Its impossible to talk about Marvel Rivals without talking about Overwatch; the two hero shooters share a lot of the same DNA, and the team at NetEase clearly looked at the wildly popular FPS and cribbed a few notes. Now that Marvel Rivals is a successful game in its own right, attracting its own fan base, some of the old arguments that plagued Overwatch are recurring and many players are hoping that this time, things will turn out differently.Take, for instance, the games three roles. There are the high-damage Duelists, team-defending Vanguards, and supportive Strategists. A common, and admittedly aggravating, issue is to load into a game only to have everyone immediately lock in Duelists. Vanguards and Strategists simply arent as popular, maybe because its harder to get a cool quadra-kill with their abilities.If you played Overwatch back in 2016, this probably sounds very familiar. Players from that era remember watching their teammates lock in as Hanzo and Widowmaker, leaving them to reluctantly play as a tank or healer. I remember playing Mercy for many games in a row, hoping in the next game one of my teammates would recognize my despair and let me finally play Pharah. They never did, because random gamers online are rarely known for their charity.Overwatch solved this problem in 2019 with role queue; players would go into a game knowing each team had to have a certain lineup of tanks, healers, or damage characters. If you played one of the less popular roles, youd even get extra rewards. Blizzard also spent a lot of time tweaking Overwatchs balance to fit into this structure, with characters receiving balance changes or even full reworks to make sure they fit into the squad. With Overwatch 2, Blizzard even removed a person from each team, turning the 6v6 game into a 5v5 instead.Marvel Rivals doesnt have a role queue system, nor is it as stringently balanced as Overwatch. Characters like Jeff the Land Shark, while they are potent healers, are also able to pull off game-changing abilities like pulling the entire enemy team into their maw and spitting them off the edge of the map. This means that while queuing up, you could run into a team full of Strategists, or a team with a heavy Vanguard front line protecting just one or two Duelists.Right now, Marvel Rivals allows for such flexibility and freedom and once upon a time, so did Overwatch. One of the factors that led to the addition of role queue was the GOATS meta, named after the team that popularized the composition of three tanks, three healers. GOATS dominated high-level Overwatch play for a time, including pro games, and it was criticized not just for being frustrating to play against but also boring to watch.But Marvel Rivals isnt beholden to a professional circuit or competitive expectations; its very much a loosey-goosey take on the genre where most heroes are, in the right hands, at least a little bit broken. That is a big part of why some fans like the game so much; if they wanted to play a high-stakes competitive shooter, they would simply go play one of the existing esports-heavy games on the market.Still, the conversation around whether role queue is necessary or should be added continues to be one of the major topics in the Marvel Rivals community, and it has been for months. The Marvel Rivals devs at NetEase told Dot Esports they have no plans to add role queue at this time, and they have the chance to break apart from the Overwatch path and push what makes Marvel Rivals so unique. Until we find a way to convince all the Duelist fans out there to occasionally flex into tanking or healing, its likely the debate will continue to rage on fan forums and social media.

Harbour Masters, the team responsible for the excellent PC ports of N64 classics like Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask, have returned with an awesome adaptation of Star Fox 64. While the classic arcade flight-sim game has been playable outside of its native hardware for some time, the new port, dubbed Starship, brings a number of enhancements to the original, including support for ultrawide resolutions, unlocked frame rates, and even rumble support for modern Bluetooth controllers.Nintendo has developed a reputation for being a bit touchy when it comes to emulating its hardware or using original code from its ROMs, but Harbour Masters has developed a workaround by converting original ROMs into PC executable code, which technically doesnt use any proprietary Nintendo assets. In addition to making the game more easily digestible for PCs and enabling better performance, porting the original code over also presents the possibility for modding, which opens up a world of potential for new community assets and creations.If youd like to try and get this port running on your own, the crew at Harbor Masters have thankfully made the process relatively simple.First, youll need to download and extract the Starship emulator from Github. Next, youll need to LEGALLY procure a copy of the ROM for Starfox 64, specifically the v 1.1 (Rev A), which needs to use the z64 file format. If your ROM uses the .n64 format, you can convert it using this online tool. Once you have the correct ROM, you can drop it in the same folder as the Starship emulator and run the generate_otr application, which will extract the necessary files. After thats done, you can run the Starship application and press F1 to configure your controller and graphics settings. If the application crashes, try installing the latest C++ redistributable and start over.