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We may earn a commission from links on this page. I’m no stranger to the crisping prowess of the air fryer. (Here are some of my favorite models.) The powerful convection heating mechanism reheats leftovers, blisters veggies, and roasts meats quickly and with a sizzling finish reminiscent of an actual deep fryer—sans the vat of oil. But after using the Ninja Crispi—an air fryer that comes apart for easy storage—my interest in crispy crusts has changed to something totally unexpected: dips. Making dip in an air fryer is not normal. Dips have always been a stove top thing—you cook the ingredients in a pot or pan, then you pour it all into a casserole dish. Maybe at the end you move it to the oven for a broiled cheesy crust. But things have changed for me: Now I can make a heaping container of spicy buffalo chicken dip, broil it, serve it, and store the leftovers, all in the same vessel. Ninja Crispy Air Fryer $179.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Shop Now Shop Now $179.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Why dip works in the Ninja Crispi All this can be done because the Ninja Crispi is designed to come apart. The PowerPod (Ninja's name for the handheld convection engine) lifts on and off the cooking chamber. That container is made of clear tempered glass. It's pretty enough to be used as a serving dish, and small enough to fit in the fridge with your other containers. The Crispi cooking system comes with two containers (one large and one small), so you can still cook in one while you have something stored in the other. Plus, both containers come with lids. Here's my full Ninja Crispi review. Making dip in an air fryer might seem unhinged, but there are benefits to this style of cooking. It has the minimal clean-up of one-pot cooking, but it’s cooking from the top-down instead of the bottom-up. You cook ingredients directly in the air fryer container, stopping to lift off the Ninja Crispi PowerPod to stir when needed. When the necessary ingredients are cooked, simply mix in spices and the creamiest ingredients—sour cream, yogurt, or mayonnaise. Then top with cheese and put the PowerPod back on to melt it until browned and bubbly. Your air fryer has just become a quick, efficient broiler. No need to empty the dip into a new dish—simply serve it as-is. Here are my favorite dips to make in the Crispi right now. Buffalo Chicken Dip RecipeThis dip is quick to make and almost too easy to eat. The right buffalo sauce is key, so make sure you love the one you’re using. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Ingredients: 8 ounces butterflied chicken breast ¼ teaspoon salt Pinch MSG ½ cup plain Greek yogurt 2 ounces cream cheese 2 to 4 tablespoons buffalo hot sauce (I use Hot Ones buffalo hot sauce) ⅓ cup shredded cheddar, plus more for topping 1 to 3 sliced scallion, white ends and greens separated 1. Lay the thinly sliced chicken breast onto the grate of the Ninja Crispi, sprinkle with salt and MSG. Cook the chicken on bake mode for 10 minutes, or until cooked through but not too browned. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Slide the grate out from under the chicken, and remove it. Shred the chicken with two forks directly in the Ninja Crispi container. 3. Add the yogurt, cream cheese, two tablespoons of buffalo sauce, cheddar, and the white and light green parts of the scallion. Cook it for another five minutes on bake mode. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 4. The cheeses and yogurt should be super soft. Mix everything together thoroughly and taste to see if you want more hot sauce. Spread the dip out flat and top the dip with a little more shredded cheese. Cook it for another three to five minutes on bake mode. Sprinkle the green scallion slices over the top and serve. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann French Onion Dip RecipeI never imagined being able to caramelize onions in an air fryer before, but it works in the Crispi. Don’t skip the MSG and Worcestershire sauce—they bring in the hearty umami boost that we all look for in French onion dip. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Ingredients: 2 medium onions (about 14 ounces), sliced 2 teaspoons neutral oil 1 tablespoon butter ¼ teaspoon salt 4 ounces full-fat sour cream 3 ounces plain Greek yogurt ¼ teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Pinch MSG 1. Spread out the onion slices into the small Ninja Crispi container. (Do not use the grate.) Drizzle the oil over the top along with the salt. Toss the onions a little to get them in contact with the oil, but you don’t have to be too precise about it. Break the butter up into chunks over the onions. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Cook the onions for about 30 minutes on bake mode, stirring every three to five minutes. (Caramelizing onions takes time no matter how you do it.) Stir often. This step is important so the onions cook evenly. Some of the ends will still burn and that’s totally OK. It’s actually a good thing. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 3. Once the onions are softened and evenly browned, remove the PowerPod and let the caramelized onions cool for about 15 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, yogurt, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, and MSG. Serve at room temperature or cover it with the Ninja Crispi lid and put it in the fridge until chilled. Extra-Meaty Seven-Layer Dip RecipeThis dip is great for a party. If you're a guest, stop at Step 5, pack up the container with the NinjaCrispi lid, and throw the PowerPod in the car. Plug in the Pod and broil the cheese just before serving. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Ingredients: 1 pound ground turkey (or other ground meat) ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 packet taco seasoning (or any another spice mix of choice) Sliced olives (I used jalepeño stuffed green olives) ½ can refried beans ½ cup sour cream (or plain greek yogurt) 2 to 3 tablespoons salsa Sliced green onions ½ cup shredded cheddar 1. I sprinkle the baking soda over the surface of the ground turkey and, with a gloved hand, mix it into the meat. This will help brown the meat and keep it tender. 2. Put the meat into the container of the Ninja Crispi without the grate. Note: In the picture I’m using the small container, but the dip almost didn’t fit by the end. I'm considering the large container for next time. On bake mode, cook the meat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring and flipping the meat every five minutes or so. It'll look somewhat gross at first with the top browning and raw meat lurking underneath, just keep cooking it. The air fryer cooks from the top down, so flipping as you break up the meat morsels is the best way to cook it evenly. 3. When the meat looks mostly browned and nearly finished cooking through, stir in the salt and seasoning packet. Finish cooking the meat completely. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 4. Stir some olives into the meat. Then top the meat with more olives. Spread the refried beans over the top of the meat. Layer the sour cream on top of that, followed by a thin layer of salsa, green onions, and top it all with shredded cheddar. If using the small container, gently press the dip down so it’s below the rim of the dish. You don’t want the cheese to touch the PowerPod. 5. Cook the dip for another minute or two on the bake setting to melt the cheese, and serve with chips, crisp breads, or between two hamburger buns for a fancy sloppy joe. Why not? View the full article

Chair Jay Powell faces message challenge as central bank prepares to release new ‘dot plot’View the full article

A former COO at Marlin Mortgage claims the servicer transferred an MSR portfolio to a new subservicer not to benefit the investor, but for the gain of the company's CEO. View the full article

While Apple has offered password management solutions for years, it was only this past fall that the company finally rolled out a dedicated passwords app, appropriately named "Passwords." It's a bit basic, but it's built into the OS, and it gets the job done. (It's also free, which helps.) If you're fully into the Apple ecosystem, it's an easy way to create, store, and access the passwords of your numerous accounts. However, as it happens, Passwords has a critical security flaw that Apple only recently addressed. Here's the situation: Passwords has a security feature that helps you change an account's password directly within the Passwords app. This is particularly helpful if the app detects that one of your accounts' passwords has been compromised. You can tap on the account, choose "Change Password..." and open an in-app browser that will direct you to the account's website, where you can change your password. As convenient as this feature is, it contained a significant security risk. As discovered by security researchers with Mysk, whenever you tapped "Change Password..." on an account, Passwords would connect to the site using an unencrypted HTTP protocol, before redirecting to the encrypted HTTPS protocol. This encryption protects your connection between your device and the website you're visiting. Without it, an actor with privileged network access could take over the connection and redirect the link. Let's say the Passwords app warns you that your Yelp password has been compromised, and you need to change it. No problem: You tap your Yelp account in the app, then choose "Change Password..." However, a bad actor follows your activity, and before the real Yelp website can load, they redirect you to a fake Yelp site. Here, the fraudulent page encourages you to share your sensitive information, and since you think you're visiting the real Yelp site, perhaps you do. And just like that, you've been phished. As Mysk tells 9to5Mac, “We were surprised that Apple didn’t enforce HTTPS by default for such a sensitive app... Additionally, Apple should provide an option for security-conscious users to disable downloading icons completely. I don’t feel comfortable with my password manager constantly pinging each website I maintain a password for, even though the calls Passwords sends don’t contain any ID.” This problem isn't contained to the Passwords app, however. According to Mysk, this flaw has existed since Apple rolled out the ability to detect compromised passwords in iOS 14, all the way back in 2020: This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. How to fix this 'Passwords' security flawApple quietly addressed this problem with the release of iOS 18.2. That update launched in December 2024, so changes are good you've updated your iPhone since then. However, if you haven't, you need to update to the latest version of iOS as soon as possible. (As of this article, that's iOS 18.3.2, which coincidentally contains another important security patch.) To update now, head to Settings > General > Software Update, then follow the on-screen instructions to download and install the update. View the full article

