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In December, the US Navy released its 30-year ship-building plan, which called for building 404 new vessels to reach a 541-ship fleet by 2051, with 304 current vessels retired over that period.

Fourteen of the vessels to be retired are nuclear-powered and thus need to be recycled as part of the Navy's Ship-Submarine Recycling Program to ensure safe disposal of their nuclear reactors and fuel.

Those ships include the first-in-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and 13 nuclear submarines: 11 Los Angeles-class attack subs and two Ohio-class cruise-missile submarines, known as SSGNs.

USS Ohio, lead ship of the class, will be one of the two SSGNs recycled. It will be the end of a four-decade career for the first sub of its kind.

USS Ohio was commissioned in November 1981. Ohio and the boats that followed were ballistic-missile submarines, classified as SSBNs, and meant to replace the aging boats of the five previous SSBN classes, known as the "41 for Freedom," which were commissioned between 1959 and 1967.

The SALT I and SALT II treaties between the US and the Soviet Union put limitations on their nuclear forces, including the number of submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBMs) silos each could possess. As a result, a number of SSBNs were retired or refitted and reclassified as attack subs to make room for Ohio-class subs to enter service.

As the newest SSBN in the Navy, Ohio was a considerable upgrade. At 560 feet long and 42 feet wide, Ohio and its follow-on boats are the largest submarines in US history. It was originally armed with four torpedo tubes and 24 missile silos eight more than its predecessors capable of firing UGM-96 Trident I SLBMs.

Its nuclear reactor enabled Ohio, like other SSBNs, to stay submerged for months at a time. It also gave Ohio the ability to dive deeper than diesel-electric submarines and allowed it to have a virtually unlimited range, restricted only by its food supply.

At Ohio's commissioning, then-Vice President George Bush said the vessel was "a new dimension in our nation's strategic deterrence," while Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, known as the "father of the nuclear Navy," said Ohio should "strike fear in the hearts of our enemies."

All but one of the Ohio-class boats were named after US states, a tradition the Navy previously reserved for battleships and cruisers.

After training and shakedown operations, Ohio was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at its homeport of Bangor, Washington, in August 1982. In October that year, Ohio began its first strategic deterrent patrol, the first such patrol with a Trident I SLBM, which lasted 70 days.

Ohio would conduct strategic deterrent patrols out of Bangor for the next 20 years and did a number of Trident test launches in that time. After a brief overhaul from 1993 to 1994, Ohio returned to patrol duties in 1995.

In 1994, the Nuclear Posture review determined that the Navy only needed 14 of its 18 SSBNs. As a result, the first four Ohio-class submarines were to be converted to SSGNs to assist ground operations in a more tactical role.

Ohio's conversion lasted from 2002 to 2005. Ohio and its fellow SSGNs are now equipped with 22 Vertical Launching System tubes, giving them the ability to fire up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles.

The four SSGNs have more than half of the US Navy's submarine vertical-launch payload capacity, with Ohio alone carrying more Tomahawks than a single Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

The remaining two missile tubes were converted into swimmer lockout chambers, which, combined with its ability to carry a dry deck shelter, allows the Ohio to deploy up to 66 Navy Seals or Force Reconnaissance Marines for special operations.

Returning to active service in 2006, Ohio continued to conduct patrols in the Pacific and participated in a number of exercises with the US's Asian allies. In 2010, Ohio and two other SSGNs surfaced simultaneously in the Western Pacific in response to Chinese missile tests in the East China Sea.

In April 2017, Ohio entered a two-year refit, which upgraded most of its onboard systems, and returned to service in August 2019.

To ensure continuous operation at peak performance, Ohio is operated by two rotating 155-man crews, dubbed Blue and Gold. Each crew deploys for 70 to 90 days before returning to port to swap places with the other.

Ohio is currently operating in the Pacific with the US 7th Fleet. It recently conducted an exercise with Force Reconnaissance Marines from the III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, who practiced deployments via submarine and rubber raiding craft.

