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Study shows AI image-generators being trained on explicit photos of children

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built.Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce realistic and explicit imagery of fake children as well as transform social media photos of fully clothed real teens into nudes, much to the alarm of schools and law enforcement around the world.Until recently, anti-abuse researchers thought the only way that some unchecked AI tools produced abusive imagery of children was by essentially combining what they’ve learned from two separate buckets of online images — adult pornography and benign photos of kids. But the Stanford Internet Observatory found more than 3,200 images of suspected child sexual abuse in the giant AI database LAION, an index of online images and captions that’s been used to train leading AI image-ma...

Suspicious activity reporting drops in Texas for 2nd year

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — In the wake of mass shootings in recent years, Texas’ highest leaders have touted iWatchTexas as a critical statewide tool for reporting suspicious activity, alerting law enforcement to potential violence. Despite promotional efforts, total annual reports have dwindled for the past two years, according to records obtained by KXAN.KXAN revisited the usage of iWatch following the Dec. 5 killing spree that left six dead in Austin and San Antonio. The suspected shooter, 34-year-old Shane James, was known to law enforcement in San Antonio. He had mental health crisis interactions with police, cut off an ankle monitor and had active warrants for family violence, court documents said. Yet, it remains unclear if James was on the radar of intelligence analysts that monitor suspicious activity reports.The Texas Suspicious Activity Reporting Network is a statewide hub for receiving, analyzing and responding to reports of terrorism, school safety and other crime issues, accordin...

5 things to know this Wednesday, December 20

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Happy humpday! According to Meteorologist Jill Szwed, we can expect temperatures in the 40s with sunshine before nightfall. Get the latest news, weather, sports and more delivered right to your inbox! On December 18 at around 4:39 a.m., a car flipped onto its roof and into several feet of water in a ditch off of I-690 eastbound. The driver, identified as 44-year-old ​Udayabhanu Anjanappilly of Cohoes, crashed between the Midler and Thompson Road exits in Syracuse. Also, Nelson Patino was sentenced Tuesday for killing his wife and son and injuring his other son. It happened two years ago in Duanesburg. In October, Patino was found guilty of six charges. The jury handed down the verdict following a day-long deliberation. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Wednesday morning. 1. Cohoes driver dies after car flip near SyracuseOn December 18 at around 4:39 a.m., a car flipped onto its roof and into several feet of water in a d...

Man hospitalized after house fire in Maryville, Illinois

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

MARYVILLE, Ill. - Another fire broke out Wednesday morning; this one was in Maryville, Illinois.It started at an apartment on Patty Drive around 3:00 a.m. Firefighters said that the flames started in the back of the building. An older man was taken to the hospital. Stolen car seen in Central West End belongs to long-time police officer There was no word on his condition on Wednesday morning. The state fire marshal is looking into the cause.FOX 2 will update this story with more information as it becomes available.

Missing 42-year-old woman returns home safely

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

FERGUSON, Mo. - Ferguson police have canceled an endangered person advisory for a missing 42-year-old woman. LGBTQ community rallies around south city bar following crash She left her home on Harrison Avenue in Ferguson on Monday without her cellphone or personal property. Sh has since returned home safely.

German-style Denver brewery opens huge new biergarten and production facility

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

As the craft beer industry in Colorado has matured and settled in the two years since the end of the pandemic, there has been a spate of small buyouts, closures and consolidations. For some, this has meant difficult times. For others, it has created opportunities to expand.On Dec. 20. Prost Brewing, which was founded in Denver’s Lower Highland neighborhood in 2012, will open the doors to one of the bigger expansions in recent memory – a Munich-sized taproom and biergarten, at 351 W. 104th Ave in Northglenn, that is connected to a 60,000-square-foot production space, which soon will begin making beer on two large brewing systems.Visitors to the new Prost Brewing in Northglenn will be able to look into the brewhouse through large windows. (Prost Brewing)In addition to its traditional German-style beers – such as pilsner, dunkel, marzen, Vienna lager and kolsch – Prost will offer a menu of regional specialties, like a sausage board with sauerkraut and mustard; giant pretzels served wit...

A Colorado freezer is out of space to store ice samples up to 4.5 million years old

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

A minus-40-degree vault concealed in a federal government warehouse west of Denver holds the climate science equivalent of gold: the United States’ growing collection of ice from around a warming planet, half a million cylindrical cores up to 4.5 million years old.The ice can reveal climate history and its safekeeping has become a global priority as scientists race to calculate what humanity faces.Climate scientists seeking clues in the ice head to the U.S. Geological Survey’s regional headquarters, where they bundle up and pass through massive swinging doors into the 8,000-square-foot walk-in freezer —  the largest ice repository in the world. Outside at a loading dock, trucks arrive delivering new ice extracted from Antarctica, Greenland and high mountain glaciers.But the freezer is outdated and full, and a long-planned replacement won’t be constructed for two years. This has forced Ice Core Facility curator Curtis La Bombard to begin a culling process to d...

Colorado legislators push to increase regulation of eating disorder clinics amid patient complaints, state probe

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

Colorado legislators will propose new regulations for providers of eating disorder treatment in the coming months, amid calls from advocates and patients to crack down on practices that one legislator labeled “barbaric.”The coming legislation, which will debut early next year when state lawmakers reconvene, would require providers to follow specific requirements around weigh-ins, the use of feeding tubes and isolation, and to offer gender-appropriate accommodations. Legislators considered similar requirements earlier this year but dropped them because the new regulations would cost $870,000 to implement.The resurrected proposal would task the Behavioral Health Administration with overseeing treatment facilities in the state. Colorado, and in particular Denver, has become a national hub for eating disorder care and has seen an increase in patients amid a national surge in disordered eating diagnoses. The state health department regulates eating disorder clinics as it does...

Denver’s 15 most heartbreaking restaurant closures of 2023

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

Losing a favorite go-to restaurant can feel like a stab to the heart, especially if it was the kind of place that always had an extra smile ready for you, or where everyone knew your name and your order. Saying goodbye to that part of your routine stings.While the city has been riding a culinary high since the inaugural Michelin stars were handed out in September, Denver, has also held funerals for many longtime, beloved spots. After all, with rising labor costs, food costs and labor shortages, running a restaurant is still tough.So, let’s take a moment to remember these 15 restaurants that closed up shop in 2023, and remind ourselves that eating locally is the best way to support the Mile High businesses that work tirelessly to feed us.El Tepehuan Mexican RestaurantAfter 45 years as one of the best green chile spots around, El Tepehuan is throwing in the towel. You still have time to pay tribute to the beloved Englewood spot, known as El Tep to the most loyal of fans, before ...

Just competing on Food Network show was a win for Aurora’s Banh & Butter Bakery

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:27:43 GMT

Thoa Nguyen struggles with the feeling that she disappointed her family “by leaving the family business that was built for me,” she said Monday on the final episode of “Holiday Baking Championship,” a competition show that has been airing on the Food Network.But after making it into the final four — and garnering praise from celebrity chef judges Carla Hall, Duff Goldman and Nancy Fuller — the owner of Aurora’s Banh & Butter Bakery Cafe is starting to feel like the risk she took to open her own business is paying off.Nguyen didn’t take the crown, but she put up a good fight, racking up small wins along the way.“I never really got to show my family that this was all for a good reason before, but this makes it all worth it,” Nguyen said. “If I didn’t branch out, I would never have had the confidence to be on a show like this. Winning it would have just been a cherry on top.”Nguyen’s parents owned New Saigon Vietnamese restaurant for 30 years. But before sel...