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( MENAFN - GlobeNewsWire - Nasdaq) MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sun Country airlines (NASDAQ: SNCY ) debuted its first custom-designed aircraft livery in celebration of Minnesota Golden Gopher Athletics. Sun Country was named the Official Airline of Gopher Athletics in 2023. In addition, Sun Country has provided charter service for the university's sports teams since 2012 and has flown nearly 500 charters during the past 12 years. "Sun Country is proud to debut this aircraft design that illustrates our hometown pride and longstanding partnership between two iconic Minnesota organizations,” said Grant Whitney, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. "We look forward to continuing our multi-year partnership with Gopher Athletics and will root for them for years to come." “This is a tremendous extension between two proud Minnesota brands,” said Minnesota Senior Associate Athletic Director Mike Wierzbicki.“We take great pride in our relationship with Sun Country. They have been a tremendous partner, and we are excited for Minnesota fans and college sports fans to see the Minnesota Block M and Maroon and Gold flying all over the country.” This livery is the first custom aircraft design in Sun Country's fleet of 43 passenger planes. Among one of the first flights with the Maroon and Gold paint, the aircraft is scheduled to take the Gopher football team to the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday, December 30. “Customers and Gopher fans will see this aircraft, which is tail number 809, on many routes throughout our network,” Whitney added.“Our history with Gopher Athletics presented a great opportunity for us to finally create a custom livery that our hometown will be excited about.” Gopher Sports Properties, the locally based team of Learfield – the media and technology company powering college athletics – is the exclusive multimedia rights holder for Gopher Athletics and oversees all sponsorship agreements on behalf of the athletic department. Read more about our partnership with Minnesota Gopher Athletics here . About Sun Country Sun Country Airlines is a new breed of hybrid low-cost air carrier, whose mission is to connect guests to their favorite people and places, to create lifelong memories and transformative experiences. Sun Country dynamically deploys shared resources across our synergistic scheduled service, charter, and cargo businesses. Based in Minnesota, we focus on serving leisure and visiting friends and relatives (“VFR”) passengers and charter customers and providing cargo service to Amazon, with flights throughout the United States and to destinations in Mexico, Central America, Canada, and the Caribbean. For photos, b-roll and additional company information, visit About Gopher Athletics The University of Minnesota sponsors 22 varsity intercollegiate athletic teams and is represented by more than 625 student-athletes who compete in the Big Ten and the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Minnesota has claimed 29 national championships in eight different sports and has won 216 regular-season conference titles and 42 conference tournament championships. Minnesota has also produced 213 Academic All-Americans, which ranks as the tenth most all-time among college and universities. Media Contact: ... A photo accompanying this announcement is available at MENAFN21122024004107003653ID1109020088 Legal Disclaimer: MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
As the Mahakumbh Mela of 2025 approaches in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, authorities are introducing AI-driven innovations for crowd management to ensure the convenience and safety of the pilgrims. Senior Superintendent of Police for the Mahakumbh, Rajesh Dwivedi, confirmed the installation of approximately 2,700 CCTV cameras throughout the district and fairgrounds. The Yogi Adityanath government is breaking new ground by digitizing the event on a massive scale, integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and social media to enhance security and crowd control. High-tech AI cameras are deployed to keep constant watch over the event, aiding not only in security but also in helping reunite individuals separated from their companions. Social media platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) are being harnessed to efficiently reconnect lost individuals with their families among millions of attendees. A digital 'khoya paaya kendra' or lost-and-found center will become operational on December 1, implementing advanced technology to promptly address cases of missing persons. Under the directives of the government, 328 AI-enabled cameras are now monitoring key areas, with full installation underway. These devices are equipped with face recognition capabilities to quickly identify and locate missing individuals, ensuring comprehensive coverage of the gathering areas for the estimated 45 crore attendees. (With inputs from agencies.)Honda Launches 2025 Activa 125 with OBD2B Compliance and