Month: August 2022

Categories
Technology

Google is using AI to make search result snippets better

Google is using AI to make search result snippets better

When you search with certain queries on Google, the results will yield a featured snippet – a short paragraph giving you a quick explanation of whatever you were looking for. Sometimes it works great, and sometimes it misses the ball game completely, but now Google is employing its artificial intelligence smarts to improve the quality of the snippets.

In a blog post Thursday, Google explained that it’s now using its latest AI model – the Multitask Unified Model (MUM) – to deliver the featured snippets. This model understands the idea of ​​consensus, meaning that it can cross reference a snippet it found with other high-quality sources online to see whether it fits the bill.

“We’ve found that this consensus-based technique has meaningfully improved the quality and helpfulness of featured snippet callouts,” the company said.

google snippets

Google’s algorithms will now check several high-quality sources to see whether a snippet is accurate.
Credit: Google

This should also rectify some of those situations when snippets aren’t very helpful. Google provided an example featuring the query “when did snoopy assassinate Abraham Lincoln,” which yielded a snippet giving a date and info about the actual Lincoln assassination. As Google puts it, this “clearly isn’t the most helpful way to display this result.” I’ve tried that query on Google and it yielded no snippet, which should be indicative of Google’s new AI model in action. The company says this update has reduced the triggering of featured snippets in such cases by 40 percent.

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Besides this improvement, Google also said it’s expanding its “About this result” to more places, providing additional context on the web pages it used to produce a search result. The feature will be available in eight more languages ​​– Portuguese, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Indonesian – later this year.

Google also said it would start showing content advisories in more places. These warnings are shown when Google’s algorithms aren’t entirely sure of the quality of the search results they produce, often when a topic is fast evolving.

Finally, the company said it has partnered with MediaWise and PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs to develop free information literacy lesson plans for teachers of middle and high school students.

Categories
Entertainment

Georgie Stone and Rebekah Robertson

Georgie Stone and Rebekah Robertson

Assigned male at birth, Georgie Stone, 22, was a toddler when she told her mother, Rebekah Robertson, 55, that she was a girl. Both actors, they have since fought to improve life for trans kids – between countless cups of tea.

Georgie Stone says having her mum, Rebekah Robertson, on her side “was everything. I wouldn't be alive without her.”

Georgie Stone says having her mum, Rebekah Robertson, on her side “was everything. I wouldn’t be alive without her.” Credit:Justin McManus

Georgia: I was a playful kid with a big imagination. mum and dad [actor Greg Stone] would direct these home videos and my twin brother and I loved it. Mum once played a snake, wriggling around on the floor in a sleeping bag; she committed fully, and that included parenting. I knew she loved being our mother.

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I disagree with people saying I was born a boy because nothing about me, in any meaningful way, was male. I remember watching cinderella at about three and thinking, “That’s me. I’m not the prince. I’m not the mouse. I’m Cinderella.”

I don’t think my parents had ever heard of trans kids. They knew of trans people, but just through the media; they were either in prison or prostitutes. Still, Mum’s reaction was, “Let’s find out what this is and how we can support her.” Dad’s [initial] reaction was more to stop it. He might have thought Mum was encouraging it.

When I started school, I was still using male pronouns and my dead name; I started to transition around seven. Boys in year 5 would call me a freak and follow me around, asking, “Are you a boy or a girl?” It felt the message there was something wrong with me, which deep down I believed. But Mum was always that place of comfort; she’d tell me I was okay. Other parents accused her of child abuse, of causing my trans-ness, which is bullshit.

“Mum tells me the instinct as a woman is to make yourself smaller, so she encourages me not to do that.”

I started on puberty blockers before I turned 11 and did that until 17 or 18. There were lots of injections and I’d get anxious every time, so Mum bought me a bracelet and, with every injection, she’d add a charm representing something in my life, like a witch because I loved Hermione in Harry Potter. There were 27 by the end.

