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George R. R. Martin, Jodi Picoult and other famous writers join Authors Guild in class action lawsuit against OpenAI

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

New York (CNN) — A group of famous fiction writers joined the Authors Guild in filing a class action suit against OpenAI on Wednesday, alleging the company’s technology is illegally using their copyrighted work.The complaint claims that OpenAI, the company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT, is copying famous works in acts of “flagrant and harmful” copyright infringement and feeding manuscripts into algorithms to help train systems on how to create more human-like text responses.George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham and Jonathan Franzen are among the 17 prominent authors who joined the suit led by the Authors Guild, a professional organization that protects writers’ rights. Filed in the Southern District of New York, the suit alleges that OpenAI’s models directly harm writers’ abilities to make a living wage, as the technology generates texts that writers could be paid to pen, as well as uses copyrighted material to create copycat work.“Generative AI threatens...

Patriots have ideas on how to fix ineffective running game

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots know how to fix their run game in theory. But now they must prove they have the pieces in place to actually do it in practice.A strength of the team in 2022, the Patriots’ ground game averaged 4.3 yards per carry on the back of starting running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s 210-carry, 1,040-yard, five-touchdown season. Two games into the 2023 season, the Patriots are averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Stevenson has just 75 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown, and his backfield-mate, Ezekiel Elliott, has only been slightly more efficient with 42 yards on 12 carries with a fumble.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots: 6 reasons to still be optimistic about 2023 season New England Patriots | Callahan: Bill Belichick hamstrung Bill O’Brien, but O’Brien must deliver anyway at the Jets New England Patriots | Patriots captain: Defense off to ‘hell of a start’ preparing for Jets ...

Researchers discover possible new cause for Alzheimer’s disease

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

Arielle Robinson | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (TNS)Scientists at Oregon Health and Science University have made a development that could lead to a greater understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.They discovered a new cause for the diseases that impact cognitive functioning.“We’ve missed a major form of cell death in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia,” senior author of the study Dr. Stephen Back told OHSU in a news release. “We hadn’t been giving much attention to microglia as vulnerable cells, and white matter injury in the brain has received relatively little attention.”The researchers found that ferroptosis, a type of cell death that results from a buildup of iron in cells, destroys a form of cell involved in the brain’s immune response called microglia cells. This occurs in Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia cases.Essentially, the degeneration of the microglia may be a factor in furthering cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s and vascular demen...

How much hardwood flooring costs, and how to save

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

Jackie Lam | Bankrate (TNS)Hardwood flooring provides one of the best returns on investment. The National Realtor Association’s 2022 Remodeling Impact Report states that homeowners who install new wood flooring before selling their homes recoup 118 percent of the cost at resale. That means hardwood floors essentially pay for themselves.But before deciding to take on this home improvement project, consider the cost of installation and materials. Hardwood is expensive, especially if you opt for a more rare wood. There are some steps you can take to save money along the way, but budgeting will be crucial if you want a good ROI.How much does hardwood flooring cost?The average cost to install hardwood flooring is between $6 to $25 per square foot, according to Angi. Where the cost goes up is when you include materials. And the cost may be higher — up to $45 per square foot — depending on the material and labor involved in installation.MaterialsAlong with your preferences, your home plays...

McCarthy gives in to right flank on spending cuts, but they still deliver a defeat as shutdown looms

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

By LISA MASCARO and STEPHEN GROVES (Associated Press)WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy emerged with a spending cut plan to prevent a federal government shutdown by appeasing his hard-right flank, only to see it quickly collapse Thursday in a crushing defeat.His latest attempt to move ahead with a traditionally popular defense funding bill was shattered by a core group of Republican colleagues who refused to vote for the endangered speaker’s plans.A test vote to advance the bill failed, 212-216, as a handful of Republicans joined with Democrats to stop it. Once again, the House then came to a sudden standstill and declared itself in recess.A federal shutdown is looming Sept. 30, the end of the current budget year, if Congress cannot pass the bills needed to fund the government.McCarthy’s strategy of repeatedly giving in to the hard-right conservatives is seemingly only emboldening them as a handful of GOP lawmakers, urged on by Donald Trump, the party&#...

