Real IT Center

* Around the world, business schools are scrambling to improve their online courses as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on an already struggling sector.  * Last year, the top 10 business schools in the US reported a 7% decline in applications, and 30% of this year's Harvard Business School candidates have opted to defer their studies until 2021.  * One senior academic told Business Insider many schools were struggling to convince students to commit to online learning, adding: "If you're not Harvard Business School, you're f---ed."  * Executive education startup Jolt said it had held talks with a number of leading business schools about helping to improve their online offerings.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Business schools around the world are scrambling to improve their online offerings amid fears the COVID-19 pandemic will leave them struggling to attract students.   The executive education sphere was facing an crisis befor...

* California's Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect in January, adopting a narrow definition of independent contractor that forces Uber and other gig economy businesses to choose between reclassifying workers as employees or risking significant liability for misclassification. * The law serves as a reminder to California businesses to be careful when classifying workers as contractors.  * Classifying independent contractors falls into two main categories: the "right to control" test (often called the "IRS test") and the tougher "ABC test" recently adopted in AB5. * Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash have recently poured $30 million into Proposition 22 — a ballot measure intended to exempt major ridesharing and food delivery companies from AB5. If California residents vote the measure into effect in November, Uber and Lyft can continue classifying drivers as contractors.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. In September 2019, Californ...

* Luminar, which makes sensors for autonomous vehicles, said Monday it was selling itself in a deal valued at $3.4 billion via a SPAC merger with Gores Metropoulos. Volvo and the tech mogul Peter Thiel are also chipping in. * The deal means that Luminar will become a public company trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LAZR. * Luminar makes lidar sensors, which bounce lasers off objects to help self-driving cars sense their surroundings, at much cheaper rates than many of its competitors. * The founder and CEO of Luminar is Austin Russell, a 25-year-old who founded the startup in 2012 while in high school. * Russell attended Stanford to study physics but dropped out at 18 after winning a Thiel Fellowship to build Luminar. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Luminar, a self-driving-car startup founded by CEO Austin Russell at the age of 17 while he was in high school, said Monday it would go public in a $3.4 billion merger with a special purpose acqui...

* Apple has apologized after it tried to force WordPress to add in-app payment options to a free app. * WordPress' founder said on Friday that Apple was refusing to allow any updates to the WordPress iOS app until the website builder added in-app purchases, from which Apple takes a 15-30% commission. * Apple is in a fierce fight with developers including "Fortnite" maker Epic Games and Spotify over its rules on in-app purchases. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Apple has backed down in its latest skirmish with a developer over its App Store rules. The tech giant on Sunday issued a rare apology to WordPress after it pressured the website builder to add payment options to its free iOS app, or else be blocked from updating. "We believe the issue with the WordPress app has been resolved," an Apple spokesman told The Verge. "Since the developer removed the display of their service payment options from the app, it is now a free st...

* Microsoft's largest intern cohort to-date worked remotely as the coronavirus closed down the firm's headquarters in Redmond, Washington.  * Four summer interns described how they adjusted — including buying desks to accommodate Microsoft-deliver computer equipment, to receiving the swag and gifts that their teams sent to their doors. * Interns also described challenges collaborating virtually with teams they've never met, feeling intimidated by coworkers, understanding different work styles of their colleagues, and replacing water-cooler chats with messaging over Teams and email.  * The interns also grappled with their work as George Floyd's murder and Big Tech antitrust hearings to Congress sparked conversations across the country. * As the first intern class to experience a completely virtual internship, the cohort gave advice for future interns who might work from home at the pandemic drags on. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. As with...

* Twitter on Sunday placed a "public interest notice" on a tweet President Donald Trump sent earlier in the day in the latest example of the platform fact-checking his tweets. * Just after 7 a.m. on Saturday, Trump tweeted unsubstantiated claims about ballot drop off boxes, which have been implemented by states to allow residents to drop off mail-in ballots without relying on the postal service. * "We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy for making misleading health claims that could potentially dissuade people from participation in voting," Twitter said. * After Twitter began to flag some of Trump's tweets in May, he joined other conservatives in calling social-media platforms biased against conservatives, and he signed an executive order to regulate Twitter and similar companies. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Twitter on Sunday placed a "public interest notice" on a twe...

* Google's product inclusion team works on making the company's products better for more users, but it was born from one of Google's 20% projects. * Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google's head of product inclusion, explains how the group came about in a new book. * The group has worked on Google products including Pixel smartphones and virtual reality headsets. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Earlier this year, Google announced it had more than 2,000 employees across the company working on inclusion and diversity in its products. This group of "inclusion champions" was set up to think inclusively about things like gender, age, ethnicity, and disabilities as products are designed. But the group's origin story was born from one of Google's once-ubiquitous "20% projects," where employees dedicate 20% of their time to building something outside of their usual focus. Annie Jean-Baptiste, Google's head of product incl...

