Technology destroying environment

The downing of a Chinese spy balloon on Saturday afternoon ended America’s fixation on the balloon’s days-long journey across United States airspace and provided “Saturday Night Live” with irresistibly topical subject matter for its opening sketch just a few hours later. This weekend’s “S.N.L.” broadcast, hosted by Pedro Pascal and featuring the musical guest Coldplay, started with a sendup of an MSNBC broadcast anchored by Chloe Fineman, playing the TV journalist Katy Tur. “Tonight, our long national nightmare is over,” Fineman said. “We got the balloon.” She introduced a Pentagon official played by Kenan Thompson, who explained how the balloon was eventually brought down. “The balloon was somehow able to get past our West Coast anti-balloon defense system, the Seattle Space Needle,” Thompson said. “But once it was here, we were able to keep an eye on it with our sophisticated tracking technology. Of going like this.” Here, Thompson simply looked up above him. … [Read more...] about ‘S.N.L.’ Gives Comic Voice to the Downed Chinese Spy Balloon

Here’s something odd: We’re getting worse at construction. Think of the technology we have today that we didn’t in the 1970s. The new generations of power tools and computer modeling and teleconferencing and advanced machinery and prefab materials and global shipping. You’d think we could build much more, much faster, for less money, than in the past. But we can’t. Or, at least, we don’t. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, productivity in the construction sector — how much more could be done given the same number of workers and machines and land — grew faster than productivity in the rest of the economy. Then, around 1970, it began to fall, even as economywide productivity kept rising. Today, the divergence is truly wild. A construction worker in 2020 produced less than a construction worker in 1970, at least according to the official statistics. Contrast that with the economy overall, where labor productivity rose by 290 percent between 1950 and 2020, or to the manufacturing sector, … [Read more...] about The Story Construction Tells About America’s Economy Is Disturbing

Meeting customers' expectations is every company's goal. Companies strive to provide an exceptional customer experience. Most businesses will want to leverage customer experience as a competitive edge. Small businesses compete with large companies every day. They expect the same service level and responsiveness, whether dealing with a large or small company. You compete every day with the most prominent industry giants. Here's how you can stand out. Customers Want You To Understand Their Needs Customers get frustrated when there's a disconnect between their expectations and what's delivered. For your business to thrive, you must respond to what customers want. Running a successful business in a competitive market is demanding. To gain a competitive edge over your rivals, you must first identify the problems your customers face. Once you identify the problem, determine how you can solve it. The goal is to create value for your customers. Something that will make them happier, … [Read more...] about 3 Things Customers Expect From Small Businesses