DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Election Results in Europe Suggest Another Reason Biden Has to Go - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-10 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There’s a dollop of good news for Democrats from the British and French elections, but it’s bad news for President Biden. The basic lesson is that liberals can win elections but perhaps not as incumbents. The election results abroad strike me as one more reason for Biden to perform the ultimate act of statesmanship and withdraw from the presidential race. The U.K. elections on July 4 resulted in a landslide for the Labour Party, ending the Conservative Party’s 14 years in power. The two main reasons voters backed Labour, according to one poll, were “to get the Tories out” and “the country needs a change.” A mere 5 percent said they backed Labour candidates because they “agree with their policies.”

Persons: Biden, statesmanship, Keir Starmer, mucking, ” Organizations: Labour Party, Conservative, Labour

☆ Can Google Give A.I. Answers Without Breaking the Web?
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Kevin Roose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The question speaks to one of the most fragile dependencies in today’s online media ecosystem. Most big publishers, including The New York Times, receive a significant chunk of traffic from people going to Google, searching for something and clicking on articles about it. And even when Google announced its first generative A.I. At its annual developer conference on Tuesday, Google announced that it would start showing A.I.-generated answers — which it calls “A.I. More than a billion users will get them by the end of the year, the company said.

Persons: ChatGPT, chatbot, Bard, “ Organizations: Google, The New York Times Locations: United States

☆ Netflix's '3 Body Problem' makes some big changes from the book. Here's how the show and novels differ.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Palmer Haasch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

AdvertisementNetflix's "3 Body Problem" is an adaptation of Liu Cixin's wide-ranging "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy of novels. Speaking of Yun Tianming, he got turned into Will DowningWill Downing signs on to the Stairfacer Project in "3 Body Problem." Saul is based on a character named Luo JiSaul is chosen as a Wallfacer in "3 Body Problem." The VR headsets are way simpler in the seriesJack Rooney wears a virtual reality headset in "3 Body Problem." NetflixIn "3 Body Problem," Ye Wenjie's daughter Vera Ye dies by suicide in the first episode.

Persons: Liu Cixin's, —, David Benioff, Weiss, Alexander Woo, Auggie Salazar, Ed Miller, Wang Miao, Da Shi, Salazar, Eiza González, it's Wang Miao, Wang Miao's, Jin Cheng, Jess Hong, Jin, Copernicus, Wang, she's, Netflix Wang Miao, Cheng Xin, She's, Yun Tianming, Will Downing Will Downing, Will Downing, Oxford alums, He's, Jack Rooney's, Saul, Luo Ji Saul, Netflix Saul, he's, Saul isn't, Luo Ji, they're, Ye, ETO Jonathan Pryce, Mike Evans, Tatiana, Marlo Kelly, Sophon, Evans, Shimooka, Alicia Vikander, Evan Rachel Wood, Jack Rooney, we'd, Ye Wenjie, Vera Ye, Yang Dong, Yang Weining Organizations: Service, Netflix, intel, Stairfacer, Oxford, United Nations, UN, ETO, Trisolaris Organization, Red Coast Locations: China, England, San, Red

☆ The Fed is going to make inflation worse with rate-cut promises, former central banker says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Fed could be making inflation even hotter with its promises of rate cuts. That's according to former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, who says the central bank is "goosing" the economy. AdvertisementThe Federal Reserve could be mucking up the economy with its promises that it will cut interest rates later this year, according to former central banker Kevin Warsh. Related stories"The Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve … are goosing this economy," Warsh said. "A Fed promising to cut rates even as asset prices are melting up."

