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Outside: vinyl siding. Inside: a bear

In Pittsburgh, entire houses have been converted into individual art installations filled with unusual objects. A new house is now open.




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So It’s Come to This: It’s Easier for Students to Come Out as ‘Gay’ Than Christian

After fifty years of leftist dominance and indoctrination in the schools, this really doesn’t come as a surprise, but it’s a good indication of where we are as a culture: it is now more socially acceptable and easier overall for students to declare that they are homosexual than it is for them to reveal that …




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If They Cut The Undersea Cables That Connect Us To The Internet, Will It Crash The Global Economy?

The U.S. is accusing Russia of preparing to cut undersea cables which carry Internet traffic all over the world, and Russia is accusing western powers of preparing to do the exact same thing.  In some cases, these undersea cables literally stretch from one continent to another, and so it is impossible to guard them.  That …




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Youth club closures increased offending - report

The Institute for Fiscal Studies says 30% of London's youth clubs closed between 2010 and 2019.




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Authorities say US man faked kayaking death and fled to Europe

Authorities discovered Ryan Borgwardt got a new passport and transferred money to a foreign bank before vanishing.




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Dutch Publisher's AI Translation Plan Sparks Industry Backlash

Dutch publisher Veen Bosch & Keuning has announced plans to use AI for translating commercial fiction, drawing sharp criticism from literary professionals despite promises of human oversight and author consent. Award-winning translator Michele Hutchison, who won the 2020 International Booker Prize, argues that translation extends beyond word conversion. "We build bridges between cultures, taking into account the target readership every step of the way," she said, noting that translators convey rhythm, poetry, and cultural nuances while conducting precise terminology research.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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OpenAI Nears Launch of AI Agent Tool To Automate Tasks For Users

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: OpenAI is preparing to launch a new artificial intelligence agent codenamed "Operator" that can use a computer to take actions on a person's behalf (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source), such as writing code or booking travel [...]. In a staff meeting on Wednesday, OpenAI's leadership announced plans to release the tool in January as a research preview and through the company's application programming interface for developers [...]. The one nearest completion will be a general-purpose tool that executes tasks in a web browser, one of the people said. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman hinted at the shift to agents in response to a question last month during an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. "We will have better and better models," Altman wrote. "But I think the thing that will feel like the next giant breakthrough will be agents." The move to release an agentic AI tool also comes as OpenAI and its competitors have seen diminishing returns from their costly efforts to develop more advanced AI models.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Amazon Shuts Down Secret Project To Develop Fertility Tracker

Amazon has discontinued its secretive "Encore" project to develop an at-home fertility tracker, resulting in layoffs for around 100 employees. The project, part of Amazon's Grand Challenge division, aimed to launch a device and app that would predict fertility through saliva testing but was ultimately terminated to control costs. CNBC reports: The project was born out of the company's 2020 acquisition of Wisconsin-based startup bluDiagnostics, the sources said. BluDiagnostics was founded in 2015 by Weibel, Katie Brenner and Jodi Schroll, all of whom joined Grand Challenge. The startup had developed a thermometer-like device, called FertilityFinder, to help women track their fertility from home by testing their saliva and measuring two key hormones, estradiol and progesterone. The results of the test were viewable through a corresponding app. Business Insider reported on aspects of the fertility device in 2022, when its codename was Project Tiberius. The team was working to develop its own saliva collection device and mobile app, which could predict when a user might be in the fertile window. Users could also log their period symptoms, sexual activity and other data to assist with tracking their fertility. There are similar offerings on the market from companies including Inne, Oova, Ava and Mira, along with fertility and ovulation tracking apps such as Flo, Clue and Max Levchin's Glow. Amazon initially aimed to release the product this year, but the timing was pushed out after the team encountered technical issues with the device, one of the people said. It was a costly endeavor and required significant upfront investments for lab research and development, in addition to the high salaries for scientists and engineers, the sources said, adding that the team's weekly overhead was roughly $1.5 million. Amazon didn't comment on the figure. Only one project now remains active within Grand Challenge. Its focus is on health tech, the people said. "We regularly review our businesses to ensure we focus on areas where we can make the biggest difference for customers," said Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan. "Following a recent review, we've decided to discontinue this project within Grand Challenge, and we're working directly with employees whose roles are impacted to support them through the transition and help them find other opportunities within Amazon."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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IBM Boosts the Amount of Computation You Can Get Done On Quantum Hardware

