stone fish

NEW YORK (AP) — Top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen is headed back to the World Blitz Championship on Monday after its governing body agreed to loosen a dress code that got him fined and denied a late-round game in another tournament for refusing to change out of jeans . Lamenting the contretemps, International Chess Federation President Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement Sunday that he'd let World Blitz Championship tournament officials consider allowing “appropriate jeans” with a jacket, and other “elegant minor deviations” from the dress code. He said Carlsen's stand — which culminated in his quitting the tournament Friday — highlighted a need for more discussion “to ensure that our rules and their application reflect the evolving nature of chess as a global and accessible sport.” Carlsen, meanwhile, said in a video posted Sunday on social media that he would play — and wear jeans — in the World Blitz Championship when it begins Monday. “I think the situation was badly mishandled on their side,” the 34-year-old Norwegian grandmaster said. But he added that he loves playing blitz — a fast-paced form of chess — and wanted fans to be able to watch, and that he was encouraged by his discussions with the federation after Friday's showdown. “I think we sort of all want the same thing,” he suggested in the video on his Take Take Take chess app’s YouTube channel. “We want the players to be comfortable, sure, but also relatively presentable.” The events began when Carlsen wore jeans and a sportcoat Friday to the Rapid World Championship, which is separate from but held in conjunction with the blitz event. The chess federation said Friday that longstanding rules prohibit jeans at those tournaments, and players are lodged nearby to make sartorial switch-ups easy if needed. An official fined Carlsen $200 and asked him to change pants, but he refused and wasn't paired for a ninth-round game, the federation said at the time. The organization noted that another grandmaster, Ian Nepomniachtchi, was fined earlier in the day for wearing sports shoes, changed and continued to play. Carlsen has said that he offered to wear something else the next day, but officials were unyielding. He said “it became a bit of a matter of principle,” so he quit the rapid and blitz championships. In the video posted Sunday, he questioned whether he had indeed broken a rule and said changing clothes would have needlessly interrupted his concentration between games. He called the punishment “unbelievably harsh.” “Of course, I could have changed. Obviously, I didn’t want to,” he said, and “I stand by that.”

Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers celebrated in the locker room Saturday after they wrapped up a playoff spot with a 40-7 victory over the New England Patriots . But even as they realized one goal by making the postseason, Harbaugh tried to keep things focused on the road ahead by stressing: “There's more to do.” The Chargers (10-6) go into the regular-season finale at Las Vegas knowing they will be at least the AFC's sixth seed and avoid a trip to Buffalo for the wild-card round. Los Angeles currently is in line to face Baltimore in a Harbaugh Bowl rematch, but it has an outside shot at the fifth seed and a trip to Houston if Cincinnati beats Pittsburgh next weekend. While Harbaugh credited his players for the turnaround from five wins last year to double-digit victories this season, Herbert gave most of it to Harbaugh and first-year general manager Joe Hortiz. “They have done such a great job of getting the right guys here. You look in the locker room and everybody plays for each other,” Herbert said. “(Harbaugh's) a competitor, and he wants to win no matter what it is. It definitely shows, and it’s the way everyone fights for him, wants to play for him, and respects him.” Harbaugh is the fifth coach in NFL history to win at least 10 games in his first season with two teams. He is also the eighth to make the playoffs in his first season with two teams. “Very little to do with me. If it goes right, then it’s our players. They’re doing a great job. It’s gone bad a couple times. That’s on me,” he said. “I’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid here from day one, I can’t give enough credit to Derwin James, Justin Herbert, and those two in particular. And Khalil Mack and Rashawn Slater. I mean, stalwarts. Brad Bozeman has come in. He’s been a stalwart. There’s a bunch. There’s probably, like — I counted it up early. There was maybe 15, 15 stalwarts that we had, and it’s grown since then.” Even though the Chargers are 3-5 against teams with winning records at the time they've played them, they are 7-1 against teams that were at or under .500. Four of those wins against opponents with losing records have come by at least 17 points, the first time since 2017 the Bolts have won that many games by as big a margin. Since halftime of their Dec. 19 game against Denver, the Chargers have outscored the Broncos and Patriots 61-13 over six quarters. “That’s the type of football we want to be playing in December, January, and hopefully on. That’s the type of football you want to be playing, especially in these big games like that. It was really good to see,” Herbert said. What’s working Offensive coordinator Greg Roman has said throughout the season it's tough to use the full playbook when the Chargers have short drives. They came into