The land offensive comes after air strikes killed more than 400 people and shattered a two-month truceView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Soundbars are the best way to take your home theater audio to the next level, especially if you complain about actors mumbling their lines. When it comes to high-end soundbars, there are a couple that beat out the competition, starting with the Sonos Arc (which is at its lowest price right now) for best overall sound—but the Samsung HW-Q900C is only marginally inferior to the Sonos, and you get a subwoofer as well for essentially the same price. The 7.1.2ch Samsung HW-Q900C soundbar and subwoofer combo are $565.68 (originally $1,399.00) right now, the lowest price it has ever been, according to price tracking tools. Samsung HW-Q900C Soundbar and Subwoofer $565.68 at Walmart $1,399.00 Save $833.32 Get Deal Get Deal $565.68 at Walmart $1,399.00 Save $833.32 The acoustics of the Samsung HW-Q900C won't reach the quality of the Sonos Arc, but it will get pretty close for significantly less money. It also includes more features and it's more adaptable. If you have multiple systems you want to hook up to your surround sound system, like gaming consoles or a Blu-Ray player, you'll make good use of the HDMI-switching feature to transition seamlessly between devices without the need to get down and dirty with the cables. The HW-Q900C is also highly adaptable, with four sound settings: standard, surround (gives a more soundstage presence), adaptive (adjusts on the fly based on what you're watching), and Game Pro (adjusts the volume for gaming). If you ever want to expand to a 9.1.4-channel system down the road, you'd just need to get the two rear satellite speakers, the SWA-9500S, and you'd have a top-of-the-line complete surround-sound system for under $900. However, if you have the money for it now, it's better to get the 11.1.4-channel HW-Q990C for $979 right away, which comes with better satellite speakers. Getting the same system set up from Sonos would run you much more money for not that much of an upgrade, but if money isn't an issue, then the Sonos surround system is the best you can get. View the full article

In previous articles, I’ve spoken about the dangers of sitting and the importance of using an ergonomic chair. at a glance: our top 5 picks for Office Chairs For Tall People Best Tall Office Chair: Herman Miller Aeron Ergonomic Chair - Size C Best Executive Chair: Serta Ergonomic Executive Motion Technology Chair Best Task Chair: Ergohuman High Back Swivel Chair With Headrest Best Drafting Chair: Harwick Evolve All Mesh Heavy Duty Drafting Chair Best Value Chair: Nouhaus Ergo3D Ergonomic Office Chair So what happens if you can’t find a comfortable chair because you’re a too tall? Actually this is quite a common problem for tall people. It’s an even bigger problem (no pun intended) for heavy people. So in this article, I will help you find the right ergonomic office chair that’s ideal for tall people. I will recommend the best chairs and also give you some advice about how to choose the right chair for you. Quick Comparison: Our Top 5 Picks for Office Chairs For Tall People IMAGEPRODUCT Best Tall Office ChairHerman Miller Aeron Ergonomic Chair - Size CFeatures 8Z pellicle technologyThe back of the chair is broken up into 8 distinct zonesThe backrest is built to support your spineView On Amazon → Best Executive ChairSerta Ergonomic Executive Motion Technology ChairThe chair features a unique back with motion technologyOffers lower back support that reclines with your bodyComfy padded headrestView On Amazon → Best Task ChairErgohuman High Back Swivel Chair With HeadrestHas multiple ergonomic featuresHas a durable polypropylene/chrome base and nylon castersMade from 97% recyclable materialsView On Amazon → Best Drafting ChairHarwick Evolve All Mesh Heavy Duty Drafting ChairIt has pneumatic seat height adjustability2-to-1 Syncro tilt and tension controlWaterfall set edge that eases the pressure on your legsView On Amazon → Best Value ChairNouhaus Ergo3D Ergonomic Office Chair135-degree tilt control4D adjustable lumbar supportUnique 5-point baseView On Amazon → View the full article

Staff told of redundancies in 12-minute call as firm retreats from British legal practice expansion plansView the full article

