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RingCentral has introduced RingCentral AI Receptionist (AIR), a generative AI-powered phone agent designed to automate customer communications by answering inquiries and directing callers without the need for complex IT setup. Unlike traditional intelligent virtual agents (IVAs) used in contact centers, RingCentral AIR is built for businesses of all sizes, offering an out-of-the-box solution to streamline call handling. Simplifying AI Call Automation RingCentral AIR enables businesses to automate routine phone interactions, reducing the need for human receptionists and improving efficiency. The AI-powered receptionist can answer frequently asked questions, provide business details such as hours and location, and transfer callers to the appropriate department. Key features include: Automated responses to routine customer questions. Smart knowledge base creation using generative AI. Scalable deployment for businesses with multiple locations. Intelligent call routing based on natural conversation. SMS confirmations providing requested information. Call transcripts and analytics for business insights. Customizable voice and language support, starting with English, with Spanish launching by the end of Q1 2025. Real-World Impact Early adopters have reported notable improvements in efficiency and customer experience: A security company resolved over 50% of inbound calls with AI automation. A home tech service company handled 60% of calls, capturing leads that would have otherwise been lost. A healthcare provider eliminated call wait times, reducing average answer time from 12 seconds to 0 seconds. Future Enhancements and Availability RingCentral plans to expand AIR’s capabilities, with AI-powered appointment scheduling set to launch in future updates. The solution is currently available to select U.S. businesses in a controlled availability phase, including a one-month 100-minute free trial. A broader rollout is expected in Q2 2025. For more details on availability and future updates, visit RingCentral’s website. This article, "RingCentral Launches AI Receptionist to Automate Business Call Handling" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Elon Musk has objected to allegations that rocket maker unlawfully discriminated against asylum seekers and refugeesView the full article

As a former military officer turned sustainability-focused CEO, I often find myself reflecting on the intersection of two worlds that, on the surface, seem unlikely companions. The military and environmental activism may not share much in popular perception, but my time in service fundamentally shaped how I approach mission-driven leadership. It gave me the tools to tackle complex, seemingly insurmountable problems while galvanizing a team toward a higher purpose. If we are to solve the key challenges of our time—challenges as large as protecting our planet—leaders will need to adopt three key lessons I learned from the military. Lesson 1: Service before self The military’s core ethos revolves around serving a mission greater than oneself. For me, this meant uprooting my life every 2 years, enduring long deployments where my husband was gone for 320 days of the year, and working on classified missions I could never share. These sacrifices weren’t about personal glory but about contributing to something bigger: protecting the freedoms and safety of others. This same mindset is essential in mission-driven leadership. Building a values-driven company that prioritizes the health of people and the planet is an inherently uphill battle. But this work isn’t about personal comfort or short-term wins. It’s about serving a mission that has lasting value for future generations. One of the greatest leadership challenges is finding and motivating others who share this sense of purpose. In the military, what binds individuals together—even in life-or-death situations—is the shared passion for serving the mission. The same is true for leaders of purpose-driven companies. Surround yourself with people who are deeply committed to the cause. Their shared purpose will provide the resilience and determination needed to face setbacks and keep pushing forward. In the U.S., we tend to prioritize individual success over collective progress. For me, military service was a catalyst for this mindset shift, and it continues to shape how I approach sustainability: as a duty to serve the greater good. Lesson 2: Discipline and making excellence a habit At the United States Air Force Academy, I learned that excellence isn’t a singular act—it’s a habit. This lesson was ingrained in me through daily practices like making my bed with hospital corners, ironing uniforms to perfection, and pushing through grueling physical challenges. These seemingly small acts built the discipline to tackle larger, more complex tasks. The ability to consistently show up and meet high standards—even in the face of fatigue, doubt, or hardship—is the secret weapon that has helped me accomplish the greatest challenges in my life, from running a sub-3-hour marathon to leading a purpose-driven company. Shaping businesses that improve our health and planet often feels overwhelming. The statistics alone can make you want to throw up your hands: Humans generates over 400 million tons of plastic waste annually, much of which ends up in landfills or the ocean. So instead, focus on the small things laddering up into larger ones. Consider something as simple as making your bed every day. It’s not about the bed itself; it’s about starting the day with a small win, a signal to yourself that you’re committed to doing the work, no matter how small it seems. Discipline drives progress when motivation fades—because motivation will fade. For business leaders, building a culture of disciplined habits is critical. Tackling problems at scale requires a disciplined approach and a team that’s practiced in the excellence of laddering little disciplines up into larger ones. Are you modeling attention to detail and high standards in your daily work? If not, how can you expect your team to do so when tackling massive societal and environmental challenges? Leadership in the movement for conscious consumer goods and beyond, requires long-term thinking, consistency, and resilience—all of which are forged through disciplined action. Leaders must show up every day, no matter how difficult the path ahead may seem. Lesson 3: Integrity, even when no one is looking In the military, integrity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a core value. We were trained to do what was right, even when it was inconvenient or when no one was watching. This principle was so critical that a breach of integrity, known as an “honor violation,” could lead to immediate discharge. A friend of mine once faced 6 months of probation because his homework was too similar to his roommate’s. In the business world, integrity often feels like a luxury rather than a necessity. Capitalism is not built this way—companies don’t just do the right thing to feel good. If it doesn’t drive the top or bottom line, it likely won’t make the cut, even when they know their actions are harmful to human health or the environment. However, I believe companies have the potential to be inherently good. Many companies treat sustainability initiatives as a cost center, doing the bare minimum to meet regulatory requirements or appease consumers. But real progress happens when sustainability is integrated into the business’s core objectives, showing measurable returns that drive the company’s growth. At my company, Novi, we work to build incentive structures that align sustainability efforts with revenue and cost-saving opportunities, ultimately driving both environmental progress, human health, and business success. For business leaders, integrity means pushing for solutions that don’t just check a box but create meaningful, measurable impact. It’s about holding yourself and your organization accountable to high standards—even when it’s inconvenient or costly—because the stakes for our planet are just as high as they are on the battlefield. Build a new kind of leadership The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. As we face the monumental task of preserving our planet for future generations, leaders across disciplines must embrace a mission-first mindset, build the discipline to tackle daunting problems, and act with integrity, even when it’s inconvenient. These principles aren’t just relics of my time in uniform; they’re the guiding forces that help me navigate the complex, high-stakes challenges of mission-driven leadership. The military may have prepared me for battle, but it also prepared me to serve a different kind of mission: protecting the health of people and our planet. And for that, I’ll always be grateful. Kimberly Shenk is cofounder and CEO of Novi Connect. View the full article