Advanced FeaturesDigital manufacturing technology firm Nano Dimension (NNDM) announced on Thursday it has appointed Julien Lederman as the interim CEO of the company. Shares of the firm surged over 6% on Thursday morning following the development. The appointment follows Yoav Stern's termination as chief executive after he was not re-elected as a director at the company’s 2024 annual general meeting of shareholders on Dec. 6. Stern had been serving as CEO and a member of the board since January 2020. Lederman, who has served as Vice President of Corporate Development since March 2021, was earlier employed at Amazon.com, Inc., The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., and the World Economic Forum. Nano Dimension has over 70,000 followers on Stocktwits. Following the interim CEO appointment, retail sentiment flipped into the ‘bullish’ territory (55/100) from ‘bearish’ a day ago. Most retail chatter on Stocktwits resonated with the stockholders’ decision not to re-elect Stern as a director. The transition comes as Desktop Metal, Inc. (DM) has filed a lawsuit against the company in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The lawsuit alleges that “Nano Dimension has breached its obligation to use reasonable best efforts to obtain regulatory approval as soon as practicable in connection with the merger agreement between the parties.” In July, the companies announced that Nano Dimension would acquire all outstanding shares of Desktop Metal in an all-cash transaction for $5.50 per share, subject to possible downward adjustments to $4.07 per share. In October, Desktop Metal’s stockholders approved the merger agreement. Meanwhile, Desktop Metal said in a recent statement that the court had scheduled an expedited hearing on Dec. 30, 2024, to hear its motion for an expedited trial to be held in January. Shares of Nano Dimension have gained over 14% since the beginning of the year. For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<
The iPhone 16 Pro , Google Pixel 9 Pro and Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra all offer a huge lineup of amazing flagship features, including lightning-fast performance, big, vibrant displays and camera setups that give professional cameras a run for their money. These elite handsets represent the pinnacle of today's mobile technology, so it's no surprise they come with sky-high prices to match. That means they're out of reach for many of us -- or are unnecessary for those of us who simply want an all-around device for everyday use. Read more : Best Phone to Buy in 2024 Whether you're looking for the best phone out there or a more affordable option, like the Google Pixel 8A , you'd think the vast number of choices would make shopping simple. But the reality is that sometimes all the options make it more confusing. To help you cut through some of the jargon and spend your money sensibly, I've put together tips for buying a phone. How to buy a new phone: Top phone-buying tips Smartphone performance vs. budget In general, performance lines up with cost. The very latest, greatest technology usually comes at a premium. Flagship phones pack the best cameras, the most powerful processors and may even sport cutting-edge tech like foldable displays . The high prices mean that these phones are worth considering only by those who want the absolute latest tech in their pockets. Not everyone needs such top tech, however, or may simply be unwilling to spend the $1,000 or more typically required to get it. Luckily, the midrange sector of the phone world has been one of the fiercest battlegrounds for companies to compete in, resulting in some amazing phones that won't break the bank. Features like wireless charging and cameras with multiple lenses that were once the domain of flagships are now commonplace on midrange phones. Even budget phones will still offer decent camera quality and enough power for you to enjoy all of your everyday web browsing, WhatsApp-ing and Instagramming. Screen size All phones have gotten steadily bigger over the last few years, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max measuring a whopping 6.86 inches and the Galaxy S24 Ultra coming in at roughly the same size. Small phones aren't that common anymore, with almost no new phones coming in at under six inches in size. Apple killed off its iPhone Mini line, making the 2022 iPhone SE the smallest iPhone you can currently buy. On the Android side, the Google Pixel 8A's 6.1-inch display makes it one of the better smaller phones, but even then, it's hardly what you'd call tiny. Software support period A phone remains safe to use only as long as it receives security updates from the manufacturer to protect it from hackers. In the past, this was a bigger concern since most phones were supported for just two or three years, leaving them with a short shelf life. Today, however, extended support has become a competitive feature, with Google now offering an impressive seven years of software and security updates on its latest phones. It means the most recent Pixel 9 Pro will still be