Better.com CEO Vishal Garg, who laid off 900 employees over a Zoom meeting that lasted less than three minutes, is taking time off from the company, Vice reported."If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off," Garg said on the Dec. 1 webinar. "Your employment here is terminated, effective immediately," he told them.Garg's leave is also effective immediately, according to a Friday email from the company's board of directors, and day-to-day operations will be taken over by the company's CFO, Kevin Ryan. Better.com added that it is hiring a third-party firm to do a "leadership and cultural assessment," whose recommendations "will be taken into account to build a long-term sustainable and positive culture at Better."CNN Business has viewed the email and has asked Better.com for comment. "The recommendations of this assessment will be taken into account to build a long-term sustainable and positive culture at Better," the email said.The online mortgage company's mass layoff affected about 9% of its staff. Just days later, three of the company's top communications executives resigned, according to multiple media reports.In a later post on the professional network Blind, Garg accused the fired employees of "stealing" from their colleagues and customers by being unproductive and only working two hours a day, according to Fortune, which confirmed those sentiments in a later interview with the CEO.In a Dec. 7 letter addressed to the Better.com team, Garg apologized for the way he handled the layoffs, and for making "a difficult situation worse." He added, "I failed to show the appropriate amount of respect and appreciation for the individuals who were affected and for their contributions to Better," the letter reads. "I own the decision to do the layoffs, but in communicating it I blundered the execution. In doing so, I embarrassed you."

It's been harder to visit face-to-face with Santa Claus over the past few years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But Santa is always coming up with new ways to stay in touch. Colorado's Longmont Amateur Radio Club, which has helped put Saint Nick on the airwaves and connect him with children across the state.Santa is using the technology to check his list, make sure children are ready for the holidays and answer their questions."She always says, 'Santa, how many cookies did you eat last night?" Santa told KUSA of one caller. "I don't know, I was too busy to count them." No radio? No problem. Santa said he's also available on Zoom. "If I can make someone laugh for 10 seconds somewhere in their day, that's worth any foolishness that I might do," Santa said.

HOLLAND, Mich. — A West Michigan plastic surgeon says he has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people seeking facial procedures, saying clients are doing so after spending months staring at themselves on Zoom while working from home.

Dr. Jason Stubbs runs Signature Surgical in Holland and has seen his requests for service skyrocket since he was able to resume operations in June. The pandemic had forced them to pause any procedures for several months.

“It's been rather shocking, to be honest with you," Dr. Stubbs told FOX 17 Thursday. "It's non-stop busy.”

He has seen a surge in people seeking cosmetic procedures done on their face.

Typically he sees about, "80% body procedures, 20% facial procedures." But now he says he is seeing about half of his clients come in looking for facial procedures.

"I mean, it's a dramatic percentage change,” he said.

Dr. Stubbs is calling it a "Zoom Boom", saying that many of his patients are saying they chose to seek out a facial procedure after spending the last year working remotely and staring at themselves for hours a day on Zoom.

“The lights hitting you differently, you see shadows and lines that you don't normally want to see. And then, so that's when we're thinking, hey, maybe Botox is a good idea, or maybe a filler is a good idea,” he said Thursday.

“And what we're noticing is they're coming in saying, Doc, I don't really like this, or this is something I want to change, or this wasn't like this years ago.”

He's been working here in West Michigan for the past five years and says he's never seen anything like it.

And because so many of us are still working remotely, he says more people now have the time available to recover from a procedure at home.

"Especially being able to the ability to wear masks now that you can hide the procedure," he said.

“It's like, I'm okay, because I'm wearing a mask, and then people won't even see my nose or my neck or whatever, for the next couple of weeks.”

Offering both surgical and non-surgical options for touching up your appearance, Dr. Stubbbs says people have been driving into his office from all over the state.

“If we can, in some form, or fashion, make one facet of your life better, make you feel better about yourself, hey, we're doing our job.”

You can find out more about Signature Surgical and the services they offer on their website.

This story was first published by Michael Martin at WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

PORTLAND, Maine —

A group of Maine high schoolers had the Zoom of a lifetime recently.

Teens who are a part of the Portland-based Young Writers and Leaders (YWL) program got to talk with a best-selling author, President Barack Obama.

Back in December President Obama sent a copy of his new memoir, A Promised Land, to the 26 Maine high schoolers who make up the YWL program, and later followed up with a letter, asking they could spare some time from their busy lives and join him on a Zoom call to talk about their lives as writers and leaders.

“The whole thing was like so unreal. But it actually happened, and we have, like, we have video proof that it happened,” said Noor Sager, a 15-year-old sophomore at Gorham High School.

During Obama’s presidency, the White House actually named the YWL program as one of the top 12 arts and humanities programs for youth in the nation.

“We started by asking him questions,” said Alia Usanase, a 19-year-old junior at Deering High School.

In a video of the interaction, Usanase asked President Obama if he always likes everything he writes.

“No! Sometimes I write, most of the time I write something, I say ‘this is stupid,'” Obama told her.

For an hour, the former president gave them advice on writing, life and how to be leaders.

