Month: December 2024

THE DECODER
Artificial Intelligence: News, Business, Research
The latest version of Pinokio brings major improvements to the open-source AI model browser and installation tool. Version 3.0 introduces a customizable interface, better package management, and the ability to automate browser interactions.
Users can now fully customize the interface using CSS code, changing how the start page, app pages, and terminal look. The developer, who goes by “cocktail peanut,” says they’ll release more themes soon.
Pinokio 3.0 now uses UV as its native package manager for Python, which the developer calls the best option available. UV will soon replace pip in Gepeto as well, which should make installing new packages much faster.
The update also makes it easier to manage installed apps by showing how much disk space each one uses. When something goes wrong, users now get helpful error messages instead of the cryptic “ENOENT: File not found” notifications they used to see.
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A new JSON manipulation API lets users edit structured JSON files directly through their Pinokio scripts. Since the scripts themselves are written in JSON, developers can set, delete, or read values – and even modify the scripts themselves.
The update also brings browser automation through Playwright integration. This means Pinokio scripts can now do more than just launch apps – they can control them directly in the browser, automating complex web-based workflows.
To make the platform easier to use, Pinokio now includes setup wizards that help users configure environment variables right in their scripts. The team has also built Hugging Face API support directly into the platform, making it fully compatible with the Hugging Face command-line interface.
The update fixes several technical problems, including port conflicts that happened when web servers were already running on port 80. MacOS users will also see better compatibility thanks to automatic CPU fallback when there are issues with Apple’s Metal platform. The developers also solved problems with duplicate files showing up in the system.
Pinokio is a free, open-source tool that works on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Users have embraced it as an easy way to run open-source AI models like SDXL, Flux, and Whisper on their own computers. The platform also works well alongside specialized LLM tools including GPT4All, Ollama, and LM Studio.
Over the past few months, volunteers have steadily expanded Pinokio’s capabilities, making it one of the most practical solutions for running AI models locally. Users can get their models up and running without wrestling with complicated terminal commands or managing libraries manually.
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The 2024 World Conference on Traditional Medicine will be co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the National Health Commission of China, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM), and the Beijing Municipal Government. The event will take place in Beijing, China, from 3 to 4 December 2024 and will serve as an opportunity to improve global access to traditional and complementary medicine and its integration into healthcare systems worldwide.
Diversity, Inheritance and Innovation: Traditional Medicine for All
The conference will be a pivotal platform to enhance dialogue and collaboration among international experts, policy-makers, health workers, and traditional medicine practitioners. It will help advance progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all. Discussions will also align with the Global Strategy for Traditional Medicine (2025–2034), which WHO will present at the Seventy-eighth World Health Assembly in May 2025.
 
Objectives
The conference will focus on several key objectives:
The two-day event will include a series of panel discussions and sessions covering diverse topics such as evidence-based traditional medicine, advanced technologies, AI applications in traditional medicine research, and the standardization and safety of herbal medicines. Keynote speakers will address critical issues related to regulation, integrative medicine, and the role of traditional medicine in primary healthcare.
 
A Global Gathering for Health Leaders
With representatives from all WHO regions, the conference will gather governmental health leaders, Nobel laureates, health workers, researchers, and public health officials. Participants will engage in collaborative discussions aimed at shaping the future of traditional medicine and its contribution to the highest attainable standard of health and well-being for all communities.

