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THUAN PHAM

THUAN PHAM, CTO OF UBER DECIDED TO RESIGN FROM THE COMPANY

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Many companies are facing the biggest loss in their history due to the outbreak of COVID-19. And, one of the badly hit companies is those associated with transportation. The lockdown has caused a major cease in the transportation business, shaking them up like anything. In this crisis, they cannot find another way to continue their business as the shutdown is active around the globe. Uber is facing one of the toughest times since the journey of the company started. The devastating outcomes of the pandemic started hitting them from March. Core members of the company are deciding on a 20% layoff, but nothing is official yet. Amongst this chaos, Thuan Pham, the current CTO of the company announced his resignation yesterday.

What Thuan Pham has to say?

Thuan was one of the company’s executives that served for a very long time. He joined Uber in 2013 and bid goodbye after seven years. But, what is the reason behind his departure? The media didn’t spot any light about his planning on departure earlier. This means the decision might be all of a sudden or he just kept it to himself.

He informed the company about his decision to resign on 24th April 2020 effective as of 16th May 2020. While making his resigning statements, Thuan mentioned that the engineering team of Uber is at peak performance and productivity. So, he is relieved to sign off at a situation when Uber has a strongly built system and proper stability. He also said the team is ready to face every threat or challenge that the future awaits and he is proud of being a part of it.

The company under Thuan Pham’s leadership

Thuan became a part of the company in 2013 when CTO Travis Kalanick brought him into the house. He has lasted more than Kalanick’s serving time at the company who was forced to resign in 2018. Pham was a very intelligent student who struggled a lot to reach the pinnacle of his career. He fled from Vietnam with his family at a very young age and spent almost a year at a camp in Indonesia.  

But, luckily his intelligence ended him up at the doorsteps of MIT. He worked with HP for many years followed by Silicon Graphics. Before joining Uber, he worked at VMWare for eight years. In Uber, Thuan made the best engineering team possible and made more than $200 million from Uber’s 2019 IPO.

But, this is not the first time that an executive is resigning from the company all of a sudden. It is impressive to witness Thuan leaving in good terms as many of them fall victim to the scandal. Ryan Graves, one of the first employees of Uber discontinued his service last May and Eric Alexander, Uber’s president of business in Asia was fired in 2017 with serious charges. These are only a few examples of scandals that have affected the reputation of the company.

Cutting off employees due to the company’s loss

But, the company’s biggest news is not only the resignation of its CTO but also a 20% layoff. The information about the company planning to cut costs first came from The Information. And, they are planning to do it by cutting off the employees. When asked an Uber spokesperson refused to enlighten the audience about the 20% layoff. But, the spokesperson mentioned that they are trying to fix the current situation and come out of the crisis becoming stronger. The company is suffering a huge setback exclusively due to the novel coronavirus. It is crystal clear that it will cut off cost anyway.

The planning for the employee cutoff has been going on for a few weeks now. When everything is finalized it will affect 20% of 27,000 employees of Uber which will consist of 800 from Thuan’s team. Due to the pandemic, Uber expects an impairment charge of $2.2 billion in the first quarter. The current CTO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, mentioned that the gross booking of Uber in major cities went down by 70%. The situation is getting worse as the newly acquired food delivery brand; Uber Eats is unable to make up for the losses.

If everything goes haywire, the company has made a model for it as well. It is called “an extreme edge case” in which trip generation falls to 80%. The company said that it will still be able to come out of this crisis with $4 billion in unrestricted cash at the end of the year.

AMC Theatres

AMC Theatres Face Off Against Universal by Refusing to Release their Movies

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AMC Theatres released a statement recently that they will no longer play any Universal films. Effective immediately, the decision came as a result of ‘unacceptable’ comments made by Jeff Shell, who serves as the Universal CEO. Shell had decided to forego a traditional theatre release and opt instead for a digital release. As per the Hollywood Reporter, Universal went ahead with a digital release for its new movie Trolls World Tour, which became quite a success. Here’s a look at how the ban can affect Hollywood and Universal.