YouTube clarifies how Google Search traffic impacts video recommendations, addressing creator concerns about external views and watch time. The post Does Google Traffic Affect YouTube Recommendations? What To Know appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Carter G. Woodson is the reason we celebrate Black history this month, and every February. Not many people know him, but he was a scholar, a journalist, and an activist who decided in the early 1900s to document how formerly enslaved Africans and the broader African diaspora contributed to the prosperity and growth of this country and beyond. At the time, our nation’s narrative assumed that African Americans had no history or impact on the trajectory of the United States. Despite known and demonstrable evidence to the contrary, even among former enslavers, a national narrative asserting the biological and inherent inferiority of anyone with one drop of Black blood had to assert that Black people lacked any significant history or claim on shared humanity. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” except for Black men and women. This narrative added further justification for the evils of Jim Crow segregation and decades of policy and actual violence to African Americans. Hidden figures Woodson and his colleagues changed all that. Together, they detailed the history of African-descended people in the Americas and beyond. Woodson educated the broader population about the Black contributions to their daily lives. Inventors like Thomas Jennings, the first African American to receive a patent, for a new form of dry cleaning. And, Lewis Howard Latimer, who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison, where he improved the process for making carbon filaments in light bulbs and later invented a precursor to air conditioning. And, Granville T. Woods, who improved the operation of telegraphs. And, Alice H. Parker, who designed the first central heating system powered by natural gas. These hidden figures—and so many more—had been and would have been forgotten by history if not for Woodson and his colleagues. He began publication of the Journal of Negro History, now The Journal of African American History, in 1916, and it has been continuously publishing ever since, documenting the history of African American life and their contributions to society. After founding the Journal, Woodson decided to go further and start “Negro History Week” in 1926. He timed this for the second week in February, to coincide with the birthdays of both Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. In 1976, this grew into the Black History Month we now recognize every year. Contributions should be honored As we face current attempts at historical erasure, we recall that Woodson and his colleagues did not enjoy broad support. Policy violence and deep rhetorical contempt against Black Americans catalyzed the rise of attacks and intimidation by the KKK and other hate groups. Thus, Woodson strived without the accolades or endorsements from establishment leaders. He and his colleagues, many white, understood that in the shared understanding of all peoples’ contributions to civilization lay the seeds for a more fully flowering democracy. Woodson’s efforts certainly helped to raise the consciousness of Black Americans. It also gave whites the opportunity to cast aside the toxic mythology of white supremacy. Woodson became one of the leaders of the Black intellectual and cultural movements in the 20s and 30s, such as the Harlem Renaissance and the international Black Consciousness Movement led by individuals like Marcus Garvey. His work helped Black people all over the country and throughout the African diaspora recognize our contributions and envision our full potential in a society unfettered by racial hate, segregation, and discrimination. Black History Month rests on a big and bold legacy that Woodson created for us. We now have many different history months that celebrate all aspects of our nation’s heritage, not just a sanitized version. We have Women’s History Month; Jewish American History Month; Hispanic Heritage Month; LGBTQ+ Pride Month; and so much more. Because of the tireless work of Woodson, we can have a full picture of this country’s history. With a better understanding of our past, we can better navigate the future. Build on the legacy As we reflect on all of this work that brought us here, I want to ask: What is the work we are willing to do to build upon this legacy? What can we do to make the most of where we are now, every single day? Woodson was driven not by a desire for accolades or recognition. He wanted his people, and all people, to better connect with a rich history, rather than have that history erased. We are at a similar moment in time in our nation’s history where we risk losing the truth of how we got close to, and how we might strive to fulfill the promise of a more perfect union. How can we follow Woodson’s lead and do the work necessary to remember our past, and create a better future where all can thrive? Joe Scantlebury, JD, is CEO of Living Cities. View the full article

Fear of ‘trouble ahead’ because of low growth and sticky inflation outweighs relief brought by lower interest ratesView the full article

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. From a young age, feedback from authority figures shape our self-perception. Unfortunately, too many young people internalize the message that they should only pursue what comes easily to them. I know this firsthand. As a student, I was interested in STEM but found it challenging. After an educator told me to focus on what I was “good at,” I believed I could never succeed in science or technology—and I gave up. What happened to me isn’t unique. Too often, young people aren’t given the opportunity to fail safely, leading them to impose limits on their own potential. The consequences extend beyond the individual—industries suffer, too. Research shows that professionals with high confidence earn $8,000 more each year than their less self-confident peers, and 93% cite confidence as key to career success. Without a cultural shift that embraces safe failure—the opportunity to fail, learn, and try again—innovation will stagnate, and talent pipelines will weaken. As the leader of FIRST, a global robotics community dedicated to igniting young people’s passion for STEM, I’ve seen firsthand the impact that building confidence in kids as young as preschool age can have on students’ educational affinity and interpersonal skill development. The same principles we apply to students ages 4-18 are relevant for young adults entering the workforce. A thriving business environment depends on uplifting young talent and empowering them to navigate challenges. Celebrate failure, don’t fear it FIRST founder and prolific inventor Dean Kamen, who holds more than 1,000 patents, believes that yes—a project may fail—but never a person. He says, “A step backward is a failure, but what if, for every step backward, you take two steps ahead?” Learning from failure is a critical step in progress—something over 3.2 million FIRST participants and alumni understand well. Business leaders must foster environments where failure is not only accepted, but expected. Controlled, low-risk failures offer young workers invaluable learning experiences that allow them to iterate and improve. Teams should see failure not as a sign of incapability but as a tool for growth. If we expect young professionals to push through challenges, we must provide them with the safety net to do so. Use mentorship to model resiliency and offer guidance Mentorship is a powerful way to help young professionals build resilience. Whether they are learning a new skill or questioning whether they have what it takes to “go pro” in STEM, it is not at all uncommon at FIRST to see young people stepping outside of their comfort zones, seeking guidance, and needing reassurance. Our role as leaders is not just to teach but to help young people find their places of belonging, and mentorship is a key piece of that puzzle. Strong mentors—who have faced setbacks and persevered—offer support, model confidence, and help young people navigate obstacles. Mentorship doesn’t just benefit mentees; it strengthens the mentors’ leadership skills. Corporate leaders I’ve spoken with who invest in mentorship often report improved communication, problem-solving, and long-term employee commitment. Business leaders should consider structured mentorship programs, to cultivate a culture of support and professional development for their employees. Focus on flexibility and growth mindsets Career paths are rarely linear. Many young professionals pivot as they discover their passions and adapt to changing industries. Organizations that encourage continuous learning and skill development—not just technical expertise but also communication, teamwork, and adaptability—will retain talent and drive innovation. Looking back on my past experiences, I wish I had understood that I had a choice: I could either accept my teacher’s discouragement or cast her words aside and believe in my limitless potential. As business leaders, we must create spaces where young professionals are empowered to take risks, learn, and grow. Innovation requires risk taking and trial and error. And for innovation to flourish, we must give young professionals permission to jump, with the knowledge that they have a safety net beneath them. If we reframe failure as an opportunity, provide mentorship, and encourage resilience, we can ensure young professionals—and the businesses they power—reach their full potential. Chris Moore is CEO of FIRST. View the full article

Operations stepped up by Israel military in northern West Bank after public transport is targetedView the full article

