Mark Zuckerberg is the multibillionaire founder behind Facebook (now Meta) who is shaping the course of social interaction and virtual reality online. Mark Zuckerberg has led Facebook, now Meta, for nearly two decades.David Ramos/Getty Images Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg grew up outside of New York City and dropped out of Harvard after founding Facebook. He's built it into a multibillion-dollar company while weathering numerous scandals and controversies. Here's a look at his career rise, personal life, and controversies over the years. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has weathered success and controversy in equal parts over the past 19 years.The millennial CEO is credited with creating a social network that has more monthly active users than any single country in the world has people, and his majority voting rights give him complete control of the company — which also means he's often the focal point of any backlash.As it grew from a social network called Facebook to a metaverse company named Meta, the company that Zuckerberg built has weathered scandal after scandal even as it saw seemingly unstoppable growth. But things have shifted as Facebook user numbers stalled out last year for the first time, Zuckerberg's net worth plunged, and Meta layoffs affected more than 21,000 people, marking the biggest cull in the company's history.Still, Zuckerberg's net worth is estimated at $108 billion, making him the 10th richest person in the world. At the beginning of the 2022, Zuckerberg was worth $125 billion.At the same time, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have poured billions into efforts to cure human diseasea via their foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; amassed a sprawling real estate empire in Hawaii; and expanded their family to include three young daughters: Maxima, August, and Aurelia.Here's a look at the timeline of Zuckerberg's career, from his early life in a New York suburb to his role as one of the most powerful CEOs in the world:Early life, familyNew York City seen through the frozen Hudson River in Dobbs Ferry, New York.Amir Levy/Getty ImagesWhile he's now a titan of Silicon Valley, Mark Zuckerberg was raised in the quaint town of Dobbs Ferry, New York. He was born to Edward and Karen Zuckerberg, a dentist and psychiatrist, respectively. He has three siblings: Randi, Donna, and Arielle.Source: New York MagazineYoung computer programmerRick Friedman/Corbis via Getty ImagesA precocious child, Mark at age 12 created a messaging program called "Zucknet" using Atari BASIC. He also coded computer games for his friends at a young age.Source: New York MagazineBuilding a music streamer in high schoolJusting Sullivan/Getty ImagesWhile attending high school at the renowned Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, he built an early music streaming platform, which both AOL and Microsoft showed interest in. Still a teen, he rejected offers for an acquisition or a job.Source: New York Magazine Other interestsUnfortunately, this isn't actually Zuckerberg fencing.Murad Sezer/ReutersHe wasn't just a computer nerd, though. Zuck loved the classics — "The Odyssey" and the like — and he became captain of his high school fencing team.Source: The New YorkerBefore Facebook, there was Face mashZuckerberg and Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes.Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty ImagesSoon after Zuckerberg started at Harvard University in 2002, he earned a reputation as a skilled developer. His first hit was "Face mash," a hot-or-not-style app that used the pictures of his classmates that he hacked from the school administration's dormitory ID files.Source: The New YorkerYoung lovePriscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg.Bloomberg via Getty ImagesZuckerberg met his now-wife, Priscilla Chan, at Harvard in 2003. Chan told Savannah Guthrie on "Today" that they met at a frat party thrown by Zuckerberg's fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi.Source: TodayFounding "The Facebook"Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty ImagesZuckerberg started "The Facebook" with several friends out of his dorm room, and dropped out of school in 2005, after his sophomore year, to focus on the social network full-time.Source: The New YorkerCEO Mark ZuckerbergPaul Sakuma/APZuckerberg wasn't always the polished statesman he is now. In Facebook's early days, he carried business cards that read, "I'm CEO, B----."Source: TechCrunchFacebook's series A fundingPaul Sakuma/APZuckerberg's company raised its $12.7 million Series A round of funding while he was barely of legal drinking age.Person of the YearTimeIn 2010, Time magazine named Zuckerberg "Person of the Year."Source: Time"The Social Network" dramatizes Zuckerberg, Facebook's storyJustin Timberlake and Jesse Eisenberg playing Sean Parker and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively.Sony Pictures/"The Social Network"Not many tech CEOs get to see themselves immortalized on the big screen, but the 2010 movie "The Social Network" put a dramatized version of Facebook's founding story in theaters. The film earned eight Academy Award nominations, but Zuckerberg strongly maintains that many of its details are incorrect.Source: New York MagazineThroughout Facebook's rise to greatness, Zuckerberg also spent his free time studying Chinese. By the fall of 2014, his Mandarin was so good that he managed to hold a 30-minute Q&A in the language.Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain February 22, 2016.REUTERS/Albert GeaThroughout Facebook's rise to greatness, Zuckerberg studied Chinese in his free time. By the fall of 2014, his Mandarin was so good that he managed to hold a 30-minute Q&A in the language.Facebook's historic IPO catapulted Zuckerberg's net worthAPZuckerberg took Facebook public on May 18, 2012. The IPO raised $16 billion, making it the biggest tech IPO in history at the time. Zuckerberg became the 29th-richest person on the planet overnight.Priscilla Chan becomes Mark Zuckerberg's wifeMark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan embrace during a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative event in 2016.Beck Diefenbach/ReutersThe day after Facebook went public, Zuckerberg and Chan got married. The relatively low-key event was actually a surprise wedding — guests thought they were celebrating Chan's medical school graduation.Zuckerberg designed Chan's ruby ring himself. Chan walked down the aisle with Beast, the couple's Hungarian Puli, who they adopted in 2011.The two honeymooned in Italy, flying in on a private jet and staying at a five-star hotel, Portrait Suites, where rooms started at 800 euros per night. But they still kept it casual at times when looking for something to eat — paparazzi spotted the couple eating at McDonald's while overseas.Starting a familyAP Photo/Manuel Balce CenetaIn 2015, Zuckerberg and Chan announced the birth of daughter Maxima, or "Max" for short. "There is so much joy in our little family," Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook.Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is bornPeter Barreras/APIn honor of Max's birth, the couple announced their plan to sell 99% of Zuckerberg's Facebook stock over time— worth about $45 billion at the time — to fund the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The initiative funnels money toward issues like personalized learning, curing diseases, and connecting people.Before announcing that new effort, Zuckerberg and Chan had committed $1.6 billion to philanthropic causes, including donations to the Centers for Disease Control and the San Francisco General Hospital, which was eventually renamed after Zuckerberg.Goal: curing all diseasesAPIn September 2016, Chan and Zuckerberg pledged $3 billion towards efforts to cure the world's diseases by the end of this century. "Can we help scientists to cure, prevent or manage all diseases within our children's lifetime?" Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook. "I'm optimistic we can."Another baby on the wayAdam Berry/GettyIn May 2017, Chan and Zuckerberg announced they had another baby on the way. They welcomed a second daughter, August, later that year.Zuckerberg's wealthFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.APZuckerberg is one of a very small group of people who is worth more billions of dollars than years he has lived. Still, he's far from flashy about it — the CEO famously wore only a hoodie or a gray t-shirt with jeans for over a decade, although he's switched it up in recent years.In 2014, when he was the third-richest man in the world, he bought a black Volkswagen GTI with a manual transmission, which cost around $30,000. However, he did reportedly pay for an Italian Pagani Huayra supercar around the same time.Life on KauaiA beach in Kauai, Hawaii.Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty ImagesZuckerberg also likes to spend his money on privacy. In October 2014, he shelled out around $100 million for 700 acres of secluded land on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. He's since amassed a total of 1,500 acres, though his presence on the island remains controversial among locals.Palo Alto mansionZillowIn Palo Alto, California, Zuckerberg reportedly bought his 5,617-square-foot home for $7 million in 2011, and then spent an additional $45 million on the four houses and land around it for the sake of privacy.Sources: Insider, San Jose Mercury News  San Francisco mansionDolores Park in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood.Ahmet Karaman/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesHe also bought a $10 million mansion in San Francisco, and then spent more than $1 million on remodeling and additions — like a $60,000 greenhouse — that took a year to build and reportedly disturbed neighbors in the process. He sold the property in 2022 for $31 million.Source: SF Gate, InsiderFacebook acquisitionsFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage at an Oculus developers conference in 2016.Glenn Chapmann/AFP via Getty ImagesZuckerberg hasn't been afraid to spend his company's money either. Facebook made some major acquisitions in the 2010s, including $1 billion for Instagram, $19 billion for WhatsApp, and $2 billion for Oculus. Today, Facebook apps are used by billions of people each month.Source: InsiderReturning to HarvardAssociated PressIn May 2017, Zuckerberg returned to Harvard as its youngest commencement speaker ever. During his speech, Zuckerberg touched on a range of topics, including climate change, universal basic income, criminal justice reform, and "modernizing democracy" by allowing people to vote online. He also received an honorary doctorate at the ceremony.Rubbing elbows with the rich and powerfulZuckerberg with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.SUSANA BATES/AFP via Getty ImagesZuckerberg frequently meets with high-profile figures and celebrities, including Snoop Dogg, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former President Barack Obama.Source: FacebookFacebook, fake news, and the 2016 electionAssociated PressShortly after the 2016 presidential election, Facebook was accused of spreading misinformation that led to Donald Trump's win. The CEO brushed off the claims: "Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook ... influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea."But about a year later, the first evidence of Facebook's role emerged. The company revealed that Russian parties spent around $100,000 on roughly 3,000 ads, and that 126 million Americans likely saw Russia-funded posts intended to sway them.Zuckerberg has always been passionate about political issues, but he kicked up his rhetoric significantly around the time that Trump was elected. However, he still worked behind the scenes to communicate with Trump, including attending private dinners at the White House.President Zuckerberg?Mark Zuckerberg's public image is recovering thanks to his new fitness obsession and leadership through tech's tough times.Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesIn 2017, Zuckerberg announced that his personal challenge for the year — an annual tradition of his since 2009 — was to visit every US state. The stops he made sparked speculation that he had plans to run for president one day, but he denied the rumors.Cambridge Analytica scandalAPIn March 2018, data analytics company Cambridge Analytica was revealed to have harvested data from over 50 million Facebook users' profiles — a number Facebook later said was closer to 87 million — using it to target voters during the 2016 election. The group was hired by the Trump campaign.Zuckerberg was called on to appear in front of lawmakers in two testimonies that lasted five hours each. Zuckerberg left with a laundry list of requests for answers and action items.Facebook's stock tumbled in the months following the congressional hearings and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. At its lowest, its stock was down 18% from what it had been before the story broke.Facebook's global role questionedNasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesFacebook also faced accusations in 2018 that its moderation efforts weren't adequate in stopping the proliferation of hate speech and disinformation on its network. Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp were cited as contributing to political violence and deliberate misinformation in Myanmar, India, Germany, the Philippines, Brazil, and more.Sources: Reuters, Insider, Buzzfeed NewsInstagram co-founders departInstagram cofounders Mike Krieger, left, and Kevin Systrom.Jim Bennett/WireImageIn September 2018, Instagram cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger abruptly announced they were leaving Facebook. It was later reported they had left amid "growing tensions" with Zuckerberg, and that the pair was fighting with Facebook leadership over Instagram's "autonomy."Sources: Bloomberg, InsiderWhatsApp co-founders speak outWhatsApp cofounders Brian Acton and Jan Koum.ReutersThe departure of Instagram's cofounders was quickly followed with scathing remarks from WhatsApp cofounder Brian Acton, who detailed disagreements with Facebook executives over user privacy. Both WhatsApp cofounders had left the company earlier that year.Source: Forbes, Washington PostFacebook data hackThe Asahi Shimbun via Getty ImagesTo add to an already scandal-ridden year, Facebook announced in September 2018 it had been hacked. Around 30 million users had their personal information compromised, making it the worst hack in Facebook's 15-year history.Stepping up security in wake of scandalGetty ImagesIn 2019 and 2020, Facebook spent around $23 million on personal security for Zuckerberg and his family. In 2018, his security costs had nearly doubled in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.Source: Insider, InsiderCongressional testimony againAP Photo/Andrew HarnikIn October 2019, Zuckerberg was once again called on to testify in front of Congress — this time, about Facebook's plans for its Libra digital currency. Congressional members also grilled him on the company's content moderation practices and its lack of diversity.Zuckerberg's goal for a new decadeFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.GettyFor 2020, Zuckerberg set a goal for the decade. "My goal for the next decade isn't to be liked but to be understood," Zuckerberg said. After the criticism it faced in dealing with political misinformation in 2016, the company geared up for a "tough year" with the 2020 presidential election.Source: InsiderAntitrust Congressional testimonyYouTube/House JudiciaryZuckerberg testified before Congress yet again in 2020 — alongside Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos, and Sundar Pichai — over matters of antitrust. Facebook was later hit with two antitrust suits that sought to break up the company.Source: InsiderChan, Zuckerberg fight COVID-19Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg.Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough PrizeThroughout the coronavirus pandemic, Zuckerberg attempted to quash misinformation about the virus and vaccines on Facebook, hosted regular town halls with virus experts, and, through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, contributed millions to finding COVID-19 treatments.Source: Insider, Insider, InsiderFacebook deals with Trump post-Jan. 6Getty/Business InsiderEarly in 2021, following the violent insurrection at the US Capitol, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was suspending Trump indefinitely after he used the platform to "condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters." The company's Oversight Board later upheld Trump's ban, though Meta went on to reinstate his account in 2023, and Trump made his first post upon returning to the platform this March.Source: Insider, Insider, Insider, InsiderAnother major Facebook data breachMark Zuckerberg.Charles Platiau/ReutersFacebook experienced yet another major data breach in 2021. This time, 533 million Facebook users' phone numbers and personal data were leaked online.Source: InsiderFacebook becomes MetaEmployees change the sign outside Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, California.Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesFacebook announced in October 2021 that it would change its corporate name to Meta to reflect its ambition to become "metaverse first." The company began trading under the new stock ticker MVRS on December 1, 2021.Source: InsiderNew Meta milestoneWachiwit/ShutterstockIn February 2022, Meta hit a new milestone, though not a positive one: Facebook's user numbers shrunk for the first time in its history, sending the stock plummeting.Source: InsiderSheryl Sandberg leaves FacebookSheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg walk together at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference.Kevin Dietsch/Getty ImagesZuckerberg's longtime second-in-command, COO Sheryl Sandberg, announced in June 2022 that she would leave the company. "Fourteen years later, it is time for me to write the next chapter of my life," she wrote on Facebook.Source: InsiderExpecting againMark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.Peter Barreras/Invision/APIn September 2022, Zuckerberg's wife was pregnant with their third child together. In March 2023, he announced the birth of their third daughter, Aurelia. "You're such a little blessing," he wrote in an Instagram post.Zuckerberg's net worth dropsGetty ImagesZuckerberg's wealth skyrocketed over the course of the last few years, but took a major hit in 2022. Though he started that year with a $125 billion fortune, it had dropped to $35.2 billion by November, making Zuckerberg the 29th-richest person in the world at the time.Source: BloombergMeta layoffsGettyAlso in November, Zuckerberg announced Meta would lay off more than 11,000 people, roughly 13% of its workforce, in the biggest cull in the company's history.The layoffs were caused in part by overhiring during the pandemic tech boom. "At the start of Covid, the world rapidly moved online and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth," he said at the time. "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected."In Meta's earnings release for Q4 2022 in February 2023, Zuckerberg hinted more cuts could be coming when he said 2023 would be Meta's "year of efficiency." The following month, he confirmed those suspicions, announcing Meta would lay off 10,000 additional workers in a second round of job cuts.Source: Insider, Insider, Insider, InsiderMetaverse faces questionsMark Zuckerberg as an avatar during Connect 2022MetaSome Meta investors remain unhappy with Zuckerberg's metaverse plans, and shares of the company fell 24% after the company disclosed in October 2022 that it missed earnings targets. Zuckerberg said he intends to continue spending billions on Meta's VR division and building the metaverse.Source: InsiderMeta stock buybacksThe Meta logo.Arnd Wiegmann/ReutersMeta announced a $40 billion stock buyback in February to appease shareholders as the company's business and revenue growth stalled. News of the buyback sent shares up 23%, and Zuckerberg consequently saw his net worth rise, gaining roughly $12 billion in a single day. Today, his net worth is around $75.8 billion, making him the 13th-richest person in the world.Source: Insider, TheStreet, Bloomberg Billionaires IndexRead the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Homesteading has become a growing trend with millenials. Christina Heinritz says it is hard work, but loves the lifestyle for her family. Christina Figone HeinritzChristina Figone HeinritzChristina Heinritz and her husband, Trevor, built their own homestead in California.They are raising their daughters, ages 2 and 4, to live off the land. It's hard work, but Heinritz said she loves raising her children this way. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christina Heinritz, 33, who owns a homestead in Lincoln, California. The conversation was edited for length and clarity.I grew up in the Bay Area — I didn't even have a dog growing up. No pets.But when I started college at Chico State — right after my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes — I declared my major in nutrition. I started going to his doctor's appointments and learning more about it. I was curious as to why we eat the way we do.I wanted to know where my food came from, so I got into pig hunting, deer hunting, fishing, and archery. Then, I met my husband. He is an agricultural crop duster.We left Chico and we moved to Lincoln to live with his parents. We wanted to start fresh and, at the time, there was no talk about buying raw land.But this acreage came for sale right next to them. It was one of those things that just happened serendipitously. That was six years ago.Homesteading wasn't our original planIt really started with us getting chickens and then I started collecting every animal out there.One of the goats on the homesteadChristina Figone HeinritzOur entire property was filled with poison oak, and I was super allergic to it – my husband would tear out berry bushes and would touch poison oak on the tractor, and I would get poison oak all over me. We really needed to take care of the problem.So that's when we fenced in the property, and started to get some animals to eat the poison oak. We bought two alpacas on Craigslist, and it kind of spiraled from there — we got donkeys, we got goats.We dove into homebuilding and homesteading. It really just fell into our laps. We did all the work on building our farm and our homestead, and it took us years of dedication to do it.There's nothing easy about starting a homesteadWe built in California, so there's nothing easy about it.I have a lot of people that will come to me and say, "I want to build a house," and I say "It'd be easier just to buy something and remodel it." You have building permits, codes, so many different requirements. We had to put hurricane tiedown clips on our concrete, even though we live in California. It's just it's a whole nother ball game of building from the ground up.Christina Figone Heinritz holding one of her animals. Courtesy of Christina Figone Heinritz The summer we started framing our first lumber job it was like 113 degrees that day. We built under every condition. Both of us had full time jobs and we worked every single day after work until 9 p.m., or 10 p.m. with flashlights, and every single weekend.For years, we didn't go to a concert, we didn't eat out, we didn't buy new clothes. We were buying tools. Every single paycheck went to it. I don't think people understand the sacrifice that it takes to get to the point we're at.We sold every single thing to build our dreams. For years, we put every single ounce of our time, money and energy — literally our physical bodies doing the labor. We were beat up from it. It's a lot of sacrifice for a lot of years.The hardest part about it is that you don't get a day off. You can't just not feed your animals. Even if it's 100 degrees that day, you can't go sit by the pool, you have to watch your animals. It's like having kids — you don't necessarily sleep in the morning because even if you try to sleep in when light happens all the animals are yelling at you because they're hungry.You have to watch your garden, you've got to watch your sprinklers on your plants. You can't just walk away from it as easily.But all of it is worth itI think for me, a homestead is just somehow sustaining your way of life through your property. It doesn't matter if you're vegetarian or if eat meat, or if you do eggs, or have a garden.There's many homesteads that people have in a suburban townhouses, too.Heinritz's husband and daughter at their home. Courtesy of Christina Figone HeinritzYou can get a pretty good sized garden with not that much land. I even know a lot of people that live in the city that make their own bread and make their own tinctures and grow a garden. There are so many different variations.The best part about it is sitting back to see what you have created, the fruit of all your hard work.Most recently, the best part for me is looking at the grass with a beautiful sunset view and watching our kids run around the lawn and pick fruit off our trees and eat it. It's watching them run around and pet the animals or have friends over to come enjoy it with us.It's really beautiful to see every single trench like we dug to put irrigation lines in for the fruit trees years ago to now see my kids get to pick the fruit off the trees and eat it. It's a beautiful before and after.We're now at a point where we're not doing any huge projects at the moment. And it's really beautiful to see how far we've come. That's really what it comes down to.We are seeing so many people return to homesteadingA lot of young people are interested in starting homesteads because I think people are waking up to the food system. There's a lot of stuff that everyone thinks is healthy and it's not.The best way to get quality nutrients for your body and your family is to know where your food comes from. And people have no other way to figure out than to raise it.Christina Figone Heinritz's homesteadChristina Figone HeinritzI don't feel that I am missing out on anything by homesteadingI think when you buy into this convenience lifestyle that everyone has, something is gonna suffer.I think the more you teach your kids about scratch cooking and they can join you in the kitchen, that's more valuable than anything taught in the classroom and better for your body. So I don't think we're missing anything.And I think as a society, there's gonna be more of a push in that direction.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Naomi Robinson decided to pursue her relocation dream and now lives in Toronto on a two-year International Experience Canada visa. Naomi Robinson moved from London to Toronto.Naomi Robinson Naomi Robinson, a tech management consultant, moved from the UK to Canada. She swapped London for Toronto, where she now works remotely while on a two-year visa.  She broke down the visa process, her biggest cultural shocks, and how to navigate the big changes.This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Naomi Robinson, a 26-year-old management consultant. Robinson's visa has been verified by Insider. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I wanted to move to Canada since I was 17.I studied geography in high school and then later at university, and as part of my studies, we looked at how various cities and countries shaped their societies through placemaking processes. Among them was Toronto. What struck me about Toronto was its similarity to London, but on a grander scale — with its natural beauty and multicultural society.Over the years, I kept the idea of moving to Canada in mind, and I started taking the dream seriously during the pandemic.Getting a visaAfter graduating, I entered the tech industry, working in management consulting.I reached out to people on LinkedIn, who I saw had made a similar transition, and sought advice on the visa process, job market, and other crucial aspects of the move. The visa process was surprisingly straightforward, as the Canadian and British governments offer a Youth Mobility Scheme visa for people between the ages of 18 and 30 to live and work in Canada for two years. The visa I applied for is known as the International Experience Canada (IEC) visa.Toronto's skyline is dominated by the CN Tower.Posnov/Getty ImagesI was fortunate to receive an acceptance letter within a week, likely because I applied during a period when they were actively accepting applications.The next steps involved gathering necessary documents such as a passport, a police check, and work experience details.Upon receiving and accepting my visa, I also had to secure health insurance, which is a requirement for the IEC.Life in TorontoI arrived in Toronto in August.My employer allows me to work remotely on UK projects, but there are tax limitations on how long I can work on UK clients, so I may explore opportunities within the Canadian office or other roles in the industry after October.I've pushed myself to be proactive, balancing my work and social life while adapting to a new culture.People say that Canadians are open, friendly, and welcoming — and I've found that to be true. I've met people from just walking down the street.I'm also making an effort to make new friendships online and through networking.To find accommodation, I scoured Facebook groups catering to UK residents moving to Canada, but I ultimately found a place through a family friend already living in Toronto.Having lived in my family home in north London for most of my life, the transition to renting has been a learning experience.Naomi Robinson says it's important to be proactive in Toronto.Katrin Ray Shumakov/Getty ImagesI've also been surprised by the cultural diversity in Toronto. London is a multicultural city — but Toronto takes it to another level. The expectation to tip has been a culture shock, however.There's an unsaid expectation to tip like in the US, and I've had to incorporate that into my spending and budgeting for recreational activities.Another thing I'm still getting my head around is prices in stores as tax is added at the checkout, whereas in the UK it's already included.In Toronto, I've discovered the importance of proactivity, putting myself out there, and staying authentic to who I am.It's a fresh start that has allowed me to build new relationships and gain valuable life experiences.My journey in Canada is still unfolding, and I'm excited to see where it leads next.