DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

How Online Hatred Toward Migrants Spurs Real-World Violence Social media posts assailing immigrants have fomented a climate of fear and hatred in Britain, Portugal and other countries. It followed months of vitriol on social media that came not only from disgruntled Portuguese, but also from prominent far-right figures inside and outside the country. “It’s not up-to-date for the social media age,” Leo Varadkar, the prime minister then, said. Asked whether he believes his social media posts contribute to violence, Mr. Robinson responded: “I believe the teachings in the Koran contribute to violence. July 29 1:42 p.m.Not much info yet, but it will be a Muslim culprit followed by violence protests 1:49 p.m.

Persons: ”, Rita Guerra, Patience, ” Lee Marsh, “, Elon Musk, X, Musk, TikTok, we’re, ” Tommy Robinson, Donald J, Trump, Joel Finkelstein, Tony Craig, “ It’s, —, ” Leo Varadkar, He now, Ro, rie, Marc, iona, Robinson, e, ari, rance Organizations: YouTube, Spurs, Center for Psychological Research, Italy British, Protesters, Sunderland, PA, Agence France, Institute for Strategic, Elon, Meta, The New York Times, National, Counterterrorism, Security, Network, Research, Staffordshire University, Reuters, Ireland, unc, rit Locations: Portugal, Portuguese, Lisbon, Porto, Britain, Germany, Ireland, Europe, Southport, Liverpool, Syrian, Wales, Italy, The Netherlands, Greenwich, London, United States, Russia, Netherlands, Leeds, Chester, New Jersey, England, Algeria, Dublin, Coolock

☆ Elon Musk threatens to ban iPhones at his companies if Apple integrates ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-11 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

London CNN —Elon Musk is not happy about a new partnership between Apple and ChatGPT creator OpenAI. “Apple has no clue what’s actually going on once they hand your data over to OpenAI,” Musk said in a separate post. OpenAI’s technology will support some of these new tools — for example, allowing users to direct questions to ChatGPT via their Apple devices. Greg Brockman, OpenAI president, said late Monday that ChatGPT would be integrated into Apple’s operating systems for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. So Musk’s employees may have limited options if he wants to ban rival AI — or even OpenAI — from his companies.

Persons: London CNN — Elon Musk, OpenAI, ” Musk, Apple, Musk’s, Siri, Greg Brockman, We’re, Will, Sam Altman, ”, Catherine Flick, ” OpenAI, ” Matt Britzman, Hargreaves Lansdown Organizations: London CNN, Apple, SpaceX, Bluetooth, ” CNN, OpenAI, Developers, Apple Intelligence, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Windows, Staffordshire University Locations: OpenAI, ”, England

☆ A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In the four years since their unlikely bond was posted online, the odd couple has attracted almost two million followers on Instagram and Facebook. But in an emotional video posted online Tuesday, Peggy’s owners, Juliette Wells and Reece Mortensen, announced that the animals had been separated. Wildlife officials worried that others would follow their lead of domesticating wild animals in the hope of profiting online. Followers are being urged to write to their local member of parliament and the director general of the department. Bernard Ashcroft, CEO of Wildlife Rescue Australia, said the law prohibits people from taking wild animals as pets, for good reason.

Persons: Australia CNN —, Peggy, Molly ”, Molly, Juliette Wells, Reece Mortensen, ”, Wells, “, Darryl Jones, Molly didn’t, “ Peggy, Mortensen, DESI, Jones, Australia – “, “ It’s, ” Jones, Bernard Ashcroft Organizations: Australia CNN, Facebook, DES – Department of Science, Department of Science, Griffith University, CNN, Australia –, Wildlife Rescue Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Staffordshire, Australian, crazily

☆ AIs are more accurate at math if you ask them to respond as if they are a Star Trek character — and we're not sure why
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

AdvertisementUsing AI to speak with AIMachine learning engineers Battle and Gallapudi didn't set out to expose the AI model as a Trekkie. Instead, they were trying to figure out if they could capitalize on the "positive thinking" trend. AdvertisementThis would suggest it's not only what you ask the AI model to do, but how you ask it to act while doing it that influences the quality of the output. Still, giving the models positive statements provided some surprising results. CBS via Getty ImagesThis doesn't mean you should ask your AI to speak like a Starfleet commanderLet's be clear: this research doesn't suggest you should ask AI to talk as if aboard the Starship Enterprise to get it to work.

