DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

A sexual battery case in California was dismissed and the victim's protective order terminated when a third-party vendor used by Riverside County Superior Court failed to summons any jurors. The case was among more than 1,000 that have been dismissed in the county in recent months, the Riverside County District Attorney's office said. The misdemeanor case stemmed from a complaint filed last year alleging the defendant groped her without her consent in October 2021. It was postponed for one day but by then no courtrooms were available, and the judge dismissed the case. Across Riverside County, located east of Los Angeles, more than 1,000 cases have been dismissed since early October, Hestrin's office said.

☆ Alabama inmate 'baked to death' in prison cell 'hotter than three hells,' federal lawsuit says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Marlene Lenthang | Julianne Mcshane | Marlene Lenthang Is A Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

An Alabama inmate died after being “baked” to death in a sweltering prison cell described as “hotter than three hells,” his family alleged in a federal wrongful death lawsuit. T Unit, the mental health ward where Rutledge was held, was not included in the project, according to the lawsuit. Alleged negligence by corrections officersThe suit said that inmates in the T Unit had complained of “excessive heat” all weekend prior to Rutledge’s death. The evening of Rutledge’s death, the heat in T Unit was over 100 degrees, the lawsuit said, and the blistering temperature was “obvious” to officers who conducted periodic checks. NBC News has reached out to the Alabama Department of Corrections and attorneys for each of the defendants for comment.

☆ A Tesla owner says his Model Y ordered him to pull over before it suddenly shut down, trapping him inside
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Tesla owner said his five-day-old car suddenly shut down, leaving him trapped inside. YouTuber Tom Exton was 15 minutes into his journey before the car ordered him to pull over. He says the driver's window "somehow broke" when using the emergency override to get out of the car. Tom ExtonAccording to Tesla's emergency response guide for the Model Y, opening the front doors without power involved lifting the "mechanical release handle located near the window switches." Exton did point out that Tesla's customer service was very helpful and offered to pay for a hotel for the night.

☆ A trail of oil: Keystone pipeline's history of oil spills
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The following is a timeline of some of Keystone's biggest oil spills, along with recent other spills of crude, both onshore and offshore. 2016April: TC shut down the pipeline after about 400 barrels of oil leaked in Hutchinson County, South Dakota. 2017November: TC shut part of the Keystone pipeline system after a leak in South Dakota, caused by mechanical damage from original construction. 2019February: Portions of the Keystone pipeline were shut down after 42 barrels of oil leaked on land in rural St. Charles County, Missouri. OTHER ONSHORE SPILLS:Since 2010 there have been two spills of crude oil larger than this most recent Keystone spill.

☆ The US Navy spent 4 weeks blasting one of its aircraft carriers to figure out how to keep enemies from sinking them
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Harrison Kass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In May 2005, the US Navy sank the decommissioned aircraft carrier America in the Atlantic Ocean. The USS America (CV-66) was one of three Kitty Hawk-class carriers built in the 1960s. Building the USS America of the Kitty Hawk-classUSS America in the Indian Ocean on April 24, 1983. The career of the USS AmericaA U-2 reconnaissance aircraft on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS America. A declassified image of USS America sinking after four weeks of live-fire weapons damage tests in May 2005.

☆ Leased Robots Roll in to Help Logistics Firms Handle Holiday Crush
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Angus Loten | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Sally Miller, chief information officer of DHL’s North American supply-chain business, a unit of Deutsche Post AG , said she is planning to deploy “a good number” of temporary robots at several of the company’s retail-focused sites. The Locus Robotics robots—which the manufacturer calls “surge bots”—will be used for picking up orders and fulfillment, Ms. Miller said. Photo: Locus RoboticsKnown as robots-as-a-service, leased robots are employed widely in manufacturing, but are relatively new to the logistics industry, analysts said. The extra robots, provided by Berkeley, Calif.-based Ambi Robotics Inc., helped the company handle a surge of packages, it said. Mr. Faulk, of Locus Robotics, said the company hopes many logistics firms will hold on to their temporary robots well after seasonal highs, as a way to eke out year-round efficiencies.

