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☆ Pro poker player rants at airline over lost luggage during live broadcast — and says he still can see it pinging at the airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Steve O'Dwyer griped on Twitter and during a live broadcast that Lufthansa airlines lost his luggage. He told CNN he tracked the bags with an AirTag, which indicated they were at Heathrow, but he still hasn't gotten them back. The pro player took to Twitter to share other airline customers' accounts of mishandled luggage. Following the tournament, O'Dwyer recounted to CNN his journey from Ireland to the Bahamas with a connecting flight at Heathrow Airport. After O'Dwyer bashed Lufthansa during the tournament broadcast, he continued to tweet at the airline and some of its employees.

☆ You now can get $700 in discounts at Disney's Star Wars-themed hotel but a two-night stay still costs thousands.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A two-night stay at the Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel and attraction typically costs $5,000. Two nights at the Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel and attraction, which launched last year, typically costs guests $5,000, according to the New York Post. Now, Disney is offering up to $700 in discounts, as it looks to fill beds at the much-lauded spot, according to the Walt Disney World website. Some media outlets, like CNBC, applauded the hotel for its ability to bring guests into the world of Star Wars, but guests have remained lukewarm. "Genuinely Disney is going to have to eventually drop that price on galactic starcruiser," one user Tweeted.

☆ Local businesses in rural Montana give out free food and lodging to hundreds of travelers stranded by dangerous high winds
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hundreds were stranded outside Big Timber, Montana, this week after I-90 shut down. "It just speaks to what this small town has done for people," one bakery owner told Insider. "That's how this small town is — people do that for each other," Teb Seifu, owner of Big Timber Bakery, told Insider. Stranded travelers told local TV station KTVQ they were able to find hotel rooms for the night, and lauded the locals of Big Timber. The weather in Big Timber has subsided since earlier this week, and temperatures reached 40 degrees Saturday morning.

☆ A New York man got a package from a funeral home in the mail. Inside were the cremated remains of a man he'd never met.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A New York musician found the cremated remains of a man he'd never met in his mailbox. The New York Post later tracked down the man's son, after the ashes were returned to a funeral home. Leithauser told The New York Post. Insider contacted the funeral home for comment, but a representative said he had never heard of a package containing ashes sent to Leithauser. The New York Post on Thursday identified the deceased as Dwight Walter, and tracked down his son, Lamant Hall,"Shame on them," Hall told the Post.

☆ A couple went on a months-long hunt for their lost luggage. They found out that it had been donated to a charity.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"Our luggage was donated to a charity on behalf of Air Canada." Over four months, Rees documented the hunt in a series of videos. "The only reason we got it back is because it became high profile," Rees told Insider in an interview this week. "And then it sat there — for a month, two months, three months," Rees said in the video. "If it takes me and my husband to hold them accountable — that's exactly what we plan on doing," Rees told Insider.

☆ Hong Kong is offering free flights to tourists across the globe, following years of COVID restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Hong Kong will offer 500,000 flights to tourists all over the world, the city announced Thursday. The tickets will be distributed by Hong Kong Express, Cathay Pacific, and Hong Kong Airlines starting March 1, according to TimeOut. Hong Kong followed China's zero-COVID policy through most of the pandemic, before loosening rules last year, Reuters reported. As part of the announcement Thursday, Lee said Hong Kong will begin to host sporting and other cultural events, while highlighting its culture, Reuters reported. "We have to let outsiders know that Hong Kong has a unique status, especially when the 'one country, two systems' principles will be implemented in Hong Kong for a long time," he said.

☆ Intel's CEO will take a 25% pay cut, as the company attempts to compete with global chip manufacturers and prevent further layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Intel's CEO and members of its executive team will take pay cuts of up to 25%, Reuters reported. Intel told Insider the company is working "to reduce costs across the company." The move aims to free up cash for investments in line with company strategy, Intel said in a statement. Intel's chief executive Pat Gelsinger is taking the largest cut at 25%, while other higher-ups will have their salaries reduced by 5%, 10%, or 15%, per Reuters. It also comes as other companies opt for executive pay cuts in an effort to prevent mass layoffs.

☆ That real estate listing you just saw for your dream house may have been written by ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The house is just one of the listings put up by Iowa realtor JJ Johannes using help from AI, CNN reported. "It saved me so much time," Johannes told CNN. "ChatGPT wrote it as a legal issue and all of a sudden, the developer showed up at her house," he told CNN. Even if ChatGPT, now free for users, becomes a paid service, Asion told CNN the price tag would be no question. "I would easily pay $100 or $200 a year for something like this," he told CNN.

☆ Patients got used to emailing their doctors with health questions during the pandemic. Now hospitals are charging them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hospitals are charging patients for their emails and other correspondence with doctors. Some hospital officials say the strategy increases healthcare access, but advocates worry charges could deter patients who need care. Hospitals nationwide have begun to charge for emails and other correspondence with their doctors, the Associated Press reported. After Covid led patients to avoid crowded hospitals and waiting rooms, and condense what used to be in-person visits to emails and video calls, hospitals say doctors spent more time responding to health question emails and messages, the Associated Press reported. But advocates worry the strategy will lead patients to avoid seeking care when they need it, for fear of being charged.

☆ How 5 major streaming services are cracking down (or not) on password sharing, from Netflix to Hulu
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Netflix will start charging for password sharing by the end of March, according to the company. Other services like HBO Max have traditionally struck a different tone on sharing. Notably, password sharing is against the terms of service of virtually every streaming service, and a federal court ruling in 2016 upheld a conviction of password theft under a 1980s anti-hacking law. Still, services like HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Hulu each have their own methods for preventing — or allowing — users to share their accounts. Here's a look at the current state of password streaming among the major streamers.

