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A.I., brain scans and cameras: The spread of police surveillance tech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A brain wave reader that can detect lies. Miniaturized cameras that sit inside vape pens and disposable coffee cups. Massive video cameras that zoom in more than a kilometer to capture faces and license plates.At a police conference in Dubai in March, new technologies for the security forces of the future were up for sale. Far from the eyes of the general public, the event provided a rare look at what tools are now available to law enforcement around the world: better and harder-to-detect surveillance, facial recognition software that automatically tracks individuals across cities and computers to break into phones.Advances in artificial intelligence, drones and facial recognition have created an increasingly global police surveillance business. Israeli hacking software, American investigation tools and Chinese computer vision algorithms can all be bought and mixed together to make a snooping cocktail of startling effectiveness.Fueled by a surge o...

Osprey couple attempting to nest on construction crane in Silverthorne spurs action

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

By RYAN SPENCER, Summit DailyFor Summit County residents, ospreys flying in the vicinity of the Dillon Reservoir are a sure sign of spring.Related ArticlesNews | Snakes in the walls: A slithery surprise for a Centennial home buyer, a month after closing News | Hunting, conservation groups back cuts in big-game licenses to help herds recover News | Conservation coalition camera captures covert crane customs News | Spring is shearing season on the Western Slope, Colorado’s sheep farming hub News | There’s a new 7,700 pound elephant in town at the Denver Zoo After migrating south for the winter, the large hawks return every year to nest and breed near water bodies throughout Colorado. But this year, several Silverthorne residents became concerned when an osprey couple attempted to nest on a crane amid an ongoing construction project.Sharie Sobke, the owner of Alpine Earth Gardens in Silverthorne...

Denver wants to crackdown on “junkers” but ACLU says new law could target homeless

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

A proposed Denver ordinance designed to make it easier to ticket and impound “junkers” and other vehicles clogging up parking lots and public rights of way could be used to target low-income and unhoused people.That’s according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado, which sent a letter outlining its concerns about the proposed law change to the City Council offices on May 1, hours before the ordinance was set for a second and final vote.ACLU of Colorado staff attorney Annie Kurtz declined to say if the letter should be construed as a lawsuit threat.“We have a policy on not commenting on potential litigation before anything is filed in court,” Kurtz said.The letter quotes a Supreme Court decision regarding the potential for discriminatory enforcement of local laws when clear standards for enforcement are not included. The ACLU and other opponents of the ordinance are specifically concerned about an expanded definition of what qualifies as a &...

Google promised to defund climate lies, but the ads keep coming

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

In October 2021, Google promised to stop placing ads alongside content that denied the existence and causes of climate change, so that purveyors of the false claims could no longer make money on its platforms, including YouTube.And yet if you recently clicked on a YouTube video titled “who is Leonardo DiCaprio,” you might have found a ramble of claims that climate change is a hoax and the world is cooling after a Paramount+ ad for the film “80 for Brady,” starring Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field and Rita Moreno.Before another video that purported to detail “how climate activists distort the evidence,” some users saw an ad for Alaska Airlines.These are not aberrations, according to a coalition of environmental organizations and the Center for Countering Digital Hate. In a report released Tuesday, researchers from the organizations accused YouTube of continuing to profit from videos that portrayed the changing climate as a hoax or exaggeration.They found 100 videos, viewed at lea...

'So, I hear I'm transphobic': Dee Snider responds after being dropped by S.F. Pride

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

Two days after he was pulled from a main-stage appearance at this year's Pride Celebration in San Francisco — and after his song, "We're Not Gonna Take It," was canceled as the festival's unofficial rallying cry — Twisted Sister front man Dee Snider has issued a response. "I was not aware the Transgender community expects fealty and total agreement with all their beliefs and any variation or deviation is considered 'transphobic,'" wrote Snider in a Facebook post. "So, my lifetime of supporting the Transgender community's right to identify as they want and honoring whatever changes they may make in how they present themselves to the world isn't enough?" he continued, in a post he titled, "So, I hear I'm transphobic. Really?" Bill banning gender transition care for youth stalls in Texas House again after protest, delay At the center of the brouhaha with Pride is a tweet Snider sent earlier this week, in which he voiced his support for a statement from fellow rocker, Paul Stanley of ...

