6 Best pumpkin patches to visit this Halloween season in Essex
From sprawling maize mazes to pick-your-own patches, the county offers several excellent destinations for a memorable day out.
The ‘worst’ Essex GP as new online appointment rules introduced
Practices were rated as part of the national GP Patient Survey
'I'm surprised it took so long for him to be killed': How paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins had a 'target on his back while in prison'
The former girlfriend of paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, Joanne Mjadzelics, has said she is surprised it 'took so long' for the depraved frontman 'to be killed'.
In Copilot In Excel Demo, AI Told Teacher a 27% Exam Score Is of No Concern
A demo of educational AI-powered tools by a Microsoft product manager (in March of 2024) showed "how AI has the possibility to transform various job sectors and the education system," according to one report.
But that demo "includes a segment on Copilot in Excel that is likely to resonate with AI-wary software developers," writes long-time Slashdot theodp:
The Copilot in Excel segment purports to show how even teachers who were too "afraid of" or "intimidated" to use Excel in the past can now just use natural language prompts to conduct Excel analysis. But Copilot advises the teacher there are no 'outliers' in the exam scores for their 17 students, whose test scores range from 27%-100%. (This is apparently due to Copilot's choice of an inappropriate outlier detection method for this size population and score range). Fittingly, the student whose 27% score is confidently-but-incorrectly deemed to be of no concern by Copilot is named after Michael Scott, the largely incompetent and unprofessional boss of The Office. (Microsoft also named the other exam takers after characters from The Office).
The additional Copilot student score "analysis" touted by Microsoft in the demo is also less than impressive. It includes: 1. A vertical bar chart that fails to convey the test score distribution that a histogram would have (a rookie chart choice mistake), 2. A horizontal bar chart of student scores that only displays every other student's name and shows no score values (a rookie formatting error)... So, will teachers — like programmers — be spending a significant amount of time in the future reviewing, editing, and refining the outputs of their AI agent helpers?
"Not only does it illustrate how the realities of AI assistants sometimes fall maddeningly short of the promises," argues the original submission. "The demo also shows how AI vendors and customers alike sometimes forget to review promotional AI content closely in all the AI excitement!"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set to tax the rich to fill £30BILLION public finance black hole
Treasury sources have said the Chancellor will not significantly increase borrowing or cut public spending in this year's Autumn budget.
TALK OF THE TOWN: The curtain comes down on Ralph Fiennes' swipe at his ex-wife Alex
I wonder whether Ralph Fiennes was served a large dollop of karma after taking a cheeky swipe at ex-wife Alex Kingston on her Strictly debut last week, writes Harriet Dean.
Pakistani migrant who was deported after impregnating a 16-year-old schoolgirl and wedding her in a sham marriage applies for family visa to return to Britain
Nine years ago, Nasir Khalil, 48, was jailed after he duped a Slovakian child into travelling to Britain for Nikah, a Muslim wedding ceremony, just four days after she turned 16.
Satellite image shows devastation of bomb factory blast as cops confirm 16 dead and plant's dark past revealed
The explosion at the Accurate Energetic Systems plant happened around 7.50am local time Friday - about an hour southwest of Nashville, near the town of Bucksnort.
Look back at Diane Keaton's dating history as actress dies age 79... from Al Pacino to Warren Beatty
While being one of the most sought after actresses in the '70s and '80s saw Keaton become romantically entangled with a slew of Hollywood heartthrobs, she ultimately never got married.
New Large Coral Reef Discovered Off Naples Containing Rare Ancient Corals
Off the southwest cost of Italy, a remotely operated submarine made "a significant and rare discovery," reports the Independent — a vast white coral reef that was 80 metres tall (262 feet) and 2 metres wide (6.56 feet) "containing important species and fossil traces."
Often dubbed the "rainforests of the sea", coral reefs are of immense scientific interest due to their status as some of the planet's richest marine ecosystems, harbouring millions of species. They play a crucial role in sustaining marine life but are currently under considerable threat...
hese impressive formations are composed of deep-water hard corals, commonly referred to as "white corals" because of their lack of colour, specifically identified as Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata species. The reef also contains black corals, solitary corals, sponges, and other ecologically important species, as well as fossil traces of oysters and ancient corals, the Italian Research Council said. It called them "true geological testimonies of a distant past."
Mission leader Giorgio Castellan said the finding was "exceptional for Italian seas: bioconstructions of this kind, and of such magnitude, had never been observed in the Dohrn Canyon, and are rarely seen elsewhere in our Mediterranean". The discovery will help scientists understand the ecological role of deep coral habitats and their distribution, especially in the context of conservation and restoration efforts, he added.
The undersea research was funded by the EU.
Thanks to davidone (Slashdot reader #12,252) for sharing the article.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Prince Harry is 'putting reconciliation with King Charles at risk' by fighting government to get taxpayer-funded security, insiders claim
On Friday, the Duke of Sussex, 41, asked the Home Secretary for increased security but his new plea 'complicates things for the King,' a royal source told The Times .
Starmer national security adviser accused of blocking spy case is senior member of shadowy lobby club China 'uses to groom UK elite'
Jonathan Powell was at the heart of the Chinese spying row was a member of a secretive network used by Beijing to cultivate Britain's elites.
Benedict Cumberbatch looks suave in a khaki suede blazer as he joins glamorous wife Sophie Hunter at the London premiere of The Thing with Feathers
Benedict Cumberbatch showcased his stylish sense of fashion as he joined his wife Sophie Hunter on the red carpet at the London premiere of his latest movie, The Thing with Feathers.
Investigation into One Direction star Liam Payne's death is STILL going almost a year after the singer's death
A probe into the death of Liam Payne remains ongoing nearly a year after the One Direction star's tragic death.
Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins is murdered after 'fellow inmate slits his throat with knife' in prison where paedophile was serving 29 years for child sex offences
Paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, 48, has been murdered in jail where he was serving 29 years for child sex offences.
Stella McCartney left looking irritated after Julia Roberts makes her wait for her beauty treatment at luxury celebrity clinic
Stella McCartney was left looking less than impressed after being made to wait for nearly half an hour for her beauty treatment at a luxury celebrity clinic - by none other than Julia Roberts.
Police found secret messaging app used by Beijing agents on spy suspect's burner phones
The trial of Christopher Berry and Chris Cash, on charges of passing secrets to China between 2021 and 2023, collapsed last month.
Malala Yousafzai reveals how she collapsed after smoking cannabis bong at Oxford - and only then did blacked-out memories of getting shot by the Taliban return
In her soon-to-be published second memoir, Finding My Way, getting high for the first time on cannabis unleashed a torrent of suppressed memories for Malala Yousafzai.
Major travel company refunds £600,000 to customers thanks to its Price Drop Protection guarantee
A major travel company has refunded a huge amount to customers as a result of its Price Drop Protection guarantee.
Hamas vows to 'cleanse Gaza of outlaws and collaborators with Israel' as its gunmen take back control of the enclave
Some 7,000 gunmen were called on by Hamas to reassert control over areas of the enclave that had been vacated by Israeli forces during the two-year-long war.