Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

Americans are feeling financially stretched: 92% cut back on spending last year, including curbing essentials like healthcare and groceries. Is this really the time for Target to be focused on trendy throw pillows, luxury beauty products, and premium sodas? At Target’s investor day on Tuesday, CEO Michael Fiddelke tried to convince Wall Street that the retailer is about to undergo a massive turnaround, after years of declining comparable sales, most recently in this last quarter. His reinvention plan is anchored in stylish design, differentiation from other retailers, and delighting the customer in-store. But none of these strategies seemed built for the economic mome…

Airport lounges are getting bigger, flashier, and increasingly crowded. American Express (Amex) believes the next evolution might actually be smaller. On Wednesday, the company opened the doors to Sidecar by The Centurion Lounge, a new 33-seat speakeasy-style lounge concept at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. The space is designed specifically for travelers who have 90 minutes or less before boarding, offering a quick stop for food, drinks, and a moment of calm before heading to the gate. The opening represents the first new format for the Centurion Lounge brand since the network debuted more than a decade ago. According to Audrey Hendley, p…

Since its invention in 1903, the classic Monopoly board game has spawned such a plethora of spin-offs that they nearly span the breadth of all possible human interests. From gardening and beer drinking to the FIFA World Cup, Star Wars, and the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, if you can think of it, there’s a fair chance it’s been turned into a Monopoly game. Now there’s yet another version out there. This one celebrates the life and legacy of artist Keith Haring in a design by WS Game Co., a licensee of Hasbro (Monopoly’s parent company) that specializes in deluxe versions of classic tabletop games. For the 40th anniversary of Haring’s iconic New York City store, Po…

Things are moving quickly in the Middle East following the February 28 attack by Israel and the United States on Iran. Repeated waves of US-Israeli strikes have hit military and government sites across Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and prompting a temporary leadership council to take charge in Tehran. Iran has responded with threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and launched retaliatory attacks around the Gulf, raising fears that the conflict could spill over into a broader regional war and disrupt global energy supplies. One way the average Joe is trying to keep track is by “monitoring the situation” using dashboards—many of which, their creators admit, were spun …

The J. Paul Getty Trust has a flexible new logo that ties its extensive art collections and various programs into a single yet versatile identity. The trust, founded in 1953, today runs the Getty Center and Getty Villa art museums in Los Angeles, as well as a foundation, conservation institute, and research institute. The new logo brings all the entities together as a unified brand. “We needed a visual identity that was uniquely Getty and distinct enough to unify how we show up globally,” Yasmine Vatere, assistant director of brand management and marketing, said in a statement. Famed designer Saul Bass created the outgoing logo for the opening of the G…

On the northern outskirts of Beijing, massive holes in the earth bear the scars of what it’s taken to fuel the Chinese capital’s growth into a sprawling megacity that more than 22 million people call home. The site was a quarry that from 1990 to 2015 provided the raw material to help Beijing grow at hyperspeed, supplying everything from skyscrapers to roads to the main stadium built for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Last operated by Beijing Xingfa Cement Co., its closure left behind a negative space that is the inverse of the vertical urbanity of Beijing. Now, after nearly a decade of planning and design, the quarry’s rehabilitation into a striking and surreal 265-acre p…

We’re only two months in, but 2026 is already shaping up to be the year of agents. The current surge began with Claude Code, which achieved critical mass over the holidays. That led to all kinds of lobster-themed software names (long story), which culminated in OpenClaw, an open-source agent creation and management system. It might also be a stealth marketing campaign for Apple to sell a ton of Mac Minis, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s too early to say what kind of productivity gains the current wave of agents will create, but the push to agents is undeniable. It’s also very exclusive. For all the talk of, “the only coding language you need to know is English…

