Latest news with #Reeve
New York Post
19 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Post
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve calls for action over sex toys being thrown on court at WNBA games
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve pulled reporters aside at Thursday's practice to send a stern PSA about the green dildo saga engulfing the WNBA. After three separate incidents during WNBA games involving a green dildo being tossed onto the court and pausing action, Reeve explained that the issue is promoting the sexualization of the league's players and that those suspected of wrongdoing should be held accountable. 'This has been going on for centuries — the sexualization of women,' Reeve said. 'This is the latest version of that. And it is not funny, and it should not be the butt of jokes on any radio show, or in print, or in any comments. 'The sexualization of women is what is used to hold women down. And this is no different. … These people that are doing this should be held accountable. We're not the butt of the joke. They are the problem and we need to take action.' 3 Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve pulled reporters aside to send a stern PSA about the green dildo saga at Thursday's practice. X A crypto group behind the Green Dildo Coin has claimed responsibility for the string of incidents at WNBA games. A green dildo crashed the court just before halftime of the Sparks' 100-91 over the Fever in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. During Tuesday's Liberty-Wings game at Barclays Center, a fan attempted to throw a green dildo onto the court but it never made it out of the stands, according to video from the incident. The first instance of a sex toy being thrown on the court was during the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries game on July 29. 3 The Dream-Valkyries game was interrupted by a NSFW moment in the fourth quarter, when an unspecified object — said to be a lime green colored dildo — was thrown on the court Tuesday night. KPIX/X 3 What appeared to be a sex toy was thrown on the court at the Fever-Sparks game. Police arrested 23-year-old Delbert Carver on Aug. 2 in connection with the incident, according to OutKick. Kaden Lopez, 18, was also arrested for a similar incident at Tuesday's Mercury-Sun game. Another sex toy disrupted the Valkyries-Sky game on Aug. 1.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Good Morning America' will broadcast live from Boston on Thursday
The Harry Parker Boathouse boasts the largest fleet of rowing ships in North America, and is open to the public, according to its website. It was named after Fitchburg native Reeve will be joined along the Charles River by rowers from Boston's Advertisement Wally's Cafe Jazz Club in Boston will be featured during Thursday's "Good Morning America" episode. Barry Chin/Globe Staff 'GMA' will also feature Boston's Opened by Advertisement Viewers can catch the Bay State-themed '50 States in 50 Weeks' segments during Thursday's 'GMA' episode. Isabella Bernstein can be reached at
Techday NZ
3 days ago
- Business
- Techday NZ
The agentic AI revolution: Experts explain key business trends
AI agents are everywhere. From virtual customer service bots to marketing automation tools, tech innovators are scrambling to launch agents that promise faster service, smarter decisions and greater adaptability. "AI agents are poised to become part of everyday life. Google's Gemini helps plan your week, while OpenAI's voice assistants manage tasks through natural conversation," says Jonathan Reeve, Vice President, APAC, Eagle Eye. "A wave of startups and innovators are already building AI agent solutions for specific business needs using foundation models from leading providers." Agentic AI, customer experience and loyalty Experts agree the marriage of AI, retail and marketing makes a lot of sense. Eagle Eye, for example, already has a powerful AI-driven personalisation engine and other predictive systems, which thrive on ingesting and processing data intelligently. In addition to being able to ask questions, AI agent helpers can make decisions, compare prices and steer people to where to shop. This stands to change how retailers reach customers. "Consider this scenario: a customer asks their AI assistant, "Where can I unlock behind-the-scenes content as a member?" If your program's benefits can't be found and understood by that assistant, you'll be excluded from consideration," Reeve explains. "AI agents, personal shoppers and deal-hunting assistants will change how brands promote their products and offers. The way large language models and agents process information will likely lead to a reorganisation of marketing strategies and loyalty structures." According to The Australian Loyalty Association (ALA) Founder and Director, Sarah Richardson, AI innovation is now giving brands the ability to deliver personalisation at scale, tailoring offers and experiences to each individual in real time across channels. "This level of engagement also helps brands to analyse behavior patterns and anticipate what customers might need or want before they even know themselves," she adds. "Agentic AI will be most transformative