WHAT’S HOT NOW

Social bar 300×250

Business

Search This Blog

Theme images by kelvinjay. Powered by Blogger.
  • ()

Native banner

Social bar

" });

Banner 300×250

Social bar

" });

Banner 300×250

" });

Burn foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman sentenced to prison in crash that killed 2 boys

 

Burn foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman sentenced to prison in crash that killed 2 boys





Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison Monday for her conviction on second-degree murder and other charges stemming from a crash that killed two young boys in Westlake Village.

( )

Prosecutors had asked Superior Court Judge Joseph Brandolino to sentence Grossman, who will turn 61 on Friday, to a longer term of 34 years to life in state prison for the September 2020 deaths of Mark and Jacob Iskander, ages 11 and 8. The young boys were in a marked crosswalk with their family in the community northwest of Los Angeles when they were struck by Grossman's white Mercedes-Benz SUV.

Defense attorneys were asking for a sentence of either probation or the lower state prison term of just over 12 years on the less serious vehicular manslaughter charges.

( )

Grossman, wearing a brown jumpsuit, shook her head and cried during the sentencing hearing as victim impact statements were delivered in court. A judge asked that the statements, usually delivered by family members, friends and others who knew the victims, remain short because there was a long list of speakers.

Speakers included Mark and Jacob's mother, uncle, grandmother, teachers, a pastor and neighbors who shared stories about the boys.



Prosecutors said Grossman will be eligible for parole in about nine years. Her attorneys have 60 days to appeal.

( )

Grossman was convicted Feb. 23 of two counts each of second-degree murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving. The judge ordered her to be taken into custody minutes after the jury's verdict, rejecting a request by one of her trial attorneys to allow her to remain free on $2 million bond while awaiting sentencing.

In a typed letter to the judge, Grossman wrote, "I am not a murderer, and I ask you to recognize that true fact. My pain, my recognition of the pain the Iskanders suffer, and the pain I watch my family endure, are punishments that I already suffer and will for the rest of my life. Please consider this suffering when you consider what more punishment to impose on me in this case.

"As God is my witness, I did not see anyone or anything in the road. I swear to you, I would have driven my car into a tree to avoid hitting two little boys."

( )

She wrote that the tragedy haunts were every day.

"I can only imagine the pain that (the boys' parents) Nancy and Karim Iskander feel minute by minute," she wrote. "I will carry my pain for the rest of my life."

Grossman wrote that she left roses at the scene of the crash.

She has maintained that she was not driving under the influence of alcohol, impaired or racing.

"From the very beginning, the facts have been distorted and misrepresented, turning the tragic accident into murder and me into a cold-blooded killer," she wrote in the letter to the judge. "The voices demanding vengeance and retribution are reacting to the tragic loss of Mark and Jacob, but they do not fairly describe me or who I am. I am not a murderer."

( )

Deputy District Attorneys Ryan Gould, Jamie Castro and Habib Balian wrote in their sentencing memorandum that Grossman's actions since the night of the crash show a lack of remorse and "narcissistic superiority that leads to only one conclusion, that she is undeserving of any leniency."

"She has blamed the victims, arguing that they were out of the crosswalk, jetted out in front of her car, and that their mother was careless in walking with her children across the street when it was starting to get dark outside," prosecutors said in the memo.

They also said she blamed ex-boyfriend, former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson, prosecutors said. She claimed that he hit the children first, but prosecutors said there is no evidence to support that claim.

Prosecutors said Grossman was driving a high speeds, was impaired and had both alcohol and valium in her system. Evidence at trial suggested she was traveling 73 to 81 mph in a 45 mph seconds before the crash, prosecutors said.

( )

Grossman did not return to the crash, which triggered the SUV's airbag, scene or offer medical aid to the boy, prosecutors said. They said the SUV's engine stopped about a quarter-mile from the intersection.

In their sentencing brief, her new defense attorneys James Spertus and Samuel Josephs countered that the crash was a terrible accident.

"Ms. Grossman is responsible for causing the accident, but the offense conduct does not warrant a life sentence or the type of lengthy prison term reserved for the most callous, heinous crimes, they wrote in the brief.

