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Christmas is a Christian holiday that observes the birth of Jesus. But did you know that the earliest followers of Jesus did not annually commemorate his birth? Or that Santa Claus is inspired by the acts of kindness of a fourth-century Christian saint? And have you heard about the modern-day Japanese tradition of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas? Since the early 20th century, Christmas has evolved from a religious holiday to a hugely popular cultural holiday observed by Christian and secular people across the globe who gather with families, exchange gifts and cards and decorate Christmas trees.Here’s a look…

In the aftermath of the 43-day government shutdown, the House Transportation Committee gave the thumbs up to bipartisan Aviation Funding Solvency legislation that would enable the Federal Aviation Administration to protect air traffic controllers’ pay amid future shutdowns, according to a story in Politico.The legislation would empower the FAA to use the Aviation Insurance Revolving Fund, “which is designed to cover insurance claims filed by airlines activated under the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, a voluntary program to boost the military’s airlift capacity with civilian planes during a crisis,” the Politico story said. “This bill ensures that no air traffic controller…

On Wednesday, Cisco revealed that a group of Chinese government-backed hackers is exploiting a vulnerability to target its enterprise customers who use some of the company’s most popular products. Cisco has not said how many of its customers have already been hacked, or may be running vulnerable systems. Now, security researchers say there are hundreds of Cisco customers who could potentially be hacked. Piotr Kijewski, the chief executive of the nonprofit Shadowserver Foundation that scans and monitors the internet for hacking campaigns, told TechCrunch that the scale of exposure “seems more in the hundreds rather than thousands or tens of…

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not unusual for a 20-something to text Mom in a panic from the doctor’s office, seeking help answering a question. And patients of any age can struggle to recall all their medicines — or forget to mention a concern.Getting the most out of a doctor’s visit requires some advance preparation. Even the professionals plan ahead.“It is really hard — even for me as a doctor going to see my own family doctor — to remember the things that I wanted to bring up,” said Dr. Sarah Nosal, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “The…

Build-A-Bear Workshop wasn’t always a retail winner.The toy store, known for its interactive experience of building and accessorizing stuffed animals, has gone through a significant turnaround since CEO Sharon Price John took the helm of the company over a decade ago.”When I first came in 2013, that assessment of the brand was strong,” she told CNBC. “We don’t have a broken brand, we have a broken business, and when you started doing interviews, you really understood how much this brand meant to people.”The company found initial success in malls in the early 2000s, but Build-A-Bear’s stock plunged after the 2008…

Anonymous messaging app NGL announced on Friday that it has been acquired by Mode Mobile, a smartphone rewards company that makes money by flooding its users with ads. NGL quickly climbed the App Store charts after its launch in late 2021, joining a group of similar apps popular among teens that allow users to send and receive anonymous questions and messages. But it’s been embroiled in controversy for most of its existence. Anonymous messaging apps are problematic because they can encourage bullying among teens — Snapchat banned third-party apps like NGL, LMK, Sendit, and YOLO from its platform in 2022…

The Delaware Supreme Court has reinstated Elon Musk’s $56 billion Tesla pay package from 2018, overturning last year’s ruling by the state’s Chancery Court, according to an opinion published Friday. In a unanimous ruling, the judges on the highest court in Delaware said that canceling Musk’s package left him “uncompensated for his time and efforts over a period of six years.” Adjusted for Tesla’s current stock price, which hit all-time highs this week, the reinstated package would be worth around $140 billion, according to Bloomberg. The state supreme court’s decision likely draws to a close a years-long battle that left…

AI coding assistant Cursor announced that it has acquired Graphite, a startup that uses AI to review and debug code. Although the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Axios reported that Cursor paid “way over” Graphite’s last valuation of $290 million, which was set when the five-year-old company raised a $52 million Series B earlier this year. The tie-up makes strategic sense. The output of code generated by AI is often buggy, forcing engineers to spend a lot of time on corrections. Even though Cursor offers AI-powered code review through its Bugbot product, Graphite’s specialized toolset provides a distinct…

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — As the number of skilled tradespeople dwindles in the United States, Walmart is trying to build up its own workforce to keep conveyor belts moving, refrigerated grocery cases cold, and drains and parking lots flowing. The nation’s largest retailer and private employer revamped its training program last year to increase the pipeline of maintenance technicians who do everything from repair equipment to electrical work at Walmart’s distribution centers and stores — jobs that have become increasingly difficult to fill because of a shrinking labor pool.The shortage has opened opportunities for people like Liz Cardenas, 24, who…

Investors at TechCrunch Disrupt did not shy away from admitting they are interested in mainly one thing: artificial intelligence.   Nina Achadjian from Index, Jerry Chen from Greylock, and Peter Deng from Felicis all spoke about the latest obsession in venture capital and how startups can stand out in a quickly crowding market. The environment is moving fast, Achadjian told the crowd, and companies are experiencing unprecedented growth.   “We spend an enormous, enormous amount of time really assessing the entrepreneur and how resilient they will be able to be in a moment where things are just rapidly changing,” Achadjian said. Now more…