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.When I first learned of the Skylight Calendar, I thought it as a family tool. After all, these kinds of devices that aggregate calendars and to-do lists, like the Hearth Display, generally advertise to families as a way to stay organized. But I live alone and use my Skylight every day, and I find it spectacularly useful even without kids.The Skylight is a digital hub meant to help organize your life, and while the company also has digital picture frames, the Skylight Calendar is the most useful: Its a calendar aggregation tool, to-do list, and dinner planner, along with being a digital picture frame. The Skylight Calendar looks like a cross between a tablet and a framed picture, and it comes in a standard 15-inch version or gigantic 27-inch Max version that you can mount on your wall vertically or horizontally with a simple clamp. The Skylight's display has a series of tabs on the left that scroll through its main functions, the most important being the calendar, to-do lists, and photos. You can set a default screen by tapping the top-left menu and choosing the view you'd prefer. You can also set up hours for your Skylight Calendar to sleep by tapping the menu and selecting "Sleep Mode." I set mine for 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., but a simple tap will always wake the display, and I haven't had to double tap or wait for the screen to respond from lag.The Calendar functionality is the best part of Skylight Calendar Credit: Amanda Blum The calendar is easily the most functional part of the Skylight. You can pull in your existing Google, iCal, Outlook, Cozi, or Yahoo calendar, and they can seamlessly sync to your Skylight moving forward. You can pull in multiple calendars from multiple sources too, each color coded, so you can choose different colors for different members of your family (or if you're single like me, use color coding to differentiate work tasks from home). You can also enter custom events directly into Skylight, but I suspect most people dont do that since most of us already have digital calendars elsewhere, and theres not much you can do with a Skylight calendar except see it in your app or display.The Skylight Calendar is also a digital picture frame Credit: Amanda Blum The market is full of digital picture frames like the Aura and Pexar, and there are family management hubs like the Hearth Display that also allow you to upload custom photos. The Skylight Calendar walks the line between the two: It's a shared calendar and planning tool, but it's still a digital picture frame (if you have a subscription to the Pro plan), and Skylight encourages you to share pictures with other users. People can send photos to you using the app if they're a shared user, or they can email the pictures to your designated Skylight email address. As the administrator, you can then choose which pictures you want to show on your Calendar. So long as the display is set to photos, your Skylight will scroll through whatever is approved. I was a little perplexed by the idea of sending Skylight photos by email, but in reality, the Calendar isnt meant to be cutting-edge tech. If youve got older parents or relatives who dont want another app, an email is just an easier way to send images. My friends with and without Skylights still send me pictures of their kids, and in return I send them pictures of whatever I'm cooking and of my doberman in onesies. In this way, I like the Skylight as a less expensive hub that can be accessible to outside family and friends.How to use Sidekick for task, chore, or event uploads Credit: Amanda Blum Skylight has a feature called Sidekick (with the Pro Plan subscription), which can take any image of texta cookbook recipe, school flyer, or typed list, for exampleand add it to the appropriate Skylight category. You can import events, plan meals, and to-do lists from PDFs, emails, or images, and it surprised me how well it works. I can take pictures of my to-do list from ToDoist, and Sidekick transcribes them to separate tasks on my Skylight. It's not technologically forward, but it works. I also had my friend send me her most aggravating PTA flyer, and Sidekick got the event name, date, location, and details accurate. You can also use Sidekick as a microphone to tell Skylight about your event, to-do list, or recipe. Id prefer that Skylight sync with my voice assistants like Siri and Google Assistant so I could add things quickly to lists, but it's only a few swipes to access the Sidekick tool and add items to a grocery list. You can create custom Skylight lists Credit: Amanda Blum Skylight offers several ways to custom to-do items. You can make as many lists as you like, from shopping to to-do lists, with a few notable limitations: subtasks arent available, you can't reorder tasks, you cant assign deadlines, and you can't assign a task to a specific user like you can with a Hearth Display. I still find these simple lists usable, but if youre looking for something more functional, youll have to look elsewhere or use the "Chores" feature.Chores are reusable, assignable listsAlthough the name implies a way to farm out tasks to younger family members, Chores is actually the functional task list. You can create chores and assign them to members of your family, assign deadlines, make it recurring if needed, and assign a reward value for the task (Skylight calls these