Match Date Western Sydney Wanderers vs Sydney FC Saturday, October 19, 2024 Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory Saturday, October 26, 2024 Wellington Phoenix vs Auckland FC Saturday, November 2, 2024 Sydney FC vs Macarthur FC Saturday, November 10, 2024 Newcastle Jets vs Central Coast Mariners Friday, November 22, 2024 Western United vs Melbourne win Saturday, November 30, 2024 Auckland FC vs Wellington Phoenix Saturday, December 7, 2024 Western Sydney Wanderers vs Brisbane Roar Saturday, December 14, 2024 Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne City Saturday, December 21, 2024 Perth Glory vs Macarthur FC Friday, December 27, 2024 Western Sydney Wanderers vs Macarthur FC Wednesday, January 1, 2025 Brisbane Roar vs Central Coast Mariners Friday, January 3, 2025 Melbourne win against Western United Friday, January 10, 2025 Perth Glory vs Western Sydney Wanderers Tuesday, January 14, 2025 Adelaide United win against Melbourne Saturday, January 18, 2025 Newcastle Jets vs Perth Glory Saturday, January 25, 2025 Central Coast Mariners vs Newcastle Jets Saturday, February 1, 2025 Sydney FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers Saturday, February 8, 2025 Western Sydney Wanderers vs Macarthur FC Sunday, February 16, 2025 Auckland FC vs Wellington Phoenix Saturday, February 22, 2025 Macarthur FC vs Sydney FC Saturday March 1, 2025 Adelaide United vs Brisbane Roar Saturday March 8, 2025 Perth Glory vs Brisbane Roar Saturday March 15, 2025 Melbourne win against Adelaide United Saturday March 29, 2025 Western United vs Perth Glory Saturday, April 5, 2025 Newcastle Jets vs Central Coast Mariners Saturday April 12, 2025 Melbourne win against Auckland FC Saturday, April 19, 2025 Melbourne City vs Adelaide United Saturday April 26, 2025 Macarthur FC vs Western Sydney Wanderers Saturday, May 3, 2025

If you want to start 2025 feeling like the best version of yourself, TikTok’s “Winter Bow” is the trend you’ve been looking for. “The Winter arc is all about just dialing in,” creator Carly Berges says in a TikTok with over 4.5 million views. Instead of toxic fad diets and dangerous challenges, the Winter Arc is about putting together an organic routine that will help you feel like the best version of yourself as the new year begins. It covers all types of wellness goals related to fitness, nutrition, and mental health, with a focus on optimizing the final months of the year.

“This is the time when people start to take their foot off the gas, but there are still three months left in the year,” Berges says in her original video. “If you’re ready to lock the fuck up, become unrecognizable, and enter the new year with a completely new, better, and higher version of yourself, then start planning your winter bow now.” Among her winter goals include more consistent strength training, more content creation, mindful reading, and earlier wake-up times, but your goal could be entirely different. The only requirement is that your goals help you persevere through the rest of the year and emerge victorious.

To better understand the winter bow — and maybe even plan one of our own — we turned to a personal trainer and registered dietitian. Read on to see her top tips for setting realistic goals, overcoming setbacks, and staying motivated all year long.

Experts featured in this article:

Joel Totoro, RD, is a registered dietitian and director of exercise science at Thorne.

Hailey Jackson is a certified master personal trainer at Fit Athletic Club.

What is the winter arc trend?

“The Winter Bow is a TikTok challenge that encourages people to use the coldest, darkest days of the year (starting around October 1st) to refocus on their goals, personal development and growth,” explains Joel Totoro, RD, points out that around this time people tend to become a little lax about their health and well-being. “The Winter Arc challenges this idea and emphasizes using the last three months of the year to feel your best, so that by the time you start the new year you have already made progress towards some of your goals.” However, there are no specific requirements for the winter bow, so it can be completely customized to suit your individual circumstances and wellness goals.

Benefits of Winter Arc

We know by now not to trust everything we see on TikTok, but the winter arc could have some serious benefits. “A key benefit of participating is reevaluating your approach to health and nutrition,” says Totoro. “It’s a great time to self-reflect and learn more about how well you’re nourishing your body by assessing your energy levels, the quality of your sleep, your muscle strength, and more.” Just taking a moment to Coming to yourself, seeing how you feel, and identifying the areas you want to work on is a big step in the right direction.

Winter arc risks

Although the winter bow doesn’t appear to be inherently harmful, Totoro says you should still be wary of dangerous health trends. “It’s important to remember that everyone is different,” he says. That said, “What works for some of your favorite influencers may not work for you, and that’s especially true when it comes to diet and what you put in your body,” warns Totoro. The end result? Don’t let comparing yourself to other fitfluencers stop you. The winter arc should be about improving yourself.

“I want to caution people to use the winter arc as fuel for motivation and achieving their goals, but not as a guide for changing your entire diet and health routine,” says Totoro. “Diet culture can quickly shift from encouraging healthy habits to encouraging negative habits if too much emphasis is placed on the challenge.” Here, Totoro emphasizes the importance of moderation and encourages people to celebrate the holidays even in the middle of winter enjoy. “Sure, increase your fruit and vegetable intake the rest of the year, but also enjoy your mom’s famous sweet potato pie on Thanksgiving,” he says.

How to start the winter bow

If you want to start your own winter bow but don’t know where to start, NASM-certified personal trainer Hailey Jackson has some recommendations. “Setting realistic, sustainable fitness goals is all about finding balance,” she says.

Winter Arc Tips

If you want to make your winter arch (even beyond the New Year) as effective as possible, our experts have some tips you should keep in mind. And as Totoro notes, always seek credible, personalized, and science-backed information before making drastic changes to your routine—even if that means consulting your doctor.

Chandler Plante is an editorial assistant for PS Health and Fitness. She has over four years of professional experience in journalism, previously working as an editorial assistant at People magazine and working for Ladygunn, Millie and Bustle Digital Group. In her free time, she enjoys finding new ways to rock her 18(!) different eye patches and making videos about chronic illness, beauty, and disability.

Apple introduced the iPad mini 7 earlier this week, giving its smallest tablet the performance boost needed to support Apple Intelligence. This is the biggest upgrade to the iPad mini 7. Otherwise, the tablet is identical to its predecessor.

