Latest news with #Starline
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How a new bus service illustrates the Cougar Collective's role at WSU in the wake of the House settlement
Jun. 12—PULLMAN — Justin Mills had just about seen enough. A 2018 graduate of Washington State, Mills knew what it was like to experience WSU football gamedays at their best, RVs flooding the town and a packed Martin Stadium roaring and empty Fireball shooters scattered around the stands by nightfall. But now, with the Cougars' attendance dropping as their conference affiliation shook the entire university, he understood one thing. He couldn't sit on his hands. So one day in late March, he fired up his X app and sent a direct message to Hurley Media Group's Brian Hurley, who had put out a call for WSU supporters willing to help set up a new bus service to games. Brian put Mills in touch with his wife and fellow media expert Cassie, who was leading the charge on that front. A project manager based in Spokane, Mills had a background in organizing efforts like these, so things came together relatively smoothly. In order to make it easier for fans in Spokane and the Tri-Cities to attend WSU games — Pullman hotels drive up prices for game weekends so much that would-be attendees are forced to stay in the surrounding areas, or not come to games at all — he connected with a bus operation called Starline, which has a branch in Spokane. The Starline representative, a woman named Tracy, stayed in touch with Cassie and Justin via group chat. Tracy and Starline eventually agreed to help Mills, Hurley and the entire Cougar Collective arrange a series of bus trips to and from each of WSU's six home games this fall, with one route via Spokane and the other via Kennewick, Pasco and Richland. "I'm gonna give him props, too, because he stayed on me," Cassie said of Justin. "He was like, 'Hey, any updates? Any updates?' " "I wanted to help out any way I could," Justin said. "I wanted the experience for other people to be how I had it at WSU, so I want them to have the same experience I did." The best part: It came at a reasonable cost for the collective, which would get 10% of the proceeds, which would then go on to benefit WSU athletes, a crucial development as coaches try to fend off poachers from other schools. But the part that may excite WSU fans most has to do with what can happen on the bus trips. Thanks to a series of $15 permits Mills worked to acquire, bus riders can drink alcohol on their way to the games. Riders get their ID checked upon boarding, which allows them to drink any alcohol they bring. "I've seen other people, like students, saying, 'I wanna make a trip to Spokane just to take the bus back down to Pullman,' " Mills said. "So, you know, it sounds like very positive feedback." With all of that complete, only a few loose ends had to be tied up. Ol' Crimson Booster Club coordinator CJ McCoy, who is also responsible for setting up people to fly the WSU flag at College Gameday, helped coin the name Ol Crimson's Back Home Bus. Cassie and Mills also worked with a travel service called Wanderlie to put the $65 tickets online for purchase, and the Hurley Media Group produced a promotional video for the new bus operation. "Everything we do is for the love of WSU. It's a passion project," Casse said. "For us, it started back with the Pac-12 collapse, because we're like, 'We're getting left behind, and it really, truly hurts our hearts.' We love WSU, and it's so special, and we want everybody to know how special it is. It's a Coug thing, and we all know how special it is." It's a compelling story about WSU alumni working together to resurrect the bus service (the first iteration died around the time of the coronavirus pandemic) and give nearby fans easier ways to attend football games, a longtime struggle because of small-town Pullman's lodging limitations. But it fits into the bigger picture of WSU's main NIL group, the Cougar Collective, which is finding ways to adapt to a system that changed forever last week. Last Friday, a judge gave final approval to the House vs. NCAA settlement, paving the way for athletic departments to begin directly paying athletes via an annual revenue-sharing pool, which will be capped at $20.5 million in the first year, which begins on July 1, the same start date as WSU's fiscal year 2026. The settlement comes with two other meaningful impacts. It requires the NCAA and its Power Five members (WSU could remain under that umbrella in a legal sense) to pay some $2.8 billion in damages, or "back pay," to compensate athletes for the denial of NIL opportunities under prior eligibility rules. It has also prompted NIL collectives around the country to rethink their approaches now that institutional NIL will be the norm. In January, Colorado shuttered its collective in anticipation of the House settlement's effect. Louisville's will be turned into a marketing agency of the university. Ohio State is merging its two prior collectives into one broader one, which will be associated with the school. "But we're certainly not gonna go anywhere," said Tim Brandle, the Cougar Collective's treasurer and legal counsel. The Cougar Collective is here to stay, not vanishing with the House settlement's approval. The team will still enter into NIL contracts with players, same as it has for the past couple of seasons, and those agreements will come with the same stipulations that Brandle and the team began installing recently. If an athlete hits the transfer portal or leaves WSU early, they're responsible for paying back those funds, a buyout provision to protect the collective from players breaking their contracts haphazardly. But plenty is also changing for Brandle and the Collective. The House settlement requires that deals more than $600 must be reported to a new clearinghouse called NIL Go, run by accounting firm Deloitte, which will in turn attempt to determine if those agreements are "fair market value" — an arbitrary threshold not entirely based on athletic ability — and if they aren't, they can get sent to arbitration or scuttled entirely. But that only applies to contracts signed after the settlement's approval, meaning many of the Cougars' newcomers — the team signed 13 transfers in the spring window and will welcome 26 incoming freshmen this summer — may not be subject to those restrictions. That's a key reason why many schools around the country, WSU included to a lesser extent, prioritized signing transfers this spring. They could avoid the incoming limitations and combine with institutional NIL to maximize player profits. This is where WSU might benefit in a subtle way, though. The Cougar Collective has made strides in recent months — last winter, the group put together an NIL package of around $1 million to try and retain quarterback John Mateer, who turned it down and transferred to Oklahoma — but the organization isn't always in a position to offer deals that would get flagged as above fair market value anyway. Even if those offers did, the Cougars' program may not face the same type of scrutiny than that of other Power Four operations, which are much better equipped to dole out the types of contracts that would warrant investigation. If a player from another school were to have their deal rejected and their university files a lawsuit, it might stand to reason that development would occupy more of Deloitte's resources than something happening at WSU. That isn't to say the Cougars would be getting away with illegal deals — "I would turn them over, upload them," Brandle said, "be like, here you go, check this out" — but rather a reflection of WSU's position in the bigger picture of college athletics, in the traditional Pac-12 and outside it. The Cougs have always been in the business of doing more with less. For those reasons, Brandle and the collective team remain focused on the same things they were focused on before the House settlement was finalized — recruiting new members to their 1890 Club, a nod to WSU's founding year that asks patrons to donate $18.90 per month, and getting creative with new ways to raise money. One of the more significant developments helped the collective secure the name for its new bus service. The Ol' Crimson brand has allowed the collective to use its trademark, which led to the Ol Crimson's Back Home Bus branding, as well as the coffee and beer products that bear the Ol Crimson branding. It's not clear how much the collective will augment WSU's institutional NIL. The Cougars are expected to commit around $4.5 million in revenue-sharing dollars to the football team this year, athletic director Anne McCoy said in January, but she also indicated that number includes scholarships and stipends, making it unclear how much true revenue-sharing money will go toward the program. Whatever the number , the Cougar Collective will remain a part of the NIL picture at WSU. In fact, Brandle said, the team is more aligned now with the university than it has been before. It's the new world of college athletics, where dollar signs play a more prominent role, forcing collectives and administrations to figure things out on the fly. "All that is to say our modus operandi is not just asking people for money," Brandle said. "It's providing value and showing people that we have a coffee, we have a beer. "Soon, we're gonna have several other different products that we're rolling out."
CNET
21-05-2025
- CNET
Google Beam Futuristic AI-Powered 3D Video Chats Are Coming This Year
Beam me up, Google. Video chats could have a much more sci-fi feel with Google Beam, an AI-powered video communications platform that aims to make it feel like you're meeting up in person. Google announced Beam, an evolution of its Google Starline technology, at its annual I/O developer conference on Tuesday. Google has teamed up with HP to commercialize the system. Read more: Google I/O 2025 Live Blog Google Beam uses a six-camera array that captures the subject from different angles. An AI video model puts the views together in real time to create a 3D person. Google says the system features near-perfect head tracking, down to the millimeter, with video at 60 frames per second. The idea is reminiscent of any number of holographic communications systems seen in everything from Star Wars to Star Trek. Unlike the tiny, low-quality Princess Leia hologram from A New Hope, Beam is designed to be life-sized and lifelike. Google once described the technology as a "magic window." Enlarge Image Google's Starline technology platform is growing up and getting a new name, Google Beam. Google The platform uses a light field display that doesn't require wearing any special equipment. CNET's Abrar Al-Heeti tried out Starline last year and called it "the closest thing to a hologram I've ever seen." Speech translation, a feature Google is bringing to Google Meet, could come to Beam as well, Google said. Google introduced Starline as a research project in 2021 and has been testing and refining prototypes ever since. Today's announcement means the technology is closing in on being ready for prime time. Video calls have long been plagued with challenges. It can be hard to read expressions and gestures. Traditional video chats are missing a sense of eye contact. Zoom fatigue was a hot topic during the height of COVID-19. Beam wants to address those issues with a more immersive and lifelike experience. Google said HP will share more about the platform at the InfoComm audio visual technology exhibition in June. Google is also working with Zoom and other audio visual companies. Beam will likely find its footing first with larger organizations that want to shake up the way they handle videoconferencing. The first Beam devices will be available for early adopters later in 2025, so start practicing your "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." Beam isn't Google's only big announcement of the day. Check out everything that's been revealed at Google I/O.
Local Spain
26-03-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Will Europe's high-speed ‘Metro-style' rail network really happen?
'A truly integrated rail system is no longer just a matter of convenience; it's a strategic necessity for Europe's resilience in the 21st century," reads the 'Starline' report. 'Designed like a Metro system, Starline changes how Europeans perceive their own continent – not as a collection of distant capitals, but as a single, fast-moving network where every connection, whether for people or goods, is within easy reach.' Sounds great, and the think-tank has published a map to demonstrate how 39 cities across Europe, from Dublin to Kyiv and Helsinki to Lisbon, could be connected - the map uses a common diagrammatic Metro map style, which is known to sometimes ignore real-world geography in favour of easier understanding for travellers. So how realistic is this proposal? Map of the proposed Starline European connections. Map: 21st Europe Geography Munich to Milan via Zurich is a straight vertical line on the map, which ignores the existence of Innsbruck and the minor geographical obstacle that is the Alps. It also connects Estonia's capital Tallinn with Finland's Helsinki via a still-on-the-drawing-board €20 billion tunnel that – if it is completed, with earliest projections setting a date sometime in the 2030s – would be the longest rail tunnel in the world. The project would also require a tunnel under the Irish Sea, which drops at its deepest point more than 300m below sea level, to connect Liverpool and Dublin. A possible future direct link between Glasgow and Belfast, meanwhile, would face the same problems as former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's dead cat plan for a bridge or tunnel to connect Scotland and Northern Ireland. What actually is it? Starline's proposal appears to involve being a train operator - the trains would be blue, with 'quiet carriages' and family spaces - while also coordinating European ticketing systems and building quite a lot of new infrastructure. In addition to the new tunnels and tracks required, the proposal specifies: "The trains will arrive at new stations built just outside major cities with connections to existing urban transport systems." It would also create an 'open' ticketing system, where passengers could buy tickets for anywhere in Europe on a single platform - similar to the British online platform Trainline, which also sells tickets in Europe. It is not specified exactly how this would fit in with the existing rail operators that already run services around Europe, many of whom are publicly funded, other than to say that national rail operators would be "responsible for specific routes under a common framework". They add that "harmonised labour agreements" would be required for rail employees - we'll let them break that one to the famously militant French rail unions. Who pays? Which brings us to the question of funding. proposes 'central coordination for trains, passenger experience, and technology while allowing national rail operators to run routes under a franchise model.' It adds: "Starline should be structured as a publicly funded, privately operated system, designed to maximise efficiency while ensuring strong public oversight". Many European countries do, of course, already provide public funding for rail operators - such as France's SNCF, Spain's Renfe and Germany's Deutsche Bahn. Starline's proposal would seem to involve the hundreds of billions in infrastructure spending being publicly funded, and operated by national rail companies – all overseen by an as-yet non-existent European Rail Authority (ERA). 'Now, we begin building the network to push for real change, bringing together policymakers, designers, and industry leaders to turn vision into action,' the think tank said. Reasons for change Some slight issues of practicality aside, the Starline report does identify many real problems with Europe's rail network. Ticketing issues, a lack of co-ordination and integration across borders means travelling between countries in Europe can be 'fragmented, slow, and expensive'. The think tank says unifying design is key to a cross-border travel network. 'Stations feel disconnected, trains vary wildly in design, and the journey itself is rarely considered as part of the experience,' it says of the current system. And it is looking to build on an existing EU initiative to unify transport across the bloc, known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). TEN-T, which Starline lambasts as lacking in speed and ambition, seeks to develop a network of railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals for the 'efficient transportation for people and goods, ensures access to jobs and services, and enables trade and economic growth'. It seeks to work with European state and private rail operators, offer funding for infrastructure projects and create Europe-wide systems such as a common rail signalling system. Even with all these problems, cross-border rail travel is rapidly growing in popularity as travellers become more conscious of their environmental impact. 'A bold shift to high-speed rail might be Europe's best chance to meet its 2050 net-zero goals while ensuring mobility remains both fast and green,' the think tank said. In 2022, the transport sector contributed approximately 29 per cent of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the European Environment Agency. There are good economic reasons for it too - 'When China expanded its high-speed rail network, cities with HSR connections experienced a 14.2 percent increase in GDP, and each new HSR line contributed an additional 7.2 percent to urban GDP growth,' the think tank explained in its online brochure. 'A European project of similar scale could drive investment, unlock regional economies, and make the single market feel like a single market – physically, not just economically.'
Local France
26-03-2025
- Business
- Local France
Will Europe's high-speed ‘Metro-style' rail network really happen?
'A truly integrated rail system is no longer just a matter of convenience; it's a strategic necessity for Europe's resilience in the 21st century," reads the 'Starline' report . 'Designed like a Metro system, Starline changes how Europeans perceive their own continent – not as a collection of distant capitals, but as a single, fast-moving network where every connection, whether for people or goods, is within easy reach.' Sounds great, and the think-tank has published a map to demonstrate how 39 cities across Europe, from Dublin to Kyiv and Helsinki to Lisbon, could be connected - the map uses a common diagrammatic Metro map style, which is known to sometimes ignore real-world geography in favour of easier understanding for travellers. So how realistic is this proposal? Map of the proposed Starline European connections. Map: 21st Europe Geography Munich to Milan via Zurich is a straight vertical line on the map, which ignores the existence of Innsbruck and the minor geographical obstacle that is the Alps. Advertisement It also connects Estonia's capital Tallinn with Finland's Helsinki via a still-on-the-drawing-board €20 billion tunnel that – if it is completed, with earliest projections setting a date sometime in the 2030s – would be the longest rail tunnel in the world. The project would also require a tunnel under the Irish Sea, which drops at its deepest point more than 300m below sea level, to connect Liverpool and Dublin. A possible future direct link between Glasgow and Belfast, meanwhile, would face the same problems as former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's dead cat plan for a bridge or tunnel to connect Scotland and Northern Ireland . What actually is it? Starline's proposal appears to involve being a train operator - the trains would be blue, with 'quiet carriages' and family spaces - while also coordinating European ticketing systems and building quite a lot of new infrastructure. In addition to the new tunnels and tracks required, the proposal specifies: "The trains will arrive at new stations built just outside major cities with connections to existing urban transport systems." It would also create an 'open' ticketing system, where passengers could buy tickets for anywhere in Europe on a single platform - similar to the British online platform Trainline, which also sells tickets in Europe. It is not specified exactly how this would fit in with the existing rail operators that already run services around Europe, many of whom are publicly funded, other than to say that national rail operators would be "responsible for specific routes under a common framework". They add that "harmonised labour agreements" would be required for rail employees - we'll let them break that one to the famously militant French rail unions. Advertisement Who pays? Which brings us to the question of funding. According to its Starline blueprint, 21st Europe proposes 'central coordination for trains, passenger experience, and technology while allowing national rail operators to run routes under a franchise model.' It adds: "Starline should be structured as a publicly funded, privately operated system, designed to maximise efficiency while ensuring strong public oversight". Many European countries do, of course, already provide public funding for rail operators - such as France's SNCF, Spain's Renfe and Germany's Deutsche Bahn. Advertisement Starline's proposal would seem to involve the hundreds of billions in infrastructure spending being publicly funded, and operated by national rail companies – all overseen by an as-yet non-existent European Rail Authority (ERA). 'Now, we begin building the network to push for real change, bringing together policymakers, designers, and industry leaders to turn vision into action,' the think tank said. Reasons for change Some slight issues of practicality aside, the Starline report does identify many real problems with Europe's rail network. Ticketing issues, a lack of co-ordination and integration across borders means travelling between countries in Europe can be 'fragmented, slow, and expensive'. The think tank says unifying design is key to a cross-border travel network. 'Stations feel disconnected, trains vary wildly in design, and the journey itself is rarely considered as part of the experience,' it says of the current system. And it is looking to build on an existing EU initiative to unify transport across the bloc, known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). TEN-T, which Starline lambasts as lacking in speed and ambition, seeks to develop a network of railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals for the 'efficient transportation for people and goods, ensures access to jobs and services, and enables trade and economic growth'. It seeks to work with European state and private rail operators, offer funding for infrastructure projects and create Europe-wide systems such as a common rail signalling system. Even with all these problems, cross-border rail travel is rapidly growing in popularity as travellers become more conscious of their environmental impact. 'A bold shift to high-speed rail might be Europe's best chance to meet its 2050 net-zero goals while ensuring mobility remains both fast and green,' the think tank said. In 2022, the transport sector contributed approximately 29 per cent of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the European Environment Agency. There are good economic reasons for it too - 'When China expanded its high-speed rail network, cities with HSR connections experienced a 14.2 percent increase in GDP, and each new HSR line contributed an additional 7.2 percent to urban GDP growth,' the think tank explained in its online brochure. 'A European project of similar scale could drive investment, unlock regional economies, and make the single market feel like a single market – physically, not just economically.'
Local Norway
26-03-2025
- Business
- Local Norway
Will Europe's high-speed ‘Metro-style' rail network really happen?
'A truly integrated rail system is no longer just a matter of convenience; it's a strategic necessity for Europe's resilience in the 21st century," reads the 'Starline' report . 'Designed like a Metro system, Starline changes how Europeans perceive their own continent – not as a collection of distant capitals, but as a single, fast-moving network where every connection, whether for people or goods, is within easy reach.' Sounds great, and the think-tank has published a map to demonstrate how 39 cities across Europe, from Dublin to Kyiv and Helsinki to Lisbon, could be connected - the map uses a common diagrammatic Metro map style, which is known to sometimes ignore real-world geography in favour of easier understanding for travellers. So how realistic is this proposal? Map of the proposed Starline European connections. Map: 21st Europe Geography Munich to Milan via Zurich is a straight vertical line on the map, which ignores the existence of Innsbruck and the minor geographical obstacle that is the Alps. Advertisement It also connects Estonia's capital Tallinn with Finland's Helsinki via a still-on-the-drawing-board €20 billion tunnel that – if it is completed, with earliest projections setting a date sometime in the 2030s – would be the longest rail tunnel in the world. The project would also require a tunnel under the Irish Sea, which drops at its deepest point more than 300m below sea level, to connect Liverpool and Dublin. A possible future direct link between Glasgow and Belfast, meanwhile, would face the same problems as former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's dead cat plan for a bridge or tunnel to connect Scotland and Northern Ireland . What actually is it? Starline's proposal appears to involve being a train operator - the trains would be blue, with 'quiet carriages' and family spaces - while also coordinating European ticketing systems and building quite a lot of new infrastructure. In addition to the new tunnels and tracks required, the proposal specifies: "The trains will arrive at new stations built just outside major cities with connections to existing urban transport systems." It would also create an 'open' ticketing system, where passengers could buy tickets for anywhere in Europe on a single platform - similar to the British online platform Trainline, which also sells tickets in Europe. It is not specified exactly how this would fit in with the existing rail operators that already run services around Europe, many of whom are publicly funded, other than to say that national rail operators would be "responsible for specific routes under a common framework". They add that "harmonised labour agreements" would be required for rail employees - we'll let them break that one to the famously militant French rail unions. Advertisement Who pays? Which brings us to the question of funding. According to its Starline blueprint, 21st Europe proposes 'central coordination for trains, passenger experience, and technology while allowing national rail operators to run routes under a franchise model.' It adds: "Starline should be structured as a publicly funded, privately operated system, designed to maximise efficiency while ensuring strong public oversight". Many European countries do, of course, already provide public funding for rail operators - such as France's SNCF, Spain's Renfe and Germany's Deutsche Bahn. Advertisement Starline's proposal would seem to involve the hundreds of billions in infrastructure spending being publicly funded, and operated by national rail companies – all overseen by an as-yet non-existent European Rail Authority (ERA). 'Now, we begin building the network to push for real change, bringing together policymakers, designers, and industry leaders to turn vision into action,' the think tank said. Reasons for change Some slight issues of practicality aside, the Starline report does identify many real problems with Europe's rail network. Ticketing issues, a lack of co-ordination and integration across borders means travelling between countries in Europe can be 'fragmented, slow, and expensive'. The think tank says unifying design is key to a cross-border travel network. 'Stations feel disconnected, trains vary wildly in design, and the journey itself is rarely considered as part of the experience,' it says of the current system. And it is looking to build on an existing EU initiative to unify transport across the bloc, known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). TEN-T, which Starline lambasts as lacking in speed and ambition, seeks to develop a network of railways, inland waterways, short sea shipping routes and roads linking urban nodes, maritime and inland ports, airports and terminals for the 'efficient transportation for people and goods, ensures access to jobs and services, and enables trade and economic growth'. It seeks to work with European state and private rail operators, offer funding for infrastructure projects and create Europe-wide systems such as a common rail signalling system. Even with all these problems, cross-border rail travel is rapidly growing in popularity as travellers become more conscious of their environmental impact. 'A bold shift to high-speed rail might be Europe's best chance to meet its 2050 net-zero goals while ensuring mobility remains both fast and green,' the think tank said. In 2022, the transport sector contributed approximately 29 per cent of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the European Environment Agency. There are good economic reasons for it too - 'When China expanded its high-speed rail network, cities with HSR connections experienced a 14.2 percent increase in GDP, and each new HSR line contributed an additional 7.2 percent to urban GDP growth,' the think tank explained in its online brochure. 'A European project of similar scale could drive investment, unlock regional economies, and make the single market feel like a single market – physically, not just economically.'