A computerized system that calls balls and strikes is being tested during Major League Baseball spring training exhibition games starting Thursday after four years of experiments in the minor leagues. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is an advocate of the Automated Ball-Strike System, which potentially as early as 2026 could be used to aid MLB home plate umpires, but not replace them. Starting in 2024, MLB focused testing on a challenge system in which the human umpire makes each original call. Data from the spring training test could cause MLB to make alterations to the system for Triple-A games this season. How does the Automated Ball-Strike System work? Stadiums are outfitted with cameras that track each pitch and judge whether it crossed home plate within the strike zone. In early testing, umpires wore ear buds and would hear “ball” or “strike,” then relay that to players and fans with traditional hand signals. The challenge system adds a wrinkle. During spring training, human umps will call every pitch, but each team will have the ability to challenge two calls per game, with no additions for extra innings. A team retains its challenge if successful, similar to the regulations for big league teams with video reviews, which were first used for home run calls in August 2008 and widely expanded to many calls for the 2014 season. Only a batter, pitcher or catcher may challenge a call, signaling with the tap of a helmet or cap; and assistance from the dugout is not allowed. A challenge must be made within 2 seconds, and the graphic of the pitch and strike zone will be shown on the scoreboard and broadcast feed. The umpire then announces the updated count. MLB estimates the process averages 17 seconds. Where will ABS be tested? MLB has installed the system in 13 spring training ballparks that are home to 19 teams. The Florida stadiums, all in the Florida State League, are the stadiums of Detroit, Minnesota, the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto, plus the ballpark shared by Miami and St. Louis. Five test sites in Arizona all are shared: the Diamondbacks/Colorado, Chicago White Sox/Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland/Cincinnati, Kansas City/Texas and Seattle/San Diego. About 60% of spring training games are slated for trial, although teams could play vastly different numbers of games with ABS testing. The Diamondbacks are slated for 29 ABS games, while the Cubs have just seven. What is the technology? A Hawk-Eye pose-tracking system of cameras was installed and used to track pitches and whether they are within a strike zone based on the height of each batter, who is measured without shoes before a team’s first test game. MLB estimated the calibration process at less than one minute for each player. There are eight cameras at most of the spring training ballparks in the test and 12 at the Diamondbacks/Rockies stadium. While the strike zone actually called by big league umpires tends to be oval in shape, the ABS strike zone is a rectangle, as in the rule book. Developing a consensus on what a computer strike zone should be has been an issue. When did MLB first start using ABS? MLB started experimenting with ball/strike technology at the independent Atlantic League in 2019. A challenge system was tried in 2021 at eight of nine ballparks that make up the Florida State League. ABS was promoted to five Triple-A parks in 2022 and expanded to all Triple-A stadiums in 2023, the robot alone for the first three games of each series and a human with a challenge system in the final three. That system was in place at the start of 2024, but MLB switched to an all-challenge system last June 25. How successful were teams with challenges last year? Overall return rate over the full Triple-A season was 51%, with challenges by the defense winning 54% and by the offense winning 48%. Challenges with the two-challenge limit in place averaged 3.9 per game, including 2.2 by the offense. The success percentage has been slightly better for video reviews in the major leagues. Teams increased their success rate on video reviews to 53.7% last season, led by the Boston Red Sox at 67.9%. Just 1.6% of first pitches were challenges, but the figure increased to 3.9% for two-strike pitches, 5.2% for three-ball pitches and 8.2% for full counts. Challenge percentages were more likely later in the game. While 1.9% of pitches were challenged in the first three innings, 2.5% were challenged from the fourth through the sixth, 2.8% in the seventh and eighth and 3.6% in the ninth. How has the computer strike zone changed over time? MLB has changed the shape of the ABS strike zone several times. It started with a 19-inch width in 2022, then dropped it to 17 inches — matching the width of home plate. Narrowing the strike zone led to an increase in walks and only small changes in strikeout rates. The top of the striker zone was 51% of a batter’s height in 2022 and 2023, then raised to 53.5% in 2024 after pitchers’ complaints the top had been too low. The bottom of the strike zone has been 27% since 2022 after initially being set at 28%. A batter’s stance is not taken into account. ABS makes the ball/strike decision at the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and 8 1/2 inches from the back. The contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube, and a strike is a pitch that crosses any part. Strikeout rates increased 0.5% and walk rates rose 1% in full ABS games and 0.8% in challenge games. How will ABS impact broadcasts? Concerned the strike zone box on broadcasts could tip whether to challenge and cause fans to yell at players to challenge, MLB plans to experiment with several broadcast alternatives, among them: show the box but not the ball; show the ball but not the box; and to show only corners of the box. How can players give feedback? Dugout iPads available to all teams will have an application called ProTABS that allows players to check pitches against their individual strike zone. Information will update after every plate appearance and players can give MLB comment on single pitches and the overall system. —Ronald Blum, AP baseball writer View the full article

Most employees will receive about 10% less equity this yearView the full article

Max's March slate includes the fourth and final season of original comedy series The Righteous Gemstones (March 9), featuring Danny McBride, Adam Devine, John Goodman, and Edi Patterson, among others, as members of the famous televangelist Gemstone family. Episodes will debut weekly on Sundays. At the end of the month, Max Original reality series Paul American (March 27) will premiere, with weekly episodes stretching into April and May. The eight-installment show gives an inside look into the lives of Jake and Logan Paul. HBO is also releasing a nine-part sports documentary, Celtics City (first episode premieres on March 3), about the NBA franchise from its origin to its 2024 championship. There are three A24 films slated for Max in March: Queer (March 28) stars Daniel Craig as an American expat who develops a relationship with a younger main (played by Drew Starkey). The film is based on a William S. Burroughs novella, and Craig was nominated for Golden Globe, Critics' Choice, and Screen Actors Guild awards. Heretic (March 7) is a horror film about two Mormon missionaries attempting to convert a reclusive man played by Hugh Grant, who also received numerous award nominations for his performance. Finally, Sing Sing (March 21) stars Oscar nominee Colman Domingo as an inmate imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit who joins a theater group with other incarcerated men—the film is based on a true story. Max will also have live sports in March, including NBA and NHL games, 3x3 women's basketball, and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament from the first round through the Elite 8. Here's everything else coming to Max in March. What’s coming to Max in March 2025Available March 1A Lost Lady (1934) A Woman's Face (1941) AEW Special Events, 2020A (2020) AEW Special Events, 2021A (2021) AEW Special Events, 2022A (2022) AEW Special Events, 2023A (2023) AEW Special Events, 2024A (2024) Along the Great Divide (1951) Arrow in the Dust (1954) Assassin’s Creed (2016) Away We Go (2009) Big Eyes (2014) Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) Carrie (1976) Carrie (2013) Child’s Play (1988) Child’s Play (2019) Executive Suite (1954) Ghostbusters (1984) Ghostbusters II (1989) Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) GoodFellas (1990) Jeopardy (1953) Ladies They Talk About (1933) Maggie (2015) Massacre River (1949) Men in Black (1997) Men in Black II (2002) Men in Black III (2012) My Reputation (1946) Night Nurse (1931) Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2024) Stand By Me (1986) Susan and God (1940) The Babe Ruth Story (1948) The Best Man Holiday (2013) The Burning Hills (1956) The Damned Don't Cry (1950) The Descendants (2011) The Forger (2015) The Mad Miss Manton (1938) The Man with a Cloak (1951) The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) The Purchase Price (1932) The Secret Bride (1934) The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) The Women (1939) This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) To Please a Lady (1950) When Ladies Meet (1941) White Chicks (2004) White Chicks: Unrated (2004) Why Him? (2016) Available March 3Celtics City (HBO Original) The Nut Job (2014) The Nut Job 2 (2017) Tournament of Champions, Season 6 (Food Network) Available March 4Smallfoot (2018) Available March 5Jay & Pamela, Season 1 (TLC) Road Rage, Season 3 (ID) Available March 6Dylan's Playtime Adventures, Season 1A (Max Original) Jellystone, Season 3B (Max Original) Available March 7Heretic (A24) When No One Sees Us (Cuando Nadie Nos Ve), Season 1 (Max Original) Available March 9The Righteous Gemstones, Season 4 (HBO Original) Available March 10Home Town Takeover, Season 3 (HGTV) Naked and Afraid, Season 18 (Discovery) Oh My God…Yes! A Series of Extremely Relatable Circumstances, Season 1 (Adult Swim) YOLO: Rainbow Trinity, Season 3 (Adult Swim) Available March 11Kobe: The Making of a Legend (CNN Original Series) Spring Baking Championship, Season 11 (Food Network) Available March 12Constables On Patrol, Season 1 (Discovery) Available March 13Battle of Culiacán: Heirs of the Cartel (Culiacanazo: Herederos del Narco) (Max Original) Expedition Bigfoot, Season 6 (Discovery) Married to Real Estate, Season 4 (HGTV) The Parenting (Max Original) Available March 14Beau Is Afraid (A24) Available March 15Bugs Bunny Builders, Season 2C (Cartoon Network) Ready to Love, Season 10 (OWN) Available March 17A Body in the Snow: The Trial of Karen Read, Season 1 (ID) A Clean Sheet: The Return of Gabe Landeskog, Season 1 (TNT Sports) TNT Sports Conversations, Season 1 (TNT Sports) Available March 19House of Knives, Season 1 (Food Network) Available March 21A Decent Man (Porządny Człowiek), Season 1 (HBO Original) Sing Sing (A24) Available March 22Tiny Toons Looniversity, Season 2C (Cartoon Network) Available March 23Girl Meets Farm, Season 14 (Food Network) Available March 24Signs of a Psychopath, Season 9 (ID) Available March 25Lockerbie: The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Season 1 (CNN Original) Available March 26Naked and Afraid: LatAm, Season 3 (discovery+) Available March 27Help! My House is Haunted, Season 5 (Travel Channel) Paul American, Season 1 (Max Original) Available March 28Bargain Mansions, Season 6 (Magnolia Network) Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives, Season 50 (Food Network) Queer (A24) Reformed (Le Sens Des Choses), Season 1 (Max Original) Available March 29The Pioneer Woman, Season 38 (Food Network) Available March 31Amityville: Where The Echo Lives (2024) Camp Hell (2010) Enter Nowhere (2011) View the full article

