Farhad Manjoo: A.I. Photoshopping is about to get very easy. Maybe too easy.

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Farhad Manjoo: A.I. Photoshopping is about to get very easy. Maybe too easy. Photoshop is the granddaddy of image-editing apps, the O.G. of our airbrushed, Facetuned media ecosystem and a product so enmeshed in the culture that it’s a verb, an adjective and a frequent lament of rappers. Photoshop is also widely used. More than 30 years since the first version was released, professional photographers, graphic designers and other visual artists the world over reach for the app to edit much of the imagery you see online, in print and on billboards, bus stops, posters, product packaging and anything else the light touches.So what does it mean that Photoshop is diving into generative artificial intelligence — that a just-released beta feature called Generative Fill will allow you to photorealistically render just about any imagery you ask of it? (Subject, of course, to terms of service.)Merging reality and digital artifaceNot just that, actually: So many AI image generators have been released over the past year or so that the idea of prompting a computer to creat...

St. Paul entrepreneur’s lease app among Carlson School’s MN Cup 89 semi-finalists for start-up competition

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

St. Paul entrepreneur’s lease app among Carlson School’s MN Cup 89 semi-finalists for start-up competition At a time when many housing advocates are focused on stabilizing renters in precarious living situations, Abu Nayeem is thinking differently. His new web-based service, GetPreLease.com, aims to help renters evaluate themselves — by credit history, by criminal history and more — so they understand their own red flags and can better negotiate new leases in even better apartments.“We hear about housing stability, which means you can only afford your current home,” said Nayeem, a co-founder and chief executive officer of the web start-up Pre-Lease SBC, which is based in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood. “We want to create mobility for renters.”For the second year in a row, GetPreLease.com has caught the attention of the MN Cup, a statewide start-up competition hosted for the past 19 years by the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, as have a host of other east metro companies just beginning to get off the ground.Nearly 90 ...

Teen struck by car on Washington Avenue in Albany

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Teen struck by car on Washington Avenue in Albany ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A teenager was sent to the hospital after he was hit by a car in Albany on Thursday. The 14-year-old boy was struck on Washington Avenue between North Main Avenue and Partridge Street. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! Police said the boy was conscious but sustained serious, non-life threatening injuries. He was taken to Albany Medical Center.The driver stayed at the scene and has been cooperating with police.

Boat safety reminders ahead of Memorial Day weekend

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Boat safety reminders ahead of Memorial Day weekend (NEWS10) -- Law enforcement officials are partnering with advocates to highlight boat safety measures ahead of Memorial Day Weekend.Experts said it's important to be equipped with safety tools, including life jackets and devices that shut off boat engines if a boater falls into the water. One woman whose son drowned in 2016 said open water activities can be dangerous even for avid swimmers. Get the latest, news, weather, sports and community events delivered right to your inbox! "Expect the unexpected," Teresa Dabiere-Craig said. "Anything can happen out there. Open water is very different than swimming in a pool."The U.S. Coast Guard said more than 80 percent of those who drown in open water were not wearing life jackets.

Why Gov. Mike Parson picked Gabe Gore as the next St. Louis Circuit Attorney

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Why Gov. Mike Parson picked Gabe Gore as the next St. Louis Circuit Attorney JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - After weeks of drama that put St. Louis in the national spotlight, Gabe Gore will be sworn on Tuesday as the city's new top prosecutor.Governor Mike Parson's legal counsel Evan Rodriguez has been serving as interim circuit attorney since Kim Gardner abruptly resigned last week, discovering 4,800 warrant applications that have not been reviewed.In an exclusive interview with our Missouri Chief Capitol Bureau Reporter Emily Manley, Parson said he tried to reach out to Gardner after she announced her resignation, but said he never heard back."I don't know if I was expecting her too, it would have been nice to have a conversation to say, 'How do we move forward to help the people of St. Louis, but that didn't occur,'" Parson said. Franklin County man added to FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list With a backlog of thousands of cases, Gabe Gore will have his hands full. Gore lives and works, and has raised his family in St. Louis, all reasons why Parson said he appointed the...

