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MISSOULA — As a matter of routine last spring, University of Montana graduate student Erin Dozhier would settle into their home office on the north end of Missoula and prepare for a barrage of questions about houseplants and parrots. The queries came from public school kids hundreds of miles away, their worlds temporarily connected to Dozhier’s through a version of Zoom often utilized by therapists for virtual counseling. Usually, Dozhier would start with their most tried-and-true strategy for building rapport with young clients. “Number one, if you want students to talk to you, ask them about their pets or show them your pet,” said Dozhier, whose parrot Alfie often made appearances in such sessions. Dozhier is one of a growing number of students from UM’s social work, school counseling and mental health counseling programs who have delivered such services for K-12 children in Montana’s far-flung rural districts. What began as an experimental effort to address the mental health side of school safety has, over the past five years, evolved into a fixture both for the university’s Safe Schools Center and for the small schools it serves. Dubbed VAST — short for Virtually Assisted School Teams — the program now boasts six grad students and 22 participating districts stretching from the Bitterroot Valley to the North Dakota border. The free counseling services VAST has made available to young Montanans highlight a growing focus among leaders across the state’s education continuum on student mental health. According to Montana’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 43% of responding high school students reported feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks in a row, and more than a quarter had seriously considered suicide — the highest annual rate since 1991. Educators often point to rising rates of youth anxiety and depression as a contributor to the steady decline in statewide academic performance, and for schools large and small, financial and hiring difficulties frequently stand in the way of providing robust mental health resources. Even outside the K-12 system, such support for students in Montana’s more rural communities may be dozens if not hundreds of miles away. For program leader Tammy Tolleson Knee, who serves as school support liaison for UM’s Safe Schools Center, the issues VAST was crafted to address have only become more pressing since the pandemic and speak to social and societal forces at work well beyond a school’s hallways. She told MTFP that as of this week, 53 K-12 students in Montana have been referred to the program for one-on-one counseling, with more than a dozen more referrals expected. “One of the great hardships for families is just what’s happening with the economy,” Tolleson Knee said. “And when families are stressed, kids become stressed.” Some districts, including in the northeast Montana town of Bainville, have been relying on VAST for years to meet the needs of their most vulnerable students. Other districts such as the Broadus Public Schools have only recently joined the program but are already reporting an impact. Broadus school counselor Dori Phillips told Montana Free Press that in the two months since the district formalized its participation, she’s already referred six students to one-on-one tele-counseling through VAST. “I don’t know where I would be without the help with those particular kiddos,” Phillips said. When Dan Lee first envisioned the VAST program in 2019, he saw tele-counseling as the preventative prong in a larger effort to address student safety. As then-head of UM’s Safe Schools Center, Lee heard time and again from educators that shortages of mental health professionals in rural communities posed a significant hurdle to getting children the help they needed before their personal struggles reached a critical level. The challenge, Lee told MTFP, was in developing an initiative that didn’t reinforce misconceptions — tied to school shootings — about mental health as a public safety concern. “One of the concerns we had was we can’t criminalize mental health,” said Lee, now the dean of UM’s College of Education, which houses the campus’ various counseling programs as well as the Safe Schools Center. “We can’t say if you are depressed, you are a threat. You can’t do that. When you’re depressed, it doesn’t mean you’re a threat to anybody. So we didn’t like the idea of classifying mental illness as a threat to schools because it’s not.” VAST, which kicked off during the 2020-21 academic year with two participating schools, fit neatly into a collection of services Lee and his cohorts developed for Montana schools, providing a compassion-centric therapeutic tool to complement the center’s more site-specific threat assessments, staff training and its 24/7 school safety hotline. At the same time, Lee said, the initiative began giving UM students greater access to the clinical hours needed to obtain their degrees and licenses, hours that can be difficult to get. “We can’t say if you are depressed, you are a threat. You can’t do that. When you’re depressed, it doesn’t mean you’re a threat to anybody.” In the years since, VAST has increasingly filled a void in rural communities with participating schools. Tolleson Knee recalled the story of one student who had previously received counseling in a community an hour away from home, until the family’s finances could no longer sustain the costs of travel and treatment. Her colleague, Safe Schools Center Director Emily Sallee, added that even if families are able to sustain private mental health services, outside professionals may not be effective at coordinating with in-school staff. By comparison, VAST relies on teachers and school counselors — the latter a state-mandated position in public schools — to coordinate with UM-side practitioners and keep them informed about any developments in a student’s life that may go unseen or unacknowledged in a tele-counseling session. “There’s this huge wraparound piece that’s often missing when kids are accessing counseling outside of schools,” Sallee said, “and it’s a huge part of how all these people can be supporting this kiddo, not just the counselor.” For Deborah Ith, the team-centered aspect of the program has been an important facet of her VAST experience this fall. A doctoral student in UM’s school psychology program, Ith currently has three teenage students in rural schools that she meets with remotely at least once a week via a paid, HIPAA-compliant version of Zoom. Their struggles have primarily been interpersonal ones, Ith said, and on a couple of occasions have risen to the level that Ith has reached out to the school counselor and parents to develop a group plan of support. “Sometimes that means trying to support parents because that’s really scary,” Ith continued. “When you’re a parent and you have somebody call you up and be like, ‘Hey, this came up, this is going on, you need to know about it, this is what we talked about as a way to support and this is what you can do to support them,’ that’s really hard to hear sometimes.” Even as VAST participants continue to provide such day-to-day services for a growing collection of rural schools, Tolleson Knee is identifying opportunities to expand the program’s offerings even further. She told MTFP that starting this spring, the Safe Schools Center plans to try out a hybrid version of VAST in one Bitterroot Valley school