Search the Community

After Iran admitted to air striking Pakistan: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67999465 Pakistan is now carrying/carried out retaliatory strikes of its own: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/18/middleeast/pakistan-targets-locations-iran-intl-hnk/index.html Pakistan is currently trending as a topic with like half a million tweets for this reason. Them striking each other and posting petty "dw we respect your sovereignty <3" jhfjhd; but

Source

fter Japanese author Rie Kudan won one of the country’s most prestigious literary awards, she admitted she’d had help from an unusual source — ChatGPT. “I plan to continue to profit from the use of AI in the writing of my novels, while letting my creativity express itself to the fullest,” said the 33-year-old, who was awarded the Akutagawa Prize for the best work of fiction by a promising new writer on Wednesday. The author then confirmed at a press conference that around 5% of her book “The Tokyo Tower of Sympathy” — which was lauded by committee members as “practically flawless” — was word-for-word generated by AI. Last year, Berlin-based photographer Boris Eldagsen withdrew from the Sony World Photography Awards after revealing his winning entry in the creative photo category was created using the technology. Meanwhile, authors like George R. R. Martin, Jodi Picoult and John Grisham joined a class action lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, last year, saying it used copyrighted work while training its systems to create more human-like responses. Some on social media expressed interest in Kudan’s creative use of AI and said they were now more interested in her work, others called it “disrespectful” to other authors who wrote without the help of the technology. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/style/rie-kudan-akutagawa-prize-chatgpt/index.html

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/18/gaza_israel_palestine_solidarity_censorship Absolutely wild to me how this country never passes the chance to be on the wrong side of history

Artificial intelligence is set to affect nearly 40% of all jobs, according to a new analysisby the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF's managing director Kristalina Georgieva says "in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality". Ms Georgieva adds that policymakers should address the "troubling trend" to "prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions". The proliferation of AI has put its benefits and risks under the spotlight. The IMF said AI is likely to affect a greater proportion of jobs - put at around 60% - in advanced economies. In half of these instances, workers can expect to benefit from the integration of AI, which will enhance their productivity. In other instances, AI will have the ability to perform key tasks that are currently executed by humans. This could lower demand for labour, affecting wages and even eradicating jobs. Meanwhile, the IMF projects that the technology will affect just 26% of jobs in low-income countries. It echoes a report from Goldman Sachs in 2023, which estimated AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs - but said there may also be new jobs alongside a boom in productivity. Ms Georgieva said "many of these countries don't have the infrastructure or skilled workforces to harness the benefits of AI, raising the risk that over time the technology could worsen inequality among nations". Our fingerprints may not be unique, claims AI Young people turning to AI therapist bots More generally, higher-income and younger workers may see a disproportionate increase in their wages after adopting AI. Lower-income and older workers could fall behind, the IMF believes. "It is crucial for countries to establish comprehensive social safety nets and offer retraining programmes for vulnerable workers," Ms Georgieva said. "In doing so, we can make the AI transition more inclusive, protecting livelihoods and curbing inequality." The IMF analysis comes as global business and political leaders gather at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. AI is a topic of discussion, following the surge in popularity of applications like ChatGPT. The technology is facing increased regulation around the world. Last month, European Union officials reached a provisional deal on the world's first comprehensive laws to regulate the use of AI. China has introduced some of the world's first national regulations on AI, which include rules concerning how algorithms can be developed and deployed. In October, President Biden signed an executive order compelling developers to share safety results relating to AI with the US government. The following month the UK hosted an AI Safety Summit, at which at a declaration on the safe development of the technology was signed by multiple countries. Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67977967

https://news.sky.com/story/worlds-richest-men-double-their-wealth-in-three-years-as-oxfam-warns-of-first-trillionaire-13048652?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter

For those interested in Democratic Party primary elections, NewsNation held a forum debate last night where you can now watch in full here.