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The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk’s news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.Read More
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BREAKING NEWS
Crypto.com and Formula 1 extend partnership through to 2030
ANALYSIS: Why Red Bull chose Lawson instead of Tsunoda as Perez's replacement
Lawson confirmed as Verstappen's Red Bull team mate for 2025
Hamilton and Leclerc’s 2025 Ferrari given launch date
END OF YEAR REPORT: Haas – Encouraging signs in Komatsu’s first season as team boss
Mercedes have announced that Valtteri Bottas will return to the team as a reserve driver for the 2025 season, after the Finn and Kick Sauber parted company following the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Bottas drove for Mercedes for five seasons alongside Lewis Hamilton from 2017-2021, securing all 10 of his career wins with the Silver Arrows, as well as his 20 pole positions in Formula 1.
2025 F1 GRID: All the driver and team line-ups confirmed so far
He would then join Sauber, known as Alfa Romeo at the time, for the 2022 season after Mercedes chose to promote George Russell in his place, the Finn enduring mixed fortunes with the Swiss team ranging from finishing a strong 10th in 2022 to failing to score at all in 2024.
When Kick Sauber opted not to re-sign Bottas for 2025 – instead choosing a combination of Nico Hulkenberg and Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto – the Finn began talks with Mercedes about a reserve role in a bid to stay in the conversation as he pursues a racing return in 2026.
Bottas and Hamilton won Mercedes the constructors’ championship in all five seasons there were partnered together – with Hamilton claiming four drivers’ titles in that time
His reserve role will involve him attending most, if not all, the Grands Prix and supporting regular race drivers George Russell and debutant Kimi Antonelli.
“Returning home to the Mercedes family as third driver for 2025 is what’s next and I couldn’t be more pleased,” said Bottas.
“I want to thank Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss], the team at Brackley, and everyone at the three-pointed star for welcoming me back with open arms.
READ MORE: Wolff expands on ‘shelf-life’ comment as he admits Mercedes have ‘failed’ Hamilton
“Despite the challenges of the past few years, I know that I’ve still got so much more to contribute to F1. Since I was a five-year-old kid growing up in Nastola, Finland, my focus has been on achieving success in the top tier of motorsport.
“I’ve been fortunate to have enjoyed many incredible moments in my 12 years of racing in F1 so far. As I return to the place where so many of those moments were achieved, I’m looking forward to using all the knowledge I’ve gained to help the team to perform and progress towards our goal of fighting for world championships.”
Bottas and Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff have remained close
Wolff added: “Welcome home, Valtteri! It’s great to have you back. His impact and contribution in the five years he was with us previously as our race driver was immense.
“Along with scoring multiple Grands Prix wins, he played a vital role in five of our championship victories. His technical feedback and input were important in helping us to those successes and pushing the team forward.
READ MORE: ‘I’m not done yet’ – Bottas defiant on his F1 future after ‘everything went wrong’ in final Kick Sauber race
“Not only that, but he was also a fantastic colleague and team member. His dry sense of humour and personable nature made him a firm favourite with everyone at Brackley and Brixworth.
“In his role as Reserve Driver, all those qualities will be incredibly important in helping us compete for world championships and supporting both George and Kimi on track.”
Don't miss your chance to be at the first Grand Prix of 2025 and experience the season-opener in Melbourne…
Lawson confirmed as Verstappen's Red Bull team mate for 2025
ANALYSIS: Perez had a contract for 2025 – so why has his Red Bull journey come to an end now, and who will replace him?
INSIGHT: Behind the scenes at Gabriel Bortoleto’s first F1 test with Kick Sauber
From breakthrough victories to jaw-dropping comebacks – Hamilton's top 10 greatest moments for Mercedes
2025 F1 GRID: All the driver and team line-ups confirmed so far
REVEALED: Your favourite race of the thrilling 2024 season
Doriane Pin to continue with Mercedes for 2025 F1 ACADEMY campaign
Oakes discusses 'trepidation' over becoming third Alpine Team Principal in 18 months
From breakthrough victories to jaw-dropping comebacks – Hamilton's top 10 greatest moments for Mercedes
Ferrari give Sainz and his rally champion father special send-off with F1 track day at Fiorano
© 2003-2024 Formula One World Championship Limited

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Sockets sound difficult but they are fairly simple.  This is an extract from our book all about the Raspberry Pi Pico in MicroPython.

Programming the Raspberry Pi Pico/W In MicroPython Second Edition

By Harry Fairhead & Mike James

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Also of interest:
Raspberry Pico File System
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The Pico and the Pico W are very similar and all of the programs presented so far work on both models. The important difference between them is that the Pico W has additional hardware that enables it to use WiFi. From the programming point of view, however, the task is to learn how to use the new WiFi driver and the LwIP library that provides higher-level networking. This is made more difficult than need be by the inadequate documentation provided for both. This will probably improve over time.
In this extract we look at how to use sockets.
MicroPython supports a limited version of the full Python Sockets module. The parts of the module that are not supported are mostly those concerned with making connections using non-IP networks and hence are generally minor.
The most important thing to understand about sockets is that they are a very general way of making a two-way connection between a client and a server. A client can create a socket to transfer data between itself and a server and a server can use a socket to accept a connection from client. The only difference between the two situations is that the server has to either poll or use interrupts to detect a new connection attempt.
Before you can start to send and receive data you have to create a socket object:
This default constructor creates a socket suitable for IPv4 connections. If you want to specify the type of socket being created you have to use:
The af parameter gives the address family and it is either AF_INET for IPv4 or AF_INET6 for IPv6 – at the time of writing only IPv4 is supported. The type parameter indicates either SOCK_STREAM or SOCK_DGRAM,the stream option. The default, SOCK_STREAM, corresponds to the usual TCP/IP connection used to transfer web pages and files in general. It is a persisted and error-corrected connection whereas SOCK_DGRAM sends individual packets without error checking or confirmation that the data was received. The final parameter, proto, sets the exact type of protocol, but as the only two supported are IPPROTO_TCP and IPPROTO_UDP this is set according to the type parameter:
type
proto
 