Ohio is expected to enter the recycling process in 2026, along with sister boat USS Florida. For submarines, the process has four stages: inactivation, missile compartment dismantlement, reactor compartment disposal, and recycling.

Inactivation begins after the sub has been disarmed and put into a dry dock. The reactor is shut down and completely de-fueled. The main storage battery is then removed.

The submarine is cut open to allow easy access to the reactor. The fuel is moved to a shielded transfer container that is placed in a specially designed shipping container before being sent to the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho.

After this, the missile launchers are removed from the submarine and cut apart to ensure their destruction in accordance with the terms of the SALT II Treaty.

When this is done, the rector is thoroughly cleaned, sealed in a protective case, and removed by crane to be sent to the Department of Energy's Hanford waste disposal site in eastern Washington.

Any remaining parts of the submarine that can be used in active subs is removed and stored. The hull is then scrapped.

Eventually, all Ohio-class SSBNs will be replaced by the Columbia class. The four SSGNs, meanwhile, will be replaced by the Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine, which will have vertical-launch systems capable of firing 12 to 40 Tomahawks or Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

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After 45 years, the Navy is planning to 'recycle' a first-of-its-kind missile submarine - Business Insider

Even as Grand Theft Auto Online's massive popularity persists, GTA Roleplay servers are also contributing to the game's success significantly.

For the longest time, Rockstar Games' 2013 blockbuster has continued to break sales records and player numbers.Shortly afterGrand Theft Auto 5 released, Rockstar Games introduced a simple-but-fun online mode titledGrand Theft Auto Online. Many theorized this would be the start of a serious expansion ofmultiplayer for the game, and after a short period of lacking multiplayer content, suddenlyGrand Theft Auto Online exploded in popularity. Gameplay features like heists and office management added a ton of depth and complexity to the game. However, more recently,Grand Theft Auto "roleplay" has been the most popular offering forGTA 5.

Supported largely by community efforts and the mode's insane popularity on Twitch, roleplay servers like NoPixel and Eclipse RP have become huge. Even thoughGrand Theft Auto Online proper is still incredibly popular among the majority of the game's fanbase, PC players have been enjoying roleplay a lot more in recent years.Players apply and jump into these modded custom servers for roleplay, pick and choose what character they'd like to be, and then they jump in. It's a surprisingly varied and deep gameplay experience that's caught a lot of fans' attention. Rockstar Games in particular has virtually no connection to roleplay, though it'd be interesting ifitdid.

RELATED:GTA Online Reaches Highest Player Count Yet in 2020

Firstly, by no means doesGrand Theft Auto Online roleplay need to replace or supplant the current foundation or model ofGrand Theft Auto Online. From its humble beginnings, theGrand Theft AutoOnline multiplayer experience has burgeoned into something far more complex than anything in its predecessor. All of a sudden, with the release of offices, clubs, heists, apartments, and various other collectibles and activities, progression inGrand Theft Auto Online started resembling an MMO. Players started organizing teams for heists, micro-managing shipments for businesses, among the many other sub-activities available throughout the game.

Other than pre-Heist content,Grand Theft Auto Online has had a consistently rising playerbase and community. Even after the last big casino update for the game, players have stuck around for all of the new content additions. As recently as this winter,Grand Theft Auto Online received the first ever map expansion in the game's long-running history with the Cayo Perico Heist, bringing with it a slew of new missions on the new island. For a game nearing eight years old to still be going strong after all this time is nearly unprecedented, save for examples likeWorld of Warcraft. Then again, that game is actually an MMO, butGrand Theft Auto Online isn't too dissimilar.

However, while first-party updates toGrand Theft Autohelped build the game's massive playerbase, "RP" has arguably helped cultivate an even larger playerbase. The many roleplay mod servers available forGrand Theft Auto Online, like NoPixel and Eclipse RP, have arguably extendedGrand Theft Auto Online's capabilities farther beyond anything Rockstar Games implemented. Browsing Twitch under theGrand Theft Auto 5 category will show that nearly all of the top channels are streamers playing in the aforementioned roleplay servers. Various Twitch personalities are donning Grand Theft Auto personas, all fulfilling a small role in the huge RP game worlds.

