A Boring Dystopia
- Gaza: Children’s hair greying, falling out from shock and traumawww.newarab.com Gaza: Children’s hair greying, falling out from shock and trauma
Over 11 months of heavy Israeli bombardment on the enclave and harrowing scenes have left children debilitated by trauma and under extreme stress.
- Elon Musk on pace to become world’s first trillionaire by 2027, report sayswww.theguardian.com Elon Musk on pace to become world’s first trillionaire by 2027, report says
In addition to world’s richest person, who has $251bn, report names others on track to receive trillionaire status
- 'Best' employers for fresh college grads.
I mean.. In-N-Out burger at #2.
- The US federal loophole that allows food companies to decide what's safe for you to eatwww.cbsnews.com The federal loophole that allows food companies to decide what's safe for you to eat
Ultra-processed foods now make up over half of an average American adult's diet and two-thirds of an American child's.
- Dollar General warns poorer US consumers are running out of money
Discount retailer says low-income households feel more ‘financially constrained’ than six months ago
Paywall removed: https://archive.is/SLMtR
- Americans Have Enough Friends. They just want more time with them.www.theatlantic.com The Friendship Paradox
We all want more time with our friends, but we’re spending more time alone.
Paywall removed: https://archive.is/eT19u
>Americans are afflicted by an “epidemic of loneliness,” according to the surgeon general and dozens of researchers. The phrase conjures a nation of friendless hermits who have no one to invite to their birthday parties. But according to a pair of new surveys, American loneliness is more complex than that. The typical American, it seems, texts a bunch of people “we should get together!” before watching TikTok alone on the couch and then passing out. That is, Americans have friends. We just never really see them.
- Amazon Bans Its Drivers From Moving Their Own Lips Too Much At Work [Update]jalopnik.com Amazon Bans Its Drivers From Moving Their Own Lips Too Much At Work
The retail giant has reportedly started monitoring delivery drivers who sing along to the radio claiming it’s a cause of distracted driving
Amazon trying to cover their ass?
>Updated Wednesday, September 4, 2024 5:10 p.m. EST - Amazon reached out to deny the reports of a crack down on singing along with the radio in trucks and provided this PR video clip as evidence. A PR spokesperson told Jalopnik: “This post is completely inaccurate. Amazon has never issued guidance or communications to Delivery Service Partners that prohibits singing in the vehicle.”
https://youtu.be/3ddtY_iOrk8
- Ukrainian drones now spray 4,000° F thermite streams right into Russian trenchesarstechnica.com Ukrainian drones now spray 2,500° C thermite streams right into Russian trenches
Mechanical dragons now deliver fire on command.
- Startup Says It'll Use Huge Space Mirror to Sell Sunlight During Nighttimefuturism.com Startup Says It'll Use Huge Space Mirror to Sell Sunlight During Nighttime
A unique startup claims it will soon let people buy spots of sunlight reflected with a giant satellite mirror.
- Phoenix reaches 100 degrees for record 100th straight daywww.fox10phoenix.com Phoenix reaches 100 degrees for record 100th straight day
The temperature in Phoenix reached 100°F for a record 100th straight day. The previous record was 76 straight days, set in 1993.
- The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a yearapnews.com The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year
A new study finds that every year people create 57 million tons of plastic pollution. The material winds up everywhere from the deepest oceans to the highest peak of Mount Everest to inside people's body.
>India leads the world in generating plastic pollution, producing 10.2 million tons a year (9.3 million metric tons), far more than double the next big-polluting nations, Nigeria and Indonesia. China, often villainized for pollution, ranks fourth but is making tremendous strides in reducing waste, Velis said. Other top plastic polluters are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and Brazil. Those eight nations are responsible for more than half of the globe’s plastic pollution, according to the study’s data.
>The United States ranks 90th in plastic pollution with more than 52,500 tons (47,600 metric tons) and the United Kingdom ranks 135th with nearly 5,100 tons (4,600 metric tons), according to the study.
- Texas resident used Apple AirTags to discover plastics taken to Houston recycling centers aren't being recycledwww.tomshardware.com Texas resident used Apple AirTags to discover plastics taken to Houston recycling centers aren't being recycled
Recyclable trash is just being dumped in a private open lot.
