4 BUSINESS
September 29, 2017
Inside The Life Lego Layoffs
of Elon Musk
BY EVAN GOLD
STAFF WRITER
Elon Musk is a Canadian-
American entrepreneur who
has devoted his life to mini-
mizing the potential for hu-
man extinction and pushing
boundaries to develop a colo-
ny on Mars. Musk is the own-
er of Tesla and SpaceX and
has a unique design and out-
look on life that he attributes
to his success.
Musk was born to an electro-
mechanical engineer in South
Africa, and later moved to
Canada where he developed a
fascination with computation
and taught himself computer
programming at the age of 12.
Musk received a Bachelors in
Physics and Economics from
the University of Pennsyl-
vania in 1997. Later, Musk
enrolled in a PhD program
at Stanford studying applied
physics and material science.
However, after only two
days of the program, Musk
dropped out.
Now, Musk spends his time
studying for the next rocket
launch, rather than for the
next university exam. 80-90
hours per week are spent
on work and the manage-
ment of his companies. His
devotion to his endeavors
can be summed up in one of
his quotes: ...were going to
make it happen. As god as
my.witness, Im hell bent on
making it work. How does he
keep his mind running? Sleep
and caffeine. Musk reports
that his early days were spent
with numerous cups of coffee
and cans of Diet Coke-almost
8 a day. Although still partial-
ly reliant on caffeine, Musk
has begun to value sleep
more. In 2013 Musk report-
ed he got about 6 and a half
hours of sleep daily, going to
sleep after midnight and wak-
ing up before 8am.
Out of his 12 hours of dai-
ly work, 90% of the time is
devoted to Tesla and SpaceX
rather than his other invest-
ments and obligations. Musk
spends more time, however,
at Tesla in San Francisco than
at SpaceX in Los Angeles.
Where does relaxation
come in? It exists, Musk says,
but not in the same quantity
as his work. Musk spends at
least 4 days a week with his
kids and enjoys playing video
games and watching movies.
The one area he admittedly
lacks in, is his romantic life.
After a divorce in 2008 and a
separation shortly thereafter,
Musk admits that he might
have to find more time to de-
vote to dating.
Nonetheless, the success
of Tesla and SpaceX, reports
Musk, is a direct result of his
refusal to give up and his de-
votion to his work.
KFC Facial
Recognition
BY MAYA-LUCIA GESS-
NER
STAFF WRITER
Would you like to just flash
a smile to pay for dinner? At
Kentucky Fried Chicken in
the Eastern city of
Hangzhou in China, Aliba-
bas Ant Financial has found
a way for customers to pay
through facial
recognition. Facial recogni-
tion is a computer application
that can verify a person. Ant
Financial has
recently launched a smile to
pay facial recognition ser-
vice. A 3-D camera scans the
customers face at a
self-serve screen. It is the first
store in the world to use facial
recognition to take payments.
In order to
pay at this KFC, the customer
would first order at the termi-
nal, which would then scan
his or her face.
Then, if it matches up with a
photo ID in the system, the
customer would simply put
their phone number
in and their order would be
placed and payed for. The goal
is to make it possible for peo-
ple to go out to
dinner without needing their
phones or wallet. According
to Joey Wat, Yum Chinas
president, their
efforts are also to attract the
young, tech savvy consum-
ers who are keen to embrace
new tastes and
innovations. Last year, Baidu,
a tech company, has also been
working on a facial recogni-
tion project
with KFC. They have attempt-
ed using facial recognition to
scan customers faces to try to
predict
someones preferred order
based on age, gender and
mood. It is very much possi-
ble that in a few years
facial recognition will be
available in multiple restau-
rants to make it easier to pay.
BY SARA EVANS
STAFF WRITER
Lego is one of the most pop-
ular toy brands in the world.
On the outside, the brand
seems
to be doing very well, creat-
ing countless toys that have
sold very well in the past.
However, in
2004, Lego almost went bank-
rupt. After this upset, they re-
established themselves in the
toy
industry and business was
thriving for many years. Re-
cently, their sales numbers
have been
dropping. How will Lego re-
bound following this alarm-
ing loss? Their solution is to
let go of
1,400 of their employees.
Business is hard to come by
for Lego as a result of new
electronic
gadgets that seem to entertain
kids more and more today.
The company has tried other
methods
of creating profit by making
movies and featuring popular
characters in their toy sets.
For
example, The Lego Movie
was very popular among chil-
dren and earned lots of busi-
Hurricane Har-
vey
BY JESUS SANCHEZ
SPTAFF WRITER
Hurricane Harvey has caused
a lot of destruction, taking
many lives and creating a
great rebuilding debt. These
damage costs will include
structures, plumbing, demoli-
tion, cleanup, irrigation, etc...
