Staying Positive

Coronavirus Updates

Global cases rose above 6.47 million yesterday, with more than 381,600 deaths. The number of confirmed U.S. cases rose past 1.88 million, with 108,029 confirmed deaths.

• Chicago will allow outdoor dining services to operate beginning today. See where your state stands on reopening here.
• An AP investigative report found that, despite the WHO’s public comments, officials behind the scenes expressed considerable frustration over China’s slow release of COVID-19 data. Beijing first released the genome sequence on Jan. 11, and published detailed case data two weeks later.
• Tokyo reissued a stay-at-home alert to citizens after recorded daily cases jumped to 34 - the highest since early May.

Nationwide Protests

Across the U.S., more than 4,400 arrests have been made since George Floyd’s death on Memorial Day, with officials having linked at least ten deaths to the ensuing protests.

• Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad was fired Monday afternoon after the fatal shooting of local businessman David McAtee. Conrad was let go after the mayor learned that the officers at the scene of the shooting did not have their body cameras turned on.
• The Minnesota Department of Human Rights filed a discrimination charge against the Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday, launching a civil rights investigation into the department’s policies, procedures, and practices over the past decade.
• Protests have gone worldwide. Check out photos of protestors from cities across the globe, as well as the various murals that have been painted to commemorate Floyd.

Carole Baskin Awarded Joe Exotic’s Former Zoo

A federal judge gave control of Joe Exotic’s former zoo (G.W. Exotic Animal Memorial Park) to Carole Baskin, owner of Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue, on Tuesday. The judge made the determination that the zoo was fraudulently transferred to Exotic’s mother in 2011 to avoid creditors.

More: The years-long feud between Baskin and Exotic is documented on Netflix’s original show “Tiger King.”

Protests & The Coronavirus Effect

• Restaurant transactions are slowly recovering in the wake of COVID-induced shutdowns, as can be seen in these three charts.
• Wells Fargo - one of America’s biggest lenders for car purchases - reportedly dropped hundreds of independent auto dealerships as customers last month in light of the economic uncertainty due to COVID-19.
• Cisco on Monday postponed the online version of its major customer event, Cisco Live, due to protests; Sony, Google, and EA have also delayed tech events this week for similar reasons.
• Thousands of volunteers across America each morning have swept up debris, scrubbed out graffiti, and otherwise helped clean up their communities in the aftermath of the past few nights of protests.

By The Book

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the company’s employees in a private town-hall meeting on Tuesday, defending his decision not to flag a recent controversial post from President Trump. The meeting came a day after a group of FB employees participated in a “virtual walkout,” and several publicly quit the company.

More: An executive order signed last week by Trump targeting legal protections given to social media companies received its first legal challenge yesterday.

Let The Games Begin

Tencent-owned Riot Games officially launched its newest first-person shooter game, ‘Valorant.’ Last week, Riot revealed the game drew an average of 3 million daily users during its nearly two-month closed beta period. For scale, Fortnite amassed over 10 million total players in the first two weeks following its 2017 release.

More: Even ten years after its launch, Riot’s flagship game - League of Legends - is the most-played PC game in the world, reportedly generating more than $20 billion over its lifetime.

Golden Oldies

COVID-19 has impacted the elderly more severely than any other age group. With more than two million seniors quarantined in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and retirement communities across America, the aged are now battling another invisible adversary – loneliness.

Managed by a team of elderly DJs, new online radio station Radio Recliner offers isolated elders the opportunity to share their favorite memories and music with their contemporaries over the airwaves. Reminiscent of classic dedication-style radio – a format characterized by call-in messages and song requests – the station helps alleviate seniors’ solitude with the velvety vocals of Elvis and Buddy Holly.

Putting Zimbabwe On The Map

The advent of virtual maps, characterized by the introduction of interactive images, has redefined how people understand, explore, and reflect on the world around them. Thus, when Tawanda Kanhema looked up his home country of Zimbabwe on Google Street View, he was alarmed to find that no images of it existed on the platform.

Toting a 360-degree camera he borrowed from Google, the tech-enthusiast and amateur photographer roamed over 2,000 miles through his homeland, documenting city streets and rural trails to ensure Zimbabwe’s spot on the map.

Lending A Hand

When industrial engineer Guillermo Martinez bought his first 3D printer in 2017, he used it solely for his own amusement, building toy robots and other trinkets. After exploring how to maximize the printer’s capabilities, he found his machine could be used for a more noble cause – prosthetic hands.

Guillermo now 3D prints prostheses for people who are missing limbs in Kenya through his company, Ayúdame3D (Help Me 3D). He has delivered over 50 of the devices - free of charge - to amputees in need, and started a program to teach local children how to use the 3D printers themselves.

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