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US president boosts shares in sector by sharing video advocating medical use of hemp-derived cannabidiolView the full article

Uber’s latest announcement promises to revolutionize grocery shopping for families and small business owners alike, with improvements to its grocery delivery service via Uber Eats. Amid rising grocery prices, dubbed “veggie-flation,” Uber is stepping in to offer a solution. With new features rolling out, small business owners can expect tangible benefits while navigating potential challenges. Uber’s Fresh Days program stands out as a key feature, allowing customers to access substantial savings—up to 50% off—on a variety of fresh groceries including fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. For small business owners, particularly those in the food industry or hospitality sectors, this could mean more affordable supplies. Uber One members can leverage an exclusive 30% discount on Tuesdays for fresh produce, meats, dairy, and eggs, enhancing efficient inventory management by reducing costs. “Every week, Uber Eats customers can unlock Fresh Days—offering big savings,” said Susan Anderson, Global Head of Delivery at Uber. The program is currently available in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Spain, with ongoing expansion planned. By capitalizing on these savings, small retailers can manage tight budgets while ensuring quality offerings to their clientele. An exciting development is the integration of ALDI into Uber Eats, providing access to over 2,500 stores nationwide. This means small businesses can now source groceries more easily and inclusively, as ALDI is the first retailer on the platform to accept SNAP-EBT payments. This move not only broadens the grocery access but also aligns with the growing demand among consumers for inclusivity in shopping options. In terms of the shopping experience itself, Uber Eats has unveiled several features designed to enhance user satisfaction. Small business owners can customize their orders with replacement preferences. If an item is unavailable, users can choose how to replace it, with AI-powered suggestions tailored to individual preferences. The ability to edit orders in real time allows for seamless adjustments, ensuring small business owners can adapt as needed to maintain inventory without the hassle of returning unwanted items. Moreover, Uber Eats has introduced enhanced live order chat capabilities. This means shoppers can send photos of unavailable or subpar items, enabling real-time decision-making for refunds or substitutes. For a small business aiming to deliver the best to its customers, these features support quality assurance directly from the grocery delivery source. However, small business owners should also consider potential challenges that come with these enhancements. While the price reductions through Fresh Days are substantial, they could lead to variable supply availability. This fluctuation may complicate inventory planning for those depending solely on Uber Eats for grocery sourcing. There is also the need to stay updated on the frequent changes in the discount policies and offerings by Uber Eats to make informed purchasing decisions. The Fresh Guarantee policy adds an assurance of quality by allowing refunds for items deemed spoiled or substandard upon delivery. Though beneficial, it comes with specific requirements, such as the necessity to report issues within 48 hours and include photographic evidence. Small business owners would need to be diligent in managing this process to ensure they receive due compensation for any poor-quality goods. As Uber continues to innovate with technologies aimed at enriching the grocery experience, small business owners have a significant opportunity to benefit from enhanced savings and options. With adaptability and proactivity, they can leverage these deliveries to bolster their operations and meet customer expectations more effectively. For more detailed information and updates, read Uber’s full press release here. This article, "Uber Eats Launches Fresh Days Program for Discounted Grocery Delivery" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Uber’s latest announcement promises to revolutionize grocery shopping for families and small business owners alike, with