Atlanta is on a five-game losing streak but their offense is scoring 2.3 points per drive in 2018, the fifth-highest rate in the NFL. That should be more than enough against Arizona's awful offense.

Alabama and Clemson appear to be on a collision course ending at the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 7 at Levi’s Stadium.

Sleep easy knowing that no matter what next week’s injury report reveals, you will have the players you need to secure a year’s worth of bragging rights.

The Redskins need two more victories to close out the season, including one against the Eagles in the regular-season finale, just to get their playoff chances to 80 percent.

The NCAA tournament could be more entertaining than usual, if only because seedings may be less accurate than in past years.

The Patriots quarterback has been sensational for years, but with everything on the line for your fantasy season in Week 16, he's a liability.

It hasn't been a great year for road favorites. Those who enjoyed a three-point advantage or more on the road have gone 21-30-2 against the spread.

• While ride-hailing has suffered from the impact of COVID-19, Uber is in a good position to survive the crisis, three analysts who cover the company told Business Insider.
• Uber is in no danger of running of out money anytime soon, said Mark Mahaney, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets.
• And a series of cost-cutting moves should make the company profitable by next year, said Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.
• Uber's food-delivery service, Uber Eats, gives the company an advantage over ride-hailing competitors, since it allows homebound consumers to keep using its app, said Tom White, a senior research analyst at DA Davidson.
• Are you a current or former Uber employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The ride-hailing industry has taken a major hit from COVID-19 as potential customers remain confined to their homes, but Uber is in a good position to survive the crisis, three analysts who cover the company said.

"Their business model will be intact on the other side of this," said Dan Ives, a managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.

A strong cash reserve will help. After ending the first quarter with $9 billion in cash and short-term investments, Uber has the resources to survive a scenario in which the prevalence of COVID-19 and its effect on consumer behavior last for the next two years, said Mark Mahaney, a managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

On Thursday, Uber disclosed its first-quarter financial results, reporting an adjusted loss of $2.9 billion on revenue of $3.5 billion during the first three months of this year. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said on a call with analysts that the ride-hailing company would cut $1 billion in fixed costs. The company has recently removed its food-delivery service — Uber Eats — from eight unprofitable markets, folded its electric bike and scooter business into Lime (Uber recently led a $170 million investment round in the company), and announced it will lay off about 14% of its workforce.

Those moves should help Uber become profitable in 2021 (the company predicted in February that it would turn a profit by the end of this year), Ives said. Uber's management, which had struggled in the wake of the company's 2019 IPO, has performed well in the current crisis by being transparent with investors and quickly moving to reduce expenses, Ives said. Investors signaled their approval of the company's strategy by sending shares up as much as 8% in after-hours trading on Thursday.

Uber Eats was one of the highlights of the company's first-quarter results, said Tom White, a senior research analyst at DA Davidson, as gross bookings grew 52% from the first quarter of 2019 to $4.7 billion. Eats gives Uber an advantage over ride-hailing competitors that don't have a similar service, as it allows the company to keep homebound consumers using its app, White said. Even after the toll of COVID-19 begins to subside, demand for online food delivery could see continued growth, he added.

But there are still challenges ahead for Uber. The company said rides fell by as much as 80% in April, and Ives projects that 30% of the customers for gig-economy companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft won't use a ride-hailing service until there's a vaccine for COVID-19. Yet the pandemic could leave Uber better off in the long run, White said.

"I saw and heard enough [during Uber's first-quarter earnings call] that makes it harder and harder for me to think that these guys don't emerge from this pandemic probably in a stronger competitive position and a healthier and leaner operating position," he said.

Are you a current or former Uber employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at mmatousek@businessinsider.com. You can also reach out on Signal at 646-768-4712 or email this reporter's encrypted address at mmatousek@protonmail.com.

• Read more:
• Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says drivers should receive tiered healthcare benefits based on how many hours they work, and that the company would pay for it
• SoftBank-backed companies laid off more than 3,700 people in 2020 and more than 7,000 in the past year
• Uber reveals first-quarter losses of $2.9 billion because of the coronavirus — but says business is starting to pick up again
• Lyft surges 17% after posting a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss as coronavirus hit the ride-hailing industry

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk's theater of the absurd is a sign of the times for tech

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America

• A hospital in India is using robots to screen possible coronavirus patients.
• The humanoid robot, called Mitra, uses a handheld thermal camera to evaluate patients before sending them on to healthcare workers.
• Thermal imaging is being tested in other countries as a way to check for coronavirus symptoms. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

India is yet another country using robots to take some of the burden off of HealthCare workers, with a humanoid robot named Mitra that takes patients' temperatures using a thermal camera.

India's 1.3 billion residents have been under lockdown since March 24, and last week the orders were extended for at least another two weeks. "To save India and every Indian, there will be a total ban on venturing out of your homes," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. In late April, some convenience stores were allowed to reopen, but specific rules vary by state.

The Indian government has also developed a controversial contact tracing app which shares residents' location constantly. More than 90 million people have reportedly already downloaded the app, and in at least one city, not having the app is punishable with six months in jail.

Meanwhile, these robots are being used in a hospital in Bangalore as the first screening for some patients who may have coronavirus. A pharmacy in Italy has implemented similar technology to screen customers for signs of infection. Here's how they work.

SEE ALSO: Stores in Italy are using robots to screen customers for mask wearing and high temperatures before they can go inside as the country reopens

The robots are a safer way for doctors to perform initial screenings of patients.

A tablet on one robot's chest allows doctors to video chat with patient without putting their own health at risk.

A thermal camera-equipped robot takes a patient's temperature without needing to touch them.

Using this information, healthcare providers can send patients to the appropriate specialist, and patients who are unlikely to have coronavirus won't be unnecessarily exposed.

After receiving a temperature reading, the robot gives the patient instructions for their next steps.

Some experts have suggested that temperature guns are not always accurate because they must be held at a specific distance, but the tablet mostly avoids that problem by instructing patients on where to stand.

Even the most accurate thermometers aren't a perfect measure to stop the virus, though. Infected people can go up to 14 days without showing symptoms, and some people never develop symptoms.

Source: Business Insider

• Facebook has been in negotiations for months to lease over 700,000 square feet at the Farley Building on Manhattan's West Side. 
• Office leasing activity in the city has plummeted, giving the blockbuster deal even more importance as a sign of life in a suddenly lethargic market.
• The coronavirus has spurred a deep downturn in the economy that is already being felt in the city's commercial real-estate market, prompting a big slowdown in leasing activity.  
• The rapid expansion of tech in recent years has propelled the city's office market. Real estate execs say that Facebook's big deal is a key barometer. 
• The crisis also raises questions whether tenants will ever occupy office space the same way as companies and their workforces around the world grow familiar with remote work. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Leasing activity in New York City's multi-billion-dollar commercial office market has dropped precipitously as the coronavirus has battered the market and raised questions of when — and even if — tenants can return to the workplace in a post-Covid world.

Amid the growing concerns the crisis will smother what had been robust demand for office space, eyes in the city's real estate industry have turned to a pending blockbuster deal on the West Side that could offer a signal of confidence to the market.

Facebook is in talks to take over 700,000 square feet of space in the Farley Building, a block-long property across Eighth Avenue from Penn Station.

"If that deal happens, then this market will be just fine," said Peter Riguardi, the New York area chairman and president of JLL. "If the deal happens but it's renegotiated, it will be fine, but it will be a trend that every tenant can follow. And if it doesn't happen, I would be very concerned about the market."

