by Matt Asay — infoworld — By now you’ve used a generative AI (GenAI) tool like ChatGPT to build an application, author a grant proposal, or write all those employee reviews you’d been putting off. If you’ve done any of these things or simply played around with asking a large language model (LLM) questions, you’ve no doubt been impressed by just how well GenAI tools can mimic human output. You’ve also no doubt recognized that they’re not perfect. Indeed, for all their promise, GenAI tools such as ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot still need experienced human input to create the prompts that guide them, as well as to review their results. This won’t change anytime soon. In fact, generative AI is big not so much for all the exam papers, legal briefs, or software applications it may write, but because it has heightened the importance of AI more generally. Once all the hype around GenAI fades—and it will—we’ll be left with increased investments in deep learning and machine learning, which may be GenAI’s biggest contribution to AI.

To the person with a GenAI hammer

It’s hard not to get excited about generative AI. On the software developer side, it promises to remove all sorts of drudgery from our work while enabling us to focus on higher-value coding. Most developers are still just lightly experimenting with GenAI coding tools like AWS CodeWhisperer, but others like Datasette founder Simon Willison have gone deep and discovered “enormous leaps ahead in productivity and in the ambition of the kinds of projects that you take on.” One reason Willison is able to gain so much from GenAI is his experience: He can use tools like GitHub Copilot to generate 80% of what he needs, and he is savvy enough to know where the tool’s output is usable and where he needs to write the remaining 20%. Most lack his level of experience and expertise and may need to be less ambitious with their use of GenAI. We go through a similar hype cycle for each wave of AI, and each time we have to learn to sift realistic hope from overreaching hype. Take machine learning, for example. When machine learning first arrived, data scientists applied it to everything, even when there were far simpler tools. As data scientist Noah Lorang once argued, “There is a very small subset of business problems that are best solved by machine learning; most of them just need good data and an understanding of what it means.” In other words, however cool it might make you look to develop algorithms to find patterns in petabytes of data, simple math or SQL queries are often a smarter approach.

By: Lyle Daly   — fool.com/the-ascent — The top 10% of household incomes starts at $191,406, the top 5% at $290,406, and the top 1% at $867,436. Those are the nationwide numbers, but they also vary considerably if you account for other factors, such as age or location. Income is a key part of personal finance, but it’s not all that matters. Incomes vary quite a bit throughout the United States. The median income was $69,717 in 2021, but households in the top 10% and above make significantly more. It’s interesting to see how much money these households make — and how your own income compares. Of Dollars and Data released income research earlier this year with the thresholds for the top 10%, 5%, and 1% of household incomes, based on data from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.

The 2019 survey is the most recent that’s currently available. Although it’s a few years old, the median inflation-adjusted income of the top 25% of households increased by just 2% from 2019 to 2022. So, the income data still provides a fairly accurate idea of how much the richest households make.

Incomes of the top 10%, 5%, and 1%

Here are the household income thresholds for the top 10%, 5%, and 1%:

Top 10%: $191,406

Top 5%: $290,164

Top 1%: $867,436

As you can see, you need an income nearly three times the national median to crack the top 10%. It takes another $100,000 on top of that to make the top 5%. And the 1% is making beaucoup bucks.

By Nadim El Kak — Al Jazeera — Beirut, Lebanon – It’s August 2022 and Lebanon are two points up on the Philippines with 18 seconds left in the game at a packed Nouhad Naufal Stadium in a Beirut suburb, when the ball spills out to Wael Arakji on the left – giving him the chance to sink a game-sealing three-pointer. If the shot goes in, it will not only guarantee the win but will also help secure Lebanon’s ticket to the 2023 FIBA World Cup taking place this August and September. Unfazed by the pressure of 8,000 roaring fans and an onrushing Jordan Clarkson looking to block, the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup Most Valuable Player (MVP) makes the shot – effectively guaranteeing the small Arab country its place in the World Cup for the fourth time in its history. Their qualification was confirmed after an easy win against India a few days later. Fans took to social media after the Philippines game to express their elation. “I was watching the game while at the office and couldn’t control my screams at every play,” Abed wrote in a Facebook group of 45,000 Lebanese basketball fans. “A lot of coworkers were confused and asked me what I get from all of this. There’s really no explaining our relationship with this sport.” Responding to Abed’s words, Sleiman takes a stab at the coworkers’ question in the comments: “What do we get from it? Thanks to this game we can experience pride in something called Lebanon rather than in parties, sects or politics.”

Being first isn’t everything in the NBA draft Indeed, basketball has brought back much-needed joy, solidarity and hope to a country still ailing from the aftermath of a foiled uprising, the catastrophic Beirut port explosion, and a continuing financial collapse. A few months before that, Lebanon lifted the 2022 Arab Championship trophy in front of a mostly Lebanese crowd in Dubai, mounting a spectacular fourth-quarter comeback to defeat reigning African champions Tunisia in the final. Experts say these successes have a profound effect on Lebanese society. “Sports are incredibly powerful because they’re a product that’s full of emotions – it’s a form of entertainment that meshes national identity with personal dreams and passions, regardless of political context,” Nadim Nassif, a scholar of sports history and governance based at Notre Dame University in Lebanon, told Al Jazeera. “Basketball appeals to the Lebanese because the country is internationally competitive in [one of the] most popular sports in the world.”

