FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 - Race Results
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US House and Senate lawmakers have raised alarm bells about the potential use of artificial intelligence in America’s nuclear arsenal, arguing that the technology must not be put in a position to fire off warheads on its own. A group of three Democrats and one Republican introduced a bill that calls for banning AI from being used in a way that could lead to it launching nuclear weapons. If enacted, the legislation would codify a current Pentagon policy that requires a human to be “in the loop” on any launch decisions.
“We want to make sure there’s a human in the process of launching a nuclear weapon if, at any point time, we need to launch a nuclear weapon,” US Representative Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, said on Friday in a Fox News interview. “So you see sci-fi movies, and the world is out of control because AI has taken over – we’re going to have humans in this process.” Buck alluded to Hollywood’s portrayal of a nightmare scenario in which AI systems gain control of nuclear weapons, as depicted in such films as ‘WarGames’ and ‘Colossus: The Forbidden Project.’ He warned that the use of AI without a human chain of command would be “reckless” and “dangerous.” Representative Ted Lieu agreed, saying, “AI is amazing. It’s going to help society in many different ways. It can also kill us.” Lieu, a California Democrat, is a lead backer of the AI legislation, along with two other Democrats – Representative Don Beyer of Virginia and Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts. Although the idea of an AI-instigated nuclear war might have been dismissed in the past as science fiction, many scientists believe that it’s no longer a far-fetched risk. A poll released earlier this month by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence found that 36% of AI researchers agreed that the technology could cause a “nuclear-level catastrophe.” US Central Command (CENTCOM) last week announced the hiring of a former Google executive as its first-ever AI adviser. The Pentagon has asked Congress for $1.8 billion in funding for AI research in its next fiscal year.
FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 - Sprint Race Results
The Denmark-based pedal builder sets heads spinning with its reproduction of the analog delay unit beloved by Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. Danish effects firm T-Rex has been catching everyone’s eye at this year’s show with the long-awaited release of its Binson Echorec Magnetic Disk Delay – a reproduction of the original Echorec circuit, complete with spinning drum.The original Echorec worked on a magnetic disk, which uses a thin wire, rather than a tape to imprint the delay signal. It is responsible for some of rock music’s most iconic delay sounds and was used heavily in Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin recordings. Listen to David Gilmour’s guitar on Time or John Bonham’s ricocheting drum sound on ’Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks to hear it in action. T-Rex says it’s spent about seven years trying to get it right and the new delay pedal slavishly recreates the original circuit, meaning you can use that unobscured, or you can switch in a few new options along the way.
As such, you now have a choice between two recording heads at the input stage: a long head and short head – the short head is spec’d to directly reproduce the original EchoRec’s timing, while the long head is a new option allowing you to capture a longer initial sample. Another modern addition is a speed dial that allows you to vary the pace by +/- 20%, then there are four playback heads, which can be switched in and out using light-up push buttons. The unit is all built into a (massive) stompbox, with what looks like a pretty bomb-proof enclosure for the rotating drum and it has a footswitchable bypass, so does not require connecting to an external footswitch. Holding down the bypass for three seconds stops the drum rotating – though, let’s be honest, that is the fun part. Elsewhere, there’s a tone dial, which alters the EQ balance of the echo signal and a toggle switch to select between the echoing ‘repeat’ effect, or the reverb-like ‘swell’ setting.
FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 - Top 10 Sprint Shootout Results
FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 - Top 10 Qualifying Results
US toy manufacturing giant Mattel has released a Barbie bearing features associated with Down’s syndrome in a move it says will help make its range of dolls more diverse and help all children to find a toy with which they can identify. The doll, which is available to purchase online from Tuesday, will “enable all children to see themselves in Barbie,” Mattel says. It is designed with features associated with Down’s syndrome, such as a shorter frame and a longer torso. It also has a rounder face with smaller ears to represent women who have the genetic condition. The design comes as part of the brand’s ‘Barbie Fashionistas’ line, which also includes a Barbie with a prosthetic leg, another that comes in a wheelchair, and a range of male dolls that are thinner and less muscular than previous iterations. Mattel says the line is its “most diverse and inclusive doll line, offering a variety of skin tones, eye colors, hair colors and textures, body types, disabilities and fashions, to inspire even more stories.”
