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Roku's Own Line of TVs Will Arrive This Spring

January 4, 2023 Published by The Street

Roku knows streaming, and by extension, Roku (ROKU) – Get Free Report knows TVs. In fact, according to Roku, roughly one-third of all TVs sold in the US are running Roku OS–the company’s operating system designed and built for televisions. Currently, Roku has 15 hardware partners such as HiSense or TCL who takes one of Roku’s reference designs, customizes it, and releases it with Roku’s streaming operating system built in. Effectively, Roku has been designing TVs and working alongside manufacturers to produce televisions for years. But it’s all been behind the scenes.

And now the time has come for Roku to start selling its own televisions alongside its partners. Soon, you’ll see Roku-branded TVs on store shelves.

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Roku recently invited journalists to its headquarters in San Jose, Calif., to get a first look at what the company has planned for 2023. We attended a talk by Roku CEO Anthony Wood and visited several different demonstrations, ranging from hardware and software design to testing and calibration that each Roku TV goes through. It was a fascinating look behind the curtain–a first for Roku.

There are two different lines of Roku TVs–Roku Select and Roku Plus, with a total of 11 different models, ranging in size from 24 inches to 75 inches.

The Roku Plus series is made up of 55-, 65- and 75-inch sizes, all of which offer 4K picture quality. The Plus models also come with Roku’s Voice Remote Pro.

The Select Series offers an HD experience with different sizes spanning 24 to 55 inches.

Both lineups will work with Roku’s Find My Remote feature, allowing you to trigger an alert on your Roku remote so you can easily find it. Private Listening is also built into both TV lines so you can listen to whatever you’re watching without disturbing those around you. A handy feature for binging a new show long after everyone has gone to bed.

Roku is keeping exact pricing and release date to itself for now. The price range for all Roku branded TVs is $119 to $999. Presumably, the 24-inch Select Series will be at the $119 price point, while the 75-inch Plus Series will be at the $999 price point. For comparison’s sake, TCL’s 75-inch Roku TV boasts a QLED picture with support for Dolby Vision and Atmos costs $845, but is discounted to $799.99.

As for a vague launch time frame, Roku has said its TVs will launch in the spring. So, in theory, we’re just a few months away. We’ll also have to wait until closer to launch for more detailed specifications as Roku isn’t ready to fully announce that yet either.

Roku’s CES 2023 announcements include more than two TV lines. There’s a new Roku OLED reference design that Roku’s hardware partners now have access to, which means it won’t be long until we see Roku OS-powered OLED TVs. I did see the OLED design in action and can confirm the picture quality, at least inside a controlled environment, looked fantastic. I can’t wait to see what TCL or Hisense does with it.

More importantly, I can’t wait to see the price of an OLED with a Roku interface. Currently, these types of television deliver epic visuals, but the price is normally pretty steep. LG, Samsung, and Sony all play in the space.

Samsung’s 2022 S95B OLED comes in 55-inch ($1,599.99, originally $2,099.99) and 65-inch ($1,999.99, originally $2,799.99) sizes. Both feature an OLED panel with Quantum Dots for an even more vibrant picture that is fully self-lit from the pixels themselves.

Finally, Roku is adding a wireless soundbar to its speaker lineup. There’s no word about pricing or release date for the soundbar, but I assume we’ll see it released alongside the TVs this spring. Roku’s current line up includes the Streambar and Streambar Pro, both of which double as a streaming box and a sound bar and use an HDMI connection to your TV.

The wireless soundbar will join the Wireless Bass subwoofer, Wireless Bass Pro, and Wireless Speakers to round out Roku’s audio product offerings–giving users a completely wireless experience, if they want.

Roku launching its own TV lineup only makes sense. The company was already doing most of the work to create its own TV, but leaving the final leg–manufacturing–to its hardware partners. By building its own TVs, Roku can now implement and test new features on its own schedule instead of relying on its partners to integrate it.

It’ll be interesting to see the final specifications and pricing as we get closer to launch. That will tell us a lot about how competitive Roku plans on being with its own TV lineup.

Still though, Roku will still be the featured smart interface on TVs made by manufacturers like TCL or Hisense. And you can add the Roku experience to any TV in the form of a streaming stick or box.

Roku Express ($29.99 at Amazon)

The entry-level streamer in Roku’s lineup is the Express. It’s a tiny streaming box that plugs into power and then a TV via HDMI. It comes with the classic remote and gives you instant access to nearly all the major streaming services.

