We have today confirmed dates for its Performance Competition Calendar for the remainder of the 2022 season. A comprehensive programme of tournaments until December has been announced for both adults and juniors in all categories.
Highlights include Great Britain hosting ITF World Tennis Tour (WTT) Women’s $100K and $60K events, both on indoor hard courts, in Shrewsbury and Glasgow, respectively.
There are further ITF World Tennis Tour (WTT) Men’s $25K events taking place in Sheffield, Sunderland and Glasgow in October and a Women’s $25K event in Loughborough the same month. Abingdon will host an ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour Futures event in October, with the Wheelchair Tennis National Finals to take place at the start of December.
Professional event calendar
M25 Sheffield – w/c 3 October
M25 Sunderland – w/c 10 October
W60 Glasgow – w/c 17 October
M25 Glasgow – w/c 17 October
ITF Futures – w/c 17 October
W25 Loughborough – w/c 24 October
W100 Shrewsbury – w/c 31 October
Wheelchair Tennis National Finals – w/c 28 November
The 14U calendar features the new Junior Home Nations event in the week commencing 26 September, as well as in Nottingham the week commencing 24 October followed by the season-ending Tennis Europe Junior Tour category 3 event in Liverpool the week commencing 7 November.
For 12 and under players there will be Junior Home Nations events and Nationals (at Bolton and Corby) in the same weeks as the 14U events. There will also be a Tennis Europe Category 1 event in Bath the week commencing 31 October.
Finally, for 10U players there will be a National Tour event in the autumn in Sunderland and the 9U players will have National Tour events at either the National Tennis Centre or Loughborough University.
The Performance Competitions Calendar is designed to provide significantly enhanced opportunities for British players at each age and stage of the player pathway. Once the season concludes in December, we will have staged a total of 98 international events for age groups from 10U to pro-players on British soil (excluding traditional grass court season events) throughout 2022. This is a percentage increase in tournaments of 139% since 2019.
A local cowboy has a share of the lead in two events after last (Friday) night’s opening performance of the 55th annual Quesnel Rodeo.
Dyson LeNeve and Gracie Antoine from Cache Creek are first in the #8 Team Roping with a time of 7.9 seconds, and LeNeve and John Hancock of Quesnel are number one in the Open Team Roping with a time of 7 and 5.
Other Cariboo leaders after performance number one include Dustin Nicholson of Quesnel in the Steer Wrestling with a 6 and 5, Cody Braaten from 150-Mile has a share of the lead in the Tie Down Roping, and Jordyn Farmer from Quesnel is leading the Junior Breakaway roping.
Some other results of note include the Al Puhallo team from Quesnel winning the Wild Horse Race on opening night.
Dariene Andros from Williams Lake is sitting in second place in the Open Barrel Racing, Reese Colgate from the Lake City is currently number two in the Junior Barrels, Williams Lake’s Briana Billy is second in the Open Breakaway Roping, Julia Bowden from Quesnel and Chad Braaten from 150 Mile are second in the #8 Team Roping, and Brandon Loring from Riske Creek is sitting in second in the Steer Riding.
There is a slack performance this (Saturday) morning at Alex Fraser Park.
Performance number two starts at 2 o’clock this afternoon.
After today, the top 10 in each of the major events and the top 6 in the junior and pee wee events will qualify for the finals on Championship Sunday.
The LLPPS, which was first launched by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in mid-2021 has supported hundreds of events throughout the country through the local authorities. Over 5,500 individual artists, performers and workers have benefitted from this scheme to date.
Elden Ring patch 1.04 is available now and brings with it improved game performance and new events in certain NPC questlines, according to its developer.
Patch 1.04 now allows players to turn the camera’s auto-rotate function on or off, and adds new dialogue phases to the popular Souls NPC, Patches.
Changes have also been made to the damage of certain weapons, as well as how long certain magical attacks take to cast.
Elden Ring – The VGC review
While Elden Ring has been lauded for its challenge, the community has also found plenty of ways to exploit certain weapons and item combinations, and thus this is the latest in a series of patches aimed at improving game balance.
You can read the full patch notes below.
