Confidence in team-first mentality key for Colorado Springs Switchbacks in championship season
A secretary bought three shares of her company's stock for $60 each in 1935. Grace Groner reinvested her dividends for 75 years, and her stake ballooned to $7.2 million. Her employer, Abbott, shared Groner's story in a recent website post. A secretary paid $180 in 1935 for three shares of her employer's stock. By the time she died in 2010, her investment had mushroomed to $7.2 million . Advertisement Abbott, a pharmaceutical company, gave a shout-out to the former employee in a recent post on its website. "As we celebrate 101 years of dividend payouts, we're remembering one of the earliest Abbott investing success stories, that of Grace Groner , who worked as a secretary at Abbott for over 40 years," the post reads. Advertisement "In 1935, Groner bought three shares of Abbott stock for $60 each. She consistently reinvested her dividend payments and quietly amassed a $7.2 million fortune. Groner passed away in 2010, at the age of 100, and it was only then that her multimillion-dollar estate was discovered." She gifted her entire fortune to a foundation she'd established in support of her alma mater, Lake Forest College. She earmarked the money to finance internships, international study, and service projects for students. Groner hung onto her Abbott shares for over 75 years without selling a single one, despite several stock splits, and used her dividends to bolster her stake. Advertisement She was likely able to leave her nest egg intact for so long because of her simple lifestyle. She lived in a one-bedroom house, bought her clothes at rummage sales, and didn't own a car, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2010. Her shares would be worth north of $28 million today, excluding dividends, given that Abbott's stock price has roughly quadrupled since 2010. The drugmaker's market value has risen to around $200 billion, meaning it now rivals Disney, PepsiCo, and Morgan Stanley in size.
The are making it clear they are very serious about retaining . Just a couple of days after making their initial bid to the superstar outfielder, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Bronx Bombers have upgraded their offer. The Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Blue Jays are the other four teams with offers on the table. Exact terms haven't been revealed just yet, but Soto is said to be seeking something in the 15-year range rather than a high-AAV short-term pact, and he's expected to set a new record for contract value with team willing to exceed $600 million. According to Heyman, the Yankees and others have told Soto that they'd be willing to include opt-outs in the package. New York has also been in contract with top of the market starting pitchers and , but their main focus at the moment is trying to retain the 26-year-old slugger who helped carry them to an AL Pennant last season. Soto put together as good of a contract-year as you can get, as he took home his third career Silver Slugger after hitting a career-high 41 homers and driving in 109 runs across 157 games.
National Gallery director shuts gallery amid staff dissent, bans press conferencesOregon already secured its spot in the Big Ten championship game, but the top-ranked Ducks have plenty to play for in their regular-season finale. Revenge may be on Oregon's mind when the Ducks host longtime rival Washington on Saturday in Eugene, Ore. Oregon (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) would perhaps be closing in on its second straight College Football Playoff appearance had the Huskies (6-5, 4-4) not dealt the Ducks their only two losses last season. Washington edged Oregon 36-33 in Seattle last October, then slipped past the Ducks 34-31 in the Pac-12 title game to secure a playoff spot for the second time in school history. Both teams joined the Big Ten in August. Third-year Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is 33-5 leading the Ducks. But he remains winless against the Huskies (0-3). Oregon plots to sprint out of its late-season bye after using time to heal injuries, but Lanning doesn't believe the break should stall the flow of an undefeated season. "It's always about what we're able to do on the field. Motivation is overrated," Lanning said. "Our guys have to want to go out there and execute at a really high level. Since the beginning of the season we've talked about playing our best football at the end of November. We're there. This is our opportunity to go play our best football against a good team." The Ducks could have star wide receiver Tez Johnson back from a shoulder injury this week. Johnson has missed the past two games. That would be good news for quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who would regain the team's leader in receptions (64), receiving yards (649) and receiving touchdowns (eight). Washington, under first-year head coach Jedd Fisch, is 63-48-5 all-time against Oregon but is just 1-12-1 when facing the No. 1-ranked team in the country. The Huskies are led on offense by running back Jonah Coleman, who has racked up 1,008 yards and nine scores on the ground this season. Coleman averages 5.8 yards per carry and has 36 runs of at least 10 yards. In the passing game, wide receiver Denzel Boston is tied for the Big Ten lead with nine in touchdown catches and ranks sixth in the conference with 764 receiving yards. Whom Boston will be catching passes from is not yet known, however. Washington has not revealed whether Will Rogers or Demond Williams Jr. will start at quarterback. Rogers has started every game for the Huskies but was benched in favor of Williams two weeks ago after throwing a pair of interceptions in a 31-19 win over UCLA. Fisch said he has a "good idea" of how he will use his quarterbacks on Saturday, and while he wouldn't go as far as to name a starter, he did say Rogers responded well in practices last week. "On the same token, Demond's energy and Demond's confidence showed up. His ability to jump right in and feel really good about leading the group whenever it was his turn... he did a really nice job there as well," Fisch told Seattle Sports. "I think both guys responded well to the week of practice, and now, really, it's important for us that the guy we believe will start the game gets a significant amount of reps in practice week. But as you know, we're not afraid to play two quarterbacks." --Field Level Media
