W
To avoid accusations of AI cheating, college students are turning to AI
Students are taking new measures, such as dumbing down their work, spying on themselves and using AI “humanizer” programs, to beat accusations of cheating with artificial intelligence..
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/college-students-ai-cheating-detectors-humanizers-rcna253878
Link to videoInterview with Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Northwestern Medicine surgeons develop a total artificial lung system to keep a patient alive for 48 hours after removing both lungs, enabling a double-lung transplantt
People bring a newborn calf into their home. Cold out there….
President Donald Trump is suing the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department for $10 billion, alleging that they failed to take necessary steps to prevent a former IRS employee from improperly disclosing his tax returns, and those of his sons and his company, to news outlets.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday at a federal courthouse in Miami, says Trump is suing in his personal capacity, not as president. The other plaintiffs include two of Trump’s sons — Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — and the Trump Organization..
Happened during the first Trump administration.
Littlejohn admitted in federal court that he also stole tax records belonging to thousands of other wealthy people in 2019 and 2020, including billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk..
EARLIER THIS MONTH, Joseph Thacker's neighbor mentioned to him that she'd preordered a couple of stuffed dinosaur toys for her children. She'd chosen the toys, called Bondus, because they offered an AI chat feature that lets children talk to the toy like a kind of machine-learning-enabled imaginary friend. But she knew Thacker, a security researcher, had done work on AI risks for kids, and she was curious about his thoughts.
So Thacker looked into it. With just a few minutes of work, he and a web security researcher friend named Joel Margolis made a startling discovery: Bondu’s web-based portal, intended to allow parents to check on their children's conversations and for Bondu’s staff to monitor the products’ use and performance, also let anyone with a Gmail account access transcripts of virtually every conversation Bondu's child users have ever had with the toy.
Without carrying out any actual hacking, simply by logging in with an arbitrary Google account, the two researchers immediately found themselves looking at children's private conversations, the pet names kids had given their Bondu, the likes and dislikes of the toys' toddler owners, their favorite snacks and dance moves..
Wired:
Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis this week questioned the U.S. attorney over the lack of any civil rights investigations into two fatal shootings by immigration agents, and warned that more people could resign in protest if things don't change, multiple sources told CBS News.
In a somber meeting on Monday between Minnesota U.S. Attorney Dan Rosen and assistant U.S. attorneys in the criminal division, prosecutors expressed concern that they were not allowed to investigate the federal officers who shot and killed Renee Good or Alex Pretti, sources familiar with the meeting said.
They also told Rosen they are worried about how President Trump's immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota is being handled by the office, warning that they are facing pressure to rush to file criminal charges against people accused of assaulting federal officers without conducting a formal investigation, and that the intense focus on such cases is interfering with their ability to complete other important work.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/prosecutors-minneapolis-warn-more-could-resign-renee-good-alex-pretti/
A year into his second administration, Americans’ views of President Donald Trump – already more negative than positive – have continued to slip.
From Gov Newsom's office:
https://bsky.app/profile/govpressoffice.gov.ca.gov/post/3mdlf5k6j6s22
Tulsi at work. WSJ reporting:
The White House and Senate Democrats reached a deal Thursday to separate the fight over ICE funding from the threat of a broader government shutdown, sources told Axios.
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/29/government-funding-deal-shutdown-dhs-schumer-trump
Local reporting about the earlier incident.
The earlier altercation occurred at E. 36th Street and Park Avenue in Minneapolis’ Powderhorn neighborhood — less than half a mile from the spot where an ICE officer shot Renee Good in her vehicle the week before.
Shapiro, a Minneapolis-based corporate tax attorney, rushed to the area just before 10:30 a.m. after Signal group chats alerted him to ICE enforcement activity near his young son’s Spanish immersion day care.
Shapiro said he witnessed several in the crowd of 15 to 20 people lobbing snowballs at agents. Then, he said, a bearded man positioned in the street — wearing a brown coat, black hat and sunglasses — proceeded to kick out the taillight of an agent’s SUV.
Shapiro’s account matches events captured in a separate video posted to social media Jan. 28 by conservative influencer Nick Sortor, showing the encounter from a different angle. A firearm is visible on Pretti’s waistband.
Shapiro’s recording begins seconds after Pretti kicks the vehicle, when he is seen flipping off the car full of federal agents. One beelines toward him and spins him to the ground. Other agents shoot pepper balls, toss smoke canisters and threaten the use of chemical irritants in an attempt to keep the angry crowd back.
Three other officers pounce on Pretti, appearing to strike him while he’s restrained.
The reaction to Pretti’s smashing of the taillight seemed overly aggressive, Shapiro later told the Star Tribune.
“Is it grounds for getting out of a car after you’ve already packed up and decided that you were going to leave and then assault a person and harass a group of observers? Probably not,” Shapiro said, noting that Pretti did not appear to fight back, only attempt to flee.
Eventually, Pretti wrestles out of his coat and runs away, rejoining the small group of protesters.
The 2½-minute video ends with a caravan of federal vehicles leaving the scene as smoke billows in the intersection. Shapiro approaches Pretti, who he did not know, and asks if he’s OK.
Pretti says that he is, before turning to the dispersing crowd. “Are we all OK? Are we all safe?” he calls out to the dozen or so bystanders who remain.
The previous encounter, first reported by CNN, allegedly began after Pretti stopped his car while observing ICE activity in the neighborhood. He joined a throng of demonstrators who began shouting and blowing their whistles as agents chased several people on foot.
CNN reported, citing an anonymous source, that claimed that Pretti suffered a broken rib after five agents tackled him and another leaned on his back about a week before his death. The story did not disclose when or where this allegedly happened.
U.S Department of Homeland Security officials told CNN they have “no record of this incident.”
Rewatching his earlier video with the knowledge that the man he met had died at the hands of government agents left him shaken. If it could happen to Pretti, he thought, it could happen to anyone.
Yet, Shapiro wasn’t surprised to learn that Pretti had continued protesting.
“People feel so adamantly about how wrong this is,” Shapiro said, referring to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.
From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Is MAGA weaponizing Alberta separatism?
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/is-maga-weaponizing-alberta-separatism-transcript-9.7064935
Alex was involved in an incident with immigration agents 11 days before he was shot. Looks like he had his gun with him during this interaction.
For all the talk that he was looking to massacre agents, he never went for his weapon during either interaction. Not looking like a trigger-happy kind of guy.
BTW, Chris Young, the guy whose video on rotisserie chicken stock that @steve-miller posted, has some other great videos. Like this one on the best frying pan. @bernard might be interested.
Link to videoKitchen hack. Ways to use parchment paper. Love the guy's accent.
Link to videoNot even one Scaramucci's worth.
In a Jan. 16 news release, the Kennedy Center announced that Kevin Couch would be its new senior vice president of artistic programming.
On Jan. 22, the center posted the announcement on X.
Not a week later, Couch resigned.
Couch confirmed his resignation Wednesday but declined to comment further.
The movie has been pulled from distribution in South Africa.
