U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Monday that international students “may not take a full online course load and remain in the United States” during the fall 2020 semester, as schools and universities across the country consider how to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Category: News and Views
Facebook: Aviva and Intercontinental Hotels Group pause ads | BBC News
Two leading UK firms – the insurer Aviva and the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) – have become the latest to “pause” advertising on Facebook.
They join Ford, Adidas, HP, Coca Cola, Unilever and Starbucks, which have all acted in response to how the social network deals with hate speech.
The Stop Hate for Profit campaign claims that Facebook is not doing enough to remove hateful content.
When Her Business Dried Up, This Restaurateur Kept the Locals Fed | Inc.com
Kyleena Falzone’s restaurants in the mountain resort town of Crested Butte, Colorado, the Secret Stash and Bonez, together made nearly $6 million in revenue last year. But when Gunnison County issued an order March 16 for all visitors to leave as soon as possible, what looked like the start of another busy spring season came to an abrupt end. She had to lay off 132 of her 140 employees. But while her restaurants likely would have survived the lockdown in hibernation mode, she says, “I couldn’t just sit around.”
Instead, Falzone spent the next three months feeding thousands of out-of-work locals through 11 weeks of farmers’ markets handouts, 83 nights of free dinner kits, and three weeks of free groceries. Using social media, she crowdfunded most of the $100,000-plus effort from people who own second homes in the town. Here’s how she pulled off the initiative, which even inspired a similar project thousands of miles away.
The modern mobile app needs a revamp | TechCrunch
Apple’s App Store has had a controversial month with developers demanding changes to how apps are monetized, but as Apple detailed the next versions of its operating systems at WWDC, it’s clear they believe third-party apps themselves have room to be fundamentally revamped.
This week at WWDC, Apple debuted App Clips, a snappy new segment of third party experiences that scales down the idea of an app around just a single feature or two. A user can quickly call up an App Clip via a URL, NFC tag or visual code and download when the right context arises. In a lot of ways it’s just another notification type pinned to more limitations for devs, but the thinking behind it follows Apple’s continued interests to shove third-party integrations deeper inside the operating system itself.
The Seed of an Idea: How Buckwheat, Hemp, Chia and Flax Are Taking Over | Entrepreneur
As consumers continue to turn their attention to organic, plant-based, and nutritionally dense foods, we’re beginning to see a rise in the growth of some unlikely and (literally) small products – namely, seeds. Products like buckwheat, hemp, flax, and chia were on the margins of the health food market just a few years ago, but the seed market will likely grow quite a bit in the near future.
Buckwheat, for example, is expected to reach a valuation of $1.8 billion globally by 2027, primarily due to increased demand in the food and beverage sector. Chia, once better known as a kitschy houseplant, is still selling fairly modestly ($66.5 million in 2018), but is growing even faster, at a rate of 5.8 percent. Flaxseed is growing even more rapidly, at a projected rate of 12.7 percent. And of course, hemp seeds have enjoyed a boost from the general growth of the cannabis product market and are expected to continue to grow to $480 million by 2024.
Snake skin-inspired shoe grips designed to save seniors | New Atlas
A couple of years ago, Harvard University scientists copied the structure of snake skin to create a soft-bodied robot that gripped the ground as it moved. Now, they’ve applied that same thinking to shoe grips that could help keep seniors from falling.
Developed in partnership with MIT, the grips take the form of thin, flexible steel sheets with a snake-scale-like pattern cut into them. As was the case with the soft robot, that pattern – consisting of dozens of interlocked “scales” – is based on a Japanese paper-cutting art known as kirigami.
Disney Joins In Recycling Plastic For Shirts | CoolBusinessIdeas.com
Creating clothing fibers from recycled plastic is nothing new, but when a name like Disney is involved, it’s hard not to have childlike enthusiasm over the efforts. Disney, a company that needs no further description, has partnered with Unifi, Inc., makers of REPREVE®, the leading recycled fiber, to produce a new retro-style Mickey & Co. collection that is sure to bring out the kid in all of us.
Unifi has been on this ride for a long time, turning plastic waste into material used by Chicobags, Ford, Patagonia, PrAna and many other companies. The ever-growing count meter on their website reports over 20 billion bottles have been recycled, with the resulting fibers being used for everything from totes to curtains.
Verizon decides Facebook doesn’t need its ad money after all | Mashable
Mark Zuckerberg can definitely hear Verizon now.
The telecommunications giant announced Thursday that it is immediately ceasing all advertising on Facebook. So reports CNBC, which notes that Verizon is joining the likes of Patagonia, REI, and Ben & Jerry’s in financially distancing itself from the controversial social media platform.
In an emailed statement to Mashable, a Verizon spokesperson chalked the move up to vague displeasure with varying violations of unspecified policies.
McDonald’s is closing its Times Square location | CNN
McDonald’s has closed its iconic restaurant on 42nd Street in New York City’s Times Square.
The closure had been planned prior to the pandemic, the company said in a statement to CNN Business, noting that it “was a difficult decision.”
But McDonald’s (MCD) will still have a large presence in the area.
The world’s biggest dust bunny is crossing the Atlantic Ocean right now | Live Science
A “Godzilla dust cloud” from the Sahara Desert that’s heading toward the United States this week is the largest and most concentrated dust cloud of its kind in the past 50 years, according to news sources. As of
June 22, the dust cloud — which some experts have dubbed the “Godzilla dust cloud” — had reached the Caribbean, spiking air quality to “hazardous” levels, according to the AP. People along the Gulf Coast may be next to experience the dusty visitor.
Dispatches From The Front 