DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

[1/3] People shout slogans during a demonstration against the mounting costs of living, in Lisbon, Portugal, February 25, 2023. Portugal is one of Western Europe's poorest countries, with government data showing more than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros ($1,054.60) per month last year. House prices in Portugal rose 18.7% in 2022, the biggest increase in three decades, and rents have also increased significantly in part due to a speculative property bubble. Low wages and high rents make Lisbon the world's third-least viable city to live in, according to a study by insurance brokers CIA Landlords. ($1 = 0.9482 euro)Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Pedro Nunes; Editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russian balloons are drifting over Kyiv, likely to fake out its air defenses and force them to waste valuable missiles, Ukraine says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Ukrainian forces reportedly detected six Russian balloons in Kyiv's airspace on Thursday. A Ukrainian military spokesman said the balloons were meant to " exhaust our air defense forces." The Kyiv City Military Administration posted about the balloons on Telegram on Wednesday. Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said the high-altitude balloons "were launched to detect and exhaust our air defense forces," the BBC reported. Shooting them down can waste valuable surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), which can be effective against aircraft, helicopters, drones, and slower cruise missiles.

More than 50% of workers earned less than 1,000 euros per month last year while rents and house prices have skyrocketed. Prime Minister Antonio Costa told a news conference the crisis was now affecting all families, not just the most vulnerable. It is not clear when the measures, worth at least 900 million euros ($962.19 million), will come into effect. To address the housing shortage, Costa said the state would rent vacant houses direct from landlords for a period of five years and put them on the rental market. At a small housing protest in Lisbon, 23-year-old activist Andreia Galvao accused the government of failing to live up to promises it made to address the housing crisis in the past.

☆ Fact Check-Digitally altered video shows Biden talking about UFOs and extraterrestrials
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

White House Spokesperson Saloni Sharma told Reuters the remarks “never happened.”Reuters found no public record of Biden saying this. “While the voice cloning is quite effective, the video manipulation is quickly discernible as fake,” he told Reuters via email. Reuters previously debunked another digitally altered video of Biden (here ). A White House spokesperson told Reuters Biden did not make such remarks about flying objects. There is no evidence that he said that, and experts told Reuters that the video circulating on social media has been manipulated.

[1/5] A cross at the top of a church is seen on the day Portugal's commission investigating allegations of historical child sexual abuse by members of the Portuguese Catholic church will unveil its report, in Lisbon, Portugal, February 13, 2023. Strecht said the 4,815 cases were the "absolute minimum" number of victims of sexual abuse by clergy members in Portugal since 1950. The Portuguese Catholic Church was rocked last year by cases of alleged cover-up of sexual abuse including by bishops who remain active in church roles. The Portuguese commission started its work in January 2022 after a report in France revealed around 3,000 priests and religious officials sexually abused over 200,000 children. The commission, which says it is independent, was financed by the Catholic Church.

[1/5] School teachers demonstrate for better salaries and working conditions in Lisbon, Portugal, February 11, 2023. REUTERS/Pedro NunesLISBON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of teachers took to Lisbon's streets on Saturday in one of the biggest protests in Portugal in recent years as the Socialist government faces a wave of discontent over the cost of living crisis. It was the third time in less than a month that teachers and school workers have held mass demonstrations in Portugal. Teachers on the lowest pay scale make around 1,100 euros ($1,174.25) per month but even teachers in higher bands typically earn less than 2,000 euros. House prices in Portugal rose 18.7% in 2022, the biggest increase in three decades, and rents have also increased significantly.

☆ I started my company with $40 and grew it to $4 million in revenue. Here are the best business investments I made and what entrepreneurs should avoid.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tori Dunlap started her financial-advice blog with $40 and grew it to $4 million in revenue last year. She shares the most important investments for any business owner and what founders should avoid. In a conversation with Insider, Dunlap shared the most important business investments she's made and what founders should avoid. People are the most important investmentWhile I started the business on my own, outsourcing tasks and bringing people onto the team was the best investment I ever made. It can be a waste of money if you're paying for something just because other business owners do.