that will include a monthly in-person counseling session for students on top of three monthly tele-counseling sessions. The University of Montana isn’t alone in recognizing the challenges rural schools face in providing adequate mental health support for their students. The nonprofit Montana Small Schools Alliance has developed its own 24/7 crisis support app, which mental health resources director Cindy Fouhy said has so far been accessed by more than 20,000 students across the state. In addition, the alliance — in partnership with the Montana Professional Learning Collaborative — has developed a free tele-counseling model of its own. Like VAST, the focus is primarily on Montana’s smallest and most resource-starved schools where dedicated one-on-one intervention simply isn’t available. “You go to these small schools and they may not even have a certified counselor,” Fouhy said. “If they do, he or she is also teaching classes and doing 500 other things.” The factors that make mental health support in rural communities so difficult can also fuel the very stressors that necessitate such support in the first place. Consider Broadus, a town of fewer than 500 people anchored to the vast prairie of southeastern Montana. The local K-12 school boasts a student population of roughly 225, some of whom travel up to 70 miles one way to attend Power River County’s sole high school. According to data from the Office of Public Instruction, more than a third of the student population is classified as economically disadvantaged. Politics, drought, alcohol use — there are a lot of issues influencing local families, said Broadus school counselor Dori Phillips, and those pressures “trickle to our students.” Professional help is more than 80 miles away in every direction. Stress and geographic isolation are exacerbated by a persistent social stigma around seeking mental health treatment, one that Phillips has struggled, family by individual family, to overcome. “Getting our families to commit to taking their kids for help is almost impossible in many cases,” Phillips said. “I have very few students on my caseload. I think there’s three total that actually travel out of town to get help.” Broadus Public Schools used to offer more robust mental health services for students through the state-sponsored Comprehensive School and Community Treatment program, or CSCT. But the district’s access dried up about two years ago following legislative changes to how services were administered, and the availability of a part-time school psychologist has largely served during emergencies or as a backup on days when Phillips isn’t working. So when Phillips heard of VAST in a statewide association email, she instantly saw the prospect of free, in-school tele-counseling as a carrot for local families. “I can work with kids on friendship issues, I can help kids if they’re having trouble managing homework or learning organizational skills, those types of things,” said Phillips, whose school counseling license is distinct from the licenses granted to clinical therapists. “But when you have a family who deals with the loss of a parent or a caregiver, you have a family who goes through even a nasty divorce or a child who has a lot of trauma from their early years, those are things that they really need a private counselor for. Someone who’s licensed and knows how to work with kids.” In just two months, the number of Broadus students receiving tele-counseling services through VAST has grown to six, and Phillips said she’s working to connect three more students with the program. “Getting our families to commit to taking their kids for help is almost impossible in many cases.” A few hundred miles to the north, Bainville school counselor Amy Iversen said the number of students she’s referred to VAST has grown from two students in 2022 to seven last school year. She described the ag-and-oil community as similarly small, with 172 students across all grades, and similarly isolated, with the closest larger population center lying across the state line in Williston, North Dakota. For Iversen, UM’s program came along at a critical time for several students who showed signs of behavioral issues or depression and whose families lacked the resources for private counseling. “They can come in and talk to me about it, but then you know what? They’re going to see me again in class in two days and they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, crap, is she going to say something?’” Iversen said. “They probably don’t want me to know all their secrets. I’ve got kids in the school, some of them are friends with my own kids. It’s awkward for them, so when you’re in a small school, it helps with that confidentiality.” In some cases, parents have commented to Iversen on a noticeable difference in their child’s confidence, self-esteem or coping skills as a result of ongoing therapy. And while school-based counseling has its limits — like the services provided by traditional school counselors, VAST is not offered during the summer break — Iversen hopes the mental health skills students glean during the school year can see them through the off months. “That’s better than not getting anything,” Iversen said. Dozhier, the UM grad student, didn’t have to look much further than their own childhood in a small Oregon timber town to understand the issues facing the young Montana clients they counseled last spring. Kids are smarter and more observant than people think, Dozhier said, which means when pressures like joblessness, food insecurity or substance abuse weigh on a household, children pick up on it. They may act out or isolate themselves, sometimes without knowing why, and the last thing such a student can focus on is learning. “Their thinking brains are off,” Dozhier said. Dozhier’s parrot Alfie may help break the ice, but helping a child navigate issues they may not fully understand requires more than just talking about pets and plants. In sessions with VAST, Dozhier said they primarily utilize a style of counseling called play therapy, allowing a student to play freely with whatever toys they choose. Their actions may give the counselor some subtle insight into what’s going on in their lives, Dozhier said. Fighting between toys could, for example, be indicative of difficult relationships with siblings or other family members and help guide a counselor’s questions. “Even though it looks like play, we find that pertinent themes come up in play, even without specifically saying, ‘Hey, how’s your relationship with your brother?’” Dozhier said. “It’s almost like watching a theater play that doesn’t have a lot of words and kind of using that to draw conclusions.” Ith’s work with older students this fall has also underscored the added stress coming to age in a smaller community can place on a 21st-century teen. She acknowledges that the rural nature of the schools she serves through VAST can help reinforce a sense of support, giving some students an awareness that others around them recognize the experiences they’re going through. But it’s a “double-edged sword,” she said, one that can make it difficult to find new peer groups or move past incidents of bullying. At the Montana Small Schools Alliance, Fouhy notes that social media and technology can exacerbate such issues in ways older generations may not fully understand. “The kids can’t get away from stressors,” Fouhy said. “In the 80s, kids could go home and if they had to fight at school, they