Saturday's game ranked 26th with only 23 possessions of at least 10 plays, but they had four against the Patriots, leading to three touchdowns and a field goal. It was the first time since Week 10 last season against Detroit they have had at least four drives of double-digit plays. What needs help Kickoff return coverage. The Chargers have allowed nine kick returns of at least 30 yards, eighth most in the league. New England's Alex Erickson had three returns for 90 yards, including 34 and 31 yards. Stock up RB J.K. Dobbins was activated off injured reserve and provided a boost to the offense with 76 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown. Dobbins, who missed four games due to a knee injury, has set career highs in scrimmage yards (983) and rushing yards (842) in his first season with the Chargers. Stock down WR D.J. Chark was targeted four times but didn't have a catch. Chark was signed during the offseason to provide experience and speed to a young receiver group. However, he missed the first half of the season with a hip injury and has played sparingly since his return. He has three receptions on the season. Injuries Three starters — RB Gus Edwards (ankle), LB Denzel Perryman (groin) and OG Trey Pipkins (hip) — were inactive. WR Joshua Palmer (heel) and DB Elijah Molden (shin) were injured in the second half. Key numbers 77 and 1,054 — Receptions and receiving yards by Ladd McConkey, both records for a Chargers rookie. 5 — Consecutive seasons by Herbert with at least 3,000 passing yards and 20 touchdown passes, tied with Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson for the most to start a career. 2 — Sacks by Derwin James Jr. against the Patriots, the first time in the safety's seven-year career he has had multiple sacks in a game. What’s next The Chargers go for their first season sweep of the Raiders since 2018 in the regular-season finale. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL Joe Reedy, The Associated PressEvery time I look at the stock of Palantir Technologies ( PLTR 6.22% ) , it seems to be at a new record high. The company has been an early winner in the hype cycle for generative artificial intelligence (AI) software. And with shares up 313% year to date at the time of this writing, many investors are wondering how much longer this bull run will last. Let's explore the pros and cons of Palantir to decide if it still has a place in your portfolio. Why Palantir? Founded in 2003, Palantir can be thought of as an early adopter of what we now know as AI. The company specializes in data analytics, which involves processing huge volumes of information to uncover actionable insights and trends. And this tech was a precursor to the large language models (LLMs) behind platforms like ChatGPT. Palantir was quick to adapt to the evolution of its industry. In 2023, it launched its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), designed to combine LLMs with its legacy data analytics. The AIP helps clients with real-time decision-making and allows them to create customized applications based on their data in a secure in-house environment. This can be particularly useful for military and law enforcement, giving operators real-time info about threats and targets during field operations while keeping records for legal and regulatory compliance. What could the next three years have in store? Palantir's third-quarter revenue increased 30% year over year to $725.5 million, helped by the rollout of its new AI-related functionality, particularly among U.S. government and commercial clients. The company is also consistently profitable, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rising 39% to $283.6 million, although this figure adds back significant outflows like stock-based compensation, which totaled $142.4 million in the period. Over the next three years, it's safe to assume Palantir can maintain its current growth rate as AI technology improves. Management certainly seems optimistic, with CEO Alex Karp suggesting that organizations that fail to adopt productivity enhancers like its AIP risk being left behind in what he calls a "winner-takes-all economy." The company has scored some high-profile clients, including the armed forces of Israel and Ukraine, which are both using its software for combat-related missions. That said, while Palantir seems to have established trust within the defense industry, it is unclear if the company will be able to fend off large commercial sector rivals like Microsoft or Snowflake, which also offer data analytics and AI software within their cloud computing ecosystems. Sorry, but the valuation is silly Palantir is an easy company to get excited about. It synergizes data analytics with generative AI to serve very cool uses in the military and law enforcement. That being said, hype doesn't pay the bills. With a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 152, its valuation has lost touch with reality. The S&P 500 has an average forward P/E estimate of 23, while the AI industry leader Nvidia has a forward P/E of just 33 despite growing its sales and profits by 94% and 109%, respectively, in its most recent quarter. Palantir is nowhere close to this. This level of overvaluation will probably cause the stock to underperform over the next three years. And while early investors can pat themselves on the back for making an unusually good bet, it might be time to consider taking some profits off the table.

