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When Luigi Mangione was arrested in the killing of the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, he was hailed in some corners of the internet as an anti-capitalist folk hero. In a document said to be a “manifesto” found with Mangione, published online by journalist Ken Klippenstein, the 26-year-old former data engineer condemned UnitedHealthcare for abusing “our country for immense profit.” “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming,” Mangione wrote . “A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy.” But Mangione was not a straightforward, left-leaning Robin Hood figure avenging what he sees as the brutality of the U.S. health care system or, as one right-wing critic alleged, “ just another leftist nut job .” The political ideology he articulated online — on social media platforms from X and Reddit to Goodreads — defied neat left-right binaries and showed a young man steeped in a hodgepodge of online Silicon Valley philosophy and heterodox ideas. Mangione’s internet postings, along with accounts from people he knew and talked to online, offer a complex view. Mangione’s last post on X was in June, nearly six months before he allegedly traveled to Manhattan to kill, and he appeared to disconnect from his family and friends around the same time. But his digital footprint offers a glimpse into his ideological journey, documenting some of his deepest hopes and anxieties about the future of technology and humanity. The former valedictorian of an elite Baltimore prep school and Ivy League graduate shared posts on social media from an eclectic stream of populists, entrepreneurs, neuroscientists, centrists and disruptors. On X, he followed comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan; President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; liberal columnist Ezra Klein; and democratic socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. On a now-private Goodreads account that authorities reportedly identified as belonging to Mangione, he included a biography of tech billionaire and GOP megadonor Elon Musk — now a close Trump adviser — in his favorites list and rated Republican Vice President-elect J.D. Vance’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” three out of five stars. A computer science major with an interest in rationalism, self-improvement and effective altruism — a philosophical movement that uses evidence and reason to help others — Mangione enthused about technological innovation. But he also worried about how corporations and ordinary people used tech, sharing a stream of posts on smartphones’ effect on mental health , the downside of Netflix and Doordash , and an AI chatbot’s threats to carry out revenge. Mangione appeared skeptical of some of the core tenets of left-leaning “identity politics.” Two years ago, he shared a post from British Indian writer Gurwinder Bhogal challenging the idea that asking “Where are you from?” is impolite: “If wokeism teaches minorities to be traumatized even by friendly gestures, it cannot claim to bridge divides.” In April, Mangione retweeted a blogger who complained that modern-day atheists “disprove[d] God” only to end up “worshipping at the DEI shrine” and “using made-up pronouns like religious mantras.” Some on the left are now dubbing Mangione right-wing, but they do not seem to agree on whether he is a “center-right biohacking Thiel-loving tech bro” or “ another far right MAGA Trumper Terrorist .” Bhogal, who chatted and emailed with Mangione online after the American became a founding member of his Substack, said Mangione was neither. “He was left-wing on some things and right-wing on others,” Bhogal wrote in an email. “He was pro-equality of opportunity, but ... he opposed wokeism because he didn’t believe it was an effective way to help minorities.” Bhogal said Mangione first reached out to him in April while on a trip in Asia. Mangione asked him about a 2023 article Bhogal wrote exploring the rise of the NPC, or Non-Player Character, a term referring to video game characters that some online subcultures now use to describe humans who behave in predictable, scripted ways. The article resonated with Mangione, Bhogal said, probably because he felt he did not fit into a political tribe. Bhogal described Mangione as curious and well-read, with “mostly quite tame” intellectual interests in “brain rot, indoctrination, declining birth-rates, gamification and corporate greed.” On X, Mangione praised conservative commentator Tucker Carlson as “spot on” in recognizing that “modern architecture kills the spirit” and shared a video of a talk by venture capitalist and GOP megadonor Peter Thiel on why people with Asperger’s syndrome excel in tech. On Goodreads, he gave “Industrial Society and Its Future” by the late Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, a four-star review. Kaczynski was “rightfully imprisoned,” he wrote, but he also noted: “it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.” At the end of his review, Mangione quoted a random Reddit user, Bosspotatoness: “These companies don’t care about you, or your kids, or your grandkids. They have zero qualms about burning down the planet for a buck, so why should we have any qualms about burning them down to survive?” According to Bhogal, Mangione seemed disillusioned with status quo politics, but he appeared to dislike Trump. “He believed corporate greed for short-term profits was causing tech companies to saturate society with mind-rotting entertainment,” Bhogal wrote. “He asked me how to maximize agency in a world constantly trying to deprive us of it.” Those who got to know Mangione in 2022 when he lived at the Surfbreak co-working community near Honolulu described him as a normal, affable guy. “He did not seem hardcore in any direction,” said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for Surfbreak owner and founder R.J. Martin. “No one really knows what his political views were. He seemed balanced, young and curious, without a noticeable ideology.” Though Mangione came off as anti-capitalist and anti-corporate in his manifesto, Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor emeritus of criminal injustice at California State San Bernardino, said that didn’t necessarily make him hard-left. Increasingly, Levin noted, anti-corporate and anti-institutional subcultures operate across the ideological spectrum. “We’re seeing a