The defense attorneys wrote in their motion that the judge could impose probation with a suspended state prison sentence. The

READ MORE 


iOS 18 makes iPhone more personal, capable, and intelligent than ever

 

iOS 18 makes iPhone more personal, capable, and intelligent than ever


The release introduces all-new customization options, the biggest-ever redesign of Photos, powerful updates for staying connected, and Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system


CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today previewed iOS 18, a major release that features more customization options, the biggest redesign ever of the Photos app, new ways for users to manage their inbox in Mail, Messages over satellite, and so much more. Users will be able to arrange apps and widgets in any open space on the Home Screen, customize the buttons at the bottom of the Lock Screen, and quickly(1
2) access more controls in Control Center. Photo libraries are automatically organized in a new single view in Photos, and helpful new collections keep favorites easily accessible. Mail simplifies the inbox by sorting email into categories using on-device intelligence, and all-new text effects come to iMessage. Powered by the same groundbreaking technology as existing iPhone satellite capabilities, users can now communicate over satellite in the Messages app when a cellular or Wi-Fi connection isn’t available.1
( )
iOS 18 also introduces Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that combines the power of generative models with personal context to deliver intelligence that’s incredibly useful and relevant.2 Built with privacy from the ground up, Apple Intelligence is deeply integrated into iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. It harnesses the power of Apple silicon to understand and create language and images, take action across apps, and draw from personal context, to simplify and accelerate everyday tasks.
( )
“We are thrilled to introduce iOS 18. It is a huge release with incredible features, including new levels of customization and capability, a redesigned Photos app, and powerful ways to stay connected with Messages. There are so many benefits for everyone,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “This release also marks the beginning of a tremendously exciting new era of personal intelligence with Apple Intelligence delivering intuitive, powerful, and instantly useful experiences that will transform the iPhone experience, all with privacy at the core. We can’t wait for users to experience it.”
( )

New Levels of Customization and Capability

iPhone users have new ways to customize the Home Screen, Lock Screen, and Control Center. Users can now arrange apps and widgets in any open space on the Home Screen, including placing them right above the dock for easy access or perfectly framing a wallpaper. App icons and widgets can take on a new look with a dark or tinted effect, and users can make them appear larger to create the experience that is perfect for them.

South Africa hold on to beat Bangladesh by four runs in thriller


South Africa hold on to beat Bangladesh by four runs in thriller



South Africa are top of Group D with three wins from three. The rest is up for grabs. No other team has more than one win. Bangladesh are probably favourites because they have already beaten Sri Lanka, but the Netherlands and even Nepal might fancy they are in with a shout.
()

South Africa captain Aiden Markram: "I think it got pretty nerve racking in the final over and it can make you mentally tired. Sometimes when you get on the right side it makes for good entertainment.

"Fortunately that ball could've gone anywhere and if that catch was missed it would've been a different conversation. Luckily we got on the right side of victory.

"It all depends on the situation and where you want to drag the game out or use players to attack and take wickets. The seamers were bowling really well and we wanted to drag the game out.

"It was fantastic for Klaasen and Miller to get some runs and the two of them were a great partnership."

( )

'A match we should have won'published at 19:22 10 June

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto: "I think this is a match we should have won. Last couple of overs they bowled well, it can happen in cricket.

"I think Rishad is very good. He's worked very hard and is showing our skills. We've struggled with leg-spin the last 10-15 years, we've got lucky.

"Thanks to all the supporters, I hope they come to the West Indies as well."

( )

'It'll be good confidence for the boys'published at 19:21 10 Ju

Player of the match Heinrich Klaasen: "It was not a nice one to watch, it was good that the boys got it over the line.

"The wicket is not too great for strokeplay. David showed us how to bat on this wicket in the last match and we applied that today. We were about 10 runs short.

"Luckily we've got experience in the changing room. We had to play with less of a one-day mindset today.

"It'll be good confidence for the boys, we've had three pressurised games now."

( )

And here's the wording from the playing conditions...

"If following a Player Review request, an original decision of Out is changed to Not out, then the ball is still deemed to have become dead when the original decision was made. The batting side, while benefiting from the reversal of the dismissal, shall not benefit from any runs that may subsequently have accrued from the delivery had the on-field umpire originally made a Not out decision, other than any No ball penalty."

READ MORE..... 

Apple doubles down on artificial intelligence, announcing partnership with OpenAI

 

Apple doubles down on artificial intelligence, announcing partnership with OpenAI



OpenAI will be integrated into Apple’s digital assistant Siri, Apple software chief Craig Federighi said during the conference. That would allow people to ask for help with things like recipe ideas, room decorations or composing a story, Federighi said.(1

1)

“Suppose you want to create a custom bedtime story for your six-year-old who loves butterflies and solving riddles,” Federighi said. “Put in your initial idea, and send to ChatGPT.”(12)

The announcement comes as AI has experienced explosive growth, and some embarrassing setbacks. Chatbots and AI assistants have been beset with issues including hallucinations, plagiarism and incorrect or biased results. OpenAI itself has been embroiled in allegations of copying actor Scartlett Johansson’s voice without her permission.

