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☆ Rihanna puts her own spin on the Chanel bride at the Met Gala
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Alton Mason, the first Black man to walk in a Chanel show, and Penelope Cruz also put their own spins on Lagerfeld’s Chanel bride, among other attendees. Rihanna stole the show in 2015 with this Guo Pei yellow gown at the "China: Through The Looking Glass" Met Gala. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesRihanna is also known for arriving to the Met Gala fashionably late. (Anna Wintour joked in a Vogue “73 Questions” video that Rihanna is one of the only celebrities allowed to arrive late to the Met Gala). She skipped out on last year’s Met Gala — giving birth to her first child later that May.

☆ CEOs are getting closer to finally saying it — AI will wipe out more jobs than they can count
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tech workers are finding out what it's like to be replaced by AI. It's the boldest statement yet from tech firms turning to AI to help them get efficient. Tech workers are about to find out. Here are five tech firms that have acted first with a big bet on AI. AmazonAmazon has been among the most bruised tech firms since the downturn of 2022 was kickstarted.

☆ How an Architect Gave La Scala a 21st-Century Update
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Sam Lubell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past two decades, La Scala, completed by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini in 1778, has experienced its most profound changes since after World War II, when it suffered severe damage from Allied bombing raids. Mr. Botta’s first phase of work at La Scala was carried out from 2002 to 2004, and the second, begun in 2019, has just wrapped up. What is the scope of your work at La Scala? But to effectively make it work today, it needed to be much more flexible and capable than what existed in the 1700s. We’ve created a series of elements designed to make the theater function for the 2000s.

☆ Belgium's Brecel holds off Selby to win world title
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

May 1 (Reuters) - Belgium's Luca Brecel became the first player from mainland Europe to win the snooker world title as he completed a fairytale fortnight by resisting a Mark Selby fightback to triumph 18-15 at The Crucible on Sunday. Brecel enjoyed a 9-8 overnight lead after Saturday's two sessions, but won the opening four frames on Sunday with three centuries to seize command. Selby looked on a roll but fearless Brecel would not be denied the title which lifts him second in the world rankings. After that win he said he had celebrated beating another former champion, Mark Williams, in the previous round by getting as 'drunk as hell'. While Brecel celebrated becoming Belgium's latest and most unlikely sporting hero, Selby, 39, had the consolation of making the first 147 break ever in the final of the world championship, his maximum coming during a storming fightback on Saturday.

☆ IBM to pause hiring in plan to replace 7,800 jobs with AI - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 1 (Reuters) - International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) expects to pause hiring for roles as roughly 7,800 jobs could be replaced by Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the coming years, CEO Arvind Krishna told Bloomberg News on Monday. Hiring specifically in back-office functions such as human resources will be suspended or slowed, Krishna said, adding that 30% of non-customer-facing roles could be replaced by AI and automations in five years. The reduction could include not replacing roles vacated by attrition, the PC-maker told the publication. IBM did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in BengaluruOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Many in U.K. Greet King Charles’s Coronation With a ‘Take It or Leave It’ Shrug
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When King Charles III is crowned on Saturday, he will undergo a ritual so rare in modern British history that it last occurred 70 years ago, roughly the wait between sightings of Halley’s comet. And yet the coronation has yet to capture the imagination of a Britain preoccupied by other concerns. Images of the new king — in chocolate, in Legos and in wax — are popping up in bakeries, toy stores and at Madame Tussauds wax museum. Ancient relics of coronation, like the Scottish stone of destiny, are being delivered to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. They love the royal family.

☆ A lawyer-turned-fighter codenamed 'Witch' has gained viral fame defending Ukraine as a mortar commander in the fiercest battlefronts of the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Mortar platoon commander Olga Bigar is better known in Ukraine by her callsign "Witch." Junior Lieutenant mortar platoon commander Olga Bigar of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces. A baptism of fireJunior Lieutenant mortar platoon commander Olga Bigar of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces. Junior Lieutenant mortar platoon commander Olga Bigar of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces. Junior Lieutenant mortar platoon commander Olga Bigar of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces.

☆ Guinea book festival hopes to turn the page on low literacy rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Souleymane Camara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The 15th edition of Guinea's "72 Hours of the Book" festival unfolded in venues across the capital Conakry, bringing together a wide array of writers, publishers, and readers from the West African country and across the continent. "We Guinean authors have mobilized strongly to come together and promote this event," Conakry-based author Bademba Barry said between bouts of signing copies of his works. Despite its low literacy rate, Guinea boasts a rich literary heritage and more than a dozen publishing houses. But Conakry's arena transformed into a haven this week for readers clamouring to meet their favourite local authors, writers seeking to expand their audiences, and budding creators who took part in workshops. Reporting by Souleymane Camara; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Cost inflation rose during the COVID-19 pandemic and was exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent energy prices to record highs last year. Energy costs have since dropped, however, while global prices for some commodities are rising more slowly. Companies like Nestle (NESN.S), Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L) and Danone (DANO.PA) continued to raise prices sharply in the first quarter even though input costs are easing. First quarter price/mix, a basket of variables the company uses to help determine what prices to charge, rose 12.4% while sales volumes declined 4.5%. Similarly, Nestle increased its prices by 9.8% during the quarter and sales volumes - which the company calls real internal growth - fell only 0.5%.

