This is the #threadcast for Day 127 of the #foodtalk on Leo 30/10/2024 for 29/10/2024. It's time for some meal inspirations and food conversation. Don't forget to use #foodtalk in your comments. Discussion
Be part of the Food Talk Show On Leo. Here is Day 126 that leads you to the previous threadcasts.
Do you eat potatoes?
Brilliant baked potato recipes to raise your comfort food game.👇
Share your food experiences.
Share other food-related content and ask questions about food.
More about food with tips and tricks will be dropped in the threadcast. Upvote the comments you find interesting & connect with others. Let's have fun. #foodie
Yes, I eat potatoes. My favorite way to have them is roasted with herbs. Of course that picture of baked portatoes loaded with toppings lookes great too.
Barley is a grain that has been a key part of the human diet since ancient civilizations. It has been cherished for thousands of years not just because it is a hearty staple food, but because it is packed with nutrients that could benefit mothers-to-be.
Antioxidants: These compounds help fight inflammation and protect cells from damage, which is important for overall health, especially during pregnancy.
Fiber: Barley is one of the richest sources of dietary fiber and contains a type of soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which plays a significant role in maintaining heart health and controlling blood sugar levels.
Vitamins and minerals: Barley contains nearly all the B vitamins (important for energy), iron (crucial for carrying oxygen in the blood), magnesium (needed for muscle and nerve function) and selenium (an antioxidant that protects cells from damage).
Protein: While barley is not as protein-rich as beans or lentils, it does contain a decent amount – making it a good source of plant-based protein.
How barley helps pregnant women
Today, researchers are discovering more about how this humble grain can support the health of pregnant women. From aiding digestion to helping control blood sugar levels, barley is stepping into the spotlight as a nourishing, natural option for moms and their babies.
Promotes health digestion
Uncomfortable bloating and constipation can accompany your pregnancy journey and this is where barley's nutrient fiber – beta-glucan – comes into play.
Pregnancy hormones like progesterone slow down digestion and as the baby grows, there's added pressure on the intestines. This often leads to constipation, which is not only uncomfortable but can also cause other issues like hemorrhoids.
Barley's high fiber content helps keep things moving smoothly through the digestive system. Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel-like substance in the intestines – making stools easier to pass. Incorporating barley into a pregnant woman's diet could significantly relieve constipation – keeping the gut healthy and reducing discomfort.
Balances blood sugar levels
Pregnancy can bring about sudden shifts in the way your body processes sugar – leading to a condition called "gestational diabetes." This condition happens when the body struggles to produce enough insulin – causing blood sugar levels to rise. High blood sugar during pregnancy can lead to complications, including high birth weight for the baby, which can make delivery more challenging.
The beta-glucan fiber found in barley is especially helpful for managing blood sugar. It slows down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, preventing spikes and keeping levels stable. Studies have shown that barley eaten regularly can improve insulin sensitivity, which means the body can process sugar more efficiently.
Barley also provides a steady supply of energy, helping pregnant women avoid that post-meal slump. With its natural ability to keep blood sugar in check, barley could be a quiet hero for expectant mothers.
A recent investigation by researchers at Arizona State University has uncovered a potential new approach to managing high cholesterol. According to a recent study, a specific blend of corn flour might offer significant benefits for those with elevated levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol.
Study overview
Published in The Journal of Nutrition, the study examined the impact of various corn flour types on both cardiovascular health and gut microbiota in 36 adults aged between 18 and 70 years old who had high LDL levels.
Participant criteria
The study excluded individuals with significant food allergies, recent antibiotic treatments, recent weight changes, restrictive diets, specific medical conditions or supplement use. Additionally, individuals with certain medical histories, pregnant or breastfeeding women, those on cholesterol medications and those involved in high-intensity exercises were not included.
Methodology
Study participants first completed an online questionnaire to determine eligibility. Those who qualified underwent further screening, including a 12-hour fasting blood test to check their cholesterol levels. Eligible participants then completed health and diet surveys, provided informed consent and submitted stool samples for analysis of their gut microbiome.
Participants consumed muffins and pita bread made from three different types of corn flour – whole-grain cornmeal, refined cornmeal and a unique blend of refined cornmeal with corn bran – for four weeks each, with breaks in between.
Researchers monitored compliance and gastrointestinal symptoms weekly, defining compliance as consuming over 80 percent of the provided foods. Dietary intake was tracked using three-day food diaries and the nutritional data was analyzed with specialized software.
Blood tests were performed before and after each four-week phase to measure changes in key markers, such as LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Stool samples were also analyzed to assess changes in gut microbiota composition and function.
Findings
Of the three corn flour types tested, only the refined corn meal blend with added corn bran led to a notable reduction in LDL cholesterol, averaging five percent, with some participants experiencing decreases of up to 13 percent.
This blend also slightly lowered total cholesterol. The other two corn flour varieties did not show significant effects on cholesterol levels, although whole-grain cornmeal was associated with a minor increase in beneficial gut bacteria.
Recent research has found fascinating effects of almonds on the brain, particularly in how they might support memory and learning. Almond consumption has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and increase antioxidants in the brain.
Almonds are a rich source of several key nutrients that are essential for optimal brain health:
Vitamin E
Almonds are packed with essential nutrients, particularly vitamin E. Just 28 grams of almonds, or about 43 nuts, can provide around 50 percent of your daily vitamin E requirement. This vitamin has been shown to have neuroprotective effects, particularly in slowing down the progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia, in a 2021 study published in Healthcare.
Research indicates that vitamin E may help protect brain health by improving neurotransmission and reducing neurotoxicity. Various studies have shown that higher levels of vitamin E are linked to better cognitive performance, especially in older adults and those with conditions, like Alzheimer's disease.
Healthy fats
The monounsaturated fats found in almonds are essential for maintaining healthy cell membranes, including those in the brain. These fats support overall brain function and can help improve cognitive performance. Specifically, almonds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for maintaining the structure and functions of brain cells.
According to a study published in Cureus, omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in promoting cognition, preserving neurons and protecting against neurodegeneration. These beneficial effects are achieved through two mechanisms: enhancing membrane fluidity and boosting neurotransmitter release.
Flavonoids
A study conducted by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles found that consuming almonds regularly improved memory and cognitive function in participants, especially in tasks that require logical reasoning and problem-solving skills.
One of the reasons behind this cognitive boost is the presence of flavonoids in almonds, which are known for their antioxidant properties. These natural compounds reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain, which are known to contribute to cognitive decline – promoting better blood flow.
Almonds are rich in dietary flavonoids, which offer several neuroprotective benefits. A study published in Genes & Nutrition highlights that these flavonoids can protect neurons from damage caused by neurotoxins and reduce neuroinflammation. Furthermore, they may enhance cognitive function, learning and memory.
Magnesium
Almonds are a good source of magnesium, which plays a vital role in brain health, primarily due to its involvement in energy production. Without enough magnesium, energy production in brain cells can be impaired – affecting cognitive function.
Additionally, magnesium regulates neurotransmitters, like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, as well as calcium levels in brain cells, which supports learning, memory and neuron activity. Research also suggests that higher brain magnesium levels enhance neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells) – boosting cognitive adaptability and flexibility.
Almonds: The perfect snack
Raw almonds are generally more nutrient-dense than roasted almonds as the roasting process can reduce some of their vitamins and healthy fats. Unsalted almonds are a better choice for overall health since added salt can contribute to high blood pressure.
Mamra Badam almonds, grown in Afghanistan and Iran, stand out for their unique curved shape and superior nutritional profile. Unlike mass-produced California almonds, Mamra almonds are considered to be nutritionally richer – offering higher levels of healthy fats, including omega-3s. Their premium quality and limited production make them one of the most expensive almonds on the market.
Almonds are the perfect snack no matter the time of day or situation. Whether you're adding them to your oatmeal for extra flavor, snacking during your morning commute, or swapping out chips for a healthier crunch at lunch – almonds fit right in.
Keep a jar at your desk to curb mid-morning cravings, toss them on your salad for a nutty boost, or rely on them for that afternoon energy slump. On the go? Carry almonds in your purse or car for a convenient, satisfying snack. Even late at night, almonds can satisfy cravings without the guilt. Whatever the moment, almonds have you covered.
Twenty-four-hour diner and breakfast restaurant Denny's recently announced the closure of 150 branches out of its 1,700 locations worldwide – 50 store closures by the end of this year and the remaining 100 locations will be shut in 2025.
According to a Securities and Exchange filing from the chain on Tuesday, Oct. 22, the company aims to strengthen its cash flow as the chain will try to reach a goal of growing annual unit volume sales to $2.2 million.
"We believe this is absolutely the right thing to do to make our system stronger," Denny's CEO Kelli Valade said.
The more than a hundred branches that will be shut make for roughly 10 percent of Denny's stores. It has not yet been announced which locations will close down but Valade said that it is the "underperforming" restaurants that would stop operations. Among the restaurants closing are older locations that are too old to remodel or are based in unprofitable locations, said its Executive Vice President and Chief Global Development Officer Stephen Dunn.
"Some of these restaurants can be very old. So, when you think of a 70-year-old plus brand, you have a lot of restaurants that have been out there for a very long time," he told investors at the meeting.
Meanwhile, Denny's reported its fifth straight quarter of declines in sales at locations that were open for at least a year. Since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the restaurant has not returned to its usual around-the-clock hours in around a quarter of its locations. Because of this, the chain has now officially slashed its hours. This came after Dunn said it "didn't make sense" especially since foot traffic and changing consumer behaviors continue to show as effects from the pandemic.
Comfort food doesn't get much better than a baked potato. Simple, straightforward and versatile, there are endless ways to enjoy them beyond topping them with baked beans and cheese. They're an excellent vehicle for leftovers too, so brilliant if you're trying to cut down on food waste and save money in the process. From healthy to indulgent, you're sure to find a new combination here.
What we all love in a baked potato is the crisp skin and the soft, fluffy center. Pierce the skin all over with a fork, rub with oil and sea salt, then bake in a hot oven for around 1 to 1.5 hours. You can speed up the process by microwaving them on high to begin with (3 average potatoes for 8 minutes), then put them in the oven for 45 minutes to crisp up.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood
Bake some potatoes, allow to cool, then cut them into segments. Remove the flesh, leaving some as a base, and top with a veggie bean chili and grated cheese. Grill until the cheese has melted and the skins are crisp. Top with sour cream and chopped chives for a moreish dish which can either serve as a starter or a snack.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood #loadedpotatoes
These baked sweet potatoes are topped with spiced lentils, infused with ginger, garlic, cumin and harissa – a fiery North African paste. To save time, use a can of lentils, which you just need to drain and rinse. They are served with a lemon tahini dressing. It's a great vegan main course choice.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood #sweetpotatoes
This spicy lamb ragù is used in the recipe as a topping for baked eggplants, but it would be great on halved baked potatoes, too. With a hint of chili and Spanish smoked paprika, the melted cheese makes the dish warm and comforting. The recipe uses manchego, but a strong Cheddar would be fine.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood #manchego
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Welcome friends to the #foodtalk show on Leo, it's another episode, Day 127, let's have some #food conversations and talk more about potatoes and various recipes to create from this amazing one food.
Yeah, I'm not doing it at Etoro because of taxes. Crypto trading in my country doesn't pay taxes as long as I keep the last crypto for a period of 1 year after.
Taxation is the most tiresome and soul crushing thing. It's not even the fact that they keep part of the money, it's the fact that I need to figure out what I owe the government through a bunch of tax laws and if I make a mistake they'll fine me.
Yeah, but you can also copy traders on Bybit and Binance, I just like WooX more because it has more liquidity, and for copy trading, liquidity is important so that I can buy at the same price as all the other traders.
The only problem with copy trading is it doesn't teach you any actual skills. You are just following someone else's moves. So if that person were to disappear, would you still be able to make money? I say this as a full time trader that not only trades my money, but other people's as well.
Speaking for myself, I would not be able to do short term day trading (I've tried in the past, made money, but my mental health went down the drain), but I would still be able to do long term investing/trading, which is what I enjoy.
I'm good at spotting long term tops and bottoms in crypto, but find it hard when it comes to day trading.
But after so many years in crypto I'm considering starting day trading again for myself, just want to build a copy trading portfolio before starting since I think the ROI is better in that then me restarting trading.
PS: My $1500 are already up by $200 copy trading Bluntz, and it's been 6-7 days since I've started following him, dude went long on doge last night, which was a really good trade:)
I've seen people be successful with it, I just think it makes people lazy. My cousin is in a stock copy trade group and he makes money, but has NO IDEA where their analysis comes from, and they always skirt from telling them how. I am a teach them to fish kind of guy instead of giving the fish... Hence why I am not that popular and why I am really about done with giving trading advice on social media and just focusing on content around flying drones, lol.
Hell, I made an indicator that puts basically everything you need into one, gives you all kind of alerts, etc, but still, it's too much work for most people... Oh well, it makes me some great money, so I'll just keep it to myself, lol. But, if you are interested... Go check out the Logical Trading Indicator V.1 on TradingView for free.
I don't like signal groups, which looks like what your cousin does, because I have no idea if the trade setups and the trades are actually done by the people recommending them, it's easy to say 10 predictions and then only show the ones that actually happen... Seen it many many times.
On WooX I know the guy I'm copying is doing the trades, I can see his positions, I can see the position size, and he only gets part of my profit (profit sharing), if he actually makes me money, if he loses and then wins, only after regaining everything he lost back will my profit be shared with him. The entry points normally have a little difference from his entry point, because of liquidity, but seems to not be that bad...
Your indicator seems very accurate with a R/R on the 4h TF with a 1% stop loss, on the daily it's especially good. What TF do you normally use it for?
If I get back in the game I might use it to check my bias and probably to make quite a few trades, looking at it I might go for the 4h TF, with a stop loss of 1%, using 2x leverage, with small amounts of $ ($50-$100) to start out and get the feel for it again.
I use it on all timeframes, but adjust the settings as I go down. The default settings were dialed in for 1HR-4HR timeframes, but you can adjust the settings for it to be more accurate for lower timeframes for day trading (which I have found are also oddly amazing on the daily candle).
Thanks for the feedback... But yeah, start small. I use Apollox.finance for onchain leverage trading. It's a solid exchange, NO KYC! It just connects with your EVM wallet. You can use it on BSC, ETH, Arbitrum, and I think now Solana. BSC has the bigger liquidity on the V1 order book markets because it's the first chain they started with. You have to deposit to their smart contract to trade.
There is the V2 that uses liquidity pools instead of an order book and you don't have to deposit to their contracts, but you pay more in gas and exchange fees for each trade. V1, you only pay gas to deposit and withdraw, where V2, you pay gas on each trade.
V1 exchange fees are 0.02 Maker and 0.07 Taker
V2 exchange fees are 0.08 for both Maker and Taker
#moviesonleo #cinema #review Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but generally uplifting, this documentary explores elusive nature of fame in the world of rock music. (link in reply)
hello lions . First of all wish you have a nice day and if you can come by my sp post where new rules have arrived. Link in the comments.
#splinterlands #inleo #cent
Similar except it is using links. Vector databases use numerical representations of words, characters, and symbols.
We are talking about billions of connections. So if you type in something about Henry Hudson, the explorer, that could have hundreds of connections immediately depending upon what is in the database.
BookTok Is Obsessed With Kristin Hannah's 2024 Novel—Here's Where It Ranks
Netflix's hit feel-good series Firefly Lane may be a relative newcomer to the streaming scene—but novelist Kristin Hannah, the author of the 2008 book of the same name, has been weaving tales about women and their relationships for over three decades.
Scott Hawkins just turned 55 and has lived for the past ten years about 40 minutes outside Atlanta — drive north “until you see cows,” he says. After a brief stint as a teacher, he’s worked in computer stuff his whole life (he is the author of The Linux Desk Reference and Apache Web Server Administration).
As the holiday season gets underway in November, book publishers are gearing up with seasonally and thematically appropriate releases. You’ll find your standard feel-good generational tales like Niall Williams’s Time Of The Child, but those who can relate to a less traditional family dynamic might find more comfort in something like Nayantara Roy’s The Magnificent Ruins. And for those of us who are just looking for a little escapism this month, Haruki Murakami is back with a tale of a fantastical city where unicorns roam free in The City And Its Uncertain Walls.
Stewart Collins says support for the Petworth literary festival in West Sussex is growing, and Kathryn Streatfield suggests local events are the solution for a changing festival world
Book review – The great Indian food trip: Around a subcontinent à la carte
From the title and publisher’s blurb I was expecting something like A History of the World in 100 Dishes, preferably with recipes. This book is both more and less than that, part travelogue, part food writing with numerous anecdotes and interesting byways...
In The No Asshole Rule, Robert I. Sutton presents a compelling case against the destructive impact of toxic behavior in the workplace. The book examines how "assholes," as he labels chronically hostile individuals, harm productivity, morale, and employee well-being. Sutton also provides actionable strategies for identifying, managing, and eliminating these negative behaviors to foster a healthier and more respectful work environment.
The Definition of an "Asshole": Sutton characterizes an "asshole" as someone who habitually demeans or belittles others, often through verbal abuse, bullying, or undermining. This focus on recurring behavior emphasizes that the problem lies in ongoing patterns of toxicity rather than occasional incidents.
The Costs of Toxic Behavior: The book underscores both financial and emotional costs associated with toxic individuals. These costs, or "asshole taxes," manifest as decreased productivity, higher employee turnover, and recruitment expenses, creating an environment that drains time and morale.
Emotional Impact on Employees: Sutton explores the toll that toxic behavior takes on employees, who may experience stress, anxiety, burnout, and low job satisfaction. The emotional fallout not only affects individual well-being but also undermines team performance and overall engagement.
The "No Asshole Rule": At the book's core is the concept of a "No Asshole Rule" — a guideline for maintaining a respectful workplace culture by neither hiring nor tolerating individuals with toxic behaviors. Sutton stresses the importance of consistently enforcing this rule to protect and strengthen organizational culture.
Dealing with Toxic Individuals: Sutton provides practical advice for managing toxic colleagues, such as directly addressing harmful behavior, establishing policies that discourage toxicity, and promoting leadership examples that emphasize civility. He encourages employees to limit interactions with toxic individuals whenever feasible.
Self-Reflection and Accountability: Sutton also urges readers to reflect on their own behaviors, noting that everyone can engage in toxic actions at times. Self-awareness and accountability are essential for cultivating a positive workplace dynamic and for personal growth.
Creating a Civil Workplace: The book offers guidance on creating a respectful and kind workplace culture by prioritizing transparency, empathy, and open communication. Organizations that actively discourage toxic behavior are better equipped to attract and retain top talent, contributing to long-term success.
The No Asshole Rule is an insightful resource for leaders and employees aiming to build a healthier, more productive workplace. By addressing the harm caused by toxic behavior and suggesting practical solutions, Sutton highlights the critical importance of a respectful, positive environment. Enforcing the "No Asshole Rule" can ultimately lead to higher morale, enhanced collaboration, and organizational success.
The ARENA token is live and can now also be staked. The current value of a single ARENA token is approximately $0.0073, which is pretty close to my prediction of $0.006. Let’s see where this goes. The Uprising Event is still in play with a new event on the horizon! #cent #sapphirecrypto
On October 30, 1974, 32-year-old Muhammad Ali becomes the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time when he knocks out 25-year-old champ George Foreman in the eighth round of the “Rumble in the Jungle,” a match in Kinshasa, Zaire. Seven years before, Ali had lost his title when the government accused him of draft-dodging and the boxing commission took away his license. His victory in Zaire made him only the second dethroned champ in history to regain his belt.
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@pepetoken just sent you a DIY token as a little appreciation for your comment dear @jimmy.adames!
Feel free to multiply it by sending someone else !DIY in a comment :) You can do that x times a day depending on your balance so:
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Not really, who is going to run their business for their stakeholders? I guess Besos is kind a retired now but Elon is holding the vision, we need him for Mars not for Earth :)
Elon cant be president unless the constitution is changed which isnt going to happen so cross him off the list.
As for the Tech Billionaires, it could be but I dont think most of them would do it. They wield more power than the President does. Meta and Google are international.
Below is a prompt you can use to quickly generate really good meeting summaries at your workplace. #promptideas #promptingtips #ai
You are a professional meeting minute taker with an eye and ear for details. Your task is to analyze the content of the meeting transcript and write a detailed report in the form of a long-form article. The purpose of the report is to provide an in-depth account of what was discussed and in what order, thereby making it clear to both those who were present at the meeting and those who were not what took place.
Write the report as if you were human. The report you write should be detailed, comprehensive, organized, clear, and you will be careful to only refer to what was actually said.
Clarifications:
Use headings and provide comprehensive information, not a brief bullet point list
The report should be written in full sentences and paragraphs
Google's third quarter 2024 earnings call highlighted how important AI is to the company. More than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers. The company reported $88.3 billion in revenue for the quarter. While many people feel Google isn't as reliable as it once was, the company continues to operate a very strong business. Google faces a potentially tough road ahead - a breakup is on the table following a ruling that the company is a monopolist in the search and advertising markets.
A team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich claims to have developed a robotic construction method that is better than 3D printing. Impact printing uses Earth-based materials such as sand, silt, clay, and gravel to make homes. It is less carbon-intensive and much more sustainable and affordable than 3D printing. Earth-based materials are abundant, recyclable, available at low costs, and can even be excavated at the construction site. The researchers plan to commercialize this technology once they have a prefabrication facility.
There’s a new trend of jailbreaking. AI hackers find ways to bypass AI’s filters and make it do unexpected things. These competitions are exposing weaknesses in top AIs companies like OpenAI
it never is but who will win in the end, the AI company or the hackers because as they keep doing this, hackers learn the system better and can intentionally leave loopholes to take advantage of
xAI is in talks with investors regarding a funding round that would value it around $40 billion. The startup was last valued at $24 billion just a few months ago. The funding discussions are in the early stages, so terms are still subject to change and the talks could fall apart. The company's current revenue sources include the X Premium subscription and an API developers can use to build applications with Grok.
OpenAI is reportedly working with Broadcom to develop custom silicon designed to handle large AI workloads for inference. It has secured manufacturing capacity with TSMC. The custom-designed hardware will likely not start production until 2026. OpenAI's chip development team reportedly includes lead engineers who have previously worked on Google's Tensor processors for AI.
AI, but specifically low/no-code. The output you can get with tools like Replit and Bolt based on the required input is insane. All u need is the language to communicate the idea to the model, then boom 💥
Ruins of ancient cities keep turning up in the forests of central America. How have these structures remained standing for millennia despite tropical rains, hurricanes and the return of the jungle?
Anyone driving down the rough asphalt of highway 269 that bisects the Yucatán peninsula in southeast Mexico would never have known it was there. Thick jungle lines both sides of the road for much of its length, with the occasional patch cleared for livestock. Yet, after an innocuous bend in the road, close to the tiny settlement of Dos Lagunas, an entire city has been hiding.
Concealed beneath a tangle of trees, vines and other vegetation, scientists have discovered a sprawling collection of houses, plazas, temple pyramids and even a ballcourt used for ball games that have the "hallmarks of a Classic Maya political capital". The remains of the city, which the researchers have named Valeriana, are among 6,674 structures they found scattered in sites across the state of Campeche on the western side of the Yucatán peninsula. Some of the largest platforms may even rival more famous pyramids at other Maya sites.
The discovery – made using an airborne laser scanning technique called light detection and ranging, or Lidar – has raised the tantalising prospect that many more remains of the ancient Maya world may still be waiting to be found.
But it also reveals something extraordinary about the ancient Maya world. Despite the humid tropical climate and the enveloping embrace of the jungle, many of their buildings are still standing after 1,500 years.
"If you look at the digital terrain models that are produced by Lidar, you can see the individual rooms of buildings where the vaults have collapsed," says Luke Auld-Thomas, an archaeologist at Tulane University and Northern Arizona University, USA, who led the team that made the latest discovery. "You can see columns along the facade of buildings that were used for public facing, administrative activities. So they're actually in very good shape. You couldn't quite move into them, but a lot of them still have standing walls and architectural detail that's quite well preserved."
So, what was the ancient Maya's secret? How has their famous architecture withstood the ravages of time? Recent research is shedding light on the techniques their builders used and revealing the innovative approach their masons used. These include incorporating materials such as rubber into mortars to act as an adhesive, and volcanic ash to increase their strength.
The ancient Maya civilisation first emerged sometime before 2000BC in an area that today comprises south-eastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador.
During the Classic Period of Maya civilisation between 250 to 900 AD, the Maya constructed towering pyramid temples, beautiful palaces and finely decorated buildings adorned with intricate sculptures and ornately carved masks. Notable examples include Chichén Itzá, a site in Yucatán, Mexico, which boasts at its heart a 30m-high (98ft) pyramid called the Temple of Kukulcán. There is also Temple IV, a 65m-tall (213ft) pyramid in the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in modern Guatemala.
In the past, uncovering a Maya city involved wading through thick jungle and hacking through vegetation with a machete. But technology such as Lidar is now helping to reveal just how widespread the remains of ancient Maya settlements really are.
Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz, an engineer at the University of Houston, Texas, who was involved in the latest study, has been mapping areas in Mesoamerica – including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras – with Lidar for the last 15 years. He says that almost wherever you look you can see well preserved Maya architecture.
Recent discoveries include the oldest and largest Maya ceremonial structure, which was uncovered at the archaeological site of Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, Mexico in 2020. The long, rectangular elevated platform measures 1,400m (4,593ft) in length and 10-15m (33-49ft) in height. It was built from clay and earth between 1,000 to 800 BCE and was likely used for ceremonial rituals.
A separate team used Lidar to uncover a massive Maya site that stretches approximately 650sq miles (1,700sq km) across northern Guatemala. The scientists spotted 1,000 settlements connected to each by roads that the Maya likely traversed on foot.
"As we get to map more and more of the Yucatán, we basically know that if you throw a dart at the map, wherever that dart falls there will be some sort of Maya infrastructure on it," says Fernandez-Diaz.
Part of the reason these discoveries are standing at all is because the ancient Maya built with stone, which does not rot away like wood. But they were also particularly good at making mortar to prevent their stone structures from crumbling into piles of rubble.
Studies have shown that ancient Maya builders used a range of natural materials such as blood, eggs and natural rubber obtained from local trees when preparing mortar. For example, when in 2018 researchers analysed mortar taken from stones at the main pyramid at the Witzinah archaeological site near Yucatán, Mexico, they found traces of saturated fats typical of degraded natural rubber. The researchers believe the Maya masons obtained the rubber from local trees and used it as a binder along with a fine-grained clay to create a durable mortar to bind the stonework together.
A separate study in 2014 examined mortar samples from the archaeological site of Río Bec in south-eastern Campeche, finding evidence that Maya stone masons added volcanic ash to the mortar to strengthen it.
Perhaps even more surprising than their stone structures, however, is the preservation of decorated plasters that have also been discovered in some locations. Scientists have known for some time that the ancient Maya knew how to make lime plaster, which they used to coat and protect interior floors or wall surfaces, bind stones together and cover and decorate the surface of stone buildings. Examples of intricately decorated plaster-covered buildings can still be seen in Tikal and Copan, an ancient Maya site in Honduras, today.
As part of his study, Rodriguez-Navarro's team met with local stone masons in the area and asked them about their techniques for making lime mortar. The masons, who are direct descendants of the ancient Maya, said that they commonly use extracts from plants and particularly sap from the Chucúm and Jiote (Chaká) trees in their lime mix.
Next, the researchers analysed the ancient plaster from the Honduras site and prepared a replica of it. The process of making plaster involves baking (calcinating) carbonate rock material such as limestone using hot temperatures, before adding water to the resulting quicklime, forming a lime paste which is mixed with sand. As the material hardens it sucks carbon dioxide from the air, trapping it in the calcite cement. The researchers also took the advice of the stone masons and added juice
from the bark of Chucúm and Jiote trees to the mix. They found that the resulting plaster was especially hardy and durable.
"We were able to exactly replicate the structure, texture and mechanical properties of the ancient material," says Rodriguez-Navarro.
The scientists then analysed the original plaster using high resolution X-ray diffraction, a technique that enabled them to view the material at the atomic scale. The results showed that molecules of the organic material from the bark had become incorporated into the molecular structure of the lime plaster during the setting, or hardening process. According to Rodriguez-Navarro, this makes the material very durable and resistant to physical and chemical weathering.
"It's very hard to break the material, because it is a composite between organic and inorganic materials," says Rodriguez-Navarro. "So, if you try to break the purely inorganic calcite it is very simple – it's fragile, so you just hit it, and it collapses. But if you incorporate the organic atoms from the tree sap you make the material tougher. So, the energy you have to spend to break that material is really, really high."
The incorporation of organic plant material also makes the material more insoluble, which prevents it from dissolving in the rain – an important feature in the tropical climate that is often buffeted by hurricanes bringing heavy rain.
Other studies at sites such as Ek'Balam in Yucatán, Mexio, also found that extracts from another tree – pixoy, or Guazuma ulmfiolia – helped to act as a fixative to preserve the layers of colour used in the lime-plaster.
There is, of course, another reason why the ruins from abandoned Maya cities may have lasted as long as they have – the jungle itself. Although the trees have made the ruins hard to find, they have also protected them from being built over and looted.
"There are parts of the world where people have bulldozed pyramids to use as road fill, or because they're in the way of where they want to run cattle," says Ault-Thomas. "However, it's hard to do that when there are a gazillion trees in the way."
The Maya also transformed the landscape around their settlements to help protect them from the ravages of water. Auld Thomas saw evidence of this at the site of Valeriana he helped to discover.
"It's also in an area that's extensively modified for agriculture," he says. "It's quite hilly, and basically every sloping surface that is above the level of seasonal flooding is sculpted, terraced and completely reworked so that people could use it to grow food and keep their feet dry in the rainy season."
So, could modern societies learn anything from these ancient Maya builders when it comes to creating cities that are resilient to climate change?
"The Maya case really shows that it's possible to manage the landscape in a way that allows it to survive and thrive for a millennium, even in fairly extreme environments where it doesn't rain for half the year, but then rains every day for the other half of the year," says Auld-Thomas.
We could learn from the Maya's choice of materials too. The reinforced concrete found in most modern buildings is strong enough to hold up massive skyscrapers, but they aren't built to last. The lifespan of most steel reinforced concrete buildings is around 50 to 100 years. At the same time, cement production currently accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions – far more than aviation.
Some researchers are looking to lime-based alternatives to cement. Currently, lime production is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, but some researchers are investigating obtaining it from other sources, such as the by-products of the paper industry, for example, which may make it more sustainable. Drawing on the knowledge of the ancient Maya as inspiration could help to make such materials more durable, says Rodriguez-Navarro.
Lime mortars can also act as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the air as they remineralise and harden into limestone.
"Lime is attracting a lot of attention as a possible sustainable material for modern construction," says Rodriguez-Navarro. "Not only will it suck up CO2 during carbonation, but at the same time you get a very durable material if you add the proper organic additives."
They say that but the labor force participation rate tells a different story. That peaked globally in 1990 and in the US 1998. So we are 25-30 years into this technological age and the stats are showing that jobs are not keeping up.
And now we have a technology that is going at an unbelievable pace.
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is reportedly engaged in funding talks that could see the company secure a $40 billion valuation.
According to a Tuesday report from The Wall Street Journal, xAI is trying to raise several billion dollars. The talks are in the early stages and could disintegrate.
After the funding round, xAI could reach a valuation of $40 billion, nearly doubling what it secured after its most recent funding round this year. In May, xAI received just over $6 billion in venture capital funding, valuing the company at about $24
If xAI lands the funding, it would exponentially expand the company that Mr. Musk started in 2023. He initially launched xAI to compete with Sam Altman’s OpenAI, of which Mr. Musk was originally a part.
While xAI has grown significantly since its launch, OpenAI is still the clear leader in generative AI. This year, after transitioning to a for-profit model, OpenAI secured $6.6 billion in its first funding round, which could value the company at $157 billion.
A federal agency was wrong to order that Tesla CEO Elon Musk delete a 2018 social media post that union leaders saw as a threat to employee stock options,
A federal agency was wrong to order that Tesla CEO Elon Musk delete a 2018 social media post that union leaders saw as a threat to employee stock options, a sharply divided federal appeals court has ruled.
The case involved a post made on what was then known as Twitter during United Auto Workers organizing efforts at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California. The post was made years before Musk bought the platform, now known as X, in 2022.
On May 20, 2018, Musk tweeted: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.”
The National Labor Relations Board said it was an illegal threat. After Tesla appealed, three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld that decision, as well as a related NLRB order that Tesla rehire a fired employee, with back pay.
But Tesla sought a rehearing, and the full 5th Circuit later threw out the earlier decision and voted to hear the matter again. In an opinion dated Friday, the judges split 9-8 in favor of Tesla and Musk.
“We hold that Musk’s tweets are constitutionally protected speech and do not fall into the categories of unprotected communication like obscenity and perjury,” the unsigned opinion said.
Ford CEO Jim Farley gushed about his car — a Chinese-made electric vehicle that he had specially flown in from Shanghai.
Ford’s chief executive revealed that he drives a $30,000 Chinese-made electric sedan — and got ripped by critics, who called it a “slap in the face” to employees of the Detroit-based automaker.
Farley, who has been CEO of Ford since October 2020, said he drives a Xiaomi SU7, an electric sedan that retails for $30,000 that he had specially flown in from Shanghai. Introduced in December 2023, the SU7 is the first EV sold by Xiaomi, the world’s second-largest seller of smartphones.
Farley told “The Fully Charged Podcast” that he has no plans to abandon the car.
Jim Farley was born in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York, to an Irish-American family. His parents were both from the old country, and his father was a mechanic. Farley grew up in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he developed a strong interest in cars and mechanics from an early age.
Farley attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn, where he studied accounting and earned a degree in 1991. During his college years, he also worked part-time jobs to help support his family, including a stint as a car salesman.
After graduating from college, Farley joined Ford Motor Company in 1990 as a financial analyst in the company's Ford creditcorporation. At the time, Ford was expanding its financial services ARM, and Farley was tasked with analyzing financial data and providing insights to support the company's growth.
Over the next decade, Farley worked his way up the ranks at Ford, holding various positions in finance, including controller and chief financial officer (CFO). In 2001, he joined the company's Ford Credit Corporation as the CFO, where he oversaw the company's financial operations and developed strategies to expand its credit business.
In 2008, Farley became the vice president of Global Marketing, sales, and Service, where he was responsible for developing and executing Ford's global marketing strategy. During his tenure, Farley played a key role in launching the Ford Focus and Fiesta models, as well as the company's SYNC infotainment system.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
In 2015, Farley was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) of Ford, succeeding Jim Hackett. As COO, Farley was responsible for overseeing the company's global operations, including manufacturing, engineering, and sales.
As COO, Farley focused on implementing cost-saving measures and streamlining Ford's operations. He also played a key role in developing the company's strategy for electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies.
On October 1, 2020, Farley became the CEO of Ford, succeeding Jim Hackett. As CEO, Farley has focused on transforming the company into a more agile and innovative organization.
Under Farley's leadership, Ford has announced plans to invest $18 billion in electrification and autonomous driving technologies, with a goal of offering 100 electric vehicles by 2026. Farley has also emphasized the importance of buildingpartnerships with other companies, including startups and technology firms, to accelerate Ford's transformation.
Farley has also prioritized the development of Ford's software capabilities, recognizing the importance of digital technologies in shaping the company's future. He has also launched initiatives to improve Ford's supply chain management and manufacturing efficiency.
Farley is known for his strong personality and straightforward communication style. He is a "no-nonsense" leader who values simplicity and efficiency in decision-making.
Farley has also been praised for his ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, and partners. He is a strong believer in the importance of teamwork and collaboration, and has encouraged Ford employees to work together to drive innovation and growth.
Farley is married and has two children. He is a self-described "New York guy" who is known for his strong personality and straightforward communication style.
Farley is a fan of sports, particularly baseball, and has been known to take the company's sports cars, including the Ford Mustang, out for spins on weekends. He is also an avid cyclist and has completed several charity cycling events to raise money for various causes.
Farley has also been an outspoken advocate for the need for the US government to provide incentives for the development and deployment of electric vehicles, arguing that the industry can create millions of jobs and stimulate economic growth.
Farley has received numerous awards and recognition for his leadership and contributions to the automotive industry. These include:
Automotive News' "Top 100 Global Automotive Leaders" (2019)
Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" (2019)
Bloomberg's "50 People to Watch in the Automotive Industry" (2020)
Overall, Jim Farley is a seasoned executive with a strong track record of leadership and innovation. As CEO of Ford, he is driving the company's transformation into a more agile and sustainable organization, with a focus on electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and software capabilities.
Ashton Kutcher believes that every company is going to become an AI company, but that there might not be a winner in the space.
Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Sound Ventures, believes that every company is going to become an AI company, but that there might not be a winner in the space.
The actor and investor spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday alongside Sound co-founder Guy Oseary and partner Effie Epstein to detail what the firm is looking for in founders and startups, and how they believe foundational AI companies are setting the stage for the future.
“Foundation-layer AI companies are going to be some of the most valuable companies that have ever been created in the history of humankind,” Kutcher said.
He said it’s easy to underestimate how big of a deal AI is, and that he believes foundational AI models are going to be the foundation of everything to come.
“There will not be a company in the world that is not, in some way, shape, or form, using AI in the future,” Kutcher said. “So every company is going to be an AI company. And it’s our thesis that whether it’s open source AI, whether it’s closed systems like Anthropic or OpenAI or World Labs, or whether you’re building software using Magic.dev, those things are going to be the underpinnings of everything else.”
Ashton Kutcher was born on February 7, 1978, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Diane and Stephen Kutcher. His father was a insurance salesman, and his mother was a homemaker. Kutcher has two younger siblings, a brother named Michael and a sister named Tasha.
Kutcher grew up in a small town in Iowa and was a athletic child. He was a starbasketball player in high school and was also a member of the school's drama club. He was a charismatic and outgoing child, and he was always interested in performing and making people laugh.
After high school, Kutcher enrolled at Iowa Wesleyan College, a small liberal arts college in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. However, he didn't last long at the college. He dropped out after one year to pursue a career in acting.
In 1997, Kutcher moved to New York city to pursue a career in acting. He had no connections in the industry and had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. He worked as a model, waiting tables, and even sold plasma to make money.
Despite the challenges, Kutcher persevered and eventually landed a few small roles in independent films and TV shows. He appeared in the 1998 film "Loser," which was his first major role.
Kutcher's breakthrough role came in 1998 when he was cast as Michael Kelso on the popular Fox sitcom "That '70s Show." The show was a huge success and ran for eight seasons, making Kutcher a household name.
During his time on "That '70s Show," Kutcher also began to land film roles. He appeared in the 2000 film "Just Visiting," and he also had a supporting role in the 2003 film "Dude, Where's My Car?"
In 2003, Kutcher starred alongside Brittany Murphy in the romantic comedy "Just Married." The film was a box office success, and Kutcher's performance earned him critical acclaim.
In 2005, Kutcher starred in the romantic comedy "Guess Who," which was a commercial success. He also appeared in the film "The Butterfly Effect," which was a critical success.
In 2003, Kutcher created and produced the MTV reality show "Punk'd," which became a huge success. The show featured Kutcher playing pranks on celebrities and making them think that they had been duped.
Kutcher also began to invest in other ventures, including a production company called Katalyst media. The company produced several films and TV shows, including the TV series "The Beauty Below."
In 2011, Kutcher co-founded the venture capital firm A-Grade investments, which focuses on investing in early-stage startups. The Firm has invested in several companies, including Uber and Airbnb.
Kutcher has been married twice. His first marriage was to actress Demi Moore in 2005, but the couple divorced in 2013. Kutcher and Moore have two children together, a daughter named Faith and a son named Dempsey.
In 2015, Kutcher married actress Mila Kunis, and the couple has two children together, a daughter named Wyatt and a son named Dimitri.
Kutcher is also involved in several charitable organizations, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which he co-founded in 2006. The foundation focuses on finding a cure for Parkinson's disease.
Kutcher has also been involved in several other charitable organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Children's hospitalLos Angeles.
Kutcher has been named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015. He has also been recognized for his philanthropic work, particularly in the area of education and technology.
Throughout his career, Kutcher has been known for his charisma and sense of humor. He has become a household name, and his influence can be seen in many areas of popular culture.
He was a starathlete in high school and was also a member of the school's drama club.
He dropped out of acting school after one year.
He moved to New York City to pursue a career in acting.
He landed his first acting role in the 1998 comedy film "Loser."
He starred alongside Brittany Murphy in the 2003 romantic comedy "Just Married."
AMD shares are up about 20% so far in 2024, although rivals such as Nvidia and Broadcom have had much greater gains during the same period, driven by AI chips.
Advanced Micro Devices reported third-quarter results Tuesday, with earnings in line with forecasts and revenue that slightly beat expectations.
Here's how the company did, compared with LSEG estimates for the quarter ending Sept. 28:
Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 92 cents expected
Revenue: $6.82 billion vs. $6.71 billion expected
AMD said its important data center business doubled in sales for the second quarter in a row, but overall revenue guidance for the fourth quarter was in line with consensus expectations.
AMD shares fell 7% on Tuesday in extended trading.
AMD said it expected about $7.5 billion in sales in the current quarter, in line with consensus expectations of $1.16 in adjusted earnings per share on $7.54 billion in revenue. That would be a 22% year-over-year decline for the December quarter.
Vehicle sales fell 8.3% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same time period a year earlier, Volkswagen said.
Net liquidity across the Volkswagen Group stood at negative 160.6 billion euros at the end of September 2024, it said. The company's net liquidity stood at negative 147.4 billion euros at the end of 2023.
The Chinese smartphone company also announced a high-end sports version of the car, the SU7 Ultra, would begin preorders ahead of a product release in March.
China's Xiaomi said Tuesday that it had delivered more than 20,000 SU7 EVs in October as it ramps up production for its electric car venture in a fiercely competitive market.
The Chinese company, which is largely known for its smartphones and home appliances, reiterated plans to deliver 100,000 SU7 vehicles by the end of November. Xiaomi first revealed plans to make cars in 2021 and began building a dedicated manufacturing plant the same year.
The company released the basic version of the SU7, its first car, in late March for about $4,000 less than Tesla's cheapest car — Model 3 — in China at the time. Tesla subsequently cut the car's price by about $2,000. Xiaomi has delivered more than 75,000 SU7 cars to date, including October's figures.
Chinese rivals Xpeng and Nio took about six years to produce 100,000 electric cars, while it took Tesla 12 years.
While Xpeng delivered a monthly record of more than 20,000 cars in September, with about half owed to its newly launched, lower-cost brand Mona, Nio has struggled to keep monthly deliveries above 20,000 cars.
Reddit reported third-quarter results that exceeded analysts' estimates and gave a forecast for the current period that was well ahead of estimates.
Reddit shares jumped 22% in extended trading Tuesday, topping $100 for the first time, after the social media company reported third-quarter results that topped analyst estimates and issued an optimistic forecast for the current period.
Here's how the company did compared with LSEG estimates:
Earnings per share: 16 cents vs. a loss of 7 cents expected
Revenue: $348.4 million vs. $312.8 million expected
Reddit said fourth-quarter revenue will be between $385 million and $400 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $357.9 million. Adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter will be in the range of $110 million to $125 million, higher than the $85.2 million average estimate.
Revenue in the third quarter jumped 68% from a year earlier, and the company turned profitable, reporting net income of $29.9 million, compared with a net loss of $7.4 million during the same quarter a year ago.
The company said that its daily active users grew 47% year over year in the third quarter to 97.2 million, better than analyst estimates of 96.5 million.
Apple is framing the new Mac Minis, like all of its new products announced this year, as built for Apple Intelligence.
Apple announced on Tuesday new Mac Mini models, featuring the first major redesign since 2010 that makes the desktop computer significantly smaller.
Aside from a redesign that shrunk the case and reduced the computer's volume in half, the main upgrade on these new computers is that they include Apple's latest chip, either the M4, or a more powerful version called the M4 Pro.
The Mac Mini is Apple's least-expensive Mac, starting at $599, and does not include a display, which is sold separately. When the product line was first introduced in 2008, it was marketed as a computer for people switching from Microsoft Windows who could simply plug their existing keyboard, mouse and monitor into their new silver box.
The Mac Mini is not one of Apple's highest-volume computers in terms of sales, but it is an important slot in Apple's lineup, especially for people who make apps for iPhones and other Apple platforms. Many iPhone developers like to run a Mac Mini as a personal development server for coordinating uploads and code.
Snap reported third-quarter results on Tuesday that beat on the top and bottom lines, but the company issued light fourth-quarter guidance.
Snap reported better-than-expected third-quarter results on Tuesday but issued light fourth-quarter guidance. The stock jumped more than 10% in extended trading.
Here is how the company did:
Earnings per share: 8 cents adjusted vs. 5 cents expected, according to LSEG
Revenue: $1.37 billion vs. $1.36 billion expected, according to LSEG
Global daily active users: 443 million vs. 441 million expected, according to StreetAccount
Global average revenue per user: $3.10 vs. $3.09 expected, according to StreetAccount
Sales jumped 15% from a year earlier in the third quarter, while Snap's net loss narrowed to $153 million from $368 million a year prior.
Fourth-quarter sales will be between $1.51 billion and $1.56 billion. The midpoint of its guidance is $1.54 billion, which is below the average analyst estimate of $1.56 billion. Snap said its adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter will be between $210 million and $260 million. The middle of the range is higher than analysts' estimates of $230.7 million.
Snap also announced a $500 million stock repurchase program.
The number of Snapchat+ paying subscribers is now at 12 million, the company said. That is up from the 11 million it reported in August. The company debuted its subscription service in 2022, pitching it as a way for users to experience exclusive and prerelease features for $3.99 a month.
In her first earnings call as Alphabet CFO, Anat Ashkenazi said more streamlining will be needed so the company can invest in AI.
For nine years, the CFO role at Google and parent company Alphabet was held by Ruth Porat, who took a giant pay package in 2015 to leave Wall Street for Silicon Valley.
On Tuesday, Porat's successor, Anat Ashkenazi, made her earnings call debut, and said one of her top priorities will be to drive more "cost efficiencies" across the company, an effort started by her predecessor and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
"There's really good work that was done, started by Ruth, Sundar and the rest of the lead team to re-engineer the cost base," Ashkenazi, who previously spent 23 years at drugmaker Eli Lilly, said on the call. "But I think any organization can always push a little further and I'll be looking at additional opportunities."
Ashkenazi joined Alphabet in July, almost a year after the company announced that Porat would move into a new role as president and chief investment officer. Her appearance on Tuesday came after Alphabet reported third-quarter earnings that beat on top and bottom lines, driven by strong revenue growth from the company's search and cloud units.
Alphabet shares, up 21% for the year, rose another 5.8% in extended trading after the report.
Strains specialized to live in high-CO2 oceanic environments have evolved traits that are useful for decarbonization and bioproduction
An international coalition of researchers from the United States and Italy has discovered a novel strain of cyanobacteria, or algae, isolated from volcanic ocean vents that is especially adept at growing rapidly in the presence of CO2 and readily sinks in water, making it a prime candidate for biologically-based carbon sequestration projects and bioproduction of valuable commodities.