- Teacher who lived in a car puts spotlight on teachers’ low payabcnews.go.com Teacher who lived in a car puts spotlight on teachers’ low pay
Bill Atkinson was sleeping in his car after falling behind on rent.
- Workers in Japan can’t quit their jobs. They hire resignation experts to helpwww.cnn.com Workers in Japan hire resignation experts to help quit their jobs | CNN Business
With bosses ripping up their resignation letters, many Japanese workers hire these proxy firms to help them resign stress-free.
Asking to leave work on time or taking some time off can be tricky enough. Even trickier is tendering a resignation, which can be seen as the ultimate form of disrespect in the world’s fourth-biggest economy, where workers traditionally stick with one employer for decades, if not for a lifetime.
In the most extreme cases, grumpy bosses rip up resignation letters and harass employees to force them to stay.
Yuki Watanabe was unhappy at her previous job, saying her former supervisor often ignored her, making her feel bad. But she didn’t dare resign.
“I didn’t want my ex-employer to deny my resignation and keep me working for longer,” she told CNN during a recent interview.
- Kids Are Working in America’s Meatpacking Plantswww.teenvogue.com Kids Are Working in America’s Meatpacking Plants
Migrant children are being employed at chicken plants.
cross-posted from: https://thelemmy.club/post/16587116
- Women Who Were 'Tradwives' And Got Divorced Are Sharing How And Why They Left Their Marriages, And It's Both Eye-Opening And Infuriatingwww.huffpost.com Women Who Were 'Tradwives' And Got Divorced Are Sharing How And Why They Left Their Marriages, And It's Both Eye-Opening And Infuriating
"[He] had been having affairs online for years."
- Aussie government study finds AI summaries might “create more work” for humansarstechnica.com Australian government trial finds AI is much worse than humans at summarizing
Llama2-70B failed to capture "complex context," but updated models might do better.
- The Fed welcomes a 'soft landing' even if many Americans don’t feel like cheeringwww.nbcnews.com The Fed welcomes a 'soft landing' even if many Americans don’t feel like cheering
A gap has formed between how economists and policymakers assess the past several years of the economy, and how many ordinary Americans do.
- Are far-right groups taking over small-town America?abcnews.go.com Are far-right groups taking over small-town America?
ABC News speaks with Sasha Abramsky, author of "Chaos Comes Calling," as he investigates growing extremism in the U.S.
- What do working Americans fear more than death? Retirement.www.usatoday.com What do working Americans fear more than death? Retirement.
These are the reasons some Americans are more scared of retirement than of getting divorced or fired.
- China’s ‘rotten-tail buildings’: homebuyers in limbo for years with no home due to dodgy developers and red tape | South China Morning Post
A survey conducted this year found over 45 per cent of homebuyers in mainland China encounter unfinished building problems
Unfinished or ‘rotten-tail buildings’, as they are known in China, usually have no electricity, no running water, lifts that do not work and no sewage system
- 'A tech firm stole our voices - then cloned and sold them'www.bbc.com 'A tech firm stole our voices - then cloned and sold them'
A voice over artist found out his voice had been taken when he heard a chatbot on a podcast using it.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/28090788
> In June 2023, Paul Skye Lehrman and his partner Linnea Sage were driving near their home in New York City, listening to a podcast about the ongoing strikes in Hollywood and how artificial intelligence (AI) could affect the industry. > > The episode was of interest because the couple are voice-over performers and - like many other creatives - fear that human-sounding voice generators could soon be used to replace them. > > This particular podcast had a unique hook – they interviewed an AI-powered chat bot, equipped with text-to-speech software, to ask how it thought the use of AI would affect jobs in Hollywood. > > But, when it spoke, it sounded just like Mr Lehrman. > > That night they spent hours online, searching for clues until they came across the site of text-to-speech platform Lovo. Once there, Ms Sage said she found a copy of her voice as well. > > They have now filed a lawsuit against Lovo. The firm has not yet responded to that or the BBC's requests for comment.
- Wells Fargo employee found dead in cubicle 4 days after she clocked in: ‘She was just lying on her desk’www.kold.com Wells Fargo employee found dead in cubicle 4 days after she clocked in: ‘She was just lying on her desk’
A Wells Fargo employee in Arizona was found dead at her desk four days after she clocked in.
