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What Was Once Underground: Vintage Weed Ads from the Heyday

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

Here in California, a flourishing legal cannabis industry has for better and worse thoroughly mainstreamed what was once underground. But remember it was not always that way, even here—and there are plenty of parts of the country, not to mention the world, where getting caught with weed still spells trouble. In the heyday of counterculture that was the 1960’s, a casual consortium of intrepid culture publications resisted the oppressive squareness, regularly featuring the beauty and joy of cannabis in the magazines’ stories, art, and illustrated annotations. The New Book Heads Together: Weed and the Underground Press Syndicate, 1965–73 (Edition Patrick Frey), which just so happens to drop on April 20, gathers and honors their prescient efforts on behalf of marijuana as emblematic of broader social justice issues.Heads Together: Weed and the Underground Press Syndicate: 1965-1973 (Edition Patrick Frey)Edited and with text by David Jacob Kramer—founder of the rather legendary Family Bo...

Larry Magid: I asked ChatGPT to help me write an AI safety guide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

In my capacity as CEO of ConnectSafely, I’m working on a parents guide to generative AI, and, naturally, I turned to ChatGPT for some help. It gave me some good advice, which I’ll get to later, but first some general background on “generative artificial intelligence” (GAI).Related ArticlesBusiness | Magid: Google doubles down on sleep sensing Business | Magid: Is the internet responsible for increased anxiety? Business | Magid: Is artificial intelligence the next search engine? Business | Magid: Scammers get trickier in pursuit of your money AI has been around for a long time, but generative AI, which can create new content, including text, images, music and even computer code, is relatively new. Just in the past few months we’ve seen the emergence of some impressive early models including ChatGPT from OpenAI, Google Bard and the new Microsoft Bing. Each of these relies on what is called a “large...

Preview: ‘Firewall Ultra’ finds a way to balance VR immersion with fun

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

One of the most memorable parts about virtual reality is how everything is so intuitive and surreally granular all at once. Instead of pressing a button to bring up the iron sights, a player has to lift the gun to his face and look down the scope. If she wants to crouch, a button would suffice but actually ducking down would also work.That’s one of the things players have to get used to when playing “Firewall Ultra,” a tactical shooter coming for the PlayStation VR2. Developed by First Contact Entertainment, it’s the sequel to the PSVR game that launched in 2018 and it’s a game that takes advantage of the leap in technology on the PlayStation 5 and its new headset.A VR ‘COUNTER-STRIKE’The game is essentially “Counter-Strike” except in VR. Players group together in teams of four and take down an opposing squad. One team defends a laptop and another team goes after it. That’s a simple concept, but players will come across a m...

Arrest made in Cash App founder Bob Lee's stabbing death: Reports

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- An arrest has been made in tech mogul Bob Lee's stabbing death, according to multiple reports. Mission Local first reported the arrest saying police were dispatched with an arrest warrant Thursday morning for a man in Emeryville who Lee apparently knew.San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin also confirmed the arrest, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. ‘Death of Downtown’ study: San Francisco ranks last in post-COVID recovery San Francisco Supervisor Matt Dorsey appeared to have confirmed the reports in a Tweet Thursday saying, "I’m grateful to @SFPD’s Homicide Detail and all the officers from @SFPDSouthern and elsewhere for their tireless work to bring Bob Lee’s killer to justice and for their arrest of a suspect this morning." The stabbing happened in Dorsey's district.The Cash App founder Lee was stabbed while walking in the Rincon Hill area near the Bay Bridge early around 2:30 a.m. on April 4. Video shows Lee stumbling down the street holding his ...

Behind Keith Ellison’s Tough-on-Crime Turn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

Progressives rejoiced last year when Democrat Keith Ellison won a tight reelection race for Minnesota attorney general against a police-backed opponent who attacked him as being “soft on crime.”In the same election cycle, Ellison’s ally Mary Moriarty won election as Hennepin County attorney, installing a reform-minded prosecutor in Minneapolis about three years after the city’s police murdered George Floyd. Moriarty, previously the chief public defender for Hennepin County, took office in January and implemented reforms with a focus on correcting failures in the juvenile justice system.Now, three months into their terms, Ellison and Moriarty are no longer on the same side of the reform platform they once shared.Late last month, Moriarty’s office issued new guidance on prosecuting children, which was designed to keep as many kids as possible out of the adult criminal system. Before issuing the guidance, Moriarty’s office chose not to charge two teenage brothers accused of murder as a...

