DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Democrats say they have won control of Pennsylvania's state House for first time in more than a decade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Democrats claim they have won a majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. If confirmed, it would be the first time Democrats have won a majority in the chamber since 2008. State Rep. Joanna McClinton is set to be the first woman and first Black speaker of the House. "Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly rejected hatred," state Rep. Joanna McClinton, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. It would be the first time Democrats have won control of the chamber since 2008 and only the second time since 1995.

☆ I run a multimillion-dollar puzzle company built primarily from word-of-mouth marketing. Here are 3 strategies I use to sustain that growth.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Erin Greenawald | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Kaylin Marcotte runs Jiggy Puzzles, which has sold more than 250,000 units in three years. She says word-of-mouth marketing — partnering with brands and customers — has helped it grow. I've always been a fan of word-of-mouth marketing for my small business. But it also created a powerful word-of-mouth marketing channel. Word-of-mouth marketing isn't necessarily the quickest or easiest win.

☆ Election deniers on ballot aim to run U.S. presidential vote in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

According to States United Action, election deniers are running for secretary of state in 13 states, including in the key swing states of Arizona, Michigan and Nevada. In Arizona, Republican secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem said he would not have certified Biden's 2020 victory in the state. He supported an audit of Arizona's election results and backed a bill that would give the state's Republican-controlled legislature the power to overturn election results. Republican candidate and former state assemblyman Jim Marchant opposed certification of Biden's win in the state in 2020. Ahead of Tuesday's elections, Biden accused Trump of inspiring Republican election denier candidates and warned voters: "Democracy is on the ballot for all of us."

☆ 14 TV insiders rank the streamers where they want to sell shows now as Apple TV+ closes in on HBO Max amid turmoil at Warner Bros. Discovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Elaine Low | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

"It's definitely been not the most exciting and robust year," said one TV agent at a major agency. Around 70 people at HBO and HBO Max have been let go this year, and their comedy development teams have merged. While WBD doesn't break out streamer-specific figures, it said on Thursday's earnings call that HBO Max, HBO, and Discovery+ have a combined 94.9 million subscribers, ensuring that any show on HBO Max has the chance to get a lot of eyeballs. They'll also take smaller swings in the genre department, do things at a lower budget," said the second TV agent. Echoed the first TV agent: "You pitch and sell to them if no one else wants it."

☆ Australian regulator investigating more firms for 'greenwashing'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Australia's corporate watchdog is investigating several companies and financial institutions for "greenwashing", or exaggerated claims regarding environment-friendly investment and products, a senior official said on Tuesday. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has been increasing its oversight of climate-related reporting. Greenwashing refers to misrepresenting the extent to which an investment or a financial product is environment-friendly and sustainable. Bird said greenwashing is against the law and organisations making claims about net zero carbon emission targets should check with ASIC's information on what constitutes greenwashing. While companies have improved climate-change reporting in recent few years, a disparity in global reporting standards has left gaps, ASIC has said.

Inflation expectations are de-anchoring from central bank targets, UniCredit CEE Chief Economist Dan Bucsa said. The situation is less clear in Poland though credit holidays to ease the burden of higher central bank interest rates are remaining heading into 2023. In western Europe, economists and financial markets largely expect price growth in the euro area to fall back to the European Central Bank's 2% target by 2024. "The upcoming general election is likely to stimulate fiscal expansion and, notably, the planned significant increase to the minimum wage from January may indeed spark a more substantial wage growth across the board." According to a Czech central bank survey, companies expect year-on-year inflation to be at 10.3% in one year and at 7.5% in three years, well above the central bank's 2% target.

☆ U.K. Sees Record Numbers of Migrants Crossing English Channel in Small Boats
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( David Luhnow | Joanna Sugden | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—Britain is grappling with a surge in migrants crossing the English Channel by boat that is overwhelming the country’s asylum system and posing a challenge for Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Migrants from Africa have long undertaken perilous sea voyages across the Mediterranean to get to southern Europe. But such trips across the channel, which separates the U.K. from continental Europe, are relatively new and have increased rapidly.

☆ Eminem, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Duran Duran stumbled but stayed sophisticated. The four acts found very different ways to celebrate on Saturday night, but all can now forever say they’re Rock & Roll Hall of Famers. “Rock & Roll is not a color,” he said. “One, I know, is that I’m a rapper and this is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.”He’s only the 10th hip-hop artist among well over 300 members of the Hall of Fame. “I‘ve been rockin’ rockin’ rockin’ rockin’ since the day I was born,” she sang, “and I’ll be rockin’ to the day I’m gone.”She closed the night leading an all-star jam of her fellow inductees on her country classic “Jolene.” Le Bon, Benatar and even Judas Priest singer Rob Halford took a verse.

