Blog, YouTube & Content Monetization

The van makes its way slowly but surely through the city streets, braking gently when a car swerves into its lane. But its steering wheel is turning on its own, and there’s no one in the driver’s seat. The driverless technology from Nissan Motor Corp., which uses 14 cameras, nine radars, and six LiDar sensors installed in and around the vehicle, highlights Japan’s eagerness to catch up with players like Google’s Waymo that have taken the lead in the U.S. Japan, home to the world’s top automakers, has not kept pace with the global shift to autonomous driving, so far led by China and the U.S. But momentum is building. Waymo is going to land in Japan this year. Details ha…

Nestlé USA is voluntarily recalling a limited quantity of Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s frozen meals after reports of potential contamination with “foreign matter,” namely wood-like material. The Arlington, Virginia, company emphasizes that no other varieties of Lean Cuisine or Stouffer’s meals are involved in the recall and that there is no evidence of other products being contaminated. A notice was also posted on the website of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Here’s what you need to know: What products are affected? This recall is isolated to a limited quantity of batches of the following items, which were produced between August 2024 and March 2025…

I-P-Go! Shares of Navan, a travel-tech firm based in Silicon Valley, hit the exchanges on Thursday. The company priced its initial public offering at $25 per share, raising roughly $923 million. The $25 per-share price is within the $24–$26 range the company zeroed-in on last week, when it also announced it would sell nearly 37 million shares of common stock. The IPO puts Navan’s valuation at around $9.2 billion. Navan shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker “NAVN.” Founded in 2015, the company bills itself as “an all-in-one business travel, payments, and expense management platform that makes travel easy for frequent travelers,” helping customers fin…

When it comes to airports, travelers tend to fall into two camps. There are the anxious types who show up four hours early, with plenty of time to leisurely peruse duty-free and enjoy the airport lounge. And then there are those who breeze into the airport with 45 minutes to spare, hoping for the best. But a viral trend on TikTok, dubbed “airport theory,” would put even that latter group’s nerves to the test. The theory suggests arriving at the airport just 15 minutes before your flight to clear security. The concept has taken off online, racking up 400 million views. Unsurprisingly, it’s already led to plenty of missed flights. “It is currently 9:24, and my fligh…

New Jersey Transit urged riders to reach their destinations before the end of the day Thursday or risk being stranded as last-minute talks continued in a bid to avert a rail strike by train engineers that would affect some 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City. The labor dispute is stressing out some Manhattan commuters and already disrupting travel to Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Amid the uncertainty over whether the strike would happen, the transit agency canceled train and bus service at the stadium. The system’s advisory provided riders with details on contingency plans that would take effect if engineers w…

In American culture, importance and attention are often misaligned. This disconnect is one of the greatest challenges we in the STEM world face. Too often, society’s most essential stories are drowned out by the drama of the moment—pushed aside by the next headline or fleeting scroll. Today’s media environment is a relentless battle for attention, which is why, when a cultural moment aligns with science, we must seize it. Elevate it. Share it. Right now, we have just such a moment: the discovery of a new exoplanet reminiscent of Luke Skywalker’s home world, the upcoming launch of Andor Season 2, and the arrival of May 4th—also known as National Star Wars Day (a de…

You’re already juggling competing deadlines, back-to-back meetings, and strategic priorities. Then the Slack message arrives: “Hey, can you just take care of this?” It’s not in your job description. It’s not aligned with your goals. And it’s not the first time. Whether it’s managing logistics, picking up someone else’s project, or being asked to take notes again—many workers are routinely handed tasks that fall outside their role. Often, it’s framed as being a “team player.” But over time, these extra asks can add up to chronic overwork, blurred boundaries, and a stalled career trajectory. Handling these situations well isn’t about being difficult—it’s about being…

The 4chan website is down, and continues not to load for many users, according to Downdetector. (Downdetector is a platform that monitors online services and internet-related issues, and is essentially a crowd-sourced outage reporting tool.) This outage comes amid unconfirmed reports on social media, including on Reddit, that the internet message board was hacked. Fast Company has reached out to 4chan for comment and did not hear back immediately. The outage was first reported on Downdetector at around 9:57 p.m. ET on Monday night, and peaked soon after around 10:12 p.m. ET, when 1,265 users reported the problem. Since then, users have taken to monitoring the pla…

The next time you open Netflix’s app, it may look a lot more like YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok. That’s no accident: On April 29, the streaming service begins rolling out its biggest mobile redesign in years, with a major focus on vertical video. Netflix is launching the new mobile UI in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and a handful of other countries now, with plans to expand globally in the coming months. Once the app updates, subscribers will gain access to a new “Clips” tab featuring trailers, highlights, and behind-the-scenes footage from Netflix shows, movies, and podcasts, all optimized for quick, on-the-go viewing. Clips appear in an endless scroll feed, much like the…

The past 12 months have been rough for many retail chains. Major names like Big Lots and Joann filed for bankruptcy, resulting in the closures of hundreds of locations. In Joann’s case, those locations are gone for good, while some Big Lots locations have been reopened under new ownership. Unfortunately for another retailer—the fast fashion chain Forever 21—it seems like none of its more than 350 stores in the United States will get a last-minute reprieve. Instead, it now appears likely that all Forever 21 stores in the U.S. will suffer the same fate as Joann’s stores. Here’s what you need to know about the Forever 21 store closings. What’s happened? Earlier th…

Quantum computing insiders, investors, and skeptics have been waiting on an announcement from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) that has enormous implications for the future of the industry: the list of companies that have survived Stage A of the agency’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) and are advancing to Stage B. The QBI was launched in July 2024 to “rigorously verify and validate whether any quantum computing approach can achieve utility-scale operation” by 2033, according to DARPA. In essence, the QBI seeks to determine if a quantum computer technology is worth pursuing—if its benefits will be greater than the effort and resources it ta…

