A billionaire and a novelist offer two versions of tech’s future. Who’s right?

A billionaire and a novelist offer two versions of tech’s future. Who’s right?

On the Shelf Two versions of the tech future Wrong WayBy Joanne McNeilMCD, 288 pages, $18 The Techno-Optimist ManifestoBy Marc Andreessen If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. You could be forgiven for thinking the robots have taken over already. Your…

Column: This porn company makes millions by shaming porn consumers

Column: This porn company makes millions by shaming porn consumers

Strike 3 Holdings is a Southern California maker of pornographic films that identifies its products as “high-end, artistic, and performer-inspiring motion pictures produced with a Hollywood style budget and quality.” It has bragged that Greg Lansky, a former owner and the firm’s leading auteur, has been called the porn industry’s “answer to Steven Spielberg.” There’s…

Tesla’s response to the DMV’s false-advertising allegations: What took so long?

Tesla’s response to the DMV’s false-advertising allegations: What took so long?

Seven years after Tesla released the automated driving feature it calls Full Self-Driving, the California Department of Motor Vehicles is pressing accusations of false advertising, with serious implications for the electric car maker. Tesla is defending itself by saying, in effect, that the DMV let the company slide for so many years, the case no…

Opinion: Same hospital, same injury, same child, same day: Why did one ER visit cost thousands more?

Opinion: Same hospital, same injury, same child, same day: Why did one ER visit cost thousands more?

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported that the annual cost of family health insurance jumped to nearly $24,000 this year, the greatest increase in a decade. While insurance executives and employers may cite a plethora of reasons, one of the chief culprits is lack of oversight over the Wild West of healthcare prices. My friend…

Four Southern California Hilton hotels reach deals with striking workers, suggesting momentum

Four Southern California Hilton hotels reach deals with striking workers, suggesting momentum

After five months of on-and-off strikes by Southern California hotel workers, there are signs of progress toward a resolution. On Friday, Unite Here Local 11 announced it had reached a tentative contract agreement with the Beverly Hilton covering more than 500 unionized workers. The union struck deals Saturday with two other properties managed by Hilton:…

Nine months after scandal, publishers are still sorting out a plagiarism mess

Nine months after scandal, publishers are still sorting out a plagiarism mess

This week, Simon & Schuster finally published “The Book of Animal Secrets: Nature’s Lessons for a Long and Happy Life,” the highly anticipated book by USC’s Dr. David Agus whose release was suspended after the manuscript was found to contain numerous instances of plagiarism. The new version of the book differs subtly from the one…

Boeing signals two-month delay to 737 production ramp-up  | Reuters News Agency

Boeing signals two-month delay to 737 production ramp-up  | Reuters News Agency

Business & Finance 08 December 2023, 2:27 am 1 minute Reuters exclusively reported two significant stories in the aerospace sector on Thursday about U.S. plane maker Boeing. Reuters started the day breaking news about Boeing closing in on a Thai Airways plane order and then later in the day filed an exclusive about a two-month…

Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly valued at $175 billion or more in tender offer

Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly valued at $175 billion or more in tender offer

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has initiated discussions about selling insider shares at a price that values the closely held company at $175 billion or more, according to people familiar with the matter. The most valuable U.S. startup is discussing a tender offer that could range from $500 million to $750 million, said some of the people,…

Column: The war on ‘junk fees’ is gaining ground, but the fight is not yet won

Column: The war on ‘junk fees’ is gaining ground, but the fight is not yet won

“I talk to a lot of banks,” Rep. Dan Meuser (R-Pa.) told Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “and they’re really not happy with your agency.” He urged Chopra to “be responsive to the clientele you’re supposed to be helping.” With admirable restraint, Chopra replied: “Just to be clear, the clientele of…