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☆ Read the memo Google CFO Ruth Porat sent to staff about new cost-cutting, including paring back worker perks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Hugh Langley | Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Googlers,This year, one of our important company OKRs is to deliver durable savings through improved velocity and efficiency. Since then, we've continued to rebalance based on data about how programs and services are being used. Improving external procurement is another area where data suggests significant savings — on everything from software to equipment to professional services. We set a high bar for industry-leading perks, benefits and office amenities, and will continue that into the future. Jen, Philipp, Prabhakar, Ruth and Thomas (co-owners of the OKR), on behalf of all PA and Functional leads

☆ 4 crew members who were promised a role in NBC's 'Bel-Air' speak out: 'I left my son for a year for nothing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

Four cast and crew members from the "Bel-Air" fan video were told they'd get hired for the TV show. Kerry Rounds, producer: 'I helped the fan trailer go viral and connected Cooper to Will Smith'I'm a film producer and social-media strategist. When the trailer was done and posted, I told Cooper I could call in some favors and get this thing seen. Cooper told me he'd pitched me for an executive role to NBC. When Kerry was still around for the project, things seemed to function more like a professional film set.

☆ Google to cut down on employee laptops, services and staplers for 'multi-year' savings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Google's finance chief Ruth Porat recently said in a rare companywide email that the company is making cuts to employee services. “These are big, multi-year efforts,” Porat said in a Friday email titled: "Our company-wide OKR on durable savings." In separate documents viewed by CNBC, Google said it's cutting back on fitness classes, staplers, tape, and the frequency of laptop replacements for employees. One of the company's important objectives for 2023 is to "deliver durable savings through improved velocity and efficiency." The company declined to pay the remainder of laid-off employees’ maternity and medical leaves, CNBC previously reported.

☆ Google announces a series of cost-saving measures across the company as it cuts some staff perks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Google has announced a series of cost-cutting measures across the company. Google has announced a series of cost-cutting measures as the company continues to tighten its belt and prioritize its work in artificial intelligence. While they wrote that some of these changes would not be noticeable to many staff, they added that other things "will impact some services Googlers use at work and beyond." The note added that Google is continuing to hire at a reduced pace, while redeploying teams to higher priority work. Here's the memo in full:Googlers,This year, one of our important company OKRs is to deliver durable savings through improved velocity and efficiency.

☆ Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's LinkedIn for Hollywood workers, which just raised $15 million, is disrupting how productions are staffed at Warner Bros, Paramount, and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's Impact, a LinkedIn-like platform for Hollywood, recently raised $15 million. Hiring below-the-line crew members has largely been an offline process based on personal networks, Impact CEO Tyler Mitchell said. "We would have to find where the productions are, and more than anything, get people, whether they're independent films or other productions, using our products," he said. "I don't think there's a scenario where people will be using Impact to source 100 percent of a crew. The company has a database of 1.3 million people, including 30,000 crew members who are active users.

☆ Hong Kong unveils budget, promising 'abundant opportunities' as city recovers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Sumathi Bala | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Pedestrians pas stores in Hong Kong, China, on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. Hong Kong wants to become an international center for virtual assets as the city seeks to bolster its status as a global financial hub following the disruptions caused by the pandemic. "I believe that Hong Kong's economy will visibly recover this year, and I remain positive," Chan said during his budget speech. Hong Kong's economy is expected to see a rebound of 3.5% to 5.5% in 2023, after shrinking 3.5% in 2022, Chan said. Hong Kong closely followed China's strict zero-Covid policy until the middle of 2022 when the city began to ease some of the restrictions.

☆ Abortion foes to get National Archives tour, apology after filing suit over clothing ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Anti-abortion protestors demonstrate during the nationwide Women's March, held after Texas rolled out a near-total ban on abortion procedures and access to abortion-inducing medications, in Austin, Texas, U.S., October 2, 2021. The National Archives and the two plaintiffs agreed to the concessions as part of a proposed order filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. It also calls for the women's claims to be referred to a mediator for a possible settlement of the case. Nor does it resolve the pending suit against the archives, which house the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and many other historically significant American documents. Security guards at the museum likewise ordered them to remove or cover up messages opposing abortion on their clothing during visits.

☆ 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.

[1/2] Chris Hipkins speaks to members of the media, after being confirmed as the only nomination to replace Jacinda Ardern as leader of the Labour Party, outside New Zealand's parliament in Wellington, New Zealand January 21, 2023. We are different people though, and I'm sure that people will see that," Hipkins told a news conference on Saturday after emerging as the only candidate to lead the ruling Labour Party. First elected to parliament in 2008, Hipkins became a household name fronting the government's response to the pandemic. He was appointed health minister in July 2020 before becoming the COVID response minister at the end of the year. Hipkins is known around parliament for his sense of humour - including an ability to laugh at himself.

☆ The best beard trimmers, according to experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Harry Rabinowitz | Harry Rabinowitz Is A Reporter For Select On Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

Short or long, they can enhance your look quickly!”SKIP AHEAD The best beard trimmers | Professional beard care tipsWe spoke with hair care professionals who shared with us their top beard trimmers as well as tips on keeping a beard healthy and tidy. How to shop for a beard trimmerLike most personal care products, there are an overwhelming amount of beard trimmers on the market. PowerOur experts recommend beard trimmers that are cordless with rechargeable internal Lithium-ion batteries rather than traditional corded trimmers. WaterproofingMost beard trimmers aren’t waterproof, and trimming your beard while wet can lead to some uneven results (take it from me). The best beard trimmersWe spoke with experts about their favorite beard trimmers and other beard-care essentials.

☆ Alameda liquidators just lost $72,000 on a DeFi lending platform while trying to recover funds for creditors, analytics firm says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Alameda liquidators lost $72,000 worth of crypto while trying to recover funds, per a report from Arkham Intelligence. Essentially, liquidators have been trying to consolidate assets from Alameda into a single wallet to simplify managing its holdings. As the team was trying to move funds and exit positions, they accidentally liquidated themselves on Aave, a DeFi lending protocol. Around $1.4 million worth of tokens have been returned to the central wallet from various Alameda wallets over the past two weeks. The wallet holds around $19.6 million worth of ether and $140 million of various other cryptocurrencies, The Block reported Thursday.

☆ ‘The Drop’ Review: An Accident’s Comic Aftermath
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

NBC’s “The Slap” of 2015, based on an Australian novel and TV series, was about a group of friends melting down after one of them slapped another’s child at a birthday party. A viewer might have felt like slapping the entire cast before the show had gotten very far, but the idea was provocative and the what-ifs abundant. “The Drop” is scary for other reasons, namely the state of film comedy and a certain kind of humor that won’t go away. But it begs comparison with the earlier show, even if the element of guilt has been drastically diluted: Instead of a dislikable man hitting a dislikable child on purpose, a woman drops a baby by accident. And whose reactions to the “incident” are meant to provide us access to their lives, and the shallowness within.

☆ A former personal assistant to an Oscar-winning actress says the job comes with plenty of perks — but you have to set boundaries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Mark Ellwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Bonnie Low-Kramen was the personal assistant to the actor Olympia Dukakis for 25 years. She shared with Insider how she made the leap into PA work, what it's like to work for a celebrity day-to-day, and how she pivoted into entrepreneurship. Good timing got her a role working alongside a starLow-Kramen with Olympia Dukakis and Dukakis' husband, the actor Louis Zorich. Prescription and dry-cleaning pickups are a constant request, Low-Kramen said, and it can cause unexpected issues. Today, Low-Kramen said, a starting salary for a celebrity PA on call 24/7 can typically hit the low six figures.

