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☆ Asian shares shaky as investors wary before US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-26 | by ( Ankur Banerjee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Risk sentiment was also capped as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials kept near-term U.S. rate cut expectations in check in a boost to the dollar. The comments along with data showing a stable housing market kept expectations in check over when and by how much the Fed will cut rates. Markets are pricing in 47 basis points of easing this year, with a rate cut in September pegged at 66% probability, CME FedWatch tool showed. In the currency market, the dollar index , which measures the U.S. unit against six peers, was steady at 105.64, while the euro was at $1.0715. The yen touched a 34-year low of 160.245 per dollar on April 29, prompting Tokyo to spend roughly 9.8 trillion in late April and early May to support the currency.

Persons: Androniki, Lisa Cook, Cook, Michelle Bowman, Selena Ling, OCBC, OCBC's Ling, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: Nikkei, REUTERS, Federal Reserve, . Federal, Reuters, Bank of Japan's, Brent, U.S, West Texas, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, SINGAPORE, U.S, Asia, Pacific

☆ How Google lost its way
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Hugh Langley | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Just two months after Google launched Gemini, its flashy new AI model, the company revealed that it had already built a better version. AdvertisementThen, days later, Google scrambled to explain why its image generation tool spit out racially inaccurate depictions of historical figures. Users have long bemoaned — and researchers recently found — a decline in the quality of Google Search results. The fact that Google is not far and away the self-driving-car leader, it's, like, a total joke," the former Google director said, adding that the problem of Google's lost supremacy is "maybe impossible to solve, frankly." Google now is reminiscent of the Steve Ballmer-era Microsoft, which missed the smartphone, search, and cloud waves and was overtaken by Apple, Google, and Amazon.

Persons: OpenAI, Sora, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai's, Pichai, —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Lea Suzuki, Getty Brin, Page, Google, Googlers, Axel Springer, Diane von Furstenberg, Giovanni Giannoni, Michael Avrukin, Vuk Valcic, wouldn't, Patrick Mork, Eric Lehman, Lehman, ChatGPT, Caesar Sengupta, Sengupta, Alexa, Google's, Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, Hugh Langley, Lara O'Reilly Organizations: Google, Hollywood, Industry, San Francisco Chronicle, Business, Penske Media, Microsoft, Amazon, The New York Times, Oracle, YouTube, Apple, IBM, Meta Locations: Silicon Valley, Silicon, —

☆ Chinese hackers have lurked in some US infrastructure systems for ‘at least five years’
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Sean Lyngaas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The report would be the most detailed disclosure yet by the US government of the hackers’ stealthy techniques, one aimed at helping private owners of critical infrastructure spot the Chinese hackers in their networks. The hackers’ presence in critical US networks has sparked a monthslong effort by US national security officials to kick the hackers out. The report, which US officials are set to release this week, makes clear that the Chinese hackers’ activity began much earlier than previously known, with the hackers scoping and accessing IT systems years ago. The Beijing-backed hackers have been probing systems that control heating, cooling and water, access that, if exploited, could allow them to manipulate those systems and cause “significant infrastructure failures,” the report says. Canada’s cybersecurity agency “assesses that the direct threat to Canada’s critical infrastructure” from the Chinese hackers “is likely lower” than that to US infrastructure, but that Canada would still likely still be affected by a disruption to US infrastructure due to “cross-border integration,” the document says.

Persons: Christopher Wray, Canada’s, “ Organizations: CNN, FBI, US, Embassy, National Security Agency, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Security Agency Locations: Beijing, China, Taiwan, Washington ,, Guam, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Pacific

☆ Opinion | The Ogre Gorging on America
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-27 | by ( Maureen Dowd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

If you can imagine the lobby bar of the Manchester Marriott as an Anglo-Saxon mead hall, I can explain how it felt to cover the New Hampshire primary. I will need the help of the late Seamus Heaney, who described what it was like to be quaffing in Heorot Hall while Grendel lurked and swooped through the frost-stiffened north. In his lyrical translation of “Beowulf,” Heaney described Grendel as “the terror-monger,” the “captain of evil” and “the dread of the land.”He wrote that the fiend “ruled in defiance of right” and was “malignant by nature, he never showed remorse.”

