Things To Do In SW Florida

Universal’s Spider-Man ride, two Disney lands and some droids plus a former Imagineer were among the winners of Thea Awards presented by the Themed Entertainment Association on Tuesday night.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, a 3-D dark ride that opened with Universal’s Islands of  Adventure theme park in 1999, was given the Thea Classic Award.

BDX Droids of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a product of Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development and Disney Research Zurich, were noted for outstanding achievement in technological innovation.

The Zootopia area at Shanghai Disney and Fantasy Springs of Tokyo DisneySea were recognized for outstanding achievement for a theme park land. Fantasy Springs features attractions based on the films “Peter Pan,” “Frozen” and “Tangled.”

Rick Rothschild, founder and chief creative of FAR Out! Creative Direction, was given the Buzz Price Thea Award for a lifetime of outstanding achievement. Rothschild is also a 30-year veteran of Walt Disney Imagineering. read more

By MARK SCOLFORO

Images that depict the faces of girls with nude bodies have led to the departure of leaders from a private school in Pennsylvania, prompted a student protest and triggered a criminal investigation.

A juvenile suspect was “removed from” Lancaster Country Day School and his cellphone was seized by investigators in August, Susquehanna Regional Police Department Detective Laurel Bair said Tuesday.

It’s the latest example of how the use of artificial intelligence to create or manipulate images with sexual content has become a concern, including within school settings.

U.S. law enforcement has been cracking down on graphic depictions of computer-generated children as well as manipulated photos of real ones. The Justice Department says it’s pursuing those who exploit AI tools and states are racing to enact laws to address the problem.

A new Pennsylvania state law that takes effect late next month explicitly criminalizes making or disseminating AI-generated child sexual abuse material. read more

By Tommy Tindall, NerdWallet

I tried the Instacart full-service shopper side hustle for a week and didn’t hate it. I found the level of activity involved — shopping and loading at grocery and other types of stores — to be more fulfilling than chauffeuring people around as an Uber driver or doing taco and smoothie deliveries with DoorDash. (I tried both of those gigs, too).

Even though I liked it, I didn’t make much money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. I chalk my struggle up to being a total Instacart noob and living in a relatively small town in Maryland. Also, I was filming my experience for a Nerdy video, which slowed me down a bit.

How much do Instacart shoppers make?

According to ZipRecruiter, the average pay for Instacart shoppers in Maryland is about $17 per hour. I made less than that.

I tested this side hustle over the course of three days, spent just under seven hours active in the app and earned a grand total of $80.29.

• That’s $11.47 per hour.
• It’s actually more like $8 per hour, when you consider the time I spent sitting in parking lots waiting for orders. By my estimate, I worked for 10 hours.
• It’s even worse when you consider the 160 miles I put on my personal vehicle and half a tank of gas I used.

Let’s call it $25 for gas and subtract that from $80.29. I’m left with $55.29 for 10 hours of my time. read more

By MICHAEL CASEY

HENNIKER, N.H. (AP) — When Hector Xu was learning to fly a helicopter in college, he recalled having a few “nasty experiences” while trying to navigate at night.

The heart-stopping flights led to his research of unmanned aircraft systems while getting his doctorate degree in aerospace engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Then, he formed Rotor Technologies in 2021 to develop unmanned helicopters.

Rotor has built two autonomous Sprayhawks and aims to have as many as 20 ready for market next year. The company also is developing helicopters that would carry cargo in disaster zones and to offshore oil rigs. The helicopter could also be used to fight wildfires.

For now, Rotor is focused on the agriculture sector, which has embraced automation with drones but sees unmanned helicopters as a better way to spray larger areas with pesticides and fertilizers.

On Wednesday, Rotor plans to conduct a public flight test with its Sprayhawk at an agriculture aviation trade show in Texas. read more

A loophole in state law has allowed Osceola County to label an area “slum and blighted” so it can create a special taxing district to fund road projects even though it’s never had higher property values.

County commissioners unanimously and without discussion Monday voted to set aside 65,000 acres to create the Southeast Infrastructure Improvement Area.

Osceola property appraiser records show the area has seen steady growth in property values over the last five years and will be home to some of the county’s most expensive master-planned communities.`

The district is made up of land that runs south and east of Lake Tohopekaliga, north and south of US 192 and includes the Royal St. Cloud Golf Links — advertised as the region’s premier “resort style” golf course. The move allows the county to use tax increment financing — a method of encouraging development by collecting increased property taxes because of the development projects within the specified area — to fund road improvement projects in that same area. read more