After watching videos of a Delta Air Lines jet catch fire upon landing and flip over on a Toronto runway, it’s fair to wonder how anyone could have survived. But aviation experts said it was not surprising that all 76 passengers and four crew walked away from Monday’s disaster, with 21 people suffering minor injuries and only one still hospitalized on Wednesday. It’s a credit, they said, to advances in plane design as well as a crew that flawlessly executed an evacuation plan. “When I first saw (footage of) that aircraft upside down at the airport, I was like: ‘How can that happen? And how can anybody survive that?’” Michael McCormick, an assistant professor and program coordinator for air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, said. “It was absolutely astounding to watch the people actually climbing out.” Passenger jet design a factor McCormick and others said the fact that there were only minor injuries shows that passenger jet design and engineering have greatly improved over time. Fuel tanks are stored in the wings, so the wings are designed to break off in a crash to remove a seriously explosive hazard, he said. The tail-like fin of a plane known as a vertical stabilizer is frangible — or easily broken — meaning an aircraft that has flipped over can stay flat on the ground and passengers and crew are able to evacuate, he said. “Aviation is and remains the safest form of transportation,” McCormick said, adding that it was no fluke 80 people were able to walk away from the Toronto crash. “That is because the safety of aviation is constantly improving.” Jeff Guzzetti, an airline safety consultant and a former investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, said the seats and seat belts also helped to prevent fatalities. He noted that passenger jet seats are designed to withstand impacts of up to 16 times the force of gravity and that the seat belts restrained the passengers who were suspended upside down as the plane slid to a halt on the runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport. “The odds of getting injured or killed in an commercial airline accident is far less than driving in your car,” Guzzetti said. Crew executed the evacuation plan Experts also credited the crew, who calmly and quickly shepherded many of the passengers off the plane before emergency crews even arrived on the scene. Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, called the flight crew “heroes,” while their boss, Delta CEO Ed Bastian, praised their response as a “testament to the safety that’s embedded in the systems.” “It’s horrifying. When you look at the video you can imagine when I received the text minutes after it happened, hearing that there was a regional jet upside down on an active runway with 80 people on board, how I felt without knowing it, what was transpiring,” Bastian said in an interview with CBS Mornings. “But the reality is that safety is embedded into our system,” he said. “Air travel in the United States is the safest form of transportation and travel there is. Period. And it’s because we train for events like this.” What was it like inside the cabin? Flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto, operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air, crashed on landing around 2:30 p.m. Monday. Videos show the plane hitting the runway hard, bursting into flames then skidding along the tarmac and flipping over. “It was very uncomfortable, a very just solid, uncomfortable experience — forceful on the impact, sideways movement and suddenly just inverted,” Peter Carlson, a paramedic who was traveling to Toronto for a conference, told The Associated Press. ”The only mission was to get out.” Carlson was awarded at the paramedics conference for his “courageous and meritorious actions” in helping other passengers. The certificate says his actions “preserved life, reduced injury and provided calm.” “I have a laceration, abrasion, some bruises on my legs, some bruises on my ribs, but alive,” Carlson said. “Everyone is alive. I don’t know if I am deserving of going into miracle territory but it’s amazing.” Other videos appear to show passengers scrambling out of an upside-down cabin as workers assist them off the plane onto the snowy tarmac and emergency crews hose the aircraft with water. Passengers take action Some passengers “who have been harmed as a result of the crash” retained the law firm Rochon Genova, according to Vincent Genova, head of the company’s Aviation Litigation Group. “Our clients, similar to many other passengers, suffered personal injuries of a serious nature that required hospital attention,” Genova said in a statement. “With our involvement, we expect to reach a timely and fair resolution for these clients and others who reach out to us.” A spokesperson for Delta confirmed it has offered each passenger $30,000 and is “telling customers this gesture has no strings attached and does not affect rights.” A Canadian investigator refused to comment on preliminary theories, although aviation experts told The Associated Press they will likely consider weather conditions, as well as the possibility of human error or an aircraft malfunction. “At this point, it’s far too early to say what the cause of this accident might be,” Ken Webster, a senior investigator for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said in a video statement Tuesday. He said investigators will examine the wreckage and runway, and that the cockpit voice and flight data recorders are being analyzed. TSB announced Wednesday afternoon that crews were moving the wreckage from the runway to a hangar for further examination. —Michael Casey, Associated Press View the full article

Bill would require lenders to inform the government if they found evidence of overpayment View the full article