Read More: Inside the drama over control of the iconic Chrysler Building: A real-estate tycoon and a prestigious college are renegotiating a critical $150 million deal.

Facebook's NYC real-estate footprint

Last year, Facebook signed on for 1.5 million square feet in the Hudson Yards mega-development just west of the Farley Building, taking space in three new office towers at the project.

For months the $600 billion Silicon Valley-based social media giant has been in negotiations for even more space at the nearby Farley Building, whose interior landlord Vornado Realty Trust is redeveloping to include newly built office and retail space.

Vornado had originally expected to complete the deal with Facebook in early March, according to a source familiar with the negotiations. The talks have continued on as the virus pandemic has brought commerce and social life to a virtual halt. The source expected the lease, which will commit Facebook to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in rent for the space over the life of the lease, to soon be completed.

In a conference call with investors and analysts on Tuesday to discuss Vornado's first-quarter earnings, the company's CEO Steve Roth also hinted that the Facebook deal was still on track.

"There's another large tenant that has been rumored to be that we've been in dialogue with," Roth said, not directly naming the company. "That conversation is going forward aggressively and hopefully maybe even almost complete."

Rapid growth in Big Tech leasing before coronavirus

Recent real-estate decisions by Facebook and other tech companies have worried real-estate executives that they may reconsider their footprint after years of dramatic growth. Facebook on Thursday revealed that the bulk of its over 40,000-person workforce will be asked to work remotely for the remainder of the year, a timeline that appears to show the company is using caution in returning to its footprint.

Read More: Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.

Real-estate executives have expressed concern that tenants may become accustomed to offloading a portion or even the bulk of their workforce to a remote-working model, leading them to drastically reduce their office commitments.

At a minimum, the economic upheaval has appeared to spur a newfound sense of caution in tech companies that have grown rapidly in recent years. Alphabet called off negotiations to expand its San Francisco offices by over 2 million square feet in recent weeks, according to a report from The Information.  

Tech has been a big driver of demand for office space

In recent years the tech industry had become one of the most voracious takers of space in the city, helping to push up commercial rents and spur the construction of new office space.

In 2019, tech firms accounted for 24.5% of the 31.6 million square feet of leasing activity in Manhattan, eclipsing the financial industry as the city's biggest space-taking sector for the first time, according to data from the real estate services and brokerage firm CBRE.

In 2010 tech leasing comprised just 4% of the 24.2 million square feet that was leased in the Manhattan market that year, CBRE said.

"Nothing has buoyed the confidence of landlords more in recent years than tech tenants," said Sacha Zarba, a leasing executive at CBRE who specializes in working with tech firms. "It didn't matter where your building was. If it was attractive to tech, you would stand a good chance to lease your space. If that industry retrenches a bit, it removes a big driver of demand."

The Manhattan office market has slowed rapidly in recent weeks as the virus crisis has battered the economy and shut down daily life.

About 844,000 square feet of space was leased in Manhattan in April, according to CBRE, 64% lower than the five-year monthly average. In the first four months of the year, nearly seven million square feet was leased, a decline of 30% for the same period a year ago. 

So far, however, there are signs that tech continues to snap up space.

After scuttling plans to develop a 25,000 person second headquarters space in Long Island City last year, Amazon purchased 424 Fifth Avenue, a former flagship department store for Lord & Taylor, for nearly $1 billion in March. That property totals about 660,000 square feet. Late last year, before the pandemic hit U.S. shores but had flared in China, Amazon also leased 335,000 square feet at 410 Tenth Avenue.

The commitments of major tech companies absorb millions of square feet in the city, but they also help fuel a larger ecosystem of tenants that occupies an even larger footprint. That means that a decrease in the real estate of just a few big tech players could be multiplied across the market as smaller players in the sector follow suit.

"Those big tech firms do a fantastic job of training and credentialing tech talent on the city," said Matt Harrigan, a co-founder of Company, a space incubator at 335 Madison Avenue that provides offices and community for both startups and more established tech firms. "Google and Facebook spin off talent who start or join other tech ventures that take space. That's what's so important about having the large presence of those companies here."

Have a tip? Contact Daniel Geiger at dgeiger@businessinsider.com or via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 (646) 352-2884, or Twitter DM at @dangeiger79. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

SEE ALSO: What to expect when you're back in the office: 7 real-estate experts break down what the transition will look like, and why the workplace may never be the same

SEE ALSO: Major tenants are delaying big leases in NYC as they re-think their office space needs for the post-coronavirus world

SEE ALSO: As WeWork and flex-space rivals stumble, 18 million square feet of space in NYC is at risk. Here's what that means for the real-estate market.

SEE ALSO: BI Prime Edit in Viking Neiman Marcus just filed for bankruptcy, and it could mark a major blow to NYC's glitzy Hudson Yards — one of the most expensive mega-malls in US history. Here's why.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We tested a machine that brews beer at the push of a button

• Colombian delivery app Rappi is testing pilot robot deliveries in Colombia.
• Rappi operates in several Latin American countries, and last year SoftBank invested one billion dollars into the startup.
• Deliveries are made using Kiwibot, a delivery robot from a Colombian owned company in California.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Colombian delivery app Rappi is yet another company turning to robots to reduce reliance on human workers during the coronavirus pandemic. 

In addition to Colombia, Rappi operates in Mexico, Peru, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. Last spring, SoftBank invested $1 billion — one-fifth of its Innovation Fund for Latin America — in the startup. It was founded in 2015, and other investors include Sequoia Capital, Andreesen Horowitz, and Y Combinator.

Colombia is currently under a lockdown set to end in May, though it may be extended again. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported on the lack of coronavirus testing throughout Latin America, making it difficult to assess how widespread the virus is in the region.

Like in other countries, the Colombian delivery app is using robots to complete orders at a time when people are at risk of catching the virus from interacting with others. So far, the robots are part of a pilot in Medellin, with potential to expand.

Here's what it looks like. 

SEE ALSO: Nonprofits, truck drivers, food banks, and others are turning to a little-known Google Maps feature to navigate life amid the coronavirus pandemic

Rappi is using robots for deliveries in Medellin, the capital of Colombia.

Typically, Rappi works similarly to GrubHub or DoorDash, with delivery drivers picking up orders and bringing them to customers' doors.

As the coronavirus spread between people, options for contactless delivery became more popular.

Deliveries in the pilot program use Kiwibot robots, from a California company with a Medellin office.

The four-wheeled delivery robots have orange flags to call attention from walkers, drivers, and bikers.

Customers stuck at home because of the coronavirus can order and pay for meals digitally, and then last mile delivery is completed by the robots.

Robots can carry deliveries up to five square inches in size, and are disinfected between orders.

Source: The Star

Kiwibots have a stereo camera system to sense its surroundings as it moves.

The sensor system allows it to react to lights and obstacles.

Kiwibots are equipped with corner recognition, which allows them to create safe paths on sidewalks.

Kiwibot emphasized its robots ability to "seamlessly mesh into the fabric of urban landscapes," with technology like street crossing mode.

Source: Kiwibot

Rappi says it completes about 120 deliveries each day with the 15 robots in the pilot area.

Source: The Star

It plans to run the program until July, and then potentially expand to other cities.

Kiwibots have previously been used for deliveries at colleges including UC Berkeley, and Kiwibot says it has made more than 30,000 deliveries since it started in 2017.

