Briggs: The economy is reopening, but only for young people
Gov. Eric Holcomb: "If you're 65 or older ... you're going to be living in a new normal for a while."
Gov. Eric Holcomb: "If you're 65 or older ... you're going to be living in a new normal for a while."
The pianist joins over 100 artists performing live from home to support front-line workers tackling the coronavirus outbreak.
As China struggles to cope with the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, we look at the scale and importance of its financial might.
Key maps and charts explain how the virus has impacted markets and businesses around the world.
Watch highlights from the crash-filled second race of the Formula E Race At Home Challenge as Maximillian Gunther wins on the Electric Docks circuit.
Older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions are more vulnerable to the virus.
The Japanese island, which initially saw a drop in cases, is now facing a bigger wave of virus cases.
Mediterranean sediments are shown to have up to 1.9 million tiny plastic pieces per square metre.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches says hospital staff are providing support to long-term care homes hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Ottawa is launching a “Parks Ambassador Program” to educate residents on the do’s and don’ts in parks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Ottawa says the Confederation Line will be shutdown from Saturday, May 9 to Wednesday, May 13 so Rideau Transit Group can conduct maintenance work.
Big fan-culture events in Florida and California have just been postponed. May's Awesome Con D.C. takes a wait-and-see approach.
Egypt's economy had just started to recover after years of political turmoil and militant attacks when the coronavirus crisis hit, impacting especially its vital tourism sector.
Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has reiterated his intention to retire by the end of July "or earlier", despite risk of prosecution for his alleged involvement in the 2017 murder of his estranged wife.
Sony has introduced a new product called the Reon Pocket, which operates like a mobile air conditioner that fits inside clothing.
A team of researchers at the University of California at San Diego have created a soft robotic lens that responds to eye movements.
A Texas woman wanted to control her Tesla Model 3. So she implanted part of the vehicle's valet key in her arm.
Quarterbacks have won 10 of the past 11 MVP awards, and the six rushers who have won over the past 30 years have been historically good, either establishing a record for touchdowns or rushing for more than 2,000 yards in a season.
Six teams are on a bye this week, giving stars like Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Andrew Luck, Zach Ertz and A.J. Green the week off. Here are three players that could have big games in their stead.
Here’s what we know for sure about the NFC playoff picture: the Saints, Rams and Bears can make postseason plans. The rest is up for grabs.
Atlanta is on a five-game losing streak but their offense is scoring 2.3 points per drive in 2018, the fifth-highest rate in the NFL. That should be more than enough against Arizona's awful offense.
Colombian delivery app Rappi is yet another company turning to robots to reduce reliance on human workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
In addition to Colombia, Rappi operates in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Last spring, SoftBank invested $1 billion — one-fifth of its Innovation Fund for Latin America — in the startup. It was founded in 2015, and other investors include Sequoia Capital, Andreesen Horowitz, and Y Combinator.
Colombia is currently under a lockdown set to end in May, though it may be extended again. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported on the lack of coronavirus testing throughout Latin America, making it difficult to assess how widespread the virus is in the region.
Like in other countries, the Colombian delivery app is using robots to complete orders at a time when people are at risk of catching the virus from interacting with others. So far, the robots are part of a pilot in Medellin, with potential to expand.
Here's what it looks like.
Source: The Star
Source: Kiwibot
Source: The Star
Source: The New York Times
Startups are facing what could become the worst economic downturn in several decades, and VCs are begging them to take drastic measures to improve their chances of making it through.
Most Americans who lived through the 2008 financial crisis will know that a savings stockpile or rainy day fund can mean the difference between surviving and thriving during tough times, but as recent studies have shown, many tech startups and VC firms don't have a similar first-hand experience; many have only known boom times and are now venturing into uncharted waters.
One thing VCs agree on is that startups need to quickly rein in growth plans — ideally as soon as yesterday — and start scrutinizing expenses. Anything nonessential should be cut or suspended indefinitely, headcount should be reduced, and pricey office leases eliminated if possible, all with the goal of extending a startup's "runway."
In Silicon Valley, runway refers to how much cash a startup has on hand to put against its operating expenses. If, for example, a startup has roughly $100,000 in monthly operating expenses and has $1 million in the bank, they are looking at a 10-month runway, assuming revenue stays roughly flat.
In the days before the coronavirus pandemic, a startup's runway dictated when it had to start looking for additional funding. Instead of cutting expenses, the popular solution was to simply put more VC money in the bank. This helped high flying startups like Uber and Airbnb expand at a breakneck pace — VC dollars kept pouring in and the companies remained unprofitable as they chased growth at all costs.
But now, VCs are saying that's no longer an option. Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois said on a podcast recently that profitability is now being rewarded much more than high-growth.
For startups that aren't profitable, that means hunkering down and ensuring there are enough reserves to last through the crisis.
So how long does the runway need to be?
Many VCs that Business Insider has spoken to are advising their startups to have at least 18 months of runway. But some VCs say startups should have upwards of 3 years' of expenses saved up.
The length of time can vary depending on the startup, one investor told Business Insider, pointing to the startup's age and industry as important factors. An early-stage company with a handful of employees and low-overhead costs might easily stretch a $500,000 seed check, whereas a growth-stage biotech startup with hundreds of employees, expensive hardware, and pricey office space might struggle to make tens of millions of dollars in funding make it through 12 months. Those that can't cut costs will be forced to fundraise with poor terms and risk the dreaded downround.
