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Trump's about to turn the GOP into one long, humiliating episode of 'The Apprentice'

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trump the apprentice
Soon-to-be former President Donald Trump and his sons Eric and Don Jr. back in the "Apprentice" days.
  • After he leaves the White House, President Donald Trump is going to turn the GOP into "The Apprentice," a show where he stars, he hosts, and all the contestants compete for his favor.
  • To do that, all he has to do is keeping talking to his base.
  • This is an opinion column. The thoughts expressed are those of the author.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's becoming crystal clear what President Donald Trump wants to do after he leaves the White House: He wants to turn the GOP into his old TV show, "The Apprentice."

Trump envisions a Republican Party where everyone who wants to be anyone has to vie for his approval, just like in the show. He will be both the star and the host. Forget about constituents. Forget about the party at large. Prepare to see some Omarosa Manigault behavior. That's what Trump likes.

Over the past few weeks there have been whispers around Washington about GOP lawmakers who told their Democratic colleagues that they wished they could congratulate President-elect Joe Biden and move on with our normal peaceful transition of power. But they couldn't, because Trump would be furious. Delaware Sen. Chris Coons said several GOP senators told him they couldn't speak freely ... yet.

If the GOP lets the Trump show go on, that "yet" may never come. Even as a private citizen, Trump will demand absolute loyalty — anyone who steps outside that will hear the old "You're fired."

The show must go on and on and on and on

Turning the GOP into a Trump show means, of course, that all the focus, all the oxygen in the room, will go to Trump. There will be no place for other Republican stars unless they are subservient to him. And party leadership will not have full control because he will direct his base according to his own wishes.

The reason for this is obvious: Trump doesn't get his power from being backed by the GOP, but from his popularity with the base, which includes many voters who don't normally turn out on Election Day. He's going to keep doing the things that make him popular with those voters: He's going to keep talking, tweeting, and likely doing rallies, even after he leaves the White House. He has to do it not only because he likes doing these things, but because he desperately needs the money to fight legal battles and pay debts.

This will all be fairly easy to do, which is good for Trump given how lazy he is. With YouTube and Twitter, he doesn't need to do the work of building his own news network. And of course, plenty of other platforms would be happy to have him. Over at Vanity Fair, Gabe Sherman reports that News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is considering giving Trump a $100 million deal for a book and a show on Fox News so Trump will stop bashing the network he once championed.

So we won't be rid of Trump. And for as long as Trump is around, the GOP will subject to his whims, which have nothing to do with what's good for the party.

Consider the reports that he may run for president again in 2024. A source told The Washington Post that Trump couldn't care less about younger GOP politicians who want to run, like former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. He wants to hold the space for himself whether he runs or not because he enjoys the attention and because he wants to keep the party under his thumb.

This is less like leadership and more like hazing freshmen joining a fraternity.

Trump has also told friends that he wants people to "kiss the ring" and receive his blessing before they attain power within the party. That means he will prioritize slavish devotion over talent, just as he did in his highly incompetent White House and with his highly incompetent legal team. Anyone obsequious enough will be able to travel to Mar-a-Lago for the king's approval or make an appearance at a rally. Trust that the people making that journey will not be our most upstanding Americans.

Republicans, your name is 'Reek'

Since he lost to Biden, Trump has basically stopped doing the work of the presidency. His public schedule is largely blank, and he barely addresses the American people who continue to suffer during a pandemic. When he does address us, he keeps it brief and does not take questions.

That's all to say we are now experiencing a preview of what Trump's interest in party politics will look like when he's no longer governing. And it's not promising.

We can see clearly now that Trump doesn't care about other Republicans, not even ones who have been loyal to him. If he did, he would be in Georgia helping Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler keep their seats through what promises to be a pair of challenging run-off elections. They already face a challenge in that the pandemic is worsening and many Republican voters in Georgia do not trust mail-in voting thanks to Trump.

Instead of helping to keep control of the vitally important Senate, Trump is holed up in the White House, casting doubt on the democratic process and hurting their chances of winning. One of his attorneys, Lin Wood, is tweeting inane conspiracy theories and calling for Georgia voters to write in Trump's name at the ballot box to register their delusional anger that the presidency was stolen from Trump.

The idea that the Republican Party should be destroyed as revenge for Trump's loss has been a theme in right-wing social media and among Trump supporters protesting the result of the election. They're not going to let this go unless Trump calms them down. But he won't. He's a vengeful, petty man, and he likely blames Republicans for his loss. He certainly isn't going to take any responsibility for it.

This is exactly what the Republican Party deserves. Trump went from a pariah and a laughingstock to a standard-bearer because the party could not check its thirst for power. The party debased itself, and now, unsurprisingly, Trump has contempt for it. If leaders like Mitch McConnell want full control of their party back, they'll have to show a courage we have yet to see from any of them. Until then, they'll have to pretend to enjoy the show.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Cannabis power players of New Jersey and Arizona

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cannabis
Chemdawg marijuana plants grow at a facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada October 29, 2019.

Welcome to Insider Cannabis, our weekly newsletter where we're bringing you an inside look at the deals, trends, and personalities driving the multibillion-dollar global cannabis boom.

Sign up here to get it in your inbox every week.

Happy Friday readers,

Since we're off for Thanksgiving, we're sending your favorite cannabis newsletter a little early this week. 

This week, we listened in on a few earnings calls and talked to psychedelics company ATAI's CEO Florian Brand about the company's latest $125 million funding round — the largest funding round to date in the emerging psychedelics space. Brand told us what it was like raising in the midst of the pandemic as well as what he plans to do with the fresh capital. 

We've also compiled lists of the top power players to watch in New Jersey and Arizona's newly legalized adult-use markets.

Hope everyone has an excellent and safe Thanksgiving!

-Jeremy & Yeji

Here's what we wrote about this week:

A major psychedelics company just landed a record sum of cash from VCs. The CEO told us how he raised the mega-round and why it's a sign psychedelics are going mainstream.

ATAI Life Sciences talked to Business Insider after closing its record $125 million funding round. The amount tops Compass' $80 million round, which closed earlier this year before the London-based company went public.

ATAI CEO Florian Brand told Business Insider that the company is focusing the funds on three main areas: ongoing clinical trials for psychedelics medications, adding more companies and therapies to "the ATAI ecosystem," and developing digital tools that will benefit current programs.

Meet the 13 power players shaping the future of New Jersey's potentially $1 billion market for recreational marijuana

Meet the 13 power players, from lawmakers to executives, shaping the future of New Jersey's cannabis industry. According to estimates, the state could be a $1 billion market in the next few years — and not to mention, a draw for consumers in New York City and Philadelphia.

Meet the top 11 power players shaping Arizona's new market for recreational marijuana, including executives, advocates, and regulators

Arizona's newly legalized adult-use market could reach $790 million in annual sales by 2024, according to Marijuana Business Daily. In this space, there are key names to watch as legal sales begin to roll out in the state. From company executives to attorneys to regulators to advocates, here are some of the top people to keep your eye on.

 Earnings roundup

A few earnings this week ahead of the long weekend. Here are the highlights:

  • Planet 13 reported revenue of $22.8 million and an adjusted EBITDA of $6.2 million, marking a comeback for the company after a tough few months because of COVID restrictions on tourism.
  • Jushi Holdings reported a net loss of $30 million on $24.9 million of revenue, a 67% increase sequentially for Q3.
  • Flower One reported preliminary Q3 revenues of $11.5 million.