[1/3] The dog, Bobi, that broke the record for oldest dog ever at 30 years-old, is pictured at Conqueiros, in Leiria, Portugal, February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Catarina DemonyCONQUEIROS, Portugal, Feb 4 (Reuters) - When his dog was born three decades ago in a tiny village in central Portugal, Leonel Costa was only eight years old. Little did he know that his beloved Bobi would one day be recorded as the world's oldest dog. Costa got in touch with the Guinness World of Records, submitted all the paperwork and a year later Bobi was officially named the oldest dog on record. Costa hopes Bobi has many more years of life and is thankful the dog has put the remote village of Conqueiros on the map.

☆ How an Artist Is Transforming the Guggenheim Museum—Down to the Freight Elevator Hallway
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ted Loos | Photography Gioncarlo Valentine For Wsj. Magazine | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

It’s telling that artist Sarah Sze’s cellphone ringtone is the famous five-note tune from the 1977 sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which was used in the movie to communicate with an alien spaceship. “We are so fully immersed in it,” Sze says of technology, one of her great subjects. “We’re in the eye of the storm.”In her Hell’s Kitchen studio in Manhattan this past December, Sze—known for her sprawling multimedia assemblages—works amid what seems like a tornado of artistic materials. But the chaos is carefully controlled.

☆ Auburn University blocked TikTok on campus WiFi. Journalism professors say they're looking for workarounds so they can still teach multimedia skills.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Auburn University has blocked TikTok on campus WiFi following a directive by Alabama's governor. One Auburn student told Insider that he'd already deleted the TikTok app because it was distracting him from work. "TikTok has never shared US data with the Chinese government, nor would we if asked," a TikTok spokesperson told Insider. Auburn students say the restrictions could affect their downtime, but professors worry it could have educational impacts, too. Auburn students are able to get around the restrictions by not connecting to the campus WiFi.

LISBON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Europe was entering an "inevitable" post-pandemic period of airline consolidation as legacy flag-carriers struggle to navigate through a competitive landscape, the chief executive of low-cost carrier Ryanair (RYA.I) said on Wednesday. "We are definitely, post-COVID, entering a four or five-year period of consolidation," Ryanair's Michael O'Leary told Reuters on the sidelines of a news briefing in Portugal's capital Lisbon. Many of Europe's legacy airlines are finding it tough to effectively compete with budget carriers, hampered by weak balance sheets that could be made more robust by merging with rivals, analysts have said. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM and British Airways owner IAG are potential buyers, according to analysts. O'Leary said he believed the sector in Europe would move towards having four large airlines: Lufthansa, Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), IAG and and Ryanair.

Almeida, who has five rescue dogs, travelled nearly 250 kms (155 miles) from the northern Portuguese city of Aveiro for the demonstration, which was organised by the Animal Intervention and Rescue (IRA) group. Portugal's public prosecutors had on Wednesday asked the constitutional court to declare unconstitutional a law that criminalises with a fine or jail time those who mistreat their pets. According to public prosecutors, the court has already made decisions that pointed to the alleged unconstitutionality of the legislation. On one occasion, a dog owner who threw his puppies into a rubbish bin was initially convicted but later acquitted. Holding a banner, Filipe Vicente, a 45-year-old dog and cat owner, described the current situation as a "notorious setback".

☆ Apple is looking for a top sales executive to spearhead a giant advertising push in sports and streaming. Here are 16 execs who could score the job.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Netflix also conducted a search before hiring two Snap executives, Jeremi Gorman and Peter Naylor, to lead its new ads business. XandrLesser, a longtime digital ad executive, has extensive experience working on issues around the future of digital marketing. McDonald has a ton of other digital ad sales and publishing experience. She helped launch Modi Media, ad buying giant GroupM's addressable TV business, before joining TV adtech startup Cadent. UnivisionValentino runs Disney's digital ad business as EVP, client and brand solutions.