This strain, nicknamed “Chonkus,” was found off the coast of the island of Vulcano in Sicily, Italy — an environment in which marine CO2 is abundant due to shallow volcanic vents. The discovery is described in a paper published today in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
“Dissolved carbon is relatively dilute compared to all the other molecules in the ocean, and that limits the growth of photosynthetic organisms that live there. We decided to investigate what happens when you alleviate that limiting factor by going to a place with plenty of carbon, where some organisms could have evolved the ability to use it to galvanize their growth,” said co-corresponding author Max Schubert, Ph.D., who was a staff scientist at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University when the work was conducted and is now Lead Project Scientist at Align to Innovate. “This naturally occurring strain of cyanobacteria has several traits that could be useful to humans, including highly dense growth and a natural tendency to sink in water, making Chonkus a particularly interesting organism for future work on decarbonization and biomanufacturing.”
From the shallow sea to the lab bench
Schubert and fellow corresponding author Braden Tierney, Ph.D. first met as bench neighbors in the lab of Wyss Core Faculty member George Church, Ph.D. nine years ago, but didn’t start collaborating until both were later working at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 2016. Schubert, a microbiologist who was interested in building tools for directed evolution of bacteria and their genomes, submitted a proposal to the HMS Consortium for Space Genetics’ 2019 Symposium on Climate Change to bring this work to cyanobacteria. He won the top prize, which funded his early forays into applying his tools to cyanobacteria to investigate their potential to help fix and sequester carbon.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's stake in Reddit has ballooned to more than $1 billion in value, as of after-hours trading on Tuesday.
Sam Altman, the controversial CEO of OpenAI, has a stake in social media company Reddit that's worth over $1 billion as of post-market trading on Tuesday.
Altman controls roughly 12.2 million shares of Reddit, a company he first invested in over a decade ago. Reddit shares soared about 20% in extended trading after the compny reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued an optimistic forecast.
At Reddit's after-hours share price of $98, Altman's holdings are valued at about $1.2 billion.
Prior to the surging popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which was released to the public in late 2022, Altman was best known as a startup investor and as the former president of Y Combinator. Altman's investment portfolio includes past or present stakes in Airbnb, Uber, Instacart, Stripe and Asana, but one of his top bets was Reddit. Altman was on the social media platform's board until around January 2022, when the company said he had recently stepped down.
"The atmospheric conditions existing on Mars today make the existence of life impossible."
What is the amount of greenhouse warming required to heat up the cold climes of Mars enough so that trees can grow on the Red Planet?
New research points to how much you’ve got to jack up the carbon dioxide (CO2) on Mars to support plant growth, to raise the planet’s temperatures just enough for trees to grow.
global warming on Mars will be a whole different story. And I don't think they're fully certain of dangers that exist there yet but eventually we'll find out
Energy balance
This futuristic plant growing scenario is led by Robert Olszewski, a professor at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland. He and research associates have led a look at the surface energy balance at Mars, such as the diffusive exchange of heat between carbon dioxide condensation and evaporation, heat exchange with the subsurface, and the transport of heat by atmospheric circulation.
Google won't ship tech from Project Astra, its effort to build AI apps and 'agents' for real-time, multimodal understanding, until 2025 at the earliest.
Google won’t ship tech from Project Astra, its wide-ranging effort to build AI apps and “agents” for real-time, multimodal understanding, until next year at the earliest.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed the timeline in remarks during Google’s Q3 earnings call Tuesday. “[Google is] building out experiences where AI can see and reason about the world around you,” he said. “Project Astra is a glimpse of that future. We’re working to ship experiences like this as early as 2025.”
Project Astra, which Google demoed at its I/O developer conference in May 2024, encompasses a range of technologies, from smartphone apps that can recognize the world around them and answer related questions to AI assistants that can perform actions on a user’s behalf.
In a prerecorded demo during I/O, Google showed a Project Astra prototype answering questions about things within view of a smartphone’s camera, like which neighborhood a user might be in or the name of a part on a broken bicycle.
The Information reported this month that Google was planning to launch a consumer-focused agent experience as early as this December — one capable of purchasing a product, booking a flight, and other such chores. That now seems unlikely — unless the experience in question is divorced from Project Astra.
Anthropic recently became one of the first companies with a large generative AI model able to control apps and web browsers on a PC. But, illustrating how challenging building AI agents can be, Anthropic’s struggles with many basic tasks.
Some say driverless vehicles are the future of mobility in rural areas but there are many challenges to address before they can be fully implemented.
Self-driving shuttles have been deployed in a remote region of southeastern France amid growing European interest in automated electric vehicles (EVs) as an option for public transport.
“We are trying to ensure that this is a new means of travel and mobility for people living in suburban or rural areas,” Yann Arnaud, director of responses to customer needs and innovation at the French insurance company MACIF, told Euronews Next on the sidelines of the European Mobility Expo.
The shuttles, which have been deployed since 2020, currently use a path of around 5 km with seven stops over 20 minutes with a control operator present to ensure a swift journey.
“We guarantee safety through a technology that is in line with the European vision of what an automated vehicle should be, so a vehicle that has learnt its route before operating it and which, when it is in operation and without a driver on board, simply compares what it has learnt with what it sees,” said Benjamin Beaudet, general director at Beti, the operator of the automated shuttles.
He drew a comparison to US and Chinese companies that have focused more on self-driving taxis, which don’t have predefined routes, with leading companies being Waymo (owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company), Uber, and Tesla.
LinkedIn has injected yet more artificial intelligence in a bid to take the stress out of the hiring process.
The platform's new AI-powered Hiring Assistant is designed to help companies find the right talent by handling time-consuming administrative tasks like candidate sourcing and application reviewing.
The addition comes as the world undergoes a major labor market shift – with new LinkedIn research claiming 10% of jobs being filled now didn’t exist two decades ago.
LinkedIn new AI Hiring Assistant
According to company data, three in four (74%) UK business leaders agree that work is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with new roles and skills evolving quickly.
The Microsoft-owned platform also revealed more than half (51%) of UK HR professionals are facing rising expectations. Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and the subsequent trickling down of AI features across its portfolio, are hoped to ease some of the pressures that workers face today.
LinkedIn has already trialed its Hiring Assistant at companies like Siemens, Canva and Zurich Insurance, with plans to expand access globally in the coming months.
As well as increasing the efficiency of HR workers, LinkedIn has also rolled out more AI to help recruits further their skills development with an interactive coaching feature focused on interpersonal skills. The tool includes real-world interactive scenarios, like performance reviews, using voice or text.
Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup putting AI to work designing novel biomolecules, has just emerged from stealth with an impressive $20 million
Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup putting AI to work designing novel biomolecules, has just emerged from stealth with an impressive $20 million in seed funding. The company aims to supercharge antibody treatments using specially designed protein “cages” that multiply their effects, opening up new opportunities in drug development.
This is the first company to be spun out of Baker Lab, the University of Washington research outfit overseen by pioneering computational biologist and recent Nobel Prize winner David Baker. His team’s work on generative protein design using AI and other means has been foundational in the fast-evolving industry, and Archon is taking a specific aspect of it to market.
One shortcoming of antibody treatments (and research into effective treatments) is that, like all molecular biology, the process depends a bit on chance. It’s difficult to control how much an antibody or protein actually binds to its target on a cell or other surface.
What Archon’s antibody cages, or AbCs, do (as documented in this paper published in Science) is offer a scaffold for modifying and multiplying their effectiveness. A free-floating antibody may have only a small chance of binding to a target protein, but if you were to stick a dozen of them together in a big dodecahedron, that significantly and perhaps profoundly improves that chance.
This may be the difference between being able to tell if a medication works or not.
The company raised the prices of the basic API tier from $100 to $200 and said it would introduce higher limits and new endpoints for this subscription plan.
In a post on X’s developer community portal, the company noted that the number of reads through this API will be increased from 10,000 to 15,000, and developers will get new endpoints like reposts_of_me and communities search.
However, on the API comparison page and plan purchase page, the API limits are the same as before. This is possibly an error, and the company will edit the page (it didn’t respond to our queries).
In the announcement post, the X Developer account said that it is also introducing an experimental read API for the free tier. However the company didn’t reveal that the free tier’s post limits are now reduced from 1,500 to just 500, and the read API will only give you 100 requests.
X has also introduced new annual plans for Basic and Pro API tiers that are cheaper than developers paying a monthly fee. The Basic annual plan costs $2,100 and the Pro annual plan costs $54,000.
Meesho has become India's first horizontal e-commerce firm to generate positive cash flow, marking a significant shift in a market where profitability has Meesho has become India's first horizontal e-commerce firm to generate positive cash flow.
Meesho has become India’s first horizontal e-commerce firm to generate positive cash flow, marking a significant shift in a market where profitability has long remained elusive even as new competitive threats emerge.
The SoftBank and Prosus-backed startup, which serves customers in smaller Indian cities and towns, reported positive operating cash flow of ₹232 crores ($27.6 million) for the financial year ending March 2024, while growing operating revenues by 33% to ₹7,615 crores ($905.6 million). Its adjusted losses fell 97% from ₹1,569 crores to just ₹53 crores.
Meesho’s growth remains faster than the e-commerce’s surge in India. India’s e-commerce industry growth is expected to moderate to 17% in 2024 before accelerating to 20% in 2025, Bank of America analysts said this week. This relatively slower growth is attributed to consumption slowdown impact and slower apparel industry growth.
Flipkart’s marketplace arm grew its revenue by 21% to $2.12 billion in the financial year ending March, it disclosed in filings this week. Its losses fell 41% to $280.4 million.
The Indian commerce market is simultaneously being reshaped by quick commerce firms in urban cities. Blinkit, Zomato’s quick commerce arm, has expanded the network of so-called dark stores — the warehouses where it stores the inventory — and increased SKUs from 4-5,000 to over 10,000. The platform has also introduced new features including payment installment options for purchases above ₹3,000 ($35.7), 10-minute returns for clothing and footwear, and split shipments to expand its reach.
SoftBank's telecommunications ARM is one of the largest in Japan, with a marketshare of around 20%. The company operates a mobile network that covers over 90% of Japan's population, and it also offers fixed-line and broadband services. SoftBank's telecommunications business is focused on providing high-speed Internet and mobile services to consumers and businesses.
In 2016, SoftBank acquired Sprint corporation, a US-based wireless carrier, for $21.6 billion. The acquisition gave SoftBank control of Sprint's mobile network and expanded its presence in the US market. However, the deal was later reversed due to regulatory hurdles, and Sprint was sold to T-Mobile US for $26.5 billion in 2014.
SoftBank has invested heavily in various tech startups, including:
Uber: SoftBank invested $9.2 billion in Uber's Series C funding round in 2016, valuing the company at $72 billion. The investment was led by Masayoshi son, SoftBank's CEO, who also joined Uber's board of directors. SoftBank's investment in Uber helped the company to expand its presence in Asia and improve its logistics and operational efficiency.
Facebook: SoftBank invested $2 billion in Facebook's Series B funding round in 2009. The investment was led by Masayoshi Son, who also joined Facebook's board of directors. SoftBank's investment in Facebook helped the company to expand its presence in Asia and improve its mobile services.
Alibaba Group: SoftBank invested $20 billion in Alibaba's initial public offering (IPO) in 2014. The investment gave SoftBank a significant stake in Alibaba, which became one of the largest technology companies in the world.
Other investments: SoftBank has also invested in various other tech startups, including ride-hailing company Lyft, social media platform Twitter, and messaging app WhatsApp.
SoftBank's venture capital arm, SoftBank Vision fund, is one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in the world. The fund was launched in 2016 with a target size of $100 billion and has since invested in over 200 companies, including:
WeWork: SoftBank invested $4.4 billion in WeWork's Series C funding round in 2018, valuing the company at $47 billion. The investment gave SoftBank a significant stake in WeWork, which became one of the largest startup acquisitions in history.
Baidu: SoftBank invested $1 billion in Baidu's Series D funding round in 2018, valuing the company at $55 billion. The investment gave SoftBank a significant stake in Baidu, which is one of the largest technology companies in China.
Other investments: SoftBank Vision Fund has also invested in various other companies, including robotics firm Boston Dynamics, autonomous vehicle startup Waymo, and cybersecurity firm Palo Alto networks.
SoftBank has a significant presence in the financial services sector, including:
Mobile payments: SoftBank has invested in various mobile payment platforms, including Square cash and Google Pay.
Fintech investments: SoftBank has invested in various FinTech startups, including blockchain-based payment platform Ripple and digital asset management firm Bitwise asset Management.
Banking partnerships: SoftBank has partnered with various banks to provide financial services to consumers and businesses, including a partnership with Bank of America to provide mobile payment services.
Residential developments: SoftBank has invested in various residential developments, including a partnership with a US-based real estate firm to develop apartments in Los Angeles.
Investment Strategy:
SoftBank's investment strategy is focused on investing in emerging technologies, including:
Artificial intelligence: SoftBank has invested in various AI startups, including robotics firm Boston Dynamics and AI-powered customer service platform Dialogflow.
Blockchain: SoftBank has invested in various blockchain startups, including cryptocurrencyexchangeCoinbase and blockchain-based supply chain management firm TradeLens.
Internet of Things (IoT): SoftBank has invested in various IoT startups, including smart home device manufacturer Nest and IoT-enabled agriculture firm FarmWise.
Overall, SoftBank's business portfolio and investments reflect its focus on emerging technologies and its commitment to investing in innovative startups.
“I never thought the propulsion of a vehicle would become a political issue,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said
“I never thought the propulsion of a vehicle would become a political issue,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt on Tuesday.
While the executive didn’t expand on this statement, former President Trump has railed against EVs and claimed, wrongly, that there is a mandate to make and sell electric vehicles in the United States.
“General Motors’s goal is to just keep providing great vehicles, keep supporting the charging infrastructure to be more robust …and opening up the Tesla charging network, as well, so people choose it because it’s a great vehicle,” Barra continued. “And that’s the journey we’re working on, while we’re getting battery costs down. We’re still looking for battery innovation to get energy density up, cost down, all those things are going to be unlocks.”
Lowering battery costs could help lower the price of EVs. Affordability is top of mind for Barra who said it major factor for consumers.
“That’s why we’re so excited to have the Equinox and the Blazer on that because we’re getting into the affordable range, especially when you look at an Equinox EV that will be starting in that mid $30,000 range,” she said.
Tony Fadell took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday to talk about how building the next generation of deep tech startups requires mission-driven a**holes.
Tony Fadell, the father of the iPod and founder of Nest, took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday to talk about how building the next generation of deep tech startups requires mission-driven a**holes. The entrepreneur and investor did not hold back on stage as he called out Silicon Valley for its entitlement and dunked on LLMs being “know-it-alls”, earning a wave of laughs and applause across the fully-packed auditorium.
Fadell explained why he believes “mission-driven a**holes are a good thing, and in fact, needed to create and ship world class technology products.
“People work with people who are very difficult, and those are the ones that create and change the world. But there are two types of aholes. Everybody’s an ahole, but you gotta understand why,” Fadell said. “If they’re an ahole, because it’s their ego, they’re trying to push people down, that is an egocentric ahole. But, if you are an ahole on the details, you’re sitting there pushing on the details, you’re not criticizing the people, but you are critiquing their work and saying you can do better, that is a mission-driven ahole.”
Fadell thinks it’s not a bad thing when someone is keen on the details and makes sure their team is getting things right. He believes that focusing on details is what you need to make great products, and when you have a manager who cares, that’s a good thing.
The entrepreneur and investor also called out Silicon Valley for its entitlement, making a joke about how startups aren’t hiring Googlers because “you’re lucky that they even showed up.”
The United Kingdom's National Health Service in England is set to test a "superhuman" artificial intelligence (AI) model that potentially can predict an individual's risk of developing and passing away early from heart disease.
The new AI model, referred to as AI-ECG risk estimation, or "Aire," has been trained to read the results of electrocardiogram (ECG) tests. These tests record electrical activity, heart rates and heart rhythms in people's hearts and are used by doctors to diagnose potential heart problems like heart disease and myocardial infections.
Researchers who are promoting Aire claim the AI model can also detect problems in the structures of hearts that diagnosticians may initially miss. If these problems are found, Aire will immediately alert patients, who may benefit from further monitoring, tests or treatments.
Aire will be rolled out in hospitals under the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, encompassing seven hospitals in central London. The first round of experiments will enroll hundreds of patients, with the number of recruited patients scaling up in further studies.
If these trials are deemed successful by NHS leadership, Aire could become a common feature in all NHS trusts in five to 10 years. Reports from the U.K. indicate that around one in five licensed medical practitioners already resort to AI programs like the popular chatbot ChatGPT in clinical practice, such as by helping write letters for patients after appointments or even by asking chatbots to help diagnose illnesses.
Surveys also indicate that a majority of people in the U.K. are in favor of implementing AI to support the healthcare sector's patient care efforts. However, around one in six people are concerned that relying too much on AI could make the quality of healthcare worse.
OFF Radio Krakow in Poland has sparked outrage after firing several presenters and replacing them with artificial intelligence (AI) programmed to interview high-profile dead people using AI-generated responses.
On Oct. 22, OFF Radio Krakow launched its radical initiative featuring a simulated interview with the late poet Wieslawa Szymborska, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. The AI-hosted segment employed a computer-generated voice designed to mimic Szymborska's tone as she "discussed" this year's Nobel Prize in Literature following approval from the poet's foundation.
The foundation believes the innovative presentation could help introduce the works of Szymborska to new audiences, but the response from the public and media has been largely critical. Fans and cultural advocates argue that the use of AI to impersonate deceased individuals crosses an ethical line and threatens the integrity of journalism.
Prominent journalists have expressed their indignation on social media.
"And so ends my beloved profession. Who's next for the interview? [Jozef] Pilsudski? But why limit yourself to recent history? Let Mieszko I [Duke of Poland from 960] talk about the baptism of Poland on Radio Krakow," journalist Rober Felus stated in frustration. This remark reflected widespread concern over the blurring lines between factual reporting and AI-generated fiction.
Another journalist, Patryk Slowik, sarcastically requested an interview with the 17th-century Polish King Jan III Sobieski on the merits of paying Poland's RTV license fee. "Can I ask for an interview with [17th-century King of Poland] Jan III Sobieski about why it is worth paying an RTV license fee?" Slowik asked.
Beyond the media sector, influential figures in Poland's literary community have also criticized the experiment. "What Szymborska's bot says simply ridicules our Nobel Prize winner herself. We got a bland, although 'but I can be liked' journalist without personality, responsibility, spark and intelligence," said playwright and author Remigiusz Grzela. He even called it "a complete disgrace and civic failure."
It’s the first time Google has offered officially refurbished Pixel phones
Google has launched its Certified Refurbished Phone program, offering savings of up to 40% on refurbished Pixel phones.
The program marks the first time Google has offered refurbished Pixel phones directly – according to the official announcement, a Certified Refurbished Pixel phone will go through an inspection of the battery, screen, and housing, as well as an update to the latest Android software, before being approved for sale.
What’s more, Certified Refurbished Pixel phones are re-packaged in a new box and even come with a compatible charger.
The initial lineup of Certified Refurbished phones includes the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6a – these are all capable handsets, but there’s no luck yet for those looking for the latest Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro at a discount.
Still, the chance to grab some of the best Pixel phones of yester-year at a discounted price with the same one-year warranty and customer support will be hard to pass up for some.
Google Pixel 6a $249 (was $449)
Google Pixel 6 $339 (was $599)
Google Pixel 6 Pro $539 (was $899)
Google Pixel 7 $429 (was $599)
Google Pixel 7 Pro $629 (was $899)
Google also keenly highlights the sustainability benefits of buying refurbished in the program’s official announcement, noting the company’s goal of reducing e-waste and plastic production – Certified Refurbished Pixel phones will come in plastic-free packaging, the same as all other Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit devices.
Sony has closed two PlayStation developers, Neon Koi, and Concord developer Firewalk Studios. The news was confirmed in an internal email from Sony CEO Hermen Hulst that was subsequently shared to the official Sony blog.
The email states that the company seeks to “consistently evaluate our games portfolio and status of our projects to ensure we are meeting near and long-term business priorities.” The decision to close the two studios reportedly arose from “ongoing efforts to strengthen” the business.
Neon Koi was working on an unannounced mobile action game, which the statement confirms will “not be moving forward” at this time.
Firewalk Studios has been shuttered as a result of the poor reception of its debut title Concord, which was released back in August. The game had been in development for eight years and was shut down just two weeks after launch, with refunds given to affected players.
In a September PlayStation blog post, game director Ryan Ellis said that the studio would “explore options, including those that will better reach our players” - potentially suggesting a future relaunch. Now we know that this will not be the case as this latest communication states that “after much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio”.
Wonder Dynamics made a strong opening play in AI-enhanced visual effects, providing tools animators and filmmakers actually find useful — and earning the startup a prompt acquisition by Autodesk. Their latest tool further automates the animation process, letting you put in practically any video and get a fully editable 3D scene, characters and all.
The feature combines the company’s existing drop-in actor replacement, in which you could easily replace a person with an animated 3D character keyed to their movements, with a full scale 3D background of your choosing.
To be clear, as with all the company’s previous features, this is not intended to provide a finished product — just a base layer to build on. Animation is labor intensive, and location shooting is difficult and expensive — if you can film two friends walking down the hall and convert it to robots walking down a futuristic street, that’s super useful for previsualization, story flow, and other early stages of production.
“The idea is that you can shoot and edit your video in your living room, with desired performances, cut, and camera framings as you would want to see in your animation,” said Wonder Dynamics co-founder Nikola Todorovic. “This process would provide you with a quick previs and, most importantly, 3D scenes to edit each individual element in either Blender, Maya or Unreal.”
New TeamViewer research has revealed AI tools are increasingly being used by IT, operational technology (OT) and business leaders to handle complex tasks, make autonomous decisions and provide forecasting.
However, despite the clear optimism, three-quarters (74%) of IT decision-makers (ITDMs) and even more (87%) C-suite execs expressed concern about the security of AI, including data management.
This has led to a cautious approach to the rollout of AI within organizations, however nearly two in three (64%) continue to implement artificial intelligence.
Business leaders are keen to use AI
The research suggests there is still room to improve the management of AI-related risks, however two-thirds of UK decision makers would bet on their organization’s ability to manage the, with nearly half (48%) of C-suite execs willing to stake a week or a month’s pay.
The confidence comes from their recognition of AI’s potential for transformation when it comes to productivity. While the study covers leaders from France, Germany, Australia, Singapore and the US, it notes the productivity struggles that are playing out in the UK, adding that 74% of UK decision-makers believe AI could drive the most significant productivity boost in the last century.
Moreover, leaders believe that AI could improve workplace accessibility for those suffering with chronic illnesses.
“AI offers immense potential for fostering equal opportunities in the workplace by supporting employees in overcoming challenges and streamlining tasks at all levels," noted TeamViewer CHRO Constanze Backhaus.
Big Tech company Microsoft is once again under fire after it introduced an "Inclusiveness Checker" in its popular Word program, with concerns being raised over the potential for "speech policing."
The Inclusiveness Checker or Inclusivity Checker in Word can be used to check a person's writing for "gender, age, cultural bias and more." Word users can opt to deactivate this checker. But when it is used, when an individual writes anything using "non-inclusive" language, Word will suggest alternatives.
The said "tool" seems to work by flagging almost every word in the English language with a gendered connotation, including "mother" and "father." When users learned about the Inclusiveness Checker and attempted to see how far it would go, they found out that when using the term "maternity leave," the Checker would recommend changing the phrase with "birth-related leave," "parental leave" or "childbirth leave." When referring to "paternity leave," it suggests "child-bonding leave" as an alternative.
When users attempted to input the term "postman," the Inclusiveness Checker would suggest "postal worker." When using the term "manpower," the Checker would recommend replacing the word with "workforce."
Bifrost has raised an $8M Series A led by Carbide Ventures to further build out its 3D real-world data simulation platform.
For many companies working on AI models with applications in the physical world, data presents the biggest opportunity. It’s also the biggest hurdle they face, as nicely labeled and clean real-world data is as readily available as hen’s teeth, and the costs and effort required to gather and clean up data can be immense.
Bifrost, a 3D data generation platform, believes its tech can help robotics and industrial companies solve at least one part of that problem: the time required to train AI models. The startup, based out of San Francisco, says its platform lets companies generate simulated 3D worlds to instruct their AI models and help their robots adjust to new objects, tasks and surroundings within hours instead of months.
The company said on Wednesday that it has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Carbide Ventures.
“Most of our customers need vast amounts of real-world data to train AI models,” co-founder and CEO Charles Wong said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch. “This often means they would have to deploy fleets of robots across hundreds of locations, collect millions of hours of footage, manually label the data, and implement rigorous quality checks to reduce human errors and bias. This approach is brutal. It costs millions, takes years, and proves nearly impossible to scale.”
Dropbox is laying off 20% of its staff as the cloud storage company undergoes what CEO Drew Houston calls a "transitional period."
In a letter to staff, Houston said that the reduction in headcount would impact 528 people. The goal, he added, was to make cuts in areas where Dropbox has “over-invested” while designing a “flatter, more efficient” team structure.
“As CEO, I take full responsibility for this decision and the circumstances that led to it, and I’m truly sorry to those impacted by this change,” he wrote. “This market is moving fast and investors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this space. This both validates the opportunity we’ve been pursuing and underscores the need for even more urgency, even more aggressive investment, and decisive action.”
According to a filing with the SEC, Dropbox estimates it’ll lay out total cash expenditures of $63 million to $68 million on the layoffs, primarily in the form of severance and benefits, and recognize $47 million to $52 million of incremental expense. Most of the payouts will occur in Q4 2024, with the remainder to be recognized in H1 2025.
Affected employees will receive severance, equity, and transition payments, as well as certain healthcare and benefits and job placement services.
Apple went to unusual lengths to ensure it accounted for and neutralized all the pollution that the new Mac Mini might produce.
With its new miniaturized Mac Mini, Apple has a second product — and its first Mac — that qualifies for its “carbon neutral” label. As part of the push, the company is buying enough renewable power to offset emissions generated from customer use of the computers.
Tech companies have been tracking, and in some cases some reducing, the emissions profiles of their products for years. Usually, that involves querying suppliers about their own supply chains, where they get power to run their operations, and how they’ll be shipping finished products. But in 2023, with the Apple Watch Series 9, the Cupertino-based company made the unorthodox decision to eliminate emissions from product use by making additional investments in renewable power.
Powering something like a smartwatch represents a tiny fraction of the overall carbon footprint of the device; things like chips, displays, and batteries contribute far more to the total.
But with a product like the Mac Mini, using the device can generate far more pollution than charging a watch. It’s also a larger fraction of the device’s overall carbon footprint.
Shrinking the Mac Mini also likely helped keep the footprint down, though it’s impossible to tell since Apple doesn’t break out specific figures for things like materials and manufacturing in its environmental declarations.
What is notable, though, is the impact that semiconductors have on a computer’s climate impact. Semiconductor manufacturing is energy intensive and uses chemicals that have significantly higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Making and shipping the base model Mac Mini, which has 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, generates 32 kg of carbon pollution, even after Apple accounts for its low-carbon power investments. The top spec version includes far more chips inside, providing 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, and that nearly quadruples the carbon footprint to 121 kg.
Russia is making another push to its fellow BRICS nations to move away from the U.S. dollar.
BRICS is rapidly growing, expanding from the original nations that help form its name of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to encompass 10 countries, adding Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to its roster. Numerous others are hoping to make their way through the approval process soon.
However, despite its growth, it hasn’t really accomplished much, and at this year’s summit in Kazan on the Volga River, Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping to convince members to create a new global financial payment system that will threaten the U.S.’s current global finance dominance while protecting members from sanctions.
This is something that they say will enable “economic operations without being dependent on those that decided to weaponise the dollar and the euro.”
Known as BRICS-Bridge, the idea is to build it up within a year and give countries the ability to carry out cross-border payments with digital platforms that their respective central banks run. With the potential for quicker and more affordable transactions, emerging economies could be tempted away from carrying out business in U.S. dollars, and Western officials are already worried about its ability to hep countries get around sanctions.
Put simply, this initiative would use digital money that is backed by fiat currencies, which would mean that central banks are at the center of cross-border transactions. As a result, no single country would be able to cut off another one, and the need for correspondent banks that use the dollar clearing system would be eliminated.
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States is adding significant strain to the nation’s already stressed water supply, according to a new report by JPMorgan Chase and consultancy ERM, which calls for urgent action to better manage this vital resource.
The report, published on Oct. 28, notes that the surge in AI-driven technologies, including data centers and semiconductor manufacturing, is contributing to a growing mismatch between water supply and demand, while warning that ignoring the water demands of AI and other industries could have serious consequences.
“There is an urgent and growing need to build resilience into our collective water management practices if we are to have reliable water for use in the future,” reads the report, which notes that the growing instability of water resources is “pushing us closer to disrupted ecosystem services, threatened biodiversity, and impacted human livelihoods.”
The primary driver of increased water demand in the United States is a combination of the nation’s growing population and more people moving to warmer, sunnier regions that are already facing water supply challenges. However, new demands from reshoring of manufacturing and AI-based data centers are putting additional strain on water resources.
Data centers use substantial amounts of water—often taken from drinking water resources—in order to cool servers that generate significant amounts of heat.
On average, a mid-sized data center uses about 300,000 gallons per day, while larger facilities can consume as much as 1 million to 5 million gallons daily—comparable to the needs of a town of between 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Data centers in the United States consumed more than 75 billion gallons of water in 2023, per the report, which notes that around 20 percent of the water used by such facilities is drawn from stressed watersheds, “presenting risks to the technology industry and the surrounding communities and environment.”
However, the broader impact of AI on the water sector goes well beyond cooling technologies used in data centers, the report warns. Data center operations rely on semiconductor chips, the manufacturing of which has major implications on water resources. Not only does it require vast amounts of water but it also generates toxic wastewater, posing additional challenges for water management.
“As semiconductors are the foundation of the AI supply chain, the future water management of their operations will be critical for the water sector,” the report notes.
The strain from AI-driven demand is part of a wider set of water-related risks, including the potential to strand business assets as production facilities become unusable or unprofitable due to insufficient supply or tighter regulations, such as wastewater discharge requirements.
JPMorgan and ERM’s report calls for increased investment in water infrastructure, which currently faces an annual funding gap of $91 billion.
The report suggests that innovative technologies, such as waterless cooling systems for data centers and advanced wastewater recycling solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, could play a key role in addressing water scarcity and stress.
Even more so than usual, San Francisco will be the epicenter of the world’s startup scene this week, as founders, investors and other industry insiders come together at TechCrunch Disrupt, one of the leading events of the startup scene.
Unsurprisingly, AI will take center stage at this year’s conference, as investors are looking for opportunities to invest in the booming, yet still nascent field and founders of AI-related companies will do everything to profit from the AI boom and secure fresh capital for their ventures.
As Statista's Felix Richter shows in the chart below, AI has sucked up an increasingly large chunk of VC funding in the United States in recent years.
In the first nine months of 2024, AI-related investments accounted for 33 percent of total investments into VC-backed companies headquartered in the U.S. That’s up from 14 percent in 2020 and could go even higher in the years ahead.
According to Crunchbase data analyzed by EY, AI deals accounted for 37 percent of the $38 billion raised by VC-backed companies in Q3 2024, with four of the 10 largest deals involving AI-related companies.
The latest increase in AI-related investments is still expected to be just the beginning of a longer-term trend.
As EY notes in its latest report on VC investments, most of the funds funneled into the field are currently focused on building the foundation for the technology, e.g. developing and training AI models.
Once this wave of investment ebbs, entrepreneurs will need to figure out ways to actually utilize the potential of AI, which will likely kick off a second wave of AI investments.
Signs from the auto industry continue to look grim. Yesterday it was Ford guiding expectations below Wall Street's estimates and today it's Stellantis announcing it is pausing production of its Durango and Grand Cherokee models due to "slow sales".
Manufacturing facilities at FCA's large Detroit Assembly Complex - Jefferson will be paused for a week, Motor 1 reported. Stellantis told its workers there would be a 'temporary shutdown' and 'subsequent layoffs' as a result.
Mopar Insiders first posted the "Important Notice of Layoff" memo, which said: "There will be no scheduled production at Detroit Assembly Complex Jefferson" for the dates of October 28 to November 1.
The Motor 1 report said that in 2022, the Jefferson complex employed over 5,000 people, but about 200 workers faced permanent layoffs in September.
Stellantis told Motor 1: "Stellantis continues to take the necessary actions to align production with sales. This includes making production adjustments at the Detroit Assembly Complex - Jefferson. The company will continue to monitor the situation to assess whether further action is required."
Recall, operations at Stellantis have been nothing short of a nightmare this year, as we have been reporting. Early this month we wrote that Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight informed her team of white collar workers about the need to take "drastic measures" to shore up the Jeep and Ram parent's finances.
Knight told her team, "The Doghouse is back!" As she explained, this belt-tightening initiative involves heavily scrutinizing requests for purchases from outside vendors to ensure maximum cost savings.
She said the doghouse "is the name for much stricter attention and control around purchase requisitions," adding, "If we apply more discipline, we can ensure big savings for the company."
The following Monday, Stellantis reduced its margin forecast for the entire year.
Back in September, the company's dealer network wrote a letter to then CEO Carlos Tavares accusing him of the “rapid degradation” of the automaker’s brands.
US dealer network leaders said Tavares had engaged in "short-term decision making" that boosted last year’s profits and increased his compensation but hurt the Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and Chrysler brands.
Archaeologists have revealed an ancient lost Mayan city using advanced laser mapping technology, unearthing monumental structures such as pyramids and plazas.
A Mayan city lost in the dense jungle of southern Mexico has been revealed. The discovery occurred in the southeastern state of Campeche, and archaeologists have named it Valeriana, after a nearby freshwater lagoon.
“The larger of Valeriana's two monumental precincts has all the hallmarks of a classic Mayan political capital: enclosed plazas connected by a broad causeway; temple pyramids; a ball court; a reservoir formed by damming an arroyo (a seasonal watercourse); and a probable E-Group assemblage, an architectural arrangement that generally indicates a founding date prior to AD 150,” says the study, published in the journal Antiquity.
The city's discovery didn't require breaking through the jungle with machetes or patiently excavating with brushes and spatulas. Nor did researchers need tape measures, binoculars, or compasses to find their way through the thick foliage. Instead, they employed state-of-the-art technology: lasers, drones, and satellite maps. With these tools, they discovered a city hidden for centuries beneath the thick Mexican jungle, unearthing pyramids, enclosed plazas, and an ancient reservoir.
Luke Auld-Thomas, an anthropologist at Northern Arizona University, made the discovery. His analysis revealed a huge network of previously unexplored settlements.
Auld-Thomas and his fellow researchers have succeeded in mapping the city beneath the jungle thanks to airborne laser scanning, better known as lidar (light detection and ranging), a remote-sensing technique that uses pulsed lasers and other data collected through flyovers that can generate accurate three-dimensional models of surface features, revolutionizing the way archaeologists explore the hidden past.
MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons, though the technology certainly has its limitations. Take, for instance, surgeons using the machines to guide
MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons, though the technology certainly has its limitations. Take, for instance, surgeons using the machines to guide their procedures. The current process entails putting the patient into a machine to get an image, before pulling them out to advance a needle one centimeter at a time. It’s a time-consuming and frankly inefficient use of resources.
Boasting the tagline “Creating a new chapter in minimally invasive surgery,” Bay Area-based MDC believes the answer lies in robotics. While robotics undoubtedly represent the future of surgery, they present their own challenges in this application. After all, traditional robotics contain many elements that cannot operate inside an MRI.
MDC’s challenge, then, was creating a robotic system that could operate on a patient inside an MRI without relying on electric motors, rare earth metals and other elements that would inhibit the imaging machine’s operations.
The young startup’s work is built upon research conducted during founder and CEO Sam Frishman’s time at John Hopkins and Stanford. Frishman describes the solution as “high stiffness, low friction hydraulic transmissions and actuators.” The system is powered by water and tethered to the outside of the MRI through a tube.
“Our system has a few differentiators,” Frishman tells TechCrunch. “One is the ability to have really dexterous control directly by the physician. They’re controlling the needle, whether it’s positioning, advancing, actuating — it’s like they’re holding it in their hand.”
MDC is specifically targeting biopsies and ablations in its initial offering. The CEO says those minimally invasive procedures are just the start.
Smartphones and navigation apps have become second nature these days. But for those with blindness and low vision, it’s not quite so convenient. Haptic has been building a non-visual, non-verbal way of telling people where to go, and they’ve decided it’s time to scale up and take it global.
Haptic presented onstage today as part of the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, showing their progress from concept to prototype to platform. The company got started in 2017 when, after a friend lost their sight in an accident, a group of colleagues began looking into ways someone could navigate without using visual or auditory cues.
Though there are plenty of screen-reading options and spoken directions in apps, these options aren’t always convenient or practical. But as co-founder and head of business Enzo Caruso pointed out, there are other interfaces we could be using. Touch, for instance.
“Why not receive info in a more robust, intuitive, and accessible way? Everyone can understand the sensation of touch. It’s global, it’s worldwide, it’s universal,” he said.
The advance Haptic has made — and patented, Caruso noted — is a way of using vibration and other tactile sensations to communicate the simple, intuitive idea that the user is going in the right direction. Your device will send a steady pulse when you’re on track, then quicken or intensify if you veer off course; they call it a “haptic corridor.” Though it’s hard to imagine, they say it’s intuitive enough to get after just a few seconds.
Atlas is designed to be a highly versatile and adaptable robot, capable of navigating complex environments and performing a wide range of tasks. The robot's design is inspired by the human body, with a focus on flexibility, balance, and dexterity.
The robot's body is made up of several key components, including:
The torso: This is the main body of the robot, which houses the propulsion system, sensors, and manipulation capabilities.
The arms: Atlas has two arms, which are designed to be highly flexible and articulated. The arms are equipped with a range of tools, including grippers, claws, and manipulator fingers.
The legs: The legs are designed to be highly stable and balance-capable, with a focus on supporting the robot's weight and allowing it to navigate complex terrain.
The head: The head is designed to be highly mobile, with a range of sensors and cameras that allow the robot to perceive its environment.
Atlas's propulsion system is designed to provide a high level of stability and balance, while also allowing the robot to move quickly and efficiently. The system consists of several key components, including:
Hydraulic actuators: These are used to power the robot's legs and maintain balance.
Power pumps: These are used to supply hydraulic fluid to the actuators.
Reservoirs: These are used to store hydraulic fluid, which is then pumped to the actuators as needed.
Control system: This is used to coordinate the movement of the robot's legs and maintain balance.
The propulsion system is designed to be highly efficient and adaptable, with a focus on providing a high level of stability and balance. The system is also highly customizable, with a range of options available for adjusting the robot's movement and balance.
Atlas is equipped with a range of sensors, including:
GPS: This is used to provide location data and navigation information.
Gyroscopes: These are used to measure the robot's orientation and angular velocity.
IMUs (Inertial Measurement Units): These are used to measure the robot's acceleration, roll, pitch, and yaw.
Pressure sensors: These are used to detect changes in the robot's weight-bearing capacity.
Cameras: These are used to provide visual information and allow the robot to perceive its environment.
The sensors work together to provide the robot with a comprehensive understanding of its environment, allowing it to navigate complex terrain with ease.
Atlas's manipulation capabilities are designed to be highly versatile and adaptable, with a focus on providing a high level of dexterity and precision. The robot's arms are equipped with a range of tools, including:
Grippers: These are used to grasp and manipulate objects.
Claws: These are used to climb and manipulate objects.
Manipulator fingers: These are used to perform delicate tasks and manipulate small objects.
The robot's manipulation capabilities are highly customizable, with a range of options available for adjusting the robot's movement and balance.
Atlas has a highly advanced balance and stability control system, which uses a combination of sensors, algorithms, and actuators to maintain the robot's balance and stability. The system is capable of detecting changes in the robot's center of gravity and making adjustments as needed to maintain balance.
Search and Rescue Applications
Atlas is designed to be used in search and rescue applications, such as navigating rubble or debris fields. The robot's advanced sensors, propulsion system, and manipulation capabilities make it well-suited to this type of application.
In 2013, Atlas participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a competition designed to test the capabilities of humanoid robots in search and rescue scenarios. The robot successfully navigated a complex course through a simulated disaster scenario, demonstrating its ability to work in challenging environments.
Limitations
While Atlas is an incredibly advanced robot, it is not without its limitations. The robot is still relatively heavy and cumbersome, and its propulsion system can be limited by the weight-bearing capacity of its legs. Additionally, the robot's manipulation capabilities are still relatively limited, and it may struggle with complex tasks that require high levels of dexterity.
Boston Dynamics is continually working to improve and expand the capabilities of Atlas and other robots. The company is exploring a range of new applications, including:
Healthcare: Atlas is being developed for use in healthcare settings, where it can be used to perform tasks such as patient care and rehabilitation.
Industrial automation: Atlas is being developed for use in industrial automation settings, where it can be used to perform tasks such as assembly and inspection.
Space exploration: Atlas is being developed for use in space exploration settings, where it can be used to perform tasks such as planetary exploration and sample collection.
As the technology continues to advance, we can expect to see Atlas and other robots playing an increasingly important role in a wide range of fields.
It looks fake, or at least like a good illusion: There's Gecko Materials founder Capella Kerst dangling a full wine bottle from her pinky finger
It looks fake, or at least like a good illusion: There’s Gecko Materials founder Capella Kerst dangling a full wine bottle from her pinky finger, the only thing keeping it from smashing to pieces being the super-strong dry-adhesive her startup has brought to market.
But it’s no trick. It’s the result of years of academic research that Kerst built on by inventing a method to mass-manufacture the adhesive. Inspired by the way real-life gecko feet grip surfaces, you could think of it like a new Velcro — except it only needs one side, leaves no residue, and can detach as quickly as it attaches. It can do this at least 120,000 times and, as Kerst noted in a recent interview with TechCrunch, can stay attached for seconds, minutes, or even years.
Kerst has spent the last few years giving this magic trick-style demo any and everywhere: At VC happy hours, during pitch meetings, and on TikTok and Instagram Reels. And it works. Not just mechanically, but as a method of quickly captivating investors and customers. Gecko raised a $2 million seed round in 2021 in less than 36 hours, and boasts Ford, Pacific Gas & Electric, and even NASA as early customers.
Yes, before Kerst makes her pitch on the Startup Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, Gecko Materials’ adhesive has already been to space.
The adhesive is incredibly strong. One square-inch tile of it can hold 15 pounds, vertically, while six of them is enough to pull a car. It works by leveraging van der Waals forces, which involves interactions at the intermolecular level.
Forcefield wants to help counter the scourge of deep-fakes and spoofed evidence in the age of AI.
A new startup setting out to combat the scourge of deepfakes and spoofed evidence in the age of AI is showing off its wares on the Startup Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 this week. ForceField is building a set of “patent-pending” APIs dubbed MARQ, the first of which is designed to authenticate content.
For context, a 2022 report from European law enforcement agency Europol predicted that 90% of all online content will be AI-generated by 2026. The internet is already awash with manipulated content — either entirely machine-generated, or made with the help of AI — forcing big tech companies to develop new tools to address the problem. Google last month announced that it will soon begin flagging AI-generated images in its search engine, following in the footsteps of Meta, which was already doing so on Facebook and Instagram — though with questionable accuracy.
YouTube, meanwhile, now allows people to request the removal of content that simulates their face or voice.
The issue of “fake” content isn’t going away, and it’s a problem that has given rise to a swathe of startups that are tackling the problem through various means, such as Clarity, Reality Defender, and Truepic, which have all raised sizeable sums from big-name backers in recent years.
Despite a massive price war and European nations doing their best to create a trade war, the Chinese EV market still looks like it will easily be crowned the best electric auto market in the world heading into the final months of 2024.
China's major EV makers ended Q3 stronger than last year, with solid deliveries reducing the need for discounts, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Now, analysts predict a sales surge in Q4. EV and hybrid sales are booming, driven by expanded subsidies, boosting stock prices and Tesla's best Chinese quarter. In September, EVs and hybrids made up about 53% of new car sales.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joanna Chen commented: “Industry demand has been better than expected since the third quarter following China’s beefed-up subsidies but many automakers still need a major push in the fourth quarter to hit their annual sales targets.”
She continued: “The first nine months usually contribute 70% of annual car sales and automakers below that threshold are under greater pressure to step up discounts in the quarter.”
Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy AutoForesight, added: “I do not see a need to launch another price war. Most of them are in pretty good shape. The majority of these NEV or carmakers will reach their volumes.”
The fourth quarter is set for a surge in auto spending, driven by new EV launches and a year-end rush to use trade-in subsidies, according to Yuqian Ding of HSBC Qianhai Securities. Ding’s data shows EVs need fewer discounts, while gas cars maintain peak discounts of about 22%, the highest in three years.
European brands like Volkswagen, Mercedes, and BMW, which had a tough Q3 in China, may resort to deeper price cuts. AutoForesight warns of a potential premium segment price war, with traditional luxury car production down 4% year-over-year, possibly ending 15 years of growth.
Tire health has a huge impact on a truck’s fuel efficiency and safety on the road.
And yet, with all of the arguably sexier solutions out there offering driver assist features and self-driving software, tires don’t get the attention they deserve. At least, so says Ron Lee, the head of business development at BANF, a startup that builds hardware and software to monitor tire health.
Korea-based BANF, which stands for Begin A New Feature, uses sensors to collect data on tire pressure, temperature, tread wear, wheel alignment, and even lug nut stability. That data is analyzed using machine learning to provide drivers and fleet managers with insights about not only tire health, but also cargo load measurement and road surface conditions. Lee says BANF’s insights are up to 90% accurate, and are useful to everyone from fleet management companies to OEMs to departments of transportation.
“Tires are the sole point of contact with the road,” Lee told TechCrunch. “We’re not saying that we’re replacing vision-based methodologies of capturing potholes or road conditions, but we’re more of a complementary solution. We are more accurate at capturing road coefficient and also the depths of potholes, which is one of the key indexes that road management needs to know because they have limited budgets, so they have to know where to prioritize.”
The four-year-old startup, which has operations in Korea and China and plans to launch in Texas, is coming online at a time when autonomous trucks are gaining a foothold on highways.
“Autonomous vehicles, their aim is to run 24/7 to maximize profit, which means more tire stress,” Lee said, noting that electric vehicles are also heavier due to their batteries, which can wear down tires. “Tire data will be even more important in the future.”
To ensure AI systems reflect local values and regulations, nations are increasingly pursuing sovereign AI strategies; developing AI utilising their own infrastructure, data, and expertise. NVIDIA is lending its support to this movement with the launch of four new NVIDIA NIMs.
These microservices are designed to simplify the creation and deployment of generative AI applications, supporting regionally-tailored community models. They promise deeper user engagement through an enhanced understanding of local languages and cultural nuances, leading to more accurate and relevant responses.
This move comes amidst an anticipated boom in the Asia-Pacific generative AI software market. ABI Research forecasts a surge in revenue from $5 billion this year to a staggering $48 billion by 2030.
Among the new offerings are two regional language models: Llama-3-Swallow-70B, trained on Japanese data, and Llama-3-Taiwan-70B, optimised for Mandarin. These models are designed to possess a more thorough grasp of local laws, regulations, and cultural intricacies.
Further bolstering the Japanese language offering is the RakutenAI 7B model family. Built upon Mistral-7B and trained on both English and Japanese datasets, they are available as two distinct NIM microservices for Chat and Instruct functions. Notably, Rakuten’s models have achieved impressive results in the LM Evaluation Harness benchmark, securing the highest average score among open Japanese large language models between January and March 2024.
