TechieTricks.com
California woman Lanette Bashore jailed 30 months for decades-long fraud funding gambling habit
A California woman named Lanette Bashore has been sentenced to 30 months in jail and ordered to pay more than $1 million in compensation for a fraud scheme that ran for over two decades, during which she used the stolen funds to support her lifestyle and gambling habits. Bashore... Read more
Paramount’s Hostile Bid for Warner Bros. Aims to Block Netflix’s $83 Billion Offer
Netflix announced last Friday its intention to acquire Warner Bros., HBO and its streaming business HBO Max, in an $82.7 billion deal. But that deal is being contested by Paramount, which announced Monday that it was launching a hostile bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Netflix’s deal would see the... Read more
AI Toys for Kids Talk About Sex, Drugs, and Chinese Propaganda
Two people allegedly linked to China’s infamous Salt Typhoon espionage hacking group seem to have previously received training through Cisco’s prominent, long-running networking academy. Meanwhile, warnings are increasingly emerging from United States lawmakers in Congress that safeguards on expanded US wiretap powers have been failing, allowing US intelligence agencies... Read more
CFTC issues no-action letters to four prediction markets
The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued no-action letters to four different prediction markets. In a public announcement, the CFTC said it would give the all clear for “swap data reporting and recordkeeping regulations in response to requests from multiple registered entities.” This is the second time since... Read more
La Liga Soccer: Stream Barcelona vs. Osasuna Live From Anywhere
When to watch Barcelona vs. Osasuna Saturday, Dec. 13 at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT) Where to watch Barcelona vs. Osasuna will air in the US on ESPN Select. Barcelona could open up a seven-point advantage at the top of La Liga with a win on Saturday as... Read more
Google Data Centers Are Returning Nuclear Power to Tornado Country
“This was one of the most significant safety events in US nuclear history and yet it was not significantly dangerous to the public,” said Stein. “That speaks to the robustness of these plants.” NRC licensing requires reactor buildings to be built to withstand “tornado missiles,” or large objects colliding... Read more
Louisiana gambling watchdog is taking issue with sports prediction markets
Louisiana is the latest state to take issue with prediction markets introducing sportsbooks. In a press release from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB), it now views sporting event contracts and “certain other event contracts” as a violation of state gambling laws. This comes only days after the Washington... Read more
Prime Video Hits Pause on Error-Filled AI Recaps
Amazon launched a limited beta of AI-generated Video Recaps for selected in-house Prime Video shows last month — titles like Fallout, Jack Ryan, The Rig, Upload and Bosch. But now the feature has made a generative AI about-face, with reports of it being removed from the app after fans found... Read more
Google’s new framework helps AI agents spend their compute and tool budget more wisely
In a new paper that studies tool-use in large language model (LLM) agents, researchers at Google and UC Santa Barbara have developed a framework that enables agents to make more efficient use of tool and compute budgets. The researchers introduce two new techniques: a simple "Budget Tracker" and a... Read more
PAGCOR chief Alejandro Tengco denies conflict allegations over family government contracts
The gambling watchdog (PAGCOR) for the Philippines is under fire, as its CEO, Alejandro Tengco, has been accused of a conflict of interest. It comes as Tengco’s family’s construction firm managed to acquire government contracts. The PAGCOR chief has refuted these claims, claiming that he has no direct influence... Read more