Persons: —, chatbots, Rick Battle, Teja, Gallapudi didn't, it's, Gollapudi, Spock, Let's, Catherine Flick, Flick Organizations: Service, Star, VMware, Business, New, Machine, AIs, CBS, Getty, Enterprise, Staffordshire University Locations: California

☆ Developers Who Leveled ‘Britain’s Wonkiest Pub’ Ordered to Rebuild
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Megan Specia | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Crooked House, a pub in England’s West Midlands that was demolished last year after a suspicious fire, could soon be rising from the rubble after its owners were ordered to restore the pub to its former lopsided glory. The tavern, known as “Britain’s wonkiest pub” for its slanting walls and floors, was sold to a private developer in July 2023. Around two weeks later, the pub caught fire in a suspected arson attack and the developers who had bought it brought in the bulldozers. With the support of local politicians, they launched a public campaign to see the building restored and someone held accountable for its destruction. South Staffordshire Council, the local authority for the area where the pub once stood, on Tuesday ordered the owners to rebuild the pub within three years, restoring it using original materials and with its original character maintained.

Organizations: South, South Staffordshire Council Locations: England’s West Midlands, South Staffordshire

☆ A college senior used AI to try and disprove the long-held belief that all fingerprints are unique
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The study relied on AI's discovery of similarities between different fingers belonging to the same person to argue that each fingerprint is, in fact, not totally unique. Some of the pairs came from two different fingers belonging to the same person, while other pairs were two different people's fingers. The AI system discovered that fingerprints from different fingers belonging to the same person were incredibly similar. Researchers honed in on the angles and curvatures at the center of the fingerprint to find these similarities, Guo told CNN. "I think this study is just the first domino in a huge sequence of these things," Guo told CNN.

Persons: —, Gabe Guo, Hod Lipson, Xu, Guo, Christophe Champod, Sarah Fieldhouse Organizations: Service, Columbia University, CNN, Columbia Engineering, University of Buffalo SUNY, Forensics, School of Criminal, University of Lausanne, Staffordshire University, BBC Locations: Switzerland

☆ Move over, Peloton. Rucking is the newest fitness craze in Silicon Valley and beyond.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Memon, who cofounded the artificial-intelligence healthcare startup Eureka Health, credits rucking with conditioning his body to keep up with his high-energy pup. Memon hiking around the Bay Area with a weighted backpack. She told Insider she'd seen an uptick in people interested in adding rucking and weight training to their outdoor activities like trail running and hiking. He doesn't ruck outside but wears a weighted vest purchased from Amazon while completing his routine in the gym, which includes time on the StairMaster as well as lifting traditional weights. The venture capitalist Zamir Shukho's dog, Lord Lincoln, wears a weighted vest on walks.

Persons: Zain Memon, Joy, Zain Memon Memon, Memon, It's, —, Henry Merriam, REI, Wilson Kriegel, — Kriegel, Wendy Winn, she'd, Winn, Charlie Hale, I'm, Amanda Bradford, rucking, She's, Bradford, I've, Zamir Shukho's, Lord Lincoln, Zamir Shukho, begrudgingly, Vibranium.VC Organizations: Eureka Health, US Army, National Parks Service, Amazon, Group Locations: Buena Vista, Sutro, San Francisco, Silicon, TikTok, North, New York City, New York, Los Angeles, Austin , Texas, Bird, American Staffordshire

☆ Britain to ban American XL bully dogs by the end of the year
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Andrew Macaskill | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An American Bully XXL is pictured at a veterinary clinic in Utrecht, Netherlands June 20, 2023. He said a man was killed on Thursday in central England in an attack involving a suspected XL bully dog. According to campaign group Bully Watch, which advocates for a ban on selling and breeding large XL bully dogs, the breed was responsible for more than half of all fatal dog attacks in Britain last year. XL bully dogs were originally bred from American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers and first appeared in the UK "around 2014 or 2015", with the numbers growing rapidly in recent years, the campaign group said. Sunak has asked the police and experts to define XL bully dogs, a first step he said before he hopes they can be banned by the end of the year.