The drinks come in four flavors — black cherry cranberry, mango passionfruit, peach orange blossom and lime yuzu — and are designed to replicate the taste of the original White Claw Hard Seltzers. User Alex Jewell took issue with the tagline of "a new wave in drinking," sarcastically calling it a "clever reinvention" of seltzer water. "Oh…. what if we used it as a mixer…. I bet it would go good with vodka ….," user Cleo Night wrote. "So, it's flavored water?" another user asked. Some users online took issue with the cost of the new seltzers, which has a suggested retailer price range of $17.49-$19.99 for a 12-pack or $10.99-$11.49 for a 6-pack. "Seltzer water at beer prices," one user wrote. "There's literally seltzer water right behind it for probably half the price," another chimed in. A majority of alcohol drinkers, about 80% of Millennials and Gen Zers, are interested in exploring a "sober-curious" or "damp" lifestyle, a new survey from the company revealed. Source

NHLC statement:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/09/greenland-startup-shipping-glacier-ice-cocktail-bars-uae-arctic-ice

Plant-based and vegetarian diets may play a significant role in reducing the risk of Covid-19, a study has found. Research, published in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health,concluded that the incidence of Covid was 39 per cent lower among people who ate a plant-based diet than among those who ate meat. The findings highlight the importance of dietary habits in influencing the incidence of infectious diseases. A team led by Julio Cesar Acosta-Navarro, a professor in the school of medicine at Sao Paulo University, studied a group of 702 volunteers. "The higher the consumption of plant-based foods, the greater the protection," Dr Acosta-Navarro told The National. Participants were divided based on their diets between omnivorous and predominantly plant-based. The latter category consumed more vegetables, legumes, and nuts, and less or no dairy and meat products. They included vegans (who eat no animal products), vegetarians (who consume eggs and dairy products) and flexitarians (who ate meat less than three times a week.) There were no significant differences in sex, age, or vaccination uptake between the two groups. However, the plant-based group generally had higher education levels and lower rates of medical conditions and physical inactivity. Of the total participants, 47 per cent reported having had a Covid-19 infection. The incidence was notably higher among omnivores (52 per cent) compared to those with plant-based diets (40 per cent). The duration of symptoms didn't differ significantly between the groups, but omnivores were more likely to experience moderate to severe infections. After adjusting for factors including weight, pre-existing medical conditions, and physical activity levels, researchers noted no overall difference in symptom severity. But those following a predominantly plant-based or vegetarian/vegan diet were 39 per cent less likely to become infected than the omnivores, researchers concluded. "The immune system utilises a range of defense mechanisms to combat infections," Dr Acosta-Navarro said. "Therefore, it is necessary to have an adequate amount of antioxidant enzymes, vitamins and peptides. Without them the capability of the immune system will be jeopardised. "Plant-based dietary patterns are rich in antioxidants, phytosterols and polyphenols, which positively affect several cell types implicated in immune function and exhibit direct antiviral properties. "Vegetarians and those on plant-based diets are at reduced risk of chronic diseases of high morbidity and mortality, including ischemic heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain types of cancer, and obesity, the same conditions that were proved to be risk factor for Covid-19," Dr Acosta-Navarro said. Shane McAuliffe, senior visiting academic associate at NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health – who was not involved in the study – acknowledged the findings but cautioned that is was an area “that warrants more rigorous and high-quality investigation.” Read more: https://www.thenationalnews.com/health/2024/01/09/plant-based-diets-slash-covid-19-infection-risk-study-finds/

Video was linked here and has been since privated/deleted: https://www.nme.com/news/music/billie-eilish-teams-up-with-spotify-to-unveil-new-hifi-listening-experience-2886855 Discord embed: Pretty sure this most likely confirms that HI-FI has been cancelled. Thoughts?

When asked about Biden condemning her re: her civil war gaffe. Nikki said Biden better hope Nikki does not win that nomination - she is ready to annihilate him in a general election

In a landmark decision, an Australian widow has been granted legal permission to retrieve her late husband’s sperm. The Supreme Court of Western Australia allowed the 62-year-old woman – whose identity remains confidential due to legal reasons – to remove the sperm from her husband, who died on Dec 17, 2023, ABC News reported. He was 61, and his sperm has been preserved in a morgue in Perth. The widow’s desire to conceive a child via a surrogate faced a significant legal hurdle, as the posthumous use of reproductive tissue is prohibited in Western Australia. She will now have to seek approval from the Reproductive Technology Council to use the sperm in a jurisdiction where the procedure is legal. The couple had previously endured the death of their two children – a 29-year-old daughter who drowned during a fishing trip in 2013, and a 30-year-old son who died in a car accident in 2019. The documents revealed that they had discussed having another child to rebuild their family. Read More: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/australian-widow-granted-rights-to-harvest-sperm-from-dead-husband

Link: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/4355835/giuffre-v-maxwell/?filed_after=&filed_before=&entry_gte=&entry_lte=&order_by=desc Link #2 (backup): https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6250471-Epstein-Docs Update: Notable people who've been named in the filings include Bill Clinton and Donald Trump