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SF Giants lose another coach as Hallberg takes job with Twins

The Giants have lost another coach from last year’s staff, as first-base coach Mark Hallberg will join the Minnesota Twins as a bench coach under recently hired manager Derek Shelton, the Twins announced on Friday.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey told reporters this week in Las Vegas during MLB’s GM Meetings that Hallberg, his roommate at Florida State, and catching coach Alex Burg were deciding whether to stay with the Giants or pursue other options.

“He’s one of those that we’d love to have back, but he has been kind of a popular guy with some other teams, as well,” Posey said on Tuesday. “We’re working through that.”

Hallberg, 39, spent six seasons on the Giants’ coaching staff under former managers Gabe Kapler and Bob Melvin. Over the years, he served as an assistant coach (2020–21), third-base coach (2022–23), and first-base coach (2024–25).

Along with Hallberg, several other coaches will not be returning under new manager Tony Vitello’s staff. Bench coach Ryan Christenson, pitching coach J. P. Martinez, bullpen coach Garvin Alston, hitting coach Pat Burrell, assistant hitting coach Damon Minor, and third-base coach Matt Williams have all departed.

Posey confirmed earlier this week that assistant hitting coach Oscar Bernard, quality control coach Taira Uematsu, and bullpen catcher Eliezer Zambrano will be back next season. However, it remains undecided whether catching coach Alex Burg will return.

The Giants’ returning staff will be joined by former San Diego Padres manager Jayce Tingler and former Toronto Blue Jays assistant hitting coach Hunter Mense. While Tingler’s specific role has yet to be announced, Mense will replace Pat Burrell as San Francisco’s new hitting coach.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins praised Mense during the Las Vegas meetings, saying, “He’s exceptionally disciplined and very bright. He brought those attributes into our process, connected well with our players, and made a big difference for us over the years.”

Additionally, Quentin Eberhardt is leaving the University of Tennessee to become the Giants’ director of performance, according to Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel. Eberhardt spent seven seasons as Tennessee’s strength coach under Vitello, with two stints at the program and a brief period with the Chicago Cubs as head strength and conditioning coach in between.

This series of changes marks a significant reshuffling of the Giants’ coaching staff as the organization prepares for the upcoming season under new leadership.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/14/sf-giants-lose-another-coach-as-hallberg-takes-job-with-twins/

Best characters for Amphoreus, The Eternal Land in Honkai Star Rail

**Amphoreus, The Eternal Land: Best Characters and Set Effects in Honkai Star Rail**

Amphoreus, The Eternal Land is a new Planar Ornament set introduced in Honkai Star Rail alongside version 3. This set is especially effective for characters who can summon memosprites, making it a valuable asset for many Trailblazers. In this article, we will explore the set effects of Amphoreus, The Eternal Land, and highlight the best characters who can unlock its full potential.

*Note: Aspects of this article are subjective and reflect the author’s opinion.*

—

### Exploring the Best Characters for Amphoreus, The Eternal Land

Like every Planar Ornament, Amphoreus, The Eternal Land comes with a powerful set effect that benefits the wearer as well as the entire team.

#### Set Effect Details:
– **2-piece set effect:**
– Increases the wearer’s **CRIT Rate by 8%**.
– While the wearer’s memosprite is on the field, increases **all allies’ SPD by 8%**.
*This SPD buff effect cannot be stacked.*

With the set effect in mind, let’s take a closer look at the characters best suited to utilize Amphoreus, The Eternal Land:

—

### Cyrene

Cyrene stands out as one of the best users of Amphoreus, The Eternal Land. She deals consistent damage while also providing buffs to her allies, making this set an ideal match.

– The extra **CRIT Rate** boosts her damage output.
– The **SPD increase** accelerates her teammates’ actions, allowing for faster turn cycles.
– The SPD buff is especially beneficial for Cyrene to accumulate Ultimate stacks quickly in a full Chrysos Heir team.
– Reaching the **200 SPD breakpoint** makes Cyrene notably more powerful, particularly when summoning her memosprite on wave two.

—

### Hyacine

Hyacine is another strong candidate for this Ornament set in Honkai Star Rail.

– She can swiftly summon **Ica**, her memosprite, making full use of the set’s SPD buff.
– The SPD boost not only benefits the team but also increases the number of turns her summon receives, enhancing overall damage potential.
– The passive **8% CRIT Rate increase** improves Hyacine’s output in combat, even if it’s a modest boost.
– If you prefer a fast-paced team composition with Remembrance supports, Amphoreus, The Eternal Land is the perfect Ornament set to farm for Hyacine.

