free game super ace jili

Mangoceuticals, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Mushroom-Based Wellness and Innovations PatentAnother week, another new low for the New England Patriots. The Patriots hardly showed signs of life in front of their home crowd in . L.A. scored on seven consecutive possessions and dominated the time-of-possession battle, 40:34 to 19:26. Pats fans at Gillette Stadium reacted to the team's latest embarrassing defeat with loud boos . NBC Sports Boston's Patriots insider Tom E. Curran didn't mince words either about Saturday's effort. "Unprofessional performance by the New England Patriots," Curran said on . "It did not look like a professional football team in a 32-team league that is the NFL. When I look at this result, and I see it in the wake of last week's noble loss to the Buffalo Bills, it undoes that. ... "I feel as if now things have definitely been called into question because you had to be a better team at this juncture of the season than you were in 2023. Regardless of the merits and logic behind moving on from Bill Belichick, you had to be building as the season went along, laying a foundation. Whatever foundation this season was laid upon has now crumbled to the point where you have to question everything going forward. And, 'Would changes be for the better, or just for the sake of making them?' has to be decided in the next, I would say 10 days." Earlier in the day, that Jerod Mayo's job as Patriots head coach is considered "safe" heading into 2025. Former Pats linebacker Ted Johnson wonders whether Saturday's blowout loss could change things. "It is gonna be interesting what people are talking about this week, because people said Jerod Mayo's job is not in jeopardy unless something really catastrophic happens. I don't know if this qualifies for it, but this is a bad, bad loss for the Patriots today," Johnson said. "They haven't been able to put back-to-back games together all season long. That is a reason to be alarmed about the coaching staff and these guys. That (Chargers) roster is better than yours, but they had to come across the country in this kind of weather. To me, this was an unacceptable performance by the Patriots today." For what it's worth, prized rookie quarterback Drake Maye was among multiple Patriots players to last week. It'll ultimately be up to longtime team owner Robert Kraft and president Jonathan Kraft to decide how to address the question marks on the coaching staff for 2025. New England (3-13) will wrap up its rough 2024 campaign next Sunday vs. the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. Watch our PGL panel's full reaction to the Patriots' 40-7 loss below :None

New Delhi, Dec 28 (PTI) BJP president J P Nadda on Saturday said the Centre has decided to allocate space for Manmohan Singh's memorial and informed his family about it, as he accused the Congress of indulging in "cheap politics" over the former prime minister's cremation. The BJP chief's reaction came after the Congress accused the Centre of insulting Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by performing his last rites at Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could be turned into his memorial. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the BJP-led Centre had "totally insulted" Singh, a great son of Mother India and the first prime minister from the Sikh community, by performing his last rites at Nigambodh Ghat. Reacting sharply, Nadda said, "It's very unfortunate that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and incumbent Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are not refraining from playing politics even over the former prime minister's sad demise." "No amount of condemnation is enough for such cheap thinking of the Congress. The Congress, which never gave real respect to Manmohan Singh when he was alive, is now playing politics in the name of his respect," he added. The Union minister said the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had allocated space for Singh's memorial and also informed his family about it. "Yet, the Congress is spreading lies," he said. "Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and other Congress leaders should refrain from indulging in such cheap politics," Nadda said. The BJP chief alleged that the Congress "tarnished and degraded" the position of the prime minister by placing Sonia Gandhi as "super prime minister" over Singh. "Not just this. The way Rahul Gandhi insulted Manmohan Singh by tearing an ordinance, there is no other example of this," he added. "The same Congress is today playing politics over the death of Manmohan Singh," the BJP chief said, alleging that the Gandhi family had not given respect to anyone except itself. Nadda charged that the Gandhi family did not do justice to Singh or any other leader -- be them from the Congress or other parties -- citing the examples of BR Ambedkar, India's first president Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, former prime ministers Lal Bahadur Shastri, PV Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, ex-president Pranab Mukherjee and Sitaram Kesri. "The Gandhi family has always insulted all other big leaders (than those part of the family)," the BJP chief said. He alleged that Sonia Gandhi had rejected the request for setting up a monument to Rao. "His (Rao's) body was not even given a place in the Congress office. The Congress did not want his last rites to be held in Delhi. His funeral was held in Hyderabad. It was Modi who