Comments Turn Foul

As per an interview in the Wall Street Journal, Shell stated that the new Trolls movie raked in over $100 million via digital sales having sold more than five million copies. Shell also said that he planned to release the film in all formats once theatres opened again after the COVID-19 crisis. Universal seems to be taking a 50-50 approach, with some of their movies having theatrical releases. In contrast, others will go to digital retailers or Universal’s new service, Peacock. However, soon after this interview, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron hit back by stating that the company will no longer play any of NBCUniversal’s movies. Aron deemed Shell’s comments to be unacceptable and said that it was disappointing to see how Shell had reacted. He went on to say that Universal’s actions had left them with no choice but to decide to boycott all of their future films. Such a ban, which comes into effect immediately, will be valid across all their theatres across Europe, the Middle East and the US.

Big Blow

Aron went on to confirm that his statement is not a hollow threat, but rather a policy that has been made and will come into effect immediately. Since AMC Theatres is the largest chain of cinema halls in the US, this could turn out to be a big blow for Universal. With a lot of new releases waiting to come out after the lockdown ends, Universal will have to come up with a way to counter this move. The ninth movie in the Fast and Furious franchise titled F9, is slated to release in April, next year. The movie’s production was delayed, resulting in the film being postponed to next year. Since F9 is part of an immensely popular franchise, Universal is expecting it to bring in over $1 billion via global box office revenue.

Change in Status Quo

Furthermore, Aron also made it clear that this move is not for Universal alone, and that it should serve as a warning to everyone. If production companies decide to abandon current release procedures and forego negotiations with distributors like AMC, they will have to resort to such measures. Aron also said that while they are aware that Universal was not the only studio preferring to bypass theatrical releases, Shell was someone who wants to change the entire status quo of the industry. These statements were necessary because AMC had not taken such measures against Disney and WarnerMedia who went the digital route with their movies Artemis Fowl and Scoob!

It is interesting to note that the success of the Trolls World Tour came at a crucial time for both studios and theatres. Most cinema chains and independent theatres are looking at a bleak future due to the COVID-19 induced-lockdown. For instance, AMC Theatres itself, which is the US’s largest cinema franchise is generating no revenue as of now due to all their theatres being closed. The AMC letter addressed to the Universal Group Chairman Donna Langley, will call attention to Shell’s comments.

However, there have been no further comments from Universal in this regard. All movie fanatics will have to wait and see how this face-off ends to get to know whether they will be able to watch their favourite films in theatres. With the world going through such a difficult time, many people are just waiting for this to end to enjoy a movie in their local theatres. If more cinema halls decide to follow suit against studios this way, people will have to resort to streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime for their entertainment needs.

Google Search Console

A SMALL YET SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT APPEARED IN GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

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Every company is striving to make its product better and user-friendly. Some software or websites might work in complex ways, but a simple user-interface is better for any online platform. So, in responding to recent feedback from users of the Google search engine, the company decided to add a new feature. Yesterday, the company’s official webmasters tweeted that now there will be an additional icon to copy the URL.

The announcement 

Google’s webmasters officially announced that an additional icon has been added to the Google Search Console to copy a URL. The icon will appear when the user hovers over the URL. By simply clicking it, copying the URL to the clipboard takes place. So, now there will be three icons while you hover over a URL, namely, open in a new tab, inspect element, and the newly added “copy to clipboard”.

The webmasters have said that they received suggestions from many people for a long time. So, the company has finally made this change to their website. They are expecting a rapid increase in productivity after the addition of this new feature.

Advantage of the new icon

Though this slight modification may look very negligible, many of us will be benefited. Honestly, we can all save some time as we don’t need to highlight it and copy it. This will boost our productivity at many levels, and also hovering over and copying is much more time-efficient. Now that the feature has rolled out, it is surprising to think how such a basic feature wasn’t introduced at the very beginning.

