Category Archives: Katherine Ceravolo

Milky Way full of black holes

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

At the center of the Milky Way is one massive black hole, which we thought was the end of the story. However, a recent study shows that there are actually nearly 10,000 black holes surrounding this one massive black hole.

Apart from the thought that black holes sink to the center of a galaxy, this proves that black holes have the ability to join together in an area and gather near each other. A NASA telescope called the Chandra X-ray Observatory helped scientists discovers this observation.

This discovery is extremely important since prior belief was that isolated black holes don’t have the ability to be detected without an orbiting star, but since these multiples of isolated black holes formed practically a park of thousands, interaction with a star took place.

Media should explain what this discovery means to us. In this news, the focus is on the findings. However, this is immensely important to our galaxy, which is said to be 100,000 light-years across. This will lead to the discovery of a completely hidden population.

The locating of this tightly squeezed matter is just one example of the positive path our technology has taken to discovering more about this planet and the abilities of survival that may exist here. The capabilities of these new advances in technology will significantly help shape the future for discovering and proving theories for the galaxies thousands of light-years away.

A theorist explained that this helps estimate how many cosmic smashups might occur and generate detectable gravitational waves in our galaxy. The discovery of hidden populations will serve to show humans more information about our world and how to survive in certain situations, as this hidden area did.

Nonetheless, as the media are focusing on the discovery as a whole, the next step must include why this benefits the current population and how it will benefit the world we live in today.

Saks credit card user data hacked

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor, which are owned by Hudson’s Bay Co., were both reportedly hacked. Those affected include more than five million credit and debit card clients of these stores. Hudson’s Bay Co., has responded and stated it is working to solve the issue. The company has also declared it will compensate those affected with free identity protection services and web monitoring of the credit card information.

Gemini Advisory, a cybersecurity firm, explained that the hackers, known as JokerStash, took the data and put it up for sale on the dark web, causing this scandal to be the biggest attack on retail chains yet. The most cases of stolen information were in the New York and New Jersey locations of Saks and Lord & Taylor.

How this happened is the real question. According to the Gemini Advisory, the hackers installed unique computer codes into cash registers, sending every in-store purchaser’s information to their own computers. This explanation may be estimated because only in-store purchasers were affected while the online shoppers weren’t.

The news media are explaining what steps will be taken to ensure customer relationships and to fix the reputation of feeling safe to purchase at these megastores. The issue here is the fact that the hacking has supposedly been occurring for a year now. Why has this been able to happen? Focusing on the fact that fraudulent charges are probably unlikely, considering the purchasers of these stores buy expensive items, what are customers supposed to do when their identity is compromised?

The media need to inform customers of what is going on, as Hudson’s Bay Company is continuously investigating and enforcing regulations to prevent future situations and to keep customers’ trust. Providing a change in cybersecurity and communicating with customers is the best step to take for now.

Heineken slammed for racist ad

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Oh no, Pepsi 2.0 is here. Heineken released an ad that showed a bartender spotting a light-skinned woman drink a glass of wine. He quickly grabs a Heineken and passed it down to her, but before it arrives, the bottle passes multiple dark-skinned people.

This issue can be previously seen in the Pepsi Co. ad featuring Kendall Jenner, who stops a police barricade with a can of soda. This ad received some of the most negative, traumatizing backlash a company has yet to experience. Critics from all over the world criticized the soda company for mocking true events that happened in the world regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. The ad was denounced from a respectable person as well: Dr. Martin Luther King’s daughter, who posted an image on social media of her father in the middle of a peace protest, captioning: “If only daddy would’ve known the power of #Pepsi.”

Heineken’s damage has received backlash from the hip-hop star Chance the Rapper, who tweeted that the ad was “terribly racist.” This tweet was one among many that denounced the ad and the company.

Most coverage of this issue is focused on the content and the people who criticized it. However, what about Heineken’s past and the company’s values showed before this ad.

For example, last year, Heineken released an ad called “Worlds Apart,” which contained the tagline “open your mind, open your world,” and showed people from all over the world with completely different viewpoints and beliefs, discussing their differences over a bottle of beer. This campaign gained an immense amount of attention and support, completely opposite of the “lighter is better” campaign.

