Speaker 1: Caalaroka Shark Media. Hi there, I'm shutting back with five
good news Christmas stories. Now, parents, Sanna sent me a
message that will be story number five. He wants to
surprise the children, so your children should not hear story
number five. You're paying attention. I'll remind you again when
we get a little closer. McDonald's pulled one of their
Christmas ads after the Internet decided was terrible. It was
a spot made with Generative AI. It went live on
McDonald's Netherlands YouTube channel on December sixth. Within hours, viewers
were calling it creepy, poorly edited, and one said it
was the most awful ad I've seen this year. By
December ninth, McDonald's quietly removed the video and told BBC
News the whole thing was an important learning as they
figure out how to use AI without horrifying people now.
The ad had shown a series of holiday mishaps under
the tagline the most terrible time of the Year, implying
the Christmas is better spent with McDonald's, which might have
worked if the characters in the ad didn't look like
they were assembled from leftover dreams of malfunctioning robots. One
coment wrote, no actors, no camera team. Welcome to the
future of filmmaking, and it sucks. The Guardian was wondering,
can AI actually pick gifts that feel thoughtful, personal, and
even remotely human well after the McDonald's disaster. Be careful
here to find out. They asked chat gpt to present
ideas for a middle aged man who enjoys running and photography. Wait,
I'm a middle aged man who enjoys running. I mean,
I like photography, but I wouldn't call myself a photography buff,
but I do run. Okay, ideas for a middle aged
man who enjoys running and photography. The suggestions were a
canon lens from Argos for about one hundred and fifty bucks,
a tennis racket sensor for about seventy five bucks, and
recycled camera bag for under thirty five bucks, which the
bot insisted was the ideal present. None of that good
for a runner, there, chat gpt it also suggested ideas
like tennis coaching, whiskey tasting or live mute. None of
that's running. Gift. Ideas for a woman who likes beauty
and fitness were somewhat generic as well. They picked a
moisturizer set and a candle. So then they tried google Gemini.
For a man who likes chess video games reading a techno,
it suggested a chess strategy book, a Bandcamp gift card,
and a hot sauce tasting kit. I wouldn't mind a
hot sauce tasting kid. Santa very very busy this weekend.
I mean he's got to finish up and check his
list one more time. He's also going to jump on
the radio. At the University of Scranton's amateur radio station
W three us R, they're hosting CQ Santa, an open
call in which Santa will invite Ham radio operators from
around the world to join him. Parents and children are
welcome to the fifth floor of the Loyalist Science Center
today from seven thirty to nine pm. The offices and
the radios will be staffed by W three USR volunteers.
Santa will be responding to your Ham radio broadcast in
real time. That's fun. At Anderson Air Force Base in Guam,
airman from the US and Canada, we're working on Operation
Christmas Drop, the Defense Department's longest running humanitarian mission. The
airmen prepared hundreds of brightly decorated supply bundles two hundred
and seventy, which included drawings of Christmas trees, Santa sleighs elves,
basically anything festive enough to soften the blow of a
heavy box landing in your village from the sky. Inside
the heavy boxes landing in your village, or essentials like food, water,
medical supplies, fishing gear, clothing, and even toys. This mission
is now in its seventy fourth year. It started back
in nineteen fifty two and a B twenty nine crew
flying near Guam spotted islanders waving from below. They decided
to drop supplies as a goodwill gesture. All these years later,
it now supports fifty six thousand people across fifty nine islands.
The first bundle went into a C one to THREEJ
super Hercules from Yakota Air Base. Pilots say the moment
the planes approach their destinations is unforgettable. Families waving, jumping
and celebrating as the bundles float down. Spokesperson said, Beyond
the food, tools, fishing gears, supplies and gifts deliver something
far more valuable, the spirit of compassion that defines the
Christmas season. Okay, parents. Don't forget. If you're listening with children,
stop now, Okay, don't get mad at me. Santa's got
a secret message. Stop okay, final warning parents. This message
is for parents only. It's from Santa. Santa does not
want the children to hear this message, so please stop
the podcast if you're listening with your kids everybody else.
A Santa Claus parade in Ontario got an unexpected twist
when one resident decided to go full grinch. Kids are
gone right. One house put up a bunch of signs
in the window declaring Santa is fake, which of course
he's not. Other untrus include your parents are Sana, Santa
isn't real, and your family buys your presence. All fake
news complaints poured in through phone calls, online messages, and
in person reports to officers working the parade. Police spoke
with the homeowner and the signs were eventually removed. The
police said it's not illegal to be a grinch, but
it's nicer for everyone to try to embrace the season
during big community events. You know, sometimes you don't have
have to go out of your way to be a jerk.
Those are five good news stories for today. I'll see
tomorrow