wouldn’t have to worry about it again ’til Monday. But now it just goes on and on, and the conflict and the stress that’s just in their pocket is significant.” Remote delivery of the one-on-one services that can help students process such situations does pose challenges, and leaders at VAST are quick to note that the program isn’t a solution for budgetary shortfalls or hiring challenges. Dozhier and Ith both credit the effectiveness of their work to individuals in the communities they’ve served — school counselors, teachers, parents. Tele-counseling initiatives haven’t sought to replace those voices but rather to create oases in Montana’s rural desert of outside mental health services, and Tolleson Knee has heard from past participants that the anonymity of therapy was a key motivator. “When you do live in those small communities, it’s just so hard to be objective,” Tolleson Knee said. “I heard students and family saying it was so nice to know we weren’t going to like have this intense session where we’re talking about really personal stuff and then run into [the counselor] in the grocery store.” The experience of meeting such a need fits well with Dozhier’s long-term professional goal of returning to rural Oregon as a counselor, and they are slated to return to the VAST cohort of practitioners-in-training this spring as it branches into in-person service. But while the program is great at doing what it’s doing, Dozhier recognizes even private counseling has its limits. A few sessions with a therapist won’t erase the issues that arise for a child when, say, a parent is overworked, stretched thin and struggling just to put food on the table. When it comes to improving mental health, Dozhier said, the challenge is far more systematic than one school, one university or one counselor can handle alone. “The answer to all of this kid’s woes is maybe not counseling for a year,” Dozhier said. “The answer maybe to so many of these woes would be to reduce stress on the family, and that’s something that our systems aren’t set up to do.”

In a significant move to enhance technological capabilities, Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), supported by Ministry of Economy, signed a cooperation agreement with World Economic Forum (WEF) on Monday to establish a centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in Oman. The centre will be the sixth of its kind in the Middle East and the 22nd globally aimed at advancing technological innovations that benefit the development and production sectors. The centre is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2025. The agreement was signed by H E Dr Ali bin Amer al Shidhani, Undersecretary for Communications and Information Technology at MTCIT, and Sebastian Buckup, Head of Network and Partnerships and Member of Executive Committee of WEF. The agreement aims to accelerate adoption of emerging technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) applications in line with international standards and frameworks, while benefiting from the global network of digital experts at WEF. Additionally, the agreement seeks to launch initiatives that bring together stakeholders from various sectors – government, business and academia – to discuss and collaborate on the development of shared policies. Furthermore, the agreement will help create an environment to test governance principles, and policy and regulatory frameworks, aimed at mitigating risks associated with 4IR technologies. It will also contribute to guiding WEF’s activities in various areas of 4IR technology by actively participating in the forum’s platforms, launching an expertise exchange programme between the two parties, and engaging in the forum’s 4IR community. H E Shidhani emphasised the significance of the agreement, saying, “This cooperation reflects the sultanate’s commitment to adopting the latest innovations and advanced technologies to drive sustainable development and achieve the goals of Oman Vision 2040. This initiative is also part of our ongoing efforts to transfer knowledge, localise technology, and strengthen Oman’s position as a regional hub for technology and innovation.” He added that the agreement will open new avenues for cooperation in key areas, with the first phase focusing on enhancing technical innovation. “Through this partnership, we aim to apply AI and advanced technologies in alignment with the initiatives and projects of the National Digital Economy Programme.” On his part, Buckup said, “We are delighted to establish this centre in Oman. Undoubtedly, the presence of this centre will facilitate close collaboration on numerous projects that promote digital innovation and sustainable digital solutions to address existing challenges across various fields.”NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes reached more records after tech companies talked up how much artificial intelligence is boosting their results. The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% Wednesday to add to what looks to be one of its best years of the millennium. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite added 1.3% to its own record. Salesforce pulled the market higher after highlighting its artificial-intelligence offering for customers. Marvell Technology jumped even more after saying it’s seeing strong demand from AI. Treasury yields eased, while bitcoin climbed after President-elect Donald Trump nominated a crypto advocate to head the Securities and Exchange Commission. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below. NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes are rising toward more records Wednesday after tech companies talked up how much of a boost they're getting from artificial intelligence . The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to add to what looks to be one of its best years of the millennium. It’s on track to set an all-time high for the 56th time this year after coming off 10 gains in the last 11 days . The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 252 points, or 0.6%, with an hour remaining in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was adding 1.2% to its own record. Salesforce helped pull the market higher after delivering stronger revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, though its profit fell just short. CEO Mark Benioff highlighted the company’s artificial-intelligence offering for customers, saying “the rise of autonomous AI agents is revolutionizing global labor, reshaping how industries operate and scale.” The stock of the company, which helps businesses manage their customers, rose 9.3%. Marvell Technology jumped even more after delivering better results than expected, up 23.2%. CEO Matt Murphy said the semiconductor supplier is seeing strong demand from AI and gave a forecast for profit in the upcoming quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. They helped offset a 9.8% drop for Foot Locker, which reported profit and revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations. CEO Mary Dillon said the company is taking a more cautious view, and it cut its forecasts for sales and profit this year. Dillon pointed to how keen customers are for discounts and how soft demand has been outside of Thanksgiving week and other key selling periods. Retailers overall have offered mixed signals about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain. Their spending has been one of the main reasons the U.S. economy