Weekly Roundup - December 18, 2023
Openai Lays Out Plan For Dealing With Dangers Of Ai | New Computor May Make People Obsolete |
Gerrit De Vynck for The Washington Post | News Wire Article published in the Somerset Daily American |
December 18, 2023 | March 30, 1950 |
OpenAI the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT laid out its plans for staying ahead of what it thinks could be serious dangers of the tech it develops such as allowing bad actors to learn how to build chemical and biological weapons. OpenAI’s “Preparedness” team led by MIT AI professor Aleksander Madry will hire AI researchers computer scientists national security experts and policy professionals. … Read the full article here. |
NEW BRUNSWICK N. J. March 28—(4)—A new mechanical brain— resembling a pinball machine on a jackpot rampage—may make _ people obsolete The device described as capable of operating a complete factory without human aid is designated officially as the magnetic drum digital differential analyzer. Its inventor 3l-year-old physicist Floyd Steele calls it Maddida for short. And what Maddida can do was shown .today at the opening of a three-day conference on computing jachinery at the Rutgers university coliege of engineering. Maddida is primarily a computing device with an accuracy of one part in a million and able to handle 4509 additions of eight-place decimal num- bers per second “But it’s even a better control. de- vice’ Steele said. “It will take infor- mation from another machine inter- pret that information and then run that machine.” Automatic Factory Steele who is also an aeronautical engineer at Manhattan Beach Cal. seid the machine was the forerunner of the completely automatic factory— where goods will be produced without help from the human hand or human brain. Until last week Maddida was an air force secret It had been built for the air force by Northrop Aircraft Inc. of Hawthorne Calif. and Steele said it would do the work of a full aircraft crew. But the real significance of the machine Steele says is its small size and low cost. It’s about the size of a pinball machine and the first model costs $25000 but Steele estimates that mass production can cut the cost to $600. Previous digital computers Steele said have ranged in the half-million dollar class and have occupied an area equal to a small-sized ballroom. But even marvelous Maddida can have its troubles Also at the Rutgers exhibition js another device whose computer function is to compute the cause of breakdowns suffered by com- puting machines. |
Brian Kemp Says Georgia School Employees Will Get $1000 Bonus | Solons Worried About Teacher Pay Hike Cash |
Jeff Amy for the Associated Press | News Wire Article published in the Paris News |
December 18, 2023 | May 22, 1957 |
Georgia’s government will put a little extra jingle in the pockets of state university and public school employees paying them a $1000 year-end bonus Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday. The Republican governor also said he would propose a permanent $104 million yearly allocation for school security going forward enough to provide $45000 to every Georgia public school as he makes further plans to spend Georgia’s $11 billion in surplus funds. Officials said the roughly 112000 … Read the full article here. |
A “bunch of the boys” worried today about a state pocketbook that won\t stretch far enough to give school teachers their expected pay raise. “There’s not enough money” Comptroller Robert S. Calvert tuled last night when he received the $47700000 salary hike finally approved by the Senate. Calvert promised to bounce back the check drawn on insufficient state funds today. “I don’t see any point in hgld- ing on to it he said. “It\s up to them {the legislators) to do something about it.” Calvert would not say how much the approved appropriations were over the expected income. Rep. Max Smith vice chairman of the joint appropriations com- mittee estimated the shortage at about seven million dollars. However he said he talked with Gov. Price Daniel early last night and the governor estimated the dis- crepancy at nine million dollars. The governor\s office had no im- mediate comment. “A bunch of boys from both the House and Senate planned to meel this morning and see what we can do Smith said Calvert said he met last night with a group of Senate finance leaders discussing {he situation. The new crisis. along with some old crises that refused to be salvec yesterday put a crimp into plans for final adjournment at 6 p.m tomorrow. Overnight the adjourn ment odds shifled to Friday. Sat urday and maybe next week. The development also revivec considerable talk about the likeli hood of Daniel calling a special session probably in early fall i the teachers’ pay raise and Insur. atice Commission reorganizatior problems aren\t solved to his sat isfaction. On Monday Daniel told a press conference he “wouldn\t even think about a special session until we see whet unfinished business the Legislature Jeaves.” |
Largest Nursing Home In St. Louis Closes Suddenly Forcing Out 170 Residents | Chicago Rest Home Chain Broken Up By Authorities |
Jim Salter for the Associated Press | News Wire Article published in the Wilmington News Journal |
December 18, 2023 | August 18, 1962 |
