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Traveling? Install this handy AI chatbot now

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Traveling like a local is about to get a whole lot easier thanks to AI."AI is going to be a massive tool for travel moving forward," said travel influencer Michael Motamedi.Motamedi is going to find out just how useful it can be. For the next six months, he's embarking on a travel journey powered by AI.Follow Tech Reporter Rich DeMuro on Instagram"I think excitement and fear are both even right now," quipped Motamedi.He's teaming up with an AI chatbot called GuideGeek to chronicle his experiences on social media through a show called No Fixed Address."About a year and a half ago me and my wife decided to sell our house, sell our cars, leave our jobs and travel the world full time," explained Motamedi.With his wife (who has experience producing reality shows) holding the camera and an 18-month-old in tow, the family will use the AI chatbot to help them make decisions on where to go and what to do.It's powered by a combination of ChatGPT and up to date travel information."The most imp...

Hard-On for the Saints

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

The Saints(I’m) Stranded (EMI/Sire)Hard-On for the Saints: Ray Ahn of the Hard-Ons told us about his love for the debut album from fellow veteran Australian punks the Saints.(EMI/Sire)Ray Ahn: The debut LP by the Saints ushered in unthinkable velocity and power in pop music that drew a line between ROCK and PUNK. This is remarkable because no act had presented music like this before.Put simply, “(I’m) stranded” is a blistering album where every instrument sounds like it is in a race with the others to the finish. The music has potent urgency not found in any other record on earth. That the album still sounds fresh and timeless is a testament to what a once in a lifetime freak of an album it really is.(I’m) Stranded is a rampaging sound of desperation, alienation and unwavering focus. It became a blueprint and inspiration for modern day punk sounds. Even arguably more so than even the debut LP by the Ramones. This album is the re-set button for Rock And Roll music, that had mov...

He fought fires in San Jose. Then came a long-awaited call from the NFL

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Scott Campbell woke up on April 19 with a feeling of anticipation and a plan for potential disappointment.A longtime officiator for college football and a retired San Jose firefighter, Campbell had heard rumors that the NFL was making calls that day to a lucky few being recruited as referees for the coming season.Campbell carries himself with a sense of cool confidence and focus — traits that have surely helped him both while fighting fires and making tough calls on the gridiron — but he didn’t get his hopes up that his decadeslong dream was finally coming true.The call that changed his life came at 9:32 a.m. The NFL offered him a spot in one of American sports’ most elite circles — a job that entails hundreds of thousands of fans watching your every move.“That phone call for me, I don’t know, it’s almost an out-of-body experience because it was overwhelming,” said Campbell, 55. “It really hasn’t hit me even today.”Scott Campbell...

Animal Life: Why is a San Jose cat just staring at the wall above his litter box?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

DEAR JOAN: My 1½-year-old Burmese cat, Zephyr, is the most stubborn, curious, smart, high-energy cat I have ever had. He becomes fixated on things, such as the lights over the refrigerator (which he will not stay off of). He also constantly gets into the fireplace, which is blocked off, and tries to dig his way behind the dishwasher.For the past month, off and on, but more so lately, he has been fixated on the corner behind his litter box. He stares at the scoops and lays down next to the box. He is eating fine, and all bodily functions are fine. His litter is scooped twice a day. It is really hard to dissuade him from staring and then sleeping or hunkering down next to it.I’ve cleaned the area, and short of introducing a new litter box, I don’t really know what to do.Last year I wrote to you because there was a squirrel inside my wall. Zephyr alerted me to it by staring up in the corner for hours. Then again, as I noted, he gets fixated on other things, too.Before I call pest contr...

TasteFood: Love lasagna? Consider a vegetable gratin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Eat your lasagna and have your vegetables, too, with a veggie-enhanced rendition of a family favorite. This layered gratin resembles a lasagna, with one key difference: There are no pasta sheets. It’s a glimpse of summer to come, with planks of roasted Mediterranean vegetables rippling with tomato and dollops of ricotta in a gratin-cum-lasagna.Roasted eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash slices keep this dish light and colorful, alternating with a bright tomato sauce and fluffy ricotta. All the components can be prepped in advance, ready for last-minute assembly when you are ready to bake. Pre-roast the vegetables; by doing so, the oil is kept to a minimum. The tomato sauce is simple to make, but a favorite store-bought tomato sauce can easily be substituted. And be sure to use whole-milk ricotta cheese for best flavor and results, as the skim variety can be grainy and tasteless.Roasted Vegetable GratinServes 4 to 6INGREDIENTSTomato sauce:1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil1 s...