safe to use in 2031, while Samsung has promised a similar support period for its Galaxy S24 line. Samsung's Galaxy S20, released in 2020, received its final security update in 2024, however, so it's important to confirm how long your phone of choice will be safe to use, especially if you're buying an older phone on the used market. A longer support period not only gives you better value for money over the lifetime of the device, it's also better for the planet, as it keeps older, but still usable phones out of landfill and reduces the number of new devices being made and shipped. Camera performance Camera features have been a major point for bragging rights in recent phones, with manufacturers always wanting a bigger, more exciting number, be it the number of megapixels or quantity of actual camera lenses. Three rear cameras are now common -- a regular lens, an ultrawide lens and a telephoto lens -- with even budget-focused phones packing multiple cameras. Read more : Best Camera Phone to Buy in 2024 This is great, as more lenses mean more shooting options when you're out and about. But that doesn't mean that any multilens camera is as good as another. As with processor performance, the more you spend, the better the results you'll typically get, with the absolute best cameras around usually being found on the most expensive flagships. Look out for features like optical (rather than digital) zooms, night mode for better low-light images, and optical image stabilization. Sometimes these features might not be clear, and it's not possible to judge a camera's performance just by looking at the specs. If you really care about your phone's photography skills, then take some time to look at the reviews and see how its camera performs before you spend your money. Battery life Most phones, from the budget end through to elite flagships, can last most of a day on a single charge. Bigger phones might have bigger batteries, but they also have bigger screens and often more powerful processors, so they suck that extra juice down quickly. Few phones will give you more than a day of use. Here are some things to keep in mind: Processor performance Top-end phones pack powerful processors along with 12GB of RAM or even more. It's enough to make these phones run any task without breaking a sweat, but you don't need to spend flagship level money to get great performance. Most decent midrange phones offer enough power to handle all of your everyday needs. You'll still be able to play almost any game from the Google Play store and edit your high-resolution photos in apps such as Snapseed or Adobe Lightroom. There's little you could throw at most midrange phones that they wouldn't be able to handle. As you move into the budget end of the spectrum, that's when you'll start to notice some slowdown with things like gaming. More demanding 3D games might look more stuttery and may even unexpectedly quit. However, basic tasks such as sending emails, listening to Spotify and browsing Instagram shouldn't be a problem. 4G or 5G? 5G is the latest standard that promises lightning-fast mobile data speeds when you're out and about. While 5G coverage still isn't everywhere yet, it's widespread enough that you should absolutely look toward a 5G phone in 2024. And that's easy, as almost all of them are, from top-end flagships down to entry-level budget phones. The only reason you should consider buying a 4G phone now is if you're looking at the used market and you've found a good deal on an older-generation model that will tide you over for a couple of years. How much phone storage do you need? Most phones, even the budget ones, come with at least 64GB of storage, of which 10 may be taken up by preinstalled apps and the phone's operating system. If you don't plan on recording video, and gaming isn't your thing, 64GB might be enough, but otherwise you should consider 128GB to be a safer minimum. Higher-end phones -- particularly those that can record high quality 4K video -- offer capacities of 256GB or more. With that much space, you'll barely need to think twice about having to clear out old files. If the phone supports microSD cards then it's a different matter, as you can pick up 32GB microSD cards (or bigger) for very little money these days and popping one into your phone will dramatically increase the amount of storage you'll have access to. Unfortunately, expandable storage is a very rare feature on phones these days. However, most phones will support external storage over USB-C, so if you're going on holiday and want to shoot a lot of high-resolution video, taking a small SSD drive to offload your footage to might be a good idea. Bonus features Many of these features are now common on phones at various price points and are worth keeping in mind when you're shopping.Winless in rivalry, Dan Lanning, No. 1 Oregon determined to tame Huskies