Persons: Seamus Heaney, Grendel lurked, ” Heaney, Grendel, ” Organizations: Manchester Marriott Locations: Hampshire, Heorot

President Biden is cruising to the Democratic nomination. Former President Donald J. Trump could begin to wrap up his party’s nod within days. Even as both men stroll toward likely summer coronations and a fall rematch, an undercurrent of disbelief is coursing through the country. Many Republicans view Mr. Biden as so politically and physically weak that they think his party will replace him. Many Democrats can’t fathom that Mr. Trump could win another nomination while he is facing 91 felony counts and four criminal trials.

Persons: Biden, Donald J, Trump, Mr, “, ” David Lage, “ They’ve, ” Organizations: Democratic, Republican Locations: Spring Hill , Iowa

☆ At this year's AfroTech conference, Black tech workers sang, pitched, and worried about being laid off
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Monica Melton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The biggest tech companies had less of a presence at this year's AfroTech Conference , a large gathering of Black tech professionals. Black joy and celebration were on display while the reality of a tougher tech job market lurked in the background. Not technical enoughSeveral tech employees lamented that the programming wasn't technical enough to be useful to them. They were comfortable speaking to an audience that looked like them, but also felt an urgency to share knowledge that Black tech professionals don't always get access to. While many of the Black tech workers at Afrotech were waiting for the other shoe to drop, they also scouted for startup ideas and funding.

Persons: hasn't, Morgan Stanley, Austin, Issa Rae, Rick Ross, Jadakiss, Wes Eugene, IDEO, goer, Jason Lee, Lee Organizations: Microsoft, Engineering, Labs Locations: Afrotech

☆ Geologist Marie Tharp mapped the ocean floor and helped solve one of science's biggest controversies
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Back then, no one knew what the ocean floor looked like — until one woman used her many talents to find out. When she reflected on her life, geologist Marie Tharp recollected being able to fill in the blanks of the ocean floor, which she saw as a fascinating jigsaw puzzle. Their final project together was the World Ocean Floor Map. The Heezen-Tharp “World Ocean Floor” map painted by Heinrich Berann. Marie Tharp Maps, LLCAfter Heezen's death, organizations that had hired him and Tharp to work on projects reassigned them.

Persons: didn't, Marie Tharp, Marie Tharp recollected, Tharp, Columbia University's, Lamont, Alfred Wegener's, Wegener, he'd, Bailey Willis, Willis, Bettie Higgs, Maurice Ewing, Roberta Eike, Tharp didn't, they'd, Bruce Heezen, Frank Albert Charles Burke, Heezen, Howard Foster, she'd, Ewing, Jacques Cousteau, Cousteau, Marie Tharp's, Heinrich Berann, you'd, It's, Hali Felt, Higgs, Society's Hubbard, Mary, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, George Washington Organizations: Service, Columbia, Columbia University's Lamont Geological Laboratory, University of Michigan, Columbia University, Lamont, Fairfax Media, Getty, US Navy, Oceanographic Conference, ABC, Disney, Entertainment, National Geographic, Mary Sears Woman, Oceanography Locations: Wall, Silicon, German, American, Lamont, Massachusetts, Nova Scotia , Massachusetts, France, Gibraltar, United States

☆ The strange, improbable rise of Mark Zuckerberg 3.0
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