established the memorial to Rao in 2015 and honoured him with the Bharat Ratna," Nadda said. "Even after the passing of Vajpayeeji, Congress leaders and their supporters continued to insult him," he charged. In 2020, when Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee died, the Congress Working Committee "did not even bother" to call a condolence meeting. "In 2013, the Congress-led UPA government decided to build a national memorial and had said that there would be no separate memorial for any leader. It was Prime Minister Modi who built the Prime Ministers Museum and Library to remember them and to make people of the country familiar with them," he said. "...the Congress has only built memorials for its family members," the BJP chief said and asked the party to learn from Modi the true meaning of giving respect. Nadda said that according to an estimate, about 600 government schemes, educational institutions, awards, roads, national parks, museums, airports, ports and buildings in the country were named after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family by Congress governments. "The number of schemes in the name of other personalities can be counted on the fingers," he said and added, "Our country will neither forget nor forgive the sins of the unprincipled Congress." Slamming the Congress and Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said it was "very unfortunate" that they felt it necessary to promote their "political agenda" at a time when the entire country is mourning the sad demise of the former prime minister. "Is this not an insult to the former prime minister? Why are the sentiments of his grieving family being mocked," he asked in a post on X. Pradhan said that soon after Singh's demise, the Union Cabinet decided to allocate a place for his last rites and a memorial to honour him, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed the former prime minister's family and Congress president Kharge about it. "The Congress should refrain from this shameful politics in this hour of grief and respect the memories of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh," Pradhan said. (This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)

iQIYI, Inc. ( NASDAQ:IQ – Get Free Report ) shares shot up 3.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $2.19 and last traded at $2.18. 1,926,082 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 12,769,712 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.11. Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IQ shares. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $3.15. Get Our Latest Stock Report on IQ iQIYI Stock Down 1.9 % Institutional Trading of iQIYI Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in iQIYI in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the second quarter worth $46,000. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds. About iQIYI ( Get Free Report ) iQIYI, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online entertainment video services in the People's Republic of China. It offers various products and services, including online video, online games, online literature, animations, and other products. The company operates a platform that provides a collection of internet video content, such as professionally produced content licensed from professional content providers and self-produced content. Featured Stories Receive News & Ratings for iQIYI Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for iQIYI and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .

MT lawmakers vote down bathroom rule change aimed at trans legislators

The United States is expected to announce that it will send 1.25 billion dollars (£1 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine, US officials said on Friday, as the Biden administration pushes to get as much aid to Kyiv as possible before leaving office on January 20. The large package of aid includes a significant amount of munitions, including for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and the Hawk air defence system. It also will provide Stinger missiles and 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, officials said. The officials, who said they expect the announcement to be made on Monday, spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public. The new aid comes as Russia launched a barrage of attacks against Ukraine’s power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a significant number of the missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help reclaim territory taken by Ukraine. Earlier this month, senior defence officials acknowledged that the US Defence Department may not be able to send all of the remaining 5.6 billion dollars (£4.5 billion) in Pentagon weapons and equipment stocks passed by Congress for Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in. Mr Trump has talked about getting some type of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, and spoken about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many US and European leaders are concerned that it might result in a poor deal for Ukraine and they worry that he will not provide Ukraine with all the weapons funding approved by Congress. The aid in the new package is in presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to take weapons off the shelves and send them quickly to Ukraine. This latest assistance would reduce the remaining amount to about 4.35 billion dollars (£3.46 billion). £50.8 billion Value of US security assistance to