has avoided a recession that earlier seemed inevitable because of high interest rates brought by the Federal Reserve to crush inflation. But shoppers are now contending with still-high prices and a slowing job market . This week’s highlight for Wall Street will be Friday’s jobs report from the U.S. government, which will show how many people employers hired and fired last month. A narrower report released on Wednesday morning may have offered a preview of it. The report from ADP suggested employers in the private sector increased their payrolls by less last month than economists expected. Hiring in manufacturing was the weakest since the spring, according to Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. The report strengthened traders’ expectations that the Fed will cut its main interest rate again when it meets in two weeks. The Fed began easing its main interest rate from a two-decade high in September, hoping to offer more support for the job market. The central bank had appeared set to continue cutting rates into next year, but the election of Donald Trump has scrambled Wall Street’s expectations somewhat. Trump’s preference for higher tariffs and other policies could lead to higher economic growth and inflation , which could alter the Fed’s plans . Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank can afford to cut its benchmark rate cautiously because inflation has slowed significantly from its peak two years ago and the economy remains sturdy. A separate report on Wednesday said health care, finance and other businesses in the U.S. services sector are continuing to grow, but not by as much as before and not by as much as economists expected. One respondent from the construction industry told the survey from the Institute for Supply Management that the Fed’s rate cuts have not pulled down mortgage rates as much as hoped yet. Plus “the unknown effect of tariffs clouds the future.” In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.23% late Tuesday. On Wall Street, Campbell’s fell 6% for one of the S&P 500’s sharper losses despite increasing its dividend and reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the National Football League’s Washington Commanders hired Campbell’s CEO Mark Clouse as its team president. Campbell’s said Mick Beekhuizen, its president of meals and beverages, will become its 15th CEO following Clouse’s departure. Gains for airline stocks helped offset that drop after JetBlue Airways said it saw stronger bookings for travel in November and December following the presidential election. It said it’s also benefiting from lower fuel prices, as well as lower costs due to improved on-time performance. JetBlue jumped 8.3%, while Southwest Airlines climbed 2.8%. In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi sank 1.4% following a night full of drama in Seoul. President Yoon Suk Yeol was facing possible impeachment after he suddenly declared martial law on Tuesday night, prompting troops to surround the parliament. Yoon accused pro-North Korean forces of plotting to overthrow one of the world’s most vibrant democracies. The martial law declaration was revoked about six hours later. Samsung Electronics fell 0.9% in Seoul. The country’s financial regulator said it was prepared to deploy 10 trillion won ($7.07 billion) into a stock market stabilization fund at any time, the Yonhap news agency reported. In the crypto market , bitcoin climbed back above $97,000 after Trump said he would nominate Paul Atkins , a cryptocurrency advocate, to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. AP Writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.12 Communication Services Stocks Moving In Wednesday's Pre-Market Session

London, Dec. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pixalate, the market-leading ad fraud protection, privacy, and compliance analytics platform, today released the Q3 2024 United Kingdom Seller Trust Index for Web, Mobile, and Connected TV (CTV) to rank programmatic ad sellers across desktop and mobile web , mobile apps , and CTV . The first-of-its-kind rankings, using SupplyChain Object (SCO) data, offer a comprehensive view of programmatic ad sellers based on quality across the advertising supply chain, as measured by Pixalate. Pixalate’s Seller Trust Indexes feature country-level seller ratings in 140+ countries for 580+ sellers. The rankings are based on an analysis of over 50 billion monthly programmatic advertising impressions from Q3 2024. Top Programmatic Web Ad Sellers in the United Kingdom (Q3 2024) See more in the Web Seller Trust Index . Top Programmatic Mobile Ad Sellers in the United Kingdom (Q3 2024) See more in the Mobile Seller Trust Index . Top Programmatic CTV Ad Sellers in the United Kingdom (Q3 2024) Amazon Fire TV Samsung Smart TV See more in the CTV Seller Trust Index . Pixalate’s Seller Trust Indexes provide a full view of the ad supply chain ecosystem. In doing so, the Indexes aim to foster economic fairness, encourage competition, and highlight the full range of sellers available to buyers, including each sellers’ relative strengths and weaknesses in each country. Explore all of Pixalate’s Seller Trust Indexes: Web Seller Trust Index Mobile Seller Trust Index CTV Seller Trust Index About Pixalate Pixalate is a global platform specializing in privacy compliance, ad fraud prevention, and digital ad supply chain data intelligence. Founded in 2012, Pixalate is trusted by regulators, data researchers, advertisers, publishers, ad tech platforms, and financial analysts across the Connected TV (CTV), mobile app, and website ecosystems. Pixalate is accredited by the MRC for the detection and filtration of Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT). pixalate.com Disclaimer The content of this press release, and the Seller Trust Indexes (collectively, the "Indexes"), reflect Pixalate's opinions with respect to factors that Pixalate believes may be useful to the digital media industry. As cited in the Indexes, the ratings and rankings in the Indexes are based on a number of metrics and Pixalate's opinions regarding the relative performance of each seller with respect to the metrics. The data is derived from buy-side, predominantly open auction, programmatic advertising transactions, as measured by Pixalate. The Indexes examine global advertising activity. Any insights shared are grounded in Pixalate's proprietary technology and analytics, which Pixalate is continuously evaluating and updating. Any references to outside sources in the Indexes and herein should not be construed as endorsements. Pixalate's opinions are just that, opinions, which means that they are neither facts nor guarantees; and neither this press release nor the Indexes are intended to impugn the standing or reputation of any person, entity or app. Per the MRC , “'Fraud' is not intended to represent fraud as defined in various laws, statutes and ordinances or as conventionally used in U.S. Court or other legal proceedings, but rather a custom definition strictly for advertising measurement purposes. Also per the MRC , “‘Invalid Traffic’ is defined generally as traffic that does not meet certain ad serving quality or completeness criteria, or otherwise does not represent legitimate ad traffic that should be included in measurement counts. Among the reasons why ad traffic may be deemed invalid is it is a result of non-human traffic (spiders, bots, etc.), or activity designed to produce fraudulent traffic.”

