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The Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank have announced the launch of SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica, a program designed to showcase and support 28 Michigan-based small businesses throughout the 2024-25 NBA season. Beginning January 31, participating businesses will receive brand exposure through in-arena promotions at Little Caesars Arena, as well as digital marketing support via the Pistons’ website and social media channels. SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops is an extension of both organizations’ commitment to bolstering Metro Detroit’s small business community. This marks the second consecutive year Comerica and the Pistons have partnered to provide business owners with resources and visibility. “The Detroit Pistons SHOP313 Small Business Platform recognizes the value and importance of small businesses in our community,” said Dave Sanabria, Detroit Pistons Vice President of Partnership Engagement. “Our partnership with Comerica Bank delivers unique opportunities to help small businesses grow and positively impact their own local neighborhoods and communities.” During each designated game, seven small businesses will participate. Six businesses will engage directly with customers at the SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops area in the UWM District Market concourse, while one business will receive suite access, providing a business-to-business networking environment. Additionally, all participating businesses will benefit from: Digital signage inside Little Caesars Arena Brand awareness through social media promotion The SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica will take place on the following dates: Friday, Jan. 31 vs. Dallas Mavericks Wednesday, Feb. 26 vs. Boston Celtics Tuesday, March 11 vs. Washington Wizards Friday, April 11 vs. Milwaukee Bucks The first set of small businesses featured includes: Dynamic Roofing (Carleton) – Specializing in asphalt roofing systems with over 20 years of experience. Happy Deals LLC (Detroit) – Family-owned home goods store offering quality products at discounted prices. Rev’d Up Fun (Woodhaven) – Indoor entertainment venue featuring games, attractions, and dining. SkinbarVII (Detroit) – High-end facial spa focused on skincare treatments using premium ingredients. Suburban Truck Driving School (Romulus) – CDL training facility preparing individuals for careers in trucking. The Alexis Company (Detroit) – Screen printing business specializing in personalized sportswear and promotional items. NYX Cleaning Services, LLC (Ann Arbor) – Commercial cleaning company offering eco-friendly professional cleaning services. “As we continue to grow and expand our small business banking services, we are committed to delivering valuable resources small businesses need to succeed and thrive,” said Meghan Storey, Comerica Bank Senior Vice President and Michigan Director of Small Business Banking. “Working with the Detroit Pistons and the team’s SHOP313 Small Business Platform creates new opportunities for us to assist business owners and entrepreneurs as they work to raise their visibility, viability and future success.” This article, "Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank Launch SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops to Support Metro Detroit Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank have announced the launch of SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica, a program designed to showcase and support 28 Michigan-based small businesses throughout the 2024-25 NBA season. Beginning January 31, participating businesses will receive brand exposure through in-arena promotions at Little Caesars Arena, as well as digital marketing support via the Pistons’ website and social media channels. SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops is an extension of both organizations’ commitment to bolstering Metro Detroit’s small business community. This marks the second consecutive year Comerica and the Pistons have partnered to provide business owners with resources and visibility. “The Detroit Pistons SHOP313 Small Business Platform recognizes the value and importance of small businesses in our community,” said Dave Sanabria, Detroit Pistons Vice President of Partnership Engagement. “Our partnership with Comerica Bank delivers unique opportunities to help small businesses grow and positively impact their own local neighborhoods and communities.” During each designated game, seven small businesses will participate. Six businesses will engage directly with customers at the SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops area in the UWM District Market concourse, while one business will receive suite access, providing a business-to-business networking environment. Additionally, all participating businesses will benefit from: Digital signage inside Little Caesars Arena Brand awareness through social media promotion The SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica will take place on the following dates: Friday, Jan. 31 vs. Dallas Mavericks Wednesday, Feb. 26 vs. Boston Celtics Tuesday, March 11 vs. Washington Wizards Friday, April 11 vs. Milwaukee Bucks The first set of small businesses featured includes: Dynamic Roofing (Carleton) – Specializing in asphalt roofing systems with over 20 years of experience. Happy Deals LLC (Detroit) – Family-owned home goods store offering quality products at discounted prices. Rev’d Up Fun (Woodhaven) – Indoor entertainment venue featuring games, attractions, and dining. SkinbarVII (Detroit) – High-end facial spa focused on skincare treatments using premium ingredients. Suburban Truck Driving School (Romulus) – CDL training facility preparing individuals for careers in trucking. The Alexis Company (Detroit) – Screen printing business specializing in personalized sportswear and promotional items. NYX Cleaning Services, LLC (Ann Arbor) – Commercial cleaning company offering eco-friendly professional cleaning services. “As we continue to grow and expand our small business banking services, we are committed to delivering valuable resources small businesses need to succeed and thrive,” said Meghan Storey, Comerica Bank Senior Vice President and Michigan Director of Small Business Banking. “Working with the Detroit Pistons and the team’s SHOP313 Small Business Platform creates new opportunities for us to assist business owners and entrepreneurs as they work to raise their visibility, viability and future success.” This article, "Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank Launch SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops to Support Metro Detroit Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Prime minister will listen to business over exact details, as some within Labour push for ‘serious tooth removal’ View the full article

The £40bn impact of the inheritance tax shake-up will prompt more families to spend or gift the money View the full article

The future of the continent will be shaped in the once-mocked south View the full article