A young Jimmy Carter was no stranger to gospel music growing up in the small rural town of Plains, Georgia during the ’20s and early ’30’. He heard it sung by Black tenant farmers working on his father’s land. He heard it too during 24-hour gospel sings that occurred every fifth Sunday, where quartets, local and distant gospel groups, different denominations and communities came together to rejoice around prayer, all-day-singing, and a meal. This love of gospel music, along with a deep religiosity, was implanted in Carter’s heart at a young age and stayed with him throughout his lifetime. And you could tell by the way the late president’s face would light up that his connection to not only gospel music, but also rock, folk, country, jazz, and rhythm and blues ran through the deepest parts of his soul. Jimmy Carter’s deep connection to music, especially gospel, was more than just a personal joy — it was a reflection of his broader worldview and presidency. Music served as both solace and strategy, uniting Americans across divides of race, region and politics. Carter used music as a powerful tool to embody and promote his vision of unity, human rights, and healing — a vision that resonates even more poignantly as the nation reflects on his legacy following his death on Sunday at 100. In the late summer of 1979, partway through his third year as president, Jimmy Carter hosted an afternoon of gospel music at the White House. Blankets covered the grass on the South Lawn as over 800 attendees ate fried chicken, potato salad and coleslaw on paper plates. “Gospel music is really rural music from the country. It has both Black and white derivations; it’s not a racial kind of music,” President Carter said to the crowd. “But I think it’s important to recognize that gospel music is derived from deep within the heart of human beings — it’s a music of pain, a music of longing, a music of searching, a music of hope, and a music of faith.” Since he entered hospice care in February 2023, a lot has been shared about his life. The first president to be born in a hospital was a man of many anomalies. He grew up without electricity and running water in the segregated south, yet most of his friends before he left for the Naval Academy in 1943 were African Americans. He was a peanut farmer, a nuclear engineer, a carpenter and a poet whose simple writing illuminated the historical reckoning and soul of America. One of his first official acts as governor of Georgia in 1971 was to refute the segregationist pride of his predecessor Lester Maddox, the former Georgia governor and Democratic populist, by displaying a portrait of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the capitol and by stating “the time for racial discrimination is over.” This surprised many Georgians who voted for Carter. During his presidency, he was a champion for the environment, installing solar panels at the White House. He was a staunch advocate for women’s rights, civil rights and human rights, and was a pivotal figure in the progressive New South movement, looking to modernize social attitudes ingrained in the culture of the Old South. Though arguably one of the most pietistic, genuine and well-intentioned presidents of the 20th century, Carter’s presidency was clouded by challenges, many of which were out of his control. In 1979, Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 American diplomats hostage for 444 days. “I would play Willie Nelson music primarily,” Carter said, of the time that he spent alone, in his study, “so I could think about my problems and say a few prayers.” A failed rescue attempt was also a significant blow to his presidency, ultimately stymieing his reelection. Fuel shortages created high oil prices. Carter struggled to effectively address high inflation, high unemployment and slow economic growth that came to be known as “stagflation.” Also, the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan marked a setback in the Cold War. “Music was a way Carter could insulate himself from the political noise,” says Iwan Morgan, emeritus professor of U.S. Studies at University College London. Morgan was in the United States, doing an exchange teaching job from August 1979 to September 1980 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He recalled that the hostages were the most fundamental thing on people’s minds ultimately blighting the final years of Carter’s presidency. “Music was a way of touching the soul, probably the closest man has to do that. And music was a comfort for Carter,” Morgan says. “I’m not saying it helped him make good decisions. By any standard the attempted rescue of the Iranian hostages was a longshot highly likely to end in failure and gave Carter no real chance thereafter of negotiating the release of the hostages.” Chuck Leavell, the keyboardist for the Allman Brothers Band during the band’s rise to fame in the 1970s, came to know Jimmy Carter when he was governor of Georgia. They’d been friends ever since. Leavell would visit the Carters in Plains or Jimmy and Rosalyn would visit Leavell’s homeplace at the Charlane Woodlands and Preserve in Dry Branch, Georgia for hunting trips. Carter would always ask Leavell to play something on the piano. “I played ‘Georgia on My Mind’ for him and probably did the Allman Brothers song ‘Statesboro Blues’,” Leavell told me. “And again, just, you know, the smile that would get on his face and his eyes would light up. And, you know, it’s not like he was jumping around and dancing. Don’t get me wrong. You know, he wasn’t that kind of guy. He didn’t react in that way, but he was listening, always listening intently. You could just see it. And, you know, even though he didn’t play an instrument himself, I think he had something in his DNA that felt the music, not only heard it, but felt it.” Carter wasn’t initially well-known outside of Georgia, and an endorsement from the Allman Brothers Band in 1975, some three months before the Iowa caucuses, helped increase his candidacy, particularly among young Americans. There was a feeling at the time that young people were in charge. 