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☆ Long Covid disabled them. Then they met a ‘broken’ Social Security disability process
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Morgan Stephens | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And two Congressional bills addressing the long Covid crisis — The “Covid-19 Long Haulers Act,” which would’ve collected data on long Covid patients with the goal of creating better care and treatment, and “The Care For Long Covid Act” would’ve improved research, centralized data and resources for people with Long Covid — died without making it out of committee. Disabled by long Covid since March 2020, she lives with her spouse and their 7-year-old son in Portland, Ore. “We didn’t design our life to be a single-income household.”Other long Covid patients have rearranged their finances, too. His company’s private long-term disability insurance pays a smaller percentage of the monthly benefit payout when federal disability pays a portion. “They’re not only dealing with long Covid complications, but they’re dealing with financial complications,” she said of her clients.

☆ A new Mercedes-Benz will have TikTok, Angry Birds, and Zoom built into a touchscreen that extends across the dashboard to the passenger side
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mercedes-Benz unveiled its 2024 E-Class on Wednesday. And a new app store that lets drivers watch TikToks, play Angry Birds, or attend Zoom meetings. Mercedes-Benz unveiled its 2024 E-Class on Wednesday, featuring a giant touchscreen extending across the passenger side. TikTok, Angry Birds, and Zoom are already set up on the display. The first batch of Mercedes' 2024 E-Class is expected to arrive in European dealerships this summer, and in the USA in autumn.

☆ Microsoft is using ChatGPT to teach robots how to get you a soda and warm up your lunch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Samantha Delouya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Microsoft is testing what happens when ChatGPT takes control of small robots. Researchers at Microsoft imagine a day when people can give instructions like "heat up my lunch" to at-home robots. This week, a team of researchers at Microsoft released its early findings after allowing ChatGPT to take control of robots. In this report, researchers detailed how they used certain prompts to allow ChatGPT to take control of a small drone. OpenAI has kept many industries on their toes since the company decided, as a last resort, to release its ChatGPT AI chatbot to the public in late November.

☆ PHOTO: A U-2 pilot took a selfie with the Chinese spy balloon the day before the Air Force shot it down
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jake Epstein | Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A US Air Force pilot took a selfie with the Chinese spy balloon before it was shot down. The pilot, flying a U-2 spy aircraft, took the image a day before the balloon was downed by an F-22. A US Air Force pilot looked down at the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovered over the Central Continental United States February 3, 2023. Photo courtesy of the Department of DefenseThe U-2's involvement in gathering intelligence on the spy balloon was first reported by The Drive on February 6. Just days later, US Air Force fighter jets downed three unidentified aerial objects flying in North American airspace in three separate engagements on February 10, 11, and 12.

☆ The 2024 Mercedes E-class will have TikTok built in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —For those who have ever felt the urge to whip off a TikTok video from inside their car, Mercedes-Benz owners will be able to do that from inside the 2024 E-class without even having get out their phones. Angry Birds will be one of the applications available in the new Mercedes-Benz E-class. These features will be part of the new 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-class, a redesigned model that will be fully revealed later this year. The E-class is Mercedes’ mid-level model, larger than the entry-level A-class and the more compact C-class, but smaller and less expensive than the ultra-luxurious S-Class. Mercedes has not yet announced pricing for this new version, but prices for the 2023 E-class start at around $56,000.

☆ The UFO shoot-downs show the hardest part of discovering alien life may be announcing it. Here's how NASA might break the news.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Extraterrestrial life likely wouldn't show up as flying objects, but finding it could cause similar chaos. An illustration of the CoLD scale for determining confidence in a detection of alien life. The president or other countries could be involved in announcing extraterrestrial life existsPresident Joe Biden speaks at Delaware State University. Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesAnnouncing the existence of alien life would be an "administration-level" affair, Glaze said, referring to the US presidency. Needless to say, any discovery of alien life would likely lead to chaos — at least in public discourse.

☆ We're married Delta pilots with two young kids. Here's how we've navigated our careers together and our top 10 travel tips for couples.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Delta pilots Brent and Kelly Knoblauch first met as interns in 2010. Kelly: Brent and I first met in 2010, when I was still in college at the University of North Dakota. And then I think almost a year to the day, Kelly was also hired as a pilot back at Delta. Being able to see what you're seeing, what you're hearing, what you're suspecting, and just being open about that. Kelly: It actually went really well.

☆ Americans are spending despite high inflation. Good for a couple Club stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Paulina Likos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

E-commerce spending declined 2% year-over-year in January, Bank of America said Monday, as Americans shifted their spending towards leisure activities. The Club take Consumer spending remains healthy, despite stubbornly high inflation, and it would appear many shoppers have additional savings to dole out. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. In this handout photo provided by Walt Disney World Resort, guests stop to take a selfie at Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort on July 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Matt Stroshane | Walt Disney World Resort | Getty Images

☆ Goldman employees sometimes helped CEO David Solomon manage his DJ schedule, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Goldman employees have "sometimes" helped CEO David Solomon manage his DJ schedule in the past, NYT reported. A Goldman spokesperson said that "there are no conflicts of interest" tied to Solomon's DJing. A spokesperson for Goldman told the Times that there is "no economic component" to Solomon's relationship with Mestel. But a Goldman spokesperson told Insider that "there are no conflicts of interest." At the time, a Goldman spokesperson said the trip was was considered to be both a business and a personal expense.

