Hi Inside Community, Today we hosted one of our best AMA interviews yet — this time with Jason Fried, the founder and CEO of 37signals. (You’ve probably heard of his products Basecamp and HEY, if you haven’t used them yourself.) Jason is a founder and executive with more than two decades of experience, making this a golden opportunity to ask him about his work with startups, product, and everything else he has done along the way. The AMA kicked off at 11 a.m. PDT, and it’s already packed with insights and answers. —The Inside Team | |  Daniel |  |
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 Voters in Kansas rejected an amendment that would have removed the right to receive an abortion from the state's constitution. In a major victory for the pro-choice movement, more than 60% of voters rejected the amendment, which would have empowered the GOP-controlled state legislature to implement abortion bans. Nearly 300,000 Kansans voted on Tuesday, more than three times the turnout for the 2018 state primaries. More: - Currently, Kansans are allowed to receive abortions until the 22nd week of pregnancy.
- State laws mandate that women must receive state-mandated counseling when seeking an abortion. Following the counseling, they are required to wait at least 24 hours before they can undergo the procedure.
- Rules stipulate that women who want to undergo an abortion must first get an ultrasound at their own expense and technicians must offer patients the opportunity to see the ultrasound image.
- President Biden said that the rejection of the ballot amendment by Kansas voters "makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and [should] have the right to make their own health care decisions."
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Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and John Boozman (R-AR) have proposed a new bill that would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) broad regulatory authority over crypto markets. The bill would establish, for the first time, a national regulatory standard for cryptocurrencies and tokens. It would also require all crypto trading or brokerage platforms to register with the CFTC. More: - The bill would also establish "digital commodities" as a new type of commodity for the CFTC to regulate.
- In February, CFTC Chair Rostin Benham (a former aide to Sen. Stabenow) said that the CFTC currently has no authority to regulate crypto markets.
- The CFTC would have to publish a report on the energy consumption costs of crypto mining as part of the bill, but crypto miners would not be required to register with the CFTC under the proposed framework.
Zoom Out: - The question of whether cryptocurrencies are commodities or securities has plagued regulators and investors for years.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum are legally considered to be commodities, while other cryptocurrencies have been regulated as securities.
- The Stabenow-Boozman bill is less expansive than the Responsible Financial Innovation Act proposed by Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in June. That bill would also designate the CFTC as the primary U.S. regulator of cryptocurrency markets.
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 A message from WIND RIVER Can the VxWorks real-time operating system fill your embedded system needs? A real-time operating system (RTOS) is an operating system with two key features: predictability and determinism. In an RTOS, repeated tasks are performed within a tight time boundary, while in a general-purpose operating system, this is not necessarily so. Predictability and determinism, in this case, go hand in hand: We know how long a task will take, and that it will always produce the same result. - Determinism: Repeating an input will result in the same output.
- High performance: RTOS systems are fast and responsive, often executing actions within a small fraction of the time needed by a general OS.
- Safety and security: As RTOSes are frequently used in critical systems, such as robotics or flight controllers, they must have higher security standards and more reliable safety features.
- Priority-based scheduling: Actions are scheduled according to their assigned priority; the most important tasks come first.
- Small footprint: Versus their hefty general OS counterparts, RTOSes weigh in at just a fraction of the size: Windows 10, with post-install updates, takes up approximately 20 GB. VxWorks, on the other hand, is measured in the low single-digit megabytes.
In this webinar, we'll go through some of the features of real-time operating systems that can revolutionize your embedded development process, and make sure that an RTOS is the right solution for your use-case. Watch Now
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 Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany may delay the scheduled closure of its last three nuclear reactors in order to deal with the ongoing energy crisis. The plants are set to close in December as part of a long-term plan to phase out nuclear power, but the government may reverse the decision due to rising energy prices and concerns about a total shutdown of Russian natural gas. More: - The three reactors currently generate 6% of Germany's electricity.
- A poll conducted last week found that ~70% of Germans are in favor of extending the life of the reactors.
