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☆ Ford taps masses of vehicle data to stay ahead in commercial van market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Ford, which leads the commercial vehicle market in both Europe and the United States, launched the system in 2021. Hans Schep, European head of Ford Pro, the company's commercial vehicle business, said it is already close to hitting long-term targets of increasing vehicle "up time" by up to 60%. Ford recently announced engineering job cuts in Europe, but is still hiring software experts for its data services. Data is a huge battleground for commercial vehicle makers and competition will only intensify with electric models, which are essentially computers on wheels. Starting with 2024 models, GM will provide a range of OnStar data services free for fleet vehicles.

☆ A Googler who lost her job in January's cuts says being laid off 'freed' her to launch a wellness business after suffering from Lyme disease in college
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Emily Cahill, a software engineer, was one of 12,000 people laid off by Google in January. She told Insider she's starting a wellness club after struggling with Lyme disease in college. Cahill shared her journey with Lyme disease with Insider and how being laid off was a launching pad to start her own business. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by a bite from an infected tick and includes symptoms like high temperatures, fatigue, and loss of energy. Being laid off 'freed' herCahill said being laid off "freed me up a lot" because work was so time consuming.

☆ The unraveling of fintech darling Vise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +28 min

It was April, and more than two dozen salespeople who worked for the fintech startup Vise had been ordered to a multiday off-site at the W Hoboken hotel in New Jersey to share exhaustive reports on their performance. Even salespeople at bigger, established, top-tier investment-management firms typically wouldn't close $250 million in a year, multiple sales employees said. (K-means clustering is an unsupervised machine-learning algorithm often referred to as a form of AI, Vise's founders said). (Vise's founders disputed this, saying the company received updated financial data only once a day for its portfolio-construction engine.) And to address its "leaky funnel" of overestimating prospective sales, Vise was to stop outreach to new clients while it onboards and upsells to existing clients, the document said.

☆ SpaceX capsule delivers latest four-member crew to International Space Station
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 3 (Reuters) - A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) after a brief delay early on Friday, carrying two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut on a six-month science mission. The autonomously flying spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked with the space station shortly after 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, about 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Docking maneuvers fell behind schedule as the Crew Dragon was making its final approach to the station. The ISS crew also is responsible for performing maintenance and repairs aboard the station, and to prepare for the arrival and departure of other astronauts and cargo payloads. Rounding out the four-man Crew 6 was Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, who like Alneyadi is an engineer and spaceflight rookie.

☆ We're adding to our position in this robust medical technology player
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

We are buying 15 shares of Danaher (DHR) at roughly $248.34 apiece. Following Tuesday's trade, Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust will own 495 shares of DHR, increasing its weighting in the portfolio to about 4.76% from 4.62%. Despite the company's strong fourth-quarter earnings beat in January, shares of Danaher are down about 11% since late January. DHR 1Y mountain Danaher (DHR) one-year performance. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long DHR.

☆ Rocket Lab quarterly revenue stays steady as space company doubles order backlog
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Rocket Lab conducted two successful launches of its Electron vehicle during the quarter, generating $12 million in revenue. Rocket Lab began production of the first Neutron tank structures, as well as construction of the launch pad for the rocket. Alongside its results, Rocket Lab announced a contract for four Electron launches from satellite company Capella Space. Shares of Rocket Lab are up 19% so far this year, as of Tuesday's close at $4.50. For the first quarter of 2023, Rocket Lab expects to see launch revenue of about $18 million, and between $32 million to $35 million in Space Systems revenue.

☆ Chinese students have developed a $40 set of lips that couples can use for 'long-distance kissing'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A remote kissing device, complete with a pair of 3D lips, is on sale in China for about $40. It appears to mimic the pressure, movement and heat of a partner's lips, the SCMP reported. The silicon device, complete with a set of 3D lips, is meant to imitate the pressure, movement, and heat of a partner's lips, the South China Morning Post reported Friday. The device, which is being sold on the Chinese online retail platform Taobao as a "long-distance lovers miracle kissing device," costs 260 Chinese yuan, or about $38, for one individual set of lips and about $79 for a pair. Listing for the remote "kissing device" on Taobao.

☆ OnePlus just unveiled a new concept phone equipped with cryogenic liquid to keep it cool
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Chinese tech company OnePlus has unveiled a new concept phone at MWC 2023. The OnePlus 11 Concept boasts a new eye-catching cryogenic cooling system. The new OnePlus 11 Concept pairs PC-grade cooling technology with the design of high-end watches. Tasmin Lockwood/InsiderThere's no doubt that the OnePlus 11 Concept was designed to show off the system. The OnePlus 11 Concept has three camera lenses in the same style as other OnePlus 11 models.

☆ I asked ChatGPT to help me plan a vacation. Here’s what happened next
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Monica Pitrelli | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

So the idea that artificial intelligence chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Bing, can research travel destinations and create itineraries is intriguing. I went to the developer's website, clicked on the word "ChatGPT," registered for an account — and started chatting. "All of the places I recommended have great online reviews," ChatGPT replied, providing ratings from Tripadvisor, Booking.com and Google for each hotel. But ChatGPT couldn't show photographs of the hotels or help book them — although it did provide ample instructions on how to do both. Every city I asked ChatGPT about resulted in the bot praising the local food scene.

