Slack is back online after experiencing an outage Tuesday evening, according to the company's status page.Slack didn't say what had caused the outage, but confirmed it had restored the service and that "everyone should be able to connect to Slack now."The workplace messaging service is used by thousands of workplaces around the world — especially amid the remote work boom.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Slack is back online after an outage that lasted about two and a half hours on Tuesday evening.

At 7:26 p.m. PT, the workplace messaging app said "We have fully restored service and everyone should be able to connect to Slack now." Slack didn't say what caused the outage.

Slack first reported issues at 4:53 pm PT, saying at the time that "users have reported general performance issues such message sending failures and timeouts." At 5:02 pm PT, Slack updated the status and said "Users are unable to connect to Slack. We are investigating and will provide an update shortly." 

More than 5,000 users reported having issues connecting to Slack shortly before Slack confirmed the issues, according to Downdetector.

 

Employees around the globe at organizations including Business Insider rely on Slack to communicate, organize tasks, and share information. During the outage, Downdetector's live outage map showed a concentration of Slack outage reports in the west coast of the United States, in Japan, and in Australia. 

The timing of this outage came when many people around the world are working remotely to try and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Slack has rarely had outages that last this long. An outage on July 29, 2019, lasted about an hour.

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Original author: Paayal Zaveri

Apple employees will soon return to work, according to a new report from Bloomberg.Apple is reportedly bringing employees back to its global offices in stages, with the first phase said to be starting in May through early June.That approach differs from plans enacted by Facebook and Google, which have told workers they can choose to work remotely through the rest of the year.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple employees will soon resume work at the company's major offices, according to a new report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Apple is said to be bringing employees back in stages over the next few months. The move signals that Apple is taking a different approach than other major tech firms like Facebook and Google.

Facebook will begin reopening its offices in early July but will permit employees to work remotely for the rest of the year. Google has told employees that they'll likely be working from home for rest of the year, but that those who need to return to the office can do so in June or July.

For Apple, the first phase of returning to work will entail bringing back employees who can't work from home or are experiencing issues doing so, according to Bloomberg. That stage has reportedly already begun and will continue through the end of May and early June. More employees are said to be returning in July during Apple's second phase.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Apple, like many companies, has shifted to work-from-home arrangements during the pandemic. But the company's secretive culture around new products has reportedly made it difficult for some employees to continue working remotely. The division within Apple tasked with working on new hardware projects, like augmented reality glasses, has reportedly slowed, reports Bloomberg. 

Apple workers also struggled to access internal systems and to understand which tasks they're allowed to perform remotely, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apple has launched several products in recent weeks while many states in the US were under lockdown and stay-at-home orders, including the iPhone SE, a new MacBook Pro, and a refreshed iPad Pro. It will also hold its Worldwide Developers Conference virtually for the first time in June. 

Are you an Apple employee planning to return to work? If so, we want to hear from you. Contact this reporter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or through encrypted mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or send a direct message on Twitter to @LisaEadicicco.

Original author: Lisa Eadicicco

Elon Musk told President Donald Trump during a phone call last month that Tesla should be able to resume manufacturing at its factory in Fremont, California, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

During a call with Trump and other chief executives last month, Tesla's CEO praised the president and made the case for reopening the plant by May 1 or sooner, saying "I do not think it represents a significant risk," according to The Washington Post.

Trump said he agreed with Musk 100%, The Washington Post reported.

The factory has become the source of a heated showdown between Musk and local officials after he confirmed Monday that Tesla had restarted production in defiance of local orders and challenged authorities to arrest him.

"If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me," Musk tweeted.

 

An Alameda County official sent Tesla a letter Monday ordering it to stop operations as workers returned to the factory, as first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, but the factory has remained in operation and officials have yet to take further action.

Trump weighed in publicly on the controversy earlier Tuesday, siding with Musk.

"California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW," Trump tweeted. "It can be done Fast & Safely!"

 

Musk has been extremely critical of state and local shelter-in-place orders meant to curb the spread of COVID-19, calling them "fascist" and saying they are "fundamentally a violation of the Constitution."

Tesla has attempted to restart its operations on multiple occasions in recent weeks despite local orders, and sued Alameda County over the order on Saturday.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

Google has joined the board of the Open Compute Project, an open source data center hardware project that was founded by Facebook.OCP expects to become its own $5.3 billion industry in 2020 and hit $11.8 billion by 2023 — a sales figure that does not include the billions of dollars spent by its board members Facebook, Microsoft, or Rackspace.The OCP project has moved from sharing hardware designs among data center engineers into a nearly complete alternative ecosystem that is driven by the users of the hardware, not the vendors of it.It stands as a unique example of what engineers can do together once they are free to work together across companies.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Of all the ways that Facebook has influenced the world, one of the lesser-known — but arguably one of the most important — is an organization called Open Compute Project that is reimagining data center hardware, making it more efficient and less costly, and giving those designs away for free.

On Tuesday, OCP announced that Google had been granted a board seat, joining Microsoft, Facebook, Intel, Rackspace, and one of the most famous computer network engineers of all-time, Andy Bechtolsheim. Bechtolsheim is founder of Arista Networks (also involved in OCP) and is also known for his time at Cisco and for his many angel investments (especially the early one in Google that turned him into a billionaire). 

Last month, OCP announced that it was on track to become its own $5.3 billion industry in 2020 and grow to $11.8 billion by 2023, in terms of the amount of money spent on OCP-designed hardware by companies that are not members of its board (meaning not cloud giants Microsoft, Facebook or Rackspace).

Andy Bechtolsheim Arista During a virtual keynote for its tech conference being held online this week, OCP CEO Rocky Bullock described how the organization has become its own powerhouse industry.

"OCP now has more than 150 ready-made products built on top of its open specifications," he said. "Our focus is now to ensure a robust supply chain for the entire market from enterprise, telco and hyperscale [Internet companies]."

There's a lot of incredible things about that statement. For one, OCP is not itself a hardware manufacturer like a Dell, Cisco, HP or IBM. It's a consortium that includes hardware manufacturers but that is driven, at its heart, by the hardware users like Facebook, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Alibaba, AT&T, Deutsche Telecom, and Google.

But it's still creating a complete alternative ecosystem for enterprises, telecoms, and internet companies: Any organization that still runs its own servers (and that's most large organizations) can opt in to use OCP-designed hardware instead of equipment from brand-name suppliers.

