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Encountering the infuriating, overwhelming and unwanted smart tech in my hotel room

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

At my boutique hotel high in the Swiss Alps, I returned from dinner, jet lagged and a tad tipsy, to discover that a television set inside a bathroom mirror had been turned on during turndown service. I pressed all of the buttons on the wall panel and then tried the switches on a control box next to the bed. Nothing.Since I could not locate anything resembling a telephone in the room (remember, I was tipsy), I hoofed it to the lobby and returned with a receptionist to power down my “smart mirror.” Twenty minutes later, already in my pajamas, I encountered a new challenge: No switch I turned, no knob I twisted would kill the bathroom lights. I closed the door, affixed a face mask over my eyes and made do.These days, it’s all about making do when I’m greeted by the glut of smart technology in hotel rooms. Voice-activated lights. Chatbot concierges. QR codes on television sets. Mobile browser or app check-ins. Texting the valet for my car. Don’t even get me started with motorized drapes...

Borenstein: Oakland crime surges way beyond San Jose and SF levels

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

Crime rates are surging in Oakland this year, police are badly understaffed, and response times to critical calls are pathetically slow, making the city an increasingly dangerous place to live.From Jan. 1 to July 23 this year, violent crime in the city is up 15% over the same period last year, and property crime has increased 28%. Don’t count on a cop to show up in a timely fashion in an emergency. If it’s not an immediate crisis, the wait can be hours or an entire day.Even before this year’s crime surge, of the three most-populated cities in the Bay Area, Oakland crime on a per-capita basis far exceeded that of San Jose and San Francisco. Now, the difference is getting worse.Population-adjusted data so far for 2023 shows that people are 2½ times more likely to be a victim of a violent crime in Oakland than in San Francisco and three times more likely than in San Jose.Property crimes are similarly disproportionate in Oakland — 1.7 times more likely to victimize someone there t...

Opinion: Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ marred by 5 historical inaccuracies

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

Over the years, the distinguished movie director Christopher Nolan, whose films have grossed over $5 billion, has expressed interest in science and scientists, his respect for science, as well as his worries about science.Unfortunately, Nolan’s blockbuster movie, “Oppenheimer,” on J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called “father of the A-bomb,” is sometimes distressingly errant in dealing with scientists and science. Though Nolan claims in general to be often relying on the prize-winning Oppenheimer biography, “American Prometheus,” by Kai Bird and Martin J.Sherwin, Nolan creates at least five sets of events — about scientists and science — not in the Bird-Sherwin book and that, strong evidence indicates, never occurred.Put bluntly, Nolan has basically created false history.1) His “Oppenheimer” film unfairly portrays the Cambridge experimentalist P. M. S. Blackett as forcing Oppenheimer, then a young graduate student, to stay in the physics lab and not allowed to...

Keira Walsh to miss England’s next game at the Women’s World Cup but scans show no ACL damage

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

SYDNEY (AP) — After fear that Keira Walsh’s Women’s World Cup was over because of a knee injury, the England midfielder has sparked hope she could play again at the tournament after scans revealed she has not suffered ACL damage.Walsh has been ruled out of England’s final group game against China. But there is hope she will be able to recover for the knockout stages.“Following a scan late on Saturday afternoon, we can confirm Keira Walsh has not suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury,” the English Football Association said. “Her knee injury will continue to be assessed by England medical staff and no further update will be provided at this stage.”Walsh’s knee injury in the Lionesses’ 1-0 win against Denmark on Friday left a hole in the heart of the midfield.Walsh — considered the conductor during England’s European Championship triumph last year — had to leave the field in Sydney on a stretcher and later exited the stadium on crutches. At the Euros, “everyth...

Le Sommer, Renard score as France edges Brazil 2-1 at the Women’s World Cup

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Veterans Eugénie Le Sommer and Wendie Renard revived France’s Women’s World Cup hopes with a goal each in a 2-1 win over Brazil on Saturday to give Les Bleues the lead in Group F.After missing with an angled header in the 13th minute, Le Sommer scored her 90th international goal to extend her national record four minutes later with an emphatic header that gave Brazilian goalkeeper Leticia little chance.Sakina Karchaoui’s long floating ball into the area found Kadidiatou Diani, who headed back across to Le Sommer to finish off from directly in front.Unlike a lackluster 0-0 opening draw against Jamaica, the French started with high tempo and had the better of the early exchanges.But the Brazilians, coming off a thumping 4-0 opening win over Panama, met them for energy, helped by the majority of an almost 50,000 crowd.Debinha equalized in the 58th, finishing off a quick passing movement into the area, controlling the ball with the outside of her leg then firi...

