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By learning the language of TikTok, Duolingo soars to new heights

Zaria Parvez's favorite days are TikTok filming days.

As a social media coordinator at Pittsburgh-based Duolingo Inc., a freemium educational platform primarily focused on language learning, Parvez is responsible for running the team behind the company's account on TikTok — a social networking service owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. that primarily features short-form videos created by its users.

Parvez is also the one responsible for the account's recent explosive and viral success, which has generated more than 73 million views across the 25 videos it has posted over the course of the past month.... [Continued]

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Credit: Edinboro University

Amid labor shortage, these Pittsburgh companies are filling open roles. Here's how.

As March drew to a close, Klavon's Ice Cream Parlor in the Strip District found itself without enough workers for the upcoming spring and summer rush, and it certainly did not have enough workers to open the shop to its desired seven days a week schedule...[Continued]

WATCH

​Puerto Rican students continue to face hardships months after Hurricane Maria

​Gabriela Soto would go home for winter break, if it weren’t for the looters, power outages and widespread devastation. Instead, she will meet her family in Florida, where many other Puerto Ricans have joined them after relocating from the island...[Continued]

LISTEN

Weekly Podcast:
POLiTECH - Episode 4 | Access for All

Ohio State Sen. Joe Schiavoni joins to discuss his bill to increase broadband access across the state. Later, a discussion on Twitter's crackdown on anti-abuse rules. Finally, cyberattacks continue to penetrate government protections, with the U.K. blaming Iran for its latest intrusion.

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PROFILE

​Risking it all; how a Fulbright scholar made it to Ohio while living under Taliban control

The nearly daily bombings throughout her city could not intimidate her as a 5-year-old. Nor could she be deterred by the threat of the Taliban killing her if it learned she had school supplies tucked away under a seemingly innocent, yet incredibly simple disguise.

For Safia Amiry, a 28-year-old Fulbright scholar and a graduate student from Afghanistan, education has always been a primary driving force in her life, and no one can...[Continued]

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LOCAL

Demand far exceeding supply for new URA Ventures funding program

Since its launch in March, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh's new URA Ventures pilot program received 95 applications from companies looking to participate in the investment opportunity, far more than....[Continued]

STATE

When might Pennsylvania permit driverless vehicles on its roads?

All autonomous vehicle companies that conduct testing in Pennsylvania must wait on legislators in Harrisburg to change state law if these companies wish to validate their efforts of truly driverless vehicles, a task that these very companies have had to ....[Continued]

INTERNATIONAL

How local residents and tourists in Paris are coping with repeated terror attacks

​The city of Paris has seen an increase in terror attacks in recent years. With constant coverage of these events, it seems to imply that the city is under siege. But is that really how locals and tourists alike feel while in the City of Light and what do they have to say for those who visit?

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FEATURE

Local startups turning to outside funders in order to scale​

Back in the summer of 2018 and during the first month of their time in the prestigious startup accelerator Y Combinator, Brandon Contino and Dan Chi nearly racked up enough airline miles to achieve gold status due to their weekly flights between San Francisco, where YC is based, and Pittsburgh, the headquarters of Four Growers, the crop harvesting robotics startup they co-founded.

As Contino explained it, YC normally requires startups to fully commit to relocating to the Bay Area during their time in the program in exchange for a $150,000 seed-level investment, but the startup managed to convince YC to let it do so otherwise for its first month in the program and before YC’s Demo Day... [Continued]

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

Survivors of abuse demand action and change during hunger strike in Madrid

The Ve-la Luz organization, which translates to "See the Light," is calling on survivors of domestic abuse and violence to urge lawmakers for more support. The group's hunger strike has reached its tenth day as crowds of residents and tourists continue to grow around the makeshift campsite.

COMMUNITY

'Christmas Vacation' film comes to life as part of elaborate holiday display

It’s one thing to deck the halls with boughs of holly, but for Dan Hartman of Bethel Park, the halls, walls, RV and roof are all in need of some holiday ornamentation as he sets up various scenes from the 1989 film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” throughout his...[Continued]

TECH​

Parking platform lands $2.6M seed extension round as it scouts to further its footprint

​It will will help scale the Braddock-based startup's employee count and future geographic footprint. Co-founded by CEO Jim Gibbs and Chief Technology Officer Daniel Lopretto, the startup services payment collection for all metered locations of...[Continued]

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PROFILE

Personalities of Pittsburgh: Matthew Johnson-Roberson on returning to CMU

He’s back.

In November 2021, Carnegie Mellon University announced that Matthew Johnson-Roberson would serve as the new head of its Robotics Institute — a post he assumed in January — though it’s far from the first time he’s been on the university’s campus. A 2005 graduate of CMU’s computer science program, Johnson-Roberson has returned in an executive role to take leadership of CMU’s hub for graduate students where they gain the necessary experience and education needed to become future leaders in robotics...[Continued]