In 1957, Hollywood released The Deadly Mantis, a B-grade monster movie starring a praying mantis of nightmare proportions. Its premise: Melting Arctic ice has released a very hungry, million-year-old megabug, and scientists and the U.S. military will have to stop it. The rampaging insect menaces America’s Arctic military outposts, part of a critical line of national defense, before heading south and meeting its end in New York City. Yes, it’s over-the-top fiction, but the movie holds some truth about the U.S. military’s concerns then and now about the Arctic’s stability and its role in national security. A poster advertises The Deadly Mantis, a movie released in 1957, a time when Americans worried about a Russian invasion. The film used military footage to promote the nation’s radar defenses along the Distant Early Warning line in the Arctic. [Image: IMDB] In the late 1940s, Arctic temperatures were warming and the Cold War was heating up. The U.S. military had grown increasingly nervous about a Soviet invasion across the Arctic. It built bases and a line of radar stations. The movie used actual military footage of these polar outposts. But officials wondered: What if sodden snow and vanishing ice stalled American men and machines and weakened these northern defenses? In response to those concerns, the military created the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment, a research center dedicated to the science and engineering of all things frozen: glacier runways, the behavior of ice, the physics of snow and the climates of the past. It was the beginning of the military’s understanding that climate change couldn’t be ignored. Army engineers test the properties of snow on Greenland’s ice sheet in 1955, a critical determinant of mobility on the ice and one that changes rapidly with temperature and climate. [Photo: U.S. Army] As I was writing “When the Ice is Gone,” my recent book about Greenland, climate science and the U.S. military, I read government documents from the 1950s and 1960s showing how the Pentagon poured support into climate and cold-region research to boost the national defense. Initially, military planners recognized threats to their own ability to protect the nation. Over time, the U.S. military would come to see climate change as both a threat in itself and a threat multiplier for national security. Ice roads, ice cores and bases inside the ice sheet The military’s snow and ice engineering in the 1950s made it possible for convoys of tracked vehicles to routinely cross Greenland’s ice sheet, while planes landed and took off from ice and snow runways. In 1953, the Army even built a pair of secret surveillance sites inside the ice sheet, both equipped with Air Force radar units looking 24/7 for Soviet missiles and aircraft, but also with weather stations to understand the Arctic climate system. The public reveal of U.S. military bases somewhere—that remained classified—inside Greenland’s ice sheet, in the February 1955 edition of REAL. [Image: Paul Bierman collection] The Army drilled the world’s first deep ice core from a base it built within the Greenland ice sheet, Camp Century. Its goal: to understand how climate had changed in the past so they would know how it might change in the future. The military wasn’t shy about its climate change research successes. The Army’s chief ice scientist, Dr. Henri Bader, spoke on the Voice of America. He promoted ice coring as a way to investigate climates of the past, provide a new understanding of weather, and understand past climatic patterns to gauge and predict the one we are living in today – all strategically important. In the 1970s, painstaking laboratory work on the Camp Century ice core extracted minuscule amounts of ancient air trapped in tiny bubbles in the ice. Analyses of that gas revealed that levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were lower for tens of thousands of years before the industrial revolution. After 1850, carbon dioxide levels crept up slowly at first and then rapidly accelerated. It was direct evidence that people’s actions, including burning coal and oil, were changing the composition of the atmosphere. Since 1850, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have spiked and global temperatures have warmed by more than 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.3 Celsius). The past 10 years have been the hottest since recordkeeping began, with 2024 now holding the record. Climate change is now affecting the entire Earth – but most especially the Arctic, which is warming several times faster than the rest of the planet. Since 1850, global average temperature and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have risen together, reflecting human emissions of greenhouse gases. Red bars indicate warmer years; blue bars indicate colder years. [Image: NOAA] Seeing climate change as a threat multiplier For decades, military leaders have been discussing climate change as a threat and a threat multiplier that could worsen instability and mass migration in already fragile regions of the world. Climate change can fuel storms, wildfires and rising seas that threaten important military bases. It puts personnel at risk in rising heat and melts sea ice, creating new national security concerns in the Arctic. Climate change can also contribute to instability and conflict when water and food shortages trigger increasing competition for resources, internal and cross-border tensions, or mass migrations. The military understands that these threats can’t be ignored. As Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro told a conference in September 2024: “Climate resilience is force resilience.” A view of ships docked at the sprawling Naval Station Norfolk show how much of the region is within a few feet of sea level. [Photo: Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Stoltz/US Navy] Consider Naval Station Norfolk. It’s the largest military port facility in the world and sits just above sea level on Virginia’s Atlantic coast. Sea level there rose more than 1.5 feet in the last century, and it’s on track to rise that much again by 2050 as glaciers around the world melt and warming ocean water expands. High tides already cause delays in repair work, and major storms and their storm surges have damaged expensive equipment. The Navy has built sea walls and worked to restore coastal dunes and marshlands to protect its Virginia properties, but the risks continue to increase. Planning for the future, the Navy incorporates scientists’ projections of sea level rise and increasing hurricane strength to design more resilient facilities. By adapting to climate change, the U.S. Navy will avoid the fate of another famous marine power: the Norse, forced to abandon their flooded Greenland settlements when sea level there rose about 600 years ago. Norse ruins in Igaliku in southern Greenland, illustrated in the late 1800s while flooded at spring tide by sea level, which had risen since the settlement was abandoned around 1400. [Image: Steenstrup, K.J.V., and A. Kornerup. 1881. Expeditionen til Julianehaabs distrikt i 1876. MeddelelseromGrønland] Climate change is costly to ignore As the impacts of climate change grow in both frequency and magnitude, the costs of inaction are increasing. Most economists agree that it’s cheaper to act now than deal with the consequences. Yet, in the past 20 years, the political discourse around addressing the cause and effects of climate change has become increasingly politicized and partisan, stymieing effective action. In my view, the military’s approach to problem-solving and threat reduction provides a model for civil society to address climate change in two ways: reducing carbon emissions and adapting to inevitable climate change impacts. The U.S. military emits more planet warming carbon than Sweden and spent more than US$2 billion on energy in 2021. It accounts for more than 70% of energy used by the federal government. In that context, its embrace of alternative energy, including solar generation, microgrids and wind power, makes economic and environmental sense. The U.S. military is moving away from fossil fuels, not because of any political agenda, but because of the cost-savings, increased reliability and energy independence the alternatives provide. As sea ice melts and Arctic temperatures rise, the polar region has again become a strategic priority. Russia and China are expanding Arctic shipping routes and eyeing critical mineral deposits as they become accessible. The military knows climate change affects national security, which is why it continues to take steps to address the threats a changing climate presents. Paul Bierman is a fellow of the Gund Institute for Environment and professor of natural resources and environmental Science at the University of Vermont. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

