#greg d’angelo

[diedeadenovgh]

JAMES’S HAIR IS SO FLOOFY I just wanna—

[myvinylplaylist]

White Lion: Wait 7” Single (1987)

Atlantic Records

[longliverockback]

White Lion The Best of White Lion 1992 Atlantic ————————————————— Tracks: 01. Wait 02. Radar Love 03. Broken Heart 04. Hungry 05. Little Fighter 06. Lights and Thunder 07. All You Need Is Rock n Roll 08. When the Children Cry 09. Love Don’t Come Easy 10. Cry for Freedom 11. Lady of the Valley 12. Tell Me 13. Farewell to You —————————————————

Vito Bratta

Greg D’Angelo

James LoMenzo

Mike Tramp

* Long Live Rock Archive

[ozimagines]

request: what powers would each character have in a superhero comic AU (had a dream about this weeks ago and keep meaning to delve into it myself, but curious to see what others come up with...)

Thank youuuuu this gave me something to do while I’m bed-bound! Also super creative ask!

Oz Prisoners’ Powers…

Tobias Beecher: Telepathy

Chris Keller: Telekinesis

Vern Schillinger: Necromancy

James Robson: Super Strength

Agustus Hill: Super Intelligence

Bob Rebadow: Camouflage

Agamemnon Busmalis: Animal Communication

Simon Adebisi: Acid Form

Poet: Mimicry (copy others)

Ryan O’Reily: X-Ray Vision

Cyril O’Reily: Teleportation

Kareem Said: Mind Control

Chico Guerra: Shape Shifting

Miguel Alvarez: Invisibility

Carlo Ricardo: Intangibility (walk through walls)

Enrique Morales: Aquamancy

Raoul Hernandez: Pyromancy

Burr Redding: Ferrokenisis (magnetism)

Omar White: Atmokinesis (weather)

Carlos Martinez: Thermokinesis (control temp)

Timmy Kirk: Exorcism

Jaz Hoyt: Geomancy

Nikolai Stanislavsky: Elasticity

Greg Penders: Bioluminescence (glows)

Kenny Wangler: Cyber Manipulation

Antonio Nappa: Spatial Manipulation

Alonzo Torquemada: Erasing Memory

Supreme Allah: Lie Detection

Jackson Vahue: Marksmanship

Dino Ortolani: Death Touch

Peter Schibetta: Accelerated Healing

Chucky Pancamo: Self Duplication

Nino Schibetta: Precognition

Joey D’Angelo: Aeromancy

Donald Groves: Super Digestion (Acid)

Clayton Hughes: Night Vision

Ronald Barlog: Sensing Danger

Jeremiah Cloutier: Healing Others

Zahir Arif: Plant Communication

[scientificinquirer-blog]

DAILY DOSE: Altman back at ChatGPT again (for now at least); Invasion of the Superpigs.

HE’S BACK. OpenAI announced Sam Altman’s return as CEO, following a new agreement. A restructured board will include Bret Taylor as chair, Larry Summers, and Adam D’Angelo, while removing Ilya Sutskever, Helen Toner, and Tasha McCauley. Greg Brockman, OpenAI’s co-founder, will also return. The company proposed an all-male board, removing three directors who voted against Altman. The Verge…

[mariacallous]

Earlier this month, OpenAI’s board abruptly fired its popular CEO, Sam Altman. The ouster shocked the tech world and rankled Altman’s loyal employees, the vast majority of whom threatened to quit unless their boss was reinstated. After a chaotic five-day exile, Altman got his old job back—with a reconfigured, all-male board overseeing him, led by ex-Salesforce CEO and former Twitter board chair Bret Taylor.

Right now, only three people sit on this provisional OpenAI board. (More are expected to join.) Immediately prior to the failed coup, there were six. Altman and OpenAI cofounders Greg Brockman and Ilya Sutskever sat alongside Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo; AI safety researcher Helen Toner; and Tasha McCauley, a robotics engineer who leads a 3D-mapping startup.