“You need to like change your community first in order to change the world,” said Youmna Mohamed, a 17-year-old senior at Portland High School, expressing one of her key takeaways from the conversation.

“My whole life, I hadn’t imagined myself talking to a president. President Obama in front of me, like I am literally talking to him,” Usanase said, still in disbelief.

“Honestly at the end of that call I couldn't help but feel like, a really lasting impression that, like, maybe like the really impossible stuff that everyone thinks about isn’t that impossible,” Sager said.

To learn more about Young Writers and Leaders, a program put on by The Telling Room, head to tellingroom.org.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will meet with members of the 2020 US Olympic Team Saturday in a livestreamed virtual reception.The first couple, who are spending the weekend at their Delaware home, "will virtually meet with members of Team USA to congratulate them on their accomplishments, thank them for representing their country so proudly, and hear about their journeys to and competition in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games," according to the White House.In a pre-recorded message posted Saturday, the president applauded the Olympic athletes for their work leading up to and throughout the Olympic games, acknowledging, "I know getting to the Olympics is a long journey, and the pandemic made it especially difficult and draining, it made the impossible even harder. But in you, a country saw itself, and saw what was possible.""I also know the pride your families must feel I know how hard it was for you and for them, that they couldn't be with you in person. Defining images of the games are on Zoom and FaceTime, calls with families and communities crying and sharing with pure joy. To all the families and friends of Team USA-- thank you as well," Biden said, adding, "God bless you all, and I look forward to hosting all of you at the White House when you get home."Earlier last month, first lady Jill Biden was one of 950 VIPs invited to attend the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Tokyo, where, during her brief time attending the games, she took the role of cheerleader-in-chief, both literal and figural."Becoming an Olympian is a rare accomplishment in a normal time. But you did it during a global pandemic," she told athletes during a virtual conversation in the Olympic Village. "In these moments we are more than our cities or states or backgrounds. We are more than our jobs or our political parties."Asked Thursday if Biden had invited the Olympic team to visit the White House on their return stateside, White House press secretary Jen Psaki joked, "I hope so. They're invited -- I'm inviting them here to my house, anywhere you want to come.""I have nothing to preview -- I don't have anything on the schedule, but certainly that's a tradition and the President is probably as obsessed with the Olympics as I am, if not more, so I expect there'll be an invitation at some point,' she said.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Sacramento plastic surgeon Dr. Scott Green made international headlines recently after a viral video showed the doctor participating in a virtual traffic court while in the operating room.

Dr. Green is a partner at the Sacramento Plastic Surgery Center where he, and another surgeon, were in the middle of a facelift when his name was called at the Sacramento Superior Court’s virtual hearing.

Green was on the schedule to contest a speeding ticket received in October along Highway 50.

Sacramento Superior Court Commissioner Gary Link noted the unusual setting saying, “I do not feel comfortable for the welfare of the patient if you are in the process of operating that I would put on a trial.”

Green responded that he was ready to proceed, but Link decided to set a new date.

Since then there has been a public backlash against the veteran surgeon, with social media users, websites and news outlets reposting and publishing the video.

"I wish the people that had reported on it, had spent more time looking into it first and understanding it before they cast judgment," Green told KCRA 3 in his first interview since the incident went viral.

Green said he was told his case could come up any time between 3 and 5 p.m. He had hoped to finish operating before then.

"This was our last case, we were half-way through it, through all of the critical parts. The critical parts of that kind of case, which is a facelift, those parts actually go very quick in the beginning," Green said.

Green was not the only surgeon in the room. He trains surgery fellows throughout the year, passing along the knowledge he's gained from more than two decades of operating.

"Part of a fellowship training is allowing a surgeon to do those things that you deem they can do as well as you at that point," Green said. He said he had already put his fellow to work wrapping up the case when he decided to take the call.

"I was trying to give deference to the court and go through the formalities as quickly as possible so we could fix things as quickly as we could," Green said.

Attorney and physician Dr. Jeffrey Segal said the uproar in the media amounts to a misunderstanding of what really happens in the operating room every day.

"In point of fact, surgeons have these types of encounters every day where they take a break, leave to go to the bathroom, they leave to eat a protein bar, check a biopsy. They only do it if it’s safe," Segal said.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Troy Adreasen, who trained with Green, agreed, "as long as patient confidentiality wasn’t breached, as long as there wasn’t a patient safety issue."

"I don’t think we have much to talk about because this happens every day, in every operating room, in every single city in this country," he said.

General and oncological surgeon Yona Barash said he takes a variety of calls during surgery, even leaving the room to consult with fellow doctors or to take a break.

"He wasn’t doing that while operating, he was away from the table at that point watching the fellow finish the case. He could have easily walked out of the room," Barash said.

A spokesperson for the California Medical Board said they were aware of what happened and were reviewing the incident but could not comment on whether a formal investigation had been launched and if any codes of conduct had been violated.

While it certainly did not look good from a public perspective, Segal said he was confident there was no wrongdoing.