—

### Remembrance Trailblazer

Remembrance Trailblazer (RMC) is an excellent option to maximize the effects of Amphoreus, The Eternal Land, especially if you lack premium units.

– Similar to Hyacine, RMC can summon their memosprite **Mem** using Skill.
– Since Mem remains on the battlefield for an extended duration, the **SPD buff** benefit applies to all allies, speeding up team actions.
– The additional **CRIT Rate** helps RMC and Mem to deal greater damage with offensive abilities.
– This set transforms RMC into a versatile and reliable DPS/support hybrid in many team setups.

—

For Trailblazers aiming to boost the effectiveness of memosprite-summoning characters, Amphoreus, The Eternal Land is a worthy Ornament set to obtain and build around.

—

*Don’t forget to follow Sportskeeda’s Honkai Star Rail hub for the latest updates and guides.*
https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/best-characters-amphoreus-the-eternal-land-honkai-star-rail-hsr

“The pressure has always been so great and high”: Kalen DeBoer refuses to step back from Alabama’s terrific run in SEC ahead of LSU faceoff

Kalen DeBoer has put all the critics to bed, especially those who doubted him after Alabama’s loss in the season opener against FSU. The program has seen an exponential rise overall, with Alabama performing exceptionally well on both offense and defense. Currently, the team stands at 7-1 with an undefeated 5-0 record in the SEC. Their next challenge comes this weekend against LSU.

The veteran head coach recently appeared on the Triple Option podcast, joining an elite panel hosted by Urban Meyer. During the podcast, DeBoer provided an inside look at how the team overcame early criticism and doubts by maintaining focus on each weekly game.

Despite Alabama’s unbeaten streak since Week 2, DeBoer emphasized that he has no intention of resting or becoming complacent. His primary goal remains making the playoffs and contending for the national title.

“I’m not gonna let myself get comfortable,” DeBoer told Rob Stone, Urban Meyer, and Mark Ingram on the Triple Option Podcast. “I think that’s the way you’ve got to just keep attacking it, and that’s the way it’s always been. The pressure you put on yourself, that I’ve put on myself, has always been so great and so high.”

DeBoer also spoke about how well his family has settled in Tuscaloosa and how the passionate support from fans keeps him motivated.

“I love living here, though. My family loves it, and it’s fun when what you’re really passionate about is a priority and really important to the university, the people, your alumni. Getting texts from Mark (Ingram) and other alumni saying they’re proud means the world to me because that’s what I do,” he added.

### Kalen DeBoer Gets Real About LSU Faceoff in Week 10

This weekend’s matchup against LSU comes with unique challenges. The Tigers will enter the game without Brian Kelly calling plays, a situation that could make them vulnerable against a highly stable Alabama squad. However, DeBoer remains cautious and refuses to underestimate LSU’s ability to compete against ranked opponents.

“We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing, and that’s focusing on us and focusing on what we are and improving the areas we can. We’ll be ready to adjust to whatever comes our way,” DeBoer said during his recent SEC appearance.

With the SEC being one of the most competitive conferences in the country, Alabama must win every upcoming game to keep their playoff hopes alive. Several teams are vying for crucial playoff spots in this tough 12-team league. At this pace, Alabama is shaping up to be a strong contender for the postseason.

Stay tuned as Alabama continues its pursuit of excellence under Kalen DeBoer’s leadership.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/college-football/news-the-pressure-always-great-high-kalen-deboer-refuses-step-back-alabama-s-terrific-run-sec-ahead-of-lsu-faceoff

Does the UN need to be run like a business? IKEA CEO Jesper Brodin may get the chance

Brodin may have a chance, as the Swedish government announced him as its candidate to become the new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last Monday. If selected, Brodin’s career pivot would highlight an exceptionally rare trajectory among global CEOs: moving from business to a multilateral international organization.

The UNHCR, the organization says, protects people forced to flee, delivers emergency aid in crises, and helps displaced people find a place to call home. While some businessmen, such as Donald Trump in the U.S. or Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, have entered national politics, virtually none have crossed over to head a major United Nations institution.

UN jobs are more typically reserved for career diplomats and politicians, while private sector leaders have been mostly absent in UN leadership roles. Alexander De Croo, the designated new head of the United Nations Development Programme, perhaps comes closest. He started his career at Boston Consulting Group and stayed there for several years before entering Belgian politics like his father before him, eventually becoming prime minister. His wife remains a partner at the consulting firm.