1972 was the first year that 18-to-21-year-olds could cast a ballot, making the youth vote more important than ever before. So Carter both naturally and strategically aligned himself with musicians to give him a crucial boost during the Democratic primaries. A major strategy for Carter’s presidential campaign was to put on concerts on the campaign trail. It started with the Marshall Tucker Band headlining a concert at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on Oct. 31, 1975, then the Allman Brothers Band on Nov. 25 at Providence Civic Center in Providence Rhode Island, and Charlie Daniels at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on Jan. 14, 1976. Jimmy Buffett put on a benefit for Carter in Portland, Oregon. These concerts not only brought notoriety to the Carter campaign, they also brought in a lot of money that could be matched by the federal government. “Musicians don’t always feel safe with somebody except other musicians,” says Chris Farrell, lead producer of the documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” “His authenticity definitely played a great role in his ability to connect with musicians.” The music of change at that time was rock and roll. When Gregg Allman was arrested for trying to acquire pharmaceutical grade cocaine, and testified to get out of serving a prison sentence, Jimmy never turned on Allman. He could have said, “this is too big of a risk for me” and ended his association with the Allman Brothers. “But he didn’t judge people,” Farrell says. “He just cared about who you were as an individual and that’s very spiritual in a very Christian sort of view of the world. And I think that carried over into politics; he didn’t care if you were a Republican or a Democrat. If you’re trying to do the right thing, then why can’t we all do this together? So I think it was not political expediency or effectiveness or, you know, a gimmick. I think that’s just who he was.” Carter won the presidency in 1976, and was inaugurated in 1977. The cowboy-Western film star John Wayne spoke at the inaugural ball. As a conservative, he still wished Carter well. Paul Simon sang. So did Charlie Daniels. Aretha Franklin sang “God Bless America.” Coming out of Watergate, there was a sense too that America needed to heal together. Through music, but also through unifying Republicans and Democrats alike. “John Wayne worked with President Carter to give the Panama Canal back to the Panamanian people,” says Mary Wharton, director of “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President.” “It’s that old line about people who forget about history are doomed to repeat it. And unfortunately, we’re repeating the things in history that we didn’t pay attention to.” When he was president, dozens of musicians came to the White House for themed music nights. In April, 1978 Loretta Lynn, Tom T. Hall, and Conway Twitty were invited to an evening devoted to celebrating country music. Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, George Benson, Ron Carter and Tony Williams played a jazz event. It was an honor for Carter to bring jazz musicians who hadn’t been recognized by the government to the White House. He used music as a way for people to see a common humanity among different races, religions and cultural backgrounds. He felt jazz helped break down the racial divide in the country. Cecil Taylor, Chick Correa — their presence wasn’t just for performance. Their inclusion was a statement against racial prejudice, a reminder of music’s potential to dissolve barriers. Carter felt deeply that jazz and country music represented America. Carter also used music to entertain and educate members of Congress. He held a Nascar event, where country singer Willie Nelson performed on the South Lawn. It’s as if Carter used music as a reflective mindfulness practice, decades before the mainstream was aware of what mindfulness is. The Carter administration never dropped a bomb, fired a missile or shot a bullet to kill another person. After his presidency, the Carter Center helped eradicate Guinea worm disease. For 35 years, he spent at least a week every year building houses for Habitat for Humanity. In the days and weeks to come, I imagine a revisionist history about Carter’s presidency will begin to unravel. This began in 2020, with the release of the documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President,” and will continue, especially now during a time where the world seems more divided than ever. Carter was a president with a lot of faith and a lot of soul. He cried when thinking of his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn. The man was calculated and believed in the power of music. Scholars and historians will remember that Carter wanted to represent America’s value system by making human rights the center of his foreign policy. He helped broker the Camp David Accords, a negotiated peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, marking the first time an Arab country recognized Israel. When I remember Carter, I will think of a man listening to the painful ballads of Willie Nelson when trying to be mindful and make sense of complex problems. I will also think of Jan Williams, the pianist at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. “Carter said he couldn’t sing,” she told me. “But I liked his voice.” The late president first attended Maranatha Baptist Church in 1981 and started teaching Sunday School there until 2015. “His favorite song was always ‘When I Get To Heaven’,” Williams says, thinking of Jimmy reunited with his Rosalynn again.Riding a 6-game win streak, the Eagles head to Hollywood again for a rematch with the young Rams