☆ The live volcano sitting below Santorini
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Elinda Labropoulou | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Everywhere you look on Santorini, you’re reminded that you’re on a volcano. Few realize that beneath the hypnotic kaleidoscope of colors lies an active volcano. The East Mediterranean’s most active underwater, and potentially dangerous, volcano, Kolumbo, is five miles northeast of Santorini and part of the same volcanic system. They include a visit to the volcano of Nea Kameni: one of five islands that form the Santorini volcanic complex, and a national geological park in itself. A simmering volcanoTourists can take boat trips to Nea Kameni, home to an active volcano.

☆ I got to play the latest 'Legend of Zelda' game early. Here's a preview of the biggest game the year.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( William Antonelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

"The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom," Nintendo's biggest game this year, is releasing May 12. Last week, Nintendo invited Insider to play a demo of the game. Here are my first impressions of "Tears of the Kingdom," a wonderfully creative game that delivers on its hype. There are few games that have built more hype and anticipation than the newest Zelda game, "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom." "The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" releases on May 12.

☆ Jamaica cool on Charles' coronation as it eyes break with monarchy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kate Chappell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The process to sever ties with the British monarchy is underway, following in the footsteps of another former Caribbean possession, Barbados. Maziki Thame, a political scientist at the University of the West Indies, agreed the coronation was of little significance. It gained independence in 1962 but retained the British monarch as head of state and stayed in the Commonwealth. Breaking ties with the monarchy is essential for Jamaica, said Steven Golding, president of the UNIIA-ACL, a Black nationalist organization founded in Jamaica by activist Marcus Garvey. "I'd like to hear what Charles has to say about the subjects in the Isle of Jamaica," she said.

☆ I increased a property's value by $78,000 with DIY renovations that cost under $2,000. See the before-and-after pictures, plus how I stayed on budget.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Salina Jivani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A friend asked for Juliff's help to refresh her London apartment on a tight budget of under $2,000. Here's how she increased the home's value by $78,000, as told to Salina Jivani. During this time, my husband and I decided to sell our apartment in London and purchase anotherOur apartment sold in January 2021, but our purchase fell through. Upon hearing our dilemma, a close friend reached out to another person in her network who had an empty apartment in London. Once the remodeling was over, my friend got the apartment appraisedThe real-estate agency valued the home at $78,000 more than before.

☆ Tech giants bury mediocre results under AI hype
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The technology giants’ quarterly results released on Tuesday jumped the low bar of being better than investors feared. Microsoft’s revenue was $52.9 billion, or about 7% higher than a year ago, and almost perfectly flat from the previous quarter. Still, the company earned $18.3 billion, up 9% year-over-year. The company earned $18.3 billion, or $2.45 a share, compared to $16.7 billion, or $2.22 per share, a year ago. The firm earned $15 billion, or $1.17 per share, compared to $16.4 billion, or $1.23 a year ago.

☆ Tim Hecker Helped Popularize Ambient Music. He’s (Sort of) Sorry.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Grayson Haver Currin | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Still, he admitted, the loss was “bound up in the melancholy of youth.”This multivalence seemed to follow Hecker. He would spend his collegiate summers in the British Columbia wilderness, planting as many as 4,000 trees each day in clear-cut forests. Later, frustrated by the exigencies of starting a band, like remembering what they’d played the day before, Hecker began experimenting with drum machines and samplers. “The original impulse was this awe-struck excitement,” Hecker said, recalling his titanic computer tower, gargantuan monitor and pirated software. “There are different feelings in those different moments, and they each have their own ecosystem,” he said.

☆ Inside Qatar’s ‘city of the future’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Like others, it has moved from the capital Doha to this, Qatar’s newest city – 10 miles north. Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty ImagesLusail claims to be Qatar’s first sustainable city – no easy task for a newbuild in the desert. There’s an extensive choice from food trucks at the Lusail Marina Food Arena, abundant cafes, and fine dining restaurants.”A sprawling city of the futureThe Marina area is fast proving a hit for residents. Al Tara – the district, by Al Maha Island, where Warner lives – is home to the Lusail Marina. There is a rumor – as yet unsubstantiated – that Lusail might eventually become Qatar’s capital city.

☆ Taylor Swift and the Sparkling Trap of Constant Reinvention
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | More About Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But it’s also possible to see in all these Swiftian clothes, all the wardrobe switcheroos, something else. And a message that Ms. Swift is, perhaps, calling time on the whole thing. The promise of reinvention is a core American value: the belief that everyone has the right to a fresh start, that you are limited only by your imagination and abilities. Yet it is also its own kind of prison, as Ms.

