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Amazon to require some authors to disclose the use of AI material

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

After months of complaints from the Authors Guild and other groups, Amazon.com has started requiring writers who want to sell books through its e-book program to tell the company in advance that their work includes artificial intelligence material.The Authors Guild praised the new regulations, which were posted Wednesday, as a “welcome first step” toward deterring the proliferation of computer-generated books on the online retailer’s site. Many writers feared computer-generated books could crowd out traditional works and would be unfair to consumers who didn’t know they were buying AI content.In a statement posted on its website, the Guild expressed gratitude toward “the Amazon team for taking our concerns into account and enacting this important step toward ensuring transparency and accountability for AI-generated content.”A passage posted this week on Amazon’s content guideline page said, “We define AI-generated content as text, images, or translations created by an AI-based...

Haverhill man gets 8+ years in prison for identity fraud-based car theft scheme

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

The leader of a years-long conspiracy, a Haverhill man stole identities to purchase nearly 50 vehicles from dealerships across Massachusetts and several other states, gaining more than $2 million in cars and other merchandise.U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris sentenced Alvin Rivera, 40, to 8 1/2 years in prison and ordered him to pay $389,141 in restitution to the identity theft victims he and his co-conspirators used to load up on the cars and merch.From October 2017 to September 2020, Rivera provided stolen identity information to co-conspirators to buy late-model vehicles at Bay State car dealerships. They also applied for 100% financing, according to the state’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.“In support of the applications, the co-conspirators provided stolen biographical information from real United States citizens, fraudulent Puerto Rico driver’s licenses and Social Security cards in those identities, as proof of identification,” a release from the office states. “The co-consp...

Hurricane Lee could hit Boston, NYC, but still too early to know for sure: meteorologists

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

While some models are forecasting Hurricane Lee to hit the East Coast next week, with Boston and New York City potentially taking the brunt of the impact, meteorologists say it’s still too early to know if and when the storm will arrive.The category 4 hurricane, capable of generating waves of up to 15 feet, charged through warm Atlantic waters on Friday and threatened to unleash heavy swells across the northeast Caribbean. It became the season’s first Category 5 storm before weakening slightly.Two models — the European and American — project Lee either hitting Boston directly, or scraping along the coast of Cape Cod before heading into the Canadian Maritimes. Heavy rains and a deadly storm surge would be present in both scenarios.But residents across Greater Boston and New England should not be alarmed, as of now, said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Boston office.“I can tell you that we don’t know if it’s going to impact New England at this point. ...

Healey administration considered suspending right-to-shelter law but scrapped idea, housing advocate says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

The Healey administration considered suspending the state’s decades old right-to-shelter law in the run up to an emergency declaration last month, but opted against it after taking into consideration the complicated legal concerns associated with such a move.Officials at the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities reached out to multiple providers to inform them of the plan to suspend the law, which requires the state to provide housing and services to homeless families, in the days before the emergency declaration.But the idea was ultimately scrapped after the administration realized it did not have the authority to suspend a 1983 law signed by then-Gov. Michael Dukakis.“We had heard before the announcement from state officials themselves that they were looking to suspend the right to shelter,” said Kelly Turley, associate director at the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, adding the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, not the governor’s of...

Major I-5 lane closures planned this weekend

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

SAN DIEGO — Several lanes of southbound Interstate 5 will be closed starting Friday night through the weekend, which could cause headaches for travelers in the downtown area.The closures are so that crews can make repairs to the bridge deck over SR-163.Officials are working to get the word out to the public about the closures due to the large traffic impact it is expected to have for drivers heading downtown or to San Diego International Airport.The closure will begin at 9 p.m. and run through Monday at 5 a.m. Southbound I-5 will close at eastbound I-8 and traffic will be diverted onto eastbound I-8. Drivers can then get to the airport by taking southbound state Route 163 and following signs for the airport.A stretch of I-5 between I-8 and SR-163 will have limited access via downtown on-ramps.Northbound I-5 will remain open throughout the weekend.Another closure is scheduled for northbound I-5 starting on Sept. 29. That closure will start at SR-15 and will also only have one lane av...

