Rugby Union
This Shark robot vacuum is reduced by 320 in Amazons Big Spring Sale
SAVE 320: As of March 29, the Shark Robot Vacuum and Mop is on sale for 379.99 at Amazon. This deal saves you 46% on the list price. Anything that reduces your chore list is a plus in our book. So, with Amazon's Big Spring Sale currently underway, we've been tracking all the best vacuum sales for you to enjoy, and this latest on the Shark Robot Vacuum and Mop deserves your attention. As of March 29, you can take home this impressive model for 320 less than usual, now 379.99.
Anonymity at Risk? Assessing Re-Identification Capabilities of Large Language Models
Nyffenegger, Alex, Stürmer, Matthias, Niklaus, Joel
Anonymity of both natural and legal persons in court rulings is a critical aspect of privacy protection in the European Union and Switzerland. With the advent of LLMs, concerns about large-scale re-identification of anonymized persons are growing. In accordance with the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, we explore the potential of LLMs to re-identify individuals in court rulings by constructing a proof-of-concept using actual legal data from the Swiss federal supreme court. Following the initial experiment, we constructed an anonymized Wikipedia dataset as a more rigorous testing ground to further investigate the findings. With the introduction and application of the new task of re-identifying people in texts, we also introduce new metrics to measure performance. We systematically analyze the factors that influence successful re-identifications, identifying model size, input length, and instruction tuning among the most critical determinants. Despite high re-identification rates on Wikipedia, even the best LLMs struggled with court decisions. The complexity is attributed to the lack of test datasets, the necessity for substantial training resources, and data sparsity in the information used for re-identification. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that re-identification using LLMs may not be feasible for now, but as the proof-of-concept on Wikipedia showed, it might become possible in the future. We hope that our system can help enhance the confidence in the security of anonymized decisions, thus leading to the courts being more confident to publish decisions.
23% of elite rugby players have brain structure abnormalities, study finds
A highly concerning new study lays bare the danger of repeated head impacts for rugby players. After performing scans of 44 elite adult rugby players, experts found 23 per cent had abnormalities in brain structure, specifically in white matter and blood vessels of the brain. White matter mainly comprises the neural pathways, the long extensions of the nerve cells, and is crucial to our cognitive ability. The study also found 50 per cent of the rugby players had an unexpected reduction in brain volume. Non-profit the Drake Foundation, which backed the study, is now calling for immediate changes in rugby protocols to ensure long-term welfare of elite players.
Performance Indicators Contributing To Success At The Group And Play-Off Stages Of The 2019 Rugby World Cup
Bunker, Rory, Spencer, Kirsten
Performance indicators that contributed to success at the group stage and play-off stages of the 2019 Rugby World Cup were analysed using publicly available data obtained from the official tournament website using both a non-parametric statistical technique, Wilcoxon's signed rank test, and a decision rules technique from machine learning called RIPPER. Our statistical results found that ball carry effectiveness (percentage of ball carries that penetrated the opposition gain-line) and total metres gained (kick metres plus carry metres) were found to contribute to success at both stages of the tournament and that indicators that contributed to success during the group stages (dominating possession, making more ball carries, making more passes, winning more rucks, and making less tackles) did not contribute to success at the play-off stage. Our results using RIPPER found that low ball carries and a low lineout success percentage jointly contributed to losing at the group stage, while winning a low number of rucks and carrying over the gain-line a sufficient number of times contributed to winning at the play-off stage of the tournament. The results emphasise the need for teams to adapt their playing strategies from the group stage to the play-off stage at tournament in order to be successful.
NEC facial recognition adopted for Rugby World Cup next year in Japan
A facial recognition system developed by NEC Corp. has been adopted for checking the entry of reporters at Tokyo Stadium and International Stadium Yokohama during the Rugby World Cup that Japan will host next year. Using identification cards for media organizations and face images of reporters registered beforehand, the system will complete authentication instantly, the Tokyo-based company said Monday. The system will allow smoother entry than with visual checks, NEC said. Reporters from all over the world are expected to visit Tokyo Stadium in Chofu, western Tokyo, the venue for the opening game, and International Stadium Yokohama, where the final will take place. This will be the first use of a face recognition system at a Rugby World Cup.
South Africa v England: Mike Brown says 'I'm a human, not a robot' after fan row
England's Mike Brown said he is "not a robot" after he was involved in a verbal altercation with a fan following Saturday's defeat by South Africa. Full-back Brown and prop Joe Marler exchanged words with a supporter after the second Test in Bloemfontein. Brown, 32, told BBC Sport that when an England fan is "screaming obscenities and saying you're not trying, you are going to have a reaction". "I just told him to shut up basically," added the Harlequins player. "You can call me whatever in terms of how I've played, that's fine.
Artificial intelligence tool can unearth bargain rugby players
A British artificial intelligence firm is looking to revolutionise the world of sports transfers by designing software that picks out bargain rugby players. ASI Data Science has signed a deal with London Irish, the rugby union club, to help it find undiscovered gems by using cutting edge data analysis techniques. While rugby scouting typically requires looking through hours of footage to assess a player's ability, the software allows a club to enter the name of a star player and will assess match statistics to find players with similar styles. It looks through around 100 different parameters taken from Opta, the sports data company, which covers every professional player on the planet, to find players similar to the star that a club would buy if money were no object. The machine learning software clusters different types of players together, making it easier for scouts and analysts to find players and removing the biases that many believe cloud judgements when signing players.
As flags fly at half-staff outside for Orlando, shooter games get usual plug at LA trade show
LOS ANGELES – The flags outside the Electronic Entertainment Expo are flying at half-staff in honor of the victims of the attack on a Florida gay nightclub that left 49 dead. But it will seemingly be business as usual inside the video game industry's annual trade show this week. E3 kicked off Sunday and Monday with flashy presentations featuring footage of upcoming games -- many of which depict unrelenting gun violence -- from Electronic Arts, Bethesda Softworks, Microsoft and Ubisoft. EA, which has a studio in Orlando, did not directly address the shooting Sunday afternoon while hyping games such as the World War I-set military shooter "Battlefield 1? and the robot-filled sci-fi shoot-'em-up "Titanfall 2." Chris Plante and T.C. Sottek of the technology site The Verge wrote after EA's presentation that "witnessing a sales pitch for the fun in gun violence felt strange, to say the least." The developers on stage at Bethesda's presentation Sunday evening sported rainbow ribbons in support of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community as they showed off games like the arena-based shooter "Quake Champions" and the stylish assassin tale "Dishonored 2." Microsoft began their Monday morning presentation with a moment of silence led by Xbox chief Phil Spencer before actress Laura Baily demonstrated a bullet-riddled level from sci-fi shooter "Gears of War 4." Later, the PC Gaming Show asked attendees to donate blood.