☆ Kroger workers say grocery chain is pocketing their paychecks in new lawsuit: 'This is wage theft, plain and simple'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger workers claim the grocery giant garnished paychecks and failed to pay overtime. A union representing Kroger employees is seeking reports of wage theft. "These are workers who are not in a position to have their paychecks reduced," Rachel Nadas, an attorney representing the Kroger workers, told Insider Friday. "This is wage theft, plain and simple," Union President Mark Federici said in the release issued last week. Nadas said she and the team of attorneys handling the case hope to recover lost wages and receive damages for the Kroger workers affected.

☆ Associated Press takes back a tweet over concerns that the faux pas could offend some, especially in France
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A tweet by an account linked to the Associated Press caused controversy on the site. An account linked to the Associated Press, which often offers style tips for writers and journalists, used the phrase "the French" Thursday to refer to French people. It later sent a series of tweets taking back the language used in the original style tip. An updated tweet is upcoming," the Associated Press wrote. —The Associated Press (@AP) January 27, 2023Below the news organization's original rollback of the tweet, users took to humor as the Associated Press worked to mitigate the tweet's effect.

☆ Doctors and Nurses Forced to Give Four Months Notice
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Employees at Concentra must give 120 days' notice before they quit, Bloomberg reported. Doctors, nurses and physicians assistants have received threats of hefty fines for leaving early, according to Bloomberg. The FTC has proposed a rule banning noncompete clauses, which also affect Concentra workers, per Bloomberg. But as noncompete clauses and other restrictive measures become popular among corporations, regulators are firing up an effort to halt them all together. By ending this practice, the FTC's proposed rule would promote greater dynamism, innovation, and healthy competition," FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in the release.

☆ See inside Grand Central Station's newly opened Long Island Rail Road terminal — finally open to passengers after 15 years of construction
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Construction on Grand Central Madison began in 2006, and cost $12 billion. Positioned more than 100 feet underground, it can take up to 12 minutes to travel from the platform to the subway. Shuttle service from Queens to the terminal, called Grand Central Madison, began Wednesday. While construction on parts of the tunnel that connects to Grand Central Madison began in the 1960s and was completed in the 1980s, work to connect tunnels to Grand Central Station didn't begin until 2007. Insider dug up photos showing a timeline of construction at the terminal, from a hole underground to a shiny new station.

☆ Chris Cuomo says he's 'emotionally and psychologically beat up' after being fired by CNN in new interview
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chris Cuomo spoke out about his ousting from CNN on the "No BS News Hour" podcast last week. Cuomo still said he views CNN as the "best news organization in the world," the New York Post reported. "I am emotionally and psychologically beat up and changed by what I went through," Cuomo told podcast hosts Charlie LeDuff and Karen Dumas, as reported by the New York Post on Saturday. Cuomo was fired from CNN in December 2021, after he helped his brother and former New York Gov. Cuomo told LeDuff and Dumas he wasn't given the opportunity to say goodbye to his staff after CNN abruptly fired him, per the Post.

☆ Walgreens exec: Security guards aren't there to 'protect product' after CFO called them 'largely ineffective'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

CFO James Kehoe called the chain's security guards 'largely ineffective' in an earnings call this month. Security guards "are not there to protect the product," he said, per the Post. At the anti-theft summit, Stein said instead, locking up products has become an effective means for preventing theft at Walgreens stores, the Post reported. In October 2021, Walgreens CFO James Kehoe blamed the closing of five San Francisco stores on organized shoplifting. Kehoe also acknowledged that private security guards are "largely ineffective" and that police officers had more impact.

☆ US Border Officials Fighting Mexico Egg Smuggling, As Prices Soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

As egg prices continue to rise in the US, some are attempting to bring cheaper eggs illegally from Mexico over the border. But transporting uncooked eggs poses a risk of disease and could cost smugglers thousands in fines, officials say. Prices in Mexico can be less than half of what some in the US pay, NPR reported. While the prospect of lower egg prices is tempting, customs officials have noticed the increase. Seizures of eggs at the US-Mexico border rose 108% from October to December in 2022, according to Border Report.

☆ Microsoft CEO says OpenAI partnership will allow companies to access tools like ChatGPT in workplace emails, slideshows, and spreadsheets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Increased availability of Microsoft's Azure OpenAI Service follows AI integration within the company's own products like Excel and Bing. The tech giant announced earlier this week it opened access to its Azure OpenAI Service, which uses Microsoft cloud computing technology to allow companies to use AI tools like ChatGPT, according to a company press release. "With Azure OpenAI Service now generally available, more businesses can apply for access to the most advanced AI models in the world," the announcement states. Nadella went on to say that workers should embrace new AI tools instead of fearing them, the Journal reported. At the Wall Street Journal panel Tuesday, he said AI tools will increase human productivity, in turn bolstering economic growth and wages.

☆ 'Sober bars' selling fancy mocktails are booming — showing Dry January is more than just a trend as Americans increasingly adopt alcohol-free lifestyles
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sober bars are opening across the US, charging the same price for drinks as their boozy counterparts. But at sober bars across the country, alcohol-free cocktails are year-round staples and Dry January is more than just a trend. Getty ImagesEach sober bar puts its own spin on the idea of an alcohol-free cocktail, business owners told Insider. Marshall was a pioneer of the sober bar business, opening Sans Bar in 2017. Owners of sober bars told Insider they only see further growth in the industry, as trends like Dry January and sober-curious lifestyles take a stronger hold.

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