“I was surprised to receive the nomination. It was not something I had planned,” Brodin told Fortune in a Zoom interview after the news broke. “But with my global experience leading IKEA in more than 40 countries, I believe I can bring valuable experience and leadership to the UN.”

Brodin’s private sector experience was also a key reason why the Swedish government nominated him. “The U.N. system would be strengthened by a person with business experience, especially given the major challenges now facing the U.N.,” the Swedish foreign ministry said in a statement endorsing the IKEA veteran.

However rare, the choice is consistent with Brodin’s stated mission at IKEA, which was “to create a better everyday life for the many people.” Under Brodin’s leadership, IKEA has participated in several UN and UNHCR projects globally. These include an IKEA training and skills program for refugees, which to date has reached over 3,700 people, and IKEA’s retail arm providing direct job opportunities to refugees from Syria, and more recently, Ukraine.

Brodin is stepping down as IKEA CEO in November. The UN Secretary-General will select his choice for UNHCR, sending the nominee to member states for confirmation by the end of the year.

In the end, if Brodin is confirmed, it may well be because a rational business approach is exactly what the UN needs right now. The UN is in crisis and facing a cash crunch, exacerbated by the Trump administration’s funding cuts for the organization. In that light, Brodin’s track record of economizing on costs and resources at IKEA may be the real game changer if he is appointed.
https://fortune.com/2025/10/23/ikea-ceo-jesper-brodin-unhcr-un-business/

Infisical (YC W23) Is Hiring Full Stack Engineers

**Join Infisical: Building the Open Source Security Infrastructure Stack for the AI Era**

Infisical is on the lookout for exceptional talent to join our teams in building the open source security infrastructure stack tailored for the AI era. We’re crafting a generational company with a world-class engineering team. This isn’t a place to coast — if you want to grow fast, take ownership, and solve tough problems, you’ll be challenged like nowhere else.

—

### What We’re Looking For

We are searching for an exceptional **Full Stack Engineer** to help build, optimize, and expand the foundation of our platform. Our hiring standards remain exceptionally high because we expect engineers to tackle a broad range of challenges daily.

Past engineering initiatives include:
– Developing strategies for secret rotation and dynamic secrets
– Building a gateway to provide secure access to private resources
– Implementing protocols like EST and KMIP
– Creating integrations for syncing secrets across cloud providers
– Launching new product lines such as Infisical PKI and Infisical SSH

As part of our team, you’ll work closely with our CTO and engineering experts to:
– Develop and maintain features while communicating directly with enterprise customers
– Expand new product lines including Infisical PKI, Infisical SSH, and Infisical KMS
– Experiment with innovative approaches applying AI to secrets management and broader security infrastructure

—

### Requirements

– Deep technical mastery of the JavaScript ecosystem, particularly **React.js, Node.js, and TypeScript**
– Exceptional attention to detail and a strong eagerness to learn
– A bias toward action — able to make decisions with incomplete information, iterate quickly, and take calculated risks
– Flexible location: You must be based in one of the approved countries and available to collaborate with the team until at least 3pm Eastern Time (EST)

—

### Bonus Skills

– Expertise in Go
– Understanding of DevOps and developer tools
– Previous founder or startup experience
– Experience building open source projects or developer tools professionally or personally
– Excellent written and oral communication skills to engage directly with customers

—

### How You’ll Grow

In this role, you’ll play a pivotal part in shaping Infisical’s future by making key technical decisions, establishing foundational processes, and tackling complex scalability challenges. As you gain experience and as our team expands, you’ll have the opportunity to take full ownership of specific platform areas, driving them end-to-end with autonomy and impact.

Overall, you will be one of the defining members of our team as we scale to thousands of customers over the next 18 months.

—

### Team, Values & Benefits

Our team brings together experience from leading companies like Figma, AWS, and Red Hat. While we operate primarily as a remote team, we maintain a strong presence in San Francisco with an office and come together throughout the year for off-sites, conferences, and team gatherings.

At Infisical, we offer competitive compensation including salary and equity options. The salary range for this role depends on location, experience, and seniority.

Additional benefits include:
– Lunch stipend
– Work setup budget

More details can be found on our [careers page](#).

—

### About Infisical

Infisical is the open source security infrastructure platform engineers trust for secrets management, internal PKI, key management, and SSH workflow orchestration. Each month, we securely manage over 1.5 billion secrets — including application configurations, database credentials, certificates, and more.

