Things To Do In SW Florida

Four Central Florida restaurants shut down following health inspections the week of Aug. 18-24, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Thunya Thai Cuisine at 5174 Conway Road in Orlando shut down on Aug. 19. Officials found 14 violations, four of which were a high priority. Those violations included an operator unable to provide documentation for a source of fish, roach activity, food held at the wrong temperatures and raw food not separated from ready-to-eat food. The facility remained closed on Aug. 21, where inspectors found eight violations. On Aug. 22, inspectors conducted two inspections. On the first inspection, the restaurant remained closed with six violations. On the second inspection, after receiving time extensions for two high-priority violations, the restaurant met inspection standards.

Volusia

Sally’s Diner at 2487 S. Volusia Ave. Suite 101 shut down on Aug. 19. Inspectors found nine violations, only one of which was a high priority for rodent activity. On a second inspection, the restaurant had four violations. None were a high priority. The restaurant met inspection standards. read more

Royal Caribbean introduced Icon of the Seas in Miami this year taking on the title of world’s largest cruise ship with sister ship Star of the Seas coming to Port Canaveral in 2025.

A third unnamed Icon-class ship is already under contract, but Royal Caribbean Group, the parent company to the cruise line, announced Tuesday its plans for a fourth ship to be built out of the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland with an option for a fifth and sixth ship in the future.

“Building on the incredible momentum and market response to the launch of Icon of the Seas and the excitement for its sister ship, Star of the Seas, coming in 2025, we’re thrilled to join with Meyer Turku once again to expand our roster of Icon Class ships and continue our future growth plans,” said Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty in a press release. “Since its debut, Icon has changed the game in vacation experiences and exceeded our expectations in both guest satisfaction and financial performance.” read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says senior Biden administration officials pressured Facebook to “censor” some COVID-19 content during the pandemic and vowed that the social media giant would push back if it faced such demands again.

In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg alleges that the officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.”

The officials “expressed a lot of frustration” when the company didn’t agree, he said in the letter.

“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter dated Aug. 26 and posted on the committee’s Facebook page and to its account on X.

The letter is the latest repudiation by Zuckerberg of efforts to target misinformation around the coronavirus pandemic during and after the 2020 presidential election, particularly as allegations have emerged that some posts were deleted or restricted wrongly. read more

A helium leak on the launch pad has forced SpaceX to hold off an overnight launch attempt of the Polaris Dawn mission with billionaire Jared Isaacman and three crewmates for at least one day.

“Teams are taking a closer look at a ground-side helium leak on the Quick Disconnect umbilical,” SpaceX posted on X late Monday. “Falcon and Dragon remain healthy and the crew continues to be ready for their multi-day mission to low-Earth orbit.”

The planned early Tuesday liftoff now shifts to early Wednesday. A Falcon 9 carrying the Crew Dragon Resilience and its four crew is targeting a 3:38 a.m, liftoff from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A with backup options at 5:23 a.m. and 7:09 a.m. More backup options during the same times are available Thursday morning.

When it does launch, the first-stage booster, which is making its fourth flight, will aim for a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.

The Crew Dragon Resilience is flying for the third time having debuted on the Crew-1 mission in 2020 and also having flown the Inspiration4 mission in 2021. read more

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO

CHICAGO (AP) — The social media platform X has made a change to its AI chatbot after five secretaries of state warned it was spreading election misinformation.

Top election officials from Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington sent a letter this month to Elon Musk complaining that the platform’s AI chatbot, Grok, produced false information about state ballot deadlines shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race.

The secretaries of state requested that the chatbot instead direct users who ask election-related questions to CanIVote.org, a voting information website run by the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Before listing responses to election-related questions, the chatbot now says, “For accurate and up-to-date information about the 2024 U.S. Elections, please visit Vote.gov.”

Both websites are “trustworthy resources that can connect voters with their local election officials,” the five secretaries of state said in a shared statement. read more