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☆ Obama warns democratic institutions are ‘creaky’ but Trump’s indictment is proof rule of law still exists in US
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

He told CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour that the federal indictment of his successor Donald Trump is evidence the rule of law still reigns – for now – in the United States. “Our existing democratic institutions are creaky, and we’re going to have to reform them.”The full interview with Obama airs at 10 p.m. In 2016, shortly after Trump had been elected his successor, Obama hailed the enduring power of American democracy from the ancient birthplace of the system. While in Greece, Obama also met with participants from the Obama Foundation Leaders program. Obama said in the interview that no democracy could thrive with high levels of social or economic inequality.

Persons: Barack Obama, “ Obama, Christiane Amanpour, Donald Trump, Obama, ” Obama, Amanpour, ”, Trump, Athena, “, Narendra Modi, Modi, Xi, Biden, He’s Organizations: CNN, Democratic, Republican Party, Trump, Capitol, Indian, White, Obama Locations: United States, Athens, Greece, American, California, India, Africa, Asia, Europe

☆ Shopify asks its customer-support staff to test new AI tools weeks after laying off thousands of employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Shopify is asking some of its customer-support team members to test a translation bot powered by OpenAI's technology, weeks after a round of layoffs in May. This move is the latest in a series of AI experiments in the support division, which troubleshoots issues for Shopify's millions of merchants. The bot can recommend products sold by Shopify merchants based on shoppers' answers to a series of questions. It also recently launched a tool called Shopify Magic, which uses generative AI to write product descriptions. Shopify's support team underwent several changes this year.

Persons: Shopify, Jen Bebb, Shopify's, Harley Finkelstein, Tobi Lütke, Clovis Locations: Shopify

☆ A Book About Owls, in Which Each Species Is a Marvel
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Jennifer Szalai | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Owls can also carry more negative connotations, depending on the context. In “What an Owl Knows,” Ackerman explains that the “new science” she refers to in her subtitle has required technological innovations: cameras, drones, DNA analysis, satellite transmitters. “Finding owls is hard,” a naturalist and photographer tells Ackerman, stating a simple truth from which many complications follow. Another researcher, who has encountered hundreds of owls, says, “It was still magic to me every time we found one, because they’re so well camouflaged and so shy.” There are some 260 species of owls spread across every continent except Antarctica. But it turns out that the owl’s closest relatives are a group of birds that are active in the daytime, including toucans and woodpeckers.

Persons: Jennifer Ackerman, Athena, Ackerman, ” Ackerman Locations: Serbian, Kikinda, Great

☆ What It’s Like to Be a Queer Teenager in America Today
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

teenagers, high school is a much more accepting place than even a decade ago. Their experiences highlight a “paradoxical finding,” as researchers have described it: Even as social inclusion for young L.G.B.T.Q. To better understand, we took a national poll and talked to two dozen high school students in five states. It’s a different world from when his older sister, Brianna Henderson, attended just seven years ago, when there were very few openly gay students. His home state has passed laws related to restroom use and sports participation for young transgender people.

Persons: ”, Reese Whisnant, They’re, Stephen T, Russell, It’s, Brianna Henderson, Reese Whisnant Barrett Emke, Henderson, Reese, shouldn’t, Gen, Jareth Leiker, Jareth, Ricardo Nagaoka, “, ” Jerry Strohecker, it’s, ” Adrian Soriano, Kansas Barrett Emke, “ Will, Grace ”, Jason Collins, Caitlyn Jenner, Kardashian, Matthew Rivas, Younger, nonbinary, “ You’re, Jeff Jones, “ It’s, I’m, ’ ”, Athena Stiles, Athena Stiles Barrett Emke, I’ve, Shaggy Sargent, Willow Menashe, Eleanor Woosley, Mr, Rivas, Koehl, GLSEN, ” Logan Hortenstine, ” Jayden, Florida Ricardo Nagaoka, ” Isaac Siegel, Wilson, Shelley L, Craig, “ They’re Organizations: Topeka, Republican, University of Texas, Austin, ”, The New York Times, Gallup, United States, Supreme, North, University of Illinois, New York Times, Social Survey, Topeka High, ” Pew Research Center, Centers for Disease Control, Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, University of Toronto Locations: Topeka High, Kansas, Florida , Kansas, Iowa, Oregon, United, Portland ,, ” Jerry Strohecker , Oregon, Cape Coral, Fla, Shaggy Sargent , Iowa, Willow Menashe , Oregon, Southern, West, United States, Europe, ” Logan Hortenstine , Kansas, ” Jayden D’Onofrio, Florida, Portland, Wilson , Oregon, Canada, Beeville , Texas, ”

