Author: Press Room

Microsoft VALL-E Clones Anyone’s Voice From a 3-Second Sample

Technology

Microsoft researchers have announced a new application that uses artificial intelligence to ape a person’s voice with just seconds of training. The model of the voice can then be used for text-to-speech applications. The application called VALL-E can be used to synthesize high-quality personalized speech with only a three-second enrollment recording of a speaker as an acoustic prompt, the researchers wrote in a paper published online on arXiv, a free distribution service and an open-access archive for scholarly articles. There are programs now that can cut and paste speech into an audio stream, and that speech is converted into a…

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The 7 cities you ‘must visit before you die,’ according to 50 travel experts—only one is in the U.S.

Finance

Traveling is one of the most meaningful experiences you can have in life. It’s an opportunity to see the world differently and learn about new cultures.But what are the cities you must visit before you die? It can be hard to narrow down. As travel journalist of over 20 years, I recently interviewed more than 50 travel enthusiasts, experts and agents. I asked each of them for their No. 1 picks.Here are the most popular answers:1. Paris, FranceParis, the City of Light, was by far the overwhelming favorite.”I love the ambiance, culture and overall romantic vibe,” says Susan Sherren, founder of luxury…

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Bed Bath & Beyond jumps 68% to lead last gasp rally in meme stocks; AMC gains 21%

Finance

A “Store Closing” banner on a Bed Bath & Beyond store in Farmingdale, New York, on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.Johnny Milano | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA group of highly speculative stocks rallied double digits on Wednesday as retail investors pushed meme names up again in the new year after a dismal 2022.Bed Bath & Beyond skyrocketed a whopping 68.6% to trigger the trend Wednesday. Shares of GameStop, the original star of 2021’s meme stock mania, climbed more than 7% , while AMC Entertainment soared over 21%.Meme stocks rallying one more timeStock Short interest % float Wed. Gain % off 52W…

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Mega Millions jackpot jumps to $1.35 billion for the next drawing. Here’s the tax bill if there’s a winner

Economy

Scott Olson | Getty ImagesYou may face long odds of hitting the Mega Millions jackpot — now worth $1.35 billion — but the taxman is always guaranteed a slice when there’s a winner.The jackpot jumped again after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn Tuesday night to land the grand prize. If won in the next drawing — set for Friday night — it would mark the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot ever and the fourth-largest lottery prize in history.With the odds stacked against a single ticket winning the motherlode — 1 in 302.6 million — the amount has been growing…

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National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2023: How one company is doing its part

Lifestyle

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day occurs annually on January 11. There are over 40.3 million victims of modern slavery globally, including one in four children, according to a United Nations 2016 report.Incidents are said to be increasing every year.WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?Nearly 2,200 people were referred to U.S. attorneys for human trafficking offenses in 2020, a 62% increase from 2011, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. With many offenses going undetected, companies are taking a stand and raising the awareness about the issue on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2023.  Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue and the company’s Goya Cares spokesperson…

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