#IT Networking Services in San Diego

[it4aweek16]

https://www.it4aweek.com/

IT4AWEEK provides Data Recovery Services in San Diego, offering reliable and efficient solutions to help their clients recover lost data. With their experienced team of technicians, state-of-the-art tools and resources, and a commitment to customer satisfaction, IT4AWEEK provides a comprehensive solution for all data recovery needs. Their services include recovering data from corrupted hard drives, restoring data from formatted drives, and data recovery from deleted files. Furthermore, they provide both onsite and offsite services, ensuring the utmost safety and security of the client's data. With IT4AWEEK, businesses and individuals in San Diego can trust that their data will be recovered quickly and efficiently

[it4aweek]

Is your device facing the risk of viruses? Opt for Virus Removal Services in San Diego by IT4AWEEK to solve this issue. 858-324-2820 support@it4aweek.com  https://it4aweek.com #virusremovalservice #virus #laptoprepair #datarecovery #laptops #windows #microsoldering #SanDiego

[sandiegotechsupor]

San Diego Tech Support

Website https://san-diegotechsupport.com/

Descriptions: Clients throughout Southern California rely on San Diego Tech Support for Expert-Level, Enterprise-Grade IT Consulting Services at friendly rates. Using our Managed IT Services- Enterprise business clients typically see reduced downtime, increased productivity, and enhanced information security.

Leverage our tech teams’ core proficiencies in Microsoft Cloud Products or Google Cloud Platform(GCP). Our team will enable your business to reap the benefits of IT Automation. We’ll provide Robust Cybersecurity Controls, Business Data Continuity, documentation, and more. Our clients enjoy US-based Support.

[vigiltechsystems]

Vigil Tech Systems | Security Service | Home Network Installation in San Diego CA

We are your dependable and trustworthy go-to for exceptional Security Service in San Diego CA. Renowned for excellence in service and cutting-edge technology, we are committed to ensuring peace of mind for our clients. From installing digital camera systems and intrusion alarms to access programming, we have you covered, making your place more secure. Moreover, we are also renowned for seamless Home Network Installation in San Diego CA. Recognizing the importance of robust and reliable connectivity in today’s digital age, we will help you have an efficient, secure, and seamless digital experience at home. Our service charges are low to meet the client’s budget. So, if you need our expert assistance, call us today.

[remsisincca]

Facts About Cloud Migration Services In San Diego, San Marcos, Del Mar, Oceanside, La Mesa, And Carlsbad, CA

The ability to speed up business operations and ensure foolproof storage makes the use of cloud facilities inevitable for all companies today. Indeed for small, medium, and big-sized companies, it makes sense to consider cloud migration services in San Diego, San Marcos, Del Mar, Oceanside, La Mesa, and Carlsbad, CA, especially when the concerned entity does not have a well-equipped IT department to rely upon. ​ Digital transformation has made cloud services inevitable today, especially in the wake of the recent pandemic wave that engulfed the world. Such services have resulted in keeping multiple business entities viable by providing them with a means of reinventing their operations and outmaneuvering their competitors decisively. To the unaware and uninitiated, the question of what cloud migration is apparent. Well, it suffices to know that this involves a process of moving the entire digital assets of a company to the cloud. It may include several databases, IT resources, and applications. Cloud migration may also be about moving from one cloud to another successfully. Moving all digital operations to the cloud is not a necessity, however. It is more about improving the efficiency of the said company. As a result, several companies that have been operating with dated and ineffective infrastructures so far find it feasible and advantageous to migrate to the cloud without wasting time any further. The old servers, unreliable firewalls, and slow and ineffective hardware & software are slowly being abandoned in favor of the cloud today. Cloud computing has proved to be tremendously successful of late, resulting in a majority of companies making a full or partial migration to the cloud. It is also essential to know that merely a desire to transfer all assets to the cloud cannot be fulfilled overnight. The procedure requires meticulous planning, detailed analysis, and perfect execution. Compatibility with the business requirements and cloud solutions must also be ensured for proper migration. The answers to all queries can be provided by competent cloud users and techies who are well-versed in the hows and whys of cloud migration. The company hoping to migrate to the cloud must consider the reason for doing so. It is vital to understand that the challenge is not merely in getting there but also in how the business will operate flawlessly from the cloud. Understandably, there are benefits galore. It is even more important to check whether each advantage will help the company move forward. Some of the more appreciated gains that a company migrating to the cloud expects are:- · Increased agility · Flexibility · Faster innovation · Lower resource demands · Better management of customer expectations · Cost reduction · Immediate business results · Simplified IT processes · Shifting to everything-as-a-service · Better consumption · Cloud scalability · Improved performance The service provider that assists with cloud migration is sure to ensure proper network backup in San Diego, San Marcos, Del Mar, Oceanside, La Mesa, and Carlsbad, CA, in addition.

