In a recent report, the community-driven, nonprofit electric provider in Texas, Denton Municipal Electric (DME), is attracting interest from several crypto mining companies seeking to establish operations. These companies are eyeing a five-year agreement for powering their mining activities. Texas’ Denton Municipal Electric in Talks With Unnamed Crypto Miners On Feb. 16, the Denton Record […]
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We can all relate to the frustration of trying to remove a stripped screw, but, for Mike Massimino, one particular mangled screw was higher stakes than your typical DIY headache.
In 2009, the then-astronaut was in space, floating next to the body of the Hubble Space Telescope and struggling to remove one of the screws that fastened a handrail to one of the telescope’s instrument panels.
Massimino…
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By David Shepardson
(Reuters) -Toyota Motor said on Wednesday it is raising the wages of nonunion U.S. factory workers just days after the United Auto Workers union won major pay and benefit hikes from the Detroit Three automakers.
Hourly manufacturing workers at top pay will receive a wage hike of about 9% effective on Jan. 1, the company confirmed. Other nonunion logistics and service parts employees are getting wage hikes.
The largest Japanese automaker also said it is cutting the amount of time needed for U.S. production workers to reach top pay to four years from eight years and increasing paid time off.
The media and organizing project Labor Notes earlier reported the wage hikes and other details, citing a company document.
“We value our employees and their contributions, and we show it by offering robust compensation packages that we continually review to ensure that we remain competitive within the automotive industry,” Chris Reynolds, Toyota Motor North America’s executive vice president, said in a statement.
The pay of production Toyota workers in Kentucky at top scale will rise by $2.94 to $34.80 an hour.
Under the new tentative agreements with General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis, UAW workers will receive a wage hike of 11% upon ratification and 25% in wage hikes through April 2028. UAW workers will also be given cost-of-living adjustments. The amount of time needed for workers to hit top pay will decrease to three years from eight years.
The top pay of UAW workers at Ford will initially rise to $35.58 and hour from $32.05.
For years, the UAW has unsuccessfully sought to organize U.S. auto plants operated by foreign automakers including Volkswagen and Nissan. UAW President Shawn Fain said his goal is to organize plants operated by other automakers after the Detroit Three deal.
“One of our biggest goals coming out of this historic contract victory is to organize like we’ve never organized before,” Fain said on Sunday. “When we return to the bargaining table in 2028, it won’t just be with the Big Three, but with the Big Five or Big Six.”
The UAW declined to comment on the Toyota wage hikes.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in WashingtonEditing by Chizu Nomiyama and Matthew Lewis)
You can get a lot more than free candy this Halloween — provided you know where to look.
Some of the nation’s biggest fast food chains are looking to entice customers during the spooky holiday with giveaways and deals.
Whether you’re looking to score a free breakfast or want to get a good deal come lunchtime, there’s plenty to take advantage of.
These are the best fast food deals this Halloween from chains like Krispy Kreme, Chipotle and Wendy’s.
Scott Olson | Getty Images
The donut chain, which recently gave out free coffee to celebrate National Coffee Day, is continuing its giveaway streak. Customers who show up to its stores in costume will be given a free donut.
McDonald’s recently brought back its iconic Boo Buckets. The plastic buckets replace the traditional Happy Meal packaging and come free with any purchase of the classic kids’ combo meal.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
The fast casual chain is offering a steep discount on its burritos and bowls to members of its rewards program. Users who enter promo code “BOORITO” at checkout will receive their entree for just $6.
The offer is available only from 3 p.m. until closing, so lunch-seekers will be out of luck.
Member’s of the Dunkin’ Rewards program have a number of Halloween deals to choose from, including $2 medium cold brew coffee and discounted donuts. The chain recently introduced the seasonal “Spider Donut,” a donut with orange frosting and a Munchkin placed in its center designed to look like a spider.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Though not technically a Halloween deal, Taco Bell is giving out its new toasted breakfast taco for free on Tuesday, October 31 for members of its rewards program.
The International House of Pancakes is offering kids 12 and under a free “Scary Face” on Halloween — provided an adult buys an entrée first. The offer is available only between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Customers who visit the fast food chain on Halloween will get a free six-piece nuggets with any purchase.
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The OpenSea Deals feature is powered by Seaport protocol to enable P2P NFT trading at scale and securely.
The NFT trading community on OpenSea now will have a new feature to enable P2P trading dubbed Deals. With the new trading feature, the OpenSea NFT trading community can offer a combo of digital artworks and sweeten the deal with Wrapped Ethers (WETH). The NFT marketplace announced that users no longer need to use sketchy DMs and websites to trade their digital artworks since OpenSea Deals provides a seamless platform.
Notably, the OpenSea Deals feature is powered by the Seaport protocol, which was introduced earlier last year. The Seaport protocol is a web3 marketplace project backed by OpenSea that is used for safely and efficiently buying and selling NFTs. Moreover, the Seaport protocol uses open-source core smart contracts, which entail different items including ETH, ERC20, ERC721, and ERC1155.
Introducing Deals: offer your NFTs for theirs, securely on OpenSea.
— OpenSea (@opensea) July 20, 2023
With the Make a Deal OpenSea feature, users can offer one or more of their NFTs in return for another user’s NFTs. However, the user must first have a wallet address, and an ENS name or basically an OpenSea username for the person intended to make a deal with.
