Category: Articles of the week

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Articles of the Week 

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Beyond Cornflakes: The Changing Breakfast Landscape

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Maike Corbett | Wealth of Geeks undefined

Conventional wisdom says breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but a 2022 Statista report indicates only 35% of Americans actually stop to eat the meal each morning. The reasons for this vary. Some people say they’re not hungry in the mornings, while others feel they don’t have time to make something and eat it.

Is breakfast that important? The science doesn’t support an answer either way. It comes down to individuals. Some people can’t stand the thought of food when they first wake up. Some say they can’t get along without breakfast.

 

 

What Is Breakfast, Anyway?

The word ” breakfast ” has been around since the 15th century. Those who went to Catholic Mass each morning didn’t eat until after the service, so their first meal broke their fast from the night before. The word eventually came to mean the morning meal in general. Continue reading

Insider Q&A: LinkedIn is bullish on AI. Will that help job seekers?

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Illustration/Jenni Sohn)

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer

Like many other technology companies, LinkedIn is all in on generative AI, the artificial intelligence systems that can create text, images and other media in response to queries.

The professional networking platform last month rolled out new AI features to help users search for jobs, tailor their resumes and create personalized cover letters from scratch.

Consumer-facing brands have shown more interest in LinkedIn, according to a May report by Emarketer, The market research firm credited the increased attention to new advertising formats and changes in user behavior on the Microsoft-owned platform.

The Associated Press recently spoke with LinkedIn Chief Product Officer Tomer Cohen about generative AI, the job market, brand marketing and TikTok creators. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Continue reading

Restaurant critic’s departure reveals potential hazards of the job

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

FILE – A waitress carries breakfast dishes to customers at a restaurant on Jan. 20, 2017, in east Denver. In a recent column, New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells announced he’s leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to obesity and other health problems. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer

Restaurant critics appear to have the best job in journalism, enjoying meals a few nights a week on someone else’s dime.

But New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells had painted a more complicated picture. In a recent column, Wells announced he’s leaving the beat because the constant eating has led to obesity and other health problems.

“Intellectually, it was still really stimulating, but my body started to rebel and say, ‘Enough is enough,'” Wells told The Associated Press. “I just had to come face to face with the reality that I can’t metabolize food the way I used to, I can’t metabolize alcohol the way I used to and I just don’t need to eat as much as I did even 10 years ago.”

To write a review, food critics usually make two or three visits to a restaurant and bring a handful of dining companions so they can taste as many dishes as possible. If the restaurant has a special focus on wine or cocktails or desserts, they try those, too. “You have to sample the full range of the menu,” said Ligaya Figueras, the senior food editor and lead dining critic for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “If I really felt like a salad today, I can’t just have the salad.” Continue reading

Biden’s decision to drop out leaves Democrats across the country relieved and looking toward future

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

George Ledbetter watches news of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House at They Say Restaurant in Harper Woods, Mich., Sunday, July 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI, MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and CHARLOTTE KRAMON Associated Press

HARPER WOODS, Mich. (AP) — After weeks of uncertainty about who would be at the top of the Democratic Party’s ticket in November, many voters expressed relief over the news that President Joe Biden would drop his reelection bid and began to think about who might replace him in a dramatically altered election landscape.

Jerod Keene, a 40-year-old athletic trainer from swing-state Arizona, had planned to vote for Biden in November but was thankful for the president’s decision, calling it “inevitable.” Keene said he’s excited about the next candidate, hoping it will be Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden endorsed on Sunday. Continue reading

Survey: Nearly 9 in 10 Americans Believe in Karma, Embrace ‘Paying It Forward’

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By Michael Dinich

The average American engages in five generous acts per week, totaling 260 random acts of kindness each year. What goes around comes around? That’s the belief of 84% of United States citizens asked by OnePoll on behalf of banking app Chime.

Another 84% say they will go out of their way to “pay it forward” whenever possible. This most often comes in the form of a special treat for their loved ones, generous tips, or helping out a neighbor, carrying their groceries, mowing their lawn, or helping them shovel snow.