☆ Thomas Zacharia Knows the Power of Innovation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Emily Bobrow | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Thomas Zacharia describes his story as uniquely American. When he came to the U.S. from India in 1981, he had a degree in mechanical engineering and $8 in his pocket. Today he runs Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), America’s largest science and energy laboratory, overseeing more than 6,000 staffers and an annual budget of more than $2.4 billion. “To be leading such a prestigious, history-making organization is unthinkable in any other country for an immigrant,” he says over video from his office in Oak Ridge, Tenn.At the end of the year, Dr. Zacharia, 65, will retire after 35 years at ORNL, which was founded as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II. When he assumed the top job in 2017, he was inspired by the lab’s history as a place where scientists from all over the world came to invent the nuclear-reactor technology that helped to win the war, generate new energy sources and enable new insights into the fundamental laws of the universe.

☆ A Lufthansa Airbus A350 was forced to emergency land in Angola leaving some passengers stranded in the country for days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Lufthansa Airbus A350 diverted to Luanda, Angola, after suffering an engine issue on Saturday. Passengers were stuck on the plane for hours after landing, and their passports were confiscated. Lufthansa told Insider it sent a team of technicians to inspect the aircraft. The airline told Insider the passengers were given a hotel room, where they "were looked after around the clock by Lufthansa staff." However, NTV reported some passengers were offered flights for days or even weeks later, but Lufthansa told Insider that all passengers will have left by Monday — three days after the diversion to Luanda.

☆ Energy efficiency rate accelerates amid high prices - IEA
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COPENHAGEN, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Global progress toward energy efficiency has accelerated this year as a result of high energy prices and disruptions to fuel supply but still not enough to meet climate change targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. The Paris-based watchdog has called for governments to prioritize efforts to improve energy efficiency in buildings and transport, as ambitions to reduce emissions and curb rising temperatures cannot be met by only focusing on building out renewable energy. "The oil shocks of the 1970s led to a massive push by governments on energy efficiency, resulting in substantial improvements in the energy efficiency of cars, appliances and buildings," IEA head Fatih Birol said in a statement. "Amid today's energy crisis, we are seeing signs that energy efficiency is once again being prioritised," he said. Preliminary data indicate that global investments in energy efficiency such as heat pumps and building insulation will increase 16% this year to $560 billion, according to IEA.

☆ I oversaw hiring at Microsoft. Here's the one interview question that makes or breaks job candidates — and what I looked for in an answer.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Chris Williams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He always asks job candidates to tell him something they've learned recently. A person who will promptly learn what they need to and help others by sharing what they've learned. A great candidate will have a ready answerMaybe they've learned how to format pivot tables in Excel. They will make it easy to share what they've learned. It doesn't happen often; most people have something they've learned, something they can share.

The women's attorney, L. Chris Stewart, based in Atlanta, said the Americans died from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a malfunctioning water heater. Investigators believe the trio died from carbon monoxide poisoning, Mexico City prosecutors said. Ben Jared / PGA TOUR via Getty Images fileAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, carbon monoxide poisoning is almost entirely preventable. But carbon monoxide poisoning can be especially dangerous during power outages, when people use alternative sources of fuel or electricity, such as generators. A winter storm in Texas in mid-February 2021 resulted in one of the worst carbon monoxide poisoning incidents in recent history, experts said.

☆ Elon Musk has criticized Apple for years. Apple has mostly ignored him.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kif Leswing | Lora Kolodny | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

This week, Musk claimed in a tweet that Apple had mostly stopped advertising on the Twitter platform. Apple is not alone in reducing its campaigns on the social media platform since Musk took over. If the so-called “Apple Car” ever came to market, Tesla and Apple would be direct competitors. Cook and MuskHave Apple CEO Tim Cook and Musk ever spoken in depth? Around 2016, according to the book, Musk and Cook spoke about Apple potentially acquiring Tesla.

