• Disney Dreamlight Valley: How To Make Cape Gooseberry Sour Fondue
    gamerant.com
    Disney Dreamlight Valley has so many different recipes that players can cook within the game, and the list is ever-growing, especially with the new expansions that have been released in the past couple of years, including A Rift In Time and The Storybook Vale, which was just released recently, with another on the way this summer.
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  • Best Weapons In Fortnite History, Ranked
    gamerant.com
    Fortnite has a long history spanning numerous chapters and seasons, all of which provide varying themes, mechanics, renditions of the Fortnite Island, and more. Looking back through Fortnite's seasons is nostalgic, to say the least, as the game has changed drastically over the years, bringing about stellar items and additions to the loot pool.
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  • 8 Assassin's Creed Games With The Best Gameplay, Ranked
    gamerant.com
    The Assassin's Creed franchise has been around for more than 17 years, captivating millions of players and introducing them to this amazing world full of parkour, excitement, and lots of history. While some titles in the franchise are undoubtedly more immersive than others, sometimes its hard to pinpoint which one offers the best gameplay overall.
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  • More demos on itch.io
    gamedev.net
    Happy day after Thanksgiving! (lol I seem to blog the most the day after holidays)Anyway, a few months ago I uploaded a proc-gen map I had developed as part of a previous project. Well, I decided to dig up a few other old projects of mine and upload those as well: a live demo of some shader work I once blogged about, the UI portion of an old RPG, and the final ga
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  • small3d Tutorial
    gamedev.net
    small3d is a small, cross-platform 3D game development library I have put together and have been maintaining over the past few years. This is a tutorial on creating a ball in Blender, and then writing a C++ program that loads it and moves it around on the screen, using small3d. Alternatively you can skip the ball creation and use a model of your own, if you have one in a glTF .glb file.The source code for this tutorial can be found here:
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  • Five Great Alternatives to Stanley Cups
    lifehacker.com
    We may earn a commission from links on this page.Just like last holiday season, everybody wants a Stanley mug this year. That's fine, except for a few issues: Those bad boys are pretty expensive for insulated travel tumblers; a lot of the people who want one already have one (or five); and 2.6 million Stanley mugs were recently recalled due to a potential burn hazard. Whether gifting a cup to someone else or broadening your own trendy collection, maybe it's time to start looking elsewhere. Owala FreeSip First up is my favorite tumbler of all time: the Owala FreeSip. I have a green and pink one, but regularly see dazzling color combinations in my travels. These trendy buggers are everywhere and I can't just attribute that belief to some weird Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, since they were everywhere before I even got my hands on one a few months ago. In addition to coming in all kinds of cool color combos, it's just a superior travel cup. It has a push-to-open lid that makes it very difficult to accidentally open or spill. Once open, you have the option of sipping through a spout or using an attached straw. The plastic loop around the lid also doubles as a carrying hook, which is how I've come to notice so many in the wild: People just clip them right on their bags. That makes them more convenient than the Stanley Quencher by a mile. Owala FreeSip Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle $27.94 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $27.94 at Amazon Owala also produces a more direct Stanley Quencher competitor in the form of an insulated tumbler that retails for $30.39 and has a 40-ounce capacity. Contigo West Loop I also like the Contigo West Loop. Contigo made the water bottle I had way back in college (because I could buy one with my Barnes & Noble employee discount). Contigo has withstood the test of time, creating mugs and bottles that feel nice in the hand, keep drinks at your preferred temperature, are easy to drink from, and aren't outrageously expensive. Contigo Autoseal West Loop Stainless Steel Travel Mug $24.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $24.99 at Amazon HydroFlask Travel Tumbler Next up is the tumbler from HydroFlask, which is also very popular. Personally, I only recently learned that HydroFlask is a brand name itself; my friends and I accidentally committed a bit of a genericide years ago, incorrectly calling any to-go tumbler a "hydroflask." As it turns out, that's a good sign, sincelike when people use "Kleenex" to mean "tissue"it implies brand trustworthiness and dominance. Reviews for real-deal HydroFlasks frequently hover around the 4.7-star mark and are based on thousands of ratings, so the general population agrees that this one keeps drinks the temperature you like them and is easy to tote around. Hydro Flask All Around Travel Tumbler Trillium 40 Oz $33.97 at Amazon $39.95 Save $5.98 Shop Now Shop Now $33.97 at Amazon $39.95 Save $5.98 Brmate Era The Brmate Era tumbler seals completely shut. It's not necessarily cheaper than a Stanley, but you're saving money and time by not destroying the inside of your bag in a freak spill accident. The Brumate Era even seals its straw completely. Yes, you can get little straw covers for the Stanley, but they're more decorative than effective. That's not true here. This is one tumbler that is truly spill-proof Brmate Era 40oz Tumbler $44.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $44.99 at Amazon Yeti Rambler A Yeti 10-ounce Rambler is just $20. It's Yeti, so you know the insulation is top-tier; plus the lid is vacuum-sealed and the opening to the spout uses a magnet, so you can feel confident it won't spill all over you. Thanks to its size, you also know it'll fit in a cup holder, which is kind of a big deal and something at which Stanley Quenchers historically fail. YETI Rambler 10 oz Tumbler, Stainless Steel, Vacuum Insulated with MagSlider Lid, White $20.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $20.00 at Amazon
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  • Is the Treadmill or Your Watch More Accurate on How Far You've Run?