Are you tracking your health with a device? Here’s what could happen with the dataJustin Tucker's erratic season isn't getting any better, and it's hurting Baltimore's outlook
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NOTEWORTHY IN NORTH COUNTY: It’s Christmas time in Riverton
It's time to take tough decisions: PMOne of the most widespread nuisances in the modern world is phone scams , targeting everyone, be it a child or an old soul. These fraudsters never stop inventing ways to cheat innocent souls out of their money or personal details. However, there is a new technology that may dramatically change the fate of the victims of phone scams. An AI-granny has become the latest anti-phone scam hero with a weapon called technology to counter them, protecting herself against fraudulent intentions. Phone scams have been rampant in the last few years, especially as people have become much smarter with the advent of technologies. In recent years, fraudsters have been pretending to be government officials or tech companies and even distressed family members or relatives in trouble to steal people's secret information. This is specifically lethal for old people, as they are unaware of all such digital scams. Millions of dollars are lost due to phone scams every year. The target audience is basically the elders. Most scammers depend on emotion, creating a sense of urgency or exploiting common misconceptions. A scammer will claim that your bank account has been compromised and demand swift action. This manipulation can lead people to panic and decide on things that they would otherwise not think of. In response to the increasing numbers of phishing telephone scams, there now comes a genius AI that has turned everything around concerning how people, especially those from the old guard, protect themselves against the scam. Real-time detection analysis and response of suspicious calls is possible through this intelligent technology, allowing AI-based AI Granny to know which are legitimate calls from others that may be fraudulent in nature. The AI Granny works basically on pattern recognition in your phone conversations. It can understand suspicious behaviors, such as forcing the recipient to action quickly, asking for private information, or using language known by common scams. After the detection of a possible scam, the AI springs into action, alerting the user, providing advice, and even taking over the call to guide the scammer in a trap of their very own. One of the interesting features of the AI Granny is that she is able to respond to these scammers with automated, pre-programmed responses that are nearly like natural conversations. The result is that it perplexes the scammer but gives the person receiving the call time to hang up or report the incident. It starts the moment the phone rings. Whenever she receives an incoming call, AI Granny listens to voice calls back, looking out for commonly used scam phrases and manipulative tactics. It responds to suspicious activities, and this is just enough for AI Granny to ask them a set of confusing questions, set them up on a wild goose chase, or even simple harmless ones. In this way, the cybergranny sees that the scammer failed, and the poor soul is not scammed. For instance, if they mention that they are from a company dealing with technology, for example, wanting to access the computer of another person, AI Granny could respond even when facing confusing or frustrating questions. It could call for a reference number, ask for identification , or merely give a series of random questions to consume the scammer's time. The scammer would probably hang up or back off the attempt after being unable to handle the answer of the AI. There is a most important advantage relating to peace of mind and greater control from AI Granny for vulnerable populations. In broader terms, an assurance for the vulnerable user has been made sure that is the safety and security afforded by the fact that any fraudulent caller would be intercepted and prevented before causing havoc. This can be beneficial to those who may not fully understand the potential risks posed by phone scams or who have a tough time spotting them on their own. Another advantage of AI Granny is its availability. The AI granny works 24/7; therefore, it can protect one from scams day and night. Unlike fraud prevention involving traditional mechanisms of family or customer agents, AI Granny provides a permanent, not requiring human action solution to be always available and secure. Additionally, AI Granny can inform people about the tactics used by scammers. From its interaction with fraudsters, the AI can gather information about common tactics that are used by scammers and pass it on to people to increase their awareness and strengthen their defense against telephone fraud. AI Granny fits into a larger trend where artificial intelligence is being utilized to address real-world problems. As these technologies continue to evolve, we can expect more solutions like AI Granny, which aims to keep people safe amid an increasing reliance on technology. The future looks promising for using AI to prevent telephone scams, highlighting how technology can protect individuals from harm. Given the ever-changing nature of phone scams, the AI systems designed to combat them will also need to adapt in order to stay ahead of fraudsters. This innovative approach could potentially mark the end of being victims of phone scams.