Deals, launches, and IPOs

Read the original article on Business Insider

Salesforce has reportedly held talks to buy office messaging app Slack

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Salesforce Tower
The Salesforce Tower in New York City

Salesforce held talks to buy the workplace messaging app Slack, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

There is no guarantee that the preliminary talks will lead to an acquisition, according to the report, but a deal would signal the cloud giant's more aggressive foray into office communication. Currently, Salesforce has two communication and collaboration tools, Chatter and Quip, which can be used in tandem with its customer management-focused tools.

The move would represent Salesforce's largest acquisition in its history, as Slack's market capitalization was at about $17 billion prior to the report, and the acquisition price would likely be higher. Slack's stock surged as much as 32% on the news while Salesforce shares were down about 3.5%. Neither company was immediately available for comment.

This would also continue Salesforce's acquisition spree of late. The customer management software provider has made two large acquisitions in the last few years: It bought data visualization company Tableau for over $15 billion in 2019 and MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018.

On the company's most recent quarterly earnings call in August, CEO Marc Benioff notably said that he didn't "really see an M&A environment" for large companies like his at this time. He also said Salesforce is focused on integrating its MuleSoft and Tableau acquisitions this year.

However, Salesforce has made a few smaller acquisitions so far in 2020, buying Vlocity for $1.3 billion in February and marketing network The CMO Club for an undisclosed amount in early March.

Analysts have recently speculated that Salesforce may need to rely on acquisitions to keep up its rapid pace of growth, with a UBS analyst note saying that the firm was suffering from a "lack of innovation." 

Salesforce and Slack have a preexisting partnership since 2016, and expanded it last year so users can move more seamlessly between both cloud services.

Both companies compete with Microsoft, Salesforce with Microsoft's customer relationship management tools, and Slack with Microsoft Teams, its chat and collaboration app. A merger could potentially position both companies as a stronger competitor to Microsoft. 

Read the original article on Business Insider

The K-shaped recovery just keeps getting more K-shaped — better for those at the top and worse at the bottom

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coronavirus food lines
Residents line up to receive food distributed by the National Guard at Chelsea City Hall on April 17, 2020 in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Read the original article on Business Insider

How to embed a YouTube video in Google Slides in 4 simple steps to make your slideshow presentations more engaging

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fashion woman computer business
It's easy to embed a YouTube video in Google Slides to make for a better presentation.
  • You can embed a YouTube video in Google Slides to make a slideshow more informative and entertaining. 
  • You can find a YouTube video to embed within Google Slides by typing its title into the "Insert video" search box or pasting its URL into the box. 
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

Slideshows have a reputation for being somewhat uninspired. While they are a slightly more visual format than sending off an email, and can be a useful way to convey information, sometimes they're just a little bit lacking when it comes to holding people's attention.

For those looking to make their slides more interactive or interesting, embedding a YouTube video can do the trick (provided, of course, that it makes sense within the larger context of the presentation). 

And luckily for those who use Google's suite of products, this is a feature that's built into Google Slides, making it an easy and quick way to spice up those boring slideshows.

Here's what you'll need to know to do it. 

How to embed a YouTube Video in Google Slides

Before getting started, you'll want to grab a copy of the YouTube video URL you want to use. 

And keep in mind that slideshows with multiple slides work a little differently — after completing step one, you'll have to select the proper slide in the left sidebar to ensure the video is uploaded onto the proper one.

With that in mind, here's how to embed a YouTube video onto your slide:

1. Go to slides.google.com and either create a new slideshow or go into the one where you want to embed the YouTube video.

2. In the top toolbar, click "Insert" and then choose "Video."

1 HOW TO EMBED YOUTUBE VIDEO GOOGLE SLIDES
Select Video under the Insert tab.

3. Paste the YouTube video URL (or if you don't have that, type the name) into the text box and click the search button.

2 HOW TO EMBED YOUTUBE VIDEO GOOGLE SLIDES
Paste the YouTube video's URL or search for it with the title.

4. Click on the correct YouTube video, making sure that the thumbnail and title match the one you want to include, and then click the blue "Select" button at the bottom of the pop-up.

3 HOW TO EMBED YOUTUBE VIDEO GOOGLE SLIDES
Select the YouTube video you want to embed.

A preview of the video will appear on the slide — you can then resize or reposition it as needed. 

To resize it, click and drag one of the blue boxes along the edge of the video. In order to avoid warping the video by making it too wide or narrow, for example, stick to using the corner boxes when resizing.

To reposition it, click and drag the video to any part of the slide. You should see the cursor turn into a four-sided arrow when you hover over the video. 

As you drag the video to its new position, red guide lines will appear on the slide to help you center it perfectly within the slide.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

Read the original article on Business Insider

Sony reassures anxious PlayStation fans: 'More PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year'

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PlayStation 5 (sold out)
  • Like Tickle Me Elmo and the Furby before it, the PlayStation 5 is this year's big holiday item.
  • As such, it's sold out everywhere — every retailer, from Amazon to GameStop, can't keep enough in stock to satisfy demand. A robust resale market has sprung up, with the $500 model selling for upwards of $1,000.
  • Sony reassured anxious fans with a message on Wednesday morning: "More PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year," the company said. "Please stay in touch with your local retailers."
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Sony's PlayStation 5 is finally available worldwide. Because of the pandemic, millions of people turned to digital storefronts to purchase the new console. But that proved nearly impossible: Customers around the world tried and failed to order the PS5 through a variety of retailers.

With demand vastly outpacing supply, a robust resale market for the nascent console has sprung up: The $500 PS5 model is selling for around $1,000 on StockX as of Wednesday morning.

But before you shell out nearly double, consider Sony's latest messaging on PS5 availability: "Demand for PS5 is unprecedented, so we wanted to confirm that more PS5 inventory will be coming to retailers before the end of the year," the company said in a tweet on Wednesday morning. "Please stay in touch with your local retailers."

It's unclear exactly how many PlayStation 5 consoles have been sold thus far.

Sony characterized the PS5 launch as "our biggest console launch ever" on Wednesday morning, and Sony executives have said they expect the PS5's first fiscal year sales numbers to eclipse the 7.6 million units sold of the PlayStation 4. 

For the many people who were unable to buy a PlayStation 5 at launch, it's unclear when you'll be able to get one.

Sony is selling the new game console directly to consumers, but the resupply drops are sporadic. GameStop said it would have consoles available for sale in stores on Black Friday, November 27, but the only guaranteed quantity is limited to two consoles per store.

Walmart is also offering sales on Black Friday, but the console will be available only through the web store once again. Best Buy, meanwhile, has said it won't have any additional PlayStation 5 consoles for sale throughout the rest of the holiday season.

Got a tip? Contact Business Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (bgilbert@businessinsider.com), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The rejection rate for millennials' credit loans was cut in half this year, according to a new study

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FILE PHOTO: A customer pays with a contactless credit card at a store in Paris, France, April 11, 2016.  REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A customer pays with a credit card at a store in Paris
  • 32% of millennials were denied a loan for a credit card, down from 62% in 2019, according to a recently published study.
  • Current moratoriums on rent and evictions, along with the current pause on student debt payment have helped prevent consumers from defaulting on loans. 
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

32% of millennials were rejected for a credit loan in 2020, a sharp drop from the more than 60% denied in 2019, according to a new study from YouGov that was commissioned by Bankrate.

The most popular type of loan that was declined was a credit-card loan, which made up 19% of the total number of responses. Other types of loans mentioned in the survey included mortgage and car loans. 