Having Mum on my side was everything. I wouldn’t be alive without her. When I was seven, I told her things would be easier if I were dead. I felt like a burden when we had to go to court [at 10, to access puberty blockers], because that put a strain on my parents. They separated when I was 13 and I thought it might have been my fault, but they told me it wasn’t. When I was 15, we had to go back to court to access gender-affirming hormones, and I’d see Mum on the phone, almost tearing her hair out with stress. She was running a support group, working full-time as a voice actor, cooking dinner every night. She was exhausted.

Categories
Sports

Fernando Tatis Jr. suspended for 80 games, what did he test positive for, salary, San Diego Padres, latest, updates

Fernando Tatis Jr. suspended for 80 games, what did he test positive for, salary, San Diego Padres, latest, updates

The Padres will be without Fernando Tatis Jr. for the rest of the season.

Tatis Jr. tested positive for Clostebol, and will be suspended for 80 games. The news of the suspension was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

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“I’ve been informed by Major League Baseball that a test sample I submitted returned a positive result for Clostebol, a banned substance,” Tatis Jr. said in a statement, through the MLBPA.

“It turns out that I inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm that contained Clostebol. I should have used the resources available to me in order to ensure that no banned substances were in what I took. I failed to do so.

“I want to apologize to Peter, AJ, the entire Padres organization, my teammates, Major League Baseball, and fans everywhere for my mistake. I have no excuse for my mistake, and I would never do anything to cheat or disrespect the game I love.”

Fernando Tatis Jr. is suspended for 80 games. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)
Fernando Tatis Jr. is suspended for 80 games. (Photo by Denis Poroy/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

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The 23-year-old phenom had missed the entire season due to a fractured wrist but had been expected to return soon.

This is a blow to the Padres, who went all in trading a haul of highly-ranked prospects to the Nationals for superstar outfielder Juan Soto and formidable first baseman Josh Bell.

“I have taken countless drug tests throughout my professional career, including on March 29, 2022, all of which have returned negative results until this test,” Tatis Jr.’s statement continued.

“I am completely devastated. There is nowhere in the world I would rather be than on the field competing with my teammates. After initially appealing the suspension, I have realized that my mistake was the cause of this result, and for that reason I have decided to start serving my suspension immediately. I look forward to rejoining my teammates on the field in 2023.”

The Padres are 63-51. While they trail the Dodgers for 16 games in the NL West, they would qualify for the postseason as a Wild Card team if the playoffs started today.

Tatis Jr. signed a 14-year, $AUD477 million contract with the Padres last February.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and has been reposted with permission

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Categories
Australia

Australia’s attorneys-general to ramp up action on coercive control

Australia’s attorneys-general have agreed to create a national plan to address coerce control as the government ramps up action to reduce domestic and family violence.

Coercive control refers to “the pattern of abusive behavior designed to create power and dominance over another person or persons”.

This can look like controlling what someone wears, who they see or their access to money, tracking their location, and can often lead to physical violence.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. Parliament House, Canberra.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus met with his state and territory counterparts to discuss coercive control. (Rhett Wyman)

State and territory attorneys-general met with their federal counterpart Mark Dreyfus on Friday to create a “national understanding” of coercive control which could eventually filter down to laws and legislation criminalizing the behaviour.

It comes after vast calls for legislative reform to coercive control laws in particular after the murder of Brisbane woman Hannah Clarke and her children by Clarke’s estranged husband.

Clarke’s parents Sue and Lloyd told Today the national plan is a step in the right direction and is a “no brainer”.

“We have been hoping for this quite a long time for it to go national. For them to actually sit down and collaborate together and all states get onboard,” Mr Clarke said.

Ms Clarke added: “I am pleased to see the conversation is going on about it and people are talking about it. I am shocked people aren’t aware of what the flags are in a coercive relationship, I think we need a lot of education .”

Hannah Clarke's parents Sue and Lloyd speak on coercive control reform.
Hannah Clarke’s parents Sue and Lloyd speak on coercive control reform. (9News)
During the inquest into the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children, it was revealed the young mum had approached police for help, fearing her estranged husband would kill her.
Hannah Clarke and her three children were murdered by her estranged husband. (9News)

The attorneys-general meeting resulted in an endorsement of a consultation draft of National Principles to Address Coercive Control, the first of its kind in Australia.