Source: The New York Times

• As the coronavirus-led economic shutdown drags on, many investors have started counseling startups to have more than a years' worth of "runway" to avoid having to raise funding on poor terms.
• But VCs are split on how much startups should be socking away. Some have estimated 18 months oof reserves could suffice, while others say as much as 3 years' worth of runway is ideal.
• The different time frames depends on the age of the startup along with which industry they operate in. Younger startups typically have fewer overhead expenses, while older startups likely have more employees and pricey office leases.
• Also, those companies that may be able to resume work as essential services may need less cash if they are able to generate revenue.
• VCs are uniformly bracing for an economic slowdown, but the severity of downturn is still up for debate. 
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Startups are facing what could become the worst economic downturn in several decades, and VCs are begging them to take drastic measures to improve their chances of making it through. 

Most Americans who lived through the 2008 financial crisis will know that a savings stockpile or rainy day fund can mean the difference between surviving and thriving during tough times, but as recent studies have shown, many tech startups and VC firms don't have a similar first-hand experience; many have only known boom times and are now venturing into uncharted waters.

One thing VCs agree on is that startups need to quickly rein in growth plans — ideally as soon as yesterday — and start scrutinizing expenses. Anything nonessential should be cut or suspended indefinitely, headcount should be reduced, and pricey office leases eliminated if possible, all with the goal of extending a startup's "runway."

In Silicon Valley, runway refers to how much cash a startup has on hand to put against its operating expenses. If, for example, a startup has roughly $100,000 in monthly operating expenses and has $1 million in the bank, they are looking at a 10-month runway, assuming revenue stays roughly flat.

In the days before the coronavirus pandemic, a startup's runway dictated when it had to start looking for additional funding. Instead of cutting expenses, the popular solution was to simply put more VC money in the bank. This helped high flying startups like Uber and Airbnb expand at a breakneck pace — VC dollars kept pouring in and the companies remained unprofitable as they chased growth at all costs.

But now, VCs are saying that's no longer an option. Founders Fund general partner Keith Rabois said on a podcast recently that profitability is now being rewarded much more than high-growth. 

For startups that aren't profitable, that means hunkering down and ensuring there are enough reserves to last through the crisis.

So how long does the runway need to be? 

Many VCs that Business Insider has spoken to are advising their startups to have at least 18 months of runway. But some VCs say startups should have upwards of 3 years' of expenses saved up. 

The length of time can vary depending on the startup, one investor told Business Insider, pointing to the startup's age and industry as important factors. An early-stage company with a handful of employees and low-overhead costs might easily stretch a $500,000 seed check, whereas a growth-stage biotech startup with hundreds of employees, expensive hardware, and pricey office space might struggle to make tens of millions of dollars in funding make it through 12 months. Those that can't cut costs will be forced to fundraise with poor terms and risk the dreaded downround. 

"You can always easily dial back up the aggressiveness and risk profile if we get more optimistic visibility, but if you don't take action right away — to preserve capital, cut your burn rate, have fundamentally attractive unit economics, edit the product to make more sense in the new world order — if you don't do those right away, the opportunity to do those things and survive is probably lost forever," Rabois said in the April Talkshow broadcast.

Rabois is in the camp of pessimists, generally speaking, who think the economic downturn will not only drag on through 2020, but could eventually turn into an economic depression the likes of which could rival the Great Depression of the 1930s. He said that his VC peers are starting to rein in the freewheeling deal-making that has defined the last two decades of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem, and are now treading cautiously. It's time that startups do the same, he said.

SEE ALSO: Lower valuations and a long wait for funding: Two top early-stage VCs dish on how they are counseling startups to withstand long-term economic uncertainty

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Pathologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths

• Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have reported increased use amid the coronavirus pandemic, while touting virtual dating alternatives for users instead of meeting up in person.
• Swaths of users are still encouraging matches to break quarantine to have sex and go on dates, despite social distancing guidelines and fines to comply with them.
• An illustrator on Instagram has been collecting screenshots of these situations, and told Business Insider that users will brand themselves as "badasses," dispute the effectiveness of isolating, and lash out in anger and hurl abusive language when they're rejected.
• Spokespeople for Grindr, Tinder and Bumble told Business Insider they've informed users to adhere to social-distancing guidelines, but did not respond to inquiries about actions they're taking against users in places where violating lockdown orders can be against the law.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As millions remain confined to their homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the desire for human contact and connection has risen dramatically and led some to search for ways to break those social distancing rules.

Popular dating apps — including Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge — have reported significant increases during the outbreak of swiping activity, matches between users, and messages exchanged. It's also led to the introduction of a breed of users who are interested in shirking lockdown orders, and are encouraging their matches to join them in doing the same.

Dating app users have shared stories across social media, and recently with Mashable, about messages they've received from matches who ask them to come over or want to hook up. Artist Samantha Rothenberg, who uses the handle @violetclair on Instagram, has been collecting these screenshots from followers, and told Business Insider she's received close to a thousand of such stories.

"Because of how common it is, I can honestly say that anyone who is on a dating app right now has dealt with this," Rothenberg told Business Insider. "People are horny, and a lot of people are putting that ahead of the risk and the danger."

For dating platforms whose end goal is inherently to bring its millions of users together in real life, the coronavirus outbreak has put them in a curious predicament. Dating apps are forced to balance a desire to keep people on their platform for the sake of business, with a moral responsibility to discourage users to engage in behavior with potential life-or-death implications.

Since the start of the outbreak, apps have rolled out in-app virtual dating options and touted ways users can go on virtual dates. However, the prevalence of users who are trying to meet up in person, as documented by Rothenberg and screenshots across social media, raise questions about whether these dating platforms are doing enough to stymie such behavior in the time of coronavirus.

Rothenberg has long collected screenshots of users' horror stories from dating app interactions, which she often will depict in illustrations she posts to her Instagram account. But ever since the pandemic led states to instill lockdown orders starting in March, nearly all of the screenshots she's received have had to do with coronavirus.

These lockdown-violating users fall into a few general categories, according to Rothenberg. There's the users who try to paint themselves as "badasses" for breaking the rules, though Rothenberg says they're more like "a--holes." There are the matches who propose meeting up and, after getting rejected, reverse course to say they're were joking or "testing" you, she says. You'll also encounter the anti-quarantine user, whose reasoning is based on claims about herd immunity and the ineffectiveness of social distancing measures.

The last group is made up of users who react to "no" with anger and verbal abuse, Rothenberg told Business Insider. Women told Mashable recently about encounters with men on dating apps who badgered and harassed them after they turned down in-person meetings, going to the point of gaslighting.

These types of users are what led Rothenberg to launch a petition on Change.org to hold dating apps responsible for enforcing social distancing guidelines during the pandemic. She's also been active about calling out dating apps in her Instagram Stories she posts with screenshots she receives.

"People are angry, they tell me, 'can you believe this, this is disgusting, this is wrong,'" Rothenberg said. "Because I have this platform, I feel I have a bit of a responsibility to put these [stories] out in the open and share, and bring some light into what's going on out there to people who may not know."

In late March, platforms sent out various messages and alerts to their users that Rothenberg documented on Instagram. A message to Bumble users from CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd said: "Please don't meet your Bumble matches IRL for now." Hinge users were told to "stay safe and keep connected."

Tinder, arguably the most well-know dating app, also discouraged users to meet up in a platform-wide message sent March 26.