It comes after previous efforts by Mattel to develop its dolls beyond the traditional blonde-hair-blue-eyes and thin-waisted style with which Barbies are traditionally associated. An academic study conducted by the University of South Australia in 2009 found that just one in 100,000 women likely had the body type of a traditional Barbie doll. In recent years, Mattel has also released a doll wearing a hijab as a tribute to Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American athlete to compete at the Olympic Games while wearing the headdress. Kandi Pickard, president and chief executive of the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), with whom Mattel consulted on the line, said the range “means so much for our community, who for the first time can play with a Barbie doll that looks like them.” She added: “It is a huge step forward for inclusion.” Mattel’s production of the doll comes after similar moves by other toy manufacturers. In 2016, Lego released a minifigure of a young man in a wheelchair as part of its ‘Toys Like Me’ drive. Previously, it had come under fire for only representing elderly models of people in wheelchairs. Fox News announced on Monday that the network and its prime-time anchor Tucker Carlson have mutually agreed to end their association after more than a decade.
“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the US broadcaster said, adding that Carlson aired his final show last Friday. Fox expressed gratitude to Carlson “for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”Neither Fox nor Carlson have offered an explanation for the break-up. The network did say that last Friday’s episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight will be the last, and that a newscast will be aired in its stead starting Monday evening.Shares in the network’s parent company, Fox Corporation, slid by 4.7% after the announcement. Carlson had given no hints of the show ending last week, announcing instead a new season of his documentary series for Fox, titled Tucker Carlson Originals. On Friday, he gave a keynote speech at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, again not mentioning anything about parting ways with Fox. In the absence of an official explanation, there has been widespread speculation that the break-up might be related to a recent lawsuit against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems. The company had sued the network for defamation in a Delaware court, alleging that Fox hosts had promoted “baseless” claims by former president Donald Trump about the 2020 election. Fox settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million last week. Over the weekend, a prominent congresswoman also argued Carlson should not be allowed on air under federal law. “When you look at what Tucker Carlson and some of these other folks on Fox do, it is very, very clearly incitement of violence – very clearly incitement of violence. And that is the line that we have to be willing to contend with,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, told former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now a host on the rival cable channel MSNBC. Declaring itself “the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink,” Carlson’s evening show first aired in 2016 and quickly became the most popular in the Fox News lineup. In June 2020, he set the record for the highest-rated quarter of any cable news program, averaging 4.33 million viewers. His recent interview with Donald Trump drew an audience of 6.7 million. A military conflict between China and Taiwan could take place in 2027, the self-governing island’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu has claimed. Appearing on the UK’s LBC radio station on Thursday, Wu said: “We are taking the Chinese military threat very seriously… I think 2027 is the year that we need to be serious about.” He expressed hope that “like-minded partners, the UK included, can stop China from initiating any war against Taiwan.” Reuters revealed last month that the British government had approved a considerable increase in exports of submarine parts and technology to Taiwan in 2022. It followed a call by former prime minister Liz Truss for a “global NATO” to arm Taipei in the same way the alliance was arming Kiev.
Wu’s assessment of China-Taiwan relations echoes that outlined by CIA Director William Burns in February. Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, he claimed that “President Xi has instructed the PLA, the Chinese military leadership, to be ready by 2027 to invade Taiwan.” He added, however, that this alone does not mean Beijing had “decided to invade in 2027 or any other year.” A month prior to Burns’ comments, NBC cited an internal memo by General Mike Minihan, the head of the US Air Mobility Command (AMC), in which he told his staff that fighting over the island could break out within two years. However, while an AMC spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the memo, an anonymous Pentagon official told the outlet that “these comments are not representative of the department’s view on China.” On Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned that “those who play with fire on the question of Taiwan will burn themselves.” He insisted that Beijing “will never back down in the face of any act that undermines China’s sovereignty and security.” Earlier this month, the country’s state-run CCTV channel quoted President Xi as calling on the military to step up “training oriented toward actual combat.” Taiwan has been de facto independent since 1949, when the losing side in the Chinese civil war fled to the island and established its own administration. While only a handful of nations have recognized Taiwan as a sovereign state, the US has long maintained close, unofficial ties with Taipei, both militarily and economically. Formally, Washington still professes to adhere to the ‘One-China’ principle. Beijing considers the island to be an inalienable part of its territory that has been seized by separatists. While the Chinese leadership says it prioritizes a peaceful ‘reunification’, it has not ruled out military options. After a song featuring the AI-generated voices of the rappers Drake and The Weeknd went viral on Monday, the world’s biggest record label demanded a reckoning from streaming platforms. The Netherlands-based Universal Music Group (UMG), which represents both artists, has already tried to block artificial intelligence programs from accessing its catalog, but that appears to be easier said than done. A song titled ‘heart on my sleeve’ clocked more than 15 million plays on TikTok, 625,000 on Spotify and over 230,000 on YouTube in just a few hours, before the platforms moved to take it down for copyright infringement. Drake and The Weeknd are both represented by Republic Records, a subsidiary of UMG. The Dutch-based label is the world’s largest, with a market share greater than all independents combined. After the incident, UMG issued a statement insisting that having AI generate music from their artists’ catalog “begs the question as to which side of history all stakeholders in the music ecosystem want to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.” Platforms “have a fundamental legal and ethical responsibility to prevent the use of their services in ways that harm artists,” the label added.