This week, Musk claimed in a tweet that Apple had mostly stopped advertising on the Twitter platform. Apple is not alone in reducing its campaigns on the social media platform since Musk took over. Whether accurate or not, Musk's allegation that Apple has "threatened to withhold" Twitter from its App Store may resonate with other developers. One of the most notable people to switch sides was Doug Field, who started at Apple, joined Tesla and then rejoined Apple. In case anybody missed the reference to Apple's App Store, which Apple maintains as the exclusive way to distribute apps to its devices, Musk then faked a cough and said, "Apple."

☆ Why Faulty Streetlights Are Turning Cities Purple — and Why It's Worrisome
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

LED streetlights are supposed to shine for the better part of a decade. Every city with purple lights that responded to my queries or has public records on the matter bought its LED lights from Acuity. The blue LED, with its narrow wavelength, enabled all sorts of modern tech, from the compact disc to flat-screen monitors. Acuity and the purple cities haven't been entirely transparent on that matter. "The purple streetlights are a result of the phosphor coating delaminating from the LEDs," says Fiona Hughes, a representative for the city of Vancouver.

☆ Idealab founder Bill Gross started selling solar energy kits in 1973 at 15 years old. Now he's leading solar tech company Heliogen
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Idealab and Heliogen Founder Bill Gross speaks onstage during Vox Media's 2022 Code Conference on September 08, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. "Because I was reading Popular Science magazine, I saw people used to take out little ads in the back," Gross told CNBC. One limiting factor for solar energy is its intermittency, which means it only delivers power when the sun is shining. But we're delivering the energy continuously because the energy is coming out of the rock bed," Gross told CNBC. The price of fossil fuels after Russia invaded Ukraine is a game changer," Gross told CNBC.

Best Cyber Monday gaming PC gaming dealsDeal icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Great Price ASUS ROG Strix G15 Gaming Desktop PC ROG Strix is ASUS' premiere PC gaming brand, and this prebuilt PC is a great example of the quality that name brings. Best Cyber Monday PC gaming monitor dealsDeal icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. $139.99 from Best Buy Originally $249.99 Save 44%Best Cyber Monday PC gaming graphic card dealsDeal icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Best Cyber Monday PC gaming SSD dealsDeal icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt.

☆ Inside a $2.5 million Michigan castle that harkens back to medieval Europe with its secret passageways, wooden drawbridge, and wine cellar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The LeBlanc Castle is a custom 10,000-square-foot property about 30 minutes north of Detroit. The castle, set on more than 6 acres, has been on the market for three months asking $2.5 million. To this day, he has not spent a single night at the five-bedroom, seven-bathroom mansion a 30-minute drive north of Detroit known to locals as The LeBlanc Castle. It harkens back to the 15th-century Scottish medieval era with its secret passageways, wooden drawbridge, and other classical features like a moat. Since taking possession of the castle, Gatecliff said he has updated several pieces of the home's infrastructure.

Critical shortages of the ADHD drug Adderall and the antibiotic amoxicillin have left families reeling as the medicines their loved ones need become harder to find. In the case of amoxicillin, demand has become particularly acute amid a so-called tripledemic of Covid, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, and the flu that are converging this season. The Food and Drug Administration's website currently lists amoxicillin and Adderall, also known as mixed amphetamine salts, as being in short supply. NBC News reached out to two of the drugmakers responsible for producing both Adderall and amoxicillin. In 2020, Congress passed the Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages Act, which aimed to address some of these issues.

☆ Here's what flight attendants want you to know about flying
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Francesca Street | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

Navigating the world of airports and airplanes at this time can be stressful, but if anyone’s an expert in holiday travel, it’s flight attendants. That said, sometimes flight attendants are only in a destination for 24 hours. Flight attendants support this kind of switching about, but will try not to interfere unless there are issues. And yes, some celebrities have a reputation for being rude, and that reputation will spread among flight attendants. I think a lot of flight attendants would agree with me on that.”What strange things do people leave behind in the cabin?