Apple didn’t choose one of the A18 chip variants for the iPhone 16 and 16 Pro, opting for last year’s A17 Pro to power the iPhone 15 Pro models. The A18 and A17 Pro chips also have 8GB of RAM, which is a minimum requirement for Apple Intelligence.

And best of all, Apple made it possible for $499. The price of the iPad mini 7 corresponds to that of its predecessor despite the large increase in performance. I think this is a strong indication that the iPhone SE 4 will have a great starting price, even if the phone has the newer A18 chip.

It turns out that the iPad mini 7 doesn’t have exactly the same A17 Pro chip as the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max. Apple is using versions of the chip that weren’t good enough for last year’s Pro phones. But that shouldn’t affect performance too much.

The iPhone 15 Pro’s A17 Pro features a 6-core CPU, a 6-core GPU, a 16-core Neural Engine, and 8GB of RAM.

The A17 Pro version of the iPad mini 7 is almost identical. The only difference concerns the GPU. We’re looking at a 5-core GPU compared to the iPhone 15 Pro. This information is visible on Apple’s website. All you need to do is check the product specification pages or use Apple’s comparison tools.

As 9to5Mac indicates that we are dealing with chip binning. Some chips do not meet the specified requirements during quality control during manufacturing. Instead of scrapping these chips, Apple is giving them a second life in other products. This has also happened in the past with other versions of the A-series chips.

Back to the iPad mini 7: Its A17 Pro chip will certainly be able to keep up with the performance of the iPhone 15 Pro in terms of CPU. The GPU might take a small performance hit, but I wouldn’t expect it to be too big. You can still run more resource-intensive apps and games on the tablet.

About a year ago, when we were expecting the iPad mini 7 to launch, I said that the iPad mini 7 would be Apple’s most powerful tablet if it got the A17 Pro chip. This was several months before the release of the M4 iPad Pro.

Back then, the A17 Pro benchmarks showed that the chip could outperform the M1 and M2 chips in single-core CPU tests. Apple had used these chips or the iPad Air 5 and iPad Pro generations that preceded the M4 variant.

A year later, the new iPad mini 7 is likely to be the second most powerful tablet in Apple’s product range after the M4 iPad Pro.

David Coverdale, the powerful voice behind Whitesnake and former frontman of Deep Purple, lets his solo work shine in a new collection of remixed, remastered and remastered versions of his solo albums Whitesnake (1977), NorthWinds (1978) and Into The Light (2000).

“Into The Light: The Solo Albums” will be available as a 6-CD box set on October 25th via Rhino Records. It is packaged in a hardcover box and contains a 60-page book with rare photos, detailed liner notes and a new interview with Coverdale. The newly remixed version of “Into The Light” will also be available separately as a double vinyl album in gatefold sleeve.

Watch an unboxing video below:

The upcoming box set includes two versions of Coverdale’s solo albums: a remixed version to provide a more dynamic sonic experience, and a second remastered version of the original recordings for those who want to revisit the classic sound. The remix versions contain significant updates (particularly for Whitesnake and NorthWinds) and utilize state-of-the-art audio separation software. NorthWinds’ track “Time & Again” benefited from innovative voice extraction technology, enabling new string and piano arrangements that Coverdale had envisioned for decades.

Coverdale shares: “The remixes are modern and utilize new technology to make the most of them… It’s really exciting to think about it again and address all the technical ‘issues’ I had with the tracks all those years ago had.”

Into The Light, Coverdale’s third solo album, features an impressive musical lineup that includes guitarists Earl Slick (David Bowie) and Doug Bossi, bassist Marco Mendoza (who later joined Whitesnake), legendary drummer Denny Carmassi (Montrose, Whitesnake ) and keyboardist Mike belong to Finningan (Jimi Hendrix). The remix version of the album expands on the original with songs like “Let’s Talk It Over” and “All The Time In The World”. The collection also features additional remixes, demos and outtakes from the album, including “With All Of My Heart.” Coverdale wrote the song for his wife and considers it one of the best he has ever written.

The set also revisits NorthWinds and Whitesnake Coverdale’s first two solo albums, which were recorded immediately after their departure from Deep Purple. Both albums have been reinterpreted and resequenced for the upcoming collection. NorthWinds features some new arrangements and additional tracks such as “Sweet Mistreater” and “Shame The Devil, Tell The Truth” that breathe new life into this classic. Whitesnake offers impossible remixes thanks to AI sound separation software, thanks to technology that has only been available for a few years.

Pre-order here. Check out “Time & Again” (Strings Version – Official Video Remix 2024) below.

6CD tracklist:

CD1: Into The Light (Remix)
“She gives me”
“River Song”
“Don’t cry.”
“Love is blind”
“Slave”
“Cry for Love”
“Living from love”
“Midnight Blue”
“Too many tears”
“Don’t lie to me”
“All the time in the world”
“Wherever you go”
“Best regards”
“Let’s talk about it”

CD2: Into The Light (additional remixes)
“Love Is Blind” (band version)
“As long as I have you”
“With all my heart”
“Wherever You May Go” (string version)
“Love Is Blind” (string version)

Demos and unfinished symphonies
“Desire”
“Oh no, not the blues again”
“Into The Light Intro”
“Into the light”
“You’re making it difficult for me.”
“Would you be happy?”
“Deceiving yourself”
“Make the most of it”
“Veda of Cassandra Blues”
“I can see the light”
“Another Fallen Angel”
“Itchy finger”

Original demos 1997
“Crazy ‘Bout Cha” (original version of “Whipping Boy Blues”)
“If you want me”
“Lay Your Love On Me” (original version of “Lay Down Your Love”)

CD3: NorthWinds (2024 Remix)
“Keep giving me love”
“Sweet Mistreater”
“North Winds”
“Give me kindness”
“Queen of Hearts”
“Only my soul”
“Time & Again” (string version)
“Say you love me”
“Shame the devil, tell the truth.”
“Tear down”
“Time & Again” (piano version)
“Time & Again” (strings only)

CD4: Whitesnake MCMLXXVII (2024 Remix)
“Lady”
“Blindman”
“Goldie’s Place”
“Time is on my side”
“Peace-loving man”
“Sunny days”
“Hole in the Sky”
“White Snake”
“Celebration”

Young Lad’s Blues (DC’s 1968 Home Demos)
“Sunny Days” (original)
“Love me in the morning”
“I will love you”
“Moment in Time”
“It would be nice”
“There was a time”
“Why?”
“I still love you”

CD5: Into The Light (Original Mix 2024 Remaster)
“She gives me”
“River Song”
“Don’t cry”
“Love is blind”
“Slave”
“Cry for Love”
“Living from love”
“Midnight Blue”
“Too many tears”
“Don’t lie to me”
“Wherever you go”

CD6: Whitesnake (Original Mix 2024 Remaster)
“Lady”
“Blindman”
“Goldie’s Place”
“Time is on my side”
“Peace-loving man”
“Sunny days”
“Hole in the Sky”
“Celebration”
“White Snake”

NorthWinds (Original Mix 2024 Remaster)
“Keep giving me love”
“North Winds”
“Give me kindness”
“Again and again”
“Queen of Hearts”
“Only my soul”
“Say you love me”
“Tear down”

All tracks previously unreleased, except CD2, track 8, CD5 and CD6.