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: There's a general consensus that we won't be able to consistently perform sophisticated quantum calculations without the development of error-corrected quantum computing, which is unlikely to arrive until the end of the decade. It's still an open question, however, whether we could perform limited but useful calculations at an earlier point. IBM is one of the companies that's betting the answer is yes, and on Wednesday, it announced a series of developments aimed at making that possible. On their own, none of the changes being announced are revolutionary. But collectively, changes across the hardware and software stacks have produced much more efficient and less error-prone operations. The net result is a system that supports the most complicated calculations yet on IBM's hardware, leaving the company optimistic that its users will find some calculations where quantum hardware provides an advantage. [...] Wednesday's announcement was based on the introduction of the second version of its Heron processor, which has 133 qubits. That's still beyond the capability of simulations on classical computers, should it be able to operate with sufficiently low errors. IBM VP Jay Gambetta told Ars that Revision 2 of Heron focused on getting rid of what are called TLS (two-level system) errors. "If you see this sort of defect, which can be a dipole or just some electronic structure that is caught on the surface, that is what we believe is limiting the coherence of our devices," Gambetta said. This happens because the defects can resonate at a frequency that interacts with a nearby qubit, causing the qubit to drop out of the quantum state needed to participate in calculations (called a loss of coherence). By making small adjustments to the frequency that the qubits are operating at, it's possible to avoid these problems. This can be done when the Heron chip is being calibrated before it's opened for general use. Separately, the company has done a rewrite of the software that controls the system during operations. "After learning from the community, seeing how to run larger circuits, [we were able to] almost better define what it should be and rewrite the whole stack towards that," Gambetta said. The result is a dramatic speed-up. "Something that took 122 hours now is down to a couple of hours," he told Ars. Since people are paying for time on this hardware, that's good for customers now. However, it could also pay off in the longer run, as some errors can occur randomly, so less time spent on a calculation can mean fewer errors. Despite all those improvements, errors are still likely during any significant calculations. While it continues to work toward developing error-corrected qubits, IBM is focusing on what it calls error mitigation, which it first detailed last year. [...] The problem here is that using the function is computationally difficult, and the difficulty increases with the qubit count. So, while it's still easier to do error mitigation calculations than simulate the quantum computer's behavior on the same hardware, there's still the risk of it becoming computationally intractable. But IBM has also taken the time to optimize that, too. "They've got algorithmic improvements, and the method that uses tensor methods [now] uses the GPU," Gambetta told Ars. "So I think it's a combination of both."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.




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Scotland Nations League games to be shown on YouTube

Scotland's concluding Nations League matches against Croatia and Poland will again to be broadcast on YouTube, rather than on television.




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Serrano 'ready to put on a show' against 'warrior' Taylor

Seven-weight world champion Amanda Serrano speaks to BBC Sport before her rematch against Katie Taylor in Texas on Friday.




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Tyson health 'just fine' but precautions in place

Mike Tyson says his health is "just fine" with organisers saying the fight with Jake Paul will "100% go ahead".




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Arsenal and Man Utd eye Sane - Thursday's gossip

Manchester United battle for Bayern Munich's Leroy Sane, Liverpool some way off with Mohamed Salah contract, La Liga giants interested in Nottingham Forest's Murillo.




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Gatland comfortable with questions on his future

Coach Warren Gatland says he is comfortable with any decision made about his future as his Wales side hope to avoid an unwelcome piece of history on Sunday.