Reading the news, it can feel like no one is partying anymore. People seem more excited to stay home than go out. Gen Z is drinking less than any other generation. Wellness clubs have replaced night clubs as the go-to spots to socialize. But partying is not dead — priorities have simply shifted, as highlighted in the Evite’s Pregame Report 2026 released today. The online invitations platform surveyed more than 5,000 party enthusiasts to uncover the hottest trends and the biggest pet peeves for party planning in 2026. As it turns out, partying no longer happens only at the club. It has shifted to smaller, connection-focused affairs. After birthdays and …

Six years ago, when Michael Buckley returned to True Religion‘s offices as CEO, the denim brand looked nothing like the one he had built a decade earlier. Buckley was the brand’s president between 2006 and 2010, when True Religion was a luxury brand that sold jeans priced between $300 and $500 at Neiman Marcus and Barneys. Buckley helped grow revenues to more than $300 million a year, but after he left, the brand hit hard times, as it struggled to adapt to e-commerce. It filed for bankruptcy in 2017 and again in 2020. In 2019, after serving as CEO of Differential Brands Group (which owns Hudson Jeans), Buckley came back to True Religion to clean up the mess. He’s …

Cultural planning has shape-shifted throughout its history, encompassing beautification initiatives, placemaking (and placekeeping) projects, and preservation work. But in the past decade, the field has accelerated significantly, according to Rana Amirtahmasebi and Jason Schupbach, the editors of The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning, a new manual that compiles the most innovative programs, policies, and approaches to the discipline that have recently emerged. A throughline? That creative wellness is essential to cities, and that everything from the climate crisis to displacement, tourism, public space, and infrastructure can benefit by centering culture …

Over the past decade, we’ve seen Cheetos and its Flamin’ Hot flavor brand pop up in some fun and unexpected places. There was the Spotted Cheetah pop-up NYC restaurant in 2017. The Hollywood pop-up with chef Roy Choi in 2018 called the Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Spot. A taco at Taco Bell. There was a Forever 21 apparel collection in 2019. A nail polish with Dipwell. A Dr. Squatch soap. And, of course, a pair of Crocs. Parent company Frito-Lay has sprinkled Flamin’ Hot across products like Doritos, Ruffles, Lay’s, Funyuns, Smartfood, and even in a limited edition of Mountain Dew. But Jack Black escalated things to previously unpredictable levels on Saturday Night Live this we…

The odds of winning the lottery are about one in 300 million. If you have a tattoo of an old Mountain Dew logo on your body, your odds of winning Mountain Dew’s new sweepstakes are much, much higher. The soda’s owner, PepsiCo, is launching the contest to celebrate Mountain Dew’s new logo hitting store shelves. It’s asking people who have a tattoo of the old Mountain Dew logo to upload a photo to social media and tag Mountain Dew for a chance to win a trip for two to Las Vegas to get a tattoo of the new logo. Last year, Mountain Dew retired its jagged, abbreviated “Mtn Dew” logo introduced in 2009 for a new logo that spells out the citrus soda brand’s entire name.…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. At the end of March 2025, national active housing inventory for sale was up 28.5% year-over-year. That year-over-year active inventory growth is happening just about everywhere. The recent jump in active inventory for sale tells us that homebuyers have gained some leverage in most housing markets over the past year. Some “seller’s markets have turned into “balanced markets,” while some “balanced markets” have turned into “buyer’s markets.” While active listings are rising year-over-year in most regional housing markets, most markets are st…

MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The nine-person jury awarded Dallas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit had accused Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA, and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy, and other acts. When asked if Greenpeace plans to appeal, Senior Legal Adviser Deepa Padmanabha said, “We know that this fight is not over” and said the…

In 2021, two people you’ve probably never heard of—FaZe Rug and Adin Ross—faced off in a one-on-one basketball game at a Los Angeles gym. Winner gets $25,000. Sam Gilbert led a two-person team that streamed it live on YouTube from a single iPhone. The players weren’t professional athletes, and it was, Gilbert says, “a very below average basketball game.” Still, nearly 80,000 people tuned in live, most of them under 34 years old. “That was the biggest eye opener to me,” says Gilbert, director of content for Bleacher Report’s House of Highlights. “That’s when I knew there was something here.” Gilbert saw that something fundamental had shifted in sports consumption. …

For the second time in more than 20 years, the Mega Millions lottery is getting a facelift. Tickets will now be twice as expensive, but prizes will also be bigger—and the odds of winning the jackpot have gone up (though your chances of taking home the prize are still infinitesimal.) The new version of Mega Millions rolled out to players on tickets this Saturday, and the updated game will see its first drawing tomorrow. Here’s what you need to know about how the game has changed (and what it means for your wallet): How much are tickets? As of this Saturday, ticket prices for the Mega Millions have gone from $2 to $5 apiece. According to a press release, the pric…

Bottles and bags, food wrappers and straws. Piping, packaging, toys and trays. Plastic is everywhere — and yet some people may be surprised at how much they actually wear. A typical closet is loaded with plastic, woven into polyester activewear, acrylic sweaters, nylon swimsuits and stretchy socks — and it’s shedding into the environment nonstop. When garments are worn, washed and put through the dryer, they shed plastic fiber fragments. A single load of laundry can release millions that are so tiny wastewater treatment plants can’t capture them all. They wind up in local waterways that connect to the ocean. Marine animals eat them, and that can pass plastic to larger a…