Author: damazah@gmail.com

Reddit is trying out a new way for people to take in content on Reddit: by turning text posts into audio / video content. As part of an experiment, some posts are being adapted into videos that use AI voices to read the text of the main post and some comments. The video highlights the text as it’s read by the AI voice, and under the video, a note says that it’s a “Real conversation voiced by AI.”An old post in r/boardgames from eight years ago with 101 responses to a request for good road trip games that adults will…

At least three UK cabinet ministers have had their personal mobile phone numbers published online, amid mounting concern over the security of senior politicians after Andy Burnham was targeted by an impersonation scam.The defence secretary, Wes Streeting, the justice secretary, Alex Norris, and the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Bryant, had their numbers available online with their names.A reference containing Streeting’s number has since been removed, a source told the Guardian, noting he does all his government business on his official government phone. Officials are understood to be working to take down the others.The leak, first revealed by Politico, come after…

Dr Reese Richardson’s phone constantly buzzes with notifications. The scientific research integrity specialist has been tracking shadowy organisations known as “paper mills”, which turn a profit by offering fraudulent academic authorship of scientific papers, IP registrations and other scholarly outputs. For a fee, paper mills offer to list people as authors of scientific journal articles, often of falsified research that bypasses the peer review process.Richardson has joined dozens of groups across apps such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Facebook where a buffet of fraudulent and fabricated research is advertised to hundreds of members. “I can just look through my notifications and…

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has directed the technical crew of the Super Falcons to step down with immediate effect following the team’s failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The directive was made via a brief statement on Monday, four days after the Falcons suffered a 2-1 defeat to South Africa in the WAFCON play-off in Morocco. “The Executive Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation has asked members of the technical crew of the @NGSuper_Falcons to step down with immediate effect.” The defeat ended Nigeria’s hopes of reaching the 2027 World Cup and brought an end…

UPDATE: So, maybe Bob Iger and Josh Kushner don’t own 83% of the Los Angeles Lakers after all, or do they? It’s crickets from the Thrive camp today as reps for Jeanie Buss contradict a earlier assertion from the offspring of Dr. Jerry Buss that it is “time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.” In a move that reeks of a Succession and Running Point crossover that no one asked, a lawyer for Lakers governor and controlling owner Jeanie Buss insisted later Monday that the so-called sale of the family’s remaining 17.8%…

A Sydney library has removed a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide, following a complaint reportedly from a survivor of the Bondi beach terror attack.Waverley library at Bondi Junction is in the same council area as Bondi beach.A Waverley council spokesperson said: “The book has been removed from library shelves for review, and council will further consider processes to ensure closer oversight of book selection.”“Like most public libraries, Waverley council outsources its book curation, ordering and purchasing, meaning book selection is not undertaken by council officers.”The Jewish news outlet JWire last week reported it had approached…

Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, Politico reports, citing Palm Beach county voting records. The White House has confirmed the president’s mail-in vote, according to the New York Times, which added that this is at least the third time the president has mailed his ballot.In March, the president signed an executive ⁠order restricting the ​use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of US Congress. Trump has repeatedly criticized mail-in voting, calling for restrictions on the policy for years and falsely claiming that his 2020 election defeat was the result of…

By Rosemary Iwunze emPLE Nigeria has strengthened its capital position following the publication of her name on the list of approved companies on the official website of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), indicating that the company has met the applicable recapitalisation requirements, thereby reinforcing its financial strength and capacity to deliver sustainable value to customers and stakeholders across its Life and General Insurance businesses. This marks a significant milestone in emPLE’s growth journey, reinforcing the company’s financial capacity to meet its obligations, pursue strategic growth opportunities and remain a long-term partner to individuals, families and businesses. The company’s ability to…

El Niño looks to reach an intensity unprecedented in recorded history.Characterized by warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, El Niño occurs every few years. Meteorological agencies and researchers around the world are on high alert because when the heat stored in the ocean is released into the atmosphere, it triggers a chain reaction that affects rainfall, temperatures, and even hurricane activity around the world.This year’s El Niño has gained strength at an exceptional speed, and it will wreak havoc on everything from fisheries to ski seasons. Not all impacts are bad—the parched Southwest, for example, is likely to…

The fires in Spokane, Washington, this summer are the latest reminder that when a wildfire is detected can be just as important as where it starts. A blaze found within minutes can often be contained before it spreads. Wait too long, and a small spark can become a major disaster.A new effort to shorten that timeline began in July when a SpaceX rocket carried the first three FireSat satellites into orbit. The trio is the first part of a planned network of 50 satellites built solely to spot wildfires while they are still small enough to stop.FireSat is designed to…