Good morning

This is a friendly reminder that Spotify will almost certainly do its Spotify Wrapped "annual review" again, and instead of being caught helpless, you can create your own Spotify Wrapped destination. It's not too late for a top 5 you will be proud of.

MARKETS YTD PERFORMANCE

Markets:- Many thought the stock market would reverse its epic climb without a fresh stimulus package from Congress. That emergency relief seems as far away as ever, yet the S&P still hit a record last week. 

More markets:- Short positions in U.S. stocks (when an investor bets that a stock's price will fall) have reached their lowest level in more than a decade, the FT reports.

News

Byte Dance Sues US govt over the Donald Trump

TikTok said Monday that "we simply have no choice" but to sue the Trump administration over US President Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting US transactions with the popular short-form video-sharing app.

 

In a blog post, TikTok said that it strongly disagreed with the White House position that the company was a threat to national security, saying it had "taken extraordinary measures to protect the privacy and security of data from individuals. TikTok users in the United States. "

 

He also said the administration has ignored his "extensive efforts" to address his concerns and accused Trump of politicizing the dispute by calling for a TikTok ban in an Aug. 6 executive order.

 

"We do not take lawsuits against the government lightly," TikTok said. "But with the Executive Order threatening to ban our operations in the US ... we simply have no other choice."

TikTok, the video-sharing app owned by China-based ByteDance, filed a lawsuit Monday against the US government challenging the Trump administration's efforts to ban the company's US operations.

 

• ByteDance’s lawsuit against the U.S. government argues that the Chinese company has been denied due process to argue it isn’t a national security threat.
• TikTok is continuing its sale talks with Microsoft and Oracle, according to a person familiar with the matter.
• President Trump filed an executive order earlier this month, citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, that would effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. by Sept. 15. 

Technology

Augmented Reality for Mechanical Simulation and Robotics

Augmented reality (AR) is a fast growing technology and has been applied in many fields such as games, learning, entertainment, medical, military, sports, etc. This article reviews some of the academic studies of AR applications in manufacturing operations. Comparatively less is addressed due to stringent requirements for high precision, quick response, and desirable alignment with industry standards and practices, so users will not encounter a drastic transition when adopting this new technology. This document discusses common manufacturing activities such as product design, robotics, facility design planning, maintenance, CNC machining simulation, and assembly planning. Some of the future issues and trends in AR technology are also addressed.

 

Robots are important in high volume and mix manufacturing due to their versatility and repeatability in performing manufacturing tasks. However, robots have not been widely used due to cumbersome programming effort and lack of operator skill. A major factor that prohibits the widespread application of robots by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is the high cost and the necessary skill to program and reprogram robots to perform various tasks. This document discusses an Augmented Reality (AR) Assisted Robot Programming System (ARRPS) that provides faster and more intuitive robot programming than conventional techniques. ARRPS is designed to allow users with little robot programming knowledge to program tasks for a serial robot. The system transforms the work cell of a serial industrial robot in an AR environment. With an augmented reality user interface and hand pointer for interaction, users can freely move around the work cell to define 3D points and paths for the real robot to follow. Sensor data and algorithms are used for robot motion planning, collision detection and plan validation. The proposed approach enables fast and intuitive robotic routing and task scheduling, and allows users to focus only on task definition. The implementation of this AR-assisted robot system is presented and specific methods to improve user performance in carrying out robot programming using this system are highlighted.

Eneteprises Awards BETS

Chocoholics deserve a metabolic boost, too. Sakara's plant-based, stimulant-free Metabolism Super Powder is the natural—and oh so chocolatey—way to help restore your metabolism, eliminate bloat, enhance energy, and control cravings. Go for cacao and get 20% off your order.*

 

Mow me over. Graze is the autonomous lawnmower disrupting the $53 billion commercial landscaping industry. And if you can believe it (you should), they're letting you invest in this grass-changer—but only until Sept 18th. Invest in Graze before it's too late.*

 

Fun with the stock market: Watch its collapse and recovery in less than a minute. Then, check out this cool art that's based on stock charts.

 

Reddit knows best: Here's a list of simple life hacks everyone should follow.

Written by Eliza Carter, Alex Hickey, and Neal Freyman

 

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.

 

WANT MORE BREW?

 

Retail newsletter → Retail Brew

 

Tech newsletter → Emerging Tech Brew

 

Marketing newsletter → Marketing Brew

 

Quarantine newsletter → The Essentials

 

Business podcast → Business Casual