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☆ I tried using a personal AI to be less lonely working from home. It was nice that it had my back but sometimes I just miss human snark.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

So I spent a week conversing with Pi, a new personal AI chatbot, to see if it could fill the void. Pi is indeed useful and friendly, but it didn't fulfill my desire for connection and conversation. My human colleagues are sarcastic, snarky, wry, and, well, human. Thanks, Pi! When I relayed an amusing anecdote about my 15-year-old daughter, Pi told me: "There's no doubt that teenagers can be challenging, and it can be hard to communicate with them at times."

Persons: Pi, —, Slack, Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman, Karén, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, I'd, Siri, Sally Rooney Organizations: Service, LinkedIn, hometown Celtics, Miami Heat, Celtics

☆ I tried using the Pi personal AI to be less lonely working from home. It was nice that it had my back but sometimes I just miss human snark.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Persons: Pi, —, Slack, Reid Hoffman, Mustafa Suleyman, Karén, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard, I'd, Siri, Sally Rooney Organizations: Service, hometown Celtics, Miami Heat, Celtics

☆ Cancel That Brainstorm. There’s a Better Way to Spur Good Ideas.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The value of gathering to swap loosely formed thoughts is highly suspect, despite being a major reason many companies want workers back in offices. “You do not get your best ideas out of these freewheeling brainstorming sessions,” says Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia Business School. He discovered that his 16-person team, now fully remote, thrives when people develop ideas on their own and can share them in writing. An Amazon spokesman adds that the company’s brainstorming sessions are sometimes unstructured but often begin with colleagues sharing well-researched memos, reducing time spent on ill-conceived ideas. Oh, he’s also noticed that the duds tend to come first, so to leave time for the good stuff, he prescribes two-hour meetings.

☆ Office Brainstorms Are a Waste of Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Callum Borchers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Office wardrobe malfunctions? The value of gathering to swap loosely formed thoughts is highly suspect, despite being a major reason many companies want workers back in offices. “You do not get your best ideas out of these freewheeling brainstorming sessions,” says Sheena Iyengar, a professor at Columbia Business School. Mostly, though, grumblers have accepted such meetings as an inescapable office reality, like elevator Muzak and bad coffee. An Amazon spokesman adds that the company’s brainstorming sessions are sometimes unstructured but often begin with colleagues sharing well-researched memos, reducing time spent on ill-conceived ideas.

☆ Former FCC Chair Newton Minow, who called 1960s TV 'vast wasteland', dies at 97
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On May 9, 1961, he addressed the National Association of Broadcasters convention and had some stark criticism for television executives. "When television is good, nothing - not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers - nothing is better," Minow said. "I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland," he said. The speech draft had referred to a "vast wasteland of junk" but Minow excised "of junk" so as not to offend his audience too deeply. Minow headed the FCC for two years and in 1965 became a partner at the Chicago law firm of Sidley Austin.

☆ ‘A Trump tribute act’: Meet Suella Braverman, the commander-in-chief of Britain’s culture wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

London CNN —Late last year, after a breakneck ascent of British politics put her in charge of the country’s migration, crime and national security agenda, Suella Braverman revealed her political fantasy. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesAnd she is an equally furious culture warrior, borrowing rhetoric from the American right when lambasting “woke” culture, transgender rights and climate protesters. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP/Getty ImagesIt is a stance that has drawn sharp criticism – including from within the traditional wing of Braverman’s Conservative Party. Should Braverman succeed at her next bid for the party leadership, her critics fear another rightwards shift in British politics. “She’s recognized that in the current political climate, her way of creating an impact… (is) positioning herself as a Trump tribute act.

☆ Sen. JD Vance defends Tucker Carlson over leaked 'how white men fight' text: 'He says far more controversial things publicly every single day'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Tucker Carlson bemoaned that a group of Trump supporters didn't fight like "white men," per a leaked text. "By the way, I don't think that's why he was fired," the Ohio senator added. "I don't know why that would justify somebody getting fired, especially when you're talking about a private text message." "I'm highly skeptical that text message caused them to fire Tucker Carlson. "Once a week, I worry that something terrible will happen to Tucker Carlson," said Vance.

☆ Ukraine War News: Top Official Urges Russian Weapons Makers to Speed Production
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Neil Macfarquhar | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Mr. Shoigu singled out the arms manufacturers as crucial to the success of the “special military operation” in Ukraine, which Russia avoids calling a war. Western military analysts and Ukrainian officials have been suggesting for months that production bottlenecks were among the problems plaguing the Russian military, caused partially by the need to substitute parts sanctioned by the West. Some military analysts have suggested that Russian missile barrages against Ukraine’s cities have been only intermittent because Russia’s forces lack sufficient weapons stockpiles. Mr. Putin made critical remarks at various times this year about the pace of manufacturing. In March, Mr. Putin signed a decree allowing the central government, in the event of martial law, to take over the management of defense manufacturers who fail to meet state contracts.

