Etsy sellers explain why they’re going on strike | Mashable

April 8, 2022April 7, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Etsy’s reputation as the feel-good home of whimsical goods and small businesses is being put on blast — by Etsy sellers themselves.

On April 11, thousands of Etsy sellers, many of whom work full-time selling their merchandise on the site, plan to go on strike by putting their shops in “vacation mode” and not selling their goods for a week.

The shop owners are protesting a number of business changes Etsy has made over the past few years that sellers say have degraded the platform and made it harder for them to run their businesses and earn a profit. Most directly, the strike is in response to a bump in the fee Etsy charges sellers: On April 11, it goes from 5 percent to 6.5 percent — a 30 percent increase — as announced in February.

US consumer debt jumped by $40 billion in February | CNN

April 8, 2022April 7, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Americans got into a lot more debt in February as rampant inflation kept up the pressure, the Federal Reserve’s consumer credit report showed Thursday.

Debt levels jumped by nearly $42 billion to a total of almost $4.5 trillion. That’s an annual increase of 11.3%, seasonally adjusted, far outperforming economists’ expectations and setting a new high. In January, total credit had grown only 2.4%.

The Fed’s historical consumer credit data goes back to the early 1940s.

Revolving credit, which includes credit cards, jumped by 20.7% to about $1.1 trillion. The category increased by only 4% in the prior month.

New fashion, beauty, and food collaborations for spring 2022 | Fast Company

April 6, 2022April 5, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

This spring, if your face smells like donuts and your outfit comes from a farmers market stand? Congratulations, you’re bang on-trend. As fashion and beauty brands seek to engage new customers in a social media-driven, post-pandemic economy, partnerships and collaborations teams are increasingly turning to food—including iconic restaurant brands and flavorful experiences—to lure shoppers back to brick-and-mortar retail.

Last month, when British bakery chain Greggs debuted a collaboration with fast fashion retailer Primark in the UK, fans of pasties queued up for hours to score the logo-emblazoned loungewear. Not long after Coach announced its Zabar’s capsule collection—comprising bagel-printed luxury tees, sweaters, and totes—nearly every single item sold out online. And this week, two megabrands in the beauty and fashion space enter the fray with retail concepts and in-store activations themed around food.

US rolls back Trump-era tariffs on UK steel | BBC News

March 24, 2022March 22, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The US has agreed to ease Trump-era tariffs on UK steel and aluminium shipments, resolving an issue that had strained relations between the allies.

The move follows earlier deals with the European Union and Japan over the controversial taxes, which were imposed by former President Donald Trump in 2018 in the name of national security.

In exchange, the UK will suspend extra taxes it had put on US products such as bourbon and Levi’s jeans.

Business groups welcomed the decision.

Kickstarter’s CEO stepping down in April | TechCrunch

March 24, 2022March 22, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In a blog post today titled “Moving Forward, With Gratitude,” Kickstarter CEO Aziz Hasan announced that he is stepping down from his leadership role at the crowdfunding platform. After three years, April 4 will be his final day as chief executive. In his stead, the company’s COO Sean Leow will fill the role as interim CEO as the company’s board of directors searches for a more permanent replacement.

“I am so proud of the work we’ve done together,” Hasan writes. “Leading such a passionate, skilled, and dedicated team through intense moments of change, milestone victories, and complex challenges has been a humbling and rewarding experience.”

The executive spoke with Fast Company about the decision, citing “personal reflection” as a motivator, as well as a desire to spend more time with his young family. As Hasan notes, his tenure has seen strong growth for the service, though the last several years have also had their share of controversy.

California’s Plan to Electrify Uber and Lyft Doesn’t Add Up | WIRED

March 23, 2022March 22, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

GABE ETS-HOKIN HAS been picking up Bay Area Uber and Lyft passengers in electric vehicles since 2018, and he says he is never going back to petrol. “The day-to-day reality of driving an electric vehicle is like a gasoline car, except it’s quieter, more fun to drive, more comfortable, and passengers love it,” he says.

EVs, he explains, are an especially good fit for the stop-and-start of driving in dense cities because they use regenerative braking, which captures the energy used to slow to a stop and “reinvests” it in charging the battery. Instead of tracking down public chargers, he hooks his car up to the charger he’s installed at his house.

Google’s ‘delete last 15 minutes of search history’ feature comes to Android early | Mashable

March 22, 2022March 20, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just click a button and just wipe, say, the last 15 minutes of your Google search history?

iPhone users have been living that dream since last summer, when Google rolled out that very option to its iOS app. Now Android users can now feel the joy of deleting your most recent search history with a single tap too.

Google is now rolling out the option to remove the last 15 minutes of a user’s search history to its official Android app, according to The Verge and confirmed by the search giant. Some Android users are already reporting that the feature is now available to them.

These two states passed gas tax suspensions. More may follow | CNN

March 21, 2022March 20, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

As inflation and Russia’s war on Ukraine force consumers to pay more at the pump, some states are temporarily suspending their gas tax — and others may follow.

Lawmakers in California, which has the highest gas tax in the country at 51-cents-per-gallon, are proposing a $400 gas tax rebate, after state Democrats previously shot down a gas tax pause. Lawmakers say the rebate will cover the cost of the current gas tax for a full year for most drivers.

Other state leaders, including Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have called for suspending gas taxes, which stands at 6% in Michigan.

The national average gas price was $4.25 per gallon on Sunday.

Two states have already enacted laws suspending the gas tax.

Why we’re excited about NASA’s new ‘Mega Moon rocket’ | Live Science

March 21, 2022March 20, 2022 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Officials at NASA are no doubt both excited and nervous as the agency gets ready for the debut of its most powerful rocket ever, dubbed the “Mega Moon rocket.” The vehicle is officially known as the Space Launch System (SLS) and is part of NASA’s Artemis program. It is being prepped for a rollout towards the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Thursday (March 17) for prelaunch testing of the Artemis I mission.

We here at Live Science are always over the moon about any new launch vehicle, but NASA’s upcoming spaceship makes us especially giddy. Here are a few reasons why.