diversification of these types of extremism, as well as an a la carte construction of idiosyncratic beliefs that are sometimes hooked into an ideology,” Levin said, noting that two years ago, a mass shooter who killed eight people at a mall in Allen, Texas, was a Latino with a Nazi tattoo. “Let’s see where the defendant falls.” Mary Beth Altier, a clinical professor at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs who studies political violence and behavior, said it was becoming more common for political violence to be largely motivated by a single issue, in this case the healthcare industry. “They’re not necessarily fitting into a larger group or ideology,” she said, “but rather have a personal grievance with a particular issue.” Online, some pundits and extremism experts have suggested that Mangione expressed views associated with “the gray tribe,” a term coined a decade ago by Bay Area psychiatrist and blogger Scott Alexander, to refer to an online collective of rationalists, online tech enthusiasts, atheists and free thinkers who fall outside conventional left- or right-wing tribal thinking. “Increasingly looks like we’ve got our first grey tribe shooter,” journalist and extremism expert Robert Evans posted on X the day Mangione was charged. “Boy howdy is the media not ready for that.” As Alexander described it, the gray tribe espouses “libertarian political beliefs, Dawkins-style atheism, vague annoyance that the question of gay rights even comes up, eating paleo, drinking Soylent, calling in rides on Uber, reading lots of blogs, calling American football ‘sportsball,’ getting conspicuously upset about the War on Drugs and the NSA...” As obscure as Mangione’s views might seem to Americans who do not dwell in the same online spaces, Evans wrote on his Substack that “his interest in Gray Tribe-adjacent thinkers and self-help books written by productivity hackers ... is incredibly common among young men.” Other observers of internet subcultures suggested Mangione was a “ new tech centrist ” or “TPOT adjacent,” an acronym for This Part of Twitter, another loose offshoot of Silicon Valley “post-rationalism” that developed online during the COVID-19 lockdown and focuses on ideas, technology, spirituality and conspiracy theories. Some joked about the difficulty of attributing motivation to Mangione in an era of increasingly in-the-weeds online subcultures. “Tried explaining that the shooter wasn’t a far left radical but actually a right wing tpot adjacent ted k reading lindyman following, rfk pilled upenn grad,” one poster wrote on X . “Got kicked out of the family group chat.” Typically, Levin said, those who engage in public acts of symbolic violence are motivated by one, or a combination of, three factors: ideology, which could be religious or political; a psychological condition or mental instability; a sense of personal benefit or revenge. “The bottom line here is this is someone who experienced a grievance, and that grievance resonated,” Levin said of Mangione. “The combination of grievance, idiosyncrasies, personal psychological distress, withdrawal from support systems and the glorification of violence that exists generally in our society will have a special effect on individuals who feel an unjust grievance or who feel the system doesn’t work.” Mangione’s last post on X appears to be June 10. By November, his mother filed a missing-person report for her son in San Francisco. A fitness buff, he had suffered health setbacks. The top banner of his X profile, next to a photo of him posing shirtless and smiling atop a mountain, was an image of an X-ray showing four screws in a spine, a sign that he had gone through lumbar spinal fusion surgery. Posts from a since-deleted Reddit account, with details matching Mangione’s biographical details, showed that Mangione suffered from chronic back pain resulting from spondylolisthesis — a condition in which a vertebra in the spine, usually in the lower back, slips out of place. Mangione wrote that his condition was exacerbated by a surfing accident. “My back and hips locked up after the accident,” he wrote in July 2023. “I’m terrified of the implications.” Mangione wrote that he underwent spinal surgery weeks later, which appeared to have improved his symptoms. When Bhogal chatted with Mangione via video for two hours in May, he did not get the impression that he was in pain or on painkillers. “He seemed lucid, relaxed, and cheerful,” Bhogal wrote. But Bhogal said Mangione may have felt isolated. He complained the people around him were on a “different wavelength” and seemed eager to join a community of like-minded people. He urged Bhogal to schedule group video calls to discuss rationalism, Stoicism and effective altruism. That never happened. The last time Bhogal heard from Mangione was June 10, when he received a message in which Mangione asked him how to curate his social media feeds. Bhogal forgot to get back to him. A part of him wonders, now, if he could have averted the apparent outcome if he had replied. ©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com . Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IQVIA Holdings Inc. ( NYSE:IQV – Free Report ) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 50,364 shares of the medical research company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,804 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in IQVIA were worth $11,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC. A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in IQVIA by 6.6% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,403,488 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $719,634,000 after acquiring an additional 211,653 shares during the period. Farallon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of IQVIA by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farallon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,923,032 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $618,046,000 after purchasing an additional 86,870 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of IQVIA by 9.7% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,793,010 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $423,885,000 after buying an additional 157,809 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of IQVIA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,514,237 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $320,170,000 after buying an additional 11,715 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in IQVIA by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,197,084 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $253,125,000 after buying an additional 60,827 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.62% of the company’s stock. Insider Buying and Selling In related news, insider Eric Sherbet sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.33, for a total value of $320,229.