[pumpkinpuffgirls]

NOTE: THE ABOVE IMAGE IS AN EDIT BY ME, NOT A SCREENSHOT OF THE SCENE

Crisis on Infinite Mirths - PPG Creator, Craig McCracken asked development team if the original Bubbles could beat up the "New One"

At the recent San Diego Comic Con showing of the new Jellystone special, one of the writers spoke to fans. Saying that they often communicated with the original creators of the series they used for the crossover, including Powerpuff Girl Creator, Craig McCracken.

On stage he said that in a note given to them by Craig, "Can you please have the original Bubbles beating up the new Bubbles somewhere?" To which they cheerfully agreed. In a chaotic fight scene, in the background they hid a part where 1998 Bubbles whacks 2016 Bubbles on the head.

Since the CN Latin America commercial, this is the 2nd time the 2016 series has been depicted in a negative light by official CN content. This time specifically requested by the series creator himself. It's understandable, a large part of why 2016 was the way it was, was because Cartoon Network didn't want to wait for Craig's contract with Disney over Wander Over Yonder to end. Going ahead without him. Craig didn't make 2016, and it's reasonable to believe that he may harbor some sour feelings for how CN handled his brainchild.

Unfortunately no clip of the scene is available online at the moment, as the only clips we have right now come from the Comic Con showing. We will likely have to wait until Jellystone: Crisis on Infinite Mirths releases on tv and streaming services to get a clip of the scene.

Reminder, I am not a news source, but did my best to report on this and source what I could

No effects version of the image

Original screenshot

[reasonsforhope]

The Kenya Wildlife Service celebrated the successful transfer of 21 eastern black rhinos to establish a new viable breeding population for the species that was on the brink of extinction decades ago.

In an 18-day exercise executed by highly trained capture and veterinary experts, the Loisaba Conservancy received the 21 rhinos from three different locations, becoming the 17th sanctuary in Kenya where the mammoth animals can roam and intermingle.

“It’s incredibly exciting to be part of the resettlement of rhinos to a landscape where they’ve been absent for 50 years,” said Tom Silvester, CEO of Loisaba Conservancy.

Kenya had 20,000 black rhinos in the 1970s before poachers decimated them for their horns. By the time the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) was established in 1989, rhino numbers had declined to below 400.

Since then, Kenya’s eastern black rhinos have made a remarkable comeback and today there are an estimated 1,004 individuals.

Kenya is a stronghold of the eastern sub species of black rhino, hosting approximately 80 percent of the entire world’s surviving population.

“Surpassing the milestone of 1,000 rhinos within four decades is a significant accomplishment,” said Munira Bashir, Director of The Nature Conservancy in Kenya.

The reintroduction this month of these 21 animals this month is a great milestone in Kenya’s rhino recovery action plan, and was made possible by support from The Nature Conservancy, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, other partners—and the three reserves from where the 21 rhinos originated, Nairobi National Park, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Lewa Conservancy.

“In the recent past, one of the main causes of mortality of rhinos has been territorial fights due to limited space in sanctuaries which has also led to suppressed growth rates due,” explained Dr. Erustus Kanga, the Director General of Kenya Wildlife Service. “I am elated to be associated with this momentous effort to secure more space for this cornerstone species.”