Many homeowners didnt
have any insurance to help
cover the cost to demolish
and rebuild homes. Grants
from the Federal Emergency
Management Agency have
been capped at 33,300. Most
people affected will receive
much less. Flood insurance
costs between $500 a year
and $2000 if the home is in
a floodplain. The insurance
program expires at the end
of September. Things such as
structures need to be fixed,
plumbing, individual demoli-
tion and rebuilding of homes.
The amount of labor required
to get Houston back on its
feet exceeds the amount of
workers available to complete
the work. The material need-
ed to rebuild would also be a
huge problem. An immense
amount of raw materials are
needed to create all the essen-
tial things needed in homes
such as plywood, drywall,
wood for framing, floor tiles,
and floor boards. Gas prices
are rising because for every
10 cents risen on the price of
gasoline equates to a $10 bil-
lion tax on consumers. After
hurricane Katrina, and su-
perstorm Sandy in 2012, the
Federal Flood Program is still
roughly $25 billion in debt.
The money needed to rebuild
ness for Lego. Legos idea for
solving the problem of their
dwindling profits is to let go
of many of their
employees, as well as reset
the company in a way. Ap-
parently, the brands down-
fall is partly
because it had become too
complicated and this affected
the growth and progression.
Lego has
been one of the staple toys
that almost every household
had. Will they be able to re-
cover from
this issue? Lego is a multi-bil-
lion dollar company, so they
have lots of experience in the
business
world. As for the 1,400 people
getting laid off, the company
feels this is necessary to solve
the
problem. Lego has been con-
sistently successful through-
out the years, and even
though there are
newer and more high tech
toys for kids to play with,
no one can discount the tri-
umphs of Lego.
will exceed the $8 billion this
program has to give for relief.
Climate change has lots to do
with flooding as well as urban
development. Global warm-
ing is increasing the chances
of natural disasters like this
to occur and stronger than
ever anticipated. Urban de-
velopment contributes to se-
vere flooding because asphalt
doesnt absorb as much water
as undeveloped land. Those
who did have insurance will
get payouts, but it might be a
while before the effected ar-
eas are cleared of the water
and remaining debris. Many
fundraisers have started up
since the hurricane passed.
People have been donating to
the Red Cross, or other private
relief organizations. It is not
certain how much has been
raised or how much relief will
cost, but people are speculat-
ing that the total costs will
be between $11 billion to $80
billion. Trump recently stated
that he would ask congress
for funds to provide relief
for Texas. Although the costs
may be very high for rees-
tablishing Houston, there are
lots of people who lost more
than they will ever get back.
Since hurricane Irma has sub-
sided, the devastation in the
Caribbean Islands as well as
Florida has been substantial.
In Barbuda, 90 percent of the
homes and vehicles have been
destroyed. Across the Carib-
bean Islands, trees, cars, and
other debris were scattered all
throughout the streets. Many
power lines have fallen leav-
ing many residents without
electricity. Plumbing has been
ljhitide.com
affected as well, also leaving
people without clean water
and unable to keep clean.
Hurricane Irma is said to
have impacted 1.2 million
people since it struck. It was a
category five storm with 185
mph winds many trees were
ripped out of the ground,
and homes were destroyed
while all the debris was fly-
ing through the air. Streets
became flooded causing an
immense amount of damage.
It will cost from $50 billion
to $100 billion to clean up
and repair damages. Around
200,000 and 400,000 cars have
been damaged throughout
the storm. Due to the amount
of damage caused, insurance
will go up for victims of the
storm because of the cost it
will take to replace damaged
property. Many newer vehi-
cles that depend on technolo-
gy could be useless because of
the damage water does to the
electronics in newer vehicles.
Although many natural di-
sasters have impacted peo-
ple around the world, it has
brought people together to
help a cause greater than
themselves.
North Ko-
rea Forces
U.S. Hand
BY CARSTEN FEHLAN
STAFF WRITER
On September 3 rd , North
Korea conducted a nuclear
test which created a 6.3 earth-
quake near the
Punggye-re test site. This is
the countries sixth nuclear
test since 2006. Korea says
that they tested a
hydrogen bomb that could be
mounted on an ICBM. US De-
fense Secretary James Mattis
warned there
would be a huge response to
any threat given by Korea on
the US or any of their territo-
ries or allies.
On August 29, North Korea
launched a missile over Japan.
The missile reached 550km
high and flew
approximately 2500km
around the country of Japan
before it crashed in the Pacif-
ic. The United States,
obviously concerned with this
trial, says that all options are
on the table, referring on how
to deal with
Korea.
Our president, Donald Trump
stated in July that nuclear
threats, will be faced with
fire, fury, and frankly
power. But within hours
North Korea responded stat-
ing that they are considering
firing on U.S. territory
in Guam. This caused fear
in Americans that they had
developed missiles that can
reach Guam.