In addition to certifying that OCP products follow its designs (like other open organizations do), OCP has certified 127 software products to run on OCP hardware. And it has certified 27 "bundled" products, which refers to multiple OCP hardware or software products working together.

OCP is now working on the most critical piece, lining up support contracts that cater to various industries like enterprise or telco or the massive internet companies known today as "hyperscale," Bullock said. (Enterprises often won't buy stuff unless they know they'll be able to get timely support if something breaks.) Having a comprehensive, open system that includes hardware, software, and support is a huge deal in an industry that has for so long been dominated by vendors with proprietary tech like Cisco, IBM, HP, Dell, VMware, and so on.

OCP was launched by Facebook back in 2011 to create what is known as open source hardware for the data center industry. Back then Facebook was (and still is) growing so exponentially that it was expensive and environmentally wasteful for the company to buy computer servers, storage, network gear, and all the associated equipment that goes with that stuff (like the racks that hold the gear) from traditional vendors.

Facebook Open Compute Project hardware rack. Open Compute Project So, Facebook hired a team of hardware engineers to design its own equipment that performed faster, cost less, used less materials, and could be easily scaled or replaced when broken.

Facebook wasn't the only company creating its own hardware (and still isn't). Google famously built a lot of its own hardware and so does Amazon Web Services.

But what Facebook did that was so revolutionary was that it decided to share those designs with the world for free via OCP. Anyone could take the designs, use them, and modify them, and OCP had even lined up contract manufacturers to build the stuff to order.

Hardware engineers became fascinated — even obsessed — with OCP. For the first time, engineers could work together across companies to solve engineering problems and share their work with others, much like software engineers do with open source projects, without worrying about getting fired for sharing intellectual property.

And OCP grew wildly. It became its own separate entity from Facebook, although Facebook is still heavily involved and influential. Facebook's head of hardware engineering, Mark Roenigk (the former COO of Rackspace) is OCP's president and chairman of the board. Other Facebook hardware engineers lead six of OCP's more than two dozen projects. Microsoft engineers lead seven of them, Google leads two, and a variety of other engineers from other companies lead the rest.

But CEO Bullock tells Business Insider that OCP has deliberately structured itself so that no one member can become too powerful, not even Facebook.

"Today OCP has 200 members throughout the world: We structure the community to ensure balance on company representation so that each tiered member has limited leadership positions they can run for," he said (leadership is elected). "All board members have one vote and a chair position is elected from the board members each year to facilitate board discussions."

It is interesting to note that there are some big names that are not members of OCP. Apple was secretly involved for a while and may still be, but isn't in leadership roles or speaking publicly about it.  The other big internet name that is notably absent from the group is Amazon. Amazon is also building a lot of its own hardware but for now is keeping its designs to itself.

Even so, Bullock believes that whether those companies are members or not, OCP's presence has made industry-wide hardware design faster, cheaper, and greener. Even if a company isn't an official member, Bullock says, "the degree of collaboration in the industry is dramatically higher than it was before OCP became active."

Are you an Google Cloud or Amazon Web Services insider with insight to share? Contact Julie Bort via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on encrypted chat app Signal at (970) 430-6112 (no PR inquiries, please). Open DMs on Twitter @Julie188. 

Original author: Julie Bort

Apple has begun reopening some retail stores in the US in certain states like Alabama, Alaska, South Carolina, and Idaho.The move comes after Apple reopened stores in other parts of the world like South Korea and Australia, where cases of coronavirus have fallen.Confirmed cases in the United States continue to rise, though effects have varied by state. Some states have already ordered businesses to reopen even as the coronavirus continues to spread.Apple says the initial focus will remain on customer service through the Genius Bar, and is encouraging customers to shop virtually when possible. The company will also enforce precautions like temperature checks, face masks, and social distancing at its stores.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple has begun reopening some retail stores in the United States, marking the first time the tech giant has opened US stores since closing all locations outside of China indefinitely in March.

The company is beginning with 5 stores in Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, and South Carolina. Apple is encouraging customers to purchase items online when possible, and said that the focus of its open stores will be on providing customer service and support through the Genius Bar.

Apple also said each store will implement safety procedures that involve social distancing, conduct temperature checks, and require customers to wear face coverings before entering.

"As local guidance varies around the US there may be slight modifications to our procedures," Apple said in a statement. "As always, our thoughts are with everyone affected by COVID-19 and those working around the clock to treat, study and contain its spread."

Do you work at an Apple Store that has recently reopened or is planning to reopen? If so, we want to hear from you. Contact this reporter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or through encrypted mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or send a direct message on Twitter to @LisaEadicicco.

The move comes after Apple began reopening stores in South Korea, Australia, and Austria following its unprecedented decision to temporarily close all stores outside of China in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19. New cases in those countries have decreased dramatically, in part because of early response and widespread testing, and retail and public life has started to reopen. 

In the US, cases continue to increase, with more than 80,000 people dead, though outbreak rates vary and new reported cases have started to decline in several states, including Alaska and Idaho, according to an analysis by The New York Times. That said, much of the country still struggles with limited testing capacity. Alabama, where Apple is opening one store, has seen an increase in new cases of COVID-19, according to The Times' analysis.

Coronavirus-prevention measures in the US have also had a dramatic effect on the economy, with unemployment surging to 14.7% as the country lost a record 20.5 million jobs. In response, a number of states have eased lockdown measures and begun reopening certain parts of the economy, despite rates of COVID-19. Such states include Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kansas, and Missouri among others.

Apple has not yet said when it will reopen stores in other parts of the country. Apple's stores in Georgia, which was among the first states to reopen and where the tech giant has six retail locations, remain temporarily closed.   

The company's stores and the staff that run them are the company's face to the general public, from informing customers about new and existing products to facilitating customer support. Apple has been asking some staff to work remotely from home in support roles as stores have remained closed. 

Apple has also launched several new products during the several weeks that most of its global stores remained closed, including the iPhone SE and new iPad Pro. 

Here's a running list of the Apple retail stores in the US that have opened so far, according to Apple's website. 

Original author: Lisa Eadicicco

Airbnb-backed Zeus Living is laying off 73 employees, or almost 50% of the company, CEO Kulveer Taggar said in a blog post on Tuesday. The news comes less than two months after Zeus laid off about 80 people, or one-third of the company at the time, in late March.