☆ Sorry, Elon: The Masses Probably Won’t Pay for Social Media—ut I Will
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Joanna Stern | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

No one: All-time high inflation, soaring mortgage rates and a tanking stock market—any way for me to spend more money? Elon Musk: How about a subscription to Twitter?

☆ Sorry, Elon: The Masses Probably Won’t Pay for Social Media—But I Will
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Joanna Stern | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

No one: All-time high inflation, soaring mortgage rates and a tanking stock market—any way for me to spend more money? Elon Musk: How about a subscription to Twitter?

☆ 10 Things to Know About the 2022 iPads
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

It’s a fresh look for the tablet, bringing it more in-line with the iPad Pro, iPad Air and iPad Mini, with some notable compromises. Most people are likely better off choosing the 9th-generation iPad for non-demanding work, or the iPad Air or iPad Pro for more power. It has been totally redesignedThis is the first “mainline” iPad to get the edge-to-edge design that started with the iPad Pro before spreading to the iPad Air and iPad Mini. It uses fingerprint-based Touch ID on the top button for security, rather than the Face ID system found on the iPad Pro and almost all current iPhones. That’s nearly 40% more expensive than the base model, 9th-gen iPad, and only 25% less than the superior iPad Air.

Charles Roe, director of mortgages for banking industry group UK Finance, told lawmakers that lenders were reintroducing mortgage products at lower prices. However, Ray Boulger, senior mortgage technical manager at broker John Charcol, said he was disappointed at the slow progress lenders were making. PRICE FALLS FORECASTAverage two-year and five-year fixed mortgage rates have fallen around 0.2 percentage points from their recent peak, but still remain above 6%, Moneyfacts data shows. "It was 2008 the last time mortgage rates were at 6%, there's a whole cadre of people who have never experienced this...and are very worried," said Joanna Elson, Chief Executive, The Money Advice Trust. The lender has started to reduce fixed mortgage rates for existing customers, while rates for new customers were under review, he added.

☆ My startup was acquired for $320 million. Here's how I built and exited it in 10 years, and my advice for founders building in a niche market.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Lauren Crosmedlicott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Investors often told Griffiths her product was too niche and didn't have a strong enough market. After exiting Knix for $320 million this summer, she shares how to convince VCs on a new market. Here are my top tips for fundraising and building a successful business around a niche product:1. When investors say a product is niche, ask yourself: Am I getting this feedback because the addressable market is too small? When Knix started, we mainly sold to wholesalers, depending on them to tell the story of the product to get people to buy it.

☆ Pelosi says her family is 'heartbroken and traumatized' by brutal attack on her husband
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Joanna Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pictured with her husband, Paul Pelosi, on Capitol Hill on January 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. In her first public comments since her husband was attacked, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her family was "heartbroken and traumatized" by the brutal assault — but his condition is improving. The House Speaker was not in San Francisco at the time of the attack. Paul Pelosi, 82, has since gone through a successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, Pelosi's spokesman said on Friday. "His condition continues to improve," the House Speaker said in the letter.

☆ Apple confirms a major change: The iPhone is switching to USB-C — but it's not happy about being forced to ditch its Lightning port
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Currently, the law says all mobile phones and tablets have to have a USB-C port by autumn 2024. "We have no choice," Joswiak said in response to Stern's question about when USB-C iPhones are coming. He did not say if iPhones and other Apple products sold outside the EU will also have the USB-C port. The law mandates that "all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in the EU," have to include a USB-C port by autumn 2024. One example, he said, was when the US government made a regulation for mobile phones to satisfy a hearing aid compatibility, which he argued didn't work.

Even after Apple sells the last Lightning iPhone, many users will still own Lightning iPhones for several years to come. It's unclear whether Apple will keep selling Lightning cables and accessories after it discontinues sales of the last Lightning iPhone. USB-C iPhones would help unify your Apple devicesBy converting all its remaining Lightning devices to USB-C, you would conceivably only need one single USB-C charging cable and charging brick to charge all your Apple devices. You wouldn't need to buy new USB-C cables and chargers for a USB-C iPhone if you already have them. If it doesn't, you could use a USB-C cable that came with another device — that's the beauty of the universal USB-C charging standard.