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Nvidia shares could soon plunge just like 17th-century tulips and 1990s dot-com companies did, according to Rebellion Research. Investors' AI rush brings to mind the 17th-century tulip bubble, according to Rebellion Research.Reuters/Cris Toala Olivares Nvidia's stock price has become a bubble, according to Rebellion Research. Shares could soon crash like 17th-century tulips or 1990s dot-com companies did, the think tank said. The semiconductor giant has soared 180% this year, thanks to the rise of generative AI. Nvidia's stock has soared so high this year that the semiconductor giant now trades at a bubble-level valuation reminiscent of 17th-century tulips and late-1990s dot-com companies, according to Rebellion Research.Shares have jumped 180% to $410, but the think tank said earlier this month that the stock is now hugely overvalued and could crash at any time."Historically, financial markets have witnessed numerous asset bubbles, from the tulip mania in the 17th century to the more recent dot-com bubble in the late 1990s and early 2000s," Rebellion analysts wrote."Nvidia's recent stock performance, driven by the enthusiasm surrounding generative AI and soaring earnings, seems to exhibit many characteristics of such speculative bubbles," they added. "We think Nvidia is a great company … however, just maybe at $300 a share."Generative AI programs like ChatGPT run on high-powered, specialized graphics processing units (GPUs) – and Nvidia has a lion-sized share of that market.It's posted back-to-back stellar quarterly earnings report that showed demand for its products has surged thanks to the AI craze, and investors have responded by loading up on shares. That's pushed Nvidia to a trillion-dollar valuation and establish it as a member of the mega-cap "Magnificent Seven" group of Big Tech firms.But it remains to be seen how "practical and profitable" AI can be and that makes Nvidia's stock vulnerable at its current price, according to Rebellion.The company also looks overvalued at its current price-to-earnings ratio and could struggle if the Federal Reserve ends up holding interest rates at a higher level for longer to combat inflation, strategists warned."With historical price-to-earnings ratios as a reference and the looming shift in monetary policy, investors should tread with caution," they said. "Like every bubble that has come before, the factors leading to its rise often sow the seeds of its eventual burst."Rebellion, which uses probability models to generate market predictions, compared the chipmaker's valuation to several high-profile bubbles from the past 400 years.Those included the Dutch tulip boom of the 1630s – when contract prices for tulip bulbs skyrocketed, creating what's been called the first speculative financial bubble – as well as the more recent dot-com crash, which triggered a massive sell-off in the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite between March 2000 and October 2002.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

NASA awarded TransAstra nearly a million dollars for its concept of capture bags large enough to scoop up space trash the size of a house. An illustration of space junk. Satellites and debris are not to scale.ESA NASA awarded TransAstra an $850,000 contract for its concept of Flytrap capture bags. Flytrap bags could be built large enough to scoop up space trash the size of a house. Space trash is a growing problem that endangers satellites, spaceships, and astronauts' lives. In the middle of a space flight, an astronaut heard a massive bang. He looked up and saw a piece of space junk embedded in the window of the shuttle.If the debris had been bigger, it could have blown out the window, and the crew would have all died, the astronaut told Joel C. Sercel, the founder and CEO of TransAstra."Space junk is one of the greatest perils that astronauts face in low Earth orbit today," Sercel told Insider. TransAstra was recently awarded an $850,000 contract from NASA to explore the possibility of cleaning up space junk with a giant "capture bag" that the company has dubbed Flytrap, Sercel said.TransAstra's capture bags could help solve Earth's space debris problem.TransAstra"It's kind of like picking up trash on the side of the highway," Sercel said.Only much, much more complex and expensive.Earth's backyard is a giant dumpsterAs humans expand into space, we're leaving a big mess.The European Space Agency estimates over 330 million pieces of space debris are circling the Earth. Space debris can reach speeds up to 17,500 mph and pose a risk to astronauts, shuttles, and satellites.Space shuttle Endeavour's radiator was hit with space debris causing this hole.NASATransAstra's Flytrap bags were initially developed to capture asteroids that, in the future, could be mined for rare elements, Sercel said.But the more Sercel and the team looked into asteroid mining, the more they "became aware of the space junk problem, and we thought this is a really good solution for cleaning up orbital debris," Sercel told Insider.Giant capture bags to clean up the messTransAstra's plan is to use bags attached to small spacecraft that can fly alongside the space junk in low Earth orbit. TransAstra's bags may eventually be used to capture asteroids for mining.TransAstraOnce in position, the craft deploys the bag and encloses the space junk, zippering it in, Sercel said.To prevent the bags from tearing, TransAstra is testing bags made from Kevlar and other strong materials proven in space.While there are other proposed means of collecting space junk, they're often only effective on certain items, Sercel said, like debris that is magnetic or can be grasped by a robotic arm.The capture bags, on the other hand, can pick up anything that fits inside them.TransAstra's bags could be designed big enough to capture space trash weighing 1,000 tons.TransAstra"We can build a Flytrap that could fit in a coffee cup and capture things the size of a watermelon, and we can build a big Flytrap that can capture items the size of a house that weigh 1,000 tons," Sercel said.The biggest challengesThis approach to capturing space junk is "absolutely valid," Dave Barnhart, research professor in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at the University of South Carolina, told Insider.TransAstra aren't the only ones with this concept.The European Space Agency is planning an endeavor, called ClearSpace-1, which plans to use a similar approach to capture debris, Barnhart said.Clearspace-1 is slated to launch in 2026. Similarly, Sercel said Flytrap technology could be used in space within two years.The biggest challenge is fuel cost, according to Barnhart, who is also CEO of Arkisys Inc, a company that plans to build ports and outposts in space."To use one spacecraft with one bag to go grab a whole bunch of stuff is a good idea, but it requires a huge amount of fuel," Barnhart said.Even debris items that are relatively close together are spread over tremendously vast expanses, he added.So far, TransAstra has developed patent-pending prototypes and worked with a government entrepreneurial program, NASA SBIR Ignite, to prove the concept.This year, it'll be building a full-sized prototype to fulfill the NASA contract, Sercel said."No one doubts the scientific feasibility," Sercel added. "It's the engineering feasibility of doing it affordably that has to be proven."How to make it affordableUltimately, one way to offset costs could be to recycle the captured space trash to help build satellites and other objects in orbit."People paid lots of money to get it into orbit in the first place," Sercel said. "Anything in space is by definition worth a lot. If you can repurpose it, that's a win for everyone."Barnhart, whose company aims to build space outposts, said recycling in space could be a reality within five to 10 years."Every single piece of the puzzle is there, but it's got to be created," he said. As space exploration and industry expand, thinking ahead about debris will become even more important, Sercel said. "Not leaving trash is part of being a good celestial citizen," he said.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Kaitlin Wichmann is an American expat who relocated from Kansas City, Kansas to Lisbon. She usually has two hours for lunch, and sometimes even longer. Kaitlin Wichmann is an American expat living and working in Lisbon, Portugal.Kaitlin Wichmann Kaitlin Wichmann is an American expat living and working in Lisbon, Portugal. Wichmann, a freelance digital marketer, moved to Lisbon from Kansas City, Kansas, in 2022. She said the country's focus on work-life balance has been a positive change from that in the US. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kaitlin Wichmann, an American expat living and working in Lisbon, Portugal. Insider has verified her clients with documentation. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I moved to Lisbon in 2022 from my hometown of Kansas City, Kansas.I'd been traveling for a while and was already looking for a place to settle down. When I arrived in Lisbon, I just had a gut feeling that I was meant to stay longer. Moving here was pretty simple, and it felt like an easy transition. Getting a visa then was slightly harder for me than it is now because I was applying when some travel restrictions were still in place. In the end, I had to hire someone to help me open a bank account before I flew over.My quality of life is higher here because I feel safe and the city is affordable — the weather is great, too, which is important.Being self-employed as a freelance digital marketer has allowed me to be more flexible with where and how I work. I normally work out of coworking spaces around the city, and I use an app called Croissant to book them. It's great because it gives me the opportunity to be surrounded by other people but still be able to work on my own thing. It's nice to have some flexibility and not have to go to the same place every day.There's more of a work-life balance in Lisbon — even the focus on taking breaks is different. When we go for lunch, we take about two hours. Sometimes it's even longer, and people will go out for an espresso or something like that.When I lived in the US, most of my coworkers didn't even take lunch, or if we did, we'd take a working lunch. Back home, the mindset is that if you receive an email, you should reply right away. It's very different here, and while that's mostly positive, it can take longer when you're trying to get something done. In Lisbon, everyone goes outside to the park after work, which is also very different.She said the latest she ever works is 6 p.m. local time — or about 1 p.m. Eastern Time.Kaitlin WichmannRight now, all my clients are American, but I just signed a contract with a Portuguese agency, so I'm hoping to have some local clients soon. When I'm interviewing with a potential client or agency, I'm always upfront about living in Lisbon and working Portuguese hours. Over here, the latest I'll ever work is 6 p.m.It's important for me to set these boundaries. Obviously, it's easier for me because I'm self-employed — a lot of my friends work for American companies, and it's much harder to set those boundaries there.Sometimes I think I might lose work because of my attitude, but I also think it's worth it because I want to work with the type of people who respect my boundaries.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

