David Lidsky's Blog, page 280

Nordstrom to be taken private in $6.25 billion deal from founding family and Mexican retail group

Nordstrom may have more leeway being private to revive a department store chain that has been attempting to reinvigorate sales for years.

Century-old department store Nordstrom has agreed to be acquired and taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal with the industry being squeezed by discount chains and other competition.

Phenylephrine is being phased out of cold medicines: Here are alternatives

Phenylephrine is used in popular versions of Sudafed, Dayquil, and other medications, but experts have long questioned its effectiveness.

Changes are coming to the cold and cough aisle of your local pharmacy: U.S. officials are moving to phase out the leading decongestant found in hundreds of over-the-counter medicines, concluding that it doesn’t actually relieve nasal congestion.

Trump transition team may seek ‘day one’ withdrawal from WHO

Trump initiated the yearlong withdrawal process from the WHO in 2020, but six months later his successor, Biden reversed the decision.

Members of Donald Trump‘s presidential transition team are laying the groundwork for the United States to withdraw from the World Health Organization on the first day of his second term, according to a health law expert familiar with the discussions.

Starbucks strike will expand to over 300 U.S. stores on Christmas Eve

The Christmas Eve strike on Tuesday was projected to be the largest ever at Starbucks.

A strike at Starbucks will expand to over 300 U.S. stores on Tuesday, with more than 5,000 workers expected to walk off the job before the five-day work stoppage ends later on Christmas Eve, the workers’ union said.

The greatest keyboard never sold

WayTools’ TextBlade brilliantly compressed a comfy typing experience into a pocket-sized device. Too bad it never actually reached the market.

Even as the latest phones and wearables tout speech recognition with unprecedented accuracy and spatial computing products flirt with replacing tablets and laptops, physical keyboards remain beloved for their efficiency. Earlier this year, for example, sci-fi novelist Robert J. Sawyer created a comprehensive archive of files that enables modern PCs to run WordStar 7, the DOS program’s final version. He favors the once-dominant word processor, also used by Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, in part because of its effective use of “home row” keyboard shortcuts to speed navigation and editing.

Pennsylvania’s Capitol has hundreds of antique clocks designed a century ago

The 273 working clocks include many that are integrated into fireplace mantels and other building features.

Capitol buildings are almost always an imposing presence. The seat of government, they tend to be elegant and stately — and frequently capped by a dome.

U.S. wins dispute with Mexico over banning genetically modified corn imports

Mexico has been importing genetically modified corn from the U.S. for years, buying about $3 billion worth annually.

The United States won a ruling on Friday in a trade dispute with Mexico, which had sought to ban imports of genetically modified corn for human consumption.

Southern farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene

Georgia farmers suffered losses from Helene of at least $5.5 billion.

Twisted equipment and snapped tree limbs still litter Chris Hopkins’ Georgia farm more than two months after Hurricane Helene made its deadly march across the South.

Bluesky users report AI bots, disinformation, and copycat accounts

Bluesky posted earlier this month that it had quadrupled its moderation team to keep up with its growing user base.

Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, which they view as increasingly leaning too far to the right given its owner’s support of President-elect Donald Trump, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms.

South Side of Chicago gets funding for a transit project before Trump takeover

The Biden administration notified Congress last week that it would commit $1.9 billion toward a nearly $5.7 billion project to add four new L stations on the South Side of Chicago.

Adella Bass dropped her in-person college classes because it was just too hard to get there from the far South Side of Chicago, where the city’s famous elevated train doesn’t run. And it can take her nearly two hours to get to the hospital where she is treated for a heart condition.