The company has “a moral and commercial responsibility to our artists to work to prevent the unauthorized use of their music,” a spokesman told CNN on Tuesday. “I’m not sure how effective this will be as AI services will likely still be able to access the copyrighted material one way or another,” Karl Fowlkes, an entertainment and business attorney in New York, told CNN. Fowlkes argued that the government should “explicitly ban” AI companies from using copyrighted work to train their models. Copyright is intended to protect original art, “not works created by machines that used the original art to create new work,” he said.
The US Copyright Office issued new guidance in March saying that it will decide on a case-by-case basis whether AI-generated work can be copyrighted, explaining that this depends on whether something is merely a “mechanical reproduction” or the result of an author’s “own original mental conception, to which [the author] gave visible form.” DJ and producer David Guetta demonstrated in February how easy it was to create new music using two AI programs, ChatGPT for lyrics and Uberduck for vocals. After just an hour, he had a rap song that sounded like the work of Eminem. Guetta played it at one of his shows, but said he would never release it commercially. “That is an ethical problem that needs to be addressed because it sounds crazy to me that today I can type lyrics and it’s going to sound like Drake is rapping it, or Eminem,” he said at the time. Paris is an ally and not a “vassal” of Washington, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday, defending his comments about “strategic autonomy” of the EU regarding the rising tensions between the US and China.
“Being an ally does not mean being a vassal... doesn’t mean that we don’t have the right to think for ourselves,” Macron said in Amsterdam at a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Asked for the French position on Taiwan, Macron said Paris supports the status quo, meaning the “One China policy and the search for a peaceful resolution to the situation.” Returning from his trip to China on Sunday, Macron argued that the EU can’t just be “America’s followers,” and that it is not in the bloc’s interest to stoke tensions over Taiwan. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the US agenda and a Chinese overreaction,” he told reporters. The remarks earned a swift rebuke from US Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican on the foreign affairs committee, who suggested Washington might leave the EU to handle the Ukraine conflict by itself. Taiwanese Parliament Speaker You Si-kun on Tuesday argued that France had forsaken its motto of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’, and that advanced democracies should not “ignore the lives and deaths of people in other countries,” adding that Macron’s comments left him “puzzled.” Meanwhile, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said that Macron was “perfectly right to demand European independence and sovereignty,” while the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, noted that “quite a few” leaders of EU countries think like Macron, even though they “wouldn’t say things the same way.” When asked about the French president’s comments on Monday, the US State Department said France is a long-standing ally and that occasional disagreements do not detract from the “deep partnership” with Paris. As for the EU position, a State Department spokesman cited a recent speech by the bloc’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, which described China as “a national and economic security threat,” and said there is “immense convergence” between Washington and Brussels on the matter. In recent years, the concept of being "woke" has become increasingly prevalent in society. Being woke generally refers to being aware of social issues and actively fighting against oppression and injustice. While this may seem like a positive movement, there are dangers associated with a community that is too focused on being "woke."