Paramount+'s March slate is anchored by a new original crime series Happy Face (March 20), which tells the true story of Keith Jesperson, a serial killer known as Happy Face. The drama stars Dennis Quaid as Jesperson and Annaleigh Ashford as his daughter, who discovered his identity at age 15 and must decide if she wants a relationship with him after decades of no contact. Also in true crime is a three-part docuseries Sin City Gigolo: A Murder in Las Vegas (March 4) about the criminal investigation into a former reality TV star arrested in 2020 for murder. March brings a handful of music features to Paramount+, including a remastered version of the 80s film Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party Extended (March 11), which originally debuted on MTV, as well as the two-hour taped special Ringo & Friends at the Ryman (March 10) featuring performances from Ringo Starr and guests ranging from Sheryl Crow to Emmylou Harris. Here’s everything else coming to the service in February. Note that titles with an asterisk are exclusive to Paramount+ With Showtime; everything else is also available to subscribers on the ad-supported plan. Those with two asterisks are available to Paramount+ With Showtime users streaming live on CBS and to all subscribers the following day. Paramount+ Originals and premieres coming in March 2025Available March 1Strange Darling* Available March 3Rumours* Available March 4Sin City Gigolo: A Murder in Las Vegas, premiere Available March 10Ringo & Friends at the Ryman,** special Available March 11Tom Petty: Heartbreakers Beach Party Extended, premiere Available March 20Happy Face, series premiere TV shows coming to Paramount+ in March 2025Available March 5The Amazing Race (season 37 premiere)** The Fairly OddParents: Abra-Catastrophe Special The Surreal Life (season 2) Available March 12Air Disasters (season 20) The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish (season 1) Available March 19Teen Mom: The Next Chapter (season 2) Available March 26Basketball Wives (season 11) Movies coming to Paramount+ in March 2025Available March 1A League of Their Own Annihilation Becoming Jane Blue Crush Boys on the Side Cloud Atlas Continue Crawl Dune (1984) Edge of Tomorrow Elizabethtown Ex Machina Face/Off Failure to Launch Foxcatcher Foxfire Frozen River Good Will Hunting Harlem Nights Inglourious Basterds* Julie & Julia Jungleland Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Love, Rosie Marie Antoinette Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life* Million Dollar Baby Motherhood* Mulholland Drive Only the Brave Pan's Labyrinth Practical Magic Pulp Fiction Rat Race Room Run All Night Searching For Bobby Fischer Serpico Shutter Island Sicario: Day of the Soldado Sleepy Hollow Snake Eyes Son of a Gun Staying Alive Sugar & Spice The Abandon The Fifth Estate* The Glorias The Heartbreak Kid (2007) The Hurt Locker The Ides of March The Kite Runner The Lodge* The Machinist The Manchurian Candidate The Other Boleyn Girl The Queens of Comedy The Sum of All Fears The Terminal The Virgin Suicides The Warriors The Way Of The Dragon The Weekend The Women There Will Be Blood Trail of Justice Up In The Air Wayne's World Wayne's World 2 Witness Available March 3The House with a Clock in Its Walls* Available March 8Babylon India Sweets and Spices* Available March 16Bridge of Spies* Available March 18The Last Manhunt* Available March 21The Hunting Party* Available March 23The Free World* Available March 26Mass* Available March 31American Psycho* American Psycho II: All American Girl* View the full article

The chief executive of streaming giant Netflix on Thursday announced a $1 billion investment to produce some 20 films and TV series in Mexico annually over the next four years. Speaking at President Claudia Sheinbaum‘s morning press conference in Mexico City, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said he looked forward to entering more partnerships with producers in the Latin American nation. Sheinbaum said the investments in the film industry should produce many jobs beyond immediate production needs, such as hospitality for actors and crew members, fashion designers and also spur tourism. “It’s an industry that gives a lot of mileage to the economy,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s not only important for Mexico to be seen in the world, but also because of the economic development and jobs generated by a production.” Netflix has invested in Mexican productions such as “Club de Cuervos,” a comedy-drama about the politics of a local soccer club, 2018’s “Roma,” the first Mexican entry to win the Oscar for best non-English language film, and last year’s “Pedro Paramo.” “Pedro Paramo,” an adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s classic 1955 novel, required the support of hundreds of artists and musicians and the production of some 5,000 traditional textile items, Sarandos said, adding that the book’s sales later tripled. Netflix has already agreed to collaborate with Mexico City’s Estudios Churubusco, one of Latin America’s longest-running film studios, Sarandos said. He added that Netflix plans to fund programs to help talent behind the camera break into the industry, and that Mexico’s geographical variety makes it a good location for filming. Last year, Netflix bought the rights to Oscar-nominated “Emilia Perez,” a French-made musical about a trans Mexican drug lord, which garnered much criticism in Mexico over cultural stereotypes, poor Spanish, lack of Mexican actors and a light treatment of the issue of forced disappearances – and spawned a Mexican-made parody in retaliation. “Emilia Perez” began screening in Mexican cinemas nearly half a year after its European release date, and Mexico’s consumer watchdog had to order a top cinema chain to clarify its guarantee refund policy after many spectators walked out of the movie. ($1 = 20.3374 Mexican pesos) —Sarah Morland and Aida Pelaez-Fernandez, Reuters View the full article

The potential impacts of import tariffs cloud the outlook, though, and could lead mortgage rates to surge and fall throughout the coming year. View the full article

When Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, there was a lot of focus on the price tag ($599 is cheap for a new iPhone, but not that cheap), the lack of MagSafe support, and Apple's decision to finally kill off the Home button. But there's an interesting discussion surrounding the 16e's processor: the A18. At first glance, it seems like the same chip as the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. The phones also have the A18, which makes it sound like the iPhone 16e offers the same performance as its more expensive sibling devices, for at least $200 less. The thing is, these aren't the same chips: The A18 in the iPhone 16e is "binned." What is a "binned" chip?"Binned" chips don't just apply to Apple products. All computer chip makers can bin their chips. It has to do with the manufacturing process: Chips are extremely complicated products, and they don't all come out exactly the same. Samples are tested for quality assurance purposes, and the chips that aren't quite up to snuff are separated from the ones that perform to standard. The former are then "binned," and won't be used as high-end chips, since they aren't able to hit the performance levels manufacturers are looking for. That doesn't mean binned chips won't be used at all, however. On the contrary, binned chips are often used, especially as mid- and lower-tier options. Manufacturers will often disable different "cores" of these chips to keep their performance in check. They're still perfectly capable chips, especially when they have this ceiling in place. Intel does this with its line of chips, for example, which is why you have different performance variants, like i5, i7, and i9. Apple does this, too: For the iPad mini 7, the company used binned A17 Pro chips. Now, Apple is using binned A18s for the iPhone 16e. How the iPhone 16e uses binned A18sSo, Apple makes a batch of A18 chips, originally intended to ship with the iPhone 16 series. During testing, some of these A18 chips aren't totally up to snuff, so they're set aside and not used for iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus devices. However, Apple has a new iPhone they want to sell for less than its flagship line—one that strips out "premium" features to keep costs down, but also offers incentives for users to actually buy their new iPhone over other options. It does have some binned A18 chips lying around: Why not use those instead? The iPhone 16e, then, uses the "same" chip as you'd find in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus—but we know it doesn't perform as well, and thus can't be pushed as far. Apple, then, disables one of the GPU cores to keep performance in check. The 16e's CPU has the same six cores as the 16 and 16 Plus' (two performance and four efficiency), and the NPU has the same 16 cores across all devices. But where the GPU in the 16 and 16 Plus has five cores, the GPU in the 16e only has four cores. That's because these chips are binned. We won't know exactly how the binned A18 compares to the A18 found in the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus until reviewers get their hands on the iPhone 16e. However, my guess is the differences will be minimal. The CPUs and NPUs are the same, and the 16e's GPU still has four cores, which means performance for most tasks on the iPhone is going to be high. However, where the difference might show is in graphically demanding apps, such as AAA games. Developers could push the iPhone 16 a bit further than the iPhone 16e, because it has that extra GPU core. That will likely extend to the longevity of these devices, too: As software advances and becomes more demanding, the extra GPU core on the iPhone 16 could help keep it running smoother for longer. That said, it's just one extra core. In all likelihood, it's not going to amount to that great a difference. We'll see the numbers once reviewers run their benchmarks, but I think Apple's choice here was more about saving the company money than offering users a noticeably worse experience. 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. Apple released the latest iMac in late 2024, using their all-powerful M4 chip with their all-in-one desktop. If you've been keeping tabs on the iMac, this is a good opportunity to pull the trigger. You can get the M4 iMac for $1,149 (originally $1,299) after a $150 discount, the lowest price since its recent release according to price tracking tools. Apple iMac (2024, M4) $1,149.00 at Amazon $1,299.00 Save $150.00 Get Deal Get Deal $1,149.00 at Amazon $1,299.00 Save $150.00 The latest iMac comes with the M4 chip, which is about 1.5 times faster than the M2, and of course, comes better prepared to handle AI than previous models. You'll get 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD of storage, an 8-core CPU, and an 8-core GPU. If you want to double your Thunderbolt 4 ports to four and get a 10-core CPU and GPU, you can upgrade to this even more powerful M4 iMac, which is also at its lowest price of $1,374 (originally $1,499). Some other improvements include the 12MP Center Stage webcam and USB-C charging ports for the Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Trackpad. The “nano-texture display" option makes the 4.5K Retina display a bit less prone to glare or reflections. The design is essentially the same since 2021, according to PCMag's "excellent" review. One cool new feature that might be useful to you is the ability to mirror your iPhone and your MacBook's display to the monitor. While it's not a true external monitor, it sure beats spending more money for the 2022 Studio Display. The M4 iMac can handle heavy workloads, making it a capable workhorse computer for those looking to work on demanding software for media editing or similar work. Like older iMacs, you can expect the M4 to last many years and get support for Apple well into the future (M1's still get major updates). View the full article

