AI Is Cutting Jobs!

Many have raised alarms about the potential for artificial intelligence to displace jobs in the years ahead.

But, it’s already causing upheaval in one industry where workers once seemed invincible: TECH.

A small but growing number of TECH firms have cited AI as a reason for laying off workers.

And they are rethinking new hires in recent months, as Silicon Valley races to adapt to rapid advances in the technology being developed in its own backyard.

Chegg, an education technology company, disclosed in a regulatory filing last month that it was cutting 4% of its workforce, or about 80 employees.

It is doing this “To better position the Company to execute against its AI strategy and to create long-term, sustainable value for its students and investors.” (CNN)

Life Is A Lot Like Baseball!

Baseball - Wikipedia

I have been watching the Detroit Tiger baseball games this summer.

Last Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics beat the Tigers 12 to 3.

The following day the Tigers won by a score of 9 to 0.

How is it that the same team could score 12 runs one day and no runs the next day?

My analogy here is that we all have good days and bad days.

We are the SAME person applying the SAME effort, but with different results.

So, when we’re having a good day, we know there will be bad days ahead.

And likewise, when we’re having a bad day, we know there will be good days ahead.

MY ADVICE:

We shouldn’t go TOO HIGH with good days or TOO LOW with bad days!

The 1st Flying Car!

Alef Aeronautics' flying Car unveiling on October 19, 2022.

The Federal Aviation Administration has certified for testing a vehicle that a California startup describes as a flying car.

It is the first fully electric vehicle that can both fly and travel on roads to receive US government approval.

Alef Automotive said that its vehicle/aircraft, dubbed the “Model A,” is the first flying vehicle that is drivable on public roads and able to park like a normal car.

It also has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

It apparently will be able to carry one or two occupants and will have a road-range of 200 miles and a flying range of 110 miles.

The company expects to sell the vehicle for $300,000 each with the first delivery by projected for the end of 2025.

The FAA confirmed that it has issued the company a special airworthiness certificate, allowing for limited purposes that include exhibition, research and development.

Drink Enough Water?

How Much Water Should a Person Drink in a Day? | Britannica

Here’s some welcome news: Water can work wonders for your health!

The humble liquid comprises about 60% of our body weight and allows our internal organs to perform at their best.
Water regulates our body temperature, keeps our joints lubricated and carries nutrients to our cells.
If we’re not adequately hydrated, we may experience nausea and loss of appetite, and may find it difficult to concentrate and perform physical tasks.
So it’s important to drink water. That much we know. And these days, while we stay at home with our reusable cups and convenient access to bathrooms, there’s no good reason not to be drinking water.
But how much is enough?

Considering that about 80% of our water intake comes from fluids and about 20% from foods, that breaks down to a daily goal of about 9 cups (or 72 ounces) of fluids for females and 12½ cups (or 100 ounces) for males.

The Immigration Story Is Our Story!

We are all here because our ancestors made the perilous journey to a new world filled with hope. My grandmother lost a sister on the crossing from Ireland.

Here is another Immigrant’s Thoughts:

“My family’s journey is very much a part of American history, part and parcel with the Vietnam War, a singular event that caused a dispersion of ripples. I am one of those ripples.

All immigrant and refugee narratives, including my parents’ stories, contribute to the unfolding of American history.

Like most survival stories, my family’s journey didn’t end with the sighting of land.

It encompassed the grit of the travelers but also the profound humanity of a host nation lifting up newcomers fleeing a bleak existence.

Americans pause in reflection during holidays such as Independence Day to celebrate this very same ethos.

It would be a good thing if Americans were also taught more about the histories, cultures and experiences of marginalized communities.

That would only help us better understand our friends and neighbors.”

Lighthouses For Free!

[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] Stratford Shoal Lighthouse, also known as Middleground Lighthouse, Connecticut.

The US General Services Administration is giving away or auctioning lighthouses in New England.

Like the small towns in Italy selling off houses for just 1 euro, these lighthouses come with stipulations.

A handful of them – five as of Friday afternoon – will be given away for free to local governments, nonprofits or community organizations.

The others will be auctioned off to the public.

But they’re going fast.

As of Friday afternoon, there were still two “on the block” with bids of $60,000.

The idea is that the cost and work of fixing up these lighthouses will be the responsibility of the new owner, not local taxpayers.

Also, any of the lighthouses that aren’t given to a nonprofit or community organization within lighthouse season will then be offered up for public auction, too.

As the GSA’s website puts it: You can’t get more waterfront than this.

“Boys” & Their Toys!

49,300+ Man On Motorcycle Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images -  iStock | Older man on motorcycle, Indian man on motorcycle, Black man on  motorcycle

Regardless of age, most men still like to play with toys.

It may be a motorcycle, sailboat, fast car or whatever.

It’s just a passion that never leaves them.

I saw an old friend I haven’t seen for a few years yesterday.

Yep, he and his buddy are off on another trip next week.

He showed me a map of all the places he has been in the U.S. and Europe.

Incredible!

My favorite toys are sailboats.

My first sailboat was a little 14′ wooden sailboat with a hole in the bottom.

When my brother and I sailed together, one would sail and one would bail.

I’ve been in over 100 yacht races since then.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to walk away from my sailing days.

There is always a time when we must set our toys aside.

This is one of those times!

Prayer Of St. Francis

Do You Pray Like the People in the Bible? - Importance of Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy;

O divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love;

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Earth Spins At 1,000 MPH!

Humans’ unquenchable thirst for groundwater has sucked so much liquid from subsurface reserves that it’s affecting Earth’s tilt, according to a new study.

Groundwater provides drinking water for people and livestock, and it helps with crop irrigation when rain is scarce.

However, the new research shows that persistent groundwater extraction over more than a decade shifted the axis on which our planet rotates, tipping it over to the east at a rate of about 1.7 inches per year.

That shift is even observable on Earth’s surface, as it contributes to global sea level rise, researchers reported in the study published June 15 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

“Earth’s rotational pole actually changes a lot,” said lead study author Ki-Weon Seo, a professor in the department of Earth science education at Seoul University.

The redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole.”

You might not be able to feel Earth’s rotation, but it’s spinning on a north-south axis at a rate of about 1,000 miles per hour.