Monthly Archives: September 2024

WordPress Community Team to Close Inactive Meetup Groups by September 16, 2024 – WP Tavern

[ad_1] Automattic’s Community Engagement Specialist, Devin Maeztri, has announced that the WordPress Community Team will close all inactive meetup groups by September 16, 2024. Over the past month, the team has been working hard to reactivate recently inactive WordPress Meetups. “This project comes in response to recent data revealing that nearly half of our groups are currently inactive—a statistic that underscores the need for proactive measures.”, Devin explained. As of June 2024, there are more than 762 WordPress Meetup groups across 108 countries and nearly 537,000 members.  The Community Team released a list of inactive Meetups at risk of removal from the WordPress Chapter Meetup Program. Organizers have until September 16 to confirm if they wish to remain active. As per the list, 22 meetups have already requested closure. Spain leads with six closure requests, followed by the USA (4), France (3), and Indonesia (3). Meetup groups that fail to respond will be removed from the WordPress Chapter Meetup Program. Currently, 140 groups are yet to respond, with the largest numbers coming from the USA (33), Italy (8), Brazil (7), Spain (6), India (6), and Venezuela (4). “Once a group is removed from the WordPress network, Meetup.com will guide Co-organizers, Assistant Organizers, Event Organizers, and Members on how to keep the group active independently (including managing the subscription fee).”, Devin assured. Since June 2024, WordPress.com has offered free websites for local WordPress meetups. Organizers who believe their group was mistakenly flagged as inactive and groups that wish to rejoin the WordPress network after removal can contact the Community Team at support@wordcamp.org. [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

Veteran Fox Sports commentator Steve Roach comes under fire for mispronouncing Sydney Roosters recruit Mark Nawaqanitawase’s name: ‘Insulting’

[ad_1] Steve Roach mispronounced Roosters NRL recruit Mark Nawaqanitawase Cross-code star is of Fijian origin, made recent debut against Rabbitohs Nawaqanitawase represented Australia in Sevens Rugby at Paris Olympics Also turned out for Wallabies at 2023 Rugby World Cup under Eddie Jones By Andrew Prentice For Daily Mail Australia Published: 22:22 EDT, 9 September 2024 | Updated: 23:39 EDT, 9 September 2024 Footy legend Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach has come under fire after mispronouncing the surname of a Pacific Island player. Speaking on Fox Sports’ NRL Tonight on Monday, the Balmain Tigers great was speaking about talented cross-code Roosters recruit Mark Nawaqanitawase, proclaiming that he’s ‘going to be a good player’. But moments later, the NSW Blues and Australian prop made a woeful attempt at pronouncing his name, calling him Mark ‘Wangawangawangawanga’. Host Matt Russell quickly jumped in and stated Nawaqanitawase’s surname correctly – and it didn’t take long for footy fans to slam Roach on social media. ‘Such a shame Steve Roach couldn’t be bothered to learn the correct pronunciation of Mark Nawaqanitawase’s name. I hope Fox [Sports] don’t condone Roach making fun of his surname,’ Roosters supporter Alan Katzmann tweeted on X. ‘His signing was announced over two months ago. Everyone in the media has had plenty of time to learn it.’ Another fan was on the same page, responding with: ‘100% agree, especially when the Roosters have put out a social media post of Mark pronouncing his name correctly.’ A third weighed in with: ‘So disappointing. It’s disrespectful. I wish Lote [Tuqiri] and Petero [Civoniceva] made more of a fuss about how their surnames were pronounced. ‘It’s not too late to make a difference. And more importantly, it’s not that difficult.’ Footy legend Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach has come under fire after mispronouncing the surname of a Pacific Island player  Cross-code star Mark Nawaqanitawase impressed on the wing during his NRL debut for the Roosters last Friday Mark Nawaqanitawase’s try in the first half from a Luke Keary cross-field kick displayed his athleticism (pictured) A fourth said: ‘[Warriors star] Dallin Watene-Zelezniak debuted 10 years ago and Blocker [Roach] still doesn’t bother saying his name properly. It’s amateurish.’ Roach, 62, has been employed by Fox Sports since 2016. Two years earlier he was sacked by 2GB Radio after a staff member filed a bullying complaint against him. It is understood Roach’s role over the airwaves was terminated after telling then producer James Willis to ‘get me a coffee, you ****’. Roach was also sacked by Channel Nine in 1999 after being a regular on The Footy Show with the likes of Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin and Peter Sterling. At the time, Roach stated he left the free-to-air network as he refused to wear dresses during playful skits.  Daily Mail Australia approached Fox Sports for comment.  Share or comment on this article: Veteran Fox Sports commentator Steve Roach comes under fire for mispronouncing Sydney Roosters recruit Mark Nawaqanitawase’s name: ‘Insulting’ [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

