Meet Misty, an extensible robot empowered by Microsoft and Qualcomm technologies

Miscellaneous helper robots have been whirring, rolling, and bumping around for years. They generally take the form of something adorable, with big doe eyes and a chunky white plastic body that is friendly and completely non-threatening. Or they’ll go in the opposite direction, like Boston Dynamics’ agile robots that move in an uncanny valley way but lack things like faces. A robot called Misty falls squarely in the former category; even the name is cute. Misty Roboticsdesigned it to be extensible and flexible, with technologies like computer vision on board the robot itself, and ripe for iteration by enterprising developers. At Microsoft Build 2019, we got an extended demonstration of Misty and a long chat with the company behind it.

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Closing the Pay Gap Requires Transparency and Commitment

Many states have recently adopted laws that require companies of all sizes to close the gender pay gap. The principle underlying these laws is simple: Pay men and women based on their contributions to the work being performed without regard to gender.

However, for employers trying to comply with these laws—while acquiring and retaining top talent—the devil is in the details: Complying is not as straightforward as the principle behind the new requirements.

Research confirms men and women negotiate differently. And a persistent wage gap ensures that new hires arrive at the front door with expectations that differ from those of tenured employees. In a bullish market when wages inflate, how does a company both minimize differences with the external market—to keep up with the free agent market—and ensure it doesn’t do so in a way that favors external men or disfavors internal women?

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Lucid Sight partners with MLB to launch crypto collectibles game

Last year, Major League Baseball partnered with game developer Lucid Sight to launch a crypto collectibles game called "MLB Champions" that runs on blockchain tech. Lucid Sight CEO Randy Saaf spoke to Yahoo Finance's Dan Roberts, Akiko Fujita and Sibile Marcellus about the partnership and how the the deal may help boost attendance at ballparks nationwide.

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WhiteFox Expands to Los Angeles, Brings On President

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., May 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- WhiteFox, a global leader in drone airspace security, today announced it has appointed Mark Kula as President. WhiteFox's considerable growth in recent months has led to the launch of a second office location in Los Angeles, opening today. Kula will head the expansion.

Bringing more than 30 years of defense and aerospace experience to WhiteFox, Kula will oversee strategic growth, manufacturing and general business operations for the organization, and will report to CEO, Luke Fox. He previously held positions at defense contractors like Harris, Moog, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman.

"As our customer-base quickly grows, Mark's expertise is critical in supporting WhiteFox as we continue our mission to pioneer the safe integration of drones into society, keeping the sky open for responsible pilots and advancing drone technology for a better world," said Luke Fox, Founder and CEO of WhiteFox. "The longevity of Mark's career and his extensive background in design, development, production, and testing for a variety of land, sea, air, and cyberspace systems make him a perfect fit for WhiteFox."

Prior to WhiteFox, Kula was General Manager of Asia Pacific for Moog Aircraft, and previously held the positions of Vice President of Strategic Pursuits and Vice President of Tactical Airborne Systems at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. He recently graduated from being a mentor at Starburst, a startup accelerator enabling innovation for the global aerospace industry, specializing in space, defense, and aeronautics.

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Seven Pay Equity Questions Every HR Professional Should Ask

In part 1 of this article we explored problems with pay equity and discussed an approach for getting pay equity right. Today we’ll provide you with 7 questions that every HR professional should ask about pay equity.

Seven Questions Every HR Professional Concerned About Pay Equity Should Ask:

1. Did the company conduct a pay equity analysis this year? If not, is that because pay fairness is not a priority? Is it not prioritized due to fear of finding a problem or for some other reason? Is that reason acceptable?

2. Does the pay equity solution comply with the organization’s data security and data privacy policies and best practices? For instance, data and analysis should not be stored on local machines or drives outside of the organization’s control.

3. Are the results updatable so that you can refresh the data at any time? Can you easily update and rerun groupings to assess risk in different possible ways?

4. Are the results presented in a way that is usable for you to take action? Could you easily make changes to groups or identify individuals who need specific attention (noneconomic solutions)?

5. If compensation changes were made as a result, what did you learn about the underlying problems that led to the disparities? What policy or behavioral changes will be made? Did you address the root causes or just symptoms?

6. Are all compensation events analyzed? This includes base pay, new hire starting pay, stock grants, midyear changes, bonuses, reorganizations, or releveling exercises, and the like.

7. Does the company analyze pay during the pay-setting cycle so that changes can be made before pay is finalized? Does the pay equity solution enable imposition of pay equity discipline for new hires, promotions, and transfers?

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