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A new survey released by GoDaddy reveals that domain names play a critical role in shaping consumer trust and online shopping behavior. The GoDaddy Consumer Pulse survey, conducted in March with 1,500 U.S. consumers, found that 80% of respondents have avoided visiting or purchasing from a website because it had an oddly spelled domain name. This reaction was most prevalent among younger consumers. According to the findings, 85% of Gen Z and 82% of Millennials reported skipping a business due to its domain’s spelling, while 76% of Gen X and Boomers said the same. The survey was released in March in recognition of the domain name’s 40th anniversary and explored what consumers consider red and green flags when it comes to online business names. One key insight: spelling and length matter. “Businesses that don’t take time to choose the right domain name inadvertently put themselves three steps behind,” said Trip Briscoe, a domain name expert at GoDaddy. “It’s worth investing in a quality domain that is spelled correctly and exactly matches your business’s name. It’s the difference between a potential customer finding you effortlessly or getting lost in the vastness of the internet.” What Makes a Domain Memorable Consumers cited specific traits that made domain names more appealing. Topping the list were full words spelled correctly (43%), short domains with two words or less (40%), and domains that are easy to pronounce (38%). Additionally, 23% of consumers said they found unique domain extensions like .AI or .shop memorable, while 19% were drawn to humorous domains that rhyme or use puns. In contrast, several features were identified as red flags. These included misspelled words (56%), domain names that don’t match a business’s name (55%), and domains that contain hyphens or numbers (20%). Another 20% of respondents said they distrusted free domains associated with platforms like Google Sites or Wix. Typing Still Matters Despite the prevalence of clicks and swipes in modern browsing, many consumers still manually type domain names into their browsers. Half of those surveyed said they regularly type in a business’s domain name when shopping online, while 27% do so only if they remember the name. The remaining 23% said they rely on search engines, bookmarks, emails, or social media links to navigate to a business website. Generational trends were also highlighted. Gen Z and Millennials were more likely to type in domain names directly and less likely to depend on alternative browsing methods. Only 16% of Gen Z and 18% of Millennials said they don’t type in domain names, compared to 28% of Gen X and Boomers. Why Domain Names Matter for Business GoDaddy’s findings suggest that businesses, particularly new or growing ones, need to give careful consideration to their domain names. According to the survey, 74% of consumers are more comfortable when a domain name matches the brand name exactly. Additionally, younger consumers were more likely to report halting their online shopping due to a poorly chosen domain. Thirty-nine percent of Gen Z and 35% of Millennials admitted they have stopped shopping at a company online because of the website’s domain name, compared to just 15% of Gen X and Boomers. Unique and funny domains also appealed more to younger shoppers. Thirty-four percent of Gen Z and 30% of Millennials said they found unique extensions memorable, while 25% of Gen Z and 24% of Millennials found rhyming or punny domains especially noteworthy. Among Gen X and Boomers, only 17% and 15%, respectively, reported the same. GoDaddy advises that businesses prioritize domain availability when naming a company, whether launching a new venture or expanding online. As the survey shows, a well-chosen domain name can make or break a customer’s decision to engage. Image: Envato This article, "GoDaddy Survey Reveals Misspelled Domain Names Turn Consumers Away" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A new survey released by GoDaddy reveals that domain names play a critical role in shaping consumer trust and online shopping behavior. The GoDaddy Consumer Pulse survey, conducted in March with 1,500 U.S. consumers, found that 80% of respondents have avoided visiting or purchasing from a website because it had an oddly spelled domain name. This reaction was most prevalent among younger consumers. According to the findings, 85% of Gen Z and 82% of Millennials reported skipping a business due to its domain’s spelling, while 76% of Gen X and Boomers said the same. The survey was released in March in recognition of the domain name’s 40th anniversary and explored what consumers consider red and green flags when it comes to online business names. One key insight: spelling and length matter. “Businesses that don’t take time to choose the right domain name inadvertently put themselves three steps behind,” said Trip Briscoe, a domain name expert at GoDaddy. “It’s worth investing in a quality domain that is spelled correctly and exactly matches your business’s name. It’s the difference between a potential customer finding you effortlessly or getting lost in the vastness of the internet.” What Makes a Domain Memorable Consumers cited specific traits that made domain names more appealing. Topping the list were full words spelled correctly (43%), short domains with two words or less (40%), and domains that are easy to pronounce (38%). Additionally, 23% of consumers said they found unique domain extensions like .AI or .shop memorable, while 19% were drawn to humorous domains that rhyme or use puns. In contrast, several features were identified as red flags. These included misspelled words (56%), domain names that don’t match a business’s name (55%), and domains that contain hyphens or numbers (20%). Another 20% of respondents said they distrusted free domains associated with platforms like Google Sites or Wix. Typing Still Matters Despite the prevalence of clicks and swipes in modern browsing, many consumers still manually type domain names into their browsers. Half of those surveyed said they regularly type in a business’s domain name when shopping online, while 27% do so only if they remember the name. The remaining 23% said they rely on search engines, bookmarks, emails, or social media links to navigate to a business website. Generational trends were also highlighted. Gen Z and Millennials were more likely to type in domain names directly and less likely to depend on alternative browsing methods. Only 16% of Gen Z and 18% of Millennials said they don’t type in domain names, compared to 28% of Gen X and Boomers. Why Domain Names Matter for Business GoDaddy’s findings suggest that businesses, particularly new or growing ones, need to give careful consideration to their domain names. According to the survey, 74% of consumers are more comfortable when a domain name matches the brand name exactly. Additionally, younger consumers were more likely to report halting their online shopping due to a poorly chosen domain. Thirty-nine percent of Gen Z and 35% of Millennials admitted they have stopped shopping at a company online because of the website’s domain name, compared to just 15% of Gen X and Boomers. Unique and funny domains also appealed more to younger shoppers. Thirty-four percent of Gen Z and 30% of Millennials said they found unique extensions memorable, while 25% of Gen Z and 24% of Millennials found rhyming or punny domains especially noteworthy. Among Gen X and Boomers, only 17% and 15%, respectively, reported the same. GoDaddy advises that businesses prioritize domain availability when naming a company, whether launching a new venture or expanding online. As the survey shows, a well-chosen domain name can make or break a customer’s decision to engage. Image: Envato This article, "GoDaddy Survey Reveals Misspelled Domain Names Turn Consumers Away" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Former special counsel Robert Mueller was once a partner at the legal groupView the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. When I was 12 years old, my parents enrolled me in a kids’ coding class at the YMCA. This was 1983—before the internet—typing code from magazines like Compute! into a computer with a green-on-black screen and seeing what it did. And the experience would go on to shape the course of my life. I’ve been in software for more than 30 years, most of them at Intuit. I started there as a software engineer in 1999 and today am its chief technology officer. In that time, so much has changed about this profession—from the way we mentor to the way we code. Today, agentic AI technology can take high-level directions, look at an existing code base, pull in the right set of data, do a web search to look at the current ecosystem, and then plan out and perform a sequence of actions normally expected from a junior engineer. This provides a true end-to-end “done-for-you” experience. Put simply, I can see why people might feel like everything is changing for software engineers. But even in this fast-changing field, there are throughlines. I may not be working in BASIC on the same Apple 2E from coding camp, but the foundational skills that help me break down complex problems, ask the right questions, and code durable solutions are as important as they’ve always been. No one needs me to describe how this industry has changed. Instead, here are three things that haven’t. 1. The “why” is as important as the “how” Strategic thinking has long been part of a software engineer’s job, to go beyond coding to building. Working in service of a larger purpose helps engineers develop more impactful solutions than simply coding to a set of specifications. With the rise in AI-assisted coding—and, thus, the ability to code and build much faster—the “why” remains at the forefront. We drive business impact by delivering measurable customer benefits. And you have to understand a problem before you can solve it with code. As machines tackle the parts of the job that deliver relatively standard pieces of a solution, the other part of an engineer’s role—that of a cognitive architect—takes on new weight. The key differentiator lies in the ability to effectively use AI to augment human capabilities. Time previously spent on routine coding tasks can now be devoted to strategic decisions, allowing engineers who are just starting out to practice critical thinking skills earlier in their careers and offering seasoned engineers more opportunities to leverage their expertise for competitive advantage. 2. Curiosity is key The best engineers are inherently curious, with an eye for detail and a desire to learn. Through the decades, that hasn’t really changed; a learning mindset continues to be important for technologists at every level. I’ve always been curious about what makes things tick. As a child, I remember taking things apart to see how they worked. I knew I wanted to be an engineer when I was able to put them back together again. The continuous advancement of technology makes it impossible for the day-to-day work of a junior engineer to look the same year over year. In the 1980s, an entry-level coder might have been tasked with writing simple programs in assembly language, but by the ‘90s this was made nearly obsolete by higher-level languages like C++. Similarly, in the early 2000s, we needed humans to manually parse and clean large files, and by the 2010s we could automate data cleaning with scripting and ETL tools. AI may be exponentially accelerating the pace of change in our day-to-day work, but those who enter the field with curiosity and a hunger to make things more efficient, effective, and intuitive will continue to find success, even as the way they apply that curiosity continues to shift. 