Overall, 21% of adults were denied for a loan of some sort in 2020.

While 32% may seem high, it's lower than last year, where 62% of millennials were rejected when applying for the same loans, as reported by CNBC. Higher credit scores and moratoriums on rent and student loan payments have helped millennials get approval as well.

Another likely factor in the drop is the fact that credit scores tend to trail behind actual economic conditions, which means the impact on scores won't be seen for some time. In fact, the average credit score actually rose by 3 points from 708 in April to 711 in July. 

But if another stimulus fails to pass soon, there is a chance scores will begin to decline, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. On top of that, 12 million people are expected to lose their unemployment benefits at the end of the year, which could lead to more consumers defaulting on already existing loans. The pause on student loan payments ends on December 31, along with some rent and eviction moratoriums.

This momentum also may not last for long as banks are reigning in their standards for credit approval, according to a recent survey done by the Federal Reserve.  Around 1 in 3 banks have raised their credit standards for credit card approval in the past three months, as reported by CNBC.

Read the original article on Business Insider

How to right-click on a Mac computer in three different ways

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apple imac 2019
There are a few different ways to right click on a Mac computer.
  • You can right-click on a Mac computer by using the control button, two-finger tapping your trackpad, or connecting an external mouse to your device.
  • The right-click function on a Mac can be used to bring up menus, copy and paste text, save or delete files, customize your view, and more.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

When the first Apple computer that used a mouse came out, a feature common to PC hardware was conspicuously absent: a right-click button. While today your Macbook Pro or Air will work seamlessly with just about any mouse you connect, for a while, the struggle to right-click was real.

Right-clicking on a computer is useful for many reasons. When you right-click on a Mac's desktop, you'll see the option to create a new folder, change your view settings, and more.

Right-clicking on a document, image, or other file allows for easy copying, moving, renaming, or even deletion. And when you right-click on a link, you can choose to open it then and there, to open it in a new tab or new window, to copy the link, and so on.

How to right-click on a Mac computer

1. Use a mouse with a right-click button.

Surely the easiest solution, you can simply connect a mouse that has a right-click button built in. Whether wired or wireless and connected by USB dongle, a newer Mac will instantly recognize just about any mouse on the market and will respond when you click that right side button.

Screen Shot 2019 04 12 at 12.50.12 PM
Depending on where you right click, you'll be given different menus and options.

2. Hold the "control" button as you click.

On a Mac, the control button is indeed the one that says "control." It's placed differently than the CTRL button on most keyboards designed for a PC, so note which is which before you get to clicking. While the control button is held, you can use the left button — or the only button, as the case may be — on your mouse as a right-click, or you can tap on the trackpad.

3. Use two fingers on the trackpad

When you tap your Mac's trackpad with two fingers spaced within an inch or so of one another, the result will be a right-click. If your computer isn't recognizing your two-finger tap, then check your trackpad's settings in your System Preferences.

Screen Shot 2019 04 12 at 1.09.57 PM
You can change your mouse and trackpad preferences in the Settings application.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

Read the original article on Business Insider

European officials expect Biden to pressure Merkel into killing her prized key gas pipeline project from Russia

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Angela Merkel Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
  • Three European officials told Insider that President-elect Joe Biden, when in office, could pressure Germany to drop its Nord Stream 2 pipeline project with Russia.
  • Nord Stream 2, which would transport natural gas from Russia to Western Europe, cost 10 billion euros to build.
  • It had almost been complete when the US imposed sanctions on the project's Russian partners late last year, forcing construction to stop.
  • US officials have argued that the pipeline was an irresponsible economic reward for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has sought to destabilize European politics through various killings and the backing of separatist groups.
  • One EU official described the project as "Merkel's pet," and that Germany would likely try — and fail — to persuade Biden that the pipeline should exist.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

European security officials and diplomats expect President-elect Joe Biden to kill the existence of Nord Stream 2, the unfinished pipeline that aims to carry natural gas from Russia to northern Germany.

American officials have long considered the pipeline an irresponsible economic reward for Russia, which has in recent years destabilized politics in large swathes of Europe through assassinations, targeted corruption, and the backing of far-right separatist groups around the continent.

The multi-billion euro project to connect Russian's vast natural gas reserves with Western European markets through a 764-mile-long, undersea pipeline in the North Sea would have doubled the capacity of the existing Nord Stream pipeline.

Unlike the existing pipeline, Nord Stream 2 would bypass much of the existing pipeline infrastructure in Eastern European countries — notably Ukraine — that Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pressured while in office.

It had been almost completed until US sanctions on the project's Russian partners, imposed late last year, put a stop to the construction.

"This is very early in the process. The new administration has yet to take office and of course sanctions on Russia, security for the EU, and the status of the Nord 2 project will be discussed at the proper diplomatic moments," said a German diplomat.

The source refused to comment in an official capacity, and declined to answer follow-up questions. Their identity is known to Insider.

"There's little reason to believe Biden will lift the sanctions currently in place on the Russian side of the project but there have been no discussions with the incoming administration on the matter, and there will not be any until it officially takes office," added the diplomat.

Nord Stream German port
Mukran port in Germany, where some Nord Stream 2 pipes are stored.

President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the project late last year after a bipartisan group of US lawmakers complained about the economic benefits that the pipeline would bring to Putin, and the risk to Eastern Europe if Russia decides to turn off gas flows to the region while still delivering on its Western European contracts.

The arrangement surrounding the existing Nord Stream pipeline requires Russia to send natural gas to Western marks via Eastern European pipelines — an act that limits Russia's ability to threaten gas shortages to some nations.

The US sanctions — which were expanded in a US defense spending bill that is widely expected to pass in the coming weeks — effectively stopped the project from completion with less than 200 km of the pipeline remained to be built. 

The sanctions also left both Germany and Russia deeply concerned about the economic loss of canceling a project  that cost a total of 10 billion euros to build.

'It's Merkel's pet'

One EU diplomat based in Brussels told Insider that though Nord Stream 2 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "pet" project, she could have trouble arguing with Biden for its existence.

biden merkel
Merkel and Joe Biden.

"Trump doesn't care about Putin, he made it clear in repeated meetings with German officials he opposed the deal because the US wasn't making any money off it," said the official. They asked not to be named because their country is not directly involved in the project, but their identity is known to Insider.

"Biden's not going to come into office and reward Putin for all the bulls--- over the last five years, from the election-meddling to the assassinations," said the diplomat, referencing more than half a dozen recent incidents in which Putin or his Chechen proxies targeted dissidents in Europe.

"Germany wants the project, it's Merkel's pet, but they're going to have a hard time arguing for it considering the anger at Putin across much of the West," they said.

"Biden will argue that Putin needs to be hit hard for his behavior and the Germans won't have much of a response to arguments that Russia ordered people shot to death in broad daylight in Berlin."

Joe Biden Angela Merkel
Merkel and Biden.

A security official from a Baltic country — whose area would be directly affected by Nord Stream 2 — said the Germans would likely argue that locking Putin and Russia into an economic relationship with Germany would be a moderating balance on Russia's behavior.

The official dismissed that argument out of hand.

"If there's one thing that Europe should have learned over the past 15 years it's that doing business with the Russians moderates your response to Russian aggression," said the official.