Taggar laid out the reasons for the cuts in the blog post, explaining that the coronavirus will continue to challenge business travel, leading to projected revenue that's 55% percent of the company's original expectations. The company will also have fewer homes in its portfolio and has decided to return the PPP loan it applied for.

Zeus Living rents furnished properties for stays of longer than 30 days in six metro-areas around the country, including New York, catering specifically to business travelers. The company has direct partnerships with other companies, like scooter startup Bird, which use Zeus as a replacement for extended-stay hotels for employees.

Last month, Business Insider reported that Zeus was telling landlords that it wouldn't pay April and May rent and was asking landlords to switch from leases to revenue-share agreement.

"I'm very sorry," Taggar wrote in the blog post. "This is a decision I hoped we wouldn't have to make and is not how I wanted us to part ways. Zeus has been built not by the founders but by the sheer will, determination, and grit of remarkable people I care about and call my friends. I'm honored to have had the privilege of working, building, and learning alongside you and will forever be grateful." 

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Zeus had raised $15 million in equity and debt at a $110 million valuation, almost half of its $205 million valuation when it last raised money in December. Existing investors CEAS Investments I, Initialized Capital Management and Soros Fund Management all participated in the down round. 

Airbnb, which invested in the company's last round, was absent. Last week, Airbnb laid off 25% of its staff, or 1900 people, as the coronavirus has put almost all business and corporate travel on hold. 

Zeus has not yet responded to a request for comment on the fundraising. 

In the post, Taggar outlined the exit package: which includes severance, one month of health insurance, paid out vacation days (legally required in California, where Zeus is based), and employees keeping their laptops. 

"As an early-stage company fighting for longevity, we did everything we could to provide those being laid off with the most robust severance package possible," Taggar wrote. "We wish we could have done more to reflect your true value."

Zeus has not yet responded to a request for more details on the severance package.

Layoffs have hit the short-term rental world hard, with Lyric, also backed, by Airbnb, laying off 20% of its employees, and Sonder, laying off 33% of its staff, or 400 people. 

Original author: Alex Nicoll

An Alameda County official sent Tesla a letter Monday ordering it to stop operations as workers returned to the factory, according to the SF Chronicle. As of Tuesday, no further action had been taken against Tesla as it defies the local rules. President Trump waded into the fight on Tuesday also, agreeing with Elon Musk that the company should be allowed to resume production.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Tesla defied direct orders sent in a letter to one of its top safety employees Monday as it reopened its shuttered car factory.

The San Francisco Chronicle first reported on the letter's existence Tuesday, which came from Colleen Chawla, the director of Alameda County's health care services, and was sent to Laurie Shelby, Tesla's vice president of environmental, health, and safety.

"You must maintain no more than Minimum Basic Operations," she told Tesla as employees returned to work, according to the Chronicle.

It's the latest escalation of a fight between Tesla, its ostentatious chief executive Elon Musk, and local authorities that have forced all but essential businesses in the San Francisco-area suburb to remain closed. Musk has argued — with accelerating intensity over recent weeks — that his company should be considered essential.

President Trump even chimed in on the fight Tuesday morning, three days after a lawsuit was filed by Tesla against Alameda County, saying the company should be allowed to operate.

There hasn't yet been any use of force by officials to keep Tesla from operating, but Elon Musk said Monday that he's willing to risk arrest in order to make a point.

The Alameda sheriff's office said Monday that it was aware of Tesla's operations beyond the minimum basics and that it was working with the company to establish a plan for re-opening.

"We hope that Tesla will likewise comply without further enforcement measures," it said.

Original author: Graham Rapier

An unknown number of Amazon and Whole Foods workers have contracted the coronavirus in recent months.The attorneys general from states including Michigan, Massachusetts, and Washington state demanded in a May 11 letter that the company reveals this data.  "We are concerned that our Offices and the public are learning of these serious developments through secondhand media reports," they wrote.One Amazon executive has defended his company's right to not explore or publish this data.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The employees of Amazon and its grocery subsidiary Whole Foods have provided Americans a key service during the coronavirus pandemic.

But attorneys general from 12 states and Washington, D.C., say Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Whole Foods CEO John Mackey haven't done enough in one key area: protecting its workers and being transparent in how employees have fared during the coronavirus pandemic.

In a May 11 letter addressed to both CEOs, state attorneys general made seven demands of Amazon and Whole Foods. These included providing employees paid leave, unlimited unpaid leave, and adequate health and safety. It also demands the two retail behemoths comply with state sick leave law and address why leaders of worker protests at several fulfillment centers were laid off.

In several areas of the letter, these officials make clear that they need to know how many workers at Whole Foods and Amazon have become sick with the coronavirus or died from it.

For Amazon, where at least one warehouse worker has died from the coronavirus, employees are tracking the numbers on their own. Local reporters in New York, and Washington, D.C. have revealed that Whole Foods workers have contracted the coronavirus, while other media reports in Oregon and Massachusetts say local employees of Whole Foods have died from the virus.

The attorneys general from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and the District of Columbia are concerned that reporters have had to track these cases and deaths.

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest outside of an Amazon warehouse during coronavirus outbreaks in New York on May 1, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

"We are concerned that our Offices and the public are learning of these serious developments through secondhand media reports, rather than hearing directly from Whole Foods," the attorneys general wrote in a portion of the letter that highlighted Whole Foods' response.

"Accordingly, we request that Whole Foods provide a description of its policies and processes, if any, that relate to notifying consumers, the public, and public health authorities of serious COVID-19 developments at Company stores," they added.

They are demanding Whole Foods and Amazon provide a state-by-state breakdown. The state AGs noted in their May 11 letter that they've previously requested this information.

Meanwhile, one Amazon executive has defended his company's right to not explore or publish this data.

In a 60 Minutes segment aired May 10, Amazon senior vice president of operations Dave Clark told correspondent Leslie Stahl that he did not have the number of total employees affected by the virus, and said the number is not "particularly useful."

Dave Clark. YouTube/Amazon Fulfillment

For Amazon leadership including Clark, the rationale is that people are getting sick because of where they live; they could be getting sick from grocery stores, gas stations, or any other places where Americans congregate in recent weeks.

"We see COVID cases popping up at roughly a rate generally just under what the actual community infection rates are, because our employees live and are part of those communities," Clark told Stahl.

State AGs aren't on board with that sentiment, saying that Amazon, which made $75.5 billion in revenue in the first three months of 2020, is obligated to reveal those numbers to the public. The officials wrote, "It is incumbent upon Amazon and Whole Foods as businesses and employers not to worsen the emergency by failing to take every possible step to protect their employees and their customers."

Original author: Rachel Premack

Amazon just removed quantity limits on the number of products sellers can ship to its warehouses.The change comes a month after announcing Amazon would resume accepting non-essential items.Amazon had suspended shipments of all non-essential items to its warehouses in March, in order to focus on more vital products, like medical supplies and household staples.It's the latest sign of easing pressure on Amazon's supply chain.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amazon just took another step toward restoring normal operations.

Sellers on the e-commerce site no longer face quantity restrictions on the number of items they can ship to Amazon warehouses, Amazon's representative confirmed in an email to Business Insider.

The restrictions were put in place last month, when Amazon announced it would slowly open up its warehouses to accept all non-essential items. Amazon had suspended all shipments of non-essential items to its warehouses in March, in order to focus on coronavirus-related products, like medical supplies and household staples.

"We removed quantity limits on products our suppliers can send to our fulfillment centers. We continue to adhere to extensive health and safety measures to protect our associates as they pick, pack and ship products to customers, and are improving delivery speeds across our store," the statement said.

The move is the latest sign of improvement in Amazon's supply chain that faced severe lockdowns due to surging demand for essential products, like face masks and toilet paper, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In recent weeks, Amazon also brought back certain features it paused during the pandemic, including Lightning Deals and coupons, sellers told Business Insider. 

Denny Smolinski, cofounder of ADEN Branding, an e-commerce consulting agency, said the easing pressure on Amazon's supply chain is a welcome sign. Still, he said, Amazon's fulfillment service, which gives sellers access to its storage space and delivery network, is not 100% back to normal conditions. Shipping time, in particular, is far from getting back to the standard one- to two-day delivery window, he said.

Amazon's CFO Brian Olsavsky said during last month's earnings call that it's unclear when the company would be able to provide the normal one-day shipping to Prime members. He said most of the slowdown is happening in shipments between warehouses, not in the last-mile delivery to consumers. To help improve its supply chain, Amazon announced it's hiring 175,000 more people across its warehouse and delivery network.

Still, sellers are happy about the improvements they're seeing. Jared Bucci, founder of Stay Hungry Digital, an Amazon consulting agency, said this week's removal in quantity limits is leading to direct sales increases as sellers are able to keep more inventory and not have to worry about running out of stock.

"For some of the brands we work with, this restriction being lifted means an immediate increase in sales," he said.

Original author: Eugene Kim

Instagram is adding new features to combat online harassment.The Facebook-owned app is making it easier to block multiple people at once, letting users pin comments on posts, and introducing tools to restrict who can tag users.Instagram has been criticised in the past over its use as a platform for online bullying.The new features were announced alongside the latest version of Facebook's Community Standards Enforcement report.

Instagram is making it easier to block people and delete comments in a bid to crack down on harassment. The app is also adding the ability to pin comments on posts.

On Tuesday, the Facebook-owned photo-sharing app announced a bunch of feature that are, it says, collectively intended to "mark the continuation of our effort to lead the industry in the fight against online bullying."

Instagram users will be be able to delete up to 25 unwanted comments on a post at once, instead of one-by-one. Similarly, users will be able to block multiple people at the same time. The app is adding a feature that will allow users to "pin" certain comments made on posts, which the company said in a blog post "gives people a way to set the tone for their account and engage with their community by pinning a select number of comments."

And thirdly, Facebook is letting users set restrictions on who is able to tag and mention their account on Instagram. It can be set to everyone, only the people that the user follows, or no-one. 

Instagram has largely escaped the scandals that have bedeviled its parent company Facebook over the past few years — but it has been criticized by some over its alleged impact on mental health and its role in online harassment. In 2018, an investigation by The Atlantic detailed numerous instances of harassment on Instagram, headlined bluntly: "Instagram Has A Massive Harassment Problem."

The company has since made efforts to work on the issue, rolling out new tools to control what comments can appear on users' posts, and using artificial intelligence to monitor for potentially bullying comments.

Tuesday's new features were announced alongside the publication of Facebook's twice-yearly Community Standards Enforcement report — a report on Facebook's content moderation work, and how it policies its social networks for harassment, hate speech, and other illegal or objectionable content. 

Facebook also announced on Tuesday that it has created a new dataset of more than 10,000 "hateful memes," that it is sharing with researchers so they can develop technologies to help defend against hate speech online.

Do you work at Facebook or Instagram? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), standard email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

Original author: Rob Price

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UFC Commissioner Dana White stands between UFC Fight Night headliners Anthony Smith (L) and Glover Teixeira (R) at their official weigh-in in Jacksonville, Florida. Cooper Neill / Zuffa LLC / Getty images UFC Fight Night: Smith vs Teixeira will stream live through ESPN+ starting at 9 p.m. ET on May 13.With Anthony Smith ranked third in his weight class and Glover Teixeira ranked eighth, a win for either fighter could lead to a rematch against light heavyweight champ Jon Jones.The event is the second in a trio of UFC matches scheduled in Jacksonville this month, following last weekend's UFC 249 pay-per-view event.The next UFC Fight Night match is scheduled for Saturday, May 16.UFC Fight Night events are included as part of an ESPN+ subscription, which costs $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year. 

Anthony Smith and Glover Teixeira will face off in the main event of UFC Fight Night on May 13, headlining a fight card that features 11 matches. You'll need an ESPN+ subscription to tune in live for Smith vs Teixeira, but while pay-per-view events, like UFC 249, cost an additional $64.99, this UFC Fight Night event is included with an ESPN+ $4.99 monthly plan.

UFC Fight Night will be held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, the same venue as last weekend's UFC 249. Smith enters the bout as the third-ranked fighter in UFC's light heavyweight division after a loss to champion Jon Jones and a submission victory over Alexander Gustafsson in 2019. Teixera, ranked eighth at 40-years-old, will enter the match as an underdog despite putting together a trio of wins last year. A win for either fighter could mean a rematch against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who has defeated both Smith and Teixeira in the past.

Smith vs Teixeira was originally scheduled as the main event for UFC Fight Night 173 in Lincoln, Nebraska, but the coronavirus pandemic forced the UFC to reschedule its slate of events for 2020. Another UFC Fight Night will be held in Jacksonville on Saturday, May 16, with heavyweights Alistair Overeem and Walt Harris fighting in the main event. 

UFC has committed to hosting its Jacksonville events without fans in attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic, and has implemented at least 18 different safety precautions for staff, including advanced medical screenings, temperature checks, and social distancing guidelines. The plan earned the approval of the Florida State Boxing Commission, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry.

Here's the match schedule for UFC Fight Night: Smith vs Teixeira

Original author: Kevin Webb

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced guidelines for some restaurants to start serving dine-in customers as part of modifications to the statewide stay-at-home order.To do so, restaurants will need to safeguard their dining room accordingly, such as spacing guests 6 feet apart and providing disposable menus. A reopening date was not announced yet.The news comes as businesses in the US continue to feel the weight of the economic fallout ushered in by the coronavirus-driven shutdown.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom laid the groundwork for reopening more businesses in the state as part of a series of modifications to the stay-at-home order.

That includes dine-in restaurants. Restaurants have been able to offer takeout to customers, and "should continue to encourage takeout and delivery whenever possible" as well as outdoor seating, according to a document published on the state's website. But restaurants will soon be able to serve sit-down customers, as long as they follow certain guidelines:

Guests should be spaced six feet apart.Customers should wear masks when they're not eating.Menus should be disposable to minimize contact from customer to customer.Bar areas must remain closed to customers.Dining areas should be thoroughly disinfected after each customer.Windows and doors should remain open to increase air circulation.Communal condiments like salt and pepper shakers should be replaced with single-serving packets.

The guidelines also advise that "guests and visitors should be screened for symptoms upon arrival." Restaurants should also encourage customers to make reservations to allow restaurants time to prepare for guests and ask people to sit in their cars while waiting to be seated. Licensed restaurants can continue selling to-go alcoholic beverages.

The framework offers guidance for not only dine-in restaurants, but also brewpubs, craft distilleries, and wineries to "support a safe, clean environment for workers and customers."

The governor did not attach a concrete date to the reopening, but he said it would be slowly phased in, with the least-affected counties going first, according to Eater.

Office reopening guidelines were also included for workers who cannot work remotely. The plan does not include larger events, such as concerts or other mass gatherings held at entertainment venues.

The news comes as shutdowns remain in place, with small businesses across the US struggling amid the economic fallout and thousands of hospitality workers laid off. State leaders and public health officials are weighing how best to contain the disease while also saving businesses from going under.

California took early action in response to the coronavirus disease, implementing a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19, just two days after the San Francisco Bay Area began sheltering in place. County shutdowns vary throughout the state — the San Francisco Bay Area order is currently slated to last through at least May, while Los Angeles County will likely remain under an order through July.

Counties also have the freedom to take slightly different approaches to relaxing of shutdown restrictions — they can decide for themselves if they'd like to wait longer before reopening businesses, for example.

Other parts of the country, such as Georgia and South Carolina, also enforced stay-at-home orders but started reopening businesses in late April. In order to reopen safely, epidemiologists say states must see a steady 14-day decline in confirmed cases, a feat that Georgia did not show before reopening as Business Insider's Jessica Snouwaert reported.

Reopening state economies too soon could cause a devastating second wave of the disease. And even if restaurants will legally be allowed to reopen for dine-in customers, some guests may not feel comfortable doing so just yet.

Original author: Katie Canales

Unlike LinkedIn or Twitter, on Instagram users can direct message anyone – no matter how famous they are.Business Insider spoke to Chris Vaccarino, the founder and CEO of the influencer-focused e-commerce company Fanjoy, on his tips for reaching influencers via Instagram DM.Messaging on Instagram is a main way the company has signed some of its clients — like TikTok stars Addison Rae Easterling (nearly 40 million followers) and Alex Warren (10 million followers), along with Netflix's "The Circle" star Joey Sasso (728,000 Instagram followers). Vaccarino said to get someone's attention on Instagram, long paragraphs won't do, and he shared his tips and why the company relies on this method more than emails or cold-calling. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Addison Rae Easterling, who is one of the top TikTok influencers in the world with nearly 40 million followers on the app, expanded her business this month by launching a merchandise store with the e-commerce company Fanjoy.

And it all started because of an Instagram direct message.

Easterling's initial contact with the company was from a DM, according to Chris Vaccarino, Fanjoy's founder and CEO. 

Direct messaging social media stars on Instagram is a main way the company has signed some of its talent — from TikTok star Alex Warren (member of the Hype House with 10 million followers) to Netflix's "The Circle" star Joey Sasso (728,000 Instagram followers).

"I don't know who cold-calls anymore, but nobody answers their phone," Vaccarino said. "And once we started working with these digitally focused teens and young adults we realized they don't really check emails." 

Unlike LinkedIn or Twitter, on Instagram users can direct message anyone – no matter how famous they are.

Using Instagram's direct message feature, which recently became available on desktop, Fanjoy reaches out to trending creators popular across platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram with a short message – a method that's quickly become an effective way to reach new clients over the past two years, Vaccarino said.

Screen shot of Fanjoy/Instagram

Techniques for messaging influential people

Fanjoy handles merchandise sales for top digital creators like Jake Paul, David Dobrik, and Tana Mongeau, across categories from T-shirts and scrunchies, to calendars and phone cases.

The brand's Instagram page has a large following with over 400,000 followers and it showcases photos of all its clients and top products.

"It's a much more powerful tool and source of reference," Vaccarino said about Instagram. "Similar to email, DMs are just a quick message and we are able to reach out to as many of these potential clients as possible with very short, concise text." 

It takes more than a simple "hi" to get someone's attention on Instagram, but long paragraphs also won't do, Vaccarino said. Try writing a quick intro that showcases the value your company can bring the influencer, he advised other companies. Then include an "ask," like setting up a brief phone call or time to meet and discuss further. 

"Super simple, to be consumed within 5 to 10 seconds," Vaccarino said. "It can't be paragraphs." 

Other influencer-focused companies, like the personalized video shoutout app Cameo, also use this method to connect with creators. 

In July, Business Insider spoke to Steven Galanis, the CEO and cofounder of Cameo, who shared his tips for reaching influential people via Instagram DM.

Galanis said the key to a response is largely in the way you formulate your message. Adding in specific details as you introduce yourself will validate your ask. If you both know the same person, like the same restaurant, or will be attending the same convention, add that in, he advised.

