Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
Thomas Hawk posted a photo:
date stamped on slide, December 1976, handwritten on slide, "G.H. Spaces""
I am a cocktail and four wines in as we step out into the cool autumn night after a hefty dinner. My sweater and the alcohol and her hand will keep me warm on the walk back.
“The directions say to turn right here,” she says, as we stand in front of a church that caps the street. I recognize the church from earlier in the day. “Yes, but we can go left,” I redirect.
She follows along, her hand still in mine. She gives occasional glances to her phone, perhaps hesitant in my ability to direct us back in my inebriated state. She suggests crossing the street. “I think we need to go under the bridge,” I recommend.
Sure enough, the path under the bridge leads us back to our hotel, completing the evening and giving us rest for more adventures to come.
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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Amazon's Zoox unit has won U.S. approval for limited commercial deployment of its novel steering-wheel-free robotaxis, a first for the autonomous ride industry, the U.S. auto safety agency said on Thursday. Zoox said that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's decision gives the company federal approval to begin charging for rides, and that it will soon begin charging for service, first in Las Vegas, with additional markets to follow as it completes various state requirements.
[...] NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison told Reuters that Zoox had received clearance to commercially deploy up to 2,500 vehicles in each of the next two years. Zoox currently carries passengers in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco as part of testing. The exemption would allow Zoox to charge them fees, subject to state and local approvals. The agency said it determined the vehicle is as safe as an equivalent vehicle meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards that are being waived. Zoox cannot sell any of the vehicles to the public.
"We can say pretty clearly that the systems in place on the Zoox exceed the equivalent performance requirements of a compliant vehicle," Morrison said in an interview. "But we still want to make sure that the automated driving system will operate appropriately." As part of the exemption, NHTSA is placing additional reporting requirements on Zoox for issues such as crashes or stopping inappropriately on roads, and the regulatory agency will adjust the conditions based on how the vehicles behave. "We have the ability to pull the exemption if we see major safety issues," Morrison said.
All remote operators must be located in the United States, NHTSA said, and Zoox must publish maps of areas indicating where the vehicles are operating. Morrison said NHTSA expects to develop the first federal safety standards for automated driving systems by the end of the Trump administration. It is also proposing to overhaul some existing rules written with human drivers in mind such as requiring brake pedals and rear-view mirrors.
[...] NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison told Reuters that Zoox had received clearance to commercially deploy up to 2,500 vehicles in each of the next two years. Zoox currently carries passengers in parts of Las Vegas and San Francisco as part of testing. The exemption would allow Zoox to charge them fees, subject to state and local approvals. The agency said it determined the vehicle is as safe as an equivalent vehicle meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards that are being waived. Zoox cannot sell any of the vehicles to the public.
"We can say pretty clearly that the systems in place on the Zoox exceed the equivalent performance requirements of a compliant vehicle," Morrison said in an interview. "But we still want to make sure that the automated driving system will operate appropriately." As part of the exemption, NHTSA is placing additional reporting requirements on Zoox for issues such as crashes or stopping inappropriately on roads, and the regulatory agency will adjust the conditions based on how the vehicles behave. "We have the ability to pull the exemption if we see major safety issues," Morrison said.