    lifehacker.com
    We may earn a commission from links on this page.Outdoors, smartwatches do a great job of telling you how far you ran or walked. Indoors, they often disagree with the readout on the gyms treadmill. Which leaves a lot of us wonderingshould we trust the treadmill, or the watch?The answer to this question is the treadmill. The treadmill will always have a better idea than the watch of what your feet are doing. But I dont blame you for doubting everything you see on a gym machines readout. After all, their calorie counts are notoriously inaccurate.Why the treadmill is more accurate than your watch (for distance)Whenever were evaluating accuracy, its important to know whether a device is measuring something directly, or interpreting data to make a guess. In this case, the treadmill is measuring distance, while the watch is guessing at it. (Calories are always interpreted, which is why they are never truly reliable.)Distance is pretty simple: Its the number of miles (or meters) of treadmill belt that passed under your feet while you ran. The treadmill knows how long its belt is, and how fast the motor is running, so its pretty directly measuring how much belt its sending under your feet.(Sticklers will note that technically there is still some interpretation going on here, since the relationship between the motor's performance and how much belt it moves can change over time, which is why treadmill calibration is a thing. But it's still pretty close, and is your best bet for the purposes we discuss here.)Your watch, by contrast, is on your wrist. Theres no way it can know what your feet are doing. It can make some guesses based on how much your wrist is swinging back and forth, and thus pick up a cadence (each arm swing corresponds to one footstep). Youll swing your arms a bit harder and higher when youre running faster, so it can use the oomph in your arm swing to make a guess at the speed youre running. From there, it estimates the distance.How to get the most accurate numbersNeither is guaranteed to be perfect, but the treadmill is a lot more likely to get the right idea. A treadmill can be slightly miscalibrated, and give you a distance thats a smidge off from what you actually ran. But a watch is just riding on your wrist, guessing. Ive noticed that my arms dont swing all that differently when Im running at a fast versus a slow pace.In fact, while following an interval workout on the treadmill on a Garmin Forerunner 265, Ive found that the watch thinks Im going slower than I am during the fast parts. When it buzzes to chide me (Pace low) I can convince it Im in range by pumping my arms a little harder. This isnt really a solution, though. Garmin Forerunner 265 GPS Smartwatch $449.99 at Best Buy Shop Now Shop Now $449.99 at Best Buy Instead of trying to get more accurate numbers from my watch during the run, I approach my treadmill workouts with the knowledge that the following things are accurate:The treadmill speed during the workoutThe treadmill distance at the end of the workoutThe heart rate from my watch (especially if Im using a chest strap)The time from either or both devices (which should be the same if I started them at the same time)I then follow my workouts appropriately. If its a heart-rate-based workout, I let my watch handle everything. (Garmin might tell me to do 32 minutes at 139 to 167 beats per minute. Perfect. All you, Garmin.)But if I want to do a speed- or distance-based workout, I manage that manually, with my human brain. A quarter mile at 7.5 miles per hour, repeated eight times? I boop the buttons on the treadmill accordingly. At the end of the workout, Ill either calibrate (from the watch) or edit the distance on my app to make sure it recorded the correct total distance.