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,536 shares in the company, valued at $4,812,302.88. This trade represents a 6.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website . 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. IQVIA Trading Up 2.1 % Analyst Ratings Changes IQV has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded IQVIA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of IQVIA from $280.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Argus upgraded shares of IQVIA to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of IQVIA in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of IQVIA from $260.00 to $255.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IQVIA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.50. View Our Latest Research Report on IQVIA IQVIA Profile ( Free Report ) IQVIA Holdings Inc engages in the provision of advanced analytics, technology solutions, and clinical research services to the life sciences industry in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Technology & Analytics Solutions, Research & Development Solutions, and Contract Sales & Medical Solutions. Featured Stories Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IQV? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for IQVIA Holdings Inc. ( NYSE:IQV – Free Report ). Receive News & Ratings for IQVIA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for IQVIA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .a-777 。

Kroger Announces Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Succession

Opposition lawmakers, including the Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda himself, have accused the ministers of sabotaging Parliament by prioritising the President’s events over their legislative duties. According to reports, 16 Cabinet ministers and 15 deputy ministers were absent from Wednesday’s parliamentary session, with some claiming to be attending to national assignments outside the country. Mudenda described the situation as “very unusual”. “I have received a very unusual list of apologies, in terms of the numbers, from the Executive. I am informed some ministers are outside the country, including the Leader of Government Business. “Others are on national duty in Victoria Falls and elsewhere but there is no excuse for deputies not to be here totally, there is no excuse,” he stated. Dzivarasekwa MP Edwin Mushoriwa, however, pointed out that the same ministers are always present when the President hosts events, such as the State of the Nation Address (SONA). The opposition has called for the President to be summoned to Parliament to answer questions, citing a provision in the Constitution that allows for such an interface. “So, to that extent Mr. Speaker, I want to stand on a point of Order 177 (4) as read with our Constitution, Section 140 (3) which states that there may be a question time for the President in accordance with Section 140 (1) of the Constitution,” Mushoriwa stated. “Mr. Speaker Sir, it is our request that the Speaker makes arrangements for the Head of State and President of Zimbabwe to come before this august House so that this august House and Hon. Members in this august House could actually pose questions to the President. We have reached this stage “Mr. Speaker Sir, having noted the deliquesce on the part of some of the Hon. Ministers who have not come to this House to answer questions from Hon. Members or Parliament representing the citizens of this country. “Hon. Speaker Sir, we humbly request that in accordance with the said Standing Orders and also the relevant sections of our Constitution, that the President comes to this august House so that we Hon. Members of Parliament will be in a position to pose questions to him.” Mudenda has promised to investigate the matter and deal with ministers who are consistently absent without valid reasons. The Speaker has undertaken to discuss the matter with the President and ensure that ministers prioritise their parliamentary duties. “Meanwhile, I will have some conversation with His Excellency tomorrow and give him the list and the concern accordingly so that perhaps in future, when there is question time, we do not have to have some clashes. “I recall one time when there was a clash and some Hon. Ministers were flocking there to be with the President, His Excellency said other Hon. Ministers who had nothing to do with the programme must go back to Parliament. That was done. “So, there is also a habit of flocking for these national events when in fact it has nothing to do with the Ministry concerned,” he said.

(All times Eastern) Schedule subject to change and/or blackouts Monday, Dec. 30 COLLEGE BASKETBALL (MEN’S) 3 p.m. BTN — W. Michigan at Michigan St. 5 p.m. BTN — Columbia at Rutgers 7 p.m. BTN — New Hampshire at Iowa CBSSN — Cincinnati at Kansas St. SECN — Presbyterian at South Carolina 8 p.m. ESPN2 — Oakland at Arkansas 9 p.m. BTN — Southern U. at Nebraska CBSSN — Iowa St. at Colorado SECN — Bethune-Cookman at Mississippi St. COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2:30 p.m. ESPN — The TransPerfect Music City Bowl: Iowa vs. Missouri, Nashville, Tenn. IIHF HOCKEY (MEN’S) 1 p.m. NHLN — World Junior Championship Group Stage: Slovakia vs. Kazakhstan, Group B, Toronto 2:30 p.m. NHLN — World Junior Championship Group Stage: Germany vs. Latvia, Group A, Ottawa, Ontario NBA BASKETBALL 7 p.m. NBATV — New York at Washington 10 p.m. NBATV — Dallas at Sacramento NFL FOOTBALL 8:15 p.m. ABC — Detroit at San Francisco ESPN — Detroit at San Francisco NHL HOCKEY 7 p.m. NHLN — N.Y. Rangers at Florida SOCCER (MEN’S) 3 p.m. USA — Premier League: Newcastle United at Manchester United TENNIS 6 a.m. TENNIS — United Cup: Group Stage TBD; Brisbane-ATP/WTA, Hong Kong-ATP, Auckland-WTA Early Rounds 6:30 p.m. TENNIS — United Cup: Group Stage TBD; Brisbane-ATP/WTA, Hong Kong-ATP, Auckland-WTA Early Rounds The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV .

Cryptocurrencies are making their way into traditional finance as they are embraced by regulatory authorities in financial institutions and central banks. A major reason behind the support for adopting specific cryptocurrencies is their real-world utilities and features, which can help bridge the gap between crypto and financial assets. Established coins like Cardano (ADA) and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) are experiencing market growth and adoption due to their practical applications. However, another new altcoin, DTX Exchange, is offering investors a lot of gains through its pre-sales because of its promising hybrid exchange, which will allow traders to trade in both crypto and real assets simultaneously. Cardano (ADA) Enchases Technical Strengths to Rise Above 222% in November Cardano (ADA) is currently one of the largest blockchains in crypto, and industry experts credit its success to its proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which uses much less energy than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work algorithm. This PoS is successful enough that the larger Ethereum blockchain will also upgrade to a PoS mechanism, although this will happen gradually. Cardano (ADA) users also benefit from the peer-reviewed research process, ensuring all concepts are assessed before implementation. Analysts claim that this ensures Cardano (ADA) remains durable and stable. This has paid off for Cardano (ADA) holders. It has had a dream run in the past month as the markets rewarded its stability. Cardano (ADA) is trading at above $1 now and has sustained this price, even though it fell below $1 levels during the past week’s market adjustment. Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) Rises over 450% in November Recovery The rise of utility-based offerings has also rewarded Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) holders. This is another technically sound offering. Hedera uses a form of distributed ledger technology called a hashgraph. Hedera is different from other blockchains because it uses this new form of consensus algorithm. Users agree on the order of performing transactions, which speeds up processing and transaction execution, removes delays, and smoothens the TPS (transactions per second) indicator. Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) prices rose over 452% in November, with the last seven-day trading giving it over 75% gains. DTX Exchange Could Give Early Backers 10,000x Gains DTX Exchange (DTX) is a new altcoin that has taken the crypto economy by storm this year, pulling in more than $8.8 million in just a few months. DTX Exchange can become a flagship exchange for the billion-dollar online trading space once it launches its highly anticipated hybrid trading platform. DTX Exchange is a hybrid trading exchange that enables access to over 120,000 asset classes. The platform offers investment opportunities with a 1000x leverage and KYC-free trading, both of which are impressive features. This will allow DTX to attract users who value their privacy and seek highly profitable investments. The DTX Exchange tokenomics speak for themselves. Early investors bought the token at $0.02 and have earned an impressive 400% ROI since then. The DTX price increased to $0.10 at Stage 5 of the presale, which is now sold out. Stage 5 investors will realize a 100% profit after DTX lists on mainstream exchanges at $0.20. Conclusion The current market rallies have benefited all coins that offer strong use-case scenarios to their users. Cardano (ADA) and Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) both offer high gains to investors. DTX Exchange is also a great cryptocurrency investment option, attracting investors with its utility-rich offerings and high gains. To know more about the DTX Exchange ecosystem, Check out: Visit Website Buy Presale Join Community Join our WhatsApp Channel to get the latest news, exclusives and videos on WhatsApp _____________ Disclaimer: Analytics Insight does not provide financial advice or guidance. Also note that the cryptocurrencies mentioned/listed on the website could potentially be scams, i.e. designed to induce you to invest financial resources that may be lost forever and not be recoverable once investments are made. You are responsible for conducting your own research (DYOR) before making any investments. Read more here.