Elden Ring 1.04 Patch Notes
Additional Elements Added
Added an option to turn camera auto-rotate function ON/OFF
Added some event phases for the NPC “Patches”
Balance adjustments
Increased Colossal Swords/Colossal weapons attack speed and lowered their recovery time. Jump attack not included.
Increased the two-handed attack damage of Colossal Swords/Colossal Weapons. Jump attack not included.
Increased physical block rate and guard boost of the Colossal Sword, Colossal Weapons, Great Sword, Great Hammer, Great Axe, Great Spear, and Halberd weapon classes.
Increased the damage of Grafted Blade Greatsword.
Increased the damage of Devourer’s Scepter.
Decreased the scaling of status effect build-up from spells and incantations of Albinauric Staff and Dragon Communion Seal.
Decreased the effect of Greatshield Talisman for weapons with high block rate.
Shortened the length of the madness afflicted animation.
Lowered the speed of madness buildup recovery.
Slightly increased FP and Stamina growth rate at lower levels*
*Players will need to perform any of the following actions for the changes to be reflected. This is required only once. New characters created after this update will not require this action.
Level up
Activate Godrick’s Great Rune
Re-equipping any equipment (armor, talisman) which grants bonus stat to either Strength, Dexterity, Vigor, Endurance, Intelligence, Faith or Arcane
・Other enemy and weapon balance changes
Sorcery/Incantation
Upward adjustments
Crystal Barrage – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time
Gavel of Haima – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemies’ attack while casting
Shatter Earth – Increased cast speed and decrease recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemies’ attack while casting
Rock Blaster – Decreased recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemies’ attack while casting
Thop’s Barrier – Increased area of effect and slightly increase effect duration
Rennala’s Full Moon – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Ranni’s Dark Moon – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Carian Greatsword – Increased cast speed at lower dexterity
Magma Shot – Decreased FP cost and increased cast speed
Roiling Magma – Increased cast speed and decreased time until magma explodes
Gelmir’s Fury – Slightly decreased the random nature of projectile’s range and increased the damage of lava pool. Increased the hitbox
Rykard’s Rancor – Decreased FP cost
Oracle Bubbles – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Great Oracular Bubble – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Briars of Sin – Decreased recovery time. Increased blood loss buildup on enemy
Briars of Punishment – Decreased recovery time. Increased blood loss buildup on enemy
Explosive Ghostflame – Decreased FP cost and recovery time
Tibia’s Summon – Increased damage and cast speed
Aspects of the Crucible: Tail – Decreased FP and Stamina cost
Aspects of the Crucible: Horns – Decreased FP and Stamina cost, Increase cast speed. Increased the distance traveled when not charged and made it easier to cause enemies to flinch when charged
Elden Stars – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time
Black Blade – Decreased Stamina consumption and decreased recovery time
Discus of Light – Decreased FP cost. Increased damage and cast speed
Triple Rings of Light – Increased damage
Radagon’s Rings of Light – Decreased FP cost. Increased damage and cast speed. Decreased recovery time.
Honed Bolt – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Spear – Decreased FP and Stamina cost. Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemy attacks while casting.
Ancient Dragons’ Lightning Strike – Decreased recovery time
Lansseax’s Glaive – Decreased FP and Stamina cost. Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemy’ attacks while casting.
Fortissax’s Lightning Spear – Decreased FP and Stamina cost. Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Allows caster to withstand enemy attack while casting more easily.
Frozen Lightning Spear – Decreased Stamina cost. Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemy attack while casting.
Death Lightning – Decreased FP cost, Increased the duration of death-accumulating smoke
O, Flame! – Increased damage
Giantsflame Take Thee – Decreased Stamina Cost
Flame of the Fell God – Decreased FP cost and increased damage
Whirl, O Flame! – Increased damage, decreased recovery time
Burn, O Flame! – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Black Flame – Increase damage and the spell can break enemy’s guard more easily.
Scouring Black Flame – Decreased FP cost and recovery time. Increased attack range and area of effect.
Black Flame Ritual – Reduced FP cost and increased damage.
Gurranq’s Beast Claw – Increased damage and decreased recovery time.
