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Guardian USA

US officials recover audio from ‘Mississippi miracle’ cruise ship and tanker crash

Tank vessel suffered sudden steering failure two minutes before slamming into docked riverboat near New Orleans

Federal safety investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recovered audio and released a preliminary timeline on Sunday of a collision between a cruise ship and a tanker vessel in the Mississippi River on Friday.

The data was retrieved after more than 30 people were injured when a tanker collided with a docked cruise ship – American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage riverboat – near the port of New Orleans on Friday at about 12.30pm. All passengers aboard the cruise ship have been accounted for, officials said.

Slashdot

Pranksters Redirect Bitly's Links in X Posts for Trump, McDonald's and Burger King

"A massive link-hijacking scheme has turned corporate social media archives into bizarre and offensive redirects," reports the New York Post: Posts from high-profile accounts — including fast-food giants McDonald's and Burger King, as well as President Donald Trump — are getting hacked, with over decades-old links suddenly redirecting users to unrelated website links including links about 9/11 and the Holocaust. An unknown party appears to be taking control of expired Bitly link shorteners — a widely used URL-shortening and link-management service — and altering their destinations.... Another Burger King tweet from July 13, 2011 — reading, "Now it's even easier to eat right at BURGER KING® restaurants with @WeRRestaurants. All you need is a zip code!" — was warped to link straight to Adolf Hitler's Wikipedia page... Two posts on Donald Trump's X account were also altered: a 2013 post redirected to a "Baby Fortnite" page, while a 2012 post linked to a video of Mario and Luigi from Super Mario Bros. The article notes that about 20 of Trump's old X posts had "switched" links, including some now pointing to videos of the Transformers. And it adds that "outraged web users are also slamming Bitly over its flaw that allows links to 'die' and be recycled by pranksters and bad actors." "Links dating as far back as 2009 from URL-shortening service Bitly were affected," reports CNN, "and only corporate and political X accounts appear to have been targeted, with President Donald Trump's personal account seemingly hit the hardest." "Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Vice President Mike Pence... were also hit to varying degrees." Bitly said Sunday afternoon in a post on X that it had "identified an issue that allowed bad actors to repurpose certain old, inactive links to redirect people to content unrelated to the original posts." The company said it suspended the accounts that altered links and were working to disable the affected URLs... It's unclear whether hackers made custom Bitly links, which effectively allow them to copy the original URL and redirect to any website. That may have been possible if the original Bitly link to the website no longer exists or has expired.... Another 2013 post from Trump tagged former Republican nominee for president Mitt Romney, and links to the popular game "Geometry Dash".... A post in 2011 by Trudeau contains a Bitly link that redirects to a vulgar YouTube audio clip... Government accounts have also been ironically affected. A 2012 post from the FBI about computers infected by "Ghost Clicks" now directs to a page with a photo of a seal, while the Department of Defense account had a separately redirected post.

Guardian USA

WTA Finals final: Mirra Andreeva beats Elina Svitolina in straight sets – as it happened

Russian teenager claims end of season title
Sabalenka apologizes to Svitolina after outburst

First set: Andreeva* 1-0 Svitolina (*next server)

Svitolina quickly drops two points and then sprays a shot wide to give Andreeva three break opportunities. Andreeva hits long on the first. Svitolina misses her first serve, takes her second one despite an emergency vehicle siren in the distance, and it’s a let. She lands the second one, and we have our longest rally so far. Svitolina slowly but surely takes control, and the 19-year-old Andreeva hits just wide.

Guardian USA

WTA Finals final: Mirra Andreeva beats Elina Svitolina in straight sets – live

Russian teenager claims end of season title
Sabalenka apologizes to Svitolina after outburst

First set: Andreeva* 1-0 Svitolina (*next server)

Chinese Dictionary

升高 shēng gāo

to raise / to ascend (HSK 5)

