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Tech layoffs raise new alarms about how platforms protect users

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

By Clare Duffy | CNNIn the wake of the 2016 presidential election, as online platforms began facing greater scrutiny for their impacts on users, elections and society, many tech firms started investing in safeguards.Big Tech companies brought on employees focused on election safety, misinformation and online extremism. Some also formed ethical AI teams and invested in oversight groups. These teams helped guide new safety features and policies. But over the past few months, large tech companies have slashed tens of thousands of jobs, and some of those same teams are seeing staff reductions.Twitter eliminated teams focused on security, public policy and human rights issues when Elon Musk took over last year. More recently, Twitch, a livestreaming platform owned by Amazon, laid off some employees focused on responsible AI and other trust and safety work, according to former employees and public social media posts. Microsoft cut a key team focused on ethical AI product development. And ...

Inside Olivia Wilde’s $107,000 monthly expenses as she asks Jason Sudeikis for child support

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

In formally asking a judge to order Jason Sudeikis to start paying child support, Olivia Wilde has opened a window into how the rich and famous spend their money and perhaps get in over their heads when it comes to monthly expenses.In legal documents related to Wilde’s bitter and protracted custody fight with ex-fiance Sudeikis, the actor and director said she “has borne the lion’s share of the expenses” for their 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter since she and the “Ted Lasso” star split in November 2020. This has been the case, Wilde said, even though Sudeikis earns “significantly more” than she does and “has greater access to funds,” according to documents first obtained by The Blast.HOLLYWOOD, CA – FEBRUARY 28: Actors Olivia Wilde (L) and Jason Sudeikis attend the 88th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Image...

Downtown San Jose office tower could convert to apartments or hotel

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

SAN JOSE — An office tower at a key downtown San Jose site may be converted to other uses, including housing, a fresh sign of economic side effects in the wake of the coronavirus and an uneven return to the workplace.The 10-story highrise, originally built in 1910, is a former Bank of the West building that is owned by DivcoWest, a veteran real estate firm.In recent years, DivcoWest undertook a dramatic transformation of the interior of the tower that revamped the structure as a creative office building that would appeal to tech companies or advanced technology startups that were seeking a cool-looking urban space.DivcoWest now seeks a new mission for the tower, which is located at one of downtown San Jose’s most prominent intersections, First Street and Santa Clara Street.Rooftop section on the upper level of a 10-story tower at 2 West Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose. (DivcoWest, Newmark)“An existing office building is being studied for conversion to ...

Moments following stabbing of tech executive in SF captured on surveillance video and 911, local news site reports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

By Taylor Romine | CNNThe moments following the San Francisco stabbing attack of Cash App founder Bob Lee were captured on surveillance video and in a 911 call to authorities, according to a local Bay Area news portal.The surveillance footage, reviewed by the online news site The San Francisco Standard, was recorded early Tuesday morning in the Rincon Hill neighborhood and shows Lee walking alone on Main Street, “gripping his side with one hand and his cellphone in the other, leaving a trail of blood behind him.”The video, the Standard reports, shows Lee making his way up the street and stopping by a parked Toyota Camry with its hazard lights flashing. He lifts up his shirt in an apparent attempt to ask for help from the driver. The driver of the Toyota pulls the car away and Lee collapses to the ground. Lee manages to get up and walk a bit further before he collapses in front of an apartment building.The Standard also reviewed records of a 911 call Lee made at 2:34 a.m....

Prep roundup: Menlo-Atherton’s George Zaharias strikes out 17, shuts out Capuchino

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

BaseballGeorge Zaharias, the University of Texas-bound right-hander from Menlo-Atherton, fired a four-hitter and struck out 17 as the Bears took sole possession of first place in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division by beating Capuchino 5-0 on Wednesday.Zaharias’ younger brother Jimmy, a sophomore third baseman, slugged a three-run homer in the fifth to give M-A some breathing room and conclude the day’s scoring.The Bears improved to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in league play. Capuchino (12-3, 2-1) saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end. But the teams meet again Friday at Capuchino, which is ranked 15th by the Bay Area News Group.The 6-foot-3 Zaharias has been basically untouchable in his last two starts. In a 2-0 win over Half Moon Bay on March 24, Zaharias struck out 16 in six innings before turning the game over to Davis Phillips in what turned out to be a perfect game for the Bears. Zaharias has pitched 13 innings in his last two starts, allowing four hits and one walk t...