The college gameday celebrity guest selector for the Georgia-Texas game has been announced.

It’s the biggest matchup of the weekend and it could end up being the biggest matchup of the entire season. No. 5 Georgia travels to Austin to take on the undefeated Texas Longhorns, a huge conference game. Texas is carrying all the momentum as Georgia looks to continue its streak of dominance in college football.

Due to the size of the game, college game day will be held locally in Austin and the popular game day show has announced who the celebrity guest selector will be. Kirk Herbstreit said on the Pat McAfee Show that famed PGA golfer Scottie Scheffler will be the guest picker for Saturday’s game. Scheffler played college golf in Texas for several years before deciding to turn professional.

Here’s how to watch Georgia vs. Texas

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FRANKFORT, Ky. – After a record year in which Kentucky companies reported more than $40 billion in exports for the first time, state officials said today that new federal funding is available to expand the global footprint of Kentucky-based companies.

The $400,000 in State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) funding comes from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), meaning 75% of the project is funded by federal funds. The funding will help more companies expand their presence in global markets, which in turn creates economic growth and additional jobs for Kentuckians.

The grant program, celebrating its 12th anniversary supporting small business growth, provides companies with the information and tools they need to successfully sell their products and services worldwide.

Since its inception in 2011, Kentucky STEP has awarded $3.4 million to more than 260 businesses across the state. With 95% of global consumers and two-thirds of all purchasing power located outside the United States, this funding program plays a critical role in providing access to capital, markets and buyers.

Activities supported by STEP include export training and workshops, U.S. Department of Commerce user services, website translations, e-commerce platforms, trade missions, sales trips to foreign markets, international marketing media design, exhibiting at trade shows with international audiences, and compliance Tests, export credit insurance premiums and much more.

“This grant program has helped hundreds of Kentucky businesses become exporters and promoted economic development and vibrancy throughout our state,” said Gov. AndyBeshear. “We know that small and medium-sized businesses are critical to the success of our economy and our workforce. Preserving the resources to enable more of our great companies to access international markets is a huge win for Kentucky businesses and the families and communities they support.”

This funding follows a record year for Kentucky exports, with Governor Beshear announcing in February that more Kentucky-made products were shipped around the world in 2023 than in any other year on record. With exports of $40.2 billion, the Commonwealth exceeded its previous year’s figure, an increase of 16.6% on the previous year.

How to apply:

Eligible Kentucky businesses can receive up to $15,000 in reimbursement grants for the 12th year of the STEP program. Anyone interested in applying for financing is encouraged to visit kyexports.com for the application and other valuable sources of information for exporters.

“The hard work of Kentucky companies to get their products and services into the hands of international buyers resulted in a record-breaking export year. “Our federal partners at the SBA recognize that Kentucky’s STEP funds are being maximized and, for the third consecutive year, are awarding the Commonwealth $400,000 in administration grants to eligible small businesses,” said Mary NeCamp, director of STEP at Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

“Kentucky’s STEP grant program offers a wide range of eligible activity options to meet business plans her Meet timelines and give them full refunds for things they want and need to move into new markets. And many are surprised by the definition of “small business.”

With the measurement tool for small businesses, several hundred employees can be employed in most manufacturing companies and average sales in the millions can be achieved in service companies.

“We encourage interested companies not to rule out the possibility of participating due to their size until they review it,” NeCamp said. “If you need help determining whether your business meets the requirements, please don’t hesitate to ask us.”

As of 2023, there were more than 363,000 small businesses in Kentucky, employing 706,640 people. This corresponds to around 99.3% of all companies in the country. Small businesses have contributed significantly to Kentucky’s record economic success, and STEP has taken that momentum to new levels.

“As we expand into international markets, we have worked closely with Kentucky STEP to strengthen our global presence,” said Peg Hayes, president of Casey Jones Distillery in Hopkinsville. “Through STEP we received targeted funding that supported our participation in key international trade fairs and led directly to significant export sales and valuable new trade contacts. This initiative not only expanded our market presence but also strengthened our team’s expertise through dedicated training on export compliance and market strategies.”

STEP is an SBA program administered in the Commonwealth by the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Companies that meet federal small business criteria and export products that contain at least 51% U.S. content could be eligible for a grant.

STEP also aligns with the Kentucky Export Initiative (KEI). Through KEI, the Cabinet works with a coalition of agencies and organizations to streamline and advance the state’s efforts to help Kentucky businesses reach global markets.

For more Kentucky business news, click here.

Golf ist hart. Um Ihnen das zu sagen, brauchen Sie keinen Spieler mit mittlerem Handicap und einer ausgefallenen Berufsbezeichnung wie „GOLF-Lehrerredakteur“.

Aber nur weil Sie im Großen und Ganzen wissen, dass es schwierig ist, heißt das nicht, dass jeder Bogey, Double-Bogey, Slice, Hook, Shank oder 3-Putt leichter zu schlucken ist. Das Spiel demütigt selbst die besten Spieler der Welt und erinnert sie daran, dass nur ein kleiner Fehler zu einem katastrophalen Schneeball führen kann, der die Punktzahl in die Höhe treibt und ihr Selbstvertrauen zerstört.

Das ist einer der Gründe, warum wir alle spielen, nicht wahr? Um zu versuchen, Magie für eine Runde, ein Loch oder, verdammt noch mal, nur einen Schlag einzufangen! Ich weiß, dass es für mich ist, und deshalb wollte ich mich selbst testen, indem ich an meinem allerersten Mitglied-Gast-Turnier teilnahm – was sich als schwerer zu schluckende Pille herausstellte.

