Busy Starbucks OKs coffee break
Sam Cornetta of Farmingville leads a strike at the entrance to the drive-thru at Starbucks in Farmingville on Nov. 16. Starbucks will now allow shift managers to temporarily pause mobile orders at busy times. Credit: James Carbone
Starbucks will allow shift supervisors to temporarily pause mobile orders when stores are extremely busy or when understaffing is “negatively impacting the Starbucks Experience,” according to an internal document viewed by Bloomberg News.
The new policy comes in the wake of the “Red Cup Rebellion” on Nov. 16 at more than 200 Starbucks outlets, including stores in Farmingville and Westbury, when workers walked off their jobs to protest what organizers called understaffing and a relentless flood of mobile orders. The strike — a part of a two-year effort to unionize Starbucks stores — took place on one of Starbucks’ busiest days of the year.
Starbucks told Bloomberg that the new policy was “unrelated to the union and was initiated months prior to the strike.”
Microsoft is adding a filter to its Teams video meeting software that uses A.I. to tidy up a messy workplace. Credit: Microsoft
Teams' neat trick
Have a video meeting from home but your workplace needs tidying up? Microsoft Teams will soon add a Decorate filter that uses A.I. to clean clutter from your desk and replace messy items in your background or walls with various eye-pleasing objects, such as plants. The feature will begin rolling out early next year to Teams Premium users.
‘Rizz’ is year’s rizziest word
“Rizz” has gone from internet slang to the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford named rizz — a slang form of the word “charisma” meaning “style, charm or attractiveness” — its 2023 word of the year. Runner-ups included “Swiftie,” defined as “an enthusiastic fan of the singer Taylor Swift.” Rizz went viral after an online interview with Tom Holland, when the Spider-man actor maintained “I have no rizz whatsoever.”
Meta and IBM are joining more than 40 companies to create an industry group dedicated to the responsible development of A.I. technology. Credit: Sipa USA via AP / SOPA Images / Omar Marques
Meta, IBM form A.I. coalition
Facebook parent Meta and IBM are joining more than 40 companies and organizations to create an industry group called the AI Alliance, dedicated to an “open-source” development of artificial intelligence technology. The coalition said it will focus on the responsible development of A.I. technology, including safety and security tools. Open-source technology is made public by developers for others to use typically at no charge. — BLOOMBERG NEWS
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
Updated now Newsday travel writer Scott Vogel took the ferry over to Block Island for a weekend of fun.
