Entre 1979 y 2019, la productividad aumentó un 69,6 % pero el salario por hora solo subió un 11,6 %. Esta diferencia se debe a un aumento en la explotación. En la era Amazon, los trabajadores trabajan más y ganan menos. Ese no era el plan, y parece que la única solución estriba en el socialismo
Source: MIT
Entre 1979 y 2019, la productividad aumentó un 69,6 %, pero el salario por hora solo subió un 11,6 %. Esta diferencia se debe a un aumento en la explotación. En la era Amazon, los trabajadores trabajan más y ganan menos. Ese no era el plan, y parece que la única solución estriba en el socialismo
Source: MIT
The actor drew inspiration for his role from his brother-in-law, who is legally blind and a mountain climber.
Source: CNET
Commentary: We’re in infinite Star Wars now.
Source: CNET
With 2020 on the horizon, the last few weeks of 2019 present us with a unique opportunity to look back and reflect on not only the past year, but also the past decade. The span of time between 2010 to 2020 brought some of the most amazing technological advances the world has ever seen, so […]
Source: Digital trends
The newest Jeep Wrangler is also the first of its name to feature the automaker’s 48-volt mild hybrid system. We dig in to see how it works.
Source: CNET
Social media influencers have been known to promote events around the world for the right price — decisions that sometimes prove to be mistakes. Bella Hadid, who’d promoted the failed Fyre Festival with a gaggle of other models who’d vacationed in the Bahamas for a video designed to help sell tickets, later apologized for her involvement.
Not everyone is apologizing for what’s widely seen as a new misstep in the world of influencer marketing: the paid attendance of celebrities and other social media influencers this past weekend to the three-day-long MDL Beast Festival in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The country billed the event as its largest arts, culture and music festival — one attended by “150,000 eager fans from across the region and further afield.”
Among those being called out for dropping onto the scene are models Alessandra Ambrosio and Romee Strijd; actors Ryan Phillippe, Wilmer Valderrama and Armie Hammer; DJ Steve Aoki; and social media stars Sofia Richie and Scott Disick, all of whom were photographed at the event and some of whom also posted pictures to Instagram and other social media outlets, singing the region’s praises and including the hashtag #mdlbeast.
The festival aims to promote the efforts of its de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (known as MBS), to reform the conservative kingdom, which is well-known for its oppression of women’s rights and ethnic and racial minority rights. Indeed, the country has been aggressively trying to polish its image amid growing concern over the years-long, Saudi-led civil war in Yemen that has led to mass starvation and more than 100,000 fatalities; the gruesome, state-directed assassination of Saudi Arabian dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was reportedly dismembered with a bone saw; and the kingdom’s many other efforts to stifle dissent.
In just one example of how far the kingdom is willing to go, it staged the first-ever WWE women’s match in Riyadh on Halloween, an effort that Amnesty International’s advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa called “sportswashing.” The MDL Beast Festival is another attempt to highlight how progressive Saudi Arabia has ostensibly come.
Some have pushed against the kingdom’s charm offensive. Hip-hop star Nicki Minaj canceled a planned performance in Saudi Arabia in July at a separate new international music festival there, after the nonprofit Human Rights Foundation asked her to back out of the gig.
At the time, Minaj issued a statement, saying, “I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, [but] after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression.”
Model Emily Ratajkowski also turned down a paid invitation to attend this past weekend’s festival, citing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. “It is very important to me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, freedom of expression and the right to a free press. I hope coming forward on this brings more attention to the injustices happening there.â€�
Philippe is meanwhile defending on Instagram his decision to accept the trip to this past weekend’s extravaganza, writing: “i had a magical day with wonderful people. i love travel. i love different cultures. i love how we can find ways to connect through our human oneness, the pure desire for love and freedom. no matter where in the world. hoping those connections help to bring even more positive change and progress.â€�
It’s a decision that’s likely to earn Phillippe — and other high-wattage attendees — more bad publicity in the coming days. While more than a year ago, the CIA concluded that MBS ordered Khashoggi’s assassination, the kingdom has continued to deny any involvement in his murder, alleging instead that it was a last-minute decision by Saudi agents on the ground. (This narrative, notes The New York Times, “contradicts ample evidence that the agents came with an intent to kill and the tools to do so.”)
Now, in a court today in Saudi Arabia, following a trial that was shrouded in secrecy, five men were sentenced to death and three others to prison terms totaling 24 years over Khashoggi’s killing, while a former top adviser to MBS and a former deputy intelligence chief were both cleared.
The sentences are subject to appeal, notes the Times, which also notes that in Saudi Arabia, death sentences typically involve beheadings in public squares. Either way, the sentencing seems poised to further complicate Western relations with the kingdom, for influencers and a lot of others in the position of having to decide whether or not to accept its money. The verdict, said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East research director, in a statement, is a “whitewash.”
Source: TechCrunch
Strange-mas is here.
