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Can A.I. Be Blamed for a Teen’s Suicide?

The mother of a 14-year-old Florida boy says he became obsessed with a chatbot on Character.AI before his death.

The chatbot's name was Dany.

On the night of Feb. 28, in the bathroom of his mother’s house, Sewell told Dany that he loved her, and that he would soon come home to her.

“Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love,” Dany replied.

“What if I told you I could come home right now?” Sewell asked.

“… please do, my sweet king,” Dany replied.

He put down his phone, picked up his stepfather’s .45 caliber handgun and pulled the trigger.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/23/technology/characterai-lawsuit-teen-suicide.html [paywall]

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PRO

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Lakers could not buy a three-pointer (5-30) but still beat the T-Wolves 110-103. Bronny plays 3 minutes and went 0-2 while playing with his dad.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401704628

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LeBron passed the ball to him and Bronny missed a wide open 3. otherwise it would have been a father-to-son assist.

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Oct 23·edited Oct 23

Knicks get crushed in season opener as Boston ties record for 3 pointers in a game

this is the funny part ...

the only drama on this night was ... watching Boston spend the final 8:54 of the 132-109 win over New York trying -- and, ultimately, failing -- to break the NBA record for 3-pointers made in a game.

After Al Horford had Boston's third straight make to start the fourth quarter with 8:54 remaining -- pushing Boston into a tie with the Milwaukee Bucks for the NBA record with 29 makes in a game -- the Celtics missed 13 consecutive attempts, including three air balls and several other ugly misses, in what turned out to be the only thing that didn't go Boston's way.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/41951567/celtics-bury-knicks-tie-nba-3-point-record-29

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Obama is clearly a fan of the DBD since he cited our topic yesterday

https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1848886755778289952

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Oct 23·edited Oct 23

From Berkeleside.org -

Theft from South Berkeley mail truck may have included ballots

https://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/10/22/theft-from-south-berkeley-mail-truck-may-have-included-ballots

Missing ballots and reports of stolen mail in South Berkeley earlier this month may be converging.

Several residents of South Berkeley have contacted Berkeleyside recently saying they haven’t yet received their vote-by-mail ballots for the November election, and that they heard someone stole mail from a USPS mail truck in their neighborhood a couple of weeks ago.

One tipster said the mail driver told him mail was stolen from his truck.

U.S. Postal Inspector Matthew Norfleet confirmed that a mail truck was burglarized around 4 p.m. on Oct. 9 on the 3100 block of King Street — near an area where residents reported missing ballots. “The theft occurred while the mail carrier was away from the vehicle, delivering mail on the route,” Norfleet said.

COMMENTARY: while I do not live on Southside, I haven't yet received my Voter's Guide. I wonder if this is related or if it's simply USPS staff being overwhelmed.

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Massive defeat

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The lede topic popped up because I was reading about Russia's 155th Naval Infantry Brigade. It has been in combat since the beginning of the full invasion of Ukraine. In the first three weeks, the brigade suffered 600 casualties, more than 10% of its force. They were literally decimated. Modern fighting units generally lose combat effectiveness if they go below 90% and become operationally ineffective below 80%. Russia used to throw whole battalions into battles, but would lose large percentages of them in ill-coordinated attacks. Now they throw smaller groups into assault and they are routinely routed and suffer staggering losses in percentage terms, but small enough where they can continue to do them multiple times per day. It is not uncommon for a small group to lose 40% to nearly 100% of their members in one assault. They are literally suffering loss rates that the US has ever experienced - the first boats onto Omaha Beach, Custer's Army at Little Big Horn, the Alamo, and even the worst defeat in American history - St. Clair's - every single day. Depending on who you talk to, the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade has suffered 500-900% casualties in 2 years. It is statically improbable to not be a casualty in a tour of duty in the 155th.

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This is horrific. How can Russia's top brass continue to order these assaults knowing the likely outcomes?

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How is easy; no regard for human loss. Why is a better question, as they are squandering resources with little gain, and setting themselves up for further problems. Strategically counter-productive.

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Knicks lose season opener badly ... see pro sports

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CAL

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It’s time again for Oski Disciple’s Bear Facts.

Jerry Drew’s 283 yards rushing versus Oregon State on November 13, 1954 ranks as the second best single game total in Golden Bear history. It came in a 46-7 California victory over the Beavers. Remarkably, Drew amassed his total on only eleven carries averaging 25.7 yards a run. Drew, a back-up who only had four first half carries had runs of 67, 59 and 55 yards after halftime. Drew’s running total topped the previous single game record of 269 yards by Johnny Olszewski set four years prior and was only thirteen yards shy of the conference record. The next day’s San Francisco Examiner described Drew as “the chunky negro sociology major from Watts — a Los Angeles suburb whose name often has been used in jest by Southern California wags.” (Oh dear.) Drew’s record stood until Jahvid Best shattered it on December 2, 2008 with 311 yards against UW.

Oski Disciple’s Bear Facts appears Tuesday through Thursday on the DBD throughout the 2024 college football season.

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That was one of the worst Oregon State teams ever, which is quite an accomplishment given several other eras of institutional incompetence that have transpired.

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we play OSU this weekend in former pac12 matchup. looks like we are favored to win again ...

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Oct 23·edited Oct 23

Cal vs. OSU has often, on the calendar, been associated with Halloween weekend or Halloween itself.

Twice (2 times) the game has been played on Halloween (1981 and 1998).

Thirteen (13) times the game has been played during the 7 days prior to Halloween (October 24 through October 30).

Ten (10) times the game has been played during the 7 days after Halloween (November 1 through November 7).

The series stands at 39 wins for Cal, 37 wins for Oregon State, 0 ties. There have been 2 games that went into OT. The 2016 game at Corvallis, OR was tied at 41 at the end of regulation. In OT, Cal scored first on a Matt Anderson 39-yard FG. Oregon State countered with a 16-yard TD run from Darell Garretson (QB) for the win.

The 1996 game went 3 OTs. The score was tied at 35 at the end of regulation. Both teams scored a TD in the first OT, went scoreless in the second OT. In the 3rd OT, OSU's Randy Lund missed a FG try from 49 yards. On Cal's possession, Pat Barnes scored a TD on a 3-yard keeper to notch the victory. Final score: Cal 48, Oregon State 42.

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DBD AV CLUB

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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