A startup south of Austin is using robots to build homes out of clay pulled directly from the ground, reports a local news station:


The materials are gathered on site, mixed, and placed on a build plate. From there, a robot lowers from above, picks up the clay with a claw, carries it to the wall and drops it into place. Later, the same robot switches tools, using a hammer attachment to pound the material into shape. "It's kind of trying to replicate how a human might build an adobe house," said software engineer Anastasia Nikoulina... Using machine learning, the system constantly evaluates the wall, adjusting how it builds to create a flat, solid surface...

The project is underway at Proto-Town, a ranch between Lockhart and Luling where startups test new technologies, from anti-drone systems to nuclear reactors. The company plans to build their next home on the property, with hopes to do more than 20 homes over the next year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A 1999 press release bragged "Jeeves" answered 92.3 million questions in just three months. "In the digital wilds of Y2K, we came to him with our most probing questions," remembers the New York Times — whether it was Britney Spears or tamagotchis:

We asked, and he answered: Jeeves, the digital butler of information, the online valet who led us into the depths of cyberspace. Now, like so many other relics of yesterday's internet, Jeeves — and his home, Ask.com — are no more. After almost 30 years, the question-and-answer service and former search engine shuttered on Friday. "To you — the millions of users who turned to us for answers in a rapidly changing world — thank you for your endless curiosity, your loyalty, and your trust," the company said in a notice posted on its now-defunct website...

Created in Berkeley, Calif., in the days of the dot-com gold rush, Ask Jeeves first appeared on computer screens in 1996.... Their mascot, Jeeves, was modeled on the clever English butler character from the famed P.G. Wodehouse book series. Its search function was simple — type in a question, get an answer. But the quality of its responses was uneven, and the website was quickly eclipsed by Google and Yahoo as the world's go-to search engines.

The site was bought by InterActive Corp. for more than $1 billion in 2005, and was given an injection of cash to help it compete as a search engine. It rebranded as Ask.com and as part of the reimagining, the site also ditched the character of Jeeves in 2006. Scrappy but inventive, the site was one of the first to introduce hyperlocal map overlays to its searches and incorporate thumbnails of webpages. "They are doing a lot of clever and interesting things," a Google executive noted of Ask.com at the time. Still, Ask.com struggled to compete and returned in 2010 to its bread and butter: question-and-answer style prompts.
Even then, it faltered against newer, crowdsourced iterations like Quora and Google's unyielding march to the internet fore — the platform now dominates search traffic, and the world's general experience of the internet.


A statement at Ask.com ends "by thanking its millions of users, and saying, 'Jeeves' spirit endures'," notes this article from Engadget:
As sad as it is to see a relic of the early Internet days fade into obscurity, we still have Ask Jeeves to thank for why some users still punch in full questions when querying Google. On top of that, Jeeves was built to provide detailed answers in natural language, which could have arguably acted as a precursor to today's AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

"Now, Ask.com joins the Internet graveyard that includes competitors like AltaVista, which shut down in 2013," the article points out. "With Ask.com gone, alongside AIM and AOL dial-up services also sunsetting, we're truly coming to an end of a specific era of the Internet."

And the New York Times argues the memory of Jeeves now rests somewhere between Limewire and Beanie Babies...

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Amazon once tried to pressure Nintendo to break the law, says former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé. At a recent NYU lecture, he describes a conversation with an Amazon executive, Kotaku reports:


"Amazon was looking to get bigger into the video game space," said Fils-Aimé. "Amazon's mentality back then is they wanted to have the lowest price out in the marketplace, even lower than Walmart... Essentially what Amazon wanted (was an) obscene amount of support, financial support, so they could have the lowest price and beat Walmart. I literally said to the executive, 'You know that's illegal, right? I can't do that'...."

At the time, the Wii and DS were Nintendo's best selling hardware in history. Amazon originally sold books, but in the 2000s rapidly expanded with cheaper discounts to became a one-stop shop for almost everything. Everything except Nintendo, that is.... "Literally we stopped selling to Amazon," Fils-Aimé continued, "and it's because I wasn't going to do something illegal. I wasn't going to do something that would put at risk the relationship we have with other retailers."

"The two sides have since made amends," notes the Verge, "and you can buy a Switch 2 through Amazon. But for a long time, Nintendo consoles had been largely unavailable on the site."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Despite being "gutted" to miss out on a victory at the Miami Grand Prix, Lando Norris was also able to take the positives after claiming second place for McLaren.

Charles Leclerc admits that his dramatic spin on the final lap of the Miami Grand Prix "is all on me" as the Ferrari driver lost out on a potential podium to finish sixth.

Kimi Antonelli recovered from a chaotic opening lap to clinch his third Grand Prix win of the season in Miami.

Pierre Gasly was flipped upside down following contact with Liam Lawson in the Miami Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen beat Charles Leclerc over the line to P5 in a dramatic conclusion to the Miami Grand Prix.

Gabriele Minì secured his first win in FIA Formula 2, making a penultimate lap overtake on Dino Beganovic for Feature Race victory in treacherous conditions at the Miami International Autodrome.