- Targeting Graves: Thieves steal metal from graveyards in Germanywww.swr.de Gräber im Visier: Metalldiebe machen Friedhöfe in BW unsicher
Auf vielen Friedhöfen in Baden-Württemberg stehlen Metalldiebe immer wieder Bronzeteile, Skulpturen oder Statuen von Gräbern. Der Sachschaden ist laut Polizei beträchtlich.
- The new middle-class retirement plan: Working into old agewww.cbsnews.com The new middle-class retirement plan: Working into old age
Half of middle-class workers expect to continue to working past the traditional retirement age, either due to finances or to keep active.
- Officials probe death of Wells Fargo employee found dead in her cubicle 4 days after last scanning into workwww.nbcnews.com Officials probe death of Wells Fargo employee found dead in her cubicle 4 days after last scanning into work
Denise Prudhomme, 60, was found dead on Aug. 20 inside her Tempe office. Police say the preliminary investigation shows no signs of foul play.
- Kroger executive admits company gouged prices above inflationwww.newsweek.com Kroger executive admits company gouged prices above inflation
Kroger's senior director for pricing Andy Groff said the grocery giant had raised prices for eggs and milk beyond inflation levels.
- Parental stress is a significant public health issue, US surgeon general says in new advisorywww.cnn.com Parental stress is a significant public health issue, surgeon general says in new advisory | CNN
Parents in the United States are overwhelmed and burned out with the “dizzying pace” of the world, and it’s a public health concern, according to a surgeon general’s advisory released Wednesday that calls for shifts in policy and cultural norms.
- Supreme Court refuses to revive Biden's latest student loan debt relief planwww.nbcnews.com Supreme Court refuses to revive Biden's latest student loan debt relief plan
Republican-led states challenged the plan aimed at reducing the burden on borrowers, including a provision that would reduce their monthly payments.
- These Grocery-Store Chains Want to Cripple the FTCjacobin.com These Grocery-Store Chains Want to Cripple the FTC
The Federal Trade Commission is trying to stop the merger of two of the US’s largest grocery-store chains, Kroger and Albertsons. In response, the companies are suing to undermine the FTC and dismantle the country’s antitrust machinery.
- California officials get aggressive on homelessness after Supreme Court rulingwww.cnbc.com California officials get aggressive on homelessness after Supreme Court ruling
Following the Supreme Court's decision in June that allows cities to remove homeless encampments, government officials in California are taking action.
- So Starbucks’ CEO commutes to work by private jet? Let’s not pretend the super-rich care about the planetwww.theguardian.com So Starbucks’ CEO commutes to work by private jet? Let’s not pretend the super-rich care about the planet | Arwa Mahdawi
It’s paper straws and compostable cups for the masses, space travel and $600m weddings for their overlords. No wonder everyone who can afford it wants a doomsday bunker, writes Arwa Mahdawi
- More Americans are having to choose between food and energy billswww.cbsnews.com More Americans are having to choose between food and energy bills
A growing number of Americans face energy poverty, struggling to afford to heat or cool their home. Health officials and climate experts are sounding the alarm.
- Student loan payment 'on-ramp' ends Sept. 30—missed payments afterward can have serious consequenceswww.cnbc.com Student loan payment 'on-ramp' ends Sept. 30—missed payments afterward can have serious consequences
Time is running out for borrowers to miss student loan payments without some of the biggest consequences.
- Doctors Remove Woman’s Brain Implant Against Her Willfuturism.com Doctors Remove Woman’s Brain Implant Against Her Will
A woman whose epilepsy was greatly improved by an experimental brain implant was devastated when she was forced to have it removed.
A woman whose epilepsy was greatly improved by an experimental brain implant was devastated when, just two years after getting it, she was forced to have it removed due to the company that made it going bankrupt.
As the MIT Technology Review reports, an Australian woman named Rita Leggett who received an experimental seizure-tracking brain-computer interface (BCI) implant from the now-defunct company Neuravista in 2010 has become a stark example not only of the ways neurotech can help people, but also of the trauma of losing access to them when experiments end or companies go under.
