Category: Articles of the week

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Articles of the Week 

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Work From Home: Trends, Trajectory, and Future Outlook

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Ananyaa Bhowmik | Wealth of Geeks undefined

In a 2022 survey, 36% of CIOs believed that work will transition into a hybrid or work-from-home model permanently. And with good reason.

While people commonly believe that the work-from-home culture arrived with the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, 15-16% of survey respondents said that their company had already worked remotely even before the pandemic. Around 2005, with the availability of high-speed internet connections, advanced laptops, and the rising digitization of jobs, work from home became a viable option.

Between 2005 and 2019, the corporate world saw steady growth in remote working, but this was mostly limited to certain sectors. It was the 2020 pandemic that changed it all. As the world went into lockdown, most jobs outside the essential sectors shifted to remote working almost overnight. Continue reading

Mickey Mouse will soon belong to you and me — with some caveats

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – An actor dressed as Mickey Mouse greets visitors at the entrance to Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort, April 18, 2022, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The earliest version of Disney’s most famous character, Mickey Mouse, and arguably the most iconic character in American pop culture, will become public domain on Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — M-I-C-K-E-Y will soon belong to you and me.

With several asterisks, qualification and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader of the band of characters, films and books that will become public domain as the year turns to 2024.

In a moment many close observers thought might never come, at least one version of the quintessential piece of intellectual property and perhaps the most iconic character in American pop culture will be free from Disney’s copyright as his first screen release, the 1928 short “Steamboat Willie,” featuring both Mickey and Minnie Mouse, becomes available for public use. Continue reading

Klarna CEO Siemiatkowski says buy now, pay later is used by shoppers who otherwise avoid credit

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

(AP Illustration/Peter Hamlin)

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Sebastian Siemiatkowski is a co-founder and CEO of Klarna, the Sweden-based company that’s one of the world’s biggest providers of buy now, pay later services to customers. Klarna started off in Europe and entered the U.S. market in 2015.

Buy now, pay later has become an increasingly popular option for consumers for purchases: its usage is up 10-fold since the pandemic and U.S. regulators see it as potentially a more sustainable way for borrowers to pay for purchases instead of using credit cards. Continue reading

Shein’s Mega IPO Raises Concerns Over Fast Fashion and the Industry’s Impact; Is Fast Fashion a Danger to Society?

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By Tamara White | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Fast fashion giant Shein recently filed for one of the most significant Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of 2023. The rampant growth of fast fashion — a fad turned rage that has dominated the industry for years — now sparks concerns about the trend’s societal and environmental impact.

Shein is not the only contributor to the fast fashion concern. Significant players like UNIQLO, Zara, Forever 21, and H&M have also adopted business models centered around the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing. While the appeal lies in providing affordable and trendy options for consumers, the dark side of this industry is often overlooked. Continue reading

As climate warms, that perfect Christmas tree may depend on growers’ ability to adapt

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

Gary Chastagner, a Washington State University professor called “Dr. Christmas Tree” shows an example of a less-desirable tree due to fewer top branches, grown in a small plantation of Turkish fir trees to produce disease and insect-resistant Christmas trees at the school’s Puyallup Research and Extension Center on Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, in Puyallup, Wash. Chastagner has been working with breeders to see if species from other parts of the world — for instance, Turkish fir — are better adapted to conditions being wrought by climate change. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond)

By MELINA WALLING Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — Christmas tree breeder Jim Rockis knows what it looks like when one dies long before it can reach a buyer.

Rockis farms trees in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, where he and other producers often grow their iconic evergreens outside their preferred habitat higher in the mountains. But that can mean planting in soil that’s warmer and wetter — places where a nasty fungal disease called Phytophthora root rot can take hold, sucking moisture away from saplings and causing needles to crisp to burnt orange.

“After a while, it just gets to the core of it,” Rockis said. “They just wither away.”

Christmas tree growers and breeders have long prepared for a future of hotter weather that will change soil conditions, too. People buying trees may not have noticed a difference in availability this year and may not even in the next couple; the average Christmas tree takes eight to 10 years to reach marketable size. Continue reading

Do Language Apps Really Work? Bilingual Teacher Shares Her Experience

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By Caitriona Maria | Wealth of Geeks undefined

The language learning app industry is a rapidly growing market, projected to grow from $3.14 billion in 2021 to $16.6 billion in 2031. With more options available than ever, now is a great time to learn a new language.

