The Wait for Payday Doesn’t Have to Be So Long

As lawmakers push for a faster payments network, companies may look for other ways to deliver paychecks faster

The rhythms of payday are familiar to millions of Americans. Sometimes, it’s a fun excuse to splurge; other times, it’s a painful wait that forces hard choices.

Increasingly, however, it may not have to be anything at all, according to financial-technology firms, lawmakers and others who want to change the infrastructure underlying paychecks so that workers get paid faster.

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BMW Brings its Wireless EV Charging Pilot to the U.S. for the 530e Plug-in Hybrid

In the future, charging an electric vehicle might be as easy as refueling a gas-powered car, which is the aim of automaker BMW for its new 530e plug-in hybrid sedan. 

BMW announced it's launching its inductive charging pilot program for the hybrid 530e sedan in the U.S. The inductive EV charging technology allows the 530e plug-in hybrid sedan to be charged without cables. 

The wireless charging pilot program first began in Germany in 2018 and BMW announced in May that it would eventually expand to the U.S. The automaker is offering it for free to qualifying driver's who lease the new BMW 530e.

The pilot program is available in the state of California for qualifying residential home customers who are able to charge the 530e inside an enclosed garage space. 

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Twilio turns developer education into a game with TwilioQuest 3

Educating developers about cloud communications isn’t an easy task, and that’s why Twilio turned to a video game to do the job. TwilioQuest 3 is launching today with a mission of training developers to create cloud communications solutions.

It may sound like “gamification” rearing its ugly head again. But Kevin Whinnery, lead developer of the game, said that description isn’t a good one because it doesn’t reflect the effort that has gone into creating the game-themed tutorial application with animations that are done in classic 16-bit arcade style. Developers go on quests to complete programming challenges in desktop training sessions that replace live training.

Whinnery has been at Twilio for 6.5 years. He spent a lot of that time as a developer evangelist, teaching developers how to use JavaScript so they could be more successful. But the game turned out to be a better way to engage people, and the new version is a ground-up rewrite of the game. Whinnery and his team spent about six months on the latest version, which has about 10 hours of content.

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This is how to put power behind the fight for equal pay

When a movement gains momentum, actions for change can often get watered down into fancy logos, stamps of approval, and branding opportunities. And let’s be honest: These efforts don’t always translate into lasting change in the fight for pay equity.

Women in the United States make 20% less than men, but the statistics are even worse for women of color. Over the course of their lifetime, women of color lose up to a million dollars or more because of the pay gap.

Absent the swift, systemic action that this problem demands, the gap is not projected to close in the U.S. for a century. Globally, it’s projected to take twice as long, according to the World Economic Forum.

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Occipital Updates Structure Sensor with Active IR Stereo Depth Sensing in Mark II Version

Years ago, in 2013, Occipital introduced its original Structure Sensor for iOS, a mobile 3D scanning device for measuring three-dimensional objects. Soon after, in an unrelated deal, Apple acquired PrimeSense, the company that made one of the components for Occipital's scanning device.

But that hasn't stopped Occipital from building a follow-up to its original device, which the company unveiled on Wednesday. Occipital's new Structure Sensor Mark II includes optics for active IR stereo depth sensing and adds an inertial measurement unit (IMU), and a wide-angle VGA camera in an enclosure about half the size of the original sensor.

The key optics for the Mark II model are a pair of infrared sensors and a laser projector. The infrared sensors feature global shutters for high accuracy data capture, while the Occipital-designed laser projector boasts high contrast and is safe for eyes.

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