Rocketlane has introduced a new invoicing feature designed to eliminate billing errors, accelerate approvals, and integrate seamlessly with accounting tools like NetSuite and QuickBooks. The update aims to streamline billing processes for professional services teams, reducing manual effort and improving cash flow management. Professional services teams frequently encounter issues with billing accuracy due to manual data reconciliation, lengthy approval cycles, and disconnected financial systems. Rocketlane’s new invoicing capability is designed to resolve these inefficiencies by providing a centralized solution for managing complex billing scenarios. “Too many teams spend time dealing with exports from their financial systems, verifying data and invoices outside their systems,” said Srikrishnan Ganesan, CEO of Rocketlane. “With this new feature, teams on Rocketlane can effortlessly review effort and time logs, manage approvals, creating error-free invoices, and automating reconciliation, staying aligned with their accounting systems.” Key Features and Benefits Flexible Billing for Complex Scenarios Rocketlane supports time-and-materials (T&M), fixed-fee, and subscription-based billing models, along with multicurrency handling to facilitate global operations. Automated Approval Workflows Customizable workflows allow teams to tailor approval processes, speeding up sign-offs while ensuring accuracy. Unified Dashboard for Revenue Visibility Users can monitor invoices, track payments, and forecast cash flow through a centralized dashboard. Seamless Accounting Integration The feature syncs invoices and payments with accounting platforms such as NetSuite, Sage, and QuickBooks, reducing manual reconciliation efforts. Accelerated Cash Flow Approved time logs can be automatically converted into invoices, eliminating manual bottlenecks and allowing teams to focus on business growth. Rocketlane’s invoicing capability is designed to be a game changer for service teams. “With accurate timesheets, streamlined approvals, and seamless integrations like Salesforce and NetSuite, we’ve made invoicing effortless for professional services teams. Everything—from projects to timesheets—aligns perfectly to deliver precise, on-time invoices without delays or constant follow-ups,” said Ganesan. The new invoicing feature is available now, offering professional services teams a more efficient way to manage billing, reduce errors, and improve financial operations. This article, "Rocketlane Unveils Seamless Invoicing to Improve Billing Accuracy for PSA Teams" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Rocketlane has introduced a new invoicing feature designed to eliminate billing errors, accelerate approvals, and integrate seamlessly with accounting tools like NetSuite and QuickBooks. The update aims to streamline billing processes for professional services teams, reducing manual effort and improving cash flow management. Professional services teams frequently encounter issues with billing accuracy due to manual data reconciliation, lengthy approval cycles, and disconnected financial systems. Rocketlane’s new invoicing capability is designed to resolve these inefficiencies by providing a centralized solution for managing complex billing scenarios. “Too many teams spend time dealing with exports from their financial systems, verifying data and invoices outside their systems,” said Srikrishnan Ganesan, CEO of Rocketlane. “With this new feature, teams on Rocketlane can effortlessly review effort and time logs, manage approvals, creating error-free invoices, and automating reconciliation, staying aligned with their accounting systems.” Key Features and Benefits Flexible Billing for Complex Scenarios Rocketlane supports time-and-materials (T&M), fixed-fee, and subscription-based billing models, along with multicurrency handling to facilitate global operations. Automated Approval Workflows Customizable workflows allow teams to tailor approval processes, speeding up sign-offs while ensuring accuracy. Unified Dashboard for Revenue Visibility Users can monitor invoices, track payments, and forecast cash flow through a centralized dashboard. Seamless Accounting Integration The feature syncs invoices and payments with accounting platforms such as NetSuite, Sage, and QuickBooks, reducing manual reconciliation efforts. Accelerated Cash Flow Approved time logs can be automatically converted into invoices, eliminating manual bottlenecks and allowing teams to focus on business growth. Rocketlane’s invoicing capability is designed to be a game changer for service teams. “With accurate timesheets, streamlined approvals, and seamless integrations like Salesforce and NetSuite, we’ve made invoicing effortless for professional services teams. Everything—from projects to timesheets—aligns perfectly to deliver precise, on-time invoices without delays or constant follow-ups,” said Ganesan. The new invoicing feature is available now, offering professional services teams a more efficient way to manage billing, reduce errors, and improve financial operations. This article, "Rocketlane Unveils Seamless Invoicing to Improve Billing Accuracy for PSA Teams" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