Meanwhile, southern white rhinos continue to thrive in Kenya, having increased from 50 individuals that were imported from South Africa in the eighties and nineties to reach the current population of 971 individuals.

Kenya is also playing a critical role in efforts to save the northern white rhino from extinction, as it is host to the only remaining two females of the species left in the world. The international BioRescue project has developed thirty embryos awaiting implantation into surrogate females within the closely-related subspecies of southern white rhino.

“The return of black rhinos to Loisaba, 50 years after the last known individual here was killed by poachers in the 1970s, is a demonstration of how impactful partnerships between governments and conservation NGOs can be for restoring, managing, and protecting our natural world,” said Dr. Max Graham, CEO and Founder of Space for Giants, one of the project partners.

“And, of course, the return of black rhinos here gives all of us one of the most precious commodities of all: hope.”

-via Good News Network, February 25, 2024

[memecucker]

The relationship between colonialism and religion is more complicated than the Civilization game where you’re trying to score a religious victory and it’s easier to convert places you conquer.

It’s not a matter of religion being imposed purely for the purpose of religion being imposed even if that may have been the personal motives of individual colonizers because even if there was a truly missionary motive these missions could only exist insofar as it was economically sustainable and oftentimes this takes the form of exploitation of the indigenous population.

Also the flat conception of religious colonialism overlooks how as colonialism progressed as a type of “social technology” there was in many places a shift away from seeking to replace indigenous organized religions (if they were present in the first place) towards recruiting the indigenous religious authorities to the colonial side.

Like for example with the colonies of the Iberian powers there was no separation of church and state and I don’t just mean in the sense of “the state imposed religious dogma and the church officially endorsed the state” I mean basic everyday functions of the state relied upon services of the church. Eg; If a colonial Governor wanted to say, requisition corvee labor from villages for a building project and he wished to know the populations of these villages in order to decide which to pull laborers he wouldn’t be looking at any state mandated census but instead would rely upon the archives and records of the Catholic Church because records would be kept of church attendance. If the governor wanted to hunt some rebel named “Diego of San Juan” he’d look at baptismal records to find examples of people named “Diego” and who they’re related to.

This meant that Spanish and Portuguese colonialism had an actual material interest in enforcing religious homogeneity and Catholic supremacy because that’s how their colonial states functioned. The colonial bureaucracy was in fact synonymous with the Church’s bureaucracy and so if some people weren’t Catholic they existed outside the Church which meant they existed (at least partially) outside the State. One example that’s a bit relevant is the original version the “National Commission on Indigenous Peoples” in the Philippines was set up during the American occupation and was called “Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes” because the groups in question are largely people who existed outside of direct Spanish colonial control (and wouldve been labeled “savages” in the 19th century) and hence “non-Christian”.

Anyway in the case of the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia this wound up being part of the reason for its collapse. By making their state function in the requirement that it’s subjects be observant Catholics the Portuguese had a lot of trouble making allies because if indigenous elites could be persuaded to convert then great but if they didn’t then they were gonna get really pissed off especially when they start hearing the Portuguese are torturing people under their rule that feel the same. And so without a network of allies the Portuguese colonial empire in Asia began to fall apart leaving only Goa, Macau and East Timor. Elsewhere the Portuguese had been replaced by the Dutch, English and French all of whom had systems of governance which was not as so dependent on doctrinal supremacy as the Iberians eg; the Dutch agreed to help the Shogunate put down a Christian revolt in 1638 and the East India Company actually banned Christian missionaries from operating in its territories until 1813 when Parliament forced them to allow Christian missionaries to preach.

Now of course the EIC example is in particular interesting because what you’re basically seeing is the colonial state shedding its reliance on the Christian Church in favor of courting the support of indigenous religious leaders and recruiting them into the colonial apparatus but at the same time you have churches seeking to operate whats can be considered a type of “rival” colonial project that would have an almost parasitic relationship in that the churches profited in their own way while also in a way undermining the local legitimacy of the official colonial state.

[dertaglichedan]

15 health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans | 2024

Medicare Advantage provides health coverage to more than half of the nation's older adults, but some hospitals and health systems are opting to end their contracts with MA plans over administrative challenges.