"We’ve already sent a preemptive statement explaining why there is no patient safety issue, there is no confidentiality problem. I fully expect the board will not have a problem with this," Segal said.

In hindsight, Green said he could’ve handled the situation differently, stepping out of the room to take the call while his fellow finished the procedure.

The doctor, who settled his speeding ticket by paying the fine earlier this week, says he has several takeaways from the social media outcry.

"We are defined by those judgments we make and those decisions we make either to love and to care or not," he said. "To me, this has been a great outpouring of judgment followed by a great outpouring of love. At the end of the day, the love is what I am grateful for."

CINCINNATI — The pandemic presented a slew of problems for many people, but University of Cincinnati student volunteers at the Hearing Speech + Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati found a way to make it work.

Jordan Klemt is a sophomore who has known for years that she wants to be a speech pathologist. Jayse Card is a freshman who learned American Sign Language in high school and fell in love with it.

Klemt and Card are two of the 18 UC students who volunteered at the Hearing Speech + Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati. Usually, students meet with staff members at the center and shadow them to get some hands-on experience in the field, but the pandemic stopped that.

"I knew there was going to be less opportunity to shadow and volunteer," Card said.

"It's been extraordinarily challenging," Steve Wesselkamper, director of development and marketing at the center, said. "First of all, how do we stage this kind of volunteer experience in a virtual world?"

The students started using their social media and their internet skills to meet with people over services like Zoom.

"This has made me a believer in creativity and innovation," Wesselkamper said. "I can't wait to pick it up a year from now."

The center also allowed student volunteers to come in to the center for short visits, which last between 10 and 15 minutes. Even that short time has made all the difference though.

"Finally being able to come in and actually witness things is so exciting," Klemt said. "It's really exciting to finally get back into the groove of everything... It's not the same over Zoom."

Abby Friedman was met with laughs when she first proposed the idea to her family of having Seder — the ceremonial dinner for the first night of Passover — over the conferencing platform Zoom.

“At first, my dad laughed at it, and said 'well I don’t really think so,'” she said. But once they fully absorbed the gravity of the ongoing pandemic, everyone was quick to get on board.

“Now we are going to have about 26 people on a Zoom link participating in a Seder,” Friedman, a corporate event planner, said.

Friedman’s family isn’t alone. With churches and synagogues closed around the country, many will be turning to technology to stay connected during Passover, Easter and later this month, Ramadan.

With stay-at-home orders still in effect, officials aren’t mincing words.

“We have got to stay home and stay away from each other,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a briefing Wednesday. “It brings me no joy saying that during Passover, Easter or Ramadan or any other moment.”

With food playing a central role in celebrating religious traditions, Citymeals on Wheels, New York City’s emergency meal provider for seniors, delivered 10,000 Passover meals to those observing.

“It’s helping them feel a little less lonely and isolated to get this comforting food,” Beth Shapiro, executive director at Citymeals said.

Meanwhile, faith leaders came together for a virtual town hall with Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, encouraging believers to use the time at home to reflect.

“In the first Easter, the disciples of Jesus were locked in a room — they were fearful,” noted Monsignor Michael Andreano of St. Peter & Paul Church, likening it to the current climate where many are practicing social distancing.

Many places of worship are turning to live streams and telecasts, offering parishioners another option to participate.

This article was written by Andrew Ramos for

WPIX

.

BOSTON, Mass. – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is warning people of “Zoom-bombing,” where hackers hijack teleconferences and online classrooms on the popular remote conferencing platform.

FBI Boston

said Monday

that reports of “Zoom-bombing” are emerging nationwide as a growing number of people use Zoom to stay connected with colleagues and loved ones.

The FBI says it has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language. Two incidents were recently reported at Massachusetts schools.

In one instance, a high school reported that a teacher was conducting an online class using Zoom when an unidentified person dialed into the classroom. The individual reportedly yelled profanity and then shouted the teacher’s home address in the middle of instruction.

In the second instance, The FBI says a school reported that a Zoom meeting was accessed by an unidentified individual who was visible on the video camera and displayed swastika tattoos.

When using platforms like Zoom, the FBI recommends exercising due diligence and caution in your cybersecurity efforts. Investigators say to follow these steps to mitigate teleconference hijacking threats:

• Do not make meetings or classrooms public. In Zoom, there are two options to make a meeting private: require a meeting password or use the waiting room feature and control the admittance of guests.

• Do not share a link to a teleconference or classroom on an unrestricted publicly available social media post. Provide the link directly to specific people.

• Manage screensharing options. In Zoom, change screensharing to “Host Only.”

• Ensure users are using the updated version of remote access/meeting applications. In January 2020, Zoom updated its software. In the security update, the teleconference software provider added passwords by default for meetings and disabled the ability to randomly scan for meetings to join.

• Lastly, ensure that your organization’s telework policy or guide addresses requirements for physical and information security.

If you were a victim of a teleconference hijacking, or any cyber-crime for that matter, report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at

ic3.gov

.

Additionally, if you receive a specific threat during a teleconference, please report it at

tips.fbi.gov

or call the FBI Boston Division at (857) 386-2000.