This post is part of our Home Remedy Handbook, a tour of the landscape of home remedies from the iffy to the doctor-approved. Read more here. Thanks to a loophole in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, some of the “drugs” you can buy at pharmacies are actually nothing but magic water. I am, I promise, not exaggerating. I don’t mean supplements, which are legal because they are considered to be not drugs. And I don’t mean foods that make iffy or overblown health claims (nothing as boring as that). I mean that you can walk into a pharmacy and pay seven dollars of legal tender for a “natural” kids cold & cough remedy and walk away with a bottle of mostly water—or at least what is hopefully mostly water. That bottle may bear a Drug Facts label and a seemingly factual statement that it “temporarily relieves symptoms of common cold in children.” And it does not contain any medicine. That’s because it isn’t formulated with modern medications, nor with medicinal quantities of herbs that are believed to have healing properties. Homeopathic drugs are just water (with or without alcohol or sugar) that have been imbued with the magical vibrations of substances that, if used straight, would make your symptoms worse. My friends: Homeopathy is not only nonsense—it is some of the wildest nonsense you will read about today. What the hell is homeopathy, really?Let’s step back in our time machine to 1796. A German physician, Samuel Hahnemann, was disappointed with the state of medicine at the time. This was the age of bloodletting, when doctors responded to illnesses by trying to balance the body’s “humors.” The treatments of the time often did more harm than good, so Hahnemann wasn’t necessarily wrong for wanting to find other ways of doctoring. But his alternative didn’t work, either. Remember, this is well before anybody knew that germs could cause illness, or that operating rooms should be clean, or that vitamins existed, or what made herbal medicines work (when they did). Clinical trials, as we know them, were not a standard tool of science or medicine. So, one day, Hahnemann ate some cinchona bark. This is the tree bark from South America that is now recognized as one of the first modern pharmaceuticals. It’s where we get quinine, the “tonic” in tonic water. We now know that a chemical found in the bark can kill the parasite that causes malaria. In the understanding of the time, though, all anybody knew was that taking this bark would cure your recurring fever. Hahnemann did not have malaria. He reportedly took notes on the symptoms he experienced from mildly overdosing on cinchona, which included weakness, trembling, and fever, among others. These sounded to him like the symptoms of malaria itself, and this observation led him to the “law of similars” that forms the basis for homeopathic medicine. According to this so-called law, the way you treat an illness is to find a substance that causes the same symptoms of that illness in healthy people. So how is that not making the sick person’s illness worse? Well, the (incorrect) theory goes: You separate the substance from the healing properties of that substance. You put the healing properties into water. Then you have magic water. How homeopathy is supposed to workFirst, you find a substance that can produce the same symptoms as the condition you are trying to treat. For example, coffee can give you jitters and sleeplessness, so a homeopathic medicine made from coffee is supposed to be an appropriate treatment for a hyperactive child, or a person with insomnia. Onion makes your eyes water and your nose run, so onion extract is used in homeopathic remedies with the intention of stopping your eyes from watering and your nose from running. Onion is actually one of the ingredients you may find in homeopathic children’s cold medicines—“Allium cepa 6X HPUS” means that a preparation made from onions was diluted in water at a ratio of 1:10. Then a small amount of that preparation was diluted at a 1:10 ratio, and so on, a total of six times. The result, if I have done my math right, is an onion-to-water ratio of one to one million. To be clear, we are not just diluting the onion water. We are “succusing” the water, or shaking it in a particular way, to transfer the memory of the onion into the water. Homeopaths—who, yes, exist today—are convinced that water does indeed have memory, and to them, the only question remaining is how to convince real scientists that this must be true. Since the water remembers the onion, homeopaths don’t need to worry whether or not there is any onion in the finished cold medicine—although the preparation is statistically likely to include a good bit of it. The dilution is only 6X. Homeopaths consider this number of dilutions to make a weak or mild medicine; to get the extra-strength stuff, you would need to dilute it more. This is no secret. The American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists is happy to tell you that homeopathic preparations often contain none of their supposed active ingredient. In their FAQ, they answer the question “Can I take an overdose or too much of a homeopathic medicine?” by saying: "Because of the extremely small amount of highly diluted active ingredients, you need not worry about suffering an overdose by taking more homeopathic medicine than the recommended dosage. In dilutions above 8X or 4C, any toxic properties of the original substance have disappeared; the medicine is safe and sold over-the-counter (OTC)." And yes, that means “over-the-counter” as in something you can buy at your neighborhood pharmacy or your favorite big-box store. Look next to the regular cold medicines and pain relievers, and you’ll find homeopathic products from brands like Hyland’s and Boiron. Homeopathic "remedies" can be dangerousHomeopaths love to point out that the dilution keeps their products safe. But many homeopathic medicines are not diluted to extremes. We have already seen that there are products that are less diluted, like the 6X ingredients in our example. If that were something more toxic than onion, we might worry. And then there are products sold as “homeopathic” even though they contain a substantial amount of the active ingredient. I’ve seen arnica gel, for example, that is offered at a “1X” dilution. Sambucol sells elderberry products to treat colds where some are supplements (containing substantial amounts of elderberry) and others are homeopathic (containing little to no elderberry). You can tell the difference if you know how to read a Supplement Facts label versus a homeopathic Drug Facts label, but the fronts of the packages both seem to claim the same benefits. The law of similars would seem to dictate that these two products cannot possibly treat the same condition; in homeopathy world, if homeopathic elderberry cures a cold, then non-homeopathic elderberry would give you cold symptoms. But there is no FDA regulation requiring your marketing strategy to stick to a single theory of medicine. It really isn't fair for critics of homeopathy to say that these medicines are “just” water, since they are often not. And by the same token, it does not follow that homeopathic medicines are “safe” because they are diluted. In fact, products labeled as homeopathic have allegedly killed people. In 2016, the FDA investigated a brand of homeopathic teething tablets that was linked to the deaths of 10 infants and another 400 reports of adverse events like seizures. One of the ingredients was belladonna, or deadly nightshade. The FDA’s lab testing found that the tablets contained significant amounts of belladonna, often more than stated on the label, and warned people not to buy them. The company issued a recall in 2017, just like it had in 2010 when the same damn thing happened. Or to take another example, homeopathic nasal gels and nasal swabs contained enough zinc to cause people to permanently lose their sense of smell. The FDA issued warning letters, saying that even though the product is labeled as homeopathic, it does include zinc and the FDA is not aware of any trials showing zinc in the nose to be safe and effective. The dilution in that case was 2X, meaning the products had 0.1% zinc. How is any of this legal?Well, it’s sort of not. But the FDA also isn’t trying very hard to stop it. Homeopathic “drugs” got a carveout in the 1938 law that defined what, exactly, the FDA exists to regulate. Over the years, the FDA has struggled with the fact that drugs are defined as either drugs that work or remedies that were grandfathered in for being homeopathic. Homeopathic medicines aren’t tested with clinical trials. They rely on “provings,” in which the raw ingredients are given to healthy volunteers and their symptoms documented. According to homeopathic theory, no clinical trials are needed. And this isn’t just a loophole for over-the-counter drugs: There exist schools of homeopathy and private-practice homeopaths who will customize remedies to your particular temperament. (Remember, homeopathy is all about matching symptoms to symptoms; the cause of the illness, homeopaths will tell you, is irrelevant.) Over the years, the FDA has slowly come to terms with the fact that drugs are required to be safe and effective, and homeopathic drugs are not. I think my favorite moment—perhaps my favorite government document of all time—is when the Federal Trade Commission sent the FDA a spicy letter pointing out that it is, in fact, illegal for companies to lie about their products. The FDA finally decided in 2022 that they can, in fact, boot products off the market for being unsafe or ineffective. But instead of a blanket declaration that homeopathic products were thenceforth illegal, the agency stated that it would “focus its enforcement authorities” on products that seem to be particularly dangerous. Which means that a lot of this nonsense is still on store shelves and will stay there probably forever. How to avoid buying homeopathic products by accidentFirst of all, beware the stuff that seems too good to be true. For example, a lot of real medications that are appropriate for adults and older children aren’t OK for babies or toddlers. (Cough medicine, for example, is not for children under the age of four.) So homeopathy companies have pounced on this market because they know you want to buy some kind of cough medicine for your baby. And since most people don’t know what homeopathy is, you’ll probably look the box over and figure it must be legit. So here’s how to read the label: First, see if it’s a Drug Facts label or not. (Some of the products you’ll find in the drugstore are supplements, which may or may not be useful in some way. But supplements are not medicine.) Next, if it’s a Drug Facts label, look for these signs: Dilutions listed with a number and letter, like 6X or 20C The acronym HPUS next to an ingredient, which refers to the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States (a government-recognized giant database of bullshit) Ingredients with (usually) two-word Latin names, like “natrum muriaticum” (that one is sea salt) Some homeopathic products will include a disclaimer like “Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence.” A lot hides behind that Latin, by the way. Sometimes ingredients are plant extracts or chemical elements, and sometimes they are common items like onions or salt. In other cases, they are eye-of-newt caliber preparations, like the “Hepar Sulph Calc” in one cold medicine that is the inner layer of oyster shells, ground finely and cooked with sulfur. That’s a special recipe from Hahnemann himself. And to leave you with just one more “what the hell” moment for today, I’ll tell you about oscillococcinum, a homeopathic product you can commonly pick up at any neighborhood pharmacy. The ingredient is often listed as Anas barbariae, which is meant to refer to the Muscovy duck. (The Muscovy duck is now known by the scientific name Cairina moschata, so this isn’t even its scientific name, just a Latinized version of the common name.) Anyway, the reason this is sold to treat “flu-like symptoms” is because of a breathtakingly fantastical hypothesis, long disproven, about the cause of the flu. Today we know that influenza is caused by the influenza virus. But in 1920, viruses had yet to be discovered. Bacteria were known, though, so scientists were constantly looking through microscopes at blood and tissue samples from sick people, hoping to find the germ that would explain everything. As McGill University’s Office of Science and Society tells it: [Dr. Joseph] Roy naturally took a great interest in the flu and sought to solve its mysterious cause by examining the blood of victims under the microscope. He described seeing tiny microbes that darted or “oscillated” quickly back and forth. He named these “oscillococci” and claimed that they were also to be found in the blood of patients suffering from diseases as diverse as cancer, tuberculosis and gonorrhea. This “universal germ” as he called it, was responsible for many illnesses! If these oscillococci were causing the symptoms of disease, Roy concluded, then a homeopathic solution of the same should be curative. Yep, a vibrating microbe that causes all illness. Make a homeopathic preparation of that, and Bob’s your uncle! Now, how do you make a homeopathic preparation of that? Well, Roy thought he had found the same vibrating microbes in duck livers. (To this day, nobody knows what he actually saw. There are no vibrating microbes in duck livers—you can go look.) So you make a preparation from duck organs, dilute the heck out of it, infuse the resulting water into sugar pills, and sell those pills for $29.99 at Target. (A real price I just confirmed. God, I wish I were making this up.) You know what actually works for cases of flu that are mild enough to treat at home? Fluids. Rest. Maybe a little saline to flush out the mucus in your nose. You know: home remedies. View the full article