An asteroid or comet smacked Jupiter on camera. Only a few impacts this big and bright have ever been recorded on the planet. Here's how they compare. Jupiter recently welcomed a flashy guest from space.NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael H. Wong (UC Berkeley), Joseph DePasquale (STScI) Video shows a giant flash of light on Jupiter, from an asteroid or comet hitting its surface. It's rare to capture footage of Jupiter collisions, but an amateur astronomer managed to record it. It's only the second time in a decade that astronomers have captured an impact this big on the giant planet. Jupiter takes a lot of hits for the rest of the solar system, and new footage shows one of the biggest astronomers have ever seen.About 14 seconds into the video below, you can see a bright flash appear in Jupiter's southern hemisphere. The flash is from an impact — likely an asteroid or comet slamming into the planet. The video was captured by amateur astronomer Tadao Ohsugi, in Japan, in August. It's a rare sight. Fireballs can happen on Earth, too. When meteoroids — small chunks of space rock — fall toward us, they sometimes rip through the atmosphere at such high speeds that they burn up mid-air.This fireball on Jupiter, however, was much, much bigger than anything that could safely strike Earth.One of the brightest, biggest Jupiter fireballs ever recordedKo Arimatsu, an astronomer at Kyoto University, confirmed to The New York Times that there were six reports of this flash on August 28. He said it's one of the brightest fireballs ever recorded on Jupiter, and only the second big one to be captured in a decade.The last impact of this size, which Arimatsu assessed in 2021, had a force equivalent to about two megatons of TNT.Prior to that, a giant impact in 2009 left behind a visible dark spot of debris on Jupiter's surface, spanning twice the length of the US.A dark purple spot on Jupiter shows where an object impacted the planet in 2009.NASA, ESA, and H. Hammel (Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.), and the Jupiter Impact TeamBefore that, in 1994, fragments of a comet crashed into Jupiter in violent succession, creating a stunning series of bright flashes.A fragment of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet impacts Jupiter’s night side in 1994.NASA/JPLArimatsu compared the fireball in the new video to the Tunguska event of 1908, when an asteroid exploded in the skies above Siberia. The resulting shock wave and blast of heat destroyed 830 square miles of forest, according to NASA.Even though whatever hit Jupiter was big, it was basically eaten up and dissolved by the gas giant. When debris hits Jupiter, "it just melts and explodes," Peter Vereš, an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics-Harvard & Smithsonian, told Mashable.If this object had hit Earth, it would be disastrous. But Jupiter has probably saved our planet from countless impacts, both Tunguska-sized and dinosaur-extinction-sized.Jupiter is the 'vacuum cleaner of the solar system'As the largest planet in our solar system, by far, Jupiter has a powerful gravity that pulls in comets and asteroids.An asteroid called Bennu, as captured by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/University of ArizonaThat's why many scientists believe Jupiter is a critical ingredient in the recipe that makes Earth suitable for life. Especially in the earlier days of the solar system, when more space rocks were zipping around, Jupiter's gravity may have drawn in many of the biggest threats.The new video is "a glimpse of the violent processes that were happening in the early days of our solar system," Leigh Fletcher, a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester, told the Times.Even in the eons since those early days, Jupiter may have spared our little ocean world from many a space rock like the one that doomed the dinosaurs. In fact, Jupiter's appetite for asteroids and comets has earned it the nickname "vacuum cleaner of the solar system," according to NASA.Arimatsu said that these types of impacts are happening more often than we can observe, and that the scientific community depends on hobby astronomers for reports like this.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Apple users say the FineWoven iPhone cases scratch easily and already look worn despite being relatively new, and they expect better for $60. Apple customers say the company's new $60 FineWoven iPhone cases retain scratches and stains easily and look faded after even a short period of use.Apple Apple recently announced new FineWoven iPhone cases to replace its leather ones. They've started shipping out, and early reviews are mostly negative so far. Users say they scratch easily, gather dust, and already look worn despite being relatively new. Apple's first FineWoven iPhone cases have started shipping out, and customers aren't impressed, to say the least.Negative reviews have already started pouring in for the new cases, which were announced at Apple's annual fall keynote last week as a more eco-friendly replacement of Apple's leather cases.The Verge's Allison Johnson wrote that the FineWoven case is "categorically terrible.""When we first inspected the cases after picking them up at Apple Park, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel picked one up and ran his fingernails across it five times — and that was all it took to leave a trail of indelible scuffs on the fabric," she wrote. "The scratches are still there a week later, no matter how many times I've tried 'buffing' it out by rubbing my finger over it."Carrie Marshall of gadget and tech news site T3 wrote that the case "feels more like very fine felt or the faux-velvet you get on things like cheap jewellery boxes" and was "a bit of a dust magnet."CNET's Patrick Holland said the FineWoven case has "visible tradeoffs," like a circular imprint left from MagSafe charging after only a week.On Amazon, the black iPhone 15 Pro Max FineWoven case has a 1.3-star rating with nine reviews as of this writing, and the blue iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven case has a 2.6-star rating from seven reviews.Some customers took to Reddit to express their disappointment."Taking my FineWoven case and wallet back when I pickup the phone on Friday. Really disappointed for the price. I can't see these things looking good after a few days honestly," one user said."Why does the Apple look so dirty and washed out when new?" another Reddit user wrote, referring to the faded look of the company's logo on the case.Some Apple customers had more positive reviews of the cases."Back feels soft and velvety and suede like," one person wrote in a MacRumors forum."It's a lot softer feeling than I expected," a Reddit user wrote, though with a caveat: "It's nice but I too suspect it's not gonna be as durable as the leather."Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the reviewers' issues ahead of publication.Apple says the $60 case, which comes in five colors, is made from a "durable microtwill" fabric with 68% recycled material.The FineWoven cases aren't the only new Apple product to leave users underwhelmed.Though there were still long lines to buy the iPhone 15 when it hit stores Friday, some fans felt the new lineup wasn't much of a step up from previous iPhones.The big change, however, is the switch from a Lightning charging port to USB-C after 11 years. The new charging port, which Apple was essentially forced to adopt to comply with new EU laws, does offer some distinct advantages, such as the ability to charge other phones and use a charging cable that many other devices, including Apple's MacBooks, also use.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Elon Musk's grandfather Joshua Haldeman was a raging racist and anti-semite, per the Atlantic. He also strongly believed in technocracy at one point in his life. Elon Musk.Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty ImagesElon Musk's grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was a "radical conspiracy theorist," the Atlantic reports.Haldeman was convicted in Canada for his involvement in a technocratic political movement. The movement believed an authoritarian group of tech-savvy overlords could solve the world's problems.Elon Musk's grandfather, the late Joshua Haldeman, spent his time ranting about minority groups he didn't like, speculating about a global conspiracy led by shadowy figures (read: Jewish people), and joining the cause of technocracy.According to a deep dive from the Atlantic on the life of Haldeman, the Canadian chiropractor was a "radical conspiracy theorist" who spent the beginning of his career as part of a group known as "Technocracy Incorporated."Howard Scott, the founder of Technocracy, in Los Angeles, California.Bettmann via Getty ImagesThe movement had a bizarre set of principles: They believed that the world should be run by a totalitarian regime of engineers and scientists based in North America; that these tech overlords would solve all of society's problems; and that people only had to work 20 years before retiring.The party, founded in the 1920s, gained popularity during the Great Depression and at one point had more than half a million members in California.The organization also referred to people as numbers (apparently, Musk's grandfather was 10450-1) and sometimes added Xs to their names. Followers donned identical gray clothing and cars and greeted each other with special salutes, the Atlantic found. A newspaper cited by the magazine said the group gave off "the tone of an incipient Fascist movement."A sign erected in Josephine County, Oregon seven years after Howard Scott, who founded the Technocracy movement, talked of a survey of North America. Heritage Art/Heritage Images via GettyCanada eventually banned the party after it opposed the country's involvement in World War II and considered it and its members a threat to national security. Haldeman was arrested and convicted for his participation, the Atlantic reported.This kickstarted his involvement in other movements, including Canada's Social Credit Party, which espoused baseless conspiracy theories about Jewish people. The party came to be widely criticized for its blatant antisemitism. Haldeman, who became the SCP national chair, took it upon himself to defend the party's beliefs.Haldeman, the Atlantic wrote, "maintained that the Social Credit Party was not antisemitic — while saying some rather antisemitic things, including the outrageous claim that Hitler had been installed as German führer by 'money … supplied by international financiers, many, but not all of them, Jewish.' He claimed that Jews created antisemitism to generate sympathy."The party also used its platform to publish "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" a centuries-old fraudulent text detailing a meeting between Jewish leaders to establish world domination. Haldeman defended the publication in a letter because he felt he was witnessing the protocols "rapidly unfolding," the Atlantic reported.Like grandfather, like grandsonHistorians note Musk's ideas that technology can solve most of society's ills reflect some of the