“We have agreed on a set of measures which are going to help keep women and children safer in Australia,” Dreyfus said.

“We think it will help to establish a set of national principles to help people better recognize the behavior when it occurs.

“The important thing is people understand when to recognize coercive control, even in relationships where there is no physical violence occurring, there can be a pattern of abusive behavior that is designed to dominate and control and can ultimately be very harmful.”

The draft includes eight principles and will identify a national approach to:

  • What coercive control is and its impacts
  • The importance of coordinated approaches when responding to incidents of coercive control and educating the community
  • “Concerns” about the misidentification of victim-survivors as perpetrators of family and domestic violence, in particular for First Nations women

“They deal with different aspects of this problem they deal with how to identify coercive control, how to listen to victim-survivors, and what steps should be taken to lower the incidence of this problem,” Dreyfus said.

The national principles are set to be approved by 2023.

The group also agreed to review the definition of consent and work towards updating legislation in relation to stealthing, which is when a person removes a condom without the other person’s consent.

Categories
Technology

Waluigi-themed bachelorette party dubbed ‘best event that has ever happened’: ‘I’m so impressed’

Waluigi-themed bachelorette party dubbed 'best event that has ever happened': 'I'm so impressed'

A Waluigi bachelorette party is the talk of the town on TikTok.

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When TikToker @cherriesorbet, a burlesque and cosplay costume designer, was getting married, she knew her bachelorette party was going to be special. But few brides would be daring enough to go with a Waluigi theme. For the uninitiated, Waluigi is a villain from the Mario franchise. He’s Luigi’s longtime nemesis and sidekick to Wario.

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The bridal party each dressed up as a different version of Waluigi, with the bride herself going as Elvis Waluigi. There was a Cowboy Waluigi, Pirate Waluigi, Sexy Firefighter Waluigi, Cult Waluigi, Chef Waluigi and a Strong Man Waluigi.

Each Waluigi guessed who would get the drunkest that night, and most of them guessed Elvis, the bride.

“I do a lot of burlesque and cosplay costuming, so there was no way I wasn’t going to do something like this for my Bach,” the bride explained on TikTok.

The video earned nearly 1 million views. People loved the commitment to the theme.

“I think that this is the best event that has ever happened ever,” a person commented.

“Imagine being at a restaurant and just seeing an army of differently themed Waluigi’s pulling up,” a user wrote.

“Everyone brought it with their costumes,” another said.

“I’m so impressed that everyone went ALL OUT with props and everything!” to TikToker replied.

“I’ve never been in love with so many people at once,” someone added.

Watch this living room that hasn’t been updated since the ’60s get a modern redesign:

The post Waluigi bachelorette party dubbed ‘best event that has ever happened’ on TikTok appeared first on In The Know.

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Categories
Entertainment

Melbourne socialite and philanthropist dies at 92

Melbourne socialite and philanthropist dies at 92

“Hairdressing was her love and what she made her living from,” Jackie said. “People flocked together and she realized that, ‘Hey, I can make a difference here. I can do something’.”

Lillian Frank often told a story to her daughters of their grandmother having a locked room at their home in India to collect dowries for women who could not afford to marry.

“Her mother said to her, ‘charity should be seen behind closed doors’,” Jackie said. “She got it from her mother de ella.”

Lillian Frank at the 1984 Melbourne Cup.

Lillian Frank at the 1984 Melbourne Cup. Credit:TheAge,

Fashion designer Alex Perry remembered Frank as “brilliant in real life” and a force in Melbourne fashion through hairdressing and the horseracing scene.

“She was one of those incredible people who was always completely energetic,” Perry said.

“[She was] a tireless charity fundraiser, and that gets sometimes eclipsed by the pure joy she had at the Melbourne Cup where she would have the most outrageous hats.”

