Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s Institute for Applied Economics has produced a detailed report of where the California manufacturing sector is and where they think it’s headed. A great read for those looking to understand the future of this crucial part of our economy.
Today, we announced that we have reached an agreement to sell a majority interest in Forbes Media to a group of international investors. This is obviously a momentous occasion for the Forbes family and the team here at Forbes. But, it represents an opportunity for extraordinary advances for us that would have been inconceivable just a few short years ago.
The web has blasted away the operating model for the communications industry that began back in the 1830s with the invention of the steam press, an innovation that made possible the cheap printing of newspapers and magazines on an industrial scale. Mass media was born. This new industry was largely supported by advertising; for most publications Forbes has been a happy exception circulation was a loss leader, that is, the cost of obtaining the subscription exceeded what the subscriber paid. Reporters and editors created content and advertising paid the bills.
Welcome to Microsoft, Nokia employees—you’re out of a job.
So came the message on Thursday as Microsoft MSFT announced plans to fire as many as 18,000 people over the next year. The bulk of the layoffs, about 12,500 people, will come from the Nokia NOK devices and services business that Microsoft officially acquired in April. Most of the rest of the firings will affect people with overlapping jobs, furthering new Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella’s pledge to create a leaner, meaner, faster-moving organization. Grrr.
It’s not easy firing this many people—especially when you’re Microsoft, which hardly ever fires anyone, and when you’re dealing with Finland, which also has a thing against firing people. The company did it with two memos and a press release. The first memo came from Nadella, who explained how the layoffs fit into the strategy outlined in his memo from last week. The second came from Stephen Elop, the former Nokia CEO and now Microsoft executive, who never really managed to revive Nokia’s business, delivered the pride of Finland into the clutches of Microsoft, and must be feeling some measure of guilt about all this. Right? A staggering 40,000 Nokia employees had already lost their jobs over the past few years, as the phonemaker transitioned from global market power to Harvard Business School case study.
It took more than 30 years, but the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC finally clarified its rules against pregnancy discrimination, stating that any discrimination based on past or future pregnancies is illegal, and that employers must make reasonable accommodations for pregnant women. Now, any harassment or discrimination against pregnant workers is an illegal form of sex discrimination. Under the new guidelines, lactation is also considered a medical condition.
The clarification was necessary because employers routinely interpreted the anti-discrimination law narrowly, refusing to accommodate pregnancy the same way they would a physical disability. Pregnant workers who needed simple accommodations—say, not doing heavy lifting or sitting during breaks instead of standing—faced a series of bad options.
Google’s “smart contact lens” just went from patents to partners.
The Google X project is now officially in lock step with healthcare giant Novartis, the parent of Alcon, which produces some of the most-widely used contact lens products on the market, including Air Optix, FreshLook and Dailies. Novartis will work on turning Google’s lab project into smart contact lenses for people around the world.
A product of Google Research, the smart lenses look like traditional contact lenses. The company’s eye care division, Alcon, will license Google’s smart lens and co-develop them for a variety of ocular medical uses.
Ophthalmic electrochemical sensors in the contact lenses are designed to measure glucose levels and offer real-time updates to an app on a connected mobile device for people with diabetes. Google secured a patent for the technology earlier this year
The word hacker may have a negative connotation, but AT&T wants to show the world how it can lead to positive innovation.
“That’s the old connotation,” said Carlton Hill, VP of device operations and developer services for AT&T. “To hack on something doesn’t mean that. It’s to break it open, its to play with it and get a ton out of it.”
For the last three years, the telecommunications company has calling on developers, marketers, designers and innovators to work together to create tech solutions for common problems. The participants usually have 24 hours to come up with an idea and prototype for each project, and a winner is awarded at each event. Most of the stops are themed around an issue, including the upcoming Houston, Texas event on Friday which will focus on apps to help the disabled
“I don’t know if I want to own a bank. But I do want to lend money in a transparent way, and I want to create an institution people love,” says Max Levchin, between sips of coffee on a Friday morning at a New York City cafe. “I want to be the community bank equivalent for the 21st century, where people say: ‘I trust my banker. He’s a good guy who’s looking out for me.’”
Dressed in a bright green t-shirt with the name of his startup—Affirm—emblazoned across the chest, Levchin looks and sounds like just another idealistic Silicon Valley entrepreneur rehearsing for Demo Day. But he isn’t. As the co-founder and former CTO of PayPal, Levchin is also one of the Valley’s foremost experts on the payments industry. When he says he wants to overhaul banking, you should take him seriously.
General Motors, which has recalled nearly 29 million cars globally so far this year, is pushing back against critics clamoring that it should recall another 6 million pickups and SUVs for a problem with brake lines.
GM says the problem with the brake lines is due to normal wear-and-tear on vehicles that are all at least 10 years old, and that the problem only occurs in the so-called “Salt Belt” where corrosive salt is used on the roads during the winter.
The U.S. military has chosen two universities to lead a program to develop brain implants to restore memory to veterans who have suffered brain injuries, officials said at a news conference yesterday, July 8.
The Restoring Active Memory RAM program is a project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency DARPA, the branch of the U.S. Department of Defense charged with developing next-generation technologies for the military. The initiative aims to develop wireless, fully implantable “neuroprosthetics” for service members suffering from traumatic brain injury or illness, DARPA Program Manager Justin Sanchez said at the news conference.
Dispatches From The Front 