While projections for the spread of the omicron variant of Covid-19 remain tentative, it seems to be much more transmissible (almost certain) and more benign (far less certain). It’s not only that more people are vaccinated or have some form of natural immunity, but also that the variant itself may be somewhat less dangerous, even to those hospitalised by it. ...

Prepare for omichristmas. Even amid concern about the new variant and increased restrictions, many consumers will still pull out all the stops to make up for 2020. Not everyone is on board, of course. In the UK, even before PM Boris Johnson’s decision to trigger his so-called “Plan B,” there were signs of caution in travel, drinking and dining. Trade ...

Amazon.com Inc’s ubiquitous cloud-computing network, the spine for a lot of digital communications and transactions across the US, went dark for several hours. The cloud has provided bounteous advantages but also excess — a cornucopia of nice-to-haves, much of it silly. Even comparisons don’t truly surface the most substantive threats to consider when digital meltdowns or significant hacks occur on ...