Victorian Labor minister Jaala Pulford said the community stood in solidarity with Frank’s family.

“We express our deepest condolences to them at what’s a really difficult time,” Pulford said on Saturday. “We thank her for her from her … from her incredible presence from her, her from her incredible work from her in business and in the community.”

Frank wrote a gossip column for the Herald Sun for decades.

Frank is survived by husband Richard, daughters Jackie and Michelle, and grandchildren Ella and Charlie.

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Categories
Sports

Nick Kyrgios’s winning streak comes to an end at the Montreal Masters at the hands of Hubert Hurkacz

Nick Kyrgios crouches down and leans on his racquet on court

Nick Kyrgios gave it all he had but, in the end, in the midday Montreal heat, there were just too many aches and pains.

The mercurial Australian’s nine-match winning singles run came to a disappointing end in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters 1000, worn down by fatigue, a sore back, and the relentless serving of Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.

The number eight seed won 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-1 with the final set, which took just 27 minutes after the first two lasted 38 and 41 respectively.

Kyrgios did not call a trainer or complain, but looked off the pace physically. He also had plenty on his mind with his parents of him unwell.

“I honestly don’t care [about losing the winning streak],” Kyrgiossaid.

“I’ve been away from home, away from my mum, away from my dad.

“They’re not very well at the moment. So I don’t really care about ‘no winning streak’.

“I got two more tournaments [Cincinnati and the US Open] left before I can go home.”

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Categories
Australia

John Howard reflects on the Liberals defeat at the Federal Election under Scott Morrison

John Howard reflects on the Liberals defeat at the Federal Election under Scott Morrison

Former prime minister John Howard has weighed in on what went wrong for the Liberal Party in its 2022 Federal Election campaign that ended with the Coalition losing power after nine years.

In his first interview since the May 21 defeat, Mr Howard – who led the Liberals to four election victories – told The Australian the party was badly hurt by its failure to properly outline its vision for the nation.

“The absence of a program for the future… the absence of some kind of manifesto, hurt us very badly,” Mr Howard told the publication.

“There’s a shelf-life to argue that we can manage things better… you have got to keep arguing for something.”

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Stream more on politics with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends October 31, 2022

The Liberals under Scott Morrison lost 18 seats at the election, reducing the Coalition to 58 seats overall. The Nationals held all their seats.

Labor took 10 seats from the Liberals, the Greens picked up two and Teal Independents won the remaining six seats.

Mr Howard, whose latest book A Sense of Balance is out on August 17, revealed another one of the mistakes the Liberals made was “to take its natural constituency for granted”.

“One of the reasons we suffered more is the Teals did offer, as it happened, something that was attractive to people who were unenthusiastic about the Liberal Party but really couldn’t bring themselves to vote Labor,” he said.

Mr Howard’s remarks come as the Liberal Party undertakes a review into its Federal Election defeat.

The review – led by former Liberal Party director Brian Loughnane and opposition frontbencher Jane Hume – will include responses to the success of teal independents as well as the Coalition’s climate change policies.

Also under microscope will be how the Liberals lost six out of nine seats across the top 15 Chinese-Australian electorates.

The Australian reported this week Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has been advised to scale back the Coalition’s attacks on Beijing and adopt a more subtle approach in a bid to win back Chinese-Australian voters.

The revelation came as recent Australian Bureau of Statistics census data overlaid with election results found the party suffered above average swings against it in electorates with high numbers of Chinese-Australian voters.

Post-polling suggested the Morrison government’s anti-China rhetoric alienated Chinese-Australian voters who would otherwise prefer the Coalition on economic matters.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg lost his seat of Kooyong – which has Chinese-Australian voter base of 19 per cent- to teal independent Monique Ryan following his crackdown on Chinese foreign investment in response to Beijing’s sanctions on Australian imports.

In the seat of Bennelong, a 13 per cent swing against the Liberal Party was recorded in polling booths in Eastwood, where 38 per cent of residents have Chinese heritage.

