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Sowei 2025-01-12
The Sparks will open the 2025 WNBA season on Friday, May 16, in San Francisco against the expansion Golden State Valkyries at the Chase Center, the league announced on Monday. After a historic 2024 season in which the WNBA had its most-watched regular season in 24 years while drawing the most spectators in two decades, the league is expanding its schedule again – this time to 44 games. WNBA teams played 40 games each of the last two seasons and 36 before then. The Sparks and new head coach Lynne Roberts will play their home opener on Sunday, May 18, against the 2024 WNBA runner-up Minnesota Lynx. The Sparks face the defending champion New York Liberty at home on Aug. 12 and in Brooklyn on July 3 and July 26. “We look forward to tipping off the WNBA’s 29th season in May of 2025 and continuing to build on the success of last season, when the WNBA delivered its most-watched draft and All-Star Game and set records for viewership, attendance, digital consumption and merchandise sales,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “We look forward to the expansion Golden State Valkyries taking the court for the first time.” The Valkyries, who join the league as its 13th team and will be coached by former Marina High and UCLA star Natalie Nakase , have their expansion draft on Friday (3:30 p.m. PT). Golden State will pick fifth in the 2025 WNBA Draft in April. The Sparks, who finished last in the league in 2024 and have missed the postseason for four consecutive years, have the No. 2 selection in the April draft . The New York Liberty will celebrate their first title with a ring and banner ceremony on May 17 when they host the Las Vegas Aces, who they met in the 2023 WNBA Finals. The Liberty, who beat Minnesota in five games in last season’s Finals in October, will face the Lynx four times in 2025: in Minneapolis on July 30 and Aug. 16, and in New York on Aug. 10 and Aug. 19. The Indiana Fever and 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark visit Los Angeles to take on the Sparks on Aug. 5 and Aug. 29 at Crypto.com Arena. The All-Star Game will be held in Indianapolis for the first time on July 19. The games designated for the Commissioner’s Cup standings will be played from June 1-17. Each team plays the others in its conference – five games for the six Eastern Conference teams and six for the seven Western Conference teams. The top teams in each conference meet in the Cup title game on July 1, hosted by team with the best winning percentage in Cup play. The regular season ends on Sept. 11 with the expanded playoffs to take place after that. The WNBA Finals have been expanded to a best-of-seven series this year and the best-of-three opening round of the playoffs will switch to a 1-1-1 format, guaranteeing each team gets at least one home game. In the past, the team with the better seed would host the first two games. The semifinals remain best-of-five. The league will hold its draft on April 14 with Connecticut star Paige Bueckers expected to go first to the Dallas Wings. Free agency precedes that. Teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Jan. 21, and can start signing players on Feb. 1. The television and streaming broadcast schedule will be announced in 2025, likely in March. SPARKS’ 2025 SCHEDULE (all times are PT) May 16 – at Golden State, 7 p.m. May 18 – vs. Minnesota, 3 p.m. May 21 – at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. May 23 – vs. Golden State, 7 p.m. May 25 – vs. Chicago, 3 p.m. May 27 – vs. Atlanta, 7 p.m. May 30 – at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. June 1 – vs. Phoenix, 3 p.m. June 6 – vs. Dallas, 6:30 p.m. June 9 – vs. Golden State, 7 p.m. June 11 – at Las Vegas, 7 p.m. June 14 – at Minnesota, 10 a.m. June 17 – vs. Seattle, 7 p.m. June 21 – at Minnesota, 5 p.m. June 24 – at Chicago, 5 p.m. June 26 – at Indiana, 4 p.m. June 29 – vs. Chicago, 3 p.m. July 3 – at New York, 4 p.m. July 5 – at Indiana, 4 p.m. July 10 – vs. Minnesota, noon July 13 – vs. Connecticut, 3 p.m. July 15 – vs. Washington, 7 p.m. July 22 – at Washington, 4:30 p.m. July 24 – at Connecticut, 4 p.m. July 26 – at New York, 4 p.m. July 29 – vs. Las Vegas, 7 p.m. Aug. 1 – at Seattle, 7 p.m. Aug. 5 – vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. Aug. 7 – vs. Connecticut, 7 p.m. Aug. 9 – at Golden State, noon Aug. 10 – vs. Seattle, 3 p.m. Aug. 12 – vs. New York, 7 p.m. Aug. 15 – at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. Aug. 17 – at Washington, Noon Aug. 20 – vs. Dallas, 7 p.m. Aug. 26 – Phoenix, 7 p.m. Aug. 29 – vs. Indiana, 7 p.m. Aug. 31 – vs. Washington, 5 p.m. Sept. 1 – at Seattle, 7 p.m. Sept. 3 – at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 5 – at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. Sept. 7 – vs. Dallas, 3 p.m. Sept. 9 – at Atlanta, 7 p.m. Sept. 11 – vs. Las Vegas, 7 p.m.A Tennessee man is convicted of killing 2 at a high school basketball game in 20210ph