It’s been a minute since Lifehacker looked at the slang of Generation Z—long enough that Generation Alpha has had time to develop and spread some of its own special buzzwords and jargon. Below is an alphabetized collection of slang taken from both Gen Z and Gen A, in case someone younger than you says something you don't understand. As with all slang, if you need an online list to know what a word means, you are too old to say it aloud. 304: Hoe. (Type "304" on a calculator and turn it upside down.) 4+4: Ate. Four plus four is eight, or "ate." (See "ate") Alpha male: Taken from animal ethology, an alpha male is the dominant member of a group of males, or just a male who is in charge. (See "beta male" and "sigma male.") Ate/eat: Done very well, often regarding clothing. e.g.: "You ate that outfit." See also: "serving." Aura: Someone who is mysterious and cool is said to "have aura." Baddie: A bad/wild girl. Meant as a compliment. Baka: Japanese word meaning “crazy" or “foolish.” Used mainly in the anime community. Based: Independent in a cool way. Bed-rotting: Staying in bed all day. You may know it as “lazing around.” See also: "Hurkle-durkle." Beta male: A beta male, or just "beta," is a weaker, subservient male. (See "alpha male" and "sigma male") Bop: A girl who sleeps around. Also: a great song. Boysober: Someone who has sworn off sex, relationships, and/or dating. Brain-rot: A description of the overuse of stupid slang. See also: “Skibidi.” Also used to describe the effects of being overly online. Brat: The contemporary meaning of "brat" is an adjective describing a person who is edgy, imperfect, and confident. It was coined by pop star Charli XCX who defined it as "that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown." Bruzz: Bros. Part of the -uzz family of slang words. See "Huzz" and "-uzz" Bubba truck: A lifted or otherwise modified pick-up truck. Bussin': Very good or excellent. Cap: A lie. Often used to say "no cap." Cake: Butt, especially a nice butt. Chad: An attractive man; an “alpha male.” See "Giga-Chad." Chat: A reference to streamers addressing their chat windows aloud. Saying “chat” in real life is an ironic joke. Chud: A physically unappealing person. Sometimes used for a man who holds right wing views. Coomer: A man who masturbates too often. Corn: “Corn” is algo-speak that means “porn.” Used in online spaces where the word might cause your account to be flagged or banned. Coworker-core: A catch-all description for things that are unfunny or uninteresting in a way that appeals to older people. Dead: Past tense of having died laughing. If someone responds to a joke with "dead" or a skull emoji, they find it funny. Deadass: Seriously. Used like, "I am deadass not lying." Delulu: Delusional. Doomer: A person who is overly negative and/or cynical. Drip: A fashionable or stylish look. Edgar: A variation of the Caesar haircut worn especially among Hispanic males. Also refers to the kind of person who wears the haircut. Fanum tax: The theft of food between friends. Named for streamer Fanum, known for “taxing” his friends by taking bites of their meals or stealing fries. Fax, no printer: Telling the truth, since "fax and "facts" are pronounced the same. It's a colorful way of saying "facts, no cap." Fent-fold: A description of the bent-over posture of people nodding on heavy drugs. Fit: Short for "outfit." Fuhuhluhtoogan: Supposedly from Baltimore slang, this is a nonsense word used so people will ask what it means but never receive an answer. Often paired with "Jittleyang." Gamer dent: The temporary indentation left on someone’s hair or skin after wearing headphones for too long. Geeker: Someone who uses a lot of drugs. Giga-Chad: A Chad among Chads. Glaze: To overly praise someone, often insincerely, or with the hope of getting something in return. Gleek: An older slang term that is gaining prominence lately, gleeking describes squirting saliva from under the tongue. Glizzy: Hot dog. "Glizzy" was originally slang for Glock or gun, but came to mean hot dog based on the hot dog shape of a Glock's magazine. Green fn: An interjection one might used when someone does something cool or impressive. Often used ironically. Gooning: Extended masturbation without orgasm done for the purpose of entering an altered state of consciousness. Gyatt or Gyat: Once an interjection used when seeing someone sexy, like “god-DAMN,” “gyatt” has come to mean “attractive booty.” Hewwo: An overly cute way of saying "hello." Usually used online, and often ironically. HGS: Abbreviation for "home girls" used in comment sections. Hurkle-durkle: Based on an archaic Scottish word, “hurkle-durkle” means to lounge in bed after it is time to get up. See also: “bed-rotting." Huzz: -uzz slang for "hoes." See "bruzz" and "-uzz." "It's giving": Used to convey that something has a specific vibe. Example: "That dude texts you every 10 minutes; it's giving desperate." "It's so over": The situation is hopeless. The opposite of "we're so back." See also: "Doomer." Jelqing: The use of stretching or weights in an attempt to increase penis size. Jit: A kid. Used ironically online. Jittleyang: Supposedly from Baltimore slang, this is a nonsense word used so people will ask what it means but never receive an answer. See also: "Fuhuhluhtoogan." JOMO: A play on FOMO (fear of missing out) JOMO is an acronym that stands for “joy of missing out.” "Learn Chinese": Sports slang directed at failing players. They are in danger of being sent to play in China, so they should "learn Chinese." Looksmaxxing: Maximizing one’s physical attractiveness through personal grooming, working out, and dressing stylishly. See also: “-maxxing.” -maxxing: A suffix used with any word to indicate trying to improve. Seeing your friends could be called "friendmaxxing," working out could be called "gymmaxxing," making jokes could be called "jestermaxxing," etc. Mid: Average, bland, expected. Mewing: A facial exercise meant to strengthen the jawline. Mirror sex: Using a mirror to watch yourself have sex. Mog: To be more attractive than someone, usually in an intentional or aggressive way. Example: "I was rizzing up this girl, but he walked in and totally mogged me." Neurospicy: A different way of saying “neuro-divergent.” NPC: Non-player character. Originally describing video game characters, NPC is now used on the internet to mean people who don't think for themselves. Opp: Short for "opposition." Someone who is out to get you. An enemy. Pink cocaine: Also known as "pink snow," pink cocaine is slang for a powdered drug mixture that usually contains some combination of ketamine, MDMA, meth, opioids, and other substances. Pole: A gun. See "up pole." "Press F for respect:" In 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfighter, the player attends a funeral and a prompt is given that reads "Press F to pay respects." Now, a singular "F" in a chat window indicates respect. It's usually ironic. Regarded: “Regarded” is algo-speak for “retarded." Rizz: As a noun, "rizz" means charisma. As a verb, "rizz" or "rizz up" means attracting someone with your charisma. Serve: Wearing a particularly stylish outfit. See also: "ate." Serve cunt: To act in a powerfully and unapologetically feminine way; to slay. Sigma male: An internet-created male classification, a "sigma male" is as dominant as an alpha male, but is outside the male hierarchy, i.e.: a lone wolf. Originally used seriously, the concept was so widely derided it's now almost always used ironically. (See "Alpha male" and "Beta male.") Skibidi: Named after “Skibidi Toilet,” a popular series of YouTube videos, “skibidi” itself has no specific meaning, beyond ridiculing the overuse of slang itself. See “brain-rot.” Skrt: Onomatopoetic word for the sound of tires squealing upon acceleration. Sweat: A person who tries too hard, usually used in reference to video games. The adjective form is "sweaty." Spawn point: Mother. Based on the spot you start in a video game. Spoopy: Spooky. Striker: Stolen/no-title car. Tradwife: Believer in traditional married gender roles. Treatler (and Treatlerite): "Treatler" and "Treatlerite" are online insults that combine "treat" and "Hitler" to refer to entitled users of services like Doordash or Uber Eats who regard luxury delivery services as a human right, and don't consider the hardships of the people who do the work that makes "private taxis for burritos" possible. TS: TS originally was AAVE shorthand for "this shit," but it is often used to just mean "this." Turnt: Excited or intoxicated, or excitedly intoxicated. Unc: Short for "uncle," used to describe slightly older people. Example: "The class of 2024 are unc-status to the class of 2028." See "yunc." -uzz: -uzz slang words use "uzz" at the end of any word, so "bros" becomes "bruzz," "hoes" becomes "huzz," "granny" becomes "gruzz," etc. Up pole: To raise a gun. Twelve: Police. Twin: Best friend. "We're so back": Opposite of "it's so over." Wojack: The name of a style of internet drawings used to quickly stereotype someone. See this post for a full explanation of the Wojak universe. Yapping: Describes a presentational style often seen on online streams of talking a lot and/or quickly while not saying anything worthwhile. Yeet: To quickly and/or forcibly eject. Yunc: Yunc is a variation of "unc." In AAVE, a "yn" is a "young n-word." So "yunc" means something like "young uncle," or a person who may be young but has uncle vibes or unc status. Zoomer Perm: A curly on top, short on the sides haircut popular among young people. View the full article