3. Leadership skills aren’t just for managers Not every great coder aspires to be a people leader; I certainly didn’t. I was introverted growing up. But as I worked my way up at Intuit, I saw firsthand how the right leadership skills could deepen my impact, even when I wasn’t charged with leading anybody. I’ve seen how quick decision making, holistic problem solving, and efficient delegation can drive impact at every level of an organization. And these assets only become more important as we fold AI into the process. Communication skills, for example, have taken on new significance. When we convey all the relevant information needed for a counterpart to provide an adequate response—whether it’s a colleague, a customer, or AI—we reach better outcomes faster. It’s always been critical to understand the context around a problem in order to choose and code the right solution. But engineers now need to be able to adequately explain that context to AI in a clear, direct way to efficiently delegate portions of their work, in order to leverage AI to operate more efficiently and increase productivity internally. At Intuit, we see up to 40 percent faster coding using generative AI code assistants. Communication skills are key in getting these outcomes—and, as a result—driving faster innovation for customers. AI is changing the trajectory of software engineering. And as long as we continue to practice the foundational skills our industry was built on, it will be as rewarding and exciting a career in the future as it was for me 30 years ago. Alex Balazs is CTO at Intuit. 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Perspective homebuyers with work visas, asylum seekers and DACA recipients seeking the government-backed mortgage will be impacted by this sweeping change. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. If you’ve been meaning to try a VPN but keep putting it off because of price tags and commitment anxiety, this Surfshark deal might break your cycle. StackSocial is offering a three-year subscription to the Surfshark VPN Starter Plan for $83.99, but with code SURF20, it drops to $67.20 through today, March 27. That’s about $1.86 per month, which is a serious markdown compared to Surfshark’s heavily discounted $59.13 per year. The catch is that it’s for new users only, but if you qualify, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get solid privacy tools without skimping on performance. This isn’t one of those “starter” plans that’s stripped down to the bone: You still get AES-256 encryption (the stuff banks use), a kill switch for emergencies, and unlimited device connections, which means you can throw it on your phone, laptop, tablet, smart TV—go wild. There’s CleanWeb to block ads and malware, a cookie pop-up blocker, and even a tool called Bypasser so you can keep your bank app running normally while everything else goes through the VPN. The speeds are promising, too, thanks to upgraded 10 Gbps servers and support for WireGuard and OpenVPN protocols. You can access over 3,200 servers in 65 countries, so streaming or checking content abroad should be smooth. Still, there are a couple of things to note. This deal only gets you access to Surfshark’s Starter plan—not Surfshark One, which bundles in extras like antivirus and breach alerts. Also, if you forget to redeem the code within 30 days, you'll only get store credit instead of a refund. But for anyone mostly looking to bypass geo-restrictions, dodge trackers, and stop websites from following them around the internet, this is a good pick, especially considering you can set it up on FireTV, Linux, Chrome, and all the usual suspects. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Amazon's spring sale is halfway done, and we've done some work to single out the best deals available, but many other retailers—like Target and Best Buy—have been going tit for tat, matching prices and spinning up aggressive deals of their own. Amazon's ongoing buy-two-get-one-free sale closely resembles the same one from Target, each offering mix-and-match bundles of books, vinyls, and DVDs at discounted prices. Here's how each sale works, along with a few of the best items worth highlighting from both Target and Amazon. Sunrise on the Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel) (The Hunger Games) $19.59 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $27.99 Save $8.40 Get Deal Get Deal $19.59 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $27.99 Save $8.40 Hunger Games Box Set (Deluxe Edition with Stenciled Edges) (The Hunger Games) $36.74 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $69.96 Save $33.22 Get Deal Get Deal $36.74 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $69.96 Save $33.22 A Court of Thorns and Roses at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal at Amazon The Hobbit Illustrated by the Author: Illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien (Tolkien Illustrated Editions) $37.03 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $75.00 Save $37.97 Get Deal Get Deal $37.03 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $75.00 Save $37.97 The Lord of the Rings Illustrated (Tolkien Illustrated Editions) $47.49 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $90.00 Save $42.51 Get Deal Get Deal $47.49 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $90.00 Save $42.51 Wicked: The Soundtrack[2 LP] $29.33 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $39.98 Save $10.65 Get Deal Get Deal $29.33 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $39.98 Save $10.65 Akira - Movie - Steelbook [4K UHD] $24.96 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $34.98 Save $10.02 Get Deal Get Deal $24.96 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $34.98 Save $10.02 Led Zeppelin IV $23.62 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $24.98 Save $1.36 Get Deal Get Deal $23.62 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $24.98 Save $1.36 The Dark Side of the Moon (50th Anniversary Remaster) $29.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $32.98 Save $2.99 Get Deal Get Deal $29.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $32.98 Save $2.99 SEE 6 MORE The prices for the books, vinyls, and DVDs are virtually the same at both retailers, but each store may have different items in stock. For both retailers, you can mix and match the different types of items—in other words, you could get one book, one vinyl, and one movie—so get creative. Here are the links to each category to help you decide what items to throw in your cart. Amazon's saleBooks DVDs Vinyls/CDs The Amazon items must be shipped together in a single order to receive the discount. You also don't need to be a Prime Member to get the deal (but you'll have to pay $6.99 for shipping). Target's saleBooks DVDs (movies and TV shows) Vinyls/CDs For Target, you can buy these products in person or online. You must add all three items to the cart to see the discount at checkout, and you must be a Target Circle member (which is free). The cheapest item of the three will be the free one. The Best Amazon Spring Sale Deals You Can Get Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds — $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced — $169.00 (List Price $189.99) soundcore by Anker Q30 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones with Multiple Modes, Hi-Res Sound, Custom EQ via App, 40H Playtime, Comfortable Fit, Bluetooth Headphones, Multipoint Connection — $55.99 (List Price $79.99) Blink Mini 2 (White, 2-Pack) — $37.99 (List Price $69.99) 2024 Apple iPad mini A17 Pro chip, Built for Apple Intelligence, Wi-Fi 128GB - Blue — $399.00 (List Price $499.00) Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm, Black, S/M 130-180mm, Sports Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Sonos Era 100 Wireless Speaker - White — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote (2023 Model) — $39.99 (List Price $59.99) Fitbit Inspire 3 Health & Fitness Tracker (Midnight Zen/Black) — $69.95 (List Price $99.95) Roku Express 4K+ HDR Streamer with Voice Remote — $29.85 (List Price $39.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Getting my floor clean is not for the weak. There's the muddy paw prints, the mulch the dog tracks in, and I'm notoriously messy when cooking in my kitchen. I have created, unintentionally, the perfect lab for testing robot vacuums and mops, and not for nothing, but I'm rarely that impressed. Last year, that changed when Roborock released the S8 MaxV Ultra—it blew my mind. Right now, it's 45% off during Amazon's Big Spring Sale, knocking its price down to $999 (originally $1,799). Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop My favorite robot vacuum/mop combo $999.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $1,799.98 Save $799.99 Get Deal Get Deal $999.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $1,799.98 Save $799.99 Let's start with the basics: it is a fantastic vacuum. It will suck up not just the fine dust and dirt, but tackle larger debris as well, and rarely lets the rollers get stuck or gummed up. It has excellent LiDAR navigation and moves at a good clip, rarely needing to recharge mid run. Though many mops have moved to two, independently spinning mop heads, I think the singular vibrating mop pad (like the one on this device) is better for getting into grime on the floor. The MaxV Ultra was the first robot mop that did a truly great job getting my floor truly clean. The companion app is easy to navigate and packed with advanced features—I really like seeing stats on the wear and tear of the individual parts of the both the tower and the device itself, for example. Also, and I can not overstate how much I love the "Pin and Go" feature where you set a point on your map and the robot will go there and clean. The remote control function, so you can guide the robot from wherever it got stuck under the couch, is also really handy. While this model is already a year or so old, I would still choose it over many later releases, and I recommend it all the time. For a premium robot vacuum-mop combo like this one, anything under $1,000 is quite rare. The Best Amazon Spring Sale Deals You Can Get Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds — $169.99 (List Price $249.00) Ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced — $169.00 (List Price $189.99) soundcore by Anker Q30 Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones with Multiple Modes, Hi-Res Sound, Custom EQ via App, 40H Playtime, Comfortable Fit, Bluetooth Headphones, Multipoint Connection — $55.99 (List Price $79.99) Blink Mini 2 (White, 2-Pack) — $37.99 (List Price $69.99) 2024 Apple iPad mini A17 Pro chip, Built for Apple Intelligence, Wi-Fi 128GB - Blue — $399.00 (List Price $499.00) Apple Watch Series 10 (GPS, 42mm, Black, S/M 130-180mm, Sports Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Sonos Era 100 Wireless Speaker - White — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Fire TV Stick 4K Max Streaming Player With Remote (2023 Model) — $39.99 (List Price $59.99) Fitbit Inspire 3 Health & Fitness Tracker (Midnight Zen/Black) — $69.95 (List Price $99.95) Roku Express 4K+ HDR Streamer with Voice Remote — $29.85 (List Price $39.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The typical homebuyer's monthly mortgage payment reached a record high, up 5.3% year-over-year, but consumers are putting more money down, adding to equity. View the full article

