CHICAGO — Teresa Weatherspoon doesn’t want to dwell on the past. That’s easy to say. Harder to execute. But as she embraces a new role with Unrivaled — a 3-on-3 league that will debut in January — the former Chicago Sky coach wants to focus on the future. Weatherspoon will coach the Vinyl Basketball Club, an Unrivaled team that includes Arike Ogunbowale, Jordin Canada, Rhyne Howard, Rae Burrell, Aliyah Edwards and Dearica Hamby. The new gig is a welcome change for Weatherspoon, who felt blindsided when the Sky fired her Sept. 26 after only 11 months as coach. Weatherspoon knew her debut season as a professional head coach wasn’t ideal. The Sky went 13-27, and she struggled to wrangle a young roster while navigating injuries and the midseason trade of guard Marina Mabrey. Despite the Sky missing the playoffs for the first time in five years, Weatherspoon thought she had more time with the organization. She doesn’t want the firing to affect her confidence as a coach. “I process things and I let it go,” Weatherspoon said Wednesday in a news conference. “You’ve got to know this and stand on it — you’re not for everybody. I’m OK with that. “I know the things I did, I know the things I helped change. I know the things I had to go through and what I stood through. I will do that again — over and over and over.” With Unrivaled, Weatherspoon will return to a player development role. Although it is not officially affiliated with the WNBA, Unrivaled is focused on providing an offseason option for players to develop their game and supplement their income without going abroad. As a result, Unrivaled coaches will focus heavily on providing players with the offseason environment they typically seek from individual trainers and skills specialists. Unrivaled co-founder and President Alex Bazzell previously described the decision to hire Weatherspoon as a “no-brainer” for the league. Weatherspoon echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the importance of feeling valued as a coach in the wake of her Sky exit. “To know that you’re wanted and needed, it makes the decision to join very easy,” Weatherspoon said. The Unrivaled season will begin in January and lasts only eight weeks. After that, the future is uncertain for Weatherspoon, who didn’t provide any hints about whether she would return to the WNBA: “That’s to be seen.” After a whirlwind offseason that saw seven teams fire or part ways with their coaches, the Dallas Wings, Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics still are searching for a replacement. Weatherspoon also could join the bench of an NBA or WNBA staff or return to college coaching. In the meantime, she’s eager to dive back into working hands-on with individual players with Unrivaled to improve their craft. “It’s a human connection,” Weatherspoon said. “It’s a gift to connect with people and show concern and love for others. I just want people to win. I want everything I experience to be shared. I want to be of help, to give more. “It’s important to lift and help. It’s all about my players. I want to lift things from them that they didn’t know existed.” ©2024 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.In 2018, Google DeepMind's AlphaZero program taught itself the games of chess, shogi, and Go using machine learning and a special algorithm to determine the best moves to win a game within a defined grid. Now, a team of Caltech researchers has developed an analogous algorithm for autonomous robots—a planning and decision-making control system that helps freely moving robots determine the best movements to make as they navigate the real world. "Our algorithm actually strategizes and then explores all the possible and important motions and chooses the best one through dynamic simulation, like playing many simulated games involving moving robots," says Soon-Jo Chung, Caltech's Bren Professor of Control and Dynamical Systems and a senior research scientist at JPL, which Caltech manages for NASA. "The breakthrough innovation here is that we have derived a very efficient way of finding that optimal safe motion that typical optimization-based methods would never find." The team describes the technique, which they call Spectral Expansion Tree Search (SETS), in the December of the journal . Many robots can move quite freely and in any direction. Consider, for example, a designed to assist an elderly person in a home. Such a robot should be able to move in many different ways and, essentially, in any direction within the space as it encounters obstacles or unexpected events while completing its tasks. That robot's set of movements, obstacles, and challenges will be very different from those of a self-driving car, for example. How, then, can a single algorithm guide different robotic systems to make the best decisions to move through their surroundings? "You don't want a designer to have to go in and handcraft these motions and say, 'This is the discrete set of moves the robot should be able to do,'" says John Lathrop, a graduate student in control and dynamical systems at Caltech and co-lead author of the new paper. "To overcome this, we came up with SETS." SETS uses control theory and linear algebra to find natural motions that use a robotic platform's capabilities to its fullest extent in a physical setting. The basic underlying concept is based on a Monte Carlo Tree Search, a decision-making algorithm also used by Google's AlphaZero. Here, Monte Carlo essentially means something random, and tree search refers to navigating a branching structure that represents the relationships of data in a system. In such a tree, a root branches off to so-called child nodes that are connected by edges. Using Monte Carlo Tree Search for a game like Go, possible moves are represented as new nodes, and the tree grows larger as more random samples of possible trajectories are attempted. The algorithm plays out the possible moves to see the final outcomes of the different nodes and then selects the one that offers the best outcome based on a point valuation. The problem, Lathrop explains, is that when using this branching tree structure for continuous dynamical systems such as robots operating in the physical world, the total number of trajectories in the tree grows exponentially. "For some problems, trying to simulate every single possibility and then figure out which one is best would take years, maybe hundreds of years," he says. To overcome this, SETS takes advantage of an exploration/exploitation trade-off. "We want to try simulating trajectories that we haven't investigated before—that's exploration," Lathrop says. "And we want to continue looking down paths that have previously yielded high reward—that's exploitation. By balancing the exploration and the exploitation, the algorithm is able to quickly converge on the optimal solution among all possible trajectories." For example, if a robot starts out calculating a couple of possible actions that it determines would cause it to smash into a wall, there is no need for it to investigate any of the other nodes on that branch of the tree. "This exploration/exploitation tradeoff and search over the robot's natural motions enables our robots to think, move, and adapt to new information in ," says Benjamin Rivière, a postdoctoral scholar research associate in mechanical and civil engineering at Caltech and co-lead author of the paper. SETS can run an entire tree search in about a tenth of a second. During that time, it can simulate thousands to tens of thousands of possible trajectories, select the best one, and then act. The loop continues over and over, giving the robotic system the ability to make many decisions each second. A key feature of the SETS algorithm is that it can be applied to essentially any robotic platform. The features and capabilities do not have to be programmed individually. In the new paper, Chung and his colleagues demonstrate the algorithm's successful utility in three completely different experimental settings—something that is very rare in robotics papers. In the first, a quadrotor drone was able to observe four hovering white balls while avoiding four orange balls, all while navigating an airfield rife with randomly occurring, dangerous air currents, or thermals. The drone experiment was conducted at Caltech's Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST). In the second, the algorithm augmented a human driver of a tracked ground vehicle to navigate a narrow and winding track without hitting the siderails. And in the final setup, SETS helped a pair of tethered spacecraft capture and redirect a third agent, which could represent another spacecraft, an asteroid or another object. A team of Caltech students and researchers are currently applying a version of the SETS algorithm to an Indy car that will participate in the Indy Autonomous Challenge at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 9.By AJ Vicens (Reuters) - U.S. officials have added a ninth telecommunications company to the list of entities compromised by a sweeping Chinese-linked cyberespionage operation known as Salt Typhoon, a top White House official said Friday. Anne Neuberger, the U.S. deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, told reporters on a call that the unnamed telecom was added to the list after the U.S. government shared guidance on how to detect and defend against the operation. Officials have previously alleged that the attackers targeted Verizon, AT&T, Lumen and others. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Dec. 18 urged senior government and political figures to move mobile communications to end-to-end encrypted apps as a result of the Salt Typhoon campaign, which has targeted officials associated with the campaign of former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance, according to reports. Officials have said "a large number of Americans' metadata was taken" as part of the campaign. Chinese officials have previously described the allegations as disinformation and said Beijing "firmly opposes and combats cyber attacks and cyber theft in all forms." Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, a Democrat from New Mexico, called Salt Typhoon the "largest telecommunications hack in our nation's history" during a Dec. 11 hearing, while Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said the U.S. "must plug any vulnerabilities in communications networks." Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Dec. 5 her agency was proposing rules requiring telecommunications carriers to secure their networks in light of the Salt Typhoon revelations. Neuberger said Friday that the "Chinese gained access to networks and essentially had broad and full access," giving them the capability to "geolocate millions of individuals, to record phone calls at will," and that updated FCC rules could help limit the scope and impact of future intrusions. (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has instructed Nusasiri (NUSA) to amend its financial statements for 2023 and the third quarter of 2024, have them audited and reviewed by the company's auditor, and then submit them to the regulator. Nusasiri is also required to make simultaneous public disclosure through the Electronic Listed Company Information Transmission System of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) by Dec 19. The move follows the SEC filing a criminal complaint against the directors, former directors, executives and close associates of Nusasiri with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI). Six individuals were accused of colluding to dishonestly purchase a hotel located abroad at a significantly inflated price, selling Nusasiri condo units in Bangkok at a price lower than the appraised price, and transferring company funds into personal accounts and those of close associates. As a result, Nusasiri was required to amend its financial statements to ensure disclosure of accurate information, the SEC said. "The annual financial statements for 2023 and the third quarter of 2024 submitted by the company do not contain amended information related to these transactions," said the regulator. The criminal complaint also includes presenting false documents and information to a competent official, the SEC or an auditor. The SEC reported this case to the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the statement noted. Following a complaint in 2023, the SEC conducted an investigation, coordinated with the DSI and found evidence that in 2020, four directors and executives of Nusasiri colluded to purchase Panacee Grand Hotel Roemerbad in Germany at a significantly higher price than the appraised price based on the market approach. "They also colluded to act dishonestly in selling Nusasiri condo units at a price lower than the appraised price, as well as transferred funds out of the company into personal accounts and those of close associates for their own benefit, causing damage to Nusasiri," said the SEC. In so doing, the seller of Panacee and an authorised director of the company purchasing the Nusasiri condo units assisted the first four persons in committing the offences. The SEC verified the deposit for the hotel purchase that Nusasiri paid to the seller was not transferred to the seller's account. The directors and executives of Nusasiri and their close associates benefited from the sale money, noted the regulator. The four directors and executives of the company, at the time of the offence, submitted false evidence and information to an SEC official during the clarification of this issue, according to the statement. "They submitted a false report from the independent financial advisor to deceive the regulator about the true value of the hotel as recorded in the accounts," noted the regulator. Furthermore, the six charged individuals were found to have fabricated the accounts to mislead the company's auditor into believing the company had received full payment for the condo units from the purchasing company, so that the auditor would not question the recording of the transaction in the accounts, the statement noted. The actions of the six individuals violate the Securities and Exchange Act of 1992, said the regulator. Nuttpasint Chet-udomlap, director and interim chief executive of Nusasiri, said in a filing to the SET that the transactions requiring amendments were executed by former directors and executives of the company, against whom criminal complaints were filed by the SEC. He said detailed disclosures regarding these matters were provided in the notes to the third-quarter statements. The company is in talks with the SEC to address the required amendments.COVID pregnancies may have boosted autism risk, UCLA study shows
