A new study [PDF] examining the United States between 1850 and 1920 found that expanded market access -- driven largely by railroad expansion -- made Americans more trusting of strangers and more outward-looking, but weakened family-based care for the vulnerable.
Researchers Max Posch of the University of Exeter and Itzchak Tzachi Raz of Hebrew University compared places and people gaining different levels of commercial connectivity. In better-connected regions, Americans became more likely to marry outside their local communities, and parents more likely to pick nationally common names for children. Trust toward others rose, as measured through language in local newspapers.
The researchers used multiple tests to rule out the possibility that these shifts simply reflected places getting richer. The cultural changes were concentrated among migrants in trade-exposed industries; workers in construction and entertainment showed no effect. But market access also meant orphans, the disabled, and the elderly became less likely to be cared for by relatives at home.
Researchers Max Posch of the University of Exeter and Itzchak Tzachi Raz of Hebrew University compared places and people gaining different levels of commercial connectivity. In better-connected regions, Americans became more likely to marry outside their local communities, and parents more likely to pick nationally common names for children. Trust toward others rose, as measured through language in local newspapers.
The researchers used multiple tests to rule out the possibility that these shifts simply reflected places getting richer. The cultural changes were concentrated among migrants in trade-exposed industries; workers in construction and entertainment showed no effect. But market access also meant orphans, the disabled, and the elderly became less likely to be cared for by relatives at home.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
The UK government paid consulting firm PwC $5.65 million to build its new AI Skills Hub, a site meant to help 10 million workers gain AI skills by 2030 that functions largely as a bookmarking service, directing users to external training courses that already existed before the contract was awarded.
The hub links to platforms like Salesforce's free Trailhead learning system rather than offering original educational content. PwC has acknowledged the site does not fully meet accessibility standards. The platform also contains factual errors in its course on AI and intellectual property, which references "fair use" -- a legal doctrine specific to the U.S. -- rather than the UK's "fair dealing" framework.
The hub links to platforms like Salesforce's free Trailhead learning system rather than offering original educational content. PwC has acknowledged the site does not fully meet accessibility standards. The platform also contains factual errors in its course on AI and intellectual property, which references "fair use" -- a legal doctrine specific to the U.S. -- rather than the UK's "fair dealing" framework.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Apple's call-screening feature, introduced in iOS 26 last year, was designed to combat the more than 2 billion robocalls placed to Americans every month, but as WSJ is reporting, it is now creating friction for the rich and powerful who find themselves subjected to automated interrogation when dialing from unrecognized numbers.
The feature uses an automated voice to ask unknown callers for their names and reasons for calling, transcribes the responses, and lets recipients decide whether to answer -- essentially giving everyone a pocket-sized executive assistant.
Venture capitalist Bradley Tusk said his first reaction when encountering call screening is irritation, though he understands the necessity given the spam problem. Ben Schaechter, who runs cloud-cost management company Vantage, said the feature "dramatically changed my life" after his personal number ended up in founding paperwork and attracted endless sales calls.
The feature uses an automated voice to ask unknown callers for their names and reasons for calling, transcribes the responses, and lets recipients decide whether to answer -- essentially giving everyone a pocket-sized executive assistant.
Venture capitalist Bradley Tusk said his first reaction when encountering call screening is irritation, though he understands the necessity given the spam problem. Ben Schaechter, who runs cloud-cost management company Vantage, said the feature "dramatically changed my life" after his personal number ended up in founding paperwork and attracted endless sales calls.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Microsoft's PowerToys team is contemplating building a top menu bar for Windows 11, much like Linux, macOS, or older versions of Windows. The menu bar, or Command Palette Dock as Microsoft calls it, would be a new optional UI that provides quick access to tools, monitoring of system resources, and much more.
Microsoft has provided concept images of what it's looking to build, and is soliciting feedback on whether Windows users would use a PowerToy like this. "The dock is designed to be highly configurable," explains Niels Laute, a senior product manager at Microsoft. "It can be positioned on the top, left, right, or bottom edge of the screen, and extensions can be pinned to three distinct regions of the dock: start, center, and end."
Microsoft has provided concept images of what it's looking to build, and is soliciting feedback on whether Windows users would use a PowerToy like this. "The dock is designed to be highly configurable," explains Niels Laute, a senior product manager at Microsoft. "It can be positioned on the top, left, right, or bottom edge of the screen, and extensions can be pinned to three distinct regions of the dock: start, center, and end."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Amazon is in talks to invest up to $50 billion in OpenAI, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would be a giant bet on the hot AI startup. The ChatGPT maker is seeking up to $100 billion in new capital from investors, a round that could value it at as much as $830 billion, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Andy Jassy, Amazon's chief executive, is leading the negotiations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to some of the people. The exact shape of a deal, should one be reached, could still change, the people said. Investing tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI could make Amazon the biggest contributor in the AI company's ongoing fundraising round. SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI as part of the round, adding to the Japanese conglomerate's already large stake in the startup.