Israel approves proposed ceasefire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah

BEIRUT — Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. For the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the government now has control of only four of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Homs, Latakia and Tartus. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria’s border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Get local news delivered to your inbox!There are two reasons to write a business book, according to Brad Stone , author of “The Everything Store.” You’re either writing a thriller or a how-to-manual. In “The Nvidia Way,” veteran technology journalist Tae Kim manages to do both. Kim charts the improbable rise of Nvidia from a fledgling three-person ‘90s era graphics chip startup, one of countless others in a crowded and cutthroat field, to the largest and most influential computer company in the world. Kim also lays out the reasons for Nvidia’s success. It wasn’t just that they had talented leaders, good timing, or industry-leading technology. Nvidia succeeded because it cultivates a unique culture of excellence which he dubs “The Nvidia Way.” At the center of this story is CEO Jensen Huang, described by one employee in the book as an “extremely persuasive and extremely hard working” leader, who has been leading the firm and shaping this culture since its founding in 1993. Huang is one of the longest-tenured CEO in the technology industry and one of the few lone founders still running the show. As Kim readily acknowledges, the Nvidia Way is really the Jensen Way. He sets the culture. What is the Nvidia Way? First, hire the best people. When in doubt, go for raw talent over experience. Second, reward performance and compensate your best people very well. Third, demand excellence and accountability from everyone all the time, starting at the top. Huang is a Taiwanese immigrant of humble origin who excelled in math and table tennis and graduated high school at 16. He later befriended Nvidia’s other co-founders, Curtis Priem, who also began programming computers in high school, and Chris Malachowsky, who realized midway through his MCAT exam he didn’t want to be a doctor, in Silicon Valley’s tight-knit community. Over countless coffees at a neighborhood Denny’s, they convinced each other to quit their jobs and start a new company. From day one, Huang was CEO. Priem and Malachowsky are interesting figures, and we get to know them a little, but if the Nvidia story was the Avengers, Huang is Iron Man, the star of the show. Nvidia launched at “the perfect time,” says Kim. By 1993, the demand for graphics chips powering video games like “Doom” was exploding. But despite the favorable market conditions, Nvidia’s first chip, the NV1, was a flop. “Nobody goes to the store to buy a Swiss Army knife. It’s something you get for Christmas” Huang later recounted about the product, which was fatally overengineered. “When we were younger, we sucked at a lot of things, ” says Huang,” adding that Nvidia might have done better if he simply was not around in the first five years. A new chip, the RIVA 128, saved the company. Nvidia even turned a modest profit in its first year. This success would be short-lived. The next half-decade was characterized by both big wins, and large setbacks. “Building a company is a new skill,” Huang admits. Nvidia often found itself on the back foot early on. Designing and launching a graphics card took more than a year, but chip buyers were refreshing their lineup of PCs every six months, meaning no one company could ever stay on top. Huang’s solution: “We’re going to fundamentally restructure the engineering department to line up with the refresh cycles.” This decision changed the chip industry as every other competitor was forced to keep pace or die. Huang calls this “moving at the Speed of Light,” the theoretical limit of how fast anything can travel, to win. A “Star Trek” fan, he was talked out of dubbing this culture of quickness the much geekier “Mycelium Spore Drive.” After a few years, Nvidia began to hit its stride, going public in 1999 and then winning the contract for the first Xbox from Microsoft. Later, Nvidia grabbed 85% of Apple’s entire computer lineup. As the company grew more successful, Huang became obsessed with “The Innovator’s Dilemma,” a concept coined by professor Clayton Christensen, which describes how incumbents are often disrupted by more nimble upstarts. Huang’s fear of getting disrupted drives him. “The only thing that lasts longer than our products is sushi,” he likes to joke. It’s why he’s partial to erasable whiteboards, which “represent the belief that