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The original names of 16 iconic US cities, and how they got them

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New York City was known as New Amsterdam when it was a Dutch settlement. Marcio.Duarte/Shutterstock US cities like New York and Los Angeles have long and storied histories. Major cities once had names such as Flagler, Jernigan, and Yerba Buena. A coin toss determined the name of Portland, Oregon, while Boston was named after a British town. New York City wasn't always a densely packed metropolis of subways and skyscrapers, just as Los Angeles wasn't always a sprawling concrete city. Throughout their histories, US cities have undergone massive changes, from their residents and leaders to their size, shape, and infrastructure. Native Americans inhabited the regions around most cities before being driven out by European settlers, and the new cities often saw changes in rulers afterward. But among some cities' biggest changes are their names themselves. The area that eventually became Jacksonville , Florida, was at different points controlled by the Native Americans, French, ...
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Anthropic says ‘evil’ portrayals of AI were responsible for Claude’s blackmail attempts

Fictional portrayals of artificial intelligence can have a real effect on AI models, according to Anthropic. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/ZXOiBAa via IFTTT
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My closest friendships came from motherhood. They didn't last.

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The author doesn't speak to her mom friends anymore. Courtesy of the author I formed deep friendships through my children's lives. Distance and life changes made it harder to maintain those bonds. I still value those friendships, even as they've faded. At 5 a.m. every Thursday morning, my phone pings with a text from my friend. This early morning communication is a yearslong tradition that began when we lived in the same time zone. My 5 a.m. is her 8 a.m., a much more reasonable hour for a check-in. She and I met through our children. She has four — two girls and two boys. I have five — four boys and one girl. They are close in age, so she and I spent a lot of time together at school functions , sports competitions, and kid-themed social gatherings. When she was diagnosed with cancer , I kept her company as she recovered from grueling treatments. She accompanied me to a few of my own medical procedures. She, overhearing me tell a nurse how much I weighed, cemented our frie...
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I couldn't afford housing near my job. I pay $650 to live with a 77-year-old and help her with chores.

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Kayla Mazza and Honey Donegan at their home in southern Vermont. Courtesy of Ben DiFlorio/HomeShare Vermont Kayla Mazza rents a room in Honey Donegan's home after working with a nonprofit arranging matches. She pays a reduced rent of $650 to help with Donegan's finances and occasionally does chores. The 31-year-old analyst and the 77-year-old nanny get along well and enjoy sharing the space. This interview is based on a conversation with data analyst and systems manager Kayla Mazza, 31, of Windsor County, Vermont. It has been edited for length and clarity. Every night, at 7 p.m., my housemate, Honey Donegan, 77, and I sit down to watch Jeopardy in her den. Friday night is often movie night. It's a lovely bonding experience, despite the 46-year age gap. Honey and I first met in March 2023, but our friendship has gotten stronger by the day since I moved into her home. A few months before, I'd landed a job at a nonprofit near Honey's town, an hour's commute from m...
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GM agrees to pay $12.75M in California driver privacy settlement

General Motors has reached a privacy-related settlement with a group of law enforcement agencies led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta. from TechCrunch https://ift.tt/HNylndZ via IFTTT
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WHO says hantavirus is 'not another COVID-19' and that the public health risk 'remains low'

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The MV Hondius, a cruise ship, faced an outbreak of hantavirus among its passengers. AFP via Getty Images The WHO's director-general said the current hantavirus outbreak "is not another COVID-19." An outbreak on a cruise ship has led to three deaths so far. The ship will arrive in the Canary Islands off Spain's coast on Sunday to evacuate passengers. The World Health Organization's director-general said the current hantavirus outbreak , which is so far linked to the deaths of three people, isn't "another COVID-19." Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus shared the message in an X post directed toward the residents of Tenerife, where a cruise ship that faced an outbreak of hantavirus will evacuate early Sunday morning. Some Tenerife residents have protested the ship's scheduled arrival, concerned that it could cause another pandemic. "I know you are worried. I know that when you hear the word 'outbreak' and watch a ship sail toward your shores, ...
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A company tested Claude Mythos Preview. It says the AI found hundreds of bugs, including 1 that had existed for 20 years

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Only a handful of users have access to Anthropic's Mythos tool. Mozilla is one, and it says it found hundreds of security bug fixes. Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images Mozilla is one of the companies that has access to Anthropic's powerful new Mythos model. The company said it fixed 423 security bugs in April. That's 398 more than it did in January. Previous AI systems produced "slop," Mozilla wrote. AI is getting scary good at finding software flaws, according to one company that got early access to Anthropic's powerful new Mythos model. On Thursday, Mozilla, the nonprofit behind the Firefox web browser, posted a blog detailing how it used Claude Mythos Preview — an unreleased AI model from Anthropic — to uncover security issues. The software company said the AI model discovered hundreds of issues, including at least one that had survived for 20 years. Mozilla detailed 12 bugs it fixed. One, it said, went "undetected for years by fuzzers," th...
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