MIAMI — Traffic citations issued to Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill after a September altercation with police have been dismissed after the charging officers didn't attend a court hearing. Hill's tickets for careless driving and failing to wear a seat belt were dismissed after the Miami-Dade Police officers failed to show up for a Monday hearing. The tickets were issued after Hill was stopped outside Hard Rock Stadium for allegedly speeding before the Dolphins' season opener on Sept. 8. The stop escalated and an officer pulled Hill from the car, forced him to the ground and handcuffed him. Hill said in a Tuesday post on the social platform X, “Where all the internet cops now”. The Miami-Dade Police said the officers' failure to appear was “an oversight” and “the matter will be handled administratively.” Still, the department defended issuing Hill the tickets. “A citation dismissed due to this reason does not indicate that the citation held no merit,” the agency said in a statement. Police body camera video from the September stop showed Hill appeared to speed past two motorcycle officers who were monitoring traffic on a road outside the stadium. They pulled over his McLaren sports car and one tapped on his window. Hill, 30, handed the officer his driver's license, but told the officer repeatedly, “Don’t knock on my window like that." He then put his window back up. Their verbal exchange escalated and the officers soon pulled him from the car, forcing Hill face-first to the ground. The officers cursed at Hill but he did not resist their physical force or strike at them in the video. He did tell one officer, “Don’t tell me what to do.” Hill was eventually stood up, but then an officer dragged him into a sitting position on the curb after he said a knee injury made that difficult. After about 30 minutes, Hill was issued citations and allowed to enter the stadium. BARRETT: Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he was caught off guard by reports early Tuesday that linebacker Shaq Barrett wants to unretire. The two-time Super Bowl winner signed a one-year deal with the Dolphins in March, then abruptly announced his retirement on social media in July, just days before the start of Miami's training camp. “Just to be candid, obviously there's a reason why you target and sign somebody," McDaniel said Tuesday afternoon. “I was fully caught off guard, or caught by surprise this morning as I found out.” McDaniel indicated the Dolphins have not had any conversations with Barrett recently. Miami holds the 32-year-old’s contractual rights. ESPN first reported the news. Rodgers says he's undecided about future Aaron Rodgers is still contemplating whether he wants to play football next season. And if he does return, he prefers it to be with the New York Jets. The star quarterback, who turns 41 next Monday, denied a recent report that he wants to keep playing next year — but not with the Jets. "I came here to win here, so I'm not jumping off ship," Rodgers said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “I don’t even know if I want to play yet, but New York would be my first option.” The Athletic reported last week that Rodgers had already decided to play next season, but would want to play for another team. He and the Jets have struggled to a 3-8 start and owner Woody Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh last month and replaced him with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. He dismissed general manager Joe Douglas last Tuesday. Chiefs add OT Humphries KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Veteran offensive tackle D.J. Humphries joined the Kansas City Chiefs on the practice field for the first time Tuesday, four days after agreeing to a deal with the Super Bowl champions, though it remains unclear just when he will be able to help out. The Chiefs have been desperate for help at left tackle in particular, where Wanya Morris and Kingsley Suamataia have struggled to protect the blind side of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That led general manager Brett Veach to reach out to Humphries, who had been recovering from a torn ACL that he sustained with the Cardinals in Week 17 last season. It's a rare addition of a former Pro Bowl player for a team chasing an unprecedented third straight Lombardi Trophy. “You can't remember too many of them that come in to play like that,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “Getting to meet D.J. and know what he's about — ironically, our icebreaker, his dad and I were teammates in the Arena League in 2004. It makes you feel old. But he was great. I love his personality and he's excited to get in here and learn what we do.” Lions cut Houston ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions released reserve defensive end James Houston, cutting ties with a player who failed to produce as well as he did during his rookie season. The NFC-leading Lions (10-1) made the move on Tuesday, two days before hosting Chicago (4-7) in their annual Thanksgiving game. Houston had eight sacks in seven games in 2022 after Detroit drafted the former Florida standout in the sixth round. After a broken leg limited Houston to two games last season, he was active for eight games this year to show what he could do and had only one sack. BRIEFLY VIKINGS: Minnesota linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. was placed on injured reserve after hurting his hamstring Sunday in a 30-27 overtime victory over the Chicago Bears. The move means that Pace must miss at least the Vikings next four games. GIANTS: New York quarterback Tommy DeVito came out of his first start of the season with a sore throwing arm and his status for Thursday's game against the Cowboys in Dallas is uncertain.Happy Centennial to an iconic N.J. institution | OpinionTrump's CDC pick Dr. Dave Weldon, a Long Island native, stirs concern