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For more than a century, Atlanta beverage giant Coca-Cola has released holiday ads that have closely shaped much of the imagery associated with Christmas. Think Santa Claus and polar bears. This year, some of Coca-Cola’s holiday ads airing on TV look a little different. They’re generated by artificial intelligence. In what is the company’s largest push into using AI in advertising, Coca-Cola partnered with generative AI companies to make new iterations of its classic 1995 ad “Holidays Are Coming.” Shots of lighted Coca-Cola trucks on snowy roads and mountains, smiling townspeople and Christmas trees rising above an idyllic village, among other familiar holiday imagery, were all rendered using AI models. ‘Always exploring’ In a statement, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola said the company is “always exploring new ways to connect with fans and experiment with different approaches” and dedicated to “creating the highest level of work at the intersection of human creativity and technology.” Silverside AI, one of the firms commissioned by Coke, provided further detail about the project on their website. A project of the same scale as the holiday ad would typically take more than 12 months, Silverside wrote on its website. But using both proprietary technology and market AI tools, Silverside produced the ad in two months with a team of 40 people, “showcasing that AI, combined with human creativity, can elevate storytelling to new heights.” The campaign immediately received backlash, with critics saying the ad deceives consumers and strips the holiday campaign of its creativity. On the other side of the spectrum, some called it a bold innovation and a new approach to visual storytelling. The controversy indicates that the argument over advertisers incorporating AI into campaigns is far from settled. Violation of brand promise Tim Halloran, a professor at Georgia Tech who spent 10 years working with Coca-Cola’s brand management division, said the new ad campaign was a violation of Coca-Cola’s brand promise. “As a brand, you always want to establish a relationship with consumers built on authenticity and realness and being true. That’s where the fallacy of this is, especially for a brand like Coca-Cola. For years, a core crux of that brand has been the idea of authenticity. After all, Coke was ‘The Real Thing,’” Halloran said, referring to the brand’s iconic campaign from the 1970s. To keep up with the pace of innovation in an ever-changing advertising market, Coca-Cola, along with thousands of other companies, are reckoning with the fast-improving technology. Generative AI can automate time-consuming or labor-intensive tasks involved in producing ads, cutting down on time and costs. But there are concerns it has the potential to limit the need for human workers involved in the craft. In a study gauging awareness and acceptance of AI within the advertising industry by Yahoo and public relations company Publicis Media from earlier this year, about 77% of surveyed advertisers had a positive sentiment toward AI. Consumers only had a 38% positive sentiment. The holiday ads are not Coca-Cola’s first foray into using generative AI. In 2023, the company debuted a tool built partly by OpenAI that generates artwork from imagery within its archives. Later that year, it allowed users to generate holiday cards. To the untrained eye, the computer-generated graphics may look identical to real images. But it has the uncanny look of much of the AI-generated content that has flooded the internet in recent years. Halloran, who played the ad in front of his graduate students not long after it had released, said it looked like a poorly done version of the 2004 animated film “The Polar Express,” which was the first film shot entirely using motion capture technology. Can’t replicate human emotion The problem with AI, Halloran said, is that it can’t replicate human emotion, an element that makes so many advertising campaigns successful, Coca-Cola’s holiday ads included. Consumers typically look forward to Coca-Cola’s yearly ads and think back to older campaigns with nostalgia. To use this campaign as its largest-scale experimentation with AI yet seems to be a statement, Halloran said. “A brand like Coke needs to have one foot in being technologically savvy and understanding how technology is changing,” Halloran said. “You don’t want to seem baked in the past, but you have to stay true to what the brand means to people.”NEW YORK (AP) — A gunman killed UnitedHealthcare’s CEO on Wednesday in a “brazen, targeted attack” outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurer was holding its investor conference, police said, setting off a massive search for the fleeing assailant hours before the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting nearby. Brian Thompson, 50, was shot around 6:45 a.m. as he walked alone to the New York Hilton Midtown from a nearby hotel, police said. The shooter appeared to be “lying in wait for several minutes” before approaching Thompson from behind and opening fire , New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Police had not yet established a motive. “Many people passed the suspect, but he appeared to wait for his intended target,” Tisch said, adding that the shooting "does not appear to be a random act of violence.” Surveillance video reviewed by investigators shows someone emerging from behind a parked car, pointing a gun at Thompson’s back, then firing multiple times from several feet away. The gunman continues firing, interrupted by a brief gun jam, as Thompson stumbles forward and falls to the sidewalk. He then walks past Thompson and out of the frame. “From watching the video, it does seem that he’s proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said. Thompson was shot at least once in the back and once in the calf, Tisch