Although it is difficult to forgive, critics must remember to cover all possible tracks before jumping to conclusions about a company. Heineken may have made a huge mistake, but the company has proven its acceptance for all races and people in general.

Is Snapchat’s time up?

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

It all started with a tweet from Kylie Jenner. The 20-year-old influential social media user tweeted on Feb. 21 asking her followers if they still use the app anymore and claiming it is “so sad.” Jenner is one of Snapchat’s most popular users and after that tweet, Snapchat’s market value dropped $1.5 billion. A day before, there was a 1.2 million-signature petition on Change.org to bring the old version of the app back.

Jenner was most likely informed of the damage she had done, so she rebutted her tweet with “still love you tho snap.” It was too late, and the downfall continued. Jenner has millions of followers on all of her accounts; this negative feedback from a popular user is horrific news for an app that tried to update itself.

Users all around the world commented on the app’s “upgrade.” The complaints seemed valid, as the upgrade switched around the order of friends on one’s friend list, which made it difficult to see people’s post on a daily basis.

To top it off, Snapchat has been added to another celebrity’s bad list. Rihanna was recently a victim of an ad that users were to see on the app. Just a few days ago, the famous singer posted on her Instagram handle about an offensive advertisement that used her domestic violence incident in 2011 as a game for users.

The ad was called “Would You Rather” and featured an image of Rihanna and Chris Brown, offering users to choose to “Slap Rihanna” or “Punch Chris Brown.” Rihanna responded to the advert and said, “I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb!” Snapchat claimed the ad was approved in error and apologized to Rihanna, saying Snapchat supports the National Network to End Domestic Violence and the VP sits on the Snapchat Safety Advisory Board.

The news media are not covering who approved this message and what the consequences are. This shows negligence as to what Snapchat allows to advertise on the app. Since this incident, “Would You Rather” has been blocked. However, what about who monitors these advertisements as well as who reads through reviews of the upgrades. It is evident that the update was unsuccessful, yet Snapchat has neither made any notice of it nor offer to change the app back to normal.

Rihanna made her point that she could care less about her personal feelings, but worries for other domestic violence victims who see this and feel post-traumatic stress from their experience. Stock continues to fall, at nearly five percent as of now. It doesn’t look too good for Snapchat.

Facebook is the blue-collar LinkedIn

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

LinkedIn was designed to offer high-skilled jobs, so Facebook decided to offer low-skilled jobs. Facebook is expanding to 40 more countries to help people get jobs as well as help businesses get the needed extra labor.

Partnering with ZipRecruiter, Facebook hoped to bring more job openings to its social media platform. The feature has expanded to Britain, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. There will be a Jobs tab on Facebook for all information on job offerings. There will also be a Jobs dashboard, Facebook Marketplace, and the News Feed that the business owners can promote with ads, additional information, ways to contact, and any other news they wish to share about their business.

Facebook will offer similar ways of searching for jobs by offering specific filters, such as industry, part-time or full-time, salary and proximity (just like LinkedIn).

The media is focusing on the most amazing part: how more people will have access to more job opportunities right at their fingertips. Facebook is just like LinkedIn, but with so much more. Job applicants who need the chance to grow their resume and educational level will be able to do so while also earning an income and improving the quality of their lives.

Facebook is just getting started, but what about LinkedIn? The news covering this information does not seem to mention the overlap it could potentially bring. Facebook has been to known expand on every endeavor the company chooses to conduct.

For example, Facebook became the new YouTube by posting videos on users’ newsfeeds, even when they weren’t searching for any. This new alternative has caused YouTube celebrities to post more on Facebook to increase viewers and feedback. So what if it suddenly wants to offer a range of white-collared jobs as well?

The news media need to mention how this could potentially lead to a bigger problem, regarding LinkedIn users and the site in general. However, for now, Facebook is enjoying the publicity and corporate social responsibility to help its users enhance their lives.