"We know there's a lot to stay to each other as we all do our best to stay healthy and prevent the spread of the coronavirus," the message from Tinder said. "We hope to be a place for connecting during this challenging time, but it's important to stress that now is not the time to meet IRL with your match."

Dating apps' responsibilities to pivot from IRL to TXT

As companies across industries adjust business to stay afloat, dating apps have transitioned to emphasize alternatives to in-person meetups. Although online dating success has long been measured by the amount of conversations that turn to real-life connections, platforms are forced to rethink their strategy as users continue turning to them en masse. A poll conducted by Hinge found that 70% of its users said they were open to going on dates on Zoom, FaceTime, and other video platforms.

Some dating brands have introduced new features amid the pandemic. Hinge launched "Date from Home" in April, where users can indicate to a match they're ready to move their conversation off-app. Plenty of Fish started rolling out a livestreaming feature in March to users in the U.S. to allow matches to go on short virtual dates. Tinder, relatively late to the game, announced this week it was launching a video chat feature by the end of June.

A spokesperson for Match Group — the parent company on Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and other dating platforms — told Business Insider that it made updates to its products "to help users better navigate stay-from-home policies and date digitally via phone or video."

Other apps that already enabled video chat and voice call, like The League and Bumble, are pushing these features to their users more than ever. 

But while users on these dating apps are swiping and messaging at new highs, the transition to virtual-only hasn't been as seamless for those on Grindr, the most popular dating app for gay men. Steve, a 26-year-old living in Washington, D.C., told Business Insider that activity on Grindr is "completely dead." He said he doesn't check the app nearly as often any more, but messages he does get on the app are largely from people who say they want to meet up despite the quarantine.

Grindr, like other apps, has attempted to pivot to virtual dating: The platform recently introduced Circles, where groups of up to 20 users can join chats centered around certain topics and interests. However, Steve said he's seen these groups largely dissolve into "all d--k pics."

"I dont think Grindr has the ability to rebrand itself honestly at this point for something other than hookups," Steve said. "They tried to take the opportunity to rebrand itself as something else, and it just right away became sexual."

A Grindr spokesperson told Business Insider it had sent in-app notifications to all users asking them to "refrain from in-person meetings right now."Nonetheless, an app-wide message sent to users — and shared by users on Twitter — made no mention of asking users to social distance. 

For users across these dating apps who encourage the violating of social distancing guidelines, it's unclear how much responsibility platforms have to keep their users' indoors. In some states under lockdown, authorities have doled out fines and even arrested residents found failing to follow at-home guidelines.

Grindr, Bumble and Match Group — the parent company of Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and others — told Business Insider in statements they have encouraged users to adhere to coronavirus guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control.

None of the companies responded to Business Insider's requests for comment about whether asking to violate social-distancing guidelines on the platforms is a breach of policy or would garner any ban or suspension on a user.

SEE ALSO: What you need to know about Grimes, the Canadian musician who just had a baby with tech billionaire Elon Musk

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why electric planes haven't taken off yet

• Dockworkers in Belgium are wearing bracelets to enforce social distancing.
• The bracelets were already used to detect if someone fell into the water, but now they will sound an alarm if workers get to close to each other.
• Manufacturers say there is no privacy issue and the bracelets don't track workers' locations, despite concerns.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Quarantine and social distancing are going high-tech as countries and companies embrace wearables. In Antwerp, Belgium, dockworkers are instructed to wear bracelets that enforce social distancing rules while they work.

Europe, where more than 100,000 people have died from COVID-19, is slowly starting to reopen in some places. Stay at home orders are expiring in many countries, while nonessential travel has stopped across the EU, and countries look towards the summer to anticipate what kind of travel might be possible. 

People are beginning to go back to work, which in some sectors means inevitable close contact, especially in many essential jobs. Social distancing bracelets in Belgium are one idea bing tested to see what the future of work might look like after coronavirus.

Here's how it works. 

SEE ALSO: People arriving in Hong Kong must wear tracking bracelets for 2 weeks or face jail time. Here's how they work.

The black, plastic bracelets are worn on the wrist like a watch.

They're made by Belgian company Rombit, which says that they are "a fully integrated personal safety and security device, specifically designed for highly industrial environments."

Source: Romware

Rombit already made bracelets useful in the port setting, which could be used to call for help if a worker fell into the water or another accident occurred.

Europe is slowly starting to go back to work, but fears of a second wave are making officials cautious.

Contact tracing is one solution being explored around the world, and the manufacturers of the bracelet believe it could also be used for contact tracing.

Source: The Associated Press

European health guidances say to wash hands, wear masks, and keep at least 1.5 meters, or about five feet, apart.

When two workers are less than five feet apart, the bracelets will sound warnings.

Rombit CEO John Baekelmans told Reuters that the bracelets won't allow companies to track employees' locations, because the devices are only connected to each other. He says there is no central server.

Source: Reuters

Workers in the control tower will be the first to test the bracelets early this month.

Then, the Port of Antwerp will likely expand the devices to tug boat workers.

Baekelmans told Reuters that Rombit already had hundreds of requests in 99 countries, and is hoping to ramp up production to 25,000 in a few weeks.

• Tesla's vehicles are and always have been crammed with great ideas.
• These range from touchscreen interfaces to innovative battery designs to staggering acceleration.
• I've driven or experienced every vehicle Tesla has ever sold or intends to sell in the future.
• Here are all my favorite features, ranked.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In about two decades, Tesla has done what everyone in the auto industry thought was impossible: create an all-electric brand that could sell hundreds of thousands of vehicles.

Tesla could have done that in a boring or modest way, developing  the equivalent of an electric VW Beetle.

Instead, Tesla made fantastically compelling cars that are fast, look amazing, and are packed with features.

Here's a rundown of all my favorites, ranked from bottom to top:

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Tesla has been in business for 17 years. In that period of time, it's consistently captivated the world not just because it makes all-electric cars, but because those cars have always been packed with cool features.

"Easter eggs" — frivolous little extras that Tesla throws in whenever it does software updates. Owners enjoy finding them.

The Model X's falcon-wing doors. Dramatic, slightly impractical, and a nightmare to manufacture. But Tesla has the only SUV on the road with such an exotic feature.

Bioweapon Defense Mode uses a powerful filtration system to render the interior air quality of the Model X or Model S "hospital grade," according to Tesla.

The Model X's 5,000-pound towing capacity. Nobody ever talks about it, but the Model X can tow a goodly amount for an electric SUV. It's very competitive with gas-powered SUVs that tout their capabilities.

The large, central portrait touchscreen on the Model S and Model X. This mega-tablet interface was a revelation when Tesla first introduced it on the Model S in 2012, but it's now emulated throughout the auto industry. It's actually canted slightly toward the driver.

Aero Wheels on the Model 3. The proprietary design is standard on the vehicle, enhancing airflow, reducing drag, and improving range.

Ludicrous Mode. The acceleration feature — which followed Insane Mode, first rolled for the all-wheel-drive Model S — enables Teslas to cover the 0-60 mph sprint at supercar-like velocities.

Frunks! All Teslas currently on sale have front trunks, expanding their cargo capacities. Having no gas engine helps to free up space.

Trunks! Teslas are commendable cargo haulers because they're effectively boxes on top of battery packs, creating ample space for luggage, groceries, of gear.

