Microsoft has finally responded following legal threats from Delta CEO Ed Bastian last Wednesday. Delta have claimed that the IT outage seen at the end of last month will cost them $500 million in lost revenue and refunds to customers. IT Outage Kari Shea/Unsplash Windows devices went down on July 25, which was initially set off by a CrowdStrike software update that crashed thousands of Microsoft systems. The outage caused chaos in health systems and airlines. Delta were particularly affected by the outage, which caused numerous flight delays and cancellations. Delta Response Vivek Doshi/Unsplash Delta is in a weakened state…
Author: Benjamin Carter
The Employment Policies Institute (EPI), a think tank set up by Richard Berman in 1991, released the results of an online survey of restaurant operators in California. The study results have a number of notable findings, including that the restaurant owners reported that, in response to the California’s April 1 minimum wage increase, 98% have increased their menu prices. Employment Policies Institute Romain Dancre/Unsplash The EPI is a non-profit think tank dedicated to investigating “issues that affect entry-level employment.” They have released several policy briefs arguing against increases in minimum wage, and were founded by industry lobbyist Berman. Who is…
Apple are now deep into user testing of their upcoming ‘Apple Intelligence’, a set of AI features designed to help users with queries across apps on newer Apple products. Recently, some inquisitive beta testers of the upcoming product found a set of files revealing some unusual methods that Apple are employing in an attempt to dodge some of the typical pitfalls of generative AI. Apple Intelligence Announcement Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash Apple Intelligence was announced at a conference and through a simultaneous press release on June 10. It will be accessible on later Apple products and contain a number of AI-driven features,…
Neanderthals and humans have a complicated, millennia-long relationship. The primitive human species likely persisted up until around 40,000 years ago, and co-existed with Homo sapiens for long periods. Many theories exist for their extinction, from vulnerability to disease, to war with sapiens, or even the ability of humans to domesticate dogs. But new evidence suggests they may have met a less violent end. Overlapping Periods Neom/Unsplash Humans may have first overlapped with neanderthals around 250,000 years ago, but more recent evidence has suggested that they may have lived together in Europe more recently. Homo sapiens spent most of its 250,000-year…
A major tech company has just announced that it will lay off thousands of workers, amounting to more than 15% of its workforce. The decision comes amid a recent spate of layoffs in the tech industry, which continues to struggle to retain workers despite vaunting advancements in AI and other technologies. Tech Industry Struggles Windows/Unsplash The tech industry as a whole has been laying off workers at concerning rates in recent years. This year alone, according to numbers from Layoffs.fyi, the tech industry has already laid off nearly 100,000 workers. AI-Driven Growth BoliviaInteligente/Unsplash AI has been the buzzword in tech…
A number of best-selling cinnamon products have been found to contain high levels of lead. No illnesses have been reported yet, but several brands have been issued with a recall, and consumers have been warned not to ingest the products. Lead Poisoning Danger to Children Alchemist HP/Wikimedia Lead poisoning can affect people of any age and health, but may be of particular danger to children. Children may not show obvious symptoms straight away, so could be in even more danger of long-term effects such as fatigue, muscle aches, muscle prickling or constipation. Recent Food Recalls Rachel Loughman/Unsplash The cinnamon recalls…
Microsoft systems went down once again, in what one expert described as a “surreal” fiasco, happening just a fortnight on from the last outage. This time, the tech giant is less able to point the finger of blame at an external proprietary software provider such as CrowdStrike. Different Flavor of Issue Jannes Glas/Unsplash The outage had a different origin, and has affected a number of Microsoft services, with several companies issuing statements about their systems being down. It affected a diverse collection of companies, from a video game to a Dutch soccer club. CrowdStrike Outage Zhen H/Unsplash The CrowdStrike outage…
Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania Governor, has emerged as the leading figure in the race to become Kamala Harris’ vice president pick. Harris became the likely Democratic presidential nomination after Joe Biden renounced his intention to run for a second term as President. Biden Drop Out The White House/Wikimedia Biden dropped out of the presidential race not long after an underwhelming debate performance at the end of June. Immediately after the debate he was bullish about continuing on, saying that “I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving.” Passing the Torch Office of Senator…
The National Rifle Association (NRA) have promised to challenge Massachusetts gun law reforms which may have the effect of banning some common firearms. The new regulations, signed into law by state governor Maura Healey, contain a number of regulations, but one in particular was identified as having the potential to lead to indirect weapon bans. Massachusetts Latest Gun Reforms Thomas Tucker/Unsplash The law contains expansions of existing gun restrictions, and included a number of regulations intended to improve public safety. Provisions were included to combat untraceable ‘ghost’ guns and to expand the ‘red flag’ laws, which are meant to keep…
An airline’s hiring of top lawyer David Boies, the chairman of the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm, coincided with a 5% hit to CrowdStrike’s stock in trading on Monday. This comes following an extended IT outage affecting Windows devices using CrowdStrike software that led to global chaos, including at many busy, international airports. Air Travel Industry Decimation Chuttersnap/Unsplash The CrowdStrike and Microsoft outage caused huge damage to the airline industry as a whole. The shutdown of millions of Windows devices led to flights being grounded, and thousands of stranded passengers in airports. Airlines Particularly Hit Chuttersnap/Unsplash Many industries were affected…