Month: March 2023
Roku To Cut 200 Jobs, or 6% of Its Workforce, In Second Round of Layoffs
Roku will lay off 6% of its workforce, or 200 employees, in its second round of job cuts, the U.S. streaming device maker said. Reuters reports: In a bid to lower expenses, the company also decided to exit and sub-lease office facilities that it did not currently occupy. Roku had in November cut 200 jobs in the United States, where companies, led by technology giants such as Meta Platforms and Amazon.com Inc, are bracing for a potential economic downturn amid rising borrowing costs around the world.
Roku, which had about 3,600 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, expects to incur charges of between $30 million and $35 million related to the restructuring. Majority of the restructuring charges will be incurred in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, while the job cuts will be completed by the end of the second quarter, the company said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Roku will lay off 6% of its workforce, or 200 employees, in its second round of job cuts, the U.S. streaming device maker said. Reuters reports: In a bid to lower expenses, the company also decided to exit and sub-lease office facilities that it did not currently occupy. Roku had in November cut 200 jobs in the United States, where companies, led by technology giants such as Meta Platforms and Amazon.com Inc, are bracing for a potential economic downturn amid rising borrowing costs around the world.
Roku, which had about 3,600 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, expects to incur charges of between $30 million and $35 million related to the restructuring. Majority of the restructuring charges will be incurred in the first quarter of fiscal 2023, while the job cuts will be completed by the end of the second quarter, the company said.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Virgin Orbit officially shutters its space launch operations
Virgin Orbit’s days of slinging satellites into space aboard aircraft-launched rockets have come to an end Thursday. After six years in business, Virgin’s satellite launch subsidiary has announced via SEC filing that it does not have the funding to continue operations and will be shuttering for “the foreseeable future,” per CNBC. Nearly 90 percent of Virgin Orbit’s employees — 675 people in total — will be laid off immediately.
Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 for the purpose of developing and commercializing LauncherOne, a satellite launch system fitted under a modified 747 airliner, dubbed Cosmic Girl. The system was designed to put 500 pounds of cubesats into Low Earth Orbit by firing them in a rocket from said airliner flying at an altitude of 30,000 – 50,000 feet. Despite a string of early successes — both in terms of development milestones and expanding service contracts with the UK military, LauncherOne’s first official test in May of 2020 failed to deliver its simulated payload into orbit.
According to telemetry, LauncherOne has reached orbit! Everyone on the team who is not in mission control right now is going absolutely bonkers. Even the folks on comms are trying really hard not to sound too excited.— Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 17, 2021
A second attempt the following January in 2022 however was a success with the launch of 10 NASA cube sats into LEO, as was Virgin Orbit’s first commercial satellite launch that June. It successfully sent seven more satellites into orbit in January 2022 and quietly launched Space Force assets that July.
In all, Virgin Orbit made six total flights between 2020 and 2023, only four successfully. The most recent attempt was dubbed the Start Me Up event and was supposed to mark the first commercial space launch from UK soil. Despite the rocket successfully separating from its parent aircraft, an upper stage “anomaly” prevented the rocket’s payload from entering orbit. It was later determined that a $100 fuel filter had failed and resulted in the fault.
As TechCrunch points out, Virgin Group founder, Sir Richard Branson, “threw upwards of $55 million to the sinking space company,” in recent months but Start Me Up’s embarrassing failure turned out to be the final straw. On March 16th, Virgin Orbit announced an “operational pause” and worker furlough for its roughly 750 employees as company leadership scrambled to find new funding sources. The company extended the furlough two weeks later and called it quits on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to secure the funding to provide a clear path for this company,” Virgin CEO Dan Hart said in an all-hands call obtained by CNBC. “We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes.”
Impacted employees will reportedly receive severance packages, according to Hart, including a cash payment, continued benefits and a “direct pipeline” to Virgin Galactic’s hiring department. Virgin Orbit’s two top executives will also receive “golden parachute” severances which were approved by the company’s board, conveniently, back in mid-March right when the furloughs first took effect.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/virgin-orbit-officially-shutters-its-space-launch-operations-231755999.html?src=rss
Virgin Orbit’s days of slinging satellites into space aboard aircraft-launched rockets have come to an end Thursday. After six years in business, Virgin’s satellite launch subsidiary has announced via SEC filing that it does not have the funding to continue operations and will be shuttering for “the foreseeable future,” per CNBC. Nearly 90 percent of Virgin Orbit’s employees — 675 people in total — will be laid off immediately.