Ukraine since February 2022 Officials have said they hope that an influx of aid will help strengthen Ukraine’s hand, should Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky decide it is time to negotiate. One senior defence official said that while the US will continue to provide weapons to Ukraine until January 20, there may well be funds remaining that will be available for the incoming Trump administration to spend. According to the Pentagon, there is also about 1.2 billion dollars (£0.9 billion) remaining in longer-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more. Officials have said the administration anticipates releasing all of that money before the end of the calendar year. If the new package is included, the US will have provided more than 64 billion dollars (£50.8 billion) in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.Olivia Hussey, star of the 1968 film 'Romeo and Juliet,' dies at 73WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Republican senators is demanding that the Biden administration revoke a science and technology agreement with China, barely a week after the two countries renewed cooperation for five more years to keep ties from deteriorating. In a letter Thursday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the lawmakers, led by Sen. Jim Risch, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the era in which such cooperation made sense “is long gone" and the extension only “opens the door for further cooptation of American research.” The renewal of the agreement just before President Joe Biden leaves office “denies the incoming administration a chance to weigh in on this highly controversial agreement," they said, urging the administration to “reverse course.” In addition to Risch, the letter was signed by Sens. John Barrasso, Pete Ricketts, Todd Young and Bill Hagerty. The first such agreement was signed in January 1979 when the two countries established diplomatic ties to counter the influence of the Soviet Union and when China severely lagged behind the U.S. and other Western nations in science and technology. The agreement was extended in 2018, and it was given temporary extensions last year and this year to allow for negotiations as the tech war between the two countries has escalated. The State Department has said the new agreement has a narrower scope and more guardrails to protect U.S. interests, including covering only basic research and not facilitating the development of critical and emerging technologies. The Republican senators said they had “deep concerns” that those measures were not sufficient to protect intellectual property and prevent illicit transfer of knowledge. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter Thursday. Deborah Seligsohn, assistant professor of political science at Villanova University, said the U.S. stands to lose more if it cuts off science and technology cooperation with Beijing. “The irony is that as China has become our peer, we have so much more to gain from working with Chinese science than we did in earlier eras, and yet at this moment, when we have the most to gain, there is a demand that we shut the door,” she said. Didi Tang, The Associated Press

Coty Inc. Cl A stock underperforms Friday when compared to competitors despite daily gains

Burnaby, BC-based legaltech company Clio made Canadian tech history this year when it $1.24-billion CAD ($900-million USD) Series F round at a $4-billion CAD ($3-billion USD) pre-money valuation. The fundraising itself is one of Canadian tech’s biggest stories of 2024. After all, the round dethroned 1Password’s $744-million CAD in 2022 to become the largest-ever raise in Canadian tech history, and accounted for nearly half of all dollars raised in the country during Q3 2024. More important than what the round achieved is what it represented: a private company expertly navigating market demands while public market contemporaries floundered or fled. . Clio CEO Jack Newton said at in October that he felt the weight of demand to exit via IPO or a sale from existing investors aging out of their funds. So Newton used the round, which was “substantially secondary,” to release the pressure and avoid entering a hostile IPO market that forced many in Canadian tech to go private this year. “You don’t need to sell,” Newton said on stage, adding that founders can look at the private markets as a way of “letting your existing investors punch out.” Clio’s desire to stay private helps explain why so many publicly traded Canadian tech companies returned to the private markets this year, ultimately taking buyouts from deep-pocketed private equity firms. According to a September report from , 20 tech IPOs occurred during the 2020 IPO boom, and almost half of those have since gone private, delisted, or been taken over. “Maybe you go public again in a few years but, you know, it’s tiring being public. It’s brutal.” Some of this year’s go-private transactions came from , , ., , , and . One of the largest was Montréal-based payments company , which was acquired by Boston-based private equity Advent International for $6.3 billion USD about three and a half years after it first went public during the IPO wave of 2020. After of Montréal-based payments company Lightspeed Commerce, Dax Dasilva , initiating a of the business that could result in a similar go-private move. That review led to Lightspeed its Capital Markets Day last month. So why did the great go-private wave of 2024 (which we began to see in 2023) happen? According to