Obviously, none of this is supported, financed, or actually designed by Rockstar Games: Roleplay mods forGrand Theft Auto Online are entirely community-driven efforts that have since exploded in popularity. EvenRed Dead Redemption 2fans are beta-testing several roleplay servers, though it's not even close to the quality and sheer amount of content inGrand Theft Auto Online RP servers. Rockstar Games is likely fully aware of roleplay servers like NoPixel and Eclipse RP, and they probably don't condone playing in them either, but it's hard not to imagine what a first-party/Rockstar-supported roleplay offering would be like inGrand theft Auto Online.

RELATED:Grand Theft Auto Video Game Universes Explained

By no stretch of the imagination are roleplay servers rudimentary or lacking without Rockstar Games' support. For such a community-driven server infrastructure,roleplay inGrand Theft Auto Online is insanely rich with features. Everyone gets to pick their role in the game's microcosmic society, with a variety of different gameplay options and functionality to help realize the immersion of roleplay.Grand Theft Auto roleplay servers are effectively like becoming a more detailed version of the base game's NPCs, with players living out their lives as they see fit. Rockstar Games could even help expand these servers over time as an official offering.

Rockstar Games has to understand that alarge amount of its playerbase now utilizes these mods. The company doesn't even need to necessarily make their own version of roleplay, but should at least create some options for the highly modded servers to become legitimate. Whether that's through simply opening up a partnership with the developers of the modded servers, or taking a far more proactive approach. That could range anywhere from Rockstar being more lenient on roleplaying and bans, or even Rockstar itself implementing roleplay servers for all platforms, including consoles. Roleplay has become a big part ofGrand Theft Auto, and Rockstar should embrace it.

Grand Theft Auto Online is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

MORE:How Cyberpunk 2077's Multiplayer Could Be CD Projekt Red's GTA Online

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies Adding New Field Upgrade and Ammo Mod

Not actually a distant relative of Bob Dole, Rob Dolen is a Features Writer for Game Rant. Big fan of expansive lore and game analysis, video games are cool. Freedom Fighters is underrated. Probably not good at competitive Halo anymore.

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Grand Theft Auto 6 Ought to Embrace GTA Online's RP Servers - GameRant

Diablo II: Resurrected will release sometime in 2021.

BlizzCon may have been ushered online because of everything 2020 had to throw at the world, but that doesn't mean there isn't news coming out of the gates at Blizzard this year.

One of the best, worst-kept secrets has been the remastered edition of the iconic Diablo II, complete with the Lord of Destruction expansion. Widely regarded as a genre-defining game, Diablo II set the bar for dungeon crawlers and still holds up pretty well given it hit a lofty 20 years old last year.

Get the latest tech stories with CNET Daily News every weekday.

"To be clear, it's not a remake," executive producer Rod Fergusson told CNET. "It's not us trying to reverse engineer it, not trying to build it from the ground up and make it look and sound like Diablo II. This is Diablo II. This is the same core gameplay you know and love."

Except it's in 4K resolution, with brand-new 3D visuals replacing the 2D sprite-based models and with 27 minutes of completely rebuilt cinematics. The sounds and voices you remember are all the same, complemented by brand new sound effects and quality of life enhancements to bring the game firmly into 2021.

It's also playable across all platforms. If you're the type of person who wants to play on the go, you can sneak some game time in on your lunch break on PC, use a Nintendo Switch on your commute home, then boot up your console of choice and continue playing without a hitch.

Principal designer Rob Gallerani told CNET, "[Cross progression] basically has to keep you confined to a certain kind of rule set across everywhere,"

"So, if we were to say, 'Oh look, you know what, inventory management is tricky to do with a controller so let's not worry about that, let's make it a list.' How would we know how you organized your items when you played on your console and then brought it back?"

Thankfully, due to the move to modern Battlenet, characters and gameplay will be hosted on dedicated servers and kept in the cloud, so you can pick it up easily enough.