Virgin Orbit was founded in 2017 for the purpose of developing and commercializing LauncherOne, a satellite launch system fitted under a modified 747 airliner, dubbed Cosmic Girl. The system was designed to put 500 pounds of cubesats into Low Earth Orbit by firing them in a rocket from said airliner flying at an altitude of 30,000 – 50,000 feet. Despite a string of early successes — both in terms of development milestones and expanding service contracts with the UK military, LauncherOne’s first official test in May of 2020 failed to deliver its simulated payload into orbit.
According to telemetry, LauncherOne has reached orbit! Everyone on the team who is not in mission control right now is going absolutely bonkers. Even the folks on comms are trying really hard not to sound too excited.
— Virgin Orbit (@VirginOrbit) January 17, 2021
A second attempt the following January in 2022 however was a success with the launch of 10 NASA cube sats into LEO, as was Virgin Orbit’s first commercial satellite launch that June. It successfully sent seven more satellites into orbit in January 2022 and quietly launched Space Force assets that July.
In all, Virgin Orbit made six total flights between 2020 and 2023, only four successfully. The most recent attempt was dubbed the Start Me Up event and was supposed to mark the first commercial space launch from UK soil. Despite the rocket successfully separating from its parent aircraft, an upper stage “anomaly” prevented the rocket’s payload from entering orbit. It was later determined that a $100 fuel filter had failed and resulted in the fault.
As TechCrunch points out, Virgin Group founder, Sir Richard Branson, “threw upwards of $55 million to the sinking space company,” in recent months but Start Me Up’s embarrassing failure turned out to be the final straw. On March 16th, Virgin Orbit announced an “operational pause” and worker furlough for its roughly 750 employees as company leadership scrambled to find new funding sources. The company extended the furlough two weeks later and called it quits on Thursday.
“Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to secure the funding to provide a clear path for this company,” Virgin CEO Dan Hart said in an all-hands call obtained by CNBC. “We have no choice but to implement immediate, dramatic and extremely painful changes.”
Impacted employees will reportedly receive severance packages, according to Hart, including a cash payment, continued benefits and a “direct pipeline” to Virgin Galactic’s hiring department. Virgin Orbit’s two top executives will also receive “golden parachute” severances which were approved by the company’s board, conveniently, back in mid-March right when the furloughs first took effect.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/virgin-orbit-officially-shutters-its-space-launch-operations-231755999.html?src=rss
Opening Day Gives Yankees Plenty of Reason to Dream
Everything went well in the Bronx. Gerrit Cole cruised, Aaron Judge homered and Anthony Volpe made his major league debut in an easy win over San Francisco.
Everything went well in the Bronx. Gerrit Cole cruised, Aaron Judge homered and Anthony Volpe made his major league debut in an easy win over San Francisco.
Adobe Reveals New Firefly AI Tool to Help Illustrators Color Their Art – CNET
Generative AI is completely changing the creative process.
Generative AI is completely changing the creative process.
Mets Beat Marlins as Justin Verlander Hits Injured List
The ace right-hander Justin Verlander’s being put on the injured list will test the team’s depth, but Max Scherzer and the Mets’ bullpen were enough to beat Miami.
The ace right-hander Justin Verlander’s being put on the injured list will test the team’s depth, but Max Scherzer and the Mets’ bullpen were enough to beat Miami.
Virgin Orbit fails to secure funding, will cease operations and lay off nearly entire workforce
submitted by /u/getBusyChild [link] [comments]
submitted by /u/getBusyChild
[link] [comments]
The Logo for King Charles’s Coronation Was Designed by Jony Ive
Speaking of King Charles III, I’ve been meaning to link to this:
“The design was inspired by King Charles’s love of the planet,
nature, and his deep concern for the natural world,” said the
former Apple design guru, who is more usually associated with
sleek tech designs of equipment such as iMacs and iPods.
The logo, to be used for events over the coronation long weekend
in May, features a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock – emblems
from across the United Kingdom.
It’s in contrast to the very stark design of the new King Charles
stamps revealed this week, which has no crown or
decoration.
It’s a lovely mark — one that should clearly stand the test of time. It would have looked good 100 years ago and should look good 100 years from now.
★
Speaking of King Charles III, I’ve been meaning to link to this:
“The design was inspired by King Charles’s love of the planet,
nature, and his deep concern for the natural world,” said the
former Apple design guru, who is more usually associated with
sleek tech designs of equipment such as iMacs and iPods.
