Category Archives: Boca Chica Texas

Following the first successful union election in an Amazon warehouse, the company shared in a filing that it plans to file several objections to the conduct of both the union and the National Labor Relations Board in an effort to contest the results.

The Amazon Labor Union became the first group to successfully unionize a group of Amazon workers when it won an election at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island by more than 500 votes on April 1. Amazon immediately announced its objection to the result and also expressed its intention to challenge the conduct of the NLRB, the federal body that oversees the administration of U.S. labor laws and union elections.

Both parties have the right to file objections to union election conduct after the results are announced, and the NLRB must rule on those objections before it can officially certify the results of the election. While the company has not issued further public comment since the vote on April 1, Amazon's April 7 filing with the NLRB shows that the company plans to accuse the Amazon Labor Union of coercing people to vote in favor of the union, as well as accusing the NLRB of behavior that "interfered with employee free choice."

In the filing, the company asked the NLRB for more time to gather evidence of these accusations, and the NLRB granted the extension.

The employees have spoken and their voices have been heard, Eric Milner, an attorney for the Amazon Labor Union, said in a statement to the Associated Press. Amazon is choosing to ignore that, and instead engage in stalling tactics to avoid the inevitable."

A second union election with the ALU for a different Staten Island facility will begin on April 25. Amazon union organizers with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in Bessemer, Alabama, are also waiting on official election results, where just over 400 contested ballots will determine a victor there.

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Amazon plans to accuse union victors of coercing voters - Protocol

It's not an April Fool's joke after all. Twitter announced Tuesday that it actually is working on an edit button, days after tweeting about it seemingly in jest. In fact, the company said it has been looking into the feature since last year and will begin testing with Twitter Blue members "in the coming months."

Jay Sullivan, Twitter's head of consumer product, said an editing tool has been the most requested Twitter feature for years. "People want to be able to fix (sometimes embarrassing) mistakes, typos and hot takes in the moment," Sullivan tweeted, adding that people usually delete their tweet and try again if there's an error. Relatable!

The company tweeted from its official Twitter account on Friday April Fool's Day that it was toying with the long-requested tool. But it seemed too good to be true, and Twitter just couldn't stop joking about it, so how were we supposed to believe it? When Reuters asked Twitter to clarify whether it was a joke, the company responded: "We cannot confirm or deny but we may edit our statement later." The bit continued on Monday, when Elon Musk polled his followers about whether Twitter should add an edit button, and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal weighed in too.

Sullivan said Twitter's work on the edit button is anything but a joke, and the platform is weighing rules like time limits and controls to ensure an edit button wouldn't "alter the record of the public conversation." Adding an edit tool has also been a controversial topic among Twitter employees, and former CEO Jack Dorsey has in the past said "we'll probably never do it."

Right now, the closest thing to an edit button is the undo feature, but it's limited to Twitter Blue subscribers, who pay for extra Twitter perks. Twitter is testing the edit button for Twitter Blue subscribers as well, but it's unclear if a widely rolled out editing tool would be available to only those subscribers or to everyone. Sullivan said an edit button is one feature Twitter is looking into to give users "more choice and control" on the platform.

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This is not a drill: Twitter is testing an edit button - Protocol

Tech companies have spent months hyping the potential of the metaverse, a platform that isn't yet real. Even still, Epic and LEGO are already trying to make sure the concept is safe for kids or at least that's what they claim. The announcement was light on details.

The companies said Thursday that they're entering a "long-term" partnership to make a "family-friendly" metaverse. Lego Group CEO Niels Christiansen said in a statement that "there is huge potential to develop life-long skills such as creativity, collaboration and communication through digital experiences," and the partnership is aimed in that direction.

But the companies' metaverse for kids seems to be in very early stages. It's unclear when it will launch and what the platform will entail, exactly. The three principles driving the project, the companies said, are to prioritize childrens' safety and wellbeing, protect childrens privacy and give children and parents "tools that give them control over their digital experience."