Bloodboon – Increased damage. Increased cast speed and decreased effect start-up time, decreased recovery time.
Pest Threads – Decreased Stamina cost.
Scarlet Aeonia – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Allows caster to more easily withstand enemy attacks while casting.
Unendurable Frenzy – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Decreased the random nature of projectile’s range and increased Madness buildup on enemies.
Inescapable Frenzy – Increased cast speed.
Placidusax’s Ruin – Decreased FP, Stamina cost and recovery time.
Dragonclaw – Decreased FP, Stamina cost and recovery time and made it easier to cause enemies to flinch when charged.
Dragonmaw – Decreased FP, stamina cost, recovery time and increased cast speed and made it easier to cause enemies to flinch when charged.
Greyoll’s Roar – Decreased FP, Stamina cost and recovery time.
Upward and downward adjustments
Adula’s Moonblade – Decreased the power of single cast and improved performance so that the blades and frost hit more consistently and continuously. Increased cast speed at lower dexterity.
Flame, Fall Upon Them – Decreased the damage of single cast and improved the performance so that it hits the enemy multiple times. Decreased FP cost.
Howl of Shabriri – Decreased the madness buildup on the enemy. Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Downward adjustments
Swarm of Flies – Decreased blood loss buildup on enemy.
The Flame of Frenzy – Decreased madness buildup on enemy.
Frenzied Burst – Decreased madness buildup on enemy.
Weapon Skill
Upward adjustments
Lion’s Claw – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Kick – Increased cast speed.
Hoarah Loux’s Earthshaker – Increased cast speed. Increased cast speed on follow up input, decreased recovery time.
Troll’s Roar – Decreased Stamina Cost. Increased cast speed on follow up input, increased distance traveled.
Giant Hunt – Decreased recovery time.
Storm Assault – Decreased recovery time.
Carian Greatsword – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Increased the damage when charged and made it easier to cause enemies to flinch.
Carian Grandeur – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Increased the damage when charge and made it easier to cause enemies to flinch.
Gravitas – Increased cast speed.
Flaming Strike – Increased the travel distance of a stepping cleave in a strong attack.
Black Flame Tornado – Added hitbox to weapon when spinning, and added a window to roll during the attack to cancel the animation.
Lightning Slash – Increased cast speed. Added a hitbox to the stomp animation.
Sea of Magma – Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time. Added a window to roll during the attack to cancel the animation.
Flame Dance – Decreased Stamina cost, decreased recovery time. Added a window to roll during the attack to cancel the animation.
Storm Kick – Decreased Stamina cost.
Bear Witness! – Increased cast speed.
Upward and downward adjustments
・Thundercloud Form – Decreased damage when not charged. Decreased FP cost. Increased cast speed and decreased recovery time.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug where the damage of Inescapable Frenzy was affected by right hand weapon.
Fixed a bug where the damage of the weapon arts “Carian retaliation” was increased by weapon and status, and the effect was not displayed correctly during online multiplay.
Fixed a bug where the animation when inflicted with blood loss and frostbite was bigger than originally planned.
Fixed a bug during character appearance change menu in which some parameter changes were sometime not reflected.
Fixed a bug that prevented a dialog from appearing when executing “Leave” on some items.
Fixed a bug that allowed unauthorized items to be passed to other players.
Fixed a bug in multiplayer that prevented grace to be registered on the map if it was found just before the player is summoned.
Fixed a bug that sometime prevented the mechanic of Rennala Queen Of The Full Moon fight from working properly during cooperative multiplayer.
Fixed a bug that sometime prevented the player from entering the boss area after defeating Morgott, the Omen King.
Fixed a bug that prevented “Edgar the Revenger” and “Festering Fingerprint Vyke” from invading after defeating all the bosses in Liurnia of the Lake.
The item Tonic of Forgetfulness can now be obtained at the Volcano Manor if the player wasn’t able to obtain it due to quest progression.
Fixed a bug that caused the reduction of runes due to NPC “Gostoc” when player died in “Stormveil Castle” to occur at an unintended timing.
Added a protective barrier to Millicent after helping her at Miquella’s Haligtree so she cannot be unintentionally killed.
Fixed a bug that sometime prevented the player from obtaining the reward after defeating the Dung Eater.
Fixed a bug that sometime prevented the player from progress Diallos’ questline.
Fixed a bug that sometime prevented player from duplicating remembrance at the Walking Mausoleum.
Fixed a bug that prevented player from inputting consecutive attacks when dual wielding thrusting sword.
Fixed a bug that causes scythe to lose blood loss effect if poison affinity is applied to the weapon.
Fixed a bug where the damage of the Iron Greatsword was lower than expected when an affinity is applied.
Fixed a bug that caused FP consumption to increase when the player cast Night Comet with charge.
Fixed a bug that causes he default key setting on keyboard for weapon skill (Left Ctrl) to not be set (on PC only).
Fixed a bug in the Steam version where the history of players who played multiplayer was not displayed correctly under certain circumstances.
Increased online multiplayer stability.
Fixed a bug that caused incorrect sounds to be played under certain circumstances.
Fixed a bug that caused some places on the map to have incorrect visual and hitbox.
Fixed a bug that causes some enemies to have incorrect visual and behavior.
Fixed a bug that causes some armor to have incorrect stats.
Apple is poised for its first livestream event of 2022 on Tuesday, March 8th at 1PM ET. The company sent out press invitation emails for the event titled “Peek Performance,” with rumors strongly suggesting Apple will announce a new third-generation iPhone SE with 5G.
The iPad Air might also get a new spec bump update at the event, with upgrades to both 5G and an A15 Bionic processor, similar to last year’s iPad Mini. Another rumor suggests an Apple Silicon “M2” upgrade alongside a redesigned MacBook Air might be coming. New Macs, including a more powerful Mac Mini / less powerful Mac Pro (possibly named the “Mac Studio”) with an M1 Pro / M1 Max processor update, could also be announced alongside a last-minute rumor that suggests the launch of a new monitor called the “Studio Display.”
That’s not all Apple might announce on Tuesday, so prime your expectations for the Apple event by reading about all the rumors and details below.
The iPhone SE 2 from 2020 might get a 5G refreshPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
iPhone SE 3 with 5G
The upcoming third-generation iPhone SE is expected to succeed the 2020 model as the new budget-friendly iPhone option. The first iPhone SE came out in 2016 and remained available for four years, which means the SE line is set for a quicker change of pace.
According to reliable analyst and leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone SE 3 will probably include the latest A15 Bionic chip, 5G with millimeter wave, 64GB base storage with 128GB / 256GB options, and retain the design and colors of the current model. Kuo shared the info via Twitter on a verified account that has remained quiet until now.
Some predictions for the coming new iPhone SE: 1. Mass production in Mar’22. 2. Estimated shipments of 25-30 mn units in 2022. 3. Storage: 64/128/256GB. 4. A15 & 5G support (mmW & Sub-6 GHz). 5. Casing: white, black, and red. 6. Similar form factor design to current SE.
The 2020 iPhone SE offered shockingly good value with the then-latest chipset, but its battery life was never the star of the show. Now that US carriers only want phones with 5G on their shelves, the battery life in a new iPhone SE would be a bigger concern — especially if the form factor remains the same. The current iPhone SE body models the iPhone 8, but its aging design language dates all the way back to 2014 with the iPhone 6.
It’s also possible that the iPhone SE could borrow the form factor of the iPhone 13 Mini. Due to reports of less than expected sales of the iPhone 12 Mini, it’s rumored that the iPhone 13 Mini might be Apple’s last compact mainline phone. But just as the iPhone SE from 2016 carried on the compact design of the iPhone 5s, and the 2020 iPhone SE copied the smaller iPhone 8 design, the iPhone SE might become the new home for the Mini.
There’s no word on price yet, but don’t expect to see a reduction to the starting $399 price. 5G modems are still expensive, so a starting storage option of 64GB makes sense if the price is to remain intact. Touch ID would also keep costs down if the design remains.
iPad Air is expected to get 5G and a new processorPhoto by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
A breath of fresh iPad Air
The iPad Air received an iPad Pro-style redesign in 2020: it got flat edges, thin bezels, Apple Pencil 2 support, USB-C, and a new Touch ID sleep / wake button. But the still fresh design is already lagging behind: the iPad Mini from last year followed the design of the iPad Air but one-upped it with with the latest A15 Bionic processor and 5G data options (though just sub-6GHz and no millimeter wave support).