Was ich bei meiner ersten Mitglieder-Gast-Veranstaltung gelernt habe

Es ist schwer, sich zu beschweren, wenn man drei Tage hintereinander auf einem ehemaligen US-Open-Austragungsort wie Chambers Bay spielt. Hinzu kommt, dass es fast während der gesamten Mitglieder-Gast-Veranstaltung 70 Grad warm und sonnig war – eine Seltenheit für den pazifischen Nordwesten zu dieser Jahreszeit – und die Kulisse könnte nicht atemberaubender sein.

Aber beim Golf geht es um mehr als nur spektakuläre Aussichten und traumhafte Strecken: Es geht darum, niedrige Punkte zu erzielen, und deshalb war mein allererstes Mitglied-Gast-Turnier ein echter Kampf.

Das Format war ziemlich einfach: Tag 1 war ein 9-Loch-Spiel mit 2 Spielern und bestem Ball. An den Tagen 2 und 3 wurde jeweils mit vier Bällen gespielt, wobei am Ende die Ergebnisse dieser beiden Runden addiert wurden, um die Gewinner zu ermitteln.

Keine Sorge, mein Partner und ich haben es nicht an die Spitze der Bestenliste geschafft.

Schauen Sie, mein Teamkollege für die Veranstaltung war ein Kumpel von mir, der ein Handicap von 18 hat. Mit meinem Handicap von 15 ist es also nicht so, dass wir das A-Team zu dem verdammten Ding schicken würden. Dennoch hatten wir die Hoffnung, dass wir zumindest mithalten können. Und wie bei jedem wahnhaften Golfer war die Rede davon, auf der einstündigen Fahrt von Seattle nach Chambers Bay „alles zu gewinnen“.

Wir sind dumme Menschen mit mittlerem Handicap.

Die Ergebnisse waren so dürftig, dass ich tatsächlich darüber nachgedacht habe, ob ich diese Geschichte überhaupt schreiben wollte oder nicht – aber wenn Sie das Blutbad sehen möchten, können Sie sich hier den Endstand ansehen. Ehrlich gesagt ist es mir peinlich, wie ich gespielt habe, und ich weiß, dass es nicht meinem Golfniveau entspricht. Ich erwarte mehr von mir selbst, aber auch Golf ist es hartalso waren die Golfgötter vielleicht einfach nur grausam zu mir als „Neuling“ in der Welt der Golfturniere?

Aber meine Aufgabe ist es, die Stimme für durchschnittliche Golfer auf der ganzen Welt zu sein und Erfahrungen mit anderen Amateuren auszutauschen, um Stigmatisierungen zu überwinden und uns selbst dazu zu bringen, als Golfer neue Dinge auszuprobieren. Wenn also ein Spieler mit mittlerem Handicap wie ich an einem kompetitiven Golfturnier teilnehmen kann, können Sie das auch. Wenn ich das Versuchskaninchen sein muss, bin ich der Aufgabe gewachsen.

Wenn Sie darüber nachdenken, zum ersten Mal an einem Golfturnier teilzunehmen, tun Sie es. Lesen Sie unbedingt einige der Dinge, die ich bei meinem allerersten Mitglieder-Gast-Turnier gelernt habe – sie können Ihnen dabei helfen, bessere Leistungen zu erbringen als ich in Chambers Bay.

Setzen Sie realistische Erwartungen

Wie oben erwähnt, sind mein Teamkollege und ich mit falschen Erwartungen in den Mitgliedsgast gekommen. Keiner von uns hatte jemals zuvor an einer solchen Veranstaltung teilgenommen, daher hatten wir keine Ahnung, was uns erwarten würde. Wir waren aufgeregt, ängstlich, nervös und optimistisch.

Aber mit großen Erwartungen können auch große Enttäuschungen einhergehen, und wir verspürten nach jedem Schlag – im Guten wie im Schlechten – einen noch größeren Leistungsdruck. Wir wollten eine perfekte Fahrt nicht ruinieren, also machten wir auf unseren Annäherungsversuch Druck. Ebenso wollten wir Heldenschläge erzielen, wenn unsere Abschläge uns in Schwierigkeiten brachten, was die Probleme nur noch verschlimmerte.

Bleiben Sie in sich selbst und spielen Sie einfach Ihr Spiel. Das ist nicht einfach, aber um in einem Turnier erfolgreich zu sein, ist es ein Muss.

Akzeptieren Sie Ihr Hochstapler-Syndrom

Wenn Sie im Auge behalten werden, kann die Angst vor dem Golfspiel schnell auf Hochtouren laufen – und das erleben wir alle irgendwann einmal. Wenn es sich bei diesen Beobachtern nun um Golfer handelt, die zufällig Fremde sind, dann stellt man fest, dass man etwas mehr Druck ausübt.

Während unseres Turniers versuchten wir, mit den Leuten, mit denen wir spielten, Schlag für Schlag zu spielen, auch wenn wir wussten, dass wir nicht über die gleichen Fähigkeiten verfügten.

Nur weil ein Typ seinen Fahrer 320 Yards weit bombardiert hat, um einen von Chambers’ bösen Bunkern zu tragen, heißt das nicht, dass wir diese Art von Schuss treffen sollten. Stattdessen wäre es klüger, auf etwas Bequemeres zu schlagen, den Abschlag ins Fairway zu stecken und Fehler zu vermeiden, die törichterweise zu zusätzlichen Schlägen führen. Das haben wir leider nicht gemacht.

Lenken Sie sich buchstäblich ab irgendetwas aber Golf (aber kennen Sie Ihr Publikum)

Für mich war dies der größte Unterschied zwischen einer lockeren Runde Golf und der Teilnahme an einem Golfturnier mit Mitgliedern und Gästen – denn der Wettbewerb ist kein Gelegenheitsspiel.

Wenn ich an einem zufälligen Samstag mit Freunden spiele, sind wir damit beschäftigt, kleine Nebenwetten abzuschließen oder uns gegenseitig zu übertölpeln, sodass die Stimmung locker, lustig und entspannt bleibt. Auch wenn wir während dieser Mitglieder-Gäste-Veranstaltung nie mit irgendwelchen Idioten zu tun hatten, war klar, dass diese Jungs keine Nebengespräche wollten. Sie konzentrierten sich auf ihren nächsten Schlag oder darauf, ihre Mentalität vor einem großen Putt zu verbessern.