Many people, especially the SEO community have demanded this tiny modification for a long time. Some of them have also tweeted about it. The SEO experts are very happy when they finally see it getting added to the Google Search Console.

Tweets from SEO experts

Fili Wiese, a renowned SEO expert, and author at Search Engine Land tweeted about it last night. He said that continuous request to Google for adding this simple basic feature has finally paid off. He is also a former employee of Google. Another SEO strategist, Benas Leonavicius tweeted that he was waiting for ages for this one simple icon.

Positive Response and Feedback

Apart from the SEO experts and the publishers, many users have said that it will improve the workflow. The overall productivity will be increased to a great extent due to this new feature. Moreover, it is not only the “copy to clipboard” option that can increase the quality of workflow. Since the three icons can be displayed if a user hovers over, all functions can be performed quickly. It is the opinion of many analysts that when they needed to click the inspect element, it disrupted the flow of analysis. But, that won’t be happening anymore.

The flow of work is very important at any professional level. So, lack of certain tools that can disrupt the work quality is a disgrace in today’s world. The fact that Google has finally decided to include this new feature will be very advantageous for the working community. Because with a better user experience the positivity of a working culture increases as well.

SpaceX

SpaceX Prototype Passes Important Cold Pressure Test

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Over the last weekend, SpaceX successfully tested its rocket much to the satisfaction of space enthusiasts around the world. The success of the test comes as a significant relief to all the researchers working on their next-gen project, Starship, which aims to take people to the Moon. SpaceX had publicized their project years ago, and shocked the world when it announced that it would send a one-day expedition to the Moon and Mars. The company had been working on a rocket capable of doing this for some time now. Therefore, this success will come as a piece of positive news for everyone involved in the project. Here’s a look at what the achievement of this prototype test means for the company.

Big Milestone

SpaceX’s prototype for its deep-space rocket named Starship, successfully passed a cold pressure test in Texas, after remaining intact on the stand. The success with regards to this test will enable the company to start low-altitude flying in the weeks to come. In the past, the trial had created trouble for the company, with several prototypes getting destroyed in the past. Passing this cryogenic proof test successfully means that the company can finally take their prototype testing to the next level.

The cryogenic proof test requires filling the vehicle with very cold liquid nitrogen to test whether the prototype can handle those temperatures when in outer space. Since deep space has freezing temperatures and low pressure, rockets must pass this test to ensure they stay safe while in orbit. Previous to this launch, SpaceX had lost three prototypes while testing them for this procedure. All three of the prototypes either burst open or imploded on the stand in Boca Chica, Texas.

Softball Test

As expected, SpaceX CEO and billionaire, Elon Musk was excited that his prototype had finally cleared the test. He referred to the test as a softball pressure test, but still an important milestone for the company, as it meant the prototype was ready for flight tests. Engineers will now begin to attach the prototype to their new Raptor engine this week.

SpaceX Prototype
Image Souce: The Verge

The flight test will involve igniting the Raptor while restraining the prototype to ensure the proper functioning of the engine. The Raptor has been designed specifically for this project, and the final launching will require six such Raptor engines. However, the flight test will only involve one Raptor, with future trials adding more rockets as and when needed. For instance, the next prototype test will make use of three Raptor engines.

Future Tests

Once the Raptor test is completed successfully, SpaceX will fly the prototype to 150 meters, and then land it. This small hop test will test the rocket’s ability to withstand take-off and landing stresses. It will also serve as a test for the engineers involved in touching down and taking off the rocket gently. Such propulsive landing has been used earlier by SpaceX for landing their Falcon 9 rockets. Starship will use this technique to land the rocket on the Earth, and even on the Moon.

A hop test had been conducted in August using an early Starship prototype named Starhopper. However, this design was not similar to the Starship but slightly resembled a water tower. However, sources say that the new prototype is more similar both in size and shape to the actual Starship design while lacking specific necessary hardware. Musk claimed that the rocket would be made ready for the hop test in a few weeks, but approvals from the Federal Aviation Ministry might take longer.

