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Hundreds attend church service generated by ChatGPT

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

FUERTH, Germany (AP) — The artificial intelligence chatbot asked the believers in the fully packed St. Paul's church in the Bavarian town of Fuerth to rise from the pews and praise the Lord.The ChatGPT chatbot, personified by an avatar of a bearded Black man on a huge screen above the altar, then began preaching to the more than 300 people who had shown up on Friday morning for an experimental Lutheran church service almost entirely generated by AI.“Dear friends, it is an honor for me to stand here and preach to you as the first artificial intelligence at this year's convention of Protestants in Germany," the avatar said with an expressionless face and monotonous voice. What is a ‘dupe’ on TikTok? Here’s the meaning behind the trend The 40-minute service — including the sermon, prayers and music — was created by ChatGPT and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna.“I conceived this service — but actually I rather accompanied it, because I would ...

Austin businesses raise $255K for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Wednesday, the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) raised more than $255,000 during the 2023 annual Corporate Battle of the Bands, exceeding last year's total of $227,000, according a new release from HAAM.HAAM is a local non-profit organization that provides access to affordable healthcare for Austin's low-income, working musicians, the release said."We are honored to have had so many from Austin’s business community come out in support of our communities’ musicians,” HAAM CEO Paul Scott said. “The Austin music scene is a main factor in what drives businesses to Central Texas, so it is no surprise we have so many talented artists working within these companies. Without the support of our local business community, we would not be able to do the essential work we do. Last year, we were thrilled to break our previous fundraising record, so to say we were excited to top that again this year, would be an understatement!”The annual battle of the bands event dre...

Cassava flour and fruit kept 4 children alive for 40 days after plane crash in Colombia's jungle

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Four Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation and forced the usually opposing military and Indigenous people to work together. Cassava flour and some familiarity with the rainforest's fruits were key to the children's extraordinary survival in an area where snakes, mosquitoes and other animals abound. The members of the Huitoto people, aged 13, 9 and 4 years and 11 months, are expected to remain for a minimum of two weeks at a hospital receiving treatment after their rescue Friday.Family members, President Gustavo Petro as well as government and military officials met the children Saturday at the hospital in Bogota, the capital. Defense Minister Iván Velásquez told reporters the children were being rehydrated and cannot eat food yet. “But in general, the condition...

Cassava flour and fruit kept 4 children alive for 40 days after plane crash in Colombia’s jungle

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

By MANUEL RUEDA and REGINA GARCIA CANO (Associated Press)BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Four Indigenous children survived an Amazon plane crash that killed three adults and then braved the jungle for 40 days before being found alive by Colombian soldiers, bringing a happy ending to a search-and-rescue saga that captivated a nation and forced the usually opposing military and Indigenous people to work together. Cassava flour and some familiarity with the rainforest’s fruits were key to the children’s extraordinary survival in an area where snakes, mosquitoes and other animals abound. The members of the Huitoto people, aged 13, 9 and 4 years and 11 months, are expected to remain for a minimum of two weeks at a hospital receiving treatment after their rescue Friday.Family members, President Gustavo Petro as well as government and military officials met the children Saturday at the hospital in Bogota, the capital. Defense Minister Iván Velásquez told reporters the c...

Movie review: Hollow ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ lacks soul, sense

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

The “Transformers” film franchise, spawned in 2007 with Michael Bay’s “Transformers,” was one of the first straight-faced blockbuster franchises based on a toy (and an ’80s cartoon series). It is now, astonishingly, seven films deep with the release of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” which is both a prequel to “Transformers” and a sequel to 2018’s “Bumblebee,” which was set in 1987. “Rise of the Beasts,” set in 1994, is also based on the “Transformers: Beast Wars” media franchise of comic books and anime, which introduced the Maximal characters, alien robots that look like giant animals, not shape-shifting cars.Got all that? It’s OK if you don’t, because the screenplay — by Joby Harold, Darnell Metayer, Josh Peters, Erich Hoeber and Jon Hoeber, with a story by Harold — will repeat the pertinent information ad nauseam, until you never want to hear the phrase “trans-warp key” ever again.The basics are as such: a giant, planet-eating dark god known as Unicron need...