"We are excited to come together to build a space in the metaverse thats fun, entertaining, and made for kids and families," said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.

While this sounds heartwarming, a metaverse for kids isn't a new concept. The virtual worlds in games like World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Roblox and Epic's own Fortnite provide a glimpse of what the Lego/Epic co-branded metaverse could look like, and could even use existing games as building blocks for a virtual social platform where players can dress up their avatars, buy virtual goods with digital currency and hang out with friends similar to other metaverse concepts, just likely with more parental controls. Sweeney has been bullish on the concept for months, stating at a conference in Seoul in November that "over the coming decades, the metaverse has the potential to become a multi-trillion-dollar part of the world economy," Bloomberg reported.

Epic is also going up against other major gaming companies who have staked their claim in the metaverse, including Pokmon Go creator Niantic, which announced plans to build "real-world metaverse apps in November, and of course Meta, which has pivoted in the last year to make developing the metaverse its entire identity.

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Epic Games and Lego team up to build a 'family-friendly' metaverse - Protocol

Activision Blizzard will be moving its 1,000-plus quality assurance testers from contract roles to full-time jobs with additional pay raises, following months of activism and unionization from a group of workers (including QA testers) at Raven Studio, the gaming studio that produces Call of Duty.

The company announced that all of its temporary and contingent quality-assurance testers would be offered full-time contracts with a pay increase to a minimum of $20 per hour. Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, converted many of its contract QA testers to full-time last month.

"As 'Call of Duty' evolves, we anticipate periods where the workload will fluctuate and exceed our expanded teams bandwidth. With this in mind, were adding extra support for our team from external partners," Josh Taub, Activision Publishing's chief operating officer, wrote in an email to employees.

A group of workers at Raven Software began the process of forming a union after Activision Blizzard laid off some contract QA testers and offered full-time roles to others in a similar move late last year. Those workers staged a walkout and strike and eventually formed one of the first game-workers unions in the U.S., called the Game Workers Alliance, with the Communications Workers of America in January 2022.

Those same unionized workers may not be given the new benefits and pay raises going to other QA testers, according to Communications Workers of America Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens. "The company's assertion that the National Labor Relations Act prevents them from including Raven workers is clearly an effort to divide workers and undermine their effort to form a union (Game Workers Alliance - CWA)," she wrote in a statement to Protocol.

Activision Blizzard has been embroiled in months of scandal following California and federal labor suits alleging the company fostered a work environment that led to a frat-house culture of sexual harassment. While the company reached a settlement agreement with the Equal Opportunity and Employment Commission in late March, it still must face ongoing investigations and suits from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and former employees and shareholders. The company most recently angered employees by ditching its COVID-19 vaccine mandate. After workers organized a digital walkout, Activision walked back its decision.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated when Epic converted QA testers to full-time. This story was updated on April 7, 2022.

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Activision Blizzard is giving its contract QA testers full-time jobs and pay raises - Protocol

(TNS) Elon Musk's answer to a question posed by The Brownsville Herald during Musk's Feb. 10 presentation at SpaceX's Starship development site at Boca Chica site, dubbed Starbase, has spawned a degree of anxiety among some local officials that the world's most successful private rocket company could slip away.

At issue is the Federal Aviation Administration's ongoing Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) of SpaceX's plans for launching its Super Heavy boosters. The company has been preparing for its first orbital launch of a combined Starship-Super Heavy, from Boca Chica, but first the FAA has to complete the PEA. The release date has been pushed back multiple times, most recently to April 29, the FAA announced recently. The original deadline was Dec. 31, 2021

The PEA could contain a Finding of No Significant Impact in the PEA and the FAA could grant SpaceX the necessary launch license, or the agency could require a much more comprehensive, lengthy Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the company's plans for Boca Chica. If that happens, no orbital launches will take place at Boca Chica/Starbase anytime soon.

