The CDC published a blog post about zombies 10 years ago and news outlets simply will not shut up about it.Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/n7vg8q/cdcs-zombie-apocalypse-preparedness-guide-the-blog-that-will-not-die…
Tag: Economy
Square To Buy Jay-Z’s Music Service Tidal
Square has agreed to buy a majority stake in Tidal, the streaming music service led by rapper Jay-Z, as part of an effort to expand the company’s suite of financial tools to musicians and emerging artists. From a report: Square will pay $297 million in a mix of cash and stock to become Tidal’s “significant majority” owner, though Jay-Z and Tidal’s…
Biden Signs Executive Order To Address Chip Shortage Through a Review To Strengthen Supply Chains
President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday meant to address a global chip shortage impacting industries ranging from medical supplies to electric vehicles. From a report: The order includes a 100-day review of key products including semiconductors and advanced batteries used in electric vehicles, followed by a broader, long-term review of six sectors of the economy. The long-term review will…
A Digital Firewall in Myanmar, Built With Guns and Wire Cutters
The Myanmar soldiers descended before dawn on Feb. 1, bearing rifles and wire cutters. At gunpoint, they ordered technicians at telecom operators to switch off the internet. For good measure, the soldiers snipped wires without knowing what they were severing, according to an eyewitness and a person briefed on the events. The New York Times: The data center raids in Yangon…
Are Texas Blackouts a Warning About the Follow-on Effects of Climate Change?
This week in America, “continent-spanning winter storms triggered blackouts in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and several other states,” reports the New York Times. But that was just the beginning… One-third of oil production in the nation was halted. Drinking-water systems in Ohio were knocked offline. Road networks nationwide were paralyzed and vaccination efforts in 20 states were disrupted. The crisis carries a…
Uber Loses Gig Workers Rights Challenge in UK Supreme Court
Uber has lost a long running employment tribunal challenge in the UK’s Supreme Court — with the court dismissing the ride-hailing giant’s appeal and reaffirming earlier rulings that drivers who brought the case are workers, not independent contractors. From a report: The case, which dates back to 2016, has major ramifications for Uber’s business model (and other gig economy platforms) in…
Biden To Order Review of US Reliance on Overseas Supply Chains For Semiconductors, Rare Earths
President Joe Biden will direct his administration to conduct a review of key U.S. supply chains including semiconductors, high-capacity batteries, medical supplies and rare earth metals. From a report: The assessment, which will be led by members of both Biden’s economic and national security teams, will analyze the “resiliency and capacity of the American manufacturing supply chains and defense industrial base…
Our interview with 5-time NBA All-Star Chris Webber about his Sports Activism online course, new on Coursera
By Shantelle Williams-Valadié, BOLD ERG Chair and Associate Director, University Partnerships, Coursera In the 1968 Olympics, medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos punched defiant fists into the summer air, decrying oppression of Black communities in the country whose colors they wore on their tracksuits. The act seized the world of sports and was widely condemned […]
The post Our interview with 5-time…
Americans Are Consuming More Foreign Content than Ever
Content from abroad is boosting its share of the American entertainment diet, thanks in large part to streaming, the pandemic and the creator economy. From a report: “As ‘American exceptionalism’ has become less of a truth geopolitically, the same goes for entertainment,” says Brad Grossman, founder and CEO of ZEITGUIDE. The U.S. demand share for non-U.S. content was higher each quarter…
The Secret, Essential Geography of the Office
A workplace has its own informal cardinal directions: elevatorward, kitchenward, bathroomward. It’s a map we share. From an essay: I love visiting offices, listening to their hum. Literally: I sometimes went to a giant financial firm where they traded different kinds of securities on different floors, and if it was a big day in bonds the fourth floor would be loud,…