Quiet. In operation, Teslas are notably quiet and smooth, thanks to the optimization of airflow, solid build quality, and mostly silent electric motors.

The Tesla smartphone app. I've actually tested a number of these from assorted manufacturers, but Tesla's is the only one that's truly useful. For the Model 3, it replaces the traditional key fob.

The glass roof of the Model 3. It creates a stunning silhouette and floods the cabin with natural light.

The space-age operators' platform in the cab of the Tesla Semi. This space — clearly anticipating a time when semi-trucks drive themselves — is the most futuristic thing Tesla has ever designed.

Roadsters in space. CEO Elon Musk's personal Tesla Roadster was launched atop the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in 2017, as a test payload. Piloted by "Starman," it set a new standard for automotive marketing.

Tesla's in-house audio system. Most luxury brands partner with a big-name audio company for premium sound systems, but Tesla developed its own — and it sounds absolutely fantastic.

Charge monitoring and mapping. Charging is among the most important things Tesla has to think about, so the company has made it a priority to track it in the vehicle and via the app, as well as to plot road-trip courses that use GPS navigation to permit island-hopping from charging location to charging location.

Navigate on Autopilot combines Tesla's GPS mapping system with Autopilot's ability to execute lane changes and freeway on- and off-ramping maneuvers.

The new Roadster's staggering performance specs. The all-new machine has a claimed 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds, making it the fastest production vehicle in the world.

The Model 3's consolidated vehicle-management system and central landscape touchscreen. Almost every aspect of the Model 3 is controlled here, and the traditional instrument cluster has been moved to the left side of the screen, and streamlined.

The radical design of the Cybertruck. In late 2019, Tesla had fallen into a design rut. The otherworldly, stainless-steel Cybertruck changed all that. Controversial to be sure, but also thrilling.

Read about the Cybertrucks' rad design.

Manufacturing simplicity. Electric cars are less complicated to build than gas-powered ones. Tesla has designed its factory in China to optimize this aspect of production, which could support and enviable profit margin for Tesla in the 20-30% range.

The white interior. It's an extra, but a very popular one. I was initially skeptical, but I'm now a fan. After all, it survived a 700-plus-mile family road trip!

Read about the road trip.

Over-the-air software updates. Just like smartphones, Teslas can be routinely upgraded while sitting in owners' driveways. This means that an older Tesla can acquire new features quite literally overnight.

The Supercharger network. Access to DC fast-charging used to be a lifetime perk for Tesla owners, but Tesla has begun to bill for the service. Still, it enables longer road trips and is completely integrated with each Tesla vehicle's systems.

Tesla's design philosophy. Head designer Franz von Holzhausen and Elon Musk argue that it doesn't cost anymore to make Teslas beautiful. But von Holzhausen has also exercised tasteful restraint, ensuring that Tesla's vehicles have a long market life.

Read about Franz's design influence.

Performance! Tesla vehicles have always combined electric virtuosity with industry-leading performance. Owners can usually expect to be driving one of the fastest cars on the road.

Battery design. Tesla has taken a complicated, multi-cell concept — thousands are wired together in packs — and perfected it, yielding impressive range and performance. The company also manufactures its own packs, in partnership with Panasonic.

The Model 3's minimalist driving experience. With the clean dashboard, you can focus on the road ahead. It's a blissful thing and my top Tesla feature.

The bottom line is that while plenty of other automakers put cool features in their cars, Teslas are crammed with ideas, ideas, and more ideas.

• Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation related to coronavirus than it has on other health topics in the past.
• This decision may increase the pressure on the company to act more decisively against other forms of harmful falsehoods that spread on its social networks.
• Facebook is banning events that promote flouting lockdown protests, and is removing the conspiracy theory video "Plandemic."
• But false claims that vaccines are dangerous still proliferate on Facebook — even though they contribute to the deaths of children.

Amid the pandemic, Facebook is taking a harder line on misinformation than it has in the past. That decision may come back to haunt it.

As coronavirus has wreaked havoc across the globe, forcing lockdowns and disrupting economies, false information and hoaxes have spread like wildfire on social media. Miracle cures, intentional disinformation about government policies, and wild claims that Bill Gates orchestrated the entire health crisis abound.

In the past, Facebook has been heavily criticised for failing to take action to stop its platform being used to facilitate the spread of misinformation. To be sure, coronavirus falsehoods are still easily found on Facebook — but the company has taken more decisive action than in previous years:

• For starters, Facebook is now displaying warning messages to people who have shared false information about COVID-19. They're imperfect — Stat reported that they may be too vague in their wording to have a major impact — but it's a step further than Facebook has taken on misinformation in the past.
• The company is also taking down event pages for events that reject mainstream science on coronavirus by calling on people to flout lockdown rules.
• And it is banning "Plandemic," a conspiratorial video about coronavirus that has been going viral on social media and contains numerous falsehoods.

But Facebook's actions to combat COVID-19 misinformation may backfire — in the sense that it has the potential to dramatically increase pressure on the company to take stronger action against other forms of misinformation.

The company has long struggled with how to handle fake news and hoaxes; historically, its approach is not to delete them, but to try to artificially stifle their reach via algorithmic tweaks. Despite this, pseudoscience, anti-government conspiracy theories, and other falsehoods still abound on the social network.

Facebook has now demonstrated that it is willing to take more decisive action on misinformation, when the stakes are high enough. Its critics may subsequently ask why it is so reticent to combat the issue when it causes harm in other areas — particularly around other medical misinformation.

One expected defence for Facebook? That it is focused on taking down content that causes "imminent harm," and while COVID-19 misinformation falls into that category, lots of other sorts of falsehoods don't.

However, using "imminence" as the barometer of acceptability is dubious: Vaccine denialism directly results in the deaths of babies and children. That this harm isn't "imminent" doesn't make it any less dangerous — but, for now, such material is freely posted on Facebook.

Far-right conspiracy theories like Pizzagate, and more recent, Qanon, have also spread on Facebook — stoking baseless fears of shadowy cabals secretly controlling the government. These theories don't intrinsically incite harm, but have been linked to multiple acts of violence, from a Pizzagate believer firing his weapon in a pizza parlour to the Qanon-linked killing of a Gambino crime boss. (Earlier this week, Facebook did take down some popular QAnon pages — but for breaking its rules on fake profiles, rather than disinformation.)

And Facebook is still full of groups rallying against 5G technology, making evidence-free claims about its health effects (and now, sometimes linking it to coronavirus in a messy web). These posts exist on a continuum, with believers at the extreme end attempting to burn down radio towers and assault technicians; Facebook does take down such incitements to violence, but the more general fearmongering that can act as a gateway to more extreme action remains.

This week, Facebook announced the first 20 members of its Oversight Board — a "Supreme Court"-style entity that will review reports from users make rulings as to what objectionable content is and isn't allowed on Facebook and Instagram, with — in theory — the power to overrule the company. It remains to be seen whether its decisions may affect the company's approach for misinformation, and it still needs to appoint the rest of its members and get up and running.

For now, limits remain in place as to what Facebook will countenance in its fight against coronavirus-specific misinformation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would immediately take down posts advertising dangerous false cures to COVID-19, like drinking bleach. It is "obviously going to create imminent harm," he said in March. "That is just in a completely different class of content than the back-and-forth accusations a candidate might make in an election."

But in April, President Donald Trump suggested that people might try injecting a "disinfectant" as a cure, which both has the potential to be extremely harmful, and will not cure coronavirus.