a successful idea, no matter how brilliant, must eventually be erased, and a new one must take its pace.” Nvidia’s first true killer product was the graphical processor unit, or GPU, launched in 2003. The GPU changed the market perception by putting the GPU (the graphics engine) on par with a better-known CPU, or central processing unit. This was more than marketing hyperbole. The new class of chips was programmable, which meant they could be used for a myriad of use cases. At first, Nvidia had no clue just how versatile the GPU truly was. “Really the modern GPU, we kind of stumbled onto,” said Nvidia scientist David Kirk. As it turned out, super powerful graphics engines were great for other kinds of computation, including the nascent field of AI research. In fact, academics credit Nvidia’s GPU with leveling the playing field in research by democratizing computing power. Recognizing the AI opportunity early, Huang declared in 2012, “We need to consider this work as our highest priority.” To make the GPUs easy for non-graphics users to program, Nvidia created a software interface known as CUDA (Compute Unified Device Architecture). Over time, CUDA became the company’s greatest asset. Once you get used to programming chips in one environment, you never want to leave. Nvidia also began aggressively cultivating AI researchers through grants, joint ventures, and partnerships with academia. This decades-long effort helped to effectively create a market for its GPUs. As Nvidia grew, they remained vigilant against the corporate bloat and inertia that kills companies. Huang hates corporate hierarchy. “You want a company that’s as large as necessary to do the job well, but to be as small as possible.” For him, the goal is to have a Vulcan mind meld (another “Star Trek” reference) with his people, where people can share and anticipate each other’s thoughts. Kim’s book leaves readers with the impression the AI age is just getting started. Nvidia, for their part, thinks the entire data center market, made up mostly of CPUs, will need to switch to GPUs, representing more than a trillion dollars in chip purchases. The “big bang” for Nvidia came in 2023, shortly after the release of ChatGPT, when the company beat its revenue estimates by a staggering $4 billion. For some, Nvidia’s rapid ascent to being the world’s largest company was a shock. For anyone paying attention, Kim argues, their eventual success should have been obvious. “It is Jensen’s personal will that has shaped Nvidia,” says Kim, asking what happens when he and the company part ways. That question goes unanswered. For now, Nvidia sits unassailable atop the mountain, surrounded by a cultural moat few can traverse. Alex Tapscott is the author of “Web3: Charting the Internet’s Next Economic and Cultural Frontier” and managing director of the Digital Asset Group, a division of Ninepoint Partners LP

Utica hockey officials, Notre Dame high school partner for elite boys, girls teamsOhio State gets a 1st-place vote in our Big Ten power rankings for Week 14The record will show that tight end Trey McBride had a great season, Marvin Harrison Jr. has a promising future, the Cardinals' defense played over its head for much of the year and Arizona was almost a good football team in 2024. Key word — almost. A frustrating stretch continued on Saturday when the Cardinals (7-9) lost 13-9 to the host Los Angeles Rams . Arizona was pushing for a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute, but Kyler Murray's pass took an unlucky bounce off McBride's helmet and LA's Ahkello Witherspoon made a spectacular grab for the interception, snagging the ball just before it hit the turf. “I think we can compete with anybody, but again, that doesn’t count,” second-year coach Jonathan Gannon said. “It’s about winning and losing, you what I mean? I just got to do a better job, but I know they’re doing the right things.” The Cardinals did a lot of things right against the Rams. Despite being eliminated from the postseason, Arizona competed hard. Murray completed 33 of 48 passes for 321 yards and a touchdown — but also had two interceptions. McBride caught 12 passes for 123 yards, including his first TD catch of the year. Harrison had one of his best games with six catches for 96 yards. “I’m going to choose to be positive about it,” Murray said. “I see a light at the end of that tunnel. I think we’re a couple plays away, a couple of plays away from being a 10-win team or right where we want to be, going to the playoffs or winning the division.” The Cardinals' defense played well for most of the game, limiting the Rams to 257 yards. But in the end, it was another loss. The Cardinals have dropped five of six after starting 6-4. “I know we’re close, man, and I know it’s hard to see that,” Gannon said. “For me, that’s hard to take on the chin but we’ll get better from it. We’ll get better.” What’s working The Murray-to-Harrison connection was much better on Saturday, producing several big plays. Gannon challenged Harrison to be more physical against opposing defensive backs last week, and the receiver responded, looking much more like the player the Cardinals expected when they selected him with the No. 4 overall pick. “I think the physicality of it, coming from college to the league, guys don’t realize how physical you can be when you get to the league,” Murray said. “He's going to be big time.” What needs help After doing a great job of taking care of the ball over the first 11 games, Murray has thrown