David Lidsky's Blog, page 364

How Uber and Lyft are funding opposition efforts over San Francisco transit ballot

Proposition L would create a new tax on ride-hailing companies and use those funds to restore transit services across the city.

Uber and Lyft are funding opposition efforts over a ballot initiative in San Francisco that’s meant to increase funding for the city’s public transit system.

Wildfires have decimated forests. Here’s why replanting trees is a challenge

As the gap between burned areas and replanting widens year after year, scientists see big challenges beyond where to put seedlings.

Camille Stevens-Rumann crouched in the dirt and leaned over evergreen seedlings, measuring how much each had grown in seven months.

Bank of America outage: Customers report app and website glitches, panic over $0 balances

On Downdetector, customers reported difficulty accessing their bank accounts, starting just before 1 p.m. ET today.

Bank of America customers reported difficulty accessing their bank accounts on Wednesday, with some saying they couldn’t log on, while others saw balances of $0 in their bank accounts.

Sales professionals need mental health ‘helmets’

While construction workers wear helmets and safety gear, sales professionals need mental and emotional safeguards to mitigate the risks associated with their work.

Neuroticism is one of the Big Five personality traits, characterized by a tendency to experience negative emotions like anxiety, fear, and frustration. Individuals with high levels of neuroticism are often more sensitive to stress and more likely to react negatively to challenges.

California spiked a landmark AI regulation. But that doesn’t mean the bill is going away

State Senator Scott Wiener hasn’t ruled out the possibility of introducing the bill again next session.

With the veto of California’s AI bill, the idea of regulating frontier models may be in jeopardy.

Digital tools help companies retain hourly workers, WorkJam CEO says

WorkJam cofounder and CEO Steve Kramer recently spoke with the Associated Press about how companies can better retain hourly workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resetting of the economy that followed it made hourly workers more aware of their value. Some experts think employers should expect to field demands for flexible hours and other workplace incentives even as the labor market weakens.

Big Oil paid more than $42 billion to foreign governments in 2023

The disclosures from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips were required this year for the first-time ever under a new Securities and Exchange Commission requirement.

The three largest U.S. energy exploration companies paid more than $42 billion to foreign governments last year, about eight times more than what they paid in the United States, according to regulatory filings.

Afrofuturism is thriving in Philly. Here are 5 artists you need to know

One of the greatest avant-garde jazz musicians of the 20th century, Sun Ra is also an Afrofuturist icon.

From the creation of the Liberty Bell in the 1750s to the world-famous Philadelphia Sound soul music of the 1960s and ’70s, artistic innovation has long been a staple in Philly history. Today, the city’s thriving Afrofuturist scene is continuing this legacy.

Trump and Harris haven’t set clean energy plans yet. It’s out of their control anyway

Whatever policies the next president sets, domestic energy trends will depend largely on market forces.

Although Vice President Kamala Harris touts clean energy and Donald Trump makes misleading assertions and false claims about it, neither candidate has set forth a comprehensive energy plan. Even if they do, a gridlocked Congress would be unlikely to pass it.

TSLA troubles: Tesla stock falls 4% after deliveries disappoint—but the robotaxi could be coming soon

Elon Musk’s EV company delivered fewer cars in Q3 than Wall Street expected, but Tesla is planning an event to reveal the designs of its robotaxi later this month.

On Wednesday, Tesla announced its third-quarter (Q3) productions, deliveries, and deployments report, causing stocks to fall more than 4% as of this writing.