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Santa Cruz’s only LGBTQ+ bar, The Neighbor’s Pub, has closed its Pacific Avenue location after citing high rent, rising costs and equipment problems, while searching for a new home.

Bay Area reggae-rock favorites The Holdup bring their blend of reggae, hip hop and rock to Felton Music Hall on Saturday, Aug. 29.

Richard Stockton traces how SpaceX launches, a new federal review of California’s coastal program and possible offshore oil leasing have converged into a larger fight over who controls California’s coast.

La Placa Italian Cuisine combines its family restaurant, pizzeria and bakery traditions in a new Scotts Valley home, while Melo Bread rises in Watsonville.

Elizabeth Borelli explores hyperbaric oxygen therapy, from surfer Shawn Dollar’s recovery story to its established medical uses and growing popularity in local wellness centers.

The Pan-African venture firm has raised $83 million and plans to invest in startups beyond its home market of Nigeria.

Tragedy at Steamer Lane The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that UC Santa Cruz student Alli Singh, 19, was killed after the car she was in drove off West Cliff Drive and into the bay at Steamer Lane — reported Aug. 16. Lookout Protests for Midtown Housing Proposal A controversial preliminary housing proposal at […]

Brad Kava warns about renewed threats to coastal protections and offshore drilling, while also highlighting Pajaro Valley school-board turmoil and questions about food safety.

India plans the first launch of its crewed space program this year and has expanded its orbital ambitions to include operating a space station by 2035. India’s crewed space program is called Gaganyaan and has already missed deadlines to fly in 2022 and 2025. The nation’s space research organization (ISRO) agency and government did not say anything about the future Gaganyaan schedule after last year’s deadline passed without a launch. That silence ended earlier this week, when ISRO Chairman Dr V. Narayanan used the occasion of India’s third annual National Space Day to reveal that testing of the rocket and crew module to be used by Gaganyaan missions is almost complete, and the first of three test missions will launch this year. The test flights will use India’s LVM3 launcher, which ISRO has flown nine times without failure. The version ISRO will use for Gaganyaan missions is rated for human use thanks to the inclusion of a crew escape system equipped with solid-fuel motors designed to speed Vyomanauts – the Sanskrit-derived word India has unofficially adopted for its astronauts –to safety. The Gaganyaan crew module is built to carry three Vyomanauts and spend three days in a 400km orbit before splashing down into Indian waters. ISRO has previously said it will launch a robot on at least one Gaganyaan test mission. It’s unclear if that’s still the plan. The aerospace agency has also not said when it plans to launch its second and third test flights, or a first crewed mission. If India can put Vyomanauts in orbit it will become just the fourth country to do so on its own vehicle – after Russia, the USA, and China. Dr Narayanan and other officials and government figures used this year’s Space Day to tease other future initiatives, one of which is putting an Indian space station into orbit around 2035. More involvement from private space companies was also on the agenda, perhaps as manufacturers of the launchers ISRO uses. If India chooses that path, it will mimic the USA’s current approach, which sees NASA make just one vehicle – the ultra-expensive Space Launch System – and contract its other launches to commercial launch companies. Japan’s space agency uses a slightly different approach, defining specs for its vehicles and contracting industrial giants like Mitsubishi to make them, but then runs its own missions under its own name. ®

Ringg has raised $10 million from Peak XV as a part of its Series A extension.