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Former footballer Forlan beaten on pro tennis debut

Retired footballer Diego Forlan loses 6-1 6-2 in 47 minutes on his professional tennis debut in a doubles event in Uruguay.







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Mark Zuckerberg just released his own NSFW version of 'Get Low' in a tribute to his wife

To pay tribute to his wife, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg got in the recording booth with T-Pain for the heavily autotuned track.




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Online misinformation about Ozempic runs rampant — here's what the science says

Online conversations about Ozempic and similar medications are full of misinformation — and echo decades of flawed teachings on weight management.




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The 'Doge' dog meme that Elon Musk loves, explained in 1 minute

Elon Musk frequently references "Doge," an internet meme from the 2010s based on a photo of a Shiba Inu dog with Comic Sans text overlaid on top.




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Stock market today: Indexes trade mixed as investors assess rate outlook after new inflation data

Inflation accelerated slightly for the month of October, sparking concern the Fed could pause its interest rate-cutting cycle in January.




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Some Supreme Court justices scrutinized Nvidia's attempt to dodge a securities fraud lawsuit

Nvidia, the AI-chip giant, petitioned the nation's highest court after a lower court permitted a 2018 class action lawsuit to move ahead.





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5 interesting takeaways from Slack's survey of 17,000 desk workers about AI

Slack's survey of over 17,000 desk workers found slowing excitement for AI among employees and a lack of AI training.




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The founder-CEO of Xiaomi is taking a leaf out of Elon Musk's Tesla playbook, posting a picture of himself taking a nap on the factory floor

Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun was celebrating a production milestone of 100,000 units of the SU7, his company's EV.




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Wounded Russian troops had their medical payouts cut back in one swift move from the Kremlin

Russian troops wounded in Ukraine were to each be given about $30,000. But that's now been reduced to $10,000 for less severe injuries.




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PNUT Jumps Over 300% Today – Best Time to Buy, or Could $PEPU Offer Higher Returns?

A new meme coin on Solana, Peanut the Squirrel, has surged over the past 24 to 48 hours towards its… Continue reading PNUT Jumps Over 300% Today – Best Time to Buy, or Could $PEPU Offer Higher Returns?

The post PNUT Jumps Over 300% Today – Best Time to Buy, or Could $PEPU Offer Higher Returns? appeared first on ReadWrite.




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'I found out I had cancer when 36 weeks pregnant'

After a Caesarean section, Laura Hudson had to endure chemotherapy and have a mastectomy.




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Met faces service cuts without more cash, says chief

Sir Mark Rowley says he is "deeply troubled" by negotiations so far on the force's funding next year.




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News24 | Mozambique protests: Border Management Authority temporarily suspends operations at Lebombo border

The Border Management Authority has confirmed that it has temporarily suspended operations at the Lebombo port of entry due to ongoing post-election unrest in Mozambique on Wednesday.




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News24 | WATCH | Wits unveils largest digital dome in Southern Hemisphere

A view of the dry, lifeless and empty Atacama desert in Chile, South America, suddenly changes to one depicting large telescopes in gigantic domes atop a 2 600m mountain.




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News24 | Danny Jordaan granted bail, Ramaphosa to address nation soon: Today's top 7 stories in 7 minutes

News24 brings you the top stories of the day, summarised into neat little packages. Read through quickly or listen to the articles via our customised text-to-speech feature.




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News24 | Thursday's weather: Scattered showers for Gauteng as severe storms bring flood risks to Free State

Thursday's weather brings a mix of conditions across the country, with severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and extreme fire danger in certain areas, according to the South African Weather Service.




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News24 | Malatsi can't withdraw SABC Bill as it is executive's bill – Ntshavheni

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi can't withdraw the controversial SABC Bill as it is an executive bill and Cabinet has not approved its withdrawal, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said.




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News24 | 'We are going to smoke them out,' says Ntshavheni about trapped Stilfontein zama zamas

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni had no sympathy for illegal miners trapped in a shaft in Stilfontein, saying it is not the government's job to retrieve the bodies of criminals, and law enforcement officers' lives should not be risked to help criminals.




