What's on Your Mind?

When University of Pennsylvania student Crystal Yang was in high school, she and her friends were avid players of the trendy online game Wordle. One of Yang’s friends, however, is blind and was unable to join in. That inspired Yang, while still a high school student, to work with researchers at Texas A&M University looking at conversational audio interface possibilities for the game. Soon, she founded a nonprofit called Audemy that has developed more than 50 audio-powered games accessible to blind and visually impaired players. The organization is now also at work on an accessible gaming console that will incorporate audio and tactile features and can function wi…

You’re at the playground, making small talk with another mom while your kids dig in the sandbox. The conversation follows a predictable script: sleep schedules, daycare waitlists, whether your toddler will eat anything green. It’s pleasant enough, but you’ll forget about it by the time you pile your kids into the car for nap time. But what you really wanted to ask is: What’s something about birth and postpartum that surprised you? What do you wish your partner understood? How did becoming a mother change your marriage? Those are the conversations that actually matter, because they deepen relationships and allow mothers to pass their wisdom to one another. But they…

Nvidia has put its name behind a fledgling effort to put mini-data centers beside people’s homes in boxes that look like HVAC units. It’s a “power” play, considering that the main bottleneck to building out more data center capacity is not money or chips, but rather retrofitting the electrical grid to supply the power. The idea, put forward by a California smart utility box company called Span, is to put the GPUs where the power has already been allocated—at the home. Span says the average household uses only about 42% of the electricity allotted to it, and rarely reaches peak usage. Span’s smart utility boxes detect that, and steer the extra available power over to t…

Below, Joseph Moore shares five key insights from his new book, How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked (& Didn’t). Moore is a historian who spent more than a decade researching and testing out what Americans were told to do with their money for the past 300 years. His previous work appeared in such outlets as The New York Times and Oxford University Press. What’s the big idea? History doesn’t give us fixed rules for getting ahead financially. The “right” way keeps changing, so your best bet is to stay flexible, try a mix of strategies, and not get too excited every time someone claims they’ve cracked the code to wealt…

You are bound to have one of those crazy days (or weeks or months) where your calendar is jammed with meetings, there are looming deadlines, and an emergency has cropped up that absolutely needs to be dealt with right away. Having a few things that hit at the same time can actually be good for you, but eventually, it is going to cause you problems. In particular, the researchers Yerkes and Dodson published a paper in 1908 (you read that right—over 110 years ago) talking about the optimal level of psychological energy called arousal. They suggested that when people have low levels of energy, they don’t get much done. That shouldn’t be surprising. As your arousal goes u…

Judging by a slew of recent corporate announcements, your next “co-worker” might be an artificial intelligence agent—doing the work of an assistant, job scheduler, morning debriefer, learning coach and more. JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, describes a clear vision for a new world of omnipresent AI agents: “Every employee will have their own personalized AI assistant; every process is powered by AI agents, and every client experience has an AI concierge.” In brick-and-mortar retail, Walmart is already implementing its vision around agents, which involves support of customers, in-store employees and other business areas, with supervisor agents assigning tasks…

Pressure is an inevitable part of modern workplaces, but when poorly managed, it can quickly turn into harmful stress. The solution isn’t to eliminate pressure from work entirely, but to respond to it in the right way. Even small, intentional shifts can have a significant impact on how we cope, protect our wellbeing, and sustain high performance. Here, six experts share their simple, actionable tips for individuals and leaders that can make a big difference in handling everyday stress more effectively. Reinforce psychological safety Ultimately, whether we feel able to manage stress at work comes down to the environment around us and our relationships with our m…

Maury Povich’s daytime TV show Maury—a parade of salacious domestic disputes and paternity tests—ran for a whopping 31 seasons until his 2022 retirement. Which is why it was unexpected that 87-year-old Povich found himself at the SoHo headquarters of AI-enhanced cloud services company Air on May 5, mingling with a crowd 20- and 30-somethings, his slacks, button down, and knit half-zip sweater standing out easily amid the maxi skirts and stick-and-poke tattoos. He was there as part of Air’s “Cinco de Maury” event, a launch party and screening of the company’s new campaign, On Air with Maury Povich. The 12-minute video brought the host out of retirement (temporarily) t…