Google’s lucrative ad tech business goes on trial

[ad_1] The US government is taking aim at the engine of Google’s immense wealth – its extremely lucrative ad tech business. A trial beginning on Monday will hear the Department of Justice’s case that the search engine’s parent company Alphabet illegally operates a monopoly in the market. The company earned more than $200 billion (£152bn) last year through the placing and selling of ads seen by internet users. Alphabet has argued its success is due to the “effectiveness” of its services – but prosecutors say it has used its market dominance to stifle rivals. “It is a really important industry that grabs billions of consumer dollars every year,” said Laura Phillips-Sawyer, a professor at the University of Georgia School of Law. “I think all consumers have an interest in this litigation.” It is the second major antitrust case the tech giant has faced in the US. In August a judge ruled its dominance of search was illegal, with the penalties Google and Alphabet will face as a result of that decision so far unclear. According to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and a coalition of states in 2023, Google dominates the digital ad marketplace and has leveraged its market power to stifle innovation and competition. Google meanwhile contends it is just one of several hundred companies that facilitate the placement of digital ads in front of consumers. It argues that competition in the digital ad space is growing, not contracting – citing increased ad growth and revenues for companies such as Apple, Amazon and TikTok as proof in a blog post responding to the DoJ’s lawsuit in 2023. Both sides will present their cases to US District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who is expected to deliver a verdict. The bench trial comes on the heels of a landmark decision last month in a different monopoly case brought by the Justice Department against Google. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google acted illegally to squelch competition in its online search business. “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” he wrote. During last year’s trial, Google said it dominated online search because it had a better product. And the company is seemingly deploying a similar defence in the ad tech case. When asked for a statement, it referred the BBC to its 2023 blog post, in which it states that “no-one is forced to use our advertising technologies – they choose to use them because they’re effective.” Judge Mehta held a status conference on Friday as he begins the process of deciding on remedies for Google’s conduct. “The DoJ clearly had a big win, and they’re going to ride that momentum,” Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, told the BBC. He said he expects those remedies to involve “business model tweaks, not a breakup” of the company. Meanwhile, in Justice Brinkema’s courtroom, the arcane process that governs advertising technology could make the DoJ’s attempts to prove its case an uphill climb. “We all use search. We all intuitively understand that product,” said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. By comparison, advertising technology is “so complex that I think that’s going to be a real challenge for the government to make a clear, simple monopolisation argument here.” The US is not the only country where regulators are unhappy with Google’s ad tech business. On Friday, the UK Competition and Markets Authority said it believed Google was abusing its dominance in the ad tech industry, according to the findings of its initial investigation. It said it found that Google used anti-competitive practices to dominate the market for online advertising technology – and the potentially unlawful behaviour could be harming thousands of UK publishers and advertisers. A Google representative said the decision was based on a “flawed” understanding of the ad tech sector. [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