"Now we do have the alternative of the Cape," he said. "We actually applied for environmental approval for launching from the Cape a few years ago and received it. So we are actually approved from an environmental standpoint to launch from (launch complex) 39A. I guess our worst-case scenario is that we would be delayed for six to eight months to build up the Cape launch tower and launch from there."

Those words likely caused heartburn among local leaders betting on SpaceX and the space-related companies it attracts to transform Brownsville into "New Space City" and the region into a hub for the fast-growing private space sector.

But U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, representing Texas 15th Congressional District, thinks everyone should relax, and not assume the FAA's delays indicate impending bad news.

"I wasn't alarmed of the delay," he said. "I wasn't alarmed because I didn't get a call from them. If they had been freaked out they would have called us right away SpaceX, their lobbyists. ... I mean, this is quite normal."

Gonzalez said he's gotten no hint that "everything is not on track," noting that SpaceX has a well organized army of lobbyists on Capitol Hill advocating for the company with various agencies and committees.

As for what a congressman can do to affect the outcome, not a lot, he said, though Gonzalez and U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela did send the FAA a letter months ago requesting that the PEA be expedited.

"They're all independent agencies, right? We can only be as helpful as we can, but we can talk to the administration about it and be as encouraging as possible," Gonzalez said.

Even if the first Starship orbital launch does end up blasting off from Florida SpaceX is building that launch tower at 39A just like the one at Boca Chica he doesn't think SpaceX will abandon South Texas.

"They're not just going to pick up and leave," Gonzalez said. "They're pretty entrenched. They've made some pretty heavy investments out there, and the federal government has too. ... They've got like $1.5 billion in federal investments in that project. This is not going to just disappear."

He described Starship development as a "monumental project" and said there are bound to be hiccups along the way.

"If there were delays he's not going to stop his operation," Gonzalez said. "He'll just do what he has to in Florida and do what he can in Texas until we get to that finish line. But at this point I'm quite optimistic that everything's going to work out."

Musk, in response to a follow-up question from The Brownsville Herald at the Feb. 10 presentation, indicated that Boca Chica is indeed part of the company's long-term plans, even if it's not necessarily as a spaceport with Starships coming and going.

"The future role of Starbase I think, it's well suited to be kind of like our advanced (research and development) location, so it's like where we would try out new designs and new versions of the rocket," he said. "And then I think probably ( Cape Canaveral) would be our sort of main operational launch site.

"And then over time I think there's going to be floating spaceports like ocean spaceports. We've got these two converted oil rigs that are going to be turned into orbital launch sites, and they can be moved around the world."

2022 The Brownsville Herald (Brownsville, Texas). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Congressman Says Dont Worry About SpaceX Leaving Texas - Government Technology

SpaceX has had a variety of struggles and successes since its inception 20 years ago, but one of its most resounding victories has been the successful development and flights of its manned space capsule, the Crew Dragon. The Crew Dragon capsule line has already completed four successful manned missions and is currently in orbit on its fifth manned flight. While the capsules are reusable and will continue to see service in coming years, SpaceX has decided to end production of the capsule after the fourth vehicle's production, according to a report from Reuters.

The Crew Dragon's importance to NASA is hard to understate, as it is the only human-approved, low-earth-orbit-transport that the U.S. currently has access to launch from its own soil. For nearly a decade after the discontinuation of the Shuttle program, NASA's only option to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station were Russian Soyuz rockets launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is leased to Russia through 2050. As Russia's space agency Roscosmos increasingly joins the saber-rattling of the Russian government at large, having a domestic option to carry American astronauts back and forth to the ISS is not just a point of national pride, it's prudent.

And the Crew Dragon's results have been promising, too. Three of the four vehicles already have flown to the ISS, crew members on board, on the back of the company's own Falcon line of rockets. The decision to stop manufacturing more vehicles was seen as inevitable, but the specific fleet plans were unknown until yesterday when Reuters interviewed SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell.