Jim Rossman | Tribune News Service Cord cutting used to refer to abandoning pay TV and putting up an antenna to watch free over-the-air TV. Then cord cutting expanded to include streaming services like Netflix and Hulu and individual streaming sources. Related Articles TV and Streaming | Jamie Foxx, in Netflix special, explains how a stroke almost killed him TV and Streaming | From Stephen Schwartz to Kathryn Hahn, 2025 Golden Globe nominees have CT ties TV and Streaming | Best TV of 2024: A modestly better lineup than usual, but why didn’t it feel that way? TV and Streaming | ‘Emilia Pérez’ leads Golden Globe nominations with 10, followed by ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘Conclave’ TV and Streaming | ‘Stranger Things,’ ‘Dynasty’ actor from Upstate NY dies at 77 Now we also include streaming bundles, like YouTube TV or Hulu Live or DirecTV Stream. These bundled services mimic cable and satellite service, in that they have hundreds of channels. The ease or complexity of the cord cutting experience depends on how you have things set up. Let’s take a look at some gift options for your favorite cord cutter. As far as I know DirecTV is the only streaming bundle service that offers its own hardware. The Gemini Air is a small dongle that plugs into an HDMI port on your TV. It is paired with a remote control to allow for easy navigation. If you were an AT&T U-Verse TV customer, the Gemini Air/DirecTV Stream experience will be very familiar. The Gemini Air is a rarity in that it has number buttons. DirecTV Stream has the option of turning on channel numbers in the guide. I’ve used DirecTV Stream with my Roku TV and with the Gemini Air and the Air makes navigating the huge list of channels much easier. The Gemini Air runs the Google operating system, so you can see and use all your other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Max and more. You can also load apps and games from the Google Play store. The Gemini Air connects to your home’s Wi-Fi network, and it can stream 4K content to your TV. The remote control has a microphone so you can use your voice to search or interact with Hey Google’s voice assistant. DirecTV Stream customers can get a free Gemini Air from AT&T with their service. Additional units are available for $120. There are lots of smart TV brands. Some run on the Roku operating system, some run Google TV and some use their own brand of smart TV apps. If you’d like to add Google TV to any set, you can get Google’s new TV Streamer (4K) for just $99 from store.google.com. The small device connects to your TV’s HDMI port. It also can connect to your home’s internet via Wi-Fi or wired Ethernet connection. The Google TV interface is not tied to any specific streaming service. You can use any streaming service or app that’s available on the Google Play store. It features a simple remote with voice control and the Google TV Streamer is also a hub and controller for Matter and Thread home devices that work with Google’s home ecosystem. If you use an over-the-air antenna for watching your free local channels, I’m betting you’d like the option to record those channels. TiVo used to be the best/easiest way to record OTA TV, but they’ve discontinued their OTA recorders. A great alternative is from TabloTV, which is a small box that you connect to your TV antenna. The TabloTV does not directly connect to your TV. Instead it connects to your home’s Wi-Fi, and the antenna signal is wirelessly sent to any TV or compatible device in your home. Your TV picks up the signal through a free app, which is compatible with smart TV brands like Samsung, LG, Google TV, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Android TV. This method is extremely handy if you don’t want to be bothered running an antenna wire from your attic or roof all the way to your TV. It’s also great if you want to use an indoor antenna, but your TV is not situated in a room that faces the broadcast towers. You can place the antenna and TabloTV where you get the best reception. The TabloTV comes in two models – with either two or four tuners. This means you can record or watch two or four shows at a time. TabloTV has onboard storage to record up to 50 hours of shows, but you can plug in any USB hard drive and expand to record thousands of hours of programming. You can also bundle a TabloTV with an OTA antenna if you like, or you can use your own antenna. Two things to know, there are no ongoing subscription costs for guide data, and there is no streaming service integration. You will need another way to add in streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. TabloTV models start at $99.95 for the two tuner model at tablotv.com. The four-tuner model is $139.95, but they may be on sale during the holidays. ©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Abee's 25 lead UNC Asheville over Saint Andrews 120-64

Poem has won the Australian PR business for Google and will lead the company’s publicity retainer and earned creative campaigns for 2025. The creative comms agency will support in managing upcoming launches, announcements and retained comms activity across Google’s diverse product device offering, AI and consumer news, including Google Search, Gemini, YouTube and Google Maps, and beyond. Google joins Poem’s already impressive roster of consumer technology clients, including Sony Interactive Entertainment (PlayStation), Sonos, DJI and Withings. “We were immediately drawn to Poem’s ethos of culture-led creativity, always seeking to put people and helpfulness first in their approach whether that’s through publicity or non-traditional creative campaigns,” Katrin Maurer , director of communications, Google Australia and New Zealand, said. “We’re thrilled to be working with a partner that shares our passion for innovation and spirit of creative curiosity.” Poem landed Google Researcher, Simon Carlile, a spot at TEDxSydney to share how AI is revolutionising accessibility and hearing devices Katie Raleigh , Poem managing director said: “Working with Google is a great privilege for the agency, and