Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

Mustafa Kaya thought he had found his perfect home in a Northern Virginia neighborhood called Amberleigh Station, drawn to the serenity of the evergreen woods that border his backyard. As a data scientist and first-time homeowner, Kaya wanted a quiet place where he could raise his family. Then came the noise: Google was building a data center on the other side of those trees.Equipment testing can be so loud that Kaya once resorted to sleeping in the basement for two nights. The neighborhood air carries wafts of diesel fumes.Kaya’s neighbor Donna Gallant said she had awakened to jackhammering before 6…

Tech companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars building data centers, racing to power an AI revolution they say will bring broad benefits and enormous profits.The actual price, though, has never been fully measured. So a team of Business Insider reporters and editors set out to find the true cost of the US data center boom — in water, power, pollution, and tax incentives.We pulled obscure state records, scoured corporate disclosures, and sought analysis and guidance from government researchers in Virginia and elsewhere. We spoke to engineering specialists who study data centers, including Shaolei Ren at the University of…

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Jerry West and Elgin Baylor did it often. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James did it a couple of times. Magic Johnson and Jamaal Wilkes were among those who did it once.And now, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have entered NBA lore.Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night marked just the 14th time in league history that a game saw somebody score at least 40 points in a title-round game while one of his teammates scored at least 30.Williams had 40 and Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 in Oklahoma City’s 120-109 win over Indiana, a victory…

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Panthers can win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row by beating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the final on Tuesday night. Their first chance to clinch the franchise’s second championship comes at home after a dominant performance in Game 5 at Edmonton.“It’s a great opportunity,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said. “Our fans have given us so much love and support and momentum this year that they deserve this type of game at home.”Since opening night of their title defense, the Panthers have won 32 of 50 games at…

BERLIN (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka says she has written to Coco Gauff to apologize for the “unprofessional” comments she made following her loss to her American rival in the final of the French Open.Speaking to Eurosport Germany, the top-ranked Sabalenka said her remarks after her 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 loss to Gauff at Roland-Garros this month were a mistake. In her post-match press conference in Paris, Sabalenka had suggested that the result was more due to her own errors than to Gauff’s performance.“That was just completely unprofessional of me,” Sabalenka said. “I let my emotions get the better of me.…

The “loneliest generation” will now be able to add their emotional support friend to their Tinder profile.On Tuesday, the dating app launched “Double Date,” a feature that allows you to create a joint profile with your bestie and swipe right on other pairs for a group date.Tinder hopes the new feature will be a hit with younger generations, especially Gen Z.Gen Z accounts for over half of its global user base, the company said. During testing, which began earlier this year, about 90% of Double Date profiles were under 29 years old.Tinder and its parent company, Match Group, need Gen…

Homelessness in America has been steadily ticking up in recent years. In 2024, the United States saw an 18% increase in the homeless population from the year before — and those providing essential services like health care and housing assistance say they’re most concerned about the aging population.More than 140,000 Americans who are 55 or older are experiencing homelessness on any given day, and that number is estimated to nearly triple by 2030, according to a 2019 report. Rose Del Rosario is among the aging homeless population growing across the United States.The 65-year-old has high blood pressure and lifelong asthma. One…

Louisiana is poised to hike taxes on sports betting to pump more than $24 million into athletic departments at the state’s most prominent public universities.Legislation pending before Gov. Jeff Landry would make Louisiana the first state to raise taxes to fund college sports since a judge approved a landmark settlement with the NCAA allowing schools to directly pay athletes for use of their name, image and likeness (NIL). Anticipating the court’s approval, Arkansas this year became the first to waive state income taxes on NIL payments made to athletes by higher education institutions. More states seem almost certain to adopt…

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox thought they would be better off with a happy clubhouse than a disgruntled Rafael Devers.A day after trading their erstwhile third baseman to the San Francisco Giants, Red Sox President Sam Kennedy told reporters on Monday night that Devers’ refusal to change positions made it untenable for him to remain with the team.“In terms of what was missing, it just was that alignment in terms of what we felt we needed from him that would be in the absolute best interest of the ball club,” Kennedy said. “That’s a non-starter for us. We…

OpenAI and Microsoft may be reaching an inflection point in their relationship, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The report, citing anonymous sources, says OpenAI executives have considered publicly accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive behavior throughout their partnership. OpenAI executives also mulled whether to seek a federal regulatory review of their contract with Microsoft. OpenAI is trying to loosen Microsoft’s grip on its intellectual property and computing resources, but the startup also needs the tech giant’s approval to complete its for-profit conversion. The two companies are in a standoff over OpenAI’s $3 billion acquisition of the AI coding…