The number of large users hosting their own email servers has halved in the last decade, according to Artem Berezin, a researcher who works at business e-mail company Live Direct Marketing. On the Internet Society blog, Berezin explained that DNS records reveal a lot about email. “The MX record says where the mailbox lives. The SPF record says who may send on the domain's behalf. The DMARC record says what should happen when a message fails authentication,” he wrote. Berezin says he analyzes those records using daily forward-DNS snapshots captured by the OpenINTEL project run by the University of Twente, SURFnet and SIDN Labs. He also consults the Tranco project’s assessment of the most popular domains to determine the million most popular domains, then “classifies each domain's MX hostname and SPF includes against open dictionaries of mailbox providers, sending platforms and SaaS applications.” The data he uses goes back to 2016, but he admits the dictionaries he accesses don’t offer a complete view of the world’s email servers. His lead finding is that in 2016, 44.6 percent of the top million domains ran their own mail server. In 2026, that’s down to 22.4 percent. The number of self-hosted mail servers is falling fast – down by half a percent in 30 days. Self-hosting an email server remains the most common way to process mail, however Google Workspace is hot on its heels with 21.8 percent of detectable MX records, ahead of Microsoft 365’s 16.8 percent. Berezin thinks the fact that two tech giants handle 38.6 percent of email is concerning. “The RIPE [NCC] community has spent years discussing DNS and CDN centralization; email is following the same path, just more quietly,” he wrote. “When more than a third of popular domains depend on two providers to receive mail, an outage, a filtering change, or a policy decision at either one propagates through the whole ecosystem at once. And unlike a CDN, email has no graceful fallback – a rejected message is simply gone. “There is a second-order effect, too. The fewer independent operators there are, the more the remaining ones inherit the deliverability problems of a world tuned for the big two. Anyone who has tried to stand up a fresh Postfix box in 2026 and get its mail accepted at scale knows exactly what I mean.” Postfix is a FOSS mail server. Berezin’s reference to the struggle to get mail accepted at scale reflects the fact that Google and Microsoft operate filters to detect messages they believe come from untrustworthy sources. If those two tech giants don’t accept messages from Postfix or other sources, they make their own services more attractive - marketers who want their email blasts to land will move to the service providers most likely to let their messages through. Another thing that worries Berezin is the use of DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) records – the instruction in DNS settings that tells email servers how to handle emails that fail an authenticity check. His research found that over half of DMARC records have no valid policy or monitor email without enforcing policies. That low rate is happening despite Google and Yahoo changing their bulk sender requirements in 2024 to require use of DMARC. “At what concentration does inbound mail become a systemic dependency worth the community's explicit attention?” Berezin asks. “What would actually move DMARC from published to enforced, given that the 2024 mandates demonstrably did not do so? And how much of the Internet's mail infrastructure are we all failing to see because our dictionaries don't know its name?” Berezin wrote that he can’t answer those questions but hopes his daily download of email server data and ongoing analysis means he can one day. ®

The $200 million extension comes just months after the physical AI startup reached a $2 billion valuation.

Before Malone left, OpenAI had already reshuffled its infrastructure org, shifting his reporting line away from President Greg Brockman and putting Vice President Sachin Katti in charge of the group.

⚡ Quick Take

• Ryan Gosling’s production company developing a live-action Flintstones film about an adult Bamm-Bamm Rubble.
• This would be the first Flintstones live-action film since 2000’s Viva Rock Vegas.
• Nerdist’s take: After Barbie, we think Gosling could make the most impossible film pitch work.

After his major success in this year’s Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling is taking on the Star Wars galaxy, then the MCU as Ghost Rider, and now….he’s joining the Flintstones universe? Sure, why not. According to a report in Deadline, the Barbie star and his production company are teaming up with Warner Brothers to bring to life a new live-action Flintstones movie, focusing on an adult version of Bamm-Bamm Rubble. The “modern stone age family” has come to life before in live-action, most notably in the 1994 Flintstones movie, which was a big blockbuster hit. In the film, Bamm-Bamm was a toddler. He didn’t appear in the prequel movie, Viva Rock Vegas. Although not confirmed, we assume Gosling would play Bamm-Bamm.

Warner Bros/Warner Bros. Animation

In the Hanna-Barbera cartoons, Bamm-Bamm was introduced as the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble, who inexplicably had super strength. He only knew two words, which were his name, “Bamm-Bamm.” Yes, it got very annoying. Throughout the show’s original run, he remained a toddler, and in typical soap opera/comic book tradition, he went straight to older teenager in The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show in the ’70s. (We did eventually see elementary school-age Bammer in the 1978 TV movie Flintstones: Little Big League). Later cartoons saw Bamm-Bamm grow up and marry Pebbles, as well as have kids of his own. We have a feeling whatever Ryan Gosling has got cooking won’t reflect any known Flintstones continuity.

Flintstone was ubiquitous in popular culture for decades. It began in their Primetime series, which ran for six seasons from 1960-1966. Then, over the next two decades, there were a dozen new spin-off series and specials. This lasted well into the ’90s. Not to mention a brand of vitamins and Fruity Pebbles cereal. But there hasn’t been a new series for decades now, despite a few attempts at a revival. Can Gosling’s star power convince Gen-Z to care about this nearly seventy-year-old property? We may find out soon. Here’s hoping Gosling knows how to swing a giant wooden club around.

Eric Diaz is a staff writer at Nerdist and a Swiss Army knife of fandoms. Eric loves DC, Marvel, horror movies, and even Star Wars and Star Trek equally.

The post Ryan Gosling Developing FLINTSTONES Film About Adult Bamm-Bamm appeared first on Nerdist.