we’re beyond delighted to partner with such an iconic brand and talented team. Rhania Farah , Poem general manager added: “In just a couple of months, we have already put a Google Researcher centre stage talking about the future of AI at TEDxSydney, partnered with Queensland University to promote the power of AI in supporting whale conservation, and engaged renowned Aussie artist, Mulga to bring Google Australia’s most searched trends for 2024 to life in a way that’s caught the attention of press and social media alike. “I can’t wait to see what the year ahead will bring.” Google joins Poem’s wider client portfolio including Tourism Australia, Nespresso, Uber, Cashrewards and Place Making New South Wales. Spot the trend! Poem enlisted Australian artist, Mulga (Joel Moore) to create an artwork representing some of the top trending searches in Australia in 2024 Keep on top of the most important media, marketing, and agency news each day with the Mediaweek Morning Report – delivered for free every morning to your inbox.Rapid City committee endorses Summer Nights, but says it needs to find a new homeAston Villa return to winning ways by blowing away BrentfordAs Ghana concluded its 2024 general elections, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development and its fact-checking subsidiary, DUBAWA, have restated their commitment to ensuring transparent, credible, and inclusive elections. Ghana’s former president John Drahami Mahama won a historic comeback election victory on Sunday after the ruling party accepted defeat with voters appearing to punish them for the government’s handling of an economic crisis. According to AFP, following Saturday’s election, New Patriotic Party candidate Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia on Sunday conceded Ghanaians wanted change after he failed to shake off widespread frustration over high costs of living. His defeat ended eight years in power for the NPP under President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose last term was marked by the country’s worst economic turmoil in years, high inflation and a debt default. CJID deployed 19 observers, fact-checkers, and OSINT analysts to monitor and verify information circulating ahead of the and during the December polls. The personnel worked through the organisation’s Media in National Elections initiative and verification campaigns, focusing on countering misinformation and disinformation that could undermine public trust in the electoral outcome. In its earlier two reports, CJID provided insights into citizens’ perceptions of the electoral environment as well as patterns and threats posed by misinformation and disinformation. Related News INEC chair commends Ghana poll, highlights lessons for Nigeria Jonathan leads West Africa Elders Forum to Ghana election Ghana’s deputy finance minister pulls gun on youths in self-defence Additionally, CJID’s Digital Technology, AI, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre identified online trends threatening electoral integrity. In the latest article published by DUBAWA Ghana (“Agyapadie Circus: A Make-Believe Toxic Politico-Ethnic Document for Election”), DUBAWA found evidence of political propaganda spreading on social media ahead of the polls. DUBAWA Ghana also successfully debunked AI-generated deepfake content circulating on social media platforms, further exposing the novel tactics used to manipulate public opinion. To address these challenges, the CJID collaborated closely with the Ghana Fact-checking Coalition, the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, and tech partners, including META and TikTok. Three situation rooms were established in Accra, Tamale, and Kumasi, enabling real-time monitoring, rapid verification, and prompt responses to misleading claims that could sway voters or incite tension. “Our goal is to strengthen trust, encourage informed participation, and ensure a peaceful electoral environment,” said the Director of Programs at CJID, Akintunde Babatunde. “By working together, citizens and institutions can uphold democratic values and safeguard Ghana’s longstanding reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.”

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DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 16th Dec, 2024) The ’s payments is poised to achieve significant growth, with total revenues projected to reach $27.3 by 2028, according to the latest Global Payments Report 2024 by Consulting Group (BCG). Despite a global slowdown in growth rates, the continues to in the GCC, driven by its rapid digital transformation and strategic investments in the financial sector. The Global Payments Report 2024 marks BCG’s 22nd annual analysis of the global payments , emphasising the need for decisive action in navigating a rapidly evolving landscape. The report aptly titled Fortune Favors the Bold highlights the importance of adapting to shifting customer expectations, heightened regulatory scrutiny, and technological disruptions. While growth is slowing globally, the remains a bright spot in the region, continuing its high growth and innovation trajectory. Globally, payments revenue growth is projected to slow significantly, with CAGR halving to 5% through 2028, resulting in a global payments revenue pool of $2.3 trillion. This marks a sharp decline the 9% CAGR observed over the previous five years, which pushed the global revenue pool to $1.8 trillion in 2023. North America and are expected to experience the most significant slowdowns, with projected annual revenue increases of just 3%. In contrast, regions like the East, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific are forecasted to see higher growth, with the projected to grow at a 7% CAGR, driven by accelerating digital payments in emerging . The ’s payments sector has seen robust growth in recent years. to 2023, the country’s payments revenue grew $9.8 to $18.8 , with a CAGR of 13.8%. By 2028, the is projected to reach $27.3 in revenues, marking a 45% increase over the next five years. Transaction volumes in