Among the most commonly cited reasons are excessive prior authorization denial rates and slow payments from insurers.

In 2023, Becker's began reporting on hospitals and health systems nationwide that dropped some or all of their Medicare Advantage contracts.

In January, the Healthcare Financial Management Association released a survey of 135 health system CFOs, which found that 16% of systems are planning to stop accepting one or more MA plans in the next two years. Another 45% said they are considering the same but have not made a final decision. The report also found that 62% of CFOs believe collecting from MA is "significantly more difficult" than it was two years ago.

Fifteen health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans in 2024: Editor's note: This is not an exhaustive list. It will continue to be updated this year 1. Canton, Ohio-based Aultman Health System's hospitals will no longer be in network with Humana Medicare Advantage after July 1, and its physicians will no longer be in network after Aug. 1.

2. Albany (N.Y.) Med Health System stopped accepting Humana Medicare Advantage on July 1.

3. Munster, Ind.-based Powers Health (formerly Community Healthcare System) went out of network with Humana and Aetna's Medicare Advantage plans on June 1.

4. Lawton, Okla.-based Comanche County Memorial Hospital stopped accepting UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans on May 1.

5. Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System stopped contracting with Humana Medicare Advantage on Jan. 1.

6. York, Pa.-based WellSpan Health stopped accepting Humana Medicare Advantage and UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans on Jan. 1. UnitedHealthcare D-SNP plans in some locations are still accepted.

7. Newark, Del.-based ChristianaCare is out of network with Humana's Medicare Advantage plans as of Jan. 1, with the exception of home health services.

8. Greenville, N.C.-based ECU Health stopped accepting Humana's Medicare Advantage plans in January.

9. Zanesville, Ohio-based Genesis Healthcare System dropped Anthem BCBS and Humana Medicare Advantage plans in January.

10. Corvallis, Ore.-based Samaritan Health Services' hospitals went out of network with UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage plans on Jan. 9. Samaritan's physicians and provider services will be out of network on Nov. 1.

11. Cameron (Mo.) Regional Medical Center stopped accepting Aetna and Humana Medicare Advantage in 2024.

12. Bend, Ore.-based St. Charles Health System stopped accepting Humana Medicare Advantage on Jan. 1 and Centene MA on Feb. 1. 

13. Brookings (S.D.) Health System stopped accepting all Medicare Advantage plans in 2024.

14. Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health went out of network with UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage and Centene's WellCare on Jan. 1. 15. San Diego-based Scripps Health ended all Medicare Advantage contracts for its integrated medical groups, effective Jan. 1.

[trainsinanime]

Trains in Wednesday

If you watched Wednesday (2022 Netflix TV show), then you've probably wondered what the train was, and whether it makes sense. The answer to that is: Sorta, by accident!

We see the train briefly in establishing shots in a number of episodes, but especially episode two, where it pulls into the station. The station is full of American flags everywhere, and the show is set in America, so as you'd expect, the station and train are from…

…Romania, actually. Not quite Transylvania, but close (at least the castle, I don't actually know about the station). This train is a CFR class 96 DMU (diesel multiple unit).

Picture by Stefan Bichler (Stbichler), via Wikimedia Commons, published under CC BY-SA 3.0

To much the rest of the world, this type of train is known as a Siemens Desiro. Specifically it is nowadays known as a Siemens Desiro Classic. There are plenty of other trains named Siemens Desiro, generally with a suffix, that are technically and visually completely different (e.g. the ones for the UK, Russia, Belgium, the newer ones for Germany and Israel, the one for Malaysia… all completely different trains).

The Desiro Classic was designed to offer better service on rural German branch lines, with high acceleration, level boarding, air conditioning and accessibility. Several other companies built similar trains during the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of a big program to modernise Germany's regional rail lines, and all of them managed to sell theirs far and wide beyond Germany as well. Siemens in particular managed to get a good foothold on south-east Europe. They sold significant numbers of these trains to Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Greece, as well as Denmark in a different direction. Most were diesel, but some electric versions also exist. Romania in particular got 120 trains (all diesel), about half of which were produced locally, which makes them the second-biggest user of this type after Germany.