* TikTok confirmed Saturday that the company planned to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting the popular app. * A company spokesperson said TikTok experienced "a lack of due process as the administration paid no attention to facts and tried to insert itself into negotiations between private businesses." * TikTok, which has surged in popularity over the past year, was known as Musical.ly until it was purchased by the Chinese company ByteDance in 2017 and renamed. * The president on August 6 and August 14 signed executive orders targeting TikTok.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. TikTok on Saturday announced it plans to sue the US government over President Donald Trump's executive orders pertaining to its ownership, arguing the company was deprived of its due process rights. The president, who began targeting TikTok in July, issued an executive order August 6 making it illegal for American compani...

* Texas has long been a major tech hub, home to giants like Dell and known for a dynamic startup ecosystem that rivals Silicon Valley. * Major technology companies, including Silicon Valley behemoths like Google, Cisco, IBM, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle have expanded their operations in Texas, including in cities like Austin.  * For example, Google hired a customer sales engineer with a salary of $114,000 to $214,000, while Oracle hired a senior developer with a salary of $129,000 to $225,000. * Here's a survey of what Oracle, IBM, Dell, SAP, Cisco, Google, and Microsoft pay new hires in Texas, based on disclosure data for permanent and temporary workers filed with the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification in 2019. * Click here for more BI Prime stories. Texas has long been seen as a major tech hub. It's the established home to tech giants like Dell, and has more recently earned a reputation for having a vibrant startup ecosystem that's coming to rival Silicon Valley. ...

* A Japanese virtual reality company is offering "mock flights" which let passengers sit in fake airline cabins while being served in-flight meals and drinks. * First Airlines has seen an increase of interest since the start of the pandemic as more holidaymakers are grounded due to coronavirus travel restrictions.  * The two-hour virtual reality experience enables passengers to "travel" to cities such as Paris and New York without actually ever taking off.  * As millions of people are staying at home, there's a growing interest in the mock flight trend. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. A Japanese virtual reality company allows people to enjoy all the perks of flying on a plane — without ever taking off. For only 6,580 yen ($62) per ticket, Tokyo entertainment company First Airlines offers "mock flights," which let passengers sit in fake airline cabins while being served in-flight meals and drinks. The two-hour virtual ...

  * UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar will be streamed live on August 22, exclusively through the ESPN+ streaming service. * In the main event, former UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will make his debut in the bantamweight division in the 27th match of his UFC career. * With 13 career wins by knockout or submission, 5th ranked Pedro Munhoz is the former Resurrection Fighting Alliance bantamweight champion and one of the UFC division's most formidible fighters. * Prelims are set to start at 6 p.m. ET and the main card is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET. * Every UFC Fight Night event is included with an ESPN+ subscription, which costs $6.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Product Card Module: Monthly Subscription Service Card size: small Former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar will make his bantamweight debut against #5 ranked Pedro Munhoz in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Munhoz vs Edgar on August 22. Munhoz has dominated opponents in his 18 career wins...

* Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, is one of the most powerful people in corporate America. * Clark is in charge of everything from Amazon's warehouse and shipping network to marketing and the Prime membership program. * Since he joined Amazon in 1999, Clark has quickly jumped through the ranks, going from a Kentucky warehouse manager in 2001 to a part of the "S-team," a secretive group of the 23 most senior executives at the company. * He's largely in charge of shaping Amazon's COVID-19 response, including changes in the supply-chain network and warehouse safety policies. * While Clark has been successful in leading Amazon through the pandemic, with the company now nearing normal operations, he's also been criticized for the way he's handled warehouse safety measures and protests. * The COVID-19 pandemic is putting Clark under the biggest spotlight of his 21-year career at the company. * This story was first pu...

* Business Insider got a look inside the whirlwind day of Nasdaq's senior vice president and head of global technology infrastructure and operations. * Don Beery, a veteran engineer who has been with Nasdaq for the past 11 years, is not only in charge of 344 employees; he's also a father of three and opened up about how he juggles both his work and family life. * Come along for a look inside a day in Don Beery's life. (Hint: Bring your coffee. You're going to need it.) * Are you a young person working on Wall Street? Contact this reporter via email at rhodkin@businessinsider.com, encrypted messaging app Signal (561-247-5758), or direct message on Twitter @reedalexander. * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. If Don Beery's stamina was traded on an open market, you might seriously consider buying some shares. That's because Nasdaq's senior vice president and head of global technology infrastructure and operations seemingly has inexha...

* Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Business Insider with a list of the nine most in-demand original TV shows on streaming services in the US. * Netflix's "Umbrella Academy" and "Lucifer" are among the top shows this week.  * Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Netflix's "Umbrella Academy" continues to dominate with audiences, as it has far surpassed "Stranger Things" as the most in-demand streaming series in the US.  Every week, Parrot Analytics provides Business Insider with a list of the nine most in-demand TV shows on streaming services in the US. The data is based on "demand expressions," Parrot Analytics' globally standardized TV-demand measurement unit. Audience demand reflects the desire, engagement, and viewership weighted by importance. The list is ranked by how much more in demand the top series are than the average TV show in the US. Netflix's "Lucifer" is also inchi...