Florida State made official on Monday the hiring of Gus Malzahn as offensive coordinator, confirming weekend reports that he would resign as UCF head coach to reunite with Seminoles coach Mike Norvell. UCF had confirmed on Sunday reports of Malzahn's exit but not his destination, and FSU had not made an announcement until Monday afternoon. "I am excited to be here at Florida State and to help us win championships," Malzahn said in a statement. "It's exciting to work with Coach Norvell, who is someone I believe in as a coach and leader." Norvell, who served as a graduate assistant under Malzahn at Tulsa in 2007-08, said on Saturday night after the Seminoles' 31-11 loss to Florida that he could not identify the new offensive coordinator until the hiring process was finalized. Florida State, which is 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, is ranked No. 132 of 133 FBS programs in total offense (270.2 yards per game). The Seminoles are 130th in the nation in scoring offense (15.4 points per game). Norvell shook up his staff, including firing offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Alex Atkins on Nov. 10 after a 52-3 defeat at Notre Dame. "I'm extremely excited to have Gus Malzahn join our staff at Florida State," Norvell said in the school's statement on Monday. "He has one of the most innovative minds in college football and a proven track record of developing elite offenses everywhere he's been. "His offenses have consistently showcased a tremendous running game combined with explosive plays through the air. I'm thrilled to work side-by-side with Gus again as we elevate the Florida State offense back to one of the elite groups in college football." UCF also endured a tough 2024 season, going 4-8 after losing eight of its last nine games. During Malzahn's four-year tenure, the Knights went 28-24, including 5-13 in the Big 12 Conference the last two seasons. Malzahn, 59, is 105-62 in 13 seasons as a college head coach, highlighted by a 68-35 mark in eight seasons at Auburn -- which included a BCS title game appearance in 2013. He served as offensive coordinator and play caller when the Tigers won the national title in 2010. Malzahn will be tasked with revitalizing a Florida State offense that helped produce a 13-1 campaign in 2023, when the Seminoles were denied a spot in the College Football Playoff. Over the last three seasons at UCF, his rushing attack has been in the Top 10 in the nation. In his 19 seasons as a college head coach or offensive coordinator, Malzahn's teams have averaged 447.7 yards per game, and three of his teams eclipsed 7,000 yards in a season. --Field Level Media

"Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum." Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC "Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto beatae vitae dicta sunt explicabo. Nemo enim ipsam voluptatem quia voluptas sit aspernatur aut odit aut fugit, sed quia consequuntur magni dolores eos qui ratione voluptatem sequi nesciunt. Neque porro quisquam est, qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit, sed quia non numquam eius modi tempora incidunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim ad minima veniam, quis nostrum exercitationem ullam corporis suscipit laboriosam, nisi ut aliquid ex ea commodi consequatur? Quis autem vel eum iure reprehenderit qui in ea voluptate velit esse quam nihil molestiae consequatur, vel illum qui dolorem eum fugiat quo voluptas nulla pariatur?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" 1914 translation by H. Rackham "But I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system, and expound the actual teachings of the great explorer of the truth, the master-builder of human happiness. No one rejects, dislikes, or avoids pleasure itself, because it is pleasure, but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter consequences that are extremely painful. Nor again is there anyone who loves or pursues or desires to obtain pain of itself, because it is pain, but because occasionally circumstances occur in which toil and pain can procure him some great pleasure. To take a trivial example, which of us ever undertakes laborious physical exercise, except to obtain some advantage from it? But who has any right to find fault with a man who chooses to enjoy a pleasure that has no annoying consequences, or one who avoids a pain that produces no resultant pleasure?" Thanks for your interest in Kalkine Media's content! To continue reading, please log in to your account or create your free account with us.Popular iPhone and Android app unveils genius free upgrade that lets you SPEAK directly with AI Father Christmas

Eve finally fulfills a promise to Android smart home users

We came across UK-based when its Cyber Recovery Orchestration achieved Veeam Ready Security status in November. This was followed by an email interview with marketing head Ben Hodge, which revealed some surprising points about the company’s relationship with Index Engines and Rubrik. Index Engines is the solution that Predatar’s capabilities get confused with the most, but they are actually tackling the problem of malware in backups differently. In my opinion, Predatar and Index Engines actually complement one another beautifully (not that anyone is using both as far as I am aware). Index Engines excels at scanning data on ingest detecting anomalies and identifying encrypted data that might slip past other tools. This gives customers peace of mind that only unencrypted data is vaulted, which is crucial for securing backups. Predatar is all about validating recoverability. It focuses on continuous recovery testing and deep malware scanning of the data that resides within backups (and snapshots). Predatar continually mounts and powers-up workloads to validate recoverability and then runs a malware scan using built-in XDR tools in a Predatar CleanRoom environment – Index Engines does not do this. The Predatar team claims to have found malware hidden in backups at 79 percent of the customers that use it, which goes to show that Predatar is solving a very real problem. In addition to validating the cleanliness and recoverability of data, Predatar also records recovery times, allowing users to validate their SLAs/RTOs. I think a lot of the confusion comes from the fact that Predatar also includes backup anomaly detection – but that is really secondary to our core proposition of recovery validation. Predatar uses the anomaly detection as just one mechanism to help prioritize which backups/snapshots to test next. So, to recap... Index Engines ensures clean, encryption-free vaulting, while we guarantee reliable and proven malware-free recovery. Rubrik, IBM, Veeam, and HPE have all acknowledged (not all of them publicly) that Predatar does something different to their own offerings, and for now at least they consider us to be partners rather than competitors. Rubrik, IBM, and HPE all participated in our recent Control24 user summit. As per the question above, I’ll focus on Rubrik specifically here. Rubrik has some fantastic tools to spot and track malware and signs of encryption in data. However, once Rubrik finds an issue, that’s were it stops. Rubrik doesn’t provide any automation to push suspect data to a cleanroom for testing, and Rubrik doesn’t have a way of doing recovery testing at scale. In the words of Rubrik, “Predatar picks up where Rubrik stops.” Not really. HPE has something called the Cyber Resilience Vault (Zerto is a component of it), but it’s missing a “Predatar-type” component that validates the recoverability and cleanliness of the data that is stored in it. HPE is offering a version of their Cyber Resilience Vault with Predatar incorporated into it. You can see Shariq Aqil, Global Field CTO at HPE explaining the solution (skip to 12:03). Step 1. The beginning: Predatar was originally designed as a tool to help the MSP scale up by automating repetitive maintenance tasks and reporting – thus meaning Silverstring could manage more customer’s backups without employing more people. Step 2. What the Crunchbase blurb is about: We realized that other MSPs (or resellers with an ambition to become MSPs) could benefit from Predatar in the same way Silverstring did. We went to market with Predatar as a tool for MSPs. Step 3. The cyber recovery piece; we continued to develop the platform with more features that MSPs would benefit from. This included automated recovery testing and later malware detection tools that would allow MSPs to guarantee the backups they were managing were recoverable and infection-free. The reaction to these new tools was huge. Interest in the new tools eclipsed the original reporting and management tools. Step 4. Marketing focus: Earlier this year we took the decision to focus solely on the cyber recovery proposition, which is applicable to MSPs and end users alike. Correct, Predatar and Silverstring are owned by Alistair. Predatar had no external funding.