AI company Perplexity has already tried its hand at search services, advertising, personal assistants, browsers, and a hosted agent platform – and now it's getting into local AI services. The biz, having already built a hybrid agent inference orchestrator that connects cloud and local inference, has crossed that bridge to build a local agent called Portable Computer. That's in contrast to its cloud-based agent platform, Computer. Portable Computer consists of an agent harness, an orchestrator, and local AI models running on an Nvidia DGX Spark workstation, with the ability to tap into cloud inference if the situation demands. What's Nvidia DGX Spark doing there? Well, apart from the fact that DGX Spark is a capable bit of AI kit, Nvidia is said to be contemplating a $30 billion investment in Perplexity. Maybe, just maybe, that has something to do with six brand name mentions in one announcement. Perplexity casts its Portable Computer as a way to control AI costs, an issue of interest over the last few months as users find locally run open weight models may offer relief from bulging cloud bills. "Progress is most visible in very small and efficient models such as Nvidia Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (30B total parameters), Qwen 3.6 (35B), and Qwen 3.8 (27B)," the biz said in its post, paying somewhat more attention to Nvidia's model than other local AI enthusiasts. "These small models punch above their weight and are now capable of complex agentic workflows." What hardware might one run such models on? It may just be coincidence but Perplexity suggests Nvidia DGX Spark. "This local-first approach enables significant cost savings, since local inference avoids per-token API fees," Perplexity said. "It also naturally resolves the privacy and intellectual-property concerns: private tokens never need to be transmitted to remote clusters and remain safely within the boundary of the local device." Perplexity's current privacy policy doesn't specifically mention Portable Computer, but does reveal that Perplexity collects quite a bit of data through its other services. Most of Perplexity's pitch to potential customers involves sharing benchmark results that compare Portable Computer to two other agent harnesses, Pi and Hermes. The AI biz reports, "Across the various benchmarks, Computer matched or exceeded Hermes and Pi in accuracy while running Qwen 3.8 27B on an NVIDIA DGX Spark." And Portable Computer, Perplexity claims, proved fastest on BrowseComp and ParseBench-100 and used the fewest tokens on all three. The AI biz concludes that a decent open-weight model and capable local hardware, together with a suitable harness, "can handle real knowledge work at near-zero inference cost without requiring sensitive data to leave the device." And in the event Nvidia does invest $30 billion, Perplexity will have plenty of time to explore how much it can charge in a market where harnesses like Pi and Hermes are free. ®

A Driscoll’s employee asked Santa Cruz Local to leave the company’s Watsonville offices after being buzzed in, apparently by mistake, on Sept. 2, 2025. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local file)

WATSONVILLE >> The CEO of Watsonville-based Driscoll’s Inc., the largest berry company in the world, has stepped down after less than three years in the role.

The company announced Tuesday that Soren Bjorn will be replaced by Brie Reiter Smith, effective immediately. Smith is the great-granddaughter of one of Driscoll’s co-founders and the daughter of former CEO J. Miles Reiter.

“While I may not have followed the traditional path to this role, no one believes in our company’s mission more than me,” Smith said in a press release. Smith assumed the role of vice chair of the company’s board of directors in January, and has worked in various roles across the company for more than a decade. 

Bjorn could not immediately be reached for comment and Driscoll’s did not answer follow-up questions.

The change comes as the company has faced lawsuits and heightened scrutiny of their pesticide practices, led by local activists who oppose the use of pesticides near schools, and are calling for more fields to be converted to organic. State law limits pesticide use within a quarter-mile of schools, but gaseous fumigants can drift on the wind for miles if there is a leak from the tarps meant to trap the fumes.

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For years, activists have demanded Driscoll’s do more to protect Pajaro Valley farmworkers and school children from the pesticides used to boost yields of profitable crops like strawberries and blackberries.

In recent months Driscoll’s, and Smith specifically, have directly engaged with activists, an unusual move for leaders of the tightly guarded company. She published a full-page opinion letter in the print versions of the Santa Cruz Sentinel on June 16 and June 17, asking activists to stop targeting Driscoll’s and its leaders and owners. 

A sign warns to keep out of a strawberry field recently treated with pesticides on San Juan Road near Pajaro in June 2025. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local file)

“The story being told about Driscoll’s, my family, and the farming community feels so disconnected from the reality I have experienced my entire life,” she wrote, according to a copy of the letter shared with the press. “We continue to expand organic production, [and] are actively investing in ways to reduce our reliance on traditional pesticides.”

Heightened pressure followed claims by some activists that pesticide use in the Pajaro Valley had led to elevated childhood cancer rates. But the data cited by activists was for all of Santa Cruz County, not just agricultural areas, and does not prove causes of the cancer.