☆ Her Novel Became a Best Seller. The Trouble: The Manuscript Was Stolen.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Amal El-Mohtar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

If this reads as a quite on-the-nose critique of contemporary conversations about race and appropriation, that’s because it is. It is in fact so obvious that it makes one wonder why Kuang uses the device of an unreliable narrator at all. Instead, June’s methodology is consistently to tell the reader her trespasses and offer flimsy justifications for them. These moments suggest the kinds of layers and intrigue the book could have maintained if it weren’t so committed to showing its hand. “Yellowface” is a kind of Art Monster story, but one that can’t allow room for ambiguity or revelation without rushing in to fill that space.

☆ Çanakkale: Where ancient Troy sits beside the modern city
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Nick Hilden | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —An enormous wooden horse presides over the marina in Çanakkale, a small port city southwest of Istanbul. The clapboard animal is a mock-up of the Trojan Horse of mythological fame. Çanakkale (pronounced cha-na-call-ay) stands adjacent to the archaeological site that was once the ancient city of Troy, best known as the setting of the Trojan War in Homer’s “Iliad.”A giant wooden horse watches over Çanakkale. Today when you visit Truva – either via car or a short bus ride from Çanakkale – a second model of the Trojan Horse looms at the entrance. “We know that there were many wars that occurred at Troy,” Rose explains.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Apple, Lyft, Carvana, VF Corp and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Lyft – Stock in the rideshare giant fell 21% on Friday, after reporting quarterly results a day earlier. Coinbase – Shares of the cryptocurrency platform rose 17% after Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating on the stock earlier on Friday. The company reported beats on quarterly results a day earlier, with a smaller-than-expected loss of 34 cents per share. Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to equal weight from underweight, saying green shoots for Vans were becoming harder to ignore. Lucid is set to report quarterly results on May 8, and analysts polled by FactSet forecast a loss of 39 cents per share.

☆ Microsoft helping finance AMD's expansion into AI chips- Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

May 4 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is working with Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.O) on the chipmaker's expansion into artificial intelligence processors, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Shares of AMD climbed 9% on the news, while Microsoft shares were up about 1%. The software giant is providing financial support to bolster AMD's efforts, and working with the chipmaker on a homegrown Microsoft processor for AI workloads, code-named Athena, the report said. Several hundreds of employees working at a silicon division at Microsoft are now working on the Athena project, the report added. Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ AMD jumps 9% on report Microsoft is collaborating on A.I. chip push
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

AMD shares reached a session high on Thursday following a media report claiming the chipmaker was working with Microsoft on a new artificial-intelligence processor. Microsoft's top competitors in the cloud infrastructure market, Amazon and Alphabet , both have their own specialized chips that software developers can use to train models. Like other large technology companies, Microsoft relies on Nvidia graphics processing units to run AI models. AMD is already a chip supplier to Microsoft, as well as other cloud providers, such as Google and Oracle . Read the full Bloomberg report here.

☆ How Do We Ensure an A.I. Future That Allows for Human Thriving?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( David Marchese | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +16 min

Some of us would like to slow this down because we are seeing more costs every day, but I don’t think that means that there are no benefits. We may someday have a technology that revolutionizes science and technology, but I don’t think GPT-5 is the ticket for that. Combine that human overattribution with the reality that these systems don’t know what they’re talking about and are error-prone, and you have a problem. I don’t think we should go after an individual who posts a silly story on Facebook that wasn’t true. I don’t think, however, that the technology we have right now is very good for that — systems that can’t even reliably do math problems.

☆ ChatGPT could cost over $700,000 per day to operate. Microsoft is reportedly trying to make it cheaper.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

ChatGPT could cost OpenAI up to $700,000 a day to run due to "expensive servers," an analyst told The Information. Microsoft is secretly building an AI chip to reduce the cost, per The Information. "Most of this cost is based around the expensive servers they require," Patel told the tech publication. Microsoft is reportedly working on a secret chipIn an effort to reduce the cost of running generative AI models, Microsoft is developing an AI chip it calls Athena, The Information first reported. Nearly four years later, more than 300 Microsoft employees are now reportedly working on the chip, according to the report.