Billionaire businessman, investor, former shark, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban knows a bit about running a company and leading employees. The serial entrepreneur has founded and invested in successful businesses from food brands to tech startups and pretty much everything in between. Cuban often shares his insights about sweat equity and staying involved in running one’s own business. Here are three of the most actionable pearls of leadership wisdom from Mark Cuban—and how you can put these quotes into action in your own leadership. 1. Embrace Sweat Equity “Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is.” Put simply, “sweat equity” is the value you create through your own hard work. This might be the unpaid work you put into researching your competitor’s products, perfecting your public-speaking skills, getting to know your customers, or recruiting the best employees for your company. Your time and your effort don’t cost you anything, and pouring both into your work can make all the difference. As a leader, you should also encourage your employees to contribute their sweat equity. This doesn’t mean forcing unpaid overtime, of course. According to Cuban, the key to leadership is knowing your employees and finding out how their goals and the business’s goals align. Maybe you have an employee who wants to get into videography and your company’s marketing could benefit from some custom videos. Perhaps someone wants to move into management in the future, and there’s a cross-functional project they could manage. Mark Cuban isn’t the only successful leader who embraces the idea of sweat equity. Other business leaders who have spoken on the value of hard work are: Warren Buffett, CEO and chairperson of Berkshire Hathaway (aka the “Oracle of Omaha”) Dan Graham, cofounder and CEO of BuildASign.com Justin Gray, founder and CEO of five successful companies 2. Be the Expert in Your Field “Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world.” There are countless ways to boost your knowledge through effort rather than financial investment, making learning one of the most valuable ways to build sweat equity. The more you know about your business and industry, the more you, as a leader, will be ready for any problem or decision that comes your way. “What I’ve learned is that if you really want to be successful at something, you’ll find that you put the time in,” Cuban said at the 2017 Inc. 5000 Conference. “You won’t just ask somebody if it’s a good idea, you’ll go figure out if it’s a good idea.” You can work continuous learning into your life by: Keeping a running list of any new ideas or concepts you come across so you know which topics you want to learn Breaking new topics down into subtopics that you can learn in small bursts when you have the time Scheduling regular learning time—whether it’s a scheduled course, a set hour a day, or a few hours each weekend Continuous learning is also an important practice for staying ahead of industry trends. You could: Follow others in your industry on social media and pay attention to new topics Attend industry events and network regularly Use frequent customer and employee surveys Invite your employees to share new trends they come across 3. Lead with Passion and Purpose “Love what you do or don’t do it.” If you’re truly passionate about your work, putting in the sweat equity will be a lot easier. If you’re bored every time you read about a new development in your field—it’s not the field for you, and it’s going to be hard to put in the work you need to really thrive. Think about your values. What truly drives you? Are you living out those values in your work? For example, if you value helping others, are you consistently soliciting customer and employee feedback and acting on it? If you value recognition, are you going after awards in your field? Not everyone will be as excited about your passions as you are, of course, but passionate leaders can inspire employees. Speak openly with your employees about your vision and you’re more likely to get their buy-in. Check in with those you lead to find out where their passions lie and see how they align with your goals. “Leadership is having a vision,” Cuban said on The Draymond Green Show. “What’s my goal? Part two is getting to know the people who are working with me, and what their goals are. And then the real definition of leadership is making those two merge.” Conclusion: The Cuban Formula for Success Cuban’s advice can be boiled down to three key principles: Hard work Constant learning Passion Living out these principles will not only make you more effective at your job, but inspire your employees to do the same—as long as you give them the tools and support they need. View the full article

Government demands to access encrypted data via back doors will leave it vulnerable to hacks, breaches and theft View the full article

Converting a .pdf to a .docx and back again may seem like a quick and easy thing you can do online for free—but that doesn't mean it's safe. A new notice from the FBI Denver Field Office warns that some online document converters are also loading malware onto unsuspecting users' computers, giving bad actors access to your device and your data. The tools may also scrape files submitted for conversion for sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, birthdates, email addresses, passwords or tokens to bypass multi-factor authentication, banking information, and cryptocurrency seed phrases and wallet addresses. How to spot malicious file convertersThis scheme may be easy to miss, as the malicious file converters will do what they advertise, such as converting a .docx to a .pdf or joining multiple files into one. However, the file you download may contain hidden ransomware, adware, or riskware that exposes your computer to attackers. You may also be prompted to download a conversion tool (that is actually malware) to your device or install a malicious browser extension. According to a Malwarebytes Labs report on the scam, the following domains have been found to contain malware: Imageconvertors[.]com (Phishing) convertitoremp3[.]it (Riskware) convertisseurs-pdf[.]com (Riskware) convertscloud[.]com (Phishing) convertix-api[.]xyz (Trojan) convertallfiles[.]com (Adware) freejpgtopdfconverter[.]com (Riskware) primeconvertapp[.]com (Riskware) 9convert[.]com (Riskware) Convertpro[.]org (Riskware) While these are known scams, that doesn't mean there aren't other free, malware-containing file converters out there waiting to infect your device. The best thing you can do is avoid these tools entirely and utilize trusted software instead. But if you suspect you've been exposed, start by taking basic steps to secure your identity, including changing passwords using a clean, trusted device, and running an anti-malware program to catch any threats. How to convert files safelyWhen you need to quickly convert from one document type to another, you may be tempted to google "free file converter" and click on whatever comes up—but don't. Instead, start with the software or applications you have that can open the file, and check if you can export or save it in a different format (look under File > Export or File > Save As). Microsoft Office and many PDF editors have this functionality, or you can use Adobe's free tools to convert to and from a PDF, as well as a handful of other document converters available for free. Remember that when you convert files, you may lose some formatting in the process. 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. Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) is a speaker that packs a serious punch for its size. Normally priced at $299.99, it’s down to $139.99 on Woot for the next 13 days or until stock runs out—and if you have Amazon Prime, shipping is free. Non-Prime members will have to pay $6, but either way, it’s only available to the contiguous U.S. (no shipping to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). Bang & Olufsen’s Beosound A1 (2nd Gen) $139.99 at Woot $299.99 Save $160.00 Get Deal Get Deal $139.99 at Woot $299.99 Save $160.00 PCMag gave this Bluetooth speaker an Editor’s Choice award when it launched in 2020, and it’s still a strong contender today. At just 1.2 pounds, the Beosound A1 is not exactly light for its size, though it comes with a leather lanyard for easy carrying. With an IP67 rating that can handle dust, sand, and submersion, it's ready to accompany you on outdoor adventures. Setup is handled through the Bang & Olufsen app, which also enables its built-in Alexa—though you’ll need to link accounts first. It's Bluetooth 5.1-compatible with support for AAC and AptX Adaptive codecs, though it doesn’t have LDAC support for high-res listening. The battery life of the Beosound A1 is rated at 18 hours, but that’ll depend on your volume settings. This little speaker gets loud, driven by a 3.5-inch woofer and a 0.4-inch tweeter, both powered by dedicated 30-watt Class D amps. The result is a deep bass (enough to shake a table but without the speaker itself moving around) that stays full even at moderate to high volumes. It’s a bass-heavy tuning, which makes sense given its size—though at max volume, the DSP kicks in to prevent distortion, thinning out the sound slightly, notes the PCMag review. Its frequency range of 55Hz-20kHz means you’ll get solid lows and clear highs, but don’t expect a perfectly balanced studio monitor sound. The app’s EQ adjustment isn’t the most intuitive, using a circular chart instead of sliders, but it offers some control over tuning. If you’re looking for something newer with the latest Bluetooth tech (and one that's a little more budget-friendly), the Beats Pill is currently $99.99 (down from $149.95) and might be worth considering instead. View the full article

Rising insurance costs are leading providers and condo associations to consider changes to policies that would make some loans ineligible for GSE sale. View the full article

