Latest news with #Lazer
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
No duh: Heavy social media use and irritability are correlated, new study says
I'm about to blow your mind. You'll never believe this. Heavy social media use correlates to higher irritability, according to a study from Northeastern. I'm truly shocked, SHOCKED! Have you felt irritable lately? Cranky? Been bothered by other people? Felt like snapping at someone? Let me ask, have you, by any chance, logged onto Facebook lately? A new study by Northeastern University found there's a strong association between irritability and heavy social media use. Researchers surveyed over 40,000 adults about their social media use and then had them take a five-question test about their current level of irritability. What they found will probably not shock you: people who used various social media apps several times a day reported the highest scores on the irritability test. As a heavy social media user myself, who is totally zen and never cranky — Why do you ask? Ugh, please leave me alone. GOD, what is wrong with you? — I wanted to know more. So I talked to David Lazer, one of the study's coauthors and a professor of political science and computer sciences at Northeastern University. Lazer was quick to point out (who does this guy think he is anyway, correcting me? ) that this study shows a correlation, not causation. "I should be clear that we're not making causal claims," Lazer said. "We are showing that there's this relationship between being online and irritable, but it could just be that irritable people get online. That's also quite plausible, right? I'm cranky. I'm going to go get online and pick a fight with someone." Basically, it's possible that spending hours doomscrolling makes you cranky, but it could also be that miserable bastards are the self-selecting crowd who tend to spend hours on social media. Both seem plausible to me! The survey was broken down by demographics (age, income, etc.) as well as different social platforms. I noticed a strange bump in the chart about X (previously called Twitter) — a platform that many people associate with cranks. Unlike other platforms, there was a strange positive blip for people who posted to X only once a month. They were the least irritable group of all, even less irritable than people who never used it. Could it be that once a month tweeting is the secret path to happiness? This would be great news for me (who am I kidding, I'll never cut down that much). Lazer warned against taking that conclusion. "It's just very marginally statistically significant and negative," he said. "So I'd really view that as just a funny thing, but probably it's a zero." On the opposite end, it appeared that posting to TikTok multiple times a day was associated with the highest irritability. That might have something to do with the age breakdowns — the study found that we're less irritable the older we get, and heavy TikTok users are more likely young. Demographic-wise, women tended to be less cranky than men, and irritability decreased the richer and older someone got. City dwellers are less cranky than rural folks. Political affiliation doesn't affect crankiness levels, but people who engage in political discussion more than once a day are way more irritable. Irritability went up for both social media "use" and also "posting" — basically, both lurkers and posters were crankier the more time they spent lurking or posting. That's interesting because, to me, there's a big difference between the categories. Someone who looks at Instagram multiple times a day is different than someone who posts to Instagram multiple times a day. Since most content on social media is produced by a small number of power users, it's possible that the posts that dominate your social feeds are from the crankiest of people. "What all that means is that the people who are online are more likely to be irritable people ... that may tell us something about the discourse online," Lazar said. Read the original article on Business Insider
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
PPA partners with SpotHero to help drivers reserve parking spots at Philly garages
The Brief Drivers can now book advanced parking at six city-owned garages in Philadelphia through SpotHero. The Philadelphia Parking Authority said the digital parking reservation platform is convenient and easy to use. PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) is now partnering with SpotHero to offer advanced booking for parking at six city-owned garages through the digital parking reservation platform. "People have angst when they come to an area where they know there's going to be some traffic. It's going to be hard to park so I think to be able to do that ahead of time. They can go right to the location, go right to the spot, and it takes the angst out of it, and I think that's the goal. Make things convenient and that's why we want to do it," said Richard Lazer, Executive Director of PPA. The PPA garages that can be booked in advance through SpotHero include: 125 South 2nd Street - Autopark @ Olde City 41 N. 6th Street - Autopark @ Independence Mall 740 Arch St. (801 Filbert St.) - Parkade on 8th Garage 45 N. 10th Street - Autopark @ Fashion District 14 S 10th Street - Autopark @ Jefferson Garage 124 N. 15th St (1503 Arch St.) - Family Courthouse Garage "Driving and looking for parking in the city can be very treacherous and it could be like hours sometimes looking for parking, so knowing they have an app where you have parking reserved for you is pretty awesome," said David Bullard of West Oak Lane. "I have used SpotHero to reserve spots in New York when we were going to see a show. It was very convenient, and it worked well," said Stephanie Gonzalez Ferrandez of Ben Salem. "You get a much better rate and you get it in advance. You lock it in." Lazer believes SpotHero has the potential to introduce new drivers to its garages, and said PPA is already seeing new parking trends through the app. "We're tapping into folks that maybe are doing these pre-orders before they get here and not just somebody pulling in to park for the day," said Lazer. "We're getting longer stays of people who maybe are coming in for a few days, so they're booking their whole time and you get feedback also from the customer on what worked and what didn't." According to the PPA, the revenue generated at the six city-owned garages are comparable between this year and last year through the period of January 1 and March 17 at more than $1.6 million. However, online bookings increased this year compared to last year during this period. The city estimates about $2,000 in parking booked through the PPA run app "JPass" in January-March of 2024. Whereas this year, online bookings have already generated $62,117.60. SpotHero accounts for $46,860.50 of that total. PPA believes the partnership with SpotHero will help the city manage the garages better since they'll receive additional driver feedback through the service and additional parking data. The Source The information in this story is from The Philadelphia Parking Authority.