All remote operators must be located in the United States, NHTSA said, and Zoox must publish maps of areas indicating where the vehicles are operating. Morrison said NHTSA expects to develop the first federal safety standards for automated driving systems by the end of the Trump administration. It is also proposing to overhaul some existing rules written with human drivers in mind such as requiring brake pedals and rear-view mirrors.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A UK parliamentary inquiry found that a catastrophic Ministry of Defense breach exposing 18,700 Afghans could have been prevented with basic Excel training, after an employee unknowingly shared a hidden worksheet containing their details. The Independent reports: The leak, in February 2022, exposed the details of 18,700 Afghans who said they were in danger from the Taliban because of their links to UK forces and now wanted to escape to Britain. The blunder triggered an unprecedented superinjunction used against the national media, including The Independent, and prompted a secret evacuation program -- the cost of which is still unclear but which likely ran into the billions of pounds. Following the revelation by this outlet and others in July last year of the hidden operation, MPs set up an inquiry to scrutinize what had happened. In their report, the defense selection committee concluded that:
- The data breach could have been prevented if Ministry of Defense (MoD) personnel had received basic Excel training
- By August 2023, when the department discovered the leak, thousands of people already knew that a significant data incident had taken place
- The government did not strike "the right balance between operational secrecy and democratic accountability" -- and the superinjunction was in place for too long
- Secrecy denied affected Afghans the chance to take steps to protect themselves and their families and caused delays to evacuation program
- Thousands of Afghans eligible to come to Britain are still trapped in Afghanistan with the government failing to explain how they will help get families to safety.
MPs have called on the government to publish periodic reassessments of the risks facing Afghan applicants to UK resettlement schemes, with officials to report findings annually. They also want ministers to publish a clear policy explaining how they will help Afghans who are eligible to come to Britain but who have not yet been evacuated. The defense committee have also called on the MoD to explain who was responsible for data protection risk before the Afghan breach, criticizing the lack of accountability within the civil service.
- The data breach could have been prevented if Ministry of Defense (MoD) personnel had received basic Excel training
- By August 2023, when the department discovered the leak, thousands of people already knew that a significant data incident had taken place
- The government did not strike "the right balance between operational secrecy and democratic accountability" -- and the superinjunction was in place for too long
- Secrecy denied affected Afghans the chance to take steps to protect themselves and their families and caused delays to evacuation program
- Thousands of Afghans eligible to come to Britain are still trapped in Afghanistan with the government failing to explain how they will help get families to safety.
MPs have called on the government to publish periodic reassessments of the risks facing Afghan applicants to UK resettlement schemes, with officials to report findings annually. They also want ministers to publish a clear policy explaining how they will help Afghans who are eligible to come to Britain but who have not yet been evacuated. The defense committee have also called on the MoD to explain who was responsible for data protection risk before the Afghan breach, criticizing the lack of accountability within the civil service.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
A Telegram Arrived — And I Had to Choose Between My Head and My Heart. “On Boxing Day, I rang my father and told him my news. He was momentarily silent until his delayed shock was so great that he dropped his favourite coffee cup and I heard it smash.”
on the water photography has added a photo to the pool:
The bridge shown in the image is the Murasaki River Bridge (commonly known as the "Iron Bridge" or Tetsu no Hashi / 紫川橋). It was completed in December 1998.
Key Facts About the Bridge
Location: Spanning the Murasaki River in Kokurakita-ku, Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.
Design Motif: It is one of the famed "Ten Bridges of the Murasaki River" (Murasakigawa 10 Kyo), each built around a distinct environmental theme. This specific bridge incorporates the motif of "Iron" to reflect Kitakyushu's identity as a historic manufacturing and steel-producing city.
History: It was built to replace an older, deteriorating structure previously known as the "Army Bridge" (Rikugun-bashi), which relied on nine piers that obstructed the river. The modern steel-arch design entirely eliminated the need for river-bed pillars, drastically improving regional flood control and water flow.
Visual Landmarks: In the right background of the image, the illuminated structure of Kokura Castle can be seen.
SEATTLE (ANP) - Het Amerikaanse tech- en webwinkelconcern Amazon heeft in het tweede kwartaal opnieuw sterke groei gezien bij zijn clouddivisie Amazon Web Services (AWS) door de grote vraag naar rekenkracht voor kunstmatige intelligentie. Volgens Amazon steeg de omzet bij dat onderdeel met 37 procent tot 42,2 miljard dollar vergeleken met een jaar eerder. Dat is volgens Amazon de sterkste groei in achttien kwartalen.