"It's never the other way around. Putin always assumes he can take more pressure in a standoff. Nord 2 just offers him a new place to hold these standoffs."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Amazon Web Services experiencing widespread outage that's affecting Roku, Adobe, and Target-owned Shipt

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aws
  • Amazon Web Services is experiencing a widespread outage, with Down Detector reporting over 1,000 user complaints.
  • Many websites rely on the company's internet infrastructure service to operate.
  • Roku, Adobe, and Target-owned Shipt are among the sites reporting the outage to be impacting its services on Wednesday.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amazon Web Services appears to be down for some users on Wednesday morning, The Verge first reported. 

In a statement to Business Insider, an Amazon spokesperson said, "Kinesis has been experiencing increased error rates this morning in our US-East-1 Region that's impacted some other AWS services. We are working toward resolution." 

Scores of websites rely on the internet infrastructure to function. Roku and Adobe Spark are among those that have reported the AWS outage to be impacting its services.

 

On its site, Amazon said, "This issue has also affected our ability to post updates to the Service Health Dashboard. We are continuing to work towards resolution."

Down Detector reported more than 1,000 users experiencing problems with the service, which is a massive aspect of Amazon's business. AWS reported $11.6 billion in revenue for Q3 of this year and accounted for more than $3.5 billion of Amazon's $6.2 billion in operating income for the same quarter.

AWS has seen an increase in demand during the pandemic as office workers take to their homes to work remotely and rely more heavily on virtual conferencing software and other office tools. 

David Brown, vice president of AWS Elastic Compute Cloud, told Business Insider's Ashley Stewart in May that it has avoided capacity issues and outages during the pandemic because it began adapting its supply chain in January in response to the health crisis.

"We're working very, very hard behind the scenes to create the illusion of infinite capacity," Brown told Stewart.

Read the original article on Business Insider

The top agents and managers for influencers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok

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influencer agencies 4x3

Hi, this is Amanda Perelli coming to your inbox a day early this week. Welcome back to Insider Influencers, our weekly rundown on the influencer and creator economy. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Throughout this year, we have watched as hundreds of talent managers and agents have raced to sign the buzziest social stars. 

Hollywood's top entertainment agencies, from WME to UTA, have particularly focused on snatching up the first wave of TikTok superstars.

To identify which managers and agents were most prominent, my colleagues Dan Whateley, Sydney Bradley, and I spoke with professionals and influencers across the industry to create a database of more than 100 managers and agents and who their creator clients are.

Here are a few examples:

  • A3 Artists Agency represents YouTubers like Dr. Mike, Guava Juice, and Mr. Kate.

  • The CEO of Long Haul Management, Dan Levitt, represents gaming YouTubers like MatPat.

  • Select Management Group works with top lifestyle influencers like MyLifeAsEva and Gigi Gorgeous.

  • Concurrent Studios manages science and engineering creators like Gus Johnson. 

To see more, view the full the interactive database here.

How the 'Planet Money' TikTok account has become a breakout hit

Jack Corbett appears in a TikTok video for Planet Money.
NPR production assistant Jack Corbett appears in a TikTok video for Planet Money.

NPR's "Planet Money" has been one of the few legacy media brands to build a large audience on TikTok.

Dan spoke with insiders about how the show has attracted 235,000 followers and millions of likes.

What was its secret?

  • First, "Planet Money" identified an opening in the market.

  • Then the team leaned into the personality of its 24-year-old host and a lo-fi aesthetic.

  • Staffers also spent a lot of time crafting scripts.

  • And they engaged with the TikTok comments to build a community.

"There was almost [nobody] doing something similar in our beat, and so it was a wide-open opportunity to just create a style," said Alex Goldmark, the podcast's senior supervising producer.

Read more about the popular TikTok account here.

ViacomCBS is betting that pitting aspiring TikTok stars against each other can lead to its next reality TV hit

Jada Wesley TikTok star on AwesomenessTV's "Next Influencer"
TikTok star Jada Wesley is filmed by AwesomenessTV's crew for its new reality show "Next Influencer."

ViacomCBS recently released its new TikTok-focused reality show, "AwesomenessTV's Next Influencer."

Dan wrote that its production team created an NBA-style "bubble" to protect cast and crew from COVID-19-related risks.

"TikTok is just such an important talent discovery platform for us," said Emily Hecht, the show's executive producer.

"Next Influencer," which premiered on YouTube on Sunday, is a cross between a traditional MTV-style reality show like "The Real World" and a series of "collab" videos between a group of TikTok friends.

Read more on how reality TV has shifted, here.

An Instagram influencer with 1 million followers breaks down her pay rates and the media kit she uses to get brand deals

Alexa Collins - Instagram influencer
Alexa Collins.

Influencer Alexa Collins has 1.2 million Instagram followers and over 400,000 fans on TikTok.

Dan spoke with Collins who shared the media kit she uses to pitch brands.

Collins' sponsorship rates include:

  • Instagram post: $1,500
  • Instagram "Reel": $1,000
  • TikTok post: $500

Having a pitch deck with her latest audience numbers saves time when negotiating with brands, Collins said.

Check out her current media kit here.

Industry updates:

This week from Insider's digital culture team:

ratatouille the musical tiktok
TikTok creators are writing original numbers for a potential "Ratatouille" the musical.

How a fake musical inspired by the 2007 Disney-Pixar movie 'Ratatouille' took over TikTok

"Ratatouille," the 2007 Disney-Pixar film, has taken over TikTok.

Palmer Haasch wrote that people are making original songs, memes, and videos about a fictional musical based on the movie.

They call it "Ratatouille: The Musical."

  • It started with a song on TikTok with the lyrics, "Remy the Ratatouille, the rat of all my dreams / I praise you, my Ratatouille, may the world remember your name."

  • A TikToker created a theater arrangement for the song.

  • Then the concept of a full-blown TikTok musical took off.

Read the full story here.

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The true story behind the name 'Black Friday'

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  • Black Friday didn't get its name because stores become profitable and go "into the black."
  • The true story is much darker — the term "Black Friday" was first used in 1869 by two investors who drove up the price of gold and caused a stock market crash
  • Merchants in Philadelphia tried to change the name to "Big Friday," but the alternative name never caught on.
  • By the late 1980s, "Black Friday" had spread nationally with the more positive "red to black" backstory.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Many people believe we call the day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday" because many stores become profitable on the huge shopping day and go "into the black." The true origins of the term are a bit darker. 

Following is a transcript of the video. 

Why is it called "Black Friday"? Most people know Black Friday as the day after Thanksgiving, when stores open early and offer various sales. These stores are often "in the black" (profitable) that day.

But the true story of Black Friday is darker. The term "Black Friday" was first used on Sept. 24, 1869, when two investors, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, drove up the price of gold and caused a crash that day. The stock market dropped 20% and foreign trade stopped. Farmers suffered a 50% dip in wheat and corn harvest value.

In the 1950s, Philadelphia police used the "Black Friday" term to refer to the day between Thanksgiving and the Army-Navy game. Huge crowds of shoppers and tourists went to the city that Friday, and cops had to work long hours to cover the crowds and traffic.

Merchants in the area tried to change the name to "Big Friday," but the alternative name never caught on.

By the late 1980s, "Black Friday" had spread nationally with the more positive "red to black" backstory.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This video was originally published on November 3, 2017.