Private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Sycamore Partners are among the bidders who are competing to acquire Family Dollar, a discount retail chain operated by Dollar Tree, according to people familiar with the matter. Investment firm Brigade Capital Management has also expressed interest in buying Family Dollar, the sources said, requesting anonymity as the discussions are confidential. A deal for Family Dollar, which could value the retailer at several billion dollars, is not imminent, the sources said, cautioning that Dollar Tree could choose not to sell the business. It is also possible that a different suitor for Family Dollar could emerge, the sources added. Shares of Dollar Tree, which has a market value of about $16.5 billion, jumped more than 5% on the news on Thursday, before paring some gains. Dollar Tree did not respond to a request for comment. Apollo, Brigade and Sycamore declined to comment. Chesapeake, Virginia-based Dollar Tree has been working with investment bankers at JPMorgan Chase to explore options, including a potential sale or spinoff, for Family Dollar since June last year. The move marked a reversal for Dollar Tree, which acquired Family Dollar in 2015 for about $9 billion after outbidding its biggest rival Dollar General. Since the takeover, Family Dollar has struggled with its performance and its growth has stalled as the discount retailer has been unable to attract new customers. Its performance has lagged larger retailers such as Walmart and Target, as consumers cut back on discretionary spending due to high inflation. As of November 2, Dollar Tree operated 16,590 stores across 48 states and five provinces in Canada under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Canada. Family Dollar generated roughly $13.7 billion of net revenue in the last 12 months, according to Reuters calculations. Sycamore, which has raised about $10 billion in aggregate committed capital, is an experienced retail investor that owns retailers like Staples, Loft, Ann Taylor, Talbots and Belk. In recent months, Sycamore has also been attempting to pull off a takeover of pharmacy chain Walgreens Boots Alliance. Apollo Global Management, which had about $70 billion of assets under management under its private equity strategy as of December 31, has acquired and invested in retailers including Michaels and PetSmart. Brigade Capital manages around $27 billion of assets and is primarily known as a credit investor. Last year, Brigade partnered with investment firm Arkhouse Management in its failed attempt to acquire department store Macy’s. —Abigail Summerville, Reuters View the full article

Letitia James and 22 other attorneys general have filed an amicus brief in a Maryland case challenging the dissolution of the consumer protection agency. View the full article

When Apple announced the iPhone 16E yesterday, it also confirmed that the new budget phone will get Apple Intelligence’s “Visual Intelligence” feature, marking the first time the AI trick will come to a phone without a “Camera Control” button. While the other iPhone 16 series phones use their Camera Control buttons to access Visual Intelligence, the iPhone 16E can instead map it to its Action Button, a simple change that raises the question: why not the iPhone 15 Pro, too? Personally, as an iPhone 15 Pro owner, I’ve been asking that question for months now, as I’ve long suspected my phone’s internals were definitely capable of it—it can run every other Apple Intelligence feature without issue. It instead seemed to me like Apple was arbitrarily holding the feature back because it wanted to tie it to a specific button press I didn't have. Well, with the iPhone 16E adopting the Action Button workaround, it seems like Apple’s finally listening. Apple representatives have now confirmed that Visual Intelligence will be coming to the iPhone 15 Pro as well, using the same strategy. Speaking to Daring Fireball’s Jeff Gruber, an Apple spokesperson said that the iPhone 15 Pro will indeed get Visual Intelligence “in a future software update,” and that users could map it to the Action Button. Sweet vindication. There’s no word on when exactly that software update will come, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I’ll use Visual Intelligence much, but it’s encouraging to see my phone’s software not get held back by an arbitrary push for hardware cohesion anymore. For the uninitiated, Visual Intelligence brings AI to your iPhone’s camera. You can point your camera at a foreign language menu, for instance, to get a translation, or point it at a book to get a summary of what’s on the page, or point it at a dog to try to find out what breed it is. It can also surface information about businesses simply by looking at their storefront or signage (in the United States only), and works with Google and ChatGPT for extended search queries. In other words, it's similar to Google Lens, but puts AI first and is built into your operating system. Again, I’ve been prevented from playing around with it much, but hey, at least I now have the option. View the full article

Another food recall is underway: “Berry Buddies, berries & pancakes” breakfast snack packs sold at Kroger and Meijer supermarkets in 13 states have been recalled after it was discovered that packaging failed to list wheat and eggs as ingredients on the label, according to an announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The item includes fresh blueberries and mini pancakes, and is generally found in the refrigerated section, produce aisle, or deli departments of the stores. Not including these ingredients on the label poses a risk of serious reactions to those allergic to either or both wheat and eggs. Here’s what you need to know about the recall. What’s happened? Naturipe Value Added Fresh LLC is recalling 694 of its bento box snack packs and is coordinating with regulatory agencies. According to the recall, which was first published on the FDA’s website on Wednesday, February 19, “people who have allergies to wheat and/or eggs run the risk of serious allergic reactions if they consume these products.” The FDA announcement also stated that no illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this recall. Which Berry Buddies, Berries & Pancakes products are part of the recall? The products included in the recall can be identified by the following details, which are printed on the back of the package, near the barcode: Size: 2.1 oz (60 grams) packages Lot Number: 1097901 Best By Date: 02/25/2025 Dates sold: Between early February 2025 and February 18, 2025 What states are affected by the recall? The affected products were distributed in the following states: Arkansas Michigan Ohio Tennessee Virginia Minnesota Kentucky Indiana Illinois Missouri Mississippi West Virginia Wisconsin What should I do if I bought the recalled snack pack? Consumers can return the products to their place of purchase for a full refund, according to Consumer Affairs. If it’s not possible to return the item, it is recommended to discard the snack pack. What should I do if I ate the recalled snack pack? Individuals who have wheat or egg allergies and have consumed the product should watch for signs of an allergic reaction, which may include difficulty breathing, hives, swelling, or gastrointestinal distress, according to the FDA recall notice. Seek medical attention if symptoms appear. How can I get a refund or replacement? Contact Naturipe by phone, 239-598-6045, or by email at info@naturipefarms.com. Customer service is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m ET. View the full article

