Author: knjohn

Daily Crunch: Sources say Times Internet plans to sell Indian streaming platform MX Player to Amazon | TechCrunch

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The TechCrunch Top 3

  • Game on: Amazon is in talks to acquire Indian video streaming giant MX Player from Times Internet, Manish reports. He writes that the video app is “popular for supporting a wide range of video formats and reliability on low-cost Android smartphones, has expanded to original content in recent years and has amassed more than 300 million users globally.”
  • Gone phishing: Reddit confirmed that hackers accessed its internal data in what it is calling “a sophisticated phishing attack” that targeted its employees, Carly writes. The company said the attack gave hackers access to documents and source code.
  • And, just as quickly as it came, it left: Five days ago, India banned over 90 apps, some associated with China, related to lending. Today, Manish writes that this ban on apps, like PayU’s LazyPay, Kissht, KreditBee and Indiabulls’ Home Loans, was lifted.

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How to Use ChatGPT to Save Time and Make Work Easier | Entrepreneur

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OpenAI’s ChatGPT and similar AI tools may not replace jobs anytime soon. But they can help workers across many industries – from tech to media – do their jobs better and more quickly.

“It’s almost like a bit of a productivity boost that some of these occupations might get,” Anu Madgavkar, a partner at economic research firm McKinsey Global Institute, told Insider.

The buzzy conversational chatbot – which attracted one million users soon after its launch last November – has been used to generate real estate advice, provide tips on how to start a business, and even write music in the style of individual artists, all with varying levels of success.

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Ultra Thin Coating For Solar Panels | Cool Business Ideas 

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Solar panels can’t operate efficiently if they’re caked in dirt, but cleaning them regularly can become a time-consuming process. Engineers in Germany have now developed an ultra-thin coating that can make solar panels and other surfaces self-cleaning.

Solar is the biggest source of renewable energy, and it’s growing quickly. But as you could imagine, it’s not feasible to send someone out with a squeegee to clean millions of solar panels in each park. Having them clean themselves would be ideal – and now researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany have made strides towards that concept.

The team created a coating that changes its response to water based on the time of day, allowing it to shed any buildup of dust and dirt fairly quickly. The key ingredient is titanium oxide, which in its normal state repels water, forming drops that easily roll off. When the titanium oxide is exposed to UV light, however, it changes state to become highly water-attracting, which keeps the surface wet with a thin layer of water.

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Here’s why Twitter users are all posting Twitter Spaces links in their tweets | Mashable

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If you’ve been on Twitter over the past week or so, you’ve likely seen extremely viral tweets that include random links to Twitter Spaces, the platform’s audio chat room feature. If you’ve clicked on any of those Twitter Spaces links, you’ll likely find a nonsensical Twitter Spaces chat scheduled for some time in the future that’s completely unrelated to the tweet. The user also has no apparent intention of going live in their Twitter Spaces chat.

So, why are Twitter users doing this?

As with nearly every weird, quirky trend among Twitter users since Elon Musk acquired the company, the answer is simple: It’s because of the algorithm.

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Disney has bigger problems than Ron DeSantis | CNN Business

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Disney has found itself in the middle of a culture war battle that could end up transferring Disney World’s governance to a board appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And that may be the least of Disney’s problems.

The company faces a media industry in turmoil, plunging cable subscriptions, a still-recovering box office, massive streaming losses, activist shareholders, possible reorganization and layoffs and growing labor disputes with employees. That’s a lot for CEO Bob Iger to handle.

Iger, who retired as CEO in 2020 only to be brought back in November, has been mostly quiet about his plans for the company since his return. That ends at 4:30 pm ET Wednesday when he is set to begin an earnings call with Wall Street investors.

Here’s what to look for on what is certain to be a closely-watched call.

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What You Should Know About Leasing an Office | Business News Daily

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If you’re ready to rent a commercial space, here are tips for getting started with the leasing process.

  • When leasing a commercial space for the first time, the process can be complicated and confusing.
  • To successfully rent a commercial space, take your time and review the lease agreement in full before signing.
  • It’s also worth consulting with an expert who can guide you through the leasing process.
  • This article is for business owners who are considering leasing commercial office space.

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8 Misconceptions of Time That Make You Less Productive | Lifehack

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“Time is money,” as we have all heard. While time is valuable, it does not appear to be something we can grasp. And, despite the fact that we are all aware of the importance of cherishing our time, we unconsciously waste it at the tip of our fingers all the time! It’s as if we’re still grappling with the concept of time and how it works. Time management, on the other hand, has become a cultural obsession, and it, like any cultural phenomenon, is surrounded by myths.

With a limited understanding of time and these myths, it becomes increasingly difficult to use our time wisely and be truly productive. These misconceptions cause us to have a distorted view of productivity, causing us to become less efficient, less motivated, more prone to burnout, and more prone to making poor decisions.

To overcome some of these false beliefs, we must first understand what “time” means in terms of productivity.

In this article, I’ll debunk 8 misconceptions of time that are probably causing you to be less productive.

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How Super Bowl ad teasers manipulate you—in the best possible way | Fast Company

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You have no idea what Squarespace’s Super Bowl ad is going to be all about. But you do know it probably involves Adam Driver. To be specific, it probably involves up to 27 different versions of the award-winning actor.

We all know this because the brand released an almost two-minute teaser ad this week, featuring a surreal commercial shoot, populated entirely by Adam Drivers.

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Western US wildfires have destroyed 246% more homes and buildings this | Fast Company

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It can be tempting to think that the recent wildfire disasters in communities across the West were unlucky, one-off events, but evidence is accumulating that points to a trend.

In a new study, we found a 246% increase in the number of homes and structures destroyed by wildfires in the contiguous Western U.S. between the past two decades, 1999-2009 and 2010-2020.

This trend is strongly influenced by major fires in 2017, 2018, and 2020, including destructive fires in Paradise and Santa Rosa, California, and in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington State. In fact, in nearly every Western state, more homes and buildings were destroyed by wildfire over the past decade than the decade before, revealing increasing vulnerability to wildfire disasters.

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