DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Tesla video promoting self-driving was staged, engineer testifies
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The previously unreported testimony by Elluswamy represents the first time a Tesla employee has confirmed and detailed how the video was produced. The car is driving itself.”Elluswamy said Tesla’s Autopilot team set out to engineer and record a “demonstration of the system’s capabilities” at the request of Musk. It was to portray what was possible to build into the system,” Elluswamy said, according to a transcript of his testimony seen by Reuters. When asked if the 2016 video showed the performance of the Tesla Autopilot system available in a production car at the time, Elluswamy said, "It does not." Elluswamy said drivers could “fool the system,” making a Tesla system believe that they were paying attention based on feedback from the steering wheel when they were not.

☆ Aging, outdated technology leaves air travel at risk of meltdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

As early as 2012, the FAA decided it wanted to replace aging legacy voice switches used in air traffic control communications with new, internet-based communications technology. Trying to integrate old systems with newer ones — always in real time, because the global aviation industry never sleeps — can also create its own opportunities for catastrophic mistakes. Many more things can go wrong than you might expect — highlighting the sheer complexity of the aviation industry, and underscoring how there isn’t a quick easy fix for IT-related travel disruptions. But it has had lasting effects on FAA technology. That bureaucratic myopia is its own cause of today’s technological malaise in the aviation industry.

“Mission Hospital used to be where everyone would go if they wanted good care,” Jaquins said, reflecting on her previous experiences with the health care system. Sue Fischer is a longtime HCA employee who’s concerned about patient care in her facility. “We were a great system as Mission Health and we’re an even better system as HCA Mission Health,” she said. “Delays in care is the biggest patient care issue I see because of staffing,” Hernandez said. According to the CMS ranking system, Mission Hospital currently holds an above-average overall quality rating — four stars out of a possible five.

"That’s what’s killing me, he’s a baby.”Long's grandson, Karon Blake, was killed Saturday, Metropolitan Police said, after he was shot by a man who “heard noises and observed someone that appeared to be tampering with vehicles” in his Northeast Washington neighborhood. Courtesy Sean LongThe man who shot Karon called police after the incident, according to authorities. The man who shot him has not been identified or arrested. Contee said detectives are gathering the facts and will present the case to the U.S. attorney’s office for possible charges. Long said he was “really proud” of Karon’s mother, who has been devastated by her son’s death, but also working hard toward planning his funeral.

Criminal hackers have posted an enormous trove of sensitive files to the internet from a San Francisco Bay Area transit system’s police department, including specific allegations of child abuse. BART’s chief communications officer, Alicia Trost, said in an email officials were investigating the posted files and that the hackers had not impacted BART services. The perpetrators are an established group of ransomware hackers, one of the many who attack specific organizations and either encrypt sensitive files or threaten to post them on the dark web. Ransomware hackers often demand a payment to not share files. More than 100 networks associated with local government agencies were successfully attacked by ransomware hackers last year, according to an Emsisoft survey.

☆ Emmanuel Macron presses ahead with pension reform as French discontent swells
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Pension reform in France, where the right to retire on a full pension at 62 is deeply cherished, is always a highly sensitive issue and even more so now with social discontent mounting over the surging cost of living. Hundreds of yellow vests took to the streets of Toulouse, France, on Saturday to protest against Macron's reforms, such as the planned pension reform and the unemployment reforms. Alain Pitton/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesStrike threatMacron had to put the pension reform on ice in 2020 as the government rushed to contain the Covid outbreak and save the economy. Although recent strike action has been limited to specific sectors, such as refineries and airlines, outrage over pension reform could easily spark far broader protests. Polls show pension reform is unpopular.

☆ Watch How Arctic Air Blanketed the U.S. Last Week
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Aatish Bhatia | Margot Sanger-Katz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Air temperature ⭠ Warmer air Colder air ⭢ Freezing +80°F +60°F +40°F +20°F 0 -20°F Source: NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction Note: The map depicts air temperatures two meters above ground. It shows a detailed simulation of air temperatures that was created by blending high-resolution weather forecast models with recent observations from satellites and over 30,000 weather stations. The polar vortex spins in a counter-clockwise direction, creating the path of cold air that traveled south, then east, and finally north again. It became “pretty breezy” as the freezing air shifted east, said Caleb Grunzke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Chanhassen, Minn. As the cold air traveled down the central part of the country, its path was deflected by the Rocky Mountains.

Arizona Gov.-elect Katie Hobbs is taking the state’s child protective services agency in a radically different direction in the wake of a ProPublica-NBC News investigation into the racial disparities that have plagued the child welfare system here. This week, Hobbs, a Democrat, announced that she has selected Matthew Stewart, a Black community advocate, as the new head of Arizona’s Department of Child Safety. Arizona’s child welfare system has long disproportionately investigated Black families. After leaving DCS, Stewart formed the community organization Our Sister Our Brother, which has fought the department for more equitable treatment of Black and also low-income parents. Child welfare experts in the state and families affected by the system praised Stewart’s selection, though some wondered how much change he could bring about even in DCS’ top position.