There’s a growing trend in Silicon Valley where engineers are therapizing themselves with ChatGPT . Well, not exactly therapy, but using self-reflective prompts to unlock profound insights into their lives. It’s like getting advice from a friend who’s exceptionally skilled at active listening—except she’s 300,000 years old and has lived over 100 billion lives (it doesn’t quite make sense, but neither does the time we’re living in). I visited the Commons, one of the founding hubs of “Cerebral Valley” in San Francisco, where a community of Claude and ChatGPT superusers gathered to discuss “AI for inner work.” This mostly Gen Z group shared their unconventional tactics for using AI to catalyze personal growth and self-discovery. One participant explained how he uploaded all his journal entries from age 10 to Claude to analyze pivotal moments of growth. He hadn’t realized the profound impact of his immigration to the U.S. until Claude pointed out how it still shapes his sense of home today. The host discussed how she uses it as a Jungian analyst to interpret her dreams, highlighting how effectively it uncovers unconscious patterns. Personally, I use large language models to enhance my relationships. After several failed attempts to truly hear each other during heated arguments with my partner, I recorded one of these discussions and uploaded the audio to NotebookLM. The AI revealed where we were misunderstanding each other—showing how we’d talk past one another when triggered—and uncovered the unproductive patterns in our dynamic. This led to a breakthrough conversation where we genuinely listened. While the relationship ultimately didn’t work out, I credit AI with helping us reach a deeper level of mutual understanding and respect. How to foster connections, not replace them While concerns about human-AI relationships altering dynamics are valid, AI is here to stay. The real question isn’t whether AI will be part of our lives—it already is. The pressing question is how we design systems that foster connection, not replace it. Used mindfully, AI can enhance our relationships, offering new ways to understand ourselves and each other, ultimately helping us grow. These methods may enhance how we deliver care in therapy. Therapy has long been about the delicate dance of self-understanding—therapists attuning to the unsaid, guiding clients toward truths both desired and feared. What if AI could sit in the wings, not as an observer but as a collaborator, capturing threads too subtle for the human mind to detect? This isn’t about machines delivering platitudes or algorithms attempting empathy. It’s about systems integrating into the therapist’s workflow—offering transcription, analysis, and even creative interventions based on psychodynamic or cognitive principles. AI can identify themes in client narratives, highlight emotional shifts, and provide therapists with data-driven insights that inform—not dictate—clinical judgment. For example, an AI assistant transcribing and organizing session notes might suggest that a client’s recurring references to “freedom” coincide with ambivalence toward a career decision. Or it could flag a subtle shift in tone that hints at an underlying conflict the therapist might explore. Far from diminishing the therapist’s role, these tools enhance their ability to stay present, ensuring no vital detail is overlooked. The skepticism surrounding AI often stems from the fear that technology will replace human connection. But we, as a collective, have the power to decide. AI can honor the sanctity of the therapeutic relationship, staying in the background like a skilled psychometrist or note-taker, allowing therapists to fully engage in connection. Challenges and opportunities Real challenges remain. How do we ensure these tools are trained on diverse and representative data? How do we guard against bias? Most importantly, how do we design systems to stay humble—aware of their limits and deferring to the therapist’s expertise? What excites me most is the potential for AI to support somatic practices in therapy. Growing evidence shows the body plays a crucial role in processing trauma and achieving emotional regulation in ways that talk therapy cannot. With AI handling the cognitive load of administrative tasks, therapists can focus more on facilitating somatic therapies—approaches that engage the body through techniques like grounding exercises, mirroring, and physical presence. In this vision, AI enables individuals’ greater access to self-understanding. Clients can individually identify patterns, process insights, and build awareness—work that can be done outside traditional therapy. With AI managing these aspects at a low cost, therapists can focus on interventions requiring empathy, presence, and connection. The future of therapy could balance AI-driven self-discovery with somatic and relational work, ensuring transformative healing. In mental health, technology must follow humanity. The best AI systems amplify therapists’ capabilities without overshadowing them. This emerging era of augmentative AI could empower practitioners to go deeper, help clients feel more seen, and make healing more precise, without losing its art. The question to ask perhaps isn’t about whether AI can do what therapists do. It’s how AI can help therapists do what they do better—with clarity, presence, and attunement. As these tools quietly find their place in therapy rooms, the possibilities for transformative growth—for both clients and clinicians—are just beginning. Angelia Muller is cofounder and CEO of Attunement. View the full article

If you had an Apple Watch between 2015 and February of last year, there’s a chance the company might owe you a small payout. That’s thanks to a recent $20 million settlement on a class action lawsuit over swollen batteries. Apple has denied all wrongdoing, saying in a statement sent to Lifehacker sister publication CNET that “we strongly disagree with the claims made against these early generation Apple Watch models.” Still, rather than move forward with legal fees, the company is just choosing to pay a lump sum and get it over with instead. Given that the lawsuit, Smith et al. v. Apple Inc, lasted for over five years, that’s understandable. Getting your piece of the settlement might not be so simple, however. In order to qualify, you need to have already taken action, having reported battery swelling on an Apple Watch first-generation, Series 1, Series 2, or Series 3 model to Apple between April 24, 2015 and Feb. 6, 2024. If that sounds like you, you do not need to submit a claim, but there are a few steps you can take to ensure payment. First, keep an eye out for an email or postcard notifying you of your eligibility for payment. This will have a notice ID or confirmation code, which you’ll then need to enter on the settlement website to update your payment information. You’ll have until April 10 to send this information over, and if you feel like you should qualify but don’t get a notice, you can also reach out to a toll free number or the settlement administrator’s address to get the ball rolling, per section 7 of the settlement site’s FAQ. Alternatively, if you’d rather opt out of the settlement, which will preserve your right to pursue your own legal action against Apple, you can do so through the same process. Once the dust has settled, class members can expect a payout of about $20 per affected watch, although specifics might vary depending on the number of people who update their payment information, capping out at $50 per affected watch. View the full article

