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Google says they'll use powerful new AI tools responsibly

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

At Google's annual developer conference, the company promised to be bold with its use of AI but also responsible.Google I/O was held near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. It's the first time in four years the company has held a large in-person event.The focus this year was all about AI, but there were some hardware announcements, too.CEO Sundar Pichai kicked off the event by saying the company is "reimagining all of our core products, including search" with a bold and responsible approach.The company then proceeded to show off an example of an AI tool that could be used for good or bad.It's called Universal Translator and it can take a video of someone speaking and translate it into a different language, complete with synced lip movements. It was quite remarkable and makes you realize that we won't be able to believe our eyes in the near future.Google says AI can be used for good and bad. For instance, a feature called Universal Translator could be useful for...

Autumn Breon Trades Aeronautics for Art in the Pursuit of Creative Equity

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

Visual and performance artist Autumn Breon trained up and fully embarked on a career in aeronautics engineering before a series of inspirational events called her to pursue her creative side full-time. As an artist, Breon is concerned with creating images and experiences of beauty in the world — but always with the goals of justice, political and economic equity, and community care in mind. She recently debuted a new partly crowd-sourced performance piece, Protective Style, as part of The Performance Project at Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles. Accompanied by perennial collaborators the Black Fist Brass Band and dancers, Breon enacted a pageant of received wisdom from ancestors on the planet Esoterica centering around the embedding of personal and societal self-care tools in the accouterments of Black hair salons.Breon gets asked about the rocket science thing a lot, which is understandable. But L.A. Weekly also spoke to the artist about the process and meaning of Protective Style; he...

What Title 42’s end means for California

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

By Wendy Fry | CalMattersA pandemic-era public health policy known as Title 42, used to turn away asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border, is coming to an end just before 9 p.m. tonight, prompting concerns about unprecedented migration flows.Meanwhile, hundreds of migrants have been waiting outside between border walls in San Ysidro for days, sometimes with nothing more to eat all day than a single granola bar handed out by Border Patrol officers.Federal, state and local officials have had more than two years to prepare for this moment. But officials running migrant shelters on both sides of the border say they have very little information about how to handle the anticipated increase in asylum seekers trying to cross from Mexico into California and other states.“Really, it is very much a touch-and-go situation, where we’re responding to needs in our community as they happen,” said Patrick Giuliani, policy analyst with Hope Border Institute, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides h...

For Kevin Costner, divorce with kids is his ‘worst nightmare’ as star struggles to save marriage

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

To Kevin Costner, his second marriage to handbag designer Christine Baumgartner was “super happy,” and he had no part in the decision to end it with a divorce, according to a report.Indeed, the 68-year-old “Yellowstone” star knew that going through another divorce when he has children still at home would be his “worst nightmare,” an insider has told US Weekly. The insider’s comment comes in the wake of news that Baumgartner has filed for divorce after 18 years of marriage and three children, ages 12, 14 and 16.US actor Kevin Costner and his wife Christine Baumgartner arrive for the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) “Everyone thought Kevin and his wife were super happy so it’s all surprising,” the source told Us Weekly. “He truly loves her and is trying to get her back. He...

A new film sheds light on the history of Black players in the NBA, but doesn’t tell the whole story: Guest Commentary

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

Most Americans are familiar with how Major League Baseball was integrated, the 76th anniversary of which was recently observed. Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947, and before then Black players had to play in the Negro Leagues.But what about pro basketball? Who was the first African American in the NBA, and when did he join?A recently released film, “Sweetwater,” sheds light on this previously little-known chapter in professional sports history. It’s an important story and a good film, recognizing former New York Knick Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton as the trailblazer he was for African American players in the NBA. But like many Hollywood tales, it doesn’t tell the whole story.On May 24, 1950, Clifton signed a contract with the Knicks. While the film and elsewhere have identified him as the first Black player to sign an NBA contract, many sources say that distinction actually belongs to Harold Hunter, who signed with the Washington Capitols a month earlier but was cut in trainin...