Thomson Reuters Ventures managing director Tamara Steffens, going private means less scrutiny for companies at a time when they can’t put together the results needed in the public markets. “If you don’t have the financial stability to continue to pull together quarter after quarter after quarter, you may be better off pulling in private [and] cleaning it up behind closed doors, from a cost basis perspective, which you can do less visibly than if you’re a publicly traded company,” Steffens told BetaKit in an interview. “Maybe you go public again in a few years but, you know, it’s tiring being public. It’s brutal.” Steffens said that valuations have gotten more realistic since the boom of 2021, and a number of companies will opt for an exit rather than a down round. Since valuations have become “much more realistic,” the companies that did jump through the wide-open IPO window a few years ago now suddenly pine for greener grass. It’s also why Clio, which in 2022 as it prepared to go public, still hasn’t pulled the trigger. Newton said at BetaKit Town Hall: Vancouver that Clio’s $200 million USD ARR, larger than Shopify’s at the time of its IPO, needs to reach $500 million to entertain the current IPO market. Steffens noted that while it’s not any harder to IPO than it was last year, the choice to do so (or dip) will stem from the investor pressure Clio deftly defied. “If there’s less funding happening, there’s going to be a natural progression to either exit via sale to another company or to go IPO,” Steffens said. “There hasn’t been as much return [to LPs in recent years], and [investors] are going to have to make some decisions and push some companies in one direction the other.” While it’s all about timing, many Canadian tech companies say they’re ready for when the time comes. recently compiled a list of 71 privately held technology companies that have reached $100-million USD in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a milestone indicating maturity and sustainability. We have profitability, we have a strong team, we have all of the attributes [of a good public company]. It’s just a matter of when.” One of the companies is travel app , which has exceeded $300-million ARR. When BetaKit spoke with Brightspark Ventures managing partner and Hopper board member Sophie Forest in September, she said that the company will tackle an IPO when it makes sense, but there’s no urgency to do so. In the meantime, Hopper to follow Clio and raise a large secondary round to quell investors, just like San Francisco-based artificial intelligence data company Databricks did with its staggering $10-billion Series J round. When BetaKit spoke with Fullscript CEO Kyle Braatz last month, whose company has nearly achieved $1 billion in ARR, he also indicated that he’s just waiting for the right time to test the markets. “I would say we’ve got the market tailwind. We’ve got recurring revenue that’s very predictable,” Braatz told BetaKit. “We have profitability, we have a strong team, we have all of the attributes that a good public company has. It’s just a matter of when.” According to Steffens, the “when” might be just around the corner. She predicts the IPO market will open up “a little bit” in 2025, and even more so in 2026.

Jalen Johnson scores 28 to lead the Hawks over the Bulls 120-110As many companies are cutting back or ending diversity initiatives, Costco's Board of Trustees is pushing back on efforts to end the company's DEI programs. The Board urged its shareholders to vote against a proposal submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research that called on Costco to eliminate DEI programs. The group claims that DEI programs are discriminatory and put the company at financial risk. "It's clear that DEI holds litigation, reputational and financial risks to the Company, and therefore financial risks to shareholders," the National Center for Public Policy Research wrote in its letter of support. RELATED STORY | US companies are rolling back DEI programs to critics' praise, but consumers don't agree, data shows In response, Costco's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to urge shareholders to decline the proposal. Shareholders will have their say on Jan. 23. "Our success at Costco Wholesale has been built on service to our critical stakeholders: employees, members, and suppliers," the Board wrote in response to the proposal. "Our efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion follow our code of ethics: For our employees, these efforts are built around inclusion – having all of our employees feel valued and respected. Our efforts at diversity, equity and inclusion remind and reinforce with everyone at our Company the importance of creating opportunities for all. "We believe that these efforts enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees who will help our business succeed. This capacity is critical because we owe our success to our now over 300,000 employees around the globe." The National Center for Public Policy Search said the Supreme Court decision reached in 2023 in SFFA v. Harvard indicated that companies' DEI programs could potentially be illegal. The Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action policies by colleges violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. RELATED STORY | Costco memberships grow despite price increase as profits surge Costco's Board countered that the group was incorrect on its belief that the company's DEI policies violate the law. "We believe that