In 2017 North Korea has been
building up their number of
missiles and chemical weap-
ons creating the
question of what will they
do with them. The leader of
North Korea, Kim Jong Un,
states many times
that he has many missiles
that are able to reach main-
land U.S. This is a problem for
the U.S because we
do not have the greatest re-

lationship with communist
North Korea. There is no de-
finitive reason for
North Koreas sudden buildup
of missiles and nuclear tests
but some say it is to compete
with the U.S
Uber
Tracking
Lyft
BY SYDNEY OCONNOR
STAFF WRITER
Over the past few years, Lyft
and Uber have become two of
the most popular
transportation companies in
the world. Both companies
give around thirty to forty
million car
rides each month. Uber and
Lyft have made transporta-
tion very efficient for custom-
ers who
dont need or have to use
their own personal car. This
has posed a threat to car deal-
ership
businesses. People, especially
those who are living in urban
areas, are slowly favoring ride
sharing services. Uber and
Lyfts presidents believe that
in the next ten years, people
will only
use public transit as their
way to get around. Car com-
panies have been attempting
to change
their advertising strategies in
hopes of selling more vehi-
cles. Some of the bigger com-
panies,
like Ford, have introduced
rental programs. This allows
their customers to use the car
for a short
amount of time. Car compa-
nies have also started to re-
lease package deals claiming
that
customers may rent out their
vehicles and make a profit
from it. Along with that, cars
are also
becoming much more ad-
vanced in the field of tech-
nology. It is stated that soon
people will be
able to unlock their cars
through smartphones. Vehi-
cles have also started to pro-
vide internet
service to make smartphone
usage more efficient in the
car. These advances are sup-
posed to
lure more customers into
buying these new advanced
vehicles. Car companies ar-
ent the only
organizations that are trying
to up their game. Uber and
Lyft pose as each others big-
gest
competition and are both
striving to become better and
more popular than the other.
This has
caused them to lower their
prices and has allowed cus-
tomers to choose what cate-
gory of car
they want. The companies
are also trying to provide the
fastest service possible so that
customers are waiting less
than ten minutes for a ride.
As the competition grows
more and more
intense between Uber, Lyft,
and car dealerships, the deals
continue to get better for the
customers. Though the im-
pact of Uber and Lyft is not
quite severe yet, it has been
predicted
that it will drastically damage
car ownerships in the future.
iPhone 8 and
iOS 11 Leak
BY JENNA CRIST
STAFF WRITER
During the night of Septem-
ber 8th, descriptions on the
new iPhone 8 and iOS 11 were
leaked. A man by the name
of Steven Troughton-Smith
was the first to release most
of what
people now know about the
new iPhone and iOS update
all through twitter. However,
many
reporters have thought to
believe that this may have
been an inside job from Apple
knowing that
Mr. Troughton-Smith has
worked with the company
before. Nevertheless, what is
now known
about the iPhone 8 is quite
bold. Apple has now modeled
this new iPhone to have glass
around
the entire phone. They have
also constructed for the phone
to now be able to wirelessly
charge to
make charging an iPhone that
much easier. Apple has also
put a new chip in their phone
which
they described to be the
smartest and most powerful
chip ever in a smartphone.
Though its
still unconfirmed, many say
that this new model of iPhone
might also be ready to replace
the
Touch ID security for a Face
ID. With this, youll be able to
simply look into your phone
camera
to unlock your phone. As for
the new iOS update though,
lots of things can be expect-
BUSINESS
September 29, 2017
ed, one of
which are the new features
for the Apple Camera. The
new update for the camera
will include
different portrait lighting
modes such as contour light-
ing, natural lighting, and
stage lighting. The
iOS update will also include
both a higher resolution and
capture speeds while taking
videos.
Lastly, iOS 11 has been said
to be releasing a new feature
called Animoji which con-
sists of 3D
emojis that will sync w/ facial
tracking for people to cre-
ate customized expressions
through their
normal emojis.
Whole Foods
and Amazon
Merger
BY ANNABELLE REEVES
STAFF WRITER
On Wednesday, August 23rd,
Whole Foods shareholders
approved its merger with
Amazon. The federal trade
commission gave the merger
its stamp of approval. Since,
Whole Foods prices have
dropped. Although, Whole
Foods prices are still not as
cheap as its competitors, but
since merging with Amazon,
theres already been a major
increase in sales. Traffic at
Whole Foods is the highest
its been in three years. A lot
of these crowds were defi-
nitely a result of all the hype
Whole Foods got from Ama-
zon. However, shoppers that
are buying groceries admit the
prices arent really less expen-
sive. Whole Foods grocery
prices have stayed 50 percent
higher than Walmarts. They
have claimed that their prod-
ucts are superior to those
sold by their competitors.