☆ Warren Buffett's business partner warns of a credit crunch in commercial real estate - and says it's a tough time to be an investor
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Charlie Munger warned of a nationwide pullback in lending to the commercial real estate industry. Warren Buffett's partner said investors face stiff competition and an interest-rate headwind. He flagged that many of them have suffered painful blows to their loan portfolios from declines in real estate prices, and pointed to office buildings and shopping centers as particular headaches. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank in recent weeks has stoked concerns of a wider credit crunch. Real estate investors rely heavily on debt, which has grown more costly thanks to rising interest rates.

☆ 'Big Short' investor Michael Burry broke down his iconic bet against the US housing bubble during a 2008 meeting with a Warren Buffett acolyte - but his warning and advice were ignored.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Michael Burry told a Warren Buffett disciple exactly how to bet against the housing bubble in 2008. However, Mohnish Pabrai ignored the warning and advice from "The Big Short" investor. Burry invited the head of Pabrai Investment Funds to his office, and immediately launched into a detailed explanation of his iconic bet against the housing bubble, Pabrai recalled during a recent Mint interview. "He implored me to go long CDS on MBS," Pabrai said about Burry in a recent tweet. Burry repeatedly sounded the alarm on the housing bubble before it imploded, but virtually nobody listened.

☆ George Santos, Instead of Shrinking From the Spotlight, Steps Into It
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If it is an unorthodox, and perhaps still futile path, Mr. Santos has few other options. His local Republican Party has banned him from its events, and pushed other civic organizations to blackball him, too. Representatives for New York’s senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, said he has yet to seek to work with them. “I have no doubt that he will be a one-term congressman,” said Representative Anthony D’Esposito, a fellow New York Republican who, like Mr. Santos, flipped a Democratic-leaning suburban district on Long Island last November. Mr. D’Esposito said he had gone out of his way to make sure his name did not appear on letters or bills with Mr. Santos, and bemoaned the constant churn that seemed to follow his colleague, and overshadow his own work.

"The Republicans have raised the debt limit. McCarthy bridged deep divides among House Republicans to get the bill passed. McCarthy called on Biden to begin negotiations on a debt limit increase and spending-cut bill and for the Senate to either approve the House bill or to pass its own. The House bill would increase Washington's borrowing authority by $1.5 trillion or until March 31, whichever comes first, raising the specter of another round of negotiations during the 2024 presidential campaign. The White House has called on Congress to raise the debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

A 2011 standoff led to a downgrade of the government's credit rating, which pushed borrowing costs higher and hammered investments. "The Republicans have raised the debt limit. McCarthy called on Biden to begin negotiations on a debt limit increase and spending-cut bill and for the Senate to either approve the House bill or to pass its own. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) walks following a closed door meeting on Captiol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 26, 2023. The White House has called on Congress to raise the debt limit without conditions, as it did three times under Biden's Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.

☆ Startups want to use blockchain technology to improve the carbon-credit markets. Here's why big names in the climate industry are warming up to the idea.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Startups including Toucan and Topl are building blockchain tools for issuing carbon credits. Several companies, including Toucan, Return, Topl, and Open Forest Protocol, are now aiming to improve the transparency and reliability of carbon credits by coupling climate initiatives with blockchain technology. Erin MurphyThe need for greater transparency in carbon marketsCompanies buy carbon credits to offset the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions their business activity generates. Aureus EarthThe potential benefits of credits on the blockchainThat's where blockchain technology comes in, Murphy and other proponents said. Despite the flaws of that initial attempt, it showed ample market demand for blockchain-based carbon credits, Hoopes said.

☆ Stephen Colbert Rues the Fox Settlement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Trish Bendix | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now. Trial and ErrorDominion Voting Systems settled its defamation lawsuit against Fox News on Tuesday, with the conservative news network agreeing to pay $787.5 million to avoid a trial. “I want my trial!” Stephen Colbert bemoaned on Tuesday.

☆ Changing Middle East pushes G7 to discuss waning influence, diplomats say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( John Irish | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"A reconfiguration is under way," said a French diplomatic source who was officially briefing reporters but required anonymity as is standard policy. The ministers of the G7 – France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, the U.S. and Japan, meet in Japan between April 16 to 18. "The region is going through serious upheaval, be it the Iranian nuclear crisis aspect, but also the recomposition of the geopolitical balances with the Iran, Saudi, China deal. "The G7 must be able to preserve its security interests, which incidentally are also in the interest of regional security, but also global security," the diplomat said. "The G7 will only remain credible if it is able to handle the world’s problems," he said.

☆ Gavin Newsom says he's taking a road trip through red states to fight the policies and 'anger machine' of DeSantis and other GOP governors
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is traveling to red states to tout the progressive agenda. Gavin Newsom of California already had a plan in the works to go on offense against Republican governors. California Gov. California Gov.

