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Meet the AI Jane Austen: Meta weaves AI throughout its apps

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

MENLO PARK, Calif. — In a WhatsApp text conversation this week, we asked Jane Austen — yes, the 19th-century British author — how she felt about Mr. Darcy, a character from one of her most famous works, “Pride and Prejudice.”After a few seconds, Austen responded.“Ah, Mr. Darcy. Everyone remembers him as one of my characters,” she said, her face appearing in a small window above our conversation. “But fewer people have read one of my books,” she added, with an arched eyebrow and what seemed like a hint of resentment.Austen was not actually talking to us. But a modern interpretation of her likeness was used by Meta, which owns WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, as part of an artificially intelligent character that could chat across the company’s messaging apps. Characters based on other people’s likenesses — including former quarterback Tom Brady, social media influencers Beast and Charlie D’Amelio, and hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg — were also available to converse.These chara...

St. Francis’ passing duo proves to be the difference in WCAL defensive slugfest

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

MOUNTAIN VIEW — St. Ignatius went into Friday’s game at St. Francis having scored over 30 points in each of its last three games, 28 or more in its last four.The Wildcats managed only two field goals against the Lancers and St. Francis came out on top, 21-6, in a West Catholic Athletic game.“That’s a very good football team that’s scored a lot of points so I’m very happy with the way the defense played tonight,” St. Francis coach Greg Calcagno said.St. Ignatius used two quarterbacks — Soren Hummel and Brandon Mann — and they combined to complete 14 of 37 passes for 94 yards.“Our secondary played great,” Calcagno said of Luke Wall, Sefanaia Alatini, Joseph Paul Payer and Mack Mrowka.St. Ignatius’ Shane Molinari (29) runs for yardage while being dragged down by St. Francis’ players during the 1st half of the St. Ignatius at St. Francis WCAL high school football game at St. Francis High School in Mountain Vie...

49ers-Cowboys: Five keys to a 5-0 start by beating longtime rival

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

SANTA CLARA – History? Yeah, the 49ers have some with the Dallas Cowboys. Some of the greatest NFC playoff battles, in fact.All due respect to “The Catch” and victory laps and celebrations on the midfield logo, but Sunday night’s rivalry renewal is truly about the here and now, and playoff positioning.The “here” is Levi’s Stadium, where the 49ers look to run this season’s record to 5-0. It’s also where their postseason office would be as the NFC’s No. 1 seed, their stated goal from Day 1.“It’s a huge test. To say that it isn’t would be naïve and downplaying the moment,” linebacker Fred Warner said.This is the 49ers’ third straight game at home. Their last loss on home soil: Oct. 23 to the Lombardi Trophy-bound Kansas City Chiefs. Ten straight home wins have ensued, including a playoff elimination of the Cowboys on Jan. 22.A San Francisco 49ers fan holds up a sign against the Dallas Cowboys before the start of their NFC divisional-round playoff game at Levi...

Warriors’ newfound chemistry to be put to test in preseason opener

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s been five months since the Los Angeles Lakers ended the Warriors’ season in the Western Conference semifinals.After the loss, the Warriors players went their separate ways to decompress from the long, grueling season. But many came back to the home base in San Francisco sooner than the previous summer motivated to right what went wrong during their title defense. The roster underwent a little bit of a shake-up, with the team making a clear commitment to capitalizing on now with Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson still together.Saturday’s preseason opener against the Lakers will present the first opportunity to see what it’ll be like to have Curry and Chris Paul sharing the court. It could also provide a glimpse at how much growth some of the young players, such as Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, have made over the last few months.“It’s really almost like another practice,” coach Steve Kerr said Frida...