our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are legally appropriate, and nothing in the proposal demonstrates otherwise. As part of our obeying the law, all decisions regarding recruiting, hiring, promotion, assignment, training, termination, and other terms and conditions of employment will be made without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy disability, work-related injury, covered military or veteran status, political ideology or expression, genetic information, marital status, or other protected status," Costco's Board said in response.Republican senators demand an end to science and tech cooperation with ChinaThe MSI Cyborg 14 is a great option if you’re looking for a mid-range gaming laptop. Coming in a compact 14-inch form factor, the Cyborg 14 is very portable and quite light to boot. Under the hood, it’s got some powerful hardware that makes for a very pleasant gaming experience. Among the best gaming laptops, the Cyborg 14 stands out mostly for its price. At $1,099, the bargain here certainly exceeded my expectations. With an i7-13620H CPU and an RTX 4060 GPU, the Cyborg 14 sports some impressive gaming and productivity performance, breezing through most of the best PC games with ease – again, for the price. What might polarize a lot of prospective buyers is the Cyborg 14’s design. It sports a transparent look with a rather aggressive aesthetic. It might appeal to some, but to others, it’ll be a deal-breaker. I grew to like it over my time with the laptop, so don’t judge it right off the bat on appearances alone. With a 14-inch 16:10 IPS LCD (1920x1200) and a 144Hz refresh rate, the Cyborg 14 is built to impress both in games and in productivity. A lot of titles will scale well to the 1200p resolution, but 1080p still looks great on this screen in case you need to drop the resolution. And with the slightly taller aspect ratio, you can get more done outside of gaming. Of course, it’s not a perfect laptop. The battery life leaves much to be desired, often netting less than an hour in AAA titles. The fan noise is annoyingly loud, which is unfortunate because the mediocre speakers don’t do enough to compensate. As you’ll see here in my MSI Cyborg 14 review, there’s a lot to love about this gaming laptop, especially considering its price-to-performance ratio. Sure, it’s not all roses and rainbows, but for $1,099, you’re getting plenty to enjoy. MSI Cyborg 14 review: Cheat sheet What is it? A very portable, powerful mid-range gaming laptop with a sharp 16:10 display and unique styling. Who is it for? People who want to get a powerful gaming laptop without dropping a ton of money on premium features like an OLED display. What does it cost? The Cyborg 14 as reviewed costs $1,099 at Best Buy . What do we like? The lightweight chassis, the performance for the price, the sharp 16:10 144Hz display, and the transparent styling. What don’t we like? The subpar battery life, the so-so audio, and the fan noise. MSI Cyborg 14 review: The ups There’s a lot to like about the MSI Cyborg 14. For its reasonable $1,099 price, this gaming laptop knocks it out of the park with its performance. The design is also very unique with transparent elements, including the WASD keys. This is a laptop meant for people who don’t want to compromise on raw power, even if it means sacrificing more premium features like an OLED display. Great performance Right off the bat, the Cyborg 14 is no slouch. Our review unit is powered by an Intel i7-13620H CPU and an RTX 4060 GPU. Combined, these make for a very performant machine, capable of chewing through even the most demanding AAA games at the native 1920x1200 resolution with ease, especially with DLSS enabled. For example, I ran Cyberpunk 2077’s benchmark with Medium to High settings and DLSS 3 enabled. I hit an average frame rate of 65 frames per second (fps), which surprised me. The 1% lows dipped into the thirties, but that far exceeded my expectations. Even Black Myth: Wukong ran steady, though it had some noticeable drops and stutters at some points. Hogwarts Legacy, another demanding title, ran perfectly smoothly, too, though nowhere near the display’s native 144Hz refresh rate. And Destiny 2 sat consistently in the 90-110 fps range at Medium settings. Frame rate results (@ 1200p) Our lab tests further corroborated my experience. That said, keep in mind that we run benchmarks with no upscaling technology enabled and with the laptop in its Balanced mode, so these numbers are lower than if you use, say, DLSS in supported games. As you can see in this selection of games tested, the MSI Cyborg 14 fares very well, surpassing the 60 fps baseline in Assassin’s Creed: Mirage and Grand Theft Auto V. But Cyberpunk 2077 desperately needs DLSS to be playable at the laptop’s native resolution. Yet, Red Dead Redemption 2 sits right in the middle of a passable frame rate, plenty above the 30 fps mark, but equally below 60 fps. While the Cyborg 14’s gaming performance is good, the productivity output isn’t bad, either. With 16GB of RAM, there’s a decent amount of memory even for applications that tend to hog that resource. This laptop does more than fine with day-to-day tasks, meaning that you likely don’t need to worry about having a separate productivity machine. An interesting design You’ll notice the Cyborg 14’s striking design immediately. From the transparent bottom to the webcam lip, this laptop screams “gamer” aesthetic, even though the keyboard isn’t RGB. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. The sharp angles and solid construction make for a compact package, one that weighs just 3.5 pounds. What about that webcam lip I mentioned? It’s a unique way to still include a camera while not interfering with the display’s attractive slim bezels. At first, I found it unsightly, much like the notch on the best MacBooks. But as I used the Cyborg 14, I got used to it and stopped noticing it. Even better, it functions also as a convenient means of opening the machine without smudging anything. Opening it up, the Cyborg 14 continues with its aesthetic. The transparent WASD and power keys add some nice flair to the overall look, and the blue-ish glow from the keyboard itself looks a lot more subtle than an RGB one would. The 14-inch 16:10 display dominates the lid with the aforementioned slim bezels. There’s very little distracting here, leaving you able to focus (mostly) on your game. The unique styling won’t appeal to everyone, but for those who want something different, the Cyborg 14 certainly delivers. A very good display At 14 inches with a 16:10 aspect ratio, the Cyborg 14’s display functions as a means for media consumption and productivity both. Games can play at the native 1920x1200 resolution or at 1080p with very small letterboxes on the top and bottom of the content. (Going down those few pixels to 1080p can boost the frame rate a tad, too.) The IPS LCD panel does well with punchy colors and reasonable blacks. It’s no OLED by any means, but it does more than fine for a $1,099 laptop. We ran the Cyborg 14 through a suite of display tests, the results of which you can see above. The sRGB performance is great, but the more challenging DCI-P3 gamut performance lacked quite a bit. And the Delta-E color accuracy score (where 0 is perfect) wasn’t terrible at 0.31. I’d like to see a higher brightness, because the Cyborg 14 is very difficult to see in direct sunlight or a brightly-lit room. All of that means that your games will look good on the Cyborg 14, but not amazing. For a mid-tier laptop display, these results are right in line with my expectations. MSI Cyborg 14 review: The downs Of course, no product is perfect and at $1,099, MSI had to make some compromises (like the display brightness). Disappointing battery life To make a longer story short, I don’t recommend using the Cyborg 14 far from an outlet. The battery life just isn’t up to par in my opinion. I consistently got an hour, or less, of playtime in Destiny 2 and worse in more demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Black Myth: Wukong. That’s expected behavior, of course, since the GPU is working harder, but I couldn’t help but be disappointed. The web surfing test uses Battery Informant while the gaming one utilizes PCMark 10. The latter is right in line with what I was just saying. Less than an hour isn’t stellar and it can get a lot worse. Lighter games will net you better battery life, obviously, but the more intense AAA/AA games will tax the Cyborg 14’s 53.5Whr battery. Just think: that’s not much bigger than what powers the Steam Deck OLED. The audio could be better Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by the audio on my MacBook Pro, but the speakers on the Cyborg 14 are the pinnacle of mediocre. The mids are fine, but the highs and lows leave much to be desired. Gunshots in Destiny 2 didn’t have their hallmark punchiness, the sounds of me dueling foes in Black Myth: Wukong didn’t hit as hard, and the bustle of Night City rang hollow. Music wasn’t much better. I played a lot of metal while grinding in Destiny 2, and the experience grated on my ears after a while. I didn’t expect a powerful sound system from a $1,099 gaming laptop, but I had hoped for better. You’re definitely going to want headphones, both for a better experience and to be courteous to anyone around you. So much fan noise On the topic of sound, the Cyborg 14 may lack for strong audio, but it makes up for it with a lot of fan noise. This laptop gets loud, perfectly capable of drowning out the sounds from your game. When under full load, this machine sounds like it’s trying to take off. Gaming in public or around others will certainly be disruptive. In our lab tests, the Cyborg 14’s hottest point that you’ll feel is at the top of the keyboard near the F8 key, hitting 95.5 degrees while idling and a peak of 123 degrees while playing the incredibly intensive Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition. So even with all that noise, the laptop still gets quite warm to the touch. Granted, this is a 14-inch laptop with a powerful mobile CPU and a very good GPU. Those components get pretty hot, and there’s not as much room for cooling as there is in a slightly larger 15-inch laptop. So I’m not going to harp on this too much, but be forewarned. MSI Cyborg 14 review: Verdict The MSI Cyborg 14 checks off the important boxes for what you need in a compact gaming laptop. It’s portable, powerful, and sports a unique style that isn’t quite like anything else. While it lacks good battery life, and could use work on the audio and fan noise level, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with this machine. I can easily recommend this laptop to those who might be on a middle of the road budget and can’t afford a more premium option, like something from Asus ROG or Razer . Sure, $1,099 still isn’t easy to swallow for a lot of people, but go any cheaper on something brand new and you’ll find a lot more compromises than what the Cyborg 14 has. You get the complete package here, and for this price, it’s a bargain.