Apple just hit another snag in its effort to find a foothold in the headset market targeting everyday users. The tech giant has reportedly canceled its project to build augmented reality glasses that could be paired with its devices. The project, code-named N107, was supposed to produce glasses that look normal but have added displays and would require connection to a Mac, Bloomberg reported. Yet the company reportedly struggled to produce the right tech at an attractive price point. Apple initially tried to get the glasses to pair with an iPhone, but ran into problems with battery life, Bloomberg reported. But the switch to the Mac, which has a bigger battery and faster processors, performed poorly among Apple’s executives, the report said. Pulling the project means Apple is likely falling even further behind its tech competitors. Meta, for example, unveiled its Orion AR glasses last fall. The Apple glasses were reportedly similar to Xreal’s One and Lenovo’s ThinkReality versions of AR glasses. At the same time, Apple’s Vision Pro headset has been slow to find adoption due to its $3,499 price tag. The company reportedly paused work on the Vision Pro 2 last summer in order to focus on creating a cheaper model. View the full article

Justice department alleges John Harold Rogers accessed sensitive information including briefings and policy deliberationsView the full article

N-VA’s Bart De Wever takes over after marathon talks as anti-establishment forces gather strength across EuropeView the full article

Usually, it’s the businesses that are behind robocalls, but if you work at a nail salon or an auto repair shop, get ready for customers to start sending hordes of AI Karens your way. Google’s latest experimental AI feature, available to those who sign up for “Ask for me” on Google Search Labs, is aiming to be a sort of personal AI secretary for you. Once enabled, it’ll pop up an “Ask for me” button under certain searches, promising to call local shops for you to help you figure out availability, service costs, and the like. Clicking the “Ask for me” button will take you to a form, where you’ll fill out, for example, the make and model of your car, what services you need, and when you can come in. Google will then canvass local shops (there doesn’t seem to be an option to send a call only to a specific shop) and then email or text you back with results. On their end, business owners will hear a message at the start of every call indicating that it’s an automated system calling on behalf of a potential customer, Google spokesperson Craig Ewer told The Verge. If that sounds annoying, business owners can opt out, either within their Google Business Profile settings or by simply telling the AI not to call them back. For those that decide to humor the robocalls, Ewer told The Verge that Google is doing its best to ensure businesses don’t get overloaded with calls, and will use information collected from prior calls to help answer future ones without bothering an employee. Over on X, Google product lead Rose Yao said Ask for me is powered by Duplex, an existing Google feature that (mostly) uses AI to make reservations on your behalf, but it’s more geared towards research than actually booking anything. As it’s still experimental, it’s limited to nail salons and auto shops for now, though it could presumably expand in the future. As someone with social anxiety, I can see the surface level appeal here, although I’m not sure I’d ever want to commit the sin of making someone else talk to a robot. View the full article

The healthcare sector is one of the most common targets for hackers and cyber criminals, and yet another data breach has put the personal data of more than a million patients at risk. Community Health Center (CHC), a nonprofit healthcare provider in Connecticut, has disclosed that hackers gained access to its system in October and stole sensitive health and personal information belonging to 1,060,936 individuals. What happened with CHC? According to reporting by Bleeping Computer, hackers had access to the CHC network for several hours on October 14, 2024, though the breach was not discovered until January 2, 2025. Stolen data may include names, birthdates, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and Social Security numbers as well as medical records and health insurance information. CHC has indicated that it was not a ransomware attack, and no data was locked or deleted. What you can do if your data was stolenWhile you can't un-leak your personal data, you can (and should) be on the lookout for signs that it is being used maliciously. CHC is offering 24 months of free identity theft protection through IDX, including credit and cyber monitoring and ID theft recovery. According to CHC's filing with the Maine attorney general, those affected by the breach were notified by letter beginning on Jan. 30—and that consumer notice includes a QR code to activate monitoring services, or you can go to the IDX website and enter the enrollment code provided. The deadline to sign up for identity theft protection is April 30. You should also commit to other best practices for securing your data, including utilizing credit monitoring services (even if you don't qualify for IDX enrollment), activating credit freezes and fraud alerts, staying skeptical of requests for your personal information (don't give anything out via text, email, or phone until you've verified), and never clicking strange links. Of course, the CHC incident isn't the only one to compromise patient data—and it's far from the largest. The major breach of UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare (first reported in October 2024) is now believed to impact nearly twice as many people as previously disclosed. That ransomware attack included the health insurance, billing, and payment information as well as medical records and sensitive personal data of nearly 190 million patients. Ascension Health suffered a similar breach in February 2024, which affected nearly 6 million individuals. View the full article

Group is latest tech company to consider move away from longtime American corporate haven View the full article

One of the largest non-profit blood centers in the country, New York Blood Center (NYBC), said it was hit with a ransomware attack over the weekend and is now experiencing disruptions in its services, including longer than normal processing times for blood donations, plus the cancelling and rescheduling of some blood donations. NYBC provides blood to over 200 hospitals in the northeast, including New York and New Jersey, and transfusion-related medical services to over 500 hospitals across the nation. “At this time, we do not have a specific timetable for system restoration,” NYBC said in a statement on its website. “We are working diligently with third-party experts to restore our systems as quickly and safely as possible.” What happened? On Sunday, January 26, New York Blood Center Enterprises identified suspicious activity affecting its IT systems. It contacted cybersecurity experts who investigated and confirmed it was the result of a ransomware incident. “We took immediate steps to help contain the threat, including taking certain systems offline,” NYBC confirmed. The attack comes at a critical time, when blood donations in the U.S. are at a critically low level. Currently, the New York and New Jersey region face a “blood emergency” resulting from a 30% drop in donations in recent weeks since the holidays, totaling 6,500 fewer donations and crippling the region’s blood supply, according to the NYBC. What can I do to help? Donations typically decrease during the holidays, and this January poses additional challenges with colder than normal temperatures causing blood drive cancellations, and flu, COVID-19, and RSV reducing donor eligibility. Currently, donations of all blood types are urgently needed, especially Types O- and B-, which are down to a dangerously low 1-3-day supply. In the coming weeks, NYBC may have to do another push for more blood donations. If you’re eligible, you can donate your blood, but be prepared for the possibility of longer wait times or unexpected scheduling changes. Here’s more information about how to donate. View the full article

