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The year of social media soul-searching: Twitter dies, X and Threads are born and AI gets personal

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

We lost Twitter and got X. We tried out Bluesky and Mastodon (well, some of us did). We fretted about AI bots and teen mental health. We cocooned in private chats and scrolled endlessly as we did in years past. For social media users, 2023 was a year of beginnings and endings, with some soul-searching in between. Here’s a look back some of the biggest stories in social media in 2023 — and what to watch for next year:GOODBYE TWITTERA little more than a year ago, Elon Musk walked into Twitter ’s San Francisco headquarters, fired its CEO and other top executives and began transforming the social media platform into what’s now known as X. Musk revealed the X logo in July. It quickly replaced Twitter’s name and its whimsical blue bird icon, online and on the company’s San Francisco headquarters. “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds,” Musk posted on the site. Because of its public nature and because it attracted public fig...

In a troubled world, Christians strive to put aside earthly worries on Christmas Eve

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Christians around the world were striving on Christmas Eve to put aside the worries and fears of an unsettled, war-torn world as they prepared to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.Believers in Syria gathered Sunday in a country still suffering from the aftermath of a long civil war and suffocating economic blockade. Despite festive lights and Christmas decorations adorning houses and shopfronts in the capital Damascus, events in Gaza and ongoing battles in parts of the country have left the holiday atmosphere subdued.In Yabroud, a city north of Damascus, worshippers gathered in the St. Constantine and Helen Cathedral to enjoy Christmas carols sung by the Joy Choir from Damascus. “Everyone should try, with what the Lord has given them, to spread joy in order to help end this sorrow,” said Fadi Homsi, a member of the choir. Prosperous, mostly secular Europe marked the holiday in historic cathedrals and brightly lit holiday markets, with an undertone of...

A North American military command is tracking Santa’s every move and kids can follow along

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — As children around the world eagerly await Santa’s arrival on Christmas, the military is closely tracking his every move.Armed with radar, sensors, aircraft and Christmas spirit, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado is reporting on the movements of Santa’s sleigh since his takeoff from the North Pole for parts of the globe where Christmas comes first. Once again it is sharing those details so kids can follow along.NORAD is the joint military command that is responsible for protecting U.S. and Canadian airspace, but it has a jolly side, too. It has launched its noradsanta.org website, social media sites and mobile app, loaded with games, movies, books and music. By late Christmas Eve in Thailand, late morning Sunday in the eastern U.S., the tracker reported that Santa had departed Bangkok and moved on to Burma, Tibet, China and Russia, distributing nearly 2 billion gifts so far in his travels.NORAD’s findings could not be independently veri...

Massachusetts in store for ‘pretty mild’ holiday week, no inclement weather for travelers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

New Englanders can expect above-average temperatures with some scattered precipitation to wrap up December, with no inclement weather expected to burden holiday travel plans, according to the National Weather Service.“It doesn’t really look like there would be any heavy downpours or anything that would make traveling in the rain more hazardous than normal,” Rob Megnia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Boston office, told the Herald on Sunday. “It looks like a favorable week for holiday travel.”Highs on Christmas Day into Thursday will range from the upper 40s to the low 50s, and the low temperatures will fall between the upper 30s and low 40s.While no inclement weather is anticipated for holiday travelers, a Wednesday night system will bring some precipitation into the area. Given the mild temperatures, that system will most likely be rain showers, according to Megnia.More normal temperatures are expected at the end of the week heading into the weekend...

Nikki Haley closes gap to 3 points versus Trump in New Hampshire: Poll

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

With each passing day, the race for the Republican nomination in New Hampshire is looking less like a foregone conclusion and more like an actual contest.There is now less than a month to go before Granite State voters become the first in the country to cast their ballots and begin the 2024 primary cycle in earnest, and some of the White House hopefuls say they are planning to return to New Hampshire ahead of the New Year as former President Donald Trump’s polling lead there continues to shrink.Trump has led in New Hampshire and national polls for the length of the Republican primary push that officially began over a year ago. Trump has, at times, even shown a majority of support among polled Granite State conservatives, demonstrating more sway within the party than the rest of the once full-to-bursting Republican field, combined.However, after months of making her way up and down the length of New Hampshire, and as other candidates struggled to gain traction or dropped out of...