Es war eine große Veränderung gegenüber dem, was mein Teamkollege und ich gewohnt waren, und hat uns beide wirklich aus der Fassung gebracht. Anstatt uns einzuleben und entspannt zu spielen, ließen wir zu, dass dieser zusätzliche Druck auf unsere Köpfe einwirkte, was uns letztendlich aus dem Spiel brachte. Die Runden haben zweifellos Spaß gemacht, aber sie waren auf jeden Fall ernster.

Nutzen Sie alle Handicap-Schläge an einem Loch

Eine weitere schwierige Sache, an die ich mich gewöhnen musste, waren die freien Schläge, die mein Teamkollege und ich auf bestimmten Löchern bekamen. Da er zum Beispiel ein Handicap von 18 hat und ich ein Handicap von 15, gab es Zeiten, in denen ein langes Par-5 für uns tatsächlich ein Par-6 war (was bedeutet, dass unser Ergebnis ein Netto-Par wäre, wenn wir eine Sechs erzielen würden). , und ein Net-Birdie, wenn wir eine Fünf erzielt haben).

Leider haben sich unsere Spiele nie wirklich an diesen Vorteil angepasst.

Stattdessen drückten wir und versuchten, das Loch so zu spielen, wie es auf der Scorekarte markiert war – angesichts unserer Fähigkeiten ein echter Nachteil. Wenn Sie aufgrund Ihres Handicap-Index Freischläge erhalten, passen Sie Ihr Spiel an, um sicherer und nicht so aggressiv zu spielen. Sie müssen dies nicht bei jedem Loch tun, aber wählen Sie Ihre Plätze aus, nutzen Sie eine intelligente Kursverwaltung und lassen Sie sich nicht entmutigen, wenn Sie einen zusätzlichen Schlag benötigen, um das Grün zu erreichen.

Die Vorbereitung ist großartig, aber die Umsetzung ist noch wichtiger

„Ich fühle mich so gut, Mann, ich treffe den Ball hervorragend auf dem Schießstand“, sagte ich meinem Teamkollegen vor jeder Runde des Mitglieder-Gast-Events.

Fragen Sie mich jetzt, wie sich das auf den Kurs ausgewirkt hat.

Verstehen Sie mich nicht falsch, ich habe während des Golfturniers einige gute Schläge gemacht. Aber es gab viel zu viele Male, in denen mich das einschüchternde Layout, das Chambers präsentiert, völlig ruiniert hat.

Wie viele Amateure konzentrierte ich mich auf das Ergebnisse meiner Range-Session vor der Runde, und nicht des Prozesses. Ich habe den Driver bombardiert, um mir Selbstvertrauen zu geben, habe aber das Üben des kurzen Spiels und des Puttens ignoriert – wo sich die Schläge während des Events schnell summierten.

Ich habe nur daran gearbeitet Stärken meines Spiels auf dem Schießstand und ignoriere die Schwächen. Als es also an der Zeit war, diese harten Schläge auf dem Platz auszuführen, hatte ich kaum eine Chance, einen Erfolg zu sehen.

Bei Mitglieder-Gast-Golfturnieren kommt es vor allem auf das kurze Spiel an

Apropos Kurzspiel: Macht das bei dieser Art von Turnieren einen Unterschied? Wir haben alle schon einmal den Ausdruck „Drive für Show und Putt für Geld“ gehört, und wenn es um Wettkampfgolf geht, könnte dies nicht zutreffender sein.

Die Pins in Chambers waren in Ecken versteckt und die Abhänge auf und um die Grüns waren unerbittlich, so dass die Gruppen, die aus 50 Yards Entfernung Kontakt hatten, diejenigen waren, die herausragten.

Es macht Spaß, vom Abschlag aus seine Stärke unter Beweis zu stellen, aber wenn man aus 20 Fuß Entfernung puttet, um das Par zu retten, und die andere Gruppe einen 8-Fuß-Abschlag für den Birdie hat, ist ein wenig mehr Distanz mit dem Driver nicht so cool.

Wenn Sie also unbedingt an einem Mitglieder-Gast-Golfturnier teilnehmen möchten, empfehle ich Ihnen, an Ihrem kurzen Spiel zu arbeiten und vor einer Runde richtig zu spielen. Hätte ich das getan, wer weiß, wären die Ergebnisse vielleicht katastrophal ausgesehen – und fühlte sich – ein bisschen anders?

Während mein Teamkollege und ich die ganze Zeit über Höhen und Tiefen hatten – und ja, mehr Tiefen als Höhen –, war es insgesamt eine unglaubliche Erfahrung. Es gab uns die Chance, auf einem erstklassigen Golfplatz Golf zu spielen, neue Leute kennenzulernen und uns selbst als Golfer zu testen.

Und wissen Sie was? Wir werden nächstes Jahr besser vorbereitet und bereit sein Genau genommen Geh und gewinne dieses Ding. Nennen Sie uns Wahnvorstellungen … aber das gehört einfach dazu, ein Golfer zu sein.

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Open Interest measures the total number of active Bitcoin futures contracts at any given time. Over the past five trading days, CME has seen a significant increase with an additional 25,125 BTC in open contracts – a number not seen in recent years.

The last time there was such a significant increase in CME Bitcoin futures was in June 2023, when open interest increased by 26,525 BTC, coinciding with BlackRock’s filing for the iShares Bitcoin Trust, a spot Bitcoin trust. ETF. During this period, the price of Bitcoin rose from $25,000 to $30,000.

In another case, there was a 25,115 BTC increase in open interest in October 2023 as CME overtook Binance to become the largest Bitcoin futures exchange. The price of Bitcoin then rose from $25,000 to over $40,000 by the end of the year.

Therefore, Bitcoin’s steady consolidation above the $67,000 support suggests that this uptrend could repeat, potentially pushing BTC above the $70,000 level in the coming days.

Analysts at K33 Research note that large institutional players are dominating the CME rally

Analysts at K33 Research, a Norwegian crypto broker, have identified large institutional investors and direct market participants as the main driving force behind this new surge in open Bitcoin interest on CME.

According to Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at K33 Research, this uptrend is being driven by active traders and not inflows into futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) like the ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO).

“Growth is clearly being driven by active and direct market participants – not inflows into futures-based ETFs,” Lunde said.

