "Anyone with any information is asked to contact Rathmines Garda Station on 01 6666700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station." Separately, a man in his 30s has been killed following a single-car collision in Co Offaly. Gardai are appealing for witnesses after the horror crash in the early hours of Sunday morning. The incident occurred at Moorock, Ballycumber, Co Offaly. Gardai were alerted to the crash in the early hours and were notified it involved a single vehicle. The driver was the sole occupant of the car and was fatally injured. There have been no other reports of injuries. The man's body was removed from the scene to the Mortuary in Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore.
Onion price is falling again due to the recent influx of goods, according to onion market. Since the price of onions has dropped a lot compared to last week, there are sales in reduced prices in retail and wholesale markets. “The price of onions has been falling for about a week, and the prices are being reduced in both wholesale and retail markets. There are many trucks coming in now. The price has dropped much compared to a week ago. It has dropped to about K 1000 – 1500 a viss,” said an official at the Phyo Thakhin onion and garlic warehouse in Danyingon wholesale market, Shwepyitha Township. The fluctuation of onion prices in the coming months will depend on the arrival of trucks at the Bayintnaung wholesale market, and if the number is less than 15, the price may be good. “How much the price falls depends on the number of cars arriving at Bayintnaung market. If it is over 20, the price will fall more. Today, 14 trucks arrived. If it is less than 15, the price will bounce back in coming Monday or Tuesday,” he said. Some farmers and traders were able to sell summer onions at the high price, but some traders still have a lot of onion stocks in their possession. – Thit Taw/ZNAshlon Jackson scores career-best 30 points to lead No. 14 Duke past No. 10 Kansas 73-62
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