☆ Microsoft developing its own AI chip - The Information
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 18 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is developing its own artificial intelligence chip code-named "Athena" that will power the technology behind AI chatbots like ChatGPT, the Information reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Microsoft is hoping the chip will perform better than what it currently buys from other vendors, saving it time and money on its costly AI efforts, the report said. Other big tech companies including Amazon and Google also make their own in-house chips for AI. So far, chip designer Nvidia (NVDA.O) dominates the market for such chips. The rollout is being accelerated by Microsoft following the success of ChatGPT, the report said.

☆ See the pitch deck Zus Health used to convince top VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, F-Prime, and Maverick to back its solution for healthcare's $140 billion data-sharing problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Blake Dodge | Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Zus Health launched in 2021 with $34 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, F-Prime Capital, Maverick Ventures, and Rock Health. Bush, Zus' CEO, told investors in a pitch, per a video Bush sent to Insider. Bush told Insider he was "blessed" to have his stake in the company diluted in this fashion, given the funding climate. "There's all these little pieces, but all of them are just re-clipboarding because nobody has a common clinical story," Bush told investors. Here's the deck Zus used to raise $40 million from Andreessen Horowitz, F-Prime Capital, Maverick Ventures, and Jazz Venture Partners.

☆ We got the presentation health-tech veteran Jonathan Bush used to land $40 million for his new startup Zus Health
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Blake Dodge | Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Zus Health, his new startup, aims to continue some of his work at Athena to digitize patient health. Zus Health launched in 2021 with $34 million from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, F-Prime Capital, Maverick Ventures, and Rock Health. Bush, Zus' CEO, told investors in a pitch, per a video Bush sent to Insider. Bush told Insider he was "blessed" to have his stake in the company diluted in this fashion, given the funding climate. "There's all these little pieces, but all of them are just re-clipboarding because nobody has a common clinical story," Bush told investors.

☆ Parthenon Marbles return possible without ownership accord, campaigners say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - The return of the British Museum's Parthenon Marbles to Greece is possible even if the two sides cannot come to an agreement over who owns the sculptures, a campaign group working to resolve the long-standing dispute said on Sunday. Greece has asked for others to imitate the Vatican Museums after they agreed this month to return three 2,500-year-old pieces of the Parthenon. London and Athens are in talks over the Parthenon Sculptures held by the British Museum. The Parthenon Project, which has been backed by British politicians from different parties, said the British Museum's Parthenon collection could be returned to Greece under a long-term cultural partnership agreement. That would mean the arrangement sidesteps the requirement for a change in the law to allow the British Museum to dispose of its artefacts.

☆ Instagram popularized the perfect home. Virtual design services make affording it possible
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A renovated apartment in New York City after The Expert consultation sessions with designers Jessica Gersten and Athena Calderone. Aside from bingeing Netflix, creating the picture-perfect home may have been the pandemic's most popular habit. More from Personal Finance:How to figure out what you can spend on rentWhat is a 'rolling recession' and how does it impact you? Few Americans can afford the high-end look depicted online, which often comes with the help of an A-list designer and hefty budget. "It's a time-consuming and overwhelming process for a lot of homeowners," said Wayne Gao, co-founder and CEO of Australia-based Furnishd, which offers virtual consultations for $850 per room or $3,250 for the whole house.

☆ An Arkansas GOP bill targeting drag performances is so confusing it may not even apply to drag, a law expert said
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A GOP Arkansas bill targeting drag is so confusing it may not even apply to most drag performances, according to a constitutional expert. According to an Arkansas drag queen, the bill would severely impact the LGBTQ+ community. If enacted, it would classify a drag performances and places that host them as "adult-oriented" — like adult video stores and strip clubs. Arkansas drag queen MD Hunter has been "on the front lines" fighting against SB43On January 19, Arkansas drag queen MD Hunter gave a testimony before the Arkansas Senate about SB43. Despite the confusing nature of the bill, drag advocates are worried about how it could be applied.

Remains found last week have been identified as those of a missing 4-year-old Oklahoma girl, authorities said Thursday. The state bureau said Thursday that the Oklahoma Office of Chief Medical Examiner positively identified the remains as Athena. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation via FacebookOn Jan. 16, investigators said their search had shifted to a “recovery operation” to find her remains. The remains were found outside of Rush Springs, about 16 miles southeast of Cyril, in neighboring Caddo County, the state bureau said. Cyril is a town about 65 miles southwest of Oklahoma City in Caddo County.

☆ Spotify's CEO sent a memo announcing layoffs. It also contained 'a powerful example of toxic positivity.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Spotify is laying off about 6% of its employees, CEO Daniel Ek announced in a memo. This might as well have been the message Spotify CEO Daniel Ek shared in a memo announcing layoffs at the company. Of Ek's comment about doing his best work, Galinsky said, "That's just completely lost here." "In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth," Ek wrote. The standard CEO memo announcing layoffs can seem formulaic, Galinsky said.