If you need content being streamed at up to a 4K resolution, that’s where the Express 4K+ ($29.99, originally $39.99 at Amazon) comes in. It’s a streamer capable of hitting those resolutions along with supporting HDR, and comes with a voice remote. This way you can ask for content from a specific streaming service.

Roku Streaming Stick 4K ($36.47, originally $49.99 at Amazon)

Roku’s Streaming Stick looks like a large USB thumb drive, but it plugs into your TVs HDMI port. Once you connect it to power using the included USB cable (that also improves Wi-Fi reception), you can stream 4K content with support for HDR and Dolby Vision if your TV supports it.

Included with the $50 Streaming Stick 4K is Roku’s Voice Remote that you can use to search for shows or movies. Like the rest of Roku’s lineup, the Streaming Stick 4K supports all major smart home platforms, meaning you can control your Roku device from Google Home, Alexa or even using Siri through Apple’s HokeKit platform.

The Streaming Stick 4K is a solid choice for someone who doesn’t want to spend a lot on a streaming device but wants to take advantage of what their 4K TV offers.

Roku Ultra ($83.32, originally $99.99 at Amazon)

The Roku Ultra is the company’s best streaming device. It supports 4K content with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and HDR10+ in tow. In addition to dual-band Wi-Fi, you’re also getting an Ethernet port for faster network connectivity.

Each Ultra includes Roku’s Voice Remote Pro, which can be recharged via a USB-C port. You can even use the built-in remote finder tool to locate it when you inevitably lose it in the couch cushions.

The Roku Ultra is for those who want the best Roku has to offer, and at $99 you’re still not spending a ton to get it.

Prices are accurate and items are in stock at the time of publishing.

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College admissions scam mastermind sentenced to 3.5 years in federal prison

January 4, 2023 Published by CNN

Boston
CNN
—

William “Rick” Singer, the mastermind of the sprawling college admissions scam aptly known as Operation Varsity Blues, was sentenced Wednesday to 3.5 years in federal prison, the longest sentence in a case that has rattled America’s higher education system.

Singer was the central figure in the scam in which wealthy parents, desperate to get their children into elite universities, paid huge sums to cheat on standardized tests, bribe university coaches and administrators who had influence over admissions, and then lie about it to authorities.

Singer pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the US and obstruction of justice in March 2019. He cooperated with the government’s investigation in the months prior to the public announcement of the case and in the years since.

In federal court in Boston on Wednesday, Singer apologized for his actions and said his morals took a backseat to “winning and keeping score.”

“I lost my ethical values and have so much regret. To be frank, I’m ashamed of myself,” Singer said.

A sketch of Rick Singer at his sentencing Wednesday in Boston federal court.

In addition to the 3.5 years of prison time, Singer was sentenced to 3 years of supervised release and forfeiture of over $10 million, Judge Rya Zobel said. He is due to report to prison on February 27.

Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence him to six years, while Singer’s attorneys asked for probation with home detention and community service.

The sentencing represents the culmination of an extensive criminal case first made public nearly four years ago, when authorities arrested and charged over 50 people, including coaches, test administrators, prominent CEOs, and the actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin.

With only a few exceptions, almost all of them pleaded guilty and served prison terms generally measured in weeks or months. For example, Huffman was sentenced to 14 days and Loughlin received two months behind bars. The previous longest sentence in the case, for former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, was for 2.5 years in prison.

Singer is one of the last people to be sentenced in the case, which rocked the world of higher education and showed, not for the first or last time, how rich people use their wealth and means to help their children game the college admissions system.

US Attorney Rachael Rollins said the 3.5-year sentence was “appropriate” and related her personal frustrations as a parent about what the case said about the college admissions process.

“I was never foolish to believe it was a meritocracy, but I had absolutely no idea how corrupt and infected the admissions process was until this case exposed everything,” she said.

Singer’s defense attorney Candice Fields spoke outside the courthouse in Boston, calling Wednesday’s proceedings “sobering.” She said her client is “resilient.”

“He will spend the rest of his life making amends,” Fields said. “I think [Singer] is glad to have had an opportunity to express his apologies to those affected by the case, by his conduct. Now, he wants to put this period of his life behind him, do the time that the court has ordered and move on to have a productive remainder of his life.

In court, federal prosecutor Stephen E. Frank outlined the extent of Singer’s role in coordinating the scheme, calling it a “singular” crime in the history of the country and the most massive fraud perpetrated on the higher education system.

“He is the architect of it. He is the face of this fraud,” Frank said in court.

