Any avid traveler knows there are far too many gorgeous landscapes and jaw-dropping views to make one all-encompassing list of the most beautiful countries in the world. We're lucky to have such a diverse world, and beauty is subjective.

Media figures making that claim are blaming everyone but the bad candidate herself.

A new children’s book tells the tale of a young South Dakota woman who flew dozens of mercy missions during the great blizzards of 1949.

There are not many usable precedents for what J. D. Vance can do with a one-term vice presidency.

The state’s vote to abolish its high-school exit exam keeps us from knowing how well they’re educating students — which is just how teachers’ unions like it.

Nintendo is set to show off the Donkey Kong Country expansion of its Super Nintendo World theme park today (Monday, November 11) at 5PM ET, the company revealed in a post on X. That means the new Universal Studios Japan area might finally open soon, after being delayed from the previously announced launch window of Spring 2024. 

The new park attraction featuring Mario's barrel-throwing nemesis was first revealed in 2021. The centerpiece is a ride called Mine Cart Madness, named after the best level in the 1994 SNES game Donkey Kong Country. After being blasted out of a barrel cannon, you'll take a mine cart ride through the jungle that includes a "leap across a collapsed track" as Nintendo showed in a render earlier this year.  

The direct livestream appears to be focused on Donkey Kong world alone, and Nintendo specifically pointed out that "no game information will be featured" — so don't expect any news on the next-gen Switch 2 console either. 

Donkey Kong Country will expand the park size by up to 70 percent, Nintendo said when it was announced. Current attractions at the Japan park are the Mario Kart: Kuppa's Challenge rollercoaster and Yoshi Adventure. Nintendo recently announced that it would open a Super Nintendo World attraction at Universal Studios Orlando on May 22nd, 2025 with the same attractions as the park in Osaka. 

Amazon is reportedly developing smart glasses for its delivery drivers, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. These glasses are intended to cut “seconds” from each delivery because, well, productivity or whatever. Sources say that they are an extension of the pre-existing Echo Frames smart glasses and are known by the internal code Amelia.

These seconds will be shaved off in a couple of ways. First of all, the glasses reportedly include an embedded display to guide delivery drivers around and within buildings. They will allegedly also provide drivers with “turn-by-turn navigation” instructions while driving. Finally, wearing AR glasses means that drivers won’t have to carry a handheld GPS device. You know what that means. They’ll be able to carry more packages at once. It’s a real mitzvah.

I’m being snarky, and for good reason, but there could be some actual benefit here. I’ve been a delivery driver before and often the biggest time-sink is wandering around labyrinthine building complexes like a lost puppy. I wouldn’t have minded a device that told me where the elevator was. However, I would not have liked being forced to wear cumbersome AR glasses to make that happen.

To that end, the sources tell Reuters that this project is not an absolute certainty. The glasses could be shelved if they don’t live up to the initial promise or if they’re too expensive to manufacture. Even if things go smoothly, it’ll likely be years before Amazon drivers are mandated to wear the glasses. The company is reportedly having trouble integrating a battery that can last a full eight-hour shift and settling on a design that doesn’t cause fatigue during use. There’s also the matter of collecting all of that building and neighborhood data, which is no small feat.

Amazon told Reuters that it is “continuously innovating to create an even safer and better delivery experience for drivers” but refused to comment on the existence of these AR glasses. "We otherwise don’t comment on our product roadmap,” a spokesperson said.

The Echo Frames have turned out to be a pretty big misfire for Amazon. The same report indicates that the company has sold only 10,000 units since the third-gen glasses came out last year.

We wouldn’t blame you if you try to do all of your tech shopping around the holidays. That’s when you can typically get the best sales, both on relatively affordable gear and (more importantly) on big-ticket items. But it would be wrong to think that only the most expensive tech is worth gifting. Since we at Engadget test a plethora of gadgets every year, we know that there are some hidden (and not so hidden) tech gems at lower price ranges — you just have to know where to find them. That’s where we come in — these are the best tech gifts under $50 that you can get this year.