"We are finishing our final (capsule), but we still are manufacturing components, because we'll be refurbishing," Shotwell said. She also added that the company would keep the ability to produce more Crew Dragon vehicles in the future if needed, but that SpaceX needs to ensure it can manage its fleet. NASA as of last year was still working on determining just how many times the Crew Dragon capsules could be used before they would need to be retired for safety reasons, and Shotwell has previously stated it is designed for "five to ten missions." NASA previously also announced that SpaceX's vehicles would be needed for more missions than initially planned, as Boeing's StarlinerSpaceX's main competitor, who also has a contract for crewed ISS missions with NASAhas been delayed due to development problems.

The Crew Dragon's successor, SpaceX's Starship, would theoretically replace the Crew Dragon with higher payloads and more reusability, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk saying it will allow humanity to become an interplanetary species due to its lifting power and potential range.

However, it has been plagued by regulatory environmental review issues regarding its Boca Chica, Texas launch site and repeated test failures, and has had its own timeline for launch moved back repeatedly. While the most recent launch of the SN15 test rocket was successful, it has yet to complete an orbital test, though one is planned for May of this year, per Musk. The lengthy NASA human-rated certification process will also likely take years to completethe parachute and abort system testing of Crew Dragon took roughly four years from its initial test phase to actually carrying astronauts to the ISS.

While the current Starship timeline projects that a crewed flyby of the Moon could potentially happen as early as next year, Musk has also said that Starship will be tested "hundreds of times" before flying with humans on board. Additionally, Musk has added on Twitter recently that Starship will likely be further delayed because of a reprioritization of SpaceX "to cyber defense & overcoming signal jamming." All of this comes on top of the CEO's comments last year that the company could potentially face bankruptcy if the economy heads into rough waters and Starship does not become profitable rapidly enough.

With potential further Starship delays ahead and five of the 20 to 40 potential flights the current four-vehicle fleet of Crew Dragons are capable of already launched, NASA might need SpaceX's Dragon production capacity yet again in the future if the capsule's discontinuation impacts future ISS flights. After all, it's not looking like asking Russia for a ride again is looking any better by the day.

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SpaceX Ends Production of Crew Dragon, America's Only Human-Rated Spacecraft - The Drive

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says a busier Port of Brownsville could do a lot to unkink the supply chain.

Governor Abbott says for the past 17 years, Texas has been the number one exporting state in the nation, and the port of Brownsville has played a big role in that success.He would like it to be even busier.

"You see all these ships lined up for months, waiting to get into a California port when in reality they could deliver their goods a lot more quickly if they were able to ship them through the Panama Canal and come up through Texas ports" said Abbott.

He says the Brownsville port is also close to sources of energy, oil and gas, which can be transported to and from the port.

Abbott wants Texas and the rest of the nation, move towards energy independence."One thing that Europe is learning the hard way is what happens when you rely upon despots for your energy.To provide Americans and the world with reliable energy the federal government needs to unleash the oil and gas sector across the United States, increase LNG exports and accelerate the permitting process."

He also touched upon the Starship program, the world's first private spaceport which is launching from Cameron County. He calls Space X projects ``transformational." The governor says he will work hard to ensure the launches will continue from Boca Chica.

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Governor Abbott touts Port of Brownsville as solution to US supply chain issues - KRLD

(NAPSI)It may sound futuristic but there are people today living in homes created by a 3-D printerand you can too.

A. What is 3D Printing

3D printing started out as a way to make design prototypes for modeling. It has been used in healthcare, manufacturing and other industries. Now, the technology has spread and the cost of the printers has dropped.

Most people are familiar with 3D printing for its ability to create small things, but construction-grade, large- scale 3D printers is changing the housing industry helping builders create better houses, faster and at less cost.