Frank also acknowledged Singer’s “unparalleled” cooperation with authorities, in which Singer allowed FBI agents to wiretap his phone and wore a wire to in-person meetings to implicate other conspirators. Still, he noted Singer had tipped off several of his clients to the investigation, for which he pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice.

Singer’s defense attorney similarly highlighted this cooperation to ask the court for leniency.

Singer was the owner of the college counseling and prep business known as “The Key” and the CEO of the Key Worldwide Foundation, the charity connected to it.

Through those organizations, Singer carried out his scheme to get the children of wealthy parents into top universities. His plan had two major parts: Facilitate cheating on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT, and bribe college coaches and administrators to falsely designate the children as recruited athletes, even if they didn’t play that sport, easing their acceptance into universities including Yale, Georgetown and USC.

In a June 2018 conversation with one parent, he referred to his plan as a “side door” into college, according to court documents.

“There is a front door which means you get in on your own. The back door is through institutional advancement, which is 10 times as much money. And I’ve created this side door in,” Singer said.

To conceal the payments, he or an employee directed the parents to give money to the Key Worldwide Foundation as a charitable donation, the indictment states. Some of that money was then used to pay test administrators or coaches as part of the scheme, prosecutors said.

How the alleged college admission scheme worked

Out on bail since his guilty plea, Singer, 62, has been living in a St. Petersburg, Florida, trailer park for seniors, according to his sentencing memo.

“I have been reflecting on my very poor judgment and criminal activities that increasingly had become my way of life. I have woken up every day feeling shame, remorse, and regret,” Singer wrote in a recent court submission ahead of his sentencing. “I acknowledge that I am fully responsible for my crimes.”

His attorneys in their sentencing memo asked the court for a comparatively lenient three-year term of probation including 12 months of home detention plus 750 hours of community service.

Prosecutors in their respective sentencing memo acknowledged Singer’s cooperation with the government as “historical” and “hugely significant.” For several months prior to the public announcement of Operation Varsity Blues, Singer turned over online communications and documents, voluntarily recorded phone calls with clients and associates and wore a wire in person with several individuals.

Still, his cooperation was not perfect, according to prosecutors.

Singer “not only obstructed the investigation by tipping off at least six of his clients,” the sentencing memo says, “but also failed to follow the government’s instructions in other ways, including by deleting text messages and using an unauthorized cell phone.”

Given the “problematic” cooperation, prosecutors say, the “most culpable participant” in the scheme should serve six years in prison as a deterrent to future temptation for Singer.

“Singer will undoubtedly face circumstances and opportunities that require him to choose between right and wrong. A substantial term of incarceration is critical to remind him of the consequences of crossing that line, and necessary to protect society from his wrongdoing,” prosecutors wrote.

Singer funneled the money he collected from the admissions scheme through a fake charity in which clients disguised payments as “charitable contributions” that conveniently doubled as a tax break for the parents paying their children’s way into top schools.

Prosecutors alleged Singer took in more than $25 million from the clients, paid bribes totaling more than $7 million and transferred, spent or otherwise used more than $15 million of his clients’ money for himself.

Prosecutors had also asked the court to mandate Singer pay the IRS more than $10.6 million in restitution, a $3.4 million monetary forfeiture, in addition to a forfeiture of some assets valued at more than $5.3 million.

He has already paid $1,213,000 toward the anticipated $3.4 million money forfeiture judgment from the proceeds of the sale of his residence, according to court documents. He hasn’t been able to get a job while on pretrial release thanks to the case’s national media attention, according to his sentencing memo.

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Michelle Williams shares why she hasn’t watched any of her movies or TV projects in over a decade

January 4, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Michelle Williams revealed that she hasn’t watched her own movies for over a decade.

The 42-year-old actress, who received a best actress Golden Globe nomination for her role in “The Fabelmans,” admitted that she hasn’t seen the Steven Spielberg-directed film or any of her other projects in recent years.

“I’m not able to watch my own work,” the “Manchester by the Sea” star told the New York Times in an interview that was published on Wednesday.

She continued, “I think the last thing I saw was ‘Meek’s Cutoff’ in a theater with my daughter, so it’s been about a decade.”

MICHELLE WILLIAMS ON IF SHE’D BE UP FOR A ‘DAWSON’S CREEK’ REBOOT

Williams played settler Emily Tetherow in the Western movie, which was premiered in 2010. In addition to “The Fabelmans,” the Montana native has appeared in 16 other projects since “Meek’s Cutoff” was released, according to IMDb.