Broken pipes left thousands of residents of Jackson, Mississippi, without running water Monday after a winter storm as the city struggled to return pressure to its frail water system. “There’s no water pressure for most residents in Jackson, again,” state Rep. Ronnie Crudup said Monday. He said he’s one of the only people he knows in his neighborhood with some running water, but it’s just a small amount and not drinkable under the city’s boil water notice. In early 2021, extremely low temperatures left residents without running water after pipes froze. This year, the city lost running water amid problems at the city’s main water treatment facility, the O.B.

Known in the legal world as the “death penalty” of child welfare, it can happen in a matter of months. One in 100 U.S. children — disproportionately Black and Native American — experience termination through the child welfare system before they turn 18, the study found. Still, longer timelines can also reflect a stronger focus on family reunification and a willingness to devote greater resources to meet that goal, child welfare experts say. And some child welfare advocates have criticized the law’s focus on narrow initiatives like parenting classes, which they say fail to address poverty and the other root causes of neglect that prompt most child welfare cases. Snodgrass said she never imagined when her child welfare case started that she could lose her rights to her children.

The deal, which includes significant raises for the employees, ends the grad students' five-week strike. Sarah Reingewirtz / Los Angeles Daily News via Getty ImagesOn Friday evening, United Auto Workers, the union representing the striking student workers, hailed the tentative agreement and praised Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg for helping accelerate negotiations. The University of California said it would make health care accessible to the dependents of student employees and enhance paid family leave benefits. System president Michael V. Drake was pleased with Friday's outcome and recognized the workers' role in the system's lauded education and research. "Our Academic Student Employees and Graduate Student Researchers are central to our academic enterprise and make incredible contributions to the University’s mission of research and education," he said in a statement.

[1/2] An excavator sift through dunes of low-grade coal near a coal mine in Pingdingshan, Henan province, China November 5, 2021. High gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and consequent disruptions to supply have led some countries to turn to relatively cheaper coal this year. Europe's coal demand has risen due to more switching from gas to coal due to high gas prices and as Russian gas has reduced to a trickle. However, by 2025 European coal demand is expected to decline below 2022 levels, the report said. The three largest coal producers - China, India and Indonesia - will all hit production records this year but despite high prices and comfortable margins for coal producers, there is no sign of surging investment in export-driven coal projects.

☆ US weather forecast: A massive, deadly storm that spawned tornadoes is heading east, bringing fierce snow and dangerous travel conditions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Holly Yan Monica Garrett Robert Shackelford | Holly Yan | Monica Garrett | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

CNN —The deadly storm system that destroyed homes in the South is heading east, threatening more tornadoes, freezing rain, treacherous travel and power outages. At least two people were killed in Louisiana as the system’s vicious winds tore through communities from Oklahoma to Texas to Mississippi. Now on the cold side of this massive, multifaceted storm, more than 35 million people from Utah, Idaho and Montana all the way to New England are under winter weather alerts Wednesday. And a half million people in at least four states are under blizzard warnings until Thursday morning.

New York CNN —Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next week as questions and confusion swirl about the collapse of his companies. One of the key questions prosecutors are likely to probe is whether FTX misappropriated customer funds when it made loans to Alameda. “I didn’t knowingly commingle funds,” he told The New York Times last week. The Times said the issue is part of a broadening inquiry into the collapse of FTX, and it’s not clear whether prosecutors have determined any wrongdoing by Bankman-Fried. In a statement to the paper, Bankman-Fried said he was “not aware of any market manipulation and certainly never intended to engage in market manipulation.”

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried: US lawmakers want answers from FTX founder
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Lawmakers are demanding that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, appear before the Senate Banking Committee next week over “significant unanswered questions ” surrounding the collapse of his companies. FTX was one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the world until last month, when it faced a sudden wave of customer withdrawals that it couldn’t cover. One of the key questions prosecutors are likely to probe is whether FTX misappropriated customer funds when it made loans to Alameda. The Times said the issue is part of a broadening inquiry into the collapse of FTX, and it’s not clear whether prosecutors have determined any wrongdoing by Bankman-Fried. In a statement to the paper, Bankman-Fried said he was “not aware of any market manipulation and certainly never intended to engage in market manipulation.”

“And the pulse oximeter is used from any age to geriatrics,” he said. The US Food and Drug Administration is mulling over next steps for the regulation of pulse oximeter devices, which may give less accurate readings for people of color. A panel of its Medical Devices Advisory Committee met in November to review clinical data on the issue. “I think of the pulse oximeter reading in the same way. Of course this can be dangerous.”Ultimately, the pulse oximeter can estimate the amount of oxygen a person has in their blood without the need for a blood sample.

☆ Why colds and flu viruses are more common in winter
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

It’s almost as if those pesky cold and flu germs whirl in with the first blast of winter weather. So why do people get more colds, flu and now Covid-19 when it’s chilly outside? It turns out the cold air itself damages the immune response occurring in the nose. Once created and dispersed out into nasal secretions, the billions of EV’s then start to swarm the marauding germs, Bleier said. Wearing a mask can protect you from cold air that can reduce your immunity, an expert says.

☆ Rupert Murdoch set to be deposed in Dominion’s $1.6 billion defamation case
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN Business —Rupert Murdoch, the Fox Corporation chairman, is set to be deposed next week in Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News over its coverage of election fraud in the 2020 election. Rupert Murdoch’s son Lachlan, the CEO of Fox Corporation, was previously scheduled to be deposed Monday morning in Los Angeles. However, Fox has previously contested Dominion’s claims and said it was “proud” of its 2020 election coverage. Dominion is one of two election technology companies to have sued Fox News. Smartmatic, another voting technology company, has filed a $2.7 billion lawsuit against the network.

☆ Webb telescope spies clouds beneath haze of Saturn moon Titan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The James Webb Space Telescope has spied clouds on one of the solar system’s most intriguing moons. Titan’s atmosphere is made of nitrogen and methane, which gives it a fuzzy, orange appearance. Astronomers compared Webb (left) and Keck images of Titan to see how clouds evolved. The data, which is still being analyzed, was able to see deeper into Titan’s atmosphere and surface than the Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn and its moons for 13 years. The cloud observations were a long time coming.

☆ Feds want a manager to oversee the troubled water system in Jackson, Mississippi
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

— The federal government filed a proposal Tuesday to appoint a manager for the troubled water system in Mississippi’s capital city, which nearly collapsed in late summer and continues to struggle. The goal is to achieve long-term sustainability of the system and the city’s compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and other laws. According to the agreement, that litigation will be put on hold for six months while all parties try to improve the water system. Edward “Ted” Henifin was appointed as interim third-party manager of the Jackson water system and Water Sewer Business Administration, the city’s water billing department. While there is much more work ahead, the Justice Department’s action marks a critical moment on the path to securing clean, safe water for Jackson residents.″Jackson has had water problems for decades.

☆ Cyber Insurers Turn Attention to Catastrophic Hacks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( James Rundle | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

While cyber insurance has evolved significantly in recent years, insurers say they might still be unprepared for the fallout from a catastrophic cyberattack. “I think it’s important we stress that the insurance industry has not had a catastrophic event,” said John Coletti, head of cyber reinsurance at Swiss Re. “We have hundreds of years of history of understanding that risk,” Mr. Tiernan said. Part of the challenge for modeling cyber catastrophes is that historical data simply doesn’t exist to produce accurate models, Mr. Tiernan said. “We probably need to pay a little more attention to the assumptions that underpin them.”Write to James Rundle at james.rundle@wsj.com

☆ Alabama pauses executions after third failed lethal injection attempt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

Kay Ivey sought a pause in executions and ordered a “top-to-bottom” review of the state’s capital punishment system Monday after an unprecedented third failed lethal injection. Ivey also requested that Marshall not seek additional execution dates for any other death row inmates until the review is complete. In September, the state called off the scheduled execution of Alan Eugene Miller because of difficulty accessing his veins. Alabama in 2018 called off the execution of Doyle Hamm because of problems getting the intravenous line connected. Alabama should have imposed an execution moratorium after Hamm’s failed execution for the benefit of everyone, said Bernard Harcourt, an attorney who represented Hamm for years.

☆ Where can you buy Taylor Swift tour tickets? Not Ticketmaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( James Skoufis | James Skoufis Is A Democratic New York State Senator Representing The Hudson Valley. In | He Undertook A Legislative Investigation Into Predatory Ticketing Practices | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Ticketmaster is, yet again, pointing blame at literally everyone but itself after the latest debacle involving tickets for Taylor Swift’s 2023 “Eras” concert tour. Federal anti-trust regulators never should’ve allowed the company’s 2010 merger with Live Nation — and should course-correct by breaking up Ticketmaster. It’s likely that at each of Taylor Swift’s 52 upcoming concerts, thousands of tickets will be “held back” and never released to the general public. Even if you do secure a ticket, fees are out of control. “I should not be left to my own devices,” sings Taylor Swift.

CNN —Even before their daughter was born in June, Aaron and Helen Chavez knew she would need heart surgery. Data reported to the US government shows that as of Friday, more than three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds and 80% of intensive care beds for kids are full. Federal data shows that the strain on hospital beds for kids began in August and September, which is right around the start of the school year in many areas. It may also mean children who have chronic conditions and need procedures or hospital care, but whose conditions are stable, may have to wait. She was very thin for a baby,” Aaron said.

☆ ECB to lend out more of its bonds to ease market squeeze
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank has raised the amount of bonds it can lend against cash to 250 billion euros to ease a market squeeze that tends to get worse towards the year of the year, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said on Thursday. This has led the ECB to increase the amount of bonds it makes available for lending to ease that scarcity, which is particularly acute at year-end when commercial banks shut up shop. "The Governing Council raised as of today the limit for the Eurosystem’s securities lending against cash collateral from 150 billion euros to 250 billion euros," Schnabel said in a tweet. "This is a precautionary measure to ease collateral scarcity and support market functioning around the year-end." Some analysts expect the dearth of government bonds to ease next year when the ECB starts shrinking its pile of bonds to mop up excess liquidity and fight runaway inflation in the euro zone.

Search resuls for: "system’s"

25 mentions found