DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Burning Man costs most people a minimum of $800 for just a ticket and a parking spot. All the other expenses can easily push the total cost into the thousands.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Burning Man may be "decommodified" but it's still pretty expensive to attend. AdvertisementAdvertisementTickets alone aren't cheapMost tickets sold directly from Burning Man cost $575 each this year, according to the event's website. Transportation and lodging can easily cost thousandsLots of Burning Man attendees opt for an RV — which can be costly to rent. Aly Weisman/Business InsiderOne website advertising yurts for Burning Man lists structures ranging in price from $3,000 to $11,500. A Burning Man attendee and their costume in front of dozens of bikes on the playa.

Persons: Here's, There's, they're, Matt Mills McKnight, you've, there's, Aly Weisman, It's, — Organizations: Service, Black, Entertainment, Transportation, Black Rock City, Burning, Rock City Locations: Transportation, Wall, Silicon, Reno, Black Rock City, Black Rock, yurts

☆ Mess at Chef's Table: How claims of theft, embezzlement, and abuse shut down Brooklyn Fare's legendary Michelin-starred restaurant
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare, the iconic three-Michelin-star tasting restaurant by chef César Ramirez, quietly ceased operations in July. Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare is one of New York's most hallowed culinary institutions. A former employee at Chef's Table at Brooklyn FareBut beneath the restaurant's pristine stainless-steel surface, chaos was brewing. By 2011, Chef's Table had become one of only 138 restaurants worldwide to boast three Michelin stars. This year, Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare was the highest-ranked US restaurant on the 2023 World's 50 Best Restaurants' list.

Persons: César Ramirez, hasn't, Ramirez, Moneer, Moe, Issa, I'd, Ramirez's, Conti, David Bouley's, Le Bernardin, Per, Chef César Ramirez, Jamie McCarthy, WireImage, Joshua David Stein, Grub, Ramirez freaked, he'd, didn't, Pete Wells, Issa didn't, Adriana, Issa's, Heidi, —, Domaine, disrespected, Spencer Platt, Cesar, Issa wouldn't, commenter Organizations: Brooklyn, Brooklyn Fare, Manhattan Fare Corp, Chef's, Pepsi, GQ, Michelin, Madison, New York Press, Guardian, Staff, New York Times, York, Madison Park Locations: Hokkaido, Los Angeles, New York, Brooklyn, Burgundy, Israeli, Hill, Mexican, Chicago, West, Madison, Masa, Kaluga Queen, Russia, Asia, Kings County, Clinton Hill, Taiwan, York

☆ Justin H. Min, Travel Writer? The Path Not Taken for a Rising Star
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Matt Stevens | More About Matt Stevens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five years after Justin H. Min began pursuing acting by Googling “how to pursue acting,” he thought he was getting the hang of it. He had made a viral commercial, and he was in contention for three major roles. “I was not nervous and I did everything I wanted to,” Min recalled of the auditions. So Min told his manager he was moving. But rather than beg him to stay (as Min had secretly hoped), the manager gave his full blessing.

Persons: Justin H, Min, ”, “, ” Min Organizations: The Times, Netflix, Umbrella Academy Locations: British, London

☆ Fitch Downgrades U.S. Credit Rating
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Alan Rappeport | More About Alan Rappeport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The long-term credit rating of the United States was downgraded on Tuesday by the Fitch Ratings agency, which said that the nation’s high and growing debt burden and penchant for brinkmanship over the debt limit had eroded confidence in its fiscal management. Fitch lowered the U.S. long-term rating to AA+ from its top mark of AAA. The downgrade came two months after the United States narrowly avoided the first debt default in its history. Lawmakers spent weeks negotiating over whether the United States should be allowed to keep borrowing money to pay its bills, a standoff that threatened to tip the United States into default. “The repeated debt-limit political standoffs and last-minute resolutions have eroded confidence in fiscal management,” Fitch said in a statement.

Persons: Fitch, ” Fitch Organizations: Fitch, U.S, AAA Locations: United States

☆ Movie Theaters Are Essential. We Need to Treasure Them Before They’re Gone. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Mark Jacobson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I was there with 200 or so other patrons, a gloriously mixed crowd, to see “Oppenheimer,” one half of the Barbenheimer cultural moment. For a moment, it was possible to forget the grim realities that still linger for the cinema business, circling like vultures. So is Regal, which narrowly avoided having to close its theater in Union Square. On the day before the blockbuster weekend, the Regal UA in Staten Island, one of the last remaining theaters in that borough, closed its doors for good. In the time of streaming and 146-inch TV screens, the simple act of going out to the movies feels contrarian, even subversive.