So it makes sense for Apple to roll out an updated iPad Air with the latest A15 Bionic processor and with a 5G option — and perhaps center stage as well. And although FaceID would welcome, don’t expect any other changes.
Can you tell if this is the Intel or M1 MacBook Air? Hopefully you will be able to tell soon with the announcement of a redesigned M2 MacBook Air.Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
MacBook Air redesigned and with a new M2 Processor
It’s possible that Apple announces a new MacBook Air with a new M2 chip at this event. The current design of the MacBook Air dates back to 2018 and was a testbed for the Apple M1 chip debut in 2020.
We reviewed the current MacBook Air with M1 as one of the best laptops you could buy in 2020, with a score that was cut short of perfect only because of the less-than-stellar webcam.
But it’s 2022 now, and we have freshly updated MacBook Pro designs with better screens and a better camera that you can expect the MacBook Air will soon follow. It might even come with a notch.
Mac Studio
A new Mac Mini was rumored to come late last year, but it never showed up. Right now, the only way to harness the power of the latest M1 Pro and M1 Max chips is in the latest MacBook Pro models. A new Mac Mini with the latest processor options would change that.
Rumors are coalescing around Apple announcing a kind of Mac Mini / Mac Pro hybrid device on Tuesday called the “Mac Studio,” according to 9to5Mac. In January Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the “mostly aluminum” device “could invoke nostalgia for the Power Mac G4 Cube,” suggesting it might resemble a taller Mac Mini.
The current Mac Mini design dates back to 2010, which was made to be just large enough to fit an optical drive. So it’s about time we get a new Mac Mini chassis, but if we don’t, then hopefully, we will at least get a “Pro” looking space gray finish again. We could even see Mac Mini split up into a pro option and a standard option that comes with a new M2 processor.
Right now, there’s only one iMac option with M1 processors, but it only has a 24-inch screen option. If we don’t see new larger iMacs on Tuesday, we might see it later in the year. The iMac Pro was also discontinued a year ago, so that would make for an interesting surprise, though there haven’t been any supply chain leaks that would indicate a new version is imminent. There’s also the Mac Pro that has no M1 option yet — and while it’s rumored to be in the works, don’t hold your breath for that one on Tuesday.
Studio Display
Last minute rumors suggest Apple will launch a new 27-inch 5K monitor to accompany its new Mac Studio desktop computer. The so-called “Studio Display,” according to 9to5Mac, would be priced for consumers, unlike Apple’s very expensive Pro Studio XDR display which starts at $5,000 before adding a $1,000 stand. Interestingly, Bloomberg’s Gurman says it’ll be running iOS, suggesting an A-series chip inside. Apple’s previous 27-inch offering listed for $999.
Apple got out of the monitor game in 2016 to the disappointment of many. The introduction of the Pro Studio XDR in 2019 was welcome news, but it was priced way beyond the means of most buyers. Let’s hope Apple rectifies that on Tuesday with something norms can afford.
Apple TV plus getting more shows and movies
The last time Apple held an event in March was in 2019, a live presentation that showcased new premium Apple services like Apple TV Plus. Three years later, it’s very possible Apple could showcase new TV shows or movies like it did last September.
One more thing?
Some speculation of the meaning of Apple’s event invite title “Peek Performance” points to the word “Peek” as the name of a VR / AR product. While Apple’s long-rumored headset product is not expected to be ready until 2023, perhaps there’s a chance Apple can surprise and delight — just don’t expect to see an Apple Car anytime soon.
Apple is also expected to release some software updates: iOS 15.4 that can let your Face ID-enabled iPhone unlock while wearing a mask and also a macOS Monterey plus iPad OS 15.4 update that will finally enable the iPad to Mac traversing Universal Control feature.
Check out all the latest Apple news as it breaks here on The Verge.
Update March 8th, 4:20AM ET: Addedlatest rumors about Mac Studio and Studio Display.