The specifics of the boardroom overthrow attempt remain a mystery. Of those six, D’Angelo is the only one left standing. In addition to Taylor, the other new board member is former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers, a living emblem of American capitalism who notoriously said in 2005 that innate differences in the sexes may explain why fewer women succeed in STEM careers (he later apologized).

While Altman, Brockman, and Sutskever all still work at OpenAI despite their absence from the board, Toner and McCauley—the two women who sat on the board—are now cut off from the company. As the artificial intelligence startup moves forward, the stark gender imbalance of its revamped board illustrates the precarious position of women in AI.

“What this underscores is that there aren’t enough women in the mix to begin with,” says Margaret O’Mara, a University of Washington history professor and author of The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America. For O’Mara, the new board reflects Silicon Valley’s power structure, signaling that it’s “back to business” for the world’s most influential AI company—if back to business means a return to the Big Tech boys’ club. (Worth noting that when it was founded in 2015, OpenAI only had two board members: Altman and Elon Musk.)

Prominent AI researcher Timnit Gebru, who was fired by Google in late 2020 over a dispute about a research paper involving critical analysis of large language models, has been floated in the media as a potential board candidate. She is, indeed, a leader in responsible AI; post-Google, she founded the Distributed AI Research Institute, which describes itself as a space where “AI is not inevitable, its harms are preventable.” If OpenAI wanted to signal that it is still committed to AI safety, Gebru would be a savvy choice. Also an impossible one: She does not want a seat on the board of directors.

“It’s repulsive to me,” says Gebru. “I honestly think there’s more of a chance that I would go back to Google—I mean, they won’t have me and I won’t have them—than me going to OpenAI.”

The lack of women in the AI field has been an issue for years; in 2018, WIRED estimated that only 12 percent of leading machine learning researchers were women. In 2020, the World Economic Forum found that only 26 percent of data and AI positions in the workforce are held by women. “AI is very imbalanced in terms of gender,” says Sasha Luccioni, an AI ethics researcher at HuggingFace. “It’s not a very welcoming field for women.”

One of the areas where women are flourishing within the AI industry is in the world of ethics and safety, which Luccioni views as comparatively inclusive. She also sees it as significant that the ousted board members reportedly clashed with Altman over OpenAI’s mission. According to The New York Times, Toner and Altman had bickered over a research paper she published with coauthors in October that Altman interpreted as critical of the company. Luccioni believes that in addition to highlighting gender disparities, this incident also demonstrates how voices advocating for ethical considerations are getting hushed.

“I don’t think they got fired because they’re women,” Luccioni says. “I think they got fired because they highlighted an issue.” (Technically, both women agreed to leave the board.)

No matter what actually spurred the conflict at OpenAI, the way in which it was resolved, with Altman back at the helm and his dissenters out, has played into a narrative: Altman emerging as victor, flanked by loyalists and boosters. His board is now stocked with men eager to commercialize OpenAI’s products, not rein in its technological ambition. (One recent headline capturing this perspective: “AI Belongs to the Capitalists Now.”) Caution espoused by female leadership at least appears to have lost.

O’Mara sees the all-male OpenAI board as a sign of a swinging cultural pendulum. Just as some Silicon Valley tech companies have been working to correct their woeful track records in diversity and consider their environmental footprints, others have recoiled against “wokism” in various forms, instead espousing hard-nosed beliefs about work culture.

“It’s this sentiment around, ‘OK, we’re done being touchy-feely,’” she says. “Whether it’s Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ demands or Marc Andreessen’s recent manifesto, the idea is that if you’re calling for people to take a pause and consider potential harms or complaining about the lack of representation, that is orthogonal to their business.”

OpenAI is reportedly planning to expand the board soon, and speculation is rampant about who will join. Its conspicuously all-male and all-white makeup certainly did not go unnoticed, and OpenAI is already looking at prospects who might placate some critics. According to a Bloomberg report, philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, and former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were all considered but not selected.