stars). You can access Rewards in a separate tab in your app and assign them, let users redeem them, or remove them.Again, this isnt as functional as, say, Asana or ToDoistyou cant break chores out to separate lists, only individual chores, and I question why Lists exists when its a less functional version of Choresbut you can choose how these tools fit your family. Perhaps my greatest annoyance is that you can't use Sidekick on Chores, so you can't import lists or add to them on the fly through the microphone. How to create meal plans with your Skylight Calendar Credit: Amanda Blum The Skylight meal planning tool (with a Pro Plan subscription) can take your preferences into account and plan an entire menu around them. (I was curious how well the meal planner would work around my preferences given that you tell the planner your preferences in a plain text box, so I entered, "I don't like oatmeal," and it removed all the suggested oatmeal breakfasts from my planner.) You can upload your own recipes, use Sidekick to upload pictures of your favorite ones, or save Skylight recipes you to your recipe box. You can also easily add the planned meals to your grocery shopping list.While I can see this being a great family tool, I like it as a tool for myself, a single person.There are legions of dedicated meal planning apps, and a number of them are probably better than Skylight, but its a nice feature to have in a comprehensive organizational tool.My biggest frustration with the Skylight CalendarWhen I got my Skylight a year ago, my biggest disappointment was that it had all this additional functionalityfrom to-do lists to meal planningbut it didnt allow you to aggregate from existing apps like ToDoist, Asana, or any number of meal planning apps.As a workaround, I found that most apps I use, including ToDoist, can be synced to a Google calendar, which I then bring into my Skylight to live on my calendar. I would obviously prefer to have those tasks in the To Do tab of my Skylight, but I'll have to wait until that functionality is added.How much does a Skylight Calendar cost?The Skylight Calendar runs $319.99 for the 15-inch version and the gigantic 27-inch Max Calendar is $599 on backorder. Skylight offers an annual $39 subscription called a Pro Plan. It's not required, but most of the above features, from using photos, its import tool, and meal planning, are only possible with the Pro Plan. The first month of the Skylight Pro Plan is free though, so you can try it out to see the difference is meaningful for you. Skylight Calendar $319.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $319.99 at Amazon Is the Skylight Calendar worth it?Most families are likely already using apps for to-do lists, calendaring, and maybe meal planning. If you're willing to invest $300 in a central family hub, Skylight can be fantastic. I also think it's great as one person: As a person with ADHD, its invaluable. I have my calendar mounted in my bathroom, so it's one of the first things I see each morning and reminds me of my to-do items and meetings each day. There are more expensive family management tools out there like the Hearth Display, but they can run almost $600, and I'm not sure if they offer double the functionality.

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication.Soundbars are categorized by the frequency range they fall in. Mid-range soundbars are meant for dialogue, background music, and sound effects. If those things are high on your priority list, look no further than the Bose Smart Soundbar 550, which is currently $199 (originally $499) at Walmart. This is the lowest price I have seen after checking price-tracking tools. Bose Smart Soundbar 550 Sound Technology: Dolby Atmos, Peak Audio Power Handling: 12 W, RMS Power Rating: 1 W. $199.00 at Walmart $449.00 Save $250.00 Get Deal Get Deal $199.00 at Walmart $449.00 Save $250.00 Bose is well known for their great audio products, but not for their design. This soundbar is a boring 4.09 by 27.34 by 2.21-inch rectangle of nearly seven pounds, but all the magic happens with the audio, not the visuals. This soundbar comes with Dolby Atmos and Boses TrueSpace technology, which up-mixes all the audio to an immersive multi-channel experience. This means the dialogue will pop out and you'll hear the action sound like it's happening around you. Bose can do this with its five transducers, two of which are upward-firing ones, which combine to bounce sound off your walls and ceiling to mimic a surround sound (to the extent a single soundbar can). You can connect it to wifi to use its built-in music and radio services, or you can connect your phone via Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast, or Spotify Connect. It also works as a smart speaker with voice control since you have compatibility with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.For $199, you'll be hard-pressed to find another soundbar of this quality and this many features. This is a budget price for a high-tier soundbar. If you want to hear your TV dialogue better or just want to get a soundbar on a budget, the Bose Smart Soundbar 550 is a solid choice right now.