When a project or product manager is in the planning stage, they’re scheduling tasks to meet a schedule and not exceed the budget. But if the customer needs aren’t met with the deliverables being created, the project is a failure. Equally or more important than meeting deadlines and avoiding cost overruns is acceptance criteria. Why are acceptance criteria important? We’ll explain by defining the term and detailing what should be included to help the development team produce successful deliverables. Then we’ll explain when this process occurs, who defines it and more. What Are Acceptance Criteria? Acceptance criteria in project management are the specific conditions, requirements or standards that a deliverable must meet before it is accepted by stakeholders, clients or end users. These criteria define what is considered a successful completion of a project, task, or product feature. For acceptance criteria to be useful it must follow certain characteristics. For example, it should be unambiguous, avoiding vague language to avoid misinterpretation. The criteria should also be measurable and testable, meaning that pass and fail conditions are defined and can be verified. Naturally, the deliverables must contribute to overall project objectives and align with business goals. Finally, they should be realistic and achievable given the resources and constraints of the project. Once criteria acceptance is set, the project must be managed in a way that deliverables meet those standards. The best way to do this is by employing project management software. However, not all project management tools are alike. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with multiple project views to manage, execute and track deliverables in real time. Product managers can fulfill the product owner’s needs by scheduling tasks, resources and costs on robust Gantt charts. But they do more than that. Our Gantt charts link all four types of task dependencies to avoid delays and cost overruns, filter for the critical path to identify essential tasks and set a baseline to track planned effort against actual effort in real time. Those plans are then shared across the software allowing teams to manage their backlog and do sprint planning on kanban boards or task lists, which product owners can stay updated on the calendar view. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2024/04/critical-path-light-mode-gantt-construction-CTA.pngProjectManager’s Gantt charts help projects meet acceptance criteria. Learn more What Should Be Included in Acceptance Criteria for Project Deliverables? Acceptance criteria define the specific conditions a project deliverable must meet to be considered complete and accepted by stakeholders. Clear, well-defined criteria help ensure quality, align expectations and provide a basis for testing and validation. Below are the key components that should be included. Deliverable Description: Provides a clear definition of the deliverable, including its purpose, scope and expected outcome to ensure it meets stakeholder expectations and business requirements. Functional Requirements: Specifies the core functions, features and capabilities the deliverable must include to meet user and business needs. Non-Functional Requirements: Covers additional attributes such as security, usability, scalability and reliability that impact performance but aren’t directly related to functionality. Performance Requirements: Defines how well the deliverable should operate, including speed, capacity, load handling and response times to ensure optimal efficiency. Quality Requirements: Establishes standards for accuracy, consistency and reliability to maintain high-quality output and user satisfaction. Compliance and Regulatory Requirements: Outlines industry-specific regulations, legal obligations and company policies that the deliverable must adhere to, ensuring legal and operational compliance. Constraints and Limitations: Identifies any restrictions such as budget, time, technology or resource constraints that could impact the deliverable’s development and implementation. Success Criteria and Testability: Defines measurable success indicators and outlines how the deliverable will be tested to confirm it meets acceptance criteria. Review and Approval Process: Specifies the steps for internal and external review, stakeholder validation and formal approval before final acceptance and project closure. When Should Acceptance Criteria Be Defined? Acceptance criteria should be defined during the project planning phase before development or execution begins. Establishing clear criteria early ensures that all stakeholders share a common understanding of what constitutes a successful deliverable. It also helps prevent misunderstandings, scope creep and costly revisions later in the project lifecycle. During requirement gathering and refinement, acceptance criteria should be developed alongside functional and non-functional requirements. In agile methodology, they are typically written as part of user stories in collaboration with product owners, developers and quality assurance (QA) teams. This approach ensures that criteria are realistic, testable and aligned with business objectives. Acceptance criteria should be finalized before work begins on any deliverable to serve as a clear benchmark for success. However, they may be refined throughout the project based on feedback, evolving business needs or regulatory changes. Ensuring criteria are well-documented and agreed upon before execution helps streamline validation, testing and final approval. Who Defines the Acceptance Criteria for Project Deliverables? Project stakeholders, including clients, product owners and business analysts typically define acceptance criteria. They ensure the deliverables align with business goals, regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations. Stakeholders provide input on what success looks like and specify essential features, functionality and quality standards. The project team, including developers, designers and quality assurance specialists, collaborates with stakeholders to refine the acceptance criteria. They ensure the criteria are realistic, measurable and testable within the given project constraints. Agile development teams often define acceptance criteria as part of user stories, ensuring clarity before development begins. In many cases, project managers facilitate the definition process, ensuring all parties agree on the acceptance criteria before execution. They help document and validate acceptance criteria, making sure they serve as a clear guideline for deliverable evaluation. Final approval typically involves key stakeholders who ultimately accept or reject the deliverable based on these predefined standards. How to Write Acceptance Criteria Writing clear and well-defined acceptance criteria is essential to ensuring that project deliverables meet stakeholder expectations and quality standards. The process involves identifying key stakeholders, gathering requirements, defining testing methods and ensuring traceability. Below are the key steps to follow. 1. Identify Key Project Stakeholders Start by determining who is responsible for defining and approving the acceptance criteria. This includes clients, product owners, end users and project team members. Engaging the right stakeholders ensures that the acceptance criteria reflect real business needs and expectations. 2. Gather Requirements for Project Deliverables Work closely with stakeholders to define the functional and non-functional requirements of the deliverables. This step involves documenting what the deliverable must accomplish, any constraints and specific success conditions that need to be met. 3. Establish Acceptance Testing Methods and KPIs Define how the deliverable will be tested and measured against the acceptance criteria. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess functionality, performance and quality. Testing methods may include user acceptance testing (UAT), automated testing or performance evaluations. 4. Create a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) A requirements traceability matrix (RTM) helps track acceptance criteria from definition to validation. It ensures that all project requirements are linked to their corresponding tests and deliverables, helping teams verify that each requirement is met before approval. Benefits of a Well-Defined Acceptance Criteria Well-defined acceptance criteria ensure clarity and alignment among all project stakeholders by setting clear expectations for deliverables. They help prevent misunderstandings between teams, clients and end users by providing a shared definition of success. This clarity reduces the risk of scope creep and ensures that development efforts stay focused on meeting specific business needs. Having detailed acceptance criteria improves quality and testing efficiency by providing measurable and testable conditions for evaluating deliverables. Quality assurance teams and developers can use these criteria to validate functionality, performance and compliance before submission. This structured approach minimizes defects, reduces rework and ensures the final product meets expected standards. Acceptance criteria also streamline the approval and acceptance process, making it easier for stakeholders to verify whether a deliverable meets requirements. With predefined success criteria, project teams can quickly address gaps or revisions before the final handover. This results in smoother project execution, faster decision-making and greater stakeholder satisfaction. Acceptance Criteria Examples Acceptance criteria vary across industries and project types, but they always serve the same purpose—defining the conditions a deliverable must meet to be considered complete. Below are two examples of acceptance criteria: one for a manufacturing project and another for a user story in software development. Manufacturing Project Acceptance Criteria For a manufacturing project, acceptance criteria ensure that the final product meets quality, safety and performance standards. That process can look like the following. The product must be manufactured using ISO 9001-compliant materials and processes Each unit must pass a quality inspection, ensuring no defects greater than 0.5mm in variance The final product must withstand temperatures of up to 200°C without deformation Packaging must meet industry-standard safety guidelines to prevent damage during transportation User Story Acceptance Criteria In software development, acceptance criteria define the expected behavior of a feature within a user story. User Story: “As a user, I want to reset my password so I can regain access to my account if I forget it.” A “Forgot Password” link must be displayed on the login page. The system must allow users to enter their registered email to receive a reset link. The reset link must expire after 24 hours for security reasons. The new password must meet minimum security requirements (e.g., at least eight characters, including one number and one special character). Users should receive a confirmation email after successfully resetting their password. How ProjectManager Helps Manage Projects and Meet Acceptance Criteria for Deliverables Having acceptance criteria is one of the many things project managers do to set their projects up for success. As we noted, it’s as vital to delivering projects as planning, budgeting, resource management, monitoring and controlling. But it is also only a small part of that big list of needs a project demands to reach a successful conclusion. That’s why project management software is so important. It has the features project managers and their teams need to meet acceptance criteria and more. ProjectManager has multiple project views that allow everyone to have the right tools for the right job, but that’s only the beginning of the benefits of our software. Robust Resource Management and Cost Tracking Features Resource planning starts on the Gantt chart, where human and nonhuman resources are scheduled. Then, when onboarding the team, project managers can set their availability, including PTO, vacation, global holidays and skill sets, which helps assign the right task to the right person. The color-coded workload chart shows resource allocation over a project or multiple projects. This makes it easy to see who is overallocated or underutilized and then balance the team’s workload to keep them working at capacity. There’s even a team page for a summary of the team’s daily or weekly activities, which can be filtered by priority, progress and more. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Team-Light-2554x1372-1.png Real-Time Project Management Dashboards Monitoring progress and performance allows project managers to catch issues that can impact the acceptance criteria and resolve them. For a high-level overview, toggle to the real-time project or portfolio dashboards to view one or multiple projects. Easy-to-read graphs and charts show cost, time, workload and more. For more details, visit our customizable reports, which can be generated with a keystroke. There are reports on project or portfolio status, variance, timesheets, workload and more. Each can be filtered to focus on key data points or provide a summary of progress to share with stakeholders. Even our secure timesheets help. They streamline the payroll process but also track labor costs to help keep to the budget. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Dashboard-light-mode.jpg Related Content Those who enjoyed learning about acceptance criteria in project management, know that our site is full of such informational content. We publish multiple blogs a week, eBooks, video tutorials, free templates and more. Below is a sample of some recently published related pieces. Understanding Project Management Success Criteria What Is the Definition of Done for Agile Teams? How to Write a Business Requirements Document (BRD) How to Make a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) Project Requirements Management: A Quick Guide Requirements Gathering Template for Word (Free Download) ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Acceptance Criteria in Project Management: A Quick Guide appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Whenever I have a carb emergency I make one of two things: cookies or quick bread. Lately I’ve been leaning toward the latter—like banana bread, lemon poppy muffins, or biscuits—because they’re less sweet compared to cookies, and I enjoy the ritual smear of salted butter. I’ve been making this Irish soda bread on repeat and I think you’ll like it too. Quick-bread satisfactionThe quick breads category is pretty wide. They can be sweet and cake-y like banana bread, barely sweet like scones, or savory like cheddar cheese and thyme biscuits. Unlike yeast-raised breads, quick breads are raised with chemical leaveners (baking soda or baking powder), which means they require absolutely none of the long proof times. What’s more, something like Irish soda bread requires very few ingredients. The Dutch oven is my vehicle of choice for this lofty, tender Irish soda bread. Similar to baking a sourdough loaf, humidity is your soda bread’s friend. Encasing your soda bread in a small space allows humidity to build up as moisture evaporates from the dough. The moist air keeps the surface of the loaf flexible for longer than if you bake it open on a sheet tray. The extra flexibility means the loaf can rise taller, uninhibited by a hard crust. How to make Irish soda breadI slightly modified this simple recipe, which has only four ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and buttermilk. It’s very similar to biscuit dough (minus butter or oil). While traditional soda bread is the simplest—no raisins—I choose to toss them in. You can substitute in other mix-ins if the mood strikes you: Try dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, or chocolate chips. The dough is relatively plain so any flavor profile you choose will work just fine. I have two notes before you set out to make your loaf. Most importantly, don’t overwork your dough. You’ve heard it before, but with shaggy doughs like this it’s hard to resist kneading it until smooth. Don’t do it. Leave it a bit shaggy and you’ll have a more tender loaf. About preheating your Dutch oven: The conventional oven should be preheated no matter what, but I’ve made this recipe with a cold Dutch oven before. I actually made a whole Irish soda bread YouTube video using a cold pot. It comes out perfectly and well-risen. However, I've recently been preheating the Dutch oven as the conventional oven heats up, and the loaf comes out perfectly there too. In the recipe below, I preheat the pot. You can do either—the only difference I detect is a faster bake by 10 minutes if you choose to preheat. Any other Irish soda bread questions you have might be answered here. Otherwise, the dough takes mere minutes to put together. Irish Soda BreadIngredients: 12 ounces all-purpose flour ¾ teaspoon salt ¾ teaspoon baking soda 10 ounces buttermilk 2 ounces raisins (optional) 1. Put the Dutch oven inside the oven and preheat to 425°F. Mix the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a large bowl. 2. Pour in the buttermilk all at once and combine the ingredients by pressing and stirring. I use a plastic bowl scraper to do this. 3. When the dough starts to become clumpy and shaggy, add the raisins (if using) and continue pressing and stirring. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 4. When it’s mostly combined but there is still loose flour at the bottom of the bowl, pour the dough out onto an un-floured countertop. Pat and press the dough to pick up the dry bits. Use any sticky areas to target the loose flour. Once you’ve collected most of the loose parts, pat the dough into a (roughly) two-inch thick round. Use a serrated knife to score a half-inch deep plus sign into the dough. Place the loaf on a piece of parchment paper. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 5. Carefully take the Dutch oven out and use the parchment to lift and lower the loaf into the pot. Put the lid back on and return the pot to the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes until golden brown. Cool the soda bread on a wire rack before noshing. View the full article