At the time of publication, OpenAI had not responded to repeated requests for comment.

For many onlookers, it’s crucial to choose someone who will advocate balancing ambition with safety and responsibility—someone whose line of inquiry might match that of Toner, for example, rather than someone who simply looks like her. “The sort of people that this board should be bringing back are people who are thinking about responsible or trustworthy technology, and safety,” says Kay Firth-Butterfield, executive director of the Centre for Trustworthy Technology. “There are a lot of women out there who are experts in that particular field.”

As OpenAI searches for new board members, it may meet resistance from prospects wary of the real power dynamics within the company. There are already concerns about tokenization. “I just feel like the person on the board would have a horrible time because they will constantly be fighting an uphill battle,” says Gebru. “Used as a token and not to really make any kind of difference.”

She’s not the only person within the world of AI ethics to question whether new board members would be marginalized. “I wouldn’t touch that board with a ten-foot pole,” Luccioni says. She feels she couldn’t recommend a friend take that sort of position, either. “Such stress!”

Meredith Whittaker, president of messaging app Signal, sees value in bringing someone to the board who isn’t just another startup founder, but she doubts that adding a single woman or person of color will set them up to affect meaningful change. Unless the expanded board is able to genuinely challenge Altman and his allies, packing it with people who tick off demographic boxes to satisfy calls for diversity could amount to little more than “diversity theater.”

“We’re not going to solve the issue—that AI is in the hands of concentrated capital at present—by simply hiring more diverse people to fulfill the incentives of concentrated capital,” Whittaker says. “I worry about a discourse that focuses on diversity and then sets folks up in rooms with [expletive] Larry Summers without much power.”

[moviesandmania]

TOTALLY KILLER (2023) Comedy horror slasher soon on Prime - red band trailer!

Totally Killer is a 2023 comedy horror slasher film about a teenage girl who goes back in time thirty-five years to stop a serial killer. Directed by Nahnatchka Khan from a screenplay co-written by Jen D’Angelo, David Matalon and Sasha Perl-Raver from a story by David Matalon and Sasha Perl-Raver. Produced by Jason Blum, Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks and Adan Orozco. The Divide/Conquer-Blumhouse…

[phonemantra-blog]

A new board of directors is currently being formed Sam Altman will return to the post of CEO of OpenAI after a coup attempt and his removal from this position a few days ago. Former President Greg Brockman, who resigned in protest of Altman's ouster, will also return. The company said it has an "agreement in principle" to bring back Altman along with a new board of directors consisting of Bret Taylor, Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo. D'Angelo was on the old board of directors that fired Altman on Friday. [caption id="attachment_84151" align="aligncenter" width="750"] OpenAI[/caption] Sam Altman to return as OpenAI CEO after controversial firing All key parties confirmed that they had reached an agreement. Altman said that “everything I have done over the past few days has been aimed at maintaining the unity of this team and its mission.” One of OpenAI's other major investors, Thrive Capital, called Altman's return "the best thing for the company, its employees, those who use its technology, and the world at large." “OpenAI has the potential to become one of the most influential companies in the history of computing,” said Thrive partner Kelly Sims. “Sam and Greg are deeply committed to company integrity and have an unmatched ability to inspire and lead. We are thrilled that they will be returning to the company they founded and helped build into what it is today.” It was previously reported that 96% of OpenAI employees signed a letter saying they could leave and join Sam Altman at Microsoft unless the startup's board resigns and brings back the ousted CEO along with co-founder and former president Greg Brockman.

[diedeadenovgh]

Can I be James’s girlfriend for just one day of my life. 😭

[cryptofansty]

Digifinex Labs: Leadership Changes at OpenAI as Founder Sam Altman Ousted; CTO Mira Murati Named Interim CEO

As a result, Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati will be stepping in as the interim CEO. The board expressed gratitude for Altman’s contributions to OpenAI’s founding and growth but emphasized the need for new leadership moving forward. Greg Brockman, the board’s chairman, will also step down from his position but will remain an employee, reporting to the CEO.

