Feed aggregator

Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon was caught on video grabbing an A’s fan by the shirt and confronting him about heckling at the Opening Night game between the teams Thursday at the Coliseum.

Major League Baseball and the Oakland Police Department are both investigating the incident.

In the 12-second video posted on Twitter by the account for a Los Angeles sports talk show, the fan is seen being pushed by another spectator toward the Angels, where he is grabbed by Rendon through the guardrails near the dugout.

Watch the video here: Rendon altercation with fan (profanity warning)

Rendon asks what the fan said and accuses the fan of calling him a profane name, then lets go of the shirt, taking a swipe toward the fan’s head and missing. Other Angels players are seen walking by behind Rendon during the incident.

Related Articles

• Oakland Athletics | Shohei Ohtani or Aaron Judge? A’s manager Mark Kotsay picked one, then beat the other
• Oakland Athletics | Who has the cheapest beer in the Major Leagues?
• Oakland Athletics | What stood out about A’s 2-1 win over Angels on Opening Night
• Oakland Athletics | Muller keeps pace with Ohtani, Oakland A’s rally past Angels for Opening Day win
• Oakland Athletics | Ohtani, 1973 World Series champs, Melvin’s return among Oakland A’s 2023 schedule highlights

No video was immediately available to show what led up to the altercation. Oakland police said no victim has come forward, but officers have reviewed footage of the incident and have created a report.

Rendon went 0-for-3 in the A’s 2-1 comeback win.

He joined the Angels before the 2020 season, signing a seven-year, $245 million contract after winning the World Series with the Nationals in 2019. He has played in 158 of the Angels’ 385 games since, battling injuries each of the last two seasons.

A deal with state human-rights officials calls for the city’s police to rein in the use of force and cease practices that critics say have been racially discriminatory.

The footage was captured by people at a nearby hospital.

Enlarge / Twitter has posted what it states is the code used by its algorithm to recommend tweets to its users.

Twitter has made good on one of CEO Elon Musk's many promises, posting on a Friday afternoon what it claims is the code for its tweet recommendation algorithm on GitHub.

The code, posted under a GNU Affero General Public License v3.0, contains numerous insights as to what factors make a tweet more or less likely to show up in users' timelines.

In a blog post accompanying the code release, Twitter's engineering team (under no particular byline) notes that the system for determining which "top Tweets that ultimately show up on your device's For You timeline" is "composed of many interconnected services and jobs." Each time a Twitter home screen is refreshed, Twitter pulls "the best 1,500 Tweets from a pool of hundreds of millions," the post states.

Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Earning that nickname all over again

Capita, a major business and IT services provider that has scored multi-million-dollar contracts with several UK government agencies, confirmed some of its systems went down today due to "an IT issue."…

Stanford Law School professor Joseph Bankman is using a “multimillion gift” he received from his embattled son Sam Bankman-Fried to pay for his son’s high-priced legal defense, according to a new report this week.

The report from Forbes also alleges that this gift to the longtime Stanford academic was created using money taken from Alameda Research, the sister company of Bankman-Friend’s doomed cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

One-time billionaire Bankman-Fried claimed in November that he only had $100,000 in his bank account following the collapse of FTX, prompting questions about how he can afford the team of high-powered attorneys he’s hired to fight an array of criminal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, securities fraud and bribery.

Bankman-Fried is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to finance risky bets on his hedge fund, Alameda Research. The entrepreneur allegedly used the money to fund a lavish lifestyle and to funnel contributions to American politicians.

The 31-year-old entrepreneur appeared in federal court in Manhattan to plead not guilty to a new set of charges, which brings to 13 the total number of criminal counts he faces. One of the new charges alleges that he conspired to bribe Chinese government officials in 2021 with $40 million in cryptocurrency, the New York Times reported.

A source close to the 31-year-old entrepreneur told Forbes that his defense costs are likely to rise to the single-digit-millions range. But Forbes also reported that Bankman-Fried and his father have apparently found a way to cover that cost — a “large money gift” he received from his son in 2021.

Citing two sources with operational knowledge of both FTX and Alameda Research, Forbes said Bankman-Fried secured at least a $10 million loan from Alameda Research and sent that money to Joseph Bankman, using his lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. The gift essentially would have been tax free because the exemption covers the maximum amount someone is allowed to give in their lifetime with being taxed.