The return-to-office (RTO) push at companies such as Amazon and AT&T—which both required employees to be back in the office full-time this month—has been met with discontent and frustration from much of their workforces. Some Amazon employees have said they are looking for new jobs, if they haven’t left already, while people at both companies have reportedly struggled to even find an open desk. But other leaders are not letting the prospect of low morale or limited workspace derail their plans to return to the office full time in 2025. According to a memo obtained by Business Insider, the latest addition to the mix is Dell, which had already tested the waters with an RTO policy that applied to just a handful of departments. As of September, employees on the sales team and across a subset of other roles (including leadership positions) were asked to return to the office. Starting in March, however, Dell also will be “retiring the hybrid policy” and expect most employees to be in the office five days a week. The new mandate will apply to all employees who live within about an hour commute of a Dell office—regardless of whether they currently have a remote or hybrid arrangement. (A Dell spokesperson did not clarify whether employees who live farther would have to request an exemption or would automatically be allowed to continue working remotely.) According to Business Insider, employees who remained remote would not be put up for promotion without explicit approval from three senior leaders. This seems to be a slight shift from a policy Dell already had in place that rendered fully remote employees ineligible for promotion. “What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world, nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction,” CEO Michael Dell wrote in the memo. “A 30-second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days.” In a statement to Fast Company, a Dell spokesperson added, “We continually evolve our business so we’re set up to deliver the best innovation, value, and service to our customers and partners. That includes more in-person connections to drive market leadership.” In his memo, the CEO noted that across departments that had started coming into the office, “we have seen these areas come alive with new speed, energy, and passion.” Other CEOs and business leaders have used similar rationale to justify bringing workers back to the office at least three days a week, with a growing number of companies ramping up to five days. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy echoed that sentiment when he announced that starting in 2025, the RTO policy would require employees to come into the office daily, rather than just three days a week. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” he wrote in a memo. “If anything, the last 15 months we’ve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits.” Like Jassy, Michael Dell had previously expressed his support for remote work. As recently as late 2022, Dell had openly said, “From my experience, if you are counting on forced hours spent in a traditional office to create collaboration and provide a feeling of belonging within your organization, you’re doing it wrong.” But as corporate America has shown over the past few years, he’s not the first business leader to make such a drastic reversal on remote work—and certainly won’t be the last. View the full article

It's hard to escape AI these days. Apple just made Apple Intelligence opt out, and Google Workspace users are now seeing big, hard-to-dismiss Gemini buttons all over their apps. The world's biggest tech companies are doing their best to sell you on a generative AI future, but even when you can't turn AI off, there are steps you can take to fight back. Even outside of Workspace, Google is one of the most egregious AI pushers around. The company has tried to push its Gemini AI in almost all of its properties, even though it's shown inaccurate search results recommending everything from eating rocks to adding glue to pizza. Even if you have no interest in AI search results, you'll still be forced to see elements of Google's Gemini all over Gmail and its other web apps. If that gets your goat, no worries—you can use Hide Gemini, a Chrome extension that hides Google Gemini elements from various Google sites—to pretend you live in the good older days of 2020. Hide Gemini removes the Ask Gemini button from Gmail and uses CSS to hide other egregious Gemini elements across Google's various sites, even the dreaded AI Overview box. Once you install it, the extension starts taking effect immediately. With these types of extensions, there's sometimes a worry that they may negatively impact the functionality of your service. An extension that blocks one element could sometimes inadvertently stop you from accessing other essential features. Fortunately, there are no such side effects associated with Hide Gemini. Since it uses CSS blocking, it merely hides unwanted AI elements without affecting any other functionality. Note that this extension, just like AI, isn't magic. It only hides persistent AI elements (such as the aforementioned Ask Gemini button), but not temporary promotional ones. If you've never used Gemini, you may see a Try Gemini button, which this extension does not hide. The developer says this is to avoid causing compatibility issues. Similarly, it doesn't block the "Help me write" prompt that may appear in Google Docs while you're working on a document. These minor limitations seem reasonable to me, and I'm happy to recommend Hide Gemini. It makes Google products a lot less annoying to use, even if it doesn't block the AI itself so much as makes it invisible. View the full article

Companies have told chancellor that scaling back tax breaks on savings accounts could boost UK financial servicesView the full article

LVMH’s Arnault contrasts US ‘wind of optimism’ with ‘cold shower’ of FranceView the full article

OpenAI is officially rolling out its latest model, o3-mini, starting today, Friday, Jan. 31. The company shared the news in a blog post on its website, just over a month after officially announcing the model during its "12 Days of OpenAI." As with each refreshed generative AI model, o3-mini is an improvement over o1-mini—but not by as much as you might think. OpenAI says the two models perform the same in math, coding, and science, but o3-mini offers quicker answers to user queries—24% faster, in A/B testing. According to the company, testers comparing the models found o3-mini produces "more accurate and clear answers, with stronger reasoning abilities." And, with "medium reasoning effort," o3-mini matches o1 in certain reasoning and intelligence evaluations. Like o1-mini, o3-mini is a reasoning model, a type of AI model that "thinks" through answers before responding to them. o3-mini has three different reasoning "efforts" depending on the use case: low, medium, and high. In mathematics testing, for instance, o3-mini's medium and high effort reasoning out erforms o1-mini, while high effort even outperforms o1 (the more powerful version of o1-mini). All three efforts beat o1-mini in PhD-level science questions, but o1 outperforms them all. o3-mini replaces the o1-mini model for all users. OpenAI doesn't explicitly state why you can't use o1-mini going forward, but touts that o3-mini has higher rate limits and lower latency than the previous model. At launch, only ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users can access o3-mini. OpenAI says Enterprise users can access the model in a week. (In addition, Plus and Team users will see their daily rate limits jump from 50 messages on o1-mini to 150 messages.) That said, free users will be able to try o3-mini in a limited capacity, either by choosing the "Reasoning" option in the message composer, or regenerating a response. OpenAI says it's the first time free users have had access to a reasoning model in ChatGPT, which comes one day after Microsoft offered o1's reasoning to Copilot users for free. You can learn more about o3-mini in our post here. But as the model is only rolling out today, we won't know exactly how it performs until real-world testers start to use it. View the full article

