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☆ Elon Musk's Crackdown at Twitter Offers Hope to Fellow Tech Founders
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

But there's one group, almost unnoticed in the midst of the online firestorm, that has been cheering Musk on from the sidelines: other tech executives. To some founders, Musk is simply a monstrous version of the executive they wish they could be. Musk is getting rid of perks like free meals in the Twitter cafeteria — and other tech executives are taking note. Musk's slash-and-burn approach gives tech executives cover for making unpopular decisions. But now, as tech companies cut back to prepare for a recession, the "rough waters out there" have forced his staff to "reevaluate" their demands.

☆ ChatGPT got all the buzz, but beneath it is a $1B developer framework that's quietly fueling the new era of lifelike AI at OpenAI and beyond
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Matthew Lynley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Beneath the buzz, the next-generation developer framework Ray was key in the viral model's training. "ChatGPT combined a lot of the previous work on large language models with reinforcement as well. Before deploying Ray, OpenAI used a hodgepodge set of custom tools built on top of "neural programmer-interpreter" model. All these tools, Ray and JAX included, are in service to a new generation of combustion engines for the internet called large language models. Multiple companies, both startups and giants, are building their own large language models including Meta, Hugging Face, OpenAI, and Google.

But for a place that until earlier this month assiduously tracked every case, there is now no clear data on the extent of the virus’ spread. Customers queue at a pharmacy in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, December 13. Authorities on Wednesday morning reported 2,249 symptomatic Covid cases nationally for the previous day, 20% of which were detected in the capital. A closed Covid testing booth in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, December 13. Chinese state media has since warned people the preserved fruit is not a Covid remedy nor a substitute for medicine.

☆ LeBron James says there’s a double standard in reporters asking about Kyrie Irving but not Jerry Jones' photo
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Randi-Richardson-Byline-Jm.Jpg | Randi Richardson | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

NBA legend LeBron James has called out reporters for what he described as a double standard in the way they cover Black athletes. “I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo,” James said to the room of reporters. He also questioned why the Jones photo didn’t receive the same attention and scrutiny from reporters that Irving’s actions did. “It seems like to me the whole Jerry Jones situation, photo — and I know it was years ago and we all make mistakes, I get it. But it seems like it’s just been buried under like ‘Oh, it happened,’ OK. We just move on.

☆ Mired in crisis, World Cup run was always a dream for Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Martin Petty | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DOHA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Having come to Qatar amid a firestorm of public criticism at home, then leaking six goals to England in a chaotic opening match, Iran's World Cup campaign was all but finished even before it started. The players carried a heavy mental burden, under immense public pressure to use the World Cup and their high profiles at home to take a stand against a deadly state crackdown on widespread protests in Iran seeking the end of theocratic rule. There were gestures of support from the players, including them not singing their national anthem in one match. Queiroz has been incensed by what he called the politicisation of his World Cup team, blasting some fans who booed them in Qatar and complaining of harassment of a squad that just wanted to play football and make their nation proud. After their elimination on Tuesday, Queiroz lauded his players for trying to turn their campaign around and win the respect of the world.

☆ Apple could sink Elon Musk's Twitter by yanking it from the App Store. But it would put Apple in jeopardy too.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Elon Musk is claiming that Apple threatened to remove Twitter from its App Store. While Apple could find a reason to take Twitter off the App Store, it likely will not, experts said. Experts say Apple could find a reason to take Twitter off the App Store, and doing so would devastate the company. That could be a basis for Apple to remove Twitter from the App Store, Carolina Milanesi, an analyst with Creative Strategies said. Even then, Apple still likely won't remove Twitter from its App Store, because picking a fight with Elon would exacerbate antitrust criticism of Apple.

☆ US leaders who want to send billions more in aid to Ukraine need to ask what kind of war they're willing to pay for
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Andrew C. Jarocki | Defense Priorities | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The final weeks of the current Congress will feature debate over another aid package for Ukraine. Before opening the checkbook again, lawmakers need to ask how they want this war to end and how more aid will bring it about. Before Washington opens the checkbook again, lawmakers need to subject aid proposals to a simple Petraeus Test. So far, the story of American support of Ukraine against Russia's terrible invasion attempt has been one of unhesitating generosity. At the very least, legislators must push advocates of more aid for Ukraine to explain exactly how America's national security would be enhanced.

☆ Political bad blood between U.S. and Iran dominates run-up to World Cup showdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The politics of anti-regime protests are dominating the run-up to a World Cup showdown between the U.S. and Iran, with coaches and players fielding politically charged questions before Tuesday’s match. I’m a soccer coach.” He also was asked for his thoughts about the U.S. military’s presence in the Persian Gulf. The protests at home have followed Iran’s soccer team throughout the World Cup, which began Nov. 20 in Qatar. At some of the games, Qatari police have confiscated T-shirts or signs supporting the protests in Iran. More recently, a prominent former soccer player in Iran, Voria Ghafouri, was arrested after he endorsed the protests, according to Iranian state-linked media.

☆ U.S. Soccer briefly scrubs emblem from Iran flag at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The U.S. Soccer Federation briefly displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic, saying the move supported protesters in Iran ahead of the two nations' World Cup match Tuesday. The Twitter account of the U.S. men's team displayed a banner with the squad's matches in the group stage, with the Iranian flag only bearing its green, white and red colors. The USSF displayed the official Iranian flag in a graphic showing Group B standings on its website. As comments raged online, Iranian state television described the U.S. federation as "removing the symbol of Allah" from the Iranian flag. In the capital Tehran, anti-riot police — the same ones cracking down on protests — waved the Iranian flag after the Wales win, angering demonstrators.

☆ Bob Chapek’s tenure marked by political missteps inside and outside of Disney
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Now he’s saying “Goodbye, Disney (DIS).”Chapek’s rocky two-and-a-half year tenure at the head of the entertainment giant had a few wins. But Disney made the surprise announcement Sunday that its revered former CEO Bob Iger is making a return as the head of the company. Disney employees began staging walkouts, saying Chapek’s statements “utterly failed” to grasp the threat to LGBTQ communities. DeSantis quickly ripped Disney after Chapek’s public condemnation, calling the company a “woke corporation” with questionable business interests in China during a private event. Investors celebrated Iger’s return as CEO, sending Disney shares up nearly 7% Monday after dropping roughly 38% this year.

☆ FTX: Inside the crypto giant's downfall
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Crypto contagionThe crypto industry is on edge, waiting for the next dominoes to fall. Soon after FTX went down, crypto firms were inundated requests from customers seeking to claw their money back — the crypto equivalent of a run on the bank. The pain isn’t confined to crypto companies. SBF had become a fixture in Washington, too, where he regularly traveled to lobby lawmakers for greater regulatory clarity for the crypto industry. “It’s about fraud and the power of virtue signaling.”He added: “This scandal, far from destroying crypto, practically ensures that crypto will be around for a long, long time.”

Nov 15 (Reuters) - FTX Trading's new CEO John J. Ray III, a lawyer tapped to lead the collapsed crypto exchange's restructuring, previously oversaw the $23 billion bankruptcy of energy firm Enron Corp and has a reputation for boosting creditor recoveries. Ray, 63, on Monday declined to comment on his initial priorities as FTX's CEO. Serving as Enron's CEO throughout its years-long bankruptcy, Ray's work resulted in major settlements with banks accused of helping Enron deceive investors, including a $1.66 billion settlement with Citigroup in 2008. Mark Lichtenstein, an attorney who worked on Enron's bankruptcy, saw many parallels between FTX and that case. "You’ve got such a meltdown, similar to Enron, sort of a run on the bank," Lichtenstein said.

☆ Dave Chappelle’s ‘SNL’ monologue sparks backlash as being antisemitic
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Dave Chappelle’s comments about the Jewish community during his “Saturday Night Live” monologue are being slammed as antisemitic. Anti-Defamation League chief executive officer Jonathan Greenblatt took to Twitter on Sunday to criticize the comedian and the NBC late night show. “We shouldn’t expect @DaveChappelle to serve as society’s moral compass, but disturbing to see @nbcsnl not just normalize but popularize #antisemitism,” Greenblatt tweeted. “But if they’re Jewish, it’s a coincidence and you should never speak about it.”Chappelle went on to talk about the abundance of Jewish people in Hollywood. “But it’s a crazy thing to say out loud.”Writer Adam Feldman tweeted “That Dave Chappelle SNL monologue probably did more to normalize anti-Semitism than anything Kanye said.”“Everyone knows Kanye is nuts,” Feldman wrote.

☆ Netflix's streaming hit 'The Crown' reaches Charles-Diana divorce
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The fifth season of Netflix’s superb, ambitious “The Crown” covers the years from 1988 to early 1997, arguably the nadir of England’s modern monarchy. “The Crown” sets up series creator Peter Morgan to be a 21st- century Shakespeare for the Second Elizabethan era. “The Crown” sets up series creator Peter Morgan to be a 21st-century Shakespeare for the Second Elizabethan era. His retellings of royal life are no more accurate than “Richard II” or “Henry V,” making royal whining all these years later all the sillier. “The Crown” even finds ways to make Charles a sympathetic figure in the divorce, no small feat.

☆ What the collapse of FTX means for the future of crypto
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX collapsed in a matter of days and has started Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The FTX fiasco is the latest in a series of meltdowns to rock the crypto world this year. "It's been a long time coming, and it's a real wild west out there for anybody who is trading crypto." Big banks could be less likely to let people trade cryptoFinancial institutions like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley tried to capitalize on the crypto boom last year with services like trading crypto futures or derivatives. Crypto exchanges should watch for contagion riskOther exchanges and companies should be on high alert for continued fallout.

☆ FTX's fortunes fell off a cliff in a matter of days. Here's what experts think the company's fiasco could mean for the future of crypto.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto exchange FTX collapsed in a matter of days and has started Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Less than a year after it boasted a $32 billion valuation, the crypto exchange, owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, faced a "liquidity crunch" that forced it to try to sell itself to rival Binance. "It's been a long time coming, and it's a real wild west out there for anybody who is trading crypto." Crypto exchanges should watch for contagion riskOther exchanges and companies should be on high alert for continued fallout. "As an investor, you should be seriously questioning what you're investing in if it can evaporate over a weekend," Royal said.

☆ Crypto is in chaos as FTX files for bankruptcy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

By Friday morning, FTX said Bankman-Fried had resigned as CEO and that the firm was filing for bankruptcy. Failures are not uncommon in the murky, largely unregulated world of crypto, but FTX is not your average crypto startup. Namely, that the bulk of its assets are held in FTT, a digital token minted by Alameda’s sister firm, FTX. On Sunday, the CEO of Binance, FTX’s much larger rival, said his company was liquidating $580 million worth of FTX holdings. After a chaotic week, FTX filed for bankruptcy.

Democrat Josh Shapiro defeated far-right Republican Doug Mastriano in the Pennsylvania governor’s race on Tuesday, NBC News projected, providing Democrats with a significant victory in a contest where oversight of the 2024 election and abortion rights took center stage. ET, Shapiro held a lead of more than 13 points over Mastriano. Speaking to reporters on his campaign bus last week, Shapiro said Mastriano “is by far the most extreme and dangerous person to ever run for public office in Pennsylvania. Mastriano said his position on abortion was irrelevant because abortion laws are ultimately up to the state Legislature. Elected to the state Senate in 2019, Mastriano rose to prominence after the 2020 election when Trump sought allies in state Legislatures to help him reverse his loss.

☆ How News About Maricopa County’s Ballot-Counting Machines Went Viral
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Stuart A. Thompson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Technical glitches on Tuesday disrupted operations at about a quarter of the voting centers in Maricopa County, Ariz., the most populous county in a state with multiple competitive races. While the problems were later solved, it set off a firestorm online, with right-wing influencers suggesting that the problems were a sign of election fraud, according to the Election Integrity Partnership, a coalition of online information researchers that tracked tweets and retweets from users who had more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. The narrative continued to spread on Wednesday as several close races in Arizona were still not called. Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, said in a speech Tuesday night that the issues bolstered her doubts about election integrity. Here is how that narrative took off.

☆ Casey Anthony gives first on-camera interview since being acquitted of murdering her daughter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( Julianne Mcshane | The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Casey Anthony, whose 2011 murder trial for the death of her 2-year-old daughter made her a tabloid sensation, has given an on-camera interview for the first time since her acquittal. "Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies," a three-part limited docuseries, will premiere Nov. 29 on Peacock, the streaming service announced Tuesday. Anthony, now 36, was famously acquitted in 2011 of charges of murder, manslaughter and child abuse following the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. A day later, Casey Anthony was arrested on charges of child neglect. Experts would testify that air samples indicated that decaying human remains had been present in Casey Anthony’s trunk.

☆ 'How much press are you worth?' New calculator tackles inequality in missing persons stories
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +5 min

It sounds morbid but the exercise is designed to call attention to “missing white women syndrome,” the tendency of news organizations to pay relatively little attention to missing people who don’t fit that category. According to the calculator, the disappearance of a 22-year-old white woman in New York would generate 67 stories. And a missing 25-year-old Black woman from New York would get eight. More than 92% of Americans would have heard about a 22-year-old missing white woman from Nevada, the tool says. There was no comparable data from when “missing white person syndrome” was first talked about two decades ago.

☆ In the span of a month, Kanye West has destroyed his empire
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Sarah Jackson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has lost deals to the tune of billions of dollars this month. Ye later sent a box of the shirts to homeless people on Los Angeles' Skid Row in a move one local advocate said made "a mockery and political prop of Black Angelenos." Adidas and Gap cut their ties with Ye this week. A day later, fashion magazine Vogue and its editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, said they had no plans to continue working with him. This week, famed talent agency CAA dropped Ye, and film and TV studio MRC shelved a finished documentary on him.

☆ Los Angeles police investigating whether council members were recorded illegally
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Phil-Helsel-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Phil Helsel | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles police are investigating whether audio of members of the City Council making racist comments was recorded illegally, the police chief said Tuesday. The recording from 2021 was leaked online and published by the Los Angeles Times this month. The 2021 meeting was attended by Martinez, council members Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, and Ron Herrera, the president of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Protesters shouted over council members at their meeting Tuesday, demanding that de León and Cedillo resign, NBC Los Angeles reported. Martinez resigned as a City Council member Oct. 12, two days after she stepped down as council president.

☆ Tech tonic and Sunak salve
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A massive week for top technology firms worldwide pits U.S. mega cap earnings against the withering slide in China tech shares amid domestic political and economic fears. read moreBut the decimation of Chinese tech stocks (.HSTECH) this week was more worrying. read moreU.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies such as Pinduoduo (PDD.O), JD.com and Baidu Inc plunged between 12% and 25% in New York on Monday. read moreHSBC's shares fell almost 7% in London, meantime, as investors digested a sudden management change and rising bad loan charges. As investors awaited the European Central Bank's latest interest rate rise on Thursday, German business readings were above forecast for October.

☆ Italy's Meloni tells president she is ready to become prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Crispian Balmer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni arrives for a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace in Rome, Italy October 21, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneSummary Meloni set to become Italy's first woman PMNew government could be sworn in at weekendBerlusconi irks allies with pro-Putin commentsROME, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Italy's Giorgia Meloni told President Sergio Mattarella on Friday that she was ready to become prime minister and could swiftly form a new government despite tumult within her right-wing coalition. Meloni, head of the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, met the president alongside her main allies -- Matteo Salvini, who leads the far-right League, and Silvio Berlusconi, founder of the conservative Forza Italia party. "We are ready to form a government as quickly as possible," Meloni told reporters after the unusually short meeting, which lasted barely 15 minutes. The conservative bloc won a commanding parliamentary majority at a Sept. 25 general election, with Meloni's party taking the most votes, putting her in pole position to become Italy's first female prime minister.

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