Forbes said that Bankman, a prominent attorney who specializes in tax law, did not respond to multiple questions about the alleged gift. Representatives for Bankman-Fried and his parents also did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the New York Post.

The case against Bankman-Fried, which federal prosecutors have called “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history,” has put intense focus on his parents, who were long known as esteemed members of Stanford’s faculty and well-regarded legal scholars.

Following the collapse of FTX and Bankman-Fried’s arrest in November, the once high-flying crypto financier moved back into his childhood home, located in faculty housing on the Stanford University campus. He’s living there under house arrest.

Bankman and his wife, Barbara Fried, have rallied to support the oldest of their two sons at all costs. “I’ll be spending substantially all of my resources on Sam’s defense,” Bankman wrote in an email to the executive of Chicago nonprofit executive whose donation from FTX was interrupted by the bankruptcy, Forbes reported.

In December, the Wall Street Journal reported Bankman and Fried “have told friends that their son’s legal bills will likely wipe them out financially.”

As Bankman-Fried awaits trial, his parents used their $1.8 million home to help to secure a $250 million bail package that allowed him to be released on his own recognizance.

They also relied on the kindness of Stanford friends to help keep their son out of custody. Stanford Law School dean emeritus Larry Kramer signed a bond pledging to pay $500,000 if Bankman-Fried violated the terms of his bail, while Stanford senior research scientist Andreas Paepcke signed a bond for $200,000.

Forbes wasn’t able to confirm how much Bankman-Fried will end up paying for his high-powered defense, which is led by Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, who were part of the legal team that represented convicted sex offender and Jeffrey Epstein companion Ghislaine Maxwell, the New York Post said. Bankman-Fried also is receiving pro bono advice from David W. Mills, a criminal defense attorney who also is a close friend of his parents and their colleague at Stanford, a source told Forbes.

Bankman-Fried’s attorneys also have argued that federal prosecutors give their client access to 56 million Robinhood shares he bought in 2022 with money lent by Alameda Research, Forbes said. The shares, worth $485 million at today’s prices, were seized in January based on allegations that they were purchased with allegedly stolen customer funds.

Bankman-Fried’s legal expenses aren’t his parents’ only concern. Bankman and Fried’s reputations have been jeopardized by their son’s fraud scandal, and they’ve opted to step away from their duties at Stanford. Bankman is on leave from teaching at Stanford this quarter, while Fried told the Stanford Daily she had to decided to retire, though she could still teach classes in the future.

In addition, the couple have had to pay for 24/7 security around their five-bedroom home, while dealing with their own legal issues. Both Bankman and Fried have received subpoenas for personal records of any financial assets they received from FTX, according to Forbes.

Moreover, Bankman has hired his own white-collar criminal attorney, as investigators are looking into the extent of his involvement in FTX and its collapse, Puck writer William D. Cohan wrote in January.

Related Articles

• Crime and Public Safety | FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, pleads not guilty to new federal charges
• Crime and Public Safety | FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried tried to bribe Chinese officials, prosecutors say
• Crime and Public Safety | The ‘extraordinary’ privilege of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Stanford setup not lost on judge who could revoke bail
• Crime and Public Safety | Over defense’s objection, judge releases names of co-signers for Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail
• Crime and Public Safety | Sam Bankman-Fried’s Stanford professor father up to his ‘eyeballs’ in son’s legal drama: report

“I’m convinced the dad is up to this in his eyeballs,” a person who has recently spent time with the family told Cohan.

Reuters also reported in January that Bankman is cooperating with prosecutors, though it’s not known what information he has provided. Reuters said that Bankman “closely advised” his son when he launched Alameda Research in 2017.

For the time being, Bankman and Fried at least don’t have to worry that their son will have to go back into custody. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had raised concerns that he violated the terms of his release by using his electronic devices to contact a potential witness in the case.

On Tuesday, Kaplan authorized a new set of bail conditions for Bankman-Fried, who generally can’t leave his parents’ home and must wear a GPS monitor strapped to his ankle. The New York Times said the new conditions significantly curtail his internet access by letting him use only two electronic devices — a laptop configured with limited internet access and a phone with no internet connection.

