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Larry Magid: Teens can now use Meta Horizon Worlds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

As of this week, teens can join Meta Horizon Worlds with safeguards in place to help protect young users from some of the risks associated with virtual reality. I’ll have more on that later, but first, a little history behind Meta’s transformation into a social VR platform company.Related ArticlesBusiness | Magid: I asked ChatGPT to help me write an AI safety guide Business | Magid: Google doubles down on sleep sensing Business | Magid: Is the internet responsible for increased anxiety? Business | Magid: Is artificial intelligence the next search engine? In 2014 the company then called Facebook acquired Oculus, the leading provider of virtual reality headsets. A year later, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was already talking about integrating social networking into VR at Facebook’s annual developers’ conference where I witnessed a demonstration of people in different locations not only having social interactions, but remot...

NBA sends whistle-happy officiating crew to Warriors-Kings Game 3

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

The referees have already made their presence known during the first round series between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.Now, as the series shifts to San Francisco and the Warriors desperately need to climb out of their 2-0 hole, they may make yet another big impact on Thursday night.The NBA announced its three-person crew early Thursday morning for the pivotal Game 3, with Eric Lewis, Kevin Scott and Sean Corbin calling the game.For a Warriors team that will be without Draymond Green, who is serving a one-game suspension for stomping on Sacramento’s Damontas Sabonis, this crew brings three referees who rank at or near the top of the league in fouls called per game officiated.Lewis, the crew chief, had the most fouls called per game of any full-time official this season, with 42.9 fouls per game in his 63 regular season games. Lewis was third overall out of the 76 referees who worked any games this year, but the two ahead of him only worked six games each.Both Corbin...

Homeschooled California eighth-grade QB with Pac-12 offer enrolls in high school for next school year

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

One of the top, incoming freshman quarterbacks in Orange County has enrolled at Huntington Beach High for the next school year.Brady Edmunds, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound eighth grader, recently confirmed his enrollment at the Sunset League school.Edmunds, who is home-schooled, has been offered by Arizona State and attracted recruiting interest from other colleges.“One of the most varsity-ready eighth graders I have seen in Orange County,” said Dan Selway, who has coached Edmunds privately. “(He) has the size and arm to challenge anyone. Should be fun to watch him this season and beyond.”“He’s always been a hard worker, humble and talented,” Selway added about Edmunds, who also plays basketball.Huntington Beach football coach Brett Brown said Tuesday that he his aware of Edmunds’ enrollment.Related ArticlesHigh School Sports | Weekend recap: Menlo School breaks track record, girls flag football update, Oakland throws parade High School Sports | College Park hires...

Ex-California Homeland Security employee gets 8 years in prison for molesting young girls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

A former Department of Homeland Security employee who molested two girls in Irvine, inappropriately touched a third girl and destroyed evidence prior to his arrest was sentenced Wednesday to eight years in prison.Terry Edward Keegan, now 59, targeted a vulnerable girl who lived with Keegan and his girlfriend, as well as two of her friends, by inappropriately touching them and taking photos of them, Orange County Superior Court Judge Andre Manssourian noted prior to announcing the prison sentence.The judge also cited the trust other parents had in Keegan due to his work with Homeland Security, as well as his background working with the Transportation Security Administration and as a reserve deputy for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.“It turns out the fox was guarding the hen house, and undoubtedly the defendant took advantage of a position of trust,” Manssourian said.One of the victims told the judge that at the time of the abuse she felt like she was alone and responsible for...

Prep roundup: Livermore shocks third-ranked Amador Valley in baseball

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

BaseballLivermore stuns No. 3 Amador ValleyLivermore coach David Perotti figured his team was going to have some growing pains this season. The Cowboys had only five seniors on the roster, and not all of them started.Then injuries struck, and a 5-0 start quickly evaporated into 10 losses in their next 13 games. But the Cowboys showed on Wednesday they are better than their overall record, as they shocked Amador Valley, the No. 3 team in the Bay Area News Group Top 20. The final score was 2-1.Ray Castillo, who has struggled to keep his batting average above .200, singled home the game’s first run with a single in the top of the fourth, then he hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth that snapped a 1-1 tie.Pitchers CJ Johnstone and Josh Rodriguez did the rest, allowing two hits and striking out nine. Johnston went the first five innings for the win, and Rodriguez got the save.“CJ struggles with his command a little,” Perotti said, “but he can be a bear of an at-bat when he’s throwing well. R...