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Joe Biden said he wants to make gig-workers full-time employees — but one of his top advisers previously helped Uber and Lyft avoid such a change in California

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Jake Sullivan, national security advisor nominee
Nominated National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan participates as US President-elect Joe Biden speaks during a cabinet announcement event in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 24, 2020. - US President-elect Joe Biden introduced November 24, 2020 a seasoned national security team he said was prepared to resume US leadership of the world after the departure of President Donald Trump. "It's a team that will keep our country and our people safe and secure," Biden said, introducing his picks for secretary of state, national security advisor, intelligence chief, and other key cabinet jobs"It's a team that reflects the fact that America is back. Ready to lead the world, not retreat from it," Biden said.
  • Joe Biden's presidency is likely good news for Uber and Lyft. 
  • The companies won big in California with Prop. 22, a law the President-elect was vocally opposed to. 
  • With the new gig-work model in place, companies are likely to try and replicate it in other states.
  • Federal efforts to classify drivers or couriers as employees are likely to fall flat thanks to a divided congress, experts say. 
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Joe Biden's message ahead of California's vote on Prop. 22 in November was clear: "It's unacceptable." 

But the measure, like Biden's campaign bid, were both approved by voters, setting the stage for a fight between labor advocates and gig-work companies like Uber and Lyft as they seek to replicate the law nationwide. 

Further complicating the President-elect's push to make gig-workers full-fledged employees is a divided Congress that experts say could stymie any heavy-handed regulation. Another potential variable is the fact that some of Biden's own advisers have close ties to the tech giants' lobbying efforts. 

Specifically, Jake Sullivan, who was nominated as national security adviser this month, was previously advising for Uber and Lyft through his role at Macro Advisory Partners. Before Assembly Bill 5 became law in January, effectively classifying drivers as employees in the eyes of state law, Sullivan was negotiating on behalf of the company's behind the scenes.

The companies were hoping to reach an agreement with labor leaders including two major national unions that could avoid classifying drivers as employees under AB5, the New York Times reported, and his work with the firms reportedly ended when no carve-out deal was reached. 

Of course, his work was simply that: work. But the proximity of him and many other advisers in Biden's inner circle to K street lobbying shops and other corporate interests have come under fire from more progressive wings of the Democratic party. Meanwhile, President-elect Kamala Harris' brother, Tony West, serves as Uber's chief counsel. Insider previously reported he's in the running for a possible Department of Justice appointment. 

Over the summer, a consortium of several dozen progressive groups wrote to both Presidential candidates expressing concern over a "revolving door" between corporations and political jobs. The shadow system creates an over-representation of elites in Washington, they said. 

"Past administrations have relied on compliance and mitigation regimes to manage these conflicts of interest, producing a web of disclosures, ethics agreements, and recusals," the group wrote. "Even when perfectly applied, these strategies leave gaping loopholes that allow former members of industry to materially advance the interests of former and future employers. While these scenarios might not legally qualify as conflicts of interest under our overly lenient laws, the public is not fooled by the supposed propriety of these relationships. "

A Biden transition representative did not respond to a request for comment.

The President's ear, even if through former contacts, could be especially useful for companies that use gig workers as they seek to replicate Prop. 22's revolving benefits fund, and guaranteed minimum earnings across the country, while still avoiding a full employment classification.

"For us and our business, most of the regulatory interactions that we have are on a local basis," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said at a conference last week. "[Prop 22] was a significant win in kind of the biggest blue state there is. We hope to take with this IC+ [independent contractor plus] model that we really led on to the rest of the country. I think most of our regulatory interactions are on a local basis. I think on a national level, certainty is a good thing for everybody involved."

Armed with a framework for other states, gig-work companies appear to be readying similar efforts, opposition groups warn. In Illinois specifically, an Illinoisans for Independent Work was formed this summer, the Chicago Tribune reported. The group is similar to a consortium formed by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and others in California to garner support for Prop. 22 

And on a national level, any efforts to regulate Uber or any other major tech firm won't have the benefit of a Congress fully controlled by Democrats. That's something investors have warmed to in recent months. 

"We continue to believe the Biden Presidency and very likely Red Senate (January Georgia runoff remains a long shot variable) is a Goldilocks scenario for tech stocks moving into 2021," Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush, said. "The gridlock situation is bullish for the tech sector as now it appears any potential antitrust legislative changes/fixes against Big Tech have essentially hit a brick wall." 

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Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann says Trump should be investigated and charged with potential federal crimes after leaving office

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Andrew Weissmann.
  • Andrew Weissmann, a former prosecutor on the special counsel Robert Mueller's team, said President Donald Trump should be investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted for federal crimes after leaving the White House.
  • "Mr. Trump's criminal exposure is clear," Weissmann wrote in a New York Times op-ed, adding that Mueller's team gathered "ample evidence" to show Trump obstructed justice in the Russia investigation.
  • Weissmann also said that two New York state investigations from the Manhattan district attorney's office and the New York attorney general's office "may well reveal evidence warranting additional federal charges."
  • "In short, being president should mean you are more accountable, not less, to the rule of law," he wrote.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The special counsel Robert Mueller's top lieutenant in the Russia investigation said this week that President Donald Trump should be investigated and potentially prosecuted for criminal conduct after he leaves office in January.

"As painful and hard as it may be for the country, I believe the next attorney general should investigate Mr. Trump and, if warranted, prosecute him for potential federal crimes," the former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

Weissmann added that Mueller's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US election yielded "ample evidence" that the president obstructed justice throughout the course of the inquiry by threatening to fire Mueller and dangling pardons to associates who were ensnared in his probe.

"We saw Mr. Trump use his clemency power to do just that with, for example, his ally Roger Stone. He commuted Mr. Stone's sentence, who was duly convicted by a jury but never spent a day in jail for crimes that a federal judge found were committed for the president," Weissmann wrote. "The same judge found that Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign chairman, lied to us repeatedly, breaching his cooperation agreement. He, too, was surely holding out hope for a dangled pardon."

In the end, Mueller's team did not charge the president with obstruction of justice and cited a 1973 Office of Legal Counsel memo that said a sitting president cannot be indicted. Mueller's report also said it would be "unfair" for the special counsel to even suggest Trump committed a crime, given that DOJ policy holds that the issue couldn't legally be resolved. Moreover, the report said, accusing Trump of criminal wrongdoing but not charging him would deprive him of the chance to defend himself in court.

However, the special counsel's office noted, "If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so."

Weissmann wrote in his op-ed that there are other investigations that could reveal potential criminal conduct on Trump's part. In particular, he pointed to two New York state investigations into the president's financial dealings. One, conducted by the Manhattan district attorney's office, is examining whether the Trump Organization violated state laws when it facilitated an illegal $130,000 hush-money payment to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.

The New York attorney general's office is also conducting a broad civil investigation into the Trump Organization's business practices.

"The Manhattan district attorney is by all appearances conducting a classic white-collar investigation into tax and bank fraud, and the New York attorney general is engaged in a civil investigation into similar allegations, which could quickly turn into a criminal inquiry," Weissmann wrote in his op-ed. "These state matters may well reveal evidence warranting additional federal charges. Such potential financial crimes were not explored by the special counsel investigation and could reveal criminal evidence."

He added: "Any evidence that was not produced to Congress in its inquiries, like internal State Department and White House communications, is another potential trove to which the new administration should have access." 

Weissmann has been open about his frustration over the Russia investigation, and in particular the special counsel's decision not to charge the president with obstruction. In his book, "Where Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation," and in later interviews, Weissmann said Mueller let the public down by not indicting Trump.

"There's no question I was frustrated at the time," he told The Atlantic. "There was more that could be done that we didn't do." He added that the Senate Intelligence Committee did a better job reaching concrete conclusions in its recent report detailing the panel's own investigation into Russian election meddling.

"Even with 1,000 pages, it was better," he said. "It made judgments and calls, instead of saying, 'You could say this and you could say that.'"