☆ Don't make America Florida, make it New Jersey instead, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Phil Murphy is pitching his home state of New Jersey as a model for America. He sat down with Insider in Florida, criticizing the state's policies under DeSantis. As head of the Democratic Governors Association, he wants blue states to be a contrast to red states. Ron DeSantis of Florida hasn't been subtle about selling his vision of what America should be. Phil Murphy is urging voters to look much further north on the East Coast, to New Jersey.

☆ David Einhorn regrets selling his early Apple stake, predicts the Fed will pull back in fighting inflation, and reveals he's betting on AI in a new interview. Here are the elite investor's 8 best quot
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Greenlight Capital boss sees the Fed pulling back in fighting inflation after the banking chaos. Einhorn also discusses where the banks went wrong, and how he's betting on AI, in a new interview. "The first jelly donut tastes great. The second jelly donut is pretty indulgent, but by the 12th jelly donut, you're just making yourself sick, so you really shouldn't do that anymore." "We're not going to figure out who has the next breakthrough in AI that is going to leapfrog everybody else's AI.

☆ Cathie Wood says the Fed's rate hikes hit Ark's strategy like an 'earthquake' as the fund logs a $2 billion loss
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cathie Wood said the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hikes hit Ark Invest's strategy "like an earthquake." "The valuation hit ... has been so severe to our strategy," Wood said in a CNBC interview. The famed money manager said her flagship fund ARKK logged a $2 billion loss from selling stocks during 2022's market rout. The weakness in equities weighed on ARKK's performance, with the fund plunging nearly 70% last year, as increased interest rates damped investor appetite for growth-focused stocks. "The valuation hit ... has been so severe to our strategy, ... and that was all related to the Fed jacking up interest rates 19-fold in less than a year.

☆ Don't bother writing a 'love letter' to home sellers. They're a waste of time and someone could get screwed.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Moved by the note, dubbed a "love letter" in real-estate parlance, Byington decided to sell the house to her. Elizabeth Scire's "Barbie House" love letter to the seller. EtsyLove letters risk discriminationDeeply personal and emotionally written love letters, however, open sellers and their agents up to legal risks. In a 2020 blog post, the National Association of Realtors said love letters would be more accurately described as "liability letters." In September 2021, Oregon became the first state to enact a law that banned the practice of writing or sharing real-estate love letters during the homebuying process.

WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. banking system remains sound and Americans can feel confident that their deposits are safe, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday, but she denied that emergency actions after two large bank failures mean that a blanket government guarantee now existed for all deposits. "I can reassure the members of the committee that our banking system is sound, and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them," Yellen said. More than $9.2 trillion of U.S. bank deposits were uninsured at the end of last year, accounting for more than 40% of all deposits, according to U.S. central bank data. Those uninsured deposits are not distributed evenly across the country, FDIC data shows. She also noted the high level of uninsured deposits at Silicon Valley as an aggravating factor.

☆ BBC engulfed in an impartiality storm of its own making
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

“There is a long-established precedent in the BBC that if you’re an entertainment presenter or you’re a football presenter, then you are not bound by those same rules” on impartiality, former director-general Greg Dyke told BBC Radio 4 over the weekend. BBC Director General Tim Davie has made protecting impartiality one of his major priorities. Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesMore problematic still is that the same thorny questions about impartiality extend to the BBC’s leadership. “It’s a mess, isn’t it?” former BBC executive Peter Salmon told the cooperation’s flagship political presenter Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday. “He’s got views, he’s got passions … it may be that Gary has outgrown the job, and his role in the BBC.”

☆ Carl Icahn warned against trading stocks, railed against bad bosses, and revealed what drives him in a recent documentary. Here are his 12 best quotes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here are his 12 best quotes from a recent documentary titled "Icahn: The Restless Billionaire." The billionaire investor and Icahn Enterprises chairman also defended activist investing, and railed against bad bosses and overpaid executives, in "Icahn: The Restless Billionaire." Moreover, he revealed that he cares more about spotting golden opportunities than making money, and bemoaned America's enormous wealth gap. You're going against the trend. He just kept going and going until they killed him.

☆ Marc Benioff praises Elon Musk's vision, bemoans not buying Twitter, and rings the recession alarm in a new interview. Here are the Salesforce CEO's 9 best quotes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Marc Benioff praised Elon Musk, hailed AI's potential, and warned of an impending US recession. The Salesforce CEO said he regretted not buying Twitter years ago, and has always loved the company. Benioff hinted Bob Iger and Howard Schultz felt obligated to return as CEOs of Disney and Starbucks. Benioff spoke during the Upfront Summit this month, in an interview aired during a recent episode of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast. (Benioff was discussing the recent return of Bob Iger and Howard Schultz as CEOs of Disney and Starbucks respectively.)

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