Elon Musk calls Trudeau ‘insufferable’ after remark on Kamala Harris defeatInduction Cookware Market to Grow at 6.4% CAGR, Reaching $2.64 Billion by 2030 from $1.61 Billion in 2022Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Blowouts or not, this 12-team College Football Playoff has been pretty cool, has it not? With a real-life playoff tournament in place for the first time, college football’s postseason has finally matured from mind-numbingly broken (everything before 1998) to a step in the right direction (the BCS era) to an imperfect starter kit (the four-team CFP) to what we’ve got now. Which is a meaningful, fan-friendly playoff system that should give hope to every Division I program out there, and not just a handful of big-time brand names. Now, the temptation would be to suggest that because of the CFP, all other bowl games have been rendered truly meaningless. Baylor wide receiver Monaray Baldwin (4) celebrates a touchwown with Josh Cameron (34) in the Bears' home finale against Kansas on Nov. 30. That’s accurate, yet incomplete. For one, we should acknowledge that they were always meaningless. Given that the bowls were a postseason game in name only, they rarely mattered to anyone outside of the teams and fan bases involved in those games. But that’s the other truth we must address. To those programs involved, you’d better believe they matter. The bowl game serves as a bridge from one season to the next. In that regard, it’s highly important. It may even turn out to be essential training ground for a team as it prepares for a CFP push the next season, though such evaluations can only be made after the passage of time. How important does Dave Aranda consider the upcoming Texas Bowl? “Way” important, to use Aranda’s favorite modifier. “There are elements of the practices that we’ll have that are going to be foundational,” the Baylor coach said. Yeah, forgive us Allen Iverson, but we’re talking about practice. Practice, man. Not a game. Not the game guys go out there and die for, and play every game like it’s their last. But practice. (Sorry, that rant never grows old). Have you ever watched a football practice? I’ve watched plenty over the decades. As a spectator sport, it leaves a lot to be desired. Face it — practice is boring. OK, maybe occasionally entertaining, sporadically enlightening. But by and large, a snoozer. Give me the actual games. All that said, I know as well as anyone that practice is where a team is built. It’s the test kitchen, the laboratory. You don’t get a successful gameday product without it. • Call it the Dave Aranda Bowl, too — it's been just 5 years since the Baylor HFC won a championship at LSU, an amazing team with an amazing defense. How do you view this as an SEC-Big 12 "rivalry"-esque matchup? | SUBSCRIBE to One True Podcast at https://shows.acast.com/one-true-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Or to serve up a closer-to-home analogy, I suspect that if any of you were a fly on the wall of our daily news meetings at the Tribune-Herald, you’d be bored to tears. We editors blather on about the stories we’re working on, then we somehow dive deeper into the weeds and discuss minutiae like story placement in our print editions and what photos should be featured most prominently. It’s not exactly riveting stuff, especially if you’re not really invested. But it’s a necessary planning process, and we hope the end result is that it delivers engaging, interesting, informative and, yes, even fun journalism. Baylor’s extra workouts carry a deeper importance than just preparing for LSU. The Bears are getting ready for the Tigers, sure. But when Aranda calls them “foundational,” he’s talking about building a foundation that lasts, hopefully well into the 2025 season and beyond. He wants a foundation that’ll survive a SpaceX rocket test. (Yes, a sore subject for all of us who are tired of grumbling about the rumbling.) Then the bowl game itself is the culmination of all of that. A well-executed victory can be a launching pad to higher altitudes. OK, got it. So, the Texas Bowl matters, you say. Let me cue up my best Lee Corso impersonation — not so fast, my friends. Yes, it matters — except to those it doesn’t. We’ve already established that it doesn’t matter to everyone all over the country, only the teams involved. But beyond that, it doesn’t always matter to every player the same, either. These things don’t unfold in a vacuum where everyone’s motivation mirrors their teammate’s approach. Some guys may not care at all. More than ever, opt-outs are part of the bowl experience. By the time the bowl game rolls around, some players from the season roster have already entered the transfer portal and are busy transporting their way to another program in another town, where the fake football grass is always greener, right? Still other players opt to skip the game because they harbor professional football aspirations and don’t want to risk their futures on an, ahem, meaningless bowl game. Will the Texas Bowl get a good crowd for Baylor vs. LSU? The Trib's Baylor beat writer Zach Smith (@ByZachSmith) and sports editor Brice Cherry (@BriceCherry) check in for some Baylor and LSU football talk. | SUBSCRIBE to One True Podcast at https://shows.acast.com/one-true-podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. We