Curating the Internet: Business and leadership micro-summaries for October 22, 2019

Yellow light timing to be increased after a Swedish engineer fought a traffic ticket; Netflix raising funds with $2 billion in junk bonds; Tornado photos & videos from Dallas, TX; UNICEF expert hopes for cryptocurrency to disrupt and improve global services for children; and a Steem essay arguing for hand-washing instead of hand sanitizer

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Traffic lights worldwide set to change after a Swedish engineer saw red over getting a ticket - In 2014, the wife of Mats Järlström was cited by a red-light camera for running a red light in the state of Oregon. Järlström fought the ticket, saying that the traffic light failed to account for deceleration when making a turn. The state of Oregon fined him for practicing engineering without a license, a charge for which he was ultimately vindicated, as a violation of his constitutional right to free speech. And now, as a result of this controversy, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has revisited its standards and determined that the yellow light duration needs to be increased from 3.2 seconds to 4.5 seconds in order to allow sufficient time for drivers to exit an intersection. The updated recommendation will be submitted to the ITE board for approval in early 2020. An interesting aside is that the previous standard also came about because a scientist felt that he had been wrongly ticketed.

Netflix to sell another $2 billion of junk bonds as it braces for onslaught of competition - The bonds will be denominated in dollars and euros, and the proceeds will be used for: "purposes, including content, production and development and potential acquisitions.". This comes at a time when increased competition is looming from Titans like Disney, Apple, Comcast, NBC, and HBO. Netflix has a long history of funding content production through the issuance of junk bonds.

‘We’re in a tornado!’ These terrifying videos show a twister tearing through Dallas overnight - A tornado touched down in Dallas, TX, on Sunday night (October 20). The twister left about 140,000 people without power, and three hospitalized. Apparently, no lives were lost in Dallas, but someone in Arkansas died after a tree fell onto a home. This post has image and video embeds that people have posted on Twitter.

UNICEF Fund Manager: Cryptocurrency Could Revolutionize Humanitarian Aid - UNICEF's Sunita Grote does an interview with CoinTelegraph to discuss the crypto fund that the organization is using to support open source development that will help young people around the world. The fund will hold Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and it uses the same KYC protocols as UNICEF already uses for cash donations. So far, she says, "Our innovation fund has made more than 70 investments, including a handful of blockchain and crypto-oriented companies from developing and emerging markets. The organization hopes to realize three key benefits: (i) Tap into new contribution sources; (ii) Improve supply lines and realize other forms of efficiency; and (iii) Disrupt and improve systems that deliver programs for children.

STEEM A Show of Hands....? - In this post, @artemislives talks about a recent experience dealing with pressure to apply hand sanitizer when entering a hospital. According tot he post, our hands carry less bacteria than other items we bring into hospitals like cell phones, shoes, and purses. Also, hand sanitizer is less effective than simple hand washing, and it is actually harmful when combined with water. Additionally, the post argues, hand sanitizer is harmful to the skin, engenders bacterial resistance over time, and it's harmful to the environment. The essay argues that public places should have soap and water available for hand washing, along with fresh, laundered cloth towels for hand drying. On a personal note, I have noticed a trend in my area where public places are replacing paper towels with air blowers. I found myself wondering - just the other night - in the absence of paper (or cloth) towels as a result of this trend, how many people are now reduced to wiping their hands on their clothes to dry them when out in public, and how many people just don't bother washing their hands because there is no effective drying solution.

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