seven interceptions over the past five. A few of those came in late-game situations when he had to take a chance and force a pass, but it's still not a good trend. Stock up McBride had his third 100-yard game of the season, showing sure hands and fighting through contact for extra yards. The third-year player has 1,081 yards receiving this season, becoming just the second tight end in franchise history to exceed 1,000 yards. The other was Hall of Famer Jackie Smith, who had 1,205 yards in 1967. He has 104 catches and is just the 10th tight end in NFL history to top 100 in a season. Stock down Arizona's special teams have been very good for most of the year, but Los Angeles' block of an extra point attempt by Chad Ryland in the third quarter proved costly. If the Cardinals had trailed by three points on the final drive instead of four, they would have had the option of kicking a tying field goal in the final minute. Injuries RB James Conner tried to battle through a knee injury against the Rams, but gained just 4 yards on the ground. His status for the season's final game is uncertain. LB Joey Blount (ribs) and CB Elijah Jones (ankle) were inactive. Key number 822 — Harrison's receiving yards on the season. That ranks third for a rookie in franchise history behind Anquan Boldin (1,377 in 2003) and Frank Sanders (883 in 1995). Next steps Arizona's final game will be at home on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, who are also eliminated from the playoff race. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl David Brandt, The Associated Press

The New England Patriots announced Tuesday that they’ve claimed G Lester Cotton off waivers from the Dolphins and waived G Michael Jordan. Cotton, 28, wound up going undrafted out of Alabama back in May of 2019. He later signed a rookie contract with the Raiders. The Raiders waived Cotton at the start of the 2020 season and he sat out the entire year. He was on and off of the Raiders’ roster before joining the Dolphins for the 2023 season. Miami opted to waive Cotton on Monday. In 2024, Cotton has appeared in 11 games for the Dolphins, but has yet to make a start. This article first appeared on NFLTradeRumors.co and was syndicated with permission.How to Watch Top 25 Women’s College Basketball Games – Wednesday, November 27

Manipur: Ban on mobile internet in 9 districts extended till Dec 9None

King and PM honour former US president Jimmy Carter after his death aged 100

NoneNBA superstar Kevin Durant, generally known as the king of the pull-up jumper, found himself fascinated by LSU sophomore guard Mikaylah Williams' performance during the Tigers' 94-88 overtime win against Stanford. The NBA superstar took to social media to tweet about Williams ' silky-smooth and efficient game, quote-tweeting a highlight reel of her standout moments with the words, "Everything pure." The video showed Williams hooping in Durant -like fashion, with jab-step pull-ups, off-the-dribble three-pointers, and jumpers straight from the triple threat, all moves that cemented Durant as one of the greatest scorers in NBA history . Williams delivered a career-best performance , scoring a game-high 32 points on a scorching 12-of-18 shooting. Like Durant, her clutch gene was fully displayed as she sank the game-tying jumper with just 4.3 seconds left in regulation. In overtime, she knocked down a dagger three-pointer with 38 seconds remaining, effectively sealing LSU’ s victory. Williams also logged 42 tiring minutes and contributed nine rebounds to solidify her all-around dominance on both ends of the floor. Caitlin Clark told she is 'close to being blocked' by former Iowa teammate Flau'jae Johnson reacts to Kim Mulkey's sideline behavior at LSU The sophomore guard followed up her career night with a reliable 16-point showing in LSU’s controlling 100-54 win over Grambling State. In that matchup, she was one of three Tigers to hit double figures, with Aneesah Morrow leading the charge with 26 points and Flau'Jae Johnson adding 20. Williams' consistency and efficiency have been central to LSU’s scorching start to the season, which has resulted in an undefeated 11-0 record. LSU head coach Kim Mulkey praised the Louisiana native for her on-court brilliance and her impact on the fan base. "I took her out so the crowd could all acknowledge her. There was no frustration; that’s just Mikaylah and her mannerisms," Mulkey explained . "I just told her she needed to take a look around this arena. They're here for her and what she means to this area of the state." Mulkey continued to commend Williams' efficiency. "She shot it good. She’s had a great percentage... I thought she had a very solid game... But I didn’t sense any frustration." Williams' stats this season are a testament to her growth. Averaging 16.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game on 47 percent shooting, she has improved her scoring and efficiency since her freshman year, when she earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Her impact on the city stretches back to high school when she twice won Louisiana Miss Basketball and was named the Morgan Wootten National Player of the Year. As one of the best NBA scorers ever, Durant is no stranger to praising the women who share his passion for putting the ball in the bucket. He's on record praising WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark for her game and previously shared that reigning New York Liberty champion Jonquel Jones is his favorite player.