could delve deeper into all the various rabbit holes this topic uncovers, but this isn’t meant to be a diatribe about the lack of player loyalty in the 21st century. Save that for your chatter over a Hungr-Buster at the DQ. It’s merely an acknowledgment of the reality that not every player carries the same motivation into a bowl game. For 2024 Baylor, this may very well be an advantage. The Bears have not experienced a wave of significant transfer portal subtractions or opt-outs for the bowl game. (Just in case you were wondering, players acquired this month through the portal would not be eligible to play in the bowl game). LSU, meanwhile, has seen more than a dozen players enter the portal , including a pair of starting offensive linemen in Will Campbell and Emery Jones. “Yeah, we’ve got some first-time starters in this game,” said LSU head coach Brian Kelly. I suspect Baylor will have a little more motivation for this game than LSU. Remember, the Tigers were in the running for the CFP not that many weeks ago. LSU held a 6-1 record following its first seven games and was ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25. But the Tigers suffered a three-game losing streak before rebounding to win their final two for an 8-4 campaign. Baylor, meanwhile, closed the season on a six-game winning surge, completely turning around its season after a ragged 2-4 start. For the Bears, the Texas Bowl is a reward, not a disappointment. “I don’t get why you wouldn’t want to (play in the bowl game),” Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson said. “It’s another opportunity to play football with your brothers.” When Baylor and LSU square off on Dec. 31, it clearly won’t be the most important college football game of the day. That one will kick off four-and-a-half hours later, when Boise State and Penn State meet in the Fiesta Bowl, aka the CFP quarterfinals. But all news is local, right? When something happens, we want to know how it affects us. “Our guys are out hunting for respect, and they see (LSU) as a way to earn some respect,” Aranda said. “That’s a strong motivation right now.” The Texas Bowl may not matter to everyone in America, but it definitely matters to the Baylor Bears. Be the first to know Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are near the bottom of the pack when it comes to NFL revenues, both in 2024 and in the projected near future, according to a study by Sportbet.one Sportbet pegs the Steelers as having $595 million in revenue in 2024, which ranks them 18th among the 32 NFL team in present day. The study believes the Steelers will show below-average growth between now and 2030, increasing their revenues at 27.1% to $756 million by the end of the decade. That projection has them ranked 20th. Sportbet used a linear progression from the change in revenue between 2012 and 2024 to calculate the projected future earnings. But more advanced metrics might not necessarily help the Steelers. The population growth rate of the Pittsburgh metro area has recently been positive after a long period of being in the red, but is still smaller than the national average. As a team with a long tradition of success and already-high standards, the Steelers don’t have much of an opportunity to be lifted through strong current play in the way that a team like the Detroit Lions or Los Angeles Chargers. The relative lack of revenue can’t do much to hurt the Steelers when it comes to putting a roster on the field. Every NFL club shares revenues nationally, and every team must spend 90% of the salary cap on a multi-year basis, so roster-based spending is closely regulated. Where might a team like the Dallas Cowboys — who have projected current revenues of $1.2 billion and are projected to improve that to $1.6 billion in the near future — outclass teams like the Steelers? The Cowboys have spent lavishly on their facilities, both at AT&T Stadium and at The Star in Frisco, the club’s headquarters and practice facility. They can also spend more freely on coaches, scouts and technology to help give the team an edge. Of course, it doesn’t always play out that way. Of the NFL’s top five teams in revenue, only one — the Los Angeles Rams — are currently in playoff position. The Steelers could see a revenue boost in 2026, when they will host the NFL Draft for the first time. This article first appeared on Steelers Now and was syndicated with permission.VALLADOLID, Spain : Atletico Madrid hammered bottom side Real Valladolid 5-0 in a LaLiga encounter at the Jose Zorrilla stadium on Saturday and provisionally moved into second place in the standings. Atletico are on 32 points, two ahead of Real Madrid, who have two games in hand. Barcelona, who lost 2-1 to Las Palmas earlier on Saturday, remain top with 34 points. Clement Lenglet opened the scoring for Atletico after 26 minutes with a close-range finish from Marcos Llorente's cross from the right, marking the French defender's first LaLiga goal since 2020. Julian Alvarez doubled the lead in the 35th minute, pouncing on a rebound from goalkeeper Karl Hein who had blocked Antoine Griezmann's shot but could not deny the Argentine striker from the second attempt. Rodrigo De Paul made it 3-0 two minutes later with a first-time low shot, before Griezmann added another goal seven minutes into the second half after a brilliant move that drew applause from the opposing fans. Alexander Sorloth scored a stoppage-time winner as Valladolid slumped to their tenth defeat in 15 games, leaving them bottom of the table on nine points.