same technocratic beliefs his grandfather promoted. Musk previously said on Twitter, now called X, that Mars should have an established technocracy.He has also named his three children with Grimes — X Æ A-Xii Musk, or X, Exa Dark Sideræl Musk, and Techno Mechanicus — although it isn't clear whether the names of his children had anything to do with the strange, number-filled nicknames Technocrats identified themselves with.The Tesla CEO and billionaire has also recently been called out by the Anti-Defamation League for spreading antisemitic rhetoric, like blaming George Soros for the "destruction of Western civilization." Musk threatened to sue the ADL and, in his own defense, has called himself "pro-semite."From antisemitism to apartheidFollowing his political stint, Haldeman began passionately supporting the cause of apartheid and moved to South Africa. According to the Atlantic, he once wrote, "South Africa will become the leader of white civilization in the world."Haldeman also railed against "anti-White forces" that would seek to displace his position. He continued writing in pro-apartheid South African newspapers, as well as in his self-published book, about international conspiracies of world domination from a group of elites, per the magazine.Haldeman, Musk's maternal grandfather, was born in 1902 in the US before his family moved to Canada at a young age. He was also a chiropractor before his move to South Africa.Haldeman married Wyn Haldeman, née Fletcher, who was a dance instructor. They had three children. Maye Musk, one of his daughters, is Musk's mother. He died in 1974 when Musk was still a toddler.Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 51, spent years detained in Guantanamo Bay on suspicion that he was a key accomplice in the September 11 attacks. The former Camp X-Ray lies in the morning mist. The first prisoners arrived here on January 11, 2002. Magdalena Miriam Tröndle/picture alliance via Getty ImagesRamzi bin al-Shibh is one of five defendants accused of being key accomplices to the 9/11 attacks.A military tribunal in Guantánamo Bay found bin al-Shibh mentally unfit for trial.His lawyer argued that torture administered by the CIA caused bin al-Shibh's psychosis.A Yemeni prisoner accused of being one of the key accomplices in the September 11, 2001, attacks was deemed mentally unfit to stand for trial, a military judge ruled on Thursday.For years, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, 51, was detained in Guantánamo Bay under suspicion that he helped organize the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.He and four other defendants, including the accused mastermind of the plot, faced charges of conspiracy to carry out acts of terrorism and were set to go to trial in a military tribunal at the detention camp.But in August, a military medical panel found that al-Shibh had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder due to torture and solitary confinement he underwent during his four years in CIA custody, The Associated Press reported.Col. Matthew McCall, the military judge, agreed on Thursday that al-Shibh should be severed from the trial due to his mental state.Pretrial proceedings for the other four defendants continued on Friday.Bin al-Shibh, a Yemeni national, was first captured precisely a year after 9/11. He is accused of aiding one group of hijackers in Hamburg, Germany, to carry out the attacks.Between 2002 and 2006, he was held in one of the CIA's "black site" prisons, or secret interrogation facilities, where he was subjected to torture that made him insane, his defense lawyer, David I. Bruck, has argued.Some of the torture methods included holding bin al-Shibh in solitary confinement, depriving him of sleep, and forcing him to stand up while chained and wearing a diaper for days at a time, Bruck told the judge, according to The New York Times.The prisoner also said that he was tortured by invisible figures that stung his genitals and caused his entire cell to shake, according to the report.Bruck did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of working hours.Prosecutors have pointed to bin al-Shibh's ability to comprehend some of the legal proceedings before him to argue that the defendant is fit for trial."However, the fact that Mr. bin al Shibh understands the serious nature of the charges and the capital nature of his case, and yet he still cannot focus his attention on those issues demonstrates the significant effect of his mental defect on him," the ruling stated.Bruck said in a statement reported by the Times that Thursday's ruling is vindication of the severe impacts on defendants of the CIA's torture program."It is no longer possible" to deny "that the CIA torture program did profound harm to the people subjected to it," he said.Spokespersons for the CIA and Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of working hours.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Russia's Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk and Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov were among those reported wounded in a Ukrainian missile strike. A Russian soldier stands guard at the Luhansk power plant.ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP via Getty Images On Friday, a Ukrainian missile struck Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea. Russia has not confirmed any deaths but top military commanders were among those reported wounded. Since the invasion began, many high-ranking Russian military officials have been killed in action. Top Russian military commanders were among those wounded Friday in a Ukrainian missile strike that targeted the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea.Russia's Colonel General Alexander Romanchuk and Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov were among those "severely wounded" in the strike, Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told Ostap Yarysh, a Pentagon correspondent and anchor at Voice of America news.Budanov said at least 9 Russian military personnel were killed and 16 wounded in the attack."Romanchuk is in charge of Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia where the main thrust of Ukraine's counteroffensive is occurring," Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, wrote in a post on X. "This suggests that it wasn't just a strike on the Black Sea Fleet HQ, but timed to target key senior leaders during a meeting."The Russian Ministry of Defense initially confirmed only one soldier was killed in the attack, Insider previously reported. However, the Kremlin has been tight-lipped about confirming the number of Russians killed since the war began last year.Representatives for Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and the Government of the Russian Federation did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.In May, the White House estimated 100,000 Russians have been killed or injured since the invasion began. The British government has reported as many as 60,000 Russians have been killed in action. While the exact number remains unconfirmed, many of Russia's top generals and military commanders have been killed in action.The Friday missile strike is the latest in a series of relentless attacks that have targeted the Black Sea Fleet's ships and facilities, which Insider previously reported are an attempt to make holding Crimea "untenable" for Moscow's forces.Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said a command post near the port of Sevastopol was damaged in a missile strike. Within the last month, Ukrainian troops also launched a cruise missile strike on a Russian shipyard, damaging two warfighting vessels. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Steelworkers in Ukraine are outsmarting Russian troops with realistic-looking decoy weapons made of scrap wood and trash. Ukrainian service members near Bakhmut on March 24, 2023.Aris Messinis/Getty ImagesSteelworkers in Ukraine are outsmarting Russian troops with realistic-looking decoy weapons.The decoys mimic advanced systems like howitzers and mortar launchers.After fooling Russian radar, new decoy weapons are being given directly to Ukrainian troops.Steelworkers in Ukraine are outsmarting Russian troops with realistic-looking decoy weapons, using scrap wood, metal, and used tires to mimic advanced defense systems such as howitzers, radar systems, and mortar launchers.The workers at Metinvest, Ukraine's largest steel plant, have produced more than 250 decoy weapons for Ukrainian troops, tricking Russian forces into using up valuable ammunition on nothing more than trash, the Financial Times reported.The steelworkers began their operation last February when Russian troops approached their plant in central-eastern Ukraine, per the FT.With no actual weapons to defend themselves, they cobbled together fakes with found materials they had on hand and prepared to fool the advancing troops."We used boxes, plastic, and any materials available here — even items discarded in the trash — that we could find to make decoy weapons," the enterprise chief of a Metinvest facility told FT. "We were outgunned but we made it look like our army was big and strong and that we were ready to fight."It worked: "We scared them off," he said.Now, Ukraine has expanded decoys to include radar reflectors made of old Russian oil barrels. The fakes cost about 1,000 Euros to create — a fraction of the $1.1 million missiles used by Russian troops to destroy them."Our success is measured by the decoys' destruction," the enterprise chief told FT. "When they are destroyed it means we have saved our guns and our guys' lives — and the enemy has wasted more of its valuable weapons.He added: "When they sit for too long we know we need to change the design."Militaries have long used decoy weapons to outmaneuver their opponents, such as inflatable tanks in WWII and parachuting dummies meant to simulate an airborne invasion leading up to D-Day.Ukrainian troops have increasingly relied on cunning ruses and opportunistic attacks to fend off Russian forces, Insider previously reported, such as creating a wooden version of a tank made from empty 155mm shell boxes.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Scientists plan to methodically examine samples from NASA's first asteroid mission, OSIRIS-REx, to figure out how our solar system formed. An illustration of OSIRIS-REx in orbit around asteroid Bennu.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Conceptual Image Lab NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to deliver a return capsule with asteroid dust on Sunday. The capsule should land in the Utah desert if all goes according to plan.  