Author: Benjamin Carter
The ongoing California wildfires were started in an unusual manner by a 42-year-old man who subsequently appeared to try to disguise his involvement. The man, who has not been publicly identified, “calmly” left the area, before “blending in” with others who were fleeing the blaze, for which further evacuation orders may yet be made. Massive Blaze Dave Hoefler/Unsplash The fire, currently making its way across the north of California, is the largest California fire of the year so far. It has already burned across 71,000 acres of Butte County land, and may spread further. One of Largest in Recent History…
A major streaming service is rolling out a new-look dashboard that in a major shake-up of their familiar movie and TV browsing screen. The change, developed in part using a generative AI model, is part of a suite of different updates that will hit apps and websites today across the world. Fix a Common Issue Jonas Leupe/Unsplash One of the issues most familiar with users of streaming services is related to the vast libraries of content presented to them. This can lead to ‘decision paralysis’, in which, rather than time being spent watching movies or TV, it is instead spent…
Jennifer Aniston, star of the long-running sitcom Friends, has joined Pete Buttigieg in criticism of a controversial comment made by Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance. The comment, made in a 2021 Fox News interview that has recently resurfaced, has provoked outrage in some quarters. Jennifer Aniston Brett Cove/Wikimedia Jennifer Aniston was one of the stars of the popular TV sitcom Friends, which ran from 1994 to 2004. She has been consistently one of the highest paid actresses, and has won several awards for her role as Rachel Green on Friends. Pete Buttigieg Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Pete Buttigieg is a former naval…
Investigations have discovered the cause of a powerful and damaging blaze that tore through the City of Riverside in Riverside County, California. Several people who were suspected of being involved in sparking the fire were seen on CCTV footage fleeing the scene, and questions were asked about the response time of local firefighting emergency services. Serious Blaze Jen Theodore/Unsplash The fire spread erratically, and caused a number of serious consequences for the city of Riverside. Around 1500 people faced evacuation orders as the fire spread across 500 acres and caused around $10 million worth of damage. California Fire Troubles Filippos…
Following a recent Supreme Court decision, officials in cities across California are considering more stringent measures on their local homeless populations. The discussions may represent a paradigm shift in the state’s treatment of the homeless, as officials consider “tough love” measures for cleaning up the streets. Compassion or Criminalization? Nevit Dilmen/Wikimedia There has long been a debate within homeless policy about the balance between criminalization of the homeless and empathy and compassion for a struggling group. Some may argue that they are one and the same. Harry Black, City Manager of Stockton, San Joaquin County, referred to more punitive measures…
An outage in Microsoft apps and services is causing chaos in hospitals, airports, and even the emergency services in a US state. The disruptions, which have lasted hours already and may be worsening, are affecting airlines, Amazon, payment services and news outlets, but Microsoft have kept quiet about the cause even as rumors develop. Planes Grounded Matthew Sichkaruk/Unsplash A number of US airlines have announced that, due to the outage, their planes will not be taking off until further notice. United, American, Allegiant and Delta will, however, allow currently airborne flights to complete their full flight plan. Airport Chaos Chuttersnap/Unsplash…
The proposed gun law contains a number of important statutes for cracking down on gun ownership in the state, and was overwhelmingly voted in by the Massachusetts House. The bill, of which parts were described by an opposition negotiator as “not objectionable to anyone,” now awaits the final approval of Governor Maura Healey. Massachusetts Setting An Example Piermario Eva/Unsplash The vote was applauded by the group Students Demand Action after it was passed on Thursday, who were pleased to see more action taken on gun violence. A volunteer leader at the Boston University chapter of the organization said: “Massachusetts is…
A recent, unwelcome trend has been spreading across the US as longstanding public institutions of art throw their doors shut for the final time. But even amidst these closures, one closure stands out as particularly impactful and difficult to explain, not least to the staff and students who have lost out. Sector-Wide Issue Joshua Sukoff/Unsplash Higher education institutions have been struggling in recent years throughout the US due to several distinct issues. The issues converging are that there are fewer students enrolling, the end of pandemic-era state support for higher education institutions and inflation. But Art Schools a Special Case…
A long-running NASCAR team has laid off most of its staff just 3 months after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The layoffs came just a couple of days after the tea, had withdrawn one of its cars from the Xfinity Series Race in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Team Blindsided By Announcement Chase McBride/Unsplash Team members were informed late of changes to the racing plans. Up until the withdrawal was announced officially by NASCAR, the team members were unaware that one of the cars was not going to be racing at the Xfinity race. Not Only Team With Financial Issues Simon…
Youtubers this week were surprised to discover that many of their videos had been scraped for the purposes of training AI models from large companies including Apple and Anthropic. The dataset, originally intended for use by smaller individuals and companies with less resources, has been cited in multiple legal cases and contains videos from some major content creators including Mr Beast and PewDiePie as well as videos promoting flat-earth theories. Creators Surprised and Critical Claudio Schwarz/Unsplash When creators were informed by Proof News, those who reacted were publicly critical of the unauthorized use of their material. They were critical of…