Job interviews can trip up even the most qualified candidates with verbal landmines. In this article, we discuss specific phrases candidates should avoid using in interviews and more effective alternatives recommended by experts. Discover common phrases that send the wrong message to interviewers, as well as stronger alternatives that demonstrate genuine value, so you can effectively communicate your skills and experience. Lead With Curiosity, Not Critique If you’re interviewing for a tech role, here’s a fast way to tank your chances: Walk in and immediately trash the company’s systems. You know the move. “Honestly, your system is outdated. I’d replace it with some…

Inc.com columnist Alison Green answers questions about workplace and management issues—everything from how to deal with a micromanaging boss to how to talk to someone on your team about body odor. A reader asks: Last fall, I left a beloved job and assisted them in hiring two people to replace me. One was an internal hire, the other required an outside interview process. We received over 50 applications, narrowed it down to 13 phone interviews, then seven in-person interviews, and finally made a very satisfying hiring decision. At each step along the way, I sent out polite rejection emails to those who didn’t make the next level. It was very professional, and a…

When you visit the Samsung booth this week at the Mobile World Congress 2026—which, as always, is being held at the Fira Gran Via convention center in Barcelona—you can make your way past the array of brand-new devices to find a timeline of old Galaxy S phones mounted to a wall. It’s a neat piece of history, but I’m not sure it had the intended effect. Rather than demonstrating Samsung’s progress over the years, it highlights how the South Korean tech giant—still the No. 2 phone maker in the world, right behind Apple, according to data from Counterpoint—has been treading water at the top of its lineup. This year’s Galaxy S26 Ultra, announced a few days before the …

In 1994, Bernard Tschumi, then Dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture in New York, launched an experiment that banned paper and hand drawings, requiring architecture students to use computers instead. Together with the rise of computer-aided programs, Tschumi’s “Paperless Studio” accelerated the profession’s embrace of digital tools and reshaped how architects conceived ideas. Now that AI has entered the picture, you’d be forgiven for thinking the architectural sketch as we know it is dead. Quite the opposite. “We are in a world that is now completely dominated by digital tools, but something strange is happening: The hand sketch is back,” says …

I may have just seen the biggest interface breakthrough in years. Or not. But I think so? Things are moving so fast that it’s hard to tell. Ryo Lu, head of design at the white-hot coding tool Cursor has invited me to their charcoal-hued San Francisco studio. Before anyone says hello, I’m greeted by a pile of footwear in the entry of the no-shoes open office. I suddenly regret my choice to wear my New Balance loafers without socks. The softspoken Lu, donning the creative-approved uniform of flowy wide-legged pants and a button down, weaves me through desks—past half a sports bar’s worth of uptime monitors and a shelf of knicknacks including a New Jeans record …

The numbers on a new patriotic Pennsylvania license plate were designed to be easy to read, but they’ve actually introduced a new point of confusion. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro announced the “Let Freedom Ring” specialty license plate last summer to promote the commonwealth’s role in America’s founding 250 years ago. The cream-colored plate depicts a dark blue Liberty Bell in the background, along with the previously mentioned slogan and commonwealth’s name in red. None of that is at issue, though: The problem is the style of the zero. The number has a slash through its counter to prevent confusion with the letter O. Now, however, Pennsylvania toll came…

It’s well known that artificial intelligence has driven skyrocketing demand for electrical power, computing hardware, and network connectivity at data centers. But AI has also quietly shifted how consumers use their home internet service. AT&T reports a recent boost in the share of data that customers upload through its network as they communicate with AI systems. “In 2025, customers’ upload traffic grew two times faster than download traffic,” says Jenifer Robertson, executive vice president and general manager for AT&T Mass Markets. “And that’s driven by AI use.” Historically, home internet use has centered on downloading data—accessing websites, scroll…

Raising venture capital for a physical-world company can feel harder than getting struck by lightning. You could be standing on a mountain for months, holding a metal pole in a storm, waiting. And you probably still wouldn’t get hit. Meanwhile, it can seem like founders in San Francisco announce a new AI round every other week. Capital moves quickly when you’re building software that rides the current hype cycle. If you’re building something that touches atoms instead of code, like manufacturing, energy, agriculture, or materials, you’re often grinding quietly. The timelines are longer. The checks are fewer. The rejections stack up. And pardon my French, but you get y…

