ljw1004 writes: Helmand Province in Afghanistan produces two thirds of the world’s opium. Its opium production has more than doubled in the past eight years, due mostly to solar power. “Solar is by far the most significant technological change” in the region for decades, says Dr. Mansfield, author of the report (PDF). The first solar panels were introduced there in 2013….
Tag: pay
Garmin Begins Recovery From Ransomware Attack
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: The American GPS and fitness-tracker company Garmin is dealing with the aftermath of a ransomware attack, the BBC has confirmed. Owners of its products had been unable to use its services since Thursday. However, some of its online tools are now being provided in a “limited” state, according to its online dashboard….
Python ‘Dominates’ IEEE Spectrum’s 2020 List of Top Programming Languages
IEEE Spectrum’s August issue will include an article titled “The Top Programming Languages.” Calculated using metrics from 11 online sources, it concludes that “One thing remains constant: the dominance of Python.”
Our default ranking is weighted toward the interests of an IEEE member, and looking at the top entries, we see that Python has held onto its comfortable lead, with Java and…
Is Work Easier For ‘Digital Nomads’?
A digital nomad describes what no one ever warns you about after selling everything and then travelling to Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand “before doing the Working Holiday Visa thing in Australia and New Zealand.” It was the greatest solo travel adventure of my life and I loved it. That said, I’ve had some time to reflect on my experience and…
Apple To Give Employees Paid Time Off To Vote In US Election
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Apple told U.S. employees they can take as many as four hours off with pay on Election Day to vote or volunteer at a polling place. The policy applies to retail employees and hourly workers and is similar to moves made by other companies, including Twitter and Uber. It was announced in a…
Indian IT Consultancies Struggle Against Technological Obsolescence
Few people outside their home country have heard of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies or Tech Mahindra, India’s five biggest information technology (IT) consultancies. Yet even when enterprise software to manage marketing, production, inventory and the like comes from Oracle of America or Germany’s SAP, it is often the Indian companies that install and maintain software for clients….
Twitter Is Considering Subscriptions Amid An Advertising Slump
Even though Twitter hit 186 million monetizable daily active users between April and June (up 34 percent year-over-year), it had an operating loss of $124 million during the quarter as ad revenue slowed. “With that in mind, the company says it’s looking into other revenue streams beyond advertising, which could include some form of subscriptions,” reports Entrepreneur. From the report: CEO…
With 24/7 Programming, the Future of TV Looks a Lot Like Its Past
Plex is bringing back the cable grid. The popular media center app added 80 live TV channels Thursday, complete with a programming guide that will look very familiar to anyone who has ever subscribed to pay TV, albeit with a few key differences: Plex’s new live TV service is free to use, and it doesn’t feature popular cable channels like CNN,…
Bay Area Tech Workers Consider Moving Amid Layoff Fears
More than half of tech workers in the Bay Area are concerned about being laid off or furloughed in the next six months, or their salaries hitting a plateau or dropping, according to a new report from Hired. From a news article: The tech industry has generally fared better than other sectors in the pandemic downturn, offering more chances to work…
LinkedIn Cuts 960 Jobs as Pandemic Puts the Brakes on Corporate Hiring
Microsoft’s professional networking site LinkedIn said on Tuesday it would cut about 960 jobs, or 6% of its global workforce, as the coronavirus pandemic is having a sustained impact on demand for its recruitment products. From a report: California-based LinkedIn helps employers assess a candidate’s suitability for a role and employees use the platform to find new job. Jobs will be…