My 2020 M1 MacBook Air still runs well, but conserving hard drive space as years of files, media, and software accumulate is a continual challenge. So I was miffed when I read security researcher Alexander Hanff’s May 4 report that Google Chrome has been automatically downloading an over-4GB AI model called Gemini Nano onto everyone’s computer, without asking for consent or providing notification. Chrome is not my main browser (I’m a Firefox diehard), and Gemini is not my main AI (that would be Claude). I’m paying a hefty hard-drive tax for something I don’t use. Simply deleting the file, called weights.bin, is useless. Chrome just downloads it again. And most of the …

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: A big-budget blockbuster World Cup ad from a footwear giant features a laundry list of star players, celebrities, and a storyline that revolves around a big game in an unexpected place or with unexpected characters. This could describe Nike’s classic 2002 “Cage” ad, Adidas’s 2006 “José” ad, Nike’s 2014 “Winner Stays” spot . . . You get the idea. But it’s also a broad summary of Adidas’s newest World Cup commercial, “Backyard Legends,” which launched on May 7 via star Timothée Chalamet’s Instagram. The five-minute advertising epic opens with Oscar-nominated actor Chalamet trying to put together the greatest street socc…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Zillow economists use an economic model known as the Zillow Market Heat Index to gauge the competitiveness of housing markets across the country. This model looks at key indicators—including home price changes, inventory levels, and days on the market—to generate a score showing whether a market favors sellers or buyers. Higher scores point to hotter, seller-friendly metro housing markets. Lower scores signal cooler markets where buyers hold more negotiating power. According to Zillow: Score of 70 or higher = strong seller’s market …

The next time you take a call on your iPhone, the other person could be recording every word you say, and you may not even realize it. Ever since iOS 18.1, Apple has offered a call recording feature on its smartphones. The feature has legitimate uses, and because of its embedded audio notifications, Apple would presumably argue that it meets both the “single party” and “all party” consent requirements in various states. But the problem with Apple’s implementation is that the company has done a poorer job than it could have in letting users know precisely when their calls are being recorded—and has given them even less control over putting a stop to it. Apple makes…

If you find yourself having to fly the allegedly friendly skies anytime soon, my goodness—good luck. Even in the best of times, heading to an airport can be an unpredictable headache. Now, in the midst of our current U.S. TSA meltdown, security wait times are climbing to crazy new highs. And the effects of that can often ripple far, even if you’re lucky enough to begin your journey in an airport (within the U.S. or without) that’s reasonably all right. Today, for an especially timely Cool Tools suggestion, I want to share a trio of resources with you that’ll help you see exactly what to expect before you head to the airport—and thus be able to plan and be prepared…

Below, Alex Mayyasi shares five key insights from his new book, Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Mayyasi is a journalist who writes about business, economics, and food. He hosts the new podcast Gastronomics and is a longtime contributor to NPR’s Planet Money. A former editor of Priceonomics, he launched Gastro Obscura, which won two James Beard Awards, and published the New York Times best-selling book Gastro Obscura. What’s the big idea? The economy isn’t static or centrally controlled. It’s an evolving system where information, technology, and human behavior interact to continuously reorganize opportunity. Listen to the a…

A new wave of phishing scams is targeting iPhone users with alarming messages warning that their iCloud storage is full—and experts say users should proceed carefully. How the iCloud Storage Phishing Scam Works “Social engineering attackers use impersonation and manipulation to first gain your confidence and trust,” Apple warns. “Then, they trick you into handing over sensitive data or providing them with access to your account information. They use a variety of tactics to impersonate a trusted company, entity, or someone that you know.” According to Consumer Affairs, the scam typically arrives via text or email disguised as an official Apple notification, warn…

Congrats! You got your first job! While you may have had temporary jobs while going to school, you might be feeling a variety of emotions, including excitement as well as some anxiety at the prospect of a first full-time job. While being hired means your employer believes that you already have the basic technical skills and academic knowledge to succeed, emotional intelligence will make the difference between thriving and surviving. Emotional intelligence is commonly described as your ability to recognize and understand your own emotions while also having an understanding of other people’s emotions. This is critical in your first job as it determines how well others w…