Associated Press
06-03-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Coinbase Integrates Pyth Lazer to Provide Real-Time Market Data to Users
By making market data accessible within one millisecond, the latest Pyth Lazer feature from Pyth Network is unlocking new competitive advantages for Coinbase users. Pyth Network ('Pyth'), the universal price layer powering the next generation of finance, today announced digital currency exchange Coinbase has integrated Pyth Lazer, a new high-speed, sub-second-latency service developed by the Pyth Network. Pyth Lazer is designed to provide real-time market data with update times as fast as one millisecond. In trading, speed is the ultimate competitive advantage. Slow execution undermines order quality, leading to slippage, inefficiencies, missed arbitrage opportunities, and costly mistakes in volatile markets. Pyth Lazer targets latency-sensitive crypto trading applications and DeFi protocols, empowering them to compete with the speed of centralized exchanges. Its ultra-fast price feeds allow for customizable frequency channels to suit different needs within the blockchain ecosystem, enabling developers to be at the forefront of the evolving global digital asset markets. 'Every trader knows that it's not just about being right—it's about being first. Faster systems make it possible to capitalize on market movements, and DeFi needs the kind of infrastructure that can match or beat the performance of CeFi platforms so traders can lock in profits and keep liquidity deep and flowing,' said Mike Cahill, CEO of Duoro Labs. 'Coinbase understands that Pyth Lazer is here to raise the bar, making it possible for DeFi to deliver real-time solutions so traders can access next-gen infrastructure that bridges the gap between DeFi and TradFi.' Now integrated by Coinbase, Pyth Lazer enhances real-time price data accuracy and efficiency for on-chain applications. The feature delivers market reality at unprecedented speed, allowing users to catch every price move before others see it, is ultra-efficient at keeping costs low, provides a lightweight design that saves money, and shares real-time prices with minimal overhead. 'Coinbase International Exchange is dedicated to delivering unparalleled trading experiences. By integrating Pyth\'s Lazer technology, we're enhancing the speed and precision of pricing data on our exchange. We're excited to collaborate with Pyth and continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in the crypto trading space.' – Marc Zeitouni, CEO Coinbase International Exchange The integration of Pyth Lazer empowers Coinbase's operations with precise, real-time data for improved accuracy and responsiveness to market conditions. While Pyth's price feeds are typically used by DeFi applications, Coinbase's adoption of Lazer shows institutional interest in tapping into the Pyth price layer. To learn more about Pyth Network, visit pyth. network and follow on X and LinkedIn. About Pyth Network Pyth Network is the universal price layer for the global financial system, bringing the price of everything on-chain. With over 1000 price feeds and seamless integration across over 100 blockchain ecosystems, Pyth empowers developers to build decentralized applications with the speed, accuracy, and reliability of high-performance markets—providing sub-second, real-time data for digital assets, FX, ETFs, equities, and commodities. Supported by leading financial institutions—including Cboe, Revolut, Coinbase, Jane Street, Amina Bank, Two Sigma, and Virtu Financial—Pyth enables data providers to securely monetize their proprietary data while shaping the future of DeFi. By decentralizing access to high-fidelity price information, Pyth is breaking down financial barriers and ensuring that transparent, real-time pricing is available to everyone. With over $1 trillion in total transaction volume, Pyth is the foundation of a new, global financial system built on open-access data, fairness, and efficiency. To learn more, please visit: network/ About Coinbase Crypto creates economic freedom by ensuring that people can participate fairly in the economy, and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) is on a mission to increase economic freedom for more than 1 billion people. We're updating the century-old financial system by providing a trusted platform that makes it easy for people and institutions to engage with crypto assets, including trading, staking, safekeeping, spending, and fast, free global transfers. We also provide critical infrastructure for onchain activity and support builders who share our vision that onchain is the new online. And together with the crypto community, we advocate for responsible rules to make the benefits of crypto available around the world. Media Contact:
