Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Amazon will soon be able to offer one-day delivery to 95% of U.S. households

According to a study by DePaul University, Amazon Air, its cargo airline, is expected to double in size by June, allowing it to deliver to more of the country. In the six months leading up to this February, Amazon Air ran 15% more flights than the previous six months. By June, Amazon Air will fly 160 flights daily, another 15% increase. Last month, Amazon purchased 11 used Boeing 767-300 planes from Delta Air Lines and WestJet. Amazon won’t integrate some of these planes into its fleet until next year. Between September and February, Amazon’s active air fleet rose by 13.5%, and its total fleet grew by 21%. Since 2019, analysts have forcasted that Amazon will eventually compete against giants such as UPS and FedEx. The company spent $44 Billion to build out its logistics infrastructure in 2020. (Business Insider)

What is the future of work?

Once the world gets past the pandemic, what will stick around in our professional lives, and what will go away? Research involving the U.S. and seven other countries found that more than 100 million workers will likely need to transition to new jobs by 2030, which is up to 25% more than pre-COVID estimates in advanced economies. The research also shows that working from home and virtual meetings will stick around, though “less intensely,” and the adoption of automation and artificial intelligence will speed up, especially for work that involves physical proximity. (McKinsey & Company)

Oxnard College professor put on leave after video shows him berating hard of hearing student

A professor at Oxnard College in Oxnard, California has been put on administrative leave after a video surfaced on social media that shows him berating a hard of hearing student during an online class. In the video taken by a classmate, the professor appears audibly frustrated and tries to get the student’s attention by calling her name, to which she responded: “I can hear you a little bit.” He then asked the student why she didn’t answer him “all the times” he tried speaking to her. “Have your counselor speak with me because you’ve got too much distraction to even understand what’s going on,” he says. “Yes, I do because my translator is next to me explaining to me everything that you’re saying,” she responds. “Okay. Then maybe…just have them teach you the whole class. That makes sense to me. I don’t know. I don’t understand it. But I see you laughing and smiling and giggling with somebody else.” At one point, a classmate steps in to help. “Professor? She’s actually hard of hearing so her translator goes in… she can’t respond right away.” The acting President of the college said “The video itself is heartbreaking. No matter what led up to that interaction, there’s no justification”. The Ventura County Community College District held a press conference announce that the professor, who is a tenured faculty member, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. It’s an incident that has left the deaf and hard of hearing community a bit shaken. The student is actually enrolled at Moorpark College and was sitting in on the class at Oxnard College. The district says they are attempting to reach out to her. In the meantime, officials say they are not permitted to reveal whether the professor has any prior incidents on record. The school is now looking for a replacement anatomy and physiology professor to fill in for the time being. (ABC 7)

Pandemic burnout on the rise

Uncertainty and disruption due to the coronavirus have led to widespread feelings of fatigue and burnout, experts say. Research shows a majority of people in much of the world say their mental health has been negatively affected by the pandemic. The ongoing stress can lead to “psychological hibernation”, leading to loss of concentration, poor sleep, and memory issues, according to psychologists. At work, negativity or slower performance can be warning signs and a chance for a manager to check in and offer help. (Financial Times)

Distraction-busting for the easily

One of the drawbacks of working from home is easily the amount of distractions at your fingertips, whether it be a full pantry of food or living distractions like family members and pets. The “temptation to relax” and doing chores are the top two biggest work-from-home distractions. Time-management skills are key to helping with these distractions. If you set aside structured time each day for personal time, moments of relaxation and when to do chores it can help stabilize your focus and productivity. (Fast Company)

The problem with female rivalry

Women coworkers are often depicted as aggressively competing with one another to stay on top by keeping other women down, but female rivalry doesn’t necessarily stem solely from women. The social norms and everyday sexism have created the idea that there’s a scarcity of “seats at the table” for female leaders, leading women to “internalize patriarchal messages” that influence how they treat each other. Such beliefs can lead some women to mistreat, underestimate and distance themselves from other women in efforts to gain power and status among men. (Business Insider)

