You are here

Feed aggregator

Arnold Classic Sports Festival not going anywhere despite rumors

News Channel 4 - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 17:30

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Year after year athletes make their way to Columbus for the Arnold Classic Sports Festival.

With excitement building and the 36th annual festival underway, rumors have speculated on Columbus' future hosting the major event. Event organizers said it’s not going anywhere.

“There's a lot of people around the world who know Columbus because of the Arnold Classic and the Arnold Sports Festival,” said event director Brent LaLonde.

Kacey Musgraves coming to Columbus for tour

More than 20,000 athletes are competing in this year’s event. These athletes travel to many places for competitions. Some said when they first hear the Arnold -- the largest sports festival in the world -- is in Columbus, they wonder why.

“I was like, oh, Columbus, Ohio. That's kind of boring, you know,” said Tristan Killian, a member of the University of Oregon Weightlifting Team.

But athletes like Killian said once they got to the city and learned the history their feelings changed.

“I thought it was going to be a lot smaller with, like, literally nothing to do. And then coming here, I'm just like, it's a city. It's pretty big,” said Karen Marumoto, another member of the University of Oregon weightlifting team.

The Arnold is in Columbus because of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s friendship with former Worthington mayor and co-founder Jim Lorimer. The event has become a staple in the community and brings with it an economic boom.

“It's a big impact, obviously, not only in Downtown Columbus with the hotels and the restaurants and the taxicabs,” LaLonde said.

Pelotonia 2024 registration now open

There is always the question of whether the Arnold will stay in Columbus. The organizers have officially signed the contract for 2025. As for beyond that, there's no contract yet. But LaLonde said they are not going anywhere. He said Columbus is home and that’s how Arnold wants it.

“We've been here for 36 years. We'll be here next year,” LaLonde said. “There's not an event of our size or scope that's been this dedicated to the city for so long. And we look forward to being here in 2025.”

The expo kicks off Friday. LaLonde said tickets for the 2025 event go on sale in June.

Categories: Ohio News

How new John Glenn airport terminal could affect travel and population in Columbus

News Channel 4 - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 17:00

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – With the new airport terminal coming to Columbus in 2029, would a new facility be the reason Columbus could attract new business, or even land direct flights to destinations in Europe?

NBC4 breaks down why "build it and they will come" is not a guarantee. 

Bill would rid of foreign contributions for issue campaigns in Ohio

Columbus seems to be making an impression on potential residents. A recent study by Bank of America shows Columbus is the fastest growing major city in the nation.

Didi Caldwell serves as president of a consulting firm that helps companies find ideal locations for growth. She recently placed a large client in the Columbus area. She said Ohio's tax structure gives the region an edge. 

"A real economic powerhouse with manufacturing and data centers and headquarters and all of the things that make a really diverse, dynamic economy,” Caldwell said. 

But for companies that need frequent international access, Columbus does not check many boxes. 

“They tend to go to cities where there is a large international airport just for the ease of travel,” Caldwell said. “Until Columbus has something like that, it's going to be difficult to recruit that type of a global or, you know, national headquarters.”

Census data shows Columbus as the 14th most populated city in the nation at more than 900,000 residents. Cleveland ranks 54th, Cincinnati 64th and Pittsburgh 68th. 

Yet Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh all offer several direct flights to Europe each week. Columbus offers none. 

Airport officials said it's the airlines who make decisions on when and where to offer flights and their research shows Columbus is not there yet. 

The airport renovation plans call for two international gates. NBC4 spoke with several international companies with central Ohio operations – many said international travel is not a major issue for them, especially with the ease of virtual meetings. 

Categories: Ohio News

Stack Overflow opens API to Google’s Gemini

Info World - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 16:00

Stack Overflow, the popular question-and-answer portal for developers, has partnered with Google’s cloud computing arm to develop an API that will give Google’s Gemini AI model access to Stack Overflow’s knowledge base.

Dubbed the Overflow API, the new offering will inform Gemini’s coding assistance capabilities for Google Cloud, delivered to developers via the Google Cloud Console. The suggestions made by Gemini will cite Stack Overflow sources, the companies said in a statement.

To read this article in full, please click here

Categories: Technology

Bill would rid of foreign contributions for issue campaigns in Ohio

News Channel 4 - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 15:59

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Some lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse are worried about foreign influence on elections, specifically issue-based campaigns. That is why Senators Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) and Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) brought forward Senate Bill 215.

“Are we against foreign money in elections or not,” McColley said. “It’s as simple as that.”