The logo, to be used for events over the coronation long weekend
in May, features a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock – emblems
from across the United Kingdom.
It’s in contrast to the very stark design of the new King Charles
stamps revealed this week, which has no crown or
decoration.
It’s a lovely mark — one that should clearly stand the test of time. It would have looked good 100 years ago and should look good 100 years from now.
Summer gaming events 2023: with E3 canceled, here’s what’s next
Starfield. | Image: Bethesda Softworks
E3 isn’t happening, but the news isn’t stopping. E3 will no longer be happening in 2023. It didn’t seem likely after Nintendo said it wouldn’t be there, Microsoft said it would be skipping the show floor, and Ubisoft committed to going and then backed out, but on March 30th, organizer ReedPop officially called off the convention.
Still, we already know of some promising summer gaming shows to look forward to. As we get closer to June, it seems likely that more gaming companies will announce events of some kind to get in on the excitement.
Here’s all of our coverage of E3’s cancellation and what comes next.
Starfield. | Image: Bethesda Softworks
E3 isn’t happening, but the news isn’t stopping.
E3 will no longer be happening in 2023. It didn’t seem likely after Nintendo said it wouldn’t be there, Microsoft said it would be skipping the show floor, and Ubisoft committed to going and then backed out, but on March 30th, organizer ReedPop officially called off the convention.
Still, we already know of some promising summer gaming shows to look forward to. As we get closer to June, it seems likely that more gaming companies will announce events of some kind to get in on the excitement.
Here’s all of our coverage of E3’s cancellation and what comes next.
‘Quordle’ today: Here are the answers and hints for March 31
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you’ve come to the right place for hints. There aren’t just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you’ll get what you need.
What is Quordle?
Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it’s not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.
Is Quordle harder than Wordle?
Yes, though not diabolically so.
Where did Quordle come from?
Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30. Meyer’s creation was covered in The Guardian six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running.
How is Quordle pronounced?
“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like “curdle.”
Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?
Yes and no.
Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.
After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.
What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?
Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can’t afford to waste guesses unless you’re eliminating as many letters as possible at all times.
Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn’t the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it’s a normal part of the player’s strategic toolset.
Is there a way to get the answer faster?
In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:
Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We’ve had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”
Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.
If strategy isn’t helping, and you’re still stumped, here are some hints:
Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?
One word has a double letter.
Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?
One word has a double letter.
What do today’s Quordle words start with?
C, T, S, and P.
What are the answers for today’s Quordle?
Are you sure you want to know?
There’s still time to turn back.
OK, you asked for it. The answers are:
CHOIR
TUBAL
SCOUR
PARRY
If Quordle is a little too challenging today, you’ve come to the right place for hints. There aren’t just hints here, but the whole Quordle solution. Scroll to the bottom of this page, and there it is. But are you sure you need all four answers? Maybe you just need a strategy guide. Either way, scroll down, and you’ll get what you need.
What is Quordle?
Quordle is a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordle games at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it’s not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.
Is Quordle harder than Wordle?
Yes, though not diabolically so.
Where did Quordle come from?
Amid the Wordle boom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordle variations, Dordle — the one where you essentially play two Wordles at once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30. Meyer’s creation was covered in The Guardian six days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue from Patreon, where dedicated Quordle fans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running.
How is Quordle pronounced?
“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like “curdle.”
Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?
Yes and no.
Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordle opening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.
After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordle exactly like Wordle.
What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?
Solving a Wordle puzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordle and Quordle: In Quordle, you can’t afford to waste guesses unless you’re eliminating as many letters as possible at all times.
Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn’t the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it’s a normal part of the player’s strategic toolset.
Is there a way to get the answer faster?
In my experience Quordle can be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordle four times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordle if you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:
Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. We’ve had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”
Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.
If strategy isn’t helping, and you’re still stumped, here are some hints:
Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?
One word has a double letter.
Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?
One word has a double letter.
What do today’s Quordle words start with?
C, T, S, and P.
What are the answers for today’s Quordle?
Are you sure you want to know?
There’s still time to turn back.
OK, you asked for it. The answers are:
CHOIR
TUBAL
SCOUR
PARRY
Journalists Are Losing Their Blue Checks On Twitter. Will Newsrooms Pay?
BuzzFeed isn’t ponying up, but for other outlets, paying might make sense.
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