Persons: XXL, de Wouw, Rishi Sunak, Sunak, Andrew MacAskill, Michael Holden, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, British, XL, Police, Staffordshire, RSPCA, Thomson Locations: Utrecht, Netherlands, English, Birmingham, England, Britain

☆ UK's Instem shares pop on $257 mln take-private deal from French firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Aug 30 (Reuters) - Shares in Instem Plc (INS.L) soared over 39% on Wednesday after the British life sciences software company agreed to a take-private deal with French private equity firm Archimed SAS for 203 million pounds ($256.5 million). Under the terms of the deal with Ichor Management, a company controlled by Archimed, each Instem shareholder will get 833 pence in cash, representing a premium of 41% to the stock's last close. The offer, which Instem's board recommended shareholders accept, caps multiple rejected proposals from Archimed since March. Healthcare-focused investment firm Archimed has more than 8 billion euros of assets under management and investments in 32 healthcare companies. ($1 = 0.7916 pounds)Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Eileen SorengOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Archimed, Prerna Bedi, Sonia Cheema, Eileen Soreng Organizations: Instem Plc, SAS, Ichor Management, Archimed, Healthcare, Thomson Locations: London, Archimed, Staffordshire, Bengaluru

☆ Airline loses passenger’s dog at world’s busiest airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Paula Rodriguez is currently living that nightmare, after her dog, Maia, was lost by airport staff who were bringing her to her Delta flight at Atlanta airport – the busiest in the world. Rodriguez was flying from her home in the Dominican Republic for a two-week vacation in California with her six-year-old dog, Maia, on August 18. “They called a Delta agent, who took Maia from me,” Rodriguez told CNN. When we’d got there [to Atlanta] she’d puked with distress and had diarrhea. “I called Delta, Atlanta airport, even San Francisco.

Persons: CNN —, Paula Rodriguez, Maia, Rodriguez, “ didn’t, “, ” Rodriguez, she’d, we’d, ”, Paula Rodriguez Rodriguez’s, –, ‘ Let’s, ’ ”, Maia wasn’t, panicking, ‘ I’m, ’, Maia didn’t, Maia Hartsfield, Jeff Greenberg, Santo Domingo, “ I’ve, Rodriguez isn’t, Rodriguez’s, “ They’re, Jackson, they’d, we’re, Atlanta . Gale Organizations: CNN, Flying Delta Air Lines, Hartsfield, Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Passengers, Punta Cana, Jackson Atlanta International, Universal, Getty, Santo, Delta, “, ” Hartsfield, City of Atlanta Department of Aviation, Atlanta ., American Staffordshire, Pilots Locations: Atlanta, Dominican Republic, California, San Francisco, Punta Cana, Santo Domingo, Punta, Francisco, United States, American

☆ More food shortages could add to Britain's price pressure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The tight conditions have helped to push British food price inflation to levels not seen for almost 50 years. Industry data from market researcher Kantar on Tuesday showed UK grocery price inflation hit a record 17.5% in the four weeks to March 19, underscoring the problem for policymakers. Many UK food retailers are buying less, knowing their customers cannot afford to spend so much, taking a hit to their profits in the process. Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents the major food retailers, said supermarkets were confident about the resilience of food supply chains, particularly with the approaching UK growing season. The grower who spoke to Reuters, and who asked not to be named, said there was too much focus on food inflation and not enough on the strength of the whole system.

☆ Medical tourism looking sickly as patients watch their spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Joanna Plucinska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"People are more cautious," Knott told Reuters, staring at the empty building across the street from his existing Kreativ Dental clinic. Rising air fares and fewer flights - and the memory of last summer's travel chaos - are also putting off would-be patients, clinic operators and analysts told Reuters. A hip or knee replacement at Nordorthopaedics in Lithuania is about 15% more expensive now than five years ago, the clinic told Reuters. Lyfboat, an Indian company providing medical services for foreign patients, told Reuters it has collaborated with a fundraising platform called ImpactGuru to help patients pay for essential surgeries. ACUTE VS ELECTIVEThe International Medical Travel Journal, published by market intelligence service LaingBuisson, estimates the medical tourism market is currently worth around $21 billion, less than pre-pandemic, although editor Keith Pollard warned data is poor.

☆ Dog show teaches Nigerians new tricks about pet ownership
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Dogs attend the annual Lagos Dog Carnival, with the theme "Splash of colours", in Lagos, Nigeria, December 10, 2022. Jackie Idimogu, organiser of the Lagos Dog Festival, now in its fourth year, said the show was aimed at debunking stereotypes of Africans mistreating dogs. "I am happy to say that Nigerians are beginning to understand the love language of these animals." Pasha, a six-year-old Caucasian shepherd mix, was crowned dog of the year. He wore black sunglasses and a matching red and black scotch outfit with her owner Hadiza Saidu.