According to Fergusson, "The actual cross progression side of being able to access the same character for multiple platforms was actually relatively straightforward, the hard part is making sure the experience felt the same across all platforms."

For those seeking a truly authentic Diablo II experience, there will still be a button you can press to toggle the graphics back to the original 2D sprite-based models and shave the new sounds away. But the intention behind Diablo II: Resurrected really seems to be 'the original, but better'.

"The way that we approached the process, at least from the art perspective, was this idea of the 70% nostalgic, 30% new," said Fergusson. "We realised we could go too far and it wouldn't feel like D2 anymore, so embracing that 70% nostalgia means that when you play the game you'll still feel a bit of the clunkiness it's all about that authenticity of what the original game was."

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Diablo II: Resurrected will hit PC, consoles and Nintendo Switch - CNET

Whichcharacters in The Expansecould possibly replace Alex Kamalfor season 6? AsThe Expanse heads into its final stretch, Amazon's ambitious sci-fi extravaganza finds itself in a tricky position. Since debuting in 2015,The Expanse has revolved around the crew of the Rocinante - a mish-mash of races and personalities from across the Sol system, thrown together and thrust into the middle of an interplanetary war. Together, James Holden (Steven Strait), Naomi Nagata (Dominique Tipper), Amos Burton (Wes Chatham) and Alex Kamal (Cas Anvar) have put aside their differences to fight for peace, all while developing a strangelyheartwarming familial bond.

That core quartet remain together throughout theExpanse novel series, but real life circumstances necessitated a change for the live-action TV show. Ahead ofThe Expanse's season 5 premiere (butafter completion of filming), multiple reports emerged accusing Anvar of sexual misconduct and harassment. An internal investigation was carried out byThe Expanse's production company, Alcon Entertainment, and whena sixth and final season was confirmed in late 2020, the announcementstated Alex Kamal would not be returning.The Expanse season 5's final episode abruptly killed off the character.

Related:The Expanse Revealed Season 5's Big Twist In Episode 2

The Expanse will now move forward with the central trio of Holden, Naomi and Amos, but the Rocinante still needs a pilot to replace Alex in season 6, and there are a fewcandidates who could step into that vacancy.

Following Alex's death inThe Expanse's season 5 finale, the show appears to establish Bull as his official successor in the Rocinante's pilot seat. When Holden goes chasing Marco Inaros without his usual crew, it's Bull who offers to drive the bus. Holden warns him that, as a retrofitted Martian gunship, the Roci isn't an easy horse to tame, but Bull allays the captain's fears with a formidable display of piloting skill. During battles with the Zmeya and the 5-ship Free Navy ambush, Bull acquits himself as a highly capable potential replacement for Alex Kamal, and also becomes more amenable to Holden's orders asThe Expanse season 5 progresses. At the start, the duo act coldly towards each other, working together with no small amount of reluctance.In the finale, however, Bullrefrains from referring to Belters as "skinnies"on Holden's order and executesa command to fire on the Chetzemoka, referring to Holden as "captain" while he does so. The death of Fred Johnson leaves Bull at a loose end, and he's shown drinking from Alex's coffee cup inThe Expanse's season 5 finale - almost certainly a visual nod toward his future.

If the Rocinainte needs a familiar face inThe Expanse season 6, there are few characters as established and popular (with the exception of Avasarala, who isn'tbest suited to space travel) as Cara Gee's Camina Drummer. A friend and associate of Fred Johnson, Drummer has long been an advocate of peace between the Inner planets and the Belt, but ultimately came to believe Fred was a littletoo subservient to his friends on Earth. Drummer then struck out alone and reluctantly joined Marco Inaros' Free Navy, but revealed her true colors inThe Expanse's season 5 finale. Camina now has no choice but to join thefight against Marco, and with her own crew split, it makes sense to join the Rocinante crew, givenDrummer's pre-existing friendship with them. Drummeralso admitted to loving Naomi in season 5, which could be an interesting avenue to explore further.

