To avoid detection, the Apple staff looking to unionize have held secret meetings and communicated using encrypted messaging using Android phones rather than iPhones to avoid any possibility of snooping by Apple, The Washington Post, said, citing anonymous sources familiar with union drives at multiple Apple Stores in the US. According to a research quoted by The Washington Post, “Employees at several Apple Stores across the country are quietly working to unionize, according to people familiar with the efforts, as growing dissent among hourly workers threatens to disrupt one of the most stoli ..read more

A few months ago, Mark Zuckerberg brought metaverse into the forefront of tech vocabulary by rebranding Facebook to Meta and illustrating his vision for Horizon Home, an early vision for a home base in the metaverse. Interestingly, Facebook’s rebranding came with a quiet announcement that it was killing the Oculus brand of the virtual reality headsets maker that the company had acquired for $2.3 billion. Those of us who dedicate our working lives in Information Technology continually scan the landscape for emerging technologies that can transform our lives. Such transformations come around onc ..read more

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, a premier educational and research institution has begun removing ceiling fans from hostel rooms, apparently aimed at preventing suicides. The move comes after four students at the premier science institute died allegedly by suicide in their hostel rooms since March this year. There have been six cases of suicide on the campus in the last two years. According to an internal email, written by students to the chairman of the Student’s Council, personnel who are working to remove the ceiling fans have told the students that “all rooms in all th ..read more

Drones have been touted as a potential solution to bridge the last-mile supply chain problem in dense urban areas and remote terrains Inaccessible by traditional modes of transport. India’s National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) recently conducted a unique technology demonstration by delivering COVID-19 vaccines through an ‘Octacopter’ class drone nicknamed “Octa Med.” Indian union minister Dr Jitendra Singh launching the drone NAL developed the indigenous, medium class Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) multi-copter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a.k.a drone. The UAV is made out of light we ..read more

According to a recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from International Institute for Population Sciences, the Fertility Rate is declining in India. The report was released by Indian Union Health Ministry on 24th November. This is a significant news coming from the second most populous nation on earth with nearly 1.38 Billion people. The rate of growth had slowed from a historic 2%+ to less than 1% in recent times, and seems to have plateaued. In what demographers are calling a “watershed moment,”  the growth is finally set to decline. Here are five highlights from the report ..read more

In a bizarre incident, a man from Nagercoil in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu committed suicide after landing a coveted bank job. He had earlier promised God that he would “offer himself  in sacrifice” if got a job. 32 year old man identified as Naveen had been frustrated in life as he was unable to get a job. He had prayed that if he were to get a job, then he would give up his life and “be with God”. Naveen then got a job in the Mumbai branch of Bank of India. Nearly 15 days after joining work, Naveen flew down to Thiruvananthapuram and went to a railway station and lay down on a ..read more

According to the 2020 census data, the white people declined in numbers for the first time on record while Hispanic and Asian populations boomed this past decade.  The number of people living in the United States including the 50 states and the District of Columbia, was 331,449,281 as of April 1, 2020, an increase of 7.4% since the 2010 Census. Check back later this week for animations for the 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. #2020Census pic.twitter.com/VmzZLeWjGC — U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) April 27, 2021 William Frey, a senior fellow at Brookings’ Metropolitan Policy Progr ..read more

The practice of Tipping service workers is quite prevalent in the US,  but continues to be hotly debated. How much do you tip a delivery girl or gal? Some even question the premise of tipping: Why even tip when the delivery service includes a service fee? A video that has gone viral shows a pizza delivery guy taking a slice out of a box of Pizza after he was refused monetary tips.   In the short youtube video recorded from a door-camera, one can clearly see a pizza delivery guy finding a sign that says, “No money for tip, please take a slice of pizza instead.” He then goes on t ..read more

Indian IT seems to be shrugging off its pandemic blues. Recent announcements by software service majors indicates ha hiring boom for fiscal 2022 as the $150-billion industry races to meet the exponential demand for technology services and offshoring. While the country’s big four software exporters — Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies and Wipro collectively announced plans to hire over 120,000 freshers. Here is a summary of recent announcements: Infosys to hire 25,000 from campus in FY22; attrition high at 15% –  The company announced plans to hire over 25,000 people fro ..read more

We have all be hearing about the “global chip shortage” in the news for some time. According to industry analysts and manufacturers, there seems to be a breakdown in the supply chain and distribution of semiconductors and chips adding to months-long shortage that remains widespread and is likely to continue through the end of the year. Global manufacturing sector that had slowed down during the pandemic last year is making a comeback in most industry sectors. Supplies of semiconductors that are used in most modern products are in short supply and are trying to catch-up with the pent-up demand ..read more