☆ Rivian’s CEO created buzzy, outdoorsy EVs. Now big automakers are coming after it
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Even now, as the company’s assembly lines have started churning out its electric vehicles, success still isn’t assured. The 39-year-old is running the car company he founded, building electric vehicles he helped engineer and design. Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesEver since he was a child growing up in Melbourne, Florida, Scaringe wanted to start his own car company. At the time, the idea of starting a car company seemed very farfetched. Robert Joseph "RJ" Scaringe, Rivian's founder and CEO, said he had wanted to start a car company since he was a child.

☆ Rivian’s founder had an early advantage with his electric truck. Now rivals GM and Ford are closing in
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Even now, as the company’s assembly lines have started churning out its electric vehicles, success still isn’t assured. The 39-year-old is running the car company he founded, building electric vehicles he helped engineer and design. A Rivian R1T pickup truck at the company's manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois. Robert Joseph "RJ" Scaringe, Rivian's founder and CEO, said he had wanted to start a car company since he was a child. In 2021, Ford revealed the F-150 Lightning electric truck, which went into production this year.

☆ I used a HELOC to become an Airbnb millionaire. It was risky, but the strategy paid off big time — here's how I set up this secondary income stream.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Bryce Decora | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

This was the beginning of a world of real estate that would change our lives foreverDeCora's Bellevue Airbnb. If the real estate market started trending downward at this time, this story may not have had such a happy endingExtending your debt to the max in real estate is the equivalent of an all-in poker move. Our three-house real estate portfolio is worth around $2.5 million and we only have $1.35 million in mortgage and HELOC debt. Once you get over the scary leap, you'll see real estate as a simple way to building a massive empire. Bryce DeCora is a former engineer turned real estate investor and a father of two.

☆ Tesla safety at centre of South Korean trial over fiery, fatal crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Ju-Min Park | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

SEOUL, Nov 21 (Reuters) - In an upscale Seoul neighbourhood two years ago, a white Tesla Model X smashed into a parking lot wall. The criminal trial about to begin in South Korea hangs on questions about the safety of Tesla cars, at a time when the EV maker faces a range of lawsuits and increased scrutiny by regulators. A lawyer for the family of Yoon Hong-geun, who owned the car and died in the crash, declined to comment. Tesla sold 17,828 vehicles in South Korea in 2021, registration data shows. Judge Park Won-gyu said that he plans to call Tesla engineers to testify and that the safety of Tesla vehicles would be examined at trial.

☆ Girl dies after she's hit by truck in Raleigh Christmas parade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A girl was killed after she was hit by a truck pulling a float during a Christmas parade in Raleigh, North Carolina, authorities said Saturday. The driver of a vehicle in the parade lost control near an intersection and hit the girl while traveling at a low rate of speed, police said in a news release. The girl, who has not been identified, was a member of CC & Company Dance Complex, local news media reported. Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said her heart "aches for the young girl hit in a tragic accident." Police officers work the scene of a fatal accident at a holiday parade in Raleigh, N.C. on Nov. 19, 2022.

☆ Arun Majumdar's mom cooked over a coal stove on the floor, and now he's the first leader of Stanford's new climate school — here is his story
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Building a successful climate school that both educates people and scales up technological solutions in its accelerator arm requires thinking beyond the bubble of Silicon Valley. Majumdar's understanding of the importance of a global perspective for the climate school is also personally informed. He was also a professor, did research, and worked at Google for a stint before eventually getting the opportunity to lead the launch of the Stanford climate school. The lessons he learned at ARPA-E are helping form the foundation for the accelerator arm at the Stanford climate school. Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Photo courtesy Cat Clifford, CNBCSo far, the sustainability school at Stanford seems to be popular with students.

Search resuls for: "Mechanical"

25 mentions found