LAST: Why Colleges IIThis is part of a series of same titled blogs that focus on the teaching of gaming above the high school level. As a professor who taught (and sometimes still teaches) gaming, Ill share my perspective on the pros and cons. Im going to try to go in depth on what to expect and what we shouldnt. I also will answer common questions by students and prospective companies who wish to hire. I teach at community colleges in the United States, so my experience may

The second half of Marvel Rivals first season kicked off on Feb. 21, bringing with it two new characters Fantastic Four mainstays Human Torch and the Thing as well as a third New York City map that turns a popular Moon Knight meme into an official part of the competitive shooters lore.If youre playing as Moon Knight on the Convergence map Empire of Eternal Night: Central Park, theres a chance youll hear him refer to Dracula the big bad of Marvel Rivals season 1, and a major fixture in the stage itself as a bloodsuckin nerd who owes me big. Further into the match, Moon Knight may even call out to the vampire with taunts like Time for Dracula to pay up! and I know youre here, Dracula! While this might seem like a reference to some longstanding comic book feud, Moon Knights hatred for Dracula was actually born in memes.As Polygon senior entertainment writer Susana Polo previously explained when the Moon Knight television show was in full swing, the disassociating anti-heros portrayal as a Dracula-hating debt collector has no real comic book basis. Rather, a fan edited a single panel from a 1988 issue of Solo Avengers to depict Moon Knight calling Dracula a big fucking nerd and demanding my goddamn money and posted it to a Facebook group in 2018. Since then, this absurd meme has been the most prevalent if not entirely accurate example of Moon Knights characterization online, thanks to his mainstream obscurity as well as the images inherent humor and shareability.Since Marvel Rivals exists in its own narrative continuity, the NetEase developers who havent been let go obviously have some freedom as to how they use Marvels iconic heroes and villains in the games storylines. Sometimes that privilege will result in serious worldbuilding. But as the Moon Knight situation indicates, sometimes its just an excuse to reference a seven-year-old internet gag.

Cowboy Bebop characters Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine are continuing their bounty hunting duties in Fortnite, officially coming to the game on Wednesday, Feb. 26.The space bounty hunters are crash landing in the world of Fortnite with new outfits and items that will be available in the shop. Additionally, the collaboration will come with its own quests where you can earn more Cowboy Bebop-themed rewards.Heres when Cowboy Bebop is coming to Fortnite, and what to expect in the collaboration.What time do Cowboy Bebop skins release in Fortnite?BANG.Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine outfits are landing in the Shop tonight pic.twitter.com/KSluskycqh Fortnite (@Fortnite) February 26, 2025Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine will be coming to the Fortnite Shop on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the daily shop reset, according to a social media post from developer Epic Games. The daily shop reset happens at 7 p.m. EST. Heres when that is in your time zone.4 p.m. PST for the West Coast of North America7 p.m. EST for the East Coast of North America12 a.m. GMT on Feb. 27 for the U.K.1 a.m. CET on Feb. 27 for Western Europe/Paris9 a.m. JST on Feb. 27 for Japan11 a.m. AEDT on Feb. 27 for the East Coast of AustraliaWhat to expect in the Fortnite Cowboy Bebop collaborationThe Cowboy Bebop collaboration will feature unique quests starting at 12 a.m. on Saturday, March 1. These quests will contribute to bonus goals thatll unlock Cowboy Bebop-themed rewards like a wrap and a loading screen.Alongside the Spike Spiegel and Faye Valentine outfits, more accessories are very likely to appear in the shop. Previous collaborations, such as Kaiju No. 8 and Jujutsu Kaisen, provided bundles that included pickaxes, back blings, emotes, and more.