Persons: it’s, Swift, ”, Taylor, ” Taylor

WASHINGTON, April 24(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by computer scientist Stephen Thaler to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's refusal to issue patents for inventions his artificial intelligence system created. According to Thaler, his DABUS system, short for Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience, created unique prototypes for a beverage holder and emergency light beacon entirely on its own. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a federal judge in Virginia rejected his patent applications for the inventions on the grounds that DABUS is not a person. Thaler has also applied for DABUS patents in other countries including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Saudi Arabia with limited success. The UK's Supreme Court heard Thaler's appeal of his loss there in March.

That is because algorithms that power generative AI tools like ChatGPT and its successor GPT-4 operate in a somewhat similar way as those that suggest videos to YouTube users, the experts added. While the case does not directly relate to generative AI, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that AI tools that generate "poetry" and "polemics" likely would not enjoy such legal protections. Section 230 protections generally apply to third-party content from users of a technology platform and not to information a company helped to develop. 'CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS'Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who helped draft that law while in the House of Representatives, said the liability shield should not apply to generative AI tools because such tools "create content." They said tools like ChatGPT operate like search engines, directing users to existing content in response to a query.

☆ Opinion | Genuine Progress Is the Ability to Be Black and Stumble
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Esau Mccaulley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I must have overslept the day most Black people learned the electric slide in the early ’90s. In the time before YouTube, you had to master dances by waiting for the music video to be played on Black Entertainment Television, then practice the moves with your friends. That consensus provides a feeling of home and inspires nostalgia when you run across others formed by the same cultural artifacts. There is in truth no one Black culture, but Black cultures as varied as our hues. Beyond proper dance moves and cooking, there were African American entertainers who by virtue of their talents had a nearly untouchable status; they were Black royalty.

☆ Camille Pissarro’s Great-Great Granddaughter Will Teach You Nude Figure Drawing Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Alyson Krueger | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“I would look at my paintings and be like, I don’t know if I could do that.”For Ms. Pissarro, teaching art classes keeps her grounded. It returns her, she said, to the essence of making art: to use her imagination and have fun. “I love what is possible when crazy adults make things,” she said, noting that’s why she loves going to Burning Man. “Pissarro was a teacher,” she said of her great-great grandfather. “All the impressionists even had classes with each other.”Ms. Pissarro grew up in London with two siblings.

☆ ChatGPT won't take over from humans for now, says founder of Indian tech giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

watch nowI am a great believer in the theory that the human mind is the most powerful imagination, machine. There is nothing that can beat the human mind. Narayana Murthy founder of InfosysMurthy was the CEO of Infosys from 1981 to 2002. The human mind is what differentiates one from the other, said Murthy. watch nowIn 1981, Murthy and six other engineers founded Infosys with an initial capital of only $250.

☆ Tim Cook uses a 1-sentence mantra to process criticism—without it, he 'wouldn't be able to function'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

When Cook took the helm of the tech giant in August 2011, he faced widespread skepticism that he could effectively fill Steve Jobs' shoes, he recently told GQ. The criticism didn't stop there — Cook has since faced backlash for his pay package, Apple's return to work policy and his idea of innovation. Cook even faced criticism from Jobs himself, according to Walter Isaacson's 2011 biography "Steve Jobs." Cook himself has a net worth of $1.9 billion, according to Forbes — much of that due to Apple's financial success. I think he was a once-in-a-hundred-years kind of individual, an original by any stretch of the imagination," Cook told GQ.

☆ Wall Street turns even more bullish on China's economy as the end of zero COVID boosts growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Some of Wall Street's top banks raised their forecasts for China's economy this week. The banks all predict China's GDP will grow by around 6% in 2023. UBS also turned more bullish on China's economy, raising its year-end prediction to 5.7%. "We expect China's GDP to peak around 8% in the second quarter before easing to around 5.5% in the second half of the year." "This will bring the full year GDP growth to at least 5.7%, in our view," the strategists added.

☆ Opinion: How the battle for Bakhmut exposed Russia’s ‘meat-grinder’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Michael Bociurkiw | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

It will also be recorded in history as a battle that exposed more than anywhere the meat-grinder approach of Russian fighting. Taking Bakhmut would be the first Russian gain since it captured (and later lost) the key southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in November. That Ukrainian forces have demonstrated such endurance in the battle for Bakhmut should come as little surprise. Like the current battle for Bakhmut, it too became emblematic of Ukraine’s tenaciousness to defend itself against Russia’s aggression – particularly considering the Ukrainian Armed Forces were far less prepared and equipped. “The battle for Bakhmut in winter-spring 2023 will surely enter the history books as the bloodiest battle in Europe since World War II,” said Masliychuk.

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