☆ John Fetterman's picture-taking, buddy-making, convention-breaking first month on Capitol Hill
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Delegation-mate Sen. Bob Casey told Insider that Fetterman is “off to a great start.”Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Insider spoke to Fetterman's colleagues, his staff, and congressional reporters about the newcomer's first month in Washington, and what to expect from him as Congress gets rolling. "I know Sen. Fetterman is interested in nutrition, and I share his concerns there, so I look forward to collaborating to get things done for folks in Pennsylvania and Vermont," Welch said. Food issues definitely fall under their purview as newly minted members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. 'Off to a great start'Sen. Casey told Insider that Fetterman has already hit the ground running.

☆ Samsung unveils new Galaxy smartphone lineup with powerhouse camera
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The new lineup, which includes the 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra, 6.6-inch Galaxy S23+, and 6.1-inch Galaxy S23, look similar to last year’s models, but with new photo features, a longer lasting battery life (with faster charging speeds) and an exclusive chip. The cameras on the Galaxy S23+ and Galaxy S23 even have a subtle new look: the contour housing has been removed, which Samsung said marks a new era of design. The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s display comes with a reduced curvature to create a larger and flatter surface intended to improve the visual experience. Galaxy S23 Ultra, which comes with Samsung’s signature S pen, will start at $1,199.99, while the Galaxy S23+ starts at $999.99 and Galaxy S23 starts at $799.99. “The Galaxy S23 family demonstrates just how hard it is to tell a new story in today’s smartphone market,” said Leo Gebbie, principal analyst at CCS Insight.

☆ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is cleaning up her image and cozying up with GOP leadership to gain power. It's working.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is cozying up with GOP leadership after two years of being an outsider. Two years later, under Republican leadership, she's angling herself into positions of power. It's clear she's learned valuable lessons from two of her GOP colleagues, Rep. Lauren Boebert and former Rep. Madison Cawthorn. In spite of this, Gingrich ultimately gained prominence among the GOP, becoming the Republican whip and later speaker of the House. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia takes a selfie with Kevin McCarthy after his election as speaker of the House.

☆ I followed Nancy Pelosi's diet of breakfast ice cream and hot dogs for a week, and I ping-ponged between euphoria and the depths of despair
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Sophie Kleeman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

My research found that Pelosi eats ice cream for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch, pasta, and chocolate. Chocolate ice cream for breakfast, rich and creamy pasta, and lots of snacking chocolate. She claims she does not exercise; her daughter once arrived home to find her mother eating chocolate ice cream while using a stationary bike. I save the ice cream for later to avoid a massive sugar crash and start out with a cup of black tea instead. However, I don't want to slack off after the ice cream episode, so I slather it on.

WASHINGTON — Embattled Rep. George Santos is refusing to face the music, but he appears to be relishing his moment in the spotlight. The New York Republican and freshman fabulist, the subject of federal, state, local and international investigations, was spotted Wednesday night by NBC News smiling, laughing and taking dozens of selfies with patrons during karaoke night at a popular D.C. barbecue joint. “It’s bizarre.”Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., whose office is just down the hall from Santos’, suggested all that attention could benefit Santos. “You always know more than I do about myself.”Later that night, Santos strolled into Hill Country, where he spent more than an hour schmoozing and chatting up patrons. A Santos staffer belted “Build Me Up Buttercup.”Approached by NBC News at Hill Country, Santos said: “You’re not going to try to interview me.

☆ Thailand beats 2022 tourism target with 11.15 mln foreign arrivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Chalinee ThirasupaBANGKOK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Thailand received 11.15 million foreign visitors in 2022, a surge from just about 428,000 the previous year when broad pandemic-related travel curbs were in place, tourism ministry data showed on Tuesday. The figures, which beat the government's target, reflect a solid turnaround as Thailand tries to revive its vital tourism industry, which bore the brunt of its strict entry and quarantine policies during the pandemic. In December, there were 2.24 million foreign tourists, compared with 230,497 in the same month a year earlier. Pre-pandemic 2019 saw a record of nearly 40 million foreign tourists for the full year. China's reopening is expected to further boost Thailand's vital tourism sector, which before the pandemic accounted for about 12% of gross domestic product in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.

A jury on Monday convicted four members of the extremist group the Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy. The trial, which started Dec. 12, included testimony from Brian Ulrich, a member of the Oath Keepers’ Georgia chapter who had pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. ... I’m not afraid and I’m ready to f---ing go.”The four defendants were charged as part of the same seditious conspiracy case involving Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes that went to trial in October. Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, the leader of the group’s Florida chapter, were convicted of seditious conspiracy in November. The maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War era statute — is 20 years in federal prison.