Honest Thoughts + Testing to Help You Decide

[ad_1] On the fence about using Divi AI to improve your workflows when building websites with Divi? In our hands-on Divi AI review, we’ll give you a look at how it works and, more importantly, whether it’s any good. To help answer that second question, I’ll also show you the results of some test AI prompts that I ran for text content, images, and code generation.  Divi AI is based on GPT 3.5 and Stable Diffusion, so there won’t be any real surprises there, but it will give you an idea of what it can do (and it will also show you how Divi AI is aware of the content on your site). Let’s start with a basic introduction to Divi AI and then I’ll give you a hands-on look at how it works… Divi AI Review: How Does It Help You? Divi AI can primarily improve your workflows in three key areas: Text content – you can use Divi AI to generate short-form or long-form text content from scratch, with additional tools to control the voice/style of your content. Or, you can also use it to refine existing content. Images – you can generate unique images based on simple text prompts. You can also fully control the image style, size, aspect ratio, and more. You can generate images from scratch or you can feed Divi AI existing images and have it iterate on that. Code – you can generate unique code snippets for custom CSS, HTML and JavaScript. Divi AI is already trained on Divi’s codebase, so you can be confident that the code snippets will play nice with Divi. For example, Divi AI can recognize Divi terminology in your prompts (such as you asking it to style a certain module). Why Use Divi AI Over Other AI Web Design Tools? Obviously, Elegant Themes has not built their own AI models from scratch for these: The text and code generation is based on GPT 3.5. The image generation is based on Stable Diffusion. Here are some of the details that make Divi AI unique, though: Divi AI is already trained on the Divi codebase and you can make it aware of your website’s content. For example, it can factor in the title of your site, the content of the page that you’re editing, and so on. So while it uses the same foundational starting point as many other AI tools, Divi AI is still uniquely well-suited for Divi sites. You can access Divi AI directly from the Divi Builder. This is more convenient than other AI tools, where you would need to work in a separate interface and then manually move the generated content to your site. Divi AI offers unlimited usage for one flat price. This can save you money versus other tools that have monthly limits or charge you extra depending on your usage. I’ll talk more about Divi AI pricing later on. How Divi AI Works: Hands-On Testing the AI With Prompts Now that you understand what Divi AI offers and what makes it unique, let’s take our review of Divi AI more hands-on and I’ll show you what it’s actually like to use Divi AI on a real website. I’ll start with a basic look at how you can access Divi AI.  Then, I’ll go through generating the three main types of “content” that Divi AI supports: For each type of AI generation, I’ll run through a few different example prompts to give you an idea of how effective it is. Let’s dig in… How to Access Divi AI As long as you have an active Divi AI license, you can access Divi AI directly from the Divi Builder. You’ll see a new option in the module settings when you’re editing an area that supports AI content generation. You have a few options to access the AI content. For example, if you’re editing a Text module, you’ll see a Generate Content With AI button to generate the text for that module: The same is true of other areas, such as Image modules, the code editor, and so on. I’ll show you real examples of these different areas over the next few sections. However, I think it’s easier to choose the smaller AI option that appears in individual fields. For example, if you place your cursor in the text editor, you’ll see an AI option appear next to the dynamic content option. I prefer this approach because it lets you actually enter your prompt, whereas the other button seems to take you straight to the refinement interface. Choosing this option will expand a drop-down with a list of options that are pertinent to that type of content. Below, I’ll show you specifically how it works to generate content, images, and code. Generating Text Content As I mentioned above, I think the best way to generate text content is to click the small AI icon in the text field that you want to populate. This will expand a drop-down with a bunch of options. For text content, the two most important options are at the top: Write with AI – generate text content from scratch. Improve with AI – use AI to improve the existing text in the box You’ll also get other quick actions for more specific tasks, such as lengthening or shortening the content, changing the tone, translating it, and so on. For example, if you choose the Write with AI option, it will open a popup where you can choose what type of content to generate, add your prompt, and add context (such as letting Divi AI look at the content of the page, section, or module). If you click the Guide Me option, it will expand more advanced settings for tone of voice, must-use keywords, specific content lengths, and so on. Once you click Generate Text, you’ll see the generated text. You also might get multiple results, which you can browse by clicking the arrows. You can then click the Use This

Continue reading

AITAH For Purchasing A Home With A Pool And “Triggering” My MIL?