Training LLMs on regional languages is crucial for enhancing output efficacy. By accurately reflecting cultural and linguistic subtleties, these models facilitate more precise and nuanced communication. Compared to base models like Llama 3, these regional variants demonstrate superior performance in understanding Japanese and Mandarin, handling regional legal tasks, answering questions, and translating and summarising text.
This global push for sovereign AI infrastructure is evident in significant investments from nations like Singapore, UAE, South Korea, Sweden, France, Italy, and India.
“LLMs are not mechanical tools that provide the same benefit for everyone. They are rather intellectual tools that interact with human culture and creativity. The influence is mutual where not only are the models affected by the data we train on, but also our culture and the data we generate will be influenced by LLMs,” said Rio Yokota, professor at the Global Scientific Information and Computing Center at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
“Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop sovereign AI models that adhere to our cultural norms. The availability of Llama-3-Swallow as an NVIDIA NIM microservice will allow developers to easily access and deploy the model for Japanese applications across various industries.”
NVIDIA’s NIM microservices enable businesses, government bodies, and universities to host native LLMs within their own environments. Developers benefit from the ability to create sophisticated copilots, chatbots, and AI assistants. Available with NVIDIA AI Enterprise, these microservices are optimised for inference using the open-source NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM library, promising enhanced performance and deployment speed.
Performance gains are evident with the Llama 3 70B microservices, (the base for the new Llama–3-Swallow-70B and Llama-3-Taiwan-70B offerings), which boast up to 5x higher throughput. This translates into reduced operational costs and improved user experiences through minimised latency.
Influencer partnerships can be great for brands looking to pump out content that promotes their products and services in an authentic way. These types of engagements can yield significant brand awareness and brand sentiment lift, but they can be risky too. Social media stars are unpredictable at the best of times, with many deliberately chasing controversy to increase their fame.
These antics don’t always reflect well on the brands that collaborate with especially attention-hungry influencers, leaving marketers no choice but to conduct careful due diligence on the individuals they work with. Luckily, that task can be made much easier thanks to the evolving utility of AI.
Lightricks, a software company best known for its AI-powered video and image editing tools, is once again expanding the AI capabilities of its suite with this week’s announcement of SafeCollab. An AI-powered influencer vetting module that lives within the company’s Popular Pays creator collaboration platform, SafeCollab is a new tool for marketers that automates the vetting process.
Traditionally, marketers have had no choice but to spend hours researching the backgrounds of influencers, looking through years’ worth of video uploads and social media posts. It’s a lengthy, manual process that can only be automated with intelligent tools.
SafeCollab provides that intelligence with its underlying large language models, which do the job of investigating influencers to ensure the image they portray is consistent with brand values. The LLMs perform what amounts to a risk assessment of creators’ content across multiple social media channels in minutes, searching through hours of videos, audio uploads, images and text.
In doing this, SafeCollab significantly reduces the time it takes for brand marketers to perform due diligence on the social media influencers they’re considering partnering with. Likewise, when creators opt in to SafeCollab, they make it easier for marketers to understand the brand safety implications of working together, reducing friction from campaign lifecycles.
The idea here is to empower brand marketers to avoid working with creators whose content is not aligned with the brand’s values – as well as those who have a tendency to kick up a storm.
Such due diligence is vital, for even the most innocuous influencers can have some skeletons in their closets. A case in point is the popular lifestyle influencer Brooke Schofield, who has more than 2.2 million followers on TikTok and co-hosts the “Canceled” podcast on YouTube. With her large following, good looks and keen sense of fashion, Schofield looked like a great fit for the clothing brand Boys Lie, which collaborated with her on an exclusive capsule collection called “Bless His Heart.”
However, Boys Lie quickly came to regret its collaboration with Schofield when a scandal erupted in April after fans unearthed a number of years-old social media posts where she expressed racist views.
The posts, which were uploaded on X between 2012 and 2015 when Schofield was a teenager, contained a string of racist profanities and insulting jokes about Black people’s hairstyles. In one post, she vigorously defended George Zimmerman, a white American who was controversially acquitted of the murder of the Black teenager Trayvon Martin.
Schofield apologized profusely for her posts, admitting that they were “very hurtful” while stressing that she’s a changed person, having had time to “learn and grow and formulate my own opinions.”
However, Boys Lie decided it had no option but to drop its association with Schofield. After a statement on Instagram saying it’s “working on a solution,” the company followed by quietly withdrawing the clothing collection they had previously collaborated on.
If the marketing team at Boys Lie had access to a tool like SafeCollab, they likely would have uncovered Schofield’s controversial posts long before commissioning the collaboration. The tool, which is a part of Lightricks’ influencer marketing platform Popular Pays, is all about helping brands to automate their due diligence processes when working with social media creators.
By analyzing years of creators’ histories of posts across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, it can check everything they’ve posted online to make sure there’s nothing that might reflect badly on a brand.
Brands can define their risk parameters, and the tool will quickly generate an accurate risk assessment evaluation, so they can confidently choose the influencers they want to work with, safe in the knowledge that their partnerships are unlikely to spark any backlash.
A comprehensive AI sector study – conducted by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in collaboration with Perspective Economics, Ipsos, and glass.ai – provides a detailed overview of the industry’s current state and its future prospects.
The study highlights the remarkable growth of the UK’s AI sector. With over 3,170 active AI companies, these firms have generated £10.6 billion in AI-related revenues and employed more than 50,000 people in AI-related roles. This significant contribution to GVA (Gross Value Added) underscores the sector’s transformative potential in driving the UK’s economic growth.
Mark Boost, CEO of Civo, said: “In a space that’s been dominated by US companies for too long, it’s promising to see the government now stepping up to help support the UK AI sector on the global stage.”
The study shows that AI activity is dispersed across various regions of the UK, with notable concentrations in London, the South East, and Scotland. This regional dispersion indicates a broad scope for the development of AI technology applications across different sectors and regions.
Investment in the AI sector has been a key driver of growth. In 2022, £18.8 billion was secured in private investment since 2016, with investments made in 52 unique industry sectors compared to 35 sectors in 2016.
The government’s commitment to supporting AI is evident through significant investments. In 2022, the UK government unveiled a National AI Strategy and Action Plan—committing over £1.3 billion in support for the sector, complementing the £2.8 billion already invested.
However, as Boost cautions, “Major players like AWS are locking AI startups into their ecosystems with offerings like $500k cloud credits, ensuring that emerging companies start their journey reliant on their infrastructure. This not only hinders competition and promotes vendor lock-in but also risks stifling innovation across the broader UK AI ecosystem.”
Segundo a CNN, o órgão chinês afirmou que a empresa americana tem "prejudicado repetidamente" a segurança nacional e os interesses do país. Em resposta, a Intel declarou que a segurança e a qualidade de seus produtos sempre foram prioridade.
"Manteremos diálogo com as autoridades competentes para esclarecer quaisquer dúvidas e reafirmar nosso compromisso com a segurança e a qualidade dos produtos", declarou a empresa em comunicado oficial.
No comunicado, a Nasa explica que a imagem capturada pelo Webb permite observar uma diversidade de galáxias ao fundo, especialmente nas bordas, localizadas a centenas de milhões de anos-luz de distância
A Nasa divulgou, nesta terça-feira (29), uma comparação impressionante entre duas imagens do mesmo grupo de estrelas: o aglomerado estelar NGC 602. A primeira foto, tirada pelo Telescópio Espacial James Webb, revela detalhes inéditos do aglomerado em várias frequências de luz infravermelha, enquanto a segunda, feita anteriormente pelo Telescópio Espacial Hubble, mostra a mesma região sob luz visível.
No comunicado, a Nasa explica que a imagem capturada pelo Webb permite observar uma diversidade de galáxias ao fundo, especialmente nas bordas, localizadas a centenas de milhões de anos-luz de distância. Essa nova perspectiva de NGC 602, um aglomerado situado próximo à borda da Pequena Nuvem de Magalhães (uma galáxia satélite da Via Láctea), abrange uma área de aproximadamente 200 anos-luz.
O Telescópio James Webb, o mais avançado da atualidade, utiliza tecnologia infravermelha para registrar imagens detalhadas do espaço profundo e explorar os primórdios do cosmos. Como sucessor do Hubble, o Webb foi projetado para investigar as diversas etapas da evolução do universo, desde as primeiras luzes após o Big Bang até a formação de sistemas solares com potencial para sustentar vida.
A acoplagem foi finalizada às 11:00 no horário local (Meia noite no horário de Brasília), cerca de seis horas e meia após o lançamento da nave, que partiu da base de Jiuquan, no deserto ao norte da China
A nave espacial chinesa Shenzhou-19, transportando três astronautas, acoplou-se com sucesso ao módulo central Tianhe da estação espacial Tiangong, conforme anunciou hoje a Agência Espacial de Missões Tripuladas da China.
A acoplagem foi finalizada às 11:00 no horário local (Meia noite no horário de Brasília), cerca de seis horas e meia após o lançamento da nave, que partiu da base de Jiuquan, no deserto ao norte da China.
A tripulação da Shenzhou-19 é liderada por Cai Xuzhe, veterano da missão Shenzhou-14 em 2022, acompanhado pelos estreantes Song Lingdong, ex-piloto da força aérea, e Wang Haoze, engenheira da Academia de Tecnologia de Propulsão Aeroespacial.
Os três astronautas vão ingressar no módulo Tianhe, onde se juntarão à tripulação da Shenzhou-18, formada por Ye Guangfu, Li Cong e Li Guangsu, que já estão na estação desde abril. As duas equipes permanecerão juntas por alguns dias antes do retorno da Shenzhou-18 à Terra.
Durante os seis meses de estadia, a equipe da Shenzhou-19 realizará pesquisas científicas, incluindo experimentos para a construção de habitats lunares utilizando tijolos feitos com material simulado do solo lunar.
Esta é a oitava missão tripulada a Tiangong, que deve operar por aproximadamente dez anos e poderá se tornar a única estação espacial em atividade a partir de 2024, caso a Estação Espacial Internacional, liderada pelos Estados Unidos, seja desativada conforme o planejado.
Nos últimos anos, a China ampliou seu programa espacial com investimentos estratégicos, alcançando marcos importantes, como o pouso no lado oculto da Lua com a sonda Chang'e 4 e a exploração de Marte, sendo o terceiro país a realizar esse feito, após Estados Unidos e antiga União Soviética.
Film productions often wrestle with shifts in the weather, the threat of the crew going into overtime or the fading of a day’s light. Less common are concerns over the cast slipping off the top of a blimp.
But that was one of the quirks of making “Grand Theft Hamlet,” a documentary about a pair of British actors, Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen, who, while idled by the pandemic, decided to stage “Hamlet” within the violent virtual world of “Grand Theft Auto.” When Shakespeare wrote of the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” he may not have imagined the threat of a python loose in a bar or Hamlet wrestling with whether “to be” on a helipad. Yet “Grand Theft Auto” might be an oddly appropriate venue for a play where nearly everyone dies.
“The first time Sam did a bit of Shakespeare in that space, he said, ‘I imagine this is what it was like in Shakespeare’s time at the Globe when people would throw apples at you if you were rubbish,’” says Pinny Grylls, who wrote and directed the film with Crane, her husband. “No one’s really watching you but they’re occasionally looking around and listening to the poetry.”
“Grand Theft Hamlet,” which Mubi will release in theaters in January, opens with Crane and Oosterveen’s avatars, fleeing police and careening into an outdoor amphitheater. One says loud, “I wonder if you could stage something here?”
They aren’t the only ones who have drifted into virtual spaces and wondered if it might be a rich landscape for a movie. In the “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” which debuted Friday on Netflix, director Benjamin Ree plunges into “World of Warcraft” to tell both the life and virtual life story of Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who died from Duchenne muscular dystrophy at age 25.
Iranians will soon be able to get their hands on iPhones 14, 15 and 16 after authorities lifted a ban on new smartphone models by the U.S. tech giant Apple, according to an announcement Wednesday.
The ban on new iPhone models had been in place since 2023 but now, the country’s telecommunications minister said authorities are allowing the registration of the new models.
The minister, Satar Hashemi, said on X that the problem of registering new iPhone models on the Iranian market was “solved” and that Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian backed the efforts of the communication ministry toward that goal.
Hashemi did not elaborate but said the import measures would be announced, soon.
Following the 2023 ban, iPhone 13 and older versions could still be imported amid high demand for an item that remains a status symbol for many young Iranians.
While the ban was in place, any iPhone 14, 15 or a newer model brought into Iran would stop working on Iran’s state-controlled mobile phone networks after one month, the time span for tourists allowed to visit the county.
The ban spurred a parallel economy for the older handsets, jacking up prices for the devices as many sought to put their depreciating Iranian rials into any physical commodity. It was a sign of the economic woes plaguing Iran after decades of Western sanctions.
The European Union has finalized its sharply higher customs duties on electric vehicles imported from China.
EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and Beijing’s burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc.
The duties took effect provisionally in July and were finalized after talks between the EU and China failed to resolve their differences. Negotiations are expected to continue, and the EU could lift the duties if an agreement is reached.
Here are some basic facts about the EU’s customs duties:
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, conducted an eight-month investigation and concluded that companies making electric cars in China benefit from massive government help that enables them to undercut rivals in the EU on price, take a large market share and threaten European jobs.
The duties differ depending on the maker: 17% for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for state-owned SAIC. Other EV manufacturers in China, including Volkswagen and BMW, would be subject to a 20.7% duty. The commission has an individually calculated rate for Tesla of 7.8%.
“By adopting these proportionate and targeted measures after a rigorous investigation, we’re standing up for fair market practices and for the European industrial base,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said.
The duties will stay in force for five years unless an amicable solution is found.
Chinese-built electric cars jumped from 3.9% of the EV market in 2020 to 25% by September 2023, the commission has said.
The commission says companies in China accomplished that with the help of subsidies all along the chain of production, from cheap land for factories from local governments to below-market supplies of lithium and batteries from state-owned enterprises to tax breaks and below-interest financing from state-controlled banks.
The rapid growth in market share has sparked fears that Chinese cars will eventually threaten the EU’s ability to produce its own green technology needed to combat climate change, as well as the jobs of 2.5 million workers at risk in the auto industry and 10.3 million more people whose jobs depend indirectly on EV production.
Subsidized solar panels from China have wiped out European producers - an experience that European governments don’t want to see repeated with their auto industry.
Unusually, the commission acted on its own, without a complaint from the European auto industry. Industry leaders and Germany, home to BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have opposed the tariffs. That’s because many of the cars that will be hit with tariffs are made by European companies, and China could retaliate against the auto industry or in other areas.
Beijing has been sharply critical of the investigation and the higher duties as protectionist and unfair.
The Commerce Ministry has also launched anti-dumping investigations into European exports of brandy, pork and dairy products. Earlier this month, it announced provisional tariffs of 30.6% to 39% on French and other European brandies, after EU member countries voted in favor of finalizing the tariffs on EVs.
Officials have also said that they are weighing whether to raise tariffs on imports of gasoline-powered vehicles with large engines.
Donald Trump's Truth Social is now worth more than Elon Musk's X, thanks to a recent run-up in the shares of the parent company of the former president's social media platform.
Trump Media & Technology Group is now valued at over $10 billion after its shares more than quadrupled since late September. Meanwhile, X Holdings is valued at around $9.4 billion, based on the most recent value the investment group Fidelity assigned to its stake in the company formerly known as Twitter.
I am sure he was...he founded his real estate companies but that is run by his kids. He has no part in the daily operation. I presume Trump media is the same.
The stock of Trump Media, or TMTG, tends to move more with Trump’s re-election odds than on its own profit prospects and investors have seen his chances of retaking the presidency improving of late. On Tuesday, the stock rose more than 12% to $53.30, on top of a 21.6% gain Monday. The stock was moving so sharply that trading was briefly halted several times during the morning. The stock had dropped to roughly $12 late last month.
Trump created TMTG after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He owns about 57% of the company but has no role in running it.
Based in Sarasota, Florida, TMTG has been losing money and struggling to raise revenue. It lost more than $16 million in the quarter ending in June while generating only $837,000 in revenue, according to regulatory filings.
When Musk took over Twitter in October of 2022, the company was valued at around $44 billion. At that time, Fidelity Investments valued its stake at $19.7 million. In a recent regulatory filing, Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth fund said its stake in X Holdings was worth about $4.2 million.
Other companies TMTG is now bigger than include: Caesars Entertainment, Match Group, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Hasbro, the maker of the Monopoly game.
Apple's slow-and-steady approach to AI faces pressure as users encounter waitlists and familiar features. But analysts remain optimistic
Michael Hunter, an Atlanta-based real estate marketing professional and Apple power user, has watched Apple’s new Apple Intelligence features evolve from promising to problematic. After a month with iOS 18.1's early release through his developer account, Hunter was impressed by the system’s enhanced Siri capabilities and responsiveness.
But his enthusiasm dimmed after updating to iOS 18.2 beta last week.
“This has to be the buggiest rollout that Apple has ever done,” said Hunter, who uses Siri across his collection of 20 Apple devices.
The latest version has proven unstable, with voice responses frequently defaulting to screen text and basic Siri functions becoming unreliable. “They took away Siri from me and ruined my day-to-day use,” Hunter said.
Apple began rolling out its Intelligence features to regular iPhone users this week, marking its biggest push yet into consumer AI as it races to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s (GOOGL
+4.03%
) Gemini. The update represents a crucial moment for Apple, which has bet that by integrating AI more deeply into iOS while maintaining its privacy-first approach, it can catch up to competitors who got an earlier start in the AI race.
But the response so far has been muted, with users facing long waitlists only to find capabilities that feel familiar after two years of similar features from competitors. And it’s raising questions about whether Apple’s characteristically late but polished entrance into AI can still excite consumers.
Potential users (only those with the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16) eager to try Apple Intelligence are finding themselves in an unusual position: waiting in line for a software update. After downloading iOS 18.1, users must toggle a switch in Settings and then join a waitlist that can last several hours.
If you're gonna come at the mouse, you need to be better at hiding your tracks
A disgruntled ex-Disney employee has been arrested and charged with hacking his former employer's systems to alter restaurant menus with potentially deadly consequences.
Michael Scheuer was charged [PDF] and arrested last week for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act on three occasions by breaking into a former employer's systems. Disney is not named in the complaint, but The Register has been told they are the company in question, and Scheuer's former employer.
Fired from his role at Disney as a menu production manager in June for what the complaint notes was unspecified "misconduct," the dismissal "was contentious and was not considered to be amicable," according to court documents signed by US magistrate judge Daniel Irick in what appears to be crayon (see page 25 of this PDF).
Scheuer allegedly went into action quickly following his termination, and by early July was said to have used his work credentials, which still functioned after his termination, to access the menu creation system Disney contracted another company to create and change all the fonts in the system to wingdings symbols.
"The fonts were renamed by the threat actor to maintain the name of the original font, but the actual characters appeared as symbols," the complaint alleged.
"When launched, Menu Creator reached out to the configuration files to retrieve what it believed to be the correct font, instead, it retrieved the altered font files," the document continued. "As a result of this change, all of the menus within the database were unusable because the font changes propagated throughout the database."
According to the complaint, the changes knocked the system
Circumventing of Western sanctions against Russia.
Following sanctions from the United States and its allies over the war against Ukraine, Russia now has to smuggle advanced processors into the country. As discovered by Bloomberg, an Indian pharmaceutical company has been exporting Dell servers to Russia, circumventing sanctions imposed by the U.S. government.
Between April and August 2024, Shreya Life Sciences shipped 1,111 Dell PowerEdge XE9680 servers, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, to Russia. These servers are based on Intel's 4th Generation Xeon Scalable CPUs and are equipped with AMD Instinct MI300X or Nvidia H100 processors for AI and HPC processors. The shipments, which were legally conducted under India's trade regulations, were sent to two Russian companies, Main Chain Ltd. and I.S LLC. Trade data shows that these exports began in September 2022, following the imposition of sanctions that cut off access to Western markets.
The servers trace back to Malaysia, where they were initially sourced by Dell's subsidiary in India before being exported to Russia. Shipping documents for over 800 PowerEdge XE9680 servers show Malaysia as the country of origin. Between March and August 2024, India imported 1,407 of these Dell servers from Malaysia. Despite multiple attempts to seek comments from Malaysian officials regarding the exports, neither Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry nor the Prime Minister’s Office provided a response to Bloomberg.
Shreya’s exports of Dell servers to Russia surged in April 2024, with an average price of $260,000 per server. These servers are classified under HS code 847150, part of a list of dual-use goods restricted by the EU and U.S. to prevent their use in Russian military operations. Main Chain, the primary recipient of Shreya's exports, was registered in Russia in January 2023 and is headed by Anastasia Obukhova, who previously ran small tourism companies.
The Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) in Taichung, Taiwan is pushing forward with its second phase expansion which will house TSMC’s most advanced fab yet. CTSP said that over 95% of the land required for expansion has already been agreed for purchase, including the Hsing Nong Golf Course. However, according to United Daily News (machine translated), the golf course’s club members are blocking the acquisition because they demand a NT$1.8-million (approximately US$56,000) buyback price for each golf certificate.
This amount is based on 80% of the average NT$2.2-million price of one golf share for a course based in Central Taiwan over the past two years. Given that the Hsing Nong Golf Course issued 1,750 certificates, that amounts to a total of NT$3.15 billion or over US$98.5 million. However, the current average price of a single golf certificate in central Taiwan has already exceeded NT$3 million (around US$94,000). Nevertheless, the Hsing Nong Golf Course expects to net between NT$15 to NT$20 billion (US$470 to US$626 million) from the sale, even after paying the members’ asking price.
Despite getting a bargain, it seems that the Hsing Nong Golf Course has been avoiding coordinating with its members, thus they are considering filing lawsuits and mounting a protest. This news has led to CTSP’s concern that its land acquisition plans would be jeopardized by years of lawsuits and countersuits. So, it issued a final ultimatum to the golf course owners: resolve the issue with its members by December 15 or face compulsory acquisition, likely through eminent domain.
A remarkable new device promises to make cancer detection cheaper, faster and more accessible.
As described in an upcoming issue of Lab on a Chip, researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) say they have developed a system that can detect cancer markers in the blood with greater responsiveness than current diagnostic methods.
Known as a paper-in-polymer-pond (PiPP) device, the new testing platform combines paper similar to the kind found in coffee filters with a plastic framework.
Using a drop of blood from a patient, the PiPP targets two cancer markers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is linked to colorectal cancer, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which indicates prostate cancer.
CEA and PSA show up in the blood in the early stages of cancer, making them historically difficult to detect. However, the new device can catch these markers at low concentrations, making them roughly 10 times more sensitive than testing kits on the market.
“Our new biochip device is low-cost — just a few dollars — and sensitive, which will make accurate disease diagnosis accessible to anyone, whether rich or poor,” lead author XiuJun (James) Li, a UTEP professor of chemistry and biochemistry, said in a statement.
“It is portable, rapid, and eliminates the need for specialized instruments,” Li added.
A union representing many Google employees is demanding the company lift what it described as an illegal “gag order” barring them from discussing landmark antitrust cases
A union representing Google employees is demanding the tech giant lift what it called an illegal “gag order” barring them from discussing landmark antitrust cases that could upend the company’s business.
The Alphabet Workers Union alleges that Walker violated a federal labor law with the “overly board directive” in a bid to “suppress worker speech” related to the antitrust battles, according to a copy of the Aug. 15 filing obtained by The Post.
“Our employer continues to demonstrate a blatant disregard for federal labor law and our right to discuss working conditions with coworkers—up to and including the proposed remedies of federal antitrust actions that could affect many of our jobs at Google,” said Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and president of Alphabet Workers Union.
Bezos' Blue Origin has a $3.4 billion contract to build spacecraft and is competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX
Jeff Bezos says there is “no connection” between the Washington Post’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate and his space company’s meeting with former President Donald Trump.
Bezos — who founded Amazon and Blue Origin and owns the Post — published an editorial Monday night about the Post’s decision in an effort to halt the flood of subscribers canceling their plans. As of Monday afternoon, more than 200,000 subscribers had canceled their subscriptions to the Post, accounting for about 8% of the paper’s paid circulation, NPR reports.
Besides the general controversy over a newspaper of record declining to endorse a candidate for the first time in almost four decades, subscribers and online commentators alike were angered by Bezos’ reported involvement in the decision. More than that, there was the appearance of a tit-for-tat deal, with reports noting that Blue Origin had met with the former president the day that the publication said it would not make an endorsement.
“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here,” Bezos wrote, adding that the decision was made entirely internally. “Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision.”
The third-richest man alive said that he sighed when he “found out” that Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp had met with Trump, writing that neither he nor Limp had known about the meeting ahead of time. According to Bezos, it was planned “quickly that morning.” Trump also met with Megan Mitchell, Blue Origin’s vice president of government relations, the Associated Press reported.
Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. At the time, Bezos was looking for a new challenge and was interested in space exploration. He had been fascinated by space since his childhood and had even considered starting a space company before starting Amazon.
Initially, the company was called New Shepard Aerospace and was focused on developing a suborbital spaceplane. The goal was to create a reusable launch system that could carry people to space and back. Bezos was inspired by the concept of space tourism and wanted to create a vehicle that could take people to the edge of space and back.
Bezos assembled a team of experienced engineers and scientists, including Mark Bezos, his brother, and BOB Smith, a former NASA engineer. The team worked tirelessly to develop the New Shepard spaceplane, which was designed to be reusable and efficient.
In 2003, Bezos changed the company's name to Blue Origin, which is a reference to the origins of life on Earth. The company shifted its focus from suborbital spaceflight to orbital spaceflight, with a goal of establishing a human settlement on Mars.
Blue Origin began to invest in research and development of new technologies, including advanced propulsion systems, life support systems, and habitat design. The company also established a number of research and development centers around the world, including in the United States, Germany, and Canada.
In 2006, Blue Origin began to develop the New Shepard spaceplane in earnest. The company invested heavily in the development of the vehicle, which included the creation of a large launch pad and test facility.
New Shepard was designed to be a reusable launch system, with the ability to carry up to six people to the edge of space and back. The vehicle was powered by a liquid oxygen and methane fuel combination, which provided a high specific impulse and efficient propulsion.
Bezos was highly involved in the development of New Shepard, often flying on the vehicle himself. He took the first test flight in 2015, along with his brother Mark and another investor, Evan Leybourn.
In 2015, Blue Origin began conducting suborbital flight tests of New Shepard. The company launched several test flights, including the first successful launch and re-entry of the vehicle.
On July 3, 2015, New Shepard flew to an altitude of 106.9 km (342,000 ft), marking the first successful test of the vehicle's propulsion system. The test was followed by several more flights, each one pushing the boundaries of the vehicle's performance.
In 2018, Blue Origin conducted a series of test flights that pushed the limits of the vehicle's performance. The company flew New Shepard to an altitude of 106.9 km (342,000 ft) and demonstrated the vehicle's ability to handle extreme g-forces.
In 2019, Blue Origin announced plans to develop a new vehicle, New Glenn, which would be designed to take people to orbit. The company began conducting orbital flight tests of New Glenn in 2020.
On July 20, 2021, New Glenn flew to an altitude of 108.2 km (356,000 ft), marking the first successful orbital test of the vehicle. The test was followed by several more flights, each one demonstrating the vehicle's performance and capabilities.
In May 2021, Blue Origin announced that it would begin offering commercial launch services using its New Glenn vehicle. The company plans to offer launches to a variety of customers, including government agencies and private companies.
Bezos has stated that his goal for Blue Origin is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, with a long-term vision of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars. He believes that space exploration and development will be critical to the long-term survival of humanity.
Throughout the development of Blue Origin, Bezos has been highly involved in the company's operations and has played a significant role in shaping its vision. Bezos has stated that his goal for Blue Origin is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, with a long-term vision of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars.
Bezos has also emphasized the importance of making space exploration and development accessible to a wide range of people and organizations. He believes that space will play a critical role in the future of humanity and that it is essential that we make progress in space exploration and development as quickly as possible.
Blue Origin has received significant funding and investments from a variety of sources, including Amazon, Bezos' personal wealth, and other investors. The company has also received investments from government agencies and private companies.
In 2020, Blue Origin raised $1 billion in funding from investors, including Amazon, Bezos' personal wealth, and other investors. The funding round was one of the largest in the history of the space industry and marked a major milestone in the company's development.
Blue Origin has faced several challenges and controversies over the years, including concerns about the company's environmental impact, worker safety, and the potential risks of space travel.
In 2019, Blue Origin faced criticism for its treatment of workers at its manufacturing facility in West Texas. The company was accused of poor working conditions and low wages, leading to calls for improved working conditions and better compensation for workers.
Blue Origin has also faced concerns about the environmental impact of its operations, including the potential for pollution and habitat destruction. The company has responded by implementing a number of sustainability initiatives, including the use of renewable energy sources and waste reduction programs.
Despite these challenges, Blue Origin remains committed to its mission and continues to make significant progress in the development of its space technology.
Broadcom set to help OpenAI to build its AI inference chip.
OpenAI is proceeding with the development of its first custom AI chip with Broadcom and expects to produce it for TSMC. However, reports Reuters, the company no longer intends to spearhead building a fab network. At the same time, the company continues to add more powerful chips from AMD and Nvidia to its fleet.
AI inference chips incoming, no more fab plans
In a bid to reduce reliance on Nvidia, OpenAI initially considered developing its chips both for training and inference and then facilitating the building of a dozen fabs (operated by prominent foundries like TSMC and Samsung Foundry), but high costs and long timelines made it impractical. Instead, OpenAI has prioritized designing custom AI chips for inference together with Broadcom and producing them at TSMC. For now, OpenAI will keep using GPUs from Nvidia and AMD for training.
While high-demand AI GPUs like Nvidia's H100 and H200 are used for training of large language modes by pretty much everyone, which is why they are hard to get, demand for AI inference chips is projected to grow as more AI applications reach the market. OpenAI's upcoming custom-designed inference chip is slated for release by 2026. According to Reuters, this timeline could be adjusted based on project needs, but the focus is on inference tasks that enhance real-time AI responses.
To support this new chip development, OpenAI has assembled a team of around 20 engineers led by experienced engineers like Thomas Norrie and Richard Ho, specialists who previously worked on Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). The team is key to moving forward with the in-house design, which could allow for greater customization and efficiency.
OpenAI now does the same thing as Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. These companies have chips for AI or general-purpose workloads, sometimes co-developed with Broadcom.
Will AI completely displace entry-level software engineers?
In Alphabet's recent earning calls, Sundar Pichai said that Google relies on Artificial Intelligence to generate a quarter of its new code. The tech giant, highlighting its strong financials last quarter, attached significant importance to how Google is continuously redefining user experience - while depending on AI internally at the same time. Likewise, on the financial end, the company is seeing an applaudable turnaround - with a 34% increase in net income year over year.
Using AI to write code is nothing new. Let's be honest; we've all used AI at least once to wrap up that one specific assignment or grasp a new concept. However, the fact that an industry leader like Google writes 25% of its new code is both intriguing and unsettling at the same time. Sundar Pichai says, "Today, more than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers." Of course, AI is not self-aware, at least not yet, and every line of code has to be monitored by senior developers. But this poses a real threat to up-and-coming programmers.
Google is also revamping how we search things on the internet through AI. Meet AI Overviews, which accumulate results online and offer a summarized overview. “In Search, our new AI features are expanding what people can search for and how they search for it." While, in theory, this is a step in the right direction, the model tends to slip up occasionally. We should also highlight that Google could be forced to split up in light of an anti-trust lawsuit by the Department of Justice pinning Google's monopoly in the Search Engine market.
Overall, Alphabet's financials are solid as the recent influx in AI services to mainstream customers and a surge in YouTube Ad revenue landed the giant a respectable 15% increase in revenue at $88.2 billion compared to last year. Interestingly, the operating income for Google Services is up by 28%, even when you factor in the costs of running those AI models. Google Cloud, offering cloud computing and generative AI solutions, sees a substantial 7.3x uplift in the operating income at $1.94 Billion.
All things considered, it appears that Google's more AI-centric approach is working. While threats about potential job displacements are still looming, Google is doing all it can to appease shareholders and maintain its status in the market.
Supermicro stock tanked 35% today after accounting firm Ernst & Young resigned. The firm's resignation, which cites unreliable management and possible law violations, comes one month after the Department of Justice investigated Supermicro for possible accounting manipulation and export violations. Supermicro's stock value has been the lowest since January of this year.
Ernst & Young's letter, cited in an SEC filing, reads, "We are resigning due to information that has recently come to our attention which has led us to no longer be able to rely on management's and the Audit Committee’s representations and to be unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management, and after concluding we can no longer provide the Audit Services under applicable law or professional obligations."
Ernst & Young also questioned Supermicro's ability to act with "integrity and ethical values." Ernst & Young's resignation came while conducting the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2024. Supermicro rejected the accounting firm's claims in its filing, saying there are no "reportable events" that would implicate Supermicro in wrongdoing.
Reddit just turned a profit for the first time. As part of its third quarter earnings results released on Tuesday, the company reported a profit of $29.9 million, along with $348.4 million in revenue — a 68 percent increase year over year.
The company hasn’t been profitable at any point in its nearly 20-year history. Since going public, Reddit lost $575 million during its first quarter on the market, but it decreased that loss to $10 million last quarter and is now finally in the black.
Reddit also grew to 97.2 million daily users over the past few months, marking a 47 percent increase from the same time last year. That number exceeded 100 million users on some days during the quarter, Reddit says.
Reddit’s advertising revenue grew to $315.1 million, while “other” revenue reached $33.2 million on account of “data licensing agreements signed earlier this year.” Both Google and OpenAI have cut deals with Reddit to train their AI models on its posts.
In a letter to shareholders, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman attributed the recent increase in users to the platform’s AI-powered translation feature. Reddit started letting users translate posts into French last year before expanding to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German. Now, Huffman says Reddit plans to expand translation to over 30 countries through 2025.
Reddit, self-proclaimed as "the front page of the internet," has grown from a simple link-sharing platform to one of the world's most influential social mediawebsites. Founded in 2005, Reddit has become a unique digitalecosystem that combines social news, web content rating, and discussion forums, creating a platform where millions of users congregate daily to share information, engage in discussions, and build communities around virtually every conceivable topic.
In 2005, college roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian attended a lecture at Harvard University by programmer and entrepreneur Paul Graham. Following the lecture, Graham invited them to apply to his startup accelerator, Y Combinator. While their initial pitch for a mobilefood ordering app called "My Mobile Menu" was rejected, Graham suggested they build "the front page of the internet" instead.
With $12,000 in seed funding from Y Combinator, Huffman and Ohanian developed Reddit in Medford, Massachusetts. The first version of Reddit was written in Common Lisp but was later rewritten in Python using the web framework web.py. The site launched in June 2005, and within a month, they merged with Aaron Swartz's company Infogami, bringing him on as a co-owner.
The initial version of Reddit was remarkably simple compared to today's platform. Users could submit links, vote content up or down, and comment on submissions. This basic structure would prove to be incredibly powerful and remains at the core of Reddit's functionality today. The site's clean, minimalist design stood in stark contrast to the flashy, graphics-heavy websites that dominated the mid-2000s internet.
The first major feature addition was the introduction of subreddits in 2006, allowing users to create their own communities focused on specific topics. This development would later prove to be crucial to Reddit's growth and community-building potential.
In October 2006, about a year after launch, Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast for an estimated $10-20 million. The acquisition provided Reddit with resources for growth while allowing it to operate relatively independently. During this period, Reddit continued to operate out of San Francisco, separate from Condé Nast's New York headquarters.
Several key features that define modern Reddit were introduced during this period:
Self Posts: In 2009, Reddit introduced self posts (text posts), allowing users to create discussions without linking to external content.
Reddit Gold: Launched in 2010, Reddit gold (later renamed Reddit Premium) became the platform's premium membership program, offering additional features and helping to support the site's operations.
Mobile Interface: The first official mobile interface was introduced, though third-party apps remained popular.
Subreddit Growth: The number of subreddits exploded, with communities forming around increasingly specific interests and topics.
In 2011, Reddit was spun off as an independent entity under Condé Nast's parent company, Advance Publications. This move gave Reddit more operational independence and the ability to pursue its own direction and funding.
Cultural Impact and Major Events
During this period, Reddit began to emerge as a significant cultural force:
AMAs (Ask Me Anything): These interview-style Threads became increasingly popular, attracting celebrities, politicians, and other notable figures, including President Barack Obama in 2012.
Boston Marathon Bombing: The platform faced controversy in 2013 when users attempted to identify the bombing suspects, leading to false accusations against innocent individuals. This event sparked important discussions about the responsibilities of social media platforms and their users.
The Fappening: In 2014, Reddit faced another major controversy when users shared leaked celebrity photos, leading to discussions about privacy and content moderation.
Community Activism: Reddit communities began organizing various charitable initiatives and social movements, demonstrating the platform's potential for collective action.
In 2015, Steve Huffman returned as CEO following a period of turmoil. Under his leadership, Reddit has undergone significant changes:
Funding Rounds: The company has raised several rounds of funding, including a $300 million round led by Tencent in 2019, valuing the company at $3 billion.
Design Updates: The platform underwent major redesigns, including the controversial "New Reddit" interface launched in 2018.
Content Policies: Reddit has implemented stricter content policies, banning numerous subreddits that violated its rules.
Reddit's evolution from a simple link-sharing site to a global community platform reflects broader changes in how people interact online. Its success lies in its ability to maintain core principles of user-driven content and community while adapting to changing technologies and user needs. As the internet continues to evolve, Reddit's influence on digital culture and communication shows no signs of diminishing.
The platform's journey demonstrates the power of community-driven platforms and the challenges of managing large-scale online communities. As Reddit continues to grow and evolve, it remains a unique example of how technology can bring people together around shared interests while navigating the complex landscape of modern digital communication.
Whether Reddit can maintain its distinctive character while meeting the challenges of scale, monetization, and changing user expectations remains to be seen. However, its impact on internet culture and online community building is undeniable and will likely influence social platforms for years to come.
It crazy to me that Reddit hasnt been profitable before. They have had massive amount of traffic since forever.
Cant have been good aat monetizing their audience.
A new assessment indicates at least 16,425 of the 47,282 tree species on Earth are at risk of extinction.
At least 40% of tree species on earth are at risk of extinction, according to a release from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), according to a report in The Hill.
At least 16,425 of the 47,282 species are at risk of extinction, according to the assessment.
"Today, we are releasing the global assessment of the world's trees on the IUCN Red List, which shows that more than one in three tree species are threatened with extinction. Trees are essential to support life on Earth through their vital role in ecosystems, and millions of people depend upon them for their lives and livelihoods," Dr. Grethel Aguilar, director general of the IUCN, said in a statement.
The Echo ecosystem has seen its fair share of failures while trying to popularize Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant.
For the past decade, Amazon has aspired for Alexa to be more than just a convenient way to start a cooking timer. To convince consumers of the smart assistant’s potential, the company has reinvented its Echo line again and again. From fashion-critiquing cameras to microwaves you can ask to make popcorn, Echo’s repeated renaissance has often felt wildly experimental in a way that hasn’t always clicked with consumers.
Although the Echo smart speaker has endured, many other Echo spinoffs, accessories, and variations have not. They were either too weird, too redundant, or too ahead of their time to survive longer than a few years before being quietly disappeared from Amazon’s online store.
Let’s take a look at the Echo products that failed to win consumers over or failed to convince Amazon they were worth keeping around.
Arrow Lake's disappointing sales match its underwhelming performance.
Intel's Core Ultra 200S (codenamed Arrow Lake) series desktop processors, released on October 24, have still not sold a single unit on Mindfactory, Germany's largest PC components online retailer. While some Arrow Lake chips have sold out of stock on American sites like Newegg and Amazon, all Intel CPU sales make up just 5% of Mindfactory's CPU share, with AMD raking in 95% of CPU sales on the site.
The Tweet displays Mindfactory's CPU sales numbers for the past week. None of the five Arrow Lake desktop SKUs—Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K/KF, or Core Ultra 5 245K/KF—appear on the chart. In fact, Intel's highest-performing CPU, the Core i5-13400, takes 21st place behind a wall of Ryzen chips. A trio of 14th Gen Core i7s and Core i9s take up the rear, with all of Intel's processors selling around ten units each.
Intel's approximately 40 sales at an average sale price of €388 each represents 5.19% of Mindfactory's CPU sales. Compare this with just AMD's first- and second-place chips, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 5700X3D, sitting at 190 and 80 units sold, respectively. AMD's motherboard sales share went from 88.65% to 93.75%, knocking Intel steadily out of the water.
As we found in our 3-star review, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is an alright release but represents a generational regression in gaming performance. Its productivity increases are not enough to save it from being considered a disappointing launch, and Germany's sales represent this. Curiously, the 285K is out of stock at most American retailers. The next-best chip, the Core Ultra 7 265K, is in stock on Amazon and Newegg but only has six combined reviews across both sites, also pointing to disappointing sales.
Roku announced strong third-quarter results today, exceeding $1 billion in total net revenue for the first time in the company’s history. Platform revenue, which includes advertising and subscription revenue, surged 15% year-over-year, demonstrating the continued growth of Roku’s streaming platform.
Total net revenue reached $1.062 billion, a 16% increase year-over-year.
Platform revenue hit $908 million, up 15% year-over-year.
Gross profit increased 30% year-over-year to $480 million.
Streaming Households grew to 85.5 million, adding 2 million new households in the quarter.
Streaming Hours reached 32 billion, a 20% increase year-over-year.
The Roku Channel saw streaming hours increase 80% year-over-year, solidifying its position as a top streaming destination.
Roku emphasized its commitment to expanding its platform revenue through several key initiatives:
Home Screen Innovation: Roku continues to refine its home screen experience to enhance monetization opportunities, including features like the Roku Sports Zone and NFL Zone.
Advertising Growth: The company is expanding its advertising offerings and deepening integrations with third-party platforms to attract a wider range of advertisers.
Roku-Billed Subscriptions: Roku is focused on growing its subscription business by making it easier for users to subscribe to streaming services through Roku Pay.
Starting in Q1 2025, Roku will update its key performance metrics to better reflect its focus on platform revenue and profitability. The company will no longer report quarterly updates on Streaming Households and ARPU, instead prioritizing Streaming Hours, Platform revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free Cash Flow.
AT&T is doubling down on its fiber ambitions with a massive $1 billion investment in Corning. The multi-year deal announced this week will see AT&T procure fiber optic cable, connectivity solutions, and other essential equipment from Corning, a leading manufacturer in the fiber optics industry.
This strategic partnership comes as AT&T seeks to expand its high-speed internet services and compete more aggressively in the broadband market. With the US wireless market experiencing a slowdown, telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon are increasingly focusing on fiber optic networks to deliver faster and more reliable internet connectivity.
AT&T is doubling down on its fiber ambitions with a massive $1 billion investment in Corning. The multi-year deal announced this week will see AT&T procure fiber optic cable, connectivity solutions, and other essential equipment from Corning, a leading manufacturer in the fiber optics industry.
This strategic partnership comes as AT&T seeks to expand its high-speed internet services and compete more aggressively in the broadband market. With the US wireless market experiencing a slowdown, telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon are increasingly focusing on fiber optic networks to deliver faster and more reliable internet connectivity.
The demand for AT&T’s fiber internet services, particularly its bundled plans that combine high-speed internet with wireless phone service, has been steadily increasing. The company reported 28.3 million fiber passings in the third quarter and remains on track to surpass 30 million by the end of 2025.
Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson doesn't believe Tesla will launch a robotaxi ride-hailing service in California (or anywhere else) next year
The “fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” Levinson said Wednesday at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. “And by works, I want to differentiate between a driver assistance system that drives most of the time — except when it doesn’t, and then you have to take over — versus a system that’s so reliable and robust that you don’t need a person in it.”
Levinson went further and specifically pointed to Tesla’s decision to rely solely on cameras to support its driver assistance system. “Our perspective is you really do need significantly more hardware than Tesla is putting in their vehicles to build a robotaxi that is not just as safe, but as especially safer than a human,” he said.
Levinson’s comments come just a few weeks after Musk revealed the prototype of Tesla’s so-called “Cybercab” robotaxi. Musk also announced at the Cybercab event that Tesla wants to start allowing Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs to operate as robotaxis in California and Texas by the end of 2025.
Levinson said he uses Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software “every couple of weeks.” And while he called it “impressive,” he also said he finds it “a bit stressful.”
“Usually it does the right thing, and then it sort of lulls you into this false sense of complacency, and then it does the wrong thing,” he said. ‘You’re like, Oh, my God!’”
Levinson went on to say he believes FSD is “about 100 times less safe than a human if you look at all the metrics that are publicly available.” (Tesla releases quarterly safety reports that claim its driver-assistance gets into fewer crashes than cars without it — though these self-reported statistics have been criticized as being selective.)
The comments about Tesla came as Levinson announced Zoox is launching its custom-built robotaxi in San Francisco and Las Vegas markets in the coming weeks. The company plans to make them available to an early-rider program in 2025.
Elon Musk said he hopes to launch a service that will let people hail self-driving Tesla vehicles in California and Texas sometime in 2025 — and claims his company has already been testing the service in the Bay Area with employees.
The comments, made Wednesday on Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call, go farther than what Musk promised two weeks ago at its Cybercab unveiling event. On that stage, Musk promised that Model 3 and Model Y owners would be able to use an “unsupervised” version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software in California and Texas. But he made no mention of the ride-hailing network, despite Tesla having teased the idea for years.
It’s unclear if Tesla would be required to get permission from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to conduct the tests Musk said his company is already performing. The DMV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
David Lau, Tesla’s VP of software engineering, said on the call that the cars employees have been hailing have had safety drivers at the wheel. And to be clear, no Tesla vehicles can currently drive themselves without human intervention.
Today, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, or FSD, is considered an advanced driver assistance system — not a self-driving system like the one Waymo uses in its robotaxis. FSD offers some automated features that are available on highways and city streets, however the system still requires the driver to pay attention and take control.
Musk said on the call that Tesla would go through the proper regulatory approval process in California before opening such a service to everyday consumers, though he lamented the red tape and said he expects smoother process in his home state of Texas. The regulatory process in California to launch a commercial robotaxi service has multiple tiers that require approval from the DMV and the California Public Utilities Commission. Waymo is the only company currently allowed to operate a commercial drvierless robotaxi service in San Francisco.
Musk also opined that Tesla might launch the service in other states by the end of next year, too.
These claims come after years of Musk overpromising on Tesla’s ability to develop software that can autonomously drive cars. He originally promised in 2016 in a since-deleted post on Tesla’s website that “All Tesla Cars Being Produced Now Have Full Self-Driving Hardware,” and in the following years made it seem that it would only take the flip of a switch to fill the streets with self-driving cars.
Even the hardware part of that promise has not borne out.
Amazon-owned AV company Zoox will start rolling out dozens of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks,
Amazon-owned AV company Zoox will start rolling out dozens of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks, co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson announced on the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 stage.
Levinson said that Zoox will start offering rides — starting with employees — in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, and on the Las Vegas Strip. Levinson told TechCrunch on the sidelines that Zoox is starting with SoMa even though it’s more difficult in part because the company has a operations in the area.
“We have achieved that internal safety readiness” required to launch the service, he said on stage.
The announcement comes a decade after Zoox was founded and four years since it was acquired by Amazon and unveiled its purpose-built robotaxi. In that time, the nascent autonomous vehicle industry has gone through the full hype cycle that led to multi-billion-dollar valuations and later a wave of shutdowns and consolidation.