The board of directors, including Adam D’Angelo, Tasha McCauley, Helen Toner, and OpenAI Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever, consists mainly of independent directors without equity in OpenAI.

Mira Murati, recognized for her contributions to key OpenAI products, brings her engineering expertise and will assume the interim CEO role. With a background spanning aerospace, automotive, VR, and AR, Murati previously held a senior product manager role at Tesla and worked with Leap Motion, integrating AI into real-world applications. She joined OpenAI in 2018.

[longliverockback]

White Lion Pride 1987 Atlantic ————————————————— Tracks: 01. Hungry 02. Lonely Nights 03. Don’t Give Up 04. Sweet Little Loving 05. Lady of the Valley 06. Wait 07. All You Need Is Rock n Roll 08. Tell Me 09. All Join Our Hands 10. When the Children Cry —————————————————

Vito Bratta

Greg D’Angelo

James LoMenzo

Mike Tramp

* Long Live Rock Archive

[coghive]

The Kingdom Choir Return With New Single & US Tour Dates

Offering love, hope and inspiration, The Kingdom Choir today make a timely return with their brand-new single “Not Giving Up”. Founded in 1994 by Karen Gibson MBE (the Godmother of Gospel), The Kingdom Choir have continued to win hearts since their unforgettable performance at the 2018 Royal Wedding in front of a global televised audience of 2 billion people. Listen to “Not Giving Up” HERE. Offering a ray of hope amongst the darkness, “Not Giving Up” is instantly affecting as Wayne Ellington’s rich, baritone exalts the power that comes with believing that better times are waiting ahead of us. While his voice alone would make for a captivating, emotional experience, the harmonies from the rest of The Kingdom Choir take it to a whole new level with their grace, majesty and sheer expressiveness able to move anyone.  “Not Giving Up” was written by Alex Hart, Greg Dwight, Karen Gibson, Wilson Atie, Jonathan Owusu-Yianomah and produced by Alex Hart and Jonathan Owusu-Yianomah. The Kingdom Choir commented, “In our changing world, this is the song that rises from our hearts. It speaks of freedom and a determination to press on, a reminder that hope takes us through the broken moments of life onto a brighter day.” “Not Giving Up” is also a reflection of The Kingdom Choir’s own journey. Karen Gibson had led the choir for over two decades before their breakthrough moment in the spotlight, during which time the group – spread across London and from various Christian traditions – became renowned for their shared talents, collective spirit, and instantly uplifting performances. The Kingdom Choir’s performances have remained in global demand ever since their performance at the Royal Wedding, with highlights including the Invictus Games, ITV’s Concert for Ukraine, Prince Albert II of Monaco’s 2021 gala, Expo 2020 and a headline show at the Hollywood Bowl. They have been sought out as collaborators by artists such as Gladys Knight, Gregory Porter, Emelie Sandé, and Madness, as well as for brand collaborations which have included Cartier, Ralph Lauren, Coca-Cola, Burberry, British Airways, and Marks & Spencer. The Kingdom Choir ended 2022 by performing as special guests at Trevor Nelson’s Soul Christmas extravaganza at the Royal Albert Hall alongside the likes of Corinne Bailey-Rae and Andrew Roachford. THE KINGDOM CHOIR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR: - February 19 Montreal, Canada. Place des Arts – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier - February 21 Erie, PA Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center - February 22 Athens, OH Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium - February 24 Galveston, TX The Grand 1984 - February 25 Spring, TX The Centrum - February 26 Irving, TX Irving Arts Center - February 28 Cedar Falls, IA Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center - March 2 Eau Claire, WI RCU Theatre - March 3 Chicago, IL Harris Theater - March 4 Chicago, IL Harris Theater - March 5 Goshen, IN Sauder Concert Hall - March 7 Madisonville, KY Glema Mahr Center for the Arts - March 9 Kutztown, PA Schaeffer Auditorium - March 10 Fairfield, CT Kelley Theatre - March 11 Union, NJ Enlow Recital Hall - March 12 Red Bank, NJ Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre at the Count Basie Center for the Arts - March 14 Thomasville, GA Thomasville Center for the Arts - March 16 Birmingham, AL The Library Theatre - March 17 Birmingham, AL The Library Theatre - March 18 Meridian, MS The Riley Center - March 20 Gainesville, FL Phillips Center - March 21 Belle Glade, FL Dolly Hand Cultural Arts Center - March 24 Palm Desert, CA McCallum Theatre - March 25 San Diego, CA Balboa Theatre Read the full article