OpenAI released its newest reasoning model, called o3-mini, on Friday. OpenAI says the model delivers more intelligence than OpenAI’s first small reasoning model, o1-mini, while maintaining o1-mini’s low price and speed. The company says o3-mini excels in science, math, and coding problems. Developers can access o3-mini through an API, and can select between three levels of reasoning intensity. The lowest setting, for example, might be best for less difficult problems where speed of response is a factor. ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users can access OpenAI o3-mini starting today, OpenAI says, while enterprise users will get access in a week. The announcement comes at the end of a week in which the Chinese company DeepSeek dominated headlines after releasing a pair of surprisingly powerful and cost-effective AI models called DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1. The latter, a reasoning model, scored close to, and sometimes above, OpenAI’s o1 in a set of recognized benchmark tests. “We’re shifting the entire cost‑intelligence curve,” OpenAI researcher Noam Brown said of o3-mini on X. “Model intelligence will continue to go up, and the cost for the same intelligence will continue to go down.” He said o3-mini even outperforms the full-sized o1 model in a number of evaluations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in December that the o3 series models demonstrate significantly higher levels of intelligence than the o1 models, including in computer coding and problem solving requiring advanced mathematics. The largest version of o3 also achieved the highest score yet of any AI system on a test called ARC-AGI, a logic and reasoning test designed to measure progress toward artificial general intelligence, meaning AI that’s as smart or smarter than humans at most tasks. The o3 model scored 87.5% on the test (humans can score around 85%). OpenAI originally announced o3, along with a smaller version called o3-mini, in December, but said it would complete its internal safety testing, and get feedback from a group of outside safety and security testors, before launching the models. OpenAI said it would release o3-mini this month, and gave no release timeframe for the larger o3 model. OpenAI chose not to expose the o1 models’ chain of thought, and the same holds true for o3-mini. Researchers have shown that generating chain-of-thought can sometimes confuse models and pull them off focus. DeepSeek-R1, however, is trained to show its chain of thought, and Google announced in December a new experimental model called Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking that also shows its “thinking.” Reasoning models represent a new chapter in developing generative AI models. From 2020-2023 AI labs won almost all of their performance increases by pre-training their models with more data and computing power. That “brute force” approach began to show diminishing returns in 2024, so the AI labs–OpenAI chief among them–began to teach models to do more reasoning (and use more computing power) at inference time just after the user has asked a question or posed a problem. The model might generate multiple streams of tokens at once, then choose which one leads to the best answers. Or it might follow a certain branch of logic then iteratively backtrack after hitting a dead end. The model generates a lot of tokens, which must all be stored in a “context window” while the problem is being solved. This requires a lot of memory and a lot of computing power. OpenAI’s first try at reasoning models with the o1 series wasn’t perfect. The largest o1 model is very expensive to run and its needs a long time to reach an answer. The o3 models are said to do more reasoning at inference time, but return answers faster using less computing power. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. The final months of 2024 saw the release of two major cinematic works, each laser focused on design and architecture. While very different films (that is, one Oscar-nominated, one Razzie-nominated), each is monumental in its own right. First came Francis Ford Coppola's decades-in-the-making sci-fi drama Megalopolis, following a visionary architect, played by Adam Driver, who dreams of transforming the future city of New Rome into a utopian paradise with the help of a magical metal. Critics were not kind to Coppola's film, but a much warmer reception greeted Brady Corbet's The Brutalist, a more down-to-earth but no less epic period drama following a Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor (Adrien Brody) who emigrates to the United States and whose past as an accomplished architect gradually becomes clear. Documentaries aside, architects and architecture have served varied, but particular roles in film: The art of architecture, when spotlighted, is frequently used to metaphorically reflect what's happening between towering personalities. As an occupation, though, architecture is often treated as a bland signifier: architects are often solidly middle-class romantic interests, the specific career incidental. Though veering from scary to silly to epic, these 10 films all go a bit deeper. The Towering Inferno (1974) Surely a cautionary tale for budding young architects, The Towering Inferno reminds us that even Paul Newman makes mistakes (and just being hot doesn't necessarily make one a good architect). The actor plays Doug Roberts, designer of the world's walled building: San Francisco's (fictional, thank God) Glass Tower. The titular fire isn't entirely Duncan's fault—blame is doled out to various corner-cutting subcontractors—but it's still made clear that Roberts cared more about style and personal prestige than safety, the result being a horrific (also thrilling) disaster in which various '70s era celebrities are placed in fiery danger. You can buy The Towering Inferno from Prime Video. The Towering Inferno (1974) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Belly of an Architect (1987) An acclaimed, though lesser-known 1980s indie, Belly stars Brian Dennehy as the (fictional) architect Stourley Kracklite, following him as he travels from Chicago to Rome to arrange an exhibition on the (real-life) 18th-century French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée. In Rome, Kracklite's marriage and resolve begin to crumble against the backdrop of increasingly opulent classical architecture—particularly that of Boullée himself, whose work has been characterized as grand to the point of megalomaniacal (if not fascist). All of that impressive architecture is quite present onscreen, often used to signal that our lead is being dwarfed by the scale of the art around him. You can stream The Belly of an Architect on Prime Video. The Belly of an Architect (1987) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video High-Rise (2015) An adaptation of J.G. Ballard's same-titled dystopian novel, High-Rise stars Tom Hiddleston as Dr. Robert Laing, who is living in a London tower building where things have gone rather hideously wrong (they're eating the dogs, literally). We journey back a few months to meet the architect, played by Jeremy Irons, who's designed a (rather cool-looking) building that's the absolute tops in elegant modern living—at least for the wealthier