The largest skilled nursing facility in St. Louis has closed suddenly forcing about 170 residents to be bused to other care centers. Many left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. The abrupt shutdown of Northview Village Nursing Home on Friday came after workers learned they might not be paid and walked out confusing residents and their relatives. Many family members gathered through the day Saturday outside the facility on the city’s north side. Some didn’t immedi … Read the full article here. |
The public spotlight touched briefly on one of fast-paced society’s saddest backwaters this week when Cook County authorities clamped down on a Chicago nursing home chain. In the 17 homes operated by Dr. Leonard Tilkin a psychiatrist were 558 county relief patients. Those in 14 of them were bundled out—into other nursing homes. Three of the Tilkin homes continued operating but under new management. Tilkin’s troubles with finances and nursing staff resulted in accusations by officials of failure to provide adequate care. Most patients were old persons with assistance allotments averaging under $200 a month per patient. This is considerably below the level charged for care by most private nursing homes. Nursing homes are seldom measured in official ratings in terms meaningful to the infirm man or woman of 80-plus years who must leave home and family unwillingly for what is often a prison hospital regimen. As the 70s turn into 80s and complications of health deterioration mount there are few withered humans who remain lovable. Senility takes hold. The facial expressions become crabbed or blank. At this point the country-club type of nursing home gently eases its client out. Relatives are told that a greater degree of nursing care and medical supervision are indicated. The mine-run place takes over. Many nursing homes do not have staffs competent to follow courses of care and treatment prescribed by physicians. Some attempt it haphazardly. State hospitals eventually get many of the unwanted senile dementia victims. But there are private hospitals which specialize in this type of patient. Many do an excellent job. Yet even in these places it is depressing to see a deteriorating individual lashed in with an elastic band cathetered against incontinence gumming semi-soft food at mealtimes because denture care is virtually impossible for them. The restraint is necessary because even with unreliable swollen or arthritic joints the patient tends to wander confusedly and the risk of a fall and a quickly fatal fractured hip is great. The ills of age are inevitable. But they can be eased somewhat or aggravated extremely. How can the family be sure that grandma is as happy as she seemed when her face lit up for her daughters monthly visit? A physician’s answer: “You can’t know what befalls an old person in somebody else’s establishment. The patient can’t report usually. The administrator always reassures the family. “One rule might be—forget the chrome and pink plumbing. Size up the people who run the place—from the top down—and judge on that basis”’ |
1 Dead After Hotel Blast Near Pennsylvania\S Amish Country | Korean Deaths Climb From Hotel Disaster |
Associated Press for the Fox News | News Wire Article published in the Harrisonburg Daily News Record |
December 18, 2023 | December 27, 1971 |
One person was found dead after an early morning explosion and fire at a hotel in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish-related tourism area authorities said Monday. State police in Lancaster County said the blast was reported shortly after 2:30 a.m. Monday at the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn in the Lancaster County community of Bird-in-Hand. 1 INJURED IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA HOME EXPLOSION Trooper James Grothey said arriving first responders reported heavy fire and smoke and multiple fire departments were called to the scene. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. … Read the full article here. |
The death toll in South Korea’s most disastrous hotel fire rose to 157 Sunday as workers with acetylene torches cut through debris to pull bodies from the ruins. Officials said the count … |
1 Dead 3 Hurt In Romanian Boarding Schools Partial Collapse | School Collapse Kills 11 In Italy |
Associated Press for the Fox News | News Wire Article published in the Tipton Daily Tribune |
December 18, 2023 | December 13, 1957 |
A boarding school building partially collapsed in central Romania on Monday leaving one person dead and three injured authorities said. Emergency workers raced to find the four people under the rubble in the town of Odorheiu Secuiesc in Harghita county according to the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations. The affected area was about 239 square yards. … Read the full article here. |
ALTOFONTE Sicily (INS) — Eleven persons including nine children were killed today in the sudden collapse of an Altofonte Catholic school building. The other victims were a nun and the mother of one of the school children. Four other pupils and six adults were rushed to hospitals for treatment. Firemen who rushed to the town from Palermo six miles away said they could offer no immediate explanation for the collapse of the buildingis walls and first-floor comparatively recent construction. The Sicilian parliament adjourned to start an investigation of the collapse. |