A piece of individual brilliance from Daizen Maeda earned Celtic a Champions League point after an incredible blunder from Cameron Carter-Vickers gifted Club Brugge the lead at Parkhead. There was little surprise that Brugge took the lead in the 26th minute but the manner of the goal was a total shock. Nicolas Kuhn was forced into his own box as Brugge pressed and laid the ball off for Carter-Vickers, who passed back without looking. Kasper Schmeichel was at the opposite side of his goal to where the defender guessed and the ball rolled into the corner of the net. Celtic struggled to make inroads until Maeda took centre stage on the hour mark. The wide player's Cruyff turn set up the chance to shoot from a tight angle and he curled in off the post. Brugge had a goal disallowed before Celtic finished the game on top as they moved on to eight points ahead of their trip to Croatia to face Dinamo Zagreb on December 10. The Belgians imposed themselves on the game from the start, with Celtic struggling to get out of their half. Centre-forward Ferran Jutgla came close from 20 yards after Reo Hatate had showed too much of the ball to an opposing midfielder. Former Brugge B team player Arne Engels fired well over from a half-chance but that was a rare foray forward for Celtic in the opening quarter. The visitors were playing through Celtic's midfield and Andreas Skov Olsen curled just wide. Despite the visitors' superiority, Schmeichel had not had a save to make before being beaten by Carter-Vickers. The Celtic goalkeeper summoned his team-mates to give them his thoughts on what was going wrong. The home team offered more of a threat before the interval, mainly through the wing play of Kuhn, who twice almost set up Kyogo Furuhashi and then did find Hatate, whose glancing header was comfortably saved. Hatate shot wide from 22 yards after the interval but the game twice nearly drifted further away from the Scottish champions in the early stages of the second half. Schmeichel pulled off an excellent stop from Maxim De Cuyper after the left-back broke forward and burst past Auston Trusty's attempted tackle. Skov Olsen then blazed over from eight yards after a deep cross found him unmarked. Brendan Rodgers made a double switch as Paulo Bernardo and Alex Valle came on and the latter immediately set up the equaliser with a well-weighted pass, although Maeda effectively made the goal himself. There was a further twist 10 minutes later when Jutgla had a goal disallowed following a VAR check after stabbing home from 10 yards after Celtic could not defend a cross. A marginal offside came to the hosts' rescue. Bernardo made a difference to Celtic's midfield after replacing Engels and the Portugal Under-21 international came closest to winning the game for the Hoops when he shot just wide from 20 yards after good skill. Rodgers' side kept the pressure on but there was no clear-cut opportunity in the final stages.
A new tool for the rapidly growing X competitor Bluesky helps you quickly create new feeds that you can pin to the app’s home page to follow your various interests. If you’re daunted by the prospect of having to rebuild your Twitter/X lists on Bluesky’s app, you can use the Pack2List web app to take advantage of the curation work other Bluesky users have already done to create your own customized lists. While Bluesky and its third-party developer community today offer a variety of tools for building feeds, lists, and even Starter Packs of people you think are worth a follow , Pack2List is specifically designed to turn any person’s recommended set of users from their Starter Pack into a Bluesky List in just a few steps. Starter Packs vs Lists But first, let’s back up a bit to learn about these two types of lists. The difference between a Starter Pack and a Bluesky List is that the former is meant to be used as a quick way to follow a group of users en masse. The idea is any user on Bluesky can create a Starter Pack of people they think others should follow, which they can then share with others on their feed or elsewhere on the web. These Starter Packs can also be found in a tab on users’ Bluesky profiles. Starter Packs have served as a clever way for Bluesky to grow its community and its network of connections, which can be hard to do for brand-new social networks — at least ones that don’t rely on importing your entire address book. Unlike Meta’s X competitor, Instagram Threads , Bluesky didn’t have the advantage of building out its social graph on the back of an app that already had some 2 billion-plus monthly users, as Instagram does. Instead, Starter