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Roborock introduced three new models this year from their upper-mid tier line, QRevo: the Curv, Edge, and Slim. The Curv and Edge only differ in the design of their docking stations, and the Slim has a shorter profile designed to go under more furniture. While all these models share the latest features, if you prefer the look of a curvy dock, youd choose a Curv; if you like hard edges, youd choose the Edge; and if you have a specific need for a robot with a shorter profile, youd choose the Slimbut you would give up a third of your suction power and some space in the water and dust bin capacity. It's worth noting that the Qrevo Slim is dramatically less expensive at $1,000 compared to the $1,600 Curv and $1,300 Edge. But the Curv has already become one of my favorite robot vacuums on the market. Its cutting-edge features include a chassis that can lift itself, and I was surprised how effective the Curv could be during a winter where my floors were being destroyed by muddy paw prints and constant debris. Roborock QRevo Curv Robot Vacuum and Mop $1,599.99 at Best Buy Shop Now Shop Now $1,599.99 at Best Buy Why the Curv is one of my favorite new robot vacuums Credit: Amanda Blum The first thing I noticed about the Curv is that it's far more compact than most docking towers. The Dreame L40, which I recently reviewed, was almost two feet tall, but the Curv stands at barely a foot tall, and it isnt any wider than any other model Ive seen lately, either. The soft arcs of the tower differentiate it from any other robot Ive tested this year, and if youre looking for something softer than the usual block-y robot towers, this is it.The tower comes more or less put together and ready to go, and it paired seamlessly to the app on the first try. It's also light and easy to move, and it comes with two hefty water containers, one for dirty and one for clean water. Unlike most docking towers Ive seen, the face of this dock doesnt come off; instead, everything is accessed through the lid. If I had to register any complaint about the docking tower, it would be that the design doesnt accommodate a place for cleaning fluid, which many contemporary docking towers do. Youll need to add it to your clean water each time you fill up.The most extendable vacuum sweep and a split roller design Credit: Amanda Blum There's a lot of new design under the robot vacuum itself, and I was immediately struck by the vacuum sweep. Most people don't think about vacuum bristles often, but the silicone bristles that grab debris are one of the most functional parts of a vacuum. Some models have added multiple sweeps, while others allow the sweep to extend farther from under the robot, but the Curv was the first to reduce the sweep arms from three to two, andto put the sweep on a protruding limb that can extend out to hug a wall. The result is a better job at clearing debris close to a wall. I only wish the Curv had a soft, immobile cloth on its bumper to clean baseboards like the Narwhal.The Curv features magnetic mop heads, which means the machine activates the magnet when it's running, but when the robot returns to the dock, the magnet drops the mop heads so they can be more thoroughly cleaned by the dock. To go one step further, these mop itself is actually detachable and can be thrown in the washing machine and reattached. Credit: Amanda Blum The Curv has a liftable chassis to get unstuckOne of the new design highlights is that the entire robot itself can lift itself by the front roller, and not just a little. When it runs into something like a rug or cord, the robot looks like its doing a pushup to get over the obstacle, and the back wheels have some bounce to them to help. The feature helped the robot navigate the mess of cords and dog toys under my couches, but it also meant the robot repeatedly tried to get into spaces beyond its scope. Instead of navigating around obstacles, the Curv occasionally tries to climb them instead, like when I watched it struggle around a lamp base and try to overcome an abandoned dog puzzle. In all cases, the robot recovered and went on its way.Many expensive robot vacuums do a middling job at overcoming obstacles, but the Curv handled them well, and the extending sweep did a great job of getting into corners and alongside walls.The bottom lineI used to think that two spinning mops, as featured on the QRevo models and most current robots, aren't as effective as one solid vibrating mop pad, but the Curv made me reevaluate my opinion. The Curv cleans well with the amount of water it uses, the pressure on its spinning disks, and the discs' reach. It isn't as good a job as the vacuum, but for most people and in most situations, this is going to be as good as it gets.The Roborock app alsos continues to be great, and while there weren't new innovations in this model that I could see, I continue to appreciate features like Pin and Go, where you put a pin on the map and the robot goes directly there; and remote control, which allows you to control the robot from your phone (mostly an aid in rescuing your robot vacuum from under your couch or other furniture).Id still love to see Roborock innovate a solution to sweep baseboards as the robot is moving along, and Id also like to see a receptacle for cleaning solution in the dock. But until theres a new S8 model, Id say this is the top of the line at Roborock, and worth the $1599 price tag.

Want the best Santa Tracker and to play some fun games through Norad or Google? We're live-blogging Santa's movements as he ventures out from the North Pole

The Panasonic TOUGHBOOK 33mk4 is built for demanding environments and offers enhanced performance for mobile workers in tough conditions.

Could health tracking be the killer app for AirPods Pro 3?

