Retailers report modest gains for April Americans spent briskly during the early spring months in the latest sign that they’re encouraged by the economic recovery. Falling gas prices, a rallying stock market and gains in the job market all fueled Americans’ shopping habits even as cold weather tempered their desire to buy spring fashions. More
Sears Didn't Move Fast Enough, CEO Says Sears continues to struggle to get a "decent" return on its assets and the retailer didn't move fast enough to cut expenses after the financial crisis, the CEO said at the annual meeting. More
J.C. Penney ad apologizes to customers The ad comes after the Plano, Texas-based company last month fired its CEO, Ron Johnson, after 17 months on the job and rehired his predecessor Mike Ullman. Johnson's ambitious changes included getting rid of most sales and bringing in new, hip brands. More
In Germany, a U.S. beer invasion Almost 65 years after Allied planes flew Western supplies into blockaded Berlin, a new American import is arriving by air: craft beer. The beer is being flown in as part of a new surge of German interest in American brewing, upending a centuries-old relationship in which German beer defined the golden standard for brewing and Americans emulated it. More
Cost Of Coffee Set To Skyrocket “The coffee market has a set up for all-time highs to be seen over the next crop cycle,” writes Shawn Hackett in the Hackett Money Flow Commodities Report which focuses on agricultural products. A ... 04/27/2024 - 5:47 am | View Link
Here’s How I Score Brand-New Coffee Table Books For Less People often ask me just how I’ve accumulated so many coffee table books, knowing that titles generally cost a pretty penny. My secret is T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, HomeGoods, and HomeSense. 04/26/2024 - 10:23 am | View Link
Why coffee prices are poised to surge even further as food inflation rages A supply crunch of robusta coffee beans in Vietnam — the world’s biggest producer of the bitter bean variety — is poised to send the cost of your already pricey latte even ... 04/26/2024 - 1:36 am | View Link
Starbucks is bringing back its ‘best drink ever’ and adding 5 more to summer menu As well as these there are two new drinks on the menu — a Raspberry Mini-Bubble Frappe and Blueberry Burst Bubble Tea. Summer refresher drinks are also back, plus lemonade and pink lemonade. 04/24/2024 - 11:31 pm | View Link
How the Baltimore bridge collapse upended a D.C. coffee chain’s business The collapse upended the supply chain for the D.C.-based roaster, which imports most of its beans through the Port of Baltimore. The crash is expected to cause delays and extra co ... 04/23/2024 - 11:00 pm | View Link
Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for April 30's Wordle solution revealed.
Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
Enlarge (credit: Roku)
Roku CEO Anthony Wood disclosed plans to introduce video ads to the Roku OS home screen. The news highlights Roku’s growing focus on advertising and an alarming trend in the streaming industry that sees ads increasingly forced on viewers.
As spotted by The Streamable, during Roku's Q1 2024 earnings call last week, Wood, also the company's founder and chairman, boasted about the Roku OS home screen showing users ads "before they select an app," avoiding the possibility that they don't see any ads during their TV-viewing session.
Enlarge / Edwin (George Rexstrew) and Charles (Jayden Revri) are the Dead Boy Detectives, ghosts who solve paranormal mysteries. (credit: Netflix )
For those eagerly anticipating the second season of Netflix's stellar adaption of Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels, Dead Boy Detectives—the streaming plaform's new supernatural horror detective series—is a welcome return to that weird magical world.
Enlarge (credit: Benj Edwards | Getty Images)
On Friday, the US Department of Homeland Security announced the formation of an Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board that consists of 22 members pulled from the tech industry, government, academia, and civil rights organizations. But given the nebulous nature of the term "AI," which can apply to a broad spectrum of computer technology, it's unclear if this group will even be able to agree on what exactly they are safeguarding us from.
President Biden directed DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to establish the board, which will meet for the first time in early May and subsequently on a quarterly basis.
The fundamental assumption posed by the board's existence, and reflected in Biden's AI executive order from October, is that AI is an inherently risky technology and that American citizens and businesses need to be protected from its misuse.