With that said, Drummer appears to have her own storyline going on inThe Expanse's final season. Mirroring Michio Pa's arc from the novels, Drummer could become an ally of Earth's, but as the leader of a Belter faction, not the Rocinante's pilot.

Related:The Expanse's Season 5 Finale Honors A Forgotten Book Character

One of the most important aspects of Alex's future replacement inThe Expanse will be their heritage. The whole point of the Rocinante is to represent Sol's trio of factions - Earth, Mars and the Belt. Since Alex Kamal was the ship's sole Martian, hissuccessormust also hail from the Red Planet, so as to maintain the symbolicsignificance of Holden's crew. Bobbie is already a de facto member of Team Rocinante, having shared adventures with the crew previously, and was particularly close to Alex, givingher a narrative reason to fill his position. As a former Martian marine, it's also feasible that Bobbie is a skilled enough pilot to handle the Roci.

InThe Expanse's season 5 finale, Bobbie appears to get a new job on Luna as a delegate of UN Secretary General Avasarala, but this storyline was likely mapped out before Alex's exit became necessary. Now that the Rocinante and the UN are aligned against Marco Inaros, Bobbie could fulfill her Avasarala duties as part of Holden's crew.

One confirmed addition to the Rocinante crew inThe Expanse season 6 is Clarissa "Peaches" Mao. Holden's former adversary has served her time in jail (or some of it, at least), and is now seeking redemption for her horrific actions inseason 3. Amos wants to give Clarissa that second chance, and helped evacuate her from Earth before chaos descended upon the planet completely. After tricking Holden into letting bygones be bygones, Amos officially announces the addition of Clarissa to the Rocinante crew ahead ofThe Expanse's final season, but while Clarissa is the new fourth member of the crew, she's not necessarily a direct replacement for Alex. Clarissa's skills lie more in engineering and ripping people apart than piloting, and she's about as Martian as the Statue of Liberty.

When Holden and the Rocinante depart from Tycho Station inThe Expanse season 5, Bull isn't the only makeshift addition to the team. Played by George Tchortov, Leveau serves as a loyal aide to Fred Johnson, and can often be found guarding the character in season 5 (poorly, as it turns out). After Fred's death, Leveau jumps aboard the Rocinante as an extra crew member. Very much a background character, it's not clear exactly what Leveau does during his time on the Roci, nor whether he's a proficient pilot.The Expanse also leaves Leveau's future unclear; will he remain on the Rocinante crew, or seek pastures new?

Related:Why The Expanse Shuttle Scene Is One Of Season 5's Best

Rather than adding a bona fide new crew member to the Roci's existing dynamic,The Expanse might choose to focus squarely on Holden, Naomi and Amos. In this scenario, the ship would need a smaller character who could sit in the Roci's driving seat and ferry the gang around without taking the spotlight. Leveau would be ideal for this role - getting Holden and his friendsfrom A to B with minimal fuss.

Getting to the rank outsiders, could Admiral Delgado be in for a radical career change inThe Expanse season 6? Played by Michael Irby, Delgado begins season 5 as one of Avasarala's few allies, but when the UN's ruling cabinet convenes, the two friends come to blows. The military-minded Admiral wants to hit the Belt with as much firepower as possible, whereas Avasarala believes hurting civilians will only push more Belters towards Marco Inaros. The moral tug-of-war is won by Avasarala, who soon takes over as Secretary General. While she offers Delgado a job, he seems intent on pursuing Marco on the frontlines of battle, rather than making moves from behind a desk. WhenThe Expanse season 5 ends, it's not entirely clear which path Delgado isplanning to take, but if hereally wants to venture out and personally pull the trigger on Marco, he could do worse than quitting the UN completely and joining the Rocinante as their new pilot. The idea of a former Earth Admiral taking orders from James Holden is a little odd, but Delgado is almost certainly capable of flying ships thanks to his distinguished career.