Dozens of Boeing jets grounded

Boeing is recommending the grounding of some of its 777 jets. The Federal Aviation Administration is ordering the immediate inspection of aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney 4000 engines after one broke apart as a United Airlines plane flew over Denver, the third such failure in recent years. United, the only airline in the U.S. to use that particular engine, has withdrawn two dozen planes following a similar move from Japan’s regulators. It’s the latest setback for Boeing, whose 737 MAX was grounded worldwide in 2019, following two fatal crashes. (Fox Business)

NFL wants to double TV rights fees

The National Football League wants network partners to pay double what they’ve been paying to broadcast games, but Disney is said to be pushing back. In 2011, Disney, which owns ESPN, agreed to pay $1.9 billion a year to broadcast Monday Night Football through 2021. NBC, CBS and Fox are more likely to buckle to the NFL price hike, since their earlier deals hovered around $1 billion in comparison. The NFL is pushing the 100% increase, because Disney wants more from the league, including Monday Night doubleheaders. (CNBC)

Don’t multitask during meetings

It’s incredibly tempting to multitask during meetings especially on Zoom where others can’t see you scrolling through Instagram or chatting on Slack. Resist the urge. Not paying attention wreaks havoc on productivity as missed details often lead to scrambling to find them later on. Train yourself to close all your browser windows and set your phone away from you and engage with the task at hand. (Fast Company)

Blue-collar workers bounce back

Blue-collar jobs across the U.S. have bounced back and now exceed pre-pandemic levels, according to Labor Department data. The boom in residential construction, package deliveries and warehousing positions is expected to keep going, since job openings remain high. The pandemic also sped up a shift in how we shop, sparking a boom in warehouse, logistics and transportation roles. Meanwhile, since many of their projects have been stopped, delayed or cancelled during the pandemic, more commercial contractors are pivoting to residential construction to tap into “surging demand” for housing. (The Wall Street Journal)

Florida Man Hits Priest Then Barricades Himself In Church

Police arrested a Florida man who allegedly struck a priest before barricading himself inside a church. The police officers in Melbourne, Florida, arrived to the Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church in response to an incident involving church officials and a man. Police say the man hit one of the priests and was seen with a firearm when officers arrived at the scene. Members of the church were able to escape, but the man barricaded himself near the front door of the church and threatened to kill himself. SWAT members were at the scene negotiating with the man, who was finally arrested more than four hours later. Detectives are continuing to investigate to determine what charges he will face. (CBS Miami)

Florida man fights to keep pizza-loving pet alligator ‘Gwendolyn’

A South Florida man is fighting to keep his male pet alligator, “Gwendolyn,” that he has had for the past 47 years. David Van Buren says he has kept the gator as a pet, and even took his pet to college. Once he was in the house, he didn’t want to leave. It took three weeks to get him to go back outside. He was on the couch all the time, or in the bathtub. Now that he’s gotten too large to roam around his backyard in Coconut Grove, Florida Fish & Wildlife officials are stepping in to take the 13-foot-long reptile. Authorities received a complaint about the alligator and began to investigate. The owner feeds the alligator pizza and chocolate chip cookies, Chips Ahoy are apparently his favorite, and says he’ll do whatever he can to keep him. There’s no word yet on how long FWC will take to come to a decision, or where they would take Gwendolyn if they removed him from the home. (Fox 13)

Woman becomes youngest female to row solo across the ocean

A British woman has become the youngest woman to ever row solo across the ocean by completing a 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic. The 21-year-old woman, Jasmine Harrison, was inspired to take part in the challenge after she saw a similar race in 2018. At the time, she was teaching swimming in the Caribbean and “decided there and then she wanted to do it.” This year, 21 boats from around the world took part in the challenge, which included some solo rowers and others with teams of up to four rowers, according to Atlantic Campaigns, which organizes “The World’s Toughest Row” challenge. She began in Spain’s Canary Islands on December 12th and arrived in Antigua on Saturday (2/21), 70 days, 3 hours and 48 minutes. She accomplished the feat by rotating sleeping and rowing every two hours. She also posted weekly updates on her Instagram page, sharing adventures such as when she came across a striped marlin and rowed through a stretch of water covered in seaweed. (ABC News)

Tuesday Splits Into Two With:

• Banana Bread Day
• Curling is Cool Day
• Diesel Engine Day
• Iwo Jima Day (Flag Raised)
• Dog Biscuit Day
• Tile Day
• Single Tasking Day
• Tootsie Roll Day
• World Spay Day USA