CME data shows that direct participants currently hold 85,623 BTC in futures contracts, a similar number to March 2024 when Bitcoin was nearing its all-time high.

I think it’s fair to say that one of the worst driving experiences you can have today is driving a large RV, such as a Class A RV. I’m not just saying this for idiot reasons, it’s simply this: you can’t have something that is essentially a villa on wheels and expect it to behave like a cottage on wheels. RVs are also some of the least efficient vehicles you can buy, since you’re driving on wheels through a house that has beds, a kitchen, and, yes, a toilet. They suck up gas with all the grace and restraint a puppy would display if thrown into a bowl of taco meat. There’s definitely room for improvement, and I’m happy to say that I think I actually experienced some of those improvements a few weeks ago when I had the opportunity to drive the imaginatively named THOR test vehicle.

Okay, yes, it’s been almost a month since I went to the Home of Studebaker in South Bend, Indiana, at the invitation of THOR and electric van maker Harbinger to try out what, in retrospect, seems like a new idea Obviously: a motorhome with a hybrid drive. Yes, yes, it’s been weeks and I haven’t written it down yet, but I’m doing it now! I was busy!

Anyway, let’s talk about this concept in broad strokes for a moment. Your traditional, modern, gas-powered Class A RV (or even a Class C, for that matter) will get about 5 to 10 mpg, and more than 10 is only possible under pretty ideal circumstances, which you’ll probably only see if you notice the flying unicorns Everything around you in the sapphire blue sky.

The idea

The idea of ​​adapting an electric powertrain to such a platform has great appeal; The inherent torque of an electric motor would greatly improve the normally sub-glacial acceleration of an RV, and the greater efficiency offered by an electric powertrain cannot be ignored.

However, there is an Achilles heel here: batteries. Modern battery technology, as advanced as it is, simply does not have the energy density to enable a battery that can give an RV significant range. There’s just so much mass at play, and testing of Winnebago’s prototype electric RV shows the real-world range is about 80 to 90 miles, and for every hour-and-a-half drive you’ll need to spend at least 45 minutes charging. It’s not great.

The point of a motorhome is this Visit placesAnd limiting it to only about an hour and a half of driving before having to stop and charge for a longer period of time doesn’t meet that requirement. An all-electric RV is simply not a viable solution, at least not yet.

But! There is a compromise, and that is a hybrid. A hybrid – in this case a Series hybridin which only the electric drive train moves the vehicle and the combustion engine is only used to generate electricity – combines the efficiency and high torque of an electric drive train with the flexibility and energy density of gasoline.

If you would like a tour of the THOR test vehicle chassis and drivetrain adapted to the Harbinger electric delivery vehicle chassis, I invite you to let John Harris, co-founder and CEO of Harbinger, explain it all to me:

Driving a gas-powered RV

It’s a fascinating thing, but right now we’re here to talk about how the THOR test vehicle drove and I promise I’ll get to it. To get a real sense of context, it was arranged for me to drive a new, conventional gas-powered Class A motorhome, an Entrgra Coach Vision:

This elegant beast was, I believe, about 30 feet long, built on a Ford F53 chassis and powered by a 7.3-liter V8 gasoline engine producing 335 horsepower and 468 foot-pounds of torque. This is a large, heavy machine that probably weighs around 20,000 pounds. I mean, you can’t be shocked about this considering this thing has a kitchen with marble countertops and tiles:

There’s a house on the back of this thing, which is the main reason driving one of these things is so, well, terrible. This one I rode is one of the best on the market, but driving it still feels like you’re trying to control a hippopotamus on rollerblades by pulling on its ears.

It’s difficult to keep it on track since the thing almost completely fills up an entire lane. When you’re on a road with a prominent crown, it’s real work to keep the lane straight. It accelerates slowly, stops slowly and is incredibly top heavy. Driving an RV is something you simply have to endure until you reach your destination where you can finally relax and enjoy your RV.

Incredibly, the driving experience isn’t significantly better than driving my old 1977 Dodge Tioga Class C motorhome. The whole crap felt very familiar – the slowness, the top-heaviness, the nervous keeping, the sluggishness, the constant under-the-surface Fear that you’re just one wrong arm movement away from being upside down or creating giant rooster tail sparks if you get too close to a Jersey barrier or something, it’s all still there.

Let’s just say that driving a large RV is no walk in the park.

Driving the world’s first hybrid motorhome

Okay, now here’s the whole point of why I’m here: to drive the first hybrid RV. At first glance it doesn’t look too different from the petrol model. The size and shape are about the same, but there are some important clues that this is a prototype machine: the interior is only partially developed, but there is furniture and other things inside – it is not an empty load after all Van.

Additionally, if you look closely, you can see that the grille is 3D printed, which is a clever solution:

So what does it feel like to drive a car? Well, the first thing I should qualify for is that I couldn’t drive it on real roads, just a small stretch in a parking lot marked out by traffic cones. I was a little disappointed by this, but I found that the key elements of this hybrid RV’s handling still came through even on this tiny stretch.

The first thing you notice is the acceleration, which is shockingly decent given the enormous mass of the whole thing. It’s not a head-slinging sports car, but it’s still surprisingly quick given the context. You’re just not used to a completely furnished apartment being moved so quickly.

The bigger difference, however, has to do with weight, or actually where the weight lies. Electrified vehicles are always heavy because batteries are heavy as hell, and while RVs are already absurdly heavy, in the case of the THOR test vehicle, most of that weight is in dense battery packs far down in the chassis.

This changes the driving dynamics of these big beasts, as the unsettling top-heaviness that always gives you the feeling of walking with a stack of books or a large vase full of chili on your head when driving a motorhome is virtually eliminated. The hybrid RV felt stable, I was able to make sharp turns without dirtying my pants, and overall the driving experience was noticeably better.

Watch a video of me driving it here. That should give a good idea of ​​what I mean, especially since I got to do some donuts there, which I would never try in a traditional RV:

I don’t yet know what fuel economy benefits the hybrid will offer, but I suspect it will be significant. If this can deliver numbers in the mid-teens, that would be outstanding for an RV.

There’s also the significant advantage of a hybrid vehicle, as all the power stored in those big, heavy batteries should eliminate the need for a noisy and smelly generator. This is a huge deal! When you’re out in the middle of beautiful nowhere, you’ll want power to make margaritas and your various massage machines, but who wants to break the numinous silence with the clatter of a diesel generator? Not you! You don’t want to scare away all the sasquatches!