Family of hazing victim Stone Foltz to be awarded damages against former Bowling Green fraternity president

“The smell test on this one is that it seems like a sore loser response,” Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said.

State and federal law does already prohibit foreign contributions to candidates. But for issue campaigns like the reproductive rights and marijuana legalization measures in November — the door was left open to overseas donors. SB215 passed the Senate on Wednesday, on partly lines, 25 to seven.

“We want to shut that door and stop foreign interference in all our elections,” Gavarone said. “A no vote says that for them to meddle in our elections is not only acceptable but encouraged.”

Republicans use the latest issue election as an example. Millions of dollars poured into the reproductive rights campaign, including millions of dollars of contributions from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a group heavily supported by a Swiss billionaire. 

DeMora said he doesn’t have a problem with the group giving money to the abortion-rights ballot issue, because the group didn’t do anything illegal. 

“It is not solely in response to that,” Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. “But it’s an ongoing problem and I think the practical matter is, for a lot of elections, folks outside of Ohio care about what’s going on.”

Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) said, he agrees, foreign influence is not necessarily good, but said either way, millions of dollars are poured into Ohio elections from out of state. 

“The campaign got money from a foundation that got money from a foreign national, who’s to say that the money the foreign national put in there is the same money the Ohio ballot issue got,” he said. “I don’t know what the difference between a billionaire from Canada and Switzerland is versus a billionaire from Texas.”

Huffman said the bill should be passed to minimize election influence by people outside of Ohio.

The bill also prohibits “a lawful permanent U.S. resident, also known as a green card holder,” from making contributions both to ballot issues and candidates.

DeMora said the language in the bill will discourage participation in the election process, like collecting signatures for ballot issues, even for things as simple as adding a stop sign on a street. 

“They now have to file as a PAC because they’re spending money and collecting signatures for a ballot issue, which is absolutely ludicrous,” DeMora said. “Republicans have passed this whole convoluted mess.”

DeMora, and other Democrats, said they worry this bill will have a chilling effect on grassroots efforts to put issues on ballots.  

“The point of this bill is so that a guy in Switzerland who wants to give $10 million to effect a ballot issue in Ohio won’t be able to do that,” Huffman said.

The bill is still in the statehouse; the next step for approval is the Ohio House. If it passes before August, it will take effect before the November election.

Categories: Ohio News

Fulton County, Security Experts Call LockBit’s Bluff

Krebs on Security - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 15:18

The ransomware group LockBit told officials with Fulton County, Ga. they could expect to see their internal documents published online this morning unless the county paid a ransom demand. LockBit removed Fulton County’s listing from its victim shaming website this morning, claiming the county had paid. But county officials said they did not pay, nor did anyone make payment on their behalf. Security experts say LockBit was likely bluffing and probably lost most of the data when the gang’s servers were seized this month by U.S. and U.K. law enforcement.

The LockBit website included a countdown timer until the promised release of data stolen from Fulton County, Ga. LockBit would later move this deadline up to Feb. 29, 2024.

LockBit listed Fulton County as a victim on Feb. 13, saying that unless it was paid a ransom the group would publish files stolen in a breach at the county last month. That attack disrupted county phones, Internet access and even their court system. LockBit leaked a small number of the county’s files as a teaser, which appeared to include sensitive and sealed court records in current and past criminal trials.

On Feb. 16, Fulton County’s entry — along with a countdown timer until the data would be published — was removed from the LockBit website without explanation. The leader of LockBit told KrebsOnSecurity this was because Fulton County officials had engaged in last-minute negotiations with the group.

But on Feb. 19, investigators with the FBI and the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) took over LockBit’s online infrastructure, replacing the group’s homepage with a seizure notice and links to LockBit ransomware decryption tools.

In a press briefing on Feb. 20, Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts told reporters the county did not pay a ransom demand, noting that the board “could not in good conscience use Fulton County taxpayer funds to make a payment.”

Three days later, LockBit reemerged with new domains on the dark web, and with Fulton County listed among a half-dozen other victims whose data was about to be leaked if they refused to pay. As it does with all victims, LockBit assigned Fulton County a countdown timer, saying officials had until late in the evening on March 1 until their data was published.

LockBit revised its deadline for Fulton County to Feb. 29.

LockBit soon moved up the deadline to the morning of Feb. 29. As Fulton County’s LockBit timer was counting down to zero this morning, its listing disappeared from LockBit’s site. LockBit’s leader and spokesperson, who goes by the handle “LockBitSupp,” told KrebsOnSecurity today that Fulton County’s data disappeared from their site because county officials paid a ransom.