Andy Jassy, Amazon's chief executive, is leading the negotiations with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to some of the people. The exact shape of a deal, should one be reached, could still change, the people said. Investing tens of billions of dollars in OpenAI could make Amazon the biggest contributor in the AI company's ongoing fundraising round. SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI as part of the round, adding to the Japanese conglomerate's already large stake in the startup.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Formula 1 is introducing Advanced Sustainable Fuels from 2026, as the sport enters a new era with a new set of regulations. They have ground-breaking potential, and with new power units scrapping for every last ounce of energy, F1’s fuel suppliers are going to be waging their own private battle to see who can push this new technology the furthest.
Racing in 2026 doesn’t start until March, but the drivers aren’t slacking to start the year – January might even be the busiest month of all. Here’s the breakdown of their hectic schedule...
Batch will include more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, deputy attorney general Todd Blanche says
The US deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, announced on Friday that the justice department is releasing more than 3m pages of documents related to its investigation into disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the largest trove of files released to date.
In a testy news conference, Blanche said that the release will include more than 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, which will have “extensive redactions”. He added that the Trump administration has produced roughly 3.5m pages in an effort to comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act. He said that they include large quantities of commercial pornography and images “that were seized from Epstein’s devices”.
Continue reading...Dublin Racing Festival and Sandown card both in danger of washout after heavy rain at both venues
Prospects for the most valuable and significant weekend of racing in the run-up to the Cheltenham festival in March remained in the balance on Friday evening after both Leopardstown and Sandown called inspections for Saturday morning due to fears of overnight rain.
Leopardstown has seen nearly 200mm of rain over the last two weeks ahead of the Dublin Racing Festival, which is due to stage eight Grade One races over the weekend. Paddy Graffin, Leopardstown’s clerk of the course, will inspect at 8am.
Continue reading...Rotterdam film festival
A set of shorts by film-makers from Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Syria and Somalia are shocking, funny and mysterious in equal measure
With considerable chutzpah and elan, and in her capacity as producer and UNHCR Goodwill ambassador, Cate Blanchett has achieved a geopolitical film-making coup. In concert with festival authorities in Rotterdam, she has secured cash and commissioned short films on the subject of displacement from five directors – including Mohammad Rasoulof, now in exile from his native Iran due to his pro-democracy activism, in effect making his first public statement since the recent massacres and apparently expressing his fears that he may never go home again.
The films are far from solemnly earnest – this is an anthology of five brilliant miniature artworks. By turns shocking, funny, confessional and deeply mysterious, this is a tremendous collection; the constituent films of which benefit in some enigmatic way from being shown together. What Ealing Studios’s Dead of Night did for scariness, these films may have done for 21st-century exile.
Continue reading...Whether it’s Minneapolis or Greenland, the US president will do just enough to get through a damaging news cycle, then carry on as before
Don’t be fooled. When it comes to Donald Trump, what might look like a full retreat is almost always a mere tactical withdrawal, designed to buy time. He’ll step back when he’s forced to, under pressure, but will then revert the instant the pressure lets up. Too often, his opponents, whether at home or abroad, allow themselves to be played, confusing a mere pause for a surrender – and the risk is strong that they’re making that same mistake all over again.
This week, the US president won praise in some quarters for moving to “de-escalate” the war he has been waging on the people of Minneapolis. Following the killing of Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who posed no threat and yet was shot at least 10 times by masked agents of Customs and Border Protection or CBP, Trump signalled that he wanted to calm things down.
Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...With Donald Trump tearing up the world order, governments across Europe are having to confront the fact that most of the technology they rely on comes from US companies. French officials have taken a step this week to reduce their dependence on US digital infrastructure, announcing they have stopped using Zoom, the US-owned video meeting software, in favour of a French-made program. But how viable is this? And what are the risks? The Guardian’s Michael Safi speaks to the tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker – watch on YouTube
Continue reading...Striker strives for long stay in the Premier League, years on from ‘losing love to play football’ during poor run with Basel
‘Are you a professional footballer?” was a question Thierno Barry had dreamed about answering in the affirmative, but on this occasion modesty was the best policy. The Frenchman was on a Zanzibar beach, surrounded by a group of 10-year-old boys he had schooled in a kickabout that helped him rediscover his love of the game after a difficult start in Basel.
Switzerland was next on Barry’s path after he had proven his talent in the Belgian second division at Beveren but it was not a smooth trajectory. “Two stupid red cards” in his first two appearances and failing to score in 16 Swiss league games left Barry needing to get away, so he headed to Africa and switched off his phone to enjoy the tranquillity of the Indian Ocean, a world away from football.
Continue reading...The draft – one of the Beat Generation’s defining artefacts – will be part of a wider sale of pieces from the Jim Irsay Collection at Christie’s in March
Jack Kerouac’s original typescript scroll for On the Road – the 37 metre (121ft) long roll of paper on which he typed his defining Beat novel in a three-week burst – will go under the hammer at Christie’s in March, with a sale estimate of £1.8m to £2.9m ($2.5m to $4m).
The scroll is one of the centrepieces of the Jim Irsay Collection, one of the most extensive private collections of music, literary, film and sports memorabilia ever assembled.
Continue reading...
In een zorgflat aan de Klencke in Hoogvliet is vrijdagavond rond 17:15 uur brand ontstaan. Dat gebeurde in een woning op de tweede verdieping. De bewoner raakte bewusteloos en is met een ambulance naar het ziekenhuis gebracht.
BERLIJN (ANP/DPA/RTR) - Het aantal werklozen in Duitsland is boven de 3 miljoen uitgekomen. Van de beroepsbevolking heeft 6,6 procent geen werk, de hoogste stand in twaalf jaar.
Voor de voorzitter van het Duitse arbeidsagentschap is het werkloosheidsniveau "een ongelukkige ontwikkeling, maar niet dramatisch". Andrea Nahles wijst erop dat de grootste economie van Europa nog altijd een van de laagste werkloosheidscijfers van Europa heeft.
Bij de Duitse bondskanselier Friedrich Merz gaat de "alarmbel" wel af. Hij zegt daarom dat het stimuleren van de economie dit jaar zijn belangrijkste prioriteit zal zijn.
Merz heeft beloofd de Duitse economie na twee jaar van lichte krimp te laten groeien door onder meer te investeren in infrastructuur en defensie. De Duitse economie had in het laatste kwartaal van 2025 een groei van 0,3 procent. De bondskanselier denkt dat zijn plannen nog wat tijd nodig hebben om effect te hebben op de arbeidsmarkt.
CRANS-MONTANA (ANP) - Lindsey Vonn (41) hoopt ondanks een val tijdens een afdaling in het Zwitserse Crans-Montana in actie te kunnen komen op de Winterspelen. "Ik heb mijn knie geblesseerd. Dit is een zeer moeilijke situatie, een week voor de Olympische Spelen. Maar als er één ding is dat ik kan, dan is het wel een comeback maken. Mijn olympische droom is nog niet voorbij", aldus de Amerikaanse ster via haar sociale media.
Vonn bleef minutenlang op de piste liggen nadat ze was gecrasht. Ze kon zelf naar beneden skiën. De wedstrijd werd daarna afgebroken. Vonn deelde een bericht over haar toestand, maar de ernst van de blessure lijkt nog niet duidelijk. "Ik bespreek de situatie nu met mijn artsen en team en zal verdere onderzoeken ondergaan", stelde Vonn. "Ik ben dankbaar voor alle ongelooflijke hulp die ik heb gekregen."
Vonn behaalde een gouden medaille op de afdaling op de Winterspelen van 2010 in Vancouver.
AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De AEX-index op de aandelenbeurs in Amsterdam is vrijdag met winst het weekend ingegaan, geholpen door plussen voor de chipfondsen Besi, ASMI en ASML. In de MidKap was verlichtingsbedrijf Signify een opvallende verliezer na bekendmaking van tegenvallende kwartaalresultaten en een reorganisatie waarbij honderden banen worden geraakt.
Signify kelderde ruim 17 procent bij de middelgrote fondsen op het Damrak. Het bedrijf zag de omzet afgelopen kwartaal dalen en verwacht dat de moeilijke marktomstandigheden ook dit jaar aanhouden. Door de banenreductie verdwijnen in Nederland 150 arbeidsplaatsen, aldus Signify. De reorganisatie moet leiden tot een kostenbesparing van 180 miljoen euro.
De AEX sloot 0,5 procent hoger op 1001,65 punten. Daarmee werd de grens van 1000 punten weer overschreden. Besi, ASMI en ASML wonnen tot 2 procent na de koersverliezen van de voorgaande dagen. De MidKap daalde 0,7 procent tot 983,06 punten. De beurzen in Londen, Parijs en Frankfurt klommen tot 0,9 procent.
Mijn goede vriend en collega Bastiaan Geleijnse is op het Instagram-account dat hij beheert een actie gestart: VRIJDAG, NUJIJDAG. Als je Instagram hebt kun je daar bij (apestaartje)fokke__Sukke (met dubbele underscore) een tekstvoorstel doen. Het is de bedoeling dat je iets verzint bij het plaatje.
Omdat ik heel goed begrijp dat mensen niet meer bij zoiets als Instagram willen horen (ik ben vandaag vertrokken bij BlueSky) plaats ik het plaatje hier ook.
Je kunt door te replyen meedoen aan de wedstrijd. Schrijf in je antwoord een kopzin (‘Fokke & Sukke …. puntjepuntje) en een dialoog.
Wie weet plaatsen we jouw tekst in de krant!
Fijn weekend,
Jean-Marc