Check out the rest of our gift ideas here.

The winter holidays are upon us and despite the festive feelings we might be hoping for, this time of year is often paired with increased stress, worry and anxiety. Fortunately, there are some great tools for helping to manage those negative emotions while promoting positive ones. One of those tools is the Headspace mental health app, which is running a three-week Black Friday deal. From November 12 through December 4, you can snag a Headspace annual plan for half off. This subscription normally costs $70 a year, but during this promotion, you can access the service for $35 billed annually. And what better time than the holiday chaos to gift someone (or heck, to gift yourself) a little bit of mindfulness?

Headspace's service has features to help users with meditation, sleep tools, mindfulness and general mental health. Its holistic approach made Headspace stand out as one of our top picks for meditation apps. Reviewer Lawrence Bonk appreciated how well Headspace created progression across its courses, as well as the chance to pick from different instructors so that any user can find the meditation guidance that will work best for their individual brains. This app is also getting the AI treatment. Headspace has introduced an AI companion named Ebb that can help users by recommending meditations and activities to best match their current challenges. 

Since this is a year-long subscription, it's a gift that keeps on giving for whoever you choose to buy this plan for. Having a happier brain is a present anyone can appreciate.

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NVIDIA has been testing a single app that merges the GeForce Experience and Control Panel over the past year. After rolling out several betas to make sure it works as intended, the company has officially launched the NVIDIA application, which is now available to download for users with its GPUs in their PCs and laptops. 

The company says the app is meant to make it easy to keep their NVIDIA Studio and GeForce Game Ready drivers updated and to give users quick access to its latest programs. In its home screen, users will find a prominently displayed section that will lead them to the latest driver downloads, as well as sections that will take them to other NVIDIA applications. At the bottom, they'll find a Library section showing their most recently opened games and programs that they can launch from there. 

Since it's supposed to provide a unified experience, users will be able to fine-tune the settings for their games and programs from within the app. Users will be able to access Optimal Playable Settings with relevant Control Panel options, and they'll be able to configure their displays, enable G-SYNC, enhance videos with AI and fine-tune their GPU's performance from within its interface. 

NVIDIA explains that it designed the unified application to be 50 percent more responsive than the GeForce Experience. It also installs in half the time. It's also worth noting that app will introduce a redesigned in-game overlay that simplifies access to gameplay recording tools capable of capturing video in 4K at 120 FPS, as well as AI-powered filters for those with RTX GPUs. They'll then be able to view their screenshots and new videos in the app's Gallery. 

Baidu, which is often called China's answer to Google, has launched its own pair of AI-powered smart glasses at its annual World Conference event in Shanghai. The device will run on the company's ERNIE generative AI technology and was designed to "become a private assistant," according to the Financial Times. Users will reportedly be able to interact with the device using their voice and ask it questions about what it sees in their current environment. They can also tell it to play music and even track their calories consumption. And since the glasses are equipped with cameras, they can ask it to snap photos or take videos. 

When the glasses start shipping sometime next year, they could become the Chinese consumers' alternative to Meta's and Snap's devices. Meta teamed up with Ray Ban a few years ago to release a pair of smart sunglasses that can livestream and send photos hands-free. Its latest model comes built-in with Meta's generative AI assistant that users can talk to. However, the company's device isn't officially sold in China, because its servers are blocked in the country. Baidu has yet to announce how much its glasses would cost, but Meta is selling its device for $299. 

The Baidu World Conference had a huge focus on the company's AI efforts, as it takes steps to make sure ERNIE can keep up with its competitors' technologies. It also launched a new AI image generator called iRAG that apparently experiences fewer hallucinations than its predecessor, along with a tool that enables people to create software programs even if they don't have coding expertise. According to The Times, ByteDance's Doubao is now the leading AI chatbot in China based on monthly active users as observed by Sensor Tower. ByteDance is also growing its hardware offerings and recently launched a pair of earbuds with access to its AI assistant Doubao. 

