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☆ Extended-reality workouts usher in an immersive era of virtual fitness on VR headsets
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Diana Umana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Business Insider spoke with leaders at the fitness brands Puma, Les Mills, FitXR, and Supernatural about leveraging extended reality to provide tech-driven workouts. Shifting perceptions of fitness technologyPuma this year partnered with Meta Quest 3 to launch immersive mixed-reality workouts in the metaverse. He recalled seeing people's perceptions of VR workouts change at a launch event for Puma and Meta Quest's partnership earlier this year. Lisa Edwards, Les Mills' digital innovation director, said the game's development required the company to adapt to connect "a global community of fitness enthusiasts." Three years ago, when Les Mills met with developers, the technology was more rudimentary; putting time and resources into extended-reality services was a risk.

Persons: —, Rachel Z, Les Mills, Ivan Dashkov, I've, Dashkov, Kathryn Przybyla Dashkov, there's, Lisa Edwards, Lisa Edwards , , Les Mills Edwards, Sam Cole, Cole, Achilles, FitXR Cole, Leanne Pedante, Lindsey Byrnes, Pedante Organizations: Service, Puma, Meta, aha, Les Mills, VR Locations: FitXR, Les

NEW YORK (AP) — A man convicted in the notorious drug-related killing of a rookie New York City police officer at the height of the city's crack epidemic decades ago has been denied parole, a union representing NYPD officers said Sunday. Todd Scott had been serving 25 years to life for his role in the shooting death of Officer Edward Byrne in Queens. Scott was convicted of second-degree murder and has been serving his sentence at the maximum-security state prison in Shawangunk. Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said in a statement that the union was “relieved” Scott was denied parole. The union said it also will continue to oppose the release of two others convicted in the killing.

Persons: Todd Scott, Edward Byrne, Queens . Byrnes, Scott, Howard “ Pappy ” Mason, Byrne, couldn't, Patrick Hendry, “, ” Scott, David McClary, Phillip Copeland, Scott Cobb, ” Hendry, Byrne's, Kenneth Byrne, ” “, Eddie Organizations: New York, Police, NYPD, Police Benevolent Association Locations: New York City, Queens, Shawangunk, ”

☆ A tide of election worker resignations raises alarms ahead of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Fredreka Schouten | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

CNN —A wave of departures by election officials in key states risks adding new stress to the nation’s election system ahead of next year’s presidential contest, voting rights groups and several state election chiefs warn. The growing alarm over the resignations and retirements comes as officials say election workers continue to face a barrage of threats and harassment and partisan interference in their duties, first ignited by false claims of a stolen White House election in 2020. In King County, Washington – which includes Seattle – Julie Wise, the county election director, recalled receiving a letter over the summer with a rant about elections. Election watchdogs say more action is needed – including boosting federal funding and extending a federal law that criminalizes the release of restricted personal information about federal workers to cover election officials. Brinson Bell began tracking the departures when she became the state’s election chief that year.

Persons: Joe Biden, ”, Adrian Fontes, Pennsylvania –, Republican Al Schmidt, “, Nick Penniman, Schmidt, Donald Trump’s, ” Schmidt, Seattle – Julie Wise, Wise, ’, ” Penniman, Meagan Wolfe, Trump, Wolfe, there’s, Roy Cooper, Critics, Karen Brinson Bell, Brinson Bell, Kathy Holland, Holland, –, Brinson, ” Adam Byrnes, he’s, ” Byrnes, Fontes, ” Fontes, that’s Organizations: CNN, Democrat, Republican, US Justice Department, National Conference of State Legislatures, Committee, ” Workers, GOP, supermajorities, Gov, North Carolina State Board, Emory University, “ Locations: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, King County , Washington, Seattle, In Wisconsin, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Alamance County, Swain County, Georgia

☆ American Airlines flight attendants aren't happy they still have to stay in a hotel where a colleague died in 'suspicious' circumstances
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-14 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Flight attendants turned up at American Airlines HQ with a letter of no confidence in a senior executive. Union members are angry they've not been relocated from a hotel in Philadelphia where a colleague died. AdvertisementAdvertisementLast month, a 66-year-old AA flight attendant was found dead in a room at the Marriott with "a cloth in her mouth." In a statement the APFA said: "The lack of action on flight attendant safety and security and the appalling lack of flight attendant support on the line is utterly unacceptable." In August the AFPA, which represents 26,000 flight attendants, voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if American refused to agree to "reasonable" contract terms, Reuters reported.

Persons: Brady Byrne, they've, —, Robert Isom, Brady Byrnes, Byrnes, APFA, Mr Brynes, Kevin Dietsch Organizations: American Airlines, Service, Fort, Association of Professional, AA, Marriott, Reuters Locations: Philadelphia, Fort Worth

☆ 6-figure Etsy sellers share 4 big mistakes all users should avoid when using the platform
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider spoke with four Etsy sellers who started their shops as side hustles and hobbies. They said to research trends, track costs, and accept that a store won't be passive income at first. First-time Etsy sellers could find themselves making common mistakes and not seeing the profits they'd hoped for. Mim JenkinsonMim Jenkinson started selling stickers on Etsy after her breast-cancer diagnosis meant she had to leave her job to undergo chemotherapy. She also uses paid services such as eRank, a platform that helps Etsy sellers find what key words are trending on the platform.