McDermott, AFC East-leading Bills refreshed coming out of bye week, and looking ahead to host 49ersDALLAS — The shots weren’t falling for the Knicks Wednesday night, struggling to find the range from just about anywhere on the court. But if one thing was a sure thing it was this — Josh Hart rushing the ball up the floor on a fast break and floating a lob for OG Anunoby to easily slam in alone. But as Anunoby, who had just scored a career-best 40 points in the least game, tried to slam it in it rattled off the back of the rim and out and on the end Kyrie Irving easily drained a long three-point field goal. And maybe that was the time where it became clear what kind of night this was going to be for the Knicks. The wild rollercoaster ride of a road trip continued with the Knicks alternating nights when they look like potential champions and then appear bound for the lottery the next. This one was a night to throw away the tape — like the Utah game two games ago — as they were dominated from the start and the 129-114 final score didn’t indicate just how much of a struggle it was most of the night. The Knicks shot 46.5%, including going 7-for-29 on three-pointers. The Knicks now head to Charlotte for a Black Friday finale to the five-game trip with a 2-2 record so far and a hope that the holidays can push aside the memory of this game. Just two days after putting up record-setting numbers in the win in Denver the Knicks were trying to avoid setting marks for futility this time against the defending Western Conference champions. But the Mavericks were doing it this night without Luka Doncic or Klay Thompson and it didn’t matter. Anunoby finally scored on a layup from a Towns feed with 7:37 to play in the game after misfiring on his first 11 attempts. But by then this game was long decided. He finished with eight points on 3-for-15 shooting. Jalen Brunson had 37 points as he tried to single-handedly drag the Knicks back into this game and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds. But that late push hid in the boxscore what had been a problem all night. Before the game Mavs coach Jason Kidd had high praise for the Knicks offense, just before his team humbled it. “When you talk about KAT, it’s ability to post, play inside and out,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s shooting the three well. Brunson and KAT are the No. 1 pick-and-roll combination in the league. So just understanding his ability — if you’re late in any defensive schemes, he’s going to shoot it and most likely it’s going in. So understanding he’s one of the best big shooters in this league and also he can play in the post. And he can hurt you down there, too. “You look at their offense. I think they’re No. 2 in offense. They can score, they can shoot the three. They put you in the pick and roll. And when you look at Brunson’s assists, a career high, [it's] just understanding that he’s not just a scorer, but he can find teammates, too. We’ve seen that when he was here, and we’re seeing that as a Knick, too. And he’s playing the game the right way.” The Knicks shot just 4-for-21 in the first quarter — misfiring on all eight of their three-point field goal attempts — and seemed fortunate to be trailing just 28-15. The struggles continued as the half wore on. Anunoby’s missed dunk and the Irving three upped the lead to 43-22 and Dallas led by as many as 24 in the second quarter. Anunoby would finish the half 0-for-8, scoreless, and the Knicks trailed 60-38. The Knicks finished the half just 11-for-42 and hit just 2-of-16 from beyond the arc (both by Mikal Bridges). It wasn’t just Anunoby as Hart was 0-for-5 and Towns was just 2-for-8. The 38 points marked their lowest scoring half of the season and came after they scored 40 in a quarter Monday and for the third time this season had 76 in a half. The Knicks cut the deficit to 13 midway through the third quarter, but the Mavs quickly pushed the lead back to 19, 81-62, and prompting another Knicks timeout. Notes & v quotes: Tyler Kolek was held out with an illness . . . Quentin Grimes, who was traded last season from the Knicks to Detroit and then was moved to Dallas in the summer, had 21 points for Dallas.While he was on the first pieces of last year’s team to depart he was surprised to see the Knicks makeover. “The biggest thing was Donte [DiVincenzo]. Just watching him last year and the whole time in the playoffs, I thought Donte was going to be a guy who was going to be a New York lifer for sure. But that’s the business of the NBA. Everybody has to do what’s right for the organization and I feel like that was one that really surprised me in the offseason for sure.” Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.