There is plenty of energy in these batteries for all household needs, and with integrated solar panels on the roof there is an opportunity to feed some free energy back into the system. Solar energy is generally useless for actually increasing range, but it can be helpful for meeting household power needs.

The idea of ​​a hybrid RV just makes sense. The benefits in fuel economy and no generator alone are incredibly compelling, and the improvements in driving dynamics are a huge added bonus. I think this needs to happen and should be one of the most significant and meaningful changes in the otherwise (let’s face it) pretty stagnant RV industry.

I am impressed. I’m excited to see how these come to market and what benefits they bring.

The first ever hybrid RV offers a 500 mile range and I will drive it

Here’s how Harbinger and Thor Industries plan to transform camping with RVs that can travel about 250 miles on a charge

What the hell is Harbinger and why are they showing a boring van at the Detroit Auto Show?

Last month, Paul Hughes was as content as the cat that got the cream.

It was his first interaction with A.J. McKee, a man long considered one of the best fighters outside of the UFC and the opponent Hughes faces at PFL’s biggest event of the year Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The fact that their introduction took place during a live broadcast at Wembley Arena mattered not to the Derry man.

Two days prior, when the bout was officially announced, industry whispers wondered whether it was too much too soon for Hughes. This was, after all, just his second outing under a big-league banner.

After all the sacrifices, broken bones, the time on the sidelines, the politics and the endless chatter, the Irishman had finally been given his opportunity to prove he was among the world’s elite.

Too soon?

Paul Hughes has been waiting for this moment his entire life.

---

Hughes was 15 years old when his mother first encountered mixed martial arts.

Already established as a central figure of his local Gaelic football team Lavey GAC, Hughes seemed to be following the path forged by celebrated regional players before him, the endgame of which could lead to him representing his county team, Derry, down the line.

“He convinced us he needed to go this training one day and that it was just a bit of fun,” his mother Clare recalls.

“Paul was hooked straight away. One of the lads’ older brothers had a shed that he had turned into a training room and Paul started to go there to hit pads sometimes. He just fell in love with it.”

The only rule imposed by his parents was that his new pursuit, something Hughes described to them as “the fastest growing sport in the world,” would not interfere with his training for Lavey.

As far as Hughes was concerned, it was a rule worth breaking.

He had been relying on his mother for transport to Micky Young’s training facility in Derry, where he took his first steps in the world of combat. Yet, one particular day when he won the ire of the Hughes family’s matriarch, Clare refused to bring him.

“When I told him I wasn’t going to drive him, he just got on his push bike and cycled down,” she remembers. “From then on, it pretty much took over his life.”

Hughes frequented the Lavey GAA training facility less and less. As a hub of the community, failing to honor his club responsibilities didn’t sit well with the family. His coaches, on the other hand, were not giving up without a fight.

“There was one really important match coming up and Paul hadn’t trained for some time,” Clare says. “The manager came to our house looking for him and Paul said, ‘I’m not going, I’m not taking someone else’s place that has been at every training session, it’s not fair.’ At that stage, I knew there was no point in pushing this on him any further.”

---

Hughes had a lot of faith in his first MMA coach, Young. He was impressed when he heard that his mentor had once fought the great Jose Aldo, and despite the athleticism he brought into the gym from his decade of training with Lavey GAC, he found the sessions torturous.

Young believed in the former Gaelic football player, and when he told Hughes that he was capable of going “the whole way,” it was like throwing a gallon of fuel on the fire ignited within him.

Eventually, that obsession for his new sport became alienating. As his social circle aspired to life in Belfast for university, Hughes knew college life and making an impact in MMA could not go hand in hand.

Despite friends’ attempts to convince him to follow them, Hughes stayed on his path.

“I used to cycle for an hour to Micky’s on Saturday afternoon, which was for the beginners class and then I’d do the advanced class after,” remembers Hughes.

“I would train for three to four hours and then I would coach for another two hours. Then, I would cycle back. After that I’d be completely shattered, but I’d still go and work in a local bar as a glass lifter for four pounds an hour. That four-hour shift would begin at 10 p.m. and end at 2 a.m., and I would get £16 for it.”

While his close circle slowly dispersed, Hughes was quickly gathering steam in the fight game. Noticing this, Young advised him to seek out his own mentor, one of the founding fathers of Irish MMA, Davie Patterson.

At Pattersons’ EFR gym, the hopeful teenager found his Mecca. Surrounded by celebrated regional fighters like Greg Loughran, Mervyn Mullholland, Ronan McKay, and Tommy McCafferty, the new face on the mats could hardly hide its glee.

“I’m training with real professional fighters,” Hughes would constantly tell himself.

After the amateur titles flooded in, Hughes booked his pro debut in Belfast’s largest arena at BAMMA 28. Then 19, he was set to face an undefeated pro, Adam Gustab, who was seven years his senior.

The ordeal lasted a total of 92 seconds.

Hughes, after dropping his counterpart with a hook, unleashed a barrage of violence that left Gustab slumped against the fence. Media on press row knew they had witnessed something special, and seven years later, it is still considered one of the most spectacular debuts the island has seen.

While his father John and brother Declan had frequented his amateur bouts, Hughes’ mother would wait until the next day to watch his fights, safe in the knowledge that her youngest had made it home from the war. His debut was the first time she had witnessed him fight in the flesh.

“I was scared out of my wits in one respect,” Claire admits. “On the other hand, I was so proud of him, and I think that pride overcame everything. Even when I saw him coming out and I saw him on the big screen, I was thinking, ‘Oh my God, that’s my wee boy there!’”

Noting the short distance of his maiden voyage, and knowing that his mother found it difficult to see him compete, Hughes chose his words carefully.

“Well, at least I didn’t put you through too much!” he told her.

---

Hughes barely had time to celebrate his spectacular opening stanza before he felt a sharp pain in his left hand. Upon discovering it had broken during his Gustab onslaught, Hughes was told he’d need a few months off before he could get back to fighting. Confident in his return date, he had his second bout booked for five months after his debut.

Then his right hand suffered a break too. Unlike his left, the healing process was a struggle.

Then it broke again. And when it broke a third time, Hughes was told he would never fight again.

“It was absolutely heartbreaking,” says Clare.