B. 3Ds Advantages

Automation and increased productivity means 3D-printed house shells can be built on site with mobile and industrial-sized devices, up to nine times faster than with traditional methods while creating little to no waste of resources. That can save up to 30% of the cost. 3D also creates the opportunity for unique design such as curved walls (expensive if even possible with bricks and wood).

Whats more, 3D homes can be cus- tom-made and pre-designed for efficient installation of all the componentseven plumbing and electricity. Plus Api Cors advanced 3D print material allows printing very fine walls that are smooth to touch and can be painted right away. 3D printed building material is a durable concrete mortar thats 33% stronger than traditional concrete blocks. The walls are also reinforced to resist hurricanes and earthquakes.

C. How It Works

A standard pickup truck with a flat- bed trailer can haul the building system to a construction site. No cranes or big crew are needed to deploy and operate the printer. Instead, an operator uses a joystick to maneuver the equipment and print the building walls. Then a robot creates the desired shape of a build-ing directly on site, layer by layerthe same as is done with traditional plastic 3D printing but using a strong concrete mortar instead of plastic and a much bigger machine than a desktop box-sized printer.

D. See For Yourself

You can view a 3D house printer, touch examples of 3D printed walls, check out how plumbing and insulation are incorporated and watch the walls be painted at the worlds first showroom for 3D printed homes in Apis Cors home office in Melbourne, FL and online at http://www.apis-cor.com/showroom.

E. Building Your 3D Home, Career And Portfolio

The company pioneered 3D printing technology for construction, holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the worlds largest 3D printed building and has printed a residence in Missouri and a commercial building in Boca Chica, Texas. Api Cor is currently accepting reservations from individuals who want a 3D printed home.

Apis Cor also offers a comprehensive online course on house printing and a unique opportunity for investors to get involved in an emerging technology.

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The ABC's Of 3D House Printing - liherald.com

SpaceX has enjoyed a lot of wins in the past few years. In addition to successfully glide-testing and landing multiple Starship prototypes, theyve rolled out its first Super Heavy boosters, test-fired the new Raptor Vacuum engines, and assembled the Mechazilla launch tower at Boca Chica, Texas. They also unveiled the first fully-furbished orbital test vehicle (SN20) that was stacked with a first stage booster for the first time on its launch pad.

Given the prodigious rate of progress, few were surprised when Musk announced that the first orbital flight test could take place as soon as January 2022. Unfortunately, this date had to be pushed back to an environmental assessment and the usual bureaucratic rigmarole. However, Musk recently announced on Twitter that in light of his companys success with the new Raptor engines, they could be ready to conduct the long-awaited orbital test flight this May.

The tweet was posted on Monday, March 21st, in response to a story by Michael Sheetz, a space reporter with CNBC. Sheetz cited a recent report (by Quilty Analytics) that showed how Russias decision to cut ties with the international space industry (in response to sanctions) would affect the U.S. space sector. This report indicates that SpaceX will be the clear winner as the absence of Russian launch services means more business will come their way.

According to Sheetz, this is exemplified by the recent announcement that OneWeb a Starlink competitor announced that it had terminated its launch agreement with Roscosmos and signed a deal with SpaceX. Musk responded via Twitter and said that he didnt expect to see a dramatic increase in launch services for his company, which was already launching two-thirds of the worlds satellites.

According to their original plans, said Musk, SpaceX would account for 65% of the market share for launch services. The termination of Russian launch services was likely to increase this to 70%, only slightly higher. He added that this would not affect the development of the Starship, which could be ready for its long-awaited orbital test flight by May (at the earliest). This estimate is largely based on the production of the new Raptor 2 engine.

The Raptor 2 is an updated version of the Raptor 1 and is simpler and more powerful than the original. Production began in December 2021 at SpaceXs new engine development facility near McGregor, Texas. At the annual Starship Update hosted in February, Musk spoke about the capabilities of the Raptor 2, which included 230 metric tons (510,000 lbs) of thrust at sea level. Based on their current production rates (7 per week as of March), Musk estimates that they will have 39 engines ready by April.

