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Richard Lawler

Richard Lawler

Senior News Editor

Senior News Editor

    More From Richard Lawler

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    NLRB says delivery drivers are Amazon employees.

    A decision about drivers in Palmdale, CA, “found that Amazon is a joint employer of its Delivery Service Partner (DSP) drivers.” The Teamsters union that represents them now says it’s “confident” the determination will eventually apply to drivers nationwide, allowing them all to organize and negotiate with Amazon.

    Brandy Diaz, Amazon driver:

    We wear Amazon uniforms, we drive Amazon vans, and Amazon controls every minute of our day. Amazon can no longer have all the benefits of their own fleet of drivers without the responsibilities that come with it.

    Teamsters Win Groundbreaking Joint Employer Decision Against Amazon

    [International Brotherhood of Teamsters]

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    On Saturday, NASA will determine the next steps for the Boeing Starliner’s crew.

    Will astronauts Barry ”Butch” Wilmore and Sunita Williams come home from the ISS on the Starliner, or will they wait to hitch a ride home from SpaceX next year without protective space suits?

    We may find out on Saturday:

    NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and leadership will hold an internal Agency Test Flight Readiness Review on Saturday, Aug. 24, for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. About an hour later, NASA will host a live news conference at 1 p.m. EDT from Johnson Space Center in Houston.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Former FTX exec’s domestic partner indicted on campaign finance charges.

    Ryan Salame is due to begin his seven-year prison sentence next month, but now he claims prosecutors reneged on an agreement to drop a campaign finance investigation into his partner, Michelle Bond, in exchange for his guilty plea.

    Charges filed today in the SDNY accuse the two of faking a $400k consulting payment from FTX to fund her unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022.

    MICHELLE BOND, the defendant, and her romantic partner (“CC-1 “) illegally funded BOND’s campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022. In particular, CC-1- then a high-level executive at a now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange (the “Exchange”)— arranged for a sham $400,000 payment from the Exchange to BOND, which BOND then used almost entirely to fund her campaign illegally.
    Screenshot: US v. Michelle Bond indictment (PDF)
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The Pixel 9 series has an updated setup to make switching easier.

    New Pixel 9 owners might notice some device setup and transfer changes, as highlighted in this thread by Google’s Paul Dunlop.

    Now transfers can be done at any time, you can move over only media Google Photos hasn’t already backed up in original quality, and you can plug in a USB cable to combine its speed with Wi-Fi while moving data.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    a16z, Jack Dorsey, Sean Combs, and Binance are among the investors in Elon Musk’s X.

    In response to a request by Jacob Silverman, a court filing reveals who else owns a piece of the property formerly known as Twitter.

    Of course, being on the list doesn’t necessarily mean those investments are going well, just ask the banks involved, but some of the names have bigger problems.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    British tech billionaire Mike Lynch is missing after his superyacht sinks in a storm.

    The Autonomy founder’s superyacht, the Bayesian, sunk after being hit by a tornado while anchored near the coast of Sicily, with 22 people on board. 15 survivors have been rescued so far.

    Lynch sold his company to HP in 2011 for $11 billion, then HP alleged “accounting improprieties” had misrepresented its value. Lynch was acquitted of fraud charges in June.

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    The original Pixel Fold has disappeared from the Google Store, but it’s coming back.

    9to5Google and Android Central point out that after Google announced its new Pixel 9 lineup with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, its store listing for the original foldable Pixel phone went away.

    However, Android Central has heard from Google that it will return after the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s launch, which is scheduled for September 4th.

    You can't buy the original Pixel Fold right now, but Google says it'll return

    [Android Central]

    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    It’s not over.

    If you’re still trying to get that Olympic feeling back, sprint athlete Nick Mayhugh has a reminder that the Paralympic Games are right around the corner and will be at least as exciting on social media as the Olympics were.

    The Opening Ceremony takes place on August 28th, so you have until then to try to figure out unique sports, like murderball, aka wheelchair rugby, and exactly how classification works.

    Apple’s next big project might be a tabletop robot / iPadApple’s next big project might be a tabletop robot / iPad
    Emma Roth and Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Richard Lawler
    Waymo released a software update to solve its San Francisco “honkfest.”

    Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli explains why the problem started and why its autonomous cars are quieter now (shown in the livestream below):

    We recently introduced a useful feature to help avoid low speed collisions by honking if other cars get too close while reversing toward us. It has been working great in the city, but we didn’t quite anticipate it would happen so often in our own parking lots. We’ve updated the software, so our electric vehicles should keep the noise down for our neighbors moving forward.

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