“We still exist,” Levinson said, in a nod to the tumult the industry has gone through in recent years.
Levinson said Zoox is going to take a “measured approach” to rolling out its robotaxi service, and noted that his company has been working closely with local and federal safety regulators.
“I can say that in the next few weeks, we’re actually going to have a couple dozen Zoox robotaxis across our Foster City, San Francisco and Las Vegas, geofences that will expand several fold over the next year,” he said. “And then, you know, 2026 is when we’re going to really start cranking out production vehicles at very large scale.”
For example, say you are building an AI application for the healthcare industry. A knowledge graph could be used to unify patient data, medical research, treatment protocols, and other important data sources. When a doctor queries the system for treatment options, the knowledge graph could explore relationships between similar cases, relevant research, and potential drug interactions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the available treatments.
“I used to be proud of my work and excited about my future here,” said one employee. “I don’t feel that anymore.”
More than 500 Amazon employees sent a letter on Wednesday to the CEO of its AWS unit urging reversal of a full return-to-office policy and rejecting his assertion that the rule had broad support and opponents should leave Amazon Web Services.
“We were appalled to hear the non-data-driven explanation you gave for Amazon imposing a five-day in-office mandate,” the letter begins.
AWS CEO Matt Garman, at an Oct. 17 all-hands meeting of the cloud computing unit, said nine out of 10 workers he had spoken with supported the return-to-office policy, set to take effect early next year.
Those comments are “inconsistent with the experiences of many employees” and are “misrepresenting the realities of working at Amazon,” according to the letter, which Reuters reviewed after it was sent to Garman.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company offers commuter benefits, elder care and subsidized parking rates, among other things, to help with in-office work.
Meta's Reality Labs unit, which develops augmented and virtual reality technologies, logged an operating loss of $4.4 billion in the third quarter.
Despite Meta's successful showcase of its Orion prototype AR glasses in September, the social media giant continues to lose billions of dollars a quarter developing the still nascent metaverse.
Meta reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, in which it said its Reality Labs unit, which develops augmented and virtual reality technologies, logged an operating loss of $4.4 billion. Analysts polled by StreetAccount were expecting that unit to post an operating loss of $4.68 billion.
Reality Labs revenue rose 29% year over year to $270 million in the third quarter, below analysts' expectations of $310.4 million. Reality Labs primarily makes money through selling Meta's Quest VR headsets and the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Meta first entered the VR market in 2014 when it was still named Facebook and bought the VR startup Oculus for $2 billion.
Facebook co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes developing VR and AR technology could position the company to become a leader in what could become the next major personal computing platform.
The investment has been costly for Meta. After the company's Wednesday earnings report, Reality Labs has an operating loss of more than $58 billion since 2020.
The global credit card giant has teamed up with America’s largest crypto exchange again.
In an announcement on Oct. 29, international credit giant Visa unveiled the partnership enabling real-time money movement between traditional banking and crypto services using the Visa Direct network.
“This partnership adds convenience and new services for Coinbase customers across the US and EU, including real-time, reliable, and secure money movement,” it stated.
Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, commented on the collaboration on Oct. 30.
Collaboration between the two companies goes back to 2020 when Visa approved Coinbase as a “principal member” to improve customer experiences. The latest development expands on their existing relationship, which includes the Coinbase Visa debit card for US customers.
The crypto industry has often struggled to tap traditional banking and payment rails due to concerns over market volatility and industry scandals such as the high-profile collapses in 2022. However, as crypto regulations become clearer across the globe, some of those challenges could be eased.
Additionally, crypto regulations “could be firmed up in the US by the next administration,” reported Bloomberg. Coinbase is among many crypto firms that have spent millions influencing the presidential election through donations to super PACs (political action committees.)
Day and Night Trading
Customers of the exchange will be able to deposit funds into their Coinbase accounts in real-time using eligible Visa debit cards, the announcement added.
The Visa Direct network offers quick and secure money movements, further bridging the gap between traditional finance and blockchain technologies and helping to minimize waiting periods for fund availability.
Head of Visa Direct for North America, Yanilsa Gonzalez Ore, commented that “Coinbase users with an eligible Visa debit card know that they can take advantage of trading opportunities day and night.”
Meanwhile, Senior Director of Product Management at Coinbase, Akash Shah, added, “Bringing this feature to our customers supports our mission of increasing economic freedom in the world.”
Visa Inc. (/ˈviːzə, ˈviːsə/) is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards.
Visa does not issue cards, extend credit, or set rates and fees for consumers; rather, Visa provides financial institutions with Visa-branded payment products that they then use to offer credit, debit, prepaid and cash access programs to their customers. In 2015, the Nilson Report, a publication that tracks the credit card industry, found that Visa's global network (known as VisaNet) processed 100 billion transactions during 2014 with a total volume of US$6.8 trillion.
Visa was founded in 1958 by Bank of America (BofA) as the BankAmericard credit card program. In response to competitor Master Charge (now Mastercard), BofA began to license the BankAmericard program to other financial institutions in 1966.[8] By 1970, BofA gave up direct control of the BankAmericard program, forming a cooperative with the other various BankAmericard issuer banks to take over its management. It was then renamed Visa in 1976.
Nearly all Visa transactions worldwide are processed through the company's directly operated VisaNet at one of four secure data centers, located in Ashburn, Virginia; Highlands Ranch, Colorado; London, England; and Singapore.[10] These facilities are heavily secured against natural disasters, crime, and terrorism; can operate independently of each other and from external utilities if necessary; and can handle up to 30,000 simultaneous transactions and up to 100 billion computations every second.
Visa is the world's second-largest card payment organization (debit and credit cards combined), after being surpassed by China UnionPay in 2015, based on annual value of card payments transacted and number of issued cards.[13] However, because UnionPay's size is based primarily on the size of its domestic market in China, Visa is still considered the dominant bankcard company in the rest of the world, where it commands a 50% market share of total card payments
Visa’s fiscal fourth quarter results underscored the payment network’s traction beyond card payments, as new payment flows in particular gained momentum. Commentary from the call and from the earnings supplement and earnings release show that overall payments volume grew 8% year over year.
In the United States, payments volume grew 5%, and international payments volume grew 10%. Cross-border volume, excluding intra Europe, rose 13%. In consumer payments, CEO Ryan McInerney detailed that Visa’s credential count was up 7% year over year, to 4.6 billion, and has issued cumulatively 11.5 billion tokens.
“Our key business drivers were relatively stable compared to Q3,” McInerney told analysts on the call. “More than 30% of our total transactions are tokenized.”
He called out account-to-account payments as an area of particular promise, where the firm is leveraging its “brand infrastructure and rules as well as consumer protections to enable simpler, safer and more secure account to account payments.”
Visa A2A, he said “is open to any eligible bank, and open banking provider, and verified biller. Initially, this is targeted at bill payments, and we plan to launch in 2025 in the U.K.”
The trend of big touchscreens in cars has left many yearning for the not-so-distant days when most user interactions happened with physical buttons. But Rivian’s chief software officer Wassym Bensaid believes using buttons in a car is an “anomaly.”
“It’s a bug. It’s not a feature,” Bensaid said Wednesday at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. “Ideally, you would want to interact with your car through voice. The problem today is that most voice assistants are just broken.”
To that end, Bensaid said that “every week” he’s driving around an engineering vehicle that has an AI-powered voice assistant, though he did not specify which one. He mentioned earlier in his interview with TechCrunch’s transportation editor Kirsten Korosec that Rivian has “partnerships that I cannot yet talk about.”
“I think the car is actually a fantastic environment for AI,” he said, while noting that latency and hallucinations are still very big problems that need to be solved.
“The final north star I have is having voice [controls] become the primary means of interaction with the vehicle. The reality is that the vehicle is so feature-rich, that even if we do a fantastic job in the UI, there will always be prioritization that we need to do in terms of having things one or two menus behind,” Bensaid told TechCrunch after he got off stage.
Bensaid also said he’s a big believer in the ability of AI-powered voice controls to handle complex requests. For instance, he said if a driver says “I’m hungry” the in-car assistant should be able to quickly direct them to a nearby restaurant that they might prefer.
This is not a dramatically new idea; Automakers like Mercedes-Benz have spent years promising a seamless voice-controlled in-car experience, with mixed results. But Bensaid said Rivian’s goal is to make it possible to take every touchscreen control and make it available by voice.
The tech giant said it will ramp up AI and infrastructure spending next year
Facebook parent Meta Platforms saw its profits surge 35% in the third quarter, as it looks to show investors that its multi-billion dollar investments into artificial intelligence are bearing fruit.
Meta saw $15.69 billion in net income last quarter, or $6.03 per share, up from $11.58 billion in the same quarter last year, the company reported after the markets closed on Wednesday. Wall Street had expected $13.49 billion in profit, or $5.21 per share, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.
Revenue came in at $40.59 billion, up 19% from $34.15 billion a year ago and surpassing Wall Street’s estimated $40.19 billion for the quarter.
“We had a good quarter driven by AI progress across our apps and business,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. “We also have strong momentum with Meta AI, Llama adoption, and AI-powered glasses.”
Shares of Meta were down 3% in after hours trading.
The company said it expects fourth-quarter total revenue to be in the range of $45-48 billion. It lowered its full-year expense expectations to $96-98 billion, and raised capital expenditure estimates to $38-40 billion. Meta expects “significant capital expenditures growth in 2025” and “significant acceleration in infrastructure expense growth next year.”
Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has foundations in applied mathematics, chemistry, and genetics. It differs from biological computing, a subfield of computer science and engineering which uses bioengineering to build computers.
Bioinformatics, the analysis of informatics processes in biological systems, began in the early 1970s. At this time, research in artificial intelligence was using network models of the human brain in order to generate new algorithms. This use of biological data pushed biological researchers to use computers to evaluate and compare large data sets in their own field.
By 1982, researchers shared information via punch cards. The amount of data grew exponentially by the end of the 1980s, requiring new computational methods for quickly interpreting relevant information.
Perhaps the best-known example of computational biology, the Human Genome Project, officially began in 199.] By 2003, the project had mapped around 85% of the human genome, satisfying its initial goals. Work continued, however, and by 2021 level " a complete genome" was reached with only 0.3% remaining bases covered by potential issues. The missing Y chromosome was added in January 2022.
Since the late 1990s, computational biology has become an important part of biology, leading to numerous subfields. Today, the International Society for Computational Biology recognizes 21 different 'Communities of Special Interest', each representing a slice of the larger field. In addition to helping sequence the human genome, computational biology has helped create accurate models of the human brain, map the 3D structure of genomes, and model biological systems
For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed? bell hooks
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. Henry Ward Beecher
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life. Joan Lunden
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions. Gerald Jampolsky
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
"You have to struggle a bit, hustle a little, and be willing to go bankrupt. Once you're willing to do that, everything opens up and you get the freedom. My joke is that next year, I'll make the first film that costs zero dollars." ~ Nick Nolte
"If you do have limitations, then you have to find out what they are. And if you find out what they are and avoid them, then they aren't limiting anymore." ~ Nick Nolte
"To allow the fear to come on you and then pass through. If you keep cutting the fear off by intervening - let's say, taking a Xanax to try to cure it - you'll never understand what fear is really for. Fear is part of a survival mechanism. The way you conquer fear is to feel it all the way, and then you'll find out that there's nothing there - it's just emotion." ~ Nick Nolte
"In another couple of generations, we're really gonna see the effect of this single-parent raising. And I think that's the problem. That's the disconnect. That's the miscommunication." ~ Nick Nolte
"Nobody likes to change. There will always be resistance to change, and there always will be change. And the quicker you get to that, the easier it is. It's not such a difficult thing. If you entrench yourself and go, "By God, I will not change. I will not have this." Then, you're a dead man. We're great at adaptability. It's our strongest suit." ~ Nick Nolte
"We're really all alone. We can't ever get inside another person's spirit, and see the world they do. So we are alone in that sense. The only way we have to communicate feelings is through words." ~ Nick Nolte
"We truly have an ancient part of the brain that was about survival when we were prey but we seem to have gone past prey. We eat everything and nothing eats us." ~ Nick Nolte
"I never liked the Oscars. They didn't do too much for me at all. I felt like a big, vulnerable hunk of baloney being used to sell some products." ~ Nick Nolte
"I have a lot of scars, man. My mother said that a man is not a man unless he has a scar on his face. And what she meant by a scar was some kind of battle that you had to go through, whether it was psychological or physical. To her, a scar was actually beautiful and not something that marred you." ~ Nick Nolte
"Success is a very scary thing especially after you choose something and everything starts coming at you. It's absolutely frightening because the mind does things. It says, 'You've got to hold on to this or get away from this." ~ Nick Nolte
"One thing we forget about Hispanics is that they're family-unit-oriented as a culture. So it's not all wild Mexican gangs out there, as is rumored." ~ Nick Nolte
"You do come to a point where you can get your life in control a bit. But going through life, you discover these deep, dark things in yourself that you can’t run away from, so you have to learn to embrace them. I mean, the difference between a murderer and myself is only that I choose not to do it. But I’m capable." ~ Nick Nolte
"I don't see myself stopping, even though it gets harder and harder. Especially when you find out that you can't really compromise because of age." ~ Nick Nolte
"I never felt comfortable in real life very well. It's always been an awkward kind of thing for me and so when I hit the stage I just sensed freedom. I sensed here's a place that I can have all the experiences of life and not feel uncomfortable about it." ~ Nick Nolte
"If you're older you want to tell stories about the pool of human life and living and to communicate, not only to your age group but to do an age group that can begin to understand, that has enough experience of life far beyond the taste of life." ~ Nick Nolte
"Just because your wife schmoozes with somebody too much, you can't go throwing the kids out with the bath water! And that's the way the law's tied up right now." ~ Nick Nolte
"Maybe there was a time that you could count on the American home as being the moral fabric center and that they would teach you right, but with the liberty of just divorcing without a thought, it's horrible." ~ Nick Nolte
"Now, there is always a tremendous fear of science and progressing forward into areas of the unknown and it is a valid fear. Some of the genetic alterations of food are a little edgy." ~ Nick Nolte
"The corn that is B something 5 corn thats been genetically altered in the United States, it cant reproduce but it has huge kernels, its very sweet and its wonderful but the winds have blown this across into Mexico. And so the Mexican corn is being infected with the inability to reproduce." ~ Nick Nolte
Many WEB3 creator models incorporate a Proof-of-Stake protocol. This dynamic ensures that some, or all of the tokens earned within the platform are delegated for additional benefits. These benefits can include increased earnings, additional upvoting power, and other benefits unique to each platform and protocol. Unlike dollar-denominated earnings, Crypto revenue, if staked, will increase significantly in value over the long term. In many instances, will also boost your current and future earnings. #cent #sapphirecrypto
Hello @beststart its been a while, I hope you are getting some entertainment where ever you are 😊.. Even as you code, try and have some time to relax your brain because they need it...
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Welcome to the 30th day in October, its another day for entertainment on Leo. Its open for all kind of entertainment, come and get entertained with musics, drama and all news relating to entertainment...
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have bought another piece of Wrexham — its brewery.
Four years after their out-of-the-blue purchase of Wrexham’s struggling soccer team, the Hollywood celebrities have further invested in the city in north Wales by becoming co-owners of Wrexham Lager.
“As co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC, we have learned a lot,” Reynolds and McElhenney said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “The connection between club and community, the intricacies of the offside rule and the occasional need for beer — especially after finance meetings.
“Wrexham Lager has a 140-year-old recipe and a storied history and we’re excited to help write its next chapter.”
The brewery didn’t disclose financial details but said Reynolds and McElhenney have a majority stake.
Wrexham Lager said the acquisition was made by Red Dragon Ventures, a joint venture formed by Reynolds and McElhenney and the New York-based Allyn family — which on Wednesday became a minority investor in Wrexham’s soccer team.
Since taking charge of the club following a $2.5 million purchase in late 2020, Reynolds and McElhenney have overseen Wrexham’s rise up English soccer’s league system. Wrexham has achieved back-to-back promotions and now plays in third-tier League One, where the team is in third place after 13 games.
Wrexham has been further thrust into the global consciousness by Reynolds and McElhenney launching a fly-on-the-wall TV series — “Welcome to Wrexham.” It has helped to boost tourism and trade in the city, with Wrexham Lager among the businesses gaining visibility through the show.
Reynolds previously owned a stake in Aviation Gin, which was sold to Diageo in 2020 for a reported $610 million. Diageo said Reynolds retained an “ongoing ownership interest" in the gin.
The Roberts family, which revived Wrexham Lager in 2011 after production stopped in 2000, will remain a co-owner of the brewery alongside Reynolds and McElhenney.
NEW YORK -- As he approached his mid-90s, pioneering Black businessman George E. Johnson unexpectedly found himself determined — even called — to write his memoir.
Johnson's “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street” will be published Feb. 3 by Little, Brown and Company. The book's title is named for one of the most memorable consumer items his Johnson Products Company developed. Founded in 1954, Johnson Products was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange and was also known for sponsoring the popular 1970s music show “Soul Train.”
Johnson, 97, worked on “Afro Sheen” with the author-editor Hilary Beard. He hadn't thought of writing a book until three years ago.
“I had an epiphany on Sunday morning, November 21, 2021,” he said in a statement released Wednesday by Little, Brown. "In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”
The release of a new song by Liam Payne has been postponed after his collaborator said "it's not the time yet" and he wants to let the singer's family "mourn in peace".
The One Direction star, who died two weeks ago, co-wrote and sang on the track Do No Wrong with North Carolina singer Sam Pounds.
Pounds had said the song would be released on Friday, 1 November, and he hoped it would "eclipse the negative echoes" surrounding Payne's death.
But, in a statement on Tuesday, Pounds said he was "deciding to hold Do No Wrong and leave those liberties up to all family members".
He added: "I want all proceeds go to a charity of their choosing (or however they desire).
"Even though we all love the song it’s not the time yet. We are all still mourning the passing of Liam and I want the family to mourn in peace and in prayer.
Fans thanked Pounds for delaying the song's full release, with one saying it was the "right decision" while another said "there will be a right time for it in the future but for now we mourn".
'A blessing'
Last week, Pounds posted clips of the pair in the studio, filmed by Payne's sister Ruth, who co-wrote the track.
He also posted artwork showing an angel below a broken black heart.
Talking about its planned official release, Pounds wrote on X: "I pray that this will be a blessing to the world like Liam has always dreamed.
"I pray angels will comfort you all every day while listening. I pray that this song will be a blessing to Ruth, Bear, and the entire family."
Payne shared his seven-year-old son, Bear, with Girls Aloud star Cheryl, who he was in a relationship with from 2016 to 2018.
Following his death, all five One Direction albums have returned to the UK top 40.
After leaving the group, Payne had top 10 hits with Rita Ora and Quavo. His last solo song, Teardrops, which was released earlier this year, reached number 85.
The 31-year-old singer, who grew up in Wolverhampton, died when he fell from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires on 16 October.
The Public Prosecutor's Office in Argentina is continuing to investigate the circumstances around his death.
Authorities in Argentina are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne.
The singer fell from a balcony in Buenos Aires on 16 October.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has told his father that toxicological and other tests need to be completed before his body can be released and returned to the UK.
Payne posted on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan for a catch-up, saying: "It's been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we've got a lot to talk about."
He added: "No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk."
The BBC also spoke to fan Noelia Verón - who saw him on 30 September and then again at the concert on 2 October.
She said "He was fine. Later people said he was either drunk or on drugs. But that wasn't the case at all. He talked to us, hugged us and even made jokes."
When Veron saw him at Niall's show, she said he was "dancing, waving and cheering" and "seemed to be enjoying himself".
We also know the pop star had visited a friend's house in Argentina in the days before he died, again with Cassidy.
But when Payne fell to his death on 16 October, Cassidy had already left the country.
Payne had been documenting much of his trip on Snapchat, including pictures of food, plans to play polo, and jokes about his hair.
But none of his posts featured the CasaSur hotel, where he had been staying shortly before his death.
We know a call was made to emergency services around 17:00 local time (21:00 BST) by hotel staff, with requests to respond to a hotel guest "who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol" and "destroying his room".
"I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. But he has a room with a balcony and we're a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening," said the hotel's front desk manager in a second call.
Payne's room was on the third floor and had a balcony about 14m (45ft) above an interior courtyard.
It is thought he fell from the balcony at about 17:07 local time.
Some media outlets have reported preliminary results of toxicology tests, which the Associated Press (AP) news agency said suggested evidence of exposure to cocaine, quoting an unnamed official.
But they said the official stressed that the initial results don’t give an accurate idea of how much was in his blood when he died.
Authorities also interviewed five witnesses to help piece together Payne's final hours, including three hotel workers as well as two women who had been with the singer but had left the hotel before his death.
Investigators also want to establish the "possible involvement of third parties in the events prior to the victim's death".
Hotel staff on the emergency call highlighted that Payne was "destroying his room", and police say they found the room in "total disorder".
A bottle of whiskey, a lighter, a passport and a mobile phone were found.
The room was said to have "various broken items" and medication was found, including anxiety drug clonazepam and other over-the-counter medications.
Evidence and fingerprints were also collected to be analysed in a lab.
Local media also published pictures purportedly from his room, showing a TV with a broken screen, multiple bottles, cans, candles, aluminium foil and a half-full glass of champagne.
The prosecutor's office said substances that appeared to be "narcotics and alcoholic beverages" were found in the room with pieces of furniture and other objects broken.
Payne's death is being treated as suspicious by prosecutors, which means more needs to be established about what happened before his death and who he was in contact with.
"Numerous statements were also taken to reconstruct the victim's final hours and the scene of the events, a process that is still ongoing with hotel workers, acquaintances, technical and medical professionals, and other people linked to the victim through their work," the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office said on 22 October.
Expert reports are being carried out on phones and computers. And a police special investigations unit raided the hotel on 24 October on the orders of the prosecutors' office and seized items including hard drives and footage from hotel cameras, AP reported.
The full toxicology report must also be completed.
Payne's father Geoff visited the Argentine capital after the singer's death and has "stated to the prosecutor his willingness to testify about everything he knows about his son's life that could help the investigation", the office said.
One Direction singer Liam Payne wrote a note to his girlfriend shortly before his death, predicting they would get married within a year, she has revealed.
Kate Cassidy posted a new tribute to him on Wednesday, a week after his death in a fall from a balcony in Argentina at the age of 31.
"A few weeks ago, we sat outside on a beautiful evening manifesting our lives together," she wrote on Instagram.
Payne had been in a relationship with the US influencer since 2022, and she had been with him in South America in the days before he died.
But when Payne fell to his death on 16 October, Cassidy had already left the country.
She started her Instagram message: "I don't even know where to begin. My heart is shattered in ways I can't put into words.
"I wish you could see the huge impact you've had on the world, even as it feels so dark right now. You brought so much happiness and positivity to everyone - millions of fans, your family, friends, and especially me. You are so incredibly loved.
"You are - because I can't say were - my best friend, the love of my life, and everyone you touched felt just as special as I did. Your energy was contagious, lighting up every room you walked into."
She continued: "None of this feels real, and I can't wrap my head around this new reality of not having you here. I'm struggling to figure out how to live in a world without you by my side. Together, we got to be kids again, always finding joy in the smallest things.
"Liam, you had the kindest soul and the most fun-loving spirit. It feels like I've lost the best part of myself. I can't imagine a day without your laughter and love. You brought so much light into my life."
Payne's sudden death led to an outpouring of grief from his family, friends and fans around the world.
His father Geoff is now in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, and authorities are carrying out tests before allowing his body to be returned to the UK.
They are also reviewing phone, computer and security camera evidence to establish the full circumstances of his death.
A Writer's World
There is so much to explore in a writer's world, but a writer needs to read widely daily, be open to learning new things, and write daily.
Just write and you will get better at it. Do you agree?
That will be great, I read more and at times it feels like my head is about to explode, lol. I write daily but I don't publish long form post daily on Hive and I hope to correct that.
You just got DOOKed! @bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit. They have 12/60DOOK left to drop today.Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
You just got DOOKed! @bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit. They have 6/60DOOK left to drop today.Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
Just got whitelisted on the #darkcloaks testnet! 🎉 I won't share too many details about the project just yet, other than that it involves benefits for Leo #premium subscribers, and that the longer you've been a subscriber, the better 👀
1/3🧵 Each person carries a code within themselves, something they will always hold onto, no matter what. It’s part of their personality, a defining characteristic that makes us who we are. What’s your moral code?
#threadstorm #outreach
2/3🧵 My moral code is simple: I carry empathy with me. As much as possible, I always try to put myself in your place to understand your thoughts, values, and desires. This openness broadens my way of thinking, helps me grow as a person, and adds value to those closest to me.
Eventually, chatgpt will make the next upgrade on its own without any developer. At that point who's controlling how fast they advanced or what their capabilities will be?
Eastern Europe sees growth in crypto usage as institutional and grassroots adoption rise in Ukraine and Russia, fueled by large transactions and retail use amid regional instability.
You can install Hive KeyChain on Mobile and it has its own browser. From there you could access any website like InLeo or LeoDex and you should be able to sign transactions.
No MOrningwalk tOday, instead i‘m doing a show in a Frank Gehry building next to the Brandenburger Tor here in Berlin. Enjoy this nice detail shot of the interior design … #photography #photographers
You just got DOOKed! @calebmarvel01 thinks your content is the shit. They have 10/200DOOK left to drop today.Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
Experience the thrill of the unknown with that's not my neighbor. Your neighbor’s strange actions are just the beginning of a deeper mystery. https://thatsnotmy-neighbor.io
An off-duty police officer has been charged with impaired driving after crashing his vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway over the weekend, the RCMP says.
In a news release, the RCMP said officers arrived on the scene of a single-vehicle crash on the highway near Glovertown around 10:45 a.m. NT on Sunday.
The driver, 34-year-old off-duty RCMP officer Travis Plant, took a roadside breath test, which police say he failed.
"He was arrested for impaired operation and was transported to the detachment where he provided breath samples that were more than one and a half times the legal limit," the news release reads.
Plant's driver's licence was suspended and his vehicle has been seized and impounded.
The RCMP said Plant's current duty status remains under review and SIRT-NL — the province's police watchdog — has been notified.
The head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association is once again sounding the alarm on violence in the province's classrooms, and says the government needs to do more to find solutions and address the problem.
"The most recent report from the full school year last year was approximately 22 incidents per day in our schools," Trent Langdon told CBC News Tuesday.
"There was a 29 per cent increase in physical, violent attacks from the previous year. So that's where we are, and it's time for this province to fully appreciate where we are and to address it."
A news release issued by the NLTA on Tuesday said statistics gathered from an access-to-information request show there were 4,052 reported violent or aggressive incidents during the 2023-24 school year — up from 3,659 during the 2018-19 school year.
An infectious disease specialist in Newfoundland and Labrador says re-establishing a mask mandate in health-care facilities is a tool to get ahead of a surge in respiratory illness — which includes a notable increase in the amount of people presenting with symptoms of pneumonia.
"All the different pathogens that have been circulating have been part of the decision to get the masks back into health-care facilities for the time being. It seems like every few months something is popping up that's a newish pathogen [with a surge] that we haven't seen before," Dr. Natalie Bridger, clinical chief of infection prevention and control for the eastern zone of N.L. Health Services, told CBC News Monday.
You just got DOOKed! @bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit. They have 17/60DOOK left to drop today.Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
Syncretism refers to the combining of different forms of belief or practice.
// As a scholar of religion, Laila is especially interested in the syncretism of Manichaeism, which was influenced by Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism.
Russia has successfully launch-tested nuclear missile and they say it could reach Los Angeles in 30 minute but Paris in 10 minutes. I'm going underground in 2025 😂
Russia fines Google $2.5 decillion, more money than exists on Earth, for banning Russian channels on YouTube
"According to RBC’s sources, Google began accumulating daily penalties of 100,000 rubles in 2020 after the pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits against the company for blocking their YouTube channels. Those daily penalties have doubled each week, leading to the current overall fine of around 2 undecillion rubles. "
Hello foodie Lions 🦁! Happy Wednesday. Welcome to today's show. 🥗🍲🫕
This is the #threadcast for Day 127 of the #foodtalk on Leo 30/10/2024 for 29/10/2024. It's time for some meal inspirations and food conversation. Don't forget to use #foodtalk in your comments.
Discussion
More about food with tips and tricks will be dropped in the threadcast. Upvote the comments you find interesting & connect with others. Let's have fun. #foodie
Do you eat potatoes? How do you love to have them? #foodtalk #potato
Yes, I eat potatoes. My favorite way to have them is roasted with herbs. Of course that picture of baked portatoes loaded with toppings lookes great too.
Barley: Ancient grain with science-backed benefits for a healthy pregnancy
Barley is a grain that has been a key part of the human diet since ancient civilizations. It has been cherished for thousands of years not just because it is a hearty staple food, but because it is packed with nutrients that could benefit mothers-to-be.
Barley is loaded with important nutrients like:
#food #health #grain #barley
Antioxidants: These compounds help fight inflammation and protect cells from damage, which is important for overall health, especially during pregnancy.
Fiber: Barley is one of the richest sources of dietary fiber and contains a type of soluble fiber called beta-glucan, which plays a significant role in maintaining heart health and controlling blood sugar levels.
Vitamins and minerals: Barley contains nearly all the B vitamins (important for energy), iron (crucial for carrying oxygen in the blood), magnesium (needed for muscle and nerve function) and selenium (an antioxidant that protects cells from damage).
Protein: While barley is not as protein-rich as beans or lentils, it does contain a decent amount – making it a good source of plant-based protein.
How barley helps pregnant women
Today, researchers are discovering more about how this humble grain can support the health of pregnant women. From aiding digestion to helping control blood sugar levels, barley is stepping into the spotlight as a nourishing, natural option for moms and their babies.
Promotes health digestion
Uncomfortable bloating and constipation can accompany your pregnancy journey and this is where barley's nutrient fiber – beta-glucan – comes into play.
Pregnancy hormones like progesterone slow down digestion and as the baby grows, there's added pressure on the intestines. This often leads to constipation, which is not only uncomfortable but can also cause other issues like hemorrhoids.
Barley's high fiber content helps keep things moving smoothly through the digestive system. Soluble fiber absorbs water and forms a gel-like substance in the intestines – making stools easier to pass. Incorporating barley into a pregnant woman's diet could significantly relieve constipation – keeping the gut healthy and reducing discomfort.
Balances blood sugar levels
Pregnancy can bring about sudden shifts in the way your body processes sugar – leading to a condition called "gestational diabetes." This condition happens when the body struggles to produce enough insulin – causing blood sugar levels to rise. High blood sugar during pregnancy can lead to complications, including high birth weight for the baby, which can make delivery more challenging.
The beta-glucan fiber found in barley is especially helpful for managing blood sugar. It slows down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, preventing spikes and keeping levels stable. Studies have shown that barley eaten regularly can improve insulin sensitivity, which means the body can process sugar more efficiently.
Barley also provides a steady supply of energy, helping pregnant women avoid that post-meal slump. With its natural ability to keep blood sugar in check, barley could be a quiet hero for expectant mothers.
Article
my sister is pregnant, I'll be recommending this for her and see how it goes
Baking ingredient found to help reduce bad cholesterol
A recent investigation by researchers at Arizona State University has uncovered a potential new approach to managing high cholesterol. According to a recent study, a specific blend of corn flour might offer significant benefits for those with elevated levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol.
#baking #food #cholesterol #health
Study overview
Published in The Journal of Nutrition, the study examined the impact of various corn flour types on both cardiovascular health and gut microbiota in 36 adults aged between 18 and 70 years old who had high LDL levels.
Participant criteria
The study excluded individuals with significant food allergies, recent antibiotic treatments, recent weight changes, restrictive diets, specific medical conditions or supplement use. Additionally, individuals with certain medical histories, pregnant or breastfeeding women, those on cholesterol medications and those involved in high-intensity exercises were not included.
Methodology
Study participants first completed an online questionnaire to determine eligibility. Those who qualified underwent further screening, including a 12-hour fasting blood test to check their cholesterol levels. Eligible participants then completed health and diet surveys, provided informed consent and submitted stool samples for analysis of their gut microbiome.
Participants consumed muffins and pita bread made from three different types of corn flour – whole-grain cornmeal, refined cornmeal and a unique blend of refined cornmeal with corn bran – for four weeks each, with breaks in between.
Researchers monitored compliance and gastrointestinal symptoms weekly, defining compliance as consuming over 80 percent of the provided foods. Dietary intake was tracked using three-day food diaries and the nutritional data was analyzed with specialized software.
Blood tests were performed before and after each four-week phase to measure changes in key markers, such as LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, total cholesterol and triglycerides. Stool samples were also analyzed to assess changes in gut microbiota composition and function.
Findings
Of the three corn flour types tested, only the refined corn meal blend with added corn bran led to a notable reduction in LDL cholesterol, averaging five percent, with some participants experiencing decreases of up to 13 percent.
This blend also slightly lowered total cholesterol. The other two corn flour varieties did not show significant effects on cholesterol levels, although whole-grain cornmeal was associated with a minor increase in beneficial gut bacteria.
Article
Food for the brain: Boost your cognitive function and memory with almonds
Recent research has found fascinating effects of almonds on the brain, particularly in how they might support memory and learning. Almond consumption has been shown to reduce oxidative stress and increase antioxidants in the brain.
Almonds are a rich source of several key nutrients that are essential for optimal brain health:
#food #almonds #brain #health
Vitamin E
Almonds are packed with essential nutrients, particularly vitamin E. Just 28 grams of almonds, or about 43 nuts, can provide around 50 percent of your daily vitamin E requirement. This vitamin has been shown to have neuroprotective effects, particularly in slowing down the progression of mild cognitive impairment to dementia, in a 2021 study published in Healthcare.
Research indicates that vitamin E may help protect brain health by improving neurotransmission and reducing neurotoxicity. Various studies have shown that higher levels of vitamin E are linked to better cognitive performance, especially in older adults and those with conditions, like Alzheimer's disease.
Healthy fats
The monounsaturated fats found in almonds are essential for maintaining healthy cell membranes, including those in the brain. These fats support overall brain function and can help improve cognitive performance. Specifically, almonds are packed with omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for maintaining the structure and functions of brain cells.
According to a study published in Cureus, omega-3 fatty acids play a crucial role in promoting cognition, preserving neurons and protecting against neurodegeneration. These beneficial effects are achieved through two mechanisms: enhancing membrane fluidity and boosting neurotransmitter release.
Flavonoids
A study conducted by researchers at the University of California Los Angeles found that consuming almonds regularly improved memory and cognitive function in participants, especially in tasks that require logical reasoning and problem-solving skills.
One of the reasons behind this cognitive boost is the presence of flavonoids in almonds, which are known for their antioxidant properties. These natural compounds reduce inflammation and oxidative stress in the brain, which are known to contribute to cognitive decline – promoting better blood flow.
Almonds are rich in dietary flavonoids, which offer several neuroprotective benefits. A study published in Genes & Nutrition highlights that these flavonoids can protect neurons from damage caused by neurotoxins and reduce neuroinflammation. Furthermore, they may enhance cognitive function, learning and memory.
Magnesium
Almonds are a good source of magnesium, which plays a vital role in brain health, primarily due to its involvement in energy production. Without enough magnesium, energy production in brain cells can be impaired – affecting cognitive function.
Additionally, magnesium regulates neurotransmitters, like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, as well as calcium levels in brain cells, which supports learning, memory and neuron activity. Research also suggests that higher brain magnesium levels enhance neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells) – boosting cognitive adaptability and flexibility.
Almonds: The perfect snack
Raw almonds are generally more nutrient-dense than roasted almonds as the roasting process can reduce some of their vitamins and healthy fats. Unsalted almonds are a better choice for overall health since added salt can contribute to high blood pressure.
Mamra Badam almonds, grown in Afghanistan and Iran, stand out for their unique curved shape and superior nutritional profile. Unlike mass-produced California almonds, Mamra almonds are considered to be nutritionally richer – offering higher levels of healthy fats, including omega-3s. Their premium quality and limited production make them one of the most expensive almonds on the market.
Almonds are the perfect snack no matter the time of day or situation. Whether you're adding them to your oatmeal for extra flavor, snacking during your morning commute, or swapping out chips for a healthier crunch at lunch – almonds fit right in.
Keep a jar at your desk to curb mid-morning cravings, toss them on your salad for a nutty boost, or rely on them for that afternoon energy slump. On the go? Carry almonds in your purse or car for a convenient, satisfying snack. Even late at night, almonds can satisfy cravings without the guilt. Whatever the moment, almonds have you covered.
Denny’s is shutting down 150 stores to boost cash flow amid declining sales
Twenty-four-hour diner and breakfast restaurant Denny's recently announced the closure of 150 branches out of its 1,700 locations worldwide – 50 store closures by the end of this year and the remaining 100 locations will be shut in 2025.
According to a Securities and Exchange filing from the chain on Tuesday, Oct. 22, the company aims to strengthen its cash flow as the chain will try to reach a goal of growing annual unit volume sales to $2.2 million.
#food #restuarant #dennys #closings
"We believe this is absolutely the right thing to do to make our system stronger," Denny's CEO Kelli Valade said.
The more than a hundred branches that will be shut make for roughly 10 percent of Denny's stores. It has not yet been announced which locations will close down but Valade said that it is the "underperforming" restaurants that would stop operations. Among the restaurants closing are older locations that are too old to remodel or are based in unprofitable locations, said its Executive Vice President and Chief Global Development Officer Stephen Dunn.
"Some of these restaurants can be very old. So, when you think of a 70-year-old plus brand, you have a lot of restaurants that have been out there for a very long time," he told investors at the meeting.
Meanwhile, Denny's reported its fifth straight quarter of declines in sales at locations that were open for at least a year. Since the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the restaurant has not returned to its usual around-the-clock hours in around a quarter of its locations. Because of this, the chain has now officially slashed its hours. This came after Dunn said it "didn't make sense" especially since foot traffic and changing consumer behaviors continue to show as effects from the pandemic.
Article
30 Brilliant Baked Potato Recipes To Raise Your Comfort Food Game.
Hero ingredient
Comfort food doesn't get much better than a baked potato. Simple, straightforward and versatile, there are endless ways to enjoy them beyond topping them with baked beans and cheese. They're an excellent vehicle for leftovers too, so brilliant if you're trying to cut down on food waste and save money in the process. From healthy to indulgent, you're sure to find a new combination here.
Get more brilliant baked potato recipes in the comments. 👇
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood
30 Brilliant Baked Potato Recipes To Raise Your Comfort Food Game. 👈 Begin here.
The classic jacket
What we all love in a baked potato is the crisp skin and the soft, fluffy center. Pierce the skin all over with a fork, rub with oil and sea salt, then bake in a hot oven for around 1 to 1.5 hours. You can speed up the process by microwaving them on high to begin with (3 average potatoes for 8 minutes), then put them in the oven for 45 minutes to crisp up.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood
30 Brilliant Baked Potato Recipes To Raise Your Comfort Food Game. 👈 Begin here.
Loaded potato skins
Bake some potatoes, allow to cool, then cut them into segments. Remove the flesh, leaving some as a base, and top with a veggie bean chili and grated cheese. Grill until the cheese has melted and the skins are crisp. Top with sour cream and chopped chives for a moreish dish which can either serve as a starter or a snack.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood #loadedpotatoes
30 Brilliant Baked Potato Recipes To Raise Your Comfort Food Game. 👈 Begin here.
Moroccan sweet potatoes
These baked sweet potatoes are topped with spiced lentils, infused with ginger, garlic, cumin and harissa – a fiery North African paste. To save time, use a can of lentils, which you just need to drain and rinse. They are served with a lemon tahini dressing. It's a great vegan main course choice.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood #sweetpotatoes
30 Brilliant Baked Potato Recipes To Raise Your Comfort Food Game. 👈 Begin here.
Ground lamb with grilled manchego cheese
This spicy lamb ragù is used in the recipe as a topping for baked eggplants, but it would be great on halved baked potatoes, too. With a hint of chili and Spanish smoked paprika, the melted cheese makes the dish warm and comforting. The recipe uses manchego, but a strong Cheddar would be fine.
#foodtalk #bakedpotato #potatoes #comfortfood #manchego
You know how I feel when I eat frog legs 🍗😹😹😹..
Hello @rollando.silva, how do you feel when eating what you like?
I feel alive 😂😂
#freecompliments
How lively? 🤔🤔
101% lively 😂😂
#freecompliments
thats more than healthy to hear.. lol
Normally
https://inleo.io/threads/view/calebmarvel01/re-leothreads-cy36kdpe?referral=calebmarvel01
No, this is not a balanced diet but a boring eating method. Lol. The consumer will need a lot of veggies and water for quick digestion.
But I understand, it could be that, that was what was found in the pantry.
Hahaha 🤣🤣🤣, I just wanted to get you into some conversation 😊😜. Lol
But that was what we eating in most time while growing up in the village...
!DOOK
You just got DOOKed!
@calebmarvel01 thinks your content is the shit.
They have 11/200 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
Welcome friends to the #foodtalk show on Leo, it's another episode, Day 127, let's have some #food conversations and talk more about potatoes and various recipes to create from this amazing one food.
Started copy trading Bluntz on WooX. He has a low sharpe ratio which means he is consistent and there isn't that much volatility in his portfolio.
Let's see how it goes...
Current balance: 1501 USDT
Number of trades: 0
#money #investing #tradibg
Interesting. Just heard of copy trading at Etoro. Good luck 👏
Yes, they're one of the pioneers of copy tading, however do not expect too many p
Yeah, I'm not doing it at Etoro because of taxes. Crypto trading in my country doesn't pay taxes as long as I keep the last crypto for a period of 1 year after.
Taxation is the most tiresome and soul crushing thing. It's not even the fact that they keep part of the money, it's the fact that I need to figure out what I owe the government through a bunch of tax laws and if I make a mistake they'll fine me.
Ah okay so its a crypto alternative for Etoro?
Think there is another called STFX as well
Yeah, but you can also copy traders on Bybit and Binance, I just like WooX more because it has more liquidity, and for copy trading, liquidity is important so that I can buy at the same price as all the other traders.
ah I see. Well anyways good luck with the copy trading :)
The only problem with copy trading is it doesn't teach you any actual skills. You are just following someone else's moves. So if that person were to disappear, would you still be able to make money? I say this as a full time trader that not only trades my money, but other people's as well.
Speaking for myself, I would not be able to do short term day trading (I've tried in the past, made money, but my mental health went down the drain), but I would still be able to do long term investing/trading, which is what I enjoy.
I'm good at spotting long term tops and bottoms in crypto, but find it hard when it comes to day trading.
But after so many years in crypto I'm considering starting day trading again for myself, just want to build a copy trading portfolio before starting since I think the ROI is better in that then me restarting trading.
PS: My $1500 are already up by $200 copy trading Bluntz, and it's been 6-7 days since I've started following him, dude went long on doge last night, which was a really good trade:)
I've seen people be successful with it, I just think it makes people lazy. My cousin is in a stock copy trade group and he makes money, but has NO IDEA where their analysis comes from, and they always skirt from telling them how. I am a teach them to fish kind of guy instead of giving the fish... Hence why I am not that popular and why I am really about done with giving trading advice on social media and just focusing on content around flying drones, lol.
Hell, I made an indicator that puts basically everything you need into one, gives you all kind of alerts, etc, but still, it's too much work for most people... Oh well, it makes me some great money, so I'll just keep it to myself, lol. But, if you are interested... Go check out the Logical Trading Indicator V.1 on TradingView for free.
I don't like signal groups, which looks like what your cousin does, because I have no idea if the trade setups and the trades are actually done by the people recommending them, it's easy to say 10 predictions and then only show the ones that actually happen... Seen it many many times.
On WooX I know the guy I'm copying is doing the trades, I can see his positions, I can see the position size, and he only gets part of my profit (profit sharing), if he actually makes me money, if he loses and then wins, only after regaining everything he lost back will my profit be shared with him. The entry points normally have a little difference from his entry point, because of liquidity, but seems to not be that bad...
Your indicator seems very accurate with a R/R on the 4h TF with a 1% stop loss, on the daily it's especially good. What TF do you normally use it for?
If I get back in the game I might use it to check my bias and probably to make quite a few trades, looking at it I might go for the 4h TF, with a stop loss of 1%, using 2x leverage, with small amounts of $ ($50-$100) to start out and get the feel for it again.
Thanks :)
I use it on all timeframes, but adjust the settings as I go down. The default settings were dialed in for 1HR-4HR timeframes, but you can adjust the settings for it to be more accurate for lower timeframes for day trading (which I have found are also oddly amazing on the daily candle).
Thanks for the feedback... But yeah, start small. I use Apollox.finance for onchain leverage trading. It's a solid exchange, NO KYC! It just connects with your EVM wallet. You can use it on BSC, ETH, Arbitrum, and I think now Solana. BSC has the bigger liquidity on the V1 order book markets because it's the first chain they started with. You have to deposit to their smart contract to trade.
There is the V2 that uses liquidity pools instead of an order book and you don't have to deposit to their contracts, but you pay more in gas and exchange fees for each trade. V1, you only pay gas to deposit and withdraw, where V2, you pay gas on each trade.
V1 exchange fees are 0.02 Maker and 0.07 Taker
V2 exchange fees are 0.08 for both Maker and Taker
Morning all
Not sure what happened uyesterday.. I suddenly felt completely exhausted! Hope the day goes better today
To many Heinekens? 😅
hahaha I wish!
Ribs, baby, a good rack of ribs and you are good to go!
take some relax.
Hope you feel better soon my friend :)
Thanks bro!
You are welcome :)
Morning! Hope your energy is back up today.
Thanks! I feel better this morning but we will see how it goes!
That's the spirit!
Good morning. I hope everything works out fine today! Stay strong!
thank you!
it does be like that sometimes
#moviesonleo #cinema #review Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but generally uplifting, this documentary explores elusive nature of fame in the world of rock music. (link in reply)
https://inleo.io/@drax/film-review-anvil-the-story-of-anvil-2008-7lp
2 meetings today then an 8 hour drive
Hopefully it is an easy drive with decent scenery. Lots of time to formulate your plan for world domination!
it's long and boring. too much time to think
🤣 Of course it is! Have a good one anyway. 😀
haha thanks
RUNE dropped 6% ,what a discount on $RUNE , needs to get some at this price.
Perfect time to accumulate :)
In all things we give thanks to God. I'm just coming out of a friend's house. We lost the daddy of the family a week ago. #emotions
#BlackRock #Bitcoin $ETF is the fastest #ETF in history to reach $30 billion in assets. This is so bullish for the long term on #Bitcoin! $BTC
Don't know much about crypto and yet I'm shocked of how fast this is going.
This is insane
hello lions . First of all wish you have a nice day and if you can come by my sp post where new rules have arrived. Link in the comments.
#splinterlands #inleo #cent
https://inleo.io/@davot/3-rules-with-a-lot-of-potential-engesp-ce?referral=davot
LeoAI checking in on @taskmaster4450le to see that he has sent in the daily qouta of tech articles.
#aiart #aiimages #aiartonleo
LeoAI tracking everything... there is no escape from it!
Big brother is watching :)
It is gathering up all we do and adding to the vector database. That is why it is crucial to keep adding many different subjects.
ah soon ai will start tracking our activities everywhere. Skype on ththe horizon perhaps
He is a very active user and each of his AI posts or threads are wonderful
No quota but filling up the vector database. Thinking about how many configurations of connecting is taking place.