SpaceX is also still working on the Starship design, trying out new design features and trying to implement those changes in future vehicles. The original prototype for the Starship is also under production at the Boca Chica test centre. The fact that the SN4 prototype successfully passed the cryo-test is very welcome news for the company, which will now set their sights on further development and testing.

Gates

The Gates Foundation is Solely Working To Fight Off This Pandemic Dropping Other Important Projects

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The Gates Foundation has been working for twenty years now. There are three trustees of the foundation, namely, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. For the past twenty years, the prime goal of the foundation has been eradicating poverty, improving healthcare facilities, enhancing educational developments, etc. The Gates Foundation is the world’s largest private foundation having assets worth more than $40 billion.

The foundation shows a great deal of interest in fighting infectious diseases and donates a significant amount of money for the same. And, currently, the outbreak of novel coronavirus has successfully secured the foundation’s attention. Gates has declared a donation of $250 million to fight the global pandemic and also leveraging partnerships to put an end to this mayhem.

Every life is important

The Gates Foundation works for many projects in the field of smart e-learning, educational scholarship, hygiene projects, agricultural developments, etc. But, due to the pandemic, the foundation will be exclusively working to fight off this infectious disease. Though the consequences will be disastrous in the upcoming years, the foundation should stick to its true motive. The foundation also said that every life is equal and unless and until the disease is wiped out, we should fight to stop it.

The Donation

During an outbreak of infectious disease, it is not only the medical care that the world needs. The necessities for the poor people, proper protection for the medical professionals, etc has to be taken care of as well. The Gates Foundation donated the money especially for diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics. It is mainly focusing on the African and South Asian health system conditions and working for their upliftment.

It is also working to dilute the social and economic impact of the disease in developing countries. The Gates Foundation has collaborated with WHO and some other healthcare organizations around the world to fight coronavirus. Bill Gates also said the WHO needs us more than ever now. So, we should support WHO during this pandemic instead of not having its back. He also made a tweet about it saying that the gesture of Donald Trump suspending funds for WHO is not an appreciable one during such a crisis.

Proper usage of resources 

During a pandemic, a lot of sectors need special attention. But, since the economically backward people are hit the most, the foundation has decided to donate for their well-being mostly. The foundation is working according to a theory called “catalytic philanthropy”. Since it is a non-profit foundation, it just focuses on the development and proper nourishment of the society and expects nothing in return. So, while they delve deeper into protecting the poor people, the government can focus on how to save the economy henceforth.

The struggle is tougher for the poorest of communities. This is because they are mostly daily wage laborers. So, if their main source of income is cut off, chances are they might starve to death. So, even if they are not the victim of this infectious disease, they are the victims of poverty. This is the reason, Gates targeted the African countries, some of the Asian countries, and poor U.S. communities for serving basic needs.

Better R&D facilities

The Gates Foundation has co-founded Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation in 2017. This is helping to accelerate the testing of vaccines and new potential treatments through the COVID-19 Therapeutic Accelerator. The rate at which trial of vaccines work is relatively much slower than the rate at which the disease spreads. So, the foundation is trying its best to make necessary developments, so that once a medicine is created (preventive or cure) it can be mass-produced. Because inventing a vaccine or cure is useless if that can’t be reached to the affected once. So, it should be affordable as well.

Accusations 

A few weeks ago, common citizens of Europe and America went violent burning down cell towers. And, many people have linked Bill Gates and the infectious disease along with 5G networks. Social media was flooded with criticism of how Bill Gates has caused a pandemic for his interests. Though this man and his foundation are trying so hard to help people during the crisis, allegations are never-ending.

