The considered ban on masks was for protesters.

The idea of not allowing anonymity for protesters has its origins in combating racial violence and the KKK. Klan members suddenly lost a lot of their motivation to assemble in public, once they had to show their faces, those that did were less likely to commit illegal acts and the ones that did break the law were more likely to face legal reprocutions.

The contemplated ban on masks for protesters in Los Angeles was considered following increased violence by masked protesters and was not motivated by covid denial.

A survey of 18,000 Americans released in March pointed to flexible work schedules helping mental health.

It’s almost like the work force actually values the quality of their lives more than … umm, honestly I’ve never been able to figure out a positive side for companies pushing RTO. Report after report show remote work improves productivity, employee retention, is perceived as a significant perk to attract new talent, and reduces corporate overhead (that last one is just an assumption on my part).

Seriously, what is the attraction for RTO?

I hope that is the case and that I am just confused with how things were worded.

I still don’t know who the “largest demographic of legal adults” is that they referenced, but some mysteries are destined to remain unanswered.

Wait, so you are saying that there are more 18-22 year olds than everybody else aged 23 and older? That also does not sound correct.

I’m confused. Are you saying college students represent the largest demographic of legal adults? Because I don’t think that is correct.

For those, like me, who had never heard of BRICS before this article.

BRICS is an intergovernmental organization comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Originally identified to highlight investment opportunities,[1] the grouping evolved into a cohesive geopolitical bloc, with their governments meeting annually at formal summits and coordinating multilateral policies since 2009.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRICS

How is banning TikTok “limiting technological advancements”?

Would you agree that I was able to provide examples of “China doing the same” which you stated that you “did not see”?

Are you kidding? China has some of the strongest censorship laws in the world which includes filtering internet content and blocking access to apps. North Korea is the only country that has more repressed access to free information.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_China

The Chinese government has banned, among others, Google, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, BBC, Wikipedia and … are you ready for this … TIKTOK. The Chinese government agrees that TikTok should be banned (though for different reasons).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_mainland_China

In 2020, so-called “AI agents” defeated human pilots in simulations in all five of their match-ups - but the technology needed to be run for real in the air.

It did not reveal which aircraft won the dogfight.

I’m gonna guess the AI won.

Some refrigerators can dispense cold filtered water.

From the article:

At first, it appeared the bread exemption applied to Panera Bread restaurants. Bloomberg News reported the change would benefit Greg Flynn, a wealthy campaign donor to Newsom. But the Newsom administration said the wage increase law does apply to Panera Bread because the restaurant does not make dough on-site. Also, Flynn has announced he would pay his workers at least $20 per hour.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman sold 500,000 shares on Monday at an average $32.30

On Monday the 25th, Reddit shares were trading between ~$49 and ~$59. The stock has not yet dropped below the initial price of $34.

Can somebody explain why these shares may have been sold below market value?

The difference is the US government believes that TikTok is beholden to the Chinese government. When a corporation acts this way it is an invasion of privacy. When a foreign government acts this way it is espionage.

If TikTok is sold to an entity the US government thinks is sufficiently independent from a foreign government, then they can continue spying on users.

Alternatively, they may be able to registers under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. I don’t know how that would impact TikTok’s ability to operate though.

I feel like this applies to all social media. Why single out Lemmy? Do you feel it is more toxic than other social media sites? Do you have any examples of the type of toxicity you feel are most prevelant, along with where (community / instance)?

Toyota already admits that they are behind on their battery technology, despite having decades of opportunities to improve and innovate with their hybrid models.

Now they want to double down on their atrophy by effectively throwing their money away instead of investing in the future?

On the surface, this does not sound like a good plan for long term growth and profitability.

Would you be okay with non-smoked marijuana usage like vapes, edibles, tinctures, drinks, etc?

I’ve got my Plex server running on an Intel NUC 8 with 2 USB 2TB solid state drives serving as local storage for my media.

The bill pushed by former prosecuting attorney Republican Sen. Ryan Weld

Well that was unexpected.

I did this when I was younger through a couple of staffing agencies. Jobs ranging anywhere from 1 day to 2 weeks with various rates of pay. I cleaned stores and their parking lots, parked cars, performed data entry, emptied trucks, performed inventories, etc.

I haven’t used these agencies in many years, but I assume that they are still around and providing the same services.