In a more general setting there could be more types of proto supported for each type.

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WSB Now

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — A domestic dispute between a husband and wife led to the shooting death of a victim, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say on Tuesday just after midnight, officials responded to 46 Windsor View Lane in reference to a dispute call.
When they arrived on scene, numerous people were in the roadway, along with a body laying on the ground.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Once deputies spoke with the wife, they learned a domestic dispute occurred between she and her husband, Rick Reed of Villa Rica.
After the dispute, a friend of the wife arrived on scene and had an altercation with Reed. Reed subsequently shot the friend reportedly and he died on scene from his injuries.
The victim is identified as Abraham Suarez Santiago of Villa Rica.
TRENDING STORIES:
Rick Joseph Reed was taken into custody shortly following the incident and is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree aggravated assault.
The GBI is assisting the PCSO with this investigation. Any information regarding this incident, or other criminal incidents, can be relayed anonymously via the Paulding Sheriff’s Office tip line at (770)-443-3047.
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RaMell Ross’s artful and unconventional adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel offers a radically immersive route into a difficult story
More on the best culture of 2024
Despite the necessity of filling in the gaps of Black American history, viewers could be forgiven for feeling a little fatigued, after a decade of highly worthy but often gruelling stories of slavery, civil rights abuses and institutional racism, from 12 Years a Slave to Till to The Hate U Give to Get Out, and many more besides.
Nickel Boys is something very different: rather than more “trauma porn”, it gives us direct emotion, poetic imagery and radical invention. It owes more to Terrence Malick and Gaspar Noé than Ava DuVernay.
On one level, you could categorise it as another missing piece of the historical puzzle. The setting is a segregated reform school in remote 1960s Florida, based on the real-life Arthur G Dozier school, where past abuses and unmarked graves were uncovered in the early 2000s.
We follow doe-eyed Elwood (Ethan Herisse), a promising young student who’s cruelly condemned by association before he even gets to college, and thrown into what amounts to a juvenile prison, with its own rules and hierarchies and horrors. He falls in with Turner (Brandon Wilson), a more seasoned, more jaded inmate, and their fates intersect in ways we never quite understand until the final frames. Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel, the story is a bracing blend of historical fiction, character drama and even prison-break thriller.
Not only does Nickel Boys have a powerful story to tell, it has an audacious way of telling it: the entire movie is shot in first person. We see everything through the eyes of either Elwood or Turner – the landscape, the minutiae of life, the characters’ own bodies or the faces of other characters (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, as Elwood’s grandmother, makes a particularly powerful impression). The experience is vividly immersive and intimate. We’re not watching these people; we are them. Things aren’t happening to them; they’re happening to us.
As a technical feat, it’s almost unfathomable; as a viewing experience, it’s unforgettable; and as a way out of serving up yet more trauma porn, it’s ingenious.
Director RaMell Ross is a multidisciplinary artist more than a film-maker, and he seems to have approached this, his first feature film, with no baggage, let alone film-school training. Ross achieved a similar mix of lyricism and earthiness in his 2018 documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, following ordinary Black life in rural Alabama. Nickel Boys goes even further: the point-of-view imagery becomes a collage of present-tense experience, gorgeous or ugly landscapes, fleeting impressions, details, memories, snatches of television and other media – something closer, perhaps, to waking life than conventional cinema.
As well as being floored by the feeling and the ambition of Nickel Boys, you’re left wondering why more movies aren’t made this way.