Instagram users also have the option to unsend a message if the other person hasn't opened it yet. 

If you haven't heard back, Galanis recommended copying your exact message, deleting it, and hitting resend – bumping your message back to the top of someone's DMs. 

Read the inside story on Fanjoy for more on how the company pivoted its business model to selling merchandise for internet stars: 

Sign up for Business Insider's influencer newsletter, Influencer Dashboard, to get more stories like this in your inbox.

Original author: Amanda Perelli

Facebook will pay $52 million to current and former content moderators who developed PTSD on the job, The Verge reported Tuesday.The agreement, part of a proposed settlement filed in a California court on Friday, covers more than 11,000 Facebook contractors who will be eligible for at least $1,000 each, according to The Verge.The company came under fire last year regarding the working conditions for its content moderators, who were required to repeatedly look at images and video of rape, murder, and suicide.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook has agreed to pay $52 million to content moderators who developed mental health conditions while helping the company review toxic content on its platform, The Verge reported on Tuesday.

In a preliminary settlement filed Friday in San Mateo Superior Court, Facebook will compensate 11,250 current and former US-based moderators $1,000 each, according to The Verge. Some moderators diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or similar conditions may receive additional compensation ranging from $1,500 to $6,000 to cover treatment costs. The company also agreed to provide more mental health support to moderators as part of the agreement.

Some moderators with certain diagnoses could also be eligible to receive up to $50,000 in damages if they're able to show evidence of other injuries sustained while working for Facebook, though their payment amounts will depend on how many people apply and end up being eligible for compensation, The Verge reported.

In September 2018, the company was sued by former moderator Selena Scola, who said she developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of having to view toxic content. The case became a class action that eventually led to Friday's proposed settlement.

"We are grateful to the people who do this important work to make Facebook a safe environment for everyone. We're committed to providing them additional support through this settlement and in the future," a Facebook spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement.

Facebook has faced increasing scrutiny for working conditions endured by its tens of thousands of moderators, who spent much of their days reviewing violent and disturbing footage. According to investigations by The Verge in early 2019, moderators were expected to sift through graphic violence, hate speech, and sexually explicit posts for $15 per hour, and many said they suffered psychologically.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially dismissed the multiple stories of moderators developing PTSD, referring to them as "a little overdramatic" during a Q&A with Facebook employees last July.

Cognizant, a professional services firm whose employees moderated Facebook content, ended its contract with the company last October amid criticism over its working conditions.

Original author: Tyler Sonnemaker

Atlassian has acquired Halp, which creates help desk ticketing tools inside Slack.Atlassian's head of product integrations, Steve Goldsmith, said that Halp's tool is complementary to its existing software and gives it a deeper integration to messasging platforms because it's built entirely on top of Slack. Atlassian also plans to build an integration between Halp and Microsoft Teams to support its customers who are using Teams. Atlassian sold its previous messaging apps to Slack in 2018, resulting in a partnership between the two companies that just got even stronger. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

As more and more companies turn to messaging platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams for office-wide communication, Atlassian wants in on the opportunity. That's why the IT software company announced Tuesday that it's acquiring Halp, a automated ticketing and answers tool built inside Slack.

Atlassian sees chat messaging replacing email for many types of communication within companies, a trend that the COVID-19 related increase in remote work has accelerated, says Steve Goldsmith, head of product integrations at Atlassian.

"As we look at those two trends — remote work and then move to team-based messaging over the last couple of years — it makes great sense for us to look at a partner like Halp," Goldsmith told Business Insider. 

Neither Atlassian nor Halp disclosed the terms of the deal, but it was likely relatively small: Halp just launched its product in April 2019 and raised a $2 million seed funding round that valued the company at $9.5 million, according to Pitchbook. The startup's 14 employees will all join Atlassian. 

Joining Atlassian helps the Halp team expand the market opportunity for the product in a way it couldn't have done on its own, said Fletcher Richman, CEO and cofounder of Halp. Additionally, he felt Atlassian's suite of tools, including ticketing software Jira and collaboration tool Confluence, are complementary to what Halp offers.

"We just saw honestly a ton of alignment in the vision that we both had for where the product was going," Richman told Business Insider. "Atlassian has just incredible resources for us, whether that the marketing resources, the brand resources, or just getting [Halp] in front of its hundreds of thousands of customers. And it also has this incredible suite of other tools that we can pair really nicely with."

Fitting into Atlassian's product strategy

Halp's product creates a ticketing system that allows workers to automatically receive answers to IT or HR questions within Slack.

The tool also integrates with Jira, Atlassian's most popular product, Jira, which helps engineers track and solve technical bugs, and has a 2-way integration with Confluence, a tool to help companies share and store important information which powers Halp's automatic question answering, Richman said. 

Although Halp only works with Slack right now, Atlassian hopes to build an integration between Halp and other messaging tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack's biggest rival, because Atlassian has many customers that use that service for internal communication.

Notably, Atlassian itself has previously had its own messaging products that never got the same type of traction as Slack or Microsoft Teams. In 2018, Atlassian sold the intellectual property for messaging apps Stride and Hipchat to Slack and exited the workplace messaging market. As part of the deal, Atlassian made a small, but symbolically important investment in Slack. 

Now, instead of competing directly, Atlassian is trying a different approach to capitalize on the popularity of messaging apps: adding tools that complement its existing software.

Halp, a help desk tool inside Slack, was acquired by Atlassian Atlassian

Deepening Atlassian's partnership with Slack

In some ways, Atlassian's move of betting on tools that work on top of Slack gives the chat platform added credibility. One of the Slack's main selling points has been the fact that it can integrate with almost all the other apps people use to get work done, and in doing so acts like a central hub across an organization. 

It also allows businesses of any size — large organizations or startups — to build tools on its platform. Atlassian already integrates Jira, Confluence, and its other tools with Slack, so this deepens the partnership even more. 

"Slack needs to really prove that they are a platform," Richman said. "You want to see really big, successful, tens-of-billions-of-dollar businesses like Atlassian really committing to your platform. That's how Slack is going to beat Microsoft Teams in the end."

Brad Armstrong, Slack's VP of business and corporate development said in a blog post that the company sees "enormous opportunities in building this business together with Atlassian."

From Goldsmith's perspective, this deal helps Atlassian address the same types of problems that its other software already does, just in a new way. With so many of Atlassian's customers using Slack or other messaging tools, they're often looking for ways to make the tools serve even more purposes.