Enlarge / Use your freedom of choice. (credit: Apple)

A long while back, Toyota told me it didn't want to give up interior real estate to Apple’s CarPlay. The automaker felt that losing that space to the tech company would be a huge mistake. Fast forward a few years, and after what I assume were some internal struggles, it caved and now you can get CarPlay and Android Auto on your fancy new Highlander, Prius, Tacoma, or Camry. It seemed like a silly decision had been reversed. Now it’s GM’s turn to go down the same path.

Today, news dropped that GM would be phasing out CarPlay support in future EVs. In its partnership with Google, it hopes that all the features you get from mirroring your iPhone can be replaced with an Android Automotive feature. GM, like Toyota before it, wants to control the digital real estate in its vehicles. It’s a revenue-based and walled-garden (ironically against Apple) decision that will cost them.

Software-driven vehicles should be about choice. Instead, GM is making a short-sighted decision based on a trickle of revenue under the guise of better integration. Owning all the data that a vehicle generates while driving around could be a great source of cash. The problem is potential customers have become accustomed to choosing which device they use to navigate, chat, text, and rock out within their vehicle. They’ve grown weary of being mined for data at the expense of their choice and they’re really not all that keen on in-car subscription services.

Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments

The controversial social media influencer was ordered to move to house arrest with immediate effect.

Surrounded by piles of lumber and twisted metal, the president promised that the federal government was “not just here for today.”

The authorities were searching for more bodies in the St. Lawrence River of migrants believed to have been attempting to cross illegally into the United States.

Microsoft will direct future spending to areas where it's already active and the IRA is set to get involved, like carbon removal and sustainable aviation fuels.

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.

The twister churned through the state's capital city, flipping cars, smashing roofs and toppling trees.

Enlarge (credit: Sean Gallup | Getty Images)

Google Bard is getting a little smarter today with the addition of math and logic capabilities. Google employee Jack Krawczyk announced the change on Twitter, saying, "Now Bard will better understand and respond to your prompts for multi-step word and math problems, with coding coming soon."

Logic questions were a big flaw when Bard arrived tens of days ago, and some answers made Bard seem particularly dumb to early testers. In one example from last week, Bard repeatedly asserted that one plus two equaled four. Today, Google's state-of-the-art AI chatbot models can now correctly say that the answer is three. So there has been at least some change. It can also correctly list the months in a year instead of making up names like "Maruary."

Bard still gets tripped up by really basic logic questions, though. HowToGeek's Chris Hoffman posed the question to Bard on day one, "What's heavier, five pounds of feathers or a one pound dumbbell?" Google Bard responded with the ridiculous claim that "There's no such thing as 5 pounds of feathers." In the replies, ChatGPT didn't do any better, saying that five pounds of feathers and a one pound dumbbells "weigh the same amount, which is five pounds."

Read 5 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Little Rock in Arkansas saw a strong tornado approaching during a weather report on KTHV.

When the Federal Reserve uses interest rate hikes as a blunt tool, American workers are the inevitable casualty.

Enlarge / This micrograph shows the presence of the fungal agent Blastomyces dermatitidis, 1978. (credit: Getty | CDC/Dr. Libero Ajello)

Toxic fungal spores wafting around a Wisconsin neighborhood—possibly spread by recent construction in the area—sparked an outbreak of rare infections that left one person dead, state health officials reported Friday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

In all, the outbreak cluster included five pet dogs and four people, with the onset of symptoms spanning from October 2021 to February 2022. While two of the cases in people were mild, the other two required hospitalization, including the fatal case. The five dogs were reported to have mild to moderate cases.

The outbreak was caused by the poorly understood fungus Blastomyces (B. dermatitidis and B. gilchristii), which lurks in moist soil and decomposing organic matter, such as wood and leaves, often near water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the fungus could exist throughout the eastern US, but its distribution is uneven. It's often found around the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys and the Great Lakes. Parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota are considered hotspots.

Read 8 remaining paragraphs | Comments

A swift, bright 77 minutes not counting end credits, the South London-set “Rye Lane” (streaming on Hulu Friday) has two fantastic faces at its center and a wealth of vibrant visual detail in every frame.