to the loyalty landscape. Having an agent that can answer all your queries with relation to your membership as well as past purchase information helps brands to get on the front foot with customer expectations. Emerging technologies like voice assistants and visual search are also creating new pathways into loyalty ecosystems, so there's plenty of innovation that AI will bring!" Billy Loizou, APAC Area Vice President at Amperity agrees agentic AI is poised to reshape how brands compete for consumer attention globally. "Imagine a world where your next purchase isn't selected solely by you, but by an AI agent acting as your personal shopper. Need an autumn outfit? Your AI agent instantly scours online stores, considering your size, style preferences, budget, event theme, and even the weather forecast to deliver perfectly tailored recommendations," he says. Data integrity critical in the age of agentic AI Loizou notes success in the era of AI agents will hinge on a brand's ability to deeply understand customer preferences and anticipate future needs. "Brands that excel will consistently surface the most relevant recommendations, predicting and meeting their customers' evolving desires and behaviours," he explains. "To succeed in this future, brands must fundamentally transform how they collect, unify, and leverage customer data." To prepare for a future where AI agents traverse the world wide web, Loizou recommends brands invest in their data infrastructure now. "Companies that excel at managing customer information will create a positive data cycle: the more effectively they use data to personalise interactions, the more engagement they'll generate, leading to richer datasets and increasingly tailored experiences. Such precision will also help brands craft offers capable of navigating past AI gatekeepers," he adds. Derek Slager, co-founder and CTO, Amperity, agrees. He stresses even the most advanced AI agent is only as good as the data it's built on. "At their core, AI agents use data to make decisions across systems, based on constantly changing variables and conditions. However, if the underlying customer data is spread across disconnected tools, fraught with duplication or siloed in different formats, the agent is doomed to be ineffective," he explains. "Fragmented, outdated or inconsistent information can make the best tech unreliable. To work effectively, AI agents need data foundations that are accurate, connected and governed. Without them, outputs become unreliable and trust breaks down. Meanwhile, expectations keep rising." Agentic AI impacting multiple industry sectors Anthony Cipolla, AI Lead with data-led asset management solutions firm COSOL is already seeing the asset-centric industry landscape getting AI-ready. "Verticals that rely on Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) are undergoing a revolution whereby traditional high manual effort required by humans to establish and maintain quality digital twins and master data will be rapidly replaced with semi-to-fully-autonomous agents which are capable of speeding up and improving workflows and processes," he explains. Another example of 'no hype' agentic AI is Red Owl, a fresh innovation that is transforming business transactional workflows with the power of AI and automation. "AI agents are revolutionising how the modern enterprise operates," says Jitto Arulampalam, Chief Executive Officer at RedOwl. "As an example, compliance is mandated but mostly tracked post-transaction, making it almost impossible to prevent breaches, leakages and even fraud. Assessing every individual transaction prior to processing it against company policy and governance controls is not only impractical, but hugely costly in today's setup." "However the advent of agentic AI is about to breathe new life into the age old profession of Accounting and the necessary governance protocols that go with it. At RedOwl, we have seen AI's ability to operationalise board mandated governance, compliance and control across the organisation. We also see a future where AI agents are delivering board managed governance and control in real time." Meanwhile, leading enterprise resource planning and analytics software provider, Pronto Software, recently signed a strategic agreement with IBM Australia, enabling the integration of powerful agentic AI capabilities into its Pronto Xi ERP platform via IBM Watsonx. Agentic AI enables systems to autonomously interpret data, initiate actions, and optimise workflows, all with the goal of enhancing productivity and decision-making. By embedding this capability into the core ERP platform, Pronto Software ensures these tools are accessible where they are needed most in real operational environments. "Our customers, many of them family-run, mid-sized businesses, can enable staff to act strategically," says Pronto Software Managing Director Chad Gates. "Pronto Software can work with customers to build and deploy agentic AI that not only informs, but acts on the information, unlocking real business value without compromising security." "AI doesn't have to be overwhelming or intimidating," Gates adds. "It should feel like a natural part of your workflow, and that's exactly what we are delivering."