said. The shooter, who wore a jacket, face mask and large backpack, fled through Midtown on foot before pedaling an electric bike into Central Park a few blocks away, police said. The assailant remained at large Wednesday afternoon, sparking a search that included police drones, helicopters and dogs. “Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,” the insurer’s Minnetonka, Minnesota-based parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., said in a statement. "We are working closely with the New York Police Department and ask for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.” Police issued a poster showing a surveillance image of the man pointing what appeared to be a gun and another image that appeared to show the same person on a bicycle. Minutes before the shooting, he stopped at a nearby Starbucks, according to additional surveillance photos released by police on Wednesday afternoon. They offered a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Thompson’s wife, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage. Eric Werner, the police chief in the Minneapolis suburb where Thompson lived, said his department had not received any reports of threats against the executive. The killing shook a part of New York City that's normally quiet at that hour, happening about four blocks from where tens of thousands of people were set to gather for Wednesday night’s tree lighting. Police promised extra security for the event. The hotel is also a short walk from other tourist sites, including the Museum of Modern Art and Radio City Music Hall, and is often dense with office workers and visitors on weekday mornings. Many security cameras are nearby. “We’re encouraging New Yorkers to go about their daily lives and their daily business but to be alert,” NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said. Investigators recovered several 9 mm shell casings from outside the hotel and a cellphone from the alleyway through which the shooter fled. They were also searching Thompson's hotel room, interviewing his UnitedHealthcare colleagues and reviewing his social media, Kenny said. Police initially said the shooter rode into Central Park on a bicycle from the city’s bike-share program, CitiBike. But a spokesperson for the program’s operator, Lyft, said police officials informed the company Wednesday afternoon that the bike was not from the CitiBike fleet. Health care giant UnitedHealth Group was holding its annual meeting with investors to update Wall Street on the company's direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference early in the wake of Thompson's death. “I’m afraid that we — some of you may know we’re dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members,” a company official told attendees, according to a transcript. “And as a result, I’m afraid we’re going to have to bring to a close the event today. ... I’m sure you’ll understand.” Thompson, a father of two sons, had been with the company since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years. UnitedHealthcare is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state-and federally funded Medicaid programs. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz posted on the social platform X that the state is “sending our prayers to Brian’s family and the UnitedHealthcare team.” “This is horrifying news and a terrible loss for the business and health care community in Minnesota,” the Democrat wrote. Associated Press writers Tom Murphy in Indianapolis, Steve Karnowski in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Anthony Izaguirre in Albany, New York, contributed to this story. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.8 linggo ilang araw 。

NoneSCV Food Pantry hosts turkey giveaway

Have you ever wondered what it would take to train a robot to walk, grasp objects, or navigate a cluttered room with the same ease as a human? For many, the idea of might conjure images of expensive labs, endless trial-and-error, and highly specialized equipment. But what if this process could be simplified, accelerated, and made accessible to anyone with a decent computer? Enter the Genesis Project—a new innovation that’s flipping the script on robotics training. Whether you’re a seasoned researcher or a curious hobbyist, this technology promises to make advanced robotics not just a possibility, but a reality within reach. At its core, the Genesis Project uses the power of generative AI to create hyper-realistic virtual environments where robots can learn and adapt at lightning speed. Imagine training a robot in seconds instead of days, all from the comfort of your own home. This isn’t just about saving time—it’s about opening doors to creativity and innovation for people who’ve never had access to these before. But how does it work, and what makes it so innovative? uses generative AI as a high-precision physics engine to create realistic simulations, allowing advanced robotic training in virtual environments that closely mirror real-world conditions. With GPU acceleration, Genesis achieves simulation speeds up to 430,000 times faster than real-world physics, allowing complex robotic training tasks to be completed in seconds using consumer-grade hardware. A universal physics engine re-built from the ground up, capable of simulating a wide range of materials and physical phenomena. Robust sim-to-real transfer capabilities ensure that skills learned in simulations effectively translate to real-world applications, preparing robots for unpredictable conditions. The platform automates key aspects of robotics development, such as task generation and environment design, while its open source nature makes advanced tools accessible to researchers, developers, and hobbyists. Genesis supports diverse applications across industries like manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare, while introducing