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49ers mailbag: What can the Niners take from prior deep playoff runs, and what might be their fatal flaw?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

SANTA CLARA – Patience must be exercised until the 49ers make their playoff debut on the Jan. 20-21 weekend. We can kill time by answering your questions sent via social media in the weekly mailbag:Do you think Brock Purdy plays this week? (@PowerGoh)He shouldn’t. Why jeopardize his health for the playoffs, when the scars are still fresh from last season’s NFC Championship exit? His nerve stingers in consecutive games last month have eased, but that left shoulder, and likely other body parts, could use the rest. The midseason bye got Purdy out of a funk, and more time off sounds like the smart play (or smart benching). If he plays, a first-quarter cameo would suffice. He has already set the 49ers’ single-season passing record, doing so on Sunday’s final pass (5-yard completion to George Kittle, for 4,280 total yards). Sam Darnold and maybe even Brandon Allen would benefit from the reps.What are your biggest concerns going into the playoffs, other than health? (@web...

Feldman: The New York Times has an edge in suit against OpenAI

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

The lawsuit filed by The New York Times against OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement pits one of the great establishment media institutions against the purveyor of a transformative new technology.Symbolically, the case promises a clash of the titans: labor-intensive human newsgathering against pushbutton information produced by artificial intelligence. But legally, the case represents something different: a classic instance of the lag between established law and emerging technology.Copyright law, a set of rules that date back to the printing press, was not designed to cover large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. It will have to be consciously evolved by the courts — or amended by Congress — to fit our current circumstances.Fair useThe key legal issue in the case will be the doctrine known as fair use. Codified in the Copyright Act of 1976, fair use tells you when it’s acceptable to use text copyrighted by someone else.The fair use test has four factors. Ed...

All-Bay Area News Group high school football 2023: Kickers/punters

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

ALL-BAY AREA NEWS GROUP FOOTBALL 2023KICKERS/PUNTERSFirst teamOdhran Kenny, St. Ignatius, 6-3, 180, junior WCAL kicker of the year. Went 11-11 on field goals with a long of 45 yards, and also turned 19 of his 28 kickoffs into touchbacks. Had 19 touchbacks on 28 kickoffs. Trajan Sinatra, Silver Creek, 6-0, 180, seniorBVAL Santa Teresa Valley most outstanding utility player made four field goals (long of 47 yards) and made all 35 of his PATs. Also threw 10 touchdowns as Silver Creek’s quarterback. Second teamLucas LeSieur, Northgate, 6-0, 185, seniorThe School of Mines commit handled both punting and kicking duties for Northgate. Made 8 of 11 field goals with a long of 45, and averaged 40.9 yards on 26 punts.Connor Tripp, Bellarmine, seniorAll-WCAL honorable mention selection made six field goals, with his longest makes being from 51 and 55 yards. Also converted on 15 PATs. Honorable mentionJesus Lua Amaya, Pittsburg, seniorRylan Antipuesto, Christopher, juniorCasey Carr, Santa Teresa...

In new year, California continues to struggle with existential issues

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

California enters the new year with its existential issues still unresolved, and a new one — an immense budget deficit — threatens to make dealing with them even more difficult.California has made very little progress, if any, on narrowing its shortage of housing, its levels of homelessness and poverty remain among the nation’s highest, and its population is declining as hundreds of thousands of Californians decamp for other states.The Legislature’s budget analyst has calculated that California faces a $68 billion gap between revenue and already programmed spending over a three-year period that began in 2022. Annual deficits in the $30 billion range thereafter.Next week, Gov. Gavin Newsom will quantify his version of the yawning gap and how he proposes to close it, touching off six months of negotiations with the Legislature on a 2024-25 budget.It will dominate election-year discourse in California and complicate Newsom’s simultaneous efforts to expand his national polit...

Californina celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi found competent to stand trial for alleged client thefts

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES — Disgraced Los Angeles celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi has been found competent to stand trial on charges that he stole more than $15 million from his clients.A federal judge filed a notice of the brief order Tuesday under seal. Lawyers for both sides were given five days to identify any information in it that they would like the judge to keep confidential.Girardi, 84, is the estranged husband of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Erika Jayne.Girardi pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles last year to wire fraud on charges that he embezzled from clients, including an Arizona widow whose husband was killed in a boat accident; a Los Angeles couple injured in a car wreck that paralyzed their son; and a man who was severely burned in the 2010 San Bruno gas pipeline explosion.If convicted, he could be sentenced to decades in federal prison.The Associated Press sent messages to his public defenders seeking comment.At issue in the competency hearing was whether Girardi unders...

Man rescued in Alameda after sailboat becomes submerged

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

(BCN) -- A man was rescued from the water in Alameda on Tuesday evening after his sailboat became submerged, Alameda Fire said.The man was in the area of the rock wall near the U.S.S. Hornet docked at at Pier 3 when his 27 foot sailboat became submerged just after 5:30 p.m., Alameda Fire said. Shots fired during attempted car thefts in East Bay A total of 21 first responders came to the man's rescue, including help from the Oakland Fire Department.Copyright © 2024 Bay City News, Inc.

Stock market today: Wall Street tracks toward losses again as sellers take profits early in 2024

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

Wall Street was poised to open with losses again on Wednesday, one day after markets kicked off the new year giving back some of last year’s big gains.Futures for the S&P 500 moved 0.4% lower before the bell, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down 0.3%.Investors are watching for the release of minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting later in the day, hoping for signs the central bank will move ahead with interest rate cuts in coming months. That optimism fueled markets late in 2023 as the Fed declined to raise rates at three meetings in a row with the economy showing continued strength as inflation retreated. Figures due out later Wednesday will show how many job openings U.S. employers were advertising at the end of November, data that the Federal Reserve follows closely. Friday will bring the U.S. government’s monthly tally of job growth across the country. In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX tumbled 1% and in Paris, the CAC 40 slid 1.5%. Br...

Iran says at least 73 people killed, 170 wounded in blasts at ceremony honoring slain general

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Explosions at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020 have killed at least 73 people and wounded 170 others, state-run media in Iran reported Wednesday. One official called them a “terroristic” attack.Babak Yektaparast, a spokesman for Iran’s emergency service, gave the casualty figure to state media.The blasts struck an event marking the the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force. who died in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. The explosions occurred near his grave site in Kerman, about 820 kilometers (510 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Explosions at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020 have killed at least 25 people and wounded 40 others, state-run media in Iran repor...

Disney reaches agreement with ValueAct, secures its support for company’s board nominees

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

Disney has reached a confidentiality agreement with activist investor ValueAct Capital Management, garnering its support for the company’s board nominees as it continues to deal with a proxy battle with Nelson Peltz.The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that the agreement with ValueAct will allow the company to provide information to ValueAct and consult with it on strategic matters, including through meetings with its board and management.“ValueAct Capital has a track record of collaboration and cooperation with the companies it invests in, and its Co-CEO Mason Morfit has been very constructive in the conversations we’ve had over the past year. We welcome their input as long-term shareholders,” Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.Last month Nelson Peltz’s investment management firm Trian Fund Management said that it was planning to nominate the activist investor and a former chief financial officer of Disney for seats on the media and entertainment company’s board.Along with...

Iranian official says at least 73 people killed, 170 wounded in attack targeting ceremony for slain general

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:51:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian official says at least 73 people killed, 170 wounded in attack targeting ceremony for slain general.Source