Wilcox routs Menlo-Atherton in first league matchup between teams

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

ATHERTON — There was a sense of anticipation from the first big football matchup since the merger of two super leagues.Menlo-Atherton and Wilcox, two of the dominant public high school football programs in the Central Coast Section, now are rivals under the banner of the Peninsula Athletic League’s Bay Division.In its first non-playoff contest in San Mateo County in 11 years, Wilcox dominated the Bears, 41-3, on Friday night.An aggressive defensive effort by Wilcox punctured the M-A ground game early and forced the Bears out of their game, both running and passing.The result was a one-sided contest that ended with a running clock. Wilcox (4-2 overall) emerged with a 2-0 league record and left M-A (2-4, 0-1) searching for answers.Wilcox quarterback Tyson Bonilla ran the Chargers’ split-back veer offense to perfection, rushing for two touchdowns and throwing for another – a first-blood 22-yard TD throw to Will Ruff.The Chargers rushed for 266 yards while building a 34-0 lead by ...

Editorial: VTA’s San Jose BART extension costs surging out of control

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

It’s time to apply the brakes before the San Jose BART extension careens off the track.Then hire independent experts to evaluate the benefits and costs — and decide whether Santa Clara County’s largest infrastructure project is worth the new $12.2 billion price tag.In just three years, the cost estimate for the six-mile, four-station, mostly underground extension has more than doubled, and the completion date has been kicked back a decade from 2026 to 2036.The price of the project — stretching from the Berryessa/North San Jose stop through downtown San Jose and up to Santa Clara — increased from $5.6 billion in 2020 to $6.9 billion later that year, $9.1 billion in 2021, $9.3 billion in 2022 and then the $12.2 billion this past week.It’s time for a fresh look at the project and alternatives that might provide mass transit or other environmentally friendly commuter options more cost-effectively. Perhaps the extension will still prove to be a wise investment. Or perha...

Roger Goodell says NFL may add new international host for game in 2024

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The NFL could stage a game in yet another international location “as early as next year,” commissioner, Roger Goodell said Saturday.Goodell spoke at a fans’ forum in London, which is hosting three games this season before the international slate switches to Germany for two games in November.The league recently confirmed that cities in Spain and Brazil are under review as potential hosts in the future.“We actually have three or four markets that are here this weekend and next weekend that are interested in hosting a game,” he said.The NFL declined to comment beyond Goodell’s answers at the fan event.The league has made an aggressive push internationally by adding a 17th game to the schedule to facilitate games abroad and give teams marketing rights in various countries.League officials have made site visits to Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil and Madrid in Spain where they were “building relationships, looking at the stadia there, looking at the operat...

Hamas kills 40 in unprecedented, wide-ranging incursion into Israel. Netanyahu says ‘we are at war’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea, catching the country off guard on a major holiday. Several hours after the invasion began, Hamas militants were still fighting gunbattles inside several Israeli communities in a surprising show of strength that shook the country. Israel’s national rescue service said at least 40 people have been killed and hundreds wounded, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in years.At least 561 wounded people were being treated in Israeli hospitals, including at least 77 who were in critical condition, according to an Associated Press count based on public statements and calls to hospitals.There was no official comment on casualties in Gaza, but AP reporters witnessed the funerals of 15 people who were killed and saw another ei...

US Senate leader raises trade and fentanyl at start of 1st congressional visit to China since 2019

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

SHANGHAI (AP) — A senior American lawmaker, leading the first congressional trip to China in four years, said Saturday that the U.S. does not want to cut economic ties with the world’s second-largest economy but seeks a level playing field so that American companies can compete freely.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and five other senators arrived in Shanghai earlier in the day on a three-country tour that will also take them to South Korea and Japan. The trip comes amid a sharp deterioration in relations between the U.S. and China and as officials try to lay the groundwork for a possible meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November. “We are prepared to compete but we do not seek to conflict,” Schumer told Shanghai’s Communist Party chief shortly after the delegation’s arrival. The party head, Chen Jining, avoided specific issues in his public remarks, saying that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship would benefit the entire world. H...

Israeli national rescue service says at least 40 killed in wide-ranging Hamas incursion

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:40:56 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli national rescue service says at least 40 killed in wide-ranging Hamas incursion.Source