The dirty truth about your phone – and why you need to stop scrolling in the bathroom

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

(The Conversation) - We carry them everywhere, take them to bed, to the bathroom and for many people they’re the first thing they see in the morning – more than 90% of the world owns or uses a mobile phone and many of us couldn’t manage without one.But while health concerns about phones use usually focus on the distraction they can cause while driving, the possible effects of radiofrequency exposure, or just how addictive they can be. The microbial infection risk of your phone is much less appreciated – but it’s very real.A 2019 survey found that most people in the UK use their phones on the toilet. So it’s not surprising to discover studies have found our mobile phones to be dirtier than toilet seats.We give our phones to children to play with (who aren’t exactly well known for their hygiene). We also eat while using our phones and put them down on all sorts of (dirty) surfaces. All of which can transfer microbes onto your phone along with food deposits for...

How Could CBD Help Aging Pets?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

View the original article about CBD For Aging Pets at Real Tested CBD.One of the fastest growing trends in health for both humans and their pets as of late is CBD. Maybe you have seenCBD pet treats or oils on market and are curious if they would benefit your pet. Especially if you have a senior pet or one that is even mobility impaired, there could be advantages to adding CBD to your pet’s life. Let’s take a closer look at CBD for aging pets and if it could be a benefit.What Is CBD?Cannabidiol, or CBD, is one of many natural compounds in hemp and cannabis plants also known as cannabinoids. Unlike another popular cannabinoid, THC, CBD is not psychoactive and when properly dosed could actually be beneficial for animals and humans alike. CBD is derived from hemp, and in the U.S., products are made using plants with a THC threshold of 0.3% or less. CBD will not get your pet high, but it does have several researched benefits.Benefits of CBDCBD works with the endocannabinoid system, or EC...

Prep roundup: How Valley Christian finished 14-0 in WCAL baseball standings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

NEW: PREP SPORTS MAILBAGThe Bay Area News Group is introducing a high school sports mailbag in May. Get your questions in as soon as possible. Our debut edition is an open forum. Got questions about spring sports playoffs, coaching changes, an early peek at football season, etc.? Send them to [email protected]. Please include “mailbag” in the subject line.BaseballValley Christian completed a remarkable run through the West Catholic Athletic League schedule, winning at home over runner-up Archbishop Mitty 4-0 on Friday to finish 14-0.In the MaxPreps era, which began in the 2004-05 school year, no baseball team in the highly competitive league had made it through undefeated.It’s possible that another team achieved the feat before MaxPreps started its online database. The league goes back to 1968. But the standings are not archived on the WCAL’s website.“I think it at least one other team did it,” Valley coach John Diatte said Friday night. “...

Santa Clara County budget proposal would cut jobs to remedy $120 million deficit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

Santa Clara County has released an $11.2 billion budget proposal that wrestles with a $120 million deficit and a potential economic downturn by turning to one of its costliest annual expenses: the county’s employees.The final budget recommendation, a more than 600-page document, is the last for outgoing county executive Jeff Smith, who took on the role in the 2009-10 fiscal year when the budget was $4.3 billion and county employees totaled 14,000. Now there are 22,205.To bridge the massive financial gap, Smith and county counsel James Williams — the incoming county executive — have recommended cutting nearly 20% of the county’s vacant positions, a total of more than 650 jobs, and other ongoing cost reductions.“This will put us on better footing for the coming fiscal years, even if the road ahead will still be challenging,” Williams wrote in his budget message.The proposal has alarmed some county workers, especially those working in health care, as...

Pacifica woman sentenced to one year in jail for abusing children at daycare center

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:05:00 GMT

PACIFICA — A 21-year-old Pacifica woman has been sentenced to one year in San Mateo County jail and four years of supervised probation for abusing children at a daycare center, prosecutors said.Mikala Alexis Ghirarduzzi pleaded no contest to one felony count of child cruelty in October. Ghirarduzzi received her sentence Thursday and was remanded into custody to begin serving her jail term, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. She has one day credit for time served.Ghirarduzzi was initially charged with three felony counts of child endangerment and two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment.The Pacifica Police Department launched an investigation in July 2021 after receiving a tip that Ghirarduzzi had been “acting cruelly and potentially harming children” in her care at Terra Nova Christian Preschool in Pacifica, prosecutors said.Police found numerous videos and photographs that showed Ghirarduzzi doing things such as passing gas in the face of a sleeping c...