Facebook is not taking down video of his comments.

Do you work at Facebook? Contact Business Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 650-636-6268), encrypted email (robaeprice@protonmail.com), standard email (rprice@businessinsider.com), Telegram/Wickr/WeChat (robaeprice), or Twitter DM (@robaeprice). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by standard email only, please.

SEE ALSO: Facebook announced the first 20 members of its oversight board that will decide what controversial content is allowed on Facebook and Instagram

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly

• Oracle's bid to become a bigger player in the cloud has become more aggressive in the COVID-19 crisis, highlighted by a new partnership with Zoom.
• The tech giant is up against stronger rivals led by Amazon, Microsoft and Google, but the need for more cloud capacity sparked by the sudden pivot to remote work has created opportunities for the Silicon Valley behemoth.
• Here are the 10 Oracle executives who are playing key roles in CEO Safra Catz and founder Larry Ellison bold cloud offensive.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Oracle has been through some jarring changes in the last seven months. 

The tech giant lost a well-regarded and experienced co-CEO when Mark Hurd died in October after taking leave for health reasons, leaving Safra Catz as the solo CEO. Now, like other major tech companies, Oracle is grappling with the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

But Oracle has been through tough times in its 43-year history. In fact, the Silicon Valley giant has been known to seize opportunities during rough spots. It's already seen some success during this crisis, too: Oracle just scored a big win when videoconferencing company Zoom — suddenly facing a surge in demand — chose to expand on Oracle Cloud, instead of other platforms like top cloud provider Amazon. Oracle is generally considered a smaller player in the cloud wars, behind giants Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Alibaba.

Yes, Oracle still has a long way to go to match its rivals' reach, but its strategy of expanding its capacity by building more data centers seems to be paying off, IDC President Crawford Del Prete told Business Insider.

That increased capacity and Oracle's "world class" applications are key in the cloud words, Del Prete said: "Oracle is one of the few companies able to deliver both at scale in order to compete."

While Catz and founder, executive chairman, and chief technology officer Larry Ellison the lead company, they're also relying on key top executives, including cloud veterans from rival Amazon, to advance Oracle's cloud strategy. 

Nearly all are white men, something Oracle has criticized for in the past: Over 30 members of Congress slammed the company late last year about the lack of diversity in its leadership team and on its board.

Meet the 10 top executives playing important roles in Oracle's cloud offensive:

SEE ALSO: Oracle is known for making bold M&A moves in a recession and it's sitting on a fresh $20 billion. Here are the 7 companies experts think it could acquire as the coronavirus crisis drives down valuations

SEE ALSO: Experts lay out five moves that Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of tech's best tacticians, might take in a coronavirus-driven downturn

Don Johnson left Amazon to focus on Oracle's cloud infrastructure.

Title: Executive vice president, cloud infrastructure

Reports to: Larry Ellison

Johnson  played a key role in Amazon's dramatic expansion in the cloud before joining Oracle in 2014.

He was instrumental in setting up Oracle's cloud engineering development center in Seattle and in the tech giant's expanding data center footprint.  Johnson has also led another major Oracle initiative: forming a cloud partnership with Microsoft.

Oracle's chief corporate architect Edward Screven has been with the company since 1986.

Title: Chief corporate architect

Reports to: Larry Ellison

Screven is an Oracle veteran who helped lead the company through all of the major industry changes of the past 30 years.

He admits that cloud market-leader Amazon had a head start, but says that there are benefits to following it. 

"We definitely started after Amazon: The bad news is they have market share, the good news is we get to learn a lot," he told Business Insider in an interview in May 2019. "Mindshare, that may be their biggest asset. But there is no technology they have that is concerning to me at all."

As one of Oracle's top technologists, he's focused on making Oracle's cloud infrastructure more secure, with more sophisticated and efficient ways to manage data. 

"We have hundreds of thousands of customers that store their most important data in Oracle databases," Screven said. "We could do a far better job for them than any other cloud provider. We are doing a far better job for them."

Clay Magouyrk leads cloud infrastructure engineering and played a key role in forging Oracle's new alliance with Zoom.

Title: Executive vice president, cloud infrastructure engineering

Reports to: Don Johnson

Magouyrk is another veteran of Amazon Web Services who joined the Oracle team in Seattle in 2014. 

He was Oracle's point-man in forging its new partnership with Zoom, which was seen as a major victory for Oracle.

"They needed capacity," Magouyrk told Business Insider last month "They reached out to us and we were like, 'Awesome, we can work with you.' Within a day, we had their application up and running."

Magouyrk was a founding team member of Oracle's cloud engineering development center in Seattle, which is spearheading the company's cloud infrastructure efforts.

Ariel Kelman left Amazon Web Services to become Oracle's chief marketing officer.

Title: Chief Marketing Officer

Reports to: Safra Catz

One of the biggest hurdles for Oracle is the public perception that it's a minor player in the cloud. In other words, it's a marketing problem.

This is where Kelman comes in. Before Oracle brought him on board in January 2020, Kelman led rival Amazon's cloud marketing efforts, and served as a marketing executive at Salesforce for six years before that.

"Ariel is a super smart hire for Oracle," analyst Ray Wang of Constellation Research told Business Insider. "He brings the cred in the market and understands how to counter all of Amazon's tactics and long-term strategy. He has the ear of Larry and Safra and is making progress with some great hires on his team."

Juergen Lindner left SAP to lead Oracle's software-as-a-service marketing strategy.

Title: Senior vice president, software-as-a-service marketing

Reports to: Ariel Kelman, chief marketing officer

Lindner spent most of his career helping SAP outsell Oracle in the traditional business software market: both dominated teh market for software installed in private data centers. 

He switched sides and roles four years ago to support Oracle's bid to become a stronger player in cloud software, also referred to as software-as-a-service, where businesses access applications through cloud platforms and pay via a subscription, usually based on the number of users granted access. 

Lindner has said it became clear to him that Oracle had a better strategy for the cloud-software era.

"Oracle has architected a very sustainable cloud infrastructure and applications strategy," he told Business Insider last year.

Steve Daheb left Citrix to lead Oracle's cloud marketing strategy.

Title: Senior vice president, cloud go-to-market

Reports to: Ashley Hart, senior vice president, global marketing cloud platform and database

Daheb joined Oracle in 2015 after serving as the chief marketing officer of Citrix, a cloud pioneer that first let businesses set up computing networks on web-based platforms instead of on-premise data centers, leading to dramatic IT cost savings.

Daheb witnessed the unexpected rise of Amazon in cloud computing, which began in the early : 2000s when the online retail giant realized it could make some extra money by giving businesses access to its massive but underutilized computing infrastructure, hosted from its data centers.

"Amazon had spare computing resources to rent out," he told Business Insider last year. "It's like, 'Hey, man, I got an extra room in the house during the summer when it's not spike retail time. There's nobody in there, so why don't I put this thing on Airbnb and see if anybody wants it?'"

Amazon Web Services has led the industry ever since. 

Like others on the Oracle team, Daheb thinks the software giant's technology and track record of working with major players across industries will eventually propel it to the front of the cloud pack.

"There's a level of understanding we have and a level of empathy we have for enterprise users: We serve the major banks, we serve transportation, we serve healthcare," he said. "We brought this enterprise mentality to it."

Juan Loaiza, who has been with Oracle since 1988, is in charge of mission-critical database technologies.