“To see him so broken at the time, it was devastating. There were very dark days and it was very tough for him.”

But Hughes found a way to keep the dream alive. “I didn’t care what anyone said, I was going to keep trying to make this work,” he says. “It’s all I wanted to do.”

Hampered by his broken body, he used his extra time to study the fight game.

“His attitude was very impressive, the whole time he was reading books,” says Clare. “He got a lot of belief and positivity from his reading. If he wasn’t fit to train, he was watching the sport. If he wasn’t watching it, he was talking to somebody about it or listening to somebody speak about it. Not just fighters, he would listen to philosophers and people like that too.”

After seeking out hand specialists and spending a year in Australia alongside sister Sarah, two years after the first break, Hughes returned to Ireland and took up permanent residency at the Belfast gym Fight Academy Ireland, under the watchful eyes of Liam Shannon and Pat McAlister.

When he told people he was back, they smiled and nodded to his face, but deep down, they wondered if he was just postponing the agony of another setback.

---

Upon his return in 2019, Hughes was unleashed. He banked three finishes in six months, two under the Cage Warriors banner — the most established route to the UFC in Europe. A head kick knockout of Youri Panada followed by a submission win over Scottish standout Aidan Stephen firmly established him as a contender for the Cage Warriors featherweight title once held by his hero, Conor McGregor.

Two fights later, Hughes planted his finger in the chest of French sensation Morgan Charriere. Conversations in Ireland fixated on who was the best fighter from the island, Ian Garry or Paul Hughes. With both athletes ascending to prominence largely during the pandemic, Irish crowds hadn’t had an opportunity to see either fighter live until the Charriere bout hit London’s York Hall.

That night in 2021, the British boxing institution was painted green.

Hughes strutted to the cage with the patience of sniper, chorused by the gathering of Gaels who had made the trek across the water. Before had a blow had even been registered, a star was born.

“To be in the crowd that night was unbelievable,” says Clare. “As much as I was petrified, the atmosphere was just phenomenal. I was totally caught up in it, but at the same time I was holding onto John’s arm throughout it and asking, ‘How’s he doing?’ He understands these things a lot better than I do.”

It turns out he did quite well.

After a five-round war, Hughes was announced the victor over Charriere by majority decision and claimed the interim Cage Warriors featherweight title. Calls for his UFC signing became louder, and when he unified the title with a 2022 victory over the only man to defeat him, Cage Warriors champion Jordan Vucenic, they grew deafening.

Few knew, but Hughes had sustained another injury. UFC approached him to be a cast member for The Ultimate Fighter — an opportunity to be coached by his inspiration McGregor — but knowing that injuries cannot be rushed, he turned the offer down. A month later, another UFC call came to step up on short notice against Lerone Murphy, but still nursing the ailment, Hughes couldn’t take the chance.

Eventually the line of communication between UFC and Hughes went dead. With two fights remaining on his Cage Warriors deal, he decided he would fight it out and test free agency. A first-round finish in Dublin over number one lightweight contender Jan Quaeyhaegens capped off a stellar debut at 155 pounds, and while UFC didn’t reignite talks, PFL put an offer on the table. However, Cage Warriors’ contracts are constructed in a way that only allows a fighter to leave if UFC comes calling, so the promotion did not allow it.

Again, Hughes was serenaded by his adoring public during his entrance for his final Cage Warriors outing against Fabiano Silva at Dublin’s RDS. He made no secret that he would be out of contract in the lead up to the fight, signing with Tim Simpson’s Chosen Few Advisory to aid his future negotiations. Another first-round stoppage announced him as the hottest free agent in Irish MMA history, and in the aftermath he underlined his intentions to field all offers.

Interest hit the Emerald Isle from far and wide, but in the end, it came down to PFL and UFC.

Hughes later revealed that he earned a total of €15,000 for his nine Cage Warriors fights, and when it came time to put pen to paper, there was only one deal that made sense.

“The UFC came to the table but their offer wasn’t anywhere near as good as PFL’s, in fact it genuinely was not even close,” Hughes revealed upon signing.

“This was the easiest decision of my life. Of course, there were going to people disappointed that I didn’t sign with the UFC, but at the end of the day, I feel like this is the perfect avenue for me right now. I know PFL value me and they will build me as the star that I am.”

Two months later, Hughes traced the steps of McGregor when he made his PFL debut in Dublin’s 3 Arena. After a conceding an early knockdown, he stopped veteran campaigner Bobby King with a buffet of elbows in the second round.

Hughes promised he would be hunting the biggest names on the PFL roster from then on.

Yet a slow build is the general game plan when it comes to building stars.

It wasn’t until the McKee announcement that people knew Hughes stayed true to his word.

---

“I’m still not convinced,” replies Dan Hardy, head of PFL fighter operations, when asked if the McKee test is coming too soon for Hughes.

“That’s why we’re all tuning in this weekend, to see if he’s ready for AJ McKee. We have a fighter operations team, and when this came up, I was like, ‘Man, that’s a big jump up for Paul Hughes!’ I know that Paul wants this. I remember him telling me this when we were sat outside Ariel [Helwani]’s show in New York.

“At the moment, that opportunity is right in front of Paul Hughes, if he beats AJ McKee, he’ll put himself right at the top of this division.”

Hughes enjoys doubt.

He’s been dealing with it his entire life, right back to when he started ditching training sessions at Lavey GAC to go and hit pads at Young’s gym. He’s made a habit of turning people into believers, including his own family, and now feels fortified by their support.

“This isn’t just my story, it’s theirs too. This is a journey we went on together,” he says.

He believes he has wasted too much time waiting; waiting on injuries to heal, waiting on offers to cross his table. Days out from his meeting with McKee, it’s a different kind of wait — he’s waiting to show the world that he is one of the best fighters on the planet.

“I truly feel unstoppable at this point,” says Hughes, days out from his ultimate sink-or-swim moment.

“I thought my career was over. I had to build myself back up and I had to find something to get me to where I am today. The person I am today is because of that adversity. When I was in my early twenties, I felt I had overcome more adversity than most fighters do in their whole careers. From then, that mindset has got even better, more obstacles, more calluses on the mind … I’ve seen so much.”

“In a way, I know something that other people don’t. There’s layers to my game that people haven’t seen, and I think it all comes together on Saturday night. I know I’m going to knock him out within two rounds.”