Santa Clara County’s mobile mental health service expands into West Valley

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

West Valley residents now have access to Trusted Response Urgent Support Team, or TRUST, a mobile service that responds to mental health and substance abuse crises with mental health or social workers instead of law enforcement.The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to expand TRUST, which currently operates in East San Jose, Gilroy and North County, into Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, West San Jose and Willow Glen.“Our neighbors, our friends, our family members are in crisis and need help. We must do more to provide an urgent and appropriate response to those experiencing a mental health crisis,”  said Supervisor Joe Simitian, who spearheaded the initiative. “Folks need to feel safe when calling for help.”Residents in crisis or their friends and family can call 988, the new national suicide line, and dispatchers will determine if in-person intervention is needed. They can connect individuals with counseling, mediation or mental health serv...

CHP investigates fatal overnight crash on Bay Bridge

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

A person died early Thursday in a crash on the Bay Bridge, the California Highway Patrol said.Details on the crash were scarce; the CHP around 7 a.m. said it was still investigating. The crash happened about 2 a.m. on eastbound Interstate 80 at the Treasure Island exit, according to the agency.There was no information releaed on the the person who died.The crash blocked all the lanes on the bridge and brought a Sig Alert for severe traffic that lasted until all the lanes were opened at 3:30 a.m.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | Pedestrian fatally hit on Highway 4 on-ramp identified Crashes and Disasters | One-car crash marks 2023’s fourth fatal wreck on Highway 4 Crashes and Disasters | Pedestrian killed in South San Francisco hit and run Crashes and Disasters | Friends ask support for family of 15-year-old East Bay teen who died in dirt bike crash Cr...

Former SF 49er running back Jarryd Hayne found guilty of rape

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

By Ben Morse | CNNFormer Australian rugby and SF 49ers  running Back Jarryd Hayne has been found guilty of raping a woman in 2018.According to CNN affiliate 7News, a jury returned a unanimous verdict in the New South Wales District Court on Tuesday afternoon.CNN has reached out to Hayne’s lawyers.It is the third time Hayne has faced a jury for the incident. In his first appearance, a retrial was ordered after it ended in a hung trial. He was then tried a second time and, in March 2021, Hayne was found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.The court found that he had traveled to the woman’s house on September 30, 2018, and while his taxi waited outside, Hayne assaulted the woman while she told him “no” and “stop.”Jarryd Hayne enters NSW District Court on March 15, in Sydney, Australia. The former Australian rugby and NFL player has been found guilty of raping a woman in 2018.(Don Arnold/Getty Images) According to the court...

Babe Ruth’s half-eaten hotdog? This California baseball institution has it, plus so much more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

Babe Ruth was a world-class player in a couple of senses. When he wasn’t hitting grand slams, he was playing the, er, field. Evidence of his dalliances can be found in Southern California’s Institute for Baseball Studies and Baseball Reliquary – a half-smoked cigar Ruth supposedly left in a Philadelphia brothel in 1924.“That evening, a Yankee player observed Babe sitting in a big chair in an upstairs room with a brunette on one knee and a blonde on the other,” the exhibit informs. “As the girls poured a bottle of champagne onto his head and shampooed his hair with it, Babe smiled and exclaimed, ‘Anybody who doesn’t like this life is crazy!’ The next afternoon at Shibe Park, the Bambino, with barely two hours sleep, hit a pair of home runs.”The institute and the Baseball Reliquary are full of such wonderful nuggets of history. Two separate collections sharing the same space at Whittier College, the troves include rare material on the Negro Leagues and early Me...

Felon arrested following SWAT standoff in Santa Rosa

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:40 GMT

(KRON) -- Police arrested a wanted felon after an hours-long standoff at a home in Santa Rosa, according to the Santa Rosa Police Department. The suspect allegedly had five felony warrants.Officers responded to a home on Morgan Street around 7 p.m. Wednesday, police said. They made contact with a woman who confirmed the suspect, 27-year-old Santa Rosa resident Julio Hernandez, was inside the home and that he may be armed. What we know about Bob Lee, the Cash App founder stabbed, killed in SF SWAT and Hostage Negotiation officers also responded to the scene. After several hours of negotiation, Hernandez surrendered to officers and was arrested.Hernandez was booked at the Sonoma County jail on two counts of felony domestic violence, felony hit and run with serious injuries, felon in possession of a firearm and felony evading arrest.