☆ A lost ecosystem revealed in Greenland by oldest environmental DNA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

A long time agoAn artist's illustration reconstructs Greenland's unique ecosystem as it existed 2 million years ago. Beth ZaikenScientists in Denmark have found the world’s oldest DNA sequences in sediment from the ice age. The core, taken from northern Greenland, revealed that the polar region was once abundant with plant and animal life 2 million years ago. Mastodons, reindeer, geese, lemmings and hares lived in an ecosystem that was a mix of temperate and Arctic flora and fauna. The fossil includes the head, neck and body together — a rare discovery for the marine reptiles, which didn’t preserve well in one piece.

☆ People are turning to fish heads, protein shakes, and unsold food apps to save money on groceries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

An app that offers unsold food saw a 100% month-on-month rise in the first half of the year. Jenny Holden, who runs a PR firm in Staffordshire, told Insider that she's started having a pea protein shake for dinner once a week. More Brits are buying unsold food through appsToo Good To Go lets users buy unsold food for one-third of the price. One user of such unsold food apps is Penny Moyses, the founder of the Clean and Tidy Home Show, which offers household budgeting tips. The energy price cap has been extended by one year, but will increase by £500 ($613) from April 2023.

☆ After narrowly avoiding the Retail Apocalypse, many companies are once again at risk of bankruptcy — and these 10 may be next
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

However, the credit rating company said the number of defaults won't reach pandemic level-highs as the industry has "emerged in better shape to meet the growing challenges," analysts wrote in an October report. A clothes shop tries to sell the last of its stock before closing down on February 1, 2012 in Stoke-On-Trent, England. Staffordshire has borne the brunt of the economic downturn with the loss of 21,100 manufacturing jobs which have fallen from 74,200 in 2006/07 to 53,100 in 2010/11, the highest in the UK according to a survey by the GMB union. Christopher Furlong/GettyTheir findings anticipate defaults to rise to 5.5%, up from the current rate of 1%, but still well below 23% in 2020. "As the retail industry squares off for another period of rising defaults over the next 12 months, this time will be markedly different from the last downturn during the pandemic, when defaults skyrocketed," Moody's analysts wrote in the report.

Some homeowners insurance companies exclude certain dog breeds from coverage. But that can present challenges when you shop for homeowners insurance if you've run into the dog breeds insurance blacklist. Here are seven things you should know about homeowners insurance, banned dog breeds, and dogs with a bite history, whether you have a pit bull, a poodle, or a golden retriever, like me. Commonly banned breeds include:Pit bullsMastiffsGerman shepherdsAkitasStaffordshire terriersChow ChowsAlaskan malamutesDoberman pinschersGreat DanesSiberian HuskiesRottweilersPresa CanariosWolf hybridsThere are options for insuring banned dog breedsIf your homeowners insurance application is denied because of the dog breeds insurance blacklist, you might panic, thinking you must go uninsured or get rid of your dog. All dog owners should have liability insuranceEven if your dog has no bite history or isn't part of the dog breeds insurance blacklist, you should carry liability coverage as part of your homeowners insurance policy.

☆ Cei mai ghinioniști hoți din lume au fost prinși după ce unul s-a așezat pe telefon și a sunat la poliție
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-09 | by ( ) www.jurnal.md time to read: +1 min

Un ofițer din poliție din Staffordshire i-a denumit „cei mai ghinioniști hoți din lume” și i-a asemănat cu spărgătorii din filmul „Singur acasă”. Potrivit acestuia, unul dintre bărbați s-a așezat pe telefon și a format din buzunar numărul 999 (numărul din Marea Britanie pentru situații de urgență), iar apelul a ajuns la polițiști. Oamenii legii au ascultat pe măsură ce hoții comiteau infracțiunea și momentul în care colegii lor au intervenit și i-au arestat. „Cred că tocmai i-am arestat pe cei mai ghinioniști spărgători din lume”, a scris inspectorul-șef John Owen pe Twitter. „În timpul unui jaf, unul dintre hoți s-a așezat pe telefonul mobil din buzunar și a sunat la 999”, a continuat el.

Persons: John Owen, Twitter, Owen, Inspectorul Owen Locations: Staffordshire

Search resuls for: "Staffordshire"

18 mentions found