As a train designed to continental European standards, it does not meet US-american crash worthiness requirements, which are all designed around "the heavier the train the better", and have largely ignored "built stuff in to avoid collisions". As a result it can't run on the US mainline rail network. And so you'd expect me to say that this makes no sense in the US, and I'd really like to…

…but as it turns out, for almost any early-2000s low floor German DMU, you can find like one or two lines in the US were these were used as a super innovative regional rail project. For the Desiro, that place was North San Diego County, California, where twelve of these trains run under the name "Sprinter" between places I never heard of (Oceanside and Escondido) in the greater LA metro area.

Picture by Amtrak455, via Wikimedia Commons, published under CC BY-SA 4.0

Different colors, obviously, and I think it got more AC units on the roof, but it's still the same train. The lower crash standards means that it's considered "light rail" in the US, meaning it legally counts as a better type of tram, and freight trains can't run when these trains are running.

Twelve of these trains isn't a lot, but it's still more than the three Bombardier Talent DMUs (a similar type by a different company) that used to run in Ontario, and that people always bring up whenever I talked about a Bombardier Talent somewhere.

Wednesday is set in Vermont, obviously, far from California. But Nevermore and the town of Jericho are clearly fictional, and it's absolutely possible that in the alternate universe of the show, there is a branch line in Vermont that got these trains in the mid-2000s. It's a bit of a stretch if you get down to it, e.g. with the Romanian colours (and for that matter why is the station electrified? Is Jericho a junction on a branch of the North-East Corridor?). But it's way more plausible then the show's love triangle.

[it4aweek16]

https://www.it4aweek.com

Searching for the best Computer Repair Near Me? The professionals at IT4AWEEK get the job done quickly and accurately.

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[eddiewaren]

Navigating Translation Services in San Diego

Settled along the pleasant shore of Southern California, San Diego is a city known for its staggering scenes, social variety, and flourishing economy. As a blend of societies and a center for business, training, and the travel industry, San Diego has turned into a microcosm of globalization. In this blog, we'll investigate the essential job that translation services play in San Diego, working with powerful correspondence across dialects and overcoming any barrier between its assorted networks.

A Worldwide Center Point of Variety

San Diego's social texture is woven with strings from around the world. From the clamoring roads of Little Italy to the energetic neighborhoods of City Levels, the city is home to a rich embroidery of dialects and societies. With a solid presence of global companies, scholarly establishments, and army installations, the interest in proficient translation services has flooded to oblige the requirements of the two inhabitants and organizations. These administrations act as the crucial connection that permits San Diego's multicultural populace to interface, team up, and flourish.

Key Translation Services in San Diego

The interpretation scene in San Diego is pretty much as different as its populace, offering a wide exhibit of administrations that take care of different areas and enterprises:

Business and Lawful Interpretation: San Diego's strong economy is filled with plenty of organizations going from new businesses to worldwide enterprises. Translation services help with authoritative record interpretation, contracts, promoting materials, and business correspondence, guaranteeing that organizations can really draw in accomplices, clients, and clients around the world.

Instructive Interpretation: San Diego's eminent colleges and instructive foundations draw in understudies and researchers from across the globe. Translation services work with the enlistment cycle, scholastic correspondence, and the interpretation of exploration materials, making instruction available to non-local English speakers.

The travel industry and Friendliness Interpretation: With its shocking sea shores, top-notch attractions, and all year wonderful environment, San Diego is a famous traveler objective. Translation services assist with making the city inviting and available to worldwide guests by giving deciphered guides, guides, and signage.

Medical Services and Clinical Interpretation: San Diego's medical care area serves a different patient populace, large numbers of whom may not communicate in English as their essential language. Clinical translation services guarantee exact correspondence between medical services suppliers and patients, empowering viable therapy and care.

Social Awareness and Exactness

Viable interpretation in San Diego goes past simple phonetic transformation. It requires a profound comprehension of social subtleties, informal articulations, and normal practices. Proficient interpreters in the city have the aptitude to guarantee that deciphered substance passes on exact data as well as resounds socially with the target group.