Scientists hope to study the asteroid dust and dirt in every way possible.  On Sunday, Earth should receive a very special package from space, if all goes according to plan.After nearly three years, NASA's OSIRIS-REx is scheduled to finally deliver the largest asteroid sample ever to the Utah desert at approximately 10:55 a.m. ET. That's right, an asteroid sample is headed for Earth. It doesn't happen every day. In fact, it's only ever been attempted twice before.OSIRIS-REx began orbiting the asteroid called Bennu in 2018. Then, in 2020, it closed in on the space rock that's as wide as the Empire State building is tall, and scooped up what scientists estimate to be enough dirt and dust to fill a cup, per NPR. Illustration of the Touch-and-Go maneuver that OSIRIS-REx performed to collect a sample from asteroid Bennu's surface.NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterIf the payload touches down safely on Sunday morning as planned, teams of scientists and officials will begin a complicated ballet to secure the valuable scientific data it carries. Every early step after touchdown is delicately planned, but once scientists get the sample out of its carrier, that's when the fun begins.Bake it, fire lasers at it, and cut it in halfPortions of the fragments taken from the sample are set to be shipped to over 200 researchers, where "they'll be baked, they'll be lasered, they'll be cut in half,"  Noah Petro, a NASA planetary scientist, told Insider.Scientists have a plan to analyze everything from the sample, even the inside and outside of the return capsule carrying it, Petro said. In total, scientists in labs across the globe aim to study the asteroid using 60 different analytical techniques, Dante Lauretta, the principal investigator for OSIRIS-REx, said during a NASA press conference Friday.The goal is for scientists to "understand processes that occurred before our solar system even existed," Lauretta said.A rotating mosaic of asteroid Bennu, composed of images captured by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft over a four-hour period.NASA/Goddard/University of ArizonaLauretta said they estimate the sample contains about 250 grams of regolith, the dusty material on the asteroid's surface. He said that's well above the minimum they promised to deliver, and that it should be a sufficient amount to study. Why Bennu?Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in the press conference that asteroids sit in different sections across the galaxy. Each section contains information about a different time period of our galaxy's history.Bennu is an ideal candidate because it comes from what scientists think is one of the oldest sections, and can therefore give us details about how our solar system formed. Bennu probably came from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.NASA-JPL/CaltechWhatever they discover from analyzing the cosmic dust, Petro is pretty sure they're going to be surprised. When he explained what he thinks they'll find, he was excited. "We think we're gonna find chemistry that basically would have seeded the Earth," billions of years ago, "with the components that led to complex life on the Earth," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

CreditNinja, a broker which has given loans with interest rates as high as 447%, believes the SBA should have forgiven their pandemic-era PPP loan. A US Treasury payment check.Douglas Sacha/Getty ImagesShort-term lending company CreditNinja is mad about the SBA denying them loan forgiveness.The company filed a complaint, claiming that the SBA made a mistake.The company charges interest rates as high as 447% in Texas, per KHOU.CreditNinja has taken issue with the Small Business Association's decision to deny its application for loan forgiveness after getting a $1 million PPP loan in April 2020.The online short-term lending company filed a complaint on September 15 in the US District Court in Illinois' Southern Division, saying the COVID relief program erroneously rejected their application for loan forgiveness, according to the document first reported by Seamus Hughes's CourtWatch newsletter.CreditNinja was recently found to have given short-term and high-cost loans with interest rates as high as 447% in Texas, taking advantage of a loophole by registering as a "credit access business," or a broker, according to an investigation by KHOU-11.In its denial, the SBA said CreditNinja wasn't eligible for the loan forgiveness program because it's a lending company — a type of company that has been excluded from receiving loans from the Small Business Association under the group's 1996 Rules.But CreditNinja claims in its complaint that those rules were never mentioned in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, the stimulus package designed to help businesses through the pandemic."Nothing in the language of the CARES Act, or any other governing statute or regulation, provides any right, ability, or discretion for the SBA to tack on twenty-five-year-old limitations to a brand new, expansive loan program, enacted in response to a public health and economic crisis," the complaint reads.CreditNinja did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.The company also complained that the SBA granted loan forgiveness to other similar business types, and for businesses that also fall outside the group's rules, such as adult entertainment and gambling industries.The SBA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.During the pandemic, a number of businesses and individuals — some already wealthy —received large PPP loans.According to Forbes, Kanye West's fashion company Yeezy received over $2 million in PPP loans. Artist Jeff Koons, also notably rich, received a $1.1 million PPP loan in April 2020, according to ProPublica.The US treasury did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Prosecutors claimed that Sen. Bob Menendez provided sensitive US government data to Egypt and used his influence to help secure arms deals. Prosecutors allege Sen. Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, and his wife accepted gold bars as part of a bribery scheme.U.S. Attorney's Office via AP; Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images Sen. Bob Menendez was hit with bribery charges by federal prosecutors in a newly-unsealed indictment. Prosecutors claim that he used his influence to cut deals for the Egyptian government and businessmen. He accepted over $480,000 in payments that included gold bars, prosecutors alleged. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife took bribes from Egyptian officials, discussing arms deals in private conversations, according to a federal indictment unsealed on Friday.In the unsealed indictment, federal prosecutors alleged that Menendez accepted at least $480,000 in bribes from New Jersey businessmen, and Egyptian government officials were given exclusive access to Menendez.Prosecutors claimed that Menendez provided sensitive US government data to Egypt, to which in one instance, Egyptian officials responded to a weapons deal with a thumbs-up emoji, per the indictment.In 2018, Menendez met with Egyptian officials, where the senator expressed his support for foreign military aid for Egypt. Prosecutors claim that Menendez worked with New Jersey businessman and friend Will Hana and Menendez's wife, in his corrupt dealings."Tell Will Hana I am going to sign off this sale to Egypt today. Egypt: 46,000 120MM Target Practice Rounds and 10,000 Rounds Tank Ammunition: $99 million," Sen. Bob Menendez texted his wife, Nadine, per the indictment.The text was forwarded to Hana, and then to the officials, prosecutors allege."Egyptian Official-1 replied with a 'thumbs up' emoji," prosecutors said in the indictment. In June 2022, prosecutors said that federal agents executed search warrants and found the cash hidden in Menendez's home, along with gold bars, that they claimed he received in exchange for the information and access he gave to Egypt.It's the second bribery case Menendez has faced in six years, although the first set of charges were dropped. Prosecutors also claimed that Menendez plotted to give IS EG Halal Certified, a New Jersey-based food export company, a monopoly on US food products exported to Egypt. His wife, Nadine, was offered a"low-or-no-show job" at the company by Hana. Egyptian outlet Mada Masr first raised red flags about the company's monopolization of halal certification in a 2019 investigation.On Friday, Menendez responded defiantly, calling the indictment a "smear campaign," that misrepresented his official work. Both Hana and Nadine Menendez are also charged in the indictment.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer later said that Menendez was stepping down as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

It was hoped India's moon lander and rover, Vikram and Pragyan, would awaken on September 22. They haven't responded to wake-up messages. India's moon rover, Pragyaan, made history as the first to explore the lunar south pole.Indian Space Research Organization India's moon rover and lander was set to wake up after a nearly month-long nap. Despite high hopes, the lander and rover didn't respond to a wake-up message. This could mean the end of a successful mission for the Vikram lander and Pragyan rover. Despite high hopes, two historic robots remain fast asleep near the moon's south pole, according to the Indian Space Research Organization.India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander and its adorable sidekick lunar rover were set to wake up around September 22. The ISRO landed them on the moon in a historic first in August.Both ISRO's Vikram lander and Pragyan rover run on solar power. Therefore, they need sunlight to charge their batteries and operate their scientific instruments.They went to sleep in early September when night set in and their batteries drained. The next sunrise took place on September 22. ISRO hoped the solar panels would recharge and reawaken the spacecraft. However, they haven't responded to mission control's message. In late August, mission operations director M. Srikanth told The Times of India the team was confident the lander and rover would return to life after sunrise. "If that happens, that will be a bonus and in case that cannot be achieved, the mission is still complete," he said.Despite Srikanth's optimism, it was always a long shot that the two robots would withstand the moon's elements. Nighttime temperatures on the moon can dip to as low as -334 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NASA. The lander and rover weren't built to withstand such cold, The New York Times reports. Chandrayaan-3 mission completeIndia's Chandrayaan-3 Vikram lander on the moon.ISROMission control will continue to send messages to the spacecraft. Even if ISRO's lunar lander and rover don't wake up, the robots have already done what they were designed to do — explore the lunar south pole region for the first 14 days after touchdown. Within just those two weeks, the two robots made some important scientific discoveries. For example, the moon rover confirmed the presence of sulfur in the lunar south pole region.Moreover, preliminary analyses suggested the presence of aluminum, calcium, iron, chromium, titanium, and a possible moonquake.India is the fourth country — after the US, Russia, and China — to land on the moon, and the first to ever land near the lunar south pole. The lunar south pole region is of particular interest because it contains water ice. Water ice, or H2O, could eventually be mined and broken down into oxygen for breathing as well as hydrogen and oxygen for rocket fuel. India's lunar lander and rover were the first to study the south pole region up-close and sample it directly. Scientists and companies who want to build a base on the moon have watched the mission with great interest. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