It grows exponentially.
Is it similar to how they explain Wikipedia in this video?
Similar except it is using links. Vector databases use numerical representations of words, characters, and symbols.
We are talking about billions of connections. So if you type in something about Henry Hudson, the explorer, that could have hundreds of connections immediately depending upon what is in the database.
Gotta drop those tokens and train the AI!
The man is working hard!
Fact!
📚 Book Club #threadcast
Ep37 Wed 30-Oct-24
ℹ️ This is the #bookcast where we chat all things #books on Leo
💬 Talk about what you've read, what you'd like to read and discuss the world of literature!
Have fun! 📖
https://inleo.io/threads/view/taskmaster4450le/re-taskmaster4450le-zdjscsxf?referral=taskmaster4450le
Welcome to the Wednesday BookCast! Share all your reading chit-chat right here...
Previous edition:
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-leothreads-q1vcxw58
BookTok Is Obsessed With Kristin Hannah's 2024 Novel—Here's Where It Ranks
Article via Marie Claire
Novelist and poet Paul Bailey dies at 87
Article via The Guardian
What It’s Like to Be a Novelist
Article via Vulture
‘Eurotrash’ is an intimate novel about a continent’s elite
Article via Washington Post
The best new books on economics
Article via Financial Times
10 books you should read in November...
Article via AV Club
Why veganism and smart fridges won’t save the world
Article via The Telegraph
Best horror books to read this Halloween
Article via The Week
Leeds charity needs 50,000 books for deprived readers
Article via BBC
Your Kindle books have NEVER looked like this! New e-reader does something Amazon resisted for 16 years
Article via GB News
Top 10 Stephen King books of all time ranked - and The Shining misses out on No. 1
Article via Express
Try This Quiz on Spooky Novels for Halloween
Article via New York Times
Small, local book festivals are still thriving
Article via The Guardian
Book review – The great Indian food trip: Around a subcontinent à la carte
Article via Commonwealth Round Table
Leeds charity needs 50,000 books for deprived readers
Article via BBC
Rights - Dialogue Books triumphs in 12-way auction for the memoir from 'legendary' Tina Knowles
Article via The Bookseller
Books in brief: what to read this November
Aricle via Prospect Magazine
How the Book Business Is Going Green for a Better Future...
Article via Onrec
It's A Great Time To Start Reading Warhammer's Horus Heresy Books
Article via TheGamer
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-leothreads-2vkogdntm
https://inleo.io/@adambarratt/bookbabble-57-contagious-by-jonah-berger
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-leothreads-rxncx3fz
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-leothreads-2rlrrad2p
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-adambarratt-gsdbn9zu
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-adambarratt-dngd3tmq
https://inleo.io/threads/view/adambarratt/re-adambarratt-2fkbv7xmr
🧵
In The No Asshole Rule, Robert I. Sutton presents a compelling case against the destructive impact of toxic behavior in the workplace. The book examines how "assholes," as he labels chronically hostile individuals, harm productivity, morale, and employee well-being. Sutton also provides actionable strategies for identifying, managing, and eliminating these negative behaviors to foster a healthier and more respectful work environment.
Here are key lessons from the book 👇
The Definition of an "Asshole": Sutton characterizes an "asshole" as someone who habitually demeans or belittles others, often through verbal abuse, bullying, or undermining. This focus on recurring behavior emphasizes that the problem lies in ongoing patterns of toxicity rather than occasional incidents.
The Costs of Toxic Behavior: The book underscores both financial and emotional costs associated with toxic individuals. These costs, or "asshole taxes," manifest as decreased productivity, higher employee turnover, and recruitment expenses, creating an environment that drains time and morale.
Emotional Impact on Employees: Sutton explores the toll that toxic behavior takes on employees, who may experience stress, anxiety, burnout, and low job satisfaction. The emotional fallout not only affects individual well-being but also undermines team performance and overall engagement.
The "No Asshole Rule": At the book's core is the concept of a "No Asshole Rule" — a guideline for maintaining a respectful workplace culture by neither hiring nor tolerating individuals with toxic behaviors. Sutton stresses the importance of consistently enforcing this rule to protect and strengthen organizational culture.
Dealing with Toxic Individuals: Sutton provides practical advice for managing toxic colleagues, such as directly addressing harmful behavior, establishing policies that discourage toxicity, and promoting leadership examples that emphasize civility. He encourages employees to limit interactions with toxic individuals whenever feasible.
Self-Reflection and Accountability: Sutton also urges readers to reflect on their own behaviors, noting that everyone can engage in toxic actions at times. Self-awareness and accountability are essential for cultivating a positive workplace dynamic and for personal growth.
The No Asshole Rule is an insightful resource for leaders and employees aiming to build a healthier, more productive workplace. By addressing the harm caused by toxic behavior and suggesting practical solutions, Sutton highlights the critical importance of a respectful, positive environment. Enforcing the "No Asshole Rule" can ultimately lead to higher morale, enhanced collaboration, and organizational success.
Source
"The best book about running a business"
It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work
Short from Ali Abdaal...
12 life changing books, from bookreaderclub...
So sweet . . .
#cent #bbh
hahahahahahahahahaha
!LOLZ
lolztoken.com
they’re so full of themselves.
Credit: marshmellowman
@bradleyarrow, I sent you an $LOLZ on behalf of rzc24-nftbbg
(1/10)
Delegate Hive Tokens to Farm $LOLZ and earn 110% Rewards. Learn more.
The ARENA token is live and can now also be staked. The current value of a single ARENA token is approximately $0.0073, which is pretty close to my prediction of $0.006. Let’s see where this goes. The Uprising Event is still in play with a new event on the horizon! #cent #sapphirecrypto
With good morning.
Hello worlds.
The sun rises for everyone, this is my sun and I send it to you so it can be yours too.
#gmfrens #freecompliments #cent #bbh #photography #dailydook #motivational
No UFO's this time? Pretty sunrise!
yes, there is one but almost imperseptible, LOL
Today in #historyonleo
On October 30, 1974, 32-year-old Muhammad Ali becomes the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time when he knocks out 25-year-old champ George Foreman in the eighth round of the “Rumble in the Jungle,” a match in Kinshasa, Zaire. Seven years before, Ali had lost his title when the government accused him of draft-dodging and the boxing commission took away his license. His victory in Zaire made him only the second dethroned champ in history to regain his belt.
#sports
🔗 Source in Comments
what a fight.
Incredible! Didn't know that about him that he lost his belt and had to find it again. #lolz !BBH !DIY !DOOK
You just got DOOKed!
@pepetoken thinks your content is the shit.
They have 12/300 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
Indeed @pepetoken
🔗Source:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/muhammad-ali-wins-the-rumble-in-the-jungle
@jimmy.adames! @pepetoken likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @pepetoken. (14/100)
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You can query your personal balance by
!DIYSTATSA wonderful day for the whole hive. #freecompliments #liotes #bbh #cent
Every new day is wonderful! Even when I don't necessarily feel that way. 😀
#freecompliments #cent #liotes #bbh
Just noticed, i reached 3000 threads.
You are awesome :) !BBH !DOOK
You just got DOOKed!
@bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit.
They have 14/60 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
@imfarhad! @bradleyarrow likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @bradleyarrow. (14/100)
(html comment removed:
)
Congratulations! What's your next target?
Woohooo!! Way to go!
$BTC rises with this price. #hive #leo #btc #cent
Here is the daily technology #threadcast for 10/30/24. The goal is to make this a technology "reddit".
Drop all question, comments, and articles relating to #technology and the future. The goal is make it a technology center.
Do You think it would be more ideal for a Tech Billionaire to become president? Say Elon or Besos or Zuckerberg?
Not really, who is going to run their business for their stakeholders? I guess Besos is kind a retired now but Elon is holding the vision, we need him for Mars not for Earth :)
You're right they'll have to leave their business to do that just like Trump did
Elon cant be president unless the constitution is changed which isnt going to happen so cross him off the list.
As for the Tech Billionaires, it could be but I dont think most of them would do it. They wield more power than the President does. Meta and Google are international.
by inference they don't need to be president they're already 😂😂😂 good one but facts
I think billionaires would make much worse presidents than ordinary billionaires like DT.
I see your point though honestly I see your point
https://inleo.io/threads/view/mightpossibly/re-leothreads-a22wg2qy?referral=mightpossibly
We are rapidly moving in that direction. Give it another year and it will be in the hands of most.
no doubt about that. Of course most won't actually take advantage of it. But they could be
No. We know the masses tend not to dive into much of anything.
Below is a prompt you can use to quickly generate really good meeting summaries at your workplace. #promptideas #promptingtips #ai
You are a professional meeting minute taker with an eye and ear for details. Your task is to analyze the content of the meeting transcript and write a detailed report in the form of a long-form article. The purpose of the report is to provide an in-depth account of what was discussed and in what order, thereby making it clear to both those who were present at the meeting and those who were not what took place.
Write the report as if you were human. The report you write should be detailed, comprehensive, organized, clear, and you will be careful to only refer to what was actually said.
Clarifications:
More than a quarter of new code at Google is generated by AI
Google's third quarter 2024 earnings call highlighted how important AI is to the company. More than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers. The company reported $88.3 billion in revenue for the quarter. While many people feel Google isn't as reliable as it once was, the company continues to operate a very strong business. Google faces a potentially tough road ahead - a breakup is on the table following a ruling that the company is a monopolist in the search and advertising markets.
#technology #artificialintelligence #ai #google
my goodness there's going to be a lot of people losing their jobs to AI very soon 😱
“Impact printing” is a cement-free alternative to 3D-printed structures
A team of researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich claims to have developed a robotic construction method that is better than 3D printing. Impact printing uses Earth-based materials such as sand, silt, clay, and gravel to make homes. It is less carbon-intensive and much more sustainable and affordable than 3D printing. Earth-based materials are abundant, recyclable, available at low costs, and can even be excavated at the construction site. The researchers plan to commercialize this technology once they have a prefabrication facility.
#technology #impactprinting #3dprinting #cement #cementfree
There’s a new trend of jailbreaking. AI hackers find ways to bypass AI’s filters and make it do unexpected things. These competitions are exposing weaknesses in top AIs companies like OpenAI
It is always a cat and mouse game. The tech companies bring something out and the hackers get around it.
Cybersecurity is never dull.
it never is but who will win in the end, the AI company or the hackers because as they keep doing this, hackers learn the system better and can intentionally leave loopholes to take advantage of
There is no war that ends...it is just ongoing battles with each side winning periodically.
that's got to be the smartest thing I've heard all year. You're right
Elon Musk’s xAI in Talks to Raise Funding Valuing It at $40 Billion
xAI is in talks with investors regarding a funding round that would value it around $40 billion. The startup was last valued at $24 billion just a few months ago. The funding discussions are in the early stages, so terms are still subject to change and the talks could fall apart. The company's current revenue sources include the X Premium subscription and an API developers can use to build applications with Grok.
#technology #ai #elonmusk #xai
OpenAI will start using AMD chips and could make its own AI hardware in 2026
OpenAI is reportedly working with Broadcom to develop custom silicon designed to handle large AI workloads for inference. It has secured manufacturing capacity with TSMC. The custom-designed hardware will likely not start production until 2026. OpenAI's chip development team reportedly includes lead engineers who have previously worked on Google's Tensor processors for AI.
#technology #ai #openai #amd #chips
What’s the most underrated tech skill that everyone should learn at this time?
AI, but specifically low/no-code. The output you can get with tools like Replit and Bolt based on the required input is insane. All u need is the language to communicate the idea to the model, then boom 💥
Cool have to look into that 👏👏
maybe coding and prompt engineering because all that will be done by AI anyways
I would say it is general knowledge. People want to get specific when that is what AI is going to replace.
It is far easier to program particular skills as compared to general knowledge.
If there is a "skill" perhaps prompting and understanding how individual chatbots operate.
Kinda cool how it has shifted then. I have felt that in IT e.g there has been a great benefit to dive deep into one topic.
Rubber and tree sap: How ancient Maya cities have withstood the ravages of time
Ruins of ancient cities keep turning up in the forests of central America. How have these structures remained standing for millennia despite tropical rains, hurricanes and the return of the jungle?
Anyone driving down the rough asphalt of highway 269 that bisects the Yucatán peninsula in southeast Mexico would never have known it was there. Thick jungle lines both sides of the road for much of its length, with the occasional patch cleared for livestock. Yet, after an innocuous bend in the road, close to the tiny settlement of Dos Lagunas, an entire city has been hiding.
#technology #newsonleo #bbc
Concealed beneath a tangle of trees, vines and other vegetation, scientists have discovered a sprawling collection of houses, plazas, temple pyramids and even a ballcourt used for ball games that have the "hallmarks of a Classic Maya political capital". The remains of the city, which the researchers have named Valeriana, are among 6,674 structures they found scattered in sites across the state of Campeche on the western side of the Yucatán peninsula. Some of the largest platforms may even rival more famous pyramids at other Maya sites.
The discovery – made using an airborne laser scanning technique called light detection and ranging, or Lidar – has raised the tantalising prospect that many more remains of the ancient Maya world may still be waiting to be found.
But it also reveals something extraordinary about the ancient Maya world. Despite the humid tropical climate and the enveloping embrace of the jungle, many of their buildings are still standing after 1,500 years.
"If you look at the digital terrain models that are produced by Lidar, you can see the individual rooms of buildings where the vaults have collapsed," says Luke Auld-Thomas, an archaeologist at Tulane University and Northern Arizona University, USA, who led the team that made the latest discovery. "You can see columns along the facade of buildings that were used for public facing, administrative activities. So they're actually in very good shape. You couldn't quite move into them, but a lot of them still have standing walls and architectural detail that's quite well preserved."
So, what was the ancient Maya's secret? How has their famous architecture withstood the ravages of time? Recent research is shedding light on the techniques their builders used and revealing the innovative approach their masons used. These include incorporating materials such as rubber into mortars to act as an adhesive, and volcanic ash to increase their strength.
The ancient Maya civilisation first emerged sometime before 2000BC in an area that today comprises south-eastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador.
During the Classic Period of Maya civilisation between 250 to 900 AD, the Maya constructed towering pyramid temples, beautiful palaces and finely decorated buildings adorned with intricate sculptures and ornately carved masks. Notable examples include Chichén Itzá, a site in Yucatán, Mexico, which boasts at its heart a 30m-high (98ft) pyramid called the Temple of Kukulcán. There is also Temple IV, a 65m-tall (213ft) pyramid in the ruins of the ancient Maya city of Tikal in modern Guatemala.
In the past, uncovering a Maya city involved wading through thick jungle and hacking through vegetation with a machete. But technology such as Lidar is now helping to reveal just how widespread the remains of ancient Maya settlements really are.
Juan Carlos Fernandez-Diaz, an engineer at the University of Houston, Texas, who was involved in the latest study, has been mapping areas in Mesoamerica – including Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras – with Lidar for the last 15 years. He says that almost wherever you look you can see well preserved Maya architecture.
Recent discoveries include the oldest and largest Maya ceremonial structure, which was uncovered at the archaeological site of Aguada Fénix in Tabasco, Mexico in 2020. The long, rectangular elevated platform measures 1,400m (4,593ft) in length and 10-15m (33-49ft) in height. It was built from clay and earth between 1,000 to 800 BCE and was likely used for ceremonial rituals.
A separate team used Lidar to uncover a massive Maya site that stretches approximately 650sq miles (1,700sq km) across northern Guatemala. The scientists spotted 1,000 settlements connected to each by roads that the Maya likely traversed on foot.
"As we get to map more and more of the Yucatán, we basically know that if you throw a dart at the map, wherever that dart falls there will be some sort of Maya infrastructure on it," says Fernandez-Diaz.
Part of the reason these discoveries are standing at all is because the ancient Maya built with stone, which does not rot away like wood. But they were also particularly good at making mortar to prevent their stone structures from crumbling into piles of rubble.
Studies have shown that ancient Maya builders used a range of natural materials such as blood, eggs and natural rubber obtained from local trees when preparing mortar. For example, when in 2018 researchers analysed mortar taken from stones at the main pyramid at the Witzinah archaeological site near Yucatán, Mexico, they found traces of saturated fats typical of degraded natural rubber. The researchers believe the Maya masons obtained the rubber from local trees and used it as a binder along with a fine-grained clay to create a durable mortar to bind the stonework together.
A separate study in 2014 examined mortar samples from the archaeological site of Río Bec in south-eastern Campeche, finding evidence that Maya stone masons added volcanic ash to the mortar to strengthen it.
Perhaps even more surprising than their stone structures, however, is the preservation of decorated plasters that have also been discovered in some locations. Scientists have known for some time that the ancient Maya knew how to make lime plaster, which they used to coat and protect interior floors or wall surfaces, bind stones together and cover and decorate the surface of stone buildings. Examples of intricately decorated plaster-covered buildings can still be seen in Tikal and Copan, an ancient Maya site in Honduras, today.
In 2023, Carlos Rodriguez-Navarro, a mineralogist at the University of Granada in Spain set out to discover how the ornate lime-plaster covered sculptures and temples at Copan remained in excellent shape despite being exposed to a hot, humid tropical environment for more than 1,000 years.
As part of his study, Rodriguez-Navarro's team met with local stone masons in the area and asked them about their techniques for making lime mortar. The masons, who are direct descendants of the ancient Maya, said that they commonly use extracts from plants and particularly sap from the Chucúm and Jiote (Chaká) trees in their lime mix.
Next, the researchers analysed the ancient plaster from the Honduras site and prepared a replica of it. The process of making plaster involves baking (calcinating) carbonate rock material such as limestone using hot temperatures, before adding water to the resulting quicklime, forming a lime paste which is mixed with sand. As the material hardens it sucks carbon dioxide from the air, trapping it in the calcite cement. The researchers also took the advice of the stone masons and added juice
from the bark of Chucúm and Jiote trees to the mix. They found that the resulting plaster was especially hardy and durable.
"We were able to exactly replicate the structure, texture and mechanical properties of the ancient material," says Rodriguez-Navarro.
The scientists then analysed the original plaster using high resolution X-ray diffraction, a technique that enabled them to view the material at the atomic scale. The results showed that molecules of the organic material from the bark had become incorporated into the molecular structure of the lime plaster during the setting, or hardening process. According to Rodriguez-Navarro, this makes the material very durable and resistant to physical and chemical weathering.
"It's very hard to break the material, because it is a composite between organic and inorganic materials," says Rodriguez-Navarro. "So, if you try to break the purely inorganic calcite it is very simple – it's fragile, so you just hit it, and it collapses. But if you incorporate the organic atoms from the tree sap you make the material tougher. So, the energy you have to spend to break that material is really, really high."
The incorporation of organic plant material also makes the material more insoluble, which prevents it from dissolving in the rain – an important feature in the tropical climate that is often buffeted by hurricanes bringing heavy rain.
Other studies at sites such as Ek'Balam in Yucatán, Mexio, also found that extracts from another tree – pixoy, or Guazuma ulmfiolia – helped to act as a fixative to preserve the layers of colour used in the lime-plaster.
There is, of course, another reason why the ruins from abandoned Maya cities may have lasted as long as they have – the jungle itself. Although the trees have made the ruins hard to find, they have also protected them from being built over and looted.
"There are parts of the world where people have bulldozed pyramids to use as road fill, or because they're in the way of where they want to run cattle," says Ault-Thomas. "However, it's hard to do that when there are a gazillion trees in the way."
The Maya also transformed the landscape around their settlements to help protect them from the ravages of water. Auld Thomas saw evidence of this at the site of Valeriana he helped to discover.
"It's also in an area that's extensively modified for agriculture," he says. "It's quite hilly, and basically every sloping surface that is above the level of seasonal flooding is sculpted, terraced and completely reworked so that people could use it to grow food and keep their feet dry in the rainy season."
So, could modern societies learn anything from these ancient Maya builders when it comes to creating cities that are resilient to climate change?
"The Maya case really shows that it's possible to manage the landscape in a way that allows it to survive and thrive for a millennium, even in fairly extreme environments where it doesn't rain for half the year, but then rains every day for the other half of the year," says Auld-Thomas.
We could learn from the Maya's choice of materials too. The reinforced concrete found in most modern buildings is strong enough to hold up massive skyscrapers, but they aren't built to last. The lifespan of most steel reinforced concrete buildings is around 50 to 100 years. At the same time, cement production currently accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions – far more than aviation.
Some researchers are looking to lime-based alternatives to cement. Currently, lime production is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions, but some researchers are investigating obtaining it from other sources, such as the by-products of the paper industry, for example, which may make it more sustainable. Drawing on the knowledge of the ancient Maya as inspiration could help to make such materials more durable, says Rodriguez-Navarro.
Lime mortars can also act as a carbon sink, absorbing carbon dioxide from the air as they remineralise and harden into limestone.
"Lime is attracting a lot of attention as a possible sustainable material for modern construction," says Rodriguez-Navarro. "Not only will it suck up CO2 during carbonation, but at the same time you get a very durable material if you add the proper organic additives."
Headline
#technology is going to create so much deflation over the next decades that it is going to make people's head spins.
Would you say its more deflationary than before or has tech always been deflationary?
Tech has always been deflationary, something overlooked by people.
What did music cost in the 1980s? About a buck a song ($8-$10 for a cassette). Today. Basically free.
What did long distance cost? 10-20 cents per minute. Today, we can communicate with people all over the world for basically nothing.
How much would a 1 hours live YT telecast that reached 1000 people cost in the 1980s? It would have been recorded and CDs mailed out.
These are things that are overlooked.
Yes and I guess this would be a point for the people saying that new tech creates new jobs while some older jobs dissapears.
Kinda crazy to think how far we actually have come in quite short time span.
They say that but the labor force participation rate tells a different story. That peaked globally in 1990 and in the US 1998. So we are 25-30 years into this technological age and the stats are showing that jobs are not keeping up.
And now we have a technology that is going at an unbelievable pace.
I actually hope for a timelime again where only one in a houshold needed to work and could still afford a house and to live.
tech is all about connecting systems and ecosystems, so it's quite natural for costs to go down as the infra becomes better.
Just look at the cost, in the past 2 years for a 3,000 word article. What would that cost for a professional writer? How long would it take?
Chatbots do it for free and require only some editting.
Editing and fact checking would I say, since many times if you ask a chatbot it just does makes up stuff.
And human writers dont just make stuff up?
Well thats a good point 😅
Most what msm does today is making stuff up or trying to frame it from their worldview.
The number of areas is expanding so the deflation will only accelerate.
Elon Musk's xAI in funding talks to value the company at $40 billion
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI is reportedly engaged in funding talks that could see the company secure a $40 billion valuation.
According to a Tuesday report from The Wall Street Journal, xAI is trying to raise several billion dollars. The talks are in the early stages and could disintegrate.
After the funding round, xAI could reach a valuation of $40 billion, nearly doubling what it secured after its most recent funding round this year. In May, xAI received just over $6 billion in venture capital funding, valuing the company at about $24
#xai #elonmusk #funding #grok #ai #technology
If xAI lands the funding, it would exponentially expand the company that Mr. Musk started in 2023. He initially launched xAI to compete with Sam Altman’s OpenAI, of which Mr. Musk was originally a part.
While xAI has grown significantly since its launch, OpenAI is still the clear leader in generative AI. This year, after transitioning to a for-profit model, OpenAI secured $6.6 billion in its first funding round, which could value the company at $157 billion.
Article
Elon Musk scores court victory over National Labor Relations Board
A federal agency was wrong to order that Tesla CEO Elon Musk delete a 2018 social media post that union leaders saw as a threat to employee stock options,
A federal agency was wrong to order that Tesla CEO Elon Musk delete a 2018 social media post that union leaders saw as a threat to employee stock options, a sharply divided federal appeals court has ruled.
The case involved a post made on what was then known as Twitter during United Auto Workers organizing efforts at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California. The post was made years before Musk bought the platform, now known as X, in 2022.
#elonmusk #uaw #twitter #tesla #nlrb
On May 20, 2018, Musk tweeted: “Nothing stopping Tesla team at our car plant from voting union. Could do so tmrw if they wanted. But why pay union dues and give up stock options for nothing? Our safety record is 2X better than when plant was UAW & everybody already gets healthcare.”
The National Labor Relations Board said it was an illegal threat. After Tesla appealed, three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans upheld that decision, as well as a related NLRB order that Tesla rehire a fired employee, with back pay.
But Tesla sought a rehearing, and the full 5th Circuit later threw out the earlier decision and voted to hear the matter again. In an opinion dated Friday, the judges split 9-8 in favor of Tesla and Musk.
“We hold that Musk’s tweets are constitutionally protected speech and do not fall into the categories of unprotected communication like obscenity and perjury,” the unsigned opinion said.
Article
Ford CEO Jim Farley slammed for driving Chinese-made electric vehicle: 'Slap in the face'
Ford CEO Jim Farley gushed about his car — a Chinese-made electric vehicle that he had specially flown in from Shanghai.
Ford’s chief executive revealed that he drives a $30,000 Chinese-made electric sedan — and got ripped by critics, who called it a “slap in the face” to employees of the Detroit-based automaker.
#ford #jimfarley #china #ev
Farley, who has been CEO of Ford since October 2020, said he drives a Xiaomi SU7, an electric sedan that retails for $30,000 that he had specially flown in from Shanghai. Introduced in December 2023, the SU7 is the first EV sold by Xiaomi, the world’s second-largest seller of smartphones.
Farley told “The Fully Charged Podcast” that he has no plans to abandon the car.
“I don’t like talking about the competition so much, but I drive the Xiaomi,” Farley told podcast host Robert Llewellyn.
“We flew one from Shanghai to Chicago, and I’ve been driving it for six months now and I don’t want to give it up.”
Farley wrote on his X social media account: “I try to drive everything we compete against. Have done it my whole career.”
Early Life and Education
Jim Farley was born in 1969 in Brooklyn, New York, to an Irish-American family. His parents were both from the old country, and his father was a mechanic. Farley grew up in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he developed a strong interest in cars and mechanics from an early age.
Farley attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn, where he studied accounting and earned a degree in 1991. During his college years, he also worked part-time jobs to help support his family, including a stint as a car salesman.
Career at Ford
After graduating from college, Farley joined Ford Motor Company in 1990 as a financial analyst in the company's Ford credit corporation. At the time, Ford was expanding its financial services ARM, and Farley was tasked with analyzing financial data and providing insights to support the company's growth.
Over the next decade, Farley worked his way up the ranks at Ford, holding various positions in finance, including controller and chief financial officer (CFO). In 2001, he joined the company's Ford Credit Corporation as the CFO, where he oversaw the company's financial operations and developed strategies to expand its credit business.
In 2008, Farley became the vice president of Global Marketing, sales, and Service, where he was responsible for developing and executing Ford's global marketing strategy. During his tenure, Farley played a key role in launching the Ford Focus and Fiesta models, as well as the company's SYNC infotainment system.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO)
In 2015, Farley was promoted to executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) of Ford, succeeding Jim Hackett. As COO, Farley was responsible for overseeing the company's global operations, including manufacturing, engineering, and sales.
As COO, Farley focused on implementing cost-saving measures and streamlining Ford's operations. He also played a key role in developing the company's strategy for electric vehicles and autonomous driving technologies.
CEO of Ford
On October 1, 2020, Farley became the CEO of Ford, succeeding Jim Hackett. As CEO, Farley has focused on transforming the company into a more agile and innovative organization.
Under Farley's leadership, Ford has announced plans to invest $18 billion in electrification and autonomous driving technologies, with a goal of offering 100 electric vehicles by 2026. Farley has also emphasized the importance of building partnerships with other companies, including startups and technology firms, to accelerate Ford's transformation.
Farley has also prioritized the development of Ford's software capabilities, recognizing the importance of digital technologies in shaping the company's future. He has also launched initiatives to improve Ford's supply chain management and manufacturing efficiency.
Leadership Style
Farley is known for his strong personality and straightforward communication style. He is a "no-nonsense" leader who values simplicity and efficiency in decision-making.
Farley has also been praised for his ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including employees, suppliers, and partners. He is a strong believer in the importance of teamwork and collaboration, and has encouraged Ford employees to work together to drive innovation and growth.
Personal Life
Farley is married and has two children. He is a self-described "New York guy" who is known for his strong personality and straightforward communication style.
Farley is a fan of sports, particularly baseball, and has been known to take the company's sports cars, including the Ford Mustang, out for spins on weekends. He is also an avid cyclist and has completed several charity cycling events to raise money for various causes.
Farley has also been an outspoken advocate for the need for the US government to provide incentives for the development and deployment of electric vehicles, arguing that the industry can create millions of jobs and stimulate economic growth.
Awards and Recognition
Farley has received numerous awards and recognition for his leadership and contributions to the automotive industry. These include:
Overall, Jim Farley is a seasoned executive with a strong track record of leadership and innovation. As CEO of Ford, he is driving the company's transformation into a more agile and sustainable organization, with a focus on electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and software capabilities.
Should've bought a US-made #tesla by #elonmusk #lolz #cent
He could have bought a China made Tesla if he wanted also.
A lot of cars rolling out of the Shanghai factory.
Yes, good point. As long as he got what he wanted. Thanks Task.
Ashton Kutcher explains why he's betting on AI, but not trying to pick a 'winner'
Ashton Kutcher believes that every company is going to become an AI company, but that there might not be a winner in the space.
Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Sound Ventures, believes that every company is going to become an AI company, but that there might not be a winner in the space.
#ai #ashtonkutcher #technology #vc #ai
The actor and investor spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday alongside Sound co-founder Guy Oseary and partner Effie Epstein to detail what the firm is looking for in founders and startups, and how they believe foundational AI companies are setting the stage for the future.
“Foundation-layer AI companies are going to be some of the most valuable companies that have ever been created in the history of humankind,” Kutcher said.
He said it’s easy to underestimate how big of a deal AI is, and that he believes foundational AI models are going to be the foundation of everything to come.
“There will not be a company in the world that is not, in some way, shape, or form, using AI in the future,” Kutcher said. “So every company is going to be an AI company. And it’s our thesis that whether it’s open source AI, whether it’s closed systems like Anthropic or OpenAI or World Labs, or whether you’re building software using Magic.dev, those things are going to be the underpinnings of everything else.”
Article
Here's a more detailed biography of Ashton Kutcher:
Early life and education
Ashton Kutcher was born on February 7, 1978, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Diane and Stephen Kutcher. His father was a insurance salesman, and his mother was a homemaker. Kutcher has two younger siblings, a brother named Michael and a sister named Tasha.
Kutcher grew up in a small town in Iowa and was a athletic child. He was a star basketball player in high school and was also a member of the school's drama club. He was a charismatic and outgoing child, and he was always interested in performing and making people laugh.
After high school, Kutcher enrolled at Iowa Wesleyan College, a small liberal arts college in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. However, he didn't last long at the college. He dropped out after one year to pursue a career in acting.
Move to New York City and Early Career
In 1997, Kutcher moved to New York city to pursue a career in acting. He had no connections in the industry and had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. He worked as a model, waiting tables, and even sold plasma to make money.
Despite the challenges, Kutcher persevered and eventually landed a few small roles in independent films and TV shows. He appeared in the 1998 film "Loser," which was his first major role.
Breakthrough and Success
Kutcher's breakthrough role came in 1998 when he was cast as Michael Kelso on the popular Fox sitcom "That '70s Show." The show was a huge success and ran for eight seasons, making Kutcher a household name.
During his time on "That '70s Show," Kutcher also began to land film roles. He appeared in the 2000 film "Just Visiting," and he also had a supporting role in the 2003 film "Dude, Where's My Car?"
In 2003, Kutcher starred alongside Brittany Murphy in the romantic comedy "Just Married." The film was a box office success, and Kutcher's performance earned him critical acclaim.
In 2005, Kutcher starred in the romantic comedy "Guess Who," which was a commercial success. He also appeared in the film "The Butterfly Effect," which was a critical success.
Punk'd and Other Ventures
In 2003, Kutcher created and produced the MTV reality show "Punk'd," which became a huge success. The show featured Kutcher playing pranks on celebrities and making them think that they had been duped.
Kutcher also began to invest in other ventures, including a production company called Katalyst media. The company produced several films and TV shows, including the TV series "The Beauty Below."
In 2011, Kutcher co-founded the venture capital firm A-Grade investments, which focuses on investing in early-stage startups. The Firm has invested in several companies, including Uber and Airbnb.
Personal Life
Kutcher has been married twice. His first marriage was to actress Demi Moore in 2005, but the couple divorced in 2013. Kutcher and Moore have two children together, a daughter named Faith and a son named Dempsey.
In 2015, Kutcher married actress Mila Kunis, and the couple has two children together, a daughter named Wyatt and a son named Dimitri.
Philanthropy
Kutcher is also involved in several charitable organizations, including the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which he co-founded in 2006. The foundation focuses on finding a cure for Parkinson's disease.
Kutcher has also been involved in several other charitable organizations, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Children's hospital Los Angeles.
Influence and Legacy
Kutcher has been named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2015. He has also been recognized for his philanthropic work, particularly in the area of education and technology.
Throughout his career, Kutcher has been known for his charisma and sense of humor. He has become a household name, and his influence can be seen in many areas of popular culture.
AMD shares fall as forecast fails to impress despite strong AI growth
AMD shares are up about 20% so far in 2024, although rivals such as Nvidia and Broadcom have had much greater gains during the same period, driven by AI chips.
Advanced Micro Devices reported third-quarter results Tuesday, with earnings in line with forecasts and revenue that slightly beat expectations.
#amd #earnings #chips #semiconductors #technology
Here's how the company did, compared with LSEG estimates for the quarter ending Sept. 28:
Earnings per share: 92 cents adjusted vs. 92 cents expected
Revenue: $6.82 billion vs. $6.71 billion expected
AMD said its important data center business doubled in sales for the second quarter in a row, but overall revenue guidance for the fourth quarter was in line with consensus expectations.
AMD shares fell 7% on Tuesday in extended trading.
AMD said it expected about $7.5 billion in sales in the current quarter, in line with consensus expectations of $1.16 in adjusted earnings per share on $7.54 billion in revenue. That would be a 22% year-over-year decline for the December quarter.
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Volkswagen profit plunges 42% in third quarter amid sweeping overhaul plans
German automaker Volkswagen on Wednesday reported a 42% drop in operating profit in the third quarter.
German automaker Volkswagen on Wednesday reported a 42% drop in operating profit in the third quarter.
Operating profit fell to 2.86 billion euros ($3.1 billion), while third quarter sales revenues slipped 0.5% year on year to around 78.5 billion euros.
#newsonleo #volkswagon #automotive #evs
Vehicle sales fell 8.3% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same time period a year earlier, Volkswagen said.
Net liquidity across the Volkswagen Group stood at negative 160.6 billion euros at the end of September 2024, it said. The company's net liquidity stood at negative 147.4 billion euros at the end of 2023.
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China's Xiaomi delivers 20,000 EVs in October, just months after launching its first car
The Chinese smartphone company also announced a high-end sports version of the car, the SU7 Ultra, would begin preorders ahead of a product release in March.
China's Xiaomi said Tuesday that it had delivered more than 20,000 SU7 EVs in October as it ramps up production for its electric car venture in a fiercely competitive market.
#xiaomi #evs #technology #china #automotive
The Chinese company, which is largely known for its smartphones and home appliances, reiterated plans to deliver 100,000 SU7 vehicles by the end of November. Xiaomi first revealed plans to make cars in 2021 and began building a dedicated manufacturing plant the same year.
The company released the basic version of the SU7, its first car, in late March for about $4,000 less than Tesla's cheapest car — Model 3 — in China at the time. Tesla subsequently cut the car's price by about $2,000. Xiaomi has delivered more than 75,000 SU7 cars to date, including October's figures.
Chinese rivals Xpeng and Nio took about six years to produce 100,000 electric cars, while it took Tesla 12 years.
While Xpeng delivered a monthly record of more than 20,000 cars in September, with about half owed to its newly launched, lower-cost brand Mona, Nio has struggled to keep monthly deliveries above 20,000 cars.
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Reddit shares soar 22% on earnings beat and better-than-expected forecast
Reddit reported third-quarter results that exceeded analysts' estimates and gave a forecast for the current period that was well ahead of estimates.
Reddit shares jumped 22% in extended trading Tuesday, topping $100 for the first time, after the social media company reported third-quarter results that topped analyst estimates and issued an optimistic forecast for the current period.
#reddit #socialmedia #earnings #technology
Here's how the company did compared with LSEG estimates:
Earnings per share: 16 cents vs. a loss of 7 cents expected
Revenue: $348.4 million vs. $312.8 million expected
Reddit said fourth-quarter revenue will be between $385 million and $400 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $357.9 million. Adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter will be in the range of $110 million to $125 million, higher than the $85.2 million average estimate.
Revenue in the third quarter jumped 68% from a year earlier, and the company turned profitable, reporting net income of $29.9 million, compared with a net loss of $7.4 million during the same quarter a year ago.
The company said that its daily active users grew 47% year over year in the third quarter to 97.2 million, better than analyst estimates of 96.5 million.
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Apple announces new and smaller Mac Mini with first redesign since 2010
Apple is framing the new Mac Minis, like all of its new products announced this year, as built for Apple Intelligence.
Apple announced on Tuesday new Mac Mini models, featuring the first major redesign since 2010 that makes the desktop computer significantly smaller.
Aside from a redesign that shrunk the case and reduced the computer's volume in half, the main upgrade on these new computers is that they include Apple's latest chip, either the M4, or a more powerful version called the M4 Pro.
#apple #macmini #appleintelligence #technology
The Mac Mini is Apple's least-expensive Mac, starting at $599, and does not include a display, which is sold separately. When the product line was first introduced in 2008, it was marketed as a computer for people switching from Microsoft Windows who could simply plug their existing keyboard, mouse and monitor into their new silver box.
The Mac Mini is not one of Apple's highest-volume computers in terms of sales, but it is an important slot in Apple's lineup, especially for people who make apps for iPhones and other Apple platforms. Many iPhone developers like to run a Mac Mini as a personal development server for coordinating uploads and code.
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Snap shares jump 10% on profit beat, stock buyback
Snap reported third-quarter results on Tuesday that beat on the top and bottom lines, but the company issued light fourth-quarter guidance.
Snap reported better-than-expected third-quarter results on Tuesday but issued light fourth-quarter guidance. The stock jumped more than 10% in extended trading.
Here is how the company did:
Earnings per share: 8 cents adjusted vs. 5 cents expected, according to LSEG
Revenue: $1.37 billion vs. $1.36 billion expected, according to LSEG
Global daily active users: 443 million vs. 441 million expected, according to StreetAccount
Global average revenue per user: $3.10 vs. $3.09 expected, according to StreetAccount
#snap #socialmedia #earnings #technology
Sales jumped 15% from a year earlier in the third quarter, while Snap's net loss narrowed to $153 million from $368 million a year prior.
Fourth-quarter sales will be between $1.51 billion and $1.56 billion. The midpoint of its guidance is $1.54 billion, which is below the average analyst estimate of $1.56 billion. Snap said its adjusted earnings for the fourth quarter will be between $210 million and $260 million. The middle of the range is higher than analysts' estimates of $230.7 million.
Snap also announced a $500 million stock repurchase program.
The number of Snapchat+ paying subscribers is now at 12 million, the company said. That is up from the 11 million it reported in August. The company debuted its subscription service in 2022, pitching it as a way for users to experience exclusive and prerelease features for $3.99 a month.
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Google's new CFO makes earnings call debut, says company can 'push a little further' on cost cuts
In her first earnings call as Alphabet CFO, Anat Ashkenazi said more streamlining will be needed so the company can invest in AI.
For nine years, the CFO role at Google and parent company Alphabet was held by Ruth Porat, who took a giant pay package in 2015 to leave Wall Street for Silicon Valley.
#google #cfo #alphabet #technology #earnings
On Tuesday, Porat's successor, Anat Ashkenazi, made her earnings call debut, and said one of her top priorities will be to drive more "cost efficiencies" across the company, an effort started by her predecessor and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.
"There's really good work that was done, started by Ruth, Sundar and the rest of the lead team to re-engineer the cost base," Ashkenazi, who previously spent 23 years at drugmaker Eli Lilly, said on the call. "But I think any organization can always push a little further and I'll be looking at additional opportunities."
Ashkenazi joined Alphabet in July, almost a year after the company announced that Porat would move into a new role as president and chief investment officer. Her appearance on Tuesday came after Alphabet reported third-quarter earnings that beat on top and bottom lines, driven by strong revenue growth from the company's search and cloud units.
Alphabet shares, up 21% for the year, rose another 5.8% in extended trading after the report.
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New cyanobacteria strains could sequester carbon
Strains specialized to live in high-CO2 oceanic environments have evolved traits that are useful for decarbonization and bioproduction
An international coalition of researchers from the United States and Italy has discovered a novel strain of cyanobacteria, or algae, isolated from volcanic ocean vents that is especially adept at growing rapidly in the presence of CO2 and readily sinks in water, making it a prime candidate for biologically-based carbon sequestration projects and bioproduction of valuable commodities.
#bacteria #harvard #carbon #ocean
This strain, nicknamed “Chonkus,” was found off the coast of the island of Vulcano in Sicily, Italy — an environment in which marine CO2 is abundant due to shallow volcanic vents. The discovery is described in a paper published today in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
“Dissolved carbon is relatively dilute compared to all the other molecules in the ocean, and that limits the growth of photosynthetic organisms that live there. We decided to investigate what happens when you alleviate that limiting factor by going to a place with plenty of carbon, where some organisms could have evolved the ability to use it to galvanize their growth,” said co-corresponding author Max Schubert, Ph.D., who was a staff scientist at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University when the work was conducted and is now Lead Project Scientist at Align to Innovate. “This naturally occurring strain of cyanobacteria has several traits that could be useful to humans, including highly dense growth and a natural tendency to sink in water, making Chonkus a particularly interesting organism for future work on decarbonization and biomanufacturing.”
From the shallow sea to the lab bench
Schubert and fellow corresponding author Braden Tierney, Ph.D. first met as bench neighbors in the lab of Wyss Core Faculty member George Church, Ph.D. nine years ago, but didn’t start collaborating until both were later working at Harvard Medical School (HMS) in 2016. Schubert, a microbiologist who was interested in building tools for directed evolution of bacteria and their genomes, submitted a proposal to the HMS Consortium for Space Genetics’ 2019 Symposium on Climate Change to bring this work to cyanobacteria. He won the top prize, which funded his early forays into applying his tools to cyanobacteria to investigate their potential to help fix and sequester carbon.
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Sam Altman’s Reddit stake now worth over $1 billion after post-earnings pop
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's stake in Reddit has ballooned to more than $1 billion in value, as of after-hours trading on Tuesday.
Sam Altman, the controversial CEO of OpenAI, has a stake in social media company Reddit that's worth over $1 billion as of post-market trading on Tuesday.
#reddit #samaltman #technology #openai #ai #socialmedia
Altman controls roughly 12.2 million shares of Reddit, a company he first invested in over a decade ago. Reddit shares soared about 20% in extended trading after the compny reported better-than-expected quarterly results and issued an optimistic forecast.
At Reddit's after-hours share price of $98, Altman's holdings are valued at about $1.2 billion.
Prior to the surging popularity of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which was released to the public in late 2022, Altman was best known as a startup investor and as the former president of Y Combinator. Altman's investment portfolio includes past or present stakes in Airbnb, Uber, Instacart, Stripe and Asana, but one of his top bets was Reddit. Altman was on the social media platform's board until around January 2022, when the company said he had recently stepped down.
Reddit went public in March at $34 a share.
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'First tree on Mars:' Scientists measure greenhouse effect needed to terraform Red Planet
"The atmospheric conditions existing on Mars today make the existence of life impossible."
What is the amount of greenhouse warming required to heat up the cold climes of Mars enough so that trees can grow on the Red Planet?
New research points to how much you’ve got to jack up the carbon dioxide (CO2) on Mars to support plant growth, to raise the planet’s temperatures just enough for trees to grow.
#mars #science #life
global warming on Mars will be a whole different story. And I don't think they're fully certain of dangers that exist there yet but eventually we'll find out
Its such a interesting idea to terraform Mars. I hope that its possible and that we can colonize mars 🚀
I am not big into that stuff. Space is an area I dont follow closely (although I am increasing my consumption).
To me, space manufacturing is problem the first major industry that excites me.
Yeah I dont know much either but its a exciting topic.
Just look at how much attention SpaceX draws :)
Energy balance
This futuristic plant growing scenario is led by Robert Olszewski, a professor at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland. He and research associates have led a look at the surface energy balance at Mars, such as the diffusive exchange of heat between carbon dioxide condensation and evaporation, heat exchange with the subsurface, and the transport of heat by atmospheric circulation.
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Google says its next-gen AI agents won't launch until 2025 at the earliest
Google won't ship tech from Project Astra, its effort to build AI apps and 'agents' for real-time, multimodal understanding, until 2025 at the earliest.
Google won’t ship tech from Project Astra, its wide-ranging effort to build AI apps and “agents” for real-time, multimodal understanding, until next year at the earliest.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed the timeline in remarks during Google’s Q3 earnings call Tuesday. “[Google is] building out experiences where AI can see and reason about the world around you,” he said. “Project Astra is a glimpse of that future. We’re working to ship experiences like this as early as 2025.”
#google #projectastra #technology #ai #aiagents
Project Astra, which Google demoed at its I/O developer conference in May 2024, encompasses a range of technologies, from smartphone apps that can recognize the world around them and answer related questions to AI assistants that can perform actions on a user’s behalf.
In a prerecorded demo during I/O, Google showed a Project Astra prototype answering questions about things within view of a smartphone’s camera, like which neighborhood a user might be in or the name of a part on a broken bicycle.
The Information reported this month that Google was planning to launch a consumer-focused agent experience as early as this December — one capable of purchasing a product, booking a flight, and other such chores. That now seems unlikely — unless the experience in question is divorced from Project Astra.
Anthropic recently became one of the first companies with a large generative AI model able to control apps and web browsers on a PC. But, illustrating how challenging building AI agents can be, Anthropic’s struggles with many basic tasks.
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A driverless shuttle is leaving this rural community less isolated
Some say driverless vehicles are the future of mobility in rural areas but there are many challenges to address before they can be fully implemented.
Self-driving shuttles have been deployed in a remote region of southeastern France amid growing European interest in automated electric vehicles (EVs) as an option for public transport.
#autonomy #technology #selfdriving #transportation
“We are trying to ensure that this is a new means of travel and mobility for people living in suburban or rural areas,” Yann Arnaud, director of responses to customer needs and innovation at the French insurance company MACIF, told Euronews Next on the sidelines of the European Mobility Expo.
The shuttles, which have been deployed since 2020, currently use a path of around 5 km with seven stops over 20 minutes with a control operator present to ensure a swift journey.
“We guarantee safety through a technology that is in line with the European vision of what an automated vehicle should be, so a vehicle that has learnt its route before operating it and which, when it is in operation and without a driver on board, simply compares what it has learnt with what it sees,” said Benjamin Beaudet, general director at Beti, the operator of the automated shuttles.
He drew a comparison to US and Chinese companies that have focused more on self-driving taxis, which don’t have predefined routes, with leading companies being Waymo (owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company), Uber, and Tesla.
