Canada’s forests are continuing to burn in what has been a record year for wildfires in the country.

The muck from incessant rain sloshes around Nestor N’Guessan’s feet as he points to a plot of cocoa

At the start of last year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was in the hot seat.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 8, 2023--

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan told staff an all-hands meeting earlier this month that he wants employees to return to in-person work because Zoom is making them too “friendly” and unable to build trust. “Over the past several years, we’ve hired so many new ‘Zoomies’ that it’s really hard to build trust,” Mr Yuan says in the audio, which was obtained and first reported by Insider. “We cannot have a great conversation. We cannot debate each other well because everyone tends to be very friendly when you join a Zoom call.” Mr Yuan’s thoughts were accompanied by action: On 3 August, Zoom instituted a new policy requiring employees who live within 50 miles of a physical Zoom office to report to work at least two days per week. The return to the office policy at Zoom is striking considering that it was the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting stay-at-home orders that turned the platform from one few people had ever heard of to a part of everyday life for millions. But Mr Yuan is not alone among senior executives at tech firms. Apple, Meta, and Amazon have all instituted return-to-work policies in recent months, angering employees who have enjoyed the increased flexibility afforded by work-from-home policies. Since Covid-19 vaccines have facilitated the re-opening of the economy, workers and bosses in many sectors have clashed over the importance of in-person work and the ability of companies to exercise control over their employees whereabouts and schedules. Some, like Zoom and a number of other tech companies, have adopted hybrid policies in which workers are required to come into the office on certain days of the week but are allowed to work from home on others. But even those companies have faced backlash from workers, many of whom were hired at a different stage of the pandemic when most or all work at their respective companies was being conducted remotely. Mr Yuan’s comments, which were not meant for public consumption, may provide a measure of insight into how he and other top executives truly feel about Zoom and remote work more broadly — suggesting that it somehow limits innovation by not allowing for the sometimes uncomfortable kinds of interactions that can build trust. Mr Yuan, who was born and raised in China, moved to Silicon Valley during the late 1990s. He founded Zoom more than a decade ago and became a multibillionaire during the pandemic. Read More Maui residents are still reeling from wildfire devastation. Now investors and realtors are trying to cash in

The Island Boys have sparked further backlash after pushing more inappropriate content that has disturbed fans. The twin sibling rappers, Kodiyakredd and Flyysoulja, whose real names are Franky and Alex Venegas first rose to fame in 2021 thanks to their viral track 'I’m An Island Boy' becoming a hit on TikTok. Now, they are instead turning heads for some questionable OnlyFans content that includes footage of them kissing, sparking backlash. Weeks later, Flyysoulja came out as gay. The brothers have continued to share controversial content, hinting at a NSFW intimate act between the two, but it is suspected that it may not be what it first appears. In a since-deleted video posted on the No Jumper Instagram page, a screenshot appeared to show Flyysoulja taking a selfie in the mirror. In the picture, his brother crouched by his crotch area suggesting that a sexual act was taking place. A large emoji was placed over the intimate area. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The screenshot comes from a video posted by Flyysoulja onto social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that was captioned: “He got skills.” The video showed Kodiyakredd with an object that looked like a carrot or a hot dog, suggesting the video was a prank to trick fans and thankfully revealed he was not near his brother’s genitals. Many were shocked by the Instagram screenshot and suggested that it was a bizarre prank to pull, even if it was fake. One person wrote: “Even if this is fake why on earth would you do thi… never mind.” “Man, what the !!” said another person. “I had to close my phone and throw it away after this dawg”. It seems that Flyysoulja isn’t shy about sharing his junk on the internet, as he recently sparked backlash for exposing himself during a live Kick stream with Adin Ross. Ross reacted: “Alright, that was insane, dude. I can’t believe he just did that. On my life, that was disgusting. On my f**king life. Wow, bro. That is insane. That is beyond crazy.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

In 2013 US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden stunned the world with revelations that the massive US spy apparatus was secretly sucking up communications and private data on people around the world, from the lowest social media poster to...

The Fortnite Sparkle Skull skin returns to the Item Shop on Tuesday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. ET as part of the Dylexa Fortnite Locket Bundle.

In the run-up to Instagram launching Threads earlier this week - its “civil”, text-based alternative to Twitter - billionaire Elon Musk has criticised the rival app looking to compete with the platform he bought back in October for $44bn by calling out the amount of data it may collect on users. Now, after the Meta-run platform is out in the wild, Musk appears to be so riled up by its runaway success (Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg reported 10 million sign-ups in the first seven hours after launch) that he’s threatening to sue Meta over what he considers “cheating”. News website Semafor shared a letter from Twitter lawyer Alex Spiro, in which he writes that the bird app has “serious concerns” Zuckerberg’s company has carried out “systemic, wilful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property”. It reads: “Over the past year, Meta has hired dozens of former Twitter employees. Twitter knows that these employees previously worked at Twitter; that these employees had and continue to have access to Twitter’s trade secrets and other highly confidential information; that these employees owe ongoing obligations to Twitter; and that many of these employees have improperly retained Twitter documents and electronic devices. “With that knowledge, Meta deliberately assigned these employees to develop, in a matter of months, Meta’s copycat ‘Threads’ app with the specific intent that they use Twitter’s trade secrets and other intellectual property in order to accelerate the development of Meta’s competing app, in violation of both state and federal law as well as those employees’ ongoing obligations to Twitter. “Twitter intends to strictly enforce its intellectual property rights, and demands that Meta take immediate steps to stop using any Twitter trade secrets or other highly confidential information.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Crikey. Appearing to confirm the legal threat following Semafor’s report, Musk tweeted: “Competition is fine, cheating is not.” The remark has since been met with heavy ridicule: Meanwhile, Meta’s communication director, Andy Stone has taken to Threads to state: “No one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee – that’s just not a thing.” The Musk-Zuckerberg feud very much continues, though, to the extent there are continued rumours the two tech moguls could partake in a “cage fight” to settle their differences – yes, really. We’ll go and fetch the popcorn… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

US and European officials are growing increasingly concerned about China’s accelerated push into the production of older-generation semiconductors

Apple is so perturbed by a United Kingdom surveillance bill that its threatening to flat-out

The International Olympic Committee is looking at creating an Olympic eSports Games, IOC president Thomas Bach...