Although Samantha Rosenberg appeared previously inThe Expanse, her single episode cameois afleeting affair, butthe character has a much larger role in the books, where she's known as Samara. A Belter engineer on Tycho Station, Sam is is probably as hurt by Fred Johnson's death as Bull and Leveau, giving her a motivation to join the Rocinante.The Expanse hasn't revealed enough about Sam to prove whether she's capable of flying a ship or not, but she fits the mold of a Leveau-esque familiar face who couldhelm the Roci without intruding on the existing cast.

More:Biggest Unanswered Questions of The Expanse Season 5

Star Wars: What Happened To Boba Fett's Mentor, Cad Bane?

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig's interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS. Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer. Jim Carrey is Craigs top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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The Expanse: Every Character Who Could Replace Alex In Season 6 - Screen Rant

A circa-1880 wood-sided house with three bedrooms and one bathroom, on a 3,484-square-foot lot

Kingston is a historic city of 23,000 in Ulster County. This quirky little house is about half a mile from Rondout Creek, in the revitalized district near the waterfront. It is a block from Broadway, a major commercial artery that runs through the city, and two miles southeast of the Stockade District, another node of development, with boutiques, galleries, bars and restaurants. The cultural and recreational attractions of Woodstock, N.Y., are about 20 minutes northwest. The George Washington Bridge is about 90 miles south.

Size: 1,508 square feet

Price per square foot: $258

Indoors: Masonry walls exposed in the living room and kitchen suggest that the rear portion of this house is solid stone. (It would also explain why floor plates dont line up.)

The main level has exposed rafters and wood floorboards. The homes single bathroom is to the right of the staircase, just opposite the front door, and includes a tub with a flat, rectangular shower head.

Turning right from the foyer takes you into the living room. At the end, an archway in a stone wall and a couple of steps conduct you down into the kitchen, which has a wall of cabinets with open upper shelving and room for a small breakfast area near a window overlooking a courtyard. Beyond the kitchen is a laundry room and a mechanicals room.

At the top of the stairs is a bedroom with a painted-tile ceiling, a walk-in closet and a windowed niche off to the side. A few steps down is a windowed space that could be another bedroom. It connects to a third room that is currently being used as a studio and has unfinished wood floors and a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams and a storage loft.

Outdoor space: The studio has a new glass door that brings light into the room and steps down to the courtyard, which has a koi pond and a storage shed. The brick driveway parks two cars.

Taxes: $5,749 ($5,102, if the house is used as a primary residence)

Contact: Mercedes Ross, Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty, 845-750-1133; coldwellbanker.com

For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.

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What $400,000 Buys You in Ohio, Illinois and New York - The New York Times

Steve Bannon said he thought Donald Trump had dementia and launched a covert plan to remove him as president through the 25th Amendment, according to a new book by the veteran TV producer Isa Rosen.

Rosen shared the revelation while discussing his memoir based on his work on CBS' iconic news show 60 Minutes called Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes,' on Skullduggery,a Yahoo News podcast.

In the memoir, released this week, he wrote that Bannon believed Trump "was suffering from early-stage dementia and that there was a real possibility he would be removed from office by the 25th Amendment."

The 25th Amendment exists for when the president is incapable of carrying out his duties.

Bannon, a former Executive Chairman of the hard-right Breitbart News, was Chief Executive Officer of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. He served as White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President until Trump fired him in 2017, less than seven months after the inauguration.

Rosen told podcast hosts Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman that Trump "turned on Bannon" after he appeared on a Time magazine cover in February 2017, weeks after the president was sworn in.

Calling it a"conspiracy" in his book, the award-winning TV producer added: "Bannon realized that Trump was repeating the same stories over and over again and Bannon kept saying this and he wanted to do something about it."

Bannon even visited Republican super donor Robert Mercer's home and tried to recruit him to the plot, said Rosen.

"Now, the secret was that Bannon crazily thought that he could be president," said Rosen."He would have been very happy to see Trump disappear from the scenes, either through the 25th Amendment, resigning for whatever reason, and he would step in and fill the gulf and carry the mantle of the Trump followers. But he was delusional about it."

Rosen also includes a text that Bannon sent him in his book, which reads: "You need to do the 25th Amendment piece... BTW brother I never steer u wrong."

Rosen told Skullduggery that Bannon was a "big talker" and a gossip. He would often drop in for casual chats at the White House and said he had a "therapist" role with Bannon. He described, "loitering in the chief of staff's office, drinking Diet Cokes and he would kind of download to me on stories."

Bannon's tenure came to an abrupt end following reports of power struggles with Jared Kushner, Trump's senior advisor and son-in-law, as well as various other high-level White House staffers.

Trump had also become tired of him constantly taking credit for winning the election and their relationship fractured.

Bannon responded to Rosen's claims himself during his own 'War Room' podcast. He said: "This is another reporter trying to be a grifter and... complete, total fantasy."

He did hint of White Hosue whispers about invoking the 25th Amendment, implicating other former senior members of the Trump administration.

"If you want to find out whoever said about the 25th Amendment go and talk to "anonymous" and talk about John Kelly (the White House chief of staff from 2017-2019) and talk to Jim Mattis (the secretary of defense 2017-2018) and talk to the cabinet members," said Bannon.

Bannon and Trump have since patched up their differences. The former President pardoned Bannonjust days before leaving office after he was charged with defrauding Trump's political supporters amid a private effort to build a Mexican border wall.

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Steve Bannon believed Trump had dementia and plotted to remove him as president, according to new book - Business Insider

Last November, California passed Proposition 22, which made it so that companies like Uber and Lyft could classify their workers as contractors instead of employees, avoiding the obligation to give them benefits. Bloomberg has written a great report about how this type of change replacing regular employees with contractors could be coming to many other industries across the nation, which could affect millions of workers.

While the law was pushed for by ride-share companies, the article talks about the effects already being seen in other industries, like how grocery delivery workers are being fired and replaced by on-demand DoorDash workers. It also details an op-ed by an Uber investor, talking about how Prop 22 could be used to replace employees with contract workers in various industries, from nursing to agriculture.

Companies moving their workers to independent contract employment, instead of traditional employment, helps them keep their labor costs low. Contract employees arent entitled to benefits like health insurance, overtime pay, etc. The companies also dont have to pay employees for time that theyre on the clock but not carrying out their job duties if a grocery delivery employee is waiting for an order to come in, the company still has to pay for them to be there, which is not the case if that person works for DoorDash.

Weve already seen ride-share companies talking about taking Prop 22-like legislation nationwide, and Bloomberg digs into how Uber has plenty of contacts in the Biden administration.

The article also casts some doubt on the idea that unions will be able to stem the tide. It goes into the dilemma labor leaders are facing: do they work with companies to make sure contract workers are getting an okay deal, or do they work against them and possibly lose everything?

Now Uber, after successfully reshaping culture and politics to accommodate its business model, is bending unions, too. Labor groups have to take seriously the prospect that if they dont come to the table, the companies will write the laws themselves, as they did with Prop 22.

While the future may be uncertain for millions of workers, its a good idea to stay informed on what it could look like, so that workers can be prepared if and when similar legislation starts popping up around the country. The Bloomberg article is a great place to start.

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Go read this article about how Prop 22 may have opened the gates for the gig economy - The Verge

When Wendell Brooks stepped down as managing partner and head of Intel Capital last August, Anthony Lin was named to replace him on an interim basis. At the time, it wasnt clear if he would be given the role permanently, but today, six months later, the answer is known.

In a letter to the firms portfolio CEOs published on the company website, Lin mentioned, almost casually, that he had taken on the two roles on a permanent basis. Personally, I want to share that I have been appointed to managing partner and head of Intel Capital. I have been a member of the investment committee for the past several years and am humbly awed by the talent of our entrepreneurs and our team, he wrote.

Lin takes over in a time of turmoil for Intel as the company struggles to regain its place in the semiconductor business that it dominated for decades. Meanwhile, Intel itself has a new CEO with Pat Gelsinger returning in January from VMware to lead the organization.

As the corporate investment arm of Intel, it looks for companies that can help the parent company understand where to invest resources in the future. If that is its goal, perhaps it hasnt done a great job, as Intel has lost some of its edge when it comes to innovation.

Lin, who was formerly head of mergers and acquisitions and international investing at the firm, can use the power of the firms investment dollars to try to help point the parent company in the right direction and help find new ways to build innovative solutions on the Intel platform.

Lin acknowledged how challenging 2020 was for everyone, and his company was no exception, but the firm invested in 75 startups, including 35 new deals and 40 deals involving companies in which it had previously invested. It has also made a commitment to invest in companies with more diverse founders. To that end, 30% of new venture-stage dollars went to startups led by diverse leaders, according to Lin.

Whats more, the company made a five-year commitment that 15% of all its deals would go to companies with Black founders. It made some progress toward that goal, but there is still a ways to go. At the end of 2020, 9% of our new venture deals and 15% of our venture dollars committed were in companies led by Black founders. We know there is more progress to be made and we will continue to encourage, foster and invest in diverse and inclusive teams, he wrote.

Lin faces a big challenge ahead as he takes over, and he needs to use the firms investment might to help Gelsinger advance the goals of the broader firm, while making sound investments.

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Anthony Lin named permanent managing partner and head of Intel Capital - TechCrunch

Plex this week began testing TV app integration on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, as spotted by MacRumors readers Casey Bailey and Will Sigmon. The feature is available in the latest beta version of the Plex app through TestFlight.

Plex is a popular media player that in recent years has introduced a growing library of free, ad-supported TV shows, movies, and other content from providers such as Warner Bros., Crackle, Lionsgate, MGM, and Legendary Entertainment. It is only this on-demand content that will be integrated in the TV app, and not a user's personal library of locally stored content, according to a Reddit user identifying as a Plex employee.

"This feature will only work with our free on demand movies and TV shows," the employee said. "We'd love to integrate personal media as well but that's not technically possible for a couple reasons. To make this work we provide Apple with a list of content we have available for streaming. As detailed in our privacy policy, we don't know what content our users have in their personal media libraries."

Update: This article has been updated with clarification from a Plex employee that TV app integration will be limited to Plex's free, ad-supported video content from partners like Warner Bros., Crackle, and Lionsgate.

Originally posted here:
Plex Testing TV App Integration Across iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV - MacRumors

Google is reorganizing its responsible AI teams in the wake of Timnit Gebrus firing. The ethical AI team will now roll up to Marian Croak, a prominent Black executive in the engineering department. Croak will also oversee employees focused on engineering fairness products, according to Bloomberg. She will report to Jeff Dean, who leads the companys AI efforts.

The ethical AI team was not aware of the reorganization until news broke Wednesday night.

In a blog post confirming Croaks appointment, Google said the executive will be leading a new center of expertise on responsible AI within Google Research.

The change is an attempt to stabilize the department, which has been in turmoil for months, Bloomberg reports. In December, Timnit Gebru, co-lead of the ethical AI team, announced shed been abruptly fired. The following month, the company began investigating her counterpart Margaret Mitchell, who had been using a script to go through her emails to look for examples of discrimination against Gebru. Mitchell now says shes been locked out of her corporate accounts for more than five weeks.

Prior to her dismissal, Gebru had been trying to publish a paper on the dangers of large language processing models. Megan Kacholia, vice president of Google Research, asked her to retract the paper. Gebru pushed back, saying the company needed to be more transparent about the publication process. Shortly afterward, she was fired.

The ethical AI team published a six-page letter in the wake of Gebrus termination, calling on Kacholia to be replaced. We have lost confidence in Megan Kacholia and we call for her to be removed from our reporting chain, the letter read.

Now, the team may be getting its wish. As part of the reorganization, Kacholia will no longer lead the ethical AI researchers, according to Bloomberg. Its not clear what this means for Margaret Mitchell, who is still being investigated by the company.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Verge.

Update February 18th, 1:38PM EST: This article has been updated to include a blog post from Google.

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Google is restructuring its AI teams after Timnit Gebrus firing - The Verge