In een toelichting zegt topman Andy Jassy dat AWS "booming" is. Amazon is net als veel andere grote techbedrijven enorme investeringen aan het doen in onder meer AI-datacenters. Dat bedrag ligt dit jaar rond de 200 miljard dollar. Het concern heeft deals gesloten met grote AI-bedrijven als Anthropic en OpenAI voor dataopslag en rekenkracht.
De totale omzet nam met 20 procent toe tot 200,6 miljard dollar. Amazon boekte een hogere omzet met zijn webwinkelactiviteiten in Noord-Amerika en de rest van de wereld. Ook bij advertenties stegen de inkomsten. Het bedrijf uit Seattle verwacht voor het lopende kwartaal een omzet tussen 197 miljard en 202 miljard dollar.
ROME (ANP) - Italië wil Spanje schorsen van de Schengenzone, vanwege het grote aantal migranten dat is aangekomen in de Spaanse exclave Ceuta. De Italiaanse premier Giorgia Meloni schrijft op X contact te hebben met relevante instanties en daarna bereid te zijn "met buitengewone maatregelen in te grijpen, om de grenzen en de veiligheid van burgers te beschermen".
Eerder riep de Italiaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Antonio Tajani, al op Spanje uit de Schengenzone te zetten. "Irreguliere en ongecontroleerde immigratie vormt een gevaar voor de nationale veiligheid", aldus Tajani.
Binnen het Schengengebied zijn er geen grenscontroles en is vrij reizen mogelijk. Dat kan in uitzonderlijke gevallen tijdelijk ongedaan worden gemaakt. Zoals wanneer er een ernstige bedreiging is voor de openbare orde of de binnenlandse veiligheid in een lidstaat.
Duizenden mensen hebben donderdag de oversteek gemaakt van Marokko naar Ceuta, vaak zwemmend. Hierbij zijn zeker negen doden gevallen.
NEW YORK (ANP) - De aandelenbeurzen in New York zijn donderdag met flinke winsten gesloten, waarmee herstel werd getoond van de stevige minnen een dag eerder. Microsoft was een uitblinker op Wall Street dankzij goed ontvangen kwartaalcijfers. De resultaten van Facebook-moeder Meta Platforms vielen juist tegen en het aandeel ging fors omlaag.
Microsoft sprong 15,5 procent omhoog. Het tech- en softwareconcern zag de winst en omzet flink toenemen dankzij goede zaken met zijn clouddiensten door de grote vraag naar AI-diensten. Ook verwacht het bedrijf dat de omzet van zijn cloudplatform Azure dit jaar voor het eerst de grens van 100 miljard dollar zal overschrijden.
Meta zakte 8 procent. De eigenaar van WhatsApp en Instagram boekte een tegenvallende winst door hogere kosten voor onder meer AI-investeringen. Ook de omzetverwachting voor het huidige kwartaal stelde teleur.
Rente onveranderd
De Dow-Jonesindex eindigde 1,2 procent hoger op 52.208,06 punten. De brede S&P 500 won 1,7 procent tot 7437,63 punten en de technologiegraadmeter Nasdaq klom 2,8 procent tot 25.122,17 punten.
Woensdag waren nog koersverliezen tot 2,2 procent te zien na het besluit van de Amerikaanse centrale bank om de rente onveranderd te houden. Wel stemden drie bestuurders van de Federal Reserve voor een verhoging van de leenkosten om de aanhoudend hoge inflatie te bestrijden.
Chipfondsen
De chipfondsen deden het erg goed na de recente uitverkoop in de sector. Zo wonnen AMD, Micron Technology en Sandisk tot wel 26 procent. AI-chipbedrijf Nvidia kreeg er 2,7 procent bij.
Verder waren er ook cijfers van Starbucks. De grootste koffieketen ter wereld verhoogde de omzet- en winstverwachting voor dit jaar en klom 1,6 procent. Ook burritoketen Chipotle Mexican Grill (plus 12,5 procent) werd positiever over de omzet dit jaar. Yum Brands, de eigenaar van fastfoodketens KFC en Taco Bell, werd 3,4 procent duurder na resultaten.
Verlies Crocs
Cruisemaatschappij Norwegian Cruise Line ging bijna 10 procent onderuit na een verlaging van de prognoses. Sandalenmerk Crocs opende ook de boeken en verloor ruim 7 procent.
Daarnaast was er aandacht voor de beursgang van broodjesketen Jersey Mike's Subs, waarmee 1 miljard dollar werd opgehaald. Dat debuut was geen succes, want het aandeel verloor op de eerste handelsdag 5,7 procent.
Spanje stuurt militairen naar Ceuta, de lokale autoriteiten spreken van een crisissituatie. Onduidelijk is waarom juist nu zoveel mensen de oversteek maken.
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Along the banks of Jökulsá á Fjöllum, a glacial river in northern Iceland, fluctuating water levels continually reshape deposits of volcanic sand and glacial sediment.
LinkedIn has been drenching its users in AI-powered slop posts, going so far as to encourage writers to trade their own voices for a bot's by hitting the "enhance your post" button when they want to share thoughts. Enough is enough. On Thursday, the site’s Chief Product Officer has announced several changes designed to rehab the platform’s reputation. CPO Hari Srinivasan took to the Microsoft-owned social network following reports Thursday that LinkedIn had introduced a button for users to flag posts as AI slop. He confirmed not only that the reports are real, but that LinkedIn had additional plans as well. The “Seems like AI slop” button is being added to the ellipsis menu on LinkedIn posts now, a spokesperson told us, and will be available on all posts and comments. Srinivasan said this button will not only allow users to report posts with sentences written like this – it will also help LinkedIn refine its AI-spotting AI models to help improve user feeds. In addition, the "enhance your post" button, which used AI to tweak your wording, is being replaced by an option to have AI proofread your work while leaving your voice intact, instead of stealing it like the sea witch Ursula. There’s been no shortage of scorn from The Register and elsewhere about LinkedIn’s rapid decline into a slop tank filled with faux thought leadership posts and generative drivel. As far back as 2024, reports were coming out that more than half of long-form LinkedIn posts longer than 100 words were believed to be AI generated. That hasn’t changed in the past two years. “AI slop is a top priority for all of us. We really care about this,” Srinivasan wrote. “People come to LinkedIn to connect with real people and share their real perspectives,” he said, adding that LinkedIn wants to keep it that way – or, more realistically, nudge the platform back toward its former state. Coincidentally or not, Originality.ai, the same AI detection site behind the 2024 report, released an updated scan of LinkedIn posts longer than 100 words on Thursday. According to this new report, a full 81 percent of the 5,000 posts it looked at this month were classified as likely being AI-generated. Srinivasan said it's not just users employing AI to generate slop – it's AI automating garbage posts and comments at scale, throughout the site. “Everyday we are now catching hundreds of thousands of automated comment attempts, and have blocked billions of other automation attempts (posting at scale, slop) in the last couple months alone,” the LinkedIn CPO said. To that end, the professional social network is also “ramping up a series of new and improved classifiers that identify if a post is AI-slop or generally low-quality content,” Srinivasan said. User analytics dashboards will also be getting a new feature that will tell posters when members flag their posts as potentially being AI, as Srinivasan said LinkedIn wants users “to get feedback from real humans on what sounds authentic – not just have an AI detector review it and get it wrong.” “AI and slop are not the same thing,” Srinivasan added. “Many people refine thoughts with AI, and we believe they want to know when they sound inauthentic.” ®
The God man is a gentle ten minute sci-fi documentary about the discovery of a humanoid object in space, en route to earth. A poignant, award-winning short by Andrew Foerster.
Andrew has a smattering of other work on his website, but I found Girl Wolf in particular worth watching. A wordless, post apocalyptic survival film.
Andrew has a smattering of other work on his website, but I found Girl Wolf in particular worth watching. A wordless, post apocalyptic survival film.