Indian businessman would join an exodus of wealthy individuals prompted by Labour’s reform View the full article

CoreWeave plans to reduce the size of its U.S. initial public offering and price its shares below the indicated range, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday, dampening expectations that the listing would boost investor appetite for IPOs. The Nvidia-backed cloud services provider is now looking to sell 37.5 million shares, 23.5% less than originally planned, and price them at $40 apiece, well below even the low end of the indicated range, the source added, requesting anonymity discussing confidential information. Nvidia will anchor the CoreWeave IPO at the price with a $250 million order, the source said. The sale would raise about $1.5 billion and value CoreWeave at about $23 billion on a fully diluted basis, according to Reuters’ calculations. The company did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. It is expected to price the IPO later on Thursday. CoreWeave’s roadshow, which began last week, received a weaker-than-expected reception as risk-averse investors in a volatile market weighed concerns over the company’s long-term growth, financial risks and capital intensity, according to four sources familiar with the matter. Among the concerns is CoreWeave’s heavy reliance on Microsoft, whose shifting AI datacenter strategy could impact long-term demand for chips known as graphics processing units, or GPUs. While investors appear comfortable with the company’s high leverage since it has strong free cash flow, the risk of commitments not being fulfilled remains a worry. Additionally, CoreWeave’s capital-intensive business model raises questions about sustainability, adding to broader market uncertainty. CoreWeave has been a significant customer for Nvidia, deploying over 250,000 of Nvidia’s GPUs by the end of 2024. Investors’ lukewarm reception to the CoreWeave IPO could signal reduced confidence in the AI infrastructure market, as the scaling of GPU assets in AI training slows down. “The business model doesn’t appear fundamentally flawed, but this suggests investors are recalibrating AI infrastructure valuations,” said Lukas Muehlbauer, research analyst at IPOX. CoreWeave and some existing investors had initially aimed to sell 49 million shares in the offering priced between $47 and $55 each to raise as much as $2.7 billion. That would have valued the company at up to $32 billion on a fully diluted basis. Mounting concerns CoreWeave’s stock market debut has been closely watched as a test of the strength of a recovery in the U.S. IPO market and whether investor enthusiasm for AI newcomers remains strong or has started to wane. The number of U.S.-listed equity capital markets deals, including both IPOs and block trades of shares, fell to 187 in the first three months of this year, down from 243 during the same period last year, according to Dealogic data through Wednesday. The total value of these transactions also dipped, falling from $74.02 billion to $63.48 billion. Despite the AI boom, there are growing concerns that data center spending will be uneven, with investments concentrated among a few giants while others struggle to keep pace. DeepSeek, China’s low-cost AI rival, has also emerged as a growing threat, fueling concerns about pressure on data center spending. CoreWeave had debt of about $8 billion as of last year. It also leases its 32 data centers and some equipment, instead of owning them, resulting in operating lease liabilities of $2.6 billion. In its offering filing, the company had said about $1 billion of the IPO proceeds would be used to pay down debt. The company has said it would continue to borrow. CoreWeave has yet to turn a profit, and IPO investors in the last few years have been wary of backing companies with no history of profitability. Ahead of its IPO, CoreWeave secured partnerships with major AI players, including Sam Altman’s OpenAI. Earlier this month, it signed an $11.9 billion infrastructure deal with the ChatGPT maker. The cloud services provider, which offers access to data centers and high-powered Nvidia chips for AI workloads, will also issue $350 million in shares to OpenAI through a private placement as part of the offering. Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs are the lead underwriters of the IPO. The downsizing was first reported by Semafor on Thursday. —Echo Wang, Krystal Hu, Milana Vinn, Manya Saini, Niket Nishant, and Ateev Bhandari, Reuters View the full article

