Things To Do In SW Florida

Seminole County this week took its first financial step toward supporting a yearslong plan to connect SunRail passengers to the massive Orlando International Airport and theme park district in neighboring Orange County.

On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously agreed to pitch in $500,000 for a $6 million study that would delve into feasibility of the proposed Sunshine Corridor, a rail system that would allow SunRail passengers to travel from airport gates to theme parks without using the area’s roads.

“I fully support this,” said Seminole Commissioner Bob Dallari, longtime advocate of the Sunshine Corridor. “I think it’s not only important but imperative that we do this.”

When SunRail trains first rolled down the tracks more than a decade ago, supporters said the ultimate goal was connecting the train line — which runs 61 miles north and south through Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties — eastward to the airport, which handles more than 60 million passengers a year. read more

By MATT O’BRIEN

Artists can copyright works they made with the help of artificial intelligence, according to a new report by the U.S. Copyright Office that could further clear the way for the use of AI tools in Hollywood, the music industry and other creative fields.

The nation’s copyright office, which sits in the Library of Congress and is not part of the executive branch, receives about half a million copyright applications per year covering millions of individual works. It has increasingly been asked to register works that are AI-generated.

And while many of those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, the report issued Wednesday clarifies the office’s approach as one based on what the top U.S. copyright official describes as the “centrality of human creativity” in authoring a work that warrants copyright protections.

“Where that creativity is expressed through the use of AI systems, it continues to enjoy protection,” said a statement from Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter, who directs the office. read more

By HALLIE GOLDEN

A sleek white aircraft became the first independently developed jet to break the sound barrier Tuesday, tearing through the air tens of thousands of feet above the Mojave Desert and a crowd of delighted onlookers.

By Funto Omojola, NerdWallet

It may not seem “futuristic” these days to dip or tap a credit card instead of swiping it, or to hold a cell phone over a payment terminal to cover your groceries.

But in the U.S., you only have to go back about 10 years or so — before EMV chips and contactless technology became standard on credit cards — to find a different world, where those now-commonplace features would have been perceived as unusual, confounding and potentially even unsafe.

A lot has changed in credit card tech since 2015, though the average cardholder has proved to be a quick study.

“American consumers have adapted remarkably well to these innovations,” said Seth Perlman, global head of product at i2c Inc., a global provider of banking and payment solutions. He added, however, that “the process hasn’t been without its challenges.”

Learning curves aside, many hurdles that had been widely expected never actually materialized for cardholders — and, with the benefit of hindsight, seem a little silly now. read more

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay theme park has released more details about its new Wild Oasis area, which is scheduled to open this spring. Coming up: a drop tower in a jungle setting, new animal species and “interactive climbing structures,” the park said Wednesday.

Wild Oasis will be located within Busch Gardens’ Jungala section of the park.  The Habitat Hideway exhibit will feature giant anteaters, squirrel monkeys, capybaras and tropical birds.  There will be aerial and ground-level perspectives for visitors.

Tree Top Drop will be a 35-foot drop tower that’s surrounded by jungle scenes on screens.  It’s aimed a young thrill-seekers, Busch Gardens says, with a height requirement of 42 inches to ride solo (38 inches with accompanying adult).

The Canopy Climb will be a four-level, 45-foot-high climbing structure with 200 feet of up-high trails, and Enchanted Falls will be an interactive splash pad and play area.

A self-guided scavenger hunt called Rainforest Quest will touch on the connection of nature and various species of the rainforest. read more