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  • 'Gather Around Cocktails' Is the Best Book for Party Drink Recipes
    lifehacker.com
    We may earn a commission from links on this page.Welcome to Cookbook of the Week. This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own.I am obsessed with the winter holiday season. It feeds into all of my slightly unhealthy tendenciesshopping, snacking, use of glitterand gives them space to flourish for four to six weeks. One more of my great seasonal passions is holiday entertaining with festive cocktails. Not the brooding G&T or fluttery Aperol spritz but cocktails that function as a treatones that are celebratory, ones that require loved ones to be gathered round. You can probably understand why my choice for Cookbook of the Week, at this point in December, is Gather Around Cocktails.About the bookWhile I chose this with the holiday season in mind, this cocktail book isnt just centered around beverages for winter holidays, but has loads of drinks to celebrate usual and unusual holidays too. You can find the right cocktail for a Groundhog Day party, a Purim Rager, May the Fourth, or even mocktails for Dry January.The author, Aaron Goldfarb, describes himself as a Brooklyn husband and dad who likes to throw a great party. Most of that, I can relate to. (Im a Brooklyn mother of two cat-children.) This cocktail book doesnt waste any time getting to the good stuff, either. Goldfarb has a short preamble in the front, mostly describing what youre about to jump into, and kicks it off with a syrups and sweeteners section that youll be directed back to throughout the pages.Goldfarbs creativity and obvious inclination toward being silly and having fun with your beverages is what really sold me on this collection of repeatable cocktail recipes. In the section For Hanukkah Menorah Lighting, he has a Jelly Doughnut Beertail, which looks tempting, followed up on the next page with The Rum Fire Shots Menorah. It is a stack of shots mimicking the shape of a menorah. They are all on fire. Its incredible. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann/Gather Around Cocktails A great cocktail book for someone who celebrates every occasionYou know the type: Your mother-in-law who is always throwing a party; your nephew who celebrated National Grilled Cheese Day last month and National Dalmatians with Bowties Day last week. Anyone from New Orleans. There are some folks who can find joy in all occasions, big and small, and this is a book that seems to have been written for them. Obviously, if they like alcohol then theyll get a lot more out of it.The recipes you can expectYou wont find boring recipes in Gather Around Cocktails. There seems to be a little twist with every recipe; something that makes you think, Ooh I didnt expect that. You must expect to put a little work in with making the occasional syrup, and having an adventurous palate will help, as well. Each recipe has the serving size written at the top right, the type of party its matched for (like A New Years Eve Blowout or New Years Day Gathering) on the top left, and a headnote with useful tips, and an easy to read recipe. This formatting makes it a breeze to flip through as you look for your occasion, and if youll need to scale up the recipe or not.Gather Around Cocktails has an array of batch sizes too, from single-servings to massive batchessuch as Ponche Navideo, which serves 16 to 24 cocktails. I rather like those options because having a group of friends over might be a party of four, or a bash for 20. With this book you dont have to math your way up and calculate dilution for a large party; you can just choose among the batched recipes. Likewise, you dont have to reverse it for just one serving.Like eggnog, for example. (Foreshadowing!)The drink I made this weekI dive headfirst into the Christmas season, and surprisingly, this book doesnt start with January holidays; it starts with winter ones. I didnt have to go far to find the most Christmas-y drink: eggnog. Goldfarb kicks things off with his Homemade Eggnog recipe, and it looks fluffy and delicious. Sadly, it is for 10 to 15 people, and I am just one. Well it seems like Aaron Goldfarb has had this happen to him before too. because the next pages are replete with single-serving eggnog recipes and notes about eggnog from other countries.Once I discovered Spiced Mexican Chocolate Nog, I knew I had arrived. Makes one cocktail. Perfect. I scanned the six-part ingredient list and got to work. Im not vegan, and I have no problem drinking raw eggs, but I had an open can of coconut milk in the fridge that Ive been trying to use up. Plus, Masala Chai blend is an ingredient in this cocktail and I simply cannot resist.The only hesitation I had was that the main alcohol used is mezcal, which I dont normally go for. However, I trust coconut milks power to tame harsh flavors so I went along with the recipe. Im glad I did. This is a holiday nog I would gladly make again for myself or batch up for others. The smoky notes from the mezcal play nicely with the chai seasoning and chocolate bitters, while the coconut milk mellows everything out with its fats, and of course, brings in a delicious flavor of its own.Its listed as a good cocktail for a Vegan Christmas Bash, and I couldnt agree more. The coconut milk is beautifully thick and velvety, something youd normally get from the egg and heavy cream. I didnt miss those ingredients at all. Plus, if youre a coconut lover then youre bound to be smitten, vegan or not.How to buy itNow is a great time to grab a copy of Gather Around Cocktails. Do a practice run this coming week and settle on which cocktail best fits your New Years Eve party. For additional party inspiration, check out my write up of Batch Cocktails for even larger party prepping. Gather Around Cocktails: Drinks to Celebrate Usual and Unusual Holidays (The Hosting Hacks Series) $20.55 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $20.55 at Amazon