☆ Snap's investment in augmented reality is backed by criticism towards the Metaverse, says WSJ's Stern
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSnap's investment in augmented reality is backed by criticism towards the Metaverse, says WSJ's SternJoanna Stern, Wall Street Journal reporter, joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss Snap pursuing augmented reality technology, opportunities for sales within the Snap platform and criticisms tech leaders share toward the Metaverse.

☆ Joanna Simon, acclaimed singer, TV correspondent, dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK — Joanna Simon, an acclaimed mezzo-soprano, Emmy-winning TV correspondent and one of the three singing Simon sisters who include pop star Carly, has died at age 85. Simon, the eldest of four, died Wednesday, just a day before her sister Lucy died, according to Lucy’s daughter, Julie Simon. Joanna Simon, who died of thyroid cancer, rose to fame in the opera world and as a concert performer in the 1960s. “I am filled with sorrow to speak about the passing of Joanna and Lucy Simon. “I have no words to explain the feeling of suddenly being the only remaining direct offspring of Richard and Andrea Simon,” Carly Simon said.

CNN —Singer Carly Simon paid tribute to her two sisters, Joanna and Lucy, who died just a day apart of each other this week, both from cancer. Joanna Simon, 85, died of thyroid cancer on Wednesday and Lucy Simon, 82, died of metastatic breast cancer Thursday, Simon’s manager, Larry Ciancia, confirmed to CNN. “I am filled with sorrow to speak about the passing of Joanna and Lucy Simon. Joanna Simon was an opera singer and Lucy Simon was a performer and composer who was nominated for a Tony Award for the score of the “The Secret Garden” musical. “As sad as this day is, it’s impossible to mourn them without celebrating their incredible lives that they lived,” Simon said.

☆ Sign Up for Tech Things With Joanna Stern
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Joanna Stern | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

It’s me, Joanna Stern, The Wall Street Journal’s senior personal tech columnist. And I’m here to ask you to stop what you’re doing and subscribe to my weekly Tech Things newsletter. If you like my columns and fun, informative videos, you’ll love this newsletter. I highlight my work about the most important products and trends, recap the biggest tech news of the week and provide tips to make your life better.

☆ 'Changed my life': Trans teen testifies against nation's first ban on gender-affirming care
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The Save Adolescents From Experimentation Act bars minors in the state from receiving certain gender-affirming medical care, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries. Carolyn Kaster / APThe American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of four trangsgender youths and their parents, as well as two physicians who provide gender-affirming care. ‘Changed my life for the better’The parents of four transgender young people represented in the suit spoke to how gender-affirming care has improved their children’s lives. Donnie Saxton of Vilonia, Arkansas, said his 17-year-old son, Parker, became “a new person” after coming out as trans and receiving gender-affirming medical care, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Three other states — Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee — have also passed measures restricting gender-affirming care for minors.

☆ Before Liz Truss, This British Prime Minister Held the Record for Shortest Tenure
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Joanna Sugden | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss ’s announcement Thursday that she would resign makes her the shortest-serving British leader in history. The prime minister who previously held that title was shot and wounded in a duel, succeeded in outmaneuvering Napoleon and died in office.

☆ Why Did Liz Truss Resign as the U.K.’s Prime Minister and What Happens Next?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Joanna Sugden | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The turmoil engulfing British politics in recent weeks took another turn on Thursday as Prime Minister Liz Truss said she would resign, becoming the shortest-serving leader in the country’s history and setting off a race to replace her. Here’s what you need to know. Why did Liz Truss resign? Ms. Truss stepped down as prime minister on Thursday, saying she couldn’t deliver the mandate on which she was elected by the Conservative Party.

☆ Who Will Be Britain’s New Prime Minister After Liz Truss?
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Joanna Sugden | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Graham Brady, chair of a backbench committee of Conservative lawmakers, said that candidates for the leadership would need the backing of at least 100 MPs by Monday. If there is more than one candidate, Conservative party members will vote for a winner online. Dan Kitwood/Getty

☆ Think of Any Image, Then Ask an AI Art Generator for It. The Results Are Amazing—and Terrifying.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Joanna Stern | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

All right, settle down, everyone. I finally found the perfect illustrator for my sci-fi graphic novel. I’m thinking I might have a real prizewinner on my hands here. OK, so once upon a time there was a…Hmm, not quite. There was a…

Search resuls for: "Joanna"

25 mentions found