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Texas football vs Clemson Tigers preview: CFP first-round game scouting report, prediction  Austin American-Statesman
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The Internet Archive Is a Cautionary Tale for Growing Nonprofits  The Chronicle of Philanthropy
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Sweepstakes casinos are the best place to play slot games for free. One of their coolest features is that they regularly give out free Coins in two different virtual currencies, which you can use to play an abundance of slots.
I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out how to maximise these freebies and trust me, there are some super-easy ways to rack them up. Whether you’re new to sweepstakes casinos or just looking for tips, here are my go-to methods for getting free Gold and Sweeps Coins, plus a peek at the best sweepstakes casinos to use them at.
The whole point of sweepstakes casinos is to be accessible and legal in most US states. They are not free online casinos to win real money as they don’t offer real-money play. Instead, they use virtual currencies like Gold Coins and Sweeps Coins. Giving out free Coins is their way of keeping players coming back and letting everyone play without needing to make a purchase.
Getting your hands on free Coins is pretty easy once you know how. So here we bring you the top five ways to ensure that you can always keep your virtual balances looking healthy.
This one really requires minimal effort, you’re rewarded with a sweepstakes casino log in bonus just for signing in to your account. Most sweepstakes casinos offer a small number of Sweeps Coins and/or Gold Coins as a daily login reward. It’s a simple way to keep your balance growing without putting in too much effort. Some casinos even have streak bonuses, where logging in for several days in a row increases the amount of Coins you receive.
Sweepstakes casinos are pretty active on social media and they love running contests to engage players. I’ve seen giveaways where you just need to comment on a post, share it, or tag a friend to enter. Sometimes, they’ll even do live Q&A sessions or trivia challenges, where winners get a nice pile of Gold or Sweeps Coins. They also throw out some social casino promo codes at random times, so it’s worth giving them a follow.
Sharing your referral code with friends is one of the easiest ways to get free Coins. Not only do you get rewarded, but your friend gets a nice welcome bonus too. It’s a win-win situation and the rewards can stack up quickly if you refer multiple friends.
This method is a bit old-school but it’s legit and will only cost you the price of a postage stamp. All of the best social casinos allow you to request free Sweeps Coins by sending in a handwritten letter through the mail. It may take a little effort, but the rewards can be significant.
Sweepstakes casinos regularly run limited-time events where you can collect extra Gold or Sweeps Coins. These promotions might include spinning a prize wheel, completing a challenge or participating in a specific game. They’re often tied to holidays, new game launches or other special occasions.
It’s no good knowing how to get free Coins if you don’t know where to use them, so in this next part we’ll take a quick look at five top US sweepstakes casinos, all of which come highly recommended.
Real Prize is one of the most player-friendly sweepstakes casinos out there, known for its frequent social media giveaways and promotions. Their slots are fun, varied and packed with bonus features.
WELCOME OFFER: 100,000 Gold Coins + 2 Sweeps Coins

McLuck stands out for its generous daily login rewards and streak bonuses. It’s perfect for casual players who want an easy way to collect free Sweeps Coins consistently. Their referral program is also one of the best, rewarding both you and your friend handsomely.
WELCOME OFFER: 7,500 Gold Coins + 2.5 Sweeps Coins

If you’re into sports-themed slots, Sportzino is the place to be. They frequently tie their promotions to big sports events, making it a fun choice for fans. They also have a strong presence on social media, with regular giveaways and trivia contests.
WELCOME OFFER: Up to 170,000 Gold Coins + 7 Sweeps Coins

The Money Factory is great for players who love progressive jackpots and exciting promotions. Their special events, particularly around important holidays, are a highlight, offering plenty of chances to get extra Gold and Sweeps Coins.
WELCOME OFFER: 15,000 Gold Coins + 3 Sweeps Coins

Clubs Casino is all about community, with regular multiplayer challenges and interactive contests. They’re also known for offering slots with a high RTP, making them a smart choice for players who enjoy a challenge.
WELCOME OFFER: 25,000 Gold Coins + 5 Sweeps Coins

Here’s a table of the coins you could receive from these sweepstakes casinos
Getting free Gold and Sweeps Coins is one of the best things about playing at sweepstakes casinos. With methods like daily logins, social media contests, referrals, mail-ins and special promos, there’s no shortage of chances to stock those coins up. The trick is to stay consistent and make the most of every chance you get.
Wherever you are, SportsGrid can be there too. Here are all the platforms and subscription services you can find us on:
© 2024 SportsGrid INC.
DISCLAIMER: This site is 100% for entertainment purposes only and does not involve real money betting or prizes.

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