In early July, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the latest and perhaps most consequential product in Meta's history: a new model of Mark Zuckerberg. Silicon Valley Zuck was a husband and father with a legacy to build and protect at all costs. Silicon Valley Zuck was suddenly faced with something he'd never dealt with before, shrinking revenue. Still clinging to his persona as Silicon Valley Zuck, Zuckerberg engaged in an all-out media blitz to hawk his vision for the metaverse. They were the sort of people Harvard Zuck would have scoffed at and Silicon Valley Zuck would have gently ignored.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg, Clark Kent, TikTok, Sheryl Sandberg, Mike Schroepfer, Wall, McKinsey Zuck, Rogan, Meta, Harvard Zuck, —, Priscilla Chan, Ray's, pullover, Harvard Zuck —, Dianna, Mick, McDougall, Paul Sakuma, Zuckerberg's, Apple, Facebook, he'd, That's, Frances Haugen, Chris Cox, Zuck, Zach Gibson, Meta's, Sandberg, Marne Levine, who'd, Javier Olivan, he's, bode, Bain, Maher Saba, Lori Goler, He's, He'd, Katie Harbath, it's, Andrew Bosworth, Bosworth, Mark Zuckerberg McKinsey Zuck, Mark Shmulik, Bernstein, Augustus, Julius Caesar, Kali Hays Organizations: Meta, Menlo, Harvard, Apple, McKinsey, Business, Facebook, Cambridge, Capitol, Labs, Menlo Park, Q, Bain & Company, Reality Labs, Wall, Mark Zuckerberg McKinsey, Phillips Exeter Academy, Tech, Twitter Locations: California, Hawaii, United States, Davos, Silicon, contrition, Meta, verbiage, Harvard, Rome

☆ Names Old and New Top British Open Leaderboard
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Alan Blinder | More About Alan Blinder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It worked well enough for Stewart Cink on Thursday at the British Open. “When the gun goes off and you start in the tournament, you’ve got that adrenaline, and adrenaline does wonders for your jet lag,” Cink, 50, said. It also seemed to do plenty good for his scorecard, which reported a three-under-par 68 that positioned him high on the first-round leaderboard at northwest England’s Royal Liverpool Golf Club. There was Cink, who won the 2009 Open at Turnberry in Scotland by outlasting Tom Watson, then 59, in a playoff. But Christo Lamprecht, an amateur who plays for Georgia Tech, finished his five-under round with the lead.

Persons: Stewart Cink, you’ve, Cink, lurked, outlasting Tom Watson, Christo Lamprecht, Tommy Fleetwood, Emiliano Grillo, Lamprecht, Brian Harman, Adrián Otaegui, Antoine Rozner Organizations: Liverpool Golf, Royal Liverpool, Georgia Tech Locations: England’s, Royal, Turnberry, Scotland

☆ Dr. Chatbot will see you now
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Almost invariably, the chatbot answers were rated as three or four times as reliable as the ones from the poor wee humans. But here's the most striking part: The chatbot answers, on average, were rated seven times as empathetic as the ones from humans. It's as if the unfeeling android Mr. Data figured out how to convincingly emulate Dr. Crusher's comforting bedside manner. Give those medical chatbots access to people's individual medical records, and they could offer more precisely directed advice. Healthcare AI startups will want the cheapest versions with the most financial bang, which won't necessarily have the best patient outcomes.

Persons: feely, San Diego lurked, I'm, ChatGPT, John Ayers, Ayers, —, chatbot, they're, That's, They're, Teva Brender, Brender, Jonathan Chen, Greg Corrado, isn't, Adam Rogers Organizations: University of California, UC San Diego, Pew Research Center, Harvard, Google, Stanford University School of Medicine, Food and Drug Administration, Healthcare Locations: San Diego, San Francisco

☆ Elliot Page, From Shame to Self-Acceptance, in Hollywood’s Glare
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Gina Chua | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“My shoulders opened, my heart was bare, I could be in the world in ways that felt impossible before,” he writes of coming out as gay. It’s an utterly alien sensation for those who haven’t experienced it:Imagine the most uncomfortable, mortifying thing you could wear. It’s tight, you want to peel it from your body, tear it off, but you can’t. Day in and day out. And if people are to learn what is underneath, who you are without all that pain, the shame would come flooding out, too much to hold.