If youve tried to buy or sell a house, you probably worked with a licensed real estate professionalthere are more than 3 million of them in the U.S., and their advice and assistance are often invaluable. Real estate agents know the properties in their area and can help you locate them (and weed out deceptive listings) and guide you through every step of the process. A good real estate agent who has your best interests at heart is worth their commission and then some.But not everyone who has a real estate license is a good agentor an ethical one. Sometimes the red flags around an agent are big and obvious, but sometimes real estate pros engage in subtle little scams that arent obvious at all. These down-low tricks arent always illegal, but theyre unethicaland they can cost you big time when it comes to whats likely the biggest financial purchase in your life. If youre looking for a real estate pro to help you with your house hunt or sale, watch out for these subtle scams.Sketchy referralsOne of the most subtly unethical things a real estate agent can do is push sketchy referrals on you. Its normal for an agent to help you find a mortgage broker, a home inspector, or even a contractor to help you figure out if a house is a good fit for you. It crosses into unethical territory, though, if they try to insist you use their referrals or even push you to use them.You can defend yourself from this simply by getting other referrals for any services you need, especially when it comes to mortgage brokers. Real estate agents sometimes have what are called preferred lenders, and there can be benefits to using them (like a smoother process)but you never have to use them. Getting a few other quotes will help you figure out if the person your agent suggests is doing right by you.Buying a listingIf youre selling a house, you know that one of the trickiest aspects is choosing which real estate agent to work with. Agents know theres competition for that commission, so theres always a sales pitch. One subtle little scam some agents pull is simply telling you what you want to hear: That your house will sell for a higher price than what other property experts are telling you.Its called buying a listing. They know that if they confidently assure you that your house will sell for significantly more, youll be enticed to sign with them. And they know that when offers come in lower than they promised they can blame the shifting market or some aspect of the property for the discrepancyand you will probably not be willing to walk away from an offer even if its not as high as you were led to expect.A good way to avoid this trap is to do your own research. Get several estimates on what your property could sell for, and look for comparable properties in your area that have recently sold. If an agent comes back with a suggested listing price that is way out of line with the rest, be suspicious.SteeringIf youre working with a real estate agent and you notice that they never show you homes in specific areas, or ignore your preferences and only show you homes in certain areas, you might be the victim of steering.Steering is the practice of trying to steer you into a certain neighborhood or area based entirely on some attribute like race, religion, or gender. It can be very subtlethe homes youre seeing are in your price range and match your list of must-haves, theyre just always in the same area. Steering isnt always obvious, eitherif youre single and your agent never seems to show you a large house in a family-oriented neighborhood despite your stated preference for just that, they might be steering you toward what they think of as a more appropriate property, your desires be damned.Some signs that youre being steered include a lot of personal opinions from your agent on who should live in certain properties and a pattern of ignoring your preferences in terms of property size, type, and location.Personal propertyIf your agent sweetens a deal by helping you reduce your future tax burden with a lower official price on the home, you might think youve found the brilliant real estate hustler of your dreams. This is usually done by suggesting that a portion of the sales price be listed as payment for personal property and not the house itself. This reduces the actual price of the house, which in turn will reduce future tax payments.Its true that its not uncommon to buy stuff like furniture or appliances from a seller, and these items are usually considered personal property and a separate sale. But lying about this is, of course, illegal, and opens you up to a long list of potential consequences.Lax marketingWhen you hire an agent to help sell your house, theyre not just someone to rubber-stamp paperwork and be there for open houses. Theyre supposed to market your home to prospective buyers. When you sign with a real estate agent, they should detail what theyre going to do in that departmentfrom advertising to web listings, staging, and even video brochures or virtual tours.Some agents will promise the moon when closing you as a client, then actually do very little in terms of marketing, which saves them time and money. They might still sell your home, of course, but they wont work as hard for that commission as you expected. Your best practice is to make the marketing plan part of the contractand then follow up to make sure the plan is being followed.Bait listingsIf you landed with your current real estate agent because you spied a listing for a house that was absolutely perfect and much cheaper than you expectedonly to be told that the house had already soldyou may have been the victim of a bait listing.Bait listings are sometimes old listings that saw a lot of interest, so the agent leaves them up in order to attract latecomers, but they can also be deceptive listings designed to lure interest. Once the agent has you in their office or on the phone, they admit the listing is gonebut assure you they can find the right property for you regardless.Off-marketIf your real estate agent tells you that your house isnt in prime condition and suggests you sell it off-marketwithout listing it publicly on the multiple listing service (MLS)they might be setting you up for a subtle scam involving a property investor they already have a relationship with. Once you agree to sell off-market (because the agent has convinced you that sprucing the place up properly is prohibitively expensive), the investor magically appears, offering to buy the place as-is. You wind up selling at a discount, the investor does the sprucing up you could have done, and sells it for a profita profit that could have been yours.Meanwhile, the agent may have gotten away with a triple commission: From you and the investor on your homes sale, then later when the investor sells the house again. Always be skeptical of an off-market suggestion and drill down into how it helps you to have fewer potential buyersand get your own estimates on repairs and improvements that will make your home more marketable.The ghost buyerSketchy real estate agents sometimes invent phantom buyers when it serves them. There are usually two basic scenarios:When youre selling your house and looking for an agent, they contact you and tell you they have an interested buyer, or your property fits the bill for someone they know of. Then they push for you to hire them as your agent. That interest buyer probably vanishesthey were just a way to get the agents foot in your door.When youre buying a house and youve found a property you want to make an offer on, suddenly theres another interested buyer, and youre advised to improve your offer on the house to ensure you get the property. Its entirely possible there is another buyer, of course, but its also an effective (if unethical) way of getting you to pay a higher price, with a higher commission.The best way to defend against ghost buyers is to choose your listing agent according to your needs, and not just because they rang you up out of the blue, and to know at the outset how much youre willing to pay for a houseand commit to sticking to that.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.Making homemade bread and pizza can be greatly improved with the use of a pizza stone. Ive used one for years, and its the best way to get a well-browned bottom crust. I thought I had it all figured out, until the pizza steel arrived. If youre getting serious about cooking (and reheating) pizza at home, one of these tools should be in your oven. Whats a baking (or pizza) stone?A pizza stone is a plank or circle of ceramic or cordierite (a type of thermal shock-resistant ceramic). Theyre typically between a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch thick and can range in size from nine to 20 inches across.Compared to a pizza steel, ceramic stones are relatively lightweight, which makes them easy to move around and store when theyre not in use. They can stain (especially if youve flubbed a few pizzas like I have), but cleaning them requires little more than a good scraping once the food bits have burnt to a crisp. I use a metal bench scraper to dislodge big chunks, and then simply wipe off the smaller particles with a damp cloth.Unfortunately, they are susceptible to cracking or breaking. The material is very brittle, so if you drop the stone or knock it with something hard it could crack. The ceramic material is also porous, which means moisture can get absorbed (thats why I recommend a dry scrape or damp towel only after youre finished using it). If the stone has moisture trapped inside, when it goes into a 475F oven it can crack as the liquid rapidly evaporates. Amzdeal Pizza Stone $19.36 at Walmart $39.99 Save $20.63 Shop Now Shop Now $19.36 at Walmart $39.99 Save $20.63 Pros:LightweightThermal shock resistantEasy to storeEasy to cleanCons:Susceptible to cracking or breakingPorous and can absorb moistureWhats a pizza steel?Pizza steels arent quite as widespread in popularity, but maybe youve seen one before. They look like the sexier version of a pizza stone; they have the same shapes, rectangular or circular, but they begin to diverge from there. A pizza steel is made of carbon steel. Its better at conducting heat and, since its more dense, better at heat retention. Which means pizza steels can be effective even when relatively thin. They can range from 3/16-inch to a half-inch thick. But dont let the thinness fool youtheyre damn heavy. Like a cast iron pan or a heavy Dutch oven, this trade off can be worth it, but it undoubtedly makes it harder to lift, carry, or situate in a low cabinet for storage when its not in use.Unlike the fussy pizza stone, a pizza steel is robust and relatively indestructible. Water doesnt get trapped inside, as its not porous, and it doesnt give a damn about temperature shifts. Your pizza steel can last you a lifetime of pizzas if properly cared for. That is, unless it rusts.Thats right: If you dont ensure your pizza steel is completely dry before storing it, or if you store it with other wet things, you might be greeted with a rusty mess the next time you take it out of the cabinet. Although this sucks, its not the end. You can scrub off the rust with something abrasive, like steel wool, but youll need to re-season it with some oil. Here are other tips on getting rust off of your pizza steel.Otherwise, you can clean the pizza steel by scraping off the burnt bits with a strong spatula and washing off any grease with warm soapy waterjust be sure to dry it completely. I usually dab off excess water with a paper towel (dont scrub or bits of paper can get stuck) and toss it back into a warm oven to quickly evaporate any residual moisture. I'm a fan of the original Baking Steel. Baking Steel - The Original Ultra Conductive Pizza Stone $129.00 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $129.00 at Amazon Pros:DurableThermal shock resistantEasy to cleanCons:HeavySusceptible to rustingLarger sizes can be expensiveIf youre a person who has a small kitchen, makes pizza or bread only occasionally, or has limited mobility and strength for heavy, cumbersome objects, then you might opt for a small pizza stone. If youre okay with lifting something heavy and you know that baking pizza, bread, or burgers is something youll be doing weekly, then a pizza steel might be the better option for you.