ACLU sues to challenge Ohio law

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and ACLU Foundation have stepped in on Ohio’s recent law. This law bans abortions if the fetal diagnosis is Down syndrome. This law came into place to put a stop against discrimination and pay more attention to the protection of people with disabilities. Pretty much, Ohio wants to ban abortion and can only move further by making ridiculous regulations.

ACLU said this law is “unconstitutional” and has nothing to do with discrimination. By March 22, this law will come into play.

Anti-abortion groups went so far into making their point that they called ACLU hypocrites and said the union wasn’t truly looking out for individual rights. Of course, it should be a black or white viewpoint: you either support abortion or don’t. However, us humans like to make things difficult.

These “Right to Life” supporters and anti-abortion groups use disabilities to fight for their rights. So now that the fetal diagnosis is Down syndrome, ACLU should fight for this law? It makes no sense.

Along with the Planned Parenthood funding issues continuing to rise, there seems to never be a middle ground when it comes to this topic. Why should ACLU be shamed and criticized when the union hasn’t changed their viewpoints at all? The point is simple: How can the fetal diagnosis change abortion regulations?

The point of abortion and national teen pregnancy programs is to assist women who are in a financial, emotional and physical disposition. Certain freedoms are given to women to ensure not only their safety but also the safety of what’s going on inside them. With the lack of sex education and health information worldwide, teens are not given the accessibility to learn about the seriousness of this issue.

Reproduction, birth control, safety and health care seem like another world to many teens, and it should be the influencers of our country to protect their innocence and inform them.

Laws like this are what stop progress in America. To take away the licenses of physicians to perform their duties on the basis of their patient is the unconstitutionality here. ACLU is only being seen as a union full of hypocrisy and violations against freedom. Pro-life groups need to speak up and show support for the issues arising in Ohio that interfere with the freedom of choice women have been given until now.

Fergie bashed for national anthem effort

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Fergie’s performance at the NBA All-Star game has received so much negativity and has been described as “cringe worthy, laughable, and my friends drunk mom acting sexy.” Roseanne Barr also mocked her saying her own rendition of the song in her 1990 performance was “low key better.” The singer took the responsibility into her own hands by sincerely apologizing for her artistic risks and explained she tried her best.

Even the NBA players were unable to contain themselves, as it was evident during the performance. Players including Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Matt Dollinger, were ones who proved their problems with the performance, as they laughed and made faces throughout. Fergie has always been known to put her own kick into her music, making her stand out as an individualistic artist who has proven to sing from her own soul. Apparently, this was not good enough for everyone.

Every report of this performance has been nothing but disgraceful and hurtful towards Fergie. She has been respected as not only a performer but also a person. She is real, successful, and different. Singers are ridiculed for being too bland and for being too “risky?” The backlash of her performance can be understandable to a certain point, but the coverage of the situation is unnecessary.

Albeit it is the national anthem, but if the NBA is all about respect, how is it that the players are allowed to laugh during the performance of this “sacred” anthem? The players are free to laugh, talk, and ridicule the performance and performer of the national anthem? Reports need to also focus on the mutual respect between the performer and the players. What needs to be done is for whatever incident occurs, it needs to be taken seriously and in a fair manner. For players to be tweeting and mocking Fergie as she apologizes for the incident, just seems like the system is rigged and the players are bullies.

It is 2018, crazier things have happened. Having such a well-liked and respected woman perform the national anthem, should be the automatic point made to not ridicule her. However, if there are going to be rude comments given, they should come from both sides.

Choosing bitcoin over homes?

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Running low on energy, Iceland has to make a tough decision. As a power shortage is approaching, the region will need to decide if bitcoin mining is more important than powering houses this year.

The time has finally come: questioning the true value of bitcoin. All the fun math (mining) games may come to an end for the Icelandic people. The bitcoin mining tools include computers, servers and cooling devices – so pretty much, electricity. In simple terms, these tools use 840 gigawatt hours of electricity per year while homes in Iceland use 700 per year. Additionally, with more projects looking to jump on the cryptocurrency wagon, the situation could get worse.

This industrial development has been questioned since the day the idea was conceived, and now it’s starting to cause a real problem in Iceland.

