[Fox News] Who is Galileo Galilei? Italian philosopher who shaped our understanding of the stars

Few figures shine as brightly as Galileo Galilei, an Italian philosopher whose contributions to astronomy revolutionized the understanding of the stars. 

“Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) has always played a key role in any history of science, as well as many histories of philosophy. He is a – if not the – central figure of the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century,” reads the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Born in Pisa, Italy on Feb. 15, 1564, Galileo’s insatiable curiosity and relentless pursuit of knowledge propelled him to the forefront of scientific inquiry during the Renaissance era.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, JANUARY 7, 1610, GALILEO DISCOVERS THE MOONS OF JUPITER

Galileo’s journey began in Renaissance Italy at the University of Pisa, where he initially studied medicine but soon found his true calling in mathematics and natural philosophy. 

His need for learning led him to explore diverse fields, including physics, engineering and astronomy. However, due to financial constraints, he left the University of Pisa without completing his degree, says History.com. 

Galileo continued his self-directed studies and expanded his knowledge in various fields.

Despite facing financial challenges, Galileo’s pursuit of knowledge and passion for science set the stage for his later achievements. 

In 1609, Galileo constructed his first telescope, where he made a series of astonishing discoveries that forever altered our perception of the universe.

On Jan. 7, 1610, Galileo discovered the moons of Jupiter — making it the first observation of this planet.

He utilized his telescope to identify four of Jupiter’s orbiting moons, examine Saturn, observe the varying phases of Venus, and scrutinize sunspots on the surface of the sun. The four moons, and Jupiter’s largest satellites, are lo, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

“In observing the sun, Galileo saw a series of ‘imperfections.’ He had discovered sunspots. Monitoring these spots on the sun demonstrated that the sun in fact rotated. Furthermore, later observations by Francesco Sizzi in 1612 suggested that the spots on the sun actually changed over time,” says The Library of Congress.

ITALY MUSEUM TO DISPLAY FINGERS, TOOTH BELIEVED TO BE GALILEO’S 

Galileo was ordered to appear before the Holy Office to face charges related to his advocating for the Copernican theory and his belief in the Earth’s movement around the sun, a stance the Catholic Church deemed heretical.

This marked Galileo’s second confrontation for rejecting the Church’s doctrine that positioned the Earth as the unmovable center of the universe.

“In 1616, Galileo had been forbidden from holding or defending his beliefs. In the 1633 interrogation, he denied that he ‘held’ belief in the Copernican view but continued to write about the issue and evidence as a means of ‘discussion’ rather than belief,” according to History.com. 

Undeterred by persecution, Galileo continued his astronomical inquiries, publishing “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” in 1632. The book presented a vigorous defense of heliocentrism and provoked the anger of Church authorities. 

In 1633, Galileo faced the Inquisition and was found guilty of heresy and sentenced to house arrest by Pope Urban VIII for the remainder of his life, says History.com.

ITALY MUSEUM TO DISPLAY FINGERS, TOOTH BELIEVED TO BE GALILEO’S

Galileo’s contributions to physics, mathematics and astronomy echo across the ages, earning him a rightful place among history’s greatest minds. Nearly 70 at the time of his trial, Galileo lived his last nine years under comfortable house arrest, while writing a summary of his early experiments.

In 2018, U.K. researchers said they found a long-lost letter written by Galileo that shows he engaged in a little deception to fend off the Inquisition.

Galileo wrote to a friend in 1613 saying he believed the Earth revolved around the sun, and not vice versa. He got sneaky and asked his friend for the original back, so he could soften it after a friar forwarded it to the Inquisition.

“He died in Arcetri near Florence, Italy on Jan. 8, 1642, at the age of 77 after suffering from heart palpitations and a fever,” says History.com

As we gaze upon the stars, let us remember the man whose dedication to truth reshaped the course of scientific questions for centuries to come. 

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[Fox News] England’s first convicted ‘cyber-flasher’ sentenced to 5 years

England’s first convicted cyber-flasher was sentenced Tuesday to 5 1/2 years in prison.

Nicholas Hawkes, 39, a convicted sex offender who sent unsolicited photos of his genitals to a girl and a woman, was the first person in England and Wales convicted of violating the Online Safety Act.

Hawkes admitted at an earlier hearing that in February he sent a photograph or film of genitals with intent to cause alarm, distress, or humiliation.

SCAMMERS ARE USING FAKE NEWS, MALICIOUS LINKS TO TARGET YOU IN AN EMOTIONAL FACEBOOK PHISHING TRAP

The woman who received the photos in February took screenshots and reported him to police.

Hawkes was on the sex offenders register after being convicted last year of exposure and sexual activity with a child under 16. He pleaded guilty Tuesday to breaching both a community order and suspended sentence he had received for the earlier offense.

The cyber-flashing law that went into effect Jan. 31 makes it an offense to send unsolicited sexual images by social media, dating apps, or technologies such as Bluetooth or Airdrop.

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[Fox News] Fox News AI Newsletter: Inside Google’s bungled Gemini rollout

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:

– Former Google employee: How a ‘code red’ meeting and ChatGPT led execs to take ‘shortcuts’ in Gemini AI launch
– Apple, Google in talks for Gemini to power iPhone AI features: report
– LSU star Angel Reese calls out ‘crazy and weird’ AI-generated photos of herself

BEHIND THE CURTAIN: Google abandoned “fairness” and took major “shortcuts” to launch the Gemini artificial intelligence chatbot despite internal concerns, according to a former high-level employee.

IN THE WORKS: Apple is in talks with Google to use its new Gemini artificial intelligence models to power the AI features for iPhones after previously discussing the prospect with ChatGPT maker OpenAI, according to a new report.

‘CRAZY AND WEIRD’: LSU women’s basketball star Angel Reese took to social media Monday to call out those allegedly creating AI-generated photos of the college basketball player.

LAWN BEAST:  Imagine a future where the hum of lawn mowers and the rustle of leaves being raked are sounds of the past, replaced by quiet and efficient robots. With the invention of Electric Sheep Robotics’ Verdie, the era of back-breaking yard work and coordinating with landscaping services could be over. This AI-powered bot doesn’t just trim the edges; it’s a whiz with power tools and a master at blowing away debris.

BEST USE: The U.S. State Department this week will convene the first meeting of signatories to an artificial intelligence agreement, focusing on military applications as the first item of international interest.

COME TOGETHER: More than 50 members of the United Nations have joined the U.S. in pursuing a draft resolution to establish artificial intelligence safety guidelines. 

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Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future with Fox News here.

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[Fox News] The 4 best secret note-taking apps that can change everything in your life

Note-taking is something we all do, whether it means writing down a grocery list on an envelope, a phone number on the back of a business card or a more detailed set of notes, like minutes for a meeting. 

No matter how you take notes, an app out there can handle it all.

Whether you want to create notes with bulleted lists, numbered lists, many headings or just simply write down a few lines of text, there’s an app for you

Having a great note-taking app can simplify your workflow or help you organize your daily life. Here are the best note-taking apps we’ve tested that are great for a variety of different needs.

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Microsoft’s OneNote is a personal favorite of mine and is probably the note-taking app that I use the most. It’s one of the best note-taking apps for most people thanks to its free version, which, even in the free version, packs nearly every feature you could imagine being in a note-taking app.

There are easy ways to organize the structure of your notes, features for inputting voice notes and images, and even optical character recognition, which allows you to scan files and convert them into machine-readable texts.

Microsoft OneNote is a great choice for anyone, regardless of whether you are using a MacOS or a Windows computer. It also has a mobile app available from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. It’s easy to use, and you can synchronize your saves across any device. Multiple pen and brush styles can be used with a Windows tablet or convertible laptop, allowing you to markup and sketch doodles on a document.

The free version includes 5GB of storage space, which should be enough for most people. However, if you decide to pay for it, Microsoft’s payment plans for OneNote are tiered, starting with 1TB of additional storage space.

MORE: 8 TIPS TO RESTORE SOMETHING YOU ACCIDENTALLY DELETED

If you have an iPhone or Mac computer, you’ve probably seen Apple’s free Notes app. The Notes app is probably my second-most used notes app after Microsoft’s OneNote. I like Apple Notes because it’s easy to use, consistently improving with new software updates that have greatly improved the app over the years, and best of all, it’s free and seamlessly integrated between all of your Apple devices.

Apple Notes can also be accessed via your browser, by heading to icloud.com/notes, giving you an online version of the app, and if you have an iCloud account, all of your notes will be synced and can be found here. This is the case even if you use a Chromebook or Windows PC. While you are able to view your Apple Notes app files on a Windows PC or Chromebook via browser, we don’t recommend using the Windows application for Apple Notes, as getting the application to play well with Windows 10 or 11 is a headache and not worth the trouble. You can download the Notes App from the Apple App Store.

MORE: HOW TO PROTECT YOUR APPLE IPHONE NOTES

Google Keep is there for anyone who needs a place to quickly write down an idea they will reference but doesn’t need to keep a bunch of notes at once. Google has taken its inspiration for Google Keep from old-fashioned sticky notes, and it provides users with an easy-to-use interface.

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While Google Keep is easy to use, it comes at the cost of features. There’s no desktop application; you’ll need an internet connection at all times to use the app, and you can’t clip an entire website as you can with OneNote or Apple’s Notes app. It’s by no means a bad note app, but it is bare bones. It’s particularly useful in seamlessly integrating into the rest of your Google ecosystem.

If you use Gmail and Keep, you’ll notice there’s a light bulb icon in the right sidebar. Clicking this will give you full access to your Google Keep Notes. It’s a useful feature for replying to emails. I’ve used it in Gmail to remind myself of important deadlines, upcoming assignments and questions I have for anyone.

You can also transfer your Keep notes into Google Docs, which is my personal favorite feature of Google Keep. If you are already working within the Google ecosystem, I highly recommend using Keep. It’s a free and easy way to streamline your workflow, leave important reminders for yourself and jot down anything you need quickly. You can download Google Keep from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

MORE: GOOGLE JUST MADE IT EASIER TO SEARCH THROUGH PHOTOS AND PDFs

Obsidian is the most powerful note-taking application on this list. I’ve been testing out Obsidian for the past two weeks, and while I was skeptical at first, it has truly changed the way I take notes on my computer. It has a steep learning process compared to every other app on this list, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone without disclosing that fact upfront. You must spend some time with Obsidian to get comfortable using it.

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Obsidian works similarly to OneNote in that you can sort your notes into folders and subfolders with the sidebar, but you can also link between them using internal hyperlinks. This allows you to reference previous notes easily. For example, if you were writing this article, you could create a list of all the note-taking apps you’ve tested and link to the notes where you have written reviews for each individual app.

There’s also a neat visualization tool called Graph Mode, which organizes your sidebar notes into a graph. This is one of Obsidian’s driving features. Obsidian wants to function as a database note-taking system, and in my testing, it excels at this.

Obsidian is also the most customizable app on this list. Nearly everything within Obsidian can be customized. You can have hundreds of notes open in the same window if you want, and you can change anything about the UI on the fly. There are also community plugins that can add a wide variety of features to Obsidian. It can be a daunting app to learn, but if you are willing to put in the time, it is one of the most rewarding and feature-rich applications available. You can download Obsidian from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

At the end of the day, digital note-taking is just as personal as writing in a journal. In the same way that there are several options for journals — lined paper, unlined paper, graph paper, pencil, pens, etc. — there are several options available for digital note-taking. All of the apps on this list are either free or can be tried in their full version for free. I would recommend checking each of them out and seeing which one resonates best with you. Personally, I love OneNote and Obsidian, but given the learning curve associated with Obsidian, I’m inclined to stick with OneNote. Remember to have fun with it.

How do you typically take notes? Do you think an app could improve your note-taking process? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.

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