Amazon cut Whole Foods
prices, by 43% on their first
day of merging. Mark Baum,
a senior Vice President at the
Food Marketing Institute, an
Industry group says, Price
was the largest barrier to
Whole Foods customers, Am-
azon now has demonstrated
that it is willing to invest to
dominate the categories that
it decides to compete in. Food
retailers of all sizes need to
look really hard at their pric-
ing strategies, and maybe find
some funding sources to build
a war chest. Although these
price cuts wont affect much,
the fact that Amazon has
merged with Whole Foods
as caused their customers
to grow. A lot of people like
Amazon and use it for a lot
of things. People enjoy their
products so its no wonder
why its bringing a bunch of
crowds into Whole Foods.
Chinas Ban What is
Bitcoin?
BY SYDNEY OCONNOR
STAFF WRITER
For years now, China has had
to deal with severe pollution
issues. Its air contamination
has
lead to smog, which threatens
the health of Chinas citizens.
In hopes of helping solve this
problem, China is consider-
ing banning all cars that are
fueled by diesel and gasoline.
This plan
would not be fully put into
action until 2030 at the earli-
est. Chinas government has
reached out
to car companies and pres-
sured them to produce more
electric cars. China currently
has the
worlds second largest vehicle
market. Only using electric
cars would have an enormous
effect
on the environment and it
would also help energy con-
servation. CEO of Tesla, one
of the
largest electric car companies
in the world, claims,Its the
goal of Tesla to accelerate the
advent
of sustainable transport, and
Id rather the other manufac-
turers would go fully electric
as soon
as possible...I dont think a lot
of people know this but Chi-
nas environmental policies
are way
ahead of the U.S. Their man-
date for renewable energy far
exceeds the U.S. In fact, the
coalition
of Chinese car manufacturers
just wrote the Chinese gov-
ernment to beg them to slow
down the
mandate, because its too
much. They need to make 8
percent electric vehicles in
the next year
or in two years or something;
they cant physically do it.
This ban has been predicted
to greatly
boost the car companies in-
dustry. In addition to that, the
electric power industry will
also be
affected. More and more peo-
ple have turned to the usage
of solar energy and have been
installing electric car char-
gers in their homes. Though
the U.S government have not
shown any
signs that they intend on fol-
lowing Chinas actions, the
production of electric cars has
increased
greatly over the past couple
of years. China is not the only
country that has considered
banning
fossil fueled cars, the U.K and
France have both declared
they would like to follow the
same
path as China. Though it has
not yet been officially en-
forced, the banning of diesel
and gasoline
fueled cars will definitely
make a huge difference for
Chinas environment, econo-
my, and
electric industry.
5
BY NUSHEEN BARADA-
RAN
STAFF WRITER
A bitcoin is a worldwide
cryptocurrency and digital
payment system, it is the first
digital currency, the system
works without a single ad-
ministrator. The coin is re-
ferred to as digital currency,
digital cash etc. Basically, bit-
coin is not the action of send-
ing money it is the thing sent.
Bitcoin was invented by a
programmer or programmers
that go by the name Satoshi
Nakamoto, the makers of the
coin are unknown. Bitcoin
is open-source; its design is
public, nobody owns or con-
trols Bitcoin and everyone
can take part. The coin soft-
ware was released in 2009, the
software is a direct exchange
there is no intermediary. All
the transaction are record-
ed in a public ledger called a
blockchain. As of February
2015, 10,000 merchants use
Bitcoin as payment. In August
of 2017, the Bitcoin split into
two different branches which
include - the classic Bitcoin
(BTC) and the Bitcoin Cash
(BCH). One bitcoin is equal
to 3803.14 US Dollar. Bitcoin
wallets keep a secret piece
of data called a private key,
which is used to sign transac-
tions, providing mathematical
proof that it has come from
the owner of the wallet. The
way the Bitcoin wallet works
is that, first, the person needs
to download the Bitcoin wal-
let. After you download the
Bitcoin wallet the system will
generate your first Bitcoin ad-
dress. Using that address you
can send and receive money
from your friends. The Bitcoin
address is similar to an email
address but the only differ-
ent thing is that you should
use the Bitcoin address once.
However once you make a
transaction, the transaction
is irreversible. Bitcoin can be
used to make purchases or
sell merchandise anonymous-
ly. Market places are websites
in which you can buy and or
sell bitcoins, Mt. Gox is the
biggest marketplace. Mining
is when people (who com-
pete) mine bitcoins using
computers to solve complex
math puzzles, the winner
will receive 25 Bitcoin which
is equal to $95125.00 US dol-
lars. Bitcoins has affected the
world because there are sell-
ers who sell illegal merchan-
dise for example drugs like
as they did on the silk road
which would jeopardize bit-
coins name as well. Since the
drug marketplaces shut down
Bitcoin has gotten a chance to
regain its customers.