Column: A ‘nightmare’ 2023 for Chicago sports included some memorable moments on TV and radio

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

How will we remember the year in sports?Let’s allow Chicago White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to do the honors:“It was absolutely the worst season I’ve ever been through. It was a nightmare. It’s still a nightmare. It’s embarrassing. It’s disgusting. All the bad words you can think of is the way I feel about the 2023 season. It absolutely was just awful.”Reinsdorf obviously was referring to the White Sox, but there were enough nightmares to go around for fans of every team to complain about, including another lost season of the Bears rebuild and an epic Cubs collapse.Still, we watched and listened, groused and groaned and sometimes managed to laugh, because that’s what being a fan is all about.With the year about to end, here are some of the best and worst things we saw and heard in 2023.Ozzie and Chuck ShowNothing worked better after a White Sox loss than washing it down with some vitriol from analyst Ozzie Guillen on the NBC Chicago...

Watch: Christmas at Rock Church

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Join FOX 5 and KUSI this Christmas season for a Rock Church special presentation.Tune in for "Christmas at Rock Church" with Miles McPherson at the times listed below. You can also watch the special on this page starting Dec. 23.Saturday, Dec. 23KUSI: 11:30 p.m.Christmas Eve: Sunday, Dec. 24FOX 5: 4 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 p.m.KUSI: 11 a.m.Christmas Day: Monday, Dec. 25FOX 5: 3 am.KUSI: 5 a.m.

Russian shelling kills 4 as Ukraine prepares to observe Christmas on Dec. 25 for the first time

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian shelling in southern Ukraine’s Kherson region killed four people Sunday, including an 87-year-old man and his 81-year-old wife who died after a strike on their apartment building.The barrage injured nine other people, including a 15-year-old, sparked fires in homes and at a private medical facility, and set a local gas pipeline alight, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, said.“There are no holidays for the enemy,” Andrii Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, wrote on social media, commenting on the Kherson attack. “They do not exist for us as long as the enemy kills our people and remains on our land.”The shelling across Kherson reached the center of the region’s capital city of the same name. The assault took place as Ukraine prepared to officially celebrate Christmas for the first time on Dec. 25, having previously marked the date on Jan. 7.Some Orthodox Ukrainians observed Christmas on Dec. 25 la...

Illinois provides hotels for some migrants in Chicago

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

CHICAGO — The State of Illinois is temporarily putting migrants in hotel rooms as more migrants have come to Illinois in recent days.About 30 hotel rooms were made available on Saturday night and the remaining hotel rooms will be available for about 200 people coming on Sunday. The Illinois Department of Human Services is working with the City of Chicago to identify hotel rooms and the city is providing transportation, according to a news release from the state. Once construction is done on a shelter at the former CVS Pharmacy in Little Village, the migrants in hotels will be moved there. Work on the shelter is expected to be done in January. Aurora City Council calls special meeting to discuss unscheduled arrival of migrants bused to city from Texas “IDHS continues to welcome our new neighbors with support services and assistance with work-permit applications, which will ultimately hasten their journey to self-sufficiency,” IDHS Secretary Designate Dulce Quintero said in the rele...

Alligator chows down on python in wild video captured by Florida cyclist

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:55:31 GMT

SHARK VALLEY, Fla. (WFLA) -- A bicyclist captured a jaw-dropping video of a massive alligator eating a python in the Florida Everglades earlier this week. "That's one less python to terrorize the Everglades," Alison Joslyn wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday, Dec. 20. Joslyn, a longtime competitive endurance athlete who began participating in triathlons in 1987, was cycling through the Shark Valley area of the Everglades National Park when she stumbled across the "special and rare" sight. Where there’s water, there’s a gator: Here are the most alligator-infested lakes in Florida "I was cycling the 15-mile loop in Shark Valley, as I love the Everglades and wanted to get out into nature," Joslyn said. "I've also been into wildlife photography since the mid-90s. [I] moved to Miami in 2019 and have been amazed at the incredible nature we have at our doorstep. So I know enough that when I saw the gator and the snake, I realized right away it was something quite special and rare."(Pho...