Embracing Innovation

Like a lot of California, San Diego is no more peculiar to mechanical development. Translation services in the city are consolidating progressions, for example, machine interpretation and man-made consciousness to improve productivity and smooth out the interpretation cycle. Notwithstanding, human interpreters stay fundamental for keeping up with setting, tone, and social genuineness.

End

Translation services in San Diego assume an essential part in encouraging associations, separating language obstructions, and advancing social trade. As the city keeps on developing as a worldwide player in different areas, the interest in precise and socially touchy correspondence will just develop. Whether it's helping worldwide undertakings, enhancing instructive encounters, or working with consistent medical care connections, translation services in San Diego stand as a demonstration of the city's obligation to inclusivity, variety, and viable worldwide correspondence.

[ammg-old2]

It was a simpler time. A friend introduced us, pulling up a static yellow webpage using a shaky dial-up modem. A man stood forth, dressed in a dapper black pinstriped suit with a red-accented tie. He held one hand out, as if carrying an imaginary waiter’s tray. He looked regal and confident and eminently at my service. “Have a Question?” he beckoned. “Just type it in and click Ask!” And ask, I did. Over and over.

With his steady hand, Jeeves helped me make sense of the tangled mess of the early, pre-Google internet. He wasn’t perfect—plenty of context got lost between my inquiries and his responses. Still, my 11-year-old brain always delighted in the idea of a well-coiffed man chauffeuring me down the information superhighway. But things changed. Google arrived, with its clean design and almost magic ability to deliver exactly the answers I wanted. Jeeves and I grew apart. Eventually, in 2006, Ask Jeeves disappeared from the internet altogether and was replaced with the more generic Ask.com.

Many years later, it seems I owe Jeeves an apology: He had the right idea all along. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and the stunning popularity of generative-text tools such as ChatGPT, today’s search-engine giants are making huge bets on AI search chatbots. In February, Microsoft revealed its Bing Chatbot, which has thrilled and frightened early users for its ability to scour the internet and answer questions (not always correctly) with convincingly human-sounding language. The same week, Google demoed Bard, the company’s forthcoming attempt at an AI-powered chat-search product. But for all the hype, when I stare at these new chatbots, I can’t help but see the faint reflection of my former besuited internet manservant. In a sense, Bing and Bard are finishing what Ask Jeeves started. What people want when they ask a question is for an all-knowing, machine-powered guide to confidently present them with the right answer in plain language, just as a reliable friend would.

With this in mind, I decided to go back to the source. More than a decade after parting ways, I found myself on the phone with one of the men behind the machine, getting as close to Asking Jeeves as is humanly possible. These days, Garrett Gruener, Ask Jeeves’s co-creator, is a venture capitalist in the Bay Area. He and his former business partner David Warthen eventually sold Ask Jeeves to Barry Diller and IAC for just under $2 billion. Still, I wondered if Gruener had been unsettled by Jeeves’s demise. Did he, like me, see the new chatbots as the final form of his original idea? Did he feel vindicated or haunted by the fact that his creation may have simply been born far too early?

The original conception for Jeeves, Gruener told me, was remarkably similar to what Microsoft and Google are trying to build today. As a student at UC San Diego in the mid-1970s, Gruener—a sci-fi aficionado—got an early glimpse of ARPANET, the pre-browser predecessor to the commercial internet, and fell in love. Just over a decade later, as the web grew and the beginnings of the internet came into view, Gruener realized that people would need a way to find things in the morass of semiconnected servers and networks. “It became clear that the web needed search but that mere mortals without computer-science degrees needed something easy, even conversational,” he said. Inspired by Eliza, the famous chatbot designed by MIT’s Joseph Weizenbaum, Gruener dreamed of a search engine that could converse with people using natural-language processing. Unfortunately, the technology wasn’t sophisticated enough for Gruener to create his ideal conversational search bot.