Responding to the growing pressure, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency conducted a review of cancer data and released a report in July. It found elevated cancer rates among non-Hispanic white children from 2018-2022 in the county as a whole. It found no elevated rates of cancer in South County specifically. 

Decades of research have shown links between certain pesticides and cancer, as well as learning disabilities, lowered IQ and other neurological effects.

Providence Martinez Alaniz, a Watsonville resident and advocate for limiting the use of pesticides, responded to Smith’s letter in the Sentinel by writing an open letter to Driscoll’s on Aug. 10.

“As a Watsonville commercial grower managing acres of land, and as a caretaker, let me clear up that confusion for you. We are not ‘disconnected from reality’; we are living it every single day,” Alaniz wrote. “Holding corporate leadership accountable is not a ‘personal attack’ — it is democracy and community defense.”

Providence Martinez Alaniz, right, undertook a hunger strike in September 2025 to protest the use of pesticides near schools in the Pajaro Valley. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local file)

Last year, Alaniz joined pesticide activist Omar Dieguez in a hunger strike to bring attention and public pressure to the issue. She was hospitalized and had to stop her fast after roughly two weeks. Dieguez continued his fast for 30 days.

Dieguez, when reached by phone Tuesday, said he was in contact with Smith and planned to meet with her on Thursday.

“I’m coming in with an open mind and to see what she has to say, and we’ll see what happens after that,” Dieguez said. 

Read more of Santa Cruz Local’s coverage of pesticides.

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The post Driscoll’s CEO steps down amid growing activist pressure on company for use of pesticides appeared first on Santa Cruz Local.

I’ve been laughing at President Donald Trump’s idiotic midterm political convention for several months now (here and here). In short, Trump wants to make the midterm elections about himself, because of course he does. He wants to be onstage, humping an American flag, with the cameras rolling and his crowds looking on adoringly. Never mind all the people actually running for office.

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⚡ Quick Take

• At opening night of Gamescom, CD Projekt RED announced a brand new remastered upgrade for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
• The upgrade, free if you own it on qualifying platforms, will be available starting September 29.
• The developer also posted a teaser for the forthcoming third expansion, Songs of the Past.
• NERDIST TAKE: For an 11-year-old game to get a whole free upgrade is a gift for Witcher fans.

I had to check and double check to make sure this was correct: did The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt actually come out in 2015?! Unfathomable. But that might be because it remains one of the most playable and enormous action RPGs ever made. Not only has it made the leap over from previous generation consoles to current, but it’s about to get yet another brand new expansion next year. But a new expansion needs to match with the base game, right? That’s why we were pleased to see CD Projekt RED announce The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered at Gamescom this year.

The new version looks incredible, and the best part is if you already bought the game, you can get the remaster for no dollars. The developers promise “a free upgrade for existing The Witcher 3 owners on qualifying platforms,” along with both previous expansions. Take a look at the trailer.

The announcement promises a slew of upgrades and enhancements, from quality of life changes to hardware-focused gussy-ups. What exactly? Well according to the press release, “upgraded visuals, enhanced combat, improved traversal and movement, new witcher signs effects, revamped mount handling, enhanced monster behaviors, a skill tree revamp, transmogrification, expanded photo mode, new finishers, and much more.”

CD Projekt RED

In addition, CD Projekt RED also gave us a first look at Songs of the Past, the brand new expansion due out next year. It also looks pretty darn cool and showcases the brand new region of Letten. “This idyllic land is rich in rural tradition and folklore, and its people enjoy a fulfilling life of bountiful harvests and lavish festivals. But a dark secret lurks just beneath the surface, and Geralt must overcome never-before-seen foes as he fights to overcome its long-dormant evil.” Spooky!

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered will be available to buy, or upgrade for free if you already own it on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, on September 29. A new native version will go up on Nintendo Switch 2 and Battle.net the same day. As for Songs of the Past, that’ll come out in 2027 but wishlistable now.

Geralt of Rivia isn’t going anywhere any time soon…except deeper into darkness. Just where we like ‘im.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Letterboxd.

The post THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT – REMASTERED Looks Honestly Incredible appeared first on Nerdist.

A daily roundup of the best stories and cartoons by Daily Kos staff and contributors to keep you in the know. Conservative justices take a wrecking ball to the midterms November is going to be one bumpy ride. Fox News goes quiet on Natalie Harp—after introducing her to Trump When in doubt, just ignore that it’s a huge news story. Trophy deficit Does the number…

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