UK justice secretary attacks assisted dying bill as ‘state death service’Five Below is practically giving its holiday décor away

Thousands demand lower rents at Barcelona demoAccounting/payroll technology firm Sage is rolling out its AI tool, Sage Copilot. Announced Tuesday (Dec. 3) for early adopters in the U.S. and U.K., Copilot is designed to help accounting and finance teams at small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) tackle daily challenges such as highlighting budget variances and getting clear, trustworthy answers to critical how-to queries. “Sage Copilot empowers users to work smarter and faster, streamlining tasks and uncovering insights that drive meaningful business results,” the company said in a news release. “Sage is working closely with customers to deliver on its vision to help organizations drive productivity, accuracy, and compliance, helping SMBs to focus on growth and profitability.” The company said this launch comes at a “pivotal moment,” as its research finds that 80% of finance chiefs are employing AI to reclaim time for high-value tasks, with 89% saying they face significantly expanded responsibilities because of technology and global complexities. “We know that finance leaders are looking for ways to save time, drive strategic initiatives, and support business growth,” said Dan Miller , executive vice president of financials and enterprise resource management division at Sage. “With the introduction of Sage Copilot, alongside our other enhancements, we are helping them take a major step towards that goal. By empowering users with tools that help assist with time-consuming tasks, we are enabling them to be more proactive and focus on delivering long-term growth for their organizations.” Sage’s findings are consistent with recent PYMNTS Intelligence/ Finexio research from the report “ Automating Accounts Payable for Cost Savings ,” which showed that 79% of chief financial officers (CFOs) see AI integration as crucial for accounts payable (AP). “The advantages of automating AP processes are extensive. Companies that adopt these technologies can reduce the risks associated with fraud,” PYMNTS wrote last month. “According to the report, paper checks account for about 60% of fraud cases in B2B transactions. By eliminating checks, businesses can diminish their exposure to fraud; more than one-fifth of mid-sized firms expect automation to support their fraud prevention efforts.” In addition to security, AP automation bolsters cash flow. Roughly 44% of mid-sized businesses expect that automation will yield cost savings and improved cash flow management . Another benefit comes from improved data analytics capabilities, with 53% of AP leaders stressing the importance of enhanced reporting and insights, which streamline decision-making processes. For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B Newsletter .