"You can always easily dial back up the aggressiveness and risk profile if we get more optimistic visibility, but if you don't take action right away — to preserve capital, cut your burn rate, have fundamentally attractive unit economics, edit the product to make more sense in the new world order — if you don't do those right away, the opportunity to do those things and survive is probably lost forever," Rabois said in the April Talkshow broadcast.
Rabois is in the camp of pessimists, generally speaking, who think the economic downturn will not only drag on through 2020, but could eventually turn into an economic depression the likes of which could rival the Great Depression of the 1930s. He said that his VC peers are starting to rein in the freewheeling deal-making that has defined the last two decades of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, and are now treading cautiously. It's time that startups do the same, he said.
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Motorcycles are cool, but they aren't for everybody. Fortunately, there are some alternatives out there that offer an equally compelling, open-air experience.
One of the most popular is the the Polaris Slingshot, manufactured by the Minnesota-based powersports company. Until recently, Slingshots were available only with manual transmissions and GM-sourced engines, but for 2020, Polaris has updated the autocycle with an in-house motor and an automatic.
The automatic transmission in particular really broadens the Slingshot's potential. So I was excited to sample the machine, which I first saw about five years ago.
Polaris was kind enough to loan me a tester for a few weeks. Here's how it went:
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The cheapest Slingshot is about $20,000.
Up front, you have 18-inch forged aluminum wheels, with an 20-incher at the back. The brakes have two-piece composite rotors.
The top speed is limited at 125 mph, and the 0-60mph run, according to Polaris and confirmed by yours truly, is about five seconds.
The four-banger redlines at 8,500 rpm and even with the automatic transmission does a pretty fair imitation of proper motorcycle acceleration. The auto is a tad crunchy, but in this context, that's a plus. It keeps you aware of what the engine is doing.
I love three-wheelers. They aren't as cool as two-wheeled motorbikes, but they provide easy access to open-air motoring, and the driving/riding experience is much more engaging than what you find in convertible automobiles.
For anybody who dislikes the impracticality of motorcycles but wants to partake of the open-road lifestyle, machines like the Slingshot (the Can-Am Spyder and the Harley-Davidson Freewheeler, to name two) are ideal.
Not for nothing, they also offer aging riders a chance to yank their helmets and biker jackets out of storage to pursue moderately safer riding. With the Slingshot, gearing-up isn't necessary.
The trade-off, of course, is price. The Slingshot R that I tested costs more than an entry-level car or SUV. So, an expensive plaything. But there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody needs a hobby.
No doubt about it, the Slingshot captures attention. I lost count of how many little kids a stopped in their tracks as I tooled around the Jersey suburbs. The last vehicle that provoked such astonishment was the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. If you become a Slingshotter, prepare to be pointed at and asked for photo-ops.
Driving-wise, the Slingshot scratches an itch: on the road, the experience is unexpurgated — you don't have to be constantly vigilant, as you would on a bike, but you do need to remain aware. Highway trips are demanding. And noisy. And exhilarating. The Slingshot R is also fast and torque-y and the power goes to the single back wheel, so the while the two-wheeled front is stable, the back end can get pretty wiggly, especially in Slingshot mode, if you stomp the throttle.
I had iffy springtime Northeast weather to contend with, so I took the Slingshot out only on warm and sunny days; the rest of the time, I parked it in my garage. But the vehicle can handle being rained on, and one could also buy a cover to protect it from the elements. To be honest, however, I think it's a better choice in warm, dry climates.
The performance is aggressively go-kart-y. This thing will make you a better drive, thanks to its point-and-shoot steering, crisp suspension, and easy access to power. It's insanely fun on curves and into corners. But it's also worthy of short road trips. In fact, the relative comfort was a shocker: I took the Slingshot out for a few hours one day and suffered no ill-effects to my lower back.
Drawback? The design is thoroughly sporty, so if you don't go in for that, the Slingshot might not be your bag. It isn't a throwback, nor is it at all steam-punky.
It also isn't a motorcycle, in that there aren't any handlebars, you don't throw a leg, and the single wheel takes up the rear.
But the Slingshot is a absolute blast, and if you're a weekend warrior who wants to carve up a canyon or a country road without having the grapple with a motorcycle's demands — and you don't mind dropping some dollars — the Slingshot is perfect.
The 30-year fixed-rate average moved slightly higher this week, increasing to 3.26 percent.
The Members team ultimately fell 10-4 to the press team, despite valiant efforts from players such as 2020 presidential hopeful and team pitcher Kirsten Gillibrand.
Fans of the Disney animated movie celebrated its addition to the National Film Registry.
The actor responded unfavorably to a tweet by McConnell's campaign, and the beef didn't stop there.
Despite the potential of, um, awkwardness among the diplomatic core and official Washington, elbows were ripe for rubbing at the French ambassador’s residence.
Human rights advocates have urged artists not to perform in the country because of its dismal human rights record.
The rapper has been a supporter of the Democratic presidential candidate, and says she wants to help "a movement of young people to transform this country."
The musician pointed out that she hails from Texas and is familiar with hunting and gun culture, but she said the recent tragedies deserve a different response.
The "Quantico" actress was called out during her appearance for a tweet sent during military hostility between the neighboring, nuclear-armed countries.
Swift called on the White House to respond to her petition in support of the Equality Act, which would explicitly outlaw discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation.
What is a Cron Job? Cron Jobs are basically scheduled tasks that are created automatically by WordPress or a WordPress Plugin that you have activated on your website. They are similar to an alarm clock that goes off regularly to trigger an automative response. Before we delve into explaining how you can view and control […]
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