The Coalition also lost the Victorian seat of Chisholm, which boasts a Chinese-Australian voter base of 28.9 per cent, while it narrowly retained the seat of Menzies – where 26.7 per cent of voters are of Chinese heritage – by just 1,377 votes.

Mr Dutton said his criticisms of China were not about its people – it was about the country’s government.

“If you look back at my transcripts, I’ve been at pains to talk about China under President Xi. President Xi has appointed himself leader for life,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“It’s like our criticism about Russia under President Putin – our criticism is not of the Russian people. When we talk about problems that we have with other countries, our comments aren’t an attack on those people, it’s on that dictatorship.

“I mean, our attacks on the North Korean dictator, when you talk about that, it’s not an attack on the North Korean people and talk of that is just absurd.”

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Categories
Technology

Nintendo Just Shared A Secret Switch Sports Code To Summon A Wii Sports Legend

Splatoon 3 Nintendo Direct

Nintendo Switch Sports launched back in April and has seen a steady-ish stream of updates since, adding in new features like full Leg Strap support and adjusting some ranking stuff, but today they dropped a bombshell feature that wasn’t in the patch notes.

Out of nowhere, the Nintendo of America account tweeted, “Interested in a tougher challenge in #NintendoSwitchSports? Try entering ZR + R + A or ZL + L + ? on the difficulty select screen” along with an in-game screenshot showing them squaring off in Chambara against “Matt”.

If you know your Wii Sports memes well, you’ll know that Matt is a legend among the community for being an absolute menace in Boxing (and Swordplay in Wii Sports Resort). He acted as your trainer in the original Wii Sports, and was the most difficult Boxing opponent in the game – and now he’s back to grind you to dust once again.

We tested this ourselves and, yep, there he is. It’s worth noting that we could only get him to show up in Chambara (which makes sense given Swordplay is his thing) and there’s no prompt or chime to show you’ve entered the code correctly. Doing the same in other sports did pit us against “Legend” opponents, though.

switch sports matt

Nintendo Switch Sports is available now for a special price of $57.90 on Amazon with free shipping.

Categories
Entertainment

UK grandmother, 91, looks 20 years younger when in a bikini

UK grandmother, 91, looks 20 years younger when in a bikini

A great grandmother aged 91 gets chatted up by men 20 years younger when in a bikini.

And Joan Richmond-Woodhouse says her envied beach body look comes despite her love of meat pies and pub grub, The Sun reports.

The mum of eight and grandma of 18 says she is regularly mistaken for a woman in her 70s when sunbathing.

“I don’t know how to behave as a 91-year-old — I just act the same as I did when I was 21,” she said.

“I’ve always looked young and people are always shocked when I tell them my age as I don’t look, talk or act like I am 91.

“I love wearing a bikini and going to the beach with my granddaughter.”

Granddaughter Lydia, 27, a beauty ambassador, said, “It’s mad people 20 years younger try and chat her up.

“They don’t believe us when we tell them her real age — she doesn’t age.

“I hope when I’m older I’m like my grandma and inherit her genes and look as good as she does at her age.

“I really hope to have her luck. Lots of members of our family get complimented on our youthful looks and it’s almost like we get to a certain age then we age backwards.”

Retired dressmaker Joan, of Blackburn, now spends most of her time with boyfriend David Winder, 84, on Spain’s Costa Calida.

“I don’t do anything special to stay young,” she said.

“I love pies and English grub so I’ve stuck to eating that. I love a meat pie.

“I always go for a carvery every Sunday. I don’t follow any silly diets.

“I just eat what I want and what makes me happy. I just love English food — especially pub grub.”

Joan — who lost her retired solicitor hubby Trevor Woodhouse — swears by a Nivea cream, which she has used since she was 16 and she moisturizes her whole body once a week.

She also loves clothes and likes to dress glamorously.

“I’ve never put any weight on,” she added.

“I think that must be my secret to my young looks.

“That and I just love life and have never had the mindset of being old.

“Age is just a number. I keep young by staying positive and eating what I want. It works for me.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission

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