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  • The best Chromebook you can buy in 2025
    www.engadget.com
    You might be tempted to get a Chromebook as your next laptop and we wouldnt blame you. Chrome OS has come a long way: Chromebooks today have a good combination of build quality, battery life and power while also supporting years of software updates that will take you years into the future. If you primarily browse the web, or dont need a ton of extra software on a regular basis, a Chromebook can be a powerful daily driver.While Google did make things simpler last fall by introducing the Chromebook Plus initiative (more on that below), there are still multiple things to keep in mind when shopping for a new Chromebook. The market is saturated with machines at different price points and power levels; Ive been testing and reviewing Chromebooks for years and know what you should be looking for, and what you can expect out of these laptops. What is Chrome OS, and why would I use it over Windows? This is probably the number one question about Chromebooks. There are plenty of inexpensive Windows laptops on the market, so why bother with Chrome's operating system? Glad you asked. For me, the simple and clean nature of Chrome OS is a big selling point. Chrome OS is based on Googles Chrome browser, which means most of the programs you can run are web based. Theres no bloatware or unwanted apps to uninstall like you often get on Windows laptops, it boots up in seconds, and you can completely reset to factory settings almost as quickly. Of course, simplicity will also be a major drawback for some users. Not being able to install native software can be a dealbreaker if youre a video editor or software developer. But there are also plenty of people who do the majority of their work in a web browser. Google and its software partners are getting better every year at supporting more advanced features. For example, Google added video editing tools to the Google Photos app on Chromebooks it wont replace Adobe Premiere, but it should be handy for a lot of people. Similarly, Google and Adobe announced Photoshop on the web last year, something that brings much of the power of Adobes desktop apps to Chromebooks. Chromebooks can also run Android apps, which greatly expands the amount of software available. The quality varies widely, but it means you can do more with a Chromebook beyond just web-based apps. For example, you can install the Netflix app and save videos for offline watching. Other Android apps like Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom are surprisingly capable as well. Between Android apps and a general improvement in web apps, Chromebooks are more than just portals to a browser. What do Chromebooks do well? Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Put simply, web browsing and really anything web based. Online shopping, streaming music and video and using various social media sites are among the most common daily tasks people do on Chromebooks. As you might expect, they also work well with Google services like Photos, Docs, Gmail, Drive, Keep and so on. Yes, any computer that can run Chrome can do that too, but the lightweight nature of Google Chrome OS makes it a responsive and stable platform. As I mentioned before, Chrome OS can run Android apps, so if youre an Android user youll find some nice ties between the platforms. You can get most of the same apps that are on your phone on a Chromebook and keep info in sync between them. You can also use some Android phones as a security key for your Chromebook or instantly tether your laptop to use mobile data. Google continues to tout security as a major differentiator for Chromebooks, and its definitely a factor worth considering. Auto-updates are the first lines of defense: Chrome OS updates download quickly in the background and a fast reboot is all it takes to install the latest version. Google says that each webpage and app on a Chromebook runs in its own sandbox as well, so any security threats are contained to that individual app. Finally, Chrome OS has a self-check called Verified Boot that runs every time a device starts up. Beyond all this, the simple fact that you generally cant install traditional apps on a Chromebook means there are fewer ways for bad actors to access the system. If youre interested in Googles Gemini AI tools, a Chromebook is a good option as well. Every Chromebook in our top picks comes with a full year of the Google One AI Premium plan this combines the usual Google One perks like 2TB of storage and 10 percent back in purchases from the Google Store with a bunch of AI tools. Youll get access to Gemini in Gmail, Docs and other apps, Gemini Advanced (which runs on the 1.5 Pro model) and more. Given that this plan is $20/month, its a pretty solid perk. Chromebook Plus models also include tools like the AI-powered help