Author: KnowledgeHippo

Elon Musk struck again at the Walt Disney Company on Tuesday, agreeing to fund a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by “The Mandalorian” actress Gina Carano.“Please let us know if you want to join the lawsuit against Disney,” Mr. Musk wrote, apparently seeking other plaintiffs, in a post on X, which he bought in 2022.Disney pulled Ms. Carano, a former mixed martial artist, from “The Mandalorian” in 2021 after she espoused baseless conspiracy theories and right-wing positions, some of which were deemed homophobic and anti-Semitic, in a series of social media posts. Her character was written out of sequence. Lucasfilm, the…

Videos shared on social media this week depict an almost dystopian, futuristic scene: drivers of Teslas on Autopilot while wearing Apple Vision Pro headsets, seemingly oblivious to the road ahead.The videos prompted federal transportation officials to issue warnings.But are people really driving around mindlessly in Teslas on Autopilot wearing Apple’s new futuristic glasses? Or is it all a bit? Part of an endless cycle of people doing stupid things for clicks, likes, views and influence?The new glasses have a feature that merges digital apps and a person’s environment into an immersive space, and videos of people wearing them in strange…

Ford Motor said it lost $526 million in the final quarter of 2023, mainly as a result of special charges related to its employee pension plans and the reorganization of some of its overseas operations.The automaker said fourth-quarter revenue rose to $46 billion, from $44 billion a year ago, thanks to strong sales of internal combustion vehicles and light commercial trucks.The company’s gasoline and hybrid vehicle division earned $813 million before interest and taxes in the fourth quarter, and its commercial vehicle division earned $1.8 billion. The unit that makes electric vehicles lost $1.6 billion.John Lawler, Ford’s chief financial officer,…

Seizures of psychedelic mushrooms across the country by law enforcement officials have increased significantly in recent years as attitudes about their use have become more permissive, according to a government-sponsored study released Tuesday.The researchers found that law enforcement authorities seized 844 kilograms of mushrooms containing psilocybin in 2022, a 273 percent increase from 2017. Psilocybin is the psychoactive ingredient in mushrooms commonly known as magic mushrooms.Officials with the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which commissioned the study, said the increase in magic mushroom seizures reflected growing drug use, rather than a sign that drug enforcement officials were pursuing the substances…

Before the advent of drones, people had to rely mostly on airplanes or helicopters to take aerial photos. Now, thanks to the increasing availability and decreasing prices of drones, as well as advances in obstacle avoidance technology, GPS navigation, battery life, and camera stabilization, it sure seems easier to take photos from higher altitudes.But that doesn’t mean that anyone with a drone can take great photos. Here are some practical tips on the logistics of using a drone and suggestions for taking better photos while traveling.First, know the rulesIn the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration oversees drone regulations, and…

US warplanes destroyed or severely damaged most of the Iranian and militia targets they struck in Syria and Iraq on Friday, the Pentagon said, the first major strike in what President Biden and his aides said were it will be an ongoing campaign.Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Monday that “more than 80” of the roughly 85 targets in Syria and Iraq had been destroyed or rendered inactive. The targets, he said, include command hubs. intelligence centers; depots for missiles, rockets and attack drones; as well as logistics and ammunition depots.It was the first military assessment…

Good morning. It’s Tuesday. Today we’ll look at whether Mayor Eric Adams should retain control of the New York public school system.Mayor Eric Adams’ review of the New York City school system will be renewed in June. The state Legislature, which will decide whether or not to extend mayoral primacy to the nation’s largest public school system, appears open to revisiting a model of school governance that was established in New York 20 years ago and has since become entrenched. Whether mayoral control improved the system has been the subject of considerable debate ever since.I asked Troy Closson, who covers…

BP’s new chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, promised a flexible approach to divestment from fossil fuels as the oil giant reported a $3 billion profit in the latest quarter on Tuesday.Mr Auchincloss said in an interview after BP reported earnings that the company was following what he called a “demand strategy”. BP shares rose more than 5 percent in trading in London, where the company is based.BP has a plan to become what Mr. Auchincloss called an integrated energy company. But in the meantime, “we’re seeing increasing demand for energy right now around the world,” he said. “It’s not slowing down.”BP…

Last month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, called a nascent effort to detect artificially generated content “the most urgent mission” facing the tech industry today.On Tuesday, Mr Clegg proposed a solution. Meta said it would promote technology standards that companies across the industry could use to identify indicators in photo, video and audio material that would mean the content was created using artificial intelligence.The standards could allow social media companies to quickly identify AI-generated content posted on their platforms and allow them to tag that material. If widely adopted, the…

After enjoying a strong recovery in sales in 2023, the auto industry appears headed for slower growth this year as consumers struggle with rising interest rates and high prices for new cars and light trucks.Edmunds, a market researcher, expects the industry to sell 15.7 million vehicles this year. That would equate to a modest increase from the 15.5 million sold last year, when sales rose 12%.”There’s definitely pent-up demand out there because people have been holding off on purchases for a while,” said Jessica Caldwell, chief information officer at Edmunds. “But given the credit situation, we don’t think the industry…