There Are Now Book Vending Machines in SE D.C.
Today, JetBlue’s Soar with Reading initiative is unveiling its new book vending machines at select locations throughout southeast D.C. The event is at the Salvation Army, and features a reading by Redskins’ quarterback RGIII. The vending machines provide free, age-appropriate books for kids in SE, and parents can also sign up to receive text messages notifying them of new books and reading events. JetBlue hopes the initiative will improve book availability in the Anacostia area, where there’s only one book available for purchase for every 893 kids.
NYSE Suspends All Trading
Update, 3:03: NYSE says they'll resume trading today at 3:10 p.m. EST and closing auctions will continue as normal.
BREAKING: #NYSE says to begin accepting orders and resume trading at 3:10 pm for NYSE, closing auctions will continue as normal.
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 8, 2015
Update, 12:53: NYSE has confirmed that technical issues are to blame for the shutdown. The Department of Homeland Security has said that there's no immediate indication of a cyber attack.- USA Today
The New York Stock Exchange has suspended all trading temporarily for unknown reasons. The shutdown confused some reporters on scene, as they attributed the “No Quotation” readings to a system malfunction. - Newsweek
This photo just in from the #NYSE pic.twitter.com/fXtDlOY8Zr
— Doug Cantor (@dougcantor) July 8, 2015
Glitch Grounds United Airlines Flights
A computer glitch grounded all U.S. United Airlines flights Wednesday, impacting some 3,500 flights worldwide. "We experienced a network connectivity issue this morning," a company spokesperson said. "We are working to resolve this and apologize to our customers for any inconvenience." As of 10 a.m., the issue had reportedly been sorted out and planes were getting back in the air. – CNBC
Microsoft Is Laying off 7,800
Microsoft disclosed Wednesday plans to cut 7,800 jobs, mainly in its struggling phone business. “We are moving from a strategy to grow a standalone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem including our first-party device family,” CEO Satya Nadella said. The company—which has offices in Downtown D.C., Reston, Va., and Chevy Chase, Md.—also said it's taking a write-down of $7.6 billion in connection with its 2013 acquisition of Nokia's handset unit. The disclosure follows Geekwire's scoop a couple weeks back, on an email from Nadella to staff that predicted the company would need to "make some tough choices in areas where things are not working." — Kyle Alspach
Tech job marketplace launches in DC
San Francisco-based Hired launched its technical talent job-matching service in D.C. on Wednesday. The startup has been operating a beta test that connected more than 5,000 people and 140 companies and processed more than $100 million in job offers overall. The service acts to maintain anonymity for clients when they are job hunting while still employed elsewhere. It's also noted for enticing candidates to sign up with $2,000 bonuses for those who get jobs through the platform.
An American University alum's unlikely road to a tech startup
Sometimes it's a surprise who ends up joining a startup—and having the biggest impact on its growth. That's certainly the case for American University alum Paige Howarth, who never planned to get into the startup world but has ended up playing an important role at D.C. tech startup Social Driver during its growing-up phase of the past two years. Learn about Paige's unlikely path here.
Are we in an "everything bubble?"
There's plenty of debate about whether we are experiencing a tech bubble right now. But according to some experts, it's actually a bigger problem than that—we may actually be in an "everything bubble" where the whole economy is inflating out of proportion to its value. Check out Chris Bing's exploration of the latest bubble talk here.
Interactive Shark Week
Shark Week is here again and this year Discovery is adding a new element in the form of live video chat. Cameras at the National Aquarium's Blacktip Reef Shark tank will watch the sharks swim and viewers will get a chance to talk to experts while they work with the sharks underwater. You can submit questions on Discovery's chat or on Twitter with #SharkDiverChat. Find out more from The Washington Post here.