Persons: “ Oppenheimer, ”, beheld, we’d, tellingly Organizations: AMC, Regal UA, Paris, Netflix, Radio City Music Hall, Machine, Union Locations: New Mexico, Union, Staten Island, Manhattan, York

The ruling Socialists (PSOE) and far-left Sumar won 153 but have more possibilities for negotiating support from small Basque and Catalan separatist parties, as they did following 2019's election. Sanchez could win over left-wing separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC). Junts Secretary General Jordi Turull said on Monday he would use the "window of opportunity" created by the election impasse to achieve Catalan independence. Turull was among the nine Catalan jailed separatist leaders pardoned by Sanchez in 2021 for their role in the 2017 independence bid. Puigdemont, who still wields considerable influence within Junts, said in mid-July the party would not support Sanchez because he was unreliable.

Persons: Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Pedro Sanchez, Vox, Sumar, Esquerra, Jordi Turull, Turull, Puigdemont, Joan Esculies, Esculies, Antoni Comin, Clara Ponsati, Yves Herman, Franco, Spain's, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, PNV, Arnaldo Otegi, Otegi, Joan Faus, Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro, Charlie Devereux, Angus MacSwan, Aislinn Laing Organizations: Exiled, Catalan, Socialist, People's Party, Socialists, PSOE, ERC, Junts, RAC, REUTERS, Reuters, Basque, Vox, Thomson Locations: Spain, Exiled Catalan, BARCELONA, MADRID, Belgium, Catalonia, Puigdemont's, Basque, Catalan, Junts, Madrid, Brussels, Canary Islands, Galicia, Navarra, Barcelona

The results from Sunday's vote left neither the left nor right bloc with an easy path to form a government. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez' Socialists have more options but face potentially unpalatable demands from Catalan separatist parties. Those could include insistence on an independence referendum, triggering the kind of political chaos seen in 2017 when Catalonia last tried to break from Spain. Sanchez could win over left-wing separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), as he did to form a minority government in 2019. The Socialists, which oppose independence and any vote on the issue, may have a hard time accepting such a demand.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez, Begona Gomez, applauds, gridlock, Ignacio Jurado, Vox, Sumar, Sanchez, Esquerra, Junts, Miriam Nogueras, Carles Puigdemont, Ignacio Torreblanca, Charlie Devereux, Belen Carreno, Joan Faus, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: Socialist, REUTERS, Carlos III University, People's Party, Socialists, PSOE, ERC, Congress, Spanish, European Council, Foreign Relations, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Catalan, MADRID, Catalonia, Belgium, Basque, Barcelona

☆ What the Collapse of Spain’s Far Right Means Going Forward
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Jason Horowitz | More About Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Europe’s liberal and moderate establishment breathed easier on Monday after Spain’s nationalist Vox party faltered in Sunday’s elections, stalling for now a surge from far-right parties around the continent that seemed on the brink of washing over even the progressive bastion of Spain. But instead of Vox becoming the first hard-right party to enter government in Spain since the end of the Franco dictatorship nearly 50 years ago, as many polls had predicted, it sank. The party’s poor returns at the polls also took down the underperforming center-right conservatives who had depended on Vox’s support to form a government. As a result, no single party or coalition immediately gained enough parliamentary seats to govern, thrusting Spain into a familiar political muddle and giving new life to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who only days ago seemed moribund. Suddenly, Mr. Sánchez appeared best positioned to cobble together another progressive government in the coming weeks to avoid new elections.

Persons: “, ”, Giorgia Meloni, Vox, Pedro Sánchez, Sánchez Organizations: Vox, Repubblica Locations: Spain, Europe, Italy

[1/4]Spain's opposition People's Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo and People's Party spokeswoman Maria Concepcion Gamarra attend a meeting at the People's Party (PP) headquarters in Madrid, Spain, July 24, 2023. Puigdemont, who still wields considerable influence within Junts, said in mid-July the party would not support Sanchez. "We are sure about that, and that there will be no repetition (of the election)," the source said. Sumar lawmaker Jaume Asens has already begun talks with Junts on the platform's behalf, a source in the party said. Another PSOE source said the party would leave the PP to make the first attempt to form a government.