The most tangible concern is in the commercial real-estate market. But the rating agency's crystal ball is cloudy when it comes to single-family home loans. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Are you reading this article on a computer monitor? Typing away in the comments on a keyboard? Then why would you buy yet another MacBook when you could get the same power and convenience for much less by opting for a Mac Mini? Right now you can pick one up at Amazon for under $500, or $100 off the usual price. Apple Mac mini (2024, M4) $499.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $599.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $499.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $599.00 Save $100.00 Finally updated last year with Apple's latest chip, the M4, the new Mac Mini is a small computer that can actually fit in the palm of your hand. It's got pretty much everything you'd get from one of Apple's laptops—minus a screen and keyboard. Though thanks to a built-in fan, it's actually got one up on the MacBook Air, and is more analogous to an entry-level MacBook Pro. And even then, it's got more ports, including an ethernet port and two extra USB-C ports. About the only real downside to the new Mac Mini is the annoying button placement—the power button is on the bottom of the device—but that's what docks are for. Overall, this is a slick mini-computer, small and lightweight enough to be portable. If all you do is move from workstation to workstation, consider ditching the MacBook and saving both your wallet and your desk some space with this deal instead. Shopping for tech? Lifehacker can help you make the right decision. Browse our tech reviews and head-to-head comparisons for everything from laptops and smartwatches to e-bikes and home gyms. Subscribe to our deals newsletter, Add to Cart, for the best sales sent to your inbox, or browse our best-of lists directly on Amazon, including: The Best Over-Ear Headphones The Best Wireless Earbuds The Best Adjustable Dumbbell Sets The Best Projectors View the full article

Shares of GameStop fell more than 15% on Thursday after the company’s plan to finance its bitcoin pivot raised questions about the timing of its move and its strategy to turn around its struggling retail business. The video game retailer’s shares also gave up all their gains from a day earlier and were on track for their biggest one-day fall since last June, after the company said it was offering $1.3 billion in 0% 2030 convertible bonds to amass the cryptocurrency. The company’s announcement that it would buy bitcoin to hold as a treasury reserve asset had created a mini euphoria among retail traders, who keenly track the so-called “meme stock.” However, GameStop also announced the closing of a “significant number” of additional stores this year, signalling that its retail business continued to flounder despite attempts to turn it around. “Investors are not necessarily optimistic on the underlying business,” said Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro. “There are question marks with GameStop’s model. If bitcoin is going to be the pivot, where does that leave everything else?” The timing of GameStop’s decision to buy bitcoin is also in focus as the cryptocurrency’s price has gained nearly 27% since November’s presidential election, though they are sharply down from record highs due to uncertain economic conditions. “Why did (GameStop) wait so long if they were going to go down this road? Six months ago, nine months ago would have made a lot more sense,” Kenwell said. The debt offering to fund bitcoin purchases mimics the playbook of Strategy, one of the largest individual holders of bitcoin that is widely seen as a bitcoin proxy. The overall outlook for crypto markets was also contributing to declines as GameStop’s move has “failed to meaningfully boost market confidence,” said Agne Linge, head of growth at decentralized bank WeFi. With the day’s losses, GameStop shares have dropped more than 23% this year. —Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Reuters View the full article

Trading platform Robinhood, best known for introducing a new generation of traders to the stock market, crypto, and ETFs, is growing up alongside its customers, moving one step closer to becoming a full financial service company the likes of Fidelity or Charles Schwab. On Wednesday, the digital brokerage announced plans to launch Robinhood Banking this fall, a one-stop service that provides “traditional checking and savings accounts with luxury benefits,” as well as Robinhood Strategies, a wealth management product. Customers will need a Gold subscription, which runs $5 a month or $50 a year, to open those individual and joint checking accounts, which will allow users “to send money across the world in over 100 currencies, and even get cash delivered directly to you” (more on that below). Robinhood’s new financial products will include new tools for wealth-management, AI-powered investment advice, access to tax advisors, estate planning, and instant transfers between Robinhood accounts and FDIC partner institutions for up to $2.5 million. Robinhood said the idea is to give members “access to financial services such as private wealth management and private banking, which were once thought out of reach to many.” But perhaps the most unique perk offered is that customers will be able to have cash delivered to their door same-day, likely as a way to continue to capture younger investors with their smartphones. (Robinhood’s median customer age is now 35, up from 31 five years ago.) Cash deliveries would work similarly to, say, DoorDash, serving up cash instead of food. Other unconventional perks for new banking customers reportedly include discounted helicopter rides. “Our goal is for Robinhood to give you a world-class financial team in your pocket, with cutting-edge tools you can’t find elsewhere,” Vlad Tenev, Robinhood’s chairman said in a statement. Robinhood said in the statement that it would charge Gold members 0.25% annually on managed individual and retirement accounts up to $100,000, with a yearly cap of $250, “which means free management on every dollar over $100k and an effective management fee of 0.1% for portfolios with $250,000 or 0.05% for those with $500,000.” Unlike Robinhood Banking, Robinhood Strategies is already available to all Robinhood Gold members, and will begin rolling out to all customers in April, according to the company’s press release. View the full article

