All posts tagged: ready

Remembrance Sunday comes at a time when the UK is not ready for war – and the US is not as reliable as it once was | UK News

Remembrance Sunday comes at a time when the UK is not ready for war – and the US is not as reliable as it once was | UK News

Published by Sam

Britain’s annual Remembrance Sunday has a special dimension in 2024 because it was the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings this year. The speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and the Imperial War Museum are arranging for images of the men and women who took part in the Normandy campaign to be projected on the Elizabeth Tower below Big Ben. Political leaders past and present will be on parade to lay wreaths at the Cenotaph, which commemorates “Our Glorious Dead” from two world wars and other military conflicts. Those assembled see no contradiction in the fact they are all bound to have been involved in cuts to the UK’s defence capabilities. D-Day, when British and American troops fought on to the beaches to liberate Europe, is the defining moment of the UK’s patriotic pride to this day – which is why it was a big mistake by Rishi Sunak in the summer to duck out early from France and the international commemorations of 6 June 1944. Ever since then Britain and Europe …

Ukraine Is Getting Ready to Unleash a Swarm of Robot Dogs

Ukraine Is Getting Ready to Unleash a Swarm of Robot Dogs

Published by José

Ukraine is letting the dogs out. Rover 2.0 To address its manpower shortage, Ukraine is planning to let loose packs of robot dogs against the invading Russian military, Agence France-Presse reports. The robot dogs will be used to detect land mines, go on reconnaissance missions to scope out the enemy in hostile territory, and carry weapons, ammunition, and medicine to the battlefield. During a recent demonstration to journalists, one of the robot dogs dubbed BAD ONE crouched and ran not unlike its flesh and blood counterpart, showing off its compact size and stealthy agility. “This dog limits the risk for soldiers and increases operational capabilities,” a robot dog operator named Yuri, who’s working for a British military equipment company, told AFP. “This is the core function of the dog.” The robot dog has a battery run time of two hours, an onboard thermal imaging system, and a kill switch that erases all of its data if the robot would fall in the hands of the Russians. It just goes to show how military forces will …

We’re not ready for AI agents

We’re not ready for AI agents

Published by skeptic

This is Atlantic Intelligence, a newsletter in which our writers help you wrap your mind around artificial intelligence and a new machine age. Sign up here. AI has been cheered by proponents for its ability to automate tasks, allowing users to spare themselves from boring work assignments (or, in a less happy example, to flood the web with useless slop). What will happen when this tendency is taken to its extreme? In a recent article for The Atlantic, Jonathan Zittrain writes about the coming era of AI agents—bots that operate on behalf of humans, not only responding to specific prompts but also undertaking much more complex interactions such as shopping and responding to emails. “This routinization of AI that doesn’t simply talk with us, but also acts out in the world, is a crossing of the blood-brain barrier between digital and analog, bits and atoms,” Zittrain writes. “That should give us pause.” Zittrain references a man who created a bot that could manage every step of the pizza-ordering process: It called a local pizzeria, “spoke” …

Get ready for Glastonbury 2024: 11 essentials to pack, plan and download | Glastonbury on The Nation’s Network

Get ready for Glastonbury 2024: 11 essentials to pack, plan and download | Glastonbury on The Nation’s Network

Published by skeptic

If you’re one of the 200,000 music fans who are about to get stuck into five days of partying in the Somerset fields of fun; congratulations for managing to bag a much-coveted ticket. An absolutely golden weekend lies ahead of you (well, once the tent has been pitched). But while it’s probably as far removed from a Scouts’ camping trip as you can get, it’s still advisable to follow their old mantra – even for a slightly more debauched countryside visit – and be prepared. With mere weeks to go, here’s everything you should plan, download and pack to make it a truly incredible experience … 1. Power bankYou know that person who always begs to borrow your power bank as their phone’s about to die? Don’t be that person. For about £20, you can get one that when fully charged should just about see you through for a few days. That’s one option, or you could reserve a charging pack from Vodafone for the entire festival – collect on site, then simply head to …

Denmark ready for Sesko challenge in Slovenia opener

Denmark ready for Sesko challenge in Slovenia opener

Published by Sam

STUTTGART, Germany : Denmark are confident they are favourites to beat Slovenia in their opening Euro 2024 Group C match but tremain wary of the threat of young striker Benjamin Sesko, manager Kasper Hjulmand said on Saturday. The Danes edged Slovenia in their qualifying group to reach the tournament in Germany. However, Slovenia have Sesko, 21, leading the line after a superb season with RB Leipzig, scoring 18 goals in all competitions to have major European clubs looking to sign him before he agreed a contract extension. “In this game we are favourites but we have a lot of respect for Slovenia and they have shown great results, especially against Portugal (2-0 friendly win in March) and we have to do our very best if we want to play our game,” Hjulmand told a press conference. “Sesko is very fast and he has a great left foot and it’s a player we know and a player we’ve analysed a lot because he’s significant for Slovenia,” the 52-year-old said. “Sesko is a big star and a …