☆ Why we love to anthropomorphize space-faring robots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

We know Mars rovers are robots, but they feel like friends, or pets. "It's the way the rovers are designed," Abigail Freeman, the deputy project scientist of the Curiosity rover, told Insider. The first selfie NASA's Opportunity Mars rover snapped. Their ability to snap selfies on the Martian surface make them seem self-awareNASA's Curiosity Mars rover created this selfie in front of Mont Mercou. On February 12, 2019, mission controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, sent the last commands to ask NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars to call home.

☆ I pilot NASA's first and only Mars helicopter. My job can be like a video game, but not the kind with a joystick.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Håvard Grip pilots NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which has flown 40 times on Mars. I'm the chief pilot for NASA's Ingenuity helicopter, which landed on Mars with the Perseverance rover in February 2021. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter on Mars, in a close-up from the Perseverance rover's cameras. Members of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team stand next to the Collier Trophy. How we fly a helicopter on MarsMembers of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter team at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory react to data showing that the helicopter completed its second flight.

☆ Gen Z loves the flip phone
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Now, Gen-Z’s latest “vintage” obsession is the flip phone – that mid-1990s era phone that has suddenly become oh so popular with millennials. “I’m team flip phone revolution,” singer Camila Cabello tweeted Thursday, posing with a TCL flip phone, vintage. Maybe I can write the theme song guys 💪💪💪💪 pic.twitter.com/yOJgCdAgNq — camila (@Camila_Cabello) January 13, 2023“I found a little 90s, Matrix-y flip phone,” Cameron said. “At parties people will say, ‘oh my goodness, is that a flip phone?,’” Palazzolo said. And yes, new Nokia flip phones are still available – the Nokia 2760 Flip is sold at Walmart from prepaid brands such as Verizon for $19.99.

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☆ Skip the Plastic Surgery. Age ‘Intentionally’ With These Kinder Treatments.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Marisa Meltzer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

ABOUT FACE Not everyone keen to counter aging wants a major face-lift. Some women are rejecting scalpels in favor of gentler treatments. EVERY YEAR on her birthday Heidi A. Waldorf, a dermatologist in Nanuet, N.Y., posts a selfie on social media. But she does include information on the beauty treatments she’s had, including dermal fillers, botulinum toxin (Dysport) and Thermage, a radio-frequency therapy that tightens skin. All these in-office procedures are nonsurgical and considered non- or minimally invasive.

Prosecutors began delivering opening arguments Thursday in the seditious conspiracy trial of former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four other members of the far-right extremist group involved in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. After the election, Tarrio posted on social media that the presidency was being stolen and vowed that his group won't "go quietly," prosecutors said. Tarrio, prosecutors say, was aware of discussions around a plan to storm the Capitol and was involved in discussions about occupying buildings, including in the Capitol complex. The group helped rile up the crowd on the day of the rally and successfully led rioters to break past police barricades and into the Capitol, prosecutors said. A protester, who claims to be a member of the Proud Boys, confronts police officers outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

Bad Bunny continues to break barriers seemingly every other week — and rightfully so. He is now the first Latin American artist and the first Spanish-language musician to headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Blackpink perform at Sahara Tent during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival, in Indio, Calif., on April 19, 2019. Other notable performers at Coachella this year include Rosalía, Calvin Harris, Gorillaz, Pusha T, Bjork, Becky G, SG Lewis, Burna Boy, EarthGang, Labrinth and Chemical Brothers. Bad Bunny is expected to perform on both Fridays, Blackpink will go on both Saturdays, and Frank Ocean will close out both Sundays.

Brazilian American Vanessa Viana holds a picture of her son when he was a baby outside the house where Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro is staying in Florida. Bolsonaro's son, Sen. Flavio Bolsonaro, denied on Tuesday that the former president was responsible for the riots. Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro on his hospital bed in Kissimmee, Fla., on Monday. Arthur Ticianeli, a waiter at Eskina restaurant in Kissimmee, is a supporter of former president Bolsonaro. Resort security officers speak to journalists gathered outside the home where Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been staying on Tuesday.

☆ LinkedIn is having a moment thanks to a wave of layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Some LinkedIn users affected by recent layoffs have formed groups on the site aimed at providing assistance, coordinating around signing exit paperwork and aiding with connections for new jobs. Suddenly, the normally staid professional network has become both a vital lifeline for recently laid off workers and a surprisingly lively social platform. “There’s been an uptick in [LinkedIn use] since the pandemic,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor and social media expert at Syracuse University. Layoffs and upheaval in social media industryEven apart from the layoffs, the social media landscape has been through a volatile year. But lately it appears users have more than enough reason to use LinkedIn amid a wave of thousands of layoffs.

☆ How 'Real Housewife' Jen Shah's fabulous life came crashing down
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Stephanie Clifford | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +43 min

The woman wrote to the judge overseeing Shah's case that she'd had to remortgage her house, almost divorced, and "thought about ending my own life." The couple decided that he should get his degree while Jen Shah dropped out of college to work. (Shah told a judge at her 2022 plea hearing that she had been treated for "alcohol and depression" two years prior. Koa Johnson, Jen Shah's former fashion designerWhen Sharrieff Shah did participate in filming, he quickly became a fan favorite, calm and sensible. Once the show aired and Jen Shah developed a fan base, her behavior became more dramatic, Johnson said.

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