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Free Speech Union's bid to reshape InternetNZ: The results are in, with a late twist
A surge of people duly joined InternetNZ (annual dues: $21). As of February 1, the incorporated society had 383 members, a number its chairman Stephen Judd said had been stable for years. By the time of its board election and annual meeting last week there were 4462 eligible voting members. Things hung in the balance, with it not being clear how many of the newcomers had answered Ayling's call and how many were aiming to counter the FSU incursion. Auditor Grant Thornton says 62.4% of eligible members cast votes – up from 43% last year. FSU wins one of two open seats, none of 12 motions Two of eight board positions were up for grabs, with 13 candidates in contention. Ayling won one of the open seats with 929 votes. The other was picked up by Dylan Reeve (1372 votes), whose varied career includes being the creative partner to journalist David Farrier, who will never make the FSU's Christmas card list. Reeve, 45, who has researched and published articles on online fraud, abuse and conspiracy theories, has often questioned why companies like Facebook don't do more to enforce their rules – and why various authorities don't do more to clamp down on illegitimate or harmful content. A second FSU-affiliated candidate, Christchurch lawyer Douglas Brown (a member of the FSU's council), failed to get elected. In a twist, Ayling quit as FSU chief executive on Saturday. No reason was given for his departure after four years in the role and he could not be immediately reached for comment. All candidates stood as individuals, so his FSU resignation does not impact his new InternetNZ role. The FSU announced over the weekend its chief executive Jonathan Ayling had resigned, with no reason given. The ginger group's deputy chairwoman Jillaine Heather was named temporary CEO. The board election was followed by InternetNZ's annual general meeting, which was held online and attracted about 1000 people. FSU supporters David Farrar and retired District Court judge David Harvey put 12 motions, each seeking changes to InternetNZ's constitution. None were carried. InternetNZ board elections are only held once a year, meaning any FSU takeover was always going to be a long-term project. Critic turned insider Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how Reeve goes as an insider. Notwithstanding the FSU's rhetoric, InternetNZ has traditionally advocated for a 'free and open' internet and defaulted to a hands-off approach. The aftermath of the Christchurch mosque massacres, when it took 'emergency measures' to make certain sites effectively inaccessible to New Zealanders, was an outlier. Stephen Judd is chairman of InternetNZ, which had income of $15.1 million last year, mostly through wholesaling .nz addresses. The funds go to technical admin to keep our internet running smoothly, plus education and community grants. Former domain name system (DNS) engineer Reeve, who has been notably methodical and even-handed in his various investigations of harmful content, has at times questioned why InternetNZ has taken so long to act against the likes of malicious .nz sites registered with fake details, including, 'parking fee' site recently imitating Auckland Transport and another pretending to be footwear maker Vans. InternetNZ's Domain Name Commission says it acts to review a site's registration if it receives a complaint. Reeve told the Herald the AGM included some ideas for more proactive measures against sites run by bad actors. But that was outside his motivation for seeking an InternetNZ seat. 'I stood for the board because I felt that a well-resourced reactionary group was trying to take control and it wasn't something I was comfortable with,' he said. 'I'm curious to see how things will progress now that most of their efforts to exercise their power have fallen through.' Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald's business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
NBC Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier leaves during Lynx's 53-point blowout win over Aces
LAS VEGAS — Minnesota Lynx forward and MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier injured her right ankle and left the game during Saturday's 111-58 victory over the Las Vegas Aces. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said it was too soon to assess the severity of her star player's injury. 'She was in the locker room with us, but as protocol, tomorrow or whatever chance we get, we'll continue to evaluate and examine images, all that good stuff,' Reeve said. Trailing the play in which Natisha Hiedeman drove the lane for a lay-up, Collier appeared to step on teammate Alanna Smith's left foot and immediately went down near Las Vegas' bench with the Lynx holding a 92-49 lead late in the third quarter. She attempted to stand, but sat back down on the court, writhing in pain, and was immediately surrounded by Aces starters A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, NaLyssa Smith and Kierstan Bell, who all held towels to shield her from exposure. Collier's teammates, coaches and trainers eventually made their way to the opposite end of the court to tend to the 2025 All-Star MVP. The seventh-year pro left the court on her own and went straight to the locker room, moving slowly and walking gingerly while favoring her right ankle with a Lynx staffer under her arm. Collier did not return. The league-leading Lynx (24-5) are off until Tuesday, when they'll finish their two-game trip in Seattle. The 53-point victory in Las Vegas was the largest road win in WNBA history. Reeve wouldn't speculate if Collier would get an MRI in Las Vegas, travel with the team to Seattle, or return home to Minnesota. 'It's just way too early,' Reeve said. 'At this point in time, I don't know exactly what's happening.'