☆ Italy welcomes home looted ancient artworks from the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] Some of the antiquities worth an estimated $19 million are seen after being returned to Italy by New York City, in Rome, Italy, January 23 2023. REUTERS/Remo CasilliROME, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Italy on Monday celebrated the return of 60 looted archaeological artefacts worth more than $20 million, many of which had been on display at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art before their illicit origin was discovered. The items, which U.S. authorities handed over to Italian counterparts in September, include "The Marble Head of Athena," worth an estimated $3 million, and a fresco stolen from Herculaneum, an ancient Roman city near Pompeii. Italy has long had a problem with the looting and smuggling of its artistic and archaeological heritage, but the Carabinieri insist they are becoming more effective in tracking down and recovering stolen art. Reporting by Cristiano Corvino, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Search for missing Oklahoma girl, 4, turns to 'recovery operation' to find remains
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

The search for a missing 4-year-old girl in Oklahoma, who authorities believe was killed by her caregiver, has turned into a "recovery operation" to find her remains, officials said Monday. The announcement from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation came after the couple who had been taking care of Athena Brownfield were charged in connection with her disappearance. Highway Patrol, troopers search a pond near Cyril, Okla., on Jan. 11, 2023, for Athena Brownfield, a 4-year-old girl missing since Jan. 10. His wife, Alysia Adams, 31, was arrested by the Grady County Sheriff’s Office on two counts of child neglect in connection with the case, the state bureau said. Athena's sister has been taken into protective custody, the state bureau said.

☆ Second caregiver is arrested after the disappearance of a 4-year-old Oklahoma girl
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A second person was arrested in connection with the disappearance of a 4-year-old girl in Oklahoma, authorities announced Friday. He is waiting for extradition to Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said in a Facebook post. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation via FacebookAlysia Adams was arrested by the Grady County Sheriff’s Office on two counts of child neglect, the state bureau said. The agency said Thursday that Athena's sister was found outside Alysia Adams' home. The girl is in state protective custody and did not require medical care when she was found, agency spokesperson Brook Arbeitman said.

☆ Oklahoma girl, 4, reported missing after postal worker finds her sister wandering alone, police say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

A 4-year-old girl in Oklahoma was reported missing shortly after a postal worker found her 5-year-old sister wandering alone near their Cyril home, authorities said. Multiple law enforcement agencies have been looking for Athena Brownfield since Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) said in a Facebook post. The postal worker contacted Cyril police, OSBI said. Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation via Facebook"At that time we realized that there was another child missing," the agency's spokesperson Brook Arbeitman said at a news conference. When a reporter asked Arbeitman if Athena's parents were home at the time she was reported missing, Arbeitman said the focus right now remains on finding the child.

☆ Mielle, in the spotlight after going viral on TikTok, joins P&G
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Nicole Shinn | Nicole Shinn Is An Nbc News Fellow. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Black-owned hair care brand Mielle Organics announced Wednesday that it will join P&G Beauty, which is part of the major conglomerate that owns some of the biggest personal care brands in the world, including Always and Olay. P&G Beauty will work with Mielle Organics to expand access to the brand in Black communities and fund research and innovation in hair care for underserved communities, Lela Coffey, vice president of P&G’s multicultural hair business, said in a statement. Mielle co-founder Monique Rodriguez said of the partnership, “I am thrilled that we will make an even greater impact in how we give back to the community.”This comes weeks after Mielle Organics became the subject of controversy after its rosemary mint scalp and strengthening oil went viral on TikTok. Mielle Organics. Najeera Williams, who owns the natural hair care brand Chairish Naturals and is a Mielle Organics customer, explained the collective concern among Black consumers in a TikTok post.

☆ Greek PM dashes hopes of swift return of Parthenon marbles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Renee Maltezou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ATHENS, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday dismissed reports of an imminent repatriation of the Parthenon sculptures known in Britain as the Elgin marbles. Greece has accused Lord Elgin of theft and does not recognise the British Museum as owner of the sculptures. [1/3] A man looks at the Parthenon Marbles, a collection of stone objects, inscriptions and sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, on show at the British Museum in London October 16, 2014. The British Museum has always rejected returning the parts in its collection, which include about half of the 160 metre (525 ft) frieze that adorned the Parthenon. Many countries have pressured British institutions to return looted artefacts, especially given that the British Museum only displays about 1% of its collection.

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