Waymo has announced expanded availability of its driverless rideshare service throughout Los Angeles. That’s right. Waymo One is now available to all customers anywhere in LA county, which is 80 square miles. The company has dropped the waitlist for area residents. Now LA residents will get to experience sitting in endless traffic with a series of cameras and navigational algos leading the way instead of a person.

This expanded service starts today and it offers “fully autonomous rides” at any time of the day or night. Let’s hear it for some drunken late night bonding with an algorithm. Waymo also says it’ll further expand the service area in the future. After all, Los Angeles comprises five counties. 

It’s been offering driverless rides to LA customers for a while now, but with a mandatory waitlist. Waymo One also started small in San Francisco and Phoenix before announcing similar expansions. The service will be coming to Austin and Atlanta in the near future.

All told, the company says over 300,000 Los Angeles residents have joined the waitlist for the service and Waymo One has completed “hundreds of thousands of paid trips across the city.” Waymo says these driverless rides are also highly rated, with an average rating of 4.7 stars out of five. A recent survey indicated that 98 percent of customers are satisfied with the service.

Apple is rumored to be working on a new smart home product. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg reported that the company is developing a wall-mounted display for controlling appliances, interacting with Siri and videoconferencing. The tablet is said to look "like a square iPad" with "a roughly 6-inch screen." It would have a camera at the top as well as internal speakers and a built-in rechargeable battery. His sources said this smart home display could be officially announced as soon as March following three years in development.

This description sounds a lot like the Google Home Hub, which came out in 2018, or the Echo Show, which is already up to its eighth iteration. If Apple wants to be a serious competitor in this smart home space, it'll have to prove to customers that it has something to offer that these more established brands and products don't.

Right now, the only distinguishing feature is likely Apple Intelligence, which finally began rolling out to users in late October, and the upcoming App Intents system for controlling software programs with AI. But Apple may be looking farther ahead toward something more extravagant than just a smart device control panel. Gurman reported that Apple is already working on a version with a robotic arm that could move the tablet around. It should be interesting to see exactly what Apple does formally launch and when.

Amazon is closing down Freevee, its free ad-supported video on demand service. This platform was home to original programming as well as more than 100 originals from the Prime Video roster. Freevee will be phased out over the coming weeks, and its content will become available as part of Prime Video. The ad-supported tier of Prime Video is included as part of Amazon's Prime membership for $15 a month.

"To deliver a simpler viewing experience for customers, we have decided to phase out Freevee branding," an Amazon spokesperson told Variety. "There will be no change to the content available for Prime members, and a vast offering of free streaming content will still be accessible for non-Prime members, including select originals from Amazon MGM Studios, a variety of licensed movies and series, and a broad library of FAST channels – all available on Prime Video."

The free viewing platform went through several rebrands since its original launch as IMDb Freedive in January 2019. It entered its final phase as Freevee in April 2022.

Le grand requin blanc attaque souvent ses proies par en dessous, confondant parfois la silhouette d’un surfeur avec celle d’un phoque.

Leylah Fernandez et ses compatriotes auront fort à faire pour conserver leur titre.

Quel match de fou, hier après-midi, à Buffalo! Mais puisque c’est le résultat qui compte, ce n’est pas le temps de faire la gueule fine.

Un défenseur bélarusse au potentiel incalculable réalise bien malgré lui les défis quotidiens qui accompagnent son physique hors-norme.

AUSTRALIANS have reacted with mirth to a Liberal ad featuring a builder exhibiting several telltale signs that he’s never been on a worksite in his life.

Barsana, India (AFP) Nov 8, 2024
Venerated as incarnations of Hindu deities, India's sacred cows are also being touted as agents of energy transition by a government determined to promote biogas production to cut its dependence on coal. It is an understatement to say that Nakul Kumar Sardana is proud of his new plant at Barsana, in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state. Firstly, says the vice-president of a biomass joint

José González is an illustrator, author and animator originally from Buenos Aires now living in English Harbour. González was selected to be one of the Artists in Residence at Business and Arts N.L. (Un)Common Threads Creativity and Innovation Summit happening on Nov. 7. In advance of the summit, González has been busy preparing for his installation, which will feature a large-scale fish tank with animated sea creatures brought to life through projections and augmented reality.

