Latest Newsletter

Coronavirus Update

• World: According to the WHO, the world-at-large reported more new cases yesterday than mainland China for the first time since the outbreak began.
• U.S.: President Trump appointed VP Mike Pence to coordinate the government’s response to the virus, and stressed that the current risk to Americans remains low.

More: A new graphic released by the CDC warns men which styles of facial hair are compatible (or not) with face respirators.

Deadly Shooting In Milwaukee

A lone gunman killed five people – and then himself – at a Molson Coors facility in Milwaukee, WI, on Wednesday. The shooter has been identified as a 51-year-old man who worked for the brewery.

Trump Campaign & the NYT

The Trump campaign filed a libel lawsuit against the New York Times, alleging the media company knowingly published false and defamatory statements in a March 2019 opinion piece. The piece, titled “The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo,” was written by longtime NYT editor Max Frenkel.

Make ‘Em Misra-ble

According to the WSJ (no $ needed), Rajeev Misra – the head of SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund – reportedly funneled millions of dollars into a campaign to sabotage two of his rivals within the company. The tactics allegedly included planting negative news stories about the individuals and attempting to lure one of the executives into a sexual “honey trap.”

The Coronavirus Effect

Microsoft shares fell 2% in extended trading Wednesday after the company said it doesn’t plan on its PC unit – which includes Windows and Surface – meeting its quarterly revenue guidance. Microsoft has suffered a disruption in the PC unit’s supply chain due to the coronavirus outbreak.

More: Last week, Apple also warned that it would miss its own quarterly revenue guidance due to the virus causing a decrease in both supply and demand.

Clear and Present Danger

According to The Daily Beast, facial recognition startup Clearview AI recently notified its customers of an internal data breach due to a vulnerability the company said it had already fixed. Clearview reportedly disclosed that intruders had gained unauthorized access to its full list of customers, along with limited information on their actions.

More: The New York Times previously reported that Clearview AI has scraped more than 3 billion images from websites like Facebook to create its facial recognition database.

A Horn is Born

One-horned rhinos have been widely hunted for sport in Africa – as a result, their numbers have plummeted, and the species is now classified as ‘vulnerable.’

The Denver Zoo recently welcomed its first-ever baby one-horned rhino Saturday morning, a result finally achieved after four years and 11 attempts at artificial insemination before a pregnancy.

For Love of the Game

Last Saturday was a roller coaster of emotions for Sabrina Ionescu. The 22-year-old Oregon basketball star was a featured speaker at her mentor, Kobe Bryant’s LA memorial before suiting up that night for a game against Stanford.

Sabrina made basketball history just hours after paying homage to the all-time great when she became the first player in NCAA history to amass 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in a career.

Power to the People

In the aftermath of the widespread Australian bushfires, dozens of rural communities were left without power, with local firefighters left dependent on high-polluting and inefficient diesel generators.

Australian billionaire couple Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes have donated $12 million towards installing solar-powered microgrids in more than 100 locations across the country, some in as little as two days.