Android, unlike some phone operating systems, allows users to install software from outside the default app store (even if you don't live in Europe). And that's good, because there's all kinds of great software that you can't get on Google Play. The game Fortnite is a prominent example—that game's developer, Epic, doesn't want to pay Google a cut of sales and as such isn't available on Android's main app store. Other apps aren't available because of Google's interests—for example, there's an ad-free, privacy respecting YouTube client that you can't find on Google Play. If you've never installed Android software without using Google Play, however, you might not know where to start. The good news is that sideloading is not hard. Sideloading comes with security concernsBefore you go too wild, though, know that there are security implications—you should be careful about sideloading Android apps. While it's not always perfect, Google Play has a system to keep malware out of their app store. Installing apps from outside that ecosystem means that you, yourself, need to do that vetting. Only sideload applications if you trust where they're coming from. F-Droid, which I'm highlighting in this article, is maintained by a community of open source developers and I'm inclined to trust it. Don't install APK files unless you've done your due diligence and have a good reason to trust the source. Getting started with sideloadingFirst, you'll need to download the APK file for the app you want to install. I'm going to use F-Droid, an alternative app store that only carries free and open source applications, to demonstrate how this works. I downloaded the APK file from the website, then I tried to open it. I was told that I was not permitted to install unknown apps from my download manager—in your case the warning may name Chrome, or whatever browser you use. In any case you can tap Settings to adjust the setting to allow installing apps. Once you've enabled the setting, you can now go back to your browser and reopen the file. You will be asked if you want to install the app—tap Install. You'll see the installer for a few moments, after which the application will be installed. Credit: Justin Pot Note that you'll have to repeat these steps for any other sources of software. For example, if you try to install an APK using your phone's file browser, you'll need to enable the file browser as a source for software. The same goes for F-Droid and any other alternative app store—you need to give the application permission to install apps. The exact steps are going to vary depending on your specific model of phone and operating system—that's the norm for Android. And in some cases your phone might be locked down to prevent such software from being installed—a lot of company-issued phones, for example, are locked down by IT departments. All that aside, though, you should now be able to install APK files. Enjoy the freedom! View the full article