Capitol buildings are almost always an imposing presence. The seat of government, they tend to be elegant and stately and frequently capped by a dome.Visitors to Pennsylvanias Capitol in Harrisburg are drawn to its priceless artwork, polished marble and intricate carvings, but hidden behind the doors of some of its most ornate offices and chambers are another treasure: hundreds of antique clocks that were part of its original design.The 273 working clocks include many that are integrated into fireplace mantels and other building features.They are not low maintenance, requiring regular oiling and occasional mechanical overhauls.And every week, in a throwback to a time before wristwatches and cellphones, clock winders roam the halls ensuring the century-plus-old timekeepers keep ticking.On a recent morning, Bethany Gill demonstrated how its done going room to room with an array of ladders and custom tools. She opens the glass covers, rotates the mechanisms enough to keep them going for about a week and checks their accuracy before moving on to the next one.Gill is a former art student who works for Johnson & Griffiths Studio, a Harrisburg firm that just received a five-year, $526,000 winding and maintenance contract renewal from the Capitol Preservation Committee.Shes also a lifelong clock lover who looks forward to the semiannual transitions between daylight saving time and Eastern Standard Time.Why?My dad was a clock collector growing up, Gill said. And every Sunday we would go around the house and wind the clocks. And that was always just a nice thing that I did with my dad.Pennsylvanias Capitol was crafted by architect Joseph M. Huston, who won its design competition in 1901 with a vision for a temple of democracy a palace of art that would be as fancy as what could then be found in Europe.Among countless other fine touches, Huston designed at least 180 custom clock cases, including smaller so-called keystone clocks that are shaped to remind people of Pennsylvanias early and critical role in the formation of the United States, leaving it with the nickname of the Keystone State.The clocks are just part of why the buildings so unique and so intricate, said Capitol Preservation Committee historian Jason Wilson. The mantels surrounding the clocks are all custom designed.Every so often the clocks, most of them built from mahogany or stained mahogany, are carefully removed from their spots around the Capitol and taken to a facility for cleaning, maintenance and repair. They seem to run better when kept wound.Huston, the architect, achieved his goal. The Capitol is a showpiece that draws thousands of visitors every year to where 253 state lawmakers convene to debate and pass legislation.While the buildings and the clocks are his lasting legacy, Huston was convicted of a conspiracy to defraud the state during the Capitol construction project and spent several months in another Pennsylvania landmark, Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.Mark Scolforo, Associated Press

The United States won a ruling on Friday in a trade dispute with Mexico, which had sought to ban imports of genetically modified corn for human consumption.U.S. growers, who had worried about the potential loss of the single biggest export market for U.S. corn, welcomed the decision, calling it a major win.Mexicos Economy Department said it disagreed with the ruling by a panel of experts convened under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement, known as the USMCA, but said it would abide by it.The Mexican government does not agree with the panels finding, given that it considers that the measures in question are aligned with the principles of protecting public health and the rights of Indigenous communities, Mexicos Economy Department said. Nonetheless, the Mexican government will respect the ruling.Mexico has been importing genetically modified corn from the U.S. for years, buying about $3 billion worth annually. The corn is mainly used to feed livestock in Mexico but the country announced plans for a ban on human consumption in 2020, including a possible future ban on GM corn for livestock as well.The U.S. government formally requested the dispute settlement panel over Mexicos limits on genetically modified corn in 2023. Mexico had long claimed the measures under debate had no effect on trade, and did not violate the trade agreement.The U.S. Trade Representatives Office, or USTR, objected to Mexicos ban on GM corn for human consumption and plans to eventually ban it as animal feed.The USTR said Friday that the panel agreed with the U.S. on all legal claims, finding that Mexicos measures are not based on science and undermine the market access that Mexico agreed to provide in the USMCA.The decision was met with praise from the U.S. National Corn Growers Association. This outcome is a direct result of the advocacy efforts of corn grower leaders from across the country, said the associations president, Kenneth Hartman Jr.Mexico is the leading importer of U.S. yellow corn, most of which is genetically modified. Almost all is fed to cattle, pigs and chickens in Mexico, because Mexico doesnt grow enough feed corn.Corn for human consumption in Mexico is almost entirely domestically-grown white corn, though corn-meal chips or other processed products could potentially contain GM corn.Mexico argues biotech corn may have health effects, even when used as fodder, but hasnt yet presented proof. It had previously appeared eager to avoid a major showdown with the U.S. on the issue but not eager enough to completely drop talk of any ban.In early 2023, Mexicos Economy Department issued new rules that dropped the date for substituting imports of GM feed corn. The new rules say Mexican authorities will carry out the gradual substitution of GM feed and milled corn, but sets no date for doing so and says potential health issues will be the subject of study by Mexican experts with health authorities from other countries.Under a previous version of the rules, some U.S. growers worried a GM feed corn ban could happen as soon as 2024 or 2025.While the date was dropped, the language remained in the rules about eventually substituting GM corn, something that could have caused prices for meat to skyrocket in Mexico, where inflation is already high.