The sound of silence, no more: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, who as folk duo Simon & Garfunkel were one of the most popular American musical acts of the 20th century, recently reunited after years without speaking.

Un avocat de Laval épinglé pour son compteur d’Hydro-Québec trafiqué qui lui a fait économiser près de 27 000$ d’électricité devra payer une amende.

Depuis quelques années, et avec une plus grande intensité au cours des derniers jours, plusieurs proposent la création d’une commission Parent 2.0.

Des voleurs ont réussi à dérober un guichet automatique en le tirant à travers la devanture vitrée de l’immeuble à l’aide d’un camion.

Non aux rencontres amoureuses, au sexe, au mariage ou à élever des enfants avec un homme.

Un «faucon» anti-Chine à la diplomatie, une gouverneure «tueuse de chiens» à la sécurité intérieure.

Le syndicat des facteurs de Postes Canada a remis un préavis de grève de 72 heures à l’employeur, qui a répliqué aussitôt avec un avis de lock-out.

Depuis 35 ans, l’Université de Sherbrooke est présente à Longueuil.

Amoury Lapointe a résisté à son arrestation lors d’une intervention de routine à laquelle il refusait de se soumettre dans son «véhicule diplomatique»

Ottawa aurait laissé trop de liberté aux syndicats, en leur donnant «carte blanche» pour déclencher des grèves dans les ports du pays.

Pour la première fois, une ex-directrice de l’école Bedford explique de vive voix avoir alerté plusieurs fois ses supérieurs quant au climat toxique.

Laissez les beaux-pères au chalet et vos candidats libres de vous étonner. S’ils en sont capables, ils le feront.

À l’exception notable des électeurs conservateurs.

Le jury au procès du père accusé d’avoir décimé sa famille a eu droit à une véritable incursion dans la scène de crime.

Une ancienne boîte de poulet St-Hubert, retrouvée par hasard dans l’entretoit d’un chalet, a été remise à la famille Martin en échange d'un don.

Ce n’est pas mon opinion, mais celle d’endocrinologues, qui sont les plus crédibles dans ce débat.

Une ado qui aurait été enlevée de force par ses propres frères était en panique et criait d’appeler le 911, selon un témoin appelé au procès.

Le Bloc Québécois trône toujours en tête, à 35% des intentions de vote, selon un sondage Léger-Le Journal-TVA.

Donald Trump a indiqué mardi qu’il comptait nommer Elon Musk à la tête d’un ministère nouvellement créé de l’«efficacité gouvernementale»

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for several brands of bread and buns due to pieces of metal in the products.

The province says the move comes "after years of AIMCo consistently failing to meet its mandated benchmark returns." For now, Finance Minister Nate Horner has been appointed the AIMCo board's sole director and chair. Senior public servant Ray Gilmour has been appointed interim CEO.

The employers' association is threatening to lock out workers at 9 p.m. Sunday if a deal isn't reached.

Canada's unemployment rate was unchanged in October at 6.5 per cent, while job growth was little changed from the previous month, Statistics Canada said Friday.

Supporters say the Supreme Court of Canada's so-called Jordan ruling in 2016 has sped up proceedings and strengthened Charter rights for prompt justice. But some victims say the time limits for trials work in criminals' favour and cases continue to collapse because those limits are breached. 

Canada’s privacy commissioner has launched an investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and “its handling of biological samples collected from athletes.”

Samsung has upped the TV stakes with a new range of smart TVs with “QLED” displays.

NORTH Melbourne coach Brad Scott’s embarrassing umpire’s scandal just got a whole lot worse for his football club and his own wallet.

BROCK Lesnar was allowed to dodge an anti-doping policy to make his megastar comeback at UFC 200 but what’s happened since is remarkable.

Gros succès en France, le drame biographique est présenté samedi au Festival Cinemania.