Not all of these acts are attributed to karma, or an attempt to rebalance some cosmic scale. Some simply believe in the value of doing good deeds for others, regardless of whether or not they’re rewarded for it. Continue reading

World population is projected to grow from 8.2 billion to a peak of 10.3 billion in 2080s, UN says

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

FILE – People take smartphone photos of the crowd on a street near Tiananmen Square as visitors gather to watch a flag-raising ceremony on the National Day in Beijing, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023. The world’s population is expected to grow by more than 2 billion people in the next decades and peak in the 2080s at around 10.3 billion, a new report by the United Nations said Thursday July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The world’s population is expected to grow by more than 2 billion people in the next decades and peak in the 2080s at around 10.3 billion, a major shift from a decade ago, a new report by the United Nations said Thursday.

The report — released on World Population Day — says the global population is then expected to decline to around 10.2 billion by the end of the century.

John Wilmoth, head of the U.N. Population Division which prepared the report, said the probability that the world’s population will peak within the current century is quite high – about 80%. Continue reading

California fast food workers now earn $20 per hour. Franchisees are responding by cutting hours.

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

Lawrence Cheng, whose family owns seven Wendy’s locations south of Los Angeles, works in the kitchen at his Wendy’s restaurant in Fountain Valley, Calif., June 20, 2024. Cheng used to have nearly a dozen employees at his Fountain Valley location during the day. Now, he only schedules seven for each shift as he scrambles to absorb a dramatic jump in labor costs after a new California law boosted the hourly wage for fast food workers on April 1 from $16 to $20 an hour. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

By JAIMIE DING Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lawrence Cheng, whose family owns seven Wendy’s locations south of Los Angeles, took orders at the register on a recent day and emptied steaming hot baskets of French fries and chicken nuggets, salting them with a flourish.

Cheng used to have nearly a dozen employees on the afternoon shift at his Fountain Valley location in Orange County. Now he only schedules seven for each shift as he scrambles to absorb a dramatic jump in labor costs after a new California law boosted the hourly wage for fast food workers on April 1 from $16 to $20 an hour.

“We kind of just cut where we can,” he said. “I schedule one less person, and then I come in for that time that I didn’t schedule and I work that hour.” Continue reading

First Green Roofs, Then Solar Integration, Now Volcanic Ash Is the Way To Cool Our Cities

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

By Emese Maczko

A 2023 study by the University of Technology, Sydney found green roofs when combined with solar panels, not only increased biodiversity and solar output by 107% but also reduced temperatures by a significant 8° C (46° F).

Green roofs are experiencing a resurgence in interest since a new study published in January 2024 demonstrated that volcanic ash in green roofs stabilizes temperatures, keeps weeds away, is resilient to extreme weather, drains water efficiently, and is low maintenance. Continue reading

Millions swelter under dangerous Fourth of July heat wave

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

A man cools off by the river in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Swaths of California sweltered Tuesday, and things were only expected to get worse during the Fourth of July holiday week for parts of the United States with nearly 90 million people under heat alerts. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

By MELINA WALLING Associated Press

Around 134 million people in the U.S. are under alerts as an “extremely dangerous and record-breaking” heat wave broils much of the country, according to the National Weather Service.

Regions that may see temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) or much higher into the triple digits (well above 37 degrees Celsius) include nearly all of the West Coast, the southern Plains, most of the lower Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley and parts of Florida, said Bob Oravec, a lead forecaster with the National Weather Service.

The Pacific Northwest will see the mercury rising later in the weekend. Arizona will continue to sizzle as firefighters battle a wildfire near Phoenix, where some contend with burns from blazing hot asphalt, concrete or other surfaces. And more humid regions will see a muggy weekend. Continue reading

Swedes take a new step in parental leave. Grandparents can now get paid to take care of grandkids

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Read time : 2 mins

Level : Advanced

BY JAN M. OLSEN

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden launched a groundbreaking new law on Monday, allowing grandparents to step in and get paid parental leave while taking care of their grandchildren for up to three months of a child’s first year.

The development comes after the Swedish parliament, the 349-seat Riksdag, approved last December the government’s proposal on transfer of parental allowance. This comes 50 years after the Scandinavian country became the first in the world to introduce paid parental leave for fathers and not just mothers. Continue reading