Persons: ”, Page

These areas, which we've dubbed " jump zones ," span the globe, covering 6% of Earth's land mass. That's 57% more people living in jump zones than two decades earlier, increasing the odds that a deadly bat virus could spill over. The world's jump zones have lost 21% percent of their tree cover in almost two decades' time, double the worldwide rate. Almost one-third of that expansion would be in existing jump zones, where spillover risk is already high. Though those countries require mining companies to assess potential environmental harms that new concessions might cause, none require companies to evaluate spillover risk.

☆ Bat lands worldwide are besieged, seeding risk of a new pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

This collision – bats and humans competing for resources on territory long the domain of the bats – could trigger the next pandemic. As people destroy bat habitats worldwide, they are unwittingly helping bat-borne viruses mutate, multiply, and infect other species, including homo sapiens. For millennia, bat viruses lurked across the forests of West Africa and in other undisturbed parts of the world but posed little threat to humanity. They’re potent proliferators: Some roost tightly together and in close quarters with other bat species. Each of the bat viruses analyzed by Reuters has epidemic potential, according to the World Health Organization.

☆ Pakistan’s political crisis will deepen its economic misery
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —The political unrest that’s engulfed Pakistan since former Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested earlier this week will complicate efforts to secure a financial lifeline from the International Monetary Fund and exacerbate the country’s economic crisis. Pakistan’s economic meltdownThe political tumult in Pakistan comes as the country grapples with a dire economic outlook. The government has been working with the International Monetary Fund to resume a financing program that’s been stalled since November and expires in June. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a televised address Friday that the country’s economic problems stem from his predecessor. In February, the ratings agency said about 50% of government revenue will need to go to debt interest payments “for the next few years,” compounding economic woes and fanning political discontent.

☆ Stocks slip as focus turns back to Fed and inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"With those stresses easing away, markets are now back to focusing on the Fed." A slew of Federal Reserve speakers are in the frame over the rest of this week ahead of the pre-meeting blackout period that begins on the weekend. The Fed's "beige book" of economic conditions is published on Wednesday and appearances are due from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and New York Fed President John Williams. "Lower rate volatility and reduced expectations for Fed rate hikes should put the broad U.S. dollar in a weaker position," HSBC analysts said in a currency outlook note. This held down real yields, propped up equity multiples, and tightened credit spreads in the face of falling earnings expectations.

☆ Stocks slip as focus falls back on Fed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Fed's "beige book" of economic conditions is published later on Wednesday and appearances are due from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and New York Fed President John Williams. Markets are pricing an 86% chance the Fed raises rates by 25 basis points at the May meeting, and that wasn't swayed terribly much by conflicting outlooks from two non-voting Fed officials on Tuesday. St Louis Fed President James Bullard told Reuters the Fed ought to keep raising rates to subdue persistent inflation. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC he thinks the Fed should hike one more time then pause to consider the next move. The prospect of peak rates has been applying downward pressure on the U.S. dollar.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank red flags: Why did almost everyone fail to predict its collapse?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

A bank run took down Silicon Valley Bank on March 10, as depositors withdrew $42 billion in a single day. To embrace a uniquely Silicon Valley ethos that champions boldness, growth and disruption. Silicon Valley Bank held 55% of its customers' deposits in long-dated bonds whose value eroded as interest rates went up. Silicon Valley Bank held an unusually large proportion (55%) of its customers’ deposits in long-dated Treasuries. And for most of that year, Silicon Valley Bank was operating with a massive vacancy in its corporate leadership team: a chief risk officer.

☆ Trump's return to Instagram and Facebook could doom Truth Social
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Truth Social only just became available on Androids in October. Trump's return to social media spells doom for Truth Social. After the Capitol insurrection, former president Donald Trump was banned from a slew of social media platforms. Trump is contractually required to post on Truth Social before making the same post on another site for six hours. My colleague Beatrice Nolan breaks down the future of Truth Social and what it means for Trump's supporters.