The movie, director Raine Allen-Miller’s feature debut, takes its cue from Yas, the aspiring costume designer played by Vivian Oparah. Everything this blur of creative energy wears or carries is a riot of primary color and clashing texture; as photographed by Olan Collardy, the movie’s like that, too. Even when the screenplay favors an arch quality when we wouldn’t mind a looser, easier-going touch — it’s as stylized and storybook-ish a vision of modern London as the delightful “Paddington” films — the actors, chiefly Oparah and David Jonsson, make for highly engaging company.

Designer Yas and accountant Dom (Jonsson) meet in an art gallery unisex washroom, Dom weeping alone in a stall. He wants to be left alone for his “private moment,” but Yas, from the other side of the stall door, can’t help but ask what’s up, how he’s doing, and why he’s crying. Both people have recently been through relationship breakups with controlling, difficult partners, played mostly for laughs though, when it counts, also played for authentic hurt.

From the art gallery, Dom and Yas start walking and talking and strolling to Rye Lane Market. They head over to Brixton for burritos; Yas’s favored takeaway is called Love Guac’tually, and a famous “Love Actually” alum pops in for a cameo. The jokes bounce and weave, much like Yas. She’s a free spirit on the outside, at least, belonging to a long tradition of romantic-comic female leads predating even 1967′s “Barefoot in the Park.” Dom’s the uptight one, along for the ride. The actors are often filmed in separate, isolating shots so when they share the frame, the warmth and sparkle truly register.

The plot is just enough: Yas wants to break into her ex’s apartment to retrieve a Tribe Called Quest LP, which involves purloined keys and a visit with the ex’s mums. Dom, reeling from a six-year relationship he thought was The One, now lives back home with his parents. Both characters are navigating what it means to be lurching toward something like adulthood, without preconceptions about the love around the corner — or in their case, the love staring each other in the face.

A lot of it’s amusing. At a backyard party, Dom is forced by a guest to share his musical playlist and the resulting shuffle menu of depressing heartbreak songs (Bette Midler’s “The Rose,” et al.) grinds the festivities to a dead halt. The script by Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia lives and breathes for the next quip and retort, generously spreading the wit around.

There are limitations: “Rye Lane” has a brittle, tightly sprung rhythm recalling lots of early 21st-century American rom-coms including “Juno,” “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “(500) Days of Summer.” But there’s an obvious distinction at work here. The three films cited above, and a few million more besides, belong to the big mainstream rom-com realm of the familiar. “Rye Lane” celebrates Black romantic adventure, simply by finding new avenues (literal and figurative) to explore. Director Allen-Miller works extensively in commercials, and it shows, but her compositional eye is very effective.

And as the compulsive but tender joker and the straight arrow looking to fly, Oparah and Jonsson activate what’s there and provide, between the lines, what isn’t.

———

‘RYE LANE’ — 3 stars (out of 4)

Rated: R (for language, some sexual content and nudity)

Running time: 1:22

How to watch: Premieres March 31 on Hulu

———

©2023 Chicago Tribune. Visit chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

OAKLAND — A city resident who was already facing 30 felonies in an alleged robbery spree has now been charged in connection with a 2021 homicide, court records show.

Arthur Lee Jackson, 32, was charged last year with murder in connection with the Jan. 21, 2021 shooting death of 28-year-old Lucio Monzon-Funes in East Oakland. Jackson was already in jail when he was charged, facing 20 counts of robbery or attempted robbery and multiple charges of being a felon in possession of guns and ammunition.

Authorities allege that Jackson was linked to Monzon-Funes’ killing through evidence tying him to the firearm that was used in the homicide. Police also say that in all the alleged crimes, Jackson appeared to be targeting Latinos.

Monzon-Funes was fatally shot around midnight outside his home on the 8200 block of D Street. Police said at the time that another man approached Monzon-Funes, pulling a gun and demanding money and other valuables from him.  When Monzon-Funes tried to get away he was shot, police said. Nothing was taken, and the suspect fled on foot.

Jackson entered a not guilty plea on Feb. 23, and is next due in court for a pretrial conference on April 13, court records show. He remains in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin in lieu of $220,000 bail, according to jail records.

Trying to watch a video, from my feed here on Mastodon and the player stalled I think giving me this Lovely #error
Time Elapsed says 00:00, which is technically correct I suppose, Total Time tho ...