Persons: Sanchez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Vox, Feijoo, Sumar, Pedro Sanchez, Esquerra, Carles Puigdemont, Maria Concepcion Gamarra, Juan Medina, Jordi Turull, Turull, Puigdemont, Jaume Asens, Junts, Franco, Spain's, Eurointelligence, Joan Faus, Belen Carreno, Emma Pinedo, Inti Landauro, Charlie Devereux, Angus MacSwan, Aislinn Laing, Christina Fincher Organizations: Conservative, Exiled, People's Party, Socialist, PSOE, Socialists, ERC, Vox, People's, of Navarre, UPN, Canary Coalition, REUTERS, Basque Nationalist Party, Sumar, Puigdemont, Thomson Locations: Spain, Exiled Catalan, BARCELONA, MADRID, Basque, Catalan, Canary, Belgium, Catalonia, Madrid, Bildu, Junts, PSOE, Barcelona

With 99% of votes counted by 11:45 p.m. (2145 GMT), the opposition People's Party (PP) had 136 seats while Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's ruling Socialists (PSOE) had 122 seats. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsNegotiations by the two blocs to form governments will start after a new parliament convenes on Aug. 17. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a surprise snap election after the left took a drubbing in local elections in May. In the present scenario, Sanchez' PSOE would rely heavily on Catalan separatist parties Junts and ERC or Basque separatists EH Bildu. In 2019, two more elections were held before the PSOE and far-left Podemos agreed to form Spain's first coalition government.

Persons: Pedro Sanchez's, Vox, King Felipe VI, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Mariano Rajoy, Sanchez, Steve Smith, Pedro Sanchez, Ignacio Jurado, Carlos, Juan Medina, Madrid's Calle Genova, Galo Contreras, we're, Francisco Franco, Teruel Existe, El, Junts, Carles Puigdemont, Podemos, Jose Ignacio Torreblanca, Belen Carreno, Jesus Aguado, Emma Pinedo, Joan Faus, Corina Pons, Charlie Devereux, Nick Macfie, Frances Kerry, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: PSOE, People's Party, Socialists, Reuters Graphics Reuters, European Union Council, Voters, Feijoo's PP, Vox, Carlos III University, People's, REUTERS, Madrid's Calle, PP, Basque Nationalist Party, Teruel, Junts, ERC, Basque, European Council, Foreign Relations, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Spain, swimsuits, Madrid, Madrid's, Burgos, El Pais, Catalan

☆ Thames Water’s leaky financials are far from fixed: podcast
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, July 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The privately owned UK water company managed to cobble together a rescue from existing shareholders. But in this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss why the fresh funds may not be enough, and the threat of nationalisation hangs over the sector as a whole. Listen to the podcastFollow @aimeedonnellan on TwitterSubscribe to Breakingviews’ podcasts, Viewsroom and The Exchange. Editing by Oliver TaslicOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Twitter, Thomson

☆ Grazed and Confused: In ‘The Vegan,’ a Guilty Hedge Funder Eats His Feelings
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Alexandra Jacobs | More About Alexandra Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

THE VEGAN, by Andrew LipsteinWe should all be feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote, and at this point in climate change, we should probably also all be vegans (at least for part of the week). But in Andrew Lipstein’s ingenious second novel, avoiding meat and dairy is a sign that something has gone seriously wrong. Sort of like when Rosemary Woodhouse found herself nibbling on a raw chicken heart, part of the mounting evidence she was pregnant with Satan’s child, but in reverse. Like “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Vegan” features young marrieds mulling conception and living in a highly desirable part of New York City — then, a four-room apartment in a Victorian building on the West Side of Manhattan; now, a brick townhouse in Cobble Hill— and a dinner party where a guest is effectively roofied. Only here the perpetrator is the protagonist, one Herschel Caine (which, were you to consult a naming dictionary, translates roughly to “deer killer”): partner at a quantitative hedge fund, with $2.8 million in his bank account, growing qualms about his line of work and a keep-up-with-the-Joneses anxiety about his neighbors, one of whom is a Guggenheim.