I’m a bilingual translator and I checked out the six most popular learning apps on the market. Instead of evaluating technical aspects like interface and speed, I focused on the app’s didactic approach. In other words, can a person learn a new language using an app like Duolingo?

The method was simple: download the apps and start from the most basic level in Spanish. A week-long performance evaluation, using the app daily and making mistakes like a novice. Continue reading

What did you Google in 2023? ‘Barbie,’ Israel-Hamas war are among the year’s top internet searches

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Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – A cursor moves over Google’s search engine page, in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 28, 2018. Your Google search history for 2023 has arrived. Well, actually, the world’s. On Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, the California-based tech giant released its “Year in Search,” a roundup of 2023’s top global queries, ranging from unforgettable pop culture moments (hello, Barbenheimer), to the loss of beloved figures and tragic news carrying worldwide repercussions. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Your Google search history for 2023 has arrived.

Well, actually, the world’s. On Monday, the California-based tech giant released its “Year in Search,” a roundup of 2023’s top global queries, ranging from unforgettable pop culture moments (hello, Barbenheimer ), to the loss of beloved figures and tragic news carrying worldwide repercussions.

The ongoing Israel-Hamas war topped news trends in 2023, per Google’s global data, followed by queries related to the Titanic-bound submersible that imploded in June, as well as February’s devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Continue reading

Technology built the cashless society. Advances are helping the unhoused so they’re not left behind

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

A vendor selling Street Sense, a local paper that covers issues related to the homeless and employs unhoused individuals as its vendors, takes a donation for a paper while wearing a sign saying she can accept donations from cashless apps like Venmo and CashApp, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Washington. The transition to a cashless society has impacted street-level charitable giving – from individual donations to panhandlers to the Salvation Army donation kettles. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Littlejohn remembers the days when lots of people had a couple of dollars to spare to buy a copy of Street Sense, the local paper that covers issues related to the homeless and employs unhoused individuals as its vendors.

Today, he’s finding fewer people are walking around with spare change. Even well-meaning individuals who want to help are likely to pat their pockets and apologize, he said.

“I would be out here for six or seven hours and wouldn’t get more than $12 to $15,” said Littlejohn, 62, who was homeless for 13 years. “People are like, ‘I don’t leave the house with cash.'”

But just as technological shifts helped create the problem, further advances are now helping charitable groups and advocates for the unhoused reach those most in danger of being left behind in a cashless society. Continue reading

Google ups the stakes in AI race with Gemini, a technology trained to behave more like humans

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Intermediate

File – Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks about Google DeepMind at a Google I/O event in Mountain View, Calif., May 10, 2023. Google took its next leap in artificial intelligence Wednesday with the launch of a project called Gemini that’s trained to think more like humans and behave in ways likely to intensify the debate about the technology’s potential promise and perils. Google DeepMind is the AI division behind Gemini. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writers

Google took its next leap in artificial intelligence Wednesday with the launch of project Gemini, an AI model trained to behave in human-like ways that’s likely to intensify the debate about the technology’s potential promise and perils.

The rollout will unfold in phases, with less sophisticated versions of Gemini called “Nano” and “Pro” being immediately incorporated into Google’s AI-powered chatbot Bard and its Pixel 8 Pro smartphone.

With Gemini providing a helping hand, Google promises Bard will become more intuitive and better at tasks that involve planning. On the Pixel 8 Pro, Gemini will be able to quickly summarize recordings made on the device and provide automatic replies on messaging services, starting with WhatsApp, according to Google. Continue reading

Buyers worldwide go for bigger cars, erasing gains from cleaner tech. EVs would help

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Read time : 4 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – Vehicles move along Interstate 76 ahead in Philadelphia, Nov. 22, 2023. The energy used by cars and CO2 emissions could have dropped by over 30% in the past decade if not for the world’s growing taste for SUVs, a new report from the Global Fuel Economy Initiative suggests. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

By ALEXA ST. JOHN undefined

The negative impact on the climate from passenger vehicles, which is considerable, could have dropped by more than 30% over the past decade if not for the world’s appetite for large cars, a new report from the Global Fuel Economy Initiative suggests.

Sport utility vehicles, or SUVs, now account for more than half of all new car sales across the globe, the group said, and it’s not alone. The International Energy Agency, using a narrower definition of SUV, estimates they make up nearly half.

Over the years these cars have gotten bigger and so has their cost to the climate, as carbon dioxide emissions “are almost directly proportional to fuel use” for gas-powered cars. The carbon that goes in at the pump comes out the tailpipe. Continue reading