[ear-worthy]

A New Christmas Video Podcast: A Cinematic Christmas Journey

Every Christmas, TV and radio ramp up their Christmas battle plan. Somehow, about 15 years ago, radio program managers decided that playing only Christmas music on their radio station from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day would boost ratings and increase advertising dollars.

While I am not a Scrooge about Christmas music, there is a personal threshold where enough is too much. I love “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” but Mariah in the morning. Mariah at the mid-morning break. Lunchtime Mariah. Afternoon Siesta Mariah. Dinner Mariah, and bedtime Mariah. Too much.

Television, of course, has its programming must-runs — It’s A Wonderful Life, Home Alone, A Christmas Story, Charlie Brown Christmas, and even Die Hard. (Come on, it’s a Christmas movie!).

Now, podcasting does not yet have that Christmas season programming legacy. Joe Rogan interviewing MMA fighters about smashing another human being in the face is not exactly a Christmas moment. Grammar Girl did a recent episode on the derivation of well-known Christmas words and phrases. Did you know that Yule (yuletide) comes from an Old English word that came from an ancient Scandinavian word, jol, for winter festivities?

To the rescue comes, an interesting new podcast, A Cinematic Christmas Journey, hosted by Peter Billingsley and Nick Schenk available now with exclusive video episodes on Spotify.

A Cinematic Christmas Journey is hosted by Peter Billingsley, star of the new hit movie A Christmas Story Christmas, and the film’s co-writer, Nick Schenk.

The series will celebrate the nostalgia of classic holiday films while answering the question — why do people love holiday movies so much?

Host Peter Billingsley comments, “I’m so excited to explore the compelling elements of the Christmas movies I personally love and get a deeper perspective from the stars and filmmakers who have touched all of our lives.”

Across the six episodes, Billingsley and Schenk will explore the holiday traditions highlighted in iconic movies such as Home Alone, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Four Christmases, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Grinch and A Christmas Story.

The film deep dives will include interviews with the stars and filmmakers of these holiday classics and discuss why their respective films are beloved by people around the world.

The show launched on Thursday, December 8th and all episodes will air ahead of December 25th. Upcoming guests include Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation), Jeffrey Kimball and Vince Vaughn (Four Christmases), and Julio Macat (Home Alone).

The repeatable franchise podcast will evolve for future seasons from Audiorama and Wild West Productions, that cover other iconic movie genres such as Valentine’s Day Rom-Coms, Halloween Horrors, Summer Blockbusters and more. The hosts will also change by season based upon that season’s theme.

The series is produced by Audiorama, a premium creation platform powered by passionate storytellers and founded by award-winning actor Vince Vaughn, former NFL Pro Bowlers Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil, and Wild West Productions The series is presented by Walmart.

“Video continues to be one of the most powerful tools to complement audio,” says Max Cutler, Spotify’s Vice President of Creator Content and Partnerships, “and users will undoubtedly get that experience exclusively on Spotify. We could not be more excited about Vince and Peter’s take on these iconic holiday films.”

Exclusive video episodes will be available for free, only on Spotify.