In the high-stakes world of revenue orchestration, a quiet but costly friction is slowing down deals. It isn’t market volatility or budget cuts—it’s a fundamental disconnect between the generations tasked with closing the sale. Steve Cox, CEO of the newly merged sales tech powerhouse SalesLoft and Clari, sat down with me recently to discuss a startling finding from their latest report: generational conflict is costing sales organizations an estimated $56 billion in lost productivity annually. That’s not a typo. Billion, with a B. “When Boomers hear ‘AI makes you faster,’ what they really hear is ‘You’re too slow,’” Cox explains. Meanwhile, 39% of Gen Z sellers pre…

The job market is tough right now: AI résumé filters, the rise of ghost jobs, and waves of industry-wide layoffs. Many workers cling tightly to their jobs in this environment, a phenomenon known as “job hugging.” But a surprising number of mid-career millennials aren’t scrambling to avoid redundancy. Instead, they admit they’d prefer an external push out the door because the alternative—voluntarily navigating a chaotic job market—feels far too risky. And experts say it’s a trend that should leave the cohort right below millennials worried. A recent survey of 2,000 Gen Z and millennial workers in the US by online education platform ELVTR found that 37% of mill…

Late last month, frozen food manufacturer Ajinomoto Foods North America announced a recall of roughly 3 million pounds of not-ready-to-eat products after customers reported finding glass in rice. In the U.S., many of the recalled products were sold at Trader Joe’s locations. Now that the recall has been dramatically expanded, with new products being pulled from the shelves. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? On March 3, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) posted a recall notice announcing that Ajinomoto Foods North America was expanding its earlier recall to include an additional 33 million pounds of various ready-to-eat and not-re…

Jurors in a bellwether trial about the impacts of social media on children watched a deposition of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday that explored what the architects of Facebook and Instagram knew from internal research about the negative experiences of young users and how the company responded. New Mexico’s attorney general alleges that Meta violated state consumer protection laws in failing to disclose what it knew about the dangers of addiction to social media as well as child sexual exploitation on the company’s platforms. Attorneys for Meta say the company discloses risks and makes efforts to weed out harmful content and experiences — acknowledging that some ba…

The Social Security Administration is rolling out some big changes to how it handles disability payments while also upgrading its customer service. The changes come in the aftermath of a major overhaul by DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, in 2025, which resulted in the layoffs of more than 7,000 workers. First, let’s take a look at disability payments. The new process aims to cut the time it takes to determine eligibility for Social Security, speed up the time it takes beneficiaries to receive their checks, and, according to the Washington Examiner, reduce the agency’s current backlog. The SSA had a backlog of claims that was on track to exc…

In January, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, announced that it would use its chatbot to develop an AI tutoring system for more than a million students in El Salvador. The announcement came on the heels of similar ones from OpenAI, which is connecting students in Kazakhstan with its ChatGPT Edu services, and from Microsoft, which is similarly equipping students and teachers in the United Arab Emirates with AI-based tools and training. While other countries are executing on national infrastructure projects for the AI era and treating it as an economic imperative, here in the United States, we can’t seem to move past a narrative of how AI makes it easier…

There’s a new exercise trend making the rounds on the internet: Tai Chi walking, inspired by a centuries-old Chinese martial art that incorporates flowing hand and foot movements with breath and mindfulness. Also know as “meditation in motion” (and dubbed “medication in motion”), Tai Chi is a gentle form of exercise that has a number of reported health benefits, primarily strength, flexibility, and balance, and, to a lesser degree, aerobic conditioning, according to an article from Harvard Medical School. Without using weights or resistance bands, you can gain upper-body strength through arm exercises that use your core and back muscles in a similar way. Another s…