United

US supports lifting patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday that it supported waiving patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines, calling the pandemic a “global health crisis.” “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures. The Administration believes strongly in intellectual property protections, but in service of ending this pandemic,… Read more

Voxx and Sharp in talks to buy struggling Onkyo

Home News (Image credit: Onkyo) Sharp and Voxx are in talks to take over Onkyo. The struggling Japanese audio brand is reported to be on the verge of financial collapse, so this could be the Osaka-based firm’s last roll of the dice. “VOXX International Corporation today announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent… Read more

GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Allegedly Up For Purchase At $3,500 Before Launch

Home News MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X (Image credit: FaisalKhatib/Reddit) According to a Redditor, one of the biggest computer hardware retailers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has already offered up MSI’s GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Suprim X for a whopping sum of $3,500. An employee reportedly sent a WhatsApp message to notify… Read more

Go read this devastating look at cancers going undiagnosed during the pandemic

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, as people avoided doctors’ offices and hospitals canceled nonessential appointments, routine cancer screenings plummeted. Now, we’re starting to see the consequences. ProPublica tells the story of Teresa Ruvalcaba, a factory worker in Chicago who ignored searing pain in her chest for six months…. Read more

Target gig workers are getting their bank accounts drained by hackers

Scammers are hacking into the accounts of Target gig workers and draining their bank accounts, Motherboard reports. Since March 28th, more than 30 employees who work for Shipt, Target’s delivery app, have posted on Facebook about being attacked. The company employs about 300,000 contract shoppers in the United States. In some cases, the scammers are… Read more

Volkswagen is being investigated for its ‘Voltswagen’ stunt

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating Volkswagen’s “Voltswagen” debacle to see how the stunt affected the automaker’s stock price, and whether it broke any securities laws, according to Der Spiegel. The faux rebranding took place on March 29th, when Volkswagen’s American subsidiary “accidentally” published a draft press release about changing its… Read more

Peacock signs up 9 million after adding WWE and The Office

Comcast said that The Office and WWE were to thank for its new-ish streaming service, Peacock, adding 9 million signups during the first three months of 2021. Peacock now has 42 million members total in the United States. That looks strong compared to HBO’s 44.2 million US customers, but it comes with a huge caveat:… Read more

Amazon’s pay raise for over 500,000 workers comes at an interesting time

Amazon has announced that over 500,000 of its workers will get a permanent increase in their hourly wages starting in mid-May, from as low as an additional 50 cents an hour to as much as three extra dollars per hour (via GeekWire). That’s a substantial chunk of its 1.3 million person workforce getting at least… Read more

Google expands its Android-based earthquake detection system

Google is expanding its Android-based earthquake detection and alert system, filling in gaps in places where there are few seismometers and no early warning systems. Starting today, the program that launched in California last year will also be available in Greece and New Zealand. This also marks a new step for Google; it’s the first… Read more

The UAW wants to unionize EV startup factory workers

The United Auto Workers union is “laying the groundwork” to organize factory workers that will build electric vehicles for startups like Rivian and Lucid Motors, president Rory Gamble told CNBC. “That’s a given. We are formulating plans to go out to all these start-ups to give these workers a voice,” he said. “In today’s world,… Read more

COVID-19 vaccinations are keeping older Americans out of hospitals

Two shots of a COVID-19 vaccine reduced the risk of hospitalization by 94 percent for people over 65, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That age group is at the highest risk of severe cases of COVID-19 — that’s why it was prioritized for the early waves of… Read more

People who are vaccinated don’t need to wear masks during many outdoor activities, CDC says

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for people who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, outlining the situations where vaccinated people can stop wearing masks. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after the second dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, and two weeks after the Johnson &… Read more

Acer and Predator-Branded RAM, SSDs Decloak

Home News (Image credit: Acer) Acer is making new inroads in the components market, with both Acer- and Predator-branded SSD storage and RAM modules. The brand has been licensed by Biwin Technologies, which will release the products in the United States, United Kingdom, China, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Pricing and release dates weren’t… Read more

Apple will reportedly face EU antitrust charges this week

The European Commission will issue antitrust charges against Apple over concerns about the company’s App Store practices, according to a report from the Financial Times. The commission has been investigating whether Apple has broken EU competition rules with its App Store policies, following an initial complaint from Spotify back in 2019 over Apple’s 30 percent… Read more

New White House task force will look for ways to boost union organizing

President Biden issued an executive order today to create a new labor task force in support of worker organizing in the United States. The effort will be led by Vice President Kamala Harris. “Despite the importance of unions to our economy and democracy, and nearly 60 million workers today saying they would join a union… Read more