Title: Executive vice president, mission-critical database technologies

Reports to: Larry Ellison

Loaiza is another Oracle veteran who has been with the company for more than 30 years and is currently focused on its bid to expand the reach of its flagship database product.

The tech giant's cloud-based automated data-management platform Autonomous Database uses machine learning to quickly repair and update itself.Loaiza has compared the status of this fairly new initiative to the development of the self-driving car:

"It took a long time to get to a point where we are now and say, 'The next step is a self-driving car,'" he told Business Insider last year. "It's got to be safe. It has to have seatbelts and airbags and a navigation system. All that stuff was necessary before you take it to the next stage." 

The database is ready for that next stage. 

Jason Williamson left Amazon to lead Oracle's outreach to startups.

Title: Vice president, Oracle for Startups

Reports to: Mamei Sun, Ellison's chief of staff

Startups have played an important role in the growth of cloud computing and Oracle has launched a big push to establish closer ties with these smaller companies, given that they could eventually become the biggest power players. 

Williamson has been the company's point-man in this effort, as he develops ways to make Oracle's products and services more accessible to startups.

Williamson is another veteran of Amazon Web Services where he led the cloud giant's private-equity team before joining Oracle in 2017.

Evan Goldberg cofounded NetSuite, which is now part of Oracle.

Title: Executive vice president, NetSuite

Reports to: Safra Catz

Goldberg is part of the elite club of Oracle alums who went on to launch successful enterprise-software companies. (Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is perhaps the best-known.)

Goldberg left a long career at Oracle in the late 1990s to launch NetSuite, a cloud-based provider of financial- and accounting-management services. He was the chief technology officer alongside CEO Zach Nelson, another Oracle alum, and Ellison was actually one of their early backers.

Oracle acquired the company in 2016 and it now has more than 18,000 customers. 

Steve Miranda has been with Oracle since 1992 and leads cloud-applications development.

Title: Executive vice president, applications product development

Reports to: Ellison

Miranda is an Oracle veteran in charge of different aspects of the company's cloud-software business, including product development and strategy.

This covers applications used for major business operations, like supply-chain management, human resources, and enterprise performance management.

• Millions of people have quickly had to adapt to working from home during the pandemic, leading some to scramble to look presentable over video chats with colleagues.
• One strategy workers have used is the purchase of a ring light, a product that can be used in your video set-up to to improve lighting of your face on-camera.
• Right lights have already been popular buys for influencers, vloggers, and TikTok creators who adopt various tools to produce professional-quality videos uploaded online.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The ring light is beloved by YouTubers and aspiring TikTok creators for casting a flattering, even glow across anyone's face. Now, ring lights are seeing widespread interest among people tuning into Zoom work calls from their poorly lit homes during the pandemic.

Video conferencing software has exponentially grown in use in recent months, and employees now find themselves in situations online creators have been dealing with for years: Looking their best in front of the camera while in the comfort of their own homes.

Lockdown orders have coincided with a recent surge of interest in ring lights, especially in the U.S. where work-from-home rolled out to non-essential employees starting in early March. Twitter users have been sharing with followers their recent ring light purchases for classes, work meetings, and happy hours taking place over Zoom and FaceTime.

Ring light set-ups provide the benefits of a professional photo studio without the cost, casting your face in a shadow-free, flattering hue while you're in front of the camera. Ring lights on Amazon go for between $60 and $150, depending on how powerful of a light or complicated of a set-up you want. Many of these ring-lights come with tripods and pieces to hold your phone or camera.

Although newly work-from-home employees may just be discovering ring lights for the first time, they've long been a trick for creators whose bedrooms have doubled as their studios. While ring lights have been especially vital for makeup tutorials and beauty vloggers, they've since become commonplace to set-ups for young people starting out on YouTube and TikTok. Now, they're just one of the products with appearance-adjusting features catered to influencers, such as specific camera models that come with skin-smoothing filters.

As dates for returning to the office continue to get pushed back at some companies, sales will likely continue to rise for ring lights. However, it's probably on the more expensive side of simple tips and tricks to implement to look for presentable on your video calls. For those that don't want to splash out cash for a ring light, Zoom has a little-known filter on its platform that users can apply to give their faces a softer look and minimize imperfections. The "touch up my appearance" can be turned on directly within the Zoom app (you can find the steps for activating it on Business Insider).

SEE ALSO: WhatsApp is touting steps taken to cut the viral spread of coronavirus misinformation, but experts question whether it's done enough

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What makes 'Parasite' so shocking is the twist that happens in a 10-minute sequence

• I tested a roughly $33,000 Polaris Slingshot R, a three-wheeled "autocycle."
• The three-wheeler category includes vehicles from Can-Am and Harley-Davidson, offering a motorcycle experience in a less demanding package.
• My Slingshot R had a new, Polaris-developed, 203-horsepower engine and an automatic transmission.
• In all but three US states, no motorcycle license is required to operate the Slingshot (New York, Massachusetts, and Alaska continue to require the motorcycle certification).
• The Slingshot is insanely fun, with a modest learning curve — it's a great alternative to a two-wheeler, although the price is definitely steep for the Slingshot R.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Motorcycles are cool, but they aren't for everybody. Fortunately, there are some alternatives out there that offer an equally compelling, open-air experience.

One of the most popular is the the Polaris Slingshot, manufactured by the Minnesota-based powersports company. Until recently, Slingshots were available only with manual transmissions and GM-sourced engines, but for 2020, Polaris has updated the autocycle with an in-house motor and an automatic.

The automatic transmission in particular really broadens the Slingshot's potential. So I was excited to sample the machine, which I first saw about five years ago.

Polaris was kind enough to loan me a tester for a few weeks. Here's how it went:

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The Polaris Slingshot is a three-wheeled autocycle/motorcycle that Polaris industries has produced since 2014. My 2020 Slingshot R tester cost about $33,000 and was outfitted in a menacing red-and-black paint job.

The cheapest Slingshot is about $20,000.

This wasn't my first crack at a Slingshot. Polaris brought the vehicle to Insider's New York offices when the vehicle first launched.

And I generally have a gander at the Slingshot when I visit the annual New York motorcycle show.

The Slingshot is classified as either a motorcycle or an autocycle, depending on which state it's being operated in.

Yep, it looks like the Batmobile. Or Batcycle. Hard to avoid feeling like a superhero when you're behind the wheel. In all but three US states, no motorcycle license is required to drive the Slingshot. In New Jersey, you are required to wear a helmet.

Up front, you have 18-inch forged aluminum wheels, with an 20-incher at the back. The brakes have two-piece composite rotors.

Permanent open-air motoring isn't for everybody. Polaris does sell and older model, the Grand Touring, which has a cockpit canopy. The Polaris R has a waterproof interior and drain holes in the floorboards, should you get caught in bad weather.

My tester was the top-level "R" trim, complete with dual roll bars for drier and passenger.

Let's talk fender fairings! The Slingshot's are dramatic and large — I was reminded of Chevy Corvettes while driving this thing. Like a motorcycle, there's no rear-view mirror, so you have to adjust slightly to using the sideviews.

There's a new engine under the hood. Previously, Polaris used a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder GM-sourced Ecotech motor, making up to 175 horsepower. But my R had a ProStar four, also at 2.4-liters, cranking out 203 horsepower with a five-speed automatic transmission (a manual remains available). It's an in-house engine that was impressive in action.

The top speed is limited at 125 mph, and the 0-60mph run, according to Polaris and confirmed by yours truly, is about five seconds.

