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GORDON CHANG: Watch Out — Xi Is Going To Confront TrumpNvidia has unveiled an AI model it dubs “a Swiss Army knife for sound.” Fugatto (or “Foundational Generative Audio Transformer Opus 1”) is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can take prompts using any mix of text and audio files to generate or transform any combination of sounds, music and voices, the tech giant said Monday (Nov. 25). “For example, it can create a music snippet based on a text prompt, remove or add instruments from an existing song, change the accent or emotion in a voice — even let people produce sounds never heard before,” the company wrote on its blog . Nvidia argues that Fugatto, which supports numerous audio generation and transformation tasks, is the first foundational generative AI model that showcases emergent properties — capabilities stemming from the interaction of its various trained abilities — and the ability to meld free-form instructions. “Fugatto is our first step toward a future where unsupervised multitask learning in audio synthesis and transformation emerges from data and model scale,” said Rafael Valle , a manager of applied audio research at Nvidia. An orchestral conductor and composer, he is among the dozen-plus people who helped develop Fugatto. Valle noted that music producers could use Fugatto to quickly prototype or edit an idea for a song, testing different styles, voices and instruments, or add effects and improve the overall sound quality of an existing track. But the tool’s use goes beyond music, the company said. Ad agencies could employ Fugatto to target campaigns for multiple regions or situations, applying a range of different accents and emotions to voiceovers. And video game companies could use the tool to modify prerecorded audio to it changing action as players progress in a game. The launch of Fugatto comes days after Nvidia released quarterly earnings showing a 94% jump in revenue . And as covered here last week, CEO Jensen Huang is not resting on his laurels after reaching that milestone. “Many AI services are running 24/7, just like any factory,” Huang said during an earnings call. “We’re going to see this new type of system come online. And I call it [the company’s data centers] an AI factory because that’s really close to what it is. It’s unlike a data center of the past. And these fundamental trends are really just beginning. We expect this to happen, this growth, this modernization and the creation of a new industry to go on for several years.” As PYMNTS wrote, Huang and CFO Colette Kress clearly believe that the company’s best days are ahead of it, despite analysts wondering whether or not it can keep up the pace in several areas: large language model (LLM) development, AI usage scale and the rapid-fire revenue growth it has enjoyed over the past two years.
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YouTube exemption backed by group behind push for under-16 social media banNEW ORLEANS — A scruffy little fugitive is on the lam again in New Orleans, gaining fame as he outwits a tenacious band of citizens armed with night-vision binoculars, nets and a tranquilizer rifle. Scrim, a 17-pound mutt that's mostly terrier, has become a folk hero, inspiring tattoos, T-shirts and even a ballad as he eludes capture from the posse of volunteers. And like any antihero, Scrim has a backstory: Rescued from semi-feral life at a trailer park and adopted from a shelter, the dog broke loose in April and scurried around the city until he was cornered in October and brought to a new home. Weeks later, he'd had enough. Scrim leaped out of a second-story window, a desperate act recorded in a now-viral video. Since then, despite a stream of daily sightings, he's roamed free. The dog’s fans include Myra and Steve Foster, who wrote “Ode to Scrim” to the tune of Ricky Nelson’s 1961 hit, “I’m a Travelin’ Man.” Michelle Cheramie, founder of Zeus' Rescues, at her office in New Orleans on Dec. 9 with a whiteboard index of sheltered cats and dogs and a Scrim look-alike recuperating in the background. Leading the recapture effort is Michelle Cheramie, a 55-year-old former information technology professional. She lost everything — home, car, possessions — in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and in the aftermath, found her calling rescuing pets. “I was like, ‘This is what I should be doing,’” Cheramie said. “I was born to rescue.” She launched Zeus’ Rescues, a nonprofit shelter that now averages 600 cat and dog adoptions a year and offers free pet food to anyone who needs it. She helped Scrim find the home he first escaped from. It was Cheramie's window Scrim leaped from in November. She's resumed her relentless mission since then, posting flyers on telephone poles and logging social media updates on his reported whereabouts. She's invested thousands of dollars on wildlife cameras, thermal sensors and other gear. She took a course offered by the San Diego Zoo on the finer points of tranquilizing animals. And she's developed a network of volunteers — the kind of neighbors who are willing to grid-search a city at 3 a.m. Scrim on Oct. 24 at the Metairie Small Animal Hospital in Metairie, La. People like writer David W. Brown, who manages a crowd-sourced Google Map of all known Scrim sightings. He says the search galvanized residents from all walks of life to come together. As they search for Scrim, they hand out supplies to people in need. “Being a member of the community is seeing problems and doing what you can to make life a little better for the people around here and the animals around you,” Brown said. Neighbor Tammy Murray had to close her furniture store and lost her father to Parkinson's disease. This search, she says, got her mojo back. “Literally, for months, I’ve done nothing but hunt this dog,” said Murray, 53. “I feel like Wile E. Coyote on a daily basis with him.” Murray drives the Zeus' Rescues van toward reported Scrim sightings. She also handles a tactical net launcher, which looks like an oversized flashlight and once misfired, shattering the van's window as Scrim sped away. After realizing Scrim came to recognize the sound