Bitcoin News Australia

Europe has sidewalk cafes, great public transit, and — according to some housing advocates — the correct number of staircases. Per Slate:

• In Europe and parts of Asia, apartments often have one staircase, and perhaps elevators for accessibility.
• Across North America, most multistory apartment buildings are required to have two — one at either end.

This is largely done for fire safety, yet data shows residential fire deaths are higher in the US than in countries where single-stair buildings are common.

Why do people hate on double stairs?

They result in “double-loaded corridor” buildings with units on opposite sides of a hallway.

They’re often aesthetically boring and big — if you’ve gotta build two staircases, you might as well get your money’s worth.

But advocates like architect Michael Eliason say that single-stair buildings:

• Use space more efficiently
• Provide units with more natural light and cross-ventilation, reducing energy costs
• Are cheaper to build, and make it cost-effective to develop smaller buildings with larger, family-sized units
• Have more interesting architecture

But would it be a game changer?

Architecture critic Kate Wagner has a more reserved take, doubting this single change would fix problems deeper than design.

Still, we may get a chance to see. Seattle already allows single staircases for buildings up to six floors, and a new California bill could open the door for buildings over three floors by 2026.

BTW: If you’re curious about what a single-stair design looks like, Eliason frequently posts them on Twitter.

In 1889, Willoughby McCormick started bottling spices in his Baltimore basement.

In 2022, McCormick & Co. made $6.35B in sales. (Cue Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”)

A striking thing about McCormick…

… beside its signature red caps and vast portfolio of flavoring goodness — e.g., French’s, Frank’s RedHot, Cholula — is how it positions itself as a tech company.

At a conference last week, COO Brendan Foley went all Tim Cook on everyone:

• Innovation: McCormick expects 6x more new product launches YoY in 2023.
• Focus on design: Its updated packaging preserves freshness with a new “nitrogen flushing” procedure and tighter sealing “snap” cap.
• Iteration: Sales of McCormick’s larger spice bottles have increased 20% YoY since the pandemic started.

Because no tech company is complete without its own head-scratching jargon, Foley also hailed the company’s “category management mindset.”

None of this should be surprising…

… if only because McCormick was early to the AI party.

McCormick and IBM built SAGE — an AI system trained on decades of flavor chemistry, sensory science, and consumer data — to generate new taste combos.

Here’s the rub: SAGE-assisted products have been in supermarkets since 2019.