Delaware is trying to protect its status as the corporate capital of the world amid fallout from a judge’s rejection of billionaire Elon Musk’s landmark Tesla compensation package, although critics say fast-tracked legislation will tilt the playing field against investors, including pensioners and middle-class savers. A Delaware House committee was expected to vote Wednesday on the bill, which is backed by Democratic Gov. Matt Meyer who says it’ll ensure the state remains the “premier home for U.S. and global businesses” to incorporate. Backers say it’ll modernize the law and maintain balance between corporate officers and shareholders in a state where the courts, for a century, have settled all sorts of business disputes as the legal home of more than two million corporate entities, including two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies. Critics—including institutional investors, pension funds and asset managers—say it’ll lower corporate governance standards, curb shareholder rights and, as a result, limit the ability to hold corporate officers accountable for decisions that violate their fiduciary duty. The bill passed the state Senate unanimously last week. What happened in Elon Musk’s case? A Delaware judge last year invalidated Musk’s compensation package from Tesla that was potentially worth more than $55 billion. Lawyers for shareholders had sued over the package that Tesla’s board of directors awarded Musk in 2018. Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick said it was developed by directors who weren’t independent of Musk and approved by shareholders who had been given misleading and incomplete disclosures in a proxy statement. The ruling bumped Musk out of the top spot on Forbes’s list of wealthiest people, although he has since climbed back up. Musk and Tesla are appealing in the state Supreme Court. But Musk unloaded on Delaware, saying “Never incorporate your company in the state of Delaware” and instead recommended competitors Nevada or Texas as destinations. Now, lawmakers are being warned by corporate lawyers that their clients are considering heading to the exits—making a “Dexit,” as it’s been dubbed—and that startups are being advised to incorporate elsewhere. What did Musk and others do? Must took his own advice, moving Tesla’s corporate listing to Texas after a shareholder vote and his companies SpaceX to Texas and Neuralink to Nevada. Backers of the bill say corporate unrest had been simmering the past couple years over various Delaware Supreme Court decisions in corporate conflict-of-interest cases and that Musk inflamed the discontent. The fallout seemed to accelerate in recent weeks when the Wall Street Journal reported that Meta Platforms—the parent company of social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp—was considering moving its incorporation to Texas. Meta didn’t confirm the report. DropBox, the online file-sharing platform, moved its corporate listing to Nevada, and Bill Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, a major hedge fund, said he’d leave Delaware, too. On Feb. 1, Musk took to his social media platform X to crow about it, saying, “Companies are flooding out of Delaware, because the activist chief judge of the Delaware court has no respect for shareholder rights.” That said, critics of the bill say there’s no evidence that corporations are fleeing Delaware in any numbers. What does the bill do? It changes several things. One, it gives corporations more protections in conflict-of-interest cases—such as a pay package for a CEO or intercompany agreements—in state courts when fighting shareholder lawsuits. Two, it limits the kind of documents that a company must produce in court cases and makes it harder for stockholders to get access to internal documents or communication that could prove time-consuming and expensive for a company to produce—not to mention, damaging to its case. Eric Talley, a Columbia University law professor, has compiled a running list of three dozen Delaware Supreme Court precedents that the legislation stands to change. Lawrence Hamermesh, a former professor at Widener University’s Delaware Law School, disagreed. Hamermesh, who helped draft the legislation after Meyer asked him last month, said perhaps only a couple doctrines would be wiped out. A legal challenge is widely expected should Meyer get the bill and sign it into law. Meanwhile, institutional investors say such a law may prompt them to push corporations that they own to incorporate elsewhere. Why is this a big deal for Delaware? Money. Approximately one-third of Delaware’s state government revenue—about $2.2 billion—comes from corporate license fees and associated tax revenues, according to the governor’s office. That helps the state to maintain a 0% sales tax and keep property taxes relatively low, a nice perk for the beach vacation home industry along its Atlantic coast. Beyond that, Wilmington is home to a cottage industry that caters to the corporate lawyers who live, stay, dine and shop around the state Supreme Court and the Chancery Court of Delaware buildings where they argue their cases. __ Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter. —Marc Levy, Associated Press View the full article

Decision comes even as government joins other European countries in seeking to raise military spending View the full article

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 and distributed at major retailers in the United States between September 2024 and March 2025. Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli Lean Cuisine Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Lean Cuisine Lemon Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry STOUFFER’S Party Size Chicken Lasagna What to do if you bought these products If you have purchased any of the affected products, you are encouraged to dispose of them or return them to the store for a full refund. “We are committed to the quality and safety of the food we provide our consumers,” Nestlé USA said in its recall notice. “We are taking proactive steps to remove affected products from stores and to ensure that no other products are impacted by this issue.” View the full article

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 and distributed at major retailers in the United States between September 2024 and March 2025. Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli Lean Cuisine Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Lean Cuisine Lemon Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry STOUFFER’S Party Size Chicken Lasagna What to do if you bought these products If you have purchased any of the affected products, you are encouraged to dispose of them or return them to the store for a full refund. “We are committed to the quality and safety of the food we provide our consumers,” Nestlé USA said in its recall notice. “We are taking proactive steps to remove affected products from stores and to ensure that no other products are impacted by this issue.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. This will be an extremely pedantic post, and one that I am terribly sorry to have to write. I’ve been into weight lifting (two words) for a long time, but about six years ago I got into weightlifting (all one word). It turns out these are two very different things. Weightlifting, all one word, is the sport that is contested in the Olympics in which people—wearing what look like old-timey swimsuits—pick up barbells loaded with brightly colored weights. In one of the events, the snatch, the bar is lifted from the ground to overhead in one swift movement. In the other, the clean and jerk, the bar is lifted to the shoulders and the lifter pauses to breathe and question their life choices before using another sudden movement to shove it sky high. (You can lift more weight the second way, which is why they are separate events. Each lifter’s best snatch and best clean and jerk are added together to find out who wins.) Weight lifting, two words, refers to the action of lifting a weight—any weight. If you’ve never heard of this distinction or never thought of it when you said or heard the word “weightlifting,” bear with me here. Why "weightlifting" refers to the sport of the snatch and clean and jerkEarly weightlifting competitions, in the 1800s, evolved out of circuses and stage shows where a strongman would show off feats of strength to an audience. Sometimes these strongmen would challenge each other, and would bring in judges to verify the weights and ensure a fair competition. Gymnasts around this time trained with dumbbells and barbells as well, and would also set up their own friendly competitions. By the time the first (modern) Olympics rolled around in 1896, there was enough interest in weightlifting as a competitive sport that it was one of the sports contested. It took decades after that for competitive weightlifting to evolve into the form we can still see in the Olympics. The dumbbell lifts and one-hand lifts were dropped; by 1928 the sport had three barbell lifts, each of them done with both hands. In 1972, one of them (the clean and press) was dropped from competition. This leaves the two-lift sport we know and love today. (We all do love it, right? It's our favorite? Good.) Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches $44.37 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Shop Now Shop Now $44.37 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg The idea of lifting weights for fun and health didn't become popular until after the competitive sport became established. The name "weightlifting" was already taken, so when some weightlifters decided to challenge each other in other lifts, like the squat and bench press, they had to choose a different name. (Thus was born powerlifting.) Other offshoots chose names, too. The "World's Strongest Man" TV specials led to the sport of strongman, where people (not just men) lift a variety of implements like stones and kegs and log-shaped barbells, and no two competitions are the same. Probably the most famous strength sport is bodybuilding, where competitors don't actually lift anything in competitions; they just show off the body that they built through lifting weights. Much of gym culture as we know it today was born from the bodybuilding style of training, as bodybuilders and barbell manufacturers collaborated to write and publish magazine articles for the masses. If you think of your strength training in terms of "reps" or "muscle groups," this is why. You can also, of course, just lift weights. This isn’t weightlifting, because that's the name for the Olympic sport; it’s “lifting weights” or “lifting” or “strength training” or "resistance training." You can, if you must, call it “weight lifting.” I'm a weightlifter, and I agree that this makes no senseI hate that I have been forced to become so pedantic about this. Weightlifting is an awful, terrible, no-good, very-bad name for one of many sports in which people lift weights. Powerlifting, by the way, is almost as badly named; it's actually the Olympic lifts that showcase power, and the “power lifts” that showcase strength. So people like me are left protesting that we are weightlifters, not powerlifters or bodybuilders, and the average person curling a dumbbell in the gym has no clue why we care so much about whether or not there is a space between “weight” and “lifting.” The problem, ultimately, is that nobody ever came up with a better name for the sport they have in the Olympics. Some people will call it “Olympic lifting,” leading to confusion when you tell your friends that you do it but also that you are not going to the Olympics for it. Crossfitters have found a workaround by casually referring to “oly lifting,” which I support in theory, but weightlifters have not embraced the term. We compete in weightlifting, and clarify what we mean by saying “you know, weightlifting weightlifting,” while miming the motion of a snatch. I’m sorry. This is the best we have for now. View the full article

Chinese carmaker’s second shock announcement of the year could put others out of business, say analystsView the full article