Starting second and finishing fifth may not sound like a great result, but Max Verstappen fought tooth and nail to achieve that in a Red Bull that appeared no match for the machinery ahead of him.

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli expressed his pride and satisfaction after a hard-fought run to victory in the Miami Grand Prix – becoming the first driver in F1 history to win his first three races from his first three pole positions.

Kimi Antonelli has claimed his third consecutive victory of the season at the Miami Grand Prix, holding off McLaren's Lando Norris in an eventful race.

• Inter 2-0 Parma seals scudetto with three games to spare

• Marcus Thuram and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on target

Inter sealed the Serie A title with a 2-0 victory over Parma, wrapping up the scudetto with three games to spare. The Nerazzurri only needed a point to claim their 21st Italian league championship before the home match, with defending champions Napoli nine points behind and Milan and 12 points back after a 2-0 defeat at Sassuolo earlier in the day.

Yet a clinical Marcus Thuram finish in first-half stoppage time put the hosts ahead at San Siro. The France forward latched on to Piotr Zielinski’s defence-splitting pass and made no mistake inside the box. Henrikh Mkhitaryan sealed the win with a close-range finish in the 80th minute to ensure a party atmosphere inside the stadium before the full-time whistle.

Continue reading...

German chancellor downplays US military drawbacks and president’s barbs in TV interview

The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has said he will not give up on working with the US president, Donald Trump, despite a spat between the leaders over the war in Iran.

“I am not giving up on working on the transatlantic relationship,” Merz told the public broadcaster ARD in an interview due to air on Sunday night. “Nor am I giving up on working with Donald Trump.”

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Hoewel zeer zeldzaam, kan het hantavirus van mens op mens worden overgedragen en vereist een uitbraak „zorgvuldige monitoring van de patiënten”, aldus de WHO.

VANCOUVER (ANP) - Atlete Mikky Keetels heeft de marathon van Vancouver gewonnen. De 27-jarige Nederlands kampioene op de marathon legde de 42,195 kilometer af in een tijd van 2.33.01, ruim onder het oude parcoursrecord van 2.34,27. Daarmee was ze 24 seconden sneller dan Dayna Pidhoresky uit Canada, die de marathon een jaar eerder had gewonnen.

Keetels veroverde haar Nederlandse titel op de marathon drie weken geleden. Toen finishte de atlete bij de marathon van Rotterdam in een persoonlijk record van 2.30.42. Ze liet na afloop van de marathon van Rotterdam weten in juni ook uit te komen op de triatlon.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (BuZa) heeft bevestigd dat twee Nederlandse opvarenden van een kleinschalig cruiseschip zijn overleden. Volgens een woordvoerder werd een Nederlander ziek aan boord en overleed de persoon medio april tijdens een reis van Argentinië naar Kaapverdië. De tweede Nederlander, die ook ziek werd, is nog overgebracht naar Zuid-Afrika, waar de persoon overleed.

BuZa kan berichten van buitenlandse media nog niet bevestigen dat het om een echtpaar gaat dat getroffen zou zijn door het hantavirus. Ook over de doodsoorzaak van de twee doet het ministerie geen mededelingen.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

date stamped on slide April 1960

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Is u mogelijk ontgaan maar ergens in de krochten van Twitter worden nog steeds alleen maar vragen gesteld zonder ooit naar het antwoord te luisteren en gaat het nog steeds de hele dag over lockdowns en onverklaarbare oversterfte en topsporters en kinderen die zomaar ineens dood neervallen terwijl topsporters en kinderen vóór Pfizer helemaal nooit dood neervielen. De voorhoede van die snuiters is naar Paraguay vertrokken, hoewel ze hier met een omroep en een politieke partij nog ruimschoots vertegenwoordigd zijn in het publieke debat. Nou wie daar dus helemaal niet aan meedoet: rijmwoordenboek-bezoeker en OG aluhoedje Lange Frans, die tijdens corona een podcast maakte die zo gestoord was dat wijlen Robert Jensen erbij verbleekte. Destijds wond hij zich ontzettend op over satanisch ritueel kindermisbruik en filosofeerde wat over milities en burgeroorlogen en wie Mark Rutte zou moeten vermoorden (hij niet, Frans houdt van zijn nachtrust), maar nu is alles anders. Lange Frans is helemaal klaar met al die polarisatie en wil nu niets liever dan verbinden, vertelt-ie in een werkelijk krankzinnig interview met Panorama. "Ik denk oprecht dat positiviteit en harmonie momenteel het allerbelangrijkste zijn wat we nodig hebben. Daarom ben ik terughoudend met het strooien van zware maatschappelijke meningen; ik weiger nog langer bij te dragen aan het zaaien van verdeeldheid in ons land (...) Nu, in dit nieuwe hoofdstuk na corona, moet de focus liggen op verbinding. Op het zoeken naar elkaars raakvlakken in plaats van onze verschillen uit te vergroten. Ik zie het inmiddels als mijn roeping, als artiest en als mens, om liedjes de wereld in te slingeren die verbroederen in plaats van polariseren."

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