San Diego State vs. Utah State live stream, how to watch online, CBS Sports Network channel finder, oddsThe world must respond to Russia’s use of a new ballistic missile, Volodymyr Zelensky said as Vladimir Putin threatened to strike the UK with his hypersonic weapon. The Ukrainian president said the use of a ballistic missile to hit Dnipro was a “clear and severe escalation in the scale and brutality of this war” and he warned that Russian president Mr Putin would attack or destabilise other countries unless stopped. Mr Putin said the use of the new weapon was in response to the UK and US allowing missiles they have supplied to Ukraine to be used to strike targets in Russia. “In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on November 21 of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the Ukrainian defence industry,” Mr Putin said in a televised address. “One of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested in combat conditions, in this case, with a ballistic missile in a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead.” He added: “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against military facilities of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities.” But Mr Zelensky urged world leaders – his “dear partners” – not to be cowed by Mr Putin’s actions otherwise there will be “endless Russian strikes” and “not just against Ukraine”. “A lack of tough reactions to Russia’s actions sends a message that such behavior is acceptable,” the Ukrainian president said on X, formerly Twitter. “This is what Putin is doing. Putin must feel the cost of his deranged ambitions. “Response is needed. Pressure is needed. Russia must be forced into real peace, which can only be achieved through strength. “Otherwise, there will be endless Russian strikes, threats, and destabilisation-not just against Ukraine.” The UK is believed to have allowed its Storm Shadow missiles to be used by Ukrainian forces within the Kursk region of Russia, while the US has given permission for its ATACMS weapons to be fired at targets in Mr Putin’s country. Mr Putin confirmed Russia has tested the new intermediate-range weapon in an attack on Dnipro in response. The US said the weapon was a new, experimental intermediate-range missile based on Russia’s existing RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile. In Westminster , the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “My understanding is that it is the first time that Russia has used a ballistic missile in Ukraine with a range of several thousand kilometres.” Defence Secretary John Healey said it was “yet another example of Putin’s recklessness”. He said: “Since the illegal invasion of Ukraine began, Russia has consistently and irresponsibly escalated the conflict while Ukraine continues to fight in self-defence for a democratic future.” The missile’s range far outstrips that of newly authorised US and British-supplied weapons, which can hit targets around 250-300km away. The distance from Moscow to London is around 2,500km, suggesting the range of the new missile could threaten the UK. Mr Healey said the UK knew Russia had been “preparing for months” to fire a new ballistic missile. Downing Street and the Ministry of Defence have repeatedly declined to comment publicly on Ukraine’s use of Storm Shadow. “It risks both operational security and in the end the only one that benefits from such a public debate is President Putin,” Mr Healey told MPs. The head of the UK’s armed forces, Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, met Mr Zelensky in Kyiv to discuss the war on Thursday. Mr Zelensky said: “We discussed defence co-operation between Ukraine and the United Kingdom, focusing on developing and enhancing the technological capabilities of the armed forces of Ukraine. “Particular attention was given to Ukraine’s current military needs and the continued support from our partners.”

