Feed aggregator

Gemini can now create captions when users are looking to share a photo or video.

Social media and constant interaction with others surrounds us, yet people often feel lonelier than ever. Everything feels overwhelming, chaotic, superficial, and more disconnected than ever, for the most part. One common phrase that people often say to get others to put their phones down, close their laptops, and step back into reality is to “go outside and touch grass.” And yes, we do need to do that, whether literally grounding ourselves in nature or metaphorically by leaving the hell cycle of news behind. Power & Magic Press’ latest Kickstarter for its upcoming comic anthology How to Touch Grass leans into that conceit in a delightful way. Courtesy of Power & Magic Press

It is a collection of adult, non-fiction stories about the difficulty of “touching grass” in every way. How do we leave our own bubbles and build authentic connections and community with others? How do we get back to a life that feels good to our hearts and bodies? Those are very valid questions in a world where we spend so much time consuming and producing, and not enough time to simply be.

Check out some more images from this anthology:

Click To View Gallery Akira B Jaye Fabel Aimee Campbell Dominque Duong Jade/Jude Sarson

This collection will have over 300 pages of full color comics by over 50 LGBTQ+ and BIPOC creators from all over the globe. Now more than ever, we have to support the creators who deliver the types of stories that we wish to see in the universe. Power & Magic Press’ creator Joamette Gil is a queer Afro-Cuban cartoonist and editor who is a brilliant driving force in the independent comics arena. 

RELATED ARTICLE

Joamette Gil on Bringing Latine Futurism to Comics

As with any Kickstarter campaign, there are many rewards for various levels of support for How to Touch Grass. It’s all about what you can contribute and what you’d like to receive. So, if you’re ready to parse through some humorous and heartfelt stories about finding human connection, then make sure you lend your support to How to Touch Grass.

The post HOW TO TOUCH GRASS Comic Anthology Explores Embracing Community appeared first on Nerdist.

Motorola and Google top PIRG's latest scorecard

Samsung and Apple phones are more difficult to repair than those from other makers, according to a report ranking devices by how easy to fix they are.…

This post is updated throughout the day to reflect the latest incidents. It was last updated at 7:30 a.m..

Here’s what’s happening on the roads this morning…

▼︎ new incidents

Road incidents as of 7:30 a.m. on April 7

• A lane on westbound SR-152 at Clifford Drive/Ohlone Parkway in Watsonville and Pajaro is closed for asphalt paving. The closure will last until July 3.
   
• A traffic collision with no injuries happened at the intersection of Highway 9 and Brackney Rd in San Lorenzo Valley. The vehicles ended up on the right shoulder. The incident was first reported as a 911 hang up and later confirmed as a non-injury collision. It was reported today.
   

Disclosure: Traffic incidents are partially generated by artificial intelligence. We are constantly working to improve the accuracy and quality of our AI-generated content. However, there may still be errors or inaccuracies. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

The post Tuesday morning traffic: SR-152 lane closed for paving; minor Hwy 9 collision appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Justin Jin’s company Giggles – which he describes as “putting a trading app and TikTok together” – started as a joke.

4 days left to save up to $482 on your TechCrunch disrupt 2026 ticket. These low rates will disappear on April 10 at 11:59 p.m. PT. Register here.

The budget proposal would force CISA to operate with a significantly lower budget than previous years, citing the government's claims that the election misinformation programs were used to "target the President."

ITSM the area most likely to offer wins, according to Gartner research

Tech leaders hoping AI might help save money and improve efficiency in IT infrastructure should know that only 28 percent of use cases fully succeed and offer return on investment (ROI).…

Merino Energy has simplified the heat pump dramatically in a quest to make them cheaper and easier to install.

On a recent episode of Equity, we talked to Arena Private Wealth to explore a growing trend: family offices bypassing VCs to gain direct exposure to AI startups, turning them from passive investors into active participants.

Adobe Acrobat Spaces is a free tool for students to use AI and create different kind of study material from documents

Waymo now operates commercial robotaxi services in 11 cities, with various methods to hail.

The defense aviation startup is coming off two successful flight demonstrations, and with the next one, it's aiming to go supersonic.