me write, the Google Photos Magic Editor and generative AI backgrounds you can create by filling in a few prompts. As for when to avoid Chromebooks, the answer is simple: If you rely heavily on a specific native application for Windows or a Mac, chances are you wont find the exact same option on a ChromeOS device. Thats most true in fields like photo and video editing, but it can also be the case in law or finance. Plenty of businesses run on Googles G suite software, but more still have specific requirements that a Chromebook might not match. If youre an iPhone user, youll also miss out on the way the iPhone easily integrates with an iPad or Mac. For me, the big downside is not being able to access iMessage on a Chromebook. Finally, gaming Chromebooks are not ubiquitous, although theyre becoming a slightly more reasonable option with the rise of cloud gaming. In late 2022, Google and some hardware partners announced a push to make Chromebooks with cloud gaming in mind. From a hardware perspective, that means laptops with bigger screens that have higher refresh rates as well as optimizing those laptops to work with services like NVIDIA GeForce Now, Xbox Game Pass and Amazon Luna. Youll obviously need an internet connection to use these services, but the good news is that playing modern games on a Chromebook isnt impossible. You can also install Android games from the Google Play Store, but thats not what most people are thinking of when they want to game on a laptop. What are the most important specs for a Chromebook? Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget Chrome OS is lightweight and runs well on fairly modest hardware, so the most important thing to look for might not be processor power or storage space. But Google made it easier to get consistent specs and performance late last year when it introduced the Chromebook Plus initiative. Any device with a Chromebook Plus designation meets some minimum requirements, which happen to be very similar to what Id recommend most people get if theyre looking for a laptop they can use every day. Chromebook Plus models have at least a 12th-gen Intel Core i3 processor, or an AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series processor, both of which should be more than enough for most people. These laptops also have a minimum of 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which should do the trick unless youre really pushing your Chromebook. All Chromebook Plus models have to have a 1080p webcam, which is nice in these days of constant video calling, and they also all have to have at least a 1080p IPS screen. Of course, you can get higher specs or better screens if you desire, but Ive found that basically everything included in the Chromebook Plus target specs makes for a very good experience. Google has an Auto Update policy for Chromebooks as well, and while thats not exactly a spec, its worth checking before you buy. Last year, Google announced that Chromebooks would get software updates and support for an impressive 10 years after their release date. This support page lists the Auto Update expiration date for virtually every Chromebook ever, but a good rule of thumb is to buy the newest machine you can to maximize your support. How much should I spend? Chromebooks started out notoriously cheap, with list prices often coming in under $300. But as theyve gone more mainstream, theyve transitioned from being essentially modern netbooks to the kind of laptop youll want to use all day. As such, prices have increased: At this point, you should expect to spend at least $400 if you want a solid daily driver. There are still many cheap Chromebooks out there that may be suitable as secondary devices, but a good Chromebook that can be an all-day, every-day laptop will cost more. But, notably, even the best Chromebooks usually cost less than the best Windows laptops, or even the best regular laptops out there. There are plenty of premium Chromebooks that approach or even exceed $1,000 that claim to offer better performance and more processing power, but I dont recommend spending that much. Generally, thatll get you a better design with more premium materials, as well as more powerful internals and extra storage space. Of course, you also sometimes pay for the brand name. But, the specs I outlined earlier are usually enough. See Also: Best Laptops for 2025 Best Gaming Laptops Best 2-in-1 Laptops for 2025 Best Cheap Windows Laptops Best Laptops for College Students Best Chromebooks in 2025 Other Chromebooks we tested Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Samsungs new Galaxy Chromebook Plus is one of the more unique Chromebooks out there. Its extremely thin and light, at .46 inches and 2.6 pounds, but it manages to include a 15.6-inch display in that frame. That screen is a 1080p panel thats sharp and bright, but its 16:9 aspect ratio made things feel a bit cramped when scrolling vertically. Performance is very good, and the keyboard is solid, though Im not a fan of the number pad as it shifts everything to the left. At $700 its not cheap, but that feels fair considering its size and capabilities. If youre looking for a big screen laptop that is also super light, this Chromebook merits consideration, even if its not the best option for everyone.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/best-chromebooks-160054646.html?src=rss
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