Persons: Andrew Lipstein, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Andrew Lipstein’s, Rosemary Woodhouse, nibbling, New York City —, Herschel Caine Organizations: Guggenheim Locations: New York City, Manhattan, Cobble

☆ Is It a Meal? A Snack? No, It’s ‘Girl Dinner.’
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Jessica Roy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It’s 90 degrees outside, and you’re too hot and exhausted from a long day of work to cobble together a proper meal. Luckily you’re home by yourself — no kids, no roommates, no partners — and therefore can eat whatever you want for dinner, without having to consider the food preferences or nutrition needs of others. Welcome to “girl dinner.”According to TikTok, where the trend has more than 30 million views, girl dinner is akin to an aesthetically pleasing Lunchable: an artfully arranged pile of snacks that, when consumed in high enough volume, constitutes a meal. Typical girl dinners may include some kind of fruit, a block of cheddar, sliced salami, a sleeve of fancy crackers and a dish of olives. Girl dinner is “both chaotic and filling,” as one TikTok commenter put it, requiring none of the forethought, cooking or plating demanded by an actual meal.

Persons: you’re, commenter, Olivia Maher, ” Locations: TikTok

☆ After a Single Glance, an Unspoken Connection Blossomed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Rachel Felder | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As they got to know one another — “It was a little awkward because I’d been looking at him for six months,” Mr. Bittar said — Mr. Bittar explained that he was a single father. Mr. Bittar, who is gregarious and vocal, grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. His father, Robert Bittar, is of Syrian descent and his late mother, Helen Bittar, was of Irish-Catholic descent; both were professors. Mr. Bittar began selling jewelry on the streets of downtown Manhattan as a scrappy teenager. “The differences are so obvious it’s kind of ridiculous,” said Todd Parmley, a software company executive who has known Mr. Bittar for more than two decades.

Persons: Miner, Charlie, ” Mr, Bittar, Mr, “, ‘, Robert Bittar, Helen Bittar, Charles Miner III, Claire Miner, ”, Todd Parmley Organizations: East, Bucknell University Locations: Bay Ridge , Brooklyn, Manhattan, Connecticut, Darien, Fairfield

☆ The Relief: Finding an Apartment. The Remorse: Living In It.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Alix Strauss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

She had a deep and important relationship that lasted four years — with her studio apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. It was an open layout with two huge closets and a separate, small kitchen,” said Ms. Strassberg, 31, who is a branded content editor at the Hearst Corporation. In April 2021, she met William Muschinske, a 30-year-old graphic designer from Oklahoma, on the dating app Bumble. Their relationship grew quickly. Most of his time was spent working and living at Ms. Strassberg’s.

Persons: Rebecca Strassberg, “, ”, Strassberg, I’d, Ms, William Muschinske, Muschinske, Fran Organizations: Hearst Corporation Locations: Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, Midwood , Brooklyn, Oklahoma, Bazaarvoice, Gowanus , Brooklyn

☆ House Set to Vote on Debt Limit Bill as Republican Resistance Grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Catie Edmondson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Speaker Kevin McCarthy toiled on Wednesday to lock down the votes to pass his deal with President Biden to lift the debt ceiling and set federal spending limits, as a stream of defections from hard-right lawmakers put the fate of the measure in question. With the nation’s first-ever default looming in days, the House was on track to begin votes Wednesday afternoon on a plan to suspend the nation’s borrowing limit for two years in exchange for two years of spending caps and a string of policy concessions Republicans demanded. To muster a 218-vote majority to push it through the closely divided House, congressional leaders must cobble together a coalition of Republicans willing to back it and enough Democrats to make up for what was shaping up to be a substantial number of G.O.P. Hard-right lawmakers are in open revolt over the compromise and have vowed to try to derail it. Multiple right-wing lawmakers have savaged the bill, publicly using a profanity-laced description to compare it to a foul-tasting sandwich and arguing that it does nothing to secure the kind of deep spending cuts and rollbacks of Biden administration policies for which they have agitated.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy toiled, Biden

☆ A Vote on the Debt Deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Matthew Cullen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The House will vote tonight on a bipartisan plan to suspend the nation’s debt ceiling for two years and limit spending as lawmakers race to act before a looming default. The legislation is a product of intense negotiations between President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who demanded concessions from Democrats in exchange for suspending the borrowing limit. McCarthy predicted that he would have the necessary votes by around 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, when the final vote is expected. (We are covering it live.) My colleague Catie Edmondson told me that the bill was likely to pass, but that “something could always blow up.” The vote comes just days ahead of a June 5 deadline, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. will run out of cash to pay all of its bills on time.