X owner Elon Musk was privately messaging with Reddit CEO Steve Huffman while also putting public pressure on the social media company’s content moderation efforts, The Verge reported Thursday. Two months ago, several Reddit subreddits started to block links to X in protest of Musk appearing to give the Nazi salute. Musk called the efforts “insane,” while a Reddit spokesperson at the time clarified that Reddit itself wasn’t imposing a ban on the links. A few days later, Musk claimed that Reddit users who were calling for violence against members of his Department of Government Efficiency were breaking the law. Musk has been a vocal critic of content moderation on social platforms—particularly since buying Twitter, now X, in 2022—to where he’s rolled back many trust and safety policies. At the same time, unironically, he’s been known to restrict links to other platforms on X. And this certainly isn’t the first time Musk has gone after critics—journalists, users, even employees. Last month, Musk reportedly fired a Tesla manager who criticized Musk for a social media post that used the names of Nazis as wordplay. The Verge reported that “shortly after” Musk and Huffman talked, Reddit enacted its 72-hour ban on the r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit, saying it was “due to a prevalence of violent content.” Reddit also fully banned a subreddit called r/IsElonDeadYet for breaking rules “against posting violent content.” The r/WhitePeopleTwitter subreddit, which has more than three million followers, is mostly made up of users screenshotting posts from Bluesky and X. The r/IsElonDeadYet page consisted of a daily post asking whether he was, in fact, dead or not, according to an archived version of the site in December. Reddit moderators learned that the two leaders had spoken, according to The Verge, and discussed it. In response to a user who said Musk is allowed to call out death threats, another reportedly said: “Oh, I don’t have any problem with removing rule-breaking content (and taking the respective admin action on said accounts), but I find it a bit problematic that he’s able to exert influence on both public and private institutions.” Reddit has had ongoing tension with moderators and power users—especially after a policy change requiring some third-party developers to pay much more for its application programming interface led to widespread protests in mid-2023. The company, which went public last year, has struggled to maintain balance between changes from its leadership team and its hundreds of millions of monthly global users. View the full article

Smartphones have been around long enough that, to the casual observer, their designs seem to have hit a plateau. And on a functional level, that’s more or less true — we’re all essentially holding the same six-inch-ish rectangle, aside from the occasional foldable exception. But the maturity and ubiquity of smartphones have sparked a new phenomenon: the return of trends in cycles, much like fashion. For example, most phones released in the past few years have flat sides, like the iPhone 4 from 2010. Five years ago, almost all those sides would have been curved. Flat edges aren’t a new invention — they’re just what’s trending again. But this year brings a surprising twist, something many thought unlikely to return: for the first time in a while, major phone makers are prioritizing thinness. Samsung kicked off the year by announcing its Galaxy S25 lineup, which includes a slimline model, the Galaxy S25 Edge. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that Apple is planning a thinner 2025 iPhone said to feature a single camera. And smaller brands like Tecno showed off unusually thin phones at last month’s Mobile World Congress. So, why now? Around a decade ago, it was common for companies to boast about how thin their phones were. “Here’s the real magic,” said Apple’s Phil Schiller when introducing the larger screens in 2014’s 6.9mm-thick iPhone 6. “Thinner than any phones we’ve ever made — that took an incredible amount of engineering.” A few months later, Oppo announced its R5 phone, which came in at a record-breaking 4.85mm. A Samsung Galaxy Edge smartphone next to the Samsung Galaxy 23 and Samsung Galaxy 24 smartphones at the Galaxy Unpacked event in San Jose, California, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. [Photo: Michaela Vatcheva/Bloomberg via Getty Images] Back then, it seemed inevitable that phones would just keep getting thinner. But then something curious happened: The iPhone 6S got thicker, bumping up to 7.1mm and switching to a stronger aluminum alloy. It was an unofficial but obvious response to the iPhone 6’s tendency to bend. (It happened to me.) No one complained much about the iPhone 6S’ structural integrity, but iPhones kept getting thicker, topping out at the 8.3mm we see with the current iPhone 16 Pro. By and large, people haven’t seemed to mind. Battery life is much less of a concern than it used to be, and today’s increasingly large camera hardware simply wouldn’t fit in thinner devices. The 2025 flurry of deliberately thin phones, then, is a clear break from recent trends. So why are manufacturers converging on the same idea? The primary answer may be technical. While we don’t yet know what Samsung or Apple are using in their upcoming devices, silicon-carbon batteries have become increasingly common in Chinese Android phones over the past year. Infusing silicon into the battery chemistry can provide a meaningful increase in capacity within the same volume. Oppo’s latest Find N5 folding phone, for example, is just 4.2mm thick when unfolded — barely thick enough to accommodate a USB-C port. But its 5,600mAh silicon-carbide battery represents a 17% increase in capacity over its predecessor, the Find N3, even though that phone was 38% thicker. Other companies like Xiaomi and Vivo have used the tech to similar ends. The other reason thinner phones might take off is more subjective. When was the last time a new phone truly wowed you? There will clearly be tradeoffs in battery life and performance with a significantly thinner device. But if you finish each day with more than half a charge, or if you rarely use your telephoto lens, it’s plausible you might prefer a slimmer, more attractive handset. Combine better battery technology with the fact that most people don’t need flagship-level performance, and suddenly a slim phone with few compromises seems pretty reasonable. It makes sense for companies to carve out space for design-forward devices in their lineups. Samsung has always been willing to experiment, and while Apple tends to be more conservative, it’s reportedly unimpressed with sales of its mid-tier Plus-not-Pro iPhones. Why not try something more distinctive between the entry-level and the high end? If anything, the question is whether these designs will go far enough. Samsung has yet to announce the Galaxy S25 Edge’s specs or let anyone in the media handle it, but I saw it suspended in the air at Mobile World Congress and wasn’t particularly blown away by its dimensions. Bloomberg’s Gurman has suggested the upcoming slim iPhone will be “about 2mm thinner than an iPhone 16 Pro,” putting it around 6.3mm — more in line with the iPhone 6 than today’s thicker models. Maybe that’s the right tradeoff. The goal here should be to create something like the MacBook Air of phones: impressive design with unspectacular specs that are good enough for most use cases. The Pro models can continue to be for people who really need them. Plenty of people will always want the most performant phone with the biggest battery and best cameras, of course. But when a phone’s selling point is its physical form, it can’t really be judged until you pick it up for yourself — and then find out how long its battery lasts. View the full article