The list includes some of Williams’ most acclaimed films. She was nominated for the best actress Academy Award and won the best actress Golden Globe Award for her performance as Marilyn Monroe in 2011’s “My Week With Marilyn.”

Williams earned a best supporting actress Oscar nod and was nominated for a best supporting actress Golden Globe for her role in 2016’s “Manchester by the Sea.” She also received a Golden Globe nomination for 2017’s “All the Money in the World.”

The actress won the Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie for the 2019 FX miniseries “Fosse/Vernon.”

Williams explained that she opts not to view her own projects because it changes the experience for her.

“When I’m working on something, I feel so completely inside of it, and when I switch to an audience member, it alters my experience — and the experience is ultimately what I’m in it for,” she told the Times.

Williams added, “I can’t seem to go back and forth between the two ways to be involved in storytelling, even though I would like to be strong enough and capable of watching myself, figuring out what I would like to technically adjust and then applying it to the next time.”

“I’ve tried to do that, but I’m getting internal bounce-back. I’m happier and maybe healthier just staying in my personal experience of playing these women.”

Williams went on to say that because she never revisits her characters after filming stops, the last day of shooting “The Fabelmans” was emotional for her.

“On our last day, I grieved like somebody had actually died,” she shared. “I shocked myself by how grief-stricken I was to say goodbye to the woman that I had inhabited and the relationships that I had with these other characters.”

“I still miss being her and having that spirit coursing through mine, so it’s nice to remember her and the urgency of that period of filming.”

In “The Fabelmans,” Williams portrayed Mitzi Fabelman, a former concert pianist and the supportive mother of young aspiring filmmaker Sammy. The semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story is loosely based on Spielberg’s own life and Williams’ character was inspired by his late mother Leah Adler.

The “Dawson’s Creek” alum reflected on how she feels when a project ends, and she resumes her normal home life. Williams recently welcomed a baby, whose name or sex hasn’t yet been revealed, with her husband Thomas Kail. The two also share son Hart, 2. Williams is also mother to Matilda, 17, whom she shared with the late Heath Ledger.

“When you’re making something, you feel like the whole world is available material — everything is tingling and anything is possible — and then, once the filming is over, you go back to breakfast tables,” she said. “Which I clearly love, because I keep doubling down on kids.”

In addition to Williams’ nomination, “The Fabelmans” received four other Golden Globe nods for original score, screenplay of a motion picture, drama motion picture and director of a motion picture.

Act fast: Flights to Hawaii for as low as 12,000 miles one-way

January 4, 2023 Published by Melissa Klurman

The Points Guy

Are you ready to escape the perpetual winter storms plaguing most of the country this season and say ‘aloha’ to the sun in Hawaii? If you’re a United MileagePlus member, you’ll want to jump at this offer right now.

For just 12,000 United mileage points, plus $5.60, you can fly to Honolulu and Maui this winter. This deal expires tonight, so act quickly if you want to experience warm island breezes this February.

Deal basics

Airline: United.

Routes: New York City, Miami, Los Angeles and more mainland cities to Honolulu and Kahului.

How to book: Directly with the airline.

Travel dates: Select dates between Jan. 18 and March 5.

Book by: 11:59 p.m. CT tonight.

Here’s the deal: You can book coach award flights to Hawaii for 12,000 miles one-way if you have elite status and a United card; or, you can book for 15,000 miles one-way if you have elite status or a United card. Flights normally go for 22,500 miles each way. Thanks to DansDeals for bringing this one to our attention.

Sample flights

Given the limited time available to book this offer, it’s best to start searching immediately and lock in whatever you see ASAP. We’re seeing good availability from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) in February, as well as some flights from Miami International Airport (MIA) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Here are a few examples.

UNITED

UNITED
UNITED

Maximize your purchase

Use a card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, like The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), Citi Prestige® Card (5 points per dollar on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3 points per dollar on airfare), American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through Amex Travel) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar on travel). See this post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

These are some of the best miles redemptions on United for flights to Hawaii, especially during the peak winter months. Take advantage of this short-time offer and you’ll be soaking up the sun soon.

Volkswagen Debuts EV at Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show

January 4, 2023 Published by Rob Lenihan

TheStreet

The German automaker rolls outs the ID.7 with a colorful display and it continues its push to be all-electric.

The chameleon is getting some competition.

Volkswagen (VWAGY) – Get Free Report showcased its ID.7 electric sedan at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The ID.7 marks Volkswagen Group of America’s return to CES after a six-year hiatus and it was something to see–even by Vegas standards.

