Petrol and diesel prices are likely to be cut by close to Re 1 per litre this weekend on sliding global oil rates.This would be the seventh reduction in petrol prices since August and the third in rates of diesel since its decontrol last month.State-owned fuel retailers Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) following the fortnightly review practice, are due to revise rates of petrol and diesel on Saturday.In all probability, rates will be reduced if the current trend of declining international oil prices continue, industry sources said.
Google announces creepyuseful features
Google announces creepy/useful features by Martin Brinkmann on May 17, 2017 in Companies, Google – Last Update: May 22, 2018 – 14 commentsCreepy? Useful? Both? Google announced a slew of new features coming to Google Photos, Gmail and other company products designed to make life just a tad easier.Google Photos got Suggested Sharing and Shared Libraries for instance. Suggested Sharing is a new feature that suggests contacts to share photos with based on who is on these photos. If you take a photo of your friends at a party, Google Photos might identify those on the photos, and suggest you share the photos with them.Shared Libraries on the other hand brings photos from different phones together in a single library based on things or people that you want to share with another person. A couple could select to share photos of their children for instance, or their dog. For that, all that it would take is to select photos that show people or objects, so that Google may identify them in future photos taken on the device or uploaded to Google Photos.Gmail’s Smart Reply feature on Android or iOS makes replying to emails easier by suggesting short answers.If you look at these features, you may find them useful, or not, depending on how you use Google services and devices.If you like to share photos for instance, you may find the two new Google Photos features useful. Gmail users who get a lot of emails that require just a simple response, may like the new Smart Reply feature.If you dig a bit deeper however, you will realize that Google needs access to information for that functionality. If Google cannot read emails for instance, its algorithm cannot come up with replies to messages.And if it does not use facial recognition or object identification when you upload new photos to Google Photos, it cannot really help you with the sharing functionality. Also, it needs access to contact information to connect people or objects to the list to find suitable sharing candidates.As Alex Cranz points out correctly on Gizmodo, Google’s business is to know as much as possible about each and everyone in order to make as much money as possible using those information.This does not mean that Google users don’t benefit from these information as well, as Google pushes out a constant stream of new features or apps that makes life easier for Google users who use them.But how easy is easy enough, especially if you weigh this against the privacy implications? Do you really need reminders by an algorithm when it comes to sharing photos on your devices? Or automatic replies for emails?You might say that it does not really matter anymore at this point, as Google is already reading your emails, and probably also using object identification algorithms to find out more about what is shown on photos.Still, you may wonder where all of this will end. Will an AI take over the sharing, emailing and communicating for you in the future?Google revealed today that more than 500 million people are using Google Photos to back up more than 1.2 billion photos and videos per day.Now You: Do you find these features useful? Do you use others that Google or other companies rolled out in the past?SummaryArticle NameGoogle announces creepy/useful featuresDescriptionCreepy? Useful? Both? Google announced a slew of new features coming to Google Photos, Gmail and other company products designed to make life just a tad easier.Author Martin BrinkmannPublisher Ghacks Technology NewsLogo Advertisement
The AAF is suspending football operations immediately
The AAF is suspending football operations immediately Posted: April 2, 2019 KUSI Sports, SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Despite having only two regular season games remaining, the San Diego Fleet and the other seven teams in the Alliance of American Football apparently suspended all operations Tuesday, according to multiple reports.Pro Football Talk reported rumblings of the league’s demise Monday night, followed by the Action Network’s Darren Rovell. KUSI Sports AAF had a call with NFLPA reps yesterday that showed signs of life, so some executives found it strange that Dundon wanted to stop funding it so soon https://t.co/UTvHbKsAZ5— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 2, 2019 Updated: 12:40 PM Sources: The AAF will suspend all football operations today. New owner Tom Dundon will lose approximately $70 million on his investment. Dundon makes decision against wishes of league co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian.— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 2, 2019Tom Dundon, the league’s majority owner and the owner of the Carolina Hurricanes hockey team, raised the specter of closing the league in an interview last week with USA Tuesday.Representatives of the San Diego Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The San Diego squad was scheduled to play the Orlando Apollos on Saturday before closing the regular season at home April 14 against the Arizona Hotshots. At 3-5, the Fleet needed to win out to have a chance at making the playoffs as one of the top two teams in the league’s Western Conference.The fledgling league was only eight weeks into its first season, but faced immediate and future questions of funding and where each team’s players would come from. AAF co-founders Charlie Ebersol and Bill Polian intended to run the league independently for three years, with each season coming as a reprieve for football-starved fans during the NFL offseason. Ebersol and Polian planned to eventually form a partnership with the NFL as a developmental league.According to Rovell and others, Dundon, who purchased a majority stake in the league in February, wanted to form that partnership this season and pressured the NFL Players Association to share players on NFL practice squads. Dundon argued the league could not survive without NFL support.The NFLPA balked at the rushed relationship and the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement made some of his demands impossible. Dundon apparently chose to suspend the league rather than continue committing money to it. Pro Football Talk reported Monday night that the league required $20 million to make it through the April 27 championship game.The Fleet played its games at SDCCU Stadium, with estimated turnouts growing to nearly 20,000 by season’s end. The Fleet also led the league in merchandise sales. April 2, 2019 Prevailing thought that AAF owner Tom Dundon shut down the league to strip it of its assets, mainly the tech piece, is interesting, but sources say it would likely be illegal https://t.co/UTvHbKsAZ5— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 2, 2019 Categories: Local San Diego News, Sports FacebookTwitter
David Warner gives thumbs up for first New Zealand Test
Australia opening batsman David Warner will test out his thumb in the domestic Sheffield Shield competition this week ahead of the opening Test against New Zealand.Warner broke his thumb on tour in England and after a long stint on the sidelines will finally get to shake off some rust for New South Wales against South Australia from Wednesday.Warner said the thumb was still ginger and likely to be for the rest of his career, having previously suffered a few knocks on it at the crease.”I think I got hit against India in Brisbane on the same thumb last season as well and the pain is always going to be there,” Warner told reporters in Sydney.Also read: Pink ball can revive Test cricket, says Steve Waugh “It is about me getting through that pain. You speak to any wicketkeeper in the world — they are playing with broken fingers so I am not complaining at all.”Unless I cop another one on the thumb while I am practising or batting out in the middle that is the only thing that will hinder my selection for the first test.”Two weeks ago the doctor said to me come three or four days before the first test it should be completely healing.”Warner will be new captain Steven Smith’s deputy in the three-Test series against New Zealand, which starts in Brisbane from Nov. 5.Also read: Adam Voges questions use of pink ball for Test match He will also be one of the few experienced batsmen left in the Test team after the retirements of fellow opener Chris Rogers, former skipper Michael Clarke and all-rounder Shane Watson.advertisementTheir replacements are yet to be bedded down, with Joe Burns, youngster Cameron Bancroft and Usman Khawaja among the candidates vying for a top order spot.Warner would not be drawn on his preferred opening partner but his former team mate Rogers anointed Burns, who played two Tests against India during the last home summer, as his preferred successor.”Joe has been around for a little while and Cameron has had one good season,” Rogers told state radio.”I’d like him to start off the season and do well again and then show it is not just a one-off.”Burns played in the Test summer last year, was unlucky not to get into that Ashes squad, and now there is another chance for him to come back in.”For me, there is a pecking order, and he’s the next one.”