Why there? Well, Iceland has cheap electricity and a great portion of the energy comes from renewable resources. The abundance from geothermal and hydroelectric power plants is to thank for the availability. Since these companies pay a low tax bill, for now, the situation continues: the power supply will definitely not be able to keep up with such a high demand. However, things might change to stop a lot of growth from affecting the region.

Companies like Expedia allow for digital currency pay, which increases the need for more bitcoins. One common way to gain bitcoins is by mining for the currency in a computer game. Sounds realistic, right?

The trauma brought on by bitcoins will continue to spread if the demand continues. Losing electricity to a coin that isn’t even in circulation yet seems unnecessary at most.

Iceland will have to chose to either step away or go all in, but hopefully whichever way the situation flows, it will not end with another bank crash.

Ancient Mayan site found in Guatemala

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

Everyone knows life existed a long time ago, but little did anyone know millions of people lived under a jungle. In what is now Central America, an ancient megalopolis has been uncovered.

With man-made products such as elevated highways and palaces in a complex world, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology provides images of the hidden world by digitally editing the forest canopy to discover ancient ruins never before seen with the human eye.

Existing more than 1,200 years ago, research has shown that sophisticated architecture, including urban centers and irrigation systems, is comparable to the ancient civilizations of Greece and China. The highlight of the discovery is that until now researchers have believed that such civilization is impossible in the tropics.

The structures such as forts and defensive walls prove that the society was prepared for war and way more populated than previously thought. Extensive streets and roads were used for high traffic and trade in this densely populated area. With a suspected five million people living in the Mayan civilization, it is now proven that number is between 10 to 15 million.

This is the start to a whole new beginning to not only discover what life was like all those years ago but also may play a role in Guatemala’s environmental situation. Degradation has caused a loss of 10 percent of forests each year from burning the land in order to make room for human colonization. Researchers hope this will bring a revelation to those causing this loss to preserve the history that once existed under the Guatemala jungles.

The PACUNAM Foundation, a Guatemalan nonprofit organization that focuses on heritage preservation and ancient civilization, is a partner in this project. With more data to be analyzed, the project will answer questions as to how the Mayan civilization created and lived in these lowlands.

Keurig, Dr. Pepper unite for $18.7 billion

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By KATHERINE CERAVOLO

On Jan. 29, the largest soda deal ever became official. Keurig and Dr. Pepper Snapple teamed up and will now be called Keurig Dr. Pepper.

Keurig, whose corporate family already includes Panera Bread, Krispy Kreme and Pete’s Coffee, will now expand to Dr. Pepper. This deal allows the soda company to become part of the sales and popularity of Keurig, the coffee brewers. The annual revenue of this deal will bring in about $11 billion.

The expansion of this beverage distribution network is portrayed to be a win-win for both sides. While Keurig has helpful relationships with Amazon.com Inc. and Best Buy Co., Dr. Pepper Snapple has the connections to beverage vendors and convenience stores.

With help from multiple sources, Keurig Green Mountain’s investors will own 87 percent of Keurig Dr. Pepper. As JAB Holdings Co. holds the deal as a reverse merger, this new combination of a company based on coffee and soda will boost market share for both industries. Since Keurig was the fourth-largest coffee company and Dr. Pepper was the third-largest soft-drink company in the U.S. in 2017, the influence on the market and the market shares will be worthwhile.

Keurig has had ties with Coca-Cola, which owned 17 percent stake in the business before JAB, resulting in the deal allowing Coca-Cola to gain about $25.5 million on the investment. Dr. Pepper Snapple was bought by Cadbury Schweppes in 1995 but was off the deal in 2008 when Mondelez bought Cadbury.

Helpful sources included in the legalities of the deal were BDT & Co., AFW LP, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, Morgan, and Lewis & Bockius LLP. The lead financial advisor to Keurig was Goldman Sachs & Co. while Credit Suisse Group AG. advised Dr. Pepper Snapple.

So far the multi-billion dollar deal has concluded that investors in the soft-drink company will get $103.75 a share and retain about 13 percent of the combined entity.