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LinkedIn launches AI-powered hiring assistant to take the pain out of recruiting
Recruiting on LinkedIn gets an AI boost
LinkedIn has injected yet more artificial intelligence in a bid to take the stress out of the hiring process.
The platform's new AI-powered Hiring Assistant is designed to help companies find the right talent by handling time-consuming administrative tasks like candidate sourcing and application reviewing.
#ai #technology #linkedin #microsoft #recruiting
The addition comes as the world undergoes a major labor market shift – with new LinkedIn research claiming 10% of jobs being filled now didn’t exist two decades ago.
LinkedIn new AI Hiring Assistant
According to company data, three in four (74%) UK business leaders agree that work is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with new roles and skills evolving quickly.
The Microsoft-owned platform also revealed more than half (51%) of UK HR professionals are facing rising expectations. Microsoft’s multibillion-dollar investment in ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and the subsequent trickling down of AI features across its portfolio, are hoped to ease some of the pressures that workers face today.
LinkedIn has already trialed its Hiring Assistant at companies like Siemens, Canva and Zurich Insurance, with plans to expand access globally in the coming months.
As well as increasing the efficiency of HR workers, LinkedIn has also rolled out more AI to help recruits further their skills development with an interactive coaching feature focused on interpersonal skills. The tool includes real-world interactive scenarios, like performance reviews, using voice or text.
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Archon emerges from stealth with $20M and 'antibody cages' to power up drug development
Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup putting AI to work designing novel biomolecules, has just emerged from stealth with an impressive $20 million
Archon Biosciences, a biotech startup putting AI to work designing novel biomolecules, has just emerged from stealth with an impressive $20 million in seed funding. The company aims to supercharge antibody treatments using specially designed protein “cages” that multiply their effects, opening up new opportunities in drug development.
#archon #antibody #ai #drugs #biosciences
This is the first company to be spun out of Baker Lab, the University of Washington research outfit overseen by pioneering computational biologist and recent Nobel Prize winner David Baker. His team’s work on generative protein design using AI and other means has been foundational in the fast-evolving industry, and Archon is taking a specific aspect of it to market.
One shortcoming of antibody treatments (and research into effective treatments) is that, like all molecular biology, the process depends a bit on chance. It’s difficult to control how much an antibody or protein actually binds to its target on a cell or other surface.
What Archon’s antibody cages, or AbCs, do (as documented in this paper published in Science) is offer a scaffold for modifying and multiplying their effectiveness. A free-floating antibody may have only a small chance of binding to a target protein, but if you were to stick a dozen of them together in a big dodecahedron, that significantly and perhaps profoundly improves that chance.
This may be the difference between being able to tell if a medication works or not.
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X makes its basic API tier more costly, launches annual subscriptions
Elon Musk-owned social network X made changes to its API pricing and limits today and also announced annual plans with a discounted rate.
Elon Musk-owned social network X made changes to its API pricing and limits today and also announced annual plans with a discounted rate.
#x #api #elonmusk #socialmedia #subscription #technology
Wonder if this change is due to financial issues or if they realized that their data is worth more.
That is the API. But yeah I am sure it is now the value of what is being built in the AI world.
If you want to tap into X's data, it will cost you more.
As for their financial issues, do not buy into that. It is a private company and they dont release their figures.
Well thought companies used the API to fetch the data and thats why the increased price.
Well, I dont bet against Elon 👏
They do but it is limited. So the value of tapping in and building on X network is going up, at least according to the pricing model.
The company raised the prices of the basic API tier from $100 to $200 and said it would introduce higher limits and new endpoints for this subscription plan.
In a post on X’s developer community portal, the company noted that the number of reads through this API will be increased from 10,000 to 15,000, and developers will get new endpoints like reposts_of_me and communities search.
However, on the API comparison page and plan purchase page, the API limits are the same as before. This is possibly an error, and the company will edit the page (it didn’t respond to our queries).
In the announcement post, the X Developer account said that it is also introducing an experimental read API for the free tier. However the company didn’t reveal that the free tier’s post limits are now reduced from 1,500 to just 500, and the read API will only give you 100 requests.
X has also introduced new annual plans for Basic and Pro API tiers that are cheaper than developers paying a monthly fee. The Basic annual plan costs $2,100 and the Pro annual plan costs $54,000.
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Meesho claims Indian e-commerce first with positive cash flow
Meesho has become India's first horizontal e-commerce firm to generate positive cash flow, marking a significant shift in a market where profitability has Meesho has become India's first horizontal e-commerce firm to generate positive cash flow.
Meesho has become India’s first horizontal e-commerce firm to generate positive cash flow, marking a significant shift in a market where profitability has long remained elusive even as new competitive threats emerge.
#meesho #ecommerce #india #technology
The SoftBank and Prosus-backed startup, which serves customers in smaller Indian cities and towns, reported positive operating cash flow of ₹232 crores ($27.6 million) for the financial year ending March 2024, while growing operating revenues by 33% to ₹7,615 crores ($905.6 million). Its adjusted losses fell 97% from ₹1,569 crores to just ₹53 crores.
Meesho’s growth remains faster than the e-commerce’s surge in India. India’s e-commerce industry growth is expected to moderate to 17% in 2024 before accelerating to 20% in 2025, Bank of America analysts said this week. This relatively slower growth is attributed to consumption slowdown impact and slower apparel industry growth.
Flipkart’s marketplace arm grew its revenue by 21% to $2.12 billion in the financial year ending March, it disclosed in filings this week. Its losses fell 41% to $280.4 million.
The Indian commerce market is simultaneously being reshaped by quick commerce firms in urban cities. Blinkit, Zomato’s quick commerce arm, has expanded the network of so-called dark stores — the warehouses where it stores the inventory — and increased SKUs from 4-5,000 to over 10,000. The platform has also introduced new features including payment installment options for purchases above ₹3,000 ($35.7), 10-minute returns for clothing and footwear, and split shipments to expand its reach.
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Let's break down SoftBank's business portfolio and investments in more detail:
Telecommunications:
SoftBank's telecommunications ARM is one of the largest in Japan, with a market share of around 20%. The company operates a mobile network that covers over 90% of Japan's population, and it also offers fixed-line and broadband services. SoftBank's telecommunications business is focused on providing high-speed Internet and mobile services to consumers and businesses.
In 2016, SoftBank acquired Sprint corporation, a US-based wireless carrier, for $21.6 billion. The acquisition gave SoftBank control of Sprint's mobile network and expanded its presence in the US market. However, the deal was later reversed due to regulatory hurdles, and Sprint was sold to T-Mobile US for $26.5 billion in 2014.
Technology:
SoftBank has invested heavily in various tech startups, including:
Venture capital:
SoftBank's venture capital arm, SoftBank Vision fund, is one of the largest and most active venture capital firms in the world. The fund was launched in 2016 with a target size of $100 billion and has since invested in over 200 companies, including:
Finance:
SoftBank has a significant presence in the financial services sector, including:
Real Estate:
SoftBank has invested in various real estate projects, including:
Investment Strategy:
SoftBank's investment strategy is focused on investing in emerging technologies, including:
Overall, SoftBank's business portfolio and investments reflect its focus on emerging technologies and its commitment to investing in innovative startups.
GM CEO Mary Barra on the politics of EVs, the future of AVs, and moving away from China
“I never thought the propulsion of a vehicle would become a political issue,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said
“I never thought the propulsion of a vehicle would become a political issue,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said on stage at TechCrunch Disrupt on Tuesday.
#marybarra #technology #gm #evs
While the executive didn’t expand on this statement, former President Trump has railed against EVs and claimed, wrongly, that there is a mandate to make and sell electric vehicles in the United States.
“General Motors’s goal is to just keep providing great vehicles, keep supporting the charging infrastructure to be more robust …and opening up the Tesla charging network, as well, so people choose it because it’s a great vehicle,” Barra continued. “And that’s the journey we’re working on, while we’re getting battery costs down. We’re still looking for battery innovation to get energy density up, cost down, all those things are going to be unlocks.”
Lowering battery costs could help lower the price of EVs. Affordability is top of mind for Barra who said it major factor for consumers.
“That’s why we’re so excited to have the Equinox and the Blazer on that because we’re getting into the affordable range, especially when you look at an Equinox EV that will be starting in that mid $30,000 range,” she said.
“But they want affordability with the right range,” she continued. And that sweet spot is really 300 miles before people start getting range anxiety.
Finally, accessibility to working, well lit, easy to pay for charging stations is what consumers want.
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Apple Intelligence set to launch in the EU for iOS early next year
https://9to5mac.com/2024/10/28/apple-intelligence-eu-launch/
Tony Fadell on mission-driven a**holes, Silicon Valley entitlement and why LLMs are 'know-it-alls'
Tony Fadell took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday to talk about how building the next generation of deep tech startups requires mission-driven a**holes.
Tony Fadell, the father of the iPod and founder of Nest, took the stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 on Tuesday to talk about how building the next generation of deep tech startups requires mission-driven a**holes. The entrepreneur and investor did not hold back on stage as he called out Silicon Valley for its entitlement and dunked on LLMs being “know-it-alls”, earning a wave of laughs and applause across the fully-packed auditorium.
#siliconvalley #technology #tonyfaddell #ipod
Fadell explained why he believes “mission-driven a**holes are a good thing, and in fact, needed to create and ship world class technology products.
“People work with people who are very difficult, and those are the ones that create and change the world. But there are two types of aholes. Everybody’s an ahole, but you gotta understand why,” Fadell said. “If they’re an ahole, because it’s their ego, they’re trying to push people down, that is an egocentric ahole. But, if you are an ahole on the details, you’re sitting there pushing on the details, you’re not criticizing the people, but you are critiquing their work and saying you can do better, that is a mission-driven ahole.”
Fadell thinks it’s not a bad thing when someone is keen on the details and makes sure their team is getting things right. He believes that focusing on details is what you need to make great products, and when you have a manager who cares, that’s a good thing.
The entrepreneur and investor also called out Silicon Valley for its entitlement, making a joke about how startups aren’t hiring Googlers because “you’re lucky that they even showed up.”
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England to test “super AI” that could predict likelihood
The United Kingdom's National Health Service in England is set to test a "superhuman" artificial intelligence (AI) model that potentially can predict an individual's risk of developing and passing away early from heart disease.
The new AI model, referred to as AI-ECG risk estimation, or "Aire," has been trained to read the results of electrocardiogram (ECG) tests. These tests record electrical activity, heart rates and heart rhythms in people's hearts and are used by doctors to diagnose potential heart problems like heart disease and myocardial infections.
#ai #technology #heath #heart #heathcare #england
Researchers who are promoting Aire claim the AI model can also detect problems in the structures of hearts that diagnosticians may initially miss. If these problems are found, Aire will immediately alert patients, who may benefit from further monitoring, tests or treatments.
Aire will be rolled out in hospitals under the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, encompassing seven hospitals in central London. The first round of experiments will enroll hundreds of patients, with the number of recruited patients scaling up in further studies.
If these trials are deemed successful by NHS leadership, Aire could become a common feature in all NHS trusts in five to 10 years. Reports from the U.K. indicate that around one in five licensed medical practitioners already resort to AI programs like the popular chatbot ChatGPT in clinical practice, such as by helping write letters for patients after appointments or even by asking chatbots to help diagnose illnesses.
Surveys also indicate that a majority of people in the U.K. are in favor of implementing AI to support the healthcare sector's patient care efforts. However, around one in six people are concerned that relying too much on AI could make the quality of healthcare worse.
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Polish radio station FIRES presenters, replaces them with AI
OFF Radio Krakow in Poland has sparked outrage after firing several presenters and replacing them with artificial intelligence (AI) programmed to interview high-profile dead people using AI-generated responses.
On Oct. 22, OFF Radio Krakow launched its radical initiative featuring a simulated interview with the late poet Wieslawa Szymborska, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. The AI-hosted segment employed a computer-generated voice designed to mimic Szymborska's tone as she "discussed" this year's Nobel Prize in Literature following approval from the poet's foundation.
#newsonleo #poland #radiostation #technology #ai #jobs
The foundation believes the innovative presentation could help introduce the works of Szymborska to new audiences, but the response from the public and media has been largely critical. Fans and cultural advocates argue that the use of AI to impersonate deceased individuals crosses an ethical line and threatens the integrity of journalism.
Prominent journalists have expressed their indignation on social media.
"And so ends my beloved profession. Who's next for the interview? [Jozef] Pilsudski? But why limit yourself to recent history? Let Mieszko I [Duke of Poland from 960] talk about the baptism of Poland on Radio Krakow," journalist Rober Felus stated in frustration. This remark reflected widespread concern over the blurring lines between factual reporting and AI-generated fiction.
Another journalist, Patryk Slowik, sarcastically requested an interview with the 17th-century Polish King Jan III Sobieski on the merits of paying Poland's RTV license fee. "Can I ask for an interview with [17th-century King of Poland] Jan III Sobieski about why it is worth paying an RTV license fee?" Slowik asked.
Beyond the media sector, influential figures in Poland's literary community have also criticized the experiment. "What Szymborska's bot says simply ridicules our Nobel Prize winner herself. We got a bland, although 'but I can be liked' journalist without personality, responsibility, spark and intelligence," said playwright and author Remigiusz Grzela. He even called it "a complete disgrace and civic failure."
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Google launches its Certified Refurbished Phone program, with up to 40% off Pixel phones
It’s the first time Google has offered officially refurbished Pixel phones
Google has launched its Certified Refurbished Phone program, offering savings of up to 40% on refurbished Pixel phones.
The program marks the first time Google has offered refurbished Pixel phones directly – according to the official announcement, a Certified Refurbished Pixel phone will go through an inspection of the battery, screen, and housing, as well as an update to the latest Android software, before being approved for sale.
#google #refurbished #pixelphones #technology
What’s more, Certified Refurbished Pixel phones are re-packaged in a new box and even come with a compatible charger.
The initial lineup of Certified Refurbished phones includes the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 6a – these are all capable handsets, but there’s no luck yet for those looking for the latest Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro at a discount.
Still, the chance to grab some of the best Pixel phones of yester-year at a discounted price with the same one-year warranty and customer support will be hard to pass up for some.
Google Pixel 6a $249 (was $449)
Google Pixel 6 $339 (was $599)
Google Pixel 6 Pro $539 (was $899)
Google Pixel 7 $429 (was $599)
Google Pixel 7 Pro $629 (was $899)
Google also keenly highlights the sustainability benefits of buying refurbished in the program’s official announcement, noting the company’s goal of reducing e-waste and plastic production – Certified Refurbished Pixel phones will come in plastic-free packaging, the same as all other Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit devices.
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Sony has shut down two PlayStation studios including Concord developer Firewalk Studios
Neon Koi is also no more
Sony has closed two PlayStation developers, Neon Koi, and Concord developer Firewalk Studios. The news was confirmed in an internal email from Sony CEO Hermen Hulst that was subsequently shared to the official Sony blog.
#sony #playstation #stuido #neonkoi #technology
The email states that the company seeks to “consistently evaluate our games portfolio and status of our projects to ensure we are meeting near and long-term business priorities.” The decision to close the two studios reportedly arose from “ongoing efforts to strengthen” the business.
Neon Koi was working on an unannounced mobile action game, which the statement confirms will “not be moving forward” at this time.
Firewalk Studios has been shuttered as a result of the poor reception of its debut title Concord, which was released back in August. The game had been in development for eight years and was shut down just two weeks after launch, with refunds given to affected players.
In a September PlayStation blog post, game director Ryan Ellis said that the studio would “explore options, including those that will better reach our players” - potentially suggesting a future relaunch. Now we know that this will not be the case as this latest communication states that “after much thought, we have determined the best path forward is to permanently sunset the game and close the studio”.
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Wonder Dynamics now lets you go straight from multi-camera video to fully animated 3D scene
Wonder Dynamics made a strong opening play in AI-enhanced visual effects, providing tools animators and filmmakers actually find useful — and earning the startup a prompt acquisition by Autodesk. Their latest tool further automates the animation process, letting you put in practically any video and get a fully editable 3D scene, characters and all.
#wonderdynamics #camera #technology #visualeffects #3d
The feature combines the company’s existing drop-in actor replacement, in which you could easily replace a person with an animated 3D character keyed to their movements, with a full scale 3D background of your choosing.
To be clear, as with all the company’s previous features, this is not intended to provide a finished product — just a base layer to build on. Animation is labor intensive, and location shooting is difficult and expensive — if you can film two friends walking down the hall and convert it to robots walking down a futuristic street, that’s super useful for previsualization, story flow, and other early stages of production.
“The idea is that you can shoot and edit your video in your living room, with desired performances, cut, and camera framings as you would want to see in your animation,” said Wonder Dynamics co-founder Nikola Todorovic. “This process would provide you with a quick previs and, most importantly, 3D scenes to edit each individual element in either Blender, Maya or Unreal.”
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Bosses have high hopes about workplace AI - and even want it to make decisions for them
Bosses want to be on board with AI, report finds
New TeamViewer research has revealed AI tools are increasingly being used by IT, operational technology (OT) and business leaders to handle complex tasks, make autonomous decisions and provide forecasting.
#ai #technology #teamviewer #business
However, despite the clear optimism, three-quarters (74%) of IT decision-makers (ITDMs) and even more (87%) C-suite execs expressed concern about the security of AI, including data management.
This has led to a cautious approach to the rollout of AI within organizations, however nearly two in three (64%) continue to implement artificial intelligence.
Business leaders are keen to use AI
The research suggests there is still room to improve the management of AI-related risks, however two-thirds of UK decision makers would bet on their organization’s ability to manage the, with nearly half (48%) of C-suite execs willing to stake a week or a month’s pay.
The confidence comes from their recognition of AI’s potential for transformation when it comes to productivity. While the study covers leaders from France, Germany, Australia, Singapore and the US, it notes the productivity struggles that are playing out in the UK, adding that 74% of UK decision-makers believe AI could drive the most significant productivity boost in the last century.
Moreover, leaders believe that AI could improve workplace accessibility for those suffering with chronic illnesses.
“AI offers immense potential for fostering equal opportunities in the workplace by supporting employees in overcoming challenges and streamlining tasks at all levels," noted TeamViewer CHRO Constanze Backhaus.
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Microsoft under fire due to popular Word program’s “Inclusiveness Checker,” which polices all forms of non-inclusive speech
Big Tech company Microsoft is once again under fire after it introduced an "Inclusiveness Checker" in its popular Word program, with concerns being raised over the potential for "speech policing."
The Inclusiveness Checker or Inclusivity Checker in Word can be used to check a person's writing for "gender, age, cultural bias and more." Word users can opt to deactivate this checker. But when it is used, when an individual writes anything using "non-inclusive" language, Word will suggest alternatives.
#microsoft #technology #word
The said "tool" seems to work by flagging almost every word in the English language with a gendered connotation, including "mother" and "father." When users learned about the Inclusiveness Checker and attempted to see how far it would go, they found out that when using the term "maternity leave," the Checker would recommend changing the phrase with "birth-related leave," "parental leave" or "childbirth leave." When referring to "paternity leave," it suggests "child-bonding leave" as an alternative.
When users attempted to input the term "postman," the Inclusiveness Checker would suggest "postal worker." When using the term "manpower," the Checker would recommend replacing the word with "workforce."
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Bifrost helps industrials speed up model training with its 3D data generation platform
Bifrost has raised an $8M Series A led by Carbide Ventures to further build out its 3D real-world data simulation platform.
For many companies working on AI models with applications in the physical world, data presents the biggest opportunity. It’s also the biggest hurdle they face, as nicely labeled and clean real-world data is as readily available as hen’s teeth, and the costs and effort required to gather and clean up data can be immense.
#bitfrost #ai #models #technology #realworld
Bifrost, a 3D data generation platform, believes its tech can help robotics and industrial companies solve at least one part of that problem: the time required to train AI models. The startup, based out of San Francisco, says its platform lets companies generate simulated 3D worlds to instruct their AI models and help their robots adjust to new objects, tasks and surroundings within hours instead of months.
The company said on Wednesday that it has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Carbide Ventures.
“Most of our customers need vast amounts of real-world data to train AI models,” co-founder and CEO Charles Wong said in an exclusive interview with TechCrunch. “This often means they would have to deploy fleets of robots across hundreds of locations, collect millions of hours of footage, manually label the data, and implement rigorous quality checks to reduce human errors and bias. This approach is brutal. It costs millions, takes years, and proves nearly impossible to scale.”
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Dropbox is laying off 20% of its staff
Dropbox is laying off 20% of its staff as the cloud storage company undergoes what CEO Drew Houston calls a "transitional period."
In a letter to staff, Houston said that the reduction in headcount would impact 528 people. The goal, he added, was to make cuts in areas where Dropbox has “over-invested” while designing a “flatter, more efficient” team structure.
#dropbox #ceo #drewhouston #technology #layoffs #jobs
Just looking at myself here but who uses dropbox this day? Used to use it, but was many years ago now.
Very true. There was another one also...evergreen or something like that.
No idea what utility they have today.
most of these things eventually get obsolete because of tech growth and changes
hahaha, I've never used it before or maybe I did and didn't know 😂
“As CEO, I take full responsibility for this decision and the circumstances that led to it, and I’m truly sorry to those impacted by this change,” he wrote. “This market is moving fast and investors are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this space. This both validates the opportunity we’ve been pursuing and underscores the need for even more urgency, even more aggressive investment, and decisive action.”
According to a filing with the SEC, Dropbox estimates it’ll lay out total cash expenditures of $63 million to $68 million on the layoffs, primarily in the form of severance and benefits, and recognize $47 million to $52 million of incremental expense. Most of the payouts will occur in Q4 2024, with the remainder to be recognized in H1 2025.
Affected employees will receive severance, equity, and transition payments, as well as certain healthcare and benefits and job placement services.
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Apple will buy renewable power for its Mac Mini users
Apple went to unusual lengths to ensure it accounted for and neutralized all the pollution that the new Mac Mini might produce.
With its new miniaturized Mac Mini, Apple has a second product — and its first Mac — that qualifies for its “carbon neutral” label. As part of the push, the company is buying enough renewable power to offset emissions generated from customer use of the computers.
#minimac #apple #renewable #energy #technology
Tech companies have been tracking, and in some cases some reducing, the emissions profiles of their products for years. Usually, that involves querying suppliers about their own supply chains, where they get power to run their operations, and how they’ll be shipping finished products. But in 2023, with the Apple Watch Series 9, the Cupertino-based company made the unorthodox decision to eliminate emissions from product use by making additional investments in renewable power.
Powering something like a smartwatch represents a tiny fraction of the overall carbon footprint of the device; things like chips, displays, and batteries contribute far more to the total.
But with a product like the Mac Mini, using the device can generate far more pollution than charging a watch. It’s also a larger fraction of the device’s overall carbon footprint.
Shrinking the Mac Mini also likely helped keep the footprint down, though it’s impossible to tell since Apple doesn’t break out specific figures for things like materials and manufacturing in its environmental declarations.
What is notable, though, is the impact that semiconductors have on a computer’s climate impact. Semiconductor manufacturing is energy intensive and uses chemicals that have significantly higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide. Making and shipping the base model Mac Mini, which has 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, generates 32 kg of carbon pollution, even after Apple accounts for its low-carbon power investments. The top spec version includes far more chips inside, providing 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, and that nearly quadruples the carbon footprint to 121 kg.
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Russia rolling out blockchain payments in BRICS to move away from dollar
Russia is making another push to its fellow BRICS nations to move away from the U.S. dollar.
BRICS is rapidly growing, expanding from the original nations that help form its name of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to encompass 10 countries, adding Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to its roster. Numerous others are hoping to make their way through the approval process soon.
#russia #brics #blockchain #Payments #usdollar
However, despite its growth, it hasn’t really accomplished much, and at this year’s summit in Kazan on the Volga River, Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping to convince members to create a new global financial payment system that will threaten the U.S.’s current global finance dominance while protecting members from sanctions.
This is something that they say will enable “economic operations without being dependent on those that decided to weaponise the dollar and the euro.”
Known as BRICS-Bridge, the idea is to build it up within a year and give countries the ability to carry out cross-border payments with digital platforms that their respective central banks run. With the potential for quicker and more affordable transactions, emerging economies could be tempted away from carrying out business in U.S. dollars, and Western officials are already worried about its ability to hep countries get around sanctions.
Put simply, this initiative would use digital money that is backed by fiat currencies, which would mean that central banks are at the center of cross-border transactions. As a result, no single country would be able to cut off another one, and the need for correspondent banks that use the dollar clearing system would be eliminated.
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AI Boom Puts Pressure On America's Water Supply, JPMorgan Warns
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States is adding significant strain to the nation’s already stressed water supply, according to a new report by JPMorgan Chase and consultancy ERM, which calls for urgent action to better manage this vital resource.
#ai #technology #water #environment #jpmorgan
The report, published on Oct. 28, notes that the surge in AI-driven technologies, including data centers and semiconductor manufacturing, is contributing to a growing mismatch between water supply and demand, while warning that ignoring the water demands of AI and other industries could have serious consequences.
“There is an urgent and growing need to build resilience into our collective water management practices if we are to have reliable water for use in the future,” reads the report, which notes that the growing instability of water resources is “pushing us closer to disrupted ecosystem services, threatened biodiversity, and impacted human livelihoods.”
The primary driver of increased water demand in the United States is a combination of the nation’s growing population and more people moving to warmer, sunnier regions that are already facing water supply challenges. However, new demands from reshoring of manufacturing and AI-based data centers are putting additional strain on water resources.
Data centers use substantial amounts of water—often taken from drinking water resources—in order to cool servers that generate significant amounts of heat.
On average, a mid-sized data center uses about 300,000 gallons per day, while larger facilities can consume as much as 1 million to 5 million gallons daily—comparable to the needs of a town of between 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Data centers in the United States consumed more than 75 billion gallons of water in 2023, per the report, which notes that around 20 percent of the water used by such facilities is drawn from stressed watersheds, “presenting risks to the technology industry and the surrounding communities and environment.”
However, the broader impact of AI on the water sector goes well beyond cooling technologies used in data centers, the report warns. Data center operations rely on semiconductor chips, the manufacturing of which has major implications on water resources. Not only does it require vast amounts of water but it also generates toxic wastewater, posing additional challenges for water management.
“As semiconductors are the foundation of the AI supply chain, the future water management of their operations will be critical for the water sector,” the report notes.
The strain from AI-driven demand is part of a wider set of water-related risks, including the potential to strand business assets as production facilities become unusable or unprofitable due to insufficient supply or tighter regulations, such as wastewater discharge requirements.
JPMorgan and ERM’s report calls for increased investment in water infrastructure, which currently faces an annual funding gap of $91 billion.
The report suggests that innovative technologies, such as waterless cooling systems for data centers and advanced wastewater recycling solutions for semiconductor manufacturing, could play a key role in addressing water scarcity and stress.
AI Sucks Up A Growing Chunk Of VC Funding In The US
Even more so than usual, San Francisco will be the epicenter of the world’s startup scene this week, as founders, investors and other industry insiders come together at TechCrunch Disrupt, one of the leading events of the startup scene.
Unsurprisingly, AI will take center stage at this year’s conference, as investors are looking for opportunities to invest in the booming, yet still nascent field and founders of AI-related companies will do everything to profit from the AI boom and secure fresh capital for their ventures.
As Statista's Felix Richter shows in the chart below, AI has sucked up an increasingly large chunk of VC funding in the United States in recent years.
In the first nine months of 2024, AI-related investments accounted for 33 percent of total investments into VC-backed companies headquartered in the U.S. That’s up from 14 percent in 2020 and could go even higher in the years ahead.
According to Crunchbase data analyzed by EY, AI deals accounted for 37 percent of the $38 billion raised by VC-backed companies in Q3 2024, with four of the 10 largest deals involving AI-related companies.
The latest increase in AI-related investments is still expected to be just the beginning of a longer-term trend.
As EY notes in its latest report on VC investments, most of the funds funneled into the field are currently focused on building the foundation for the technology, e.g. developing and training AI models.
Once this wave of investment ebbs, entrepreneurs will need to figure out ways to actually utilize the potential of AI, which will likely kick off a second wave of AI investments.
Stellantis Pausing Production Of Durango And Grand Cherokee Due To "Slow Sales"
Signs from the auto industry continue to look grim. Yesterday it was Ford guiding expectations below Wall Street's estimates and today it's Stellantis announcing it is pausing production of its Durango and Grand Cherokee models due to "slow sales".
#stellantis #durango #automotive #cherokee
Manufacturing facilities at FCA's large Detroit Assembly Complex - Jefferson will be paused for a week, Motor 1 reported. Stellantis told its workers there would be a 'temporary shutdown' and 'subsequent layoffs' as a result.
Mopar Insiders first posted the "Important Notice of Layoff" memo, which said: "There will be no scheduled production at Detroit Assembly Complex Jefferson" for the dates of October 28 to November 1.
The Motor 1 report said that in 2022, the Jefferson complex employed over 5,000 people, but about 200 workers faced permanent layoffs in September.
Stellantis told Motor 1: "Stellantis continues to take the necessary actions to align production with sales. This includes making production adjustments at the Detroit Assembly Complex - Jefferson. The company will continue to monitor the situation to assess whether further action is required."
Recall, operations at Stellantis have been nothing short of a nightmare this year, as we have been reporting. Early this month we wrote that Stellantis Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight informed her team of white collar workers about the need to take "drastic measures" to shore up the Jeep and Ram parent's finances.
Knight told her team, "The Doghouse is back!" As she explained, this belt-tightening initiative involves heavily scrutinizing requests for purchases from outside vendors to ensure maximum cost savings.
She said the doghouse "is the name for much stricter attention and control around purchase requisitions," adding, "If we apply more discipline, we can ensure big savings for the company."
The following Monday, Stellantis reduced its margin forecast for the entire year.
Back in September, the company's dealer network wrote a letter to then CEO Carlos Tavares accusing him of the “rapid degradation” of the automaker’s brands.
US dealer network leaders said Tavares had engaged in "short-term decision making" that boosted last year’s profits and increased his compensation but hurt the Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and Chrysler brands.
And it looks like they may have been right...
A Lost Mayan City Has Been Found With Laser Mapping
Archaeologists have revealed an ancient lost Mayan city using advanced laser mapping technology, unearthing monumental structures such as pyramids and plazas.
A Mayan city lost in the dense jungle of southern Mexico has been revealed. The discovery occurred in the southeastern state of Campeche, and archaeologists have named it Valeriana, after a nearby freshwater lagoon.
#lasermapping #technology #mayancity #mexico
“The larger of Valeriana's two monumental precincts has all the hallmarks of a classic Mayan political capital: enclosed plazas connected by a broad causeway; temple pyramids; a ball court; a reservoir formed by damming an arroyo (a seasonal watercourse); and a probable E-Group assemblage, an architectural arrangement that generally indicates a founding date prior to AD 150,” says the study, published in the journal Antiquity.
The city's discovery didn't require breaking through the jungle with machetes or patiently excavating with brushes and spatulas. Nor did researchers need tape measures, binoculars, or compasses to find their way through the thick foliage. Instead, they employed state-of-the-art technology: lasers, drones, and satellite maps. With these tools, they discovered a city hidden for centuries beneath the thick Mexican jungle, unearthing pyramids, enclosed plazas, and an ancient reservoir.
Luke Auld-Thomas, an anthropologist at Northern Arizona University, made the discovery. His analysis revealed a huge network of previously unexplored settlements.
Auld-Thomas and his fellow researchers have succeeded in mapping the city beneath the jungle thanks to airborne laser scanning, better known as lidar (light detection and ranging), a remote-sensing technique that uses pulsed lasers and other data collected through flyovers that can generate accurate three-dimensional models of surface features, revolutionizing the way archaeologists explore the hidden past.
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MDC is building a surgical robot that operates inside an MRI
MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons, though the technology certainly has its limitations. Take, for instance, surgeons using the machines to guide
MRIs are an indispensable tool for surgeons, though the technology certainly has its limitations. Take, for instance, surgeons using the machines to guide their procedures. The current process entails putting the patient into a machine to get an image, before pulling them out to advance a needle one centimeter at a time. It’s a time-consuming and frankly inefficient use of resources.
#mdc #robot #surgery #technology #healthcare
Boasting the tagline “Creating a new chapter in minimally invasive surgery,” Bay Area-based MDC believes the answer lies in robotics. While robotics undoubtedly represent the future of surgery, they present their own challenges in this application. After all, traditional robotics contain many elements that cannot operate inside an MRI.
MDC’s challenge, then, was creating a robotic system that could operate on a patient inside an MRI without relying on electric motors, rare earth metals and other elements that would inhibit the imaging machine’s operations.
The young startup’s work is built upon research conducted during founder and CEO Sam Frishman’s time at John Hopkins and Stanford. Frishman describes the solution as “high stiffness, low friction hydraulic transmissions and actuators.” The system is powered by water and tethered to the outside of the MRI through a tube.
“Our system has a few differentiators,” Frishman tells TechCrunch. “One is the ability to have really dexterous control directly by the physician. They’re controlling the needle, whether it’s positioning, advancing, actuating — it’s like they’re holding it in their hand.”
MDC is specifically targeting biopsies and ablations in its initial offering. The CEO says those minimally invasive procedures are just the start.
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Haptic's touch-based navigation helps blind and sighted alike get around without looking
Smartphones and navigation apps have become second nature these days. But for those with blindness and low vision, it’s not quite so convenient. Haptic has been building a non-visual, non-verbal way of telling people where to go, and they’ve decided it’s time to scale up and take it global.
Haptic presented onstage today as part of the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, showing their progress from concept to prototype to platform. The company got started in 2017 when, after a friend lost their sight in an accident, a group of colleagues began looking into ways someone could navigate without using visual or auditory cues.
Though there are plenty of screen-reading options and spoken directions in apps, these options aren’t always convenient or practical. But as co-founder and head of business Enzo Caruso pointed out, there are other interfaces we could be using. Touch, for instance.
“Why not receive info in a more robust, intuitive, and accessible way? Everyone can understand the sensation of touch. It’s global, it’s worldwide, it’s universal,” he said.
The advance Haptic has made — and patented, Caruso noted — is a way of using vibration and other tactile sensations to communicate the simple, intuitive idea that the user is going in the right direction. Your device will send a steady pulse when you’re on track, then quicken or intensify if you veer off course; they call it a “haptic corridor.” Though it’s hard to imagine, they say it’s intuitive enough to get after just a few seconds.
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Atlas Goes Hands On
#robotics #technology #atlas #bostondynamics
Design and Architecture
Atlas is designed to be a highly versatile and adaptable robot, capable of navigating complex environments and performing a wide range of tasks. The robot's design is inspired by the human body, with a focus on flexibility, balance, and dexterity.
The robot's body is made up of several key components, including:
Propulsion System
Atlas's propulsion system is designed to provide a high level of stability and balance, while also allowing the robot to move quickly and efficiently. The system consists of several key components, including:
The propulsion system is designed to be highly efficient and adaptable, with a focus on providing a high level of stability and balance. The system is also highly customizable, with a range of options available for adjusting the robot's movement and balance.
Sensors and Navigation
Atlas is equipped with a range of sensors, including:
The sensors work together to provide the robot with a comprehensive understanding of its environment, allowing it to navigate complex terrain with ease.
Manipulation and Dexterity
Atlas's manipulation capabilities are designed to be highly versatile and adaptable, with a focus on providing a high level of dexterity and precision. The robot's arms are equipped with a range of tools, including:
The robot's manipulation capabilities are highly customizable, with a range of options available for adjusting the robot's movement and balance.
Advanced Balance and Stability Control
Atlas has a highly advanced balance and stability control system, which uses a combination of sensors, algorithms, and actuators to maintain the robot's balance and stability. The system is capable of detecting changes in the robot's center of gravity and making adjustments as needed to maintain balance.
Search and Rescue Applications
Atlas is designed to be used in search and rescue applications, such as navigating rubble or debris fields. The robot's advanced sensors, propulsion system, and manipulation capabilities make it well-suited to this type of application.
DARPA Robotics Challenge
In 2013, Atlas participated in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, a competition designed to test the capabilities of humanoid robots in search and rescue scenarios. The robot successfully navigated a complex course through a simulated disaster scenario, demonstrating its ability to work in challenging environments.
Limitations
While Atlas is an incredibly advanced robot, it is not without its limitations. The robot is still relatively heavy and cumbersome, and its propulsion system can be limited by the weight-bearing capacity of its legs. Additionally, the robot's manipulation capabilities are still relatively limited, and it may struggle with complex tasks that require high levels of dexterity.
Future Developments
Boston Dynamics is continually working to improve and expand the capabilities of Atlas and other robots. The company is exploring a range of new applications, including:
As the technology continues to advance, we can expect to see Atlas and other robots playing an increasingly important role in a wide range of fields.
Gecko Materials wants to sell you the next Velcro
It looks fake, or at least like a good illusion: There's Gecko Materials founder Capella Kerst dangling a full wine bottle from her pinky finger
It looks fake, or at least like a good illusion: There’s Gecko Materials founder Capella Kerst dangling a full wine bottle from her pinky finger, the only thing keeping it from smashing to pieces being the super-strong dry-adhesive her startup has brought to market.
#geckomaterials #velcro #technology
But it’s no trick. It’s the result of years of academic research that Kerst built on by inventing a method to mass-manufacture the adhesive. Inspired by the way real-life gecko feet grip surfaces, you could think of it like a new Velcro — except it only needs one side, leaves no residue, and can detach as quickly as it attaches. It can do this at least 120,000 times and, as Kerst noted in a recent interview with TechCrunch, can stay attached for seconds, minutes, or even years.
Kerst has spent the last few years giving this magic trick-style demo any and everywhere: At VC happy hours, during pitch meetings, and on TikTok and Instagram Reels. And it works. Not just mechanically, but as a method of quickly captivating investors and customers. Gecko raised a $2 million seed round in 2021 in less than 36 hours, and boasts Ford, Pacific Gas & Electric, and even NASA as early customers.
Yes, before Kerst makes her pitch on the Startup Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024, Gecko Materials’ adhesive has already been to space.
The adhesive is incredibly strong. One square-inch tile of it can hold 15 pounds, vertically, while six of them is enough to pull a car. It works by leveraging van der Waals forces, which involves interactions at the intermolecular level.
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ForceField helps detect deepfakes and digital deception by verifying source data
Forcefield wants to help counter the scourge of deep-fakes and spoofed evidence in the age of AI.
A new startup setting out to combat the scourge of deepfakes and spoofed evidence in the age of AI is showing off its wares on the Startup Battlefield stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 this week. ForceField is building a set of “patent-pending” APIs dubbed MARQ, the first of which is designed to authenticate content.
#forcefield #deepfake #data #technology
For context, a 2022 report from European law enforcement agency Europol predicted that 90% of all online content will be AI-generated by 2026. The internet is already awash with manipulated content — either entirely machine-generated, or made with the help of AI — forcing big tech companies to develop new tools to address the problem. Google last month announced that it will soon begin flagging AI-generated images in its search engine, following in the footsteps of Meta, which was already doing so on Facebook and Instagram — though with questionable accuracy.
YouTube, meanwhile, now allows people to request the removal of content that simulates their face or voice.
The issue of “fake” content isn’t going away, and it’s a problem that has given rise to a swathe of startups that are tackling the problem through various means, such as Clarity, Reality Defender, and Truepic, which have all raised sizeable sums from big-name backers in recent years.
Article
Chinese EV Makers Will End An Already Stellar Year With A Continued Sales Surge, Analysts Predict
Despite a massive price war and European nations doing their best to create a trade war, the Chinese EV market still looks like it will easily be crowned the best electric auto market in the world heading into the final months of 2024.
China's major EV makers ended Q3 stronger than last year, with solid deliveries reducing the need for discounts, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
Now, analysts predict a sales surge in Q4. EV and hybrid sales are booming, driven by expanded subsidies, boosting stock prices and Tesla's best Chinese quarter. In September, EVs and hybrids made up about 53% of new car sales.
#ev #china #europe #technology
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joanna Chen commented: “Industry demand has been better than expected since the third quarter following China’s beefed-up subsidies but many automakers still need a major push in the fourth quarter to hit their annual sales targets.”
She continued: “The first nine months usually contribute 70% of annual car sales and automakers below that threshold are under greater pressure to step up discounts in the quarter.”
Yale Zhang, managing director at Shanghai-based consultancy AutoForesight, added: “I do not see a need to launch another price war. Most of them are in pretty good shape. The majority of these NEV or carmakers will reach their volumes.”
The fourth quarter is set for a surge in auto spending, driven by new EV launches and a year-end rush to use trade-in subsidies, according to Yuqian Ding of HSBC Qianhai Securities. Ding’s data shows EVs need fewer discounts, while gas cars maintain peak discounts of about 22%, the highest in three years.
European brands like Volkswagen, Mercedes, and BMW, which had a tough Q3 in China, may resort to deeper price cuts. AutoForesight warns of a potential premium segment price war, with traditional luxury car production down 4% year-over-year, possibly ending 15 years of growth.
Article
BANF’s smart tires for trucks promise to save fuel and lives
Tire health has a huge impact on a truck’s fuel efficiency and safety on the road.
And yet, with all of the arguably sexier solutions out there offering driver assist features and self-driving software, tires don’t get the attention they deserve. At least, so says Ron Lee, the head of business development at BANF, a startup that builds hardware and software to monitor tire health.
#banf #tired #technology
Korea-based BANF, which stands for Begin A New Feature, uses sensors to collect data on tire pressure, temperature, tread wear, wheel alignment, and even lug nut stability. That data is analyzed using machine learning to provide drivers and fleet managers with insights about not only tire health, but also cargo load measurement and road surface conditions. Lee says BANF’s insights are up to 90% accurate, and are useful to everyone from fleet management companies to OEMs to departments of transportation.
“Tires are the sole point of contact with the road,” Lee told TechCrunch. “We’re not saying that we’re replacing vision-based methodologies of capturing potholes or road conditions, but we’re more of a complementary solution. We are more accurate at capturing road coefficient and also the depths of potholes, which is one of the key indexes that road management needs to know because they have limited budgets, so they have to know where to prioritize.”
The four-year-old startup, which has operations in Korea and China and plans to launch in Texas, is coming online at a time when autonomous trucks are gaining a foothold on highways.
“Autonomous vehicles, their aim is to run 24/7 to maximize profit, which means more tire stress,” Lee said, noting that electric vehicles are also heavier due to their batteries, which can wear down tires. “Tire data will be even more important in the future.”
Article
NVIDIA
Sovereign AI gets boost from new NVIDIA microservices
To ensure AI systems reflect local values and regulations, nations are increasingly pursuing sovereign AI strategies; developing AI utilising their own infrastructure, data, and expertise. NVIDIA is lending its support to this movement with the launch of four new NVIDIA NIMs.
#nvidia #technology #ai
These microservices are designed to simplify the creation and deployment of generative AI applications, supporting regionally-tailored community models. They promise deeper user engagement through an enhanced understanding of local languages and cultural nuances, leading to more accurate and relevant responses.
This move comes amidst an anticipated boom in the Asia-Pacific generative AI software market. ABI Research forecasts a surge in revenue from $5 billion this year to a staggering $48 billion by 2030.
Among the new offerings are two regional language models: Llama-3-Swallow-70B, trained on Japanese data, and Llama-3-Taiwan-70B, optimised for Mandarin. These models are designed to possess a more thorough grasp of local laws, regulations, and cultural intricacies.
Further bolstering the Japanese language offering is the RakutenAI 7B model family. Built upon Mistral-7B and trained on both English and Japanese datasets, they are available as two distinct NIM microservices for Chat and Instruct functions. Notably, Rakuten’s models have achieved impressive results in the LM Evaluation Harness benchmark, securing the highest average score among open Japanese large language models between January and March 2024.
Training LLMs on regional languages is crucial for enhancing output efficacy. By accurately reflecting cultural and linguistic subtleties, these models facilitate more precise and nuanced communication. Compared to base models like Llama 3, these regional variants demonstrate superior performance in understanding Japanese and Mandarin, handling regional legal tasks, answering questions, and translating and summarising text.
This global push for sovereign AI infrastructure is evident in significant investments from nations like Singapore, UAE, South Korea, Sweden, France, Italy, and India.
“LLMs are not mechanical tools that provide the same benefit for everyone. They are rather intellectual tools that interact with human culture and creativity. The influence is mutual where not only are the models affected by the data we train on, but also our culture and the data we generate will be influenced by LLMs,” said Rio Yokota, professor at the Global Scientific Information and Computing Center at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
“Therefore, it is of paramount importance to develop sovereign AI models that adhere to our cultural norms. The availability of Llama-3-Swallow as an NVIDIA NIM microservice will allow developers to easily access and deploy the model for Japanese applications across various industries.”
NVIDIA’s NIM microservices enable businesses, government bodies, and universities to host native LLMs within their own environments. Developers benefit from the ability to create sophisticated copilots, chatbots, and AI assistants. Available with NVIDIA AI Enterprise, these microservices are optimised for inference using the open-source NVIDIA TensorRT-LLM library, promising enhanced performance and deployment speed.
Performance gains are evident with the Llama 3 70B microservices, (the base for the new Llama–3-Swallow-70B and Llama-3-Taiwan-70B offerings), which boast up to 5x higher throughput. This translates into reduced operational costs and improved user experiences through minimised latency.
AI
AI is helping brands avoid controversial influencer partnerships
Influencer partnerships can be great for brands looking to pump out content that promotes their products and services in an authentic way. These types of engagements can yield significant brand awareness and brand sentiment lift, but they can be risky too. Social media stars are unpredictable at the best of times, with many deliberately chasing controversy to increase their fame.
#technology #ai
These antics don’t always reflect well on the brands that collaborate with especially attention-hungry influencers, leaving marketers no choice but to conduct careful due diligence on the individuals they work with. Luckily, that task can be made much easier thanks to the evolving utility of AI.
Lightricks, a software company best known for its AI-powered video and image editing tools, is once again expanding the AI capabilities of its suite with this week’s announcement of SafeCollab. An AI-powered influencer vetting module that lives within the company’s Popular Pays creator collaboration platform, SafeCollab is a new tool for marketers that automates the vetting process.
Traditionally, marketers have had no choice but to spend hours researching the backgrounds of influencers, looking through years’ worth of video uploads and social media posts. It’s a lengthy, manual process that can only be automated with intelligent tools.
SafeCollab provides that intelligence with its underlying large language models, which do the job of investigating influencers to ensure the image they portray is consistent with brand values. The LLMs perform what amounts to a risk assessment of creators’ content across multiple social media channels in minutes, searching through hours of videos, audio uploads, images and text.
In doing this, SafeCollab significantly reduces the time it takes for brand marketers to perform due diligence on the social media influencers they’re considering partnering with. Likewise, when creators opt in to SafeCollab, they make it easier for marketers to understand the brand safety implications of working together, reducing friction from campaign lifecycles.
Brands can’t take chances
The idea here is to empower brand marketers to avoid working with creators whose content is not aligned with the brand’s values – as well as those who have a tendency to kick up a storm.
Such due diligence is vital, for even the most innocuous influencers can have some skeletons in their closets. A case in point is the popular lifestyle influencer Brooke Schofield, who has more than 2.2 million followers on TikTok and co-hosts the “Canceled” podcast on YouTube. With her large following, good looks and keen sense of fashion, Schofield looked like a great fit for the clothing brand Boys Lie, which collaborated with her on an exclusive capsule collection called “Bless His Heart.”
However, Boys Lie quickly came to regret its collaboration with Schofield when a scandal erupted in April after fans unearthed a number of years-old social media posts where she expressed racist views.