☆ Behind a Wall Street headhunter's rapid ascent lie accusations of harassment and abuse
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +38 min

"It was a complete whirlwind, and it felt too good to be true," Morrison told Insider. "Everyone is given a calendar reminder of when they have to submit a review," one former employee told Insider. Durlston told Insider she wasn't a credible source given the acrimonious nature of her departure from Durlston. "Everyone gets pretty loose at these events," a former employee told Insider, noting the availability of alcohol throughout the day. Bahram told Insider this was not a prohibition but merely a suggestion that it would not be an appropriate arrangement.

☆ Ronaldo breaks record as Portugal up and running with Ghana win
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The bitter end to Ronaldo's second spell at Manchester United had dominated the build-up to the match in much the same way the forward seems to dominate the way Portugal play. Against Ghana, Ronaldo seemed to exert a planetary gravitational pull on the ball, with team mates seeking him out at every opportunity. Ronaldo closed his eyes as he waited to begin his run up, stuttered and smashed the ball into the net to the keeper's right. It is the 10th consecutive major tournament in which Ronaldo has found the net although Ghana coach Otto Addo was not in the mood to be charitable. There was to be no fairytale ending for the Ghanaians though and the night belonged to Ronaldo.

☆ Fossils of car-sized dinosaur-era sea turtle unearthed in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

It dwarfed today's largest turtle - the leatherback, which can reach 7 feet (2 meters) long and is known for marathon marine migrations. Other large turtles from Earth's past include Protostega and Stupendemys, both reaching about 13 feet (4 meters) long. Protostega was a Cretaceous sea turtle that lived about 85 million years ago and, like its later cousin Archelon, inhabited the large inland sea that at the time split North America in two. The presence of a couple of bony bulges on the front side of the pelvis differs from any other known sea turtle, indicating that Leviathanochelys represents a newly discovered lineage. It shows that gigantism in marine turtles developed independently in separate Cretaceous lineages in North America and Europe.

☆ In DeSantis' small Florida hometown, voters see 'scumbag' or 'hometown hero' as they head to the polls
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

DeSantis is up for reelection Tuesday, and could seek the White House in 2024.Insider interviewed voters from his small hometown of Dunedin, Florida. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyDUNEDIN, Florida — Florida Gov. Dunedin, Florida, has an arch in the center of town that reads, "Defending Freedom." "Ron DeSantis is a scumbag," Laura, who declined to share her last name, told Insider after exiting a polling station. Polls in Florida will close at 7 p.m., so it's not yet clear whether DeSantis will win over his hometown.

☆ Review: Driving the $360,000 Bentley Continental GT Speed is the closest I'll ever get to heaven on Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Alanis King | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The Bentley Continental GT Speed. The Bentley Continental GT Speed. The Bentley Continental GT Speed. The Bentley Continental GT Speed. The Bentley Continental GT Speed.

☆ Biden says he spoke with Florida governor about Hurricane Ian
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had spoken with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis the prior day about Hurricane Ian, adding that the federal government had met every request for help from the coastal state. Biden also warned oil companies not to use the storm as a pretext to raise gasoline prices, which spiked earlier this year under pressure from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Do not, let me repeat, do not...use this as an excuse to raise gasoline prices or gouge the American people" Biden said, speaking at a White House event on hunger. "This small temporary storm impact on oil production provides no excuse for price increases at the pump, none," he added. Biden described the hurricane as incredibly dangerous and urged Florida residents to obey all warnings related to it.

☆ Meta says it removes China-based propaganda operation targeting U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Katie Paul | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) said on Tuesday it disrupted the first known China-based influence operation focused on targeting users in the United States with political content ahead of the midterm elections in November. Another Meta executive at the briefing said the company did not have enough evidence to say who in China was behind the activity. A Twitter spokesperson said the company was aware of the information in Meta's report and also took down the accounts. According to Meta's report, the Chinese fake accounts posed as liberal and conservative Americans in different states. That operation primarily targeted users in Germany, as well as France, Italy, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, and spent more than $100,000 on ads promoting pro-Russian messages.

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