Beverly Hills’ hottest club is California Pizza Kitchen. At least, that’s what someone unfamiliar with the brand might have taken away from its new “rebrand,” which debuted on Monday. On its website, California Pizza Kitchen replaced its friendly yellow logo and wordmark with a silver chrome logo and the shortened name “CPK.” [Photo: courtesy California Pizza Kitchen] Meanwhile, on socials, the brand posted several videos of its “new identity” that looked more fit for promoting a rave than a family friendly pizza restaurant. Shots of flashing lights, serious models, and slogans like “DEVOUR THE DOUBTERS” and “Fresh. To. Death” were cut with clips of harshly-lit pizzas and interspersed with the brand’s new all-caps wordmark. At first glance, one might have assumed these were assets for a new Liquid Death campaign or MSCHF launch. Many commenters on CPK’s socials were quick to question what was going on with the brand, including the official Little Caeser’s account, which commented, “Bestie what’s happening” on a particularly odd video. But, as it turns out, the whole edgelord rebrand was just a temporary marketing play to promote California Pizza Kitchen’s 40th anniversary. The restaurant just revealed the hoax through a partnership with actress Busy Phillips and restored its platforms to its original branding. The campaign shows that, amidst an influx of purposefully shocking brand moves like Jaguar’s totally unrecognizable rebrand or Duolingo’s decision to briefly kill off its mascot, we’ve reached a new stage of the trend cycle: full brand-on-brand parody. CPK’s midlife crisis Dawn Keller joined California Pizza Kitchen’s as its CMO about a year ago. Since then, she says, she’s learned that sentiment around the brand is overwhelmingly positive, given that many customers associate it with years of childhood dinners. The issue, though, is that many fans “just don’t think about CPK that often,” Keller says. Part of the problem is that the restaurant hasn’t made much of an investment in its marketing efforts to keep CPK top of mind. On socials, it has a staid strategy of essentially reposting traditional ad materials—an approach that’s less than ideal in a social media landscape that rewards brands who embrace big personalities and brain rot content. So, CPK decided to use the four decade milestone as an opportunity to shake things up by staging a “midlife crisis.” [Photo: courtesy California Pizza Kitchen] Leading up to the campaign, CPK conducted extensive brand research with its creative agency, Iris Worldwide, to decide how the company might grab consumers’ attention. That work led them to the conclusion that their existing brand positioning and visual identity was strong enough to exclude the possibility of an actual rebrand. Instead, Keller says, the 40-year anniversary campaign riffs on the tendency of other mature brands to “go into panic mode” and debut a rebrand that loses touch with their original purpose. “We were never of the opinion that we had to upend the apple cart and totally rebrand,” Keller says. “It was really more about, ‘How do we rejuvenate this brand, amplify it, but do it in a fresher way than we’ve done?’ [. . .] There was a bit of parody that we were doing, knowing that some brands evolve, and it’s great, but some, you feel like they jump the shark.” [Photo: courtesy California Pizza Kitchen] While CPK’s hypebeast look only lasted for a week, Keller says the intention of the move was to usher the brand into a more adventurous, “culturally relevant” marketing era on social media. For CPK, the marketing stunt surfaces an interesting tension between embracing a decades-old existing brand identity and parodying shock-value rebrands, while, at the same time, essentially benefitting from the shock-value strategy itself. Today, even brands who don’t actively embody what Fast Company has termed “DGAF branding” might still have to play into it to succeed online. [Photo: courtesy California Pizza Kitchen] So far, the campaign has resulted in a mixed bag of responses. Keller says her team was expecting some confusion and backlash, both of which have been proven out. What’s surprised them, though, is that many fans actually liked the new look. “You’ve got literally people who were giving it a thumbs up and supported it,” Keller says. “Maybe that’s the minority, but even to see people with positive reactions to the fake brand really made us laugh. I think it goes back to that brand equity that CPK has, which is, people want CPK to win. They really do. They love it. A lot of people grew up with it. Even when we do something that is—come on—objectively preposterous, they’re still celebrating it.” View the full article

Russian leader says he is open to co-operation in region as US vice-president heads to GreenlandView the full article