The debut model sported so-called smart camouflage that combines some wild technology and multi-layered paintwork to create a kind of rolling light show on parts of the vehicle.

VW calls this “an interactive feature and symbolizes the next step in the digitalization of the future flagship model of Volkswagen’s EV family.”

“No fewer than 40 layers of paint have been applied, some of which are conductive while others have insulating properties,” Volkswagen said in a statement. “A total of 22 areas of the vehicle can be controlled separately and are electrified below the top layer of paint (electroluminescence) so that they light up.”

And if all of this is connected to a sound system, VW said, “the rhythm is visualized by illumination of individual areas.”

The QR codes on the hood and on both sides will allow an authorized user to control the vehicle’s paint job through their smartphones. The camouflage also hides the contours of the final production vehicle.

The vehicle is based on the ID.Aero, which Volkswagen introduced in China last year, and is expected to achieve a range of 700 km, or about 435 miles.

Volkswagen

VW to Roll Out 10 New Electric Models by 2026

And the ID.7, which has a 116.9-inch wheelbase, works off VW’s modular electric drive matrix, just like the ID.4 and the ID.Buzz, the electric minivan that was inspired by the Volkswagen’s Microbus.

Thomas Schäfer, CEO of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, said the ID.7 is one of 10 new electric models that the German automaker is planning to launch by 2026.

Volkswagen said it responded to customer feedback to improve the customer experience, so an augmented reality head-up display, 15-inch central infotainment screen, digitally controlled air vents and illuminated touch sliders will come as standard.

Special requests can be activated using voice commands. If the user says “Hello Volkswagen, my hands are cold!”, the ID.7 will start he steering wheel heating function and direct warm air towards the driver’s hands.

Volkswagen will premiere the production version in the second quarter of 2023.

Volkswagen Launching EV in Markets Around the World

Volkswagen plans to launch the electric sedan in the three primary markets of China, Europe and North America. The ID.7 for the European market will be produced at the Volkswagen Emden plant, the second MEB vehicle produced there, after the ID.4.

VW said that since the first ID.3 models were handed over to customers in September 2020, the automaker has delivered more than 500,000 MEB vehicles worldwide through its subsidiaries, which is roughly a year earlier than planned and despite the ongoing difficulties in the supply chain.

Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume, who recently took the helm from the departing Herbert Diess, is reportedly planning to accelerate the company’s plans to go all-electric as VW looks to take on Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report.

CES, which runs from Jan. 5-8, bills itself as “the most influential tech event in the world,” will feature 3,100 exhibitors in a display of the latest developments in the electronics sector.

Elle King recounts scary fall that left her with amnesia and a concussion: 'The baby is totally fine'

January 4, 2023 Published by Fox News

Elle King is on the road to recovery after a nasty fall down her stairs last month.

The “Ex’s & Oh’s” singer recounted the scary accident to “Entertainment Tonight,” sharing “I can laugh now, because I’m doing a lot better, but it was a very intense thing. They said I got amnesia and got post-concussion syndrome.”

King, 33, said she was going downstairs “in the middle of the night, to make a bottle” for her son. King is mother to nearly 18-month-old Lucky Levi, with fiancé Dan Tooker.

“I slipped and knocked myself unconscious,” she explained.

Elle King said she is “doing a lot better” since her scary fall last month.
(Sara Kauss/FilmMagic)

ELLE KING GETS CANDID ON RECONNECTING WITH DAD ROB SCHNEIDER: ‘WE BOTH HAVE GROWN UP A LOT’

At the time, the Grammy-nominated singer’s initial worry was her son – whom she was home alone with at the time.

“The baby is totally fine, and I’m doing a lot better,” she noted.

“What I love about Nashville is the community that I haven’t really had in any of the last multiple cities that I’ve lived in, even if I’ve had a bunch of friends. There’s something beautiful about this city and my friends and my music family, they all totally gathered around me and were all so supportive and showed up for me and helped me with the baby.”

Elle King talked about how the Nashville community in which she lives in rallied around her.
(Mary Kouw/CBS)

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For King, recovery requires physical therapy.

“A lot of stretches, and a lot of, like, quiet, downtime which has never been my strong suit,” she said of adjustments she’s made since the fall.

Unfortunately for fans, she also had to cancel shows. At the time of the fall, King emotionally wrote to her Instagram story, “Just wanted to check in with a quick update and apologize to my fans in Tampa, Detroit, and Seattle. I share your disappointment that I had to cancel my radio shows this week. No one ever wants to pull out of shows, especially me. I live for performing.”