☆ We asked Broadway actors which audience behaviors annoy them most — here are their 8 theater-etiquette rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Iris Dorbian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Insider asked Broadway and off-Broadway experts about their top etiquette tips for watching a show. Recently, Insider spoke to a number of Broadway and off-Broadway experts to ask about proper theater etiquette. Below are eight tips to follow the next time you're in a Broadway theater. Robin Rothstein, a playwright and former director of operations at touring-show producer Broadway Across America, told Insider: "The Broadway theaters are old and seats are small. Now that you know the eight rules of proper Broadway etiquette, buy a ticket and enjoy a show.

☆ Christmas meant real Christmas trees for my family. Then my husband got a fake one.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( Elizabeth Grey | Elizabeth Grey Is An Essayist | Cook. You Can Find A Link To Her Highly Unprofessional Cooking Show | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

My origin story begins on Christmas Eve. I asked my mother once if we could get silver tinsel icicles, having seen them at a friend’s house. When my brother had kids, we started driving to his house on Christmas Eve to be with them. I would use the fake tree as Exhibit A in the court wrangling over our inevitable divorce. I believe there are two kinds of people, real vs. fake tree, and real tree people are superior.

☆ She says she was fired in retaliation. Hearst Magazines says she was insubordinate. Here's how Delish's hit YouTube show 'Budget Eats' came crashing down.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Steven Perlberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Produced by the Hearst-owned food brand Delish, "Budget Eats" was the kind of digital success story that traditional magazine giants crave. As Xie worked her day job developing recipes, "Budget Eats" was morphing from a pandemic experiment to a bonafide hit. A career recipe developer at work, the "Budget Eats" Xie doesn't even measure out ingredients. "It felt like she was afraid that putting 'Budget Eats' from her kitchen onto this cable network might dilute the honesty," Lennon-Simon said. As for "Budget Eats," Delish recently posted what is presumably the last episode.

The third season of "Emily in Paris" is now available to watch on Netflix . Check out the trailer for 'Emily in Paris' season 3Star Lily Collins returns for season three, along with Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park, Lucas Bravo, Samuel Arnold, and Bruno Gouery. How to watch 'Emily in Paris'You can watch "Emily in Paris" exclusively on Netflix. The first season of "Emily in Paris" debuted on Netflix in October 2020, to mixed but mostly positive reviews. Will there be a season 4 of 'Emily in Paris'?

☆ I fill executive-assistant jobs at tech companies that pay up to $250,000 a year. There's a surprisingly low barrier to entry — I just look for these traits in people.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Elle Hardy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Jessica Vann recruits executive assistants for companies like Okta at her company Maven. She says executive assistants are nothing like secretaries — they're the eyes and ears of a leader. After all, an executive assistant preserves a company's scarcest and most precious resource: the leader of the organization. Raising issues to an executive assistant can give the executive the opportunity to intervene while there's still a chance. Are you a recruiter or executive assistant at a major tech company?

☆ Analysis: Gains for Malaysia's hardline Islamist party a challenge for new PM Anwar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( A. Ananthalakshmi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/4] A pillion waves a Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) flag on the eve of Malaysia's general election at Permatang Pauh, Penang, Malaysia November 18, 2022. Anwar, who is ethnic Malay and Muslim, addressed race and religion in his first news conference as prime minister, promising to uphold Islam as the official religion of the country and the rights of the ethnic Malay majority, while also safeguarding the rights of all. Race and religion are thorny issues in Malaysia, where Muslim ethnic Malays form a majority in a country with significant ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indian minorities, most of them Hindu, Buddhist or Christian. As the biggest party in parliament, PAS could push for Islamisation and more affirmative action for Malays - a long-standing policy that Anwar has opposed, analysts said. "They see PAS as a clean party and its political leaders have no integrity problems," said Mohd Izani.