residents who live on the upper floors. When class warfare inevitably breaks out between them and the less fortunate lower denizens, things grow increasingly grim, but the architect remains free, for a time, to blandly philosophize about the impact of his designs on society. After all, he doesn't have to live there. You can stream High-Rise on Max or rent it from Prime Video. High-Rise (2015) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Inception (2010) Inception captures what must be an architect's dream, before bringing things back down to earth in extremely commonplace ways. Elliott Page plays Ariadne, a graduate-level architecture student hired to design the architecture of a literal dream, with no budgetary nor design restrictions. The designs need to be believable on an intuitive level, with an idiosyncratic logic that a dreamer wouldn't question. Of course, capitalism rears its head even here: This isn't some grand plan for art unbridled by reality; it's all in service of an ultra-rich businessman with an eye towards stealing corporate secrets—a reminder that even our dreams are constrained by greed. You can stream Inception on Netflix or rent it from Prime Video. Inception (2010) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Fountainhead (1949) I'd rather eat my own head than read another magniloquent Ayn Rand doorstopper, but this adaptation of her landmark book, directed by King Vidor, is certainly focused on its lead character's profession—though using it to make a larger point about how anyone who caves in to popular tastes is a dirty communist or something. Gary Cooper stars as Howard Roark, faced with a full-blown newspaper campaign aimed at putting a stop to his individual spirit and idiosyncratic designs. The central love affair between Roark and icy cool Dany Taggert (Patricia Neal) provides a bit of melodramatic fun, and the cinematography is stunning. The central message about being true to your own muse is also on the button, even if the narrative pushes that idea to pretty wacky extremes (though without some of the novel's more odious overtones). You can stream The Fountainhead on The Criterion Channel. The Fountainhead (1949) at The Criterion Channel Learn More Learn More at The Criterion Channel Mon Oncle (1958) I've endeavored to stick to films that deal with architects, or at least with building design as a profession, but it's hard to avoid Jacques Tati when talking about the ways in which architecture impacts our lives. The second of the director's films in which he stars as the hopelessly awkward Monsieur Hulot (and his first in color), this one finds Hulot spending time with his nephew and family in their ultra-modern, relentlessly geometric house in a new Paris suburban development. Brilliantly, hilariously conceived, the Villa Arpel is a triumph of style over substance, with comfort and tradition giving way at every turn to capitalistic modernity. Chairs are nearly impossible to sit on, flagstones are positioned so that it's impossible to walk, and ostensibly convenient appliances are so loud, you can barely think. It's a satire buoyed by physical comedy, but astute as to the ways in which architecture and design can try to improve our lives and go terribly wrong in the process. You can stream Mon Oncle on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Mon Oncle (1958) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Amityville: It's About Time (1992) From the sublimely ridiculous to the just plain ridiculous: A highlight (relatively) of a series that stretches to dozens of movies (don't feel bad if you've lost track of the Amityville oeuvre), It's About Time reminds us that urban planning and architectural design aren't just about blueprints and mathematics, they're also about vibes. If, for instance, you're hired to design a new neighborhood in Amityville, as is the case for architect Jacob Sterling (Stephen Macht), never use an old clock from the ruins of an infamous murder house as your inspiration. It will end badly for all parties. You can stream Amityville: It's About Time on Tubi, Freevee, and Prime Video. Amityville: It's About Time (1992) at Freevee Learn More Learn More at Freevee Jungle Fever (1991) Architecture isn't the defining feature of this 1991 Spike Lee joint, but it does speak to a dearth of Black American architects both in film and in real life. Harlem architect Flipper Purify (Wesley Snipes) has built an impressive career for himself, as well as a solid family life—at least until he starts an affair with a temp (Annabella Sciorra) assigned to him by an agency. Being an architect in a movie is often a shorthand way of suggesting middle-class, white-collar success, and is almost entirely restricted to white characters (think Sleepless in Seattle); despite the enormous contributions of Black structural designers to American design history, the percentage of white people in field remains somewhere in high 90s. In movies, that number is closer to 100%—honestly Flipper is the only non-white cinematic architect I came across while assembling this roundup. So whether or not you approve of his extramarital engagements, you can certainly give him credit as a trailblazer. You can rent Jungle Fever from Prime Video. Jungle Fever (1991) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Columbus (2017) Indie filmaker Kogonada (After Yang, Pachinko) made his debut with this quiet relationship drama that makes stunning use of the structural design features of Columbus, Indiana—a surprising place, perhaps, to focus on architecture. John Cho stars as Jin Lee, returning to the title town to care for his estranged father, now in a coma in a local hospital. He meets library worker Casey (Haley Lu Richardson), and the two explore Columbus together, with the composition of the city serving as backdrop (and sometimes mirror) to their developing relationship, even as topics of conversation turn on her knowledge of local architecture and her desire to enter the field. It's a quiet, subtle film that's as close to pure cinema as we get in the 21st century. You can rent Columbus from Prime Video. Columbus (2017) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Black Cat (1934) A stunning expressionist masterpiece with grisly horror trappings, the architecture of The Black Cat serves the story as much as it embellishes it. Boris Karloff plays architect and former Austro-Hungarian army officer Hjalmar Poelzig, who has built an ultra-modern, Bauhaus-style house on the ruins of the fort that he'd betrayed to the Russians during World War II. Its modernity conceals a bevy of occult mysteries, however—it's a haunted house unlike any that had come before, and its stylish sterility comes to feel like a trap in and of itself. Director Edward G. Elmer had been a set designer in Germany before fleeing the rise of the Nazis, and it's hard not to see parallels between the movie and conditions in Germany at the end of the Weimar Republic, when a thin veneer of progress was built atop literal corpses. You can rent The Black Cat from Prime Video. The Black Cat (1934) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video View the full article

The regulator has a projected fiscal year 2025 budget of $810 million, according to a nonpartisan analysis. View the full article