Remains of World War II airman to be buried in Chester, Illinois

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Remains of World War II airman to be buried in Chester, Illinois CHESTER, Ill. - The remains of a Chester, Illinois, native killed in combat during World War II will be interred in his hometown next month.U.S. Army Air Forces Tech Sgt. James Howie was a radio operator assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Howie was serving aboard a B-24 bomber on Aug. 1, 1943, on a mission to destroy oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, in Nazi-controlled Romania. Howie's plane was struck by enemy anti-aircraft fire and went down.Howie was 24. His remains could not be identified following the war.Unidentified remains were then buried as unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.In the aftermath of World War II, the American Graves Registration Command disinterred the remains from the cemetery, so they could be identified. More than 80 sets of remains could not be identified. As a result,...

Missouri man, 80, killed in boating accident on Table Rock Lake

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Missouri man, 80, killed in boating accident on Table Rock Lake TANEY COUNTY, Mo. - An elderly man died Thursday afternoon on Table Rock Lake after being ejected from the boat he was piloting.According to a crash report filed by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. at Martin's Point.Investigators said Thomas Crain, of Chadwick, was piloting a 1998 Tracker bass boat when he lost control and was tossed from the craft. Crain was rushed to Cox Medical Center Branson, and pronounced dead shortly after 3:10 p.m. He was 80.This is the first boating fatality of the year in the state patrol's Troop D region.

Ameren Missouri, Forest ReLeaf ask customers to beware of utilities before planting trees

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Ameren Missouri, Forest ReLeaf ask customers to beware of utilities before planting trees ST. LOUIS – For the past three decades, Ameren Missouri and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri have been educating the community for on proper landscaping around and under power lines.Nick Henderson, head of vegetation management at Ameren Missouri, said they maintain 4,200-line miles a year, which is several hundred thousand trees trimmed annually. He wants their customers to be aware of utilities when looking to plant trees.“Overhead line facilities, power poles, underground transformers, pad mount transformers, and things like that is, really, what we want to try to educate people on,” Henderson said. “Being aware of those utilities and not putting trees that are incompatible with them.”Planting incompatible trees leads to issues with grid reliability, especially when storms roll through, and can also be dangerous.“What we want to have our customers avoid is putting a tree that’s going to get up into the facilities. That’s a safety issue that can conduct electricity on a wet day, even on ...

Kiszla: How much time does Russell Wilson have to show coach Sean Payton he’s the right QB for Broncos?

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Kiszla: How much time does Russell Wilson have to show coach Sean Payton he’s the right QB for Broncos? A slimmed-down Russell Wilson might be watching what he eats at the dinner table, but the words that come out of the quarterback’s mouth are still as sweet as sunshine, lollipops and rainbows.With Sean Payton large and in charge as the Broncos coach, Wilson is no longer the entitled DangerRuss we saw last season, at least not out on the football field during spring practice. He is No. 3 in orange and blue. Wilson is just one of the guys, on a team that has a lot of guys with much to prove.“I think Sean is one of the best coaches ever to coach this game,” Wilson said Thursday when asked his impression of the new boss. “He’s intense, he’s focused, he’s such a great teacher of the game.”After observing the old-school way Payton conducts his football business and hanging out with him at a Nuggets game, Wilson’s initial impression of his new coach is as warm as freshly baked cookies.But is the admiration mutual?I’m not so certai...

Rep. Leslie Herod sought a job guarantee in exchange for mayoral endorsement, Kelly Brough alleges

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:38:34 GMT

Rep. Leslie Herod sought a job guarantee in exchange for mayoral endorsement, Kelly Brough alleges State Rep. Leslie Herod sought a promise that she would have an important job in Kelly Brough’s mayoral administration when the two were discussing the possibility of Herod endorsing Brough in the runoff race for Denver mayor, according to Brough and a third person involved in the discussion.“She wanted a guarantee of a position and one of importance,” Brough said.Herod, the fifth-place finisher in the first round of the mayor’s race, says the claim is “absolutely not true.” She also said she has no such agreement in place with candidate Mike Johnston whom she endorsed on April 24.Jordan Fuja, spokesperson for the Johnston campaign, said there is no promise that Herod nor anyone else endorsing Johnston will be offered a job at city hall should he be elected.Asked how he intended to staff a possible administration at a forum at The Denver Press Club on Thursday morning, Johnston said “I have been very deliberate on not promising jobs to anybo...