In his Times op-ed, Weissmann acknowledged the possibility that Trump may pardon his associates, family members, and even himself before leaving office to avoid criminal exposure. If he does so, other states should step in "to see that the rule of law is upheld," and the new attorney general should investigate the legality of a "self-pardon."

"In short, being president should mean you are more accountable, not less, to the rule of law," he concluded.

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How to stop Google from tracking your computer and limit its data collection of your online history

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There are several ways you can disable or limit how Google tracks you.
  • You can stop Google from tracking your computer by going to your Google Account page and turning off Web & App Activity and Location Services. 
  • Google tracks your activity and location on any device when you're signed into Google. 
  • If you force Google to stop tracking you, you'll lose Google's ability to personalize its services based on your web behavior and location.  
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

While it may be cliché to say that Google knows everything about you, there's also a lot of truth to that statement. If Google's various tracking services are enabled, it knows both where you are and what your online search activity has been.

There are benefits to this tracking, of course — for example, Google can provide information and assistance that's more relevant to you. But if you don't want the search engine to track you, you can easily disable it on your computer. 

How to stop Google from tracking your computer

1. Open Google in a web browser and click your account avatar in the upper right corner of the page. You may need to sign into your Google account. In the dropdown menu, click "Manage your Google Account."

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Click "Manage your Google Account."

2. On your account page, click "Privacy & Personalization." Go to the "Data & personalization" page. 

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The "Data & personalization" page has options to disable web activity tracking and location tracking.

3. In the "Activity controls" section, click "Web & App Activity." This service controls Google's ability to track and store your search activity. 

4. If you don't want Google to track this, uncheck the box for "Include Chrome history and activity from sites, apps, and devices that use Google services." You'll see a warning that Google will lose its ability to personalize many of its services for you. To confirm, scroll down and click "Pause."

How_to_stop_Google_tracking_on_computer 3
Uncheck the boxes for "Web & App Activity" and "Include Chrome history and activity..."

5. Use the back button to return to the Data & personalization page. 

6. In the Activity controls section, click "Location History." This service controls Google's ability to track and record your location on whatever device you are using this Google account — phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. 

7. If you don't want your location tracked, turn off "Location History" by clicking the button so it slides to the left. You'll see a warning that Google will lose its ability to personalize many of its services based on your location. To confirm, scroll down and click "Pause."

How_to_stop_Google_tracking_on_computer 4
Turn off Location History to prevent Google from tracking your location.

8. You can also return to the Data & personalization page and turn off "YouTube History" to prevent Google from tracking the videos you watch on that site. 

9. You can turn either of these services back on at any time. In fact, Google refers to this setting as "paused" rather than turned off or disabled. 

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

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The Trump administration is aiming to bring back firing squads and electrocutions for some federal executions

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Anti-death penalty protesters ring a bell at the scheduled execution time as they gather across the street from the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020.
  • The Trump administration is rushing to make a number of federal regulatory changes before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20, ProPublica reported on Wednesday.
  • One of those changes, proposed by the Department of Justice, would allow some federal death-row inmates to be executed by means other than lethal injection. Many states allow for electrocution and the firing squad if lethal injection is not available or if another method is preferred by the prisoner. 
  • Eight federal death-row inmates have been executed since the DOJ resumed federal executions in July 2020, with five more federal executions scheduled during Trump's lame-duck period. 
  • As ProPublica noted, the rule change likely won't affect any executions, given that the remaining scheduled executions are set to be conducted via lethal injection before Biden, who opposes the use of the death penalty, begins his presidency.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Trump administration is rushing to finalize a number of regulatory changes before President Donald Trump leaves office next month, including one that could reauthorize the use of firing squads and electrocutions in federal executions, ProPublica reports.

A proposed rule change entered by the Department of Justice into the Federal Register on August 5 would alter the method of execution of death-row prisoners. 

As the proposal notes, the default method for federal executions is lethal injection, except if a judge explicitly orders otherwise. But many states with the death penalty permit executions to be carried out by other means, including by electrocution, a firing squad, or nitrogen hypoxia. Tennessee, for example, executed a death-row prisoner with electrocution in December 2019. 

The amended rule would essentially allow federal executions to be conducted using methods other than lethal injections in states that allow for other means of putting prisoners to death. 

While lethal injection was initially presented as a more humane and less violent method of execution than the electric chair or a firing squad, certain lethal injection drugs or problems with administering them have led to complications and some botched injections, causing painful deaths for inmates. 

The proposed rule change document notes that "death by firing squad and death by electrocution do not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment" under the prevailing Supreme Court precedent. It also cited Bucklew v. Precythe and Glossip v. Gross, cases in which death-row inmates challenged states' use of lethal injection as violating the Eighth Amendment, but were unsuccessful.

The proposed rule, according to the DOJ, "ensures that the Department is authorized to use the widest range of humane manners of execution permitted by law."

But, as ProPublica noted, the change may never actually change any actual executions. All the remaining federal executions scheduled before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20 are planned to be conducted via lethal injection. Biden opposes the use of the death penalty and has indicated that his administration will not seek executions of federal death-row prisoners. 

So far, eight federal death-row prisoners have been executed under the Trump administration since the DOJ, which oversees the Federal Bureau of Prisons, reinstated federal executions for death-row inmates in July 2019.

In July 2020, Daniel Lewis Lee, convicted of murdering an Arkansas family in 1996, became the first federal death-row inmate executed in 17 years, and most recently, Orlando Hall was executed on November 20 after receiving a death penalty sentence for the 1994 kidnapping, rape, and murder of a Texas teenager. 

Five other inmates — Lisa Montgomery, Alfred Bourgeois, Brandon Bernard, Corey Johnson, and Dustin Higgins — are set to be executed between now and January 20. Montgomery will be the first female federal inmate to be executed in over 60 years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.  

The Trump administration carrying out multiple federal executions during a transition and lame-duck period is highly unusual and unprecedented, the Center said. It found that the Trump administration is the first to execute a death row inmate during a presidential transition period since Grover Cleveland's outgoing administration in 1889. 

In addition to the federal government, 28 states currently employ the death penalty while 22 states have legislatively abolished or issued moratoria on its use, per the Center

According to ProPublica, the Trump administration is also aiming to make consequential regulatory changes in other areas of immigration, environmental policy, energy standards and water use, and the regulation of major food plants. 

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DoorDash is paying $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the food delivery company of stealing drivers' tips

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A delivery person for Doordash rides his bike in the rain during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 13, 2020.
  • DoorDash is paying $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2019 that accused the company of using a "deceptive" tipping model.
  • The lawsuit alleged that DoorDash used millions of dollars in tips and applied it towards drivers' base pay and the guaranteed minimum pay for orders, instead of adding it to the overall check.
  • Customers believed the tips would go directly to drivers, and many were not aware of DoorDash's actual tipping process until it was made public.
  • The settlement comes just two weeks after DoorDash filed to go public and in the same month that the company celebrated the passing of Proposition 22, a California ballot measure that exempts some gig companies from paying contractors as employees.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

DoorDash is paying $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the food delivery startup of misleading customers in how it issued tips for its drivers.

Washington DC Attorney General Karl Racine filed the lawsuit against DoorDash in November 2019, alleging that between 2017 and 2019, DoorDash reallocated millions of dollars in tips paid by customers to instead go toward drivers' base pay. Racine called the model "deceptive" because it meant that those payments didn't always go directly to the drivers. Many customers were not aware of the model when it became public.

The company refuted te claims, with a spokesperson saying the firm strongly disagreed with the 2019 lawsuit. DoorDash migrated to a new tipping model in September 2019, one that ensures that "100% of tips" goes to the drivers "on top of base pay and promotions."

The terms of the settlement require DoorDash to pay "$1.5 million in relief to delivery workers, pay $750,000 to the District, and donate $250,000 to two District charities," according to a press release issued by Racine's office.

DoorDash will also be "required to maintain a payment model that ensures all tips go to workers without lowering their base pay, and it will be required to provide clear and easy-to-access information about its policies and payment model to workers and consumers."

In a statement to Business Insider, a DoorDash spokeswoman said, "We're pleased to have this issue behind us, and thank the Office of the Attorney General for DC for its work throughout this process. Our focus is on continuing to support Dashers, restaurants, and customers in DC and around the country."

The settlement comes just two weeks after DoorDash filed to go public. The company reported in its filing that it experienced a surge in business during the pandemic, generating a $149 million loss on revenue of $1.9 billion. The company said it may not be able to "maintain or increase profitability in the future" due to expected cost increases.

Read more: Here are the investors that are set for a windfall as DoorDash heads for an IPO, from asset managers like Fidelity to a retirement plan for Costco employees

Fellow food delivery startup Instacart has also fielded backlash over its own tipping model, one in which workers said allowed the company to apply customers' tips to their base pay.

DoorDash, Instacart, Uber, and Lyft just celebrated a major triumph this month when their joint Proposition 22 ballot measure passed in the California election. The ballot measure was created to exempt them from AB5, a law that required gig-based firms to pay their contractors like employees, with minimum wages, workers' compensation, and other benefits. The requirement would have added additional labor costs to the companies.

Labor experts told Business Insider that Prop 22 will still require gig companies to provide more benefits to workers, such as healthcare subsidies, but less than what they would receive as employees.

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A discovery inside a California cave suggests people were combining hallucinogenic drugs and art nearly 500 years ago

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An enhanced image of the painting on the ceiling of the Pinwheel Cave in California.
  • On the ceiling of a California cave, a red pinwheel-shaped drawing likely depicts a psychoactive plant called datura.
  • Researchers recently found chewed-up lumps of datura stuffed in the cave's ceiling.
  • The finding is the first clear evidence that hallucinogens were used at a rock art site. It suggests that humans may have painted cave art to enhance hallucinations.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

For decades, researchers have thought that hallucinogenic substances likely played a role in rock art, inspiring many of the vivid drawings that adorn cliffs and caves across all six habitable continents.

But according to a new study, it could go the other way around: Paintings in caves could have acted as visual aids for drug-induced hallucinations.

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, describes a cave in Southern California, between Santa Barbara and Bakersfield. It's within the historic territory of the indigenous Chumash people and is known as the "Pinwheel Cave" because of the pinwheel-shaped painting on its ceiling. The painting resembles the datura plant, which delivers intense psychoactive effects when ingested. 

David Robinson, the study's lead researcher, has been investigating the cave since 2007. He and a team of archaeologists have over the years discovered and analyzed chewed wads, or "quids," of datura that were stuffed into cracks in the ceiling of the cave up to 490 years ago. Their analysis also showed that humans occupied the cave from about 1530 to 1890, and "in all probability" chewed the datura during that period.

Combined, this set of discoveries makes the Pinwheel Cave the first known site that links evidence of hallucinogen use to cave paintings.

Which came first: the rock art or the hallucinogens?

Indigenous Californians used datura for centuries. People once processed the plant into a drink called toloache for coming-of-age ceremonies, and the Chumash consumed it before "vision quests" in which individuals sought interaction with spirits. In the group's mythology, the plant is personified as a supernatural grandmother named Momoy.

The paintings in the Pinwheel Cave seem to depict datura and its primary pollinator, the hawk moth, in its larval stage. The researchers think the Chumash people painted the images while sober and intended them to serve either as "visual catalysts for communal experiences" or simply as signposts to indicate where to take datura. 

The new analysis also contradicts what Robinson calls "the myth of the lone shaman": the idea that a single individual would go into a cave and do hallucinogens on their own. Both the density of the quids, as well as the presence of many tools in the cave, suggest that many Chumash people used the space.

"This is a community site," Robinson, who is a reader in archaeology at the University of Central Lancashire in England, told Live Science.

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A datura flower as it begins to open in the early evening.

What's more, the fact that these images evoke the plant and its pollinator, the researchers wrote, contradicts the idea that humans took hallucinogens partly for artistic inspiration. The drawing does not seem to be a reflection of divine or spiritual inspiration from the hallucinogenic effects of the plant.

In that sense, the cave painting "calls into question assumptions that rock art imagery directly reflects private images seen in trance," the researchers wrote. 

A ritual discouraged as the result of US government policy

Datura's likely role in communal rituals makes sense given its importance to the Chumash people, according to Devlin Gandy, a co-author of the study.

"Datura is far more than a hallucinogen," Gandy told National Geographic. "It is a sacred being which is part of prayers, utilized for cleansing, as well as healing."

A pollinating moth Manduca sexta, this one with a wing span of about 4 inches, feeds from a Sacred Dutura, or Datura wrightii, flower while flying through a wind tunnel at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington in this May 2014 picture provided by Kiley Riffell.  REUTERS/Kiley Riffell/Handout via Reuters
A pollinating hawk moth feeds from a dutura flower in Seattle, Washington.

The US government suppressed tribal rituals like datura ceremonies in the 20th century via forced cultural assimilation policies and the displacement of native people from traditional lands. President Jimmy Carter finally passed the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, which protected religious freedom for indigenous tribes. But modern-day Chumash people no longer ingest the plant.

Sandra Hernandez, a spokesperson for the Tejon Tribe, which has Chumash people enrolled, told National Geographic she finds her ancestors' relationship to datura inspiring.

"I find myself at times with a lack of words to define the feeling of how great it is to know how smart our ancestors were," she said. "I can never get around that. We knew things because we communed with creators and we communed with nature."

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A zero-coupon bond is a discounted investment that can help you save for a specific future goal

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Buying zero-coupon bonds can be a good deal for forward-thinking investors: Get a discount price now, reap the bond's full value down the road.
  • A zero-coupon bond doesn't pay periodic interest, but instead sells at a deep discount, paying its full face value at maturity.
  • Zeros-coupon bonds are ideal for long-term, targeted financial needs at a foreseeable time.
  • Though their yields are higher, "zeros" are more volatile than traditional bonds, and they incur taxes each year.
  • Visit Business Insider's Investing Reference library for more stories.

The big appeal of bonds, for many investors, is the interest income they provide. So the idea of buying a bond that doesn't pay any interest may seem, well, paradoxical. Yet a healthy market does exist for such an instrument: the zero-coupon bond, colloquially known as "zeros."

Savvy investors often look to zero-coupon bonds because they can be bought at a deep discount to their face value — that is, the nominal amount they're worth. But when they mature, you receive their full face value. So that's how you profit: the difference between that initial discounted price, and what you collect when the bond comes due.

The biggest draw of zero-coupon bonds is their reliability. If you keep the bond to maturity, you will essentially be guaranteed a sizable return on your investment. That makes them useful for targeted financial needs, like college tuition or down payment on a home. 

What is a zero-coupon bond?

Typically, bondholders make a profit on their investment through regular interest payments, made annually or semi-annually, known as "coupon payments." However, as the name suggests, zero-coupon bonds work differently. They have no coupons, and they don't pay interest at a periodic, fixed rate.  

