Mission Everywhere

Gary Bartley is UBC's head groundskeeper. Courtesy of Siming Zheng Gary Bartley, UBC's head groundskeeper, is prepping pitches for Team Canada's World Cup training. He said he has learned a great deal about his trade, even after 48 years on the job. At 66, Bartley said the World Cup is a career highlight and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gary Bartley, 66, who is helping prepare the training pitches that Team Canada will use during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It has been edited for length and clarity. I've been in the industry since 1978, but I've never taken on a project this big before. Working on the World Cup is like working on the Super Bowl. As the University of British Columbia's head groundskeeper for the National Soccer Development Centre (NSDC), where Team Canada will train during the 2026 FIFA World Cup , this is already a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Even after 48 years on the job, it's stil...

Zack Zwiezen / Kotaku : Rockstar Games announces that pre-orders for Grand Theft Auto VI will go live on June 25; TTWO jumps 5%+   —  If you were worried about another delay, you can probably stop worrying … Some of you might roll your eyes at the seeming certainty of that statement, and understandably so. from Techmeme https://ift.tt/ryRgZLv

Every year, I look forward to taking the ferry to Block Island. Morgan Rizzo As someone who's lived in New England my whole life, I've gone on countless day trips in the area. My favorite budget-friendly trip is Block Island, a quaint getaway off the Rhode Island mainland. A round-trip ferry ticket costs around $20, and the seafood, beaches, and vibes are unmatched. "Just leave your troubles behind" are the last words of a catchy, famous jingle for the Block Island Ferry. I've lived in Rhode Island my whole life and heard this jingle more times than I can count. I have to admit there's something to it: After years of going on day trips, weekend getaways, and longer vacations to tons of New England hot spots , nowhere quite eases my troubles like Block Island. Every summer, I plan a day trip there, knowing I'll be met with tons of positivity, excellent seafood, and relaxation on island time. Though the island is under 20 miles off the mainland and just a s...

Kai Nicol-Schwarz / CNBC : CEOs of Anthropic and Google DeepMind call for U.S.-led AI coalition in meeting at G7 … Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis called for a U.S.-led coalition to shape rules and standards around artificial intelligence at a meeting with tech leaders and heads of state … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/OTC6IHl

Z.ai : Zhipu launches GLM-5.2, says it markedly improves coding and agentic tasks, with strong long-horizon capabilities and a 1M context window, under an MIT license   —  We're introducing GLM-5.2, our latest flagship model for long-horizon tasks.  It marks a substantial leap in long-horizon task capability … from Techmeme https://ift.tt/pIRk2A5

Disney isn't focused on making its namesake streamer into a hub for park tickets and merch, a top exec said. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images; Illustration by Jaque Silva/NurPhoto via Getty Images Disney isn't currently building a "super app" beyond streaming, a top exec said. "There is nothing on the road map about bringing either cruises or the parks into this," he said. Instead, he said Disney is focused on integrating Hulu into Disney+. Disney isn't building a "super app" tying together all its businesses — at least not yet. Adam Smith, the chief product and technology officer for Disney Entertainment and ESPN, told employees at a town hall last week that the company isn't planning to turn Disney+ into a hub for buying tickets to parks and cruises. "At the moment, I can definitively say there is nothing on the road map about bringing either cruises or the parks into this," Smith said in the meeting, according to a recording obtained...