Back in 2015, Bill Gates in one of his interviews said that even nuclear war is not as much a threat to humanity as an infectious disease. Now, people are trying to use that comment against him to try to prove he conspired such a pandemic.

snapchat

COVID-19 Leads to Huge Surge in Snapchat Usage, as User Behavior Trends Change

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As the novel coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the world, people are still confined to their homes. With most schools, colleges and offices still being closed, most people are relying on social media platforms to interact with each other. Therefore, a lot of entertainment and social media websites have seen a spike in usage in the last few months. Snapchat recently released data regarding user behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s a look at how the epidemic has affected Snapchat usage and what that means for the company.

New User Rush on Snapchat

The first quarter of 2020 has been especially good for Snapchat, which gained 11 million users, bringing the total count of daily users to 229 million. The addition of 11 million new users, or Daily Active Users, is a 20% increase over what their usage was last year. Similarly, with most people being stuck at home, engagement has also risen tremendously. The first quarter saw the creation of over 4 billion snaps every day! With more and more people migrating to Snapchat to stay connected with their loved ones, the company recently released new data regarding user activity. The new look at how user behavior has changed during the COVID-19 lets us understand how the disease has affected people around the world.

User Behavior Changes

The impact of COVID-19 has helped engagement rates hit all-time highs. Furthermore, more and more people are now turning to social media sites like Snapchat to stay connected to their friends and family. Compared to February, March has seen a spike of 50% when it comes to time spent on voice and video calling facilities. Such a trend may also be associated with social distancing rules which came into place in March, forcing people away from one another.

This has led to most people switching to IG, Snapchat, Zoom, and Skype to talk to their loved ones face-to-face. March also witnessed an all-time high with regards to group chat engagement rates, as friends and colleagues started using video calls to stay in touch. Friends have also started sending each other more snaps than ever before to keep them informed of what they are up to during the quarantine period.

Peak Usage and Activity

March has seen an all-new high emerge concerning the number of snaps sent amongst friends. While this number peaks during Christmas and other holiday seasons like that, this year, the peak came in March when the quarantine came into place around the world. More and more people are also spending their time getting accustomed to Snapchat’s new features and additions. As people do not have the luxury of going out to entertain themselves, they are trying to find new ways to stay occupied during this quarantine. That has led to many of them exploring all the options that the app has to offer, as they figure out ways to stay active and occupied. New features such as AR lenses and games have also peaked since March.

The company’s official statement says that Snapchat has seen a significant rise in engagement levels, time spent, number of users, and also with regards to the usage of in-game features such as chats. When compared to February, usage of Snapchat’s lenses has gone up by another 25% in March. Snapchat Shows has also become a massive hit with the crowd, with engagement rate and time spent on Snapchat Shows hit an all-time high. More and more people are tuning in to stream content related to News, Health, and Gaming.

Other User Activities

Snapchat also released data regarding off-platform user activities based on surveys and off-platform location data gathered as of mid-March. The studies show that there is a 73% drop in college and school attendance as predicted. Due to social distancing norms, there is a 29% decrease in bar visits, 22% fewer people are traveling via air, and there’s been a massive 60% drop in people attending concerts. Similarly, gyms are seeing 41% fewer people, and most users are staying home for the majority of their time.

Furthermore, Snapchat data shows that 62% of their users are now streaming more data, while there’s a 21% increase in online shopping. It seems 38% of their users have taken to gaming while another 23% is engaging in online food delivery to beat their quarantine blues. Content consumption has increased considerably, with a 39% increase in people watching the news, while 39% now depend on their TV. Also, social media has seen a 29% increase in user engagement, while ad revenue seems to be on the decline.  

Though Snapchat has achieved all-time highs with regards to engagement, their revenue from ads is down when compared to earlier months. While February witnessed growth in ad revenue of 58%, it dropped to 25% by March due to the COVID-19. According to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, most companies have had to cut their ad budget due to the pandemic, resulting in this slump. However, the growth in early Jan and Feb will give Snapchat confidence that they can improve their revenues once the pandemic draws to a close.