of the van's diesel engine, Murray switched to a Vespa scooter for stealth. Michelle Cheramie, director of Zeus' Rescues, left, walks with Scrim on Oct. 24 at the Metairie Small Animal Hospital in Metairie, La. Near-misses have been tantalizing. The search party spotted Scrim napping beneath an elevated house, and wrapped construction netting around the perimeter, but an over-eager volunteer broke ranks and dashed forward, leaving an opening Scrim slipped through. Scrim's repeated escapades prompted near-daily local media coverage and a devoted online following. Cheramie can relate. “We’re all running from something or to something," she said. "He's doing that, too.” Cheramie's team dreams of placing the pooch in a safe and loving environment. But a social media chorus growing under the hashtag #FreeScrim has other ideas — they say the runaway should be allowed a life of self-determination. The animal rescue volunteers consider that misguided. “The streets of New Orleans are not the place for a dog to be free,” Cheramie said. “It’s too dangerous.” Scrim rests in a kennel Oct. 24 at the Metairie Small Animal Hospital in Metairie, La. Scrim was a mess when Cheramie briefly recaptured him in October, with matted fur, missing teeth and a tattered ear. His trembling body was scraped and bruised, and punctured by projectiles. A vet removed one, but decided against operating to take out a possible bullet. The dog initially appeared content indoors, sitting in Cheramie's lap or napping beside her bed. Then while she was out one day, Scrim chewed through a mesh screen, dropped 13 feet to the ground and squeezed through a gap in the fence, trotting away. Murray said Cheramie's four cats probably spooked him. Cheramie thinks they may have gotten territorial. Devastated but undeterred, the pair is reassessing where Scrim might fit best — maybe a secure animal sanctuary with big outdoor spaces where other dogs can keep him company. Somewhere, Murray says, “where he can just breathe and be.” Scrim sits in the arms of Zoey Ponder on Oct. 24 at Metairie Small Animal Hospital in Metairie. A Scrim sticker for sale Dec. 9 at Zeus' Rescues office to raise money for the shelter in New Orleans. A homemade portrait of Scrim hangs Dec. 9 in the Zeus' Rescues shelter in New Orleans. Scrim spends some time outside Oct. 24 with Michelle Cheramie, director of Zeus' Rescues, in a fenced-in area at Metairie Small Animal Hospital in Metairie. Scrim at the Terrebonne Parish Animal Shelter in Louisiana. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
Trump's lawyers rebuff DA's idea for upholding his hush money convictionEMPOLI, Italy (AP) — Englishman Keinan Davis scored with 14 minutes remaining for Udinese to draw at Empoli 1-1 in Serie A on Monday and snap the visitor's three-game losing streak. The former Watford and Aston Villa striker rose to head home a near-post corner with 76 minutes gone. Pietro Pellegri put Empoli ahead midway through the first half with his third goal in three games. The on-loan Torino striker has endured a lean season but a goal in the 1-0 win over Como was followed by another in the 1-1 draw with Lecce before the international break. The result was the first point in four games for Udinese, after consecutive defeats to Atalanta, Juventus and Venezia, and meant that both sides retained their mid-table positions. Udinese was ninth and Empoli 10th. Story continues below video Later, Venezia missed a chance to move off the foot of the table when it went down at home to Lecce 1-0. Venezia was dominant for most of the game, with Gaetano Oristanio and Jay Idzes hitting the woodwork and Wladimiro Falcone outstanding in the Lecce goal. But the home side paid for its profligacy after 70 minutes. Antonino Gallo’s sublime cross from the left was met by Patrick Dorgu at the far post and he steered the ball into the far corner to give Lecce all three points. Lecce, which started the night only two places above bottom side Venezia, jumped into 15th place. AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerCharges against a McAlester couple who investigators claimed were “erotically dancing” in downtown McAlester during auditions for a mobile adult entertainment business were dismissed. Pittsburg County District Court records show Jean Sipes, 60, were charged Oct. 31 with acts resulting in gross injury/outraging public decency and John Sipes, 64, with outraging public decency. Investigators believed the two were involved with public auditions held by Jimmy Plummer for a mobile adult entertainment business held at a public bandstand in downtown McAlester on Oct. 25. Plummer, 48, was also charged Oct. 31 with one count of acts resulting in gross injury/outraging public decency and is scheduled to be in court on Dec. 4. Court minutes filed show the charges against the Sipes were dismissed Nov. 21 “on motion of the state without costs.” An affidavit filed in the case states Cody Vaughn, an investigator with the District 18 District Attorney’s Office reviewed a private message sent from Plummer to a person on Facebook that said “Jean and John Sipes were not at fault.” Vaught then wrote he then conducted an open records search and believed he positively identified a female dancer as Jean Sipes. No video reviewed shows the Sipes’ on stage “erotically dancing” that evening. The woman seen dancing in the videos has not been charged as of Monday. In social media posts that have since been deleted, Plummer promoted hosting open tryouts for a mobile adult entertainment business on Oct. 25 at the downtown bandstand. The criteria, according to one post made by Plummer, were “for freestyle dancing plus lap dance dress, tight cut tops, and short bottoms. Color: Neon colors are always popular, and black or red can be very dramatic. You should of course take into consideration which colors look best with your skin tone and hair color. If you really plan on stripping avoid white.” Plummer said several times in posts the people who participate would have to stay covered due to the event’s public nature.Jamie Carragher reveals the 'weakness' in Ruben Amorim's tactical approach at Man United after new boss was held to a draw against Ipswich on debut