With a new year ahead and the holiday fanfare behind, this is a great time to set money goals, especially if you recently spent a lot on gifts and travel and want to get your finances in shape. You’d be in good company, too — according to a January 2024 survey from the Pew Research Center, of the 30% of Americans who made at least one New Year’s resolution, 61% had a goal that was money-related. Right now, you may be highly motivated to solve every single one of your money issues in the next few months, but daily life is guaranteed to get in the way. Your financial to-do list, once so full of promise, can eventually get stuffed in the back of a drawer while you manage more pressing matters. The vast majority of New Year’s resolutions go unfulfilled. So how can you improve your odds of success? It comes down to accepting that you won’t have the time or energy to complete every task to perfection. Creating a system where you can prioritize, plan ahead and hold yourself accountable can help. Many start by setting a goal to trim frivolous costs, which can certainly be helpful, but there are other ways to make a big difference. Taylor Schult — a certified financial planner and founder of Define Financial, an advisory firm in San Diego — recommends starting with a few overlooked financial tasks. Freezing your credit is a quick, easy way to guard yourself against identity theft. It’s free to do, and you can temporarily lift the freeze when you’re applying for a loan or credit card. Schulte also suggests looking into umbrella insurance , which offers additional coverage beyond what your auto, homeowners and other insurance policies provide. This coverage can spare you from massive out-of-pocket costs in the event you get sued. Basic estate planning, including creating a will, is another thing to put high on your list. Putting off this task can create a major headache for your loved ones if something happens to you unexpectedly. “I know it’s a pain point and it’s often kicked down the road,” Schulte says. Paying attention to your spending is always important, but don’t neglect taking steps to protect your money, yourself and your loved ones. So many money goals are born out of social pressure. You “should” want to save up to own a home, even if you’re happily renting. You “should” sacrifice short-term needs and wants to stash away as much as possible for retirement, even though it leaves you feeling deprived. But money goals should be tied to the things that matter most to you. If they aren’t, you’ll quickly lose interest. “If you don’t know what goals to choose, go back to your values and have them guide the goals you set,” says Eric Roberge, a certified financial planner and founder of Beyond Your Hammock, a financial advisory firm in Boston. You can combine goal-setting with a little planning, so expenses are less likely to creep up on you throughout the year. Think about what expected costs will be coming up in the next six to 12 months, like recurring bills, vacations, anticipated home or car repairs, and other expenses. This approach allows you to set money aside each month to put toward planned costs, as well as longer-term goals. Forgetting your goals can be far too easy, so to make something stick, write it down . It can be as simple as a handwritten list you keep on the fridge, or online calendar reminders that will nudge you every so often. For time-sensitive goals, set deadlines. One tactic is to make multiple lists based on what you need to complete within the next week, month or three months. As time passes and you check off items, you can update the list. Enlist others’ help, too. Weekly or monthly household money meetings are useful if you’re completing financial tasks as a group. Or share your goals with a trusted friend or family member who can serve as an accountability partner. Looping in loved ones can help keep you on track. “We don’t mind letting ourselves down,” Schulte says. “But we hate to let other people down.” It’s easy to get stuck in decision-making mode when trying to pick a high-yield savings account, credit card or possible investments, but eventually, you need to make a good-enough choice . Taking action now can have more of a positive effect on your life than waiting until you’ve painstakingly considered each option. Roberge says that though he’d prefer to optimize every financial decision, he doesn’t because if he did, he wouldn’t get things done. “Everything in moderation is one of the things that I live by,” he says. “Going to extremes in any one thing, at the detriment of other things that are important, doesn’t work long-term.” More From NerdWallet Sara Rathner writes for NerdWallet. Email: srathner@nerdwallet.com . Twitter: @sarakrathner. The article Got Money Goals for the New Year? Stay on Track With These Tips originally appeared on NerdWallet.