Google’s next Pixel phone, the Pixel 9a, has finally been announced. And for the first time in a Pixel since 2020’s Pixel 5, it ditches the camera bar. It’s also, as expected, a little cheaper and comes with a few additional AI tricks not available on the Pixel 8a, but really, it’s the new look that’s the biggest surprise here. That’s because the 9a, unlike the 8a before it, really doesn’t look much like the Pixel 9 or 9 Pro. Dimensions are roughly equivalent to the standard Pixel 9 (although it is a little more lightweight at 6.6 oz vs. 7 oz) and the screen has almost pound-for-pound the same specs except for a halved contrast ratio, but people familiar with the past half-decade of Pixel phones might not realize it’s even part of the same family at first. Pixel 8a (left) vs. Pixel 9a (right) Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Without the camera bar, the Pixel 9a instead looks much more like an iPhone than arguably even a Samsung Galaxy, with two rear lenses in the top-left corner inside a small ovular black bump next to a flash. This makes for a much thinner and flatter profile overall, even if the body itself hasn’t changed much, and I’m excited to both get my hands on it and see how the cases turn out. I’ve never loved the camera bar, but this has me considering the Pixel again. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt As for the specs on those cameras, they’re part of a trend of internal specs that don’t really compare well to either the Pixel 9 or the Pixel 8a. The rear camera lenses are 48MP and 13MP, respectively, while the front is 13MP, although the various aperture details and field-of-view settings don’t cleanly map onto an existing Google phone. I’m also curious to see how shots turn out once I get my hands on this phone. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Similarly, another detail that doesn’t have an outright comparison with an existing Google phone is battery life, which Google promises is 30+ hours on the Pixel 9a, a little longer than on either the 8a or the Pixel 9. RAM and storage is equal to the 8a at 8GB and a starting value of 128GB, respectively, although the processor has been bumped up to the Google Tensor G4, the same as on the Pixel 9. All of that adds up to make for a unique release with what could have simply been a pared-down Pixel 9, perhaps giving you additional reasons to get it over its more expensive cousin than simply saving a few dollars. That said, even with the lower cost, which is $500 vs. the Pixel 9’s $800, Google is promising some extra software here than on the Pixel 8a. These include a Macro Focus mode and unique Pixel AI features like Add Me (which can put you into shots you weren’t present for, albeit with mixed results). Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt While you’ll get the usual options for black, white, and pink, there’s also a new purple color, which hearkens back to the Pixel 8's light blue color that I missed so much on the base Pixel 9. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a surprisingly exciting release for an A-series model, and I’m hoping it’s a hint at bigger things in store for the Pixel 10 when it inevitably comes out later this fall. An official release date is still TBA, so keep an eye on this space for more down the line. View the full article

In 2021, Netflix’s executive vice president of game development Mike Verdu made a big announcement: “Let the Games Begin.” Four years later, Verdu is out—and Netflix’s grand experiment in gaming still feels like a work in progress. Netflix bet big on gaming. They brought in Verdu from Facebook and EA, and then went on a buying spree, acquiring a handful of mobile gaming studios like Boss Fight and Night School. But, by the end of 2022, only about 1% of the Netflix subscribers were actually playing its games. At the time, co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that gaming had “a bunch of positives” even if growth was slow: “These are small numbers, we’re good with that.” (Netflix declined Fast Company‘s request for comment.) But, after years of stalled development and only a handful of successes, Netflix is pivoting. They’ve canned multiple games that were in development, and gutted entire departments like experimental video. Netflix is, once more, recalibrating its approach The stunted rise of Netflix gaming Gaming looked like Netflix’s next big frontier. The interactive Black Mirror: Bandersnatch was a hit—despite a prolonged legal battle Netflix eventually settled. At the time, The Verge called Netflix’s gaming push the company’s “secret sauce for continued domination.” They started to buy up major game developers, and even built an in-house studio for themselves. This initial voyage had its snags. Their rollout of games varied between different devices. The initial crop, which included two Stranger Things-themed games, was available on Android only. Netflix teased that iOS support was “on the way,” frustrating Apple users. And, since Apple bars third-party apps from operating as its own gaming market, Netflix’s iOS rollout demanded users download their games as stand-alone applications. It took two more years for Netflix to open up gaming availability on TVs. While Netflix started by releasing a variety of themed and original games, they quickly leaned hard into IP. In 2023, Sarandos pointed to a gaming adaptation of reality show Too Hot To Handle as a major success. That game has since been given two sequels. They’ve also released gaming spin-offs of shows like Love Is Blind and The Queen’s Gambit. To date, their most successful game is an adaptation of Squid Game. Then came the cuts. Netflix built an internal AAA studio (codenamed “Blue”)—but reportedly shut it down in 2024 before releasing a single title. The company then delisted almost all of their interactive titles. Bandersnatch, once a beacon of hope, is now one of the last of its type remaining. In January, Netflix shelved six upcoming games. Verdu, once the leader of this new department, took on a new title of “VP of GenAI for gaming,” before leaving the company entirely. Can Netflix pivot? Netflix’s gaming division isn’t dead—but it’s entering yet another reboot. In 2024, just before Verdu transitioned to his AI-focused role, Netflix announced a new hire. Alain Tascan of Epic Games joined as a new president of games. Tascan is now making changes to his team internally. They’ve also pivoted away from a mobile-first approach, now opening up the possibility of cloud gaming on smart TVs. Netflix has also had some recent successes that suggest possible longevity. Squid Game: Unleashed, which was released with season two of the hit drama show, racked up 42 million plays by the end of 2024. Netflix touts that Unleashed was the “#1 Free Action Game in 57 Countries.” The WWE mobile games will also be exclusively available through Netflix in fall 2025 with their content deal. After years of slow starts and sharp pivots, Netflix still hasn’t proven games belong in its subscription model. The next few years will test whether Tascan can turn things around. View the full article

Purdue Pharma asked a bankruptcy judge late Tuesday to consider the latest version of its plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller OxyContin, a deal that would have members of the Sackler family who own the company pay up to $7 billion. The filing is a milestone in a tumultuous legal saga that has gone on for more than five years. Under the deal the family members — estimated in documents from 2020 and 2021 to be worth about $11 billion — would give up ownership of the company in addition to contributing money over 15 years with the biggest payment up front. Family members resigned from Purdue’s board, stopped receiving money from the company and ceased other involvement before it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2019 as it faced lawsuits from thousands of state and local governments, plus others. The new entity would be run by a board appointed by state governments, and its mission will be to abate the opioid crisis that has been linked to hundreds of thousands of deaths in the U.S. since OxyContin hit the market in 1996. The first wave of deadly overdoses were tied to OxyContin and other prescription drugs, and subsequent waves have involved first heroin and more recently illicit versions of fentanyl. This settlement plan was hammered out in months of mediation involving groups that sued Purdue, and nearly all of them are supporting it, according to mediator reports filed in court. Approval would take at least several more months. A previous version had bankruptcy court approval but was rejected last year by the U.S. Supreme Court because it protected members of the Sackler family from civil lawsuits even though none of them filed for bankruptcy protection themselves. Under the new version, plaintiffs will have to opt in to get full shares of the settlement. If they do not, they can still sue Sackler family members, who agreed to put in about $1 billion more than under earlier plans. The Sacklers’ cash contribution would depends in part on how many parties join the settlement and on the sale of foreign drug companies. Some of the money they put into the settlement is to be reserved to pay any judgments if they are sued and lose; but if that doesn’t happen, it’s to go into the main settlement. Members of the family have been cast as villains and have seen their name removed from art galleries and universities around the world because of their role in the privately held company. They continue to deny any wrongdoing. Other drugmakers, distribution companies, pharmacy chains and others have already reached opioid lawsuit settlements worth about $50 billion, according to an Associated Press tally. Purdue’s, which would also include about $900 million from company coffers, would be among the largest if finalized. The deals require most of the money be used to fight the opioid crisis. Purdue’s is the only major one that also provides direct money for victims — potentially more than $850 million total in pools for people who became addicted, their families and babies born in withdrawal. That figure is more than in the previous incarnation. The deadline to apply for a piece of those funds passed years ago. In earlier versions, individuals were expected to receive between about $3,500 and $48,000. Families were split over the deal. Purdue would also provide millions of documents to a repository that would make them public. The company has also been producing a low-cost version of naloxone, a drug that reverses overdoses. —Geoff Mulvihill, Associated Press View the full article

