Horizon cutting-room links: Thursday, 12 December 2024

“FAA Chief to Resign on Trump’s Inauguration Day,” Skift

“FAA chief Mike Whitaker said Thursday he would resign on January 20, 2025, which is when President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated. Whitaker did not say why he was resigning.”

“Google says its breakthrough quantum chip can’t break modern cryptography,” the Verge

“A so-called ‘cryptanalytically relevant quantum computer,’ or CRQC, could ‘jeopardize civilian and military communications, undermine supervisory and control systems for critical infrastructure, and defeat security protocols for most Internet-based financial transactions,’ the White House warned in 2022, ordering that US agencies must transition to new systems to mitigate that risk by 2035.”

“But Willow is not a CRQC, according to Google. While the company does claim it can solve a computing challenge in five minutes that would take the world’s fastest supercomputer ten septillion years, Google has only produced 105 physical qubits worth of that computing power and suggests it would need millions to literally crack the codes.”

“Netflix’s Extraordinary Parental Leave Was Part of Its Culture. That’s Over.” in the Journal

“The policy was in line with a core company value, ‘freedom and responsibility,’ the idea that employees can be trusted to set their own boundaries. But more staffers than expected took full advantage of the benefit, and Netflix ultimately found it unsustainable.”

“Staff have seized on the parental-leave policy as a stark example of how they think Netflix is losing what makes it special.”

“Big Wins for Flyers: American Airlines Expands 2025 AAdvantage With Lifetime Perks and Flat Award Prices,” View from the Wing

“American Airlines announced its AAdvantage frequent flyer program changes for 2025 this morning and it’s really great news by omission. There’s nothing bad.”

“They aren’t changing the number of Loyalty Points required to earn status or Loyalty Point Reward choices for 2025.”