📰 Wall Street utility takeovers may mean higher bills ahead
The article discusses the increasing energy demand in the United States due to the proliferation of data centers, attracting the attention of major investment firms like BlackRock and Blackstone. These firms are seeking to acquire utility companies to benefit from grid upgrades, sparking concerns from consumer advocates and regulators about prioritizing profits over public service. BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board proposed acquiring Minnesota Power, initially receiving support but facing opposition from Administrative Law Judge McKenzie due to perceived profit-driven motives. The judge’s recommendation is not final, with state regulators yet to decide on the acquisition, as opposition grows from climate advocates and watchdogs over potential rate hikes. The Minnesota Department of Commerce negotiated protections to prevent passing acquisition costs to customers and maintain support for low-income households, highlighting the ongoing battle between profit-driven investors and consumer advocates in utility ownership.
📰 New emojis are dropping on your device soon
The article discusses the evolution of communication through pictures, from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to modern-day emojis. The Unicode Consortium has announced the upcoming release of nine new emojis in Unicode 17.0, set for September 2025. These new emojis include symbols like a landslide, a highly expressive face, a cryptid-inspired emoji, a treasure chest, an orca, and more. The emojis aim to provide new ways for users to express emotions and ideas in their digital communication. The addition of diverse emojis, such as the ballerina available in multiple skin tones, reflects the importance of representation in online communication. Overall, emojis continue to play a significant role in enhancing and evolving how people express themselves online.
📰 OpenAI unleashes ChatGPT agent for truly autonomous AI tasks
OpenAI has introduced a new feature called ChatGPT agent, which acts as a comprehensive assistant rather than just a chatbot. This agent can perform tasks like planning trips, managing email, making reservations, summarizing reports, and running code with user permission. It is part of OpenAI’s efforts to create more capable AI helpers beyond traditional chat-based assistants. The agent integrates various tools and capabilities, such as interacting visually with websites, running code, and accessing APIs, to complete tasks autonomously in a secure virtual workspace. Users have full control over the agent’s actions, and sensitive data like passwords are not stored or exposed for security reasons.
The ChatGPT agent feature is accessible to Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers through the ChatGPT interface, offering a seamless experience without the need for additional downloads. While the agent streamlines workflows by handling multi-step assignments independently, it may require user confirmation for sensitive actions, leading to longer processing times for complex tasks. OpenAI continues to improve the agent’s capabilities, such as enhancing slide deck creation and supporting existing templates in future updates. The goal is for the agent to act more independently, allowing users to delegate tedious tasks efficiently and focus on higher-priority activities. As AI agents evolve to be more proactive decision-makers, OpenAI faces the challenge of balancing convenience, safety, and privacy in their development.
📰 Do dogs really watch TV? Science says yes
A new study from Auburn University reveals that dogs can engage with television, with modern high-definition TVs allowing them to recognize and respond to onscreen content. Dogs are more sensitive to flickering on older TVs due to their higher refresh rates. Researchers created the Dog Television Viewing Scale to measure how dogs react to different types of TV content. The study found that dogs respond most strongly to other animals on TV, with some even tracking objects off-screen. Dog behavior while watching TV is influenced more by personality traits than breed or age, with excitable dogs actively watching for movement and fearful dogs reacting to non-animal stimuli. Tailored TV programming could potentially benefit dogs in shelters by reducing stress and providing mental enrichment.
📰 The one thing that could protect your parents from scammers
The article discusses the concept of the Siren song from Greek mythology and how it relates to protecting your parents from scammers. It highlights the vulnerability of even well-informed individuals to scams that exploit emotional reactions. The key argument is that preventing scammers from making contact in the first place is crucial. The article emphasizes the importance of removing personal data from people-search sites and shadowy data brokers to reduce the risk of being targeted by scammers. It suggests using a data removal service to erase personal information from the internet effectively and mentions the benefits of limiting available information to prevent scammers from targeting you or your parents.
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