There's a new M4 MacBook Air reportedly on the way soon, but if you can't wait or don't need the extra power of Apple's M4 chip, you can get a M3 MacBook Air for $200 off on Amazon right now. That lowers the current MacBook Air's price from $1,099 to $899 not the $850 low we've seen before for the Air, but pretty close. Engadget picked the M3 MacBook Air as the best MacBook overall because of its lightweight design, bright screen and the reliable performance of the M3 chip. Besides support for Wi-Fi 6E, Apple's custom silicon allows the MacBook Air to power two external displays at once, something sorely missing from the previous generation Air. The current deal only covers the Air model with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage in Apple's "Midnight" blue finish, but that should be more than enough storage and memory for most people. If you'd still like a deal but with a few more colors to choose from, several other MacBooks are also on sale. For example, you can get an M2 MacBook Air for $200 off when you use a coupon, lowering the price from an already discounted $950 to $800. That deal applies to the Air with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and covers multiple different colors. The M2 chip is technically less powerful than the M3, but for day-to-day computer tasks you'll get more than enough performance and battery life from an M2 MacBook Air. If you're willing to pay more and you want one of the most capable laptops Apple currently sells, you can could instead opt for a new M4 MacBook Pro for $1,399, $200 off its usual $1,599 price. Apple introduced the M4 MacBook Pros near the end of 2024 with a focus on improving graphical performance. The new MacBook Pro is the closest Apple has gotten to a gaming laptop, and it includes other upgrades, like a brighter screen and an improved webcam. The model on sale includes 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, a healthy amount to start with if you plan on using the MacBook Pro for work. All of the MacBooks on sale on Amazon also support Apple Intelligence, if you're interested in exploring Apple's approach to AI features like summarization and text generation. Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/deals/the-m3-macbook-air-is-200-off-at-amazon-right-now-210927500.html?src=rss