Elle King regretfully had to cancel some of her concerts after her accident.
(Terry Wyatt/WireImage)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I tried to push through and played 3 shows, but the travel, lights, all of it only exacerbated things,” she added.

King’s first performance of 2023 will be on Jan. 19 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer.

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[World] Delhi hit-and-run: The woman who was dragged to death

January 4, 2023 Published by

BBC News world

Getty Images

Image caption,

Anjali Singh died in the early hours of New Year’s Day

Family members of Anjali Singh, the 20-year-old whose death in a horrific hit-and-run case has sparked protests in India, remember her as a cheerful person who loved making Instagram Reels and playing with children. BBC Hindi’s Dilnawaz Pasha pieces together a portrait of the woman whose dreams came to a violent end on a cold winter night.

On her now-deactivated Instagram profile, Anjali uploaded videos of herself wearing glossy clothes while dancing and lip-syncing to popular Bollywood songs, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Her real life was starkly different.

Anjali was the sole breadwinner of a family that depended on free food distributed by the government to economically disadvantaged Indians. She earned a living by offering make-up services to women in her neighbourhood and doing small jobs at weddings and other events.

It was a hard life, but they never gave up hope, says her mother Rekha. Until now.

Anjali died in the early hours of New Year’s Day after her scooter and a car collided in India’s capital Delhi. Police say that the five occupants of the car panicked after the collision and kept going for miles, dragging her body along. They have been arrested.

Woman’s death in horrific hit-and-run shocks India

According to the post-mortem report, the provisional cause of Anjali’s death was “shock and haemorrhage due to injury to the head, spine, left femur and both lower limbs”.

Image caption,

Anjali’s mother Rekha says her daughter was devoted to her family

Anjali’s family had alleged that she was sexually assaulted because her body was naked when it was recovered, but police have said that the post-mortem exam showed no signs of this.

While the investigation continues, Anjali’s relatives are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.

The responsible daughter

Anjali belonged to the Dalit (formerly untouchable) community, which is at the bottom of a harsh, unforgiving caste hierarchy in India. She lived in a small house, with one room and a kitchen, in north-west Delhi’s Mangolpuri area.

Anjali was the second of six siblings and had dropped out of school as a teenager to support her family.

Rekha, whose husband had died eight years ago, worked as a low-paid assistant in a school but lost her job during the Covid lockdown. That was around the time she developed chronic kidney disease which made it impossible for her to work.

“Anjali then took on all the responsibility for the family,” her mother says.

Getty Images

Image caption,

Anjali lived in a small house in north-west Delhi

She learnt how to do make-up at a local beauty parlour and soon began helping neighbours who wanted to dress up for weddings and other functions. She would also earn some money by working at weddings, where she was usually part of a group of women who welcomed guests.

Two of her sisters, including a younger sibling, were married. But Anjali said she would settle down after her younger brothers, who are studying at a local government school, finished their education.

“She said she would only marry if her partner agreed to stay with us so she could continue taking care of us,” Rekha says.

Though life was hard, Anjali remained cheerful and optimistic.

“She was always smiling. She loved making Reels and videos, and dressing up,” her mother says.

Anjali was also well-known in her neighbourhood – Rekha says her daughter’s complaints to local politicians had ensured that the potholes on their street were fixed. Around the time of her death, she had been trying to get a proper drain built in the area.

“Our neighbours even asked her to contest municipal elections, and she promised them she would do so in future,” Rekha says.

Five years ago, Anjali took out a loan and bought a scooter to help her travel around. She was close to paying it off when she died – while riding the same scooter.

Shopify is Killing Boring Work Meetings — and Others Should Too

January 4, 2023 Published by Colette Bennett

TheStreet

This move could begin to clear our overloaded brains and make room for more creativity.

In my 15+ years as a journalist, there has been one thing that every colleague I’ve ever worked with has had more or less the same reaction to: big meetings.

The more meetings a person has, the unhappier they seem. One ex-boss of mine had a cross-stitched sign hanging up next to her desk that simply said, “I survived another meeting that could have been an email.”

Compound this eternal dislike with the mental numbness of a pandemic that forced folks to have all their meetings via video screen — a phenomenon nicknamed “Zoom fatigue” — and it’s hardly a surprise that people are less able to pay attention at work than ever before.

C-Suite employees perhaps have the worst of it, often being booked in back-to-back meetings for 10 hours or more. Despite scientific data proving that people’s attention spans deteriorate after 30 minutes in meetings, eventually lowering overall cognitive function, businesses continue to book them, often with little to no rest time in between (even though it’s also been proven that the breaks are crucial for mental health).

Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

How Shopify Is Changing Meeting Culture

In an internal memo to employees sent on January 3, Shopify CEO Kaz Nejatian announced that all previously scheduled recurring work meetings with three or more people would be removed from their calendars, and a two-week “cooling off” period would be enforced before any meetings could be scheduled.

Nejatian also announced that meeting-free Wednesdays would be reinstated and large meetings (50 people or more) would be limited to a six-hour window on Thursdays. The deleted meetings clear up more than 76,500 hours from employee work calendars.

This is one of several changes Shopify has made since announcing layoffs in July 2022, which affected 10% of its workforce. The commerce platform also just launched Commerce Components, offering a stack for online retailers that grants access to Shopify’s component structure.

Why This Matters So Much

While more and more companies are mobilizing toward providing employee support for mental healthcare or launching their own programs to help their ranks stay sane, often everyday things that can chip away at people’s mental health, like too many meetings, are overlooked.

While it’s less unusual these days for independent companies to adapt models like the four-day workweek to help employees avoid burnout, most large companies have not tried it (Panasonic being an exception).

With more than 16,000 employees, Shopify’s move has the power to send ripples across the industry and change what people expect from the workplace. And as one of those employees that has been through countless meetings over the years that, as my old boss clearly believed, “could have been an email,” I can say that I am looking forward to that change.

Meetings with one or two people, or even a small cluster, can be powerful as long as everyone in the room is able to connect on a genuine level. But add dozens or hundreds to that, and it’s simply impossible for each person to be heard — which can contribute to feelings of being unimportant, just a cog in a bigger machine, or even to “quiet quitting.”

So while it’s easy to demonize meetings and say we should get rid of them entirely, I don’t believe meetings are truly the problem. But if the ones that are scheduled are intentional and well thought out, both bosses and employees could feel better about being a part of them — not to mention a lot less bored.

Salesforce to cut about 10% of staff

January 4, 2023 Published by CNN

CNN
—

Salesforce said Wednesday that it will cut approximately 10% of its workforce and reduce its real estate footprint, making it the latest tech company to slash expenses as broader economic uncertainty continues to hit Silicon Valley particularly hard.

In a letter to employees announcing the job cuts, Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s chair and co-CEO, admitted to growing headcount too much earlier in the pandemic and said most of the job cuts will take place over the coming weeks.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about how we came to this moment,” Benioff wrote. “As our revenue accelerated through the pandemic, we hired too many people leading into this economic downturn we’re now facing, and I take responsibility for that.”

As of January 2022, Salesforce reported a headcount of 73,541 global employees. As of October 2022, the company reported a headcount of 79,824.

The tech sector, which was initially buoyed by a sudden and intense pandemic-fueled shift to online services, has since had to confront consumers returning to their offline lives. At the same time, the industry has been pummeled by a seemingly perfect storm of economic factors over the past year, including rising interest rates, looming recession fears and consumers and businesses rethinking expenses.

Also on Wednesday, video-sharing platform Vimeo said in a regulatory filing that it would cut approximately 11% of its workforce.

Like Benioff, a number of other tech founders and CEOs have since admitted they failed to accurately gauge pandemic demand. As a result, tech firms including Amazon and Meta have announced company-wide layoffs.

Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, wrote in investor note Wednesday that the cloud-computing giant “clearly is seeing headwinds in the field and thus is trying to quickly adjust to a softening demand environment.” The analyst added that the company “clearly overbuilt out its organization over the past few years along with the rest of the tech sector.”

Shares of Salesforce

(CRM) were up more than 3% in early trading Wednesday following the announcement.

Like other tech companies, Salesforce’s stock suffered steep declines last year. Against that backdrop, Salesforce made a significant change to its C-Suite: co-CEO and Vice Chair Bret Taylor said he would step down from his roles at the company at the end of January.

In his letter Wednesday, Benioff said impacted employees in the United States will “receive a minimum of nearly five months of pay, health insurance, career resources, and other benefits to help with their transition.” Those outside the United States “will receive a similar level of support,” Benioff wrote.

“The employees being affected aren’t just colleagues,” Benioff said. “They’re friends. They’re family. Please reach out to them. Offer the compassion and love they and their families deserve and need now more than ever. And most of all, please lean on your leadership, including me, as we work through this difficult time together.”

source

Transgender Missouri inmate executed for fatal stabbing

January 4, 2023 Published by The Associated Press

BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri inmate was put to death Tuesday for a 2003 killing, in what is believed to be the first execution of a transgender woman in the U.S.

Amber McLaughlin, 49, was convicted of stalking and killing a former girlfriend, then dumping the body near the Mississippi River in St. Louis. McLaughlin’s fate was sealed earlier Tuesday when Republican Gov. Mike Parson declined a clemency request.

McLaughlin spoke quietly with a spiritual adviser at her side as the fatal dose of pentobarbital was injected. McLaughlin breathed heavily a couple of times, then shut her eyes. She was pronounced dead a few minutes later.

“I am sorry for what I did,” McLaughlin said in a final, written, statement. “I am a loving and caring person.”

A database on the website for the anti-execution Death Penalty Information Center shows that 1,558 people have been executed since the death penalty was reinstated in the mid-1970s. All but 17 of those put to death were men. The center said there are no known previous cases of an openly transgender inmate being executed. McLaughlin began transitioning about three years ago at the state prison in Potosi.

The clemency petition cited McLaughlin’s traumatic childhood and mental health issues, which the jury never heard during her trial. A foster parent rubbed feces in her face when she was a toddler and her adoptive father used a stun gun on her, according to the petition. It cited severe depression that resulted in multiple suicide attempts, both as a child and as an adult.

The petition also included reports citing a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, a condition that causes anguish and other symptoms as a result of a disparity between a person’s gender identity and their assigned sex at birth. But McLaughlin’s sexual identity was “not the main focus” of the clemency request, her attorney, Larry Komp, said.

In 2003, long before transitioning, McLaughlin was in a relationship with Beverly Guenther. After they stopped dating, McLaughlin would show up at the suburban St. Louis office where the 45-year-old Guenther worked, sometimes hiding inside the building, according to court records. Guenther obtained a restraining order, and police officers occasionally escorted her to her car after work.

Guenther’s neighbors called police the night of Nov. 20, 2003, when she failed to return home. Officers went to the office building, where they found a broken knife handle near her car and a trail of blood. A day later, McLaughlin led police to a location near the Mississippi River in St. Louis, where the body had been dumped. Authorities said she had been raped and stabbed repeatedly with a steak knife.

McLaughlin was convicted of first-degree murder in 2006. A judge sentenced McLaughlin to death after a jury deadlocked on the sentence. Komp said Missouri and Indiana are the only states that allow a judge to sentence someone to death.

A court in 2016 ordered a new sentencing hearing, but a federal appeals court panel reinstated the death penalty in 2021.

“McLaughlin terrorized Ms. Guenther in the final years of her life, but we hope her family and loved ones may finally have some peace,” Parson said in a written statement after the execution.

McLaughlin began transitioning about three years ago, according to Jessica Hicklin, who spent 26 years in prison for a drug-related killing before being released a year ago. Hicklin, now 43, sued the Missouri Department of Corrections, challenging a policy that prohibited hormone therapy for inmates who weren’t receiving it before being incarcerated. She won the lawsuit in 2018 and became a mentor to other transgender inmates, including McLaughlin. McLaughlin did not receive hormone treatments, however, Komp said.

Hicklin described McLaughlin as a painfully shy person who came out of her shell after she decided to transition.

“She always had a smile and a dad joke,” Hicklin said. “If you ever talked to her, it was always with the dad jokes.”

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has estimated there are 3,200 transgender inmates in the nation’s prisons and jails. Perhaps the best-known case of a transgender prisoner seeking treatment was that of Chelsea Manning, the former Army intelligence analyst who served seven years in federal prison for leaking government documents to Wikileaks until President Barack Obama commuted the sentence in 2017. The Army agreed to pay for hormone treatments for Manning in 2015.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in a court filing that state prison officials must treat an inmate’s gender identity condition just as they would treat other medical or mental health conditions, regardless of when the diagnosis occurred.

The only woman ever executed in Missouri was Bonnie B. Heady, put to death on Dec. 18, 1953, for kidnapping and killing a 6-year-old boy. Heady was executed in the gas chamber, side by side with the other kidnapper and killer, Carl Austin Hall.

Nationally, 18 people were executed in 2022, including two in Missouri. Kevin Johnson was put to death in November for the ambush killing of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. Carman Deck was executed in May for killing James and Zelma Long during a robbery at their home in De Soto, Missouri.

Another Missouri inmate, Leonard Taylor, is scheduled to die Feb. 7 for killing his girlfriend and her three young children.

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