
This story was originally published by Capital & Main, a publication that reports from California on economic, political, and social issues.
When a woman from Nicaragua got off a federally contracted bus at the San Diego trolley station next to the border on a recent December night, she felt a mix of joy and confusion.
Joy because she was finally taking her first steps of freedom after months locked in immigration custody. Confusion because she didn’t know how

Picture this: You walk into the airport with your smartphone and seamlessly board your flight without the hassle of removing shoes or juggling passports. Everything you need—your digital ID, boarding pass, and bag tags—is right there in your phone, making the entire trip hassle-free.
This isn’t a futuristic dream; it’s happening now. These technologies are currently being tested and implemented at airports across North America and the world. With 32.4 mil

The way Jeetu Patel sees it, working from your car may soon be as ordinary as signing on to Google Docs from your home office.
“I think the future of work is largely going to be hybrid, where people will work in a kind of mixed mode—sometimes they’re in the office, sometimes they’re going to be at home, sometimes somewhere in the middle,” says Patel, executive vice president and general manager of security and collaboration at Cisco. “And th

Just after the stock market closed on January 9, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission posted on X (née Twitter) that it had approved exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that included the cryptocurrency bitcoin. It was a massively important, potentially market-moving announcement, and one that was hotly anticipated by crypto fanatics, professional traders, and casual investors alike.
There was only one problem: The SEC never posted that announcement—someone else did.

You’d be forgiven for giving up on new rockets after years of hype for small launch companies have ended in bankruptcies and anomalous debuts. But, if you can hold out hope a little longer, 2024 actually could be the year.
The months ahead could see the debut of as many as 15 new vehicles, which could change the fundamentals of space business and potentially drive competition in an industry largely ruled by a monopoly.
Who’s who

It’s 2024, which means a new year and new hiring budgets. If you’re looking for a new gig without the commute, there are plenty of options on the table at the moment.
Here’s a look at 300+ open remote roles from companies with better-than-average Glassdoor ratings.
Workiva
Workiva is a cloud-based platform that unites ESG, audit, risk, and financial reporting to provide a comprehensive overview of critical business data. The company has sev

Autonomous vehicle operator Cruise said Thursday that federal regulators are looking into its handling of an October 2 pedestrian collision in San Francisco.
“We are fully cooperating with the state and federal regulatory and enforcement agencies which have opened investigations or inquiries in connection with the incident, including the California DMV, the California Public Utilities Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Justi

Meta is clamping down further on who sends messages to teen users on Facebook and Instagram.
The social media company, on Thursday, announced new tools and features to limit teens’ abilities to see content on the two platforms that could be sensitive. Foremost among those is a new restriction on who can send them direct messages.
Effective immediately, users under the age of 16 (or 18 in certain unnamed countries) will no longer be able to receive messages from peop

Anyone seeking to understand how the internet works in 2024 need only glance at the many charged conversations around Barbie’s Academy Award nominations. Averting one’s eyes, though, may understandably be more preferable.
That a film based on the most famous doll of all time—no disrespect to Raggedy Ann or Chucky—managed to score eight Oscar nods, on top of being the year’s top grosser and a critical hit, would have probably seemed preposterous a y

Apple has unveiled a sweeping plan to tear down some of the competitive barriers that it has built around its lucrative iPhone franchise.
The announcement Thursday comes as it moves to comply with upcoming European regulations aimed at giving consumers the choice to use alternative app stores.
The overhaul, scheduled to take effect in early March, will include concessions that Apple had previously refused to make in its app store, including lowering the fees that it collec