- Scholz's government has commissioned a stress test to explore whether the nuclear reactors' operations could be extended safely and whether such a move will help alleviate Germany's energy crunch this winter.
- A final decision is expected after the study is finished later this week.
Zoom Out: - The decision to phase out nuclear power was made 20 years ago by the Social Democrat-Green coalition of which Scholz was a member.
- The German Green party, which is part of Scholz's current coalition government, has historically opposed nuclear power and may resist efforts to keep the reactors online.
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 GOOD NEWS: Participants in the world's largest four-day workweek trial said they feel happier, healthier, and more productive as a result. The six-month trial, coordinated by the non-profit 4 Day Week Global and the Autonomy think tank has 3,300 workers across 70 companies working 80% of their normal schedule while promising to maintain 100% of their previous output. Researchers will track the impact of the trial on worker productivity, well-being, and gender equality. When the trial ends in November, participating companies will decide whether they want to continue with the 4-day workweek. Several participants said the trial, which started eight weeks ago, has benefitted their mental health by freeing up their weekends and giving them more time for themselves and their families.
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 A message from COACHHUB How much is employee attrition costing your organization? As workplaces evolve, businesses need to invest in innovative ways to meet the diverse demands of their workforce―and see a return on their investment. Forrester’s Total Economic Impact of CoachHub study measured the results of innovation in learning and development. The results: Business costs related to employee attrition can be significantly reduced through innovation in learning and development.
This study provides a framework to evaluate the potential impact of CoachHub on their organizations as well as insights that articulate the benefits, costs and risks associated with an investment in people development.
In this report you'll learn: - The net present value of coaching totaled $3.3M over three years
- Digital coaching proved a 260% ROI
- Organizations studied showed a $4.3M cost savings linked to employee retention
Access your copy
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 A photograph of the January 15 eruption taken from the International Space Station NASA scientists have found that the volcanic eruption in Tonga earlier this year sent an unprecedented amount of water into the stratosphere, potentially triggering shifts in the world's climate. The vapor emitted by the underwater volcano represents 10% of the normal amount of water vapor in the stratosphere. More: - The Jan. 15 eruption sent ash, gases, and vapor as high as 35 miles into the atmosphere.
- This was the highest recorded height of a volcanic eruption in the satellite era.
- The water vapor came from seawater that was "superheated by the erupting magma," NASA said.
- While it normally takes 2-3 years for sulfate aerosols to fall from the stratosphere, the water vapor from the Tongan eruption could linger for 5-10 years.
- In a paper published in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists said that this "may be the first volcanic eruption observed to impact climate not through surface cooling caused by volcanic sulfate aerosols, but rather through surface warming."
- Luis Millán of the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab said: "We've never seen anything like it."
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 Warner Bros Discovery is scrapping its "Batgirl" film months before its scheduled release. The decision came after test audiences reacted poorly to the $70M film. More: - The production of "Batgirl" brought jobs and economic activity to the city of Glasgow, Scotland, where the shooting took place.
- The film was based on the Batgirl character, with actress Leslie Grace playing the lead.
- The film also featured Michael Keaton as Batman, Brendan Fraser as the villain, and JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.
- Warner Bros said that the Scooby Doo spinoff film "Scoob! Holiday Haunt" will also be scrapped.
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QUICK HITS * This is sponsored content.
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 The Lament for Icarus by Herbert James Draper. 1898
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 |  | Daniel Smith is an Inside Analyst who currently resides in Miami, Florida. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Daniel spent the last four years as a PhD candidate in Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. He is fascinated by tech, business, politics, venture capital, and everything in between. When he’s not writing for Inside he can be found kicking a ball on the nearest rugby pitch. Follow him on Twitter @DanSmithInside. | | | | Editor | Eduardo Garcia is a writer and editor based in New York. He is the author of "Things You Can Do," an illustrated book about climate action. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
For nearly 35 years, VxWorks has been used to ensure the security, safety, and reliability you need to design and build mission-critical embedded systems that simply must work.
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