Packs let Bluesky’s own user base curate its network into distinct, thematic groups that make it easier for people to go from an empty timeline to one filled with posts they find interesting. For instance, there are Starter Packs focused on politics, journalists, developers, technologists, academia, sports, AI, health, and various other fan groups, geographies, and communities. A third-party site, Bluesky Directory, keeps track of the growing number of Starter Packs available across the network. ( Here’s one for TechCrunch , for example!) With a click of a button on a Starter Pack, you can follow everyone on this type of curated list, or you can optionally pick and choose from its set of recommendations to follow specific individuals. Meanwhile, a Bluesky List is a curated group of Bluesky accounts that you put together for your own purposes. Maybe it’s a list of people you want to keep track of or maybe it’s even a list of those you want to block. (For left-leaning Bluesky users hoping to avoid turning Bluesky into another angry Twitter, a block list of MAGA folks has become a popular addition, based on how many people have been resharing this list with others across the social network.) But perhaps you want to pin a Bluesky List of your favorite scientists, journalists, AI researchers, authors, or other high-profile figures to your home page (or mobile home screen) for easy access. Maybe you want to build a list of your close friends, work colleagues, or other people who mainly post about a certain topic or participate in some type of community. Unlike Starter Packs, which are meant to drive follows, you don’t necessarily have to follow everyone on the lists you make. Similar to X’s Lists, you can simply create a list and click on it to see its users’ posts in their own timeline, without having their posts clutter up your main Bluesky feed. Turn a Starter Pack into a List While both types of lists are useful, Bluesky is missing a key feature that would let you take someone’s shared Starter Pack and — instead of following its users — turn that Pack into a List that’s always accessible from your Bluesky account in a dedicated spot. That’s where the Pack2List web app comes in. The tool is available on GitHub and on this basic PHP website , alongside other tools that let you merge lists, convert lists, and more. To use the service, you’ll enter your Bluesky credentials, including your username and an app password. (You generate an app password from Bluesky’s security settings. This security feature prevents you from having to share your main Bluesky password with a third-party app.) You then simply paste in the URL to the Starter Pack you want to turn into a list and select whether it’s a list you want to follow (“Content”) or one you want to use to block people (“Moderation.”) Click the “Submit” button and the Starter Pack is immediately added as a List on your Bluesky account. You can also optionally add the URL of one of your other lists that already exists on your account if you’d prefer to merge the Starter Pack into that list, instead. Of course, you don’t have to use tools like this to have a good Bluesky experience. A nice thing about Bluesky’s app is that you don’t have to be technically inclined to create an account, follow others, and engage with posts on your timeline. It looks and feels much like old Twitter, the app now called X under Elon Musk. But if you do want to explore Bluesky’s more advanced features, it’s helpful to know that there’s already a wide developer community out there building tools, services, and apps that help you do more with Bluesky if you choose.Man assaults and disarms police in Hyde Park bank: London police
By Jay Berry The Unbeaten, Indiana Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio, to face the one loss, Ohio State Buckeyes. With two games left in the regular season, the stakes don't get much higher than this. Indiana comes into the game 10–0, looking to prove people wrong that their success has not been due to a weak schedule. On the Ohio State sideline, they're looking to live up to expectations and get one step closer to the Big Ten championship game—a rematch with Oregon, their only loss. The Hoosiers last defeated the Buckeyes in 1988 when they won 41-7 in Bloomington, Indiana. Since then, they have played 31 times, with Ohio State winning 30 of those matchups. There was one tie in the 1990 game. The stakes have never been higher than this year's game, with Ohio State ranked number two and Indiana ranked number five . The last time Indiana was ranked in the top five, they won a share of the Big Ten championship in 1967. It was a three-way tie with them, Purdue, and Minnesota. 