The four-banger redlines at 8,500 rpm and even with the automatic transmission does a pretty fair imitation of proper motorcycle acceleration. The auto is a tad crunchy, but in this context, that's a plus. It keeps you aware of what the engine is doing.

The rear wheel — fat and wide — is yoked to the motor and transmission with a belt drive. The suspension is surprisingly compliant, but you do have to be mindful of bumps, potholes, and manhole covers if you want to preserve you lower spine.

Polaris says the interior has been upgraded for 2020. No one would call it premium, but for a vehicle like this, it's rather comfortable.

The steering wheel is leather-wrapped, multifunctioned, and flat-bottomed to make getting into and out of the driver's seat easier.

The instrument cluster is a basic analog affair with a central digital display. The red button to on the right steering-wheel spoke allows you to switch between Comfort and Slingshot modes (the latter being the high-performance option).

The bucket seats are waterproof and extremely well-bolstered, with three-point seat belts.

The Slingshot's tubular frame is apparent in the doorless frame.

Not really much cargo capacity here, although I did use the Slingshot for a grocery-store run and quick jaunt to Target to buy a basketball.

There is a place to stow a smartphone, located just above the push-button gear selector.

The Slingshot also has push-button start-stop.

The glove compartment is the only other storage available ...

... And it's actually pretty roomy. One could stash a rain jacket in there, for example.

The RideCommand infotainment system is basic — but good! On a vehicle such as this, I wasn't expecting much, but the audio setup sounded decent, the screen was responsive, and Bluetooth and USB connectivity was on-par with what you'd find in any modern automobile.

There's even GPS navigation, which can display a map and provide turn-by-turn guidance.

The ride-mode selector is doubled in the infotainment system.

So what's the verdict?

I love three-wheelers. They aren't as cool as two-wheeled motorbikes, but they provide easy access to open-air motoring, and the driving/riding experience is much more engaging than what you find in convertible automobiles.

For anybody who dislikes the impracticality of motorcycles but wants to partake of the open-road lifestyle, machines like the Slingshot (the Can-Am Spyder and the Harley-Davidson Freewheeler, to name two) are ideal.

Not for nothing, they also offer aging riders a chance to yank their helmets and biker jackets out of storage to pursue moderately safer riding. With the Slingshot, gearing-up isn't necessary.

The trade-off, of course, is price. The Slingshot R that I tested costs more than an entry-level car or SUV. So, an expensive plaything. But there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody needs a hobby.

No doubt about it, the Slingshot captures attention. I lost count of how many little kids a stopped in their tracks as I tooled around the Jersey suburbs. The last vehicle that provoked such astonishment was the Lamborghini Huracán Performante. If you become a Slingshotter, prepare to be pointed at and asked for photo-ops.

Driving-wise, the Slingshot scratches an itch: on the road, the experience is unexpurgated — you don't have to be constantly vigilant, as you would on a bike, but you do need to remain aware. Highway trips are demanding. And noisy. And exhilarating. The Slingshot R is also fast and torque-y and the power goes to the single back wheel, so the while the two-wheeled front is stable, the back end can get pretty wiggly, especially in Slingshot mode, if you stomp the throttle.

I had iffy springtime Northeast weather to contend with, so I took the Slingshot out only on warm and sunny days; the rest of the time, I parked it in my garage. But the vehicle can handle being rained on, and one could also buy a cover to protect it from the elements. To be honest, however, I think it's a better choice in warm, dry climates. 

The performance is aggressively go-kart-y. This thing will make you a better drive, thanks to its point-and-shoot steering, crisp suspension, and easy access to power. It's insanely fun on curves and into corners. But it's also worthy of short road trips. In fact, the relative comfort was a shocker: I took the Slingshot out for a few hours one day and suffered no ill-effects to my lower back.

Drawback? The design is thoroughly sporty, so if you don't go in for that, the Slingshot might not be your bag. It isn't a throwback, nor is it at all steam-punky. 

It also isn't a motorcycle, in that there aren't any handlebars, you don't throw a leg, and the single wheel takes up the rear. 

But the Slingshot is a absolute blast, and if you're a weekend warrior who wants to carve up a canyon or a country road without having the grapple with a motorcycle's demands — and you don't mind dropping some dollars — the Slingshot is perfect.

• Elon Musk says Tesla may leave its Palo Alto headquarters and Fremont, California factory. 
• In a tweet Saturday morning, the chief executive continued his outrage against shelter-in-place orders that have forced most non-essential businesses to close. 
• Last week, Musk likened the rules to fascism, and urged leaders to "give people their goddamn freedom back." 
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After a week of decrying coronavirus shelter-in-place orders that have left Tesla's main factory shuttered and unable to produce vehicles, Elon Musk says the company may move its factory out of the state.

"Tesla is filing a lawsuit against Alameda County immediately," the chief executive said on Twitter Saturday morning. "The unelected & ignorant 'Interim Health Officer' of Alameda is acting contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!"

That was followed up with a threat to move Tesla's headquarters outside the state.

"Frankly, this is the final straw," he replied. "Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependent on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA."

It wasn't immediately clear if a suit had yet been filed, or in which court Tesla will file the lawsuit. Most state and federal courts are closed on weekends and do not allow filing. In a subsequent Tweet, Musk alsourged shareholders to file a class action suit for damages caused by shutdown. 

Tesla's press relations department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Alameda County did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Alameda County — the East Bay locale which includes Fremont, California, and Tesla's gigafactory about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco — extended its shelter-in-place order on April 29 "until further notice." Local authorities have not allowed Tesla to reopen the factory, and all manufacturing remains prohibited under the order.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Tesla was planning to resume some manufacturing operations at the factory as soon as last Wednesday, May 6. Local officials said it did not have permission to do so.

"Right now, the same health order is in place so nothing has changed," Fremont Police Department spokeswoman Geneva Bosques told Business Insider at the time. "Operating the assembly line was determined early on to be a violation."

Last week, following Tesla's first-quarter earnings announcement, Musk decried the shutdowns as a substantial risk to the company's financials.

"Frankly, I would call it forcible imprisoning of people in their homes against all of, their constitutional rights, in my opinion," he said on a conference call. "It's breaking people's freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country. What the f---. Excuse me. Outrage. Outrage."

"If somebody wants to stay in their house, that's great and they should be able to," he continued. "But to say they cannot leave their house and that they will be arrested if they do, that's fascist. That is not democratic — this is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom."

Some states, including Texas, Georgia, and others, have begun to slowly allow certain businesses to re-open in recent weeks.

Musk praised counties neighboring Alameda, like San Joaquin for what he said were more "reasonable" responses. In a podcast released May 7, he told Joe Rogan that the company had learned from the coronavirus in China, where it briefly forced Tesla to close its Shanghai factory — a claim he repeated on Twitter Saturday. 

"Our castings foundry and other faculties in San Joaquin have been working 24/7 this entire time with no ill effects. Same with Giga Nevada," Musk said. "Tesla knows far more about what needs to be done to be safe through our Tesla China factory experience than an (unelected) interim junior official in Alameda County." 

As Musk began to complain about factory shutdowns in April, workers at Tesla's Fremont factory told Business Insider that the comments made them anxious.

"I'm for going back to work, but only if it is safe for me, my family, coworkers," said one production employee. "I don't feel like I'm being forced to stay home or that my freedom has been taken away. It's for the good of California."

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