Vince Vaughn, Audiorama Co-Founder, cannot contain his excitement when he says, “Peter and I created this podcast to take listeners on an entertaining journey through the most classic Christmas movies ever created. The series will provide insight into the production, themes, and behind-the-scenes work that created these iconic films. Who better to take us on this journey than Peter Billingsley and award-winning screenwriter Nick Schenk (Gran Torino), co-creators of the recently released new classic, A Christmas Story Christmas.”

Maybe podcasting is beginning a memorable Christmas tradition. Now if we could only get Stephen Dubner, Adam Grant, Roman Mars, and Kara Swisher to sing Christmas songs on a podcast that plays continuously from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day, podcasting would be golden.

[mednerds]

In the Fight to Treat Coronavirus, Your Lungs Are a Battlefield

By Mika Gröndahl, Andrew Jacobs and Larry Buchanan (The New York Times)

Ventilators have become the single most important piece of medical equipment for critically ill coronavirus patients whose damaged lungs prevent them from getting enough oxygen to vital organs. The machines work by forcing air deep into the lungs, dislodging the fluid and accumulated pus that interfere with the exchange of oxygen, a process orchestrated by tiny air sacs known as alveoli.

It’s still not clear how lungs are affected by Covid-19.

Lungs are complex organs that deliver oxygen to the bloodstream and keep organs functioning.

Human lungs are spongy vessels made up of millions of microscopic, balloon-shaped air sacs called alveoli, the workhorse of the respiratory system where the exchange of gases takes place.

A ventilator can help patients get the oxygen they need to stay alive …

Ventilators are not a cure for Covid-19 patients, but mechanical breathing assistance can keep patients alive while they battle the infection.

Critical care ventilators are more than just air pumps. They are finely tuned machines with software that must be constantly adjusted by skilled medical workers to ensure that patients receive the right combination of oxygen level, pressure, breath volume and breathing rate.

… but ventilating a patient is far from a guaranteed fix.

Non-coronavirus patients on ventilators have about a 50 percent survival rate. The mortality rate for coronavirus patients on ventilators is not yet clear — in part because, with no proven method of treatment for the virus, coronavirus patients are often being kept on these machines for weeks in order to keep them breathing long enough to give their lungs a chance to heal.

Intubation is fraught. Patients must be heavily sedated to allow doctors to insert a breathing tube into the lungs — and to prevent them from waking up and pulling out the tubes. Because too much air pressure can damage the lungs, intubated patients must be constantly monitored.

Health care providers are exploring new techniques ...

Fears of a ventilator shortage in New York and the poor prognosis for intubated patients have helped spur innovations for sustaining patients without relying on critical care ventilators.

Health care providers have embraced a maneuver that has long been used for ventilated patients — periodically turning them on their stomach to increase lung capacity. Proning, as it’s called, opens up areas of the lungs that are normally compressed by the weight of the heart when lying on one’s back. Doctors are currently studying whether using proning for some patients in respiratory distress can allow them to recover without being placed on ventilators.

... and less expensive treatment alternatives.

Medical workers have increasingly turned to CPAP and BiPAP machines, inexpensive air pumps used by millions of Americans with sleep apnea, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other breathing disorders. Hospitals have been repurposing unused machines and using them both with or without intubation to send pressurized air into the lungs of coronavirus patients.

Additional sources Sources: Ventec Life Systems; Dr. John D’Angelo, Trinitas Regional Medical Center; Dr. Greg Martin, Emory University School of Medicine; Dr. Susan R. Wilcox, Massachusetts General Hospital. Additional work by Julie Walton Shaver.

[moviesandmania]

TOTALLY KILLER (2023) Comedy horror slasher soon on Amazon Prime

Totally Killer is a 2023 comedy horror slasher film about a teenage girl who goes back in time thirty-five years to stop a serial killer. Directed by Nahnatchka Khan from a screenplay co-written by Jen D’Angelo, David Matalon and Sasha Perl-Raver from a story by David Matalon and Sasha Perl-Raver. Produced by Jason Blum, Greg Gilreath, Adam Hendricks and Adan Orozco. The Divide/Conquer-Blumhouse…