The FDA has granted clearance to a potentially lifesaving feature for Google's Pixel Watch 3. The smartwatch will start offering "loss of pulse detection" for US customers at the end of March. Once this aspect of the watch is enabled, the Pixel Watch 3 can automatically place a call to emergency services if it detects that the wearer's pulse has stopped. That could help a user receive critical medical attention even if they are responsive in situations such as cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose or poisoning.Loss of pulse detection was announced last year and is already available to Pixel Watch 3 owners in select EU markets. We luckily didn't have cause to put the feature through its paces in our positive review of the wearable, which particularly impressed on battery life, brightness options and workout detection.Smartwatch manufacturers have been developing a suite of tools designed to assist wearers in different kinds of potentially life-threatening situations. For instance, the Pixel Watch 3 also offers features such as a safety check that shares your location with a chosen contact, fall detection that alerts first responders and car crash detection that notifies emergency services. Apple also introduced similar features for the iPhone and Apple Watch a few years ago.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/pixel-watch-3-receives-fda-clearance-for-loss-of-pulse-detection-210458883.html?src=rss

The compact yet powerful Morefine G1 delivers RTX 4090M performance for demanding tasks like 8K editing and AI workloads.

Exo enables distributed AI inference by combining computing power from multiple devices, reducing reliance on expensive high-performance hardware.

Instacart shares plummeted 12%, their worst day on record, after missing on revenue and issuing lackluster guidance.