African wildlife officials appalled as EU opposes a total ban on ivory trade
European commissions’ opposition to a continued global ban will spell the beginning of a mass extinction of African elephants, warn officials from 29 African states
Venezuela Refuses to Default. Few People Seem to Understand Why.
It’s been almost two years now since the renowned Harvard economist Ricardo Hausmann caused a stir in his native Venezuela by posing an uncomfortable question.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-07-08T19:47:04+0000
NASA Images Show Toxic Air Challenge Choking Indian Subcontinent
The mega-city of New Delhi has tried everything from banning diesel guzzling SUVs to taking about half the city’s cars off the streets in a fight against air pollution. Officials may yet have to do much, much more, based on National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellite research.
Go’s march to low-latency GC — Twitch Blog
We use Go at Twitch for many of our busiest systems. Its simplicity, safety, performance, and readability make it a good tool for the…
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-07-07T06:39:14+0000
F.B.I. Recommends No Charges Against Hillary Clinton for Use of Personal Email
The F.B.I.’s recommendation will have an enormous impact on the presidential election.
Hasnain says:
""To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.""
Posted on 2016-07-06T07:55:38+0000
Illinois Man Charged With Desecrating American Flag After Posting Photos On Facebook
A 22-year-old Illinois man has been charged with desecrating the American flag after he posted photos on Facebook along with messages decrying the state of violence and race in the U.S. This is the first time the Urbana Police Department has seen the flag desecration statute used in 27 years. Bryton...
Adnan Syed, of ‘Serial’ Podcast, Gets a Retrial in Murder Case
The decision came after lawyers for the defendant, who is serving a life sentence, presented new evidence in the 1999 murder.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2016-07-05T06:40:38+0000
How ‘Advantage Players’ Game the Casinos
They’re not cheaters. Instead, they hone the sharpest (legal) edge they can.
Hasnain says:
"A month later, I met with a woman notorious for having won more than $20 million from casinos in less than five years. Her name was Cheung Yin Sun. Elite Western gamblers and rattled casino bosses know her as Kelly, a fast-talking, sunglasses-wearing advantage player in her 40s. Her father, now deceased, was a wealthy factory owner based in Hong Kong. She says she lost $20 million of his money playing baccarat and slot machines. She claims to be unbothered by having blown a fortune in gambling dens around the world. In fact, she all but brags about her losses."
Posted on 2016-07-05T06:24:58+0000
How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
Five tactics to keep company culture healthy.
Hasnain says:
"I’ve seen lots of cases where someone goes to their manager to protest a decision — on the direction of a project, resource allocations among teams, or something similar — on the basis that the decision was driven by politics or some other personal factor. More often than not in cases like these, the leadership team and the team’s managers simply haven’t done a good enough job of explaining the decision in the context of the company’s broader priorities. When we dig in and provide that additional context, the notion that the decision was politically driven is dispelled."
Posted on 2016-07-05T05:50:45+0000
Amazon Is Quietly Eliminating List Prices
As retailers face consumer lawsuits over discounts, Amazon is changing the way it presents bargains to customers.
Hasnain says:
"The problem with list prices or, as they are sometimes called, manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, is that they are regularly more of a marketing concept than what anyone is actually charging. When Amazon was saying the list price of the Breville Infuser was $800, Breville itself was selling the machine for $500 — about the same as Amazon. Other retailers sell it for $500, too. Breville confirmed the price was $500."
"The shift away from list prices is taking some merchants on Amazon by surprise. A seller named Travis complained in an Amazon forum that the list price on his product — which he did not identify — had disappeared from the site. “I’m well aware that it is bogus but it is a common marketing tactic that works very well at boosting sales,” he wrote."
Posted on 2016-07-05T01:36:02+0000