'Proposal resurrects an existential threat to US leadership in space science and exploration'

First, the good news: the Artemis II crew has successfully swung around the far side of the Moon and surpassed Apollo 13's record for the farthest distance traveled by humans in space. Now the bad news: the White House is sharpening the budget blade once again.…

UALink splits work on physical layer and protocol specs to speed things up, literally and metaphorically

The UALink Consortium, a group of tech giants working on GPU networking standards to provide an alternative to Nvidia's NVLink and NVSwitch, has released new specs, but is still months away from shipping silicon.…

Spotify will now allow users to input natural language prompts to create podcast playlist.

A spirited and entertaining “Reefer Madness” from Renegade Theater Company at the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Santa Cruz features a talented cast and sharp visual design, but overpowering sound mutes the lyrics and blurs the show’s comic bite.

The post ‘Reefer Madness’ is a blast – if you can hear it appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

Quite literally, from a gun, into the front door of a councilor who supports plan

Datacenter protests have taken an ugly turn in the US, with gunshots fired at the home of an Indianapolis councilor who recently lent his support to plans for a server farm in the area.…

Starting Monday, Dominican Hospital will share a new president, Christine McSweeney, with a hospital in Redwood City, located 47 miles north of Santa Cruz. 

Both hospitals are part of CommonSpirit Health, which is one of the largest nonprofit hospital chains in the country. 

McSweeney’s appointment represents a departure from the previous leadership structure in which Dominican Hospital’s president/chief executive officer leads only that hospital full-time. Dominican’s president, Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz, announced her retirement late last fall after overseeing the hospital for nearly 20 years. Prior to her tenure as president, Mickiewicz was chief medical officer for more than six years. 

McSweeney comes to the region after serving as president of Holy Cross Hospital-Jordan Valley and West Valley in West Jordan, Utah, since 2023. She has more than a decade of health care administration experience, earning a master’s degree in business administration at Arizona State University, and is a fellow at the American College of Healthcare Executives.

“I am honored and excited to join Dignity Health’s California Region and lead these two distinguished hospitals,” McSweeney said in a statement. “I am deeply committed to continuing the excellent work already underway at both facilities and working collaboratively with our dedicated caregivers, staff, and the communities we serve.”

Since 1988, Dominican Hospital has been part of Catholic Healthcare West, which became Dignity Health in 2012. In 2019, the nonprofit health care chain merged with Catholic Health Initiatives to form CommonSpirit Health. BJ Predum, Central Coast market president for Dignity Health, said the hospitals are “incredibly fortunate” to welcome McSweeney. 

“Christine’s exceptional leadership, commitment to quality, and ability to foster strong teams make her the ideal person to guide Sequoia and Dominican Hospitals forward,” Predum said in a statement. 

The entrance to Dignity Health Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz. Credit: Kevin Painchaud / Lookout Santa Cruz

McSweeney will be taking the reins of Dominican at a challenging time, with rising costs and staffing concerns. 

Crystal Crafton, chief nurse representative with the union representing the hospital’s nurses, raised those concerns but said nurses are eager to meet her.   

“As our patients know very well,” Crafton said, “Dominican has longstanding issues with understaffing, poor retention, and limited hospital capacity for our growing community. 

“We hope Ms. McSweeney recognizes the value and expertise of the nurses and the medical staff at Dominican and uses her leadership role to address these patient safety issues.”

Dominican Hospital’s CommonSpirit spokesperson, Christine McMurry, declined to answer several questions about the hire, including whether McSweeney will live in Santa Cruz and how she’ll recruit new doctors. 

“Since Ms. McSweeney is not yet serving as the CEO, I do not have additional information to share at this time,” McMurry said via email. 

Have news that should be in Lookout Briefs? Send your news releases, including contact information, to news@lookoutlocal.com.

MORE LOCAL COVERAGE

The post Dominican Hospital to share a new president with Redwood City’s Sequoia Hospital appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.

A UC Santa Cruz student was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident at Bay Drive and Meder Street on Jan. 30. His high school friend and fellow UCSC student Aidan Smith has struggled to cope with the crash and has come to see it as more than just a tragic accident. The risks at Bay and Meder were already known, he writes. He believes the intersection is dangerous and urges the city to change the traffic pattern by adding a stop sign or something to slow drivers down and permit easier crossing before another life is changed forever.

The post If there had been a stop sign at Bay and Meder, my UCSC friend would be safe; the city must fix this intersection appeared first on Lookout Santa Cruz.