Vladimir Cuevas has added a photo to the pool:

In central Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district, a city sidewalk scene is brightened by lush hydrangea bushes (ajisai) in bloom. A passerby highlights the contrast between the concrete urban environment—embodied by the modern Nihonbashi COREDO shopping complex—and the seasonal beauty of the violet and blue flowers. The hydrangea blooms add a vibrant splash of color along the sidewalk, symbolizing nature’s resilience amid the city. In Japanese culture, these summer flowers (blooming in June–July during the rainy season) are seen as emblems of heartfelt emotion and fleeting beauty, reinforcing the moment’s impermanent charm.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

handwritten on back of photograph, “Tulip Festival, Pella, Iowa, May 1974"

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Stueyman has added a photo to the pool:

Seagrass, Point Peron, WA

Stueyman has added a photo to the pool:

Limestone rocks, Point Peron WA

RIP

WASHINGTON (ANP) - De Toezichtscommissie van het Amerikaanse Huis van Afgevaardigden zegt dat ze meer dan 33.000 pagina's aan documenten met betrekking tot de in ongenade gevallen financier en veroordeelde zedendelinquent Jeffrey Epstein heeft vrijgegeven.

Op 20 augustus blokkeerde een rechter nog de vrijgave van documenten uit de zaak tegen Epstein. President Donald Trump had in juli opgedragen om materiaal uit het dossier openbaar te maken.

De documenten worden nu geüpload naar een website van de Toezichtscommissie, die ze heeft ontvangen van het ministerie van Justitie. "We zijn bezig met het uploaden van die documenten voor volledige transparantie, zodat iedereen in Amerika ze kan inzien", aldus James Comer, voorzitter van de door Republikeinen geleide commissie.

Epstein, een rijke financier met connecties op hoog niveau onder wie Trump, overleed in 2019 in een gevangeniscel in New York. Hij was in afwachting van zijn proces wegens vermeende sekshandel met minderjarige meisjes die waren gerekruteerd om hem seksuele massages te geven.

Aanhangers van Trump zijn al jaren geobsedeerd door de Epsteinzaak, die volgens hen bewijst dat de elite medeplichtigen van Epstein in de Democratische Partij en Hollywood beschermde - maar niet Trump. Toen de FBI en het ministerie van Justitie in juli verklaarden dat Epstein zelfmoord had gepleegd, geen vooraanstaande figuren had gechanteerd en geen 'cliëntenlijst' bijhield, viel dit niet goed bij Trumps aanhangers.

A federal judge spared Google from the harshest penalties in its antitrust case. The search giant can keep Chrome and avoid breaking up Android, but it has been barred from exclusive contracts and ordered to limit data sharing with rivals. CNBC reports: U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled against the most severe consequences that were proposed by the U.S. Department of Justice, including selling off its Chrome browser, which provides data that helps its advertising business deliver targeted ads. "Google will not be required to divest Chrome; nor will the court include a contingent divestiture of the Android operating system in the final judgment," the decision stated. "Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced divesture of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints."

The company can make payments to preload products, but it cannot have exclusive contracts, the decision stated. The DOJ asked Google to stop the practice of "compelled syndication," which refers to the practice of making certain deals with companies to ensure its search engine remains the default choice in browsers and smartphones. [...] The judge ordered the parties to meet by September 10th for the final judgement.

"Google will not be barred from making payments or offering other consideration to distribution partners for preloading or placement of Google Search, Chrome, or its GenAI products. Cutting off payments from Google almost certainly will impose substantial -- in some cases, crippling -- downstream harms to distribution partners, related markets, and consumers, which counsels against a broad payment ban." [...] Google said it will appeal the ruling, which would delay any potential penalties. Mehta ruled Tuesday that Google will have to make available certain search index data and user interaction data though "not ads data." The court narrowed the datasets Google will be required to share and said they must occur on "ordinary commercial terms that are consistent with Google's current syndication services."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: OpenAI said on Tuesday it will acquire Statsig in an all-stock deal valuing the product testing startup at about $1.1 billion based on OpenAI's current valuation of $300 billion. The ChatGPT maker will also appoint Statsig's chief executive officer, Vijaye Raji, as OpenAI's tech chief of applications, in a push to build on its artificial intelligence products amid strong competition from rivals.

[...] In his role, Vijaye will head product engineering for ChatGPT and the company's coding agent, Codex, with responsibilities that span core systems and product lines including infrastructure, the company said. Statsig builds tools to help software developers test and flag new features. It raised $100 million in funding earlier this year. Once the acquisition is finalized, Statsig employees will work for OpenAI but will continue operating independently out of its Seattle office, OpenAI said. The move follows the acquisition of iPhone designer Jony Ive's startup, io Products, in a $6.5 billion deal to usher in "a new family of products" for the age of artificial general intelligence.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Hans zit in een hotel op Bonaire. Er raast een orkaan. Men waarschuwt voor water- en stroomuitval. Hans laat uit voorzorg het bad vollopen met water om te wassen en de wc.