The posts, which were uploaded on X between 2012 and 2015 when Schofield was a teenager, contained a string of racist profanities and insulting jokes about Black people’s hairstyles. In one post, she vigorously defended George Zimmerman, a white American who was controversially acquitted of the murder of the Black teenager Trayvon Martin.
Schofield apologized profusely for her posts, admitting that they were “very hurtful” while stressing that she’s a changed person, having had time to “learn and grow and formulate my own opinions.”
However, Boys Lie decided it had no option but to drop its association with Schofield. After a statement on Instagram saying it’s “working on a solution,” the company followed by quietly withdrawing the clothing collection they had previously collaborated on.
Accelerating due diligence
If the marketing team at Boys Lie had access to a tool like SafeCollab, they likely would have uncovered Schofield’s controversial posts long before commissioning the collaboration. The tool, which is a part of Lightricks’ influencer marketing platform Popular Pays, is all about helping brands to automate their due diligence processes when working with social media creators.
By analyzing years of creators’ histories of posts across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, it can check everything they’ve posted online to make sure there’s nothing that might reflect badly on a brand.
Brands can define their risk parameters, and the tool will quickly generate an accurate risk assessment evaluation, so they can confidently choose the influencers they want to work with, safe in the knowledge that their partnerships are unlikely to spark any backlash.
AI
AI sector study: Record growth masks serious challenges
A comprehensive AI sector study – conducted by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in collaboration with Perspective Economics, Ipsos, and glass.ai – provides a detailed overview of the industry’s current state and its future prospects.
#technology #ai
In this article, we delve deeper into the key findings and implications—drawing on additional sources to enhance our understanding.
Thriving industry with significant growth
The study highlights the remarkable growth of the UK’s AI sector. With over 3,170 active AI companies, these firms have generated £10.6 billion in AI-related revenues and employed more than 50,000 people in AI-related roles. This significant contribution to GVA (Gross Value Added) underscores the sector’s transformative potential in driving the UK’s economic growth.
Mark Boost, CEO of Civo, said: “In a space that’s been dominated by US companies for too long, it’s promising to see the government now stepping up to help support the UK AI sector on the global stage.”
The study shows that AI activity is dispersed across various regions of the UK, with notable concentrations in London, the South East, and Scotland. This regional dispersion indicates a broad scope for the development of AI technology applications across different sectors and regions.
Investment and funding
Investment in the AI sector has been a key driver of growth. In 2022, £18.8 billion was secured in private investment since 2016, with investments made in 52 unique industry sectors compared to 35 sectors in 2016.
The government’s commitment to supporting AI is evident through significant investments. In 2022, the UK government unveiled a National AI Strategy and Action Plan—committing over £1.3 billion in support for the sector, complementing the £2.8 billion already invested.
However, as Boost cautions, “Major players like AWS are locking AI startups into their ecosystems with offerings like $500k cloud credits, ensuring that emerging companies start their journey reliant on their infrastructure. This not only hinders competition and promotes vendor lock-in but also risks stifling innovation across the broader UK AI ecosystem.”
Intel
Grupo chinês decreta produtos da Intel um risco de segurança
Segundo a CNN, o órgão chinês afirmou que a empresa americana tem "prejudicado repetidamente" a segurança nacional e os interesses do país. Em resposta, a Intel declarou que a segurança e a qualidade de seus produtos sempre foram prioridade.
#technology #hivebr #china #intel
"Manteremos diálogo com as autoridades competentes para esclarecer quaisquer dúvidas e reafirmar nosso compromisso com a segurança e a qualidade dos produtos", declarou a empresa em comunicado oficial.
Nasa
Nasa compara imagens dos telescópios Webb e Hubble do aglomerado NGC 602
No comunicado, a Nasa explica que a imagem capturada pelo Webb permite observar uma diversidade de galáxias ao fundo, especialmente nas bordas, localizadas a centenas de milhões de anos-luz de distância
#technology #nasa #space #hivebr
A Nasa divulgou, nesta terça-feira (29), uma comparação impressionante entre duas imagens do mesmo grupo de estrelas: o aglomerado estelar NGC 602. A primeira foto, tirada pelo Telescópio Espacial James Webb, revela detalhes inéditos do aglomerado em várias frequências de luz infravermelha, enquanto a segunda, feita anteriormente pelo Telescópio Espacial Hubble, mostra a mesma região sob luz visível.
No comunicado, a Nasa explica que a imagem capturada pelo Webb permite observar uma diversidade de galáxias ao fundo, especialmente nas bordas, localizadas a centenas de milhões de anos-luz de distância. Essa nova perspectiva de NGC 602, um aglomerado situado próximo à borda da Pequena Nuvem de Magalhães (uma galáxia satélite da Via Láctea), abrange uma área de aproximadamente 200 anos-luz.
O Telescópio James Webb, o mais avançado da atualidade, utiliza tecnologia infravermelha para registrar imagens detalhadas do espaço profundo e explorar os primórdios do cosmos. Como sucessor do Hubble, o Webb foi projetado para investigar as diversas etapas da evolução do universo, desde as primeiras luzes após o Big Bang até a formação de sistemas solares com potencial para sustentar vida.
China
Nave espacial tripulada Shenzhou-19 se acopla à estação espacial chinesa
A acoplagem foi finalizada às 11:00 no horário local (Meia noite no horário de Brasília), cerca de seis horas e meia após o lançamento da nave, que partiu da base de Jiuquan, no deserto ao norte da China
#technology #space #china #hivebr
A nave espacial chinesa Shenzhou-19, transportando três astronautas, acoplou-se com sucesso ao módulo central Tianhe da estação espacial Tiangong, conforme anunciou hoje a Agência Espacial de Missões Tripuladas da China.
A acoplagem foi finalizada às 11:00 no horário local (Meia noite no horário de Brasília), cerca de seis horas e meia após o lançamento da nave, que partiu da base de Jiuquan, no deserto ao norte da China.
A tripulação da Shenzhou-19 é liderada por Cai Xuzhe, veterano da missão Shenzhou-14 em 2022, acompanhado pelos estreantes Song Lingdong, ex-piloto da força aérea, e Wang Haoze, engenheira da Academia de Tecnologia de Propulsão Aeroespacial.
Os três astronautas vão ingressar no módulo Tianhe, onde se juntarão à tripulação da Shenzhou-18, formada por Ye Guangfu, Li Cong e Li Guangsu, que já estão na estação desde abril. As duas equipes permanecerão juntas por alguns dias antes do retorno da Shenzhou-18 à Terra.
Durante os seis meses de estadia, a equipe da Shenzhou-19 realizará pesquisas científicas, incluindo experimentos para a construção de habitats lunares utilizando tijolos feitos com material simulado do solo lunar.
Esta é a oitava missão tripulada a Tiangong, que deve operar por aproximadamente dez anos e poderá se tornar a única estação espacial em atividade a partir de 2024, caso a Estação Espacial Internacional, liderada pelos Estados Unidos, seja desativada conforme o planejado.
Nos últimos anos, a China ampliou seu programa espacial com investimentos estratégicos, alcançando marcos importantes, como o pouso no lado oculto da Lua com a sonda Chang'e 4 e a exploração de Marte, sendo o terceiro país a realizar esse feito, após Estados Unidos e antiga União Soviética.
In 'Ibelin,' 'Grand Theft Hamlet,' video game realms draw filmmakers with virtual cameras
Film productions often wrestle with shifts in the weather, the threat of the crew going into overtime or the fading of a day’s light. Less common are concerns over the cast slipping off the top of a blimp.
#gaming #technology #films #camera
But that was one of the quirks of making “Grand Theft Hamlet,” a documentary about a pair of British actors, Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen, who, while idled by the pandemic, decided to stage “Hamlet” within the violent virtual world of “Grand Theft Auto.” When Shakespeare wrote of the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” he may not have imagined the threat of a python loose in a bar or Hamlet wrestling with whether “to be” on a helipad. Yet “Grand Theft Auto” might be an oddly appropriate venue for a play where nearly everyone dies.
“The first time Sam did a bit of Shakespeare in that space, he said, ‘I imagine this is what it was like in Shakespeare’s time at the Globe when people would throw apples at you if you were rubbish,’” says Pinny Grylls, who wrote and directed the film with Crane, her husband. “No one’s really watching you but they’re occasionally looking around and listening to the poetry.”
“Grand Theft Hamlet,” which Mubi will release in theaters in January, opens with Crane and Oosterveen’s avatars, fleeing police and careening into an outdoor amphitheater. One says loud, “I wonder if you could stage something here?”
They aren’t the only ones who have drifted into virtual spaces and wondered if it might be a rich landscape for a movie. In the “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” which debuted Friday on Netflix, director Benjamin Ree plunges into “World of Warcraft” to tell both the life and virtual life story of Mats Steen, a Norwegian gamer who died from Duchenne muscular dystrophy at age 25.
Article
Iran lifts its ban on imports of new iPhone models in place since last year
Iranians will soon be able to get their hands on iPhones 14, 15 and 16 after authorities lifted a ban on new smartphone models by the U.S. tech giant Apple, according to an announcement Wednesday.
The ban on new iPhone models had been in place since 2023 but now, the country’s telecommunications minister said authorities are allowing the registration of the new models.
The minister, Satar Hashemi, said on X that the problem of registering new iPhone models on the Iranian market was “solved” and that Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian backed the efforts of the communication ministry toward that goal.
#iphone #apple #iran #ban #imports
Hashemi did not elaborate but said the import measures would be announced, soon.
Following the 2023 ban, iPhone 13 and older versions could still be imported amid high demand for an item that remains a status symbol for many young Iranians.
While the ban was in place, any iPhone 14, 15 or a newer model brought into Iran would stop working on Iran’s state-controlled mobile phone networks after one month, the time span for tourists allowed to visit the county.
The ban spurred a parallel economy for the older handsets, jacking up prices for the devices as many sought to put their depreciating Iranian rials into any physical commodity. It was a sign of the economic woes plaguing Iran after decades of Western sanctions.
Article
What to know about EU's tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles
The European Union has finalized its sharply higher customs duties on electric vehicles imported from China.
EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and Beijing’s burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc.
#ev #china #automotive #eu #technology
The duties took effect provisionally in July and were finalized after talks between the EU and China failed to resolve their differences. Negotiations are expected to continue, and the EU could lift the duties if an agreement is reached.
Here are some basic facts about the EU’s customs duties:
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, conducted an eight-month investigation and concluded that companies making electric cars in China benefit from massive government help that enables them to undercut rivals in the EU on price, take a large market share and threaten European jobs.
The duties differ depending on the maker: 17% for BYD, 18.8% for Geely and 35.3% for state-owned SAIC. Other EV manufacturers in China, including Volkswagen and BMW, would be subject to a 20.7% duty. The commission has an individually calculated rate for Tesla of 7.8%.
“By adopting these proportionate and targeted measures after a rigorous investigation, we’re standing up for fair market practices and for the European industrial base,” European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis said.
The duties will stay in force for five years unless an amicable solution is found.
Chinese-built electric cars jumped from 3.9% of the EV market in 2020 to 25% by September 2023, the commission has said.
The commission says companies in China accomplished that with the help of subsidies all along the chain of production, from cheap land for factories from local governments to below-market supplies of lithium and batteries from state-owned enterprises to tax breaks and below-interest financing from state-controlled banks.
The rapid growth in market share has sparked fears that Chinese cars will eventually threaten the EU’s ability to produce its own green technology needed to combat climate change, as well as the jobs of 2.5 million workers at risk in the auto industry and 10.3 million more people whose jobs depend indirectly on EV production.
Subsidized solar panels from China have wiped out European producers - an experience that European governments don’t want to see repeated with their auto industry.
Unusually, the commission acted on its own, without a complaint from the European auto industry. Industry leaders and Germany, home to BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have opposed the tariffs. That’s because many of the cars that will be hit with tariffs are made by European companies, and China could retaliate against the auto industry or in other areas.
Beijing has been sharply critical of the investigation and the higher duties as protectionist and unfair.
The Commerce Ministry has also launched anti-dumping investigations into European exports of brandy, pork and dairy products. Earlier this month, it announced provisional tariffs of 30.6% to 39% on French and other European brandies, after EU member countries voted in favor of finalizing the tariffs on EVs.
Officials have also said that they are weighing whether to raise tariffs on imports of gasoline-powered vehicles with large engines.
Article
Donald Trump's Truth Social now worth more than Elon Musk's X
Donald Trump's Truth Social is now worth more than Elon Musk's X, thanks to a recent run-up in the shares of the parent company of the former president's social media platform.
Trump Media & Technology Group is now valued at over $10 billion after its shares more than quadrupled since late September. Meanwhile, X Holdings is valued at around $9.4 billion, based on the most recent value the investment group Fidelity assigned to its stake in the company formerly known as Twitter.
#twitter #truthsocial #elonmusk #x #value #socialmedia
Do we think Trump will somehow use his social network some AI training or is he just caring about having a platform?
I am not sure how involved he personally is other than using it.
At a minimum, the company has to be selling its data. There is a ton of value there.
Ah okay thought he was the founder and owner of it.
I am sure he was...he founded his real estate companies but that is run by his kids. He has no part in the daily operation. I presume Trump media is the same.
Alright I see. I dont even know how large the platform actually is.
The stock of Trump Media, or TMTG, tends to move more with Trump’s re-election odds than on its own profit prospects and investors have seen his chances of retaking the presidency improving of late. On Tuesday, the stock rose more than 12% to $53.30, on top of a 21.6% gain Monday. The stock was moving so sharply that trading was briefly halted several times during the morning. The stock had dropped to roughly $12 late last month.
Trump created TMTG after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He owns about 57% of the company but has no role in running it.
Based in Sarasota, Florida, TMTG has been losing money and struggling to raise revenue. It lost more than $16 million in the quarter ending in June while generating only $837,000 in revenue, according to regulatory filings.
When Musk took over Twitter in October of 2022, the company was valued at around $44 billion. At that time, Fidelity Investments valued its stake at $19.7 million. In a recent regulatory filing, Fidelity’s Blue Chip Growth fund said its stake in X Holdings was worth about $4.2 million.
Other companies TMTG is now bigger than include: Caesars Entertainment, Match Group, Walgreens Boots Alliance and Hasbro, the maker of the Monopoly game.
Article
Apple Intelligence is here. Early users are underwhelmed
Apple's slow-and-steady approach to AI faces pressure as users encounter waitlists and familiar features. But analysts remain optimistic
Michael Hunter, an Atlanta-based real estate marketing professional and Apple power user, has watched Apple’s new Apple Intelligence features evolve from promising to problematic. After a month with iOS 18.1's early release through his developer account, Hunter was impressed by the system’s enhanced Siri capabilities and responsiveness.
#apple #appleintelligence #iphone #technology
But his enthusiasm dimmed after updating to iOS 18.2 beta last week.
“This has to be the buggiest rollout that Apple has ever done,” said Hunter, who uses Siri across his collection of 20 Apple devices.
The latest version has proven unstable, with voice responses frequently defaulting to screen text and basic Siri functions becoming unreliable. “They took away Siri from me and ruined my day-to-day use,” Hunter said.
Apple began rolling out its Intelligence features to regular iPhone users this week, marking its biggest push yet into consumer AI as it races to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s (GOOGL
+4.03%
) Gemini. The update represents a crucial moment for Apple, which has bet that by integrating AI more deeply into iOS while maintaining its privacy-first approach, it can catch up to competitors who got an earlier start in the AI race.
But the response so far has been muted, with users facing long waitlists only to find capabilities that feel familiar after two years of similar features from competitors. And it’s raising questions about whether Apple’s characteristically late but polished entrance into AI can still excite consumers.
Potential users (only those with the iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16) eager to try Apple Intelligence are finding themselves in an unusual position: waiting in line for a software update. After downloading iOS 18.1, users must toggle a switch in Settings and then join a waitlist that can last several hours.
Article
Fired Disney staffer accused of hacking menu to add profanity, wingdings, removes allergen info
If you're gonna come at the mouse, you need to be better at hiding your tracks
A disgruntled ex-Disney employee has been arrested and charged with hacking his former employer's systems to alter restaurant menus with potentially deadly consequences.
#disney #hacker #technology
Michael Scheuer was charged [PDF] and arrested last week for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act on three occasions by breaking into a former employer's systems. Disney is not named in the complaint, but The Register has been told they are the company in question, and Scheuer's former employer.
Fired from his role at Disney as a menu production manager in June for what the complaint notes was unspecified "misconduct," the dismissal "was contentious and was not considered to be amicable," according to court documents signed by US magistrate judge Daniel Irick in what appears to be crayon (see page 25 of this PDF).
Scheuer allegedly went into action quickly following his termination, and by early July was said to have used his work credentials, which still functioned after his termination, to access the menu creation system Disney contracted another company to create and change all the fonts in the system to wingdings symbols.
"The fonts were renamed by the threat actor to maintain the name of the original font, but the actual characters appeared as symbols," the complaint alleged.
"When launched, Menu Creator reached out to the configuration files to retrieve what it believed to be the correct font, instead, it retrieved the altered font files," the document continued. "As a result of this change, all of the menus within the database were unusable because the font changes propagated throughout the database."
According to the complaint, the changes knocked the system
Article
Indian firms secretly funneled AMD, Nvidia AI GPUs to Russia — sanctions reportedly skirted on hundreds of millions of dollars of hardware
Circumventing of Western sanctions against Russia.
Following sanctions from the United States and its allies over the war against Ukraine, Russia now has to smuggle advanced processors into the country. As discovered by Bloomberg, an Indian pharmaceutical company has been exporting Dell servers to Russia, circumventing sanctions imposed by the U.S. government.
#russia #india #chips #gpus #sanctions
Between April and August 2024, Shreya Life Sciences shipped 1,111 Dell PowerEdge XE9680 servers, valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, to Russia. These servers are based on Intel's 4th Generation Xeon Scalable CPUs and are equipped with AMD Instinct MI300X or Nvidia H100 processors for AI and HPC processors. The shipments, which were legally conducted under India's trade regulations, were sent to two Russian companies, Main Chain Ltd. and I.S LLC. Trade data shows that these exports began in September 2022, following the imposition of sanctions that cut off access to Western markets.
The servers trace back to Malaysia, where they were initially sourced by Dell's subsidiary in India before being exported to Russia. Shipping documents for over 800 PowerEdge XE9680 servers show Malaysia as the country of origin. Between March and August 2024, India imported 1,407 of these Dell servers from Malaysia. Despite multiple attempts to seek comments from Malaysian officials regarding the exports, neither Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry nor the Prime Minister’s Office provided a response to Bloomberg.
Shreya’s exports of Dell servers to Russia surged in April 2024, with an average price of $260,000 per server. These servers are classified under HS code 847150, part of a list of dual-use goods restricted by the EU and U.S. to prevent their use in Russian military operations. Main Chain, the primary recipient of Shreya's exports, was registered in Russia in January 2023 and is headed by Anastasia Obukhova, who previously ran small tourism companies.
TSMC is in a heated tussle with a golf course to build the most advanced 2nm chip plant on the planet
The Central Taiwan Science Park has issued an ultimatum to the golf club: resolve your issues by December 15 or face compulsory acquisition.
#tsmc #golfcourse #taiwan
The Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) in Taichung, Taiwan is pushing forward with its second phase expansion which will house TSMC’s most advanced fab yet. CTSP said that over 95% of the land required for expansion has already been agreed for purchase, including the Hsing Nong Golf Course. However, according to United Daily News (machine translated), the golf course’s club members are blocking the acquisition because they demand a NT$1.8-million (approximately US$56,000) buyback price for each golf certificate.
This amount is based on 80% of the average NT$2.2-million price of one golf share for a course based in Central Taiwan over the past two years. Given that the Hsing Nong Golf Course issued 1,750 certificates, that amounts to a total of NT$3.15 billion or over US$98.5 million. However, the current average price of a single golf certificate in central Taiwan has already exceeded NT$3 million (around US$94,000). Nevertheless, the Hsing Nong Golf Course expects to net between NT$15 to NT$20 billion (US$470 to US$626 million) from the sale, even after paying the members’ asking price.
Despite getting a bargain, it seems that the Hsing Nong Golf Course has been avoiding coordinating with its members, thus they are considering filing lawsuits and mounting a protest. This news has led to CTSP’s concern that its land acquisition plans would be jeopardized by years of lawsuits and countersuits. So, it issued a final ultimatum to the golf course owners: resolve the issue with its members by December 15 or face compulsory acquisition, likely through eminent domain.
A $3 'coffee filter' device could detect colorectal cancer in under an hour
A remarkable new device promises to make cancer detection cheaper, faster and more accessible.
As described in an upcoming issue of Lab on a Chip, researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) say they have developed a system that can detect cancer markers in the blood with greater responsiveness than current diagnostic methods.
#coffee #cancer #health #technology
Known as a paper-in-polymer-pond (PiPP) device, the new testing platform combines paper similar to the kind found in coffee filters with a plastic framework.
Using a drop of blood from a patient, the PiPP targets two cancer markers: carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is linked to colorectal cancer, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), which indicates prostate cancer.
CEA and PSA show up in the blood in the early stages of cancer, making them historically difficult to detect. However, the new device can catch these markers at low concentrations, making them roughly 10 times more sensitive than testing kits on the market.
“Our new biochip device is low-cost — just a few dollars — and sensitive, which will make accurate disease diagnosis accessible to anyone, whether rich or poor,” lead author XiuJun (James) Li, a UTEP professor of chemistry and biochemistry, said in a statement.
“It is portable, rapid, and eliminates the need for specialized instruments,” Li added.
Article
Google accused of imposing illegal 'gag order' blocking workers from discussing antitrust cases
A union representing many Google employees is demanding the company lift what it described as an illegal “gag order” barring them from discussing landmark antitrust cases
A union representing Google employees is demanding the tech giant lift what it called an illegal “gag order” barring them from discussing landmark antitrust cases that could upend the company’s business.
#google #bigtech #gagorder #technology
On Aug. 5, US District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google is a “monopolist” with an illegal stranglehold over the online search market.
That same day, Google president of global affairs Kent Walker instructed employees not to comment on the case inside or outside the workplace.
The Alphabet Workers Union alleges that Walker violated a federal labor law with the “overly board directive” in a bid to “suppress worker speech” related to the antitrust battles, according to a copy of the Aug. 15 filing obtained by The Post.
“Our employer continues to demonstrate a blatant disregard for federal labor law and our right to discuss working conditions with coworkers—up to and including the proposed remedies of federal antitrust actions that could affect many of our jobs at Google,” said Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and president of Alphabet Workers Union.
Jeff Bezos says he didn't know Blue Origin met with Trump as he tries to calm Washington Post storm
Bezos' Blue Origin has a $3.4 billion contract to build spacecraft and is competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX
Jeff Bezos says there is “no connection” between the Washington Post’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate and his space company’s meeting with former President Donald Trump.
#jeffbezos #blueorigin #trump #space #technology
Bezos — who founded Amazon and Blue Origin and owns the Post — published an editorial Monday night about the Post’s decision in an effort to halt the flood of subscribers canceling their plans. As of Monday afternoon, more than 200,000 subscribers had canceled their subscriptions to the Post, accounting for about 8% of the paper’s paid circulation, NPR reports.
Besides the general controversy over a newspaper of record declining to endorse a candidate for the first time in almost four decades, subscribers and online commentators alike were angered by Bezos’ reported involvement in the decision. More than that, there was the appearance of a tit-for-tat deal, with reports noting that Blue Origin had met with the former president the day that the publication said it would not make an endorsement.
“I would also like to be clear that no quid pro quo of any kind is at work here,” Bezos wrote, adding that the decision was made entirely internally. “Neither campaign nor candidate was consulted or informed at any level or in any way about this decision.”
The third-richest man alive said that he sighed when he “found out” that Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp had met with Trump, writing that neither he nor Limp had known about the meeting ahead of time. According to Bezos, it was planned “quickly that morning.” Trump also met with Megan Mitchell, Blue Origin’s vice president of government relations, the Associated Press reported.
Early Years (2000-2003)
Blue Origin was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. At the time, Bezos was looking for a new challenge and was interested in space exploration. He had been fascinated by space since his childhood and had even considered starting a space company before starting Amazon.
Initially, the company was called New Shepard Aerospace and was focused on developing a suborbital spaceplane. The goal was to create a reusable launch system that could carry people to space and back. Bezos was inspired by the concept of space tourism and wanted to create a vehicle that could take people to the edge of space and back.
Bezos assembled a team of experienced engineers and scientists, including Mark Bezos, his brother, and BOB Smith, a former NASA engineer. The team worked tirelessly to develop the New Shepard spaceplane, which was designed to be reusable and efficient.
Name Change and Focus Shift (2003-2006)
In 2003, Bezos changed the company's name to Blue Origin, which is a reference to the origins of life on Earth. The company shifted its focus from suborbital spaceflight to orbital spaceflight, with a goal of establishing a human settlement on Mars.
Blue Origin began to invest in research and development of new technologies, including advanced propulsion systems, life support systems, and habitat design. The company also established a number of research and development centers around the world, including in the United States, Germany, and Canada.
New Shepard Development (2006-2011)
In 2006, Blue Origin began to develop the New Shepard spaceplane in earnest. The company invested heavily in the development of the vehicle, which included the creation of a large launch pad and test facility.
New Shepard was designed to be a reusable launch system, with the ability to carry up to six people to the edge of space and back. The vehicle was powered by a liquid oxygen and methane fuel combination, which provided a high specific impulse and efficient propulsion.
Bezos was highly involved in the development of New Shepard, often flying on the vehicle himself. He took the first test flight in 2015, along with his brother Mark and another investor, Evan Leybourn.
Suborbital Flight Tests (2015-2019)
In 2015, Blue Origin began conducting suborbital flight tests of New Shepard. The company launched several test flights, including the first successful launch and re-entry of the vehicle.
On July 3, 2015, New Shepard flew to an altitude of 106.9 km (342,000 ft), marking the first successful test of the vehicle's propulsion system. The test was followed by several more flights, each one pushing the boundaries of the vehicle's performance.
In 2018, Blue Origin conducted a series of test flights that pushed the limits of the vehicle's performance. The company flew New Shepard to an altitude of 106.9 km (342,000 ft) and demonstrated the vehicle's ability to handle extreme g-forces.
Orbital Flight Tests (2019)
In 2019, Blue Origin announced plans to develop a new vehicle, New Glenn, which would be designed to take people to orbit. The company began conducting orbital flight tests of New Glenn in 2020.
On July 20, 2021, New Glenn flew to an altitude of 108.2 km (356,000 ft), marking the first successful orbital test of the vehicle. The test was followed by several more flights, each one demonstrating the vehicle's performance and capabilities.
Commercial Launch Services (2021)
In May 2021, Blue Origin announced that it would begin offering commercial launch services using its New Glenn vehicle. The company plans to offer launches to a variety of customers, including government agencies and private companies.
Bezos has stated that his goal for Blue Origin is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, with a long-term vision of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars. He believes that space exploration and development will be critical to the long-term survival of humanity.
Bezos' Role and Vision
Throughout the development of Blue Origin, Bezos has been highly involved in the company's operations and has played a significant role in shaping its vision. Bezos has stated that his goal for Blue Origin is to make humanity a multi-planetary species, with a long-term vision of establishing a permanent human settlement on Mars.
Bezos has also emphasized the importance of making space exploration and development accessible to a wide range of people and organizations. He believes that space will play a critical role in the future of humanity and that it is essential that we make progress in space exploration and development as quickly as possible.
Funding and Investments
Blue Origin has received significant funding and investments from a variety of sources, including Amazon, Bezos' personal wealth, and other investors. The company has also received investments from government agencies and private companies.
In 2020, Blue Origin raised $1 billion in funding from investors, including Amazon, Bezos' personal wealth, and other investors. The funding round was one of the largest in the history of the space industry and marked a major milestone in the company's development.
Controversies and Challenges
Blue Origin has faced several challenges and controversies over the years, including concerns about the company's environmental impact, worker safety, and the potential risks of space travel.
In 2019, Blue Origin faced criticism for its treatment of workers at its manufacturing facility in West Texas. The company was accused of poor working conditions and low wages, leading to calls for improved working conditions and better compensation for workers.
Blue Origin has also faced concerns about the environmental impact of its operations, including the potential for pollution and habitat destruction. The company has responded by implementing a number of sustainability initiatives, including the use of renewable energy sources and waste reduction programs.
Despite these challenges, Blue Origin remains committed to its mission and continues to make significant progress in the development of its space technology.
OpenAI reportedly builds custom AI chips as it embraces AMD — company also abandons plans to build its own fabs
Broadcom set to help OpenAI to build its AI inference chip.
OpenAI is proceeding with the development of its first custom AI chip with Broadcom and expects to produce it for TSMC. However, reports Reuters, the company no longer intends to spearhead building a fab network. At the same time, the company continues to add more powerful chips from AMD and Nvidia to its fleet.
#openai #amd #inference #technology
AI inference chips incoming, no more fab plans
In a bid to reduce reliance on Nvidia, OpenAI initially considered developing its chips both for training and inference and then facilitating the building of a dozen fabs (operated by prominent foundries like TSMC and Samsung Foundry), but high costs and long timelines made it impractical. Instead, OpenAI has prioritized designing custom AI chips for inference together with Broadcom and producing them at TSMC. For now, OpenAI will keep using GPUs from Nvidia and AMD for training.
While high-demand AI GPUs like Nvidia's H100 and H200 are used for training of large language modes by pretty much everyone, which is why they are hard to get, demand for AI inference chips is projected to grow as more AI applications reach the market. OpenAI's upcoming custom-designed inference chip is slated for release by 2026. According to Reuters, this timeline could be adjusted based on project needs, but the focus is on inference tasks that enhance real-time AI responses.
To support this new chip development, OpenAI has assembled a team of around 20 engineers led by experienced engineers like Thomas Norrie and Richard Ho, specialists who previously worked on Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). The team is key to moving forward with the in-house design, which could allow for greater customization and efficiency.
OpenAI now does the same thing as Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. These companies have chips for AI or general-purpose workloads, sometimes co-developed with Broadcom.
Google now uses AI to write 25% of its new code — Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai underlines the company's role in the AI industry amidst strong Q3 24 financials
Will AI completely displace entry-level software engineers?
In Alphabet's recent earning calls, Sundar Pichai said that Google relies on Artificial Intelligence to generate a quarter of its new code. The tech giant, highlighting its strong financials last quarter, attached significant importance to how Google is continuously redefining user experience - while depending on AI internally at the same time. Likewise, on the financial end, the company is seeing an applaudable turnaround - with a 34% increase in net income year over year.
#alphabet #google #ai #code #sundarpichai
Using AI to write code is nothing new. Let's be honest; we've all used AI at least once to wrap up that one specific assignment or grasp a new concept. However, the fact that an industry leader like Google writes 25% of its new code is both intriguing and unsettling at the same time. Sundar Pichai says, "Today, more than a quarter of all new code at Google is generated by AI, then reviewed and accepted by engineers." Of course, AI is not self-aware, at least not yet, and every line of code has to be monitored by senior developers. But this poses a real threat to up-and-coming programmers.
Google is also revamping how we search things on the internet through AI. Meet AI Overviews, which accumulate results online and offer a summarized overview. “In Search, our new AI features are expanding what people can search for and how they search for it." While, in theory, this is a step in the right direction, the model tends to slip up occasionally. We should also highlight that Google could be forced to split up in light of an anti-trust lawsuit by the Department of Justice pinning Google's monopoly in the Search Engine market.
Overall, Alphabet's financials are solid as the recent influx in AI services to mainstream customers and a surge in YouTube Ad revenue landed the giant a respectable 15% increase in revenue at $88.2 billion compared to last year. Interestingly, the operating income for Google Services is up by 28%, even when you factor in the costs of running those AI models. Google Cloud, offering cloud computing and generative AI solutions, sees a substantial 7.3x uplift in the operating income at $1.94 Billion.
All things considered, it appears that Google's more AI-centric approach is working. While threats about potential job displacements are still looming, Google is doing all it can to appease shareholders and maintain its status in the market.
Supermicro's stock plummets 35% in one day as accounting firm resigns — storm brews after DOJ probe into manipulated finances
Supermicro has a super-macro problem
Supermicro stock tanked 35% today after accounting firm Ernst & Young resigned. The firm's resignation, which cites unreliable management and possible law violations, comes one month after the Department of Justice investigated Supermicro for possible accounting manipulation and export violations. Supermicro's stock value has been the lowest since January of this year.
#supermico #doj #accounting
Ernst & Young's letter, cited in an SEC filing, reads, "We are resigning due to information that has recently come to our attention which has led us to no longer be able to rely on management's and the Audit Committee’s representations and to be unwilling to be associated with the financial statements prepared by management, and after concluding we can no longer provide the Audit Services under applicable law or professional obligations."
Ernst & Young also questioned Supermicro's ability to act with "integrity and ethical values." Ernst & Young's resignation came while conducting the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2024. Supermicro rejected the accounting firm's claims in its filing, saying there are no "reportable events" that would implicate Supermicro in wrongdoing.
Article
Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users
Reddit is getting bigger.
Reddit just turned a profit for the first time. As part of its third quarter earnings results released on Tuesday, the company reported a profit of $29.9 million, along with $348.4 million in revenue — a 68 percent increase year over year.
#reddit #socialmedia #earnings #technology
The company hasn’t been profitable at any point in its nearly 20-year history. Since going public, Reddit lost $575 million during its first quarter on the market, but it decreased that loss to $10 million last quarter and is now finally in the black.
Reddit also grew to 97.2 million daily users over the past few months, marking a 47 percent increase from the same time last year. That number exceeded 100 million users on some days during the quarter, Reddit says.
Reddit’s advertising revenue grew to $315.1 million, while “other” revenue reached $33.2 million on account of “data licensing agreements signed earlier this year.” Both Google and OpenAI have cut deals with Reddit to train their AI models on its posts.
In a letter to shareholders, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman attributed the recent increase in users to the platform’s AI-powered translation feature. Reddit started letting users translate posts into French last year before expanding to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German. Now, Huffman says Reddit plans to expand translation to over 30 countries through 2025.
Article
Reddit: The Evolution of the Front Page of the Internet
Introduction
Reddit, self-proclaimed as "the front page of the internet," has grown from a simple link-sharing platform to one of the world's most influential social media websites. Founded in 2005, Reddit has become a unique digital ecosystem that combines social news, web content rating, and discussion forums, creating a platform where millions of users congregate daily to share information, engage in discussions, and build communities around virtually every conceivable topic.
Origins and Early Days (2005-2006)
The Founding Story
In 2005, college roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian attended a lecture at Harvard University by programmer and entrepreneur Paul Graham. Following the lecture, Graham invited them to apply to his startup accelerator, Y Combinator. While their initial pitch for a mobile food ordering app called "My Mobile Menu" was rejected, Graham suggested they build "the front page of the internet" instead.
With $12,000 in seed funding from Y Combinator, Huffman and Ohanian developed Reddit in Medford, Massachusetts. The first version of Reddit was written in Common Lisp but was later rewritten in Python using the web framework web.py. The site launched in June 2005, and within a month, they merged with Aaron Swartz's company Infogami, bringing him on as a co-owner.
Early Features and Development
The initial version of Reddit was remarkably simple compared to today's platform. Users could submit links, vote content up or down, and comment on submissions. This basic structure would prove to be incredibly powerful and remains at the core of Reddit's functionality today. The site's clean, minimalist design stood in stark contrast to the flashy, graphics-heavy websites that dominated the mid-2000s internet.
The first major feature addition was the introduction of subreddits in 2006, allowing users to create their own communities focused on specific topics. This development would later prove to be crucial to Reddit's growth and community-building potential.
Growth and Acquisition (2006-2011)
Condé Nast Acquisition
In October 2006, about a year after launch, Reddit was acquired by Condé Nast for an estimated $10-20 million. The acquisition provided Reddit with resources for growth while allowing it to operate relatively independently. During this period, Reddit continued to operate out of San Francisco, separate from Condé Nast's New York headquarters.
Development of Core Features
Several key features that define modern Reddit were introduced during this period:
Self Posts: In 2009, Reddit introduced self posts (text posts), allowing users to create discussions without linking to external content.
Reddit Gold: Launched in 2010, Reddit gold (later renamed Reddit Premium) became the platform's premium membership program, offering additional features and helping to support the site's operations.
Mobile Interface: The first official mobile interface was introduced, though third-party apps remained popular.
Subreddit Growth: The number of subreddits exploded, with communities forming around increasingly specific interests and topics.
The Independent Era (2011-2015)
Spin-off from Condé Nast
In 2011, Reddit was spun off as an independent entity under Condé Nast's parent company, Advance Publications. This move gave Reddit more operational independence and the ability to pursue its own direction and funding.
Cultural Impact and Major Events
During this period, Reddit began to emerge as a significant cultural force:
Boston Marathon Bombing: The platform faced controversy in 2013 when users attempted to identify the bombing suspects, leading to false accusations against innocent individuals. This event sparked important discussions about the responsibilities of social media platforms and their users.
The Fappening: In 2014, Reddit faced another major controversy when users shared leaked celebrity photos, leading to discussions about privacy and content moderation.
Community Activism: Reddit communities began organizing various charitable initiatives and social movements, demonstrating the platform's potential for collective action.
Modern Era and Maturation (2015-Present)
Leadership and Corporate Development
In 2015, Steve Huffman returned as CEO following a period of turmoil. Under his leadership, Reddit has undergone significant changes:
Funding Rounds: The company has raised several rounds of funding, including a $300 million round led by Tencent in 2019, valuing the company at $3 billion.
Design Updates: The platform underwent major redesigns, including the controversial "New Reddit" interface launched in 2018.
Content Policies: Reddit has implemented stricter content policies, banning numerous subreddits that violated its rules.
Technical Evolution
Reddit's technical infrastructure has evolved significantly:
Architecture Modernization: The platform has undergone multiple technical overhauls to handle increasing traffic and features.
Mobile Apps: Official Reddit apps for iOS and Android were launched, though third-party alternatives remain popular.
New Features: Introduction of features like Reddit Chat, polls, and improved video hosting.
Community and Culture
Unique Characteristics
Reddit's community has developed its own distinct culture:
Karma System: The points-based reputation system that rewards popular contributions.
Awards System: Virtual awards users can give to exceptional content, evolving from Reddit Gold to include numerous specific awards.
Subreddit Culture: Each subreddit develops its own rules, customs, and inside jokes.
Notable Community Moments
r/place: A collaborative art project where users could place one pixel every few minutes, creating massive collaborative artwork.
GameStop stock Rally: In 2021, the r/wallstreetbets community played a significant role in the GameStop stock market event.
Annual Secret Santa: The world's largest gift exchange program, which included participation from celebrities like Bill Gates.
Impact and Influence
Social and Cultural Impact
Reddit has influenced various aspects of internet culture and society:
Meme Culture: Reddit has become a primary source for creating and spreading internet memes.
News Distribution: The platform often breaks news stories before traditional media.
Political Discourse: Subreddits dedicated to political discussion have influenced public debate and election campaigns.
Business and Marketing
Reddit's influence extends to business and marketing:
Advertising Platform: Development of native advertising solutions and promoted posts.
Market Research: companies using Reddit for market research and community feedback.
Viral Marketing: Numerous marketing campaigns have originated or gained traction on Reddit.
Challenges and Controversies
Content Moderation
Reddit has faced ongoing challenges with content moderation:
Hate Speech: Dealing with hate speech and extremist content while balancing free speech concerns.
Privacy Issues: Managing doxxing and personal information sharing.
Misinformation: Combating the spread of false information, particularly during events like elections and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Business Challenges
Monetization: Balancing revenue generation with user experience.
Competition: Maintaining relevance amid competition from other social platforms.
User Privacy: Addressing concerns about data collection and privacy.
Future Directions
Technological Innovation
Reddit continues to explore new technologies:
Blockchain Integration: Experiments with cryptocurrency and NFTs.
AI and Machine Learning: Implementation of automated moderation tools.
Virtual Reality: Potential development of VR-based communities.
Business Evolution
The platform's business model continues to evolve:
Revenue Diversification: Exploring new revenue streams beyond advertising.
International Expansion: Growing user bases in non-English speaking countries.
Community Tools: Development of new features for subreddit moderators and users.
Conclusion
Reddit's evolution from a simple link-sharing site to a global community platform reflects broader changes in how people interact online. Its success lies in its ability to maintain core principles of user-driven content and community while adapting to changing technologies and user needs. As the internet continues to evolve, Reddit's influence on digital culture and communication shows no signs of diminishing.
The platform's journey demonstrates the power of community-driven platforms and the challenges of managing large-scale online communities. As Reddit continues to grow and evolve, it remains a unique example of how technology can bring people together around shared interests while navigating the complex landscape of modern digital communication.
Whether Reddit can maintain its distinctive character while meeting the challenges of scale, monetization, and changing user expectations remains to be seen. However, its impact on internet culture and online community building is undeniable and will likely influence social platforms for years to come.
It crazy to me that Reddit hasnt been profitable before. They have had massive amount of traffic since forever.
Cant have been good aat monetizing their audience.
Assessment: Almost 40 Percent of World's Trees Face Extinction
A new assessment indicates at least 16,425 of the 47,282 tree species on Earth are at risk of extinction.
At least 40% of tree species on earth are at risk of extinction, according to a release from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), according to a report in The Hill.
#trees #environment #extinction
At least 16,425 of the 47,282 species are at risk of extinction, according to the assessment.
"Today, we are releasing the global assessment of the world's trees on the IUCN Red List, which shows that more than one in three tree species are threatened with extinction. Trees are essential to support life on Earth through their vital role in ecosystems, and millions of people depend upon them for their lives and livelihoods," Dr. Grethel Aguilar, director general of the IUCN, said in a statement.
The Amazon Echo graveyard
The Echo ecosystem has seen its fair share of failures while trying to popularize Amazon’s Alexa smart assistant.
For the past decade, Amazon has aspired for Alexa to be more than just a convenient way to start a cooking timer. To convince consumers of the smart assistant’s potential, the company has reinvented its Echo line again and again. From fashion-critiquing cameras to microwaves you can ask to make popcorn, Echo’s repeated renaissance has often felt wildly experimental in a way that hasn’t always clicked with consumers.
#echo #amazon #technology #product #technology
Although the Echo smart speaker has endured, many other Echo spinoffs, accessories, and variations have not. They were either too weird, too redundant, or too ahead of their time to survive longer than a few years before being quietly disappeared from Amazon’s online store.
Let’s take a look at the Echo products that failed to win consumers over or failed to convince Amazon they were worth keeping around.
Intel hasn't sold a single Arrow Lake CPU at Germany's largest retailer — Core Ultra 200S sales stagnate after just one week
Arrow Lake's disappointing sales match its underwhelming performance.
Intel's Core Ultra 200S (codenamed Arrow Lake) series desktop processors, released on October 24, have still not sold a single unit on Mindfactory, Germany's largest PC components online retailer. While some Arrow Lake chips have sold out of stock on American sites like Newegg and Amazon, all Intel CPU sales make up just 5% of Mindfactory's CPU share, with AMD raking in 95% of CPU sales on the site.
#intel #arrowlakecpu #technology
The Tweet displays Mindfactory's CPU sales numbers for the past week. None of the five Arrow Lake desktop SKUs—Core Ultra 9 285K, Core Ultra 7 265K/KF, or Core Ultra 5 245K/KF—appear on the chart. In fact, Intel's highest-performing CPU, the Core i5-13400, takes 21st place behind a wall of Ryzen chips. A trio of 14th Gen Core i7s and Core i9s take up the rear, with all of Intel's processors selling around ten units each.
Intel's approximately 40 sales at an average sale price of €388 each represents 5.19% of Mindfactory's CPU sales. Compare this with just AMD's first- and second-place chips, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 5700X3D, sitting at 190 and 80 units sold, respectively. AMD's motherboard sales share went from 88.65% to 93.75%, knocking Intel steadily out of the water.
As we found in our 3-star review, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K is an alright release but represents a generational regression in gaming performance. Its productivity increases are not enough to save it from being considered a disappointing launch, and Germany's sales represent this. Curiously, the 285K is out of stock at most American retailers. The next-best chip, the Core Ultra 7 265K, is in stock on Amazon and Newegg but only has six combined reviews across both sites, also pointing to disappointing sales.
Roku Reports Strong Q3 2024 Earnings, Surpasses $1 Billion in Revenue
Roku announced strong third-quarter results today, exceeding $1 billion in total net revenue for the first time in the company’s history. Platform revenue, which includes advertising and subscription revenue, surged 15% year-over-year, demonstrating the continued growth of Roku’s streaming platform.
#roku #earnings #technology #streaming #entertainment
Key Highlights:
Total net revenue reached $1.062 billion, a 16% increase year-over-year.
Platform revenue hit $908 million, up 15% year-over-year.
Gross profit increased 30% year-over-year to $480 million.
Streaming Households grew to 85.5 million, adding 2 million new households in the quarter.
Streaming Hours reached 32 billion, a 20% increase year-over-year.
The Roku Channel saw streaming hours increase 80% year-over-year, solidifying its position as a top streaming destination.
Focus on Platform Growth:
Roku emphasized its commitment to expanding its platform revenue through several key initiatives:
Home Screen Innovation: Roku continues to refine its home screen experience to enhance monetization opportunities, including features like the Roku Sports Zone and NFL Zone.
Advertising Growth: The company is expanding its advertising offerings and deepening integrations with third-party platforms to attract a wider range of advertisers.
Roku-Billed Subscriptions: Roku is focused on growing its subscription business by making it easier for users to subscribe to streaming services through Roku Pay.
Key Performance Metrics Update:
Starting in Q1 2025, Roku will update its key performance metrics to better reflect its focus on platform revenue and profitability. The company will no longer report quarterly updates on Streaming Households and ARPU, instead prioritizing Streaming Hours, Platform revenue, Adjusted EBITDA, and Free Cash Flow.
AT&T Invests $1 Billion to Expand Its Fiber Internet Network to New Areas
AT&T is doubling down on its fiber ambitions with a massive $1 billion investment in Corning. The multi-year deal announced this week will see AT&T procure fiber optic cable, connectivity solutions, and other essential equipment from Corning, a leading manufacturer in the fiber optics industry.
This strategic partnership comes as AT&T seeks to expand its high-speed internet services and compete more aggressively in the broadband market. With the US wireless market experiencing a slowdown, telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon are increasingly focusing on fiber optic networks to deliver faster and more reliable internet connectivity.
#att #fiberinternet #telecom #technology
AT&T is doubling down on its fiber ambitions with a massive $1 billion investment in Corning. The multi-year deal announced this week will see AT&T procure fiber optic cable, connectivity solutions, and other essential equipment from Corning, a leading manufacturer in the fiber optics industry.
This strategic partnership comes as AT&T seeks to expand its high-speed internet services and compete more aggressively in the broadband market. With the US wireless market experiencing a slowdown, telecom giants like AT&T and Verizon are increasingly focusing on fiber optic networks to deliver faster and more reliable internet connectivity.
Meeting Growing Demand:
The demand for AT&T’s fiber internet services, particularly its bundled plans that combine high-speed internet with wireless phone service, has been steadily increasing. The company reported 28.3 million fiber passings in the third quarter and remains on track to surpass 30 million by the end of 2025.