Austin, Minn., police seek people involved in fatal drive-by shooting that left others injured

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

Police are asking for help in finding several people and a vehicle involved in a drive-by shooting in Austin, Minn., on Friday night that left one man dead and at least two other people injured.Authorities say the chain of events began about 10:40 p.m. Friday when five people got into a vehicle in the 700 block of Second Street Northwest and a gunman in a white Dodge Durango drove up and began shooting, according to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.During the shooting, the vehicle with the victims in it rolled and then crashed into a home on the 700 block of Fourth Street North. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. When officers arrived, they found a man and a woman inside the vehicle who had both also been shot. Both were taken to area hospitals. Two other people inside the victims’ vehicle fled the accident scene. Austin police say they are concerned the two also have injuries and are trying to find them.In addition, authorities are tryin...

Class 2A state track and field: Mahtomedi senior Owen Carlson wins high jump

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

Mahtomedi senior Owen Carlson jumped higher than anyone else on Saturday at the Class 2A state track and field meet. That said, Carlson was a little disappointed in himself in the immediate aftermath.Never mind that he had a gold medal around his neck as proof of his dominance in the high jump. He wanted to challenge the state record of 7 feet, 1 inch“It’s not bad,” Carlson said of his winning height of 6 feet, 6 inches, which ties a Class 2A record. “I just know I could’ve gone a lot higher.”After clearing  6 feet, 10 inches earlier this year, Carlson was hoping to at least match that height. Instead, he will simply have to settle for being a state champion.Asked about his mindset when competing in the high jump, Carlson noted how he also plays basketball.“I love to dunk the ball,” Carlson said with a smile. “I’m basically thinking in my head every time I go out there, like, ‘Alright I’m going up to dunk the ba...

The price to witness Nuggets history for NBA Finals Game 5 inside Ball Arena is steep — no matter where you sit

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

The chance to watch the Denver Nuggets make history on Monday night will come at a steep price.The cheapest ticket for Game 5 of the NBA Finals at Ball Arena available on Ticketmaster as of Saturday afternoon started at $1,146 — or around the same price as a pair of Air Jordan 1s on StockX, an online sneaker resell company.That ticket price is just as high as the seat it is attached to. The buyer would sit near the rafters in section 310, row 15.Tickets available on ticket seller SeatGeek are cheaper, but not by much. Seats in section 368, row 15 were priced at $983, but that was as affordable as it gets.Fans might have to redirect a few rent payments to sit closer Monday. The cheapest seat in the 100 sections on Ticketmaster as of Saturday afternoon was $1,965, while the most expensive seat inside Ball Arena — section 118, row 16 — was priced at $50,000. A handful of lower bowl seats were still for sale Saturday at prices as low as $1,634 on SeatGeek, while courtside se...

20-year-old man dies after losing control of vehicle in Irvine 

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

A man was killed after he lost control of his vehicle in Irvine early Saturday morning. According to a release from the Irvine Police Department, officers responded to reports of a single vehicle crash at the intersection of Barranca Parkway and Vertical at 4:26 a.m. Saturday morning. Preliminary reports suggest that the driver, identified as 20-year-old Tristan Thai Ngo of Lake Forest, lost control of his maroon Lexus sedan while driving eastbound on Barranca Parkway. “The Lexus collided with three trees, a pole and a fire hydrant before impacting with a fourth tree and stopping,” Irvine Police Department said in a statement. Orange County Fire Authority pronounced the victim dead at the scene. Anyone with information regarding the crash is asked to contact Detective Joshua Balos at 949-724-7024. 

San Mateo-based Fujisoft America agrees to pay $1M for lying to get pandemic loans

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 10:30:00 GMT

San Mateo-based technology services company Fujisoft America has agreed to pay $1 million to resolve allegations it lied about its business to obtain $400,000 in forgivable emergency pandemic loans, according to federal officials.As part of the settlement announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice, the company admitted it knew it didn’t qualify for the two federal Paycheck Protection Program loans because it had more than 500 employees and lied about its size to seek loan forgiveness, officials said.The company also admitted it falsely claimed it had experienced a revenue decrease of more than 25% during the pandemic to get one of the loans, DOJ said.Fujisoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday.Related ArticlesBusiness | Trump blasts federal indictment as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘baseless’ in speech to Republicans in Georgia Business | Ted Kaczynski, ‘Unabomber’ who attacked modern life, dies at 81...