Een zakelijke overwinning op FC Volendam zorgt ervoor dat het in Sparta naar Voren! niet heel veel over de wedstrijd van zaterdag ging. Zorgen zijn er over de vormcrisis van Mitchell van Bergen en de opvolging van Joël Drommel. Maar er is ook hoop, want rekenwonder Robert De Boeck voorspelt dat Sparta de play-offs gaat halen.

As physical media makes an unlikely comebac​k​ among younger gamers, the humble VHS emerges as an unexpected archive of gaming’s messy, magical evolution​ that I saw first time around

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As I am nostalgic and of a certain age, I recently bought a VHS video recorder, just for the retrospective thrill of it; then I won a 32-inch CRT television at an auction in Shepton Mallet. Partly, this was to play a few old videos I had found in my loft, including one of me appearing in a 1990s youth TV show talking about sexism and Tomb Raider. (I was against the sexism, to be clear). But it was also because I wanted a new way of spending my money on fragile video-game nostalgia.

The rise of the games industry in the 1980s and 90s coincided with the explosion of the home-video business, and the two crossed paths in lots of interesting ways. There are the obvious treasures I want to get hold of: VHS copies of Street Fighter: The Movie and the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, naturally, as well as early games-inspired hits such as The Last Starfighter, The Wizard and WarGames. I rented most of these from my local video shop in the 80s – which, like many others, also sold computer games by the budget publisher Mastertronic, another interesting (at least to me) crossover between these two entertainment formats.

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Huge cuts announced this week show that truly no developer working in games is safe from corporate whims

The video game industry is currently experiencing a seemingly endless bout of ruinous deja vu. Every month, another publisher posts an all too familiar statement about job losses in its development studios. There will be airy expressions of regret and platitudes praising the skill and contribution of the imminently jobless; it is all filtered through layers of corporate doublespeak intended to disguise the human cost of downsizing.

On Tuesday, it was the turn of Epic Games, creator of Fortnite, one of the most successful titles on the planet. In a note posted online, CEO Tim Sweeney announced that more than 1,000 jobs would be lost – this followed the cutting of 830 staff in September 2023.

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• ‘Double London Marathon’ plans backed by mayor’s office

• 2027 event would raise tens of millions more for charity

The London Marathon is in advanced talks about staging a two-day event in 2027, allowing tens of thousands more runners to take part in the iconic race and to raise tens of millions more for charity.

While the Double London Marathon, as it is being called internally, has not been granted formal approval it is believed to have the backing of the mayor’s office for it to be staged on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April next year.

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I'll just clear up that up, shall I?

Microsoft veteran Raymond Chen has shared another nugget of Windows lore – what Windows 95 did when installers stomped on its system files.…

De kunstenaar Gabrielle Goliath mocht haar rouwzang niet in het Zuid-Afrikaanse paviljoen tonen van de minister van cultuur. Ze heeft nu een oplossing gevonden: het werk zal even verderop getoond worden.

Haar album Mulheres de Abril is politieker dan ooit. Cristina Branco (53) komt voor een reeks concerten terug naar Nederland, het land waar haar carrière eind jaren negentig begon. ,,Ik heb niet alleen een zangstem. Ik heb ook iets te zeggen.”

MÜNCHEN (ANP/DPA) - De Duitse stad München wil de wereldkampioenschappen atletiek in 2029 of 2031 organiseren. Het stadsbestuur zal zich kandidaat stellen voor de organisatie van een van de grootste sportevenementen ter wereld.

De mondiale bond World Athletics neemt in december een beslissing over welke steden de WK's van 2029 en 2031 krijgen toegewezen. Steden moeten een bid uitbrengen voor beide jaren, hoewel München een voorkeur heeft voor 2031.

München verwacht 107 tot 110 miljoen euro uit te geven aan het toernooi, dat moet plaatsvinden in het Olympisch Stadion. De deelstaat Beieren draagt ook bij in de kosten.

Tokio

"Een spannend WK in ons iconische olympische park zou een zegen zijn voor de sport, voor onze stadsgemeenschap, voor de internationale reputatie van München en natuurlijk voor ons uiteindelijke doel om de Olympische en Paralympische Spelen terug naar München te halen", aldus Verena Dietl, wethouder voor sport.

De WK atletiek zijn elke twee jaar. Vorig jaar was het negendaagse evenement in Tokio, in 2027 is Beijing gastheer.

GEO Group are a notorious private prison firm whose federal contracts for monitoring, housing and deporting illegal immigrants totaled more than $1 billion / year even before Trump took office. According to sources who spoke with NBC News, GEO Group founder George Zoley met with Corey "actually running DHS" Lewandowski before Trump took office. During that meeting, Lewandowski told Zoley that he wanted to be paid in exchange for "protecting and growing" GEO Group's share of federal contracts. Zoley declined and instead offered to put Lewandowski on retainer — a recurring consulting fee. Lewandowski balked, saying he wanted to be compensated based on the company's new or renewed contracts. "He wanted payments — what some people would call a success fee," said a person with knowledge of the meeting.

"Zoley declined, the two sources said. In the months that followed, the length of two of GEO Group's federal contracts shrank, and currently several of its facilities that could house migrants sit idle, even as Congress and Trump have poured money into DHS to execute the mass deportation campaign. GEO Group officials believe that is tied to their not agreeing to Lewandowski's solicitations, said a source familiar with the GEO Group officials' thinking." *** I'm surprised this wasn't on metafilter yet, so... here it is. More, via Heather Cox Richardson: Lewandowski's official title was that of a "special government employee," with a temporary appointment that permitted him to work only 130 days in a year, but DHS officials told the journalists that Lewandowski had broad authority over contracts in the department and was referred to as "chief." He allegedly sidestepped the limits of his appointment by going into the building accompanying Noem, and thus without swiping in using his badge. Lewandowski has denied any wrongdoing. Yesterday Hamed Aleaziz, Alexandra Berzon, Nicholas Nehamas, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, and Tyler Pager of the New York Times reported on the extraordinary power Lewandowski had in DHS under Noem, explaining that he held meetings without her present, sat in on classified briefings, read a version of the highly classified President's Daily Brief, and issued orders as he spearheaded detention and deportation of migrants. In addition to approving government contracts that worried officials, Lewandowski helped put Greg Bovino, a midlevel Border Patrol leader, into a senior position that gave him national power. *** Lewandowski on metafilter previously: one, two, three, four.

Mark Hughes examines why the tyre demands at this year's Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka could be different amid the 2026 rule changes.