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A first try of Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro headset

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

I got a sneak peek into Apple’s vision for the future of computing Monday. For about a half-hour, I wore the $3,500 Vision Pro, the company’s first high-tech goggles, which will be released next year.I walked away with mixed feelings, including a nagging sense of skepticism.On one hand, I was impressed with the quality of the headset, which Apple bills as the beginning of an era of “spatial computing,” where digital data blends with the physical world to unlock new capabilities. Imagine wearing a headset to assemble furniture while the instructions are digitally projected onto the parts, for instance, or cooking a meal while a recipe is displayed in the corner of your eye.Apple’s device had high-resolution video, intuitive controls and a comfortable fit, which felt superior to my experiences with headsets made in the past decade by Meta, Magic Leap, Sony and others.But after wearing the new headset to view photos and interact with a virtual dinosaur, I also felt there wasn’t much ne...

Grading the Week: For PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, standing by principles is just negotiating tactic

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

Someone give Rory McIlroy a hug.And while you’re at it, go ahead and show PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan the door.PGA Tour leadership — F-As it turns out, all those principles Monahan espoused over the last 12 months were nothing more than negotiating tactics.The leader of the PGA Tour is just fine with taking a few bags of cash from a despotic regime — and making those who want to compete in his tour do the same — so long as it’s done on his terms.That’s exactly what Monahan and Tour leadership agreed to when they struck a deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) earlier this week giving the PGA Tour control over PIF-backed LIV Golf. That Monahan did so without even bothering to get the OK from the golfers who stood by his tour at the expense of their own bank accounts made it all the more abhorrent.Somehow, that even included McIlroy, the most vocal backer of the PGA Tour in the face of LIV Golf’s raid on its ranks.There’s lit...

Brooks: This is not the time for a third party presidential candidate

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

I’ve long been a fan of No Labels, the organization that works to reduce political polarization and Washington gridlock. I spoke at its launch event in 2010. I’ve admired the Problem Solvers Caucus, a No Labels-inspired effort that brings Republicans and Democrats in Congress together to craft bipartisan legislation. Last September, when No Labels wanted to go public with its latest project, I was happy to use my column to introduce it to people.That project is a $70 million effort to secure ballot access for a potential third presidential candidate in 2024. America needs an insurance policy, the folks at No Labels argued. If the two major parties continue to go off to the extremes, then voters should have a more moderate option, a unity ticket of Republicans and Democrats who are willing to compromise to get things done.In the nine months since my column appeared, No Labels analysts have conducted polling that they believe shows that their as yet to be selected third candidate coul...

Don’t let capital-gains tax worries delay your next chapter with the grandchildren

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

Regarding your May 19, 2023, column titled “Homeowner ready to move and help the next generation” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:Question: We would like to move to Shasta County near our grandchildren. However, paying all that capital gains tax on our three-bedroom Silicon Valley home of 40 years is off-putting. How do we move without incurring all that capital gains tax? Answer: Real estate attorneys warn licensees to only advise on the buying and selling of homes. Full stop. Real estate attorneys remind consumers to seek tax and legal advice from the appropriate professionals. Older adults selling the family home can have a trifecta of protection via their real estate brokers, elder law attorneys and tax professionals. Conversely, the opposite is true. Older adults who avoid consultations with legal and tax experts to save time or money are engaging in financial missteps. Protecting your assets while improving your quality of life is well worth an in-depth dialogu...

Pope, upon doctor’s advice, to skip Sunday public blessing; surgeon says recovery absolutely normal

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis, following doctors’ advice, will skip Sunday’s customary public blessing to allow him to better heal after abdominal surgery earlier this week, his surgeon told reporters.Sergio Alfieri, who operated on the pontiff, also told reporters at Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome that blood and imaging tests indicate that the 86-year-old pope’s recovery is proceeding in an “absolutely normal” manner. The three-hour-long operation on Wednesday under general anesthesia removed increasingly painful scarring that resulted from previous abdominal surgeries as well as repairing a hernia in the abdominal wall, with the insertion of a prosthetic support netting.Alfieri said while Francis’ recovery has been medically uneventful, any extra physical exertion, like moving to an armchair to recite the traditional Sunday noon blessing and commentary to the public via a video hookup, could be risky at this point.“In the next few days, if he’s not careful about hea...