We’ve raised $19 million from Y Combinator, Google, and Elad Gil. Our customers include Hugging Face, Lucid, and LG.

Join us on a mission to make security easier for all developers, starting with secrets management.

—

Ready to make an impact? Apply now and be part of the future of security infrastructure.
https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/infisical/jobs/0gY2Da1-full-stack-engineer-global

What is Bin-gate? How ‘The Great British Baking Show’s Iain Exorcised a Ghost from the Tent’s Past With His Vacherin Glacé Showstopper

**The Great British Baking Show’s “Meringue Week” Haunted by a Terrifying Specter of the Past**

For his Vacherin Glacé Showstopper during “Meringue Week,” Belfast baker Iain Ross channeled one of The Great British Baking Show’s most notorious moments involving another Northern Irish Iain.

**Spoilers for The Great British Baking Show “Meringue Week,” now streaming on Netflix**

In a bold and cheeky move, this season’s Iain recreated the infamous “bin-gate” Baked Alaska scandal from 2014 in an attempt to exorcise any remaining demons in the tent. His daring homage nearly got him eliminated, but it also served as a fantastic throwback to one of the show’s earliest breakout moments.

If you’ve only watched The Great British Baking Show on Netflix, you might have been baffled by Iain’s plan to make a meringue trash bin for judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. To fully appreciate this clever nod, it helps to understand the original “bin-gate” incident.

### What Was “Bin-Gate”?

You have to go back to 2014, when The Great British Bake Off made its modest American debut on PBS under the title *The Great British Baking Show Season 1.* This version featured judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, with hosts Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc. Contestants included Martha Collinson, Chetna Makan, Luis Troyano, Richard Burr, and eventual winner Nancy Birtwhistle.

During “Desserts Week,” bakers were tasked with creating a spectacular Baked Alaska Showstopper—a dessert featuring layers of ice cream and cake covered by meringue. The catch? The ice cream layers have to remain frozen throughout preparation.

On a particularly hot summer day, two of the five refrigerators in the tent were broken. Amid the chaos, contestant Diana Beard briefly took fellow baker Iain Watters’s Baked Alaska out of the fridge to make room for hers and inadvertently left Iain’s dessert sitting out on the bench. Although producers claimed it was only exposed to warm air for about a minute, the ice cream began to melt.

Frustrated, Iain Watters tossed his failed Baked Alaska into “the bin” and, when it came time for judging, presented an empty tray alongside the trash can. This dramatic gesture led to his elimination.

### The Aftermath of “Bin-Gate”

The fallout was swift and severe. Diana Beard faced significant online abuse from British fans, despite Iain defending her. Unfortunately, Diana later withdrew from the competition due to a fall at home.

“Bin-gate” was a messy episode that contrasted sharply with the usually warm and supportive spirit of The Great British Baking Show. To this day, “bin-gate” remains closely associated with the name “Iain” on Google searches related to the show.

### Iain Ross’s Homage to “Bin-Gate”

Fast forward to 2025. This season’s Iain, known for his playful humor, looked to the past and the other Iain’s infamous ice cream and meringue disaster for inspiration.

Recognizing that a Vacherin Glacé is very similar in style to a Baked Alaska—just French and slightly fancier—Iain Ross borrowed the flavor profile from the original “bin-gate” bake. He crafted his meringue into the shape of a trash bin, cheekily acknowledging the notorious moment.

Judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith appreciated the creative concept, but were less impressed with the execution. Though they liked the rough, “bin-gate” inspired look, they criticized the flavor combination, finding the chocolate and coffee ice creams clashed on the palate.

Iain cleverly deflected the criticism, joking that the flavors were borrowed from the other Iain, so the blame couldn’t fall on him.

### The Outcome

Despite the judges’ feedback, Iain managed to avoid elimination. Instead, 59-year-old hairdresser Lesley Holloway was sent home after struggling in all three challenges, while Iain had impressed by winning the soufflé Technical challenge.

### The Takeaway

If Iain Ross’s “bin-gate” inspired bake has taught us anything about The Great British Baking Show, it’s probably this: if you’re a Northern Irish baker named Iain, presenting Paul Hollywood with a trash bin at judging might not be the safest path to victory—but it sure makes for memorable television.
https://decider.com/2025/10/17/what-is-bin-gate-how-the-great-british-baking-shows-iain-exorcised-a-ghost-from-the-tents-past-with-his-vacherin-glace-showstopper/