Slashdot

Siri Glitches Ruin Reviewer's Test of Apple's New 'HomeView' Smart Speaker

Apple has started selling its new HomeView smart speaker, a 7-inch square-with-rounded-corners screen equipped with a built-in camera. It pairs with your iPhone or iPad to offer personalized content from your email or text messages, using facial recognition to identify each family member. But in a video report, one Wall Street Journal reviewer discovered an issue while testing its smart home feature: WSJ REVIEWER: I've spent the last few years turning my home into a smart home that I can boss around with Siri. A smart lock, a special garage door opener, motorized shades, even a Raspberry Pi in my basement hooked up to my router that lets non-HomeKit devices from Ring and Nest work with Siri. It was all going well, the smart home controller of my dreams even. But then... Reviewer: Open the garage door. Siri: Sorry, I can't help with that on this device. Please use the Home app. Reviewer: Siri, you have the Home app, and you're called the HomeView. Open the garage. Siri: Sorry, I can't help with that on this device. Reviewer: Open the smart wifi garage. Siri: Sorry, I can't help with that on this device. Please use the Home app... WSJ REVIEWER: Apple explained that for security reasons, Siri won't unlock your doors or open the garage through the HomeView using voice commands. You can only tap the screen to unlock them. The concern is that someone could shout a command from outside and gain access to your house. This security concern doesn't make much sense to me. This thing can recognize my face, confirm it's me, and pull up all sorts of information from my phone. But it can't recognize me enough to open my garage? Finally I got Siri itself to explain this top-security measure. Siri: For security reasons, I can't unlock your door or open your garage from this device. Because anyone nearby can speak to a shared speaker. Reviewer: But I'm looking at you! You see my face, and you hear my voice! Siri: I understand. But I don't have a camera to see you. And voice recognition alone isn't secure enough for unlocking your home. Reviewer: You don't have a camera? Siri: That's right. This device doesn't have a camera, so I can't see you. I can only hear your voice, which is why I need you to use your iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock the door. Reviewer: I see, Siri. You're gaslighting me. An Apple spokesperson said they'd send out a software update next month that would let HomeView unlock garage doors and other door locks by voice once it's recognized a user. (And Apple said the update would also fix Siri's hallucination that it didn't already have a built-in camera.) In the end, the speakers sounded good, and the reviewer appreciated how Apple's HomeView didn't have ads on its screeh like the Amazon Echo Show. But the device's built-in Siri voice assistant was "about as reliable as a Magic 8 Ball... And the frustration is so real. Sometimes Siri just doesn't get the voice recognition right... Oftentimes, other devices in the room think I'm talking to their Siri... And sometimes Siris just talk to each." iPhone: Siri is built into your device, so you don't need to download... HomeView: Downloading support for Siri. iPhone: To download the Apple Support app, open the App Store on your device, search for Apple Support, and tap get or the download icon. I've installed support. Reviewer (muttering): I honestly could cry. This might be a first — crying. iphone: I'm software, so I don't have feelings. But it sounds like you're going through a difficult moment. It can really help to talk to someone you trust, like a friend, family member, or a professional who can support you". They complained that sometimes Siri "is just slow, or it gets stuck thinking and thinking and thinking." (It took three minutes to answer their young son's question "What's 10 times 40?") They concluded HomeView's facial recognition feature works well, and so does its smart home functionality (especially when they fix its door-unlocking next month). But its built-in Siri AI is "not great." It's gotten better this year, and the reviewer found it "genuinely useful for some things on their iPhone. "But Apple still has a Siri problem. And on a device that's supposed to be the intelligent center of your home, that's a big problem." It reminded the reviewer of another new first-generation Apple product, the iPhone Duo: "good hardware waiting for the software to catch up."

Guardian USA

NFL week 10: Cousins’ Vikings comeback crushes Packers, Lions thrash Patriots and more – as it happened

Kirk Cousins leads Vikings to 30-10 win over Packers
Drake Maye injured as Lions beat Patriots 35-10

Patriots 3-28 Lions 1:54, 3rd quarter

Some stattage for now and later:

Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs has tied HoF’er Terrell Davis for the most touchdowns (61) by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes needs one touchdown pass against the Falcons to overtake Peyton Manning (327) for the most touchdown passes by a quarterback in his first 10 seasons, including the playoffs

With a win at the New York Jets, Josh Allen can surpass Patrick Mahomes (95) for the second-most regular season wins by a starting quarterback in his first nine seasons

Guardian USA

NFL roundup: Cousins wins on Vikings return; Hutchinson injures knee celebrating sack

Detroit triumph in Munich for fifth win in a row
Patrick Mahomes throws five TDS in Chiefs win
Bills move to 8-1 after win over Jets

Kirk Cousins threw two touchdown passes to start his second stint with Minnesota (7-2) and Levi Drake Rodriguez had two of the Vikings’ eight sacks in a victory over the Green Bay Packers (6-4). Cousins went 21 of 31 for 207 yards just five days after rejoining the Vikings, who acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders at Tuesday’s trade deadline. The last time Cousins had played at Lambeau Field or suited up for the Vikings, he tore his achilles tendon in a 24-10 Minnesota victory on 29 October 2023. Cousins rejuvenated an offense that had stalled under quarterbacks Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz.

Guardian USA

Somali-American Uber driver brutally assaulted in alleged hate crime in Minnesota

Mohamed Yusuf is fighting for his life after alleged attack by passenger who said he did not like driver’s first name

A Somali-American Uber driver was allegedly brutally assaulted by a passenger in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Saturday, in what his family says “appears to be a hate crime”.

The driver, Mohamed Yusuf, is currently hospitalized and fighting for his life, his family told the Somali Brief, a digital news site run by two Somali American journalists. The driver’s cousin, Abdinasir Ali told the outlet that the alleged attack took place early Saturday after a passenger in Hopkins, a suburban city south-west of Minneapolis, asked Yusuf’s name and then said he did not like the name Mohamed.

HACKADAY

Loop Antennas for Transmitting

Loop antennas are becoming increasingly popular as more radio fans find they can’t erect elaborate outdoor antennas. Like most things, of course, there are trade-offs. But, most often, loop antennas …read more

Guardian USA

Red Brawl New York: Fighting and six red cards mar ‘friendly’ v Club América

Game played without veterans and stars on both sides
Red Bulls’ MLS season is already over

One hallmark of Mauricio Pochettino’s time in international management was been his refusal to embrace the term “friendly.” His preferred branding is “unofficial games”.

His spin gained a bit of validity on Saturday, in the New York Red Bulls’ “friendly” against Club América, marred by a mass brawl between the sides that resulted in five red cards and a bevy of beverages thrown from the stands.

Guardian USA

Red Brawl New York: Fighting and five red cards mar ‘friendly’ v Club América

Game played without veterans and stars on both sides
Red Bulls’ MLS season is already over

One hallmark of Mauricio Pochettino’s time in international management was been his refusal to embrace the term “friendly.” His preferred branding is “unofficial games”.

Leif Ames