Musk defeats ex-Twitter staff seeking $500m in severance | BBC News

July 11, 2024July 10, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A US judge has dismissed a case brought by former Twitter staff, who had accused billionaire Elon Musk of unlawfully denying roughly $500m in severance payments owed to workers fired after his takeover of the company.

Judge Trina Thompson said the employees had not proven that their claims were protected by federal law.

The ruling is a win for Mr Musk, who purchased Twitter in 2022 and immediately set about making changes, including sacking thousands of staff.

The moves sparked multiple lawsuits from former staff and vendors, accusing the company of withholding payments that had been promised.

China Rocked by Cooking Oil Contamination Scandal | BBC News

July 11, 2024July 10, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The Chinese government has said it is launching an investigation into allegations that fuel tankers have been used to transport cooking oil after carrying toxic chemicals without being cleaned properly between loads.

The controversy has spread online as social media users express concerns about potential food contamination.

Tankers used for transporting fuel were found to be carrying food products, like cooking oil and syrup, and were not decontaminated correctly, according to state-run Beijing News.

Transporting cooking oil in contaminated fuel trucks was said to have been so widespread it was considered an “open secret” in the industry, according to one driver quoted by the newspaper.

Uber for Teens has reignited an old debate over fingerprinting drivers | TechCrunch

July 10, 2024July 9, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Seven years ago, Uber and Lyft blocked an effort to require ride-hailing app drivers to get fingerprinted in California. But by launching Uber for Teens earlier this year, the company inadvertently resurfaced the issue.

Now a broader debate is underway as startups, Uber, and California regulators hash out when a transportation service should be required to fingerprint its drivers.

Whataburger app becomes unlikely power outage map after Houston hurricane | TechCrunch

July 10, 2024July 9, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Fast-food chain Whataburger’s app has gone viral in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, which left around 1.8 million utility customers in Houston, Texas without power. Hundreds of thousands of those people may remain without power for days as Houston anticipates a heat wave, with temperatures climbing into the mid-90s.

Amid frustrations with the local utility company CounterPoint Energy, which doesn’t offer an app, some Houstonians got creative with their attempts to track the power outages. They turned to the Whataburger app instead.

Sam’s Club Is Changing a Beloved Free Perk, Members Unhappy | Entrepreneur

July 9, 2024July 8, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Costco’s rival, Sam’s Club, is taking away a long-beloved free perk — and members are taking to social media to share how they feel about it.

The wholesale retailer emailed club members ahead of the holiday weekend and revealed that starting August 19, free shipping would no longer apply to Plus members’ orders, just orders over $50 or more.

So instead of having their goods delivered for free, members who make purchases under $50 will have to pay an $8 flat rate. Some category exclusions still apply, the company said.

Apple approves Epic Games Store in Europe, but not without some drama first | Mashable

July 8, 2024July 7, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The Epic Games Store is coming to Apple devices in Europe, but as usual, it couldn’t just happen without some minor fighting between Apple and Epic first.

Apple announced the EGS would get the green light in Europe on Friday, per Reuters. However, that only came after Epic took to X to publicly accuse Apple of slow-rolling the submission by rejecting the app for seemingly trivial reasons. For instance, Epic said Apple’s regulations found that the EGS app’s “Install” button was too similar to Apple’s “Get” button.

Drug store chains pushed out independent pharmacies. Here’s why they’re now closing too | CNN Business

July 3, 2024July 2, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Walgreens said Thursday that it plans to close a “significant” number of its roughly 8,600 stores in the United States. Around 25% of Walgreens’ stores aren’t profitable, and the chain will look to close stores that are right by one another or struggling to hold down theft, CEO Tim Wentworth said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Walgreens and other retailers have been hit by shoplifting and resorted to locking up items or closing high-theft stores since the pandemic, but Walgreens’ problems are much deeper, including competition and failed growth strategies. Walgreens admitted last year it “cried too much” over the business impact of shoplifting.

The latest closures are part of a larger downturn, not just for Walgreens, but for other drug store chains, too, after years of expansion. Walgreens said in 2019 it would close 200 stores and last year announced an additional 150 store closures.

Kenya’s catastrophic flooding highlights why it’s time to rethink aid delivery | Fast Company

June 27, 2024June 26, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

My mother and I were climate refugees. When I was a baby, we left our drought-stricken rural home for Nairobi, hoping the city would offer stable work and secure a better future for our family. With few options, we landed in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum, living on the edge of survival without enough food to eat and without access to clean water, healthcare, or formal education. We scraped by on sheer will and survival instincts.

In recent months, torrential rains and floods have been the most catastrophic in Kenya in decades, killing 300 and displacing 300,000. The majority live in slums, crowded into metal shacks on land that quickly turns to mud. There are no government services and no safety net, even when crisis hits. Rivers have become clogged with waste, leading to the outbreak of waterborne diseases like cholera; food insecurity has surged; and homes have been destroyed. The damage will be felt for years to come—and the problem is quickly accelerating. More than 110 million people in Africa were affected by climate-related hazards in 2022, and 700 million people will be displaced due to food and water scarcity as a result of climate-related events by 2030.

In rural Alabama, an underground mine threatens to blow up the homes above it. Officials don’t care | Fast Company

June 27, 2024June 26, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Lily Spicer felt the energy of the explosion surge through her body.

She was talking to her daughter on the phone when the boom came. Her family was accustomed to the occasional blasts that would sometimes shake their windows, she said. But this was different.

“The only way I can describe it would be a direct hit with a lightning bolt, a massive explosion, and an earthquake, all in one,” she said.

How summer camps are adapting to extreme heat events | Fast Company

June 25, 2024June 24, 2024 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

At the end of their weeklong sleepaway camp, a hush falls over the boisterous kids at YMCA’s Camp Kern as they prepare for a treasured annual tradition: after songs and skits around a bonfire, they write down their favorite memories on slips of paper. Most years, they toss them into the flames, and the ash that rises and then falls over their heads is meant to symbolize the joy they shared.

But this year, it was too hot for a bonfire.

Even as the sun went down, on a day when the high hit 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) with oppressive humidity, kids wiped the sweat from their foreheads, flocked to water coolers to refill bottles, and fanned themselves to try to get a breeze going. At the end of the night, they burned their memory notes in a small bucket.