Mayor Steve Adler of Austin, Texas, has fully embraced the discovery of what blockchain technology and crypto payments can bring to his city by proposing two new initiatives. The first initiative aims to ensure that Texas’s fourth-largest city promotes the benefits of blockchain technologies and “promotes equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion” in the technological ecosystem. To that end, May Adler directed the city manager to explore how the city can utilize Web3 and blockchain in 20 fields from smart contracts, supply chain management and insurance to arts, media, fundraising and identity verification. “The City Manager is directed to ensure the City is helping to create an environment within city government and in the community generally that supports the creation and developme...
On March 10th, the state of Texas ended its mask mandate and allowed most businesses to reopen at 100% capacity. But many experts think it’s too early to do so, and in response, over 30 Austin venues and businesses have banded together to announce the new initiative Safe in Sound, committing to following CDC guidelines and protecting patrons from COVID-19. The participating institutions vow to restructure operations to accommodate six feet of physical distancing, require employees and customers to wear appropriate PPE, provide hand sanitizer, train employees to maintain safety standards, and commit to daily sanitation of business facilities. Stubb’s, ACL Live, Antone’s, Mohawk, Paramount Theatre, Empire Control Room, and Zach Theatre are among the pledged venues. “This program as a whole u...
The U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee, retired Army General Lloyd Austin, to serve as Secretary of Defense – the first Black American in the role. The vote was an overwhelming 90-2 in the 100-member chamber, far more than the simple majority needed. Lawmakers from both parties said they were pleased that Austin would be installed to lead the Pentagon just two days after Biden was sworn in as president on Wednesday. Senator Jack Reed, the incoming Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted the wide range of challenges facing the country – including the coronavirus pandemic and competition with China and Russia. “General Austin is an exceptionally qualified leader with a long and distinguished career in the U.S. military,” Reed said before t...
Parisians were treated to a floating movie theater adventure this past weekend. Apparently it went swimmingly because now a different company, Beyond Cinema, is bringing a similar idea to America. Starting this September, Beyond Cinema will launch 12 to 24 mini boats — each of which can hold upwards of eight people — in US cities. Movies will be projected on a large screen outdoors near the water, and patrons can pay to watch the film in comfort from one of the floating vessels. The Australian entertainment and event company originally found success with their “boat-in” events back during pre-COVID times. Once the current pandemic set in, though, they decided to modify the event to uphold safety measures while still capitalizing on this creative way to keep movie lovers entertained. O...