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TransMedics Appoints Gerardo Hernandez as Chief Financial Officer and Provides Updated 2024 Financial OutlookThe arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) into the mainstream has supercharged shares of semiconductor giant Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD 0.63% ) . Last December, the stock was at a 52-week low of $116.37, but in 2024, it topped $227.30. Since reaching that record high in March, AMD's share price has pulled back, and the stock was down about 6% in 2024 through Nov. 18. Given that price decline, does this mean the fervor over AI is done? Or is the stock's drop a signal that now is the time to buy? Let's examine the company in detail to help you decide. AMD's success with AI AMD was once known primarily as a purveyor of semiconductors for the video game industry. Now, the chipmaker is transforming into an AI juggernaut under the leadership of CEO Lisa Su. Su's 10th anniversary as CEO is this year, and she sees great potential for the company: "Looking out over the next several years, we see significant growth opportunities across our data center, client, and embedded businesses driven by the nearly insatiable demand for more compute." AMD's performance supports her point. Customers operating data centers, which house cloud computing servers for AI, began adopting the company's chips over the past year, and its sales to this market have exploded. In its fiscal third quarter, ended Sept. 28, data center segment revenue rose 122% year over year to a record $3.5 billion. This division accounted for over half the company's total third-quarter sales of $6.8 billion, helping AMD achieve 18% year-over-year growth. The company's data center customers include tech luminaries such as Microsoft , Meta Platforms , and Uber . Just Meta itself purchased 1.5 million units of AMD's EPYC computer processor for its cloud servers. Rising demand for AMD's AI solutions The company's third-quarter data center success is a substantial change from 2023, when sales represented $1.6 billion of its $5.8 billion in total third-quarter revenue. The ability to quickly seize the sudden surge in demand for AI-related semiconductor products illustrates that its evolution into an AI powerhouse is working. The customer demand for chips to power AI not only remains high, but year-over-year sales growth is also accelerating, which indicates the company is successfully capturing an increasing share of this AI demand. Quarter Data Center Revenue YOY Change Q3 2024 $3.5 billion 122% Q2 2024 $2.8 billion 115% Q1 2024 $2.3 billion 80% Q4 2023 $2.3 billion 38% Data source: AMD. YOY = year over year. AI chip demand isn't coming just from data centers. The client segment, which represents products sold to the personal device market (including semiconductors for laptops), is also seeing strong sales growth. In the third quarter, the client segment's revenue reached $1.9 billion, a 30% year-over-year increase. Together, the data center and client divisions accounted for 80% of third-quarter revenue. Management expects this AI demand will drive even greater growth in its fiscal fourth quarter, estimating quarterly revenue to reach about $7.5 billion, an impressive 22% year-over-year increase from $6.2 billion. AMD's AI transformation As CEO Lisa Su indicated, this AI demand is expected to last years, which is why her company is doubling down on its acquisitions. It bought Silo AI in August to help customers integrate AMD hardware into their AI tech, and plans to acquire ZT Systems, an expert at implementing AI-related infrastructure. Thanks to its strong top-line performance, the bottom line is growing as well. Third-quarter net income was up 158% year over year to $771 million. This raised diluted earnings per share (EPS) to $0.47, a 161% jump from the prior year. With AI demand showing no sign of slowing down, and considering AMD's growing strength in capturing its share of this market, the company is a great long-term investment . The question is whether now is the time to buy. One factor to consider is the company's forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio) , which is a way to assess the relative value of a stock by telling you how much investors are willing to pay for every dollar of earnings. AMD stock is trading around 42 times forward earnings at the time of this writing. That's a decline from the valuations it was commanding earlier in the year -- valuations that were so elevated, they were higher than the forward P/E for AI darling Nvidia . Data by YCharts . AMD stock fell recently after management announced job cuts in areas it is de-emphasizing to shift resources toward its AI-related businesses. With its price drop, the forward P/E is now below Nvidia's. You could wait for shares to drop further, but the stock's current valuation is more reasonable now, and that means it's a good time to consider buying shares in AMD.

There's a story from the earliest days of cinema that seems applicable to Sora, the text-to-video creation tool launched by OpenAI this week. And given that Sora's servers are struggling with demand , with many OpenAI subscribers still waiting to try it out, we've got time for stories. You probably know of Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station (1896) by the Lumiere brothers, even if you've never seen it. Like Sora, the Lumieres created very short movies that showcased the latest tech. We're talking cinematograph rather than AI rendering, and a luxurious 50 seconds of film rather than the maximum 20 seconds allowed in Sora videos. Still, it's the same principle: This was an early peek at a shockingly new form of entertainment. According to legend — a legend cemented in Martin Scorcese's charming movie about a boy in the Lumiere era, Hugo (2011) — Arrival of a Train audiences ran in terror from a steam engine that appeared to be heading straight for them. A similar sense of panic clings to Sora — specifically, panic about what AI videos might do to further crack up our "post-truth" media landscape. The average viewer is already having a hard time judging what is real and what isn't, and the problem is worse if they're depressed . We're living in a golden age of conspiracy theories. The world's richest man already shared an AI deepfake video in order to help swing an election. What happens when Sora can make any prompt look as real as something you might see on the evening news — ready-made to spread on social media? OpenAI seems to think its watermarks, both visible and invisible , would prevent any shenanigans. But having downloaded dozens of Sora videos now, I can attest that the visible watermark is tiny, illegible, and fades into the background more often than not. It would be child's play for video editing software to clip it out altogether. So a world of deliberate disinformation, either from bad political actors or influencers trying to gin up their engagement, is barreling down on us like a train. Right? Wrong. Because as the actual story of the Lumiere movie tells us, humans are actually a lot smarter about new video entertainment than we give them credit for. Here's the thing about Arrival of a Train : the legend is almost certainly wrong. We have zero first-hand evidence that audiences fled the cinema, or even flinched when they saw a train approaching in a 50-second clip. Media studies professor Martin Loiperdinger calls the panic tale " cinema's founding myth ," and notes it can be traced back to books written in the second half of the 20th century. It's possible that authors conflated it with the Lumieres' later experimental 3-D version of Arrival of a Train , which screened a handful of times in 1934 and was — like a lot of 3-D movies to come — a novelty, and a commercial failure. So no, early audiences likely did not confuse a moving image of a train with a real train. Rather, they seem to have adapted to the whole concept of movies very quickly. Contemporary accounts of the Lumiere shorts (of which there were dozens; Arrival of a Train was not seen as a stand-out) are filled with excitement at the possibilities now unlocked. "Why, if this continues," wrote one newspaper, Le Courier de Paris , in 1896, "we could almost overcome memory loss, almost put an end to separation, almost abolish death itself." (Spoiler alert: we did not, although that sounds like a great premise for a 19th century Black Mirror episode.) Another periodical, La Science Francais , enthused about the "most unbelievably wonderful sorcery" that had created the cinematograph's "hallucinatory phantasmagoria." Even today's most tech-happy AI boosters would have a hard time endorsing Sora in the same terms. Because like most AI, Sora is often "hallucinatory" — and not in a good way. As I discovered in the moments that OpenAI servers weren't slammed, almost every Sora-generated video has some detail that looks wrong to human eyes. I typed a prompt for "journalist slams desk in frustration at not being able to access AI videos," then noticed a pen that appears and disappears in the journalist's hand. The mistakes went on and on. The novelty factor diminished fast. Friends were amused and a little freaked out by the realness of the swag in "hip-hop artist models a cozy Christmas sweater" — until we spotted that the rapper's gold chain had become a gold pony tail at the back, and the reindeer on the sweater had eight legs. Sora's response to "a funeral mass with circus clowns" pretty much nailed the prompt ... except that the colorful-wigged, red-nosed figure in the casket was missing his body. That's not to say Sora won't have an immediate impact on the moving image industry. Given less outlandish prompts, it could certainly replace a lot of the generic B-roll often seen in YouTube explainers and corporate training videos. (That's assuming OpenAI isn't going to be forced to cease and desist training Sora on internet video footage without the makers' permission.) It is to say that there's a significant barrier to entry when it comes to creating videos featuring anything unusual, anything you're trying to lie about, anything that Sora hasn't been specifically trained on. Rooting out all those mistakes, to the point where we won't immediately notice, can be an exercise in frustration. And perhaps these early mistake-filled AI videos will serve as a kind of mass inoculation — a small dose of the post-truth disease, one that effectively gives our brains AI-resistant antibodies that can better prepare us for a future epidemic of visual fakes. AI video needs to board the clue train I'm certainly less impressed with AI after I prompted Sora for a new take on the Lumieres' Arrival of a Train. I asked for a video where a locomotive does actually break through the projection screen at the end, crushing the cinematograph audience. But Sora couldn't even access the original 50-second short, which is way out of copyright and widely available online (including a version already upscaled by AI ). It hallucinated a movie called "Arrival of a tal [sic] train," apparently released in the year "18965." As for breaking a literal fourth wall, forget about it: despite multiple prompt-rewording attempts, Sora simply couldn't grok what I was asking. The projection screen remained intact. Still, this version of Sora may still be a harbinger of some terrifying visual fakery to come — perhaps when more robust AI video tech falls into the hands of a future D.W. Griffith. Two decades passed between Arrival of a Train and Griffith's infamous movie The Birth of a Nation (1915) — the first real blockbuster, a landmark in the history of cinema, which also happened to be a skewed take on recent American history stuffed with racist lies. Griffith's movie, protested at the time by the NAACP, was hugely influential in perpetuating segregation and reviving the Ku Klux Klan. So yes, perhaps Sora's release is slowly nudging us further in the direction of a fragmented post-truth world. But even in an AI-dominated future, bad actors are going to have to work overtime if they want to do more damage to society than the cinematograph's most dangerous prompts.Brock Purdy will miss Sunday's game for the 49ers with a shoulder injury

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