‘Perilous for democracy, good for profits’: is big business ready to love Trump again? | Business

‘Perilous for democracy, good for profits’: is big business ready to love Trump again? | Business

Published by skeptic

Chief executives of some of America’s largest companies will meet privately with Donald Trump later on Thursday, and many CEOs who were once critical of his unprecedented conduct appear increasingly open to the former president’s return to office, a Guardian analysis has found. The private audience with the former president will take place at the quarterly gathering of the Business Roundtable, a powerful Washington lobbying group that advocates for the interests of chief executives of big US firms. Joe Biden was also invited; his chief of staff will attend while the US president is abroad, a Business Roundtable spokesperson said. The meeting comes less than five months before the election and less than four years after CEOs raised the alarm about political polarization and threats to democracy when Trump refused to accept the results of the 2020 presidential election and incited an insurrection at the US Capitol. Back then, the Business Roundtable – whose members include Apple’s Tim Cook, General Motors’ Mary Barra and JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon – led a chorus of condemnation from …

Are you ready for a fight? Brace yourself! – OpentheWord.org

Are you ready for a fight? Brace yourself! – OpentheWord.org

Published by skeptic

So, who are you, really? And who am I? Yes, that is a ridiculous question … or maybe not. The world that we live in depends on our answers, and modern society is changing, under our feet. I went to a meeting, a few days ago, and I am still bothered by what happened. I will tell you the story, or parts of it, but I have a disclaimer. People are signing petitions, and lawyers are involved, and I don’t want to escalate the arguments. I will try to avoid any specific references, and you probably won’t know where this happened. Sorry, but that is the best I can do with such a hot issue. Some time ago, I was asked to become a registered member of an organization, or “society” that is Christian and focuses on educating children. They have several schools. I went to public schools, and I don’t share the enthusiasm, but friends wanted me to join and contribute. I joined. In my mind, I did what I could to make a …

Microsoft finds workers are tired and overwhelmed but AI ready to assist

Microsoft finds workers are tired and overwhelmed but AI ready to assist

Published by skeptic

A Microsoft workplace study has uncovered how workers feel about artificial intelligence (AI), with almost two in three workers stating they don’t have enough time or energy to do their jobs. The report compiled findings from 31,000 respondents from 31 countries as well as a deep dive into “trillions of aggregated productivity signals in Microsoft 365, along with labor market trends on LinkedIn”. Microsoft’s 2023 Annual Work Trend Index, the fourth time the tech giant has conducted the poll, contains a lot of useful information on how professionals view their contemporary workplace, with just under half of those surveyed sharing a concern that AI will have an impact on their job security. The report states 75% of workers now use AI in the workplace, with a feeling that the technology is a great tool at times of stress and high-intensity to allow them to concentrate on the imperative tasks. Of those who are already using AI, 78% are said to bring their own AI resources to work. Workers overwhelmed and out of energy The Work …

EnviroSpark just got M, and it’s ready to hire Tesla Supercharger team talent

EnviroSpark just got $50M, and it’s ready to hire Tesla Supercharger team talent

Published by skeptic

Photo: IHG Hotels & Resorts Thanks to a new $50 million investment, Atlanta-based EV charging company EnviroSpark wants to hire as many of the Tesla Supercharger team as possible. The $50 million investment from mid-market infrastructure equity investment firm Basalt Infrastructure Partners will allow EnviroSpark to rapidly grow its owned and operated network across the US, innovate technologies, and make its EV infrastructure more accessible and sustainable. EnviroSpark wants to do that with laid-off talent from Tesla, specifically the Supercharger team, which was laid off just over a week ago. This pop-up is on its website’s homepage: Aaron Luque, cofounder and CEO of EnviroSpark, said in an emailed statement: This is the single greatest talent acquisition opportunity since I founded EnviroSpark. Tesla had been able to scale their charging infrastructure due in no small part to the talented employees on the Supercharger team. With the help of our recent investment from Basalt, we’re looking to bring on as many of these highly skilled individuals as possible to achieve our ambitious growth objectives. Following a successful $15 million …

Republicans Ready Sanctions On World Court If It Issues Arrest Warrants For Israelis

Republicans Ready Sanctions On World Court If It Issues Arrest Warrants For Israelis

Published by skeptic

Via The Cradle Republican members of the US House of Representatives are preparing a sanctions package targeting International Criminal Court (ICC) officials as a “precaution” against potential arrest warrants of Israeli officials for war crimes committed in Gaza, according to Axios. “We want to emphasize to [ICC prosecutor Karim Khan] that going down this road of arrest warrants is a really bad idea, and it’s going to blow up the relationship,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul told the US news outlet. Image source: @Yaf “We’re not sure if the arrest warrants are imminent, but it’s sort of a precaution to let them know that, if they do, we have this legislation ready to go. It won’t be put on the floor unless we have to,” he added. McCaul emphasized the new package would come as a “companion” to legislation introduced last February in the Senate that seeks to sanction ICC officials “involved in probes of US allies who are not ICC members, such as Israel.” The report by Axios comes on the heels of a harshly …