Getting to know the world of backyard chickens

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

“Like most people, I initially got chickens because I wanted a source of eggs from hens who I knew had lived good lives,” freelance journalist Tove Danovich says. “It kind of spiraled from there.”Danovich’s “spiral” took her into a fascinating investigative journey to get a wider view of chickens, their evolution, their lives and the ways in which they are used.The result is her engaging new book, “Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them” (Agate, $27) that seamlessly blends memoir with animal welfare journalism.Danovich’s book outlines “the pros and cons of the (backyard chicken) movement with stories from my flock as well as looking out a bit more at who chickens are as a species and why I think they’re so lovely.”She lives with her flock of eight hens and documents their activities on Instagram at @bestlittlehenhouse.“Each of my girls very much has her own personality,” she says. “My tiny bantam Emmylou won’t come back into the coop...

They were designed to be safer: How de-horned cows were doomed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

Every year, millions of beef cattle are born without horns, a trait that naturally emerged in Scottish pastures in the 16th century and has since spared many lives from goring.But when UC Davis created horn-free dairy cattle — through gene-editing, rather than generations of routine breeding — federal regulators did not welcome the new bovines to the herd.Under rigorous federal rules established in the early years of the genomic revolution, and upheld during the Obama administration, genetically modified animals are considered to be a new type of veterinary pharmaceutical, needing FDA approval. Without it, meat and milk can’t enter the food supply. As a result, the nine cows — and the experiment — are now dead, burned, at a cost of $1,200 each.“It was a waste. There wasn’t any risk,” said animal geneticist and professor Alison Van Eenennaam of UC Davis, who spent seven years on the project. “Basically, they were an unapproved drug.”In this July 11, 2018 photo, animal geneticis...

Brock Purdy relishes new dynamic in 49ers’ ever-changing quarterback room

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

SANTA CLARA – When is it not all about the 49ers’ QB1? When the quarterbacks are inside their meeting room.Every year, it undergoes a metamorphosis, all in search of the right mix to produce an ideal starter, on any given Sunday, any given season.A healthy Brock Purdy is that quarterback, in coach Kyle Shanahan’s ideal scenario for 2023.As last season’s four-quarterback relay showed, you better have a great committee of quarterbacks and coaches. Call it a team’s subcommittee, or committee of subs, if you will.Quarterbacks come and go (see: 15 overall since 2017). Expectations remain the same: lead the 49ers to their first Super Bowl win since Steve Young last did so in the 1994 season.ROOM WITH A VIEW This year’s dynamic offers a radically different QB room.Returners: Purdy and Trey Lance, along with position coach Brian Griese and his assistant, Klay Kubiak, Klint’s younger brother.Newcomers: Veteran quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen, along with assistant Klint...

Fire chief: 1 person rescued overnight from Iowa building collapse; No deaths reported

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — One person was found overnight at the site of a collapsed apartment building in Iowa, bringing the total number of people rescued from the crumbling structure to eight, authorities said Monday.Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said at a news conference Monday that it was unclear if anyone was still missing after part of the six-story complex crashed to the ground in the eastern Iowa city. No deaths have been reported.“No known individuals are trapped in that facility,” Carlsten said. Authorities have not released how many people were injured or provided details on the nature of their injuries. Carlsten did say that the person who was rescued overnight was in the hospital.Rescue teams, including K-9 units, were inside the building all night.“When something like this happens here, and tragedy strikes, our responders immediately do their work and their job and I can’t thank them enough,” Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said.Rescuers were called to the scene...

Modest Heidenheim celebrates Bundesliga promotion after remarkable climb

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:50 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Little-known Heidenheim has seemingly come out of nowhere to reach the Bundesliga, a remarkable success for a town of just 50,000 inhabitants in the south of Germany.Two injury-time goals were enough for Frank Schmidt’s team to clinch promotion as second-division champion on Sunday.Heidenheim will be the 57th team to play in the Bundesliga since the league’s formation in 1963.Twenty years ago it was playing at fifth-tier level as part of Heidenheimer Sportbund, a local sports association that has 25 departments today including baseball, boxing, fencing, swimming, tennis and gymnastics.The current-day soccer club Heidenheim was formed in 2007 when it separated from the Sportbund as a stand-alone entity under the auspices of the German soccer league.Schmidt, who was born in Heidenheim, took over as coach that same year. He has since become the longest-serving coach in German professional soccer.As a defensive midfielder, Schmidt had helped Heidenheim clinch promotion fro...