Don't Knock It

In Home Delivery, News Orgs Sign With ChatGPT

They show up nearly every day. They know your shopping habits. They know your schedule. At this point, you might as well invite them in. At least that seems to be the working theory in Austria as it becomes the first European country to roll out an in-home package delivery service. Note, I didn't say at home, or in front of home. In-home. "The prerequisite is a so-called smart lock ... Once installed, postal staff can unlock the door via a mobile device, place the package on a designated doormat inside, and lock up again upon leaving." Bloomberg: In Austria, Parcel Carriers Can Now Enter Homes for Deliveries. While allowing strangers into your front door might sound like a knock-knock joke without the knocking, demand for the service has been high. And it's not just a European thing. "In the US. Amazon.com Inc. offers in-garage delivery via a smart key, and Walmart Inc. even unloads groceries directly into customers’ fridges." At this point, our Amazon delivery guy spends so much time at our house, he may as well take the guest bedroom.

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Asked and Answered?

"The Atlantic, one of the oldest magazines in the U.S., and Vox Media, one of the nation's largest digital media holding companies, have both inked separate licensing and product deals with ChatGPT parent OpenAI." Doing deals with search and social media companies didn't always pay dividends for news orgs. Will working with ChatGPT be any better? How does getting the answer on another site benefit journalism? And in this environment, do publishers have any choice but to partner? Damon Beres in The Atlantic (Gift Article): A Devil’s Bargain With OpenAI. And another question. How will news orgs cover ChatGPT when they all have deals with ChatGPT?

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The Fall of the American Umpire

"Everyone assumes that nothing can be done about the recusal situation because the highest court in the land has the lowest ethical standards — no binding ethics code or process outside of personal reflection. Each justice decides for him- or herself whether he or she can be impartial." So is there any way to hold Justices to account when, say, they obviously should recuse themselves from a case but instead offer the shrug emoji and just keep on keeping on? In a very interesting analysis, Jamie Raskin argues there is a way. NYT (Gift Article): How to Force Justices Alito and Thomas to Recuse Themselves in the Jan. 6 Cases. "Professional baseball would never allow an umpire to continue to officiate the World Series after learning that the pennant of one of the two teams competing was flying in the front yard of the umpire’s home. Nor would an umpire be allowed to call balls and strikes in a World Series game after the umpire’s wife tried to get the official score of a prior game in the series overthrown and canceled out to benefit the losing team. If judges are like umpires, then they should be treated like umpires, not team owners, team fans or players." On the other hand, when umpires don't like your suggestions, they can throw you out of the game.

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Lost at Sea

"Abdul Nasser Saleh says he rarely got a good night’s sleep during the near-decade he spent working without pay on a cargo ship abandoned by its owner at ports along the Red Sea. By night, he tossed and turned in his bunk on the aging Al-Maha, he said, thinking of the unpaid wages he feared he’d never get if he left the ship. By day he paced the deck, stuck for the last two years in the seaport of Jeddah, unable to set foot on land because of Saudi Arabia’s strict immigration laws ... Saleh’s plight is part of a global problem that shows no signs of abating." Last year, more than 150 large ships were just abandoned by their owners, wherever they may have been at the moment. These moves often left crew members stranded on board. For years. Stuck at sea for years, a sailor’s plight highlights a surge in shipowner abandonment.

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Extra, Extra

Boundless Boundaries: "Consumer protection laws give attorneys general broad legal authority to request a wide range of records when investigating businesses or charities for allegations of deceptive or fraudulent practices, such as gas stations that hike up fuel prices during hurricanes, companies that run robocalling phone scams and unscrupulous contractors who take advantage of homeowners. But attorneys general have increasingly used their powers to also pursue investigations targeting organizations whose work conflicts with their political views." Which brings us to Texas. ProPublica and The Texas Tribune: How Ken Paxton is stretching the boundaries of consumer protection laws to pursue political targets. Depending on how things go in November, stretching the boundaries to pursue political opponents could be a federal story, too.

+ So Long Hong Kong: "After a 2019 protest movement that filled the city’s streets with demonstrators, authorities have all but silenced dissent in Hong Kong through reduced public choice in elections, crackdowns on media and the Beijing-imposed security law under which the activists were convicted." 14 pro-democracy activists convicted, 2 acquitted in Hong Kong’s biggest national security case.

+ Pierless: "Broken apart by strong winds and heavy seas just over a week after it became operational, the project faces criticism that it hasn’t lived up to its initial billing or its $320 million price tag." The US-built pier in Gaza broke apart. (They tried to build a pier. Instead they built a metaphor.)

+ These BFFs Are a BFD: "He is reportedly exploring what could be his next political project: Becoming an adviser to Donald Trump." Elon Musk has been getting Trumpier. A direct line to Trump may be next.

+ RS Combs Over the Past: The more we learn about Sean Combs, the more we have to wonder how his abusive behavior was excused for so long. Rolling Stone (Gift Article): Bad Boy for Life: Sean Combs’ History of Violence.

+ Take the Gloves Off: "Lopez untucked his jersey and threw his glove over the netting into the crowd as he walked off the field. He did not display any remorse after the game." The Mets (who are going through some things) cut one of their pitchers after a post-ejection glove toss.

+ Break Point: Things have been getting out of hand at some of the French Open matches. Though the enthusiasm has made for some entertaining TV, Roland Garros officials (and many players) have had enough. French Open brings in alcohol ban to stop unruly fans.

+ INR Voice: "Every American knows what the CIA is. I would guess that maybe 1 in 1,000 have ever heard of INR — the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, American diplomats’ in-house intelligence agency. But if you do know about INR, you probably know two things: It has gotten big stuff right when the CIA and others screwed up. When it got that big stuff right, no one listened to it." Vox: The obscure federal intelligence bureau that got Vietnam, Iraq, and Ukraine right.

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Bottom of the News

In what has become an incredibly viral moment, a Michigan man attended a Zoom court hearing on his suspended license – while driving.

+ "In one of her greatest hits, Otter 841 was actually seen wrestling a board away from a surfer on video." And she's back. Viral Santa Cruz otter '841' is back.