F1 leader Verstappen takes pole for Belgian GP sprint race ahead of Piastri

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Two-time reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen edged out rookie driver Oscar Piastri by just .011 seconds to take pole position for the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix later Saturday.The shortened qualifying format — known as the “sprint shootout” — sets the grid for the sprint race. It was delayed by 35 minutes because of wet and rainy conditions, with air blowers used to clear water from the track.Piastri has been in good form recently and the McLaren driver shot to the top of the leaderboard on his last run, only for Verstappen to typically find extra pace from his Red Bull.“Simply lovely,” Verstappen said on team radio. “Not easy with this weather.”Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. starts the sprint from third ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, with McLaren’s Lando Norris fifth, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly sixth and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton going from seventh. It was a disappointing session for Red Bull’s Sergio...

France 2, Brazil 1

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

Brazil01—1France11—2First Half_1, France, Le Sommer, (Diani), 17th minute.Second Half_2, Brazil, Debinha, (Kerolin Nicoli), 58th; 3, France, Renard, (Bacha), 83rd.Goalies_Brazil, Leticia Izidoro, Barbara Micheline do Monte Barbosa, Camila Rodrigues; France, Pauline Peyraud-Magnin, Solene Durand, Constance Picaud.Yellow Cards_Dali, France, 11th; Toletti, France, 29th; Luana, Brazil, 44th; Karchaoui, France, 69th.Referee_Katherine Margaret Jacewicz. Assistant Referees_Kyoung Min Kim, Joanna Charaktis, Massimiliano Irrati. 4th Official_Lina Lehtovaara.A_49,378.___Source

Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem breaks her own world record in the 50-meter freestyle

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

FUKUOKA, Japan (AP) — Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjoestroem broke her own world record in the 50-meter freestyle on Saturday, swimming a time of 23.61 seconds in a semifinal heat at the World Aquatics Championships.Her previous record was 23.67 set in 2017. The new record came just over 10 minutes after she won gold in the 50-meter butterfly. Her time there was 24.77.Sjoestroem has now won 20 individual medals at the world championships to tie Michael Phelps. Relays are not included in the count. She has 11 gold in world championships.___AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Ukraine changes date of Christmas, in slap at ‘Russian heritage’

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

Ukraine is on a mission to shed the vestiges of historic Russian influence — and now it’s even got rid of Russian Christmas.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday signed a law which moves the official Christmas Day state holiday from January 7 — as observed by the Russian Orthodox Church — to December 25.An explanatory note to the law said its aim was to “abandon the Russian heritage” and forms part of a wider campaign to assert Ukrainian identity in defiance of Russia’s 17-month-old invasion.The Russian Orthodox Church and its leader, Patriarch Kirill, have been strong supporters of the war launched last year by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kirill has said Russian soldiers killed in action will have their sins forgiven and has compared their sacrifice to that of Jesus Christ.In 2019, part of the church in Ukraine formally gained independence from Moscow to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which has become an independent rival to the Ukrainian Or...

Biden admin announces new weapons assistance package for Taiwan

Published Thu, 26 Dec 2024 16:59:12 GMT

Washington (CNN) — The US on Friday announced a new weapons package for Taiwan valued at up to $345 million, a move that is likely to anger Beijing at a time when the US has been attempting to reset its relationship with China.This package marks the first time the US has transferred equipment to Taiwan under what’s known as Presidential Drawdown Authority, allowing the US to pull the weapons and other stocks directly from Defense Department inventories. Just like many of the weapons deliveries to Ukraine, this process accelerates the transfer of inventory.It’s unclear what weaponry or equipment will be in the drawdown package – the announcement did not detail its contents, as such announcements often do with Ukraine aid packages.Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners said the package “includes self-defense capabilities that Taiwan will be able to use to build … to bolster deterrence now and in the future.” He added that the systems include “critical defensive stockp...