( )

Apple is also at the center of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department and 15 states. The government accuses Apple of abusing its power as a monopoly to push out rivals and keep customers using its products. It’s unclear how Apple’s new partnership with OpenAI could play into this case.

Shortly after Apple’s announcement, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “very happy to be partnering with apple to integrate chatgpt into their devices later this year! think you will really like it.”

( )

Apple is also rolling out what it calls Apple Intelligence, its term for Apple's own new generative AI software.

Apple Intelligence will enable transcription for phone calls, AI photo retouching and improvements in the natural conversation flow with Siri, the company said. The software can also be used to summarize notifications and text messages, as well as articles, documents and open web pages.

( )

Federighi placed an emphasis on privacy, with a new system called Private Cloud Compute that he said will ensure data security for users.

Apple says the new features will be released later this year.

READ MORE 

Jujutsu Kaisen Just Proved to Be the Most Influential Modern Manga with Three New Shonen Jump Series

 

Jujutsu Kaisen Just Proved to Be the Most Influential Modern Manga with Three New Shonen Jump Series




Dr Michael Mosley obituary

 

Dr Michael Mosley obituary



Dr Michael Mosley, who has died aged 67 on the Greek island of Symi, explored health and fitness issues of interest to big audiences. He was a versatile communicator, whether as television diet guru, newspaper columnist or podcaster.

( )

He became a household name for diet books promoting calorie reduction and fasting, including The Fast Diet (2013), written with the journalist Mimi Spencer. His work gained in popularity from his self-experimentation, which included swallowing tapeworms, magic mushrooms, internal cameras and – most famously – fasting to cure his own type 2 diabetes, diagnosed in 2012. He became a well known TV and radio celebrity medic, regularly appearing on The One Show for the BBC and This Morning for ITV. On BBC Radio 4’s Just One Thing podcast he offered health tips to the nation, from the benefits of daily spoonfuls of olive oil to the usefulness of the plank position.

(

)

Yet his own medical career was brief. Mosley, who studied philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) at New College, Oxford, trained in medicine at the Royal Free hospital, north London, after two years of working as a banker. He wanted to become a psychiatrist, saying that he found people more interesting than finance, but was disappointed to find that “there were severe limitations to what you could do”, he told the British Medical Journal in 2004.

()

He opted instead to exert influence through the medium of television, joining the BBC training scheme as an assistant producer in 1985, and going on to produce documentaries based mostly in science, mathematics and history.

His most glorious moment arguably came with the Horizon programme Ulcer Wars, which he made in 1994 about the work of Barry Marshall of the University of Western Australia, who was convinced that the bacteria he had identified called Helicobacter pylori was responsible for most gastric cancers and ulcers.

( )

The story appealed to Mosley and inspired his own self-experimentation: Marshall had drunk a solution of H pylori from a beaker in the 1980s and his stomach had been colonised by the bacteria, which disappeared when he took antibiotics.

Marshall was right and later, with his colleague Robin Warren, won a Nobel prize. Mosley received more than 20,000 letters from people cured of their ulcer pain by antibiotics. The film brought him awards. “I probably did, in a funny way, more good with that one programme than if I had stayed in medicine for 30 years,” said Mosley in the BMJ.

( )

In 2002, Mosley was nominated for an Emmy as executive producer on the documentary featuring John Cleese, The Human Face. In 2013, he began to host the series Trust Me, I’m a Doctor for the BBC. His most recent TV series were for Channel 4: Who Made Britain Fat? (2022) and Secrets of Your Big Shop (2024).

The Fast Diet book, which launched the 5:2 diet, also came out of a Horizon documentary. Eat, Fast and Live Longer (2012) was inspired by Mosley’s own diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, which is linked to excess weight. The disease ran in the family. His father, Bill, had died of the complications at the age of 74. Mosley came across the American neuroscientist Mark Mattson’s work on intermittent fasting, and adopted the pattern he advocated of normal eating for five days and consumption of just 500-600 calories on the other two.

( )

He claimed to have lost 20lbs and reversed his own type 2 diabetes. Mattson appeared in the documentary, which is credited with popularising the 5:2 diet. In 2021, Mosley published The Fast 800 Keto, which combines fasting with a ketogenic diet, high in fat and low in carbohydrates, but in its later stages allows carbohydrates back in.

( )

Mosley’s diet work was controversial because of its focus on calorie reduction to lose weight. In 2021, the eating disorder charity Beat said of his Channel 4 series Lose a Stone in 21 Days that “the programme caused enough stress and anxiety to our beneficiaries that we extended our helpline hours to support anyone affected and received 51% more contact during that time”.

( )

He said he had suffered from chronic insomnia from his late 30s. That became the subject of another BBC documentary and also a book published in 2019, called.

READ MORE