Prediction markets have now turned their focus to hantavirus, a rare but severe category of viruses transmitted from rodents to humans, after several cases were identified earlier this month aboard an Atlantic cruise operated by Oceanwide Expeditions. It’s a serious situation that has drawn global concern: Several passengers have tested positive for the illness, at least three cruise participants have died, and a number of others on the trip are reportedly experiencing symptoms. Amid growing anxiety about the illness and, no doubt, memories of the nerve-racking first weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, some people have taken to prediction markets to bet on what might …

There were moments leading up to the 30th WNBA season where it appeared as if it wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, after a lengthy 17-month negotiation where both the players and owners were heard, that is not the case. The new season of women’s basketball kicks off tonight (Friday, May 8) with three exciting games. Here’s everything you need to know to tune in. Who is favored to win it all? Hot off their 2025 championship, the Las Vegas Aces want to continue their streak. The team has won three of the last four, including consecutive wins in 2022 and 2023. The women have more than momentum on their side. Most of their players are returning this yea…

Chili’s has had a major comeback in recent years. The casual dining chain turned 50 last year, and recently reported 20 consecutive quarters of growth. Chili’s CEO Kevin Hochman told Business Insider that the success of the chain boils down to two things: marketing and operations. “We have a saying here: marketing brings them in, and ops brings them back,” Hochman told BI. Hochman shared this sentiment with analysts and investors during an earnings call with investors last year. It’s clear the Tex-Mex chain has continued to lean in on that strategy. “The marketing has to be exciting,” Hochman said. “And then the operators are in charge of creating that ex…

Wendy’s shares rose on Friday after the fast-food giant reported stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings, beating analyst estimates despite poor U.S. store performance, with U.S. same-restaurant sales falling 7.8%. That slow but steady growth reflects the burger chain’s effort to turn around sales by shedding low-performing American restaurants and improving menu quality. The plan comes amid an overall decline in fast-food store traffic, as American consumers grapple with higher prices and the cost of food and living soars. “We are in the early innings of our turnaround,” Ken Cook, Wendy’s CFO and interim CEO, told analysts on Friday’s earnings call. In the …

An in-person remote position sounds like an oxymoron, but that’s exactly what athletic supplement company Inno Supps was advertising in a LinkedIn job posting that’s gone viral for all the wrong reasons. Though its listing for a senior copywriter was labeled as remote, job seekers were quick to call out the fine print at the top of the job description: “Please apply only if you are willing to eventually work onsite in Henderson, Nevada,” it read. “While this role is listed as ‘remote’ for visibility, it is an onsite position and requires in-office presence.” Inno Supps was apparently looking to capitalize on the gap between the demand and supply for remote work. A…

Schools and universities across the country are recovering from an outage that knocked down Canvas, an online platform that manages exams, course notes, lecture videos, and grades. The disruption tied to a cyberattack hit in the middle of finals period for many colleges, a high-stress time when students and instructors rely heavily on the platform. By late Thursday, Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, said the platform was available again to most users. The hacking group ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the breach, said Luke Connolly, a threat analyst at the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft. On Friday, Instructure and Canvas no longer appeared on a site w…

The Pentagon is releasing “never-before-seen” files on UFOs. The files, many which have been under wraps for decades, can now be accessed by anyone online. The Friday release includes the declassification of 162 files on what the government officially calls unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) these days. These files can be found under a new tab on the Defense Department’s website. The move follows a presidential order that came in February, which called for greater transparency around UAP. “The American people can now access the federal government’s declassified UAP files instantly. The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entir…

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is just one month away. That event will see Apple launch the next iterations of the software that powers its various devices, including iOS 27 for the iPhone. But Apple will also be rolling out a new version of iOS before then, and it will feature an enhancement that will benefit Android users as much as Apple’s own. Here’s what you need to know. iOS 26.5 brings encrypted RCS messaging to iPhone Apple’s iMessage protocol has long had end-to-end encryption for texts sent between Apple devices. But for texts sent between Android phones and iPhones, encryption has always been absent. And that wasn’t the fault of …