By MEE staff — Popular Lebanese comedian Nour Hajjar was detained on 25 August after posting a sketch online where he talks about the deteriorating economic conditions in the country. According to local media platform Megaphone News, the comedian spoke about Lebanese army personnel being forced to take on multiple side jobs such as delivery […]

by fortune.com — Coryanne Hicks –– ChatGPT is changing the way people live and work. From teachers to cybercriminals, it seems everyone is jumping on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon. This is only to be expected when it can answer questions faster than any human and save you the trouble of scouring countless Google search […]

by by theguardian.com — Donald Trump has tweeted for the first time since 2021, posting the mugshot from his booking at Fulton county jail in Georgia on charges of election interference earlier on Thursday. The former president returned to the social media site, now known as X, with a post linking to his website and featuring the words “Election interference! Never surrender!” following his surrender at Fulton County jail on racketeering and conspiracy charges over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Trump has previously said he would stick with his new platform Truth Social. He reportedly signed an 18-month exclusivity agreement to post on Truth Social when it launched, which expired in late June.

Trump’s jail spectacle is historic, but it won’t harm him politically It has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting on the app regularly in May. The former president has used it to promote his allies, criticise his opponents and defend his reputation amid legal scrutiny from state, congressional and federal investigators. Trump had 6.4m followers on Truth Social as of Thursday. He still has more than 88m Twitter followers despite being banned from the platform following the 6 January 2021 attack on Congress by his supporters, amid the risk of further incitement of violence. On 19 November the San Francisco-based app reversed the ban under billionaire Elon Musk, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” who bought Twitter last year. Musk restored the former president’s account after running a poll that received more than 15m votes and just narrowly won at nearly 52%. Despite the account being restored, Trump did not tweet until Thursday. He has previously used Twitter and other social media platforms to make false claims that his defeat in the 2020 election was due to widespread voter fraud and to share other conspiracy theories.

by naharnet –– The Maronite church’s dismay over the French policy towards Lebanon was clearly reflected in the sermon of Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday, when he criticized the questions addressed by French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian to Lebanon’s MPs. In remarks to ad-Diyar newspaper, Bkirki sources confirmed the dismay. “France has always stood by […]

by Arab news – Najia Houssari –– BEIRUT: Total Energies, along with its partners Eni and QatarEnergy, on Tuesday launched exploration activities in Block 9 within Lebanon’s territorial waters. The companies are searching for commercial quantities of gas and oil that Lebanon is pinning its hopes on to revive its collapsing economy. The drilling is set to start on Aug. 24, as announced by Energy Minister Walid Fayad. Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri visited the drilling platform Transocean Barents, accompanied by Fayad and Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh, as well as Lebanese petroleum officials to attend a ceremony to announce the exploration. Platform 9 is located about 120 km from Beirut.

During the visit, Lebanese officials were briefed on preparations for the drilling. Berri and Mikati toured the drilling platform to oversee the logistics for the oil and gas exploration in Block 9 within Lebanon’s territorial waters. Berri said he hoped that “in a few months, God would bless Lebanon with a flow of his grace, marking the beginning of solving the economic crisis that Lebanon and its people are experiencing,” and that the Lebanese would reach a consensus on electing a president who would initiate a political solution. Mikati said he wished that “the upcoming days bring signs of good fortune to help Lebanon address the numerous crises it is facing, and that everyone cooperates in the upcoming phase to halt the deterioration we are witnessing on all fronts.”

by Maan Jalal — the nationalnews.com — Egyptian pop star Amr Diab performed his first concert in Beirut in 12 years on Saturday, which was attended by about 20,000 fans, Lebanese media reported. But the show at Beirut Waterfront Arena has triggered heated debate online, with some criticising the mess left by concertgoers and others questioning its timing, considering Lebanon’s current economic turmoil.

On Sunday, Nasser Yassin, Lebanon’s Minister of Environment, posted a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing the road leading to the venue littered with rubbish. He wrote that Beirut Municipality had been informed and asked to “oblige the organising company to remove the waste and clean the place at its own expense”. “The Governor of Beirut must issue general cleanliness records against violators,” he added. Yassin’s video shows the four-laned road littered with items including water bottles, cans and rubbish bags. He ended his tweet with a hashtag in Arabic that translates to “clean your country”. Yassin later posted an updated video, showing uniformed cleaners sweeping the street. “Garbage contractor workers in Beirut began to remove waste from the Amr Diab party venue,” he wrote, adding that the “General Hygiene Department in the Beirut Municipality is following up on the work”.

theadvocate.com — It’s difficult to calculate just how many people of Lebanese descent live in Acadiana today, but the cultural impact of this population is apparent everywhere. Generations of Acadiana residents remember shopping at Abdalla’s, Brother’s on the Boulevard, or Boustany’s Department Store. Local institutions such as Evangeline Maid and Evangeline Downs were concerns of prominent Lafayette businessman Frem Boustany. And when you drive down Kaliste Saloom Road, visit the major retail and medical centers of South Lafayette, or eat at restaurants such as Tabouleh Lebanese Cuisine, you’re participating in slices of Acadiana life that only exist thanks to waves of immigration from the modern-day country of Lebanon.

The first families began arriving in South Louisiana in the 19th century, bringing names that are still well-known today — like Saloom. Other Lebanese family names include Boustany, Azar, John, Ashy, Antoine, Abdalla, Hannie, Mahtook, and Haik — a short list of dozens that have descendants in South Louisiana. The Salooms were some of the earliest arrivals from the region that was then a province of Syria. According to Lafayette City Judge Judge Doug Saloom, his great-uncle Racheed was the first Saloom in the area, after arriving in Ellis Island and working his way down from New York. “He was so exhausted when he got to New York, he fell asleep and he was robbed,” says Doug Saloom. “They took his passports, money, everything. He walked and hitched rides down to Louisiana.”