☆ Googlers are begrudgingly testing Bard and making memes out of their new task.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Since it's a tough time in the tech industry right now, I hope this resonates with some of you, too. Thomas Maxwell/InsiderGooglers are begrudgingly testing their company's ChatGPT competitor. CEO Sundar Pichai asked every employee to spend multiple hours testing Google's new chatbot Bard. They were tasked with improving Bard by asking it questions and flagging bad answers, in addition to their normal responsibilities. Some made memes from the conversations they've had with Bard, continuing a trend of internally mocking the chatbot.

☆ NHL roundup: Roope Hintz's SO goal lifts Stars past Knights
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Rookie Wyatt Johnston also scored a goal and Jamie Benn added two assists for the Stars. Eichel and Michael Amadio both scored goals for Vegas, which saw its five-game home winning streak snapped. Patrik Laine had a goal with two assists and Kirill Marchenko scored twice for the Blue Jackets, who swept the two-game season series from Edmonton. It was Oshie's first career game with a goal, assist and a fight, known as a Gordie Howe hat trick. Tyler Toffoli scored, Jacob Markstrom turned away 18 shots and Nazem Kadri had an assist in his return to Colorado.

☆ ChatGPT could turn out to be hero for humanity or just a 'horrible product'. Here's what Elon Musk, Bill Gates and 10 heavyweights have to say on the red-hot AI.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Paul Krugman have all weighed in on the hottest topic this year – ChatGPT. From prominent names such as Elon Musk and Bill Gates to Wall Street banks like Morgan Stanley, everyone's got something to say. "It's both positive or negative and has great, great promise, great capability," Musk further said of AI, adding that "with that comes great danger." But a few quarters from now, if ChatGPT really starts to bring in significant subscriber fees, then we'll see what happens," O'Leary told Insider's Phil Rosen. Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO"I think it's exciting, what's possible with generative AI," Jassy said about generative AI and ChatGPT.

☆ This Chinese kissing device lets you smooch over the internet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The device, advertised as a way to let long-distance couples share “real” physical intimacy, is causing a buzz among Chinese social media users, who have reacted with both intrigue and shock. To send a kiss, users need to download a mobile phone app and plug the device into their phone’s charging port. After pairing with their partners in the app, couples can start a video call and transmit replicas of their smooches to each other. The kissing device is advertised as a way to share physical intimacy between long-distance couples. While advertised for long-distance relationships, the Chinese device also allows users to pair up anonymously with strangers in the “kissing square” function of the app.

☆ These high school sweethearts have visited 112 countries. Here's how they pay for it on a budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Audrey Wan | Chris Dwyer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Hudson and Emily Crider have visited 112 countries, but their journey together began long before that. Hudson and Emily Crider in high school. Hudson and Emily Crider on a safari in Kenya, Africa. Hudson and Emily Crider camping during their self-drive safari in the Serengeti in Tanzania. Hudson and Emily Crider

☆ Travelers say hotel resort fees have gotten completely out of control. Now Biden wants to get rid of them.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Resort fees are a top frustration for travelers, who are dismayed by the added costs to hotel rates. President Biden in his recent State of the Union address called on lawmakers to bar resort fees. How resort fees began to spreadResort fees aren't a totally new phenomenon. As the resort fees migrated to other properties, they took on other names, like "amenity fees" or "facility fees." President Biden spoke out against resort fees during his State of the Union address earlier this month.

☆ Coterra, Pioneer report strong fourth quarters — but the verdict is out on how investors will respond to higher spending this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

That move prompted us to reduce our exposure to any potential post-earnings downside by trimming Coterra and Pioneer late last week. Fourth-quarter production Coterra Energy's oil-and-gas production came in above the high end of the company's guidance and edged out analysts' estimates, too. Notably, Pioneer doesn't hedge its oil production, making its realized pricing closer to that of the underlying commodity. 2023 outlook Guidance provided by Coterra and Pioneer echoed that of Devon: Softer production but higher capital expenditures in 2023. But it beat on expectations for oil production, which should please investors given the high margins of crude production.

☆ Meta's and Twitter's subscription plans show they care more about money than free speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

On Sunday, Mark Zuckerberg – still stinging from his botched metaverse launch – unveiled Meta Verified, a new subscription service costing $12 on web and $15 on iOS and Android. The timing of the launches of Meta's and Twitter's subscription services seems to be no coincidence, then: They're introducing paid-for services at a time when they're being squeezed of digital ad revenue. Meta says its new subscription service is primarily for content creators, but this feels disingenuous because everyone on its service is, in effect, a "content creator." Charging for it illustrates a clear misunderstanding Zuckerberg has of Facebook and its users: Facebook is responsible for vetting who gets access to its platform, not users themselves. Just 0.2% of Twitter users in the US had signed up for Twitter Blue, Musk's subscription service, by the end of January.