So Gruener and Warthen tried a work-around. Their code allowed a user to write a statement in English, which was then matched to a preprogrammed vector, which Gruener explained to me as “a canonical snapshot of answers to what the engine thought you were trying to say.” Essentially, they taught the machine to recognize certain words and provide really broad categorical answers. “If you were looking for population stats for a country, the query would see all your words and associated variables and go, Well, this Boolean search seems close, so it’s probably this.” Jeeves would provide the answer, and then you could clarify whether it worked or not.

“We tried to discern what people were trying to say in search, but without actually doing the natural-recognition part of it,” Gruener said. After some brainstorming, they realized that they were essentially building a butler. One of Gruener’s friends mocked up a drawing of the friendly servant, and Jeeves was born.

Pre-Google, Ask Jeeves exploded in popularity, largely because it allowed people to talk with their search engine like a person. Within just two years, the site was handling more than 1 million queries a day. A massive Jeeves balloon floated down Central Park West during Macy’s 1999 Thanksgiving parade. But not long after the butler achieved buoyancy, the site started to lose ground in the search wars. Google’s web-crawling superiority led to hard times for Ask Jeeves. “None of us were very concerned about monetization in the beginning,” Gruener told me. “Everyone in search early on realized, if you got this right, you’d essentially be in the position of being the oracle. If you could be the company to go to in order to ask questions online, you’re going to be paid handsomely.”

Gruener isn’t bitter about losing out to Google. “If anything, I’m really proud of our Jeeves,” he told me. Listening to Gruener explain the history, it’s not hard to see why. In the mid-2000s, Google began to pivot search away from offering only 10 blue links to images, news, maps, and shopping. Eventually, the company began to fulfill parts of the Jeeves promise of answering questions with answer boxes. One way to look at the evolution of big search engines in the 21st century is that all companies are trying their best to create their own intuitive search butlers. Gruener told me that Ask Jeeves’s master plan had two phases, though the company was sold before it could tackle the second. Gruener had hoped that, eventually, Jeeves could act as a digital concierge for users. He’d hoped to employ the same vector technology to get people to ask questions and allow Jeeves to make educated guesses and help users complete all kinds of tasks. “If you look at Amazon’s Alexa, they’re essentially using the same approach we designed for Jeeves, just with voice,” Gruener said. Yesterday’s butler has been rebranded as today’s virtual assistant, and the technology is ubiquitous in many of our home devices and phones. “We were right for the consumer back then, and maybe we’d be right now. But at some point the consumer evolved,” he said.

I’ve been fixated on what might’ve been if Gruener’s vision had come about now. We might all be Jeevesing about the internet for answers to our mundane questions. Perhaps our Jeevesmail inboxes would be overflowing and we’d be getting turn-by-turn directions from an Oxford-educated man with a stiff English accent. Perhaps we’d all be much better off.

Gruener told me about an encounter he’d had during the search wars with one of Google’s founders at a TED conference (he wouldn’t specify which of the two). “I told him that we’re going to learn an enormous amount about the people who are using our platforms, especially as they become more conversational. And I said that it was a potentially dangerous position,” he said. “But he didn’t seem very receptive to my concerns.”

Near the end of our call, I offered an apology for deserting Jeeves like everyone else did. Gruener just laughed. “I find this future fascinating and, if I’m honest, a little validating,” he said. “It’s like, ultimately, as the tech has come around, the big guys have come around to what we were trying to do.”

[docpiplup]

@asongofstarkandtargaryen There's a couple of comics and films I wanted to post something about them some time ago, so here they are

Black is Beltza is a duology of comics, the first one was published in 2014 and the second in 2022, and they have been adapted into two Basque animated films recently in 2018 and 2022, Black is Beltza and Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa.

One of the main things of the comics are the sociopolitical environment of the places and the period the films are set in, for example the first one is set in the 60's mainly in New York and the sequel is set in the 80's and among other places, in Pamplona.

Black is Beltza (2018)

October 1965. The Pamplona troupe of giants, a typical image of the San Fermín festivities, is invited to parade on Fifth Avenue in New York. But not everyone will be able to leave: due to racial discrimination, the North American authorities prohibit the participation of the two black giants. Based on this real event, "Black is Beltza" tells the story of Manex, the waiter in charge of carrying one of the giants. Headed for a long and unexpected journey, Manex will witness key events in history: the racial riots resulting from the assassination of Malcolm X, the eccentricities of the characters in The Factory, the alliance between the Cuban secret services and the Black Panthers, and the proto-hippie psychedelia of early music festivals.