Persons: Kevin Warsh, —, Warsh Organizations: Service, CNBC, Federal Reserve, Fed, Treasury Department, Federal

☆ Sorry Elon, Americans don't want a brain chip: poll
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Walt Hickey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk last week announced his company Neuralink has implanted its first chip in a human test subject. AdvertisementInterest from potential test subjects is rather slim, as is: just 2% would "definitely" consider getting a computer chip implanted in their brain "within the next year," below the margin of error for the poll. Overall, just 5% of respondents would at all consider getting a chip in the next year. Men were more than three times as likely as women (13% vs 4%) to be down for a commercially produced brain chip eventually. All told, 19% of respondents who said they read Dune would get a commercially available brain chip, and 11% of respondents who said they read Dune would get one this year.

Persons: Elon, —, Elon Musk, Richard Foreman Jr, it's, Flowers, Algernon, Frank Herbert's, Algernon — Organizations: Service, Democrats, Independents, Summit Entertainment Locations: Silicon

☆ Trump's NY fraud trial starts today. Here's why it matters, even though the judge already found fraud.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

New York's massive, $250 million fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump and Trump Org goes to trial Monday. Some weeks later, Eric Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Donald J. Trump must take the stand, in that order, and in post positions 25-27 out of the AG's total of 28 direct-case witnesses. But one thing that was clear about the decision is that fraud – lots of it – was found on the part of Donald Trump. Donald Trump Jr., left, and Eric Trump. She wants the judge to permanently ban not just Trump but Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. from ever serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation.

Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, —, Donald Trump's, Christopher Kise, Kise, Letitia James, Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump , Jr, Donald J, Arthur Engoron, –, Donald Trump ., Jeffrey McConney, Allen Weisselberg, Donald Trump Jr, Chip Somodevilla, James, Weisselberg, McConney, Kevin Wallace, Engoron Organizations: Trump Org, Service, Trump Organization, New York, Trump, New, Trump Revocable Locations: Manhattan, Springs, New York's Westchester County, York, New York

☆ San Francisco drives tech; will it drive away robot taxis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/3] A Cruise self-driving car, which is owned by General Motors Corp, is seen outside the company?s headquarters in San Francisco where it does most of its testing, in California, U.S., September 26, 2018. Futuristic test vehicles from Cruise and Waymo are a common sight in some parts of San Francisco. The vote comes at a critical time for San Francisco, which is grappling with thousands of tech job losses, firms leaving the city, and COVID-era work-from-home policies that have contributed to a hollowed out downtown. loadingRamón Iglesias, another San Francisco resident, said that though he’d seen the videos and some erratic behavior from the cars, he supports the expansion and worries any further obstacles could drive tech companies away. “We have a very strong Luddite segment here in San Francisco and you see places like Las Vegas and Miami go out of their way to embrace tech,” said Iglesias, a data scientist.

Persons: Heather Somerville, Waymo, ”, Kyle Vogt, X, ” Cruise, San Francisco, Cruise, Julia Ilina, Mike Smith, Ramón Iglesias, he’d, Iglesias, “, London Breed, Greg Bensinger, Peter Henderson, Diane Craft Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Motors, San, San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Cruise, California Public Utilities Commission, Las, Ford, Tesla, Francisco, FIRST, ”, London, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, Francisco, San, San Francisco County, State, dazzled, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles

☆ Opinion | Prigozhin and the Long and Infamous History of Failed Russian Rebellions
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Theories are already circulating on social media that the entire rebellion was a charade from the start, maybe even staged by Mr. Putin for some convoluted reason. Mr. Prigozhin has waged a long and public feud with Mr. Shoigu over the handling of the Ukraine war and has accused him of giving insufficient support to the Wagner Group. Mr. Prigozhin is the epitome of a post-Soviet villain. Among many other evil deeds, Mr. Prigozhin built the Wagner Group, which first emerged in 2014 during Russia’s invasion of Crimea and has always been closely aligned to Mr. Putin. In his fury, Mr. Prigozhin had his men take control of the southern command center in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, and ordered them to drive north to Moscow on a “march for justice” to meet with military commanders.