[ad_1] 37F here. I'm a mother to seven year old twins (boy and a girl) and a five year old girl. My husband and I decided to move back to our hometown so we could be closer to both of our families. Our hometown is a lazy, beach town and I've been living cities since college. It's not my ideal location, if I'm being honest, but I am excited about being outdoors and in the water more. My husband and I made a "deal" that since I agreed to move and find a new job, we'd get a house with a pool, which is something I've wanted since I was a kid. It's not actually that serious, but it's something I've been excited about since we decided to move. My husband and I found the perfect house, and we're currently in escrow. The house is walking distance from the beach and my parents, each of my kids get their own room, and there's a pool (with a water slide). We're all so excited. Some important context is that my husband was actually the oldest of four kids, and the only girl in the family (who was also the baby) passed away when she was eleven. She was swimming with her friends in a lake, got caught in some shrubbery, and drowned. It was tragic for the entire family, and I don't get the sense that my MIL has ever recovered. My husband's home is filled with pictures of his little sister, the kid's bedroom is basically a shrine to her, and my MIL gets teary anytime she sees one of my two daughters. My MIL has always been kind to me, and is a wonderful grandmother, and so it's difficult seeing her so sad. Yesterday, my husband and I were on the facetiming with his parents, and I sent them pictures of the house we're moving into. My MIL's face went white and she asked how we could possibly move into a house with a pool with three young children. I explained that my kids are all great swimmers, that we've told them there's absolutely no swimming without one of us there, and that we're getting a gate with a lock and alarm installed around the pool so they can't get into it without us. My MIL started crying, and saying that drowning is the leading cause of death for young people. She also said she couldn't believe we'd be so reckless with the lives of our three beautiful children. My husband tried to calm her down, but she was furious, and hung up the phone. My husband now feels terrible, and says we should have thought more about moving into a house with a pool. He's not worried about something happening to our kids, because we're going to take the proper precautions, he's worried about his mom's mental health. He says his parents will never be able to come over now, because his mom will be watching the kids and the pool obsessively. He also says we're probably not going to be able to do holidays or parties at our house because his mom will be even more anxious with all her young grandkids near the pool. I've seen her anxiety around kids in the water first hand. Once, we were a a family reunion and there was a lazy river at the hotel, and my four year old nephew who couldn't swim was wearing a life vest and flipped over for about two seconds. My MIL jumped in (she was wearing a dress and heals) and grabbed him right away. Please tell me if I'm a total asshole, but I don't think we were wrong to purchase a house with a pool? My MIL has serious trauma (which I understand), but if we listened to all of her worries, our kids wouldn't be able to do anything. For example, our son wants to take surfing lessons, and my MIL is against this because she thinks so much time in the ocean is dangerous. We also put our youngest daughter in swim lessons very early (a bit over a year old) because we want her to be safe and comfortable in the water. My MIL said this was way too young and dangerous, and I said it was a great teacher and I was in the water during the lessons, but my MIL was still furious. All of this to say, maybe we were a bit insensitive moving into a house with a pool, but she's triggered by so much of what we do. AITAH? Any advice would be appreciated. [ad_2] View Reddit by FinancialStorage9412 – View Source

Continue reading

Aaron Rodgers get first Jets touchdown on return from Achilles tear – but was FURIOUS at the opening two drives vs San Francisco 49ers

[ad_1] By Jack Bezants Published: 20:49 EDT, 9 September 2024 | Updated: 21:35 EDT, 9 September 2024 Aaron Rodgers got his first touchdown as a New York Jets quarterback on Monday night vs San Francisco 49ers, recovering from a nightmare first two drives at Levi’s Stadium. Breece Hall got the three-yard TD, moments after he left Rodgers furious when he fumbled the ball on the previous drive.  First, Allen Lazard dropped a simple pass from Rodgers for what would have been first down for the Jets in the opening minutes of the first quarter.  He seemed to slip in the process but still should have taken the ball in his grasp – it was a perfect pass from Rodgers. The Jets defense responded brilliantly, meaning Rodgers was soon back out on the field for his fourth snap of the game – the identical time to which he tore his Achilles last year. He found Hall, but the running back fumbled under pressure from Fred Warner and the 49ers had a turnover. Rodgers was visibly unhappy, shaking his head as he took his helmet off and ran off the field. But moments later, Rodgers and Garret Wilson linked up four times for 45 yards to lead the Jets through a 12-play, 70-yard drive that ended with Hall’s touchdown.  It gave Rodgers and his team a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter against last year’s Super Bowl runners-up.  The Jets had a boost before the start of the game when it emerged that 49ers’ star man Christian McCaffrey was inactive due to a calf and Achilles issue. It was reported on ESPN that the running back is also a doubt for next Sunday’s game against Minnesota Vikings.  Share or comment on this article: Aaron Rodgers get first Jets touchdown on return from Achilles tear – but was FURIOUS at the opening two drives vs San Francisco 49ers [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading

Apple banks on AI to boost sales of new iPhone 16

[ad_1] Getty Images With business slumping, Apple has been under pressure to show what it will offer buyers to jumpstart a new wave of iPhone sales. On Monday, the technology giant revealed its hand – the iPhone 16 which has a camera button on the outside of the handset. The button is an external clue to the changes Apple said it had made inside its latest smartphone, aimed at harnessing the latest in artificial intelligence (AI). Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook said the upgrades would “push the boundaries of what a smartphone can do” but the firm has tough competition, as other brands have already integrated generative AI features into their handsets. Apple’s share price fell during its “Glowtime” event, where it unveiled the iPhone 16 as well as other products, and ended the day flat. The company, worth $3 trillion, is facing concern that it is losing its edge in the burgeoning area of artificial intelligence. Sales of the iPhone – Apple’s most important product which accounts for around half of its total sales – have stalled in recent months. They slipped by 1% over the nine months ended 29 June compared with a year earlier. Apple said its new phones, which come with longer lasting batteries, more powerful chips and enhanced privacy features, were its first built specifically to handle AI and its new “Apple Intelligence” tools, many of which were announced in June. Those include new tools for writing and creating new emojis as well incorporating OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT into Siri to help users with some queries and text generation requests. On Monday, Apple also announced updates to its Apple Watch and its AirPod headphones, which will allow them to automatically drop the volume when users start in-person conversations and to decline calls with the shake of a head. It said the Pro version of its AirPods would be able to be used as a “clinical grade” personal hearing aid for people with mild or moderate hearing loss. The company said it was expecting marketing approval from regulators for the device “soon” and the feature would be available this autumn in more than 100 countries, including the US, Germany and Japan. Previously, the company had a feature that allowed people to pair hearing aids with iPhones and other devices. The products were rolled out at a glossy event where protestors gathered in a designated free speech area across the street, urging executives to ramp up efforts to protect children from dangerous content in the company’s App Store. The protest featured a life-sized blow-up made to resemble Mr Cook. Sales of the new range start in September, with prices for the iPhone16 starting at $799. But the Apple Intelligence features are not set to be available on operating systems until October, starting in the US and heading to other countries in the following months. They will be available in the UK in December. Ben Wood, chief analyst at the market research firm CCS Insight, said it was likely that many people would dismiss the company’s new camera control as a “glorified shutter button”. But he said it offered “very significant” upgrades, including visual, AI-powered search and he came away from the presentation persuaded that Apple would win over customers. “The combination of Apple Intelligence and new camera features on the iPhone 16 will help spur upgrades from loyal Apple customers,” he said. “Particularly as Apple is positioning this latest update as being a future-proof purchase for customers wanting to get Apple Intelligence features as they roll out over the next few years.” EPA People will be able to decline phone calls with a shake of the head with Apple’s new AirPods Apple has been slower than rivals Samsung and Google to bake generative AI features for photo editing, translation and web browsing into its devices. Competitors are now building them into folding, flipping and even tri-folding smartphones. Pre-orders for Huawei’s new tri-fold phone, the Mate XT, reportedly hit more than three million on Monday. Gartner analyst Annette Zimmermann said because Apple was rolling out AI-ready smartphones later than rivals, it was “critical” they deliver. She warned that rolling the features out before they were ready could risk their reputation or prompt sales losses. [ad_2] Source link

Continue reading
1 … 20 21 22 23 24 25