Persons: Biden, Kevin McCarthy, McCarthy, Catie Edmondson, Janet Yellen Locations: U.S

☆ Nvidia is up 165% in 2023. Here's why its the clear winner in the AI race so far.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Nvidia stock has soared 165% in 2023 as investors wake up to the potential of artificial intelligence. Nvidia appears best positioned for AI growth as companies rely on its high-tech GPUs to power chatbots like ChatGPT and Bard. The stock is up 165% so far in 2023, and some analysts think there's still plenty of room for growth. "They have the entire AI silicon stack. They own over 95% of market share of the GPU market within the data center space," Zino said.

According to a person familiar with the agreement, it also would impose new work requirements for some recipients of government aid, including food stamps and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. It would place new limits on how long certain recipients of food stamps — people under the age of 54, who do not have children — could benefit from the program. The work requirements and the environmental review reforms were among the last details the two sides worked out on Saturday. Economists and Wall Street analysts warned that a default would be devastating and potentially lead to a global economic meltdown. To avert a default, the House and the Senate must pass the deal and send it to Mr. Biden for his signature.

☆ 15 Hours on the Job With a Bagel Roller
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Sarah Bahr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. García, 58, cranes his neck to look for the B3 bus, which will take him to the Avenue U subway station. Each episode is about 10 to 20 minutes long and spotlights a day in the life of someone like Mr. García, who is one of the city’s last bagel rollers. Mr. García is used to the early call time. For members of The Times’s Food team, it was a little tougher to get out of bed, though well worth it. The team likes to slowly introduce crew members to their subjects throughout the day of the shoot.

☆ Peas and Feta Make Everything Better
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Tanya Sichynsky | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But by the time I putter into the kitchen, it’s nearing 9 p.m., and I’m wondering where another April evening has gone. Flash-frozen at their peak, these peas will rival any fresh ones you might spot at a farmers’ market, and require far less prep time. (Though if you come upon fresh peas or happen to grow them, know that I am jealous.) If I have a block of feta in the cheese drawer, I’m that much closer to dinner. Pops of sweet, starchy peas giving way to bits of tangy, crumbly feta is the good kind of springtime sensory jolt.

☆ Kevin McCarthy Has Plan to Raise Debt Ceiling, and Republicans Have Questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Siobhan Hughes | Eric Bazail-Eimil | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) met behind closed doors with members of his conference Tuesday as he pushed to cobble together 218 votes from within his narrow House Republican majority for a plan to raise the debt ceiling before the government loses the ability to pay its bills. Republicans left a morning meeting saying that important details of the plan, which Mr. McCarthy sketched out one day earlier in a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, were still unclear. Among their questions: whether the plan would increase the debt limit by a specific amount or suspend it until a particular date; which policy components would hitch a ride on the plan; and whether it would move through legislative committees or be devised by Republican leadership and brought directly to the House floor.

☆ Humans have to get in the way of AI to make it more responsible
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Humans are key to responsible AI. Calls to pause AI development centered around the need to make sure we were building responsible AI. But some Big Tech companies laid off responsible AI employees as part of the great cost-cutting sweeping the industry, possibly undermining the greatest tool against unfettered, unchecked AI. Those moves come right as society has come to understand what can happen if AI escapes its guardrails, making AI ethics more important than ever. Here's why humans will help bring responsible AI to fruition.

☆ Buyouts are getting complicated
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The terms say that the buyer cannot be forced to close before Oct. 15 – seven months after the deal’s announcement. A Tuesday proxy filing shows that’s to give Platinum enough time to sort out its debt financing. Qualtrics, meanwhile, sold in March for $12.5 billion – but it turns out it almost got more. An unnamed bidder offered $21 per share, more than the $18.15 that Qualtrics accepted from Silver Lake and CPP Investments. Buyouts are getting done, but they’re also getting complicated.

☆ From threatening skeptical execs to approving expenses with emojis, here are the 6 most damning claims from FTX's first debtors report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Morgan Chittum | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Sam Bankman-Fried threatened FTX employees who voiced concerns about its business practices. The report, which is 45 pages long, compiled interviews of 19 former FTX employees and "received substantial information through counsel" for five others. 1) SBF threatened FTX execsMultiple FTX execs were threatened after voicing concerns over the company's business practices. As a result, the report says: "Senior FTX Group personnel scrambled to cobble together purported policies that could be shown to auditors. One former executive described Singh's and Wang's oversight on FTX Group as: "If Nishad [and Gary] got hit by a bus, the whole company would be done."

Search resuls for: "Cobble"

25 mentions found