Okta, whose cloud software allows office workers to access all of their apps through a secure online service, said on Wednesday that it’s spending $6.5 billion to acquire rival Auth0. CNBC reports: Okta’s shares plunged about 13% in extended trading after the announcement. The all-stock deal equals about 21% of Okta’s market cap as of Wednesday’s close. Okta said it expects…
Tag: workers
Microsoft’s Dream of Decentralized IDs Enters the Real World
For years, tech companies have touted blockchain technology as a means to develop identity systems that are secure and decentralized. The goal is to build a platform that could store information about official data without holding the actual documents or details themselves. Instead of just storing a scan of your birth certificate, for example, a decentralized ID platform might store a…
Biden Expresses Support for Amazon Union Vote in Alabama: ‘Make Your Voice Heard’
Without naming Amazon specifically, President Joe Biden on Sunday expressed support for a closely watched union vote at one of the retail giant’s Alabama warehouses, calling it “vitally important.” From a report: “Today and over the next few days and weeks, workers in Alabama and all across America are voting on whether to organize a union in their workplace,” Biden said…
Boston Dynamics Is Selling its 70-Pound Robot Dog To Police Departments
The New York Times reports on what the city’s police department calls Digidog, “a 70-pound robotic dog with a loping gait, cameras and lights affixed to its frame, and a two-way communication system that allows the officer maneuvering it remotely to see and hear what is happening.”
Police said the robot can see in the dark and assess how safe it is…
The Mars Perseverance Rover’s Parachute Contained a Secret Message
“The huge parachute used by NASA’s Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message,” reports the Associated Press — thanks to the rover’s puzzle-loving systems engineer Ian Clark. “During a live stream discussing the landing, one Nasa commentator said: ‘Sometimes we leave messages in our work for others to find. So we invite you all to give it a…
Best Buy Lays Off 5,000 Workers, Will Close More Stores
Best Buy said it laid off 5,000 workers this month and is planning to close more stores this year as more consumers buy electronics online. From a report: The news comes at a time when big chains face growing competition from Amazon and other sites that sell items like TVs and laptops. Fry’s Electronics said Wednesday that it would abruptly close…
Launching Academies: Accelerate Digital Transformation with Job-Based Learning
Over 100 SkillSets help employees develop exact skills needed for their role By Shwetabh Mittal, Senior Director, Product Management This past year, as the pandemic forced companies to move online, digital transformation that may have required years took mere months. According to the World Economic Forum, the double disruption caused by automation and the pandemic […]
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Upheaval and extinctions linked to magnetic reversal 42,000 years ago
42,000 years ago, a breakdown in Earth’s magnetic field led to environmental catastrophes and mass extinctions. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/magnetic-field-reversal-42000-years-ago-neanderthal-extinction…
Second Google AI Ethics Leader Fired, She Says Amid Staff Protest
Alphabet’s Google on Friday fired scientist Margaret Mitchell, she said in a Twitter post, after weeks of being under investigation for moving thousands of files outside the company amid a battle over research freedom and diversity. From a report: Google’s ethics in artificial intelligence research unit has been under scrutiny since December’s dismissal of scientist Timnit Gebru, which prompted protest from…
Share of US Workers Holding Multiple Jobs is Rising, New Census Report Shows
The share of Americans working more than one job to make ends meet has been growing over the past two decades, and the pay from second jobs make up a substantial share of workers’ earnings, according to a paper published by the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday. From a report: An estimated 7.8% of U.S. workers had more than one job…