Bay Area city to get new Ikea store

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

By Anna Cooban | CNNIkea is planning to splash 2.19 billion to expand its furniture empire in the United States in what will be the retailer’s biggest-ever investment in a single country.Ingka Group, Ikea Retail’s Dutch holding company, said in a statement Thursday that it hoped to open eight large stores and nine smaller “plan and order points” in America over the next three years. The new outlets would create 2,000 jobs, it added.Ikea plan and order points are aimed at customers who want to speak with a consultant on how to design their homes, as well as place orders.RELATED: IKEA debuts ‘as-is’ online store for discontinued, used itemsThe exact locations of the new US stores have not yet been decided, an Ingka spokesperson told CNN, though the company intends to build up its presence on the east and west coasts, and invest more in the south of the country.Tolga Öncü, head of Ikea Retail, said the company saw “endless opportunities to grow” in t...

How Mike Brown’s tactics have given Kings 2-0 lead and created challenges for Steve Kerr, Warriors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Steve Kerr called it, and Wednesday afternoon his prediction was confirmed: Mike Brown, Kerr’s longtime assistant with the Warriors who took over as head coach of the Sacramento Kings this season, was named the NBA Coach of the Year.With 100 first-place votes from a panel of reporters and broadcasters, Brown became the first-ever unanimous winner.Wednesday, just before it was announced, Kerr sat at the podium at the Chase Center and said the Warriors need to make some adjustments against the Kings, who came into the series as heavy underdogs but now have a 2-0 series lead.The Warriors have been competitive in both games, but Brown’s tactical decisions have undoubtedly made an impact. Kerr acknowledged a handful.He talked Wednesday about how the Kings have done a good job blitzing Steph Curry and forcing him into questionable decisions, often hurrying the Warriors on offense.“The greatest basketball quote of all time is from John Wooden, ‘Be quick but don’t hurr...

Ocean City’s Fontainebleau to reopen as Ashore Resort & Beach Club

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

The Ocean City Fontainebleau Resort officially reopens next month as the Ashore Resort & Beach Club in Maryland after a complete property renovation. (Certares Real Estate Management)The Ocean City Fontainebleau Resort officially reopens next month as the Ashore Resort & Beach Club in Maryland after a complete property renovation.The hotel, one of the oldest operating hotels in Ocean City, was acquired last year by Certares Real Estate Management, Monomoy Property Ventures and Highlands Investment LLC.The new owners dropped the Clarion moniker from the hotel’s name after acquiring it.The resort’s 250 rooms, including 15 multiroom suites have been redesigned and remodeled, including the private balconies overlooking the beach.There are five new food and beverage destinations on the property, including the full-service Tide Room, beachside bar Wahoo Beach Bar, a renovated 3,000-square-foot deck and event space called The Shore Deck overlooking the ocean, an indoor tavern The T...

Schumacher’s family plans legal action over fake interview

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

The family of Formula One great Michael Schumacher plans to take legal action against a German magazine for publishing what it claimed to be an artificial intelligence-generated interview with Schumacher.Family spokesperson Sabine Kehm confirmed to The Associated Press by email on Thursday that legal action is being planned over a “fake artificial intelligence interview by German outlet Die Aktuelle.” The magazine printed a photo of the 54-year-old Schumacher on its front page last weekend along with the words: “Michael Schumacher, the first interview!” The magazine also wrote “it sounds deceptively real” with the supposed quotes attributed to Schumacher generated by AI. Die Aktuelle is one of many tabloid celebrity magazines in Germany.It was while skiing in the French Alps at Meribel that Schumacher fell in December 2013 and suffered a near-fatal brain injury. His head hit a rock which split open his helmet. Doctors removed blood clots but others were left untouched be...

Justin Theroux propone un ‘bromance abierto’ con Woody Harrelson y Matthew McConaughey

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:35:40 GMT

(CNN) — Tres no son multitud para Justin Theroux. De hecho, le está dando la bienvenida.Este lunes, Theroux dijo a Entertainment Tonight que creó un vínculo bromántico con su coprotagonista de “White House Plumbers”, Woody Harrelson, a pesar de tener una dura competencia.“Tuvimos un poco de bromance”, dijo Theroux sobre Harrelson, añadiendo que sabe que está “en competencia” con Matthew McConaughey, que tiene “el bromance original” con la estrella de “Cheers”.Theroux continuó diciendo que está tratando de “separarlos y ver si puedo, ya sabes, tener un bromance abierto”.“Estamos en 2023, deberíamos poder compartir amigos”, bromeó.“White House Plumbers”, que se estrenará el 1 de mayo en HBO Max, arroja luz sobre la historia de los cohortes del escándalo Watergate E. Howard Hunt (Harrelson) y G. Gordon Liddy (Theroux) y los acontecimientos que condujeron a uno de los mayores escándalos...