☆ Japan's H3 flagship rocket fails to lift off after booster engine glitch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An aerial view shows an H3 rocket carrying a land observation satellite fails to lift off after apparent engine failure at the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan February 17, 2023, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Mandatory credit Kyodo via REUTERSTOKYO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Japan's H3 rocket, the country's first new medium-lift launcher in three decades, failed to lift off on Friday because two secondary booster engines strapped to the side of the space vehicle didn't ignite. It is designed to put government and commercial satellites into orbit and ferry supplies to the International Space Station. The United States has promised Japan a seat on one of its crewed lunar missions. "With the H3 we are aiming to halve the cost per launch," a Mitsubishi Heavy spokesperson said before the planned launch.

REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File PhotoHOUSTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Russia's decision to cut crude oil production by 500,000 barrels per day reflects its inability to sell all of its oil, Ben Harris, a U.S. Treasury Department Assistant Secretary, said on Thursday. Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak last week said it would voluntarily cut production beginning next month following the start of Western price caps on Russian oil and oil products on Feb. 5. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have pushed for lowering the crude oil cap. There have been no American companies involved in trading Russian oil above the price cap, he said. Phillips 66's (PSX.N) Chief Executive Mark Lashier said the company's base assumption is that Russia's crude and oil products will find their way into the marketplace.

☆ Microsoft’s Bing AI demo called out for several errors
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Microsoft’s public demo last week of an AI-powered revamp of Bing appears to have included several factual errors, highlighting the risk the company and its rivals face when incorporating this new technology into search engines. At the Bing demo at Microsoft headquarters, the company showed off how integrating artificial intelligence features from the company behind ChatGPT would empower the search engine to provide more conversational and complex search results. When asked, “What were Meta’s fourth quarter results?” the Bing AI feature gave a response that said, “according to the press release,” and then listed bullet points appearing to state Meta’s results. But Bing stated information that appeared to be attributed to the article that was, in fact, not actually there. For example, Bing said one crib had a “water-resistant mattress pad,” but that information was listed nowhere in the article.

☆ I started an Instagram fan page for luxury watches and turned it into an $8 million resale business — here's how
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Claire Turrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

He launched the company in 2020 and opened a brick-and-mortar store in a mall in Hong Kong in 2021. When I was being interviewed by Hypebeast in Hong Kong, I met my future cofounder and ecommerce expert Sean Wong. By July 2020, Sean had left his job, and I'd moved to Hong Kong to launch the brand. The Wristcheck store in the Landmark Atrium mall in Hong Kong. By November 2022, we'd raised $8 million, with our lead investors being Gobi Partners, who manage the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Investment Fund.

☆ NHL roundup: Adrian Kempe, Kings pound Penguins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Mika Zibanejad scored his 27th goal, Kaapo Kakko also found the net and Vincent Trocheck and Jimmy Vesey each added two assists. Carolina's Sebastian Aho saw his six-game goal streak end. Blues 6, Coyotes 5 (OT)Ryan O'Reilly scored the winning goal 1:02 into overtime to lift St. Louis past visiting Arizona. Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves in his first appearance since blanking the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 on Jan. 19. Jonatan Berggren scored two goals, Filip Hronek scored a goal, and Ben Chiarot had two assists for the Red Wings.

That number includes both rocket launches and capsule reentries, and has been steadily climbing. A Falcon Heavy rocket launches the USSF-67 mission on January 15, 2023 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Air space is going to be a critical, critical issue," Isom said, calling on new industries to contribute to the cost of air traffic control. A graph of FAA-licensed or permitted commercial space launches (excludes launches licensed by other U.S. government agencies, such as NASA or the Department of Defense). Together they create a moving target for space launches and the commercial airlines eyeing the same air space.

☆ SpaceX prepares for a massive test this week: Firing all 33 Starship engines at once
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Starship prototype 24 stacked on top of Super Heavy booster prototype 7 at the company's facility near Brownsville, Texas on January 9, 2023. "Tomorrow is a big day for SpaceX," Shotwell said, speaking at the FAA's annual Commercial Space Transportation conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The company conducted a test firing of 14 of those engines in November, as it pushes to make an orbital launch attempt with a Starship prototype. Last month the company completed a "wet dress rehearsal," with Starship prototype 24 stacked on Super Heavy booster prototype 7, in the most recent crucial test. While SpaceX had hoped to conduct the first orbital Starship launch as early as summer 2021, delays in progress and regulatory approval have pushed back that timeline.

☆ A secret Russian satellite has broken apart in orbit, creating a cloud of debris that could last a century
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A secretive Russian satellite broke apart in Earth's orbit, the US Space Force said on Monday. Kosmos 2499 launched secretly and made "suspicious" maneuvers to complete a mysterious mission. The 18th Space Defense Squadron said on Twitter Monday that it had confirmed a satellite called Kosmos 2499 had broken apart into 85 pieces. The bizarre behavior led to speculation that Russia was testing technology to follow or wreck other satellites, according to Space.com. The first secret satellite, Kosmos 2491, broke apart in 2019.

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