“Similar to Offers, the user accepting the Deal will pay gas. At this time, Deals transactions won’t include the OpenSea fee or any creator earnings. ERC-721 NFTs from badged collections that are visible in a user’s profile (not hidden) are eligible for Deals,” OpenSea noted.
Meanwhile, OpenSea has been criticized for not being friendly to the community during the crypto bear market. According to Twitter user Aaron (@Aaronsage), the crypto industry currently needs value and not innovation. The Twitter user suggested that OpenSea could have easily launched a crypto token to give back to the community instead of announcing a trading platform since most people are holding their bags in anticipation of future bull rallies.
– Disabling Creator Royalties
– OpenSea Pro
– NFT TradingAll things that this space doesn’t CURRENTLY NEED
Yet, the braindead OpenSea team implemented them
— Aaron (@AaronSage) July 20, 2023
The OpnSea NFT marketplace has enjoyed significant dominance in the digital artwork industry since its official Launch a few years ago. For instance, OpenSea collected revenue of about $600 million in 2022 despite the cryptocurrency industry battling the bear market effects. Nonetheless, the NFT trading volume has significantly declined as more traders recently moved to more promising digital assets like meme coins.
Consequently, OpenSea has been forced to continue innovating in a bid to remain on top of the NFT marketplace competition.
Meanwhile, the rising use of NFTs in different industries including the luxury sector to eliminate counterfeit products has given OpenSea huge growth prospects. Furthermore, the use of phygital by different blockchains including Shiba Inu, and VeChain has increased the overall NFT traded volume. Additionally, the exponential growth of the metaverse and GameFi industry has given the NFT market more utility away from mere speculation.
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Warren Buffett’s choice of vehicle has become a topic of interest among many people. Renowned for his frugal and simple lifestyle, the billionaire investor drives a 2014 Cadillac XTS. While some billionaires indulge in extravagant cars as a visible symbol of wealth and success, Buffett’s preference for older models reflects his unique approach to life and finances.
Buffett’s frugality and minimalist mindset have been key factors in his tremendous success as an investor. His ability to seek value in all aspects of life, not just business and investments, has shaped his distinctive financial philosophy. When it comes to cars, Buffett has a clear aversion to the rapid depreciation experienced by new vehicles. Instead, he opts for used cars that offer significant discounts because of cosmetic issues like hail damage.
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In a 2014 interview with Forbes, he revealed that he only drives about 3,500 miles per year, so there’s really no need to replace his car often. After driving his 2001 Lincoln Town Car for a decade, Buffett auctioned it off for charity and replaced it with a 2006 Cadillac DTS. He drove that car for eight years, until replacing it with his current 2014 Cadillac XTS.
At a Berkshire Hathaway meeting years ago, Buffett explained his rationale for his car choice, stating, “Actually, I picked out the car I have based on the fact that it had airbags on both sides. So that was a factor and maybe the first car of its type ever made with airbags.”
Safety, in addition to affordability, plays a crucial role in his decision-making process. Buffett acknowledged there might be safer options available, such as heavy-duty trucks, but explained he personally preferred his current vehicle at the time.
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His daughter Susie Buffett humorously shared an anecdote about her father’s attachment to his cars in a BBC documentary, stating, “You’ve got to understand, he keeps cars until I tell him, ‘This is getting embarrassing — time for a new car.’” She also revealed he sent her to purchase his most recent car, the now-discontinued 2014 Cadillac XTS.
With his characteristic straightforwardness, Buffett expressed, “I have everything in life I want; it’s a very simple thing. If there’s anything that money could buy that I wanted, I would do it this afternoon without hesitation.”
His viewpoint challenges the conventional notion that a higher standard of living is directly tied to increased spending and accumulation of material wealth. While acknowledging the importance of essentials such as good housing, healthcare and transportation, he believes that beyond a certain point, there is an inverse correlation between standard of living and cost of living.
Even as one of the richest people on the planet, Buffett remains grounded and in touch with the realities of everyday life. Car shopping is time-consuming. And he just doesn’t want to waste his time.
“If it would take me probably a half a day to go through the exercise of buying a car and reading the owner’s manual and all that, and that’s just a half a day I don’t want to give up in my life for no benefit,” Buffett said.
Buffett’s frugality doesn’t just stop at his personal life. The legendary investor is known for his incredible ability to know a good stock when he sees it. The “Buffett Indicator” is the measure of U.S. GDP compared to the total value of U.S. stocks and a key indicator the billionaire uses when analyzing the overall market.
Currently, the indicator is sitting at a whopping 176%. 120% is considered ‘fair value,’ with 223% being the highest in recent history during 2021. As the name suggests, this is merely an ‘indicator’ so it’s not determinative, but it does imply U.S. stocks are still overextended so investors might fare best looking for individual stocks underperforming the overall market but primed for a rebound. There are also a number of alternative investments in today’s markets, such as the quickly growing startup investing markets. For example, startups like Loop Family have already raised over $100,000 from retail investors and backed by top venture capitalists.
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This article Frugal Billionaire Warren Buffett Drives A 2014 Car And Looks For Hail-Damaged Deals originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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