Watch: Minimart robber doesn’t realize cop just rolled up

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

An attempted armed robbery at a Tulare County minimart was interrupted when a patrolling deputy became suspicious, the sheriff’s office said.The frantic scene Tuesday night, caught on surveillance video, started at 9:49 p.m. at Valley Fuel Plainview Market.The sheriff’s report said a deputy was driving along the edge of the farming community of Plainview when he saw a car pulling into the market’s lot and realized it matched the description of a recently carjacked vehicle.Just as the deputy entered the lot and turned on his SUV’s flashing lights, a person in a hooded sweatshirt jumped from the back seat of the car and ran toward the store, the video shows.His companions apparently saw the deputy: They scrambled back into the car and began pulling out. The video inside the store shows the hooded person make a sudden about-face and sprint outside.The deputy reportedly chased the car for several minutes, “but stopped because of the driver’s extreme actions...

Oakland teachers strike day 6: District pushes back on ‘common good’ measures

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

The Oakland teachers strike continued Thursday, after a more contentious turn the day before, as allegations of misleading figures, canceled board meetings and a doubling-down against the “common good” left the explosive labor battle perhaps more muddled and messy entering its second week than it was in its first.The Oakland Education Association announced its plans to strike for its sixth day Thursday, with picket lines forming at schools across the Oakland Unified School District at 7:30 a.m. A “big picket” was scheduled at 12:30 p.m. at Glenview Elementary School on 4215 La Cresta Avenue.Our bargaining team remains at the table with OUSD tonight. Today the school board cancelled their meeting & failed, again, to show the leadership our students need. We still showed up – showed up strong. Our resolve is strong, and we will keep fighting for what our kids need. pic.twitter.com/OMvp3uGADS— Oakland Education Association (@OaklandEA) May 11, 20...

NAACP urges Oakland teachers to end strike for children's sake

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

Oakland Unified students are on their fifth day at home or at school with limited instruction because their teachers are on strike. The Oakland branch of the NAACP has urged the teachers union to end the strike, saying it is hurting children. "We know that our children's education should never be compromised, and education is critical to ending intergenerational poverty," said Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland NAACP in a statement Monday. "As the academic school year nears the end, it is our position that all students, including the most vulnerable, should be learning and thriving in school." $7K worth of equipment stolen from Oakland student program Half of the children in the district are Hispanic, 20 percent are Black, 10 percent are Asian and 10 percent are white. Nearly three-quarters of the district's children come from low-income families, according to state data. Oakland's scores on standardized tests lag behind the state average. Just over 35 percent of t...

Who will win Game 6 in Warriors vs. Lakers playoffs? Let's ask 'Steph Furry.'

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

(KRON) -- After a 104-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night in L.A., the Golden State Warriors saved their playoff run in Game 5 Wednesday night with a 121-106 win. Can they do it again on Friday? Let's ask Steph Furry.Viral video of a corgi by the social media handle "AirCorgi"—or "Steph Furry" to fans— shows the dog correctly predicting all of the Lakers-Warriors playoff games so far. It even shows the Warriors winning the next two games, making it to and winning the Western Conference Semifinals.The video shows the corgi bouncing a basketball off its nose and making it into one of two baskets labeled "Lakers" or "Warriors." Up to Game 5, the predictions have all been correct, showing:Game 1: LakersGame 2: WarriorsGame 3: LakersGame 4: LakersGame 5: WarriorsGame 6: WarriorsGame 7: WarriorsAnother video posted to the channel shows the dog doing "impressions" of famous basketball players including a no-look shot meant to impersonate Steph Curry and the dog stomping on a st...

Prince William Co. supervisors consider lifting tax-break moratorium for nonprofits

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 18:57:00 GMT

This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, InsideNoVa.com, and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.The Prince William Board of County Supervisors is considering expanding the use of property tax exemptions for certain nonprofits, a move that would reverse a moratorium put in place on new tax-exempt designations.On Tuesday, the board issued a directive to county staff to “research and make recommendations for lifting the moratorium on tax exemptions by designation.” The moratorium has been in place since 2011.The broad language used in Democratic Woodbridge Supervisor Margaret Franklin’s directive followed an earlier proposal from Republican Gainesville Supervisor Bob Weir to consider granting new tax-exempt status specifically to the Willing Warriors charitable organization in Haymarket.Between Tuesday’s meeting and the April 25 meeting that preceded it, Republicans and Democrats on the board went back and forth on Weir’s pro...