Duration: 87 min.

Script: Harkaitz Cano, Fermín Muguruza, Eduard Solà (Comic: Fermín Muguruza, Harkaitz Cano, Jorge Alderete)

Animation Companies: ETB, Setmàgic Audiovisual, Talka Records & Films

Cast

Unax Ugalde: Manex

Isaach de Bankolé: Wilson Clever

Iseo: Amanda Tamaya

Sergi López: Warren Philips

Ramón Agirre: Xebero

Jorge Perugorria: Sargento Bravo

Angelo Moore: Rudy

María de Medeiros: Amira

Emma Suárez: Laia

Oscar Jaenada: Che Guevara

Rossy de Palma: Ruth Abransom

Ramón Barea: Ramiro

Hamid Krim: Yassim

Guillermo Toledo: Teniente Muñoz

Ander Lipus: guardia civil

Josean Bengoetxea: Juanpe, Pancho Villa

Lenval Brown: Jimmy

Valeria Maldonado: Esperanza

Sergio Arau: Juan Rulfo

Jorge Ferrera: Eliseo

Giancarlo Ruiz: Tin-Tan, Smithy, Sergei Titov

Josh Kun: Dwayne

Ray Fernández: Cte. Antonovich

Victor Navarrete: Guerrillero 1

Iban Rusiñol: Laurent

Exprai: Pedro del Taller, Hernán Cortés

Márgenes Dermer: azafata

Ramón Zumitrenko: Sf dentista

Stuart Casson: Otis Redding, Emory Douglas

KO the Knockout: Ben Cauley

Sistaeyeire: Angela Davis

Dratzo Gomex: policía fronteriza I

Marieder Iriart: Iman

Mariam Bachir: Amal

Black is Beltza II: Ainhoa (2022)

Ainhoa ​​was born by a miracle in La Paz (Bolivia) after the death, in a parapolice attack, of her mother Amanda. She grew up in Cuba and in 1988, at the age of 21, she traveled to the Basque Country to see the land of his father Manex. In the middle of the repressive conflict, she meets Josune, a committed journalist, and her gang of friends. When one of them dies of a heroin overdose, Ainhoa ​​and Josune set out on an initiation journey that will take them through Lebanon, Afghanistan and the city of Marseille. These are the last years of the Cold War and both will delve into the dark world of drug trafficking networks and their close ties to political plots.

Direction: Fermin Muguruza

Duration: 86 min.

Script: Fermín Muguruza, Isa Campo, Harkaitz Cano (Comic: Fermín Muguruza)

Music: Maite Arrotajauregi

Photography: Animation, Mariona Omedes

Companies: Co-production Spain-Argentina; Talka Records & Films

Cast

Maria Cruickshank: Ainhoa

Itziar Ituño: Josune

Manex Fuchs: Hamid

Antonio de la Torre: Rafael

Darko Peric: Igor

Ariadna Gil: Isabelle

Eneko Sagardoy: Diego

Mikel Losada: Mikel

Ramón Agirre: Xebero

Miren Gaztañaga: Amatxi Tere

Maite Larburu Iman

Ximun Fuchs: Jean-Pierre

Gorka Otxoa: Iñigo Kortatu

Fermín Muguruza: Fermin Kortatu

Jon Plazaola: Javier Salutregi

Peio Berteretxe: Didier

Maryse Urruty: Armineh

Isidro: Isidro

Joseba Sarrionandia: Martin

Maria Forni: Yady

Iban Rusiñol: Commisaire Marcel

Natalia Abu-sharar: off Sabra y Shatila

Moraysys Silva: Tania

Maykel García Cardo: Felix The Cat

Bruno Coscia: Arthur

Maria Amolategui: Amaia Apaolaza

Papet-J: Chef Chérif

[harrelltut]

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