French judges hand preliminary charges of attempted murder to man suspected of stabbing young children in a park

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

PARIS (AP) — French judges hand preliminary charges of attempted murder to man suspected of stabbing young children in a park.Source

¿Cuál es el “lado sucio” de un huracán? Te explicamos

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

Los sistemas meteorológicos que enfrentamos durante la temporada de huracanes tienden a ser organizados y simétricos. Pero, al estar en movimiento crean lo que se convierte en el “lado sucio” de un huracán.En general, el lado derecho de un huracán es lo que se conoce como el “lado sucio” debido al movimiento del huracán que le añade más intensidad a los vientos en ese lado y es la parte más peligrosa.El “lado derecho” es en referencia a la dirección del movimiento de la tormenta en el hemisferio norte. ¿Ha pasado un huracán cerca de tu casa alguna vez? Sigue cada uno en este mapa interactivo Huracanes en EEUU: conoce si vives en una zona de riesgo con este mapa interactivo Si un huracán se mueve hacia el oeste, el lado derecho estaría al norte de la tormenta; y si se dirige hacia el norte, entonces el lado derecho estaría al este de la tormenta. En el hemisferio sur, esto se invierte ya que los...

Champions League final set to reach 450 million broadcast viewers worldwide

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

ISTANBUL (AP) — A global audience of 450 million viewers is expected to watch at least some part of the Champions League final between Manchester City and Inter Milan on Saturday, UEFA has estimated.The live, minute-by-minute average audience — a longtime gold standard in the broadcasting industry — of about 150 million is expected for the game in Istanbul that is being shown in more than 200 territories worldwide, UEFA said. It includes verified and estimated in-home TV viewers, fans streaming the game plus those watching in bars, restaurants and fan parks.That 150 million figure is lower than the Champions League record 184 million average audience set by the 2014 final when Real Madrid beat city rival Atlético Madrid 4-1 after extra time.The lower audience rating in 2023 reflects changing viewing habits and the absence of Real Madrid, which has a long-established global fan base.Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Liverpool one year ago had an average audience of 166 million, according to ...

¿Qué equipos han ganado más veces la UEFA Champions League? El listado histórico

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

(CNN Español) — La UEFA Champions League es el torneo de clubes de fútbol más prestigioso de Europa. En ella se concentran los mejores equipos en busca de la copa de los campeones, la histórica Copa de Europa. Actualmente, hay un solo rey que se encuentra en solitario en la cima de campeones, el Real Madrid de España, que en 2022 consiguió su copa número 14.La primera vez que se disputó esta competición fue en la temporada 1955/56, luego de que la UEFA decidiese organizar un torneo entre los clubes europeos denominado Copa de Europa, según la Asociación Alma de Futuro. No fue hasta la campaña 1992-93 cuando el torneo cambió de denominación a UEFA Champions League, como actualmente se conoce.La entidad blanca fue la primera en alzarse con la Copa de Europa en 1956. Los merengues han logrado a lo largo de la historia seis Copas de Europa y siete Champions League. En total, suman 14 ‘orejonas’ en su vitrina de las 16 que disputaron. El conjunto blanco es el equipo que más títulos...

Netflix password crackdown boosts new subscribers to highest level since Covid began

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 10:37:38 GMT

New York (CNN) — Early results indicate Netflix’s new plan to boost its bottom line by cracking down on password sharing in the United States is paying off.The streaming service has seen a bigger jump in new subscriber sign-ups as a result of the crackdown than it did in the early days of the Covid pandemic. That’s according to data collected by streaming analytics company Antenna, which reported Friday that Netflix had its “four single largest days” of new user sign-ups in the United States in late May in the more than four years that firm has been measuring the service.Netflix added 100,000 new accounts on both May 26 and May 27, shortly after the crackdown went into effect, Antenna’s data found. In the following days, Netflix has seen a more than 100% increase in sign-ups from the prior 60-day average.“These exceed the spikes in sign-ups Antenna observed during the initial US Covid-19 lockdowns in March and April 2020,” the firm said in a report. It ...