Dugan is replacing Rich Gagliano, who is moving to executive chairman after 18 months in charge of the now stand-alone mortgage technology provider. View the full article

The Senate Banking Committee considered the nomination of Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, whose track record on deregulation in the lead up to the 2008 financial crisis was questioned by Democratic lawmakers. Lawmakers also considered the nomination of Jonathan Gould to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Luke Pettit for a key bank regulatory role at Treasury. View the full article

BYD’s technological advances show where the centre of innovation now liesView the full article

Royal Bank of Canada executives said they plan to start originating more mortgages in the United States, and they indicated that they may ditch the City National Bank brand. View the full article

Chancellor criticised over decision to stick with £9.9bn of budgetary headroomView the full article

After a yearlong search, the Sundance Film Festival announced Thursday that its new home will be Boulder, Colorado, keeping Sundance in the mountains but moving it out of Park City, the Utah ski town that had for decades provided the premier independent film gathering its picturesque snowy backdrop. Organizers said that after 40 years in the mountains, the festival had outgrown Park City, and lacked the necessary theaters or affordable housing to continue hosting what has become one of North America’s most sprawling movie events. Sundance had narrowed down the options to Salt Lake City (with a smaller presence in Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder. Boulder, organizers said, emerged as their choice due to its close proximity to nature, its small-town charm and an engaged community that provides Sundance the ideal setting for its future. “Boulder is a tech town, it’s a college town, it’s an arts town, and it’s a mountain town,” Amanda Kelso, acting chief executive of the Sundance Institute, said in an interview Thursday from Boulder. “At 100,000 people, a larger town than Park City, it gives us the space to expand.” Kelso, Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough and Eugene Hernandez, director of the festival and head of programming, spoke shortly before announcing the festival’s move in Boulder. Local officials, who helped lure Sundance with $34 million in tax credits over 10 years, applauded the decision. “Here in our state we celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator and important contributor to our thriving culture,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement. A changed endorsed by Sundance founder Robert Redford A shift from Park City to Boulder means Sundance stays at altitude but gives up being located in an expensive ski town. The mile-high Colorado city set in the foothills of the Rockies also maintains a sense of surrounding nature — something organizers stressed as a factor in their decision. Boulder’s four-block pedestrian mall on Pearl Street, with nearby theaters, could also provide a similar sense of central hub like Park City’s Main Street. The Sundance Institute was founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, who sought a location far from Hollywood to foster independent voices in film. In 1984, the institute took over the Sundance Film Festival, but the nonprofit’s mission of helping young filmmakers grow through labs and workshops — Redford’s real passion — continued year-round away from the festival. The 88-year-old Redford, who attended the University of Colorado in Boulder in his youth, gave the move his blessing. “Words cannot express the sincere gratitude I have for Park City, the state of Utah, and all those in the Utah community that have helped to build the organization,” Redford said in a statement. “What we’ve created is remarkably special and defining. As change is inevitable, we must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival.” How Sundance chose its new home The festival made “ethos and equity values” one of its criteria, prompting many to wonder how much local politics would influence the choice by Sundance, which emphasizes inclusivity. Republican Utah Gov. Spencer Cox is currently weighing a bill that would ban the flying of certain flags at schools and government buildings, including the LGBTQ pride flag. Organizers said Boulder’s “welcoming environment aligns with the ethos the Sundance Film Festival developed in Park City.” “This process started 18 months ago and we’ve been in Utah for 40 years. So politics really didn’t guide the process,” Burnough said Thursday. “It was really and truly about evolution. That’s where it landed. We didn’t constantly spend time examining what bill was going forward or may or may not be signed.” With its current contract expiration date looming, the hunt for a new host city began in earnest in April 2024. The initial group of six contenders also included Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky and Santa Fe, New Mexico. What Sundance has meant for Park City, and the film world Before packing up, Sundance will have one last edition in Park City in January 2026. “The Sundance Film Festival will be the Sundance Film Festival wherever we go. What’s consistent is our mission,” said Hernandez. “This is a festival of global discovery. What’s exciting about Boulder is this is a place we can build.” Over the years, Sundance in Park City swelled into a premier marketplace for American film, drawing studio executives and parka-wearing celebrities into the Wasatch mountains every January. It helped launch countless filmmakers over the years, from Steven Soderbergh (“Sex, Lies and Videotape”) to Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”). Sundance scored its first best picture winner with “CODA” in 2022. Sundance meant big business for Utah and Park City. In 2024, the festival had some 72,840 in-person attendees, 24,200 of whom were coming from out of state. According to the festival’s economic impact report, out-of-state visitors spent an estimated $106.4 million in Utah during the festival. Its total economic impact was estimated to be $132 million, with 1,730 jobs for Utah residents and $69.7 million in Utah wages. But the festival had also sparred with local ski resorts — Park City’s other major money maker — as festivalgoers filled the hotels and left the slopes virtually empty for two weeks during peak ski season. The festival was a boon to some local businesses, but a hindrance to others. For visitors flying into the 10-day festival, ballooning rental costs increasingly factored into attending. Cox had urged Sundance to stay in Utah, but has said the state’s economy would be OK if it lost the festival. All three top contenders budgeted millions to lure the lucrative festival to their city. Cincinnati set aside $2.5 million for Sundance and another $2.5 million to come if it was chosen. Salt Lake City offered Sundance $3.5 million to stay in Utah. —Jake Coyle, AP film writer Associated Press Writer Hannah Schoenbaum and Film Writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this report. View the full article