"We at Atlassian are really excited to see how companies are discovering and adding functionality on top of the investments in products like Slack," he said. The goal is to make sure Atlassian's existing products can support that via integrations, and that adding Halp lets users find and start using Atlassian products directly within Slack. 

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Paayal Zaveri

NASA engineers are continuing to drive the Mars Curiosity Rover while working from home.The job is highly technical and delicate, but the team has already managed to complete a successful operation under lockdown.Business Insider asked two of the rover team how they manage their work-life balance now the rover has colonised their living space.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Life during lockdown has meant millions of people having to adapt to their home and work lives colliding. But what's that like when your work involves driving a nuclear-powered robot on the surface of Mars?

Business Insider spoke to two of the NASA technicians currently piloting the Mars Curiosity rover from home. It's a delicate operation that takes careful planning between a team of roughly 75 NASA engineers and scientists. Even while working remotely, the team was able to rig up their home workstations well enough that the rover has already completed a successful drilling operation while its human operators are in lockdown.

Despite doing the most otherworldly job imaginable, the Curiosity rovers are having to contend with familiar stresses of lockdown working life. They told Business Insider their personal tips and tricks for staying focused and healthy as they work from home.

Get comfy

Matt Gildner is the planning team lead for the rover, which means he directs a team of about 20 people who build the commands to send the rover to tell it where to go and what to do. Gildner's day involves staying permanently teleconferenced in to conversations using two headsets, one in each ear. A few times a day he also uses red-blue 3D glasses to examine images sent back by the rover.

Matt Gildner's work-from-home station. Matt Gildner

His first change to his work-from-home set-up: Get a better chair. "The first week I got here I had an old wooden bank chair that while it looked really nice next to my desk, [was] not very comfortable," said Gildner. He quickly swapped this out for a more comfortable ergonomic chair. He and his wife are also making cold-brew coffee every night, ready to go in the morning.

Make sure you're seeing some kind of change

Gildner's also trying to make sure he doesn't stay glued to his ergonomic chair, making it a point to get up and moving around. "It's really about just getting up and stepping away from the desk for a while," Gildner said. This could be to just go to the kitchen to get a snack or, in Gildner's case, tend to some home baking projects.

Gildner has been making sourdough bread during lockdown. He assured Business Insider that this loaf's resemblance to the "Super Smash Bros" logo was pure coincidence. Matt Gildner

"I was already baking some bread before this all happened, but I did kind of up my game in that area," he said. Specifically Gildner (a fan of the YouTube cooking channel "Bon Appetit") has started experimenting with overnight dough fermentation.

"It's nice to go and have something new to see every morning that changed overnight, or you get to see something progress," he said. "That's an important part of mental health and this point in time — to make sure you are having something in your life that is life-changing and dynamic despite your being in the same place."

He draws a parallel between this and his work on the rover. "That is one of the big draws of working a spacecraft operation, especially on Mars, is that every day we're driving to a new place and I get to look at images that no human has ever seen before. And Mars is always throwing us something new."

This composite image made from a series of June 15, 2018 photos shows a self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover in the Gale Crater. NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP

Keep a firm line between work time and downtime

"I also tend to really shut my computer down and put my phone away for work at the end of the day, just because I want to still try to keep some good separation between work life and home life, even though they're happening in the same place right now," Gildner said.

Project lead Alicia Allbaugh, who oversees the entire team of 75, also likes to draw a clear line between home and work life. She also recommends "not blending home tasks during your work time."

"I try not to deviate too much from what I would've done at work. Because then it can get you distracted and you start pulling away," she said.

Allbaugh also had to divvy up parts of the house with her husband, who also works at NASA. The two didn't want to work in adjacent rooms because they might hear each other's teleconferences through the walls, so Allbaugh works upstairs while her husband gets the kitchen, along with the couple's two rescue bunnies Oreo and Grayce.

Allbaugh's rabbits Oreo (left) and Grayce. Alicia Allbaugh

In her free time Allbaugh has been tinkering with home improvements, and finished a long-standing project of painting and varnishing some linen-closet doors.

Respect other people's rhythms

As manager of a large team, Allbaugh also has to be sensitive to the fact that everyone has different daily rhythms working from home, especially those with children. Sudden mutes in meetings for children talking and clocks chiming have become the norm.

"We're all very empathetic for each other. I mean we find this adorable. We're not frustrated, whereas if someone came in and interrupted your meeting when you were in the conference room, you may have been like, 'What was that about?'" said Allbaugh.

Keep up the social side of the office

Allbaugh's team has also tried to keep social elements of their office going through virtual happy hours, and she has set up open-office tea break meetings so her team can just come in for a chat, which she thinks is important to keep up even as the lockdown drags on. "Because at first it's novel, and then it's okay — now it's a marathon," she said.  

Original author: Isobel Asher Hamilton

This week's most popular movies on Netflix include its original thriller "Dangerous Lies" and "Den of Thieves."Netflix introduced daily top lists of the most popular titles on the service in February.Streaming search engine Reelgood keeps track of the lists and provides Business Insider with a rundown of the week's most popular movies on Netflix every Friday.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Netflix action movie "Extraction" is pacing to be the streaming giant's biggest movie premiere ever, but it was dethroned this week as the service's most popular movie. Another Netflix original, "Dangerous Lies," stole the crown.

Netflix introduced daily top 10 lists of its most viewed movies and TV shows in February (it counts a view if an account watches at least two minutes of a title).

Every week, the streaming search engine Reelgood compiles for Business Insider a list of which movies have been most prominent on Netflix's daily lists that week. On Reelgood, users can browse Netflix's entire movie library and sort by IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes ratings.

This week's list also includes "Den of Thieves," another movie starring Gerard Butler after his "Angel Has Fallen" enjoyed a few weeks on the list.

But the real winner this week is Netflix itself, as five of the seven movies on the list are Netflix originals. 

Below are Netflix's 7 most popular movies of the week in the US:

Original author: Travis Clark

Elon Musk says Tesla may leave its Palo Alto headquarters and Fremont, California factory. In a tweet Saturday morning, the chief executive continued his outrage against shelter-in-place orders that have forced most non-essential businesses to close. Last week, Musk likened the rules to fascism, and urged leaders to "give people their goddamn freedom back." Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After a week of decrying coronavirus shelter-in-place orders that have left Tesla's main factory shuttered and unable to produce vehicles, Elon Musk says the company may move its factory out of the state.

"Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately," the chief executive said on Twitter Saturday morning. "The unelected & ignorant 'Interim Health Officer' of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!"

That was followed up with a threat to move Tesla's headquarters outside the state.

"Frankly, this is the final straw," he replied. "Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA."

It wasn't immediately clear if a suit had yet been filed, or in which court Tesla will file the lawsuit. Most state and federal courts are closed on weekends and do not allow filing. In a subsequent Tweet, Musk alsourged shareholders to file a class action suit for damages caused by shutdown. 

Tesla's press relations department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alameda County did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Alameda County — the East Bay locale which includes Fremont, California, and Tesla's gigafactory about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco — extended its shelter-in-place order on April 29 "until further notice." Local authorities have not allowed Tesla to reopen the factory, and all manufacturing remains prohibited under the order.

Read more: Scientists are racing to create a coronavirus vaccine that can halt the pandemic in its tracks. Here are the top 3 candidates aiming to be ready this fall.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Tesla was planning to resume some manufacturing operations at the factory as soon as last Wednesday, May 6. Local officials said it did not have permission to do so.

"Right now, the same health order is in place so nothing has changed," Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told Business Insider at the time. "Operating the assembly line was determined early on to be a violation."

Last week, following Tesla's first-quarter earnings announcement, Musk decried the shutdowns as a substantial risk to the company's financials.

"Frankly, I would call it forcible imprisoning of people in their homes against all of, their constitutional rights, in my opinion," he said on a conference call. "It's breaking people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country. What the f---. Excuse me. Outrage. Outrage."

"If somebody wants to stay in their house, that's great and they should be able to," he continued. "But to say they cannot leave their house and that they will be arrested if they do, that's fascist. That is not democratic — this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom."

Some states, including Texas, Georgia, and others, have begun to slowly allow certain businesses to re-open in recent weeks.

Musk praised counties neighboring Alameda, like San Joaquin for what he said were more "reasonable" responses. In a podcast released May 7, he told Joe Rogan that the company had learned from the coronavirus in China, where it briefly forced Tesla to close its Shanghai factory — a claim he repeated on Twitter Saturday. 

"Our castings foundry and other faculties in San Joaquin have been working 24/7 this entire time with no ill effects. Same with Giga Nevada," Musk said. "Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official in Alameda County." 

As Musk began to complain about factory shutdowns in April, workers at Tesla's Fremont factory told Business Insider that the comments made them anxious.

"I'm for going back to work, but only if it is safe for me, my family, coworkers," said one production employee. "I don't feel like I'm being forced to stay home or that my freedom has been taken away. It's for the good of California."

Original author: Graham Rapier

The $400 iPhone SE stands out for its fast performance, compact design, and effective camera.Still, the iPhone SE is lacking some of the camera features found on similarly priced Android rivals.Overall, the phone is best suited for Apple loyalists upgrading from an older device like the iPhone 6S that want something affordable and familiar.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Apple's iPhone SE is unlike any iPhone Apple has released in the past two years. In fact, it looks a lot more like the the iPhone you probably remember from 2017 and earlier, back when iPhones still had home buttons and smaller-sized screens.

I switched from the $1,000 iPhone 11 Pro to Apple's new iPhone SE recently, and overall I've found it to be a solid option for Apple fans looking for a cheap, portable device. The smaller and lighter size is easy to manage and operate with one hand, and Touch ID brings some convenience that Face ID can lack. 

But of course, since it's significantly cheaper than the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro, it's lacking in some areas. It doesn't have an ultra-wide-angle camera or low-light photography capabilities, for example, even though similarly priced Android devices offer some of those features.

After spending a couple of weeks with Apple's cheapest iPhone, here are my favorite (and least favorite) things about it.  

Original author: Lisa Eadicicco

Matthew DeBord/Insider

I love three-wheelers. They aren't as cool as two-wheeled motorbikes, but they provide easy access to open-air motoring, and the driving/riding experience is much more engaging than what you find in convertible automobiles.

For anybody who dislikes the impracticality of motorcycles but wants to partake of the open-road lifestyle, machines like the Slingshot (the Can-Am Spyder and the Harley-Davidson Freewheeler, to name two) are ideal.

Not for nothing, they also offer aging riders a chance to yank their helmets and biker jackets out of storage to pursue moderately safer riding. With the Slingshot, gearing-up isn't necessary.

The trade-off, of course, is price. The Slingshot R that I tested costs more than an entry-level car or SUV. So, an expensive plaything. But there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody needs a hobby.

No doubt about it, the Slingshot captures attention. I lost count of how many little kids a stopped in their tracks as I tooled around the Jersey suburbs. The last vehicle that provoked such astonishment was the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. If you become a Slingshotter, prepare to be pointed at and asked for photo-ops.

Driving-wise, the Slingshot scratches an itch: on the road, the experience is unexpurgated — you don't have to be constantly vigilant, as you would on a bike, but you do need to remain aware. Highway trips are demanding. And noisy. And exhilarating. The Slingshot R is also fast and torque-y and the power goes to the single back wheel, so the while the two-wheeled front is stable, the back end can get pretty wiggly, especially in Slingshot mode, if you stomp the throttle.

I had iffy springtime Northeast weather to contend with, so I took the Slingshot out only on warm and sunny days; the rest of the time, I parked it in my garage. But the vehicle can handle being rained on, and one could also buy a cover to protect it from the elements. To be honest, however, I think it's a better choice in warm, dry climates. 

The performance is aggressively go-kart-y. This thing will make you a better drive, thanks to its point-and-shoot steering, crisp suspension, and easy access to power. It's insanely fun on curves and into corners. But it's also worthy of short road trips. In fact, the relative comfort was a shocker: I took the Slingshot out for a few hours one day and suffered no ill-effects to my lower back.

Drawback? The design is thoroughly sporty, so if you don't go in for that, the Slingshot might not be your bag. It isn't a throwback, nor is it at all steam-punky. 

It also isn't a motorcycle, in that there aren't any handlebars, you don't throw a leg, and the single wheel takes up the rear. 

But the Slingshot is a absolute blast, and if you're a weekend warrior who wants to carve up a canyon or a country road without having the grapple with a motorcycle's demands — and you don't mind dropping some dollars — the Slingshot is perfect.

Original author: Matthew DeBord