The Girls Who Code book series has been placed on a ban list in schools, Amazon starts its holiday sales early, and Netflix continues to develop its gaming endeavours.
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The founder of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani’s book series has been placed on a list of banned books in schools. The series, which chronicles a group of young girls and their adventures as part of a coding club at their school, was just added to PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans, a nationwide list of restricted literature that was established in the recently completed school year. While the addition to the PEN America list was the first she had heard of a ban on her work, the ban had been in effect in Pennsylvania’s Central York School District for about 10 months, which ended with its reversal in September of last year. Saujani said that removing the books not only hinders visibility for women in technology fields but also diversity in the industry.
Source: Business Insider
Amazon is starting its holiday sales a little early this year. On Monday, Amazon announced plans for “a new two-day global shopping event” exclusive to its Prime members. Other retail giants like Walmart and Target are also kicking off holiday sales earlier this year. According to the LA Times, Amazon’s bonus sales event may be a sign that retailers are concerned that consumers aren’t looking to spend as much this year due to inflation, rising interest rates, and fears of an oncoming recession. However, an Amazon spokesperson said that the company added the second online sale to help overcome such worries. Primes Early Access sale runs from Oct. 11 to Oct 12 in Canada, the U.S., France, Germany and 11 other countries.
Source: LA Times
Netflix is planning on a hiring spree to further develop its push into gaming. Over the past month, the company has posted 33 jobs, per LinkedIn, to build its mobile gaming business, which it launched less than a year ago. However, the gaming side of the streaming service hasn’t taken off so far. According to a new Forrester survey, reviewed exclusively by Business Insider, just five per cent of subscribers have played one of Netflix’s mobile games in the past month. Only four per cent said its mobile games keep them subscribing, and 54 per cent they didn’t care about the games at all. Despite this, Netflix announced it was opening a games studio in Helsinki, Finland. Netflix’s efforts to build its platform come as its subscriber numbers have decreased for the first time in the first two quarters of 2022.
Source: Business Insider
A fleet of flying 3D printers has been created to build and repair structures in-flight. The drones, developed by a team at the University of Bath, use building methods similar to bees and wasps. The drones could be used in manufacturing and construction in areas difficult to access such as rooftops of tall buildings, or dangerous locations to help with post-disaster relief construction. The drones in the fleet, known collectively as Aerial Additive Manufacturing (Aerial-AM), work jointly from a single blueprint, adapting their techniques as they go. Although they are “fully autonomous” while in motion, they are monitored by a human who checks their progress and can intervene if needed. The inventors say the drones could also cut costs and make construction safer.
Source: BBC
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