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Quion Burns scored 17 points as Maine beat Canisius 84-79 on Saturday. Burns had seven rebounds for the Black Bears (8-5). Kellen Tynes scored 15 points while shooting 5 of 5 from the field and 4 for 4 from the line and added nine assists. Christopher Mantis had 15 points and went 5 of 8 from the field (3 for 5 from 3-point range). Jasman Sangha led the way for the Golden Griffins (0-11) with 26 points and three steals. Paul McMillan IV added 22 points and six assists for Canisius. Tana Kopa also had 16 points and two steals. The Golden Griffins prolonged their losing streak to 11 in a row. Maine plays Saturday against Stony Brook on the road, and Canisius visits Loyola Chicago on Wednesday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Eagles sign fullback to practice squad to replace Ben VanSumeren

This week, Minister of Racing Winston Peters announced the end of greyhound racing in the interests of animal welfare . Soon after, a law to criminalise killing of redundant racing dogs was passed under urgency in Parliament . The next day, the minister introduced the Racing Industry Amendment Bill to preserve the TAB's lucrative monopoly on sports betting which provides 90 percent of the racing industry's revenue. "Offshore operators are consolidating a significant market share of New Zealand betting - and the revenue which New Zealand's racing industry relies on is certainly not guaranteed," Peters told Parliament in support of the Bill. But offshore tech companies have also been pulling the revenue rug out from under local news media companies for years, and there has been no such speedy response to that. Digital platforms offer cheap and easy access to unlimited overseas content - and tech companies' dominance of the digital advertising systems and the resulting revenue is intensifying. Profits from online ads shown to New Zealanders go offshore - and very little tax is paid on the money made here by the likes of Google and Facebook. On Tuesday, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith did introduce legislation to repeal advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays. "As the government we must ensure regulatory settings are enabling the best chance of success," he said in a statement. The media have been crying out for this low-hanging fruit for years - but the estimated $6 million boost is a drop in the bucket for broadcasters, and little help for other media. The big bucks are in tech platforms paying for the local news they carry. Squeezing the tech titans In Australia, the government did it three years ago with a bargaining code that is funnelling significant sums to news media there. It also signalled the willingness of successive governments to confront the market dominance of 'big tech'. When Goldsmith took over here in May he said the media industry's problems were both urgent and acute - likewise the need to "level the playing field". The government then picked up the former government's Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, modelled on Australia's move. But it languishes low down on Parliament's order paper, following threats from Google to cut news out of its platforms in New Zealand - or even cut and run from New Zealand altogether. Six years after his Labour predecessor Kris Faafoi first pledged to follow in Australia's footsteps in support of local media, Goldsmith said this week he now wants to wait and see how Australia's latest tough measures pan out . (The News Bargaining Incentive announced on Thursday could allow the Australian government to tax big digital platforms if they do not pay local news publishers there) Meanwhile, news media cuts and closures here roll on. The lid keeps sinking in 2024 "I've worked in the industry for 30 years and never seen a year like it," RNZ's Guyon Espiner wrote in the Listener this week, admitting to "a sense of survivor's guilt." Just this month, 14 NZME local papers will close and more TVNZ news employees will be told they will lose jobs in what Espiner described as "destroy the village to save the village" strategy. Whakaata Māori announced 27 job losses earlier this month and the end of Te Ao Māori News every weekday on TV. Its te reo channel will go online-only. Digital start-ups with lower overheads than established news publishers and broadcasters are now struggling too. "The Spinoff had just celebrated its 10th birthday when a fiscal hole opened up. Staff numbers are being culled, projects put on ice and a mayday was sent out calling for donations to keep the site afloat ," Espiner also wrote in his bleak survey for the Listener . Spinoff founder Duncan Grieve has charted the economic erosion of the media all year at The Spinoff and on its weekly podcast The Fold . In a recent edition, he said he could not carry on "pretending things would be fine" and did not want The Spinoff to go down without giving people the chance to save it. "We get some (revenue) direct from our audience through members, some commercial revenue and we get funding for various New Zealand on Air projects typically," Greive told Mediawatch this week. "The members' bucket is pretty solid. The commercial bucket was going quite well, and then we just ran into a brick wall. There has been a real system-wide shock to commercial revenues." "But the thing that we didn't predict which caused us to have to publish that open letter was New Zealand on Air. We've been able to rely on getting one or two projects up, but we've missed out two rounds in a row. Maybe our projects ... weren't good enough, but it certainly had this immediate, near-existential challenge for us." Critics complained The Spinoff has had millions of dollars in public money in its first decade. "While the state is under no obligation to fund our work, it's hard to watch as other platforms continue to be heavily backed while your own funding stops dead," Greive said in the open letter. The open letter said Creative NZ funding had been halved this year, and the Public Interest Journalism Fund support for two of the Spinoff's team of 31 was due to run out next year. "I absolutely take on the chin the idea that we shouldn't be reliant on that funding. Once you experience something year after year, you do build your business around that ... for the coming year. When a hard-to-predict event like that comes along, you are in a situation where you have to scramble," Grieve told Mediawatch . "We shot a flare up that our audience has responded to. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're really pleased with the strength of support and an influx of members." Newshub shutdown A recent addition to the Spinoff's board - Glen Kyne - has already felt the force of the media's economic headwinds in 2024. He was the CEO of Warner Brothers Discovery NZ and oversaw the biggest and most comprehensive news closure of the year - the culling of the entire Newshub operation . "It was heart-wrenching because we had looked at and tried everything leading into that announcement. I go back to July 2022, when we started to see money coming out of the market and the cost of living crisis starting to appear," Kyne told Mediawatch this week. "We started taking steps immediately and were incredibly prudent with cost management. We would get to a point where we felt reasonably confident that we had a path, but the floor beneath our feet - in terms of the commercial market - kept falling. You're seeing this with TVNZ right now." Warner Brothers Discovery is a multinational player in broadcast media. Did they respond to requests for help? "They were empathetic. But Warner Brothers Discovery had lost 60-70 percent of its share price because of the issues around global media companies as well. They were very determined that we got the company to a position of profitability as quickly as we possibly could. But ultimately the economics were such that we had to make the decision." Smaller but sustainable in 2025? Or managed decline? Kyne did a deal with Stuff to supply a 6pm news bulletin to TV channel Three after the demise of Newshub in July. He is one of a handful of people who know the sums, but Stuff is certainly producing ThreeNews now with a fraction of the former budget for Newshub. Can media outlets settle on a shape that will be sustainable, but smaller - and carry on in 2025 and beyond? Or does Kyne fear media are merely managing decline if revenue continues to slump? "It's slightly terrifying because the downward pressures are going to continue into next year. Three created a sustainable model for the 6pm bulletin to continue. "Stuff is an enormous newsgathering organisation, so they were able to make it work and good luck to them. I can see that bulletin continuing to improve as the team get more experience." No news is really bad news If news can't be sustained at scale in commercial media companies even on reduced budgets, what then? Some are already pondering a 'post-journalism' future in which social media takes over as the memes of sharing news and information. How would that pan out? "We might be about to find out," Greive told Mediawatch . "Journalism doesn't have a monopoly on information, and there are all kinds of different institutions that now have channels. A lot of what is created ... has a factual basis. Whether it's a TikTok-er or a YouTuber, they are themselves consumers of news. "A lot of people are replacing a habit of reading the newspaper and listening to ZB or RNZ with a new habit - consuming social media. Some of it has a news-like quality but it doesn't have vetting of the information and membership of the Media Council ... as a way of restraining behaviour. "We've got a big question facing us as a society. Either news becomes this esoteric, elite habit that is either pay-walled or alternatively there's public media. If we [lose] freely-accessible, mass-audience channels, then we'll find out what democracy, the business sector, the cultural sector looks like without that. "In communities where there isn't a single journalist, a story can break or some someone can put something out ... and if there's no restraint on that and no check on it, things are going to happen. "In other countries, most notably Australia, they've recognised this looming problem, and there's a quite muscular and joined-up regulator and legislator to wrestle with the challenges that represents. And we're just not seeing that here." They are in Australia. In addition to the News Bargaining Code and the just-signalled News Bargaining Incentive, the Albanese government is banning social media for under-16s . Meta has responded to pressure to combat financial scam advertising on Facebook. Here, the media policy paralysis makes the government's ferries plan look decisive. What should it do in 2025? To-do in 2025 "There are fairly obvious things that could be done that are being done in other jurisdictions, even if it's as simple as having a system of fines and giving the Commerce Commission the power to sort of scrutinize large technology platforms," Greive told Mediawatch . "You've got this general sense of malaise over the country and a government that's looking for a narrative. It's shocking when you see Australia, where it's arguably the biggest political story - but here we're just doing nothing." Not quite. There was the holiday ad reform legislation this week. "Allowing broadcasting Christmas Day and Easter is a drop in the ocean that's not going to materially change the outcome for any company here," Kyne told Mediawatch . "The Fair Digital News Bargaining bill was conceived three years ago and the world has changed immeasurably. "You've seen Australia also put some really thoughtful white papers together on media regulation that really does bring a level of equality between the global platforms and the local media and to have them regulated under common legislation - a bit like an Ofcom operates in the UK, where both publishers and platforms, together are overseen and managed accordingly. "That's the type of thing we're desperate for in New Zealand. If we don't get reform over the next couple of years you are going to see more community newspapers or radio stations or other things no longer able to operate." Grieve was one of the media execs who pushed for Commerce Commission approval for media to bargain collectively with Google and Meta for news payments. Backing the Bill - or starting again? Local media executives, including Grieve, recently met behind closed doors to re-assess their strategy. "Some major industry participants are still quite gung-ho with the legislation and think that Google is bluffing when it says that it will turn news off and break its agreements. And then you've got another group that think that they're not bluffing, and that events have since overtaken [the legislation]," he said. "The technology platforms have products that are always in motion. What they're essentially saying - particularly to smaller countries like New Zealand - is: 'You don't really get to make laws. We decide what can and can't be done'. And that's quite a confronting thing for legislators. It takes quite a backbone and quite a lot of confidence to sort of stand up to that kind of pressure." The government just appointed a minister of rail to take charge of the current Cook Strait ferry crisis. Do we need a minister of social media or tech to take charge of policy on this part of the country's infrastructure? "We've had successive governments that want to be open to technology, and high growth businesses starting here. But so much of the internet is controlled by a small handful of platforms that can have an anti-competitive relationship with innovation in any kind of business that seeks to build on land that they consider theirs," Greive said. "A lot of what's happened in Australia has come because the ACCC, their version of the Commerce Commission, has got a a unit which scrutinises digital platforms in much the same way that we do with telecommunications, the energy market and so on. Here there is just no one really paying attention. And as a result, we're getting radically different products than they do in Australia." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

Three Bulldogs Selected to All-MW First Team in Football