“Fulton paid,” LockBitSupp said. When asked for evidence of payment, LockBitSupp claimed. “The proof is that we deleted their data and did not publish it.”

But at a press conference today, Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts said the county does not know why its data was removed from LockBit’s site.

“As I stand here at 4:08 p.m., we are not aware of any data being released today so far,” Pitts said. “That does not mean the threat is over. They could release whatever data they have at any time. We have no control over that. We have not paid any ransom. Nor has any ransom been paid on our behalf.”

Brett Callow, a threat analyst with the security firm Emsisoft, said LockBit likely lost all of the victim data it stole before the FBI/NCA seizure, and that it has been trying madly since then to save face within the cybercrime community.

“I think it was a case of them trying to convince their affiliates that they were still in good shape,” Callow said of LockBit’s recent activities. “I strongly suspect this will be the end of the LockBit brand.”

Others have come to a similar conclusion. The security firm RedSense posted an analysis to Twitter/X that after the takedown, LockBit published several “new” victim profiles for companies that it had listed weeks earlier on its victim shaming site. Those victim firms — a healthcare provider and major securities lending platform — also were unceremoniously removed from LockBit’s new shaming website, despite LockBit claiming their data would be leaked.

“We are 99% sure the rest of their ‘new victims’ are also fake claims (old data for new breaches),” RedSense posted. “So the best thing for them to do would be to delete all other entries from their blog and stop defrauding honest people.”

Callow said there certainly have been plenty of cases in the past where ransomware gangs exaggerated their plunder from a victim organization. But this time feels different, he said.

“It is a bit unusual,” Callow said. “This is about trying to still affiliates’ nerves, and saying, ‘All is well, we weren’t as badly compromised as law enforcement suggested.’ But I think you’d have to be a fool to work with an organization that has been so thoroughly hacked as LockBit has.”

Categories: Technology, Virus Info

Motorcyclist dead in south Columbus crash

News Channel 4 - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 13:47

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A motorcyclist is dead after a crash in south Columbus on Thursday afternoon. 

Law enforcement was called to the 1900 block of Progress Avenue on the report of a crash at about 3:09 p.m., according to the Columbus Division of Police. 

Video: See 100-mph tornado as it nears Madison County homes

A motorcyclist was pronounced dead at 3:18 p.m., police said. Another person was transported to Grant Medical Center in stable condition. 

Police have not released any further information as of 3:45 p.m.

Categories: Ohio News

Kacey Musgraves coming to Columbus for tour

News Channel 4 - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 13:26

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - Grammy-award winning singer and songwriter Kacey Musgraves announced dates for her upcoming tour, including a stop in Columbus.

The artist kicks off her "Deeper Well World Tour" April 28 and will perform at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus on Nov. 13. Other artists will join Musgraves on tour including Madi Diaz, Father John Misty, Lord Huron and Nickel Creek.

(Courtesy: AEG Presents) Top concerts, shows coming to central Ohio this spring

The 2024 tour comes following Musgraves last tour "star-crossed: unveiled" back in 2022. Other stops for the tour include Nashville, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Tampa, Florida.

Pre-sale starts March 5 at 10 a.m. and general sale kicks off March 8 at 10 a.m. For additional information on tickets, click here.

Categories: Ohio News

OpenJDK proposal would streamline Java records creation

Info World - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 12:30

Java developers would gain an easier way to create records, and more streamlined code for declaring record classes, through derived record creation, a preview language feature being considered by the OpenJDK community.

Derived record creation would allow developers to create new records from existing records, specifying only the components that are different. Goals of the proposal include providing a concise means to create new record values from existing ones and streamlining the declaration of record classes by eliminating the need to provide explicit wither methods, which are the immutable analogue of setter methods.

To read this article in full, please click here

Categories: Technology

Google delivers Gemini LLM support to BigQuery data warehouse

Info World - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 09:03

Google is integrating its Gemini 1.0 Pro large language model with its AI and machine learning platform, Vertex AI, to help enterprises unlock new capabilities of large language models (LLMs), including analysis of text, image and video.

The Gemini API, which has been made generally available, can also be used in Google’s data warehouse, BigQuery, to develop generative AI-based analytical applications.

To read this article in full, please click here

Categories: Technology

Pages

Subscribe to Some Place in Ohio aggregator