Source: CNET
Welcome to TechCrunch’s 2019 Holiday Gift Guide! Need help with gift ideas? We’re here to help! We’ll be rolling out gift guides from now through the end of December. You can find our other guides right here.
WHOOPS. You forgot to buy a gift for someone on your list.
Maybe you’ve been too busy at work. Maybe you just found out that the cousins are coming to Christmas this year after all. It happens.
It’s December 23rd. It’s too late to order things online, and brick-and-mortar stores are either closed for the week or absolutely slammed. So what can you do?
Subscriptions!
Subscriptions and subscription boxes are super-solid last-minute options: you can order them from your phone, it’s okay (expected, even) if they start arriving after Christmas and there’s a subscription service for… pretty much everything at this point.
Need some ideas? Here are some of our favorites services right now:
YesPlz is a coffee subscription with a fun twist: each weekly delivery comes paired with a magazine put together by the YesPlz team, featuring everything from comics to deep dives on music, art and, of course, coffee. “Beans and Zines,” as they put it.
Price:Â $17 per delivery, with options for delivery 1-4 times per month
Stickers! A semi-random but always wonderful allotment of stickers, delivered regularly.
It’s a great one for kids — but it’s also an awesome one for teachers, bullet journalists or stationary geeks.
Price: Starts at around $12 per month
Got a friend who loves plants but can’t keep ’em alive? First of all, that’s me. Second, succulents!
Succulent Studios drops off two fledgling succulents each month, with all sorts of fun varieties in the mix. I subscribed to this one for quite a while, stopping only when we… pretty much ran out of room for more succulents. The few times I had a succulent arrived damaged, they helped me nurse it back to health or replaced it.
Price: Around $17 per delivery
Lootcrate sends out a constant stream of geeky goods, many of them exclusive to the service.
They’ve got hyper-themed boxes for fandoms from Harry Potter to Hello Kitty, broader boxes for anime/horror/sci-fi fans or their namesake all-encompassing “Loot Crates” that bring in goodies from any and all walks of geek fandom.
Price:Â Around $20-$25 per delivery
Ever bought a spice for a single recipe only to have the vast majority of the jar sit in a cabinet getting crusty for a thousand years?
Piquant Post brings the fun of playing with new spices without taking over your spice cabinet. They send out 3-4 spices per month, along with a handful of recipes specially tuned to use up pretty much all of what they send. Each delivery focuses on a specific region or country, so you’ll get a pinch of culture with each box.
Price:Â Starts at around $10 per delivery
“Netflix for independent movies” sort of explains Mubi, but not quite. Mubi is a super-carefully curated but always rotating collection of 30 indie flicks, all streaming on demand. They introduce one new indie film to the service each day, but it leaves after a month.
Price: $11 a month
For the adventurous eater in the family. Try the World searches the world for local gourmet favorites, packaging seven or eight items into each box. The only downside? If you fall in love with something, getting more of it can be kind of a pain in the butt.
Price: $30-$40 per month, depending on frequency
Disney finally launched its own streaming service this year… and despite some issues at launch, it’s really good. It’s got the vast majority of Disney/Pixar (and Marvel! and Star Wars!) movies that have shipped over the years, plus a growing catalog of original content — including The Mandalorian, which is just fantastic and is one episode away from the end of its first season.
Price: $70 per year
The name says it all. They pick five books per month, and you pick the one you want to read. If your backlog starts to get a bit intimidating, just hit the pause button.
Price: Starts at $16 per month
Keeping up with the latest fashion trends can get wildly expensive — especially if you’re into high-end brands and like to change things up often. Rent the Runway, while not cheap, definitely makes it a bit more affordable. Users can rent four items at a time, picking from more than 15,000 items from top designers. The base plan lets you swap out items once a month, while the pricier plan lets you swap things as often as you’d like.
Price: $90 a month for the base plan, $160 a month for the “Unlimited” plan
For anyone who might be getting a Nintendo Switch this Christmas, Nintendo’s Switch Online service is an absolute must have. It enables online play for games that have it, but also comes with a fantastic catalog of NES/SNES classics and lets you backup game saves to the cloud in case the Switch goes missing, gets stolen or gets busted. Given the grab-and-go portability of the Switch, it happens.
Launched just this year, Apple Arcade is the company’s take on a Netflix-for-games style service. One subscription gets you access to over 100 games, each playable across iPhones, iPads, Macs and AppleTVs. There are no ads, no in-app purchases to worry about and one subscription works for up to six family members.
Price: $5 per month, or $50 per year
Similar to Apple Arcade above, but just for Xbox and/or PC games. All-you-can-eat access to a rotating set of around 100 games, including all of Microsoft’s new first-party titles like Gears of War 5, Psychonauts 2 and Halo Infinite. The Ultimate plan also includes Xbox Live (enabling online play in games that offer it), which most Xbox One owners will want anyway.
Source: TechCrunch
It’s the most wonderful time of the year on the island.
Source: CNET