Persons: Putin, Prigozhin, Sergei Shoigu, Shoigu, Putin’s, Wagner, ” Organizations: Mr, Wagner, Wagner Group, Central African Locations: Ukraine, Soviet, Crimea, Libya, Syria, Central African Republic, Rostov, Don, Russia, Moscow

☆ China's mounting such a strong attack on the dollar's dominance that it's paying for almost all of its Russian oil imports in the yuan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Much of the trade was done in the Chinese yuan, per Reuters. China has ramped up the use of the yuan to buy commodities such as oil and coal from Russia. The country has been using its own currency — the yuan — for almost all of the Russian oil it bought over the past year, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing multiple trading executives with direct knowledge of the matter. The executive was likely referring to Russian crude being subject to a $60-a-barrel price cap imposed by a G7-led coalition. To contextualize this, China imported $88 billion worth of major commodities including crude oil and fuel oil from Russia in 2022 — up 52% in value from 2021.

☆ 'Ghosted' review: Chris Evans and Ana de Armas reunite in a spirited action comedy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —“Chris Evans and Ana de Armas” is about all that’s required to make the sales pitch for “Ghosted,” a spirited if familiar action-based romantic comedy, where the sparring banter generally outshines the muscular stunts. Throw in clever cameos and this Apple TV+ movie delivers on its promise of unpretentious fun. Unlike the needy Cole, “Ghosted” doesn’t ask for anything more than a couple intermittently attentive hours of your time. Thanks to Evans and de Armas, it’s the sort of invitation that’s pretty hard to ignore. “Ghosted” premieres April 21 on Apple TV+.

☆ Russian mercenary boss publishes video showing fighters inside Ukraine's Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force on Thursday published a video showing his fighters inside Bakhmut, the small Ukrainian city Wagner has been fighting to capture for months. In a post on Telegram, the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner's founder, cited him as saying: "The lads are mucking about, shooting home video. Reuters geolocated the footage to the east of Bakhmut, around 1.2 miles (around 2 kilometres) from the city centre. In the video, uniformed men are shown lifting a Wagner banner atop a semi-ruined multi-storey building. One of the men is shown dancing and holding a guitar, a reference to Wagner's informal nickname of "the musicians".

The initial public offering of the ride-hailing-to-online-shopping giant at a $28 billion market capitalisation in April was a landmark deal on the back of relaxed listing rules. Now GoTo will have to manage a big contortion in the $570 billion stock market. At a stretch, GoTo’s involvement might prevent a further price slump on the company’s current $15 billion market value. The company sold nearly $1 billion of stock at a multiple of 17 times forecast revenue for 2023. The meddling in the secondary market looks like a necessary evil.

☆ More good news for workers is bad news for the Fed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

We the people can create the strongest job market in a generation and what do we get in return? Here’s the deal: The labor market is still very, very strong. And while that’s great news for workers, it’s bad news for the Fed. The “quit rate” held steady at 2.7%, or about 4.1 million workers voluntarily leaving their jobs — not a record, but still historically high. In summary: “If you were waiting for signs of labor inflation easing, you’ll have to keep waiting,” said Lightcast senior economist Ron Hetrick.

☆ Is Twitter ready for the midterms?
▼ + stars: | 2022-08-26 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

The disclosure alleges that Twitter is rife with security and privacy vulnerabilities that put users, investors and even US national security at risk, and that Twitter executives have misled its board and regulators about its shortcomings. Members of the US House Committee on Homeland Security on Thursday sent Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal a letter demanding that he address Zatko’s allegations and explain Twitter’s readiness for the 2022 midterms. In 2020, hackers tricked Twitter employees into handing over internal access that allowed them to take over the accounts of prominent figures such as former President Barack Obama and then-Presidential candidate Joe Biden. “Twitter employees were repeatedly found to be intentionally installing spyware on their work computers at the request of external organizations,” the disclosure states. Twitter’s employees use devices overseen by other IT and security teams with the power to prevent a device from connecting to sensitive internal systems if it is running outdated software, Twitter added.

Search resuls for: "mucking"

14 mentions found