An end in sight? Striking writers and Hollywood studios resume negotiations for second day

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hollywood studios and striking screenwriters are resuming negotiations for the second consecutive day Thursday. The talks could potentially put an end to the nearly five-month dispute that has brought many film and television productions to a halt.In a rare joint statement issued Wednesday night, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the industry’s studios, streaming services and production companies in union negotiations, and the Writers Guild of America, said that they’d met for bargaining Wednesday and would continue Thursday. Present at the meeting were a group of top entertainment CEOs including Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Universal’s Donna Langley and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos. The four are likely to be present at the talks Thursday as well. CNBC reporter David Faber wrote on X, previously Twitter, Wednesday that the writers and AMPTP were “nearR...

Zelenskyy delivers upbeat message to US lawmakers on war progress as some Republican support softens

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a whirlwind return visit to Washington on Thursday to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine, delivering an upbeat message on the war’s progress while facing new questions about the flow of American dollars that for 19 months has helped keep his troops in the fight against Russian forces. The Ukrainian leader received a far quieter reception than the hero’s welcome he got last year, but also won generally favorable comments on the aid he says he needs to stave off defeat.Zelenskyy, in long-sleeve olive drab, came to the Capitol with a firm message in private talks with Republican and Democratic leaders. The Ukrainians have a solid war plan, and “they are winning,” lawmakers quoted him as assuring them, at a time that the world is watching Western support for Kyiv. Zelenskyy also spoke with military leaders at the Pentagon and was meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin greeted Zel...

Trudeau seeks India’s help on probe of B.C. killing, India says Canada gave no info

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling for India’s help to investigate the killing of a Sikh independence activist on Canadian soil, while New Delhi says Canada has provided no information on the case.Trudeau told Parliament on Monday there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had been wanted by India for years and was gunned down in June outside the B.C. temple he led.At the United Nations today, Trudeau said during a news conference he wants India to take the matter seriously and work with Canada to ensure accountability and justice. Trudeau stressed that Canada would not waver on the importance of the rule of law, protecting Canadians and standing up for its values. At a briefing today, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said no specific information had been shared by Canada on the Nijjar case.Bagchi said India has told Canada it is willing to look at any information it...

Tech companies try to take AI image generators mainstream with better protections against misuse

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

Artificial intelligence tools that can conjure whimsical artwork or realistic-looking images from written commands started wowing the public last year. But most people don’t actually use them at work or home.That could change as leading tech companies are competing to mainstream the use of text-to-image generators for a variety of tasks, integrating them into familiar tools such as Microsoft Paint, Adobe Photoshop, YouTube and ChatGPT. But first, they’re trying to convince consumers, business users and government regulators that they’ve tamed some of the Wild West nature of early AI image-generators with stronger safeguards against copyright theft and troubling content. A year ago, it was a relatively small group of early adopters and hobbyists playing with cutting-edge image generators such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and OpenAI’s DALL-E.“The previous ones were an interesting curiosity,” but businesses were wary, said David Truog, an analyst at market re...

Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office can’t account for nearly 200 guns, city comptroller finds

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:50:06 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office can’t account for 185 missing guns, according to a report released this week by the city controller’s office.Some of the missing guns were part of the sheriff’s office’s arsenal and others were confiscated from people subject to protection-from-abuse orders. Acting City Controller Charles Edacheril said his office conducted the review as a follow-up to a 2020 report that found the sheriff’s office couldn’t account for more than 200 weapons. That report stated that the office had haphazard recordkeeping practices and unclear procedures regarding the handling of guns.Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, who took office in 2020, said earlier this year that all but 20 of the weapons cited in the 2020 report had since been accounted for. They had been located, disposed of or sold.The controller, though, notified the sheriff’s office on Wednesday that there wasn’t sufficient evidence to account for 76 of its guns and 109 weapons t...