It appears that the International Space Station will welcome more amateur astronauts who are willing to pay a hefty price for trips to space. NASA is requesting proposals for two more private astronaut missions to the ISS that could fly to low Earth orbit as early as late 2023.
Another Buzz Lightyear toy is destined for the market, but this model is far more advanced than the one released back in the 1990s… and far more expensive.
See, the problem is that you plebes simply aren’t buying enough. To rectify this issue, Amazon announced on Thursday that it is introducing a new Alexa feature, dubbed “Customers Ask Alexa,” wherein “expert brands” provide answers to customer questions like “How can I remove pet hair from my carpet?” that also just so happen to prominently feature that brand’s particular product.
Per the company, brands will have to first sign up to the Amazon Brand Registry to gain access to the sellers hub where they can view and answer questions that customers ask their networked Alexa devices. Both questions and answers reportedly pass through the company’s content moderation team before the most relevant answers are pushed live.
The program launches on limited release this October before expanding out to all eligible US brands by 2023. Alexa users will see the responses appear in late 2022 in the Amazon search bar and on Echo devices by the middle of next year.
While this isn’t the creepiest use of Alexa we’ve seen from the company in Q3 2022 — that honor goes to the ghouls who think using your Nan’s vocal imprints like an auditory marionette is a good idea — but it is among the most concerning. Amazon has made no secret of its goal to surveil (and subsequently profit from) every aspect of our public and private lives that it can worm itself access into — whether that’s knowing our shopping habits, viewing habits, eating habits, obviously our cleaning habits, and potentially soon, our healthcare habits. And if this announcement holds any portent for the future, getting reliable answers to even basic questions is going to get a lot harder for anyone navigating Amazon’s sprawling online ecosphere.
When Square-Enix, one of the most famous games publishers in the world, announced that it was going to be delving into the world of NFTs—even as the world of NFTs crashed and burned around it—gamers were concerned about just how their games, everything from Final Fantasy to, uh, *checks notes* Various Daylife, could…
Lawyers for the rapper say the retailer failed to meet obligations of their contract, and that West plans to begin opening his own Yeezy retail stores.
Star Trek: Lower Decks’ third season has opened in a funny way. Not “ha-ha” funny, although there’s still plenty of that to be had. Instead, it’s of a more peculiar sort—the inescapable feeling that, no matter how good the gags remain, the show is unsure what steps forward it wants to take with its main characters.
It’s well established that, if a major tech company sees another platform succeeding based on a (relatively) original idea, it’s going to want to shamelessly copy that idea. And it’s probably also going to want some upgraded ad-tech to go with it.
Tesla is once again in the headlines over its Autopilot features, this time due to a proposed class action lawsuit that lobs accusations at the automaker.
The Federal Trade Commission is making its own bid to protect gig workers against exploitation. The regulator has adopted a policy statement detailing how it will tackle gig workers’ problems. The FTC plans to step in when there are misrepresentations about pay, costs, benefits and work terms. Officials also expect to intervene with “unfair or deceptive” algorithms, harsh contracts and anti-competitive behavior such as wage fixing and monopoly-creating mergers.
The Commission said the classification of workers wouldn’t affect enforcement, so companies can’t avoid repercussions by classifying people as contractors instead of employees. Violators may have to pay fines and change their practices, and the FTC could partner with other government bodies (such as the Justice Department and National Labor Relations Board) to address issues.
There are gaps. It could be difficult for the FTC to prove algorithm-driven abuse, for instance, and it’s not clear which non-contractual “restraints” might hurt workers’ freedom of movement. However, this could still serve as a warning to gig companies that might hide steep operating costs, fight unionization efforts or collude with rivals to keep wages low.
The FTC isn’t alone in hoping to improve the lot of gig workers. A bipartisan measure in Congress, introduced to the House and Senate this February, is meant to provide portable benefits to gig workers. Last year, the Labor Department revoked a rule that made it harder to protect those workers’ labor rights. States and cities have also filed lawsuits and otherwise taken efforts to bolster working conditions. However, the FTC’s policy provides an extra, nationwide safeguard that might further discourage attempts to exploit the gig economy.
The Federal Trade Commission is making its own bid to protect gig workers against exploitation. The regulator has adopted a policy statement detailing how it will tackle gig workers’ problems. The FTC plans to step in when there are misrepresentations about pay, costs, benefits and work terms. Officials also expect to intervene with “unfair or deceptive” algorithms, harsh contracts and anti-competitive behavior such as wage fixing and monopoly-creating mergers.
The Commission said the classification of workers wouldn’t affect enforcement, so companies can’t avoid repercussions by classifying people as contractors instead of employees. Violators may have to pay fines and change their practices, and the FTC could partner with other government bodies (such as the Justice Department and National Labor Relations Board) to address issues.
There are gaps. It could be difficult for the FTC to prove algorithm-driven abuse, for instance, and it’s not clear which non-contractual “restraints” might hurt workers’ freedom of movement. However, this could still serve as a warning to gig companies that might hide steep operating costs, fight unionization efforts or collude with rivals to keep wages low.
The FTC isn’t alone in hoping to improve the lot of gig workers. A bipartisan measure in Congress, introduced to the House and Senate this February, is meant to provide portable benefits to gig workers. Last year, the Labor Department revoked a rule that made it harder to protect those workers’ labor rights. States and cities have also filed lawsuits and otherwise taken efforts to bolster working conditions. However, the FTC’s policy provides an extra, nationwide safeguard that might further discourage attempts to exploit the gig economy.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