That's not to say interest isn't calculated, though. Rather, the bond's interest is totaled up in advance and knocked off the bond's purchase price. Essentially, when you buy a zero, you're getting the sum total of all the interest payments upfront, rolled into that initial discounted price.

For example, a zero-coupon bond with a face value of $20,000 that matures in 20 years with an interest rate of 5.5% might sell for around $7,000. At maturity, two decades later, the investor will receive a lump-sum payment of $20,000 — a $13,000 return on investment. Here, the profit comes from interest that compounds automatically until the bond matures.

The discount can be figured roughly by dividing the bond's face value by its yield and the time remaining until maturity. The math can get a bit complicated, but a zero bond calculator can help you suss it out. 

Generally, the more time before the bond matures, the greater the discount.  

The US federal government, various municipalities, corporations, and financial institutions all issue zero-coupon bonds. The majority — what most people refer to as zeros — are US Treasury issues.

It is also possible to create a zero-coupon bond from a regular bond by stripping it of its coupons and repackaging it. Often, these repackaged zero-coupon bonds are called STRIPS (Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal Securities). 

After they're issued, zero-coupon bonds trade on the secondary market like other debt securities.

Advantages of zero-coupon bonds

They often have higher interest rates than other bonds

Since zero-coupon bonds do not provide regular interest payments, their issuers must find a way to make them more attractive to investors. As a result, these bonds often come with higher yields than traditional bonds. 

The amount varies, but a US Treasury zero often yields at least one percentage point more than its traditional Treasury counterpart, and sometimes a lot more. In 2018, for example, a 10-year Treasury zero was yielding as much as an annualized 3.1%, while 10-year T-notes were at .2%. 

As of November 2020, the current yield-to-maturity rate on the PIMCO 25+ year zero-coupon bond ETF, a managed fund consisting of a variety of long-term zeros, is 1.54%. The current yield on a 20-year Treasury bond is 1.41%.  

It may sound small, but thanks to the miracle of compounding, it adds up — especially over time.

They offer a predictable payout

The other big advantage of zero-coupon bonds is their predictability. If these bonds are held to maturity, you're guaranteed a return of the full face value. Plus, you'll have gotten a deal: paying less now for more later.

For this reason, these bonds are a good fit for investors who have a specific financial goal in mind, and a long-term but specific time-frame. 

Drawbacks of zero-coupon bonds

They're very sensitive to interest rates

Some bondholders don't want to wait until maturity to get their payout. But if you want to sell your zero early, know that its price is very subject to interest rate fluctuations.

Bond prices have an inverse relationship to interest rates, which means that their market value — their price — falls as interest rates rise. That's true of bonds in general, but zeros are especially sensitive:  Since they do not make interest payments, the size of the payoff that you get from the bond depends entirely on its present value at the time that it is sold. 

As a result, zero-coupon bond prices are more volatile — subject to greater swings when interest rates change. 

You have to pay taxes on income you don't get

Even though you're not actually getting any interest payments, and won't realize the profit on your zero until the bond pays out at maturity, the IRS acts as if you are. It calls this "phantom income" and it wants a piece. So, you likely have to pay taxes on the interest that "accrues" on the bond each year — not just federal, but state and local too.

However, there are ways to avoid this. For instance, you could buy zero-coupon municipal bonds. These aren't subject to federal income taxes, nor to state, if you live in the locality where they're issued.

And Treasury zeros are not taxable on a state or local level, like all Treasury bonds. 

There is a default risk

Finally, there is an inherent risk that the issuer of your bond could default, which would render your investment unclaimable. It's not so much a problem with Treasury zeros, which — like most US government issues — are pretty low-risk, but it could be a factor with corporate bond zeros or certain municipal zeros.

If you decide to go this route, you're going to want to choose a company with a strong credit rating. 

The financial takeaway

In short, the thing that separates zero-coupon bonds from all other bonds is that you will not receive periodic interest payments from your investment. Instead, you get one lump-sum payment when the bond matures. 

As a result, zeros are typically the best fit for buy-and-hold investors who have a particular financial goal in mind, and a particular future time. For example, if you want to finance your child's college education, or have cash ready when you retire, zero-coupon bonds may be a smart move. 

You know when you will receive your return on investment and exactly how much the return will be. And you'll have locked it all in at a discount.

Related Coverage in Investing:

What is diversification? A portfolio strategy that uses a variety of investments to limit risk

Investment income is money earned by your financial assets or accounts, and understanding how it works can help maximize your profits

Passive investing is a long-term wealth-building strategy all investors should know — here's how it works

Bonds vs. CDs: The key differences and how to decide which income-producing option is better for you

Fixed-income investing is a strategy that focuses on low-risk investments paying a reliable return

 

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How to set up a Skype conference call between Skype users for free, or between non-users for a fee

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Skype desktop logo
You can set up a Skype conference call on either your PC or Mac computer.
  • You can easily set up a Skype conference call and connect with people who are spread out across town, around the country, or even all over the globe.
  • Conference calls shared only between Skype users are free, but if some users are not on Skype, rates will vary depending on where in the world they are located.
  • Skype allows you to save a group for easy conference calls again later, which is a great feature for weekly or monthly meetings.
  • Visit Business Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.

With about one minute of set-up time, you can put together a Skype conference call that will link together dozens of people in one easy, approachable format. 

Skype group calls can be audio, video, or a mix of both, depending on the devices used. Skype conference calls can also be between Skype users only, or a mix of Skype users and people using a cell phone or landline, however there are fees associated.

The process of setting up Skype group calls varies slightly depending on whether or not the group is purely made up of Skype users, so let's look at both procedures, with Skype only users first.

How to set up a Skype conference call with only Skype users on PC

1. Launch Skype on your PC and click the "Group" icon above your list of contacts.

2. An empty window will appear. Click and drag the contacts you wish to be in the group call into the window.

3. Now click the "Call group" button to initiate the call.

How to set up a Skype conference call with not only Skype users on PC

1. First, follow the steps above adding all callers who are on Skype. (If there are none, the initial process is still the same.)

2. Click the plus "+" icon beside the "Call group" button and type in the phone numbers to be called.

3. Click "Call group" and let the conference call begin.

Don't forget to name and save your group if you need to use it again later.

How to set up a Skype conference call on Mac

1. Launch Skype on your Mac and click the "Chats" icon at the top of the left side of your screen.

How to set up a Skype conference call
Click "Chats."

2. Click the arrow next to "New Chat" to open a dropdown menu. Click "New Group Chat."

How to set up a Skype conference call
Select "New Group Chat" from the menu.

3. Name your group and add a photo, if you'd like, in the pop-up window. Click the blue arrow icon at the bottom right corner of the window.

How to set up a Skype conference call
Click the arrow to continue.

4. Search for users that you'd like to add to your group call by typing their name into the blue search bar at the tap and then checking the circle next to their name in the search results.

How to set up a Skype conference call
Click the circle next to the user's name.
  • If you have Skype credit, you can also search for a person's phone number in the search bar and then add them to the call. 
How to set up a Skype conference call
You need Skype credit to add a phone number to the group chat.

5. Once you've added everyone to your group call, click the blue "Done" button at the top-right of the window.

How to set up a Skype conference call
Click "Done."

6. To start a call or video call, click either the phone icon or the video camera icon at the top-right of the screen.

How to set up a Skype conference call
Click either the phone or video camera icon, depending on which type of call you'd like to start.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

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