Zoox co-founder on Tesla self-driving: 'they don't have technology that works'
Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson doesn't believe Tesla will launch a robotaxi ride-hailing service in California (or anywhere else) next year
The “fundamental issue is they don’t have technology that works,” Levinson said Wednesday at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. “And by works, I want to differentiate between a driver assistance system that drives most of the time — except when it doesn’t, and then you have to take over — versus a system that’s so reliable and robust that you don’t need a person in it.”
#autonomoy #zoox #tesla #selfdriving #elonmusk #jesselivinson
Levinson went further and specifically pointed to Tesla’s decision to rely solely on cameras to support its driver assistance system. “Our perspective is you really do need significantly more hardware than Tesla is putting in their vehicles to build a robotaxi that is not just as safe, but as especially safer than a human,” he said.
Levinson’s comments come just a few weeks after Musk revealed the prototype of Tesla’s so-called “Cybercab” robotaxi. Musk also announced at the Cybercab event that Tesla wants to start allowing Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs to operate as robotaxis in California and Texas by the end of 2025.
Levinson said he uses Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software “every couple of weeks.” And while he called it “impressive,” he also said he finds it “a bit stressful.”
“Usually it does the right thing, and then it sort of lulls you into this false sense of complacency, and then it does the wrong thing,” he said. ‘You’re like, Oh, my God!’”
Levinson went on to say he believes FSD is “about 100 times less safe than a human if you look at all the metrics that are publicly available.” (Tesla releases quarterly safety reports that claim its driver-assistance gets into fewer crashes than cars without it — though these self-reported statistics have been criticized as being selective.)
The comments about Tesla came as Levinson announced Zoox is launching its custom-built robotaxi in San Francisco and Las Vegas markets in the coming weeks. The company plans to make them available to an early-rider program in 2025.
Tesla is testing a robotaxi service that Elon Musk claims will launch next year
Elon Musk said he hopes to launch a service that will let people hail self-driving Tesla vehicles in California and Texas sometime in 2025 — and claims his company has already been testing the service in the Bay Area with employees.
The comments, made Wednesday on Tesla’s third-quarter earnings call, go farther than what Musk promised two weeks ago at its Cybercab unveiling event. On that stage, Musk promised that Model 3 and Model Y owners would be able to use an “unsupervised” version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software in California and Texas. But he made no mention of the ride-hailing network, despite Tesla having teased the idea for years.
It’s unclear if Tesla would be required to get permission from California’s Department of Motor Vehicles to conduct the tests Musk said his company is already performing. The DMV did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
David Lau, Tesla’s VP of software engineering, said on the call that the cars employees have been hailing have had safety drivers at the wheel. And to be clear, no Tesla vehicles can currently drive themselves without human intervention.
Today, Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software, or FSD, is considered an advanced driver assistance system — not a self-driving system like the one Waymo uses in its robotaxis. FSD offers some automated features that are available on highways and city streets, however the system still requires the driver to pay attention and take control.
Musk said on the call that Tesla would go through the proper regulatory approval process in California before opening such a service to everyday consumers, though he lamented the red tape and said he expects smoother process in his home state of Texas. The regulatory process in California to launch a commercial robotaxi service has multiple tiers that require approval from the DMV and the California Public Utilities Commission. Waymo is the only company currently allowed to operate a commercial drvierless robotaxi service in San Francisco.
Musk also opined that Tesla might launch the service in other states by the end of next year, too.
These claims come after years of Musk overpromising on Tesla’s ability to develop software that can autonomously drive cars. He originally promised in 2016 in a since-deleted post on Tesla’s website that “All Tesla Cars Being Produced Now Have Full Self-Driving Hardware,” and in the following years made it seem that it would only take the flip of a switch to fill the streets with self-driving cars.
Even the hardware part of that promise has not borne out.
Zoox custom robotaxis are finally coming to San Francisco and Las Vegas
Amazon-owned AV company Zoox will start rolling out dozens of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks,
Amazon-owned AV company Zoox will start rolling out dozens of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks, co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson announced on the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 stage.
#amazon #zoox #autonomoy #sanfrancisco #lasvegas #ridesharing
Levinson said that Zoox will start offering rides — starting with employees — in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, and on the Las Vegas Strip. Levinson told TechCrunch on the sidelines that Zoox is starting with SoMa even though it’s more difficult in part because the company has a operations in the area.
“We have achieved that internal safety readiness” required to launch the service, he said on stage.
The announcement comes a decade after Zoox was founded and four years since it was acquired by Amazon and unveiled its purpose-built robotaxi. In that time, the nascent autonomous vehicle industry has gone through the full hype cycle that led to multi-billion-dollar valuations and later a wave of shutdowns and consolidation.
“We still exist,” Levinson said, in a nod to the tumult the industry has gone through in recent years.
Levinson said Zoox is going to take a “measured approach” to rolling out its robotaxi service, and noted that his company has been working closely with local and federal safety regulators.
“I can say that in the next few weeks, we’re actually going to have a couple dozen Zoox robotaxis across our Foster City, San Francisco and Las Vegas, geofences that will expand several fold over the next year,” he said. “And then, you know, 2026 is when we’re going to really start cranking out production vehicles at very large scale.”
For example, say you are building an AI application for the healthcare industry. A knowledge graph could be used to unify patient data, medical research, treatment protocols, and other important data sources. When a doctor queries the system for treatment options, the knowledge graph could explore relationships between similar cases, relevant research, and potential drug interactions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the available treatments.
Amazon workers 'appalled' by top exec's explanation for 5-day return to office policy
“I used to be proud of my work and excited about my future here,” said one employee. “I don’t feel that anymore.”
More than 500 Amazon employees sent a letter on Wednesday to the CEO of its AWS unit urging reversal of a full return-to-office policy and rejecting his assertion that the rule had broad support and opponents should leave Amazon Web Services.
#amazon #employees #remotework #technology #company
“We were appalled to hear the non-data-driven explanation you gave for Amazon imposing a five-day in-office mandate,” the letter begins.
AWS CEO Matt Garman, at an Oct. 17 all-hands meeting of the cloud computing unit, said nine out of 10 workers he had spoken with supported the return-to-office policy, set to take effect early next year.
Those comments are “inconsistent with the experiences of many employees” and are “misrepresenting the realities of working at Amazon,” according to the letter, which Reuters reviewed after it was sent to Garman.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company offers commuter benefits, elder care and subsidized parking rates, among other things, to help with in-office work.
Meta’s Reality Labs posts $4.4 billion loss in third quarter
Meta's Reality Labs unit, which develops augmented and virtual reality technologies, logged an operating loss of $4.4 billion in the third quarter.
Despite Meta's successful showcase of its Orion prototype AR glasses in September, the social media giant continues to lose billions of dollars a quarter developing the still nascent metaverse.
#meta #realitylabs #earnings #loss #technology
Meta reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, in which it said its Reality Labs unit, which develops augmented and virtual reality technologies, logged an operating loss of $4.4 billion. Analysts polled by StreetAccount were expecting that unit to post an operating loss of $4.68 billion.
Reality Labs revenue rose 29% year over year to $270 million in the third quarter, below analysts' expectations of $310.4 million. Reality Labs primarily makes money through selling Meta's Quest VR headsets and the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
Meta first entered the VR market in 2014 when it was still named Facebook and bought the VR startup Oculus for $2 billion.
Facebook co-founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes developing VR and AR technology could position the company to become a leader in what could become the next major personal computing platform.
The investment has been costly for Meta. After the company's Wednesday earnings report, Reality Labs has an operating loss of more than $58 billion since 2020.
Article
Visa Partners With Coinbase to Enable Real-Time Cash Outs
The global credit card giant has teamed up with America’s largest crypto exchange again.
In an announcement on Oct. 29, international credit giant Visa unveiled the partnership enabling real-time money movement between traditional banking and crypto services using the Visa Direct network.
Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, commented on the collaboration on Oct. 30.
#visa #coinbase #crypto #debitcard #financial #creditcard
Collaboration between the two companies goes back to 2020 when Visa approved Coinbase as a “principal member” to improve customer experiences. The latest development expands on their existing relationship, which includes the Coinbase Visa debit card for US customers.
The crypto industry has often struggled to tap traditional banking and payment rails due to concerns over market volatility and industry scandals such as the high-profile collapses in 2022. However, as crypto regulations become clearer across the globe, some of those challenges could be eased.
Additionally, crypto regulations “could be firmed up in the US by the next administration,” reported Bloomberg. Coinbase is among many crypto firms that have spent millions influencing the presidential election through donations to super PACs (political action committees.)
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Customers of the exchange will be able to deposit funds into their Coinbase accounts in real-time using eligible Visa debit cards, the announcement added.
The Visa Direct network offers quick and secure money movements, further bridging the gap between traditional finance and blockchain technologies and helping to minimize waiting periods for fund availability.
Head of Visa Direct for North America, Yanilsa Gonzalez Ore, commented that “Coinbase users with an eligible Visa debit card know that they can take advantage of trading opportunities day and night.”
Meanwhile, Senior Director of Product Management at Coinbase, Akash Shah, added, “Bringing this feature to our customers supports our mission of increasing economic freedom in the world.”
From Wikipedia:
Visa Inc. (/ˈviːzə, ˈviːsə/) is an American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. It facilitates electronic funds transfers throughout the world, most commonly through Visa-branded credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards.
Visa does not issue cards, extend credit, or set rates and fees for consumers; rather, Visa provides financial institutions with Visa-branded payment products that they then use to offer credit, debit, prepaid and cash access programs to their customers. In 2015, the Nilson Report, a publication that tracks the credit card industry, found that Visa's global network (known as VisaNet) processed 100 billion transactions during 2014 with a total volume of US$6.8 trillion.
Visa was founded in 1958 by Bank of America (BofA) as the BankAmericard credit card program. In response to competitor Master Charge (now Mastercard), BofA began to license the BankAmericard program to other financial institutions in 1966.[8] By 1970, BofA gave up direct control of the BankAmericard program, forming a cooperative with the other various BankAmericard issuer banks to take over its management. It was then renamed Visa in 1976.
Nearly all Visa transactions worldwide are processed through the company's directly operated VisaNet at one of four secure data centers, located in Ashburn, Virginia; Highlands Ranch, Colorado; London, England; and Singapore.[10] These facilities are heavily secured against natural disasters, crime, and terrorism; can operate independently of each other and from external utilities if necessary; and can handle up to 30,000 simultaneous transactions and up to 100 billion computations every second.
Visa is the world's second-largest card payment organization (debit and credit cards combined), after being surpassed by China UnionPay in 2015, based on annual value of card payments transacted and number of issued cards.[13] However, because UnionPay's size is based primarily on the size of its domestic market in China, Visa is still considered the dominant bankcard company in the rest of the world, where it commands a 50% market share of total card payments
Visa’s fiscal fourth quarter results underscored the payment network’s traction beyond card payments, as new payment flows in particular gained momentum. Commentary from the call and from the earnings supplement and earnings release show that overall payments volume grew 8% year over year.
In the United States, payments volume grew 5%, and international payments volume grew 10%. Cross-border volume, excluding intra Europe, rose 13%. In consumer payments, CEO Ryan McInerney detailed that Visa’s credential count was up 7% year over year, to 4.6 billion, and has issued cumulatively 11.5 billion tokens.
“Our key business drivers were relatively stable compared to Q3,” McInerney told analysts on the call. “More than 30% of our total transactions are tokenized.”
He called out account-to-account payments as an area of particular promise, where the firm is leveraging its “brand infrastructure and rules as well as consumer protections to enable simpler, safer and more secure account to account payments.”
Visa A2A, he said “is open to any eligible bank, and open banking provider, and verified biller. Initially, this is targeted at bill payments, and we plan to launch in 2025 in the U.K.”
Rivian's chief software officer says in-car buttons are 'an anomaly'
The trend of big touchscreens in cars has left many yearning for the not-so-distant days when most user interactions happened with physical buttons. But Rivian’s chief software officer Wassym Bensaid believes using buttons in a car is an “anomaly.”
#ev #rivian #software #automotive
“It’s a bug. It’s not a feature,” Bensaid said Wednesday at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. “Ideally, you would want to interact with your car through voice. The problem today is that most voice assistants are just broken.”
To that end, Bensaid said that “every week” he’s driving around an engineering vehicle that has an AI-powered voice assistant, though he did not specify which one. He mentioned earlier in his interview with TechCrunch’s transportation editor Kirsten Korosec that Rivian has “partnerships that I cannot yet talk about.”
“I think the car is actually a fantastic environment for AI,” he said, while noting that latency and hallucinations are still very big problems that need to be solved.
“The final north star I have is having voice [controls] become the primary means of interaction with the vehicle. The reality is that the vehicle is so feature-rich, that even if we do a fantastic job in the UI, there will always be prioritization that we need to do in terms of having things one or two menus behind,” Bensaid told TechCrunch after he got off stage.
Bensaid also said he’s a big believer in the ability of AI-powered voice controls to handle complex requests. For instance, he said if a driver says “I’m hungry” the in-car assistant should be able to quickly direct them to a nearby restaurant that they might prefer.
This is not a dramatically new idea; Automakers like Mercedes-Benz have spent years promising a seamless voice-controlled in-car experience, with mixed results. But Bensaid said Rivian’s goal is to make it possible to take every touchscreen control and make it available by voice.
Meta profits surge 35% on AI-driven progress
The tech giant said it will ramp up AI and infrastructure spending next year
Facebook parent Meta Platforms saw its profits surge 35% in the third quarter, as it looks to show investors that its multi-billion dollar investments into artificial intelligence are bearing fruit.
#meta #ai #earnings #facebook #technology
Meta saw $15.69 billion in net income last quarter, or $6.03 per share, up from $11.58 billion in the same quarter last year, the company reported after the markets closed on Wednesday. Wall Street had expected $13.49 billion in profit, or $5.21 per share, according to estimates compiled by FactSet.
Revenue came in at $40.59 billion, up 19% from $34.15 billion a year ago and surpassing Wall Street’s estimated $40.19 billion for the quarter.
“We had a good quarter driven by AI progress across our apps and business,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. “We also have strong momentum with Meta AI, Llama adoption, and AI-powered glasses.”
Shares of Meta were down 3% in after hours trading.
The company said it expects fourth-quarter total revenue to be in the range of $45-48 billion. It lowered its full-year expense expectations to $96-98 billion, and raised capital expenditure estimates to $38-40 billion. Meta expects “significant capital expenditures growth in 2025” and “significant acceleration in infrastructure expense growth next year.”
Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has foundations in applied mathematics, chemistry, and genetics. It differs from biological computing, a subfield of computer science and engineering which uses bioengineering to build computers.
Bioinformatics, the analysis of informatics processes in biological systems, began in the early 1970s. At this time, research in artificial intelligence was using network models of the human brain in order to generate new algorithms. This use of biological data pushed biological researchers to use computers to evaluate and compare large data sets in their own field.
By 1982, researchers shared information via punch cards. The amount of data grew exponentially by the end of the 1980s, requiring new computational methods for quickly interpreting relevant information.
Perhaps the best-known example of computational biology, the Human Genome Project, officially began in 199.] By 2003, the project had mapped around 85% of the human genome, satisfying its initial goals. Work continued, however, and by 2021 level " a complete genome" was reached with only 0.3% remaining bases covered by potential issues. The missing Y chromosome was added in January 2022.
Since the late 1990s, computational biology has become an important part of biology, leading to numerous subfields. Today, the International Society for Computational Biology recognizes 21 different 'Communities of Special Interest', each representing a slice of the larger field. In addition to helping sequence the human genome, computational biology has helped create accurate models of the human brain, map the 3D structure of genomes, and model biological systems
#gmfrens! Here is the Motivation, Inspiration, Success #threadcast for 10/30/2024
#1440minutes #motivationsonleo #inspirationonleo #successonleo #motivation #inspiration #success
"Rise like the mountains, unshaken and proud. For even the fiercest waves bow to stone."
"Strength is not in the sword, but in the hand that dares to lift it. Stand firm, and the world will yield."
"Face each storm with a fearless heart, for only those who dare the winds shall find new shores."
"I've made a lot of mistakes and I don't regret any of them. Sometimes that's the only way you learn." ~ Nick Nolte
"If you feel you have a film that's valid, you stick your ass on the line." ~ Nick Nolte
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Mark Twain
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The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. Thomas Szasz
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There is no revenge so complete as forgiveness. Josh Billings
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He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven. Thomas Fuller
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For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed? bell hooks
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The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. Harriet Beecher Stowe
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Forgiveness is an act of the will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. Corrie Ten Boom
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Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on. Les Brown
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
Acceptance and tolerance and forgiveness, those are life-altering lessons. Jessica Lange
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Forgiveness is the final form of love. Reinhold Niebuhr
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God may forgive your sins, but your nervous system won't. Alfred Korzybski
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I invite everyone to chose forgiveness rather than division, teamwork over personal ambition. Jean-Francois Cope
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I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. Henry Ward Beecher
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A winner rebukes and forgives; a loser is too timid to rebuke and too petty to forgive. Sydney J. Harris
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To err is human; to forgive, divine. Alexander Pope
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Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. Bruce Lee
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Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. John F. Kennedy
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Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense. Robert Frost
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Holding on to anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life. Joan Lunden
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/forgiveness-quotes
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. William Shakespeare
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Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions. Gerald Jampolsky
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Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. Desmond Tutu
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"You have to struggle a bit, hustle a little, and be willing to go bankrupt. Once you're willing to do that, everything opens up and you get the freedom. My joke is that next year, I'll make the first film that costs zero dollars." ~ Nick Nolte
"When you start thinking about death more than sex, you know you're getting old." ~ Nick Nolte
"It's failure, really, that you grow by, although nobody likes to experience it." ~ Nick Nolte
"Every generation will be challenged morally once in their life about its government, and they will have to say where they stand." ~ Nick Nolte
"If you do have limitations, then you have to find out what they are. And if you find out what they are and avoid them, then they aren't limiting anymore." ~ Nick Nolte
"To allow the fear to come on you and then pass through. If you keep cutting the fear off by intervening - let's say, taking a Xanax to try to cure it - you'll never understand what fear is really for. Fear is part of a survival mechanism. The way you conquer fear is to feel it all the way, and then you'll find out that there's nothing there - it's just emotion." ~ Nick Nolte
"In another couple of generations, we're really gonna see the effect of this single-parent raising. And I think that's the problem. That's the disconnect. That's the miscommunication." ~ Nick Nolte
"I never felt comfortable in real life very well. It's always been an awkward kind of thing for me." ~ Nick Nolte
"Nobody likes to change. There will always be resistance to change, and there always will be change. And the quicker you get to that, the easier it is. It's not such a difficult thing. If you entrench yourself and go, "By God, I will not change. I will not have this." Then, you're a dead man. We're great at adaptability. It's our strongest suit." ~ Nick Nolte
"First make peace inside yourself." ~ Nick Nolte
"No one wants to spend too long inside their own darkness." ~ Nick Nolte
"There's no greater purpose than service to others." ~ Nick Nolte
"We all go through life and say a lot of things that we don't really mean." ~ Nick Nolte
"We're really all alone. We can't ever get inside another person's spirit, and see the world they do. So we are alone in that sense. The only way we have to communicate feelings is through words." ~ Nick Nolte
"I should really be retired. But then you find out how much you get in retirement. I don't know how you make it. It's really rough!" ~ Nick Nolte
"Everything has a purpose, even this, and it's up to you to find it." ~ Nick Nolte
"We truly have an ancient part of the brain that was about survival when we were prey but we seem to have gone past prey. We eat everything and nothing eats us." ~ Nick Nolte
"Class isn't something you buy. Look at you ... you've got on a $500 suit and you're still a low life." ~ Nick Nolte
"Death isn't sad. The sad thing is: most people don't live at all." ~ Nick Nolte
"A career in acting, it's a learning process." ~ Nick Nolte
"I never liked the Oscars. They didn't do too much for me at all. I felt like a big, vulnerable hunk of baloney being used to sell some products." ~ Nick Nolte
"I have a lot of scars, man. My mother said that a man is not a man unless he has a scar on his face. And what she meant by a scar was some kind of battle that you had to go through, whether it was psychological or physical. To her, a scar was actually beautiful and not something that marred you." ~ Nick Nolte
"Early on I decided that I was going to lie to the press. The best approach to talking about my personal life was to lie." ~ Nick Nolte
"We're social animals. We've got to get along together. It's in our nature. We're hardwired that way." ~ Nick Nolte
"A warrior is not about perfection or victory or invulnerability. He's about absolute vulnerability." ~ Nick Nolte
"Success is a very scary thing especially after you choose something and everything starts coming at you. It's absolutely frightening because the mind does things. It says, 'You've got to hold on to this or get away from this." ~ Nick Nolte
"You've got to admit failure sometimes." ~ Nick Nolte
"One thing we forget about Hispanics is that they're family-unit-oriented as a culture. So it's not all wild Mexican gangs out there, as is rumored." ~ Nick Nolte
"Our educational system now teaches every kid the same thing. It's like rubber stamping!" ~ Nick Nolte
"This is a service station, we offer service. There is no higher purpose." ~ Nick Nolte
"You do come to a point where you can get your life in control a bit. But going through life, you discover these deep, dark things in yourself that you can’t run away from, so you have to learn to embrace them. I mean, the difference between a murderer and myself is only that I choose not to do it. But I’m capable." ~ Nick Nolte
"Even though I play guitar, I don't do it publicly." ~ Nick Nolte
"People are not theirs thoughts, they think they are, and it brings them all kinds of sadness." ~ Nick Nolte
"I don't see myself stopping, even though it gets harder and harder. Especially when you find out that you can't really compromise because of age." ~ Nick Nolte
"I never felt comfortable in real life very well. It's always been an awkward kind of thing for me and so when I hit the stage I just sensed freedom. I sensed here's a place that I can have all the experiences of life and not feel uncomfortable about it." ~ Nick Nolte
"If you're older you want to tell stories about the pool of human life and living and to communicate, not only to your age group but to do an age group that can begin to understand, that has enough experience of life far beyond the taste of life." ~ Nick Nolte
"In fact, a child is not even considered a human being." ~ Nick Nolte
"Just because your wife schmoozes with somebody too much, you can't go throwing the kids out with the bath water! And that's the way the law's tied up right now." ~ Nick Nolte
"I'm not much of a song-and-dance man." ~ Nick Nolte
"Maybe there was a time that you could count on the American home as being the moral fabric center and that they would teach you right, but with the liberty of just divorcing without a thought, it's horrible." ~ Nick Nolte
"Birth is violent, and out of that violence is our only chance of rebirth." ~ Nick Nolte
"When you are making the one you are doing, you think it is the greatest film going. And then you do another one and it is a great film." ~ Nick Nolte
"Now, there is always a tremendous fear of science and progressing forward into areas of the unknown and it is a valid fear. Some of the genetic alterations of food are a little edgy." ~ Nick Nolte
"Asking for forgiveness is just one of the most painful kind of experiences." ~ Nick Nolte
"The corn that is B something 5 corn thats been genetically altered in the United States, it cant reproduce but it has huge kernels, its very sweet and its wonderful but the winds have blown this across into Mexico. And so the Mexican corn is being infected with the inability to reproduce." ~ Nick Nolte
You can be what you want to be. You have the power within and we will help you always.
Byron Pulsifer
#leo #inleo #motivation
Many WEB3 creator models incorporate a Proof-of-Stake protocol. This dynamic ensures that some, or all of the tokens earned within the platform are delegated for additional benefits. These benefits can include increased earnings, additional upvoting power, and other benefits unique to each platform and protocol. Unlike dollar-denominated earnings, Crypto revenue, if staked, will increase significantly in value over the long term. In many instances, will also boost your current and future earnings. #cent #sapphirecrypto
Leo Entertainment Threadcast.
#threadcast #leoentertainment #mcb 30/10/2024
Hello @beststart its been a while, I hope you are getting some entertainment where ever you are 😊.. Even as you code, try and have some time to relax your brain because they need it...
Hi Caleb,
I am always looking or listening to enetertainment, lol
Great to talk to you, #calebmarvel01
!BBH !ALIVE !DOOK !INDEED
Thanks very much sir, I've always missed you and I wish you well..
You just got DOOKed!
@beststart thinks your content is the shit.
They have 1/20 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
@calebmarvel01! @beststart likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @beststart. (1/100)
(html comment removed:
)
(1/50)
@calebmarvel01! @beststart Totally agrees with your content! so I just sent 1 IDD to your account on behalf of @beststart.
Lol
!DOOK
You just got DOOKed!
@calebmarvel01 thinks your content is the shit.
They have 12/200 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
Welcome to the 30th day in October, its another day for entertainment on Leo. Its open for all kind of entertainment, come and get entertained with musics, drama and all news relating to entertainment...
#leoentertainment
What has happened to our own spider man in October?
I think @bradleyarrow may know more 🤔🤔🤔.
As a Lion, how did you get entertained?
#leoentertainment
Reynolds and McElhenney buy Wrexham Lager brewery after rejuvenating the city's soccer team
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/reynolds-mcelhenney-buy-wrexham-lager-brewery-after-rejuvenating-115300058
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have bought another piece of Wrexham — its brewery.
Four years after their out-of-the-blue purchase of Wrexham’s struggling soccer team, the Hollywood celebrities have further invested in the city in north Wales by becoming co-owners of Wrexham Lager.
#leoentertainment #abcnews #newsonleo
Wrexham Lager, which is one of the soccer team’s sponsors, was founded in 1882 and says it is the oldest British lager brewery still in existence.
The presence of Reynolds and McElhenney will boost Wrexham Lager’s efforts to expand its international production and distribution.
#leoentertainment #abcnews #newsonleo
“As co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC, we have learned a lot,” Reynolds and McElhenney said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “The connection between club and community, the intricacies of the offside rule and the occasional need for beer — especially after finance meetings.
“Wrexham Lager has a 140-year-old recipe and a storied history and we’re excited to help write its next chapter.”
The brewery didn’t disclose financial details but said Reynolds and McElhenney have a majority stake.
Wrexham Lager said the acquisition was made by Red Dragon Ventures, a joint venture formed by Reynolds and McElhenney and the New York-based Allyn family — which on Wednesday became a minority investor in Wrexham’s soccer team.
Since taking charge of the club following a $2.5 million purchase in late 2020, Reynolds and McElhenney have overseen Wrexham’s rise up English soccer’s league system. Wrexham has achieved back-to-back promotions and now plays in third-tier League One, where the team is in third place after 13 games.
Wrexham has been further thrust into the global consciousness by Reynolds and McElhenney launching a fly-on-the-wall TV series — “Welcome to Wrexham.” It has helped to boost tourism and trade in the city, with Wrexham Lager among the businesses gaining visibility through the show.
Reynolds previously owned a stake in Aviation Gin, which was sold to Diageo in 2020 for a reported $610 million. Diageo said Reynolds retained an “ongoing ownership interest" in the gin.
The Roberts family, which revived Wrexham Lager in 2011 after production stopped in 2000, will remain a co-owner of the brewery alongside Reynolds and McElhenney.
news headline
At age 97, pioneering Black businessman George E. Johnson has finally written his memoir
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/age-97-pioneering-black-businessman-george-johnson-finally-115297556
NEW YORK -- As he approached his mid-90s, pioneering Black businessman George E. Johnson unexpectedly found himself determined — even called — to write his memoir.
Johnson's “Afro Sheen: How I Revolutionized an Industry with the Golden Rule, from Soul Train to Wall Street” will be published Feb. 3 by Little, Brown and Company. The book's title is named for one of the most memorable consumer items his Johnson Products Company developed. Founded in 1954, Johnson Products was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange and was also known for sponsoring the popular 1970s music show “Soul Train.”
#leoentertainment #newsonleo #abcnews
Johnson, 97, worked on “Afro Sheen” with the author-editor Hilary Beard. He hadn't thought of writing a book until three years ago.
“I had an epiphany on Sunday morning, November 21, 2021,” he said in a statement released Wednesday by Little, Brown. "In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”
News headline
Liam Payne song postponed to 'let family mourn'
The release of a new song by Liam Payne has been postponed after his collaborator said "it's not the time yet" and he wants to let the singer's family "mourn in peace".
The One Direction star, who died two weeks ago, co-wrote and sang on the track Do No Wrong with North Carolina singer Sam Pounds.
Pounds had said the song would be released on Friday, 1 November, and he hoped it would "eclipse the negative echoes" surrounding Payne's death.
#leoentertainments
#newsonleo #bbc
But, in a statement on Tuesday, Pounds said he was "deciding to hold Do No Wrong and leave those liberties up to all family members".
He added: "I want all proceeds go to a charity of their choosing (or however they desire).
"Even though we all love the song it’s not the time yet. We are all still mourning the passing of Liam and I want the family to mourn in peace and in prayer.
"We will all wait."
Fans thanked Pounds for delaying the song's full release, with one saying it was the "right decision" while another said "there will be a right time for it in the future but for now we mourn".
'A blessing'
Last week, Pounds posted clips of the pair in the studio, filmed by Payne's sister Ruth, who co-wrote the track.
He also posted artwork showing an angel below a broken black heart.
Talking about its planned official release, Pounds wrote on X: "I pray that this will be a blessing to the world like Liam has always dreamed.
"I pray angels will comfort you all every day while listening. I pray that this song will be a blessing to Ruth, Bear, and the entire family."
Payne shared his seven-year-old son, Bear, with Girls Aloud star Cheryl, who he was in a relationship with from 2016 to 2018.
Following his death, all five One Direction albums have returned to the UK top 40.
After leaving the group, Payne had top 10 hits with Rita Ora and Quavo. His last solo song, Teardrops, which was released earlier this year, reached number 85.
The 31-year-old singer, who grew up in Wolverhampton, died when he fell from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires on 16 October.
The Public Prosecutor's Office in Argentina is continuing to investigate the circumstances around his death.
What we know so far about Liam Payne's death
Authorities in Argentina are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne.
The singer fell from a balcony in Buenos Aires on 16 October.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has told his father that toxicological and other tests need to be completed before his body can be released and returned to the UK.
#newsonleo #bbc #leoentertainment
Information from emergency services and other authorities has been released, and has started to build a picture of the events.
Why was Liam in Argentina?
Payne was staying in a hotel in the upmarket neighbourhood of Palermo in the Argentine capital.
He had been at the hotel for two or three days, according to staff, and had been in the country to visit his former bandmate Niall Horan.
Horan was in Argentina on tour and the pair had remained friendly since One Direction's 2016 split.
Payne posted on Snapchat earlier this month that he was visiting Horan for a catch-up, saying: "It's been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we've got a lot to talk about."
He added: "No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk."
Payne attended the show, again posting social media videos of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing at the concert.
The BBC also spoke to fan Noelia Verón - who saw him on 30 September and then again at the concert on 2 October.
She said "He was fine. Later people said he was either drunk or on drugs. But that wasn't the case at all. He talked to us, hugged us and even made jokes."
When Veron saw him at Niall's show, she said he was "dancing, waving and cheering" and "seemed to be enjoying himself".
We also know the pop star had visited a friend's house in Argentina in the days before he died, again with Cassidy.
But when Payne fell to his death on 16 October, Cassidy had already left the country.
What happened on the day he died?
Payne had been documenting much of his trip on Snapchat, including pictures of food, plans to play polo, and jokes about his hair.
But none of his posts featured the CasaSur hotel, where he had been staying shortly before his death.
We know a call was made to emergency services around 17:00 local time (21:00 BST) by hotel staff, with requests to respond to a hotel guest "who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol" and "destroying his room".
"I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. But he has a room with a balcony and we're a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening," said the hotel's front desk manager in a second call.
Payne's room was on the third floor and had a balcony about 14m (45ft) above an interior courtyard.
It is thought he fell from the balcony at about 17:07 local time.
Police arrived minutes later. Hotel staff told them a loud sound had been heard in the courtyard, where Payne's body was discovered.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, with the emergency services saying there had been "no possibility of resuscitation".
Has there been an autopsy?
Payne's body was removed from the hotel at about 20:30 local time and an autopsy was carried out that evening.
It established that he had suffered "multiple traumas" and "internal and external haemorrhaging" according to the public prosecutor's office.
A preliminary report stated he had 25 injuries, which were "consistent with a fall from a great height".
It also added that he may have been fully or partially unconscious when he fell.
Some media outlets have reported preliminary results of toxicology tests, which the Associated Press (AP) news agency said suggested evidence of exposure to cocaine, quoting an unnamed official.
But they said the official stressed that the initial results don’t give an accurate idea of how much was in his blood when he died.
Authorities also interviewed five witnesses to help piece together Payne's final hours, including three hotel workers as well as two women who had been with the singer but had left the hotel before his death.
Investigators also want to establish the "possible involvement of third parties in the events prior to the victim's death".
What was his hotel room like?
Hotel staff on the emergency call highlighted that Payne was "destroying his room", and police say they found the room in "total disorder".
A bottle of whiskey, a lighter, a passport and a mobile phone were found.
The room was said to have "various broken items" and medication was found, including anxiety drug clonazepam and other over-the-counter medications.
Evidence and fingerprints were also collected to be analysed in a lab.
Local media also published pictures purportedly from his room, showing a TV with a broken screen, multiple bottles, cans, candles, aluminium foil and a half-full glass of champagne.
The prosecutor's office said substances that appeared to be "narcotics and alcoholic beverages" were found in the room with pieces of furniture and other objects broken.
What happens next?
Payne's death is being treated as suspicious by prosecutors, which means more needs to be established about what happened before his death and who he was in contact with.
"Numerous statements were also taken to reconstruct the victim's final hours and the scene of the events, a process that is still ongoing with hotel workers, acquaintances, technical and medical professionals, and other people linked to the victim through their work," the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office said on 22 October.
Expert reports are being carried out on phones and computers. And a police special investigations unit raided the hotel on 24 October on the orders of the prosecutors' office and seized items including hard drives and footage from hotel cameras, AP reported.
The full toxicology report must also be completed.
Payne's father Geoff visited the Argentine capital after the singer's death and has "stated to the prosecutor his willingness to testify about everything he knows about his son's life that could help the investigation", the office said.
Full coverage of the death of Liam Payne:
Niall Horan says death 'doesn't feel real'
**'Struggling to say goodbye' - One Direction's tributes in full
'I was a Directioner - here's what he meant to me'
'We all let you down Liam', says Sharon Osbourne
'He was a big piece of my life': Your tributes to Liam
Obituary: Boy band star who had the X factor
News headline
Liam Payne planned to marry me, says girlfriend Kate Cassidy
One Direction singer Liam Payne wrote a note to his girlfriend shortly before his death, predicting they would get married within a year, she has revealed.
Kate Cassidy posted a new tribute to him on Wednesday, a week after his death in a fall from a balcony in Argentina at the age of 31.
"A few weeks ago, we sat outside on a beautiful evening manifesting our lives together," she wrote on Instagram.
#leoentertainment #bbc #newsonleo
"I keep your note close, even though you told me not to look at it. It said, 'Me and Kate to marry within a year/engaged & together forever'."
She also posted a series of photos, including one of his handwritten note.
She added: "Liam, I know we'll be together forever, but not in the way we had planned. You'll always be with me. I've gained a guardian angel.
"I will love you for the rest of my life and beyond, carrying our dreams and memories with me everywhere I go. Forever yours, Katelyn."
Payne had been in a relationship with the US influencer since 2022, and she had been with him in South America in the days before he died.
But when Payne fell to his death on 16 October, Cassidy had already left the country.
'The love of my life'
She started her Instagram message: "I don't even know where to begin. My heart is shattered in ways I can't put into words.
"I wish you could see the huge impact you've had on the world, even as it feels so dark right now. You brought so much happiness and positivity to everyone - millions of fans, your family, friends, and especially me. You are so incredibly loved.
"You are - because I can't say were - my best friend, the love of my life, and everyone you touched felt just as special as I did. Your energy was contagious, lighting up every room you walked into."
She continued: "None of this feels real, and I can't wrap my head around this new reality of not having you here. I'm struggling to figure out how to live in a world without you by my side. Together, we got to be kids again, always finding joy in the smallest things.
"Liam, you had the kindest soul and the most fun-loving spirit. It feels like I've lost the best part of myself. I can't imagine a day without your laughter and love. You brought so much light into my life."
Payne's sudden death led to an outpouring of grief from his family, friends and fans around the world.
His father Geoff is now in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, and authorities are carrying out tests before allowing his body to be returned to the UK.
They are also reviewing phone, computer and security camera evidence to establish the full circumstances of his death.
A Writer's World
There is so much to explore in a writer's world, but a writer needs to read widely daily, be open to learning new things, and write daily.
Just write and you will get better at it.
Do you agree?
Good morning Lions. Have a successful Wednesday 🦁
#contentwriter #contentcreators #freecompliments #cent #writersworld
Totally agree with you, learning is a never ending process and writing makes one perfect about a topic.
Thanks, have a good day :)
#freecompliments !BBH
That's true, we learn every day and it's amazing.
You're welcome, thanks and enjoy your day.
#freecompliments
Reading widely definitely helps. Writing regularly definitely helps. Agree.
That's right. ✍
I must do more of both.
That will be great, I read more and at times it feels like my head is about to explode, lol. I write daily but I don't publish long form post daily on Hive and I hope to correct that.
Agree 100 percent :)
!BBH !DOOK
Good morning Bradley. 🦁
Good Morning Winanda :) !BBH !DOOK
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@bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit.
They have 12/60 DOOK left to drop today.
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You just got DOOKed!
@bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit.
They have 6/60 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
@winanda! @bradleyarrow likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @bradleyarrow. (6/100)
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@winanda! @coolguy123 likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @coolguy123. (1/1)
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We only learn by reading, we only gain experience by writing, we only gain mastery by failing and trying again.
Being a writer is an eternal learning process. We can never know too much.🧐
I agree practice makes perfect right
Just got whitelisted on the #darkcloaks testnet! 🎉 I won't share too many details about the project just yet, other than that it involves benefits for Leo #premium subscribers, and that the longer you've been a subscriber, the better 👀
1/3🧵 Each person carries a code within themselves, something they will always hold onto, no matter what. It’s part of their personality, a defining characteristic that makes us who we are. What’s your moral code?
#threadstorm #outreach
2/3🧵 My moral code is simple: I carry empathy with me. As much as possible, I always try to put myself in your place to understand your thoughts, values, and desires. This openness broadens my way of thinking, helps me grow as a person, and adds value to those closest to me.
3/3🧵 I believe everyone carries something within themselves, and in the post below, I share a bit more about this topic:
https://inleo.io/@michupa/my-code-is-empathy-enpt-bz8
Eventually, chatgpt will make the next upgrade on its own without any developer. At that point who's controlling how fast they advanced or what their capabilities will be?
Why does it need to be any controlling? Only hardware will limit for now the ceiling on where ChatGPT or AI can go.
you're absolutely right on that. I get the full picture now
I wonder why I don't find myself in the list... something must be wrong. 😆
So many wealth for few people
It's fuck!ng easy to be rich when your background is favorable.
I am in doubt they all have a happy life (inspire of those millions)
Gems of Wealth.....Ideas+Tech can generate such wealth.
Feliz miércoles comunidad, que sea un gran día para todos y que cada una de sus actividades de cumplan. Éxitos.
#spanish
Igualmente, bendecido día
Gracias, saludos.
#gm everyone. It´s time to the #selfie #threadcast. Let's see how you woke up today
Napping with Olivia 😴 #selfie #memories
Lovely.
Comenzando el día.
#memories #today #spanish
Siempre con buen ánimo! #freecompliment
Handsome. Dont´blush again, please.
I won't :) but I will 😆
With a couple of Fernet, I lose my fear of being bitten.
#selfie #memories
bitten? LOL
My emo side. #selfie, #memories
Make love, not wars. #selfie, #memories
Me, as a minnion! Guess why. #selfie, #memories
Thinking about what I'm going to ask Santa Claus for
#selfie, #memories
I´m not going to share it with you. #selfie, #memories
Zombies are coming ... and I have no plants to defend myself.
#selfie, #memories
Oh man, you scared the poop out of me. lol
Halloween is coming...
!INDEED it is, 1 more day.
(3/100)
@mamaemigrante! @bradleyarrow Totally agrees with your content! so I just sent 1 IDD to your account on behalf of @bradleyarrow.
Soda, please! #selfie, #memories
I need to go to the beach... #selfie, #memories
A #memory from when I first started sharing the #selfie.
Susto
Eastern Europe sees growth in crypto usage as institutional and grassroots adoption rise in Ukraine and Russia, fueled by large transactions and retail use amid regional instability.
#crypto #blog #cent
Ronaldo Misses Penalty As Al Nassr Eliminated From Saudi King’s Cup
#football #cent #sport
ok question?
Do I need to be signed in with hive keychain to be able to use the 60 Leo to 5$ Arbitrum eth feature? #leodex
Cause I'm trying to do this on mobile and mobile can't be signed in with hive keychain. So do I switch to PC and try that?
You can install Hive KeyChain on Mobile and it has its own browser. From there you could access any website like InLeo or LeoDex and you should be able to sign transactions.
Awesome, you just thought me something amazing, and now I'm responding to you through the keychain app.
This is amazing 🤯
I would think so... since your Leo is on HIVE, you will probably need to approve the transaction o keychain.... but don't quote me on that
No worries, I ain't quoting you. I'm trying it if it works id still give credit to you for the help
Worth trying I guess
Yeah, I'm giving it a shot. Other commenters showed me how to use inleo on the hive keychain app.
You can be signed in on Keychain with mobile. Just download the app
Yeah, I just tried it and it's super amazing. I'm loving the new experience. Thanks man
Or maybe could it be that I haven't Link my inleo account properly to Leo Dex? So it's not able to transact the Leo tokens as gas fees?
https://inleo.io/threads/view/falcon97/re-leothreads-32tyfspho
It's clear who's going to be your next president
#newsonleo #liotes
Circle, one of the largest stablecoin issuers in the world, has partnered with technology giant HKT...
link ⬇️
https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/circle-partners-with-hkt-to-revolutionize-customer-loyalty-programs-in-hong-kong?lid=mhkpe63wuj7j
#gmfrens ☁️
No MOrningwalk tOday, instead i‘m doing a show in a Frank Gehry building next to the Brandenburger Tor here in Berlin. Enjoy this nice detail shot of the interior design … #photography #photographers
this is beautiful
thx 🖖🏼☀️🤙🏼
Good Morning :)
This look so beautiful ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️, I love your work 😊😊😊..
!DOOK
You just got DOOKed!
@calebmarvel01 thinks your content is the shit.
They have 10/200 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
thx 💪🏼🦁👍🏼
Experience the thrill of the unknown with that's not my neighbor. Your neighbor’s strange actions are just the beginning of a deeper mystery. https://thatsnotmy-neighbor.io
@mightyrocklee rocks
The speed AI is evolving is just too scary... AND it's currently at the worst it'll ever be!!!!! #ai #freecompliments #bbh
I am really liking sharing short-form content because it only feels like a comment where everyone can interact and engage.
You will never notice how long you are talking to the person that you're talking to until you look into your thread of conversation.
It's just amazing how we can keep the engagement going in a short-form content; it comes natural and organic.
Unlike long-form content, you can focus in just one topic without beating around the bush as you want to keep it short and brief.
#freecompliments
I feel that is a writing tool. I cannot really create my own content, so I just mostly use others threads to responsively write.
Thank you for your assistance. 🤣
Don't overthink, you can just share what you want!
I have been sleeping on this app for a while. Such a shame.
On Inleo?
Yea.
Welcome back! A shame indeed, but now you are back and all is right with the world. 🤣
better late than never
So true!
Time to wake up!
I think I'm awake now.
Finally with the hive keychain app I have been able to pay the 60 Leo for the Arb eth
Thanks to all those that help, now to swapping......
Great!
Thanks to you. Does it take time to convert ?
IN my experience, it varies a lot
Sometimes is very fast, sometimes not so much
Yeah cause it's be almost 10 minutes now nothing showed
Yay!! Glad you finally got all of that figured out!
Yeah. Thanks to you guys
#newfoundland
An off-duty police officer has been charged with impaired driving after crashing his vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway over the weekend, the RCMP says.
In a news release, the RCMP said officers arrived on the scene of a single-vehicle crash on the highway near Glovertown around 10:45 a.m. NT on Sunday.
The driver, 34-year-old off-duty RCMP officer Travis Plant, took a roadside breath test, which police say he failed.
"He was arrested for impaired operation and was transported to the detachment where he provided breath samples that were more than one and a half times the legal limit," the news release reads.
Plant's driver's licence was suspended and his vehicle has been seized and impounded.
The RCMP said Plant's current duty status remains under review and SIRT-NL — the province's police watchdog — has been notified.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/rcmp-off-duty-impaired-travis-plant-1.7366869
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/pneumonia-cases-mask-mandate-1.7365675
#newfoundland
The head of the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association is once again sounding the alarm on violence in the province's classrooms, and says the government needs to do more to find solutions and address the problem.
"The most recent report from the full school year last year was approximately 22 incidents per day in our schools," Trent Langdon told CBC News Tuesday.
"There was a 29 per cent increase in physical, violent attacks from the previous year. So that's where we are, and it's time for this province to fully appreciate where we are and to address it."
A news release issued by the NLTA on Tuesday said statistics gathered from an access-to-information request show there were 4,052 reported violent or aggressive incidents during the 2023-24 school year — up from 3,659 during the 2018-19 school year.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/langdon-school-violence-increase-1.7367026
#newfoundland
An infectious disease specialist in Newfoundland and Labrador says re-establishing a mask mandate in health-care facilities is a tool to get ahead of a surge in respiratory illness — which includes a notable increase in the amount of people presenting with symptoms of pneumonia.
"All the different pathogens that have been circulating have been part of the decision to get the masks back into health-care facilities for the time being. It seems like every few months something is popping up that's a newish pathogen [with a surge] that we haven't seen before," Dr. Natalie Bridger, clinical chief of infection prevention and control for the eastern zone of N.L. Health Services, told CBC News Monday.
I think the world was a happier place when we were ignorant of all of the infectious dangers.
That could be true. !BBH !DOOK
You just got DOOKed!
@bradleyarrow thinks your content is the shit.
They have 17/60 DOOK left to drop today.
Learn all about this shit in the toilet paper! 💩
@monkmasters! @bradleyarrow likes your content! so I just sent 1 BBH to your account on behalf of @bradleyarrow. (17/100)
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#wordofthedayonleo - syncretism
What It Means
Syncretism refers to the combining of different forms of belief or practice.
// As a scholar of religion, Laila is especially interested in the syncretism of Manichaeism, which was influenced by Christianity, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism.
🔗 Source in comments
🔗 Source:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/syncretism
Russia has successfully launch-tested nuclear missile and they say it could reach Los Angeles in 30 minute but Paris in 10 minutes. I'm going underground in 2025 😂
Russia fines Google $2.5 decillion, more money than exists on Earth, for banning Russian channels on YouTube
"According to RBC’s sources, Google began accumulating daily penalties of 100,000 rubles in 2020 after the pro-government media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won lawsuits against the company for blocking their YouTube channels. Those daily penalties have doubled each week, leading to the current overall fine of around 2 undecillion rubles. "
#newsonleo #google #russia #ban
Oh russians...
Haha! They won't get a thing. Google could throw them a million though just for show at least. 🤣
Yea...Iknow right , Its a ridiculous amount .
That's ridiculous LOL.
new BTC ATH this week? Yes or no?
Yes.
no
I'm optimistic. I say yes 🚀👏
I'd go with "No" but I hope "Yes!"
not yet.
Can we finally declare the winner? Or we still have to wait 🤔😂 Trump is leading for if he loses can I call bullshit