☆ Malaysia's Anwar begins work as PM after polarising election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Malaysia's newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim greets his supporters as he leaves his news conference in Sungai Long, Selangor, Malaysia November 24, 2022. Office of Anwar Ibrahim/Afiq Hambali/Handout via REUTERSKUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim is expected to start discussions on forming his cabinet on Friday as he begins work as prime minister at a challenging time, with the economy slowing and the country deeply split after a close election. Anwar, who was appointed by Malaysia's king following an inconclusive election, said that the people of Malaysia had long been awaiting change. Both men's coalitions failed to win a majority in Saturday's election, but Malaysia's constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, appointed Anwar after speaking to several lawmakers. Markets surged on Thursday on the end of political deadlock, but investors will be monitoring how Anwar manages the aftermath of the election.

☆ Malaysia’s king names Anwar Ibrahim prime minister after inconclusive election
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey from a protégé of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, a prisoner convicted of sodomy and opposition leader. His appointment ends five days of unprecedented post-election crisis, but could usher in a new instability with his rival, former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, challenging him to prove his majority in Parliament. Both men failed to win a majority in a Saturday election, but the constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, appointed Anwar after speaking to several lawmakers. Anwar, 75, has time and again been denied the premiership despite getting within striking distance over the years: He was deputy prime minister in the 1990s and the official prime minister-in-waiting in 2018. Anwar’s coalition, known as Pakatan Harapan, won the most seats in Saturday’s vote with 82, while Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional bloc won 73.

☆ Malaysia’s Anwar becomes prime minister, ending decades-long wait
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey from a protege of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, a prisoner convicted of sodomy, and opposition leader. Both men failed to win a majority in a Saturday election, but the constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, appointed Anwar after speaking to several lawmakers. Anwar was sworn in as Malaysia's prime minister on Thursday, ending a political impasse. Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty ImagesMalaysia's King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah (right) appointed Anwar (left) after consulting with lawmakers. The decision on the prime minister came down to King Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, after both Anwar and Muhyiddin missed his Tuesday afternoon deadline to put together a ruling alliance.

☆ Malaysia's former ruling bloc may back Anwar in PM race
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Malaysia's former ruling coalition indicated that it may support opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister, reversing a decision to stay neutral and potentially helping resolve a political stalemate. The Barisan coalition will not support a government that is led by ex-premier Muhyddin Yassin's alliance, its biggest component party said, though it did not make any reference to Anwar. King Al-Sultan Abdullah Sultan will meet with other senior royals on Thursday to help decide who will become prime minister. The constitutional monarch plays a largely ceremonial role but can appoint a premier he believes will command a majority in parliament. The king had suggested that both the leaders work together to form a "unity government", but Muhyiddin declined the proposal.

"We continue to be on high alert and will aggressively remove any violative content," TikTok, which is owned by the China-based firm ByteDance, said in a statement. TikTok said it had been in contact with Malaysian authorities on severe and repeat violations of its community guidelines since the lead-up to the election. One of the alliances hoping to form a government is a conservative, largely ethnic Malay, Muslim group led by former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin. SULTANS TO MEETReuters reviewed about 100 videos on TikTok, some of which featured people displaying weapons such as knives and machetes. In response, a flood of videos explaining the history of the May 13 violence have surfaced with many ethnic Malay users calling for unity and criticising those inciting violence.

☆ Malaysian king calls council of sultans to resolve election crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Malaysian King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah waves to media members waiting outside the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia November 21, 2022. REUTERS/Hasnoor HussainKUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Malaysia's king on Wednesday called a special meeting of his fellow hereditary sultans to discuss who should be prime minister as an unprecedented post-election crisis entered its fourth day. King Al-Sultan Abdullah made his announcement of a special council after meeting lawmakers from the incumbent Barisan Nasional coalition. Anwar's coalition, known as Pakatan Harapan, won the most seats in the Saturday election with 82, while Muhyiddin's Perikatan Nasional bloc won 73. Police this week cautioned social media users to refrain from posting "provocative" content on race and religion after the divisive election.

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