The is enough to equip one Super Heavy booster, which relies on 29 Raptor engines optimized for sea-level, and one Starship, which relies on three sea-level optimized and three vacuum-optimized engines. Add a few weeks to integrate them into the spacecraft, Musk added, and the entire system should be ready to fly by May at the earliest. But knowing Musks tendency to provide optimistic timetables, the flight may happen sometime this summer.

According to the flight plan filed with the FAA in May 2021, the orbital test flight will see the fully-stacked Starship and Super Heavy launch together and separate 170 seconds into flight. The booster will then perform a partial return and make a soft splashdown roughly 32 km (20 miles) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship will then achieve an altitude of 200 km (~125 mi) above sea level before performing a targeted soft splashdown about 100 km (62 mi) off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

If this test flight goes as planned, SpaceX will be ready to embark on its first commercial flights, including a lunar flyby planned for 2023 (the #dearMoon project). As part of NASAs Artemis Program, the Starship was also selected to land astronauts on the Moon for the first time since the Apollo Era. This will be the Artemis III mission, which is currently scheduled to occur sometime in 2025.

Beyond that, the Starship and Super Heavy launch system are integral to SpaceXs long-term goal of making regular trips to the Moon and Mars and establishing a permanent human presence there. As always, things may not be happening according to the original timeline. But they are coming together nicely!

Be sure to check out this latest animation of the Starship reaching Mars, courtesy of SpaceX:

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Starship Could be Ready for an Orbital Flight in May - Universe Today

(NAPSI)It may sound futuristic but there are people today living in homes created by a 3-D printerand you can too.

A. What is 3D Printing

3D printing started out as a way to make design prototypes for modeling. It has been used in healthcare, manufacturing and other industries. Now, the technology has spread and the cost of the printers has dropped.

Most people are familiar with 3D printing for its ability to create small things, but construction-grade, large- scale 3D printers is changing the housing industry helping builders create better houses, faster and at less cost.

B. 3Ds Advantages

Automation and increased productivity means 3D-printed house shells can be built on site with mobile and industrial-sized devices, up to nine times faster than with traditional methods while creating little to no waste of resources. That can save up to 30% of the cost. 3D also creates the opportunity for unique design such as curved walls (expensive if even possible with bricks and wood).

Whats more, 3D homes can be cus- tom-made and pre-designed for efficient installation of all the componentseven plumbing and electricity. Plus Api Cors advanced 3D print material allows printing very fine walls that are smooth to touch and can be painted right away. 3D printed building material is a durable concrete mortar thats 33% stronger than traditional concrete blocks. The walls are also reinforced to resist hurricanes and earthquakes.

C. How It Works

A standard pickup truck with a flat- bed trailer can haul the building system to a construction site. No cranes or big crew are needed to deploy and operate the printer. Instead, an operator uses a joystick to maneuver the equipment and print the building walls. Then a robot creates the desired shape of a build-ing directly on site, layer by layerthe same as is done with traditional plastic 3D printing but using a strong concrete mortar instead of plastic and a much bigger machine than a desktop box-sized printer.

D. See For Yourself

You can view a 3D house printer, touch examples of 3D printed walls, check out how plumbing and insulation are incorporated and watch the walls be painted at the worlds first showroom for 3D printed homes in Apis Cors home office in Melbourne, FL and online at http://www.apis-cor.com/showroom.

E. Building Your 3D Home, Career And Portfolio

The company pioneered 3D printing technology for construction, holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the worlds largest 3D printed building and has printed a residence in Missouri and a commercial building in Boca Chica, Texas. Api Cor is currently accepting reservations from individuals who want a 3D printed home.

Apis Cor also offers a comprehensive online course on house printing and a unique opportunity for investors to get involved in an emerging technology.

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The ABC's Of 3D House Printing | Ftluptonpress.com - Fort Lupton Press