California lawmakers vote to limit when local election officials can count ballots by hand

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Friday voted to limit when local governments can count election ballots by hand, a move aimed at a rural Northern California county that canceled its contract with Dominion Voting Systems amid unfounded allegations of fraud pushed by former Republican President Donald Trump and his allies.Shasta County’s board of supervisors, which is controlled by a conservative majority, voted in January to get rid of the voting machines it used to tabulate hand-marked ballots for its roughly 111,000 registered voters. County supervisors said there was a loss of public confidence in the machines from Dominion Voting Systems, a company at the center of discredited conspiracy theories since the 2020 presidential election.At the time, leaders did not have a plan for how the county would conduct future elections, including the March 2024 Republican presidential primary in delegate-rich California that could be key in deciding who wins the GOP nom...

Neve Campbell among striking actors navigating tricky waters at TIFF

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

TORONTO — As one of the few striking Hollywood actors promoting projects at the Toronto International Film Festival, film and TV star Neve Campbell acknowledged the “fine line to dance” as she other multi-hyphenate celebs hit the circuit to support upcoming projects.The Canadian “Scream” and “Party of Five” star spoke at length Friday about her upcoming Canadian ballet documentary “Swan Song” – a publicity push she says is allowed under strike rules because it’s a Canadian production, she served as a producer and she does not appear on camera.“Obviously people want to ask me about my career and want to ask me about projects and I can’t answer those questions at the moment,” said Campbell, a former dancer whose doc is set for theatrical release Sept. 22 in Toronto and bound for CBC as a four-part series in November.“Believe me, it was a big conversation with my team and we checked with SAG prior to my coming, whether it was OK for...

Police fatally shoot man who was holding handgun in Idaho field

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

STAR, Idaho (AP) — A man described as suicidal died after a police officer fired at him in Idaho, authorities said.Police officers in the city of Star, northwest of Boise, were called around 5:30 p.m. Thursday by a person who said 41-year-old Christopher Huffman was threatening to harm himself and making suicidal statements, according to a news release from the Ada County Sheriff’s Office. Officers found Huffman in a field and began talking to him while he held a handgun and moved it around his head, the news release said. Huffman refused repeated offers of help and refused to drop the gun for several minutes and then officers heard a gunshot and saw Huffman fall to the ground, according to the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office said officers suspected Huffman was hurt and could see he was breathing. For about 10 minutes after that officers were telling him to toss the gun so they could help. Then Huffman grabbed the gun, sat up, began yelling and waving the gun arou...

Severe heat, heavy storms hit New England; fallen tree kills camper in Vermont

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The heat that has gripped much of the nation seeped into New England on Friday, forcing some schools to close or send kids home early while powerful thunderstorms also swept through the region.A Massachusetts man was killed early Friday and his fiancee was seriously injured when a tree fell on them during a storm while they were camping in Somerset, Vermont, police said. High winds downed downs tree limbs and power lines across the region, leaving tens of thousands without power in Massachusetts and Maine.The mayor of Boston declared a heat emergency with cooling centers opening around the city.In Lowell, Massachusetts, where none of the 28 schools have air conditioning, all classes remained closed on Friday for safety reasons. The temperature was expected to reach a high of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), with the humidity making it feel like 95 F (35 C).Other schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire were also closed or sent students home ea...

Kaiser to pay $49 million to California for illegally dumping private medical records, medical waste

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:18:55 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $49 million as part of a settlement with California prosecutors who say the health care giant illegally disposed of thousands of private medical records, hazardous materials and medical waste, including blood and body parts, in dumpsters headed to local landfills, authorities said FridayProsecutors started an investigation in 2015 after undercover trash inspectors found pharmaceutical drugs, and syringes, vials, canisters and other medical devices filled with human blood and other bodily fluids, and body parts removed during surgery inside bins handled by municipal waste haulers. They also found batteries, electronic devices and other hazardous waste in trash cans and bins at 16 Kaiser medical facilities throughout the state, Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “The items found pose a serious risk to anyone who might come into contact with them from health care providers and patients in the same room as the trash cans to custodia...