Since the term “design thinking” took off in 2000, the once boutique industry of design became a household term. Spurred on by the stratospheric growth of Apple after the iPhone launch in 2007, businesses invested untold sums purchasing design companies and building design proficiency in-house. The cherry on top arrived when McKinsey published a report in 2018 cementing the value of design in leading businesses cross-sector. And then? For the last several years, the design industry has quietly lost some of its luster. We’ve published multiple stories examining how the world of business broke up with design, while a generation of design leadership has grappled with the effects. Truth be told, the reality is more complex. Design is still vastly more present within companies than it was decades ago, but it’s certainly been deprioritized during a business cycle that’s championing technology and marketing. Things look so bad because, for a moment, they looked so good. At Chicago’s The Future Of… conference in early March, dozens of design leaders—chief design officers, VPs, and other high ranking designers at companies including P&G, 3M, Ford, J.M. Smucker, Verizon, Duracell, Whirlpool, and GE Healthcare—gathered to respond to the provocation: “Is Design Dead?” My favorite moment was when design teams from Coca-Cola and PepsiCo formed an impromptu circle mere feet from a careful assortment of each company’s products on ice. Consultant John Gleason—who organized the conference alongside David Butler (Coca-Cola’s first VP of design) and industry vet Fred Richards—kicked things off by sharing some disquieting data. In analyzing hundreds for Fortune 500 companies, he found that 39% had cut the top one to two levels of their design organization, downgrading the level or title of heads of design. Nine percent had eliminated half of their design team in the last year. And in 84% of all cases, design reported not to the CEO, but to a specific function (like marketing) or functional executive. And in 74% of those cases? The head of design was not even reporting to the head of their functional unit. [Photo: Andrew Boynton] I was invited as the only journalist to attend the conference, to both share my perspective on stage and listen in to private, frank debates about the state of design and its future. Given the sensitivity of corporate perspectives being shared, I agreed to Chatham House Rules reporting. In other words, I could publish themes and even quote what was said, but for the protection of everyone, nothing will be attributed to anyone. [Photo: Andrew Boynton] Here were my 10 takeaways from two days of talks, though I would offer a significant caveat: Most designers in attendance worked for CPG companies, meaning this information is heavily biased toward that industry, versus what we might hear from technology, UX, product, interior design, etc. For the tl;dr version, let me say: Design is a practice as old as humankind. It can never and never will die. But for the industry to re-achieve its peak relevance, the practice needs to evolve, think bigger, and maybe go get that MBA already. 1. Yes, design is hurting at a lot of companies Companies have slashed back and demoted their design practices. With definite exceptions in the room, the general consensus was that designers were struggling to be relevant, and even have jobs, at their companies. “It’s a shitshow out there,” one person put it, bluntly, while another offered that “design is not healthy.” 2. Designers blew their big moment Out of 2010, the investment big in design teams promised true business innovation. When one panelist challenged the room to cite a major breakthrough design generated in this era, they were met with crickets. “We were sexy,” one person put it, but the farther you ride, the farther you fall.” The solution to earning back credibility in the meantime is that designers need to “do less with less,” another suggested, taking a more “surgical approach” to projects that could meet needs in the business. 3. We’re in a down cycle One of the most commonly recurring themes from the panels were about cycles of investment. That for whatever reason, we’re in a down cycle of design. I agree with this argument, and presented a take of my own: We are in a technological cycle and a marketing cycle. Gen AI drove the need for immediate investment in core technological capabilities. Mature social media (TikTok in particular) rewarded rich investment in data driven marketing campaigns. And in the meantime, design was deprioritized as a less essential job during years of cost cutting layoffs. However, designers will ultimately be the ones that turn AI into functional products, and there are only so many marketing collabs Gen Z will buy before they, too, prioritize more meaningful consumption, and sustainability (hopefully) becomes a global priority again. But for now, companies are abandoning climate pledges to build AI data centers. 4. Designers sell their practice without solidifying their value One theme I noticed was that designers in the room that still boasted rich investment from their companies proselytized the quantifiable impact of their work—often that they saved their company money, or measurably added brand equity—whereas most admitted that designers were poor at articulating the ROI of their own practice. But you know who is great at talking ROI? CMOs. “Marketing leaders can outline their strategy. Design leaders can’t,” someone said. “No wonder design has trouble competing with marketing on solutions.” These days, many design teams are answering to a CMO, which is a failure of designers’ self-marketing inside the company. As one design leader pointed out, they see three paths forward: One, marketing takes over design. Two, marketing and design share responsibilities. Or the third, where marketing reports to design. To most designers, the third option is the most ideal—but it also might be the most sustainable for business. Design as a broad practice can contain marketing, while marketing does not naturally contain the umbrella of design. 5. Designers have failed to speak the language of business Why don’t designers keep the ear of the C-suite? “Enough designers don’t speak the language of business,” one person put it, flatly. And over two days, several people pointed out that designers simply do not know the proper lingo to be taken seriously inside companies. Designers tend to be spreadsheet adverse as they hang their hats on liberal arts. Especially at large organizations, most business units will be run by MBAs and traditional, business-minded people. This mismatch creates friction to sway a CEO, sure, but the issue compounds as designers really need buy-in from cross functional teams to make things happen. “Our gift is synthesis, which is why we need to bring in our own data,” said one leader. “I spend all my time building relationships [across the company] to get to that data.” 6. Design thinking has undercut the value of design Over two days of talks, I witnessed all variety of reaction to the term “design thinking.” But especially with the fall of Ideo—the mecca of design thinking—it’s clear that the term has often become shorthand for, what an IDEO partner once framed to me as enabling a “theater of innovation.” It’s a methodology to problem solving akin to the scientific method, and it’s every bit as intelligent as the person wielding it. Yet the design industry has spent two decades rallying behind the term, leveraging it to get buy-in from companies that used it to teach everyone “how to think like a designer.” But “Design thinking is not design, and there’s a huge disservice done when educating business on how to run a design thinking session,” said one panelist. Namely, it cheapens the practice of design, commoditizing a craft to something you learn over a box lunch. “If the height of the [design] curve was the Ideo shopping cart video, we may be in the pit of despair right now,” joked another. Not everyone at a company is a designer. Just like they aren’t all an accountant. Or an IT specialist. 7. Maybe design needs a new name There is no vagary what someone means when they tell you they are an “architect.” But what does a “designer” conjure? A million possible things. “The term ‘design’ is a problem,” says one expert, noting that we’ve tried being more specific with “CX” and “UX” but each permutation comes with its own costs. “The term ‘interior design’ is more limiting than effective,” they posit. The terms seem either too big, or too small, for designers to fit any definitional impact. 8. Design’s lack of diversity limits its reach We’ve reported on the lack of diversity within design for the last decade and, over that time, the numbers haven’t measurably improved. Noting the majority of whiteness in the room, one designer said, “We design for people who don’t look like most designers.” I’ll admit some disappointment by how shocked some in the room were at this statement. (Should we really be surprised to contemplate that design is too white in 2025?) But that doesn’t make it any less true. With the current administration’s attacks on DEI, diversifying design is only a greater uphill battle. However, design representation isn’t just a path toward equality; it’s a path toward understanding the needs and desires of more customers. 9. Corporate reorgs kill design strategy Whether it’s a new CEO or a completely new org chart, the increased instability of business drives an instability of the design practice. “I’ve had seven reorgs in four years,” one designer lamented—who was not the only one to share such a sentiment during the week. But why is this bad for design? As many echoed through the conference, designers think well in the medium- to long-term, strategizing for the future. When that lead time is disrupted through a change in leadership or a reorg—or even just the quarterly whims of Wall Street—any true long-term design strategy cannot take off. As a point of example, CEO Bracken Darrell was cited as turning around Logitech in four years alongside designer Alastair Curtis. And now, as the two have landed VF Corporation, they’ve charted a decade-long strategy. 10. Design is still better off than it was 25 years ago While design may be in something of a corporate slump, I continue to believe in its unequivocal value. And I do think it’s worth taking a little rewind through history. Design was not something most people knew about 25 years ago–especially in the U.S. The corporate world only got its first chief design officer in 2010, when Mauro Porcini (now of PepsiCo) took the position at 3M. “We don’t know the half life of a CDO yet,” one leader pointed out. “A CEO is about four years, a CMO is about two years.” The truth is that, while design is an impossibly old practice across culture, its serious role within business is still nascent. View the full article