innovations in soft robotics and motion planning for complex, precise movements. The Genesis Project is transforming the field of robotics by using the power of generative AI to transform how robots are trained and deployed. Acting as a sophisticated physics engine, it creates highly realistic simulations of physical environments, offering a new approach to robotics development. With its open source framework and compatibility with consumer-grade hardware, Genesis makes advanced robotic training accessible to researchers, developers, and hobbyists alike. At the core of the Genesis Project lies its generative AI-powered physics engine, which is capable of simulating dynamic, four-dimensional physical environments with remarkable accuracy. This engine supports a wide range of physical behaviors, including: Simulating the motion and interaction of solid objects. Modeling flexible and elastic materials, such as artificial muscles. Replicating the behavior of liquids and gases in various conditions. Simulating objects that can bend, stretch, or compress under force. By replicating real-world conditions with such precision, Genesis enables robots to train in virtual environments that closely mirror reality. For example, a robotic arm can practice handling objects of varying textures, weights, and shapes, making sure adaptability to real-world tasks. This level of detail allows developers to fine-tune robotic performance before deployment, saving time and resources. One of the standout features of Genesis is its unparalleled simulation speed, operating up to 430,000 times faster than real-world physics. This capability allows robotic training tasks that would typically take hours or days to be completed in mere seconds. For instance, training a robot to walk, grasp objects, or navigate complex environments can be achieved in under 30 seconds using consumer-grade GPUs such as the NVIDIA RTX 4090. This remarkable efficiency is made possible through GPU acceleration, which optimizes computational performance without requiring expensive, specialized hardware. By drastically reducing training time, Genesis enables developers to iterate and refine robotic systems more rapidly than ever before. Find more information on humanoid robot by browsing our extensive range of articles, guides and tutorials. A critical challenge in robotics is making sure that skills learned in simulations translate effectively to real-world scenarios. Genesis addresses this issue through its robust sim-to-real transfer capabilities. By introducing variability into simulated environments—such as altering lighting conditions, surface textures, or object placements—robots are better equipped to handle unpredictable real-world conditions. For example, a robot trained to navigate a cluttered virtual room can seamlessly adapt to similar tasks in physical spaces like warehouses, offices, or homes. This adaptability ensures that robots trained with Genesis are not only efficient in controlled environments but also reliable in dynamic, real-world settings. Genesis simplifies the robotics development process by automating several key aspects of training. The platform can: Automatically create training scenarios tailored to specific objectives. Build realistic and customizable training spaces. Establish performance metrics to guide robotic learning. This automation minimizes the need for manual intervention, making the platform more user-friendly and accessible. Its open source nature further provide widespread access tos access to advanced robotics tools, allowing developers and enthusiasts to train robots at home using affordable, consumer-grade hardware. By lowering the barrier to entry, Genesis fosters innovation across a broader audience, encouraging experimentation and creativity in robotics. The versatility of Genesis unlocks opportunities across a wide range of industries. Robots trained on the platform can perform complex tasks such as walking, object manipulation, and navigation. These capabilities are particularly valuable in: Robots can assemble products with precision and efficiency, reducing production costs. Autonomous vehicles and drones can optimize delivery systems and warehouse operations. Robots can assist in surgeries, rehabilitation, and caregiving tasks. Robots can help with chores, provide companionship, or assist individuals with disabilities. By allowing robots to handle increasingly complex tasks, Genesis brings advanced robotics closer to everyday life, enhancing productivity and convenience across diverse sectors. Genesis introduces several innovative features that distinguish it from traditional simulation platforms. It is the first system to support soft robotics, allowing the simulation of flexible, deformable robots and their interactions with rigid counterparts. This capability is particularly significant in fields like medical robotics, where soft materials are essential for making sure patient safety during procedures. Additionally, Genesis incorporates a GPU-accelerated inverse kinematics solver, which calculates efficient robotic motion paths in real time. This ensures that robots can perform intricate movements with both precision and speed, making them suitable for tasks that require a high degree of dexterity and accuracy. The Genesis Project . By making advanced training tools accessible to a wider audience, it encourages innovation among professionals and hobbyists alike. Its scalability and cost-effectiveness could drive the adoption of robots in sectors such as agriculture, construction, and disaster response, where automation can significantly enhance efficiency and safety. However, the open source nature of the platform raises important ethical considerations. Making sure the responsible use of this powerful technology will be crucial to prevent misuse in harmful applications, such as weaponized robotics or surveillance systems. As the platform continues to evolve, addressing these challenges will be essential to maximize its benefits while minimizing risks. Media Credit:

filo The solar inverter company SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. ( NASDAQ: SEDG ) has been one of my better-performing picks this year. I initiated a bearish outlook in May , seeing that the company was likely losing its edge on Enphase ( Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Check out a full Iowa scouting report that examines the Hawkeyes' offensive and defensive statistics and more ahead of their game against Nebraska. * * * Record: 7-4 Offensive yards per play: 5.7 (73rd nationally) Defensive yards per play: 5.0 (34th) Turnover margin: +11 (T-8th) Penalty yards per game: 29.7 (3rd) New Big Ten, same Iowa. The Hawkeyes have continued to play solid football in Kirk Ferentz's 26th season at the helm, hanging their hat on playing defense and running the football. They lost to the two currently ranked teams they've played and had a couple unexpected road shortcomings, but remain 5-1 at home with a number of decisive victories in conference play. Type: Run-heavy Coordinator: Tim Lester Letting go of Brian Ferentz and bringing in Lester in the offseason has paid dividends for the Hawkeyes already. The Iowa offense has returned to being a respectable unit, its 29.4 points per game ranking 55th nationally. Even with inconsistent health and quality at quarterback, an outstanding ground game has helped lead the team to some blowout wins. Type: 4-2-5 Coordinator: Phil Parker After fielding top-five units the past two years, Parker's defense has seen a slight drop. The Hawkeyes allow 17.7 points per game, fifth in the Big Ten and 12th nationally. Of course, that's still a pretty good number from the accomplished Iowa coordinator, but Michigan State and UCLA were able to break through enough for wins despite not having inspiring offensive attacks. Kaleb Johnson, running back: The nation's second-leading rusher behind Boise State's Ashton Jeanty, no Big Ten back has been in the same realm of total production as Johnson has in 2024. He's already broken Iowa's single-season rushing touchdown record and is third on the program's list for yards on the ground in a season. Jay Higgins, linebacker: Leads Iowa in total tackles (106), interceptions (4) and forced fumbles (2), while ranking third on the team in pass breakups (5). The fifth-year linebacker has done a bit of everything for the Hawkeyes. "Their players are waving at our guys — ‘Hey, have a good Christmas!’ — that was painful. That was really painful. So I don’t doubt that our guys will be ready. But their guys will be ready. It really just comes down to football." — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule on the team's loss to Iowa in 2023 "This back is fantastic, he makes people miss, and he can burst and go the distance... [Iowa's] doing a really good job, and they’ve run some people off the field just by running the football down their throat." — Nebraska coach Matt Rhule on Iowa's run game "First start as our quarterback... He played with a lot of poise, good awareness out there, made the plays we were hoping we'd make and made good decisions most importantly and protected the football." — Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz on quarterback Jackson Stratton's performance against Maryland 227: Pass attempts by Iowa this year, the least in the Big Ten. Michigan is next with 50 more. 14: Iowa's increase in points per game from last season to this one — from 15.4 to 29.4. 24: Punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line by Iowa, the most in the Big Ten. Aug. 31 Illinois State, W 40-0 Sept. 7 Iowa State, L 20-19 Sept. 14 Troy, W 38-21 Sept. 21 at Minnesota, W 31-14 Oct. 5 at Ohio State, L 35-7 Oct. 12 Washington, W 40-16 Oct. 19 at Michigan State, L 32-20 Oct. 26 Northwestern, W 40-14 Nov. 2 Wisconsin, W 42-10 Nov. 8 at UCLA, L 20-17 Nov. 23 at Maryland, W 29-13 Nov. 29 NebraskaUHealth and construction firm Robins & Morton marked the opening of UHealth Doral with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 21. The six-story, 160,000-square-foot medical center at 8375 NW 53rd Terrace is part of the larger Downtown Doral mixed-use community in Miami-Dade County. The facility includes 33 exam rooms, eight operating rooms, three endoscopy suites, 33 cancer treatment units, comprehensive radiology services, a lab, an onsite pharmacy, a seven-story parking garage, and a central energy plant to support operations. Specialty services offered at UHealth Doral include care from the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the Desai Sethi Urology Institute, and UHealth’s neurology program, among other specialty service lines. “The biggest advantage for patients in Doral is that they now have local access in their community to the providers and services that adhere to the mission of UHealth’s academic medicine practices,” said David Kerman, M.D., chief medical director for UHealth Doral. “Our physicians are providing cutting-edge care and leading technology compassionately to the people living in the Doral community.” Robins & Morton served as the project’s general contractor, with Arcadis as the architect. “We’re incredibly excited to celebrate the completion of UHealth Doral,” said Johnathan Peavy, operations manager at Robins & Morton. “This facility will have a lasting, positive impact on our community for decades to come, bringing transformative care to Doral.” The newly completed facility aims to enhance healthcare access for the Doral community, providing a wide range of specialized services within a state-of-the-art environment. to YIMBY’s daily e-mail YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates YIMBY on Facebook YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews70 Gifts under $25 on Amazon that are legitimately amazing