Sky Not Falling: U.S. Government Again Exaggerates Damage From Leaks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

Only death and taxes are certain in life, Ben Franklin wrote in 1789, though he could have done us a favor by also noting that we can count on our government to make exaggerated claims about the unauthorized publication of classified documents.Like clockwork, after a set of secret national security documents burst into public view last week, the Washington Post reported a “high level of panic” at the upper echelons of the Department of Defense, with officials “stunned” and “infuriated.” According to Politico, one Pentagon aide even said he was “sick to [his] stomach” over the alleged betrayal. The Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation, while John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, warned, “This is information that has no business in the public domain. It is not intended for public consumption, and it should not be out there.”The intelligence documents appear to have entered the public domain in an unusual way — someone began sharing them, starting lat...

Germany approves Poland’s request to send jets to Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has approved Poland’s request to transfer five Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry said Thursday.The permission was needed because Germany used to own the Soviet-designed MiG 29 planes, which were part of communist East Germany’s military fleet.“I welcome the fact that we in the federal government have reached this decision together,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement. “This shows you can rely on Germany!”Poland was an early advocate of sending fighter jets to Ukraine. When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Warsaw a week ago, Polish President Andrzej Duda said his country already had provided four MiG-29 jets to Ukraine, with four more in the process of getting handed over and another six being prepared.During a visit to Mali, Pistorius had confirmed German media reports saying that Germany had received Poland’s request and would reply by the end of the day. Source

Enjuiciarán a cuatro militares mexicanos por la muerte de cinco personas en Nuevo Laredo

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

(CNN Español) — Un juez federal en Tamaulipas decidió vincular a proceso a cuatro militares mexicanos acusados de homicidio calificado y homicidio calificado en grado de tentativa por la muerte de cinco jóvenes ocurrida el 26 de febrero en Nuevo Laredo, de acuerdo con datos suministrados por el Consejo de la Judicatura.El juez también decidió mantener la medida de prisión preventiva para los acusados y autorizar dos meses de plazo para la investigación complementaria de la Fiscalía.El presidente de México, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, ya ha dicho que no habrá impunidad en este caso.La Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) ya había admitido que varios militares participaron en el acto violento e informó días atrás a través de un comunicado que colabora con la Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos en la indagatoria del hecho.Según Sedena, los militares dispararon sus armas de fuego en contra de una camioneta luego de escuchar “un estruendo”. La institución informó en un...

Heavy rains in Iran trigger flash floods, killing at least 2

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Heavy rains have triggered flash flooding in northern and western Iran, killing at least two people, Iranian state television reported Thursday. According to Pirhossein Koulivand, the head of the country’s emergency services, one fatality was reported in Qazvin province and the other in Ilam province in the past 24 hours, the state TV said. Kolivand also reported a third fatality, in West Azerbaijan province, where a person died from a lightning strike.Iran’s meteorological department has warned of the seasonal rains in many areas across the country, including in the capital of Tehran.Iran has suffered a decadeslong drought and the flood is blamed on climate change, as well as a disregard of safety measures such as construction of buildings and roads near river beds.Last July, at least 61 people died in landslides and flash floods across the country. Source

Blackhawks announce Toews will not be back next season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:36:52 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews will not return to the team next year, ending a wildly successful run that included three Stanley Cup championships in 15 seasons.General manager Kyle Davidson said Thursday that the team will not re-sign its longtime center, who turns 35 on April 29.“I think words fail to adequately summarize everything that Jonathan’s done for the organization, the amazing memories that he provided,” Davidson said. “He’ll be a Blackhawk forever.”Chicago hosts Philadelphia in its season finale on Thursday night. Toews won his first championship when the Blackhawks beat the Flyers in the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.Toews was selected by Chicago with the No. 3 pick in the 2006 draft, one of the first markers in the team’s rise to the top of the NHL. He was just 20 years old when he became the 34th captain in team history in July 2008.Toews helped Chicago put together the best stretch in franchise history, winning the Stanley Cup in...