First and foremost, the idea of being woke can be extremely divisive. While it is important to recognize and address societal issues, constantly focusing on them can create an "us versus them" mentality. This can lead to a lack of understanding and empathy for those who may not share the same views or experiences. A community that is too woke can become intolerant of differing opinions, which can lead to a breakdown in communication and further divide society. Additionally, the pressure to be constantly "woke" can be overwhelming and lead to a sense of burnout. It is important to recognize that social issues cannot be solved overnight, and it is not the responsibility of any one person to fix everything. The constant pressure to be aware of every issue and to constantly speak out about them can be exhausting and ultimately counterproductive. Another danger of a community that is too focused on being woke is the potential for hypocrisy. It is easy to criticize others for not being woke enough or for perpetuating societal issues, but it is important to also recognize our own biases and shortcomings. The idea of being woke can create a culture of virtue signalling, where individuals may speak out against issues solely to gain social status or to be seen as "woke." Furthermore, a focus on being woke can sometimes lead to a lack of action. While it is important to recognize societal issues, it is equally important to take action to address them. A community that is too focused on being woke may become complacent in their activism, believing that simply acknowledging issues is enough to effect change. In conclusion, while it is important to be aware of societal issues and to fight against oppression and injustice, a community that is too focused on being woke can be dangerous. It can lead to division, burnout, hypocrisy, and a lack of action. It is important to strive for a balance between awareness and action, and to approach social issues with empathy and understanding for all individuals. Zound Industries made its name making Marshall licensed speakers and now owns the legendary British brand. An end of an era, but what does it mean for guitar amps under the newly formed Marshall Group?
After over 60 years of family ownership, the iconic British guitar amp brand Marshall Amplification has been sold to Swedish speaker company Zound Industries in a deal that will see both brands trade as the Marshall Group. The brand first collaborated on a range of Marshall-branded headphones and Bluetooth speakers for the consumer market under a 2010 licensing deal. It was a deal that was hugely successful, taking the Marshall brand identity onto the streets, with its appeal extending beyond guitar players and reaching people who had never picked up the instrument before. Other brands such as Orange and Fender diversified accordingly, launching their own ranges of bluetooth speakers and headphones. In agreeing to the takeover, the Marshall family will remain the largest shareholder, owning a 24 per cent stake in the Marshall Group. Zound will acquire Marshall Amplification, plus its subsidiaries Natal Drums, Marshall Records, and Marshall Live Agency. With double-digit profitability and combined revenues of over $360 million, the Marshall Group is in a strong position to compete in both consumer and musician markets. But the big question for musicians is what will the move mean for the future of an amplifier brand that changed the face of popular music in 1962 with the launch of the late Jim Marshall’s first amp design, the JTM45, and provided the sound and the power for a new generation of players including Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. The most-recent high-profile launch from Marshall was its Vintage Reissue Pedals, which saw the return of the cult classic Guv’Nor, Drivemaster, Bluesbreaker and Shredmaster drive pedals. New amp designs, however, have been thin on the ground. Jim Marshall’s heirs, his daughter Victoria Marshall and son Terry Marshall, will sit on the board of the Marshall Group, and said in a statement that the move will extend the brand’s appeal. “Since my father and I created the original Marshall amp back in 1962, we have always looked for ways to deliver the pioneering Marshall sound to music lovers of all backgrounds and music tastes across the world,” said Terry Marshall. “I’m confident that the Marshall Group will elevate this mission and spur the love for the Marshall brand.”
2023 Formula 1 World Championship Drivers' Standings
Swedish home prices continued to slide in March as stubborn inflation and surging borrowing costs extend a housing market crunch in the country. Residential property prices in the largest Nordic economy declined by 0.8% last month, data from the state-owned mortgage lender SBAB published on Monday showed. The decline had slowed to 0.6% in February, but most experts say housing prices will continue to fall and may even surpass the forecast 20% drop-off. Housing prices plunged by 15% in nominal terms last year, driven by surging inflation and interest rate hikes by the central bank. The worst housing-price slump in three decades in Sweden has contributed to a surge in defaults, particularly in the construction industry, which is responsible for 11% of the country’s economic output. In March, bankruptcies in the sector surged 14%, which has suppressed investment in new dwellings.
The chief economist at SBAB, Robert Boije, called the March slide “surprisingly strong” adding that he expects “significantly weaker development going forward if the Riksbank continues to raise the policy rate and inflation continues to remain at high levels.” Sweden’s housing market is the most vulnerable in the EU due to the country’s rising interest rates. Although about 64% of Swedes own their homes, many have mortgages. However, because in most cases these are not long-term, fixed-rate mortgages, there is a high degree of exposure across the sector to rising interest rates, which are now at their highest levels in more than a decade following a series of hikes by the Riksbank. Industry experts say housing prices are also strongly affected by unusually high electricity prices and warn that the decline in the Swedish property market may last for years. |
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