☆ China tightens media control with tiny stakes in two Alibaba units
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty ImagesBEIJING — State-backed entities have taken tiny stakes in parts of two Alibaba subsidiaries that oversee a video platform and web browser. The state-backed stakes reflect a progression of government directives over the last decade to increase control of media in China. "So far most of the stakes announced (including in other Chinese companies) seem to be highly concentrated on media companies and media subsidiaries." watch nowSince 2020, business records show state-backed entities have taken 1% stakes in popular social media or short-video apps Weibo , ByteDance's Douyin and Kuaishou . A provincial state media group completed a 1% investment in September, leaving Alibaba's media arm with 99% ownership.

☆ Over 200 millionaires urge Davos elite to up taxes on the ultra-rich
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Over 200 millionaires are urging the elite echelons in attendance at this week's World Economic Forum in Davos to "tackle extreme wealth" and "tax the ultra-rich" to help relieve the cost-of-living strain off ordinary households. The letter questions the mission of the World Economic Forum in absence of concrete measures:"The current lack of action is gravely concerning. A meeting of the 'global elite' in Davos to discuss 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World' is pointless if you aren't challenging the root cause of division. CNBC has reached out to the Davos World Economic Forum for comment. Just one leader of the Group of Seven global economic — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — was set to attend the Davos proceedings this week, as several of his counterparts battle the cost-of-living crisis.

☆ This a16z-backed startup wants to make it easier for designers to create interactive, animated graphics. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck Rive used to raise $10 million from Two Sigma Ventur
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Rive offers designers and developers a tool to create animated, interactive graphics. Brothers Guido and Luigi Rosso cofounded the graphic design startup in 2016. Currently, design processes are inefficient, with engineers forced to rebuild mockups that designers create in tools like Figma, Guido Rosso told Insider. To that point, Rive also offers open-source libraries to load and run Rive graphics across a variety of destinations, including apps, games, and websites. Here's an exclusive look at the 10-slide pitch deck Rive used to raise $10 million in Series A funding from Two Sigma Ventures:

DNIPROVS’KE, Ukraine — The smell of sawdust hangs in the air around a network of neatly dug trenches in a quiet and densely forested area on Ukraine’s border with Belarus. Originally built in April, Ukrainian forces continue to update and strengthen defenses such as these trenches, amid reports of Russian troops and armor pouring into Belarus. Air force drills will be held from Monday to Feb. 1 using all of Belarus's military air fields, and joint army exercises involving a “mechanized brigade subdivision,” the Belarusian defense ministry said. “We are now focused on the reserves and groupings of troops that Russia is putting in the temporarily occupied territories. Across the Dnipro river from Belarus, not far from the trenches, Ukrainian forces are taking no chances.

LISBON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - In a fresh blow to Portugal's government, tens of thousands of Portuguese teachers and school staff poured into the streets of the capital Lisbon to demand higher wages and better working conditions in one of the biggest protests of recent years. During the peaceful demonstration, organised by the Union of All Education Professionals (STOP), protesters held banners and shouted slogans as they urged Education Minister Joao Costa to step down. Teachers on the lowest pay scale make around 1,100 euros ($1,191.08) per month and even teachers in the top band typically earn less than 2,000 euros monthly. Protesters say current wages are too low, particularly given the cost of living crisis. The education minister said on Friday he might force some teachers back to work by decreeing minimum services.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, center, with soldiers in what they said was a salt mine in Soledar, Ukraine in this image released on Jan. 11. By contrast, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither confirmed that Soledar had fallen to Russian forces or mentioned the Wagner group’s involvement in attempts to take it. Russia has consistently denied the involvement of the Wagner Group in its official military operations. Prigozhin during the funeral of Wagner group fighter near St. Petersburg, on Christmas Eve. To date, the hawks have been far louder than the pragmatists, and a chorus of hard-right bloggers have excoriated Russia’s military performance, while television pundits have called for a tougher approach.

☆ Inside the turmoil at Cheddar News, where an editorial 'identity crisis' and misfired social media strategy divided the newsroom and drove staffers to the exits
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Reed Alexander | Elaine Low | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

16 insiders described unrest and discord partly fueled by the site's revamped social media strategy. Malaspina's plan was for Cheddar to look and feel like a social media platform and to position its stars as influencers. Concerns inside Cheddar intensified when Malaspina, a newcomer to journalism, refocused its coverage on social media content. Multiple segments and even an entire show — "Trending" at 7 p.m. — centered on social media trends and TikTok challenges. It's very troubling to think that news professionals would inflate or distort their social media followings.

Mo Abbas / NBC NewsKuvtun is among the Ukrainian Christians who turned Christmas into a fresh front in the war with Russia. We choose this civilization,” said Archbishop Yevstratiy Zorya, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate. Hours later, Putin ordered his military to observe a 36-hour cease-fire in Ukraine for Russian Orthodox Christmas and called on Kyiv to do the same. And even as it has sought to distance itself from Russia, the UOC has also stuck with Christmas on Jan. 7. Zorya, the OCU spokesman, said the Russian Orthodox Church, to which the UOC still bears at least a nominal connection, remains hopelessly imperial in its outlook.

The timing was also set to comply with a strict curfew of 11 p.m. local time (6 p.m. Tamara said she was set to be deployed near the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where months of brutal fighting has seen Ukrainian forces hold up Russian efforts to advance. “This war is actually not almost a year old, it’s actually eight years old,” Tamara said, referring to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and backing of breakaway forces in other parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. "This time, Russia’s mass missile attack is deliberately targeting residential areas, not even our energy infrastructure. War criminal Putin “celebrates” New Year by killing people," said Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Twitter.

Barbara Skrobol at the grave of her sister in law, Izabela Sajbor, in southern Poland last month. Under communism, Poland had been a destination for women seeking abortions from more conservative Western European countries where it had been illegal. The ruling worked: Almost overnight, the number of legal abortions in Poland decreased by 90%, according to abortion rights advocacy groups. Mo Abbas / NBC NewsLike women living in anti-abortion U.S. states, Poles can travel to seek an abortion. Beneath her sister-in-law’s name on her headstone, the family has etched the words “Not One More” — a slogan that’s been widely used by protesters and Poland’s abortion rights movement.

☆ Artists in Cuba find themselves blocked from NFT trading sites
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“The first thing that drew me to it was the freedom,” said García Alarcón, known best by his artist name, Paolo De. García Alarcón is among at least 30 Cuban artists whose profiles have been delisted from at least two American-owned NFT trading sites sites, including the largest one, OpenSea, and KnownOrigin, according to Cuban NFT artist collectives. He’s the organizer of NFTcuba.ART, a collective of around 100 Cuban artists around the world. D’Alerta and other collective leaders told the AP that the bans have even extended to personal accounts of Cuban artists who don’t live on the island. Meanwhile, leaders in the Cuban NFT space worry that the deplatforming could have a long-term chilling effect on Cuban digital artists.

☆ Personal finance expert and author of 'The True Cost of Happiness' explains how investing into her passion and dropping her 'money script' helped her to build a business and find financial independenc
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jennifer Streaks | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Tisdale uncovered her "money script" to understand her behavior and change her relationship with money. Not only get it right in terms of everyday money management, but also setting ourselves up for financial success. Tisdale's journey culminated in a study on financial behavior or "money scripts." It wasn't until she got out of her own way that she found career and financial success, Tisdale concedes. Her company has partnered with numerous organizations and corporations teaching their workforce positive financial behavior and encouraging healthy relationships around money.

Search resuls for: "Multimedia"

25 mentions found