the are also forecast to rise significantly, 1.7 in 2023 to over 3.1 by 2028, representing a 78% increase. The shift cash-based to digital payments, spurred by initiatives and increased fintech adoption, continues to drive this expansion.Arizona Cardinals Go routes have accounted for 26.8 percent of Marvin Harrison Jr.’s targets The NFL average is 14.4 percent for all wide receivers. Marv is good at these routes, so you’d expect him to earn more looks on them. But the Cardinals are also giving him a disproportionate amount of clearout routes. He has run a go route on 26.4 percent of his passing plays compared to 17.4 percent for all wide receivers. Atlanta Falcons Kyle Pitts has run a route on 70 percent of the Falcons’ dropbacks since Week 8 That would put Pitts at 19th among tight ends on the season. It’s not a terrible rank, but one of the biggest selling points with Pitts early in the year was that he ran every route, covering up his poor target rate of .16 on the season. Despite running fewer routes, his target rate has fallen to .13 since Week 8, tanking his target share to 11 percent. Buffalo Bills Josh Allen has topped 283 passing yards once The Bills have a negative pass rate over expected this year and rank 26th in pace. Allen has only attempted 40 passes in a game on time as well. He did so six times last year and five times in 2022. Carolina Panthers Bryce Young is Pro Football Focus’s No. 3 graded quarterback over the past three weeks Young is also eighth in EPA per play and 12th in CPOE over that stretch. He is taking fewer sacks and doesn’t have a single turnover since the Panthers’ bye (which was Week 11 so “past three weeks” is only two games but it sounds more impressive and we’re trying to give the guy his flowers here). Young did this against a solid Kansas City defense and a putrid Tampa Bay squad. He gets a tough test with a surging Philly defense this week. Chicago Bears Caleb Williams is 11th in EPA per play since Thomas Brown took over as interim offensive coordinator Williams was the QB27 before Brown took over. The rookie has put two of his best games on tape over the past two weeks with 596 yards, five touchdowns, and zero picks. PFF has charted him with a 74.1 passing grade since Brown donned the headset. That was at 61.5 before Brown. Cincinnati Bengals Chase Brown has seen all but one running back carry for the Bengals since Zack Moss was placed on injured reserve He also has the only running back target as well. Brown is a locked-in RB1 with Moss out of the lineup. Brown is 24 years old with two years left on his rookie deal and Moss is a cut candidate in the offseason. He has a strong case to be ranked as an RB1 in dynasty. Cleveland Browns Jameis Winston is averaging 336 yards per game That would be good for 5,712 yards over a 17-game season, 235 yards more than any other campaign in NFL history. His attempts pace would also be good for the NFL record over a full season. This fueled the trio of Cedric Tillman, Jerry Jeudy, and Elijah Moore to weekly WR3 rankings for a few weeks. With Tillman out, both Jeudy and Moore can be treated as WR2s. Dallas Cowboys Rico Dowdle has seen 70 percent of the Cowboys’ carries over the past two weeks Dowdle isn’t getting the full complement of routes but still has a healthy 10 percent target share in those games. He has 41 carries for 198 yards and a touchdown in his previous two games with an extra 23 yards on six receptions. Week 13 RB Fantasy Usage 1. Bijan Robinson (25.1 exp HPPR) 2. Jonathan Taylor (23.3) 3. Bucky Irving (22.4) 4. Josh Jacobs (21.6) 5. Alvin Kamara (19.5) 6. David Montgomery (18.7) 7. De'Von Achane (17.6) 8. Joe Mixon (17.5) 9. Rico Dowdle (17.2) This is RB1 stuff, folks. Detroit Lions Jahmyr Gibbs ran a season-low nine times Gibbs’ 27 percent carry share was also a season-low. His second-worst mark came two weeks ago. Both contests presented favorable game scripts for the Lions’ ground game, but that has been more beneficial for David Montgomery as of late. Montgomery had 36 carries for 163 yards and two scores in the pair of low-volume games for Gibbs. Green Bay Packers The Packers haven’t had a 20-point fantasy game from a receiver since Week 4 Green Bay has only had three such games this year and two came in Week 4. Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks both broke out in a frantic comeback effort versus the Vikings. The Packers’ pass volume has remained low over the past two months and the targets are spread out nearly every week. Romeo Doubs is the only wideout with a target share north of 25 percent in even one game since Week 4. Doub is comfortably behind Reed and Christian Watson in yards per route run, so his high-volume games don’t always translate to spike weeks. Jacksonville Jaguars Mac Jones has still not completed a deep throw Jones is 0-of-11 on throws 20+ yards downfield this year. He is the only quarterback with more than eight such throws but no completions. Jones is also third-to-last in YPA on intermediate passes. He is, however, top-10 in YPA on attempts between one and nine yards downfield. Brian Thomas Jr. got home for fantasy managers last week with four catches for 76 yards and a score, all of which came from Jones, giving fantasy managers some hope that he will survive the Mac Jones era to close out the 2024 season. Kansas City Chiefs Isiah Pacheco saw 47 percent of the Chiefs’ carries in his first game in 10 weeks Pacheco returned from his leg and ankle injuries to run seven times for 44 yards. Kareem Hunt saw just as many carries but only ran for 15 yards. With Hunt offering no surplus value outside of a few yards and a cloud of dust, I fully expect Pacheco to take over the backfield by the end of the season. Las Vegas Raiders Brock Bowers’ 30.2 PPR points were the most for a rookie tight end since... Brock Bowers in Week 11 Bowers’ Week 11 total of 31.3 points is the most for a rookie tight end since 1995 while his Week 13 mark is a high dating back to 2006. He is one of seven tight ends to catch 10+ passes three times in one season and is on pace to set the record for receptions by a tight end. Los Angeles Chargers Ladd McConkey is 10th in total EPA among wide receivers For reference, McConkey is just ahead of Drake London, A.J. Brown, Zay Flowers, Garrett Wilson, and CeeDee Lamb on the list. As impressive as this is for Ladd, it’s also wildly concerning for Justin Herbert and the Chargers, who may be without the rookie this week. McConkey suffered a knee injury on Sunday and was listed as questionable to return late in the game. Los Angeles Rams Puka Nacua is third among wide receivers in yards per route run (3.1) and PFF receiving grade (90.4) Ncaua easily leads the league in targets per route run at .34. His knee injury robbed us of an incredible sophomore season, but all of the nerdy metrics say Nacua is a superstar. Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa has the lowest time to throw (min. 300 dropbacks) for a quarterback under 38 years old in the past 14 years Tua’s 2.31 time to throw is a fraction of a second quicker than his 2023 mark. It’s faster than every quarterback with 300 dropbacks over the past nearly 15 years except for: 2020s Ben Roethlisberger Broncos Peyton Manning Bucs Tom Brady His 6.2 aDOT trails only Alex Smith’s mark of 5.9, set in 2015 with the Chiefs. That should give you an idea of what type of offense Miami is running. Minnesota Vikings Justin Jefferson has a 25 percent target share since T.J. Hockenson returned in Week 9 Jefferson’s air yards share is down to 30 percent. His splits pre and post-Hockenson are hard to look at. There are loads of other factors at play here. Jordan Addison missed time in the pre-Hockenson split, further juicing the numbers. Sam Darnold’s play has taken a hit lately. And Jefferson isn’t running as hot on touchdowns in recent weeks. Still, the volume metrics show a meaningful hit to Jefferson’s workload with the increase in target competition. New Orleans Saints Alvin Kamara is the only running back with over 200 expected fantasy points this year With 234 expected fantasy points to his name, Kamara is miles ahead of the No. 2 back. He is the only back with more than 100 expected points through the air and is on pace for a top-20 season over the past quarter-century in receiving expected points. That is all before the Saints lost Taysom Hill. New York Giants Malik Nabers is the WR6 in expected fantasy points since Week 7 As anyone who has rostered Nabers during that stretch knows, he is not the WR6 in actual fantasy points. In that category, he ranks 28th among wide receivers. With a banged-up line and terrible quarterback play, it’s hard to see how he turns things around this late in the season. Still the volume metrics...speak volumes about just how dominant Nabers could be in a different offense. I’m drafting Nabers at the 1/2 turn next year and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. New York Jets Breece Hall was held without a catch for the first time since Week 2 of the 2023 season Week 13 was just the third time in his career that Hall didn’t catch a pass. The first was when he suffered a torn ACL in 2022 and the second was in his second game back from said ACL tear. This time may also have been injury-related as Hall entered the weekend listed as questionable with a knee issue. The Jets dropped his route rate to 52 percent—his second-lowest mark of the year—and split the remaining routes between Braelon Allen and third-stringer Isaiah Davis. Davis caught his second, third, and fourth passes of the season, one of which was a touchdown. Philadelphia Eagles Grant Calcaterra had a 17 percent target share in three games without Dallas Goedert earlier this year He ran a route on 87 percent of Jalen Hurts’ dropbacks during that stretch and hit eight PPR points twice. His target share also rose in each subsequent start. Goedert is now expected to miss some time with a knee injury. There’s not much of a ceiling with Calcaterra, but there is a TE2 floor. Pittsburgh Steelers Russell Wilson’s 414 yards versus the Bengals are the second-most of his career Wilson is the QB15 in points per game dating back to his first start in Week 7. He ranks 11th in EPA per play and fourth in CPOE since taking over the starting gig. He gets a Browns defense that has fallen from grace this year and ranks 20th in EPA per dropback allowed. San Francisco 49ers Jauan Jennings hasn’t had a target share below 27 percent since Week 6 Jennings went down with an injury in Week 6 and didn’t return until Week 10, so the streak is “only” at four games. Still, that’s wildly impressive for a supposed third receiver playing alongside Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey. With CMC out of the picture and Deebo looking nothing like he did in previous years, Jennings is the 49ers’ clear No. 1 receiver to close the season. Seattle Seahawks Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 15.3 aDOT was his highest of the year in games with DK Metcalf active JSN only saw four targets, but two of them were 20+ yards downfield. He had an underwhelming 14 percent target share but 30 percent of the air yards. Seattle has generally used Smith-Njigba as the underneath option and DK Metcalf as the deep threat when both are healthy. That was not the case in Week 13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cade Otton has a 16 percent target share and an eight percent air yards share since Mike Evans returned to the lineup Those numbers were at 30 percent and 26 percent with Evans out of the lineup. Evans and Chris Godwin were both sidelined after Week 7, thrusting Otton into the No. 1 receiver role for three weeks. Though Godwin won’t return, Evans alone is enough to relegate Otton to the TE2 ranks. Tennessee Titans Nick Westbrook-Ikhine has scored on 21 percent of his targets That is the highest rate for a wide receiver with at least 30 targets in the past 24 years, tying Chiefs wideout Marc Boerigter’s exact stat line (of targets and touchdowns) in 2002. NWI will lose the record on 30+ targets the next time he doesn’t catch a touchdown but is still chasing history for higher target thresholds.