Persons: Jenkinson, she'd, hadn't, Read, Rachel Jimenez, Rachel Jimenez Rachel Jimenez, Jimenez, Emma Larocque, Emma Larocque Emma Larocque, Larocque, I've, Kelly Byrnes, Byrnes, she's Organizations: Jenkinson, Facebook Locations: Etsy

☆ ‘Here Lies Love’ Review: David Byrne’s Dictator Disco Party
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Charles Isherwood | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

What to Watch: The 15 Best New Movies and TV Shows From AprilThis copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/here-lies-love-review-david-byrnes-dictator-disco-party-a84cc46d

Persons: Dow Jones, david, byrnes

☆ I'm a stay-at-home mom who made $23,000 in 3 months on Etsy. Here's how I built a business around my busy schedule.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lauren Crosmedlicott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Kelly Byrnes, a stay-at-home mom, sells wall art on Etsy using a printer in her garage. The low barrier of entry for a print shop on Etsy appealed to meAfter researching what I needed to set up an at-home printing business, I was confident I could start one. I purchased A4 card stock, envelopes, cellophane wrappers, and a postage printer from Amazon. As my business has grown, I've started using independent sellers instead of Amazon to source the materials I need. My Etsy shop has given me exactly what I wanted — independence and money of my ownOn top of money and independence, my Etsy shop has given me great flexibility as the primary caregiver of our three children.

☆ Biden pardons 6 convicted of murder, drug, alcohol crimes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The pardons, announced Friday, mean the criminal record of the crimes is now purged. In the 1990s, he supported crime legislation that increased arrest and incarceration rates for drug crimes, particularly for Black and Latino people. Byrnes-Jackson pleaded guilty to possession and sale of spirits without tax stamps when he was 18, and it involved a single illegal whiskey transaction. Nock pleaded guilty to using his property as a grow-house for marijuana 27 years ago. De Coito pleaded guilty at age 23 to being involved in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy.

☆ NYC honors historic gay bar with landmark status
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

One of the earliest sites of gay rights activism is officially New York City’s newest landmark. Located at 159 West 10th St., just a short walk from fellow historic gay bar Stonewall Inn, Julius’ has been open since the 1860s. It started attracting gay patrons in the mid-20th century, and, according to the conservation nonprofit group Village Preservation, it’s the city’s oldest existing gay bar. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 for its significance in the gay rights movement. A photo of the moment went down in gay rights history.

☆ American Airlines is closing its San Francisco crew base and asking 400 flight attendants to leave California or leave the airline
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

American Airlines is closing its San Francisco base, potentially displacing 400 flight attendants. The base is home to some of the carrier's most senior flight attendants, two-thirds of whom have been at the airline for 13 years or more, according to the union representing American Airlines flight attendants. In interviews, 10 SFO-based flight attendants told Insider that a myriad of factors make it difficult to leave the Bay Area. The decades of experience with the goal of achieving that lifestyle are now effectively lost, one flight attendant told Insider. Some employees expressed confusion on why they need to leave San Francisco if the carrier will still need to staff SFO flights.

☆ Dozens of times drought, ice melt, and storm surge unearthed unusual and unsettling discoveries this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Among the unearthed finds are old sites, ancient artifacts, rare fossils, and even human remains. This summer, low water levels created an eerie boat graveyard of previously sunken ships and beached boats, the Associated Press reported. The manmade reservoir's plummeting water levels also revealed human remains on at least six occasions since May, The Guardian reported. In Spain's Vilanova de Sau in the Catalonia region, plummeting water levels in a reservoir exposed a 11th century Romanesque church, the Associated Press reported. Switzerland's melting glaciers revealed the remains of a 1968 plane in August.

☆ Hurricane Nicole unearthed 6 human skulls from a Florida beach, and it's the latest case of long-buried remains found after worsening weather
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Beachgoers found skulls and other bones in Florida after Hurricane Nicole, according to local news. "They are ancestors of the Seminole people," Tina Osceola, a member of the Seminole tribe in Florida, told WPTV. Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesBones won't stay buried in eroding beachesThis is not the first time that hurricanes have unearthed Indigenous remains. Switzerland's melting glaciers unearthed human remains and the wreckage of a historic plane crash. More recently, melting glaciers in the Swiss Alps revealed two sets of human remains and the wreckage of a 1968 plane crash that had been frozen beneath snow and ice this summer.

☆ A 19th-century shipwreck and human remains were uncovered as the Mississippi River recedes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Drought has unearthed a sunken 19th-century shipwreck and human remains in the Mississippi River. In early October, low water levels revealed the old sunken ship along the banks of the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A shipwreck is exposed along the banks of the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, due to low water levels, on October 18, 2022. On Saturday, a woman found human remains while searching for rocks with her family on the banks of the drought-stricken river. The discovery in Mississippi comes after multiple sets of human remains surfaced in recent months in Nevada's Lake Mead — the country's largest reservoir.

☆ Photos show the Mississippi River is so low that it's grounding barges, disrupting the supply chain, and revealing a 19th-century shipwreck
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Mississippi River is receding to historic lows amid drought across the Midwest. A barge tow floats past the exposed banks of the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Louisiana, on October 11, 2022. Drought is drying the Mississippi River to record lowsA passenger paddle wheeler passes between the river bridges in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on October 11, 2022. Rogelio V. Solis/AP PhotoJust a few months ago, the Mississippi River basin was flooding. In early October, low water levels revealed the old sunken ship along the banks of the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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