Rupert Murdoch amassed a global media empire but was racked with scandals over his seven-decade career. Rupert Murdoch stepped down as chair of Fox Corporation and News Corp on September 20. The 92-year-old billionaire amassed a global media empire but was racked with scandals over his seven-decade career.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

McGonigal took $225,000 from an Albanian with spy connections, then hid the payments from the FBI. He has pleaded guilty to helping a Russian oligarch. Charles McGonigal, seen here in front of a New York courthouse before his guilty plea last month, admitted to more crimes in Washington DC..Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images A disgraced ex-FBI agent just pleaded guilty in a second criminal case against him. Charles McGonigal, once a top intelligence operative in NYC, admitted he hid $225,000 in secret payments. McGonigal previously pleaded guilty to helping a sanctioned Russian oligarch. Charles McGonigal, the former FBI spyhunter whose indictments shocked the intelligence community, has again pleaded guilty — this time to hiding secret payments from a man with connections to Albanian intelligence.McGonigal admitted in Washington DC federal court to one count of falsifying records and making false statements about the $225,000 he got while working sensitive cases for the FBI. The disgraced FBI special agent pleaded guilty to one count of concealment of material facts as part of a deal with federal prosecutors.McGonigal has now admitted to illicitly working for Oleg Deripaska — a sanctioned Russian oligarch with longstanding ties to Vladimir Putin — after leaving the FBI. He has also admitted to taking cash payments and undertaking private business efforts in Albania while he was still in a senior position at the FBI's New  York Field Office.What remains unclear is whether McGonigal and Deripaska had any contact while McGonigal was still employed by the bureau. The FBI's investigation began after British authorities learned that McGonigal was secrety meeting with a Russian oligarch in London in 2018, the same year he retired.In court on Friday, McGonigal said that the $225,000 was lent to him by a "friend and prospective business partner" and that the money was intended to help start a business that he was setting up without the FBI's knowledge while still working for the bureau. That individual has been identified by several news outlets as Agron Neza, a former Albanian intelligence official who now lives in New Jersey. Neza's loan to McGonigal, delivered in three cash payments, had no written terms and was never paid back. McGonigal's former girlfriend has told Insider that she observed some of the cash in a bag on the floor of their Brooklyn apartment.The money had "no conditions or strings attached" in the words of Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. According to a statement of the offense, the money was connected to a web of relationships he developed with Albanian officials, including Prime Minister Edi Rama. McGonigal agreed that he had counseled Rama to avoid awarding state energy contracts to Russian companies, advice that benefited another Albanian official who was working for Rama as an informal advisor even as he consulted for a Chinese energy company. That official was a friend of the person who had lent McGonigal the money. In court, McGonigal described this conflicted intermingling of public and private interest as his "personal business development efforts."Seth DuCharme, one of McGonigal's attorneys, told reporters outside the courthouse that his client wanted to "hit the ground running" with his business efforts after retiring from the bureau in September 2018. McGonigal was indicted twice in January — once in Washington DC and also in New York — after a grand jury investigated the ex-counterintelligence chief. Insider was first to report on the grand jury investigation which led to written questions to the FBI from members of both parties on Capitol Hill.McGonigal was charged with money laundering and making false statements in his required employee disclosures as an FBI agent, Insider previously reported.In addition to the Washington, DC, case, McGonigal faced charges in New York for working with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, which violated sanctions against the Putin-aligned billionaire.McGonigal pleaded guilty last month in the New York case to charges of money laundering and conspiracy to violate sanctions. His sentencing is scheduled for December 14.He is scheduled to be sentenced in Washington on the concealment charge on February 16, 2024.You can read the statement of facts that McGonigal agreed to as part of his guilty plea below: Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

There are a variety of Prime Day Apple deals available ahead of the coming Prime Big Deals Day sale in October. When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn moreThere are a variety of Prime Day Apple Deals available ahead of the coming Prime Big Deals Day sale in October.Isabel Fernandez Pujol/BI PhotoThe latest Amazon Prime Day sales event is coming on October 10 and 11 in the form of a "Prime Big Deals Day" sale, and it should bring another round of great Prime Day Apple deals.The Prime Day event in July saw considerable discounts on MacBooks, Apple Watches, AirPods, and some of the best iPads, among other Apple products. Several of those Apple deals remain available ahead of the October sales event. The best Apple deals you can buy todayPrime Day Apple deals buying adviceWhen is Amazon Prime Day 2023?The next Amazon Prime Day sales event in 2023 is set to take place on October 10 and 11. Amazon is calling the two-day event "Prime Big Deal Days."Last year, Amazon held a similar mid-October sales event called "Prime Early Access Sale."The main Prime Day sales event of 2023, which had the traditional "Amazon Prime Day" designation, took place on July 11 and 12.Is Prime Day good for Apple deals?Prime Day sales events often bring solid discounts to Apple products like MacBooks, Apple Watches, AirPods, iPads, and a range of related accessories, but you won't typically see deals of note on any of the best iPhones. Do you need a Prime membership to get access to deals? Yes, Prime Day deals, including those in October's coming "Prime Big Deals Day" event, are exclusive to people and households with Amazon Prime subscriptions. If you're interested in trying out the service, you can sign up for an Amazon Prime free trial. Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»

The Federal Reserve chose not to raise interest rates this week, but policymakers' hawkish signaling sent bond yields soaring. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid US stocks ended slightly higher Friday to close out a losing week. Bond yields climbed on the week following the Fed's hawkish signaling Wednesday. Policymakers did not adjust interest rates this week, but another hike is on the table before 2024. US stocks closed lower on Friday to cap off a losing week that saw the Federal Reserve choose to keep interest rates unchanged but maintained a hawkish outlook for the rest of the year. Major indexes ended their fourth consecutive day in the red Friday. Both oil prices and bond yields surged over the course of the week, with the 10-year Treasury hitting 4.49%, its highest mark since 2007.The two-year Treasury, meanwhile, also climbed to its highest since 2006.Policymakers at the central bank signaled that another rate hike remains on the table before 2024, sowing doubt among investors that this year's stock market rally can last. Add in a potential government shutdown, which could weigh on consumer confidence and hurt the economy, and there's even more reason for concern. "While September is living up to its reputation as being a weak month for stocks, seasonality cannot take all the blame for the selling pressure," Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial said. "In addition to a rally in crude oil, a nine-week winning streak in the dollar, and a 'hawkish pause' from the Federal Reserve this week, stocks have had to contend with nearly a 40-basis point surge in 10-year yields this month, which are now trading near 4.50%. Once again, the move in rates has proven to be too much too fast for equity markets to handle."Here's where US indexes stood as the market closed 4:00 p.m. on Friday: S&P 500: 4,320.00, down 0.23%Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,964.31, down 0.31% (-106.38 points)Nasdaq Composite: 13,211.81, down 0.09%Here's what else is going on: Dollarization would eliminate Argentina's future inflation risk, a former IMF board member said.Investors pulled $19 billion from stocks in the last week, the highest outflow all year.'Shark Tank' investor Kevin O'Leary warned of more pain coming for the economy.Falling job openings raise red flags for the stock market.Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham called Elon Musk a 'wonderful propagandist.'In commodities, bonds, and crypto: Oil prices climbed, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.9 to $90.46 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, inched higher 0.45% to $93.72 a barrel.Gold edged higher 0.27% to $1,944.90 per ounce.The 10-year Treasury yield fell four basis points to 4.432%.Bitcoin inched lower 0.07% to $26,573.Read the original article on Business Insider.....»»