Big wood

In 2020, 56% of Americans agreed that journalists were purposely trying to mislead people, illustrating an unprecedented dip in confidence in the press. With that backdrop, and in an election year with peak political polarization, rolling out a brand-new media publication was “absurd,” admits Nabiha Syed, president of The Markup , a digital outlet focused on holding tech companies accountable. “How are we going to get people to trust us when they’ve never heard of us, especially when we are interrogating tools that people are using and are sometimes beloved?” advertisement advertisement But the founders felt that the site’s mission was critical: to investigate the power and practices of Big Tech. Plus, it was going to do things differently. The Markup is nonprofit newsroom, funded by philanthropists, including more than $20 million from Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. It is data-driven, and only publishes about twice a week, in order to be as … [Read more...] about This news outlet is exposing Big Tech’s practices by building its own tech tools

Tiger Woods released his first public statement Sunday night after being in a terrible car accident. The legendary golfer was involved in a brutal single-vehicle crash early Tuesday morning, and several golfers dressed in red and black on Sunday to honor him. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football) Brought out the Sunday Red in honor of Tiger Woods ???? (????: @PGATOUR , @LPGA ) pic.twitter.com/hv3mjGiCHd — ESPN (@espn) February 28, 2021 Woods tweeted, “It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts. To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time.” It is hard to explain how touching today was when I turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts. To every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time. — Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) March 1, 2021 Obviously, seeing so many … [Read more...] about Tiger Woods Makes His 1st Public Statement Since His Car Accident, Says The Support Is ‘Touching’

Small business owners spent much of the last two years trying to move forward as the ground shifted beneath their feet. From extended closures and supply chain issues to labor shortages and changing health regulations, the far-reaching effects of COVID-19 brought one unprecedented challenge after another. advertisement Early in the pandemic, the global B2B marketing team at American Express recognized this turbulent new landscape and responded by creating an education platform called Business Class. The platform quickly grew into a widely used source of information and support. It’s a big reason why American Express earned a spot on Fast Company ‘s 2022 list of Best Workplaces for Innovators. A NEW LEARNING PLATFORM “When the financial crisis happened, our small businesses needed customers, so we created Small Business Saturday to encourage people to visit local stores,” says Clayton Ruebensaal, executive vice president of Global B2B Marketing at American … [Read more...] about A big assist for small businesses

A Kakapo parrot sits on its eggs in this undated handout image, in New Zealand in this undated handout image. Jake Osborne – Department of Conservation/Handout via REUTERS WELLINGTON — The population of New Zealand’s kakapo, an endangered flightless parrot, has increased 25% in the last year to 252 birds following a good breeding season and success with artificial insemination, the conservation department said Tuesday. The kakapo have been nearly wiped out by introduced predators such as stoats as the birds cannot fly. The problem has been exacerbated by inbreeding, very low fertility – only 50% of eggs are fertilized – and as they only breed every two or three years when native rimu trees fruit. The population of the kakapo, which is the world’s heaviest parrot, is now at its highest number since the 1970s. “There were just 86 kakapo when I first started working as a kakapo ranger in 2002. That number was scary. Having a breeding season with 55 chicks feels like a very … [Read more...] about New Zealand’s endangered kakapo parrot gets a big population boost

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Both oil and gas exported from Russia bring in significant revenue that can be used to support the Russian war in Ukraine. But the export revenue from oil sales is much greate r than export revenue from gas sales. If the West stops buying oil this really hurts Russia – more than if the West stopped buying gas. Back in May, the EU agreed to ban all Russian oil imports by the end of 2022, at least those that are delivered by sea. That was a good move. Russia threatens to cut gas supplies to the European Union. Russia has realized that cutting natural gas doesn’t affect their export revenue (like oil does) but it affects the economies of EU countries a lot more. Russia supplied the EU with 40% of its gas last year , with Germany, Italy, and Netherlands the top three importers in actual volumes of gas. Germany had imported more than 50% of its gas from Russia via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. By the end of June, … [Read more...] about Russia Threatens, EU Reduces, US Industry Helps To Untangle The Natural Gas War In Europe.