🌹 Honoring our 1967 Big Ten Champion & 1968 Rose Bowl team. pic.twitter.com/5PnFeUK2ro What does a win mean for Indiana? The game is big for Indiana to silence the doubters and secure their path to the Big Ten Conference Championship. If they win against Ohio State, they will earn a spot in Lucas Oil Stadium to face Oregon, regardless of the outcome of next week's game against Purdue. Ohio State's path to the conference championship game is to beat Indiana on Saturday and Michigan in their final regular-season game. That would give the Buckeyes a chance to revenge the only loss of the season against Oregon. Once again, Ohio State is playing at noon on Saturday. Fox seems to have put them in that time slot every week. Will Indiana fans be lighting a "CIG," or will the Shoe be rockin' one step closer to a date with the Ducks? We will know around 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, possibly earlier, if one team dominates the game. One thing is or sure, Ryan Day can't afford to lose this game. Buckeye fans will be calling for his firing if that happens. It’s time to show a nation, the Best Damn Fans in the Land 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/siwrXTt5yZAILE Deadline: AILE Investors Have Opportunity to Lead iLearningEngines, Inc. Securities Fraud LawsuitIn a new lawsuit, a woman has accused embattled rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs of drugging and sexually assaulting her in 2006 at a New York party, where she says she was “lured” through a radio station contest. Latroya Grayson said in the lawsuit she and her half-sibling were flown to New York City from Oklahoma on Oct. 16, 2006, after her relative won a trip for two to attend one of Combs’ parties. At the party, the woman, who was 23 at the time, said she felt sick and became unconscious after she was served two premade drinks by waitresses, according to the complaint filed Dec. 20 in the Southern District of New York. She said she woke up in a hospital with a ripped shirt, missing underwear and shoes, and no recollection of how she got there, the complaint said. She said her vagina hurt for about a week, which she believed was from rough intercourse that she did not remember, the suit says. She said she did not seek medical treatment or report the incident to law enforcement out of fear, according to the complaint. Grayson said in the suit that she later received a call from an unknown woman with a New York number, allegedly threatening her to keep quiet. The caller allegedly said any attempts to pursue anything about the alleged assault “would be futile” because Combs “was a celebrity,” the complaint said. Grayson is suing Combs, as well as others who she claims were involved in the event. Other defendants include Bad Boy Entertainment Holdings, which Combs founded; Atlantic Records, which she said facilitated the event; Mike Savas, a promoter for Atlantic at the time; Delta Airlines, which flew her to New York; KKJamz 105.3, the radio station that she said held the contest; and the Roger Smith Hotel, where she stayed. Ten “John and Jane Does” are also listed as defendants, but the lawsuit says Grayson does not yet know who they are. The lawsuit — which contains photos appearing to show Grayson with other guests at the party — does not mention any interaction with Combs. In a statement, Combs’ attorneys said Grayson’s “allegations against him are pure fiction.” “Ms. Grayson admits she has no memory of the events alleged in her complaint, does not know who was supposedly involved, and has never spoken to Mr. Combs,” the statement said. Combs is currently behind bars at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center in New York and is facing federal criminal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and other offenses. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled for May 5 . His lawyers added in their statement that Combs “has never sexually assaulted anyone or engaged in sex trafficking.” “As we’ve said before, Mr. Combs cannot respond to every baseless lawsuit and lawyer-driven money grab,” they said. “He has faith in the judicial process, in which fact will be separated from opportunistic fabrications like these.” A Delta spokesperson said the airline is “not aware of and did not participate in the unlawful actions alleged in this lawsuit.” Atlantic Records, KKJAMZ 105.3, and Savas did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The Roger Smith Hotel was reportedly acquired by a timeshare company in 2022. In her lawsuit, Grayson said she “felt betrayed” by Atlantic and the radio station because they allegedly “failed to protect her despite creating, promoting and financing a contest that lead [SIC] to her injuries and lured her to an unsafe place without warning.” The suit accuses all the defendants of allegedly using deception, coercion, force and the threat of violence to “enrich themselves.” “Although all Defendants may not have directly threatened, coerced, forced or violently threatened Plaintiff, they financially benefitted [SIC] from the scheme,” the complaint said. The suit was filed under the Victims of Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Act. Under this law, victims have a two-year window ending in March 2025 to file older claims. Diddy is facing multiple civil lawsuits of a similar nature. Lawyers for Combs have denied the allegations and misconduct. This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News: