DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Elon Musk congratulated SpaceX on an "exciting" Starship launch after the prized rocket exploded. Musk had given the rocket launch a 50% chance of success, guaranteeing "excitement." "Congrats @SpaceX team on an exciting test launch of Starship!" Musk was expecting the launch to be spectacularMusk had previously hinted the launch had a one-in-two chance of ending in an explosion. In 2002, Musk founded SpaceX with the goal of making spaceflight cheap enough to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars.

☆ Twitter users including Justin Bieber, Bill Gates, and Kim Kardashian are seeing their blue checkmarks disappear as Elon Musk charges $8 a month for verified accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Kate Duffy | Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter appeared to start removing legacy blue checkmarks from many accounts on Thursday. Some Twitter users are watching their legacy blue checkmarks disappear from their accounts as Elon Musk implements an $8 monthly subscription program. Notable business figures including Bill Gates, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, and "Shark Tank" star Barbara Corcoran no longer showed blue checkmarks on their Twitter accounts Thursday afternoon. The only way users can keep their blue checkmarks is to sign up to Twitter Blue, a subscription program that costs $8 a month. Twitter Blue has sparked controversy since it was rolled out.

Musk founded SpaceX with the goal of making spaceflight cheap enough to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars. Starship rocket is shown here minutes from its first launch window. A hush fell over the control room at SpaceX's facilities, where Musk himself was watching, until the tumbling rocket exploded in a fireball. The biggest concern for Musk would be if Starship "fireballed" and melted the launch pad, he said during a Twitter Spaces session on Sunday. Musk previously said that SpaceX is building multiple Starship rockets to launch this year.

☆ I trained SpaceX astronauts for a NASA mission. Being responsible for their safety was stressful, but preparing my friends for space was an honor.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

She told Insider she trained the NASA astronauts for SpaceX's first crewed mission to the ISS. I've been passionate about sending humans into space since I was eight years old, so becoming a mission operations engineer at SpaceX in 2009 was a lifetime achievement for me. Out of the 20 employees in the mission operations team, I was the only trainer. NASA selected SpaceX as one of the partners for the program, and six years later, SpaceX sent its first crewed mission to the ISS. Two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, launched on the Crew Dragon spaceship — and I had the privilege of training them for the flight.

☆ Take a look at Elon Musk's weird and whacky merchandise, from rocket-shaped torches and flamethrowers to 'S3XY' Tesla shorts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Elon Musk is known for building cars and rockets, and drilling holes underground. But he's maybe less well known for his tequila, surfboards, and flamethrowers. Taylor Hill/Getty ImagesSpaceX, Tesla, and The Boring Company have all sold quirky merchandise. Tesla unveiled in 2018 a range of lifestyle products, including wireless chargers for smartphones and mini Teslas for kids. Perhaps the most famous is Tesla's red satin short shorts, designed to taunt short-sellers betting against his stock.

SpaceX plans to launch its new Starship mega-rocket to orbit on Thursday, after a frozen valve stopped the first attempt. If Starship succeeds, it'll be the tallest, most powerful, and only fully reusable rocket to ever fly. SpaceX plans to attempt the launch and see what happens on Thursday, during a launch window from 8:28 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Central Time. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk, who estimates a 50-50 chance of success on Starship's first orbital launch. SpaceX/Handout via Reuters"A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so unless it starts operating soon, no launch today," Musk tweeted.

☆ Elon Musk says he's concerned that SpaceX's Starship could melt the launch pad if it 'fireballed' during takeoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Kate Duffy | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said the destruction of the launch pad is his biggest concern about the Starship launch. The launch pad would melt if Starship "fireballed" on launch day, he said. SpaceX is scheduled to launch Starship on Monday, but Musk warned about possible delays. His biggest concern was that a "fireball" incident could melt the launch pad if one of the engines failed. "If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, I think I would consider that a success.

☆ Elon Musk says he's concerned that SpaceX's Starship could melt the launchpad if it 'fireballed' during takeoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Kate Duffy | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said the destruction of the launchpad is his biggest concern about the Starship launch. The launchpad would melt if Starship "fireballed" on launch day, he said. SpaceX is scheduled to launch Starship on Monday, but Musk warned about possible delays. Musk said it would take SpaceX several months to rebuild the launchpad if Starship exploded and melted it. Launching the enormous Starship is an engineering featThe Starship rocket on SpaceX's launchpad near Brownsville, Texas.

☆ Elon Musk holds the keys to the moon because SpaceX's Starship megarocket launch is crucial to NASA's return
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Marianne Guenot | Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The rocket, which NASA has tagged for upcoming missions, is crucial to NASA's return to the moon. The highly anticipated Starship launch will determine whether NASA's Artemis moon program is on track for success. NASA's SLS relies on Starship for the moon landingA Starship prototype being launched. NASA's SLS rocket, by contrast, has a high price tag for the taxpayer: The project has cost $50 billion in development since the program's inception in 2006. All of this makes NASA's SLS a poor competitor to SpaceX's shiny new rocket.

☆ Substack CEO says he was 'incredibly disappointed' at Elon Musk for throttling tweets with Substack links because it 'hurt writers'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Substack's CEO told The Verge that Twitter suppressing Substack links was "incredibly disappointing." Elon Musk denied that Twitter had ever blocked Substack links. Substack CEO Chris Best has spoken out about his disappointment following reports that Elon Musk's Twitter recently suppressed tweets containing Substack links. Twitter's actions "ultimately hurt writers" who used the platform, as well as Substack users, Best added. Musk denies Twitter throttled Substack linksMusk wrote in a tweet on April 8 that Twitter never blocked Substack links.

☆ See inside NASA's 3D-printed Mars habitat where 4 volunteers will live for a year. It includes a gym, PlayStation 3, and a lot of red sand.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The lounge area offers space for the volunteers to relax on sofa chairs and watch TV. There's a PlayStation 3 in the cupboard, along with board games such as Monopoly and Catan: Starfarers to keep the crew entertained. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

☆ Several news organizations go silent on Twitter after Elon Musk adds 'government-funded media' label to some accounts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

NPR and PBS stopped tweeting from their accounts after Twitter labeled them as "government-funded." Twitter on Sunday added the label to some media accounts, including NPR and the BBC. Following an interview with a BBC reporter on Tuesday, Musk changed the label on the BBC's Twitter account to "publicly funded media" instead of "government-funded." NPRNPR's "government-funded" label remains. PBSPublic Broadcasting Service, a US broadcaster, told Axios it stopped sharing posts from its Twitter account after the "government-funded media" label was added to its account over the weekend.

☆ Elizabeth Holmes' purchase of a one-way flight to Mexico was a 'bold move,' judge says in ruling that denied her request to remain free on bail
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elizabeth Holmes's request to remain free on bail was denied on Monday by a US judge. The judge described Holmes' one-way ticket to Mexico a "bold move" and "ill-advised." Holmes, who was sentenced in November to 11 years and three months in prison, requested in December to remain free during her appeal. In a court ruling filed on Monday, US District Judge Edward Davila said the flight wasn't an attempt to flee, but was "ill-advised" nonetheless. Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani, Theranos' former president and chief operating officer, also had his request to remain free on bail during his appeal denied, according to a court filing in March.

☆ What went wrong at Virgin Orbit? 4 red flags signaled trouble for Richard Branson's satellite launch firm.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit struggled to make a comeback after a failed launch in January. Unlike SpaceX, Virgin Orbit blasts its LauncherOne rocket into space with the help of a modified Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 called Cosmic Girl. This funding "was not enough to counter the strong headwinds and liquidity challenges Virgin Orbit continues to face," the spokesperson added. Ultimately, Virgin Orbit has been unable to reach the rate of launches needed to meet the required revenue, per CNBC. Funding issuesSince the failed UK launch, Virgin Orbit has attempted to rake in funding from investors, per reports.

☆ Twitter is reportedly waiving the $1,000 monthly verification fee for its 10,000 most-followed organizations, amid backlash that the new cost is 'outlandish'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter plans to charge businesses $1,000 per month to keep their verification status after April 1. But Twitter will waive the fee for its top 10,000 most-followed organizations that had legacy verification, per NYT. Twitter's top 500 advertising clients and 10,000 most-followed organizations that already had verification before will see their verification fees waived, according to the Times, which cited an internal document. Many business owners aren't happy with the new verification fee. Individuals have also taken issue with the $8 monthly verification fee for their accounts.

☆ Celebrities are irritated by Elon Musk's plans to take away their blue tick on Twitter unless they pay at least $8 a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

William Shatner called Twitter Blue a "money grab." Musk responded to Shatner, saying that celebrities should be treated the same as everyone else on Twitter. Shatner replied to the billionaire, saying: "Somewhere, Twitter lost its way." He added that Twitter doesn't stop another William Shatner from being verified with the subscription service. Shatner said Twitter Blue seemed to be a "money grab."

☆ United Airlines crew reported 'a possible fire' in a plane's engine, causing the aircraft to turn around, FAA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A United Airlines flight to Brazil returned to Texas after reports of a possible engine fire. The FAA told Insider the airline crew reported the incident during the flight. The aircraft returned to George Bush Intercontinental Airport and landed safely, the FAA said. Around two hours after takeoff, the site showed the plane circled back to George Bush Intercontinental Airport where it then landed. The FAA, George Bush Airport, and Houston's fire department didn't respond to Insider's request for comment.

☆ Uber drivers say loud friends, leaving crumbs on seats, and loading the car with bags might be why I don't have a perfect 5-star rider rating
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Four Uber drivers revealed why some passengers have lower ratings than they expected. Loading cars with bags and making drivers wait could also bring ratings down. An Uber driver previously told Insider that people with ratings of between about 4.7 and 4.79 were decent riders, but had "questionable history." Uber drivers have to wait two minutes until they start receiving payment for a ride. Uber introduced the in-app tipping feature in July 2017, allowing passengers to tip drivers after each trip.

☆ Boeing delays Starliner's first astronaut launch by 3 months because of parachutes and paperwork
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Boeing has postponed the launch of its spaceship taxi, Starliner, until at least July. A NASA manager said the data from Starliner's parachute system needed reviewing. Fitting the date in among the busy launch schedule on the East coast was also a factor, he said. However, a review of Starliner's parachute system needed to be extended into May, he said. Stich said there were no issues or concerns with the parachutes and Starliner was in good shape.

☆ Elon Musk says he's working on Twitter's customer service — but some Tesla and Starlink customers haven't been impressed when trying to receive support
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said Twitter users must have good customer service, and that he was working on it. Customers of his other companies have said they're disappointed at the lack of customer service. "Of course, you need to have good customer service for money," Musk tweeted, adding he was "working on it." Some commented on how slow and unresponsive Tesla's customer service was, while others said it was quick and easy. Are you a Starlink user or Tesla owner who is disappointed with the company's customer service?

☆ Elon Musk tells William Shatner that Twitter shouldn't have different standards for celebrities when it comes to $8 blue checkmarks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk told William Shatner there shouldn't be different standards for celebrities on Twitter. Twitter says the only way users can keep their blue ticks is by signing up to Twitter Blue, a monthly subscription which costs $8. Stephen King, Josh Gad, and Lynda Carter were among the celebrities to criticize Musk over charging Twitter users for a blue tick. Before Blue Origin sent Shatner into space on an 11-minute journey, Musk commented "Godspeed Captain" on NASA's Twitter post. Following the flight, the billionaire tweeted: "Congrats, was cool to send William Shatner to space."

☆ Companies say Elon Musk's plan to charge $1,000 for month for Twitter checkmarks is 'outlandish' and makes them 'meaningless'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Companies have hit out at Elon Musk for charging them $1,000 a month to stay verified on Twitter. Twitter plans to make users and organizations on Twitter pay to keep their blue checkmark. Twitter said it's planning to remove legacy verified blue ticks from users' accounts starting on April 1 — that's April Fools' day. He said the bedding firm wouldn't miss being verified because the blue checkmark didn't offer a noticeable boost in engagement. Among the Twitter users that criticized the change was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

☆ AOC criticizes Elon Musk for plans to remove Twitter's legacy blue checkmarks on April Fool's day
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized Twitter's plans to scrap legacy blue checkmarks. Elon Musk's company announced it was revoking legacy verified checkmarks from April 1. Twitter announced on Thursday it plans to soon sunset a legacy verified feature that gave users blue checkmarks next to their name. The company said users can sign up to its Twitter Blue subscription program that costs $8 a month to keep their checkmarks. Both accounts paid for Twitter's verification feature, which gave them the blue tick, making them look like Eli Lilly's official account.

☆ OpenAI CEO says he feels 'awful' after a ChatGPT bug leaked user conversation histories
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he felt "awful" after a bug in ChatGPT leaked users' chats. The glitch allowed some ChatGPT users to see the titles of other users' conversations on the tool. Altman didn't name the open-source library, or go into specifics about how it had been implemented by OpenAI. He said the bug allowed some ChatGPT users to see the titles of conversation histories from other users but not the conversations themselves. OpenAI didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours.

☆ Recruiters worldwide are inundated with calls from anxious Credit Suisse bankers seeking new jobs amid the UBS takeover, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Credit Suisse staff have swamped recruiters across the globe amid the UBS deal, per Bloomberg. It said one recruiting firm had 30 calls on Monday, while another spoke to 20 bankers since last week. The day after Credit Suisse and UBS announced the acquisition deal, a recruiting firm in Singapore received around 30 inquiries from mostly Credit Suisse private bankers, the people told Bloomberg. A headhunter based in London told Bloomberg that Credit Suisse staff flooded him with calls over the weekend. They added that Credit Suisse will "do everything we can to ensure an orderly transition and to serve our clients as best as possible."

Search resuls for: "Kate Duffy"

25 mentions found