Looking for a new social media platform because X, Threads and Mastodon just aren’t cutting it? You could try Bluesky. People seeking to avoid chaos, noise and political bluster in the aftermath of the U.S. elections are noticing a different mood on the Bluesky social platform, where the vibe is seemingly welcoming and there are noticeably fewer trolls. The site announced it had rapidly added more than a million new users in the week after Election Day, and has emerged as one of the fastest growing rivals to Elon Musk’s X and similar platforms. If you’re tempted to check out the new space, here’s a guide on how Bluesky works: Maybe you’re not ready to commit to adding yet another social media account. No problem — you can still look around on Bluesky without signing up because all posts and profiles are public. You might get a sense of deja vu, because the platform’s look and feel are very similar to X. That should be no surprise because Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey was an early Bluesky champion. (Dorsey’s no longer involved with Bluesky, which is owned and run by its executive team as a public benefit corporation.) If you take the plunge and get an account, you’ll need a username. You’ll notice Bluesky handles are a little bit different because they end by default in the site’s domain, .bsky.social. You can personalize your handle to make it more memorable, by using your own website’s domain or buying a custom one through Bluesky. But it might not be something most newbie users need or want to do right away. Bluesky boasts that it gives users “algorithmic choice” to tailor the content they’re shown instead of leaving it up to the whims of a centralized system. “Our online experience doesn’t have to depend on billionaires unilaterally making decisions over what we see,” it says. What it means is that you can follow custom feeds set up by other users, or design your own. If you tap #Feeds in the menu on the left, you’ll see some default offerings like Cat Pics and Gardening. My Bangers is a list of your most popular posts by likes and Catch Up shows the site’s most popular posts from the past 24 hours. You can find more by doing a search and tapping the Feeds button. There’s also the usual “Discover” feed of suggested posts and a chronological feed of accounts that you follow. To help new users settle in, Bluesky has starter packs of recommended feeds and accounts to follow, which anyone can create and share. They don’t show up in Bluesky’s search results but can be found in directories online. Or someone might share one with you. After I signed up, a colleague pointed me to one for major news outlets. There are tens of thousands of starter packs, ranging from broadly appealing topics like Taylor Swift to niche interests like cargo bikes or U.K. comedians. You can follow the whole pack or scroll down the list to choose individual accounts. What about people you followed on X? There’s a browser extension tool called Sky Follower Bridge that will help you find X users who’ve migrated to Bluesky. But check before clicking the follow button to make sure it’s not a different user using the same display name or handle. Ready to join the conversation? You can write posts or reply to others but keep it short because there’s a limit of 300 characters — 20 more than on X. You can also upload photos and videos, though videos can’t be longer than 60 seconds. GIFs and emojis are, of course, available too. You can still @ people by typing in their username, like posts by tapping a heart icon or use hashtags to highlight a theme. Bluesky has added a menu to hashtags, so when you click on one you’ll get different options for seeing, or muting, posts on that topic. Bluesky’s decentralization ethos extends to the content control options it offers. For starters, users can choose in their settings menu whether to see replies, reposts or quote posts in their feed. Specific words or tags can be muted temporarily, or forever, while accounts can be muted or blocked individually, or in bulk by adding them a moderation list. You can even fine tune the level of adult content that shows up in your feed. Bluesky has a team of content moderators to police the site for material that’s illegal or breaks the rules. But it’s also taking a different approach by open-sourcing its content moderation system in an attempt to resolve problems with traditional moderation services which it says “lack transparency and user control.” So, individuals or groups can set up their own content filters, or labelers, that go beyond what Bluesky offers. These labelers can be used to categorize content or users, which can then be blocked or hidden. But they could also be used for informational or creative purposes, like curating or verifying content.Jimmy Carter: Many evolutions for a centenarian ‘citizen of the world’