Indonesia coal benchmark price COAL-HBA-ID has stayed above US$70 per tonne level since January 2021 but surged to a record US$321.59 per tonne this month, as the war in Ukraine exacerbated the energy supply crunch. - A + A JAKARTA (Aug 9): Indonesian legislators on Tuesday pressed the government to tighten rules on domestic coal sales, amid concern that miners will choose to pay fines instead of meeting a requirement to sell a quarter of their output to local power generators. The parliamentary energy committee met during recess on Tuesday, fearing the world's biggest thermal coal exporter was headed for a repeat of a domestic supply crisis late last year that saw exports banned for a few weeks in January, triggering panic among foreign buyers. Indonesia imposes a so-called Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) where miners must sell 25% of their output onshore, at prices capped at US$70 per tonne for power generators and US$90 per tonne for local industry. Though … [Read more...] about Indonesia lawmakers call for tougher rules to avert another coal crisis

- A + A OSLO/STOCKHOLM (Aug 9): Soaring power prices are forcing a bitcoin miner and data centre operator in southern Norway to head north. Kryptovault AS is moving operations north of the Arctic Circle, where electricity is much cheaper, chief executive officer Kjetil Hove Pettersen said. Staying put would mean doubling a power bill that last year hit 202 million kroner (RM92.7 million) and typically makes up more than 80% of the company's operating expenses, he said. The energy crisis gripping Europe has been exacerbated in southern Norway as a dry spring depleted many giant reservoirs that are vital for local power generation. But it is a different story in the country's north, where there is ample water and it is hard to send flows to other regions. Prices in the most northern price zone where Krytovault will set up shop are a small fraction of those in the south. "The relocation project will of course add other expenses and complications, however, with … [Read more...] about Norwegian bitcoin miner heads north to escape record power bills

This story is part of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business 2022 . Explore the full list of innovators who broke through this year—and had an impact on the world around us. advertisement As Microsoft’s corporate VP for customer security and trust, Tom Burt leads the division of the company that protects customers—individuals, corporations, and governments—from cyberattacks. That means securing their data not just from ordinary thieves and fraudsters, but some of the most formidable digital foes: hackers backed by powerful governments, including the Russia-linked groups that launched cyberattacks in Ukraine this past spring. Engineering is naturally a big part of those efforts. But Burt, the former head of Microsoft’s litigation unit, is a lawyer, not a coder, and his background has proven useful in waging cyber battles. He helped thwart the Ukrainian attacks by appealing to the U.S. court system to quickly seize and take down seven internet domain … [Read more...] about How Microsoft VP Tom Burt protects individuals and governments from cyberattacks

Representative image Shares slipped and the dollar hung off recent highs on Tuesday as investors eyed U.S. inflation data due a day later that will likely yield clues to any further aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes. The stakes are high for the July U.S. consumer prices report on Wednesday after an unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs data last week boosted expectations of a sharp interest rate increase to tackle soaring inflation. The broader Euro STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, after logging its best session in nearly two weeks on Monday, with German stocks down 0.7%. Miners and autos, among top gainers a day earlier, led declines on Tuesday. Wall Street futures pointed to slim gains. "The focus is on tomorrow's U.S. inflation numbers and whether or not they are likely to show any indication of a softening of inflationary pressures," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. Close "Are we near the peak, and will tomorrow's CPI numbers reflect that?" … [Read more...] about Stocks stumble as caution reigns ahead of U.S. inflation data

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. (File photo) Dear Reader , A day before the monetary policy announcement, the yield on the 10-year bond fell sharply on a media report that the MPC would signal a pause after Friday’s hike. Thankfully, the MPC held firm, refusing to oblige the bond markets. Not only did it increase the repo rate by 50 basis points, but also the MPC signalled more rate hikes in future by refusing to tone down its ‘withdrawal of accommodation’ stance. Much is being made of the fact that the policy rate is now at the pre-pandemic level. At 5.4 percent, the repo rate is now back to where it was in September 2019. But that is n​o big deal. GDP growth was a measly 3.7 percent in 2019-20 compared to RBI’s projection of 7.2 percent in 2022-23; retail inflation was a much lower 4.8 percent in 2019-20, compared to a projected 6.7 percent for 2022-23; the current account deficit was a comfortable 0.9 percent of GDP in 2019-20 as against projections of around 3 percent … [Read more...] about Moneycontrol Pro Weekender | Shaktikanta Das refuses to pivot