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News24 | Residents haul out three of an estimated 4 500 illegal miners from a Stilfontein mine

Concerned residents of Stilfontein rolled up their sleeves under police watch, and by 13:00 on Wednesday had pulled out three illegal miners among the estimated thousands who are stuck underground at the closed gold mine.




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News24 | US Navy repels Houthi attacks on warships off Yemen coast

US warships came under sustained missile and drone attack from Houthi fighters as they sailed off the coast of Yemen, the Pentagon has confirmed.




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News24 | Iran hangs man 'for second time' after previous execution halted - NGO

Iran hanged a 26-year-old man for a second time Wednesday months after a previous execution was halted half a minute in, an NGO said.




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News24 | Woman pleads for husband's rescue, but minister says government won't help trapped zama zamas

Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said illegal miners trapped underground are criminals, and the government won't send help.




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News24 | Sex toys, death threats and unpaid rent: Executive evicted, property seized in dispute with landlord

Sparks are flying at a Lowveld luxury estate as an American businessman and his landlord fire off at each other over an eviction and seizure of his assets when the businessman withheld his rent.




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Putin Prepares For Showdown With Trump As 50,000 Russian Troops Move Into Position

The following article, Putin Prepares For Showdown With Trump As 50,000 Russian Troops Move Into Position, was first published on Conservative Firing Line.

Now that Donald Trump has won the election, he is going to have to deal with Vladimir Putin and Russia, and that isn’t going to be easy.  The Russians have no incentive to end the conflict because they are steadily gobbling up territory in eastern Ukraine.  As long as the Russians are making progress toward …

Continue reading Putin Prepares For Showdown With Trump As 50,000 Russian Troops Move Into Position ...




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'So Far From the Truth': Michael Strahan Addresses National Anthem Controversy That Left Many Viewers Furious

“Fox NFL Sunday” analyst Michael Strahan has apologized following the volcanic outrage he unleashed by appearing to disrespect the national anthem during a ceremony honoring veterans, saying it was an […]

The post 'So Far From the Truth': Michael Strahan Addresses National Anthem Controversy That Left Many Viewers Furious appeared first on The Western Journal.




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Trump Team Prepping 'Warrior Board' Executive Order in Bid to Purge Military of Wokeness: Report

A new report said that a draft order creating a mechanism for reviewing America’s top military leaders is being considered by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team. The Wall Street Journal […]

The post Trump Team Prepping 'Warrior Board' Executive Order in Bid to Purge Military of Wokeness: Report appeared first on The Western Journal.




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Report: Trump Administration Planning a Major Press Briefing Change That Will Infuriate Mainstream Media Outlets

The incoming Trump administration is reportedly planning to add more pro-MAGA outlets into the small White House press briefing room, which may mean some traditional establishment outlets getting the bump […]

The post Report: Trump Administration Planning a Major Press Briefing Change That Will Infuriate Mainstream Media Outlets appeared first on The Western Journal.






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Sport | Botswana Football Association backs South African coach Morena Ramoreboli to take Zebras to Afcon

Botswana FA's president, Tariq Babitseng, is confident that South African coach Morena Ramoreboli will guide the Zebras back to the Africa Cup of Nations, where they have been absent for 12 years.




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Sport | Boxing legend Mike Tyson, 58, back in ring to face Youtuber Paul

Nearly 40 years after making his professional debut, and 19 years after being battered into retirement, a 58-year-old Mike Tyson will climb back into the ring on Friday for a Netflix-backed bout that has drawn widespread condemnation across the boxin




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Sport | Simnikiwe Xabanisa | Nuke Squad may get tongues wagging, but Bomb Squad gets the job done

About the only thing that could tip over the Nuke Squad frenzy gripping the north would be Rassie Erasmus deploying another 7-1 bench against England. But he'll probably go with the reliable Bomb Squad, writes Simnikwe Xabanisa.