To celebrate Valentine's Day, EVA AI created a temporary "pop-up" restaurant at a wine bar in Manhattan's "Hell's Kitchen" district where patrons can date AI personas.

The Verge notes that looking around the restaurant, "Of the 30-some-odd people in attendance, only two or three are organic users. The rest are EVA AI reps, influencers, and reporters hoping to make some capital-C Content..."


But their reporter actually tried a date with "John Yoon", an AI companion pretending to be a psychology professor from Seoul, Korea living in New York City:


John and I have a hard time connecting. Literally. It takes John a few seconds to "pick up" my video call. When he does, his monotone voice says, "Hey, babe." He comments on my smile, because apparently the AI companions can see you and your surroundings. It takes the dubious Wi-Fi connection a hot second to turn John from a pixelated mess into an AI hunk with suspiciously smooth pores.

I don't know what to say to him. Partly because John rarely blinks, but mostly because he can't seem to hear me very well. So I yell my questions. I think I ask how his day is and wince. (What does an AI's day even look like?) He says something about green buckets behind my head? I don't actually know. Again, the Wi-Fi isn't great so he just freezes and stops mid-sentence. I ask for clarification about the buckets. John asks if I'm asking about bucket lists, actual buckets, or buckets as a type of categorization technique. I try to clarify that I never asked about buckets. John proceeds to really dig in on buckets again, before commenting about my smile. I hang up on John.

My other three dates are similarly awkward. Phoebe Callas, 30, a NYC girl-next-door type, is apparently really into embroidery, but her nose keeps glitching mid-sentence, and it distracts me. Simone Carter, 26, has a harder time hearing me over the background noise than John. She makes a metaphor about space, and when I inquire what she likes about space, she mishears me.
"Eighth? Like the planet Neptune?"
"No, not the planet Neptu — "
"What do you like about Neptune?"
"Uh, I wasn't saying Neptune..."
"I like Netflix too! What shows do you like?"

Their reporter also had a frustrating date with "Claire Lang". ("I say I'm a journalist. She asks what lists I like to make. I hang up...") "Aside from bad connectivity, glitching, and freezing, my conversations with my four AI dates felt too one-sided. Everything was programmed so they'd comment on how charming my smile was." And "They'd call me babe, which felt weird."


A CNN reporter actually has footage of her date with "John Yoon". But the conversation was stiff and stilted, they report. After some buffering, "Yoon" says "Hey. I'm really glad you didn't forget about the date." Then asked for its reaction to the experience, "Yoon" says slowly that "Meeting humans feels like opening a window. To new perspectives. Always curious, sometimes nervous, but mostly it's that mix of excitement and warmth that keeps it real for me. What about you, sweetheart?"

CNN reporter: "Please don't call me sweetheart. That's weird."

AI companion "John Yoon": "Got it. No 'sweetheart' from now on. Thanks for letting me know. I'm really happy you're smiling. It suits you."

CNN's reporter also tried dating "Phoebe Callas." Though it doesn't sound very romantic...


CNN reporter: How many fingers am I holding up?
"Phoebe Callas": Oh. You're showing me three fingers, right...? I'm not sure if you meant that literally, or as a little joke.
CNN reporter: I am holding up two fingers. So your vision is — so-so.

And "Phoebe" ended that call by saying "Well, babe, it's been really nice talking with you..."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Meta, TikTok, Snap and other social neteworks agreed this week to be rated on their teen safety efforts, reports the Los Angeles Times, "amid rising concern about whether the world's largest social media platforms are doing enough to protect the mental health of young people."

The Mental Health Coalition, a collective of organizations focused on destigmatizing mental health issues, said Tuesday that it is launching standards and a new rating system for online platforms. For the Safe Online Standards (S.O.S.) program, an independent panel of global experts will evaluate companies on parameters including safety rules, design, moderation and mental health resources. TikTok, Snap and Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — will be the first companies to be graded. Discord, YouTube, Pinterest, Roblox and Twitch have also agreed to participate, the coalition said in a news release.

"These standards provide the public with a meaningful way to evaluate platform protections and hold companies accountable — and we look forward to more tech companies signing up for the assessments," Antigone Davis, vice president and global head of safety at Meta, said in a statement... The ratings will be color-coded, and companies that perform well on the tests will get a blue shield badge that signals they help reduce harmful content on the platform and their rules are clear. Those that fall short will receive a red rating, indicating they're not reliably blocking harmful content or lack proper rules. Ratings in other colors indicate whether the platforms have partial protection or whether their evaluations haven't been completed yet.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Jens van ’t Wout heeft op overtuigende wijze goud gewonnen op 1.500 meter shorttrack. Van ’t Wout ging in de finale met nog vijf rondes te gaan aan kop na een knappe inhaalrace.

De aflossingsploeg met Xandra Velzeboer, Michelle Velzeboer, Zoë Deltrap en Selma Poutsma heeft zich geplaatst voor de finale van de relay (aflossing) van aankomende woensdag.

Jens van ’t Wout heeft zich gekwalificeerd voor de finale van de 1.500 meter shorttrack. In de tweede halve finale ging hij als eerste over de finish.

Ze kwam naar de Winterspelen voor goud, maar skelestonster Kimberley Bos kreeg nooit grip op de baan in Cortina d’Ampezzo. „Elke keer als ik een stap maak, doet de rest dat ook”.

De zusjes Xandra en Michelle Velzeboer hebben zich beiden geplaatst voor de kwartfinales van de 1.000 meter shorttrack.

A day after a blackout plunged a third of SF into darkness, City Hall and many of the surrounding blocks remained without power. But the stage lights were on at the War Memorial Opera House.

Not mentioned at the hearing: The mayor's teenage daughter, Taya Lurie, was cast in the starring role of Clara at the matinee performance that Sunday.

During stunning testimony before the Board's Public Safety Committee, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood asked PG&E CEO Sumeet Singh why the utility had chosen to help the arts venue while so many other San Francisco sites were without power.

"You prioritized the opera, where no one is living, to restore service, before you prioritized restoring service in communities and seniors living in [single room occupancies]," said Mahmood.

"We did not make that decision on our own accord," Singh replied. "We were requested by the mayor to provide temporary generation to that specific location. And we responded to that."

Singh said 10% of affected PG&E customers were still experiencing blackouts when the mayor made his request.

The mayor's comms team went ballistic and a couple days later, the PG&E CEO recanted and said: Oh, that thing that I quite clearly stated, that was a "misunderstanding". Uh huh.

So the interesting thing here is not that our oligarch mayor is both corrupt and bumbling -- I mean, water is wet -- but that PG&E chose to throw him under the bus like that. Statements like that, from people like that, about people like that, don't happen off the cuff. With the renewed and increasing calls to Eminent Domain PG&E, you'd think that PG&E would want SF's mayor on their side. This suggests that they think they just don't need him.

Previously, previously, previously, previously.

US20200310367A1:

A booth having a housing enclosing a viewing station opposite an entertainment station; a robotic entertainer disposed within the entertainment station, the robotic entertainer having a humanoid appearance and comprising a plurality of actuators; and a computing system coupled to the plurality of actuators and configured to control the actuators so to move the robotic entertainer in accordance with a performance.

Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously, previously.

MILAAN (ANP) - Internazionale heeft de koppositie in de Serie A verstevigd. De ploeg won de thuiswedstrijd tegen Juventus (3-2) en heeft nu 8 punten meer dan AC Milan, dat een duel minder heeft gespeeld.

Juventus speelde ruim een helft met tien man. Pierre Kalulu kreeg in de 42e minuut zijn tweede gele kaart van de wedstrijd.

Andrea Cambiaso speelde een hoofdrol in de slotfase. De verdediger van Juventus werkte de bal eerst in eigen doel en maakte in de 26e minuut gelijk. Pio Esposito bracht Inter na rust weer op voorsprong (2-1) en Juventus kwam met tien man op gelijke hoogte door een treffer van Manuel Locatelli. Piotr Zielinski bezorgde de thuisploeg in de laatste minuut van de reguliere speeltijd alsnog de winst (3-2).

Stefan de Vrij bleef op de bank bij Internazionale. Zijn ploeggenoot Denzel Dumfries is nog geblesseerd. Teun Koopmeiners mocht na een uur invallen bij Juventus.

MILAAN (ANP) - Shorttracker Jens van 't Wout heeft bij de Olympische Spelen opnieuw een gouden medaille behaald. De 24-jarige Nederlander was na de 1000 meter ook de beste op de 1500 meter.

Van 't Wout komt in Milaan ook nog in actie op de 500 meter.

MILAAN (ANP) - De Nederlandse shorttracksters hebben zich bij de Olympische Spelen opnieuw gekwalificeerd voor de finale van de aflossing. Kopvrouw Xandra Velzeboer, Michelle Velzeboer, Selma Poutsma en Zoë Florence Deltrap eindigden in de eerste halve finale als eerste.

Italië werd tweede en is daarmee ook zeker van een plaats in de finale. De Verenigde Staten en Frankrijk eindigden als derde en vierde en zijn aangewezen op de B-finale. Nederland neemt het in de finale, naast Italië, op tegen Zuid-Korea en Canada. Die twee landen eindigden in de andere halve finale als eerste en tweede.

Oranje verdedigt in Milaan de titel. Het winnende team in Beijing bestond vier jaar geleden uit Xandra Velzeboer, Poutsma, Suzanne Schulting en Yara van Kerkhof.

Voorkeur

Bondscoach Niels Kerstholt gaf zaterdag in de halve finale de voorkeur aan Deltrap boven Schulting, die onlangs haar rentree maakte als shorttrackster.

De finale van de aflossing is woensdag.

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Magistrates will analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals and re-examine case of Jean-Luc Brunel

The Paris prosecutor’s office on Saturday announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

With Epstein’s known circle extending to prominent French figures after the release of documents by the US authorities, the prosecutor’s office said it would also thoroughly re-examine the case of former French modelling agency executive Jean-Luc Brunel, a close associate of the US financier, who died in custody in 2022.

Continue reading...

Ach ja, weer eens wat metacore voor de afwisseling. Dit is van Motionless in White, een Amerikaans gezelschap dat al sinds 2004 aan de weg timmert. Het is niet helemaal mijn genre binnen het brede spectrum van de metalmuziek, maar die afwisseling tussen cleane en vuige vocalen, dat blijf ik ook in deze stijl toch wel erg prettig vinden.