Are SPACs Making A Comeback?
“It depends”, as my attorneys like to say. Much has been said about SPACs – good and bad, especially during the pandemic when SPACs were at their peak – but like with almost any other financial endeavor, little has been said in the public sphere about their inner workings, which is crucial to understanding whether […]
Instagram courts TikTok stars during turbulent times
Meta-owned Instagram has been wooing creators from TikTok as the China-based video-snippet sharing app’s future remains uncertain in the United States. After officially increasing the allowed length of videos and adding a new editing tool, Meta recently began letting TikTok creators earn as much as $5,000 over the course of three months for posting “Reels” […]
Venezuela’s ‘Pearl of the Caribbean’ loses its luster
One of the five stars that used to adorn the facade of the Margarita hotel on the Venezuelan paradise island of the same name has fallen off. Not that there are any guests to notice. The hotel is abandoned, its peeling facade a symbol of the decline of an island once dubbed the “Pearl of […]
As Trump returns, China seizes chance for climate mantle
With Donald Trump expected to take the United States again out of climate diplomacy, China, the world’s largest emitter but green energy powerhouse, is seizing on the chance to project itself as the global leader. At COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, China has sought to show a cooperative side and for the first time gave […]
Apple narrowly beats estimates with boost from iPhone sales
Apple reported revenues Thursday that narrowly surpassed analyst expectations, sending shares lower in after-hours trading even as the company enjoyed a boost from iPhone sales. The tech giant saw quarterly revenue of $94.9 billion in the three months ending September 28, up from the same period last year, in a closely watched report as investors […]
Musical artists sound AI infringement warning
Many companies using artificial intelligence technologies are seeking to improve the performance of their platforms. This involves training AI through a variety of media. Many artists are protesting over their works being used as training data for large language models (LLMs). The companies involved include OpenAI, Anthropic, and now Perplexity. In the U.S. this has […]
Hefty electric vehicle costs dent Ford profits
Ford reported lower profits Monday and reduced its full-year earnings outlook as hefty one-time electric vehicle (EV) expenses weighed on results. The major US automaker reported third-quarter profits of $892 million, down 26 percent from the year-ago level, on revenues of $46.2 billion, up 5.5 percent. The results were the latest in which Ford has […]
US plans to contribute $20 bn for Ukraine loan
The United States plans to contribute $20 billion to a G7 loan package for Ukraine and could soon announce new sanctions targeting Russian weapons procurement, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday. “We’re very close to finalizing America’s portion of this $50 billion loan package,” she told a press conference, as world financial leaders gather in […]
New app enables real-time, full-body motion capture using a smartphone
A new app has been demonstrated to perform effective real-time, full-body motion capture and 3D human translation with a smartphone. Researchers (Northwestern University engineers) unveiled the app at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (held in Pittsburgh, U.S.). The app is called MobilePoser and it is designed to make motion capture technology more accessible. This is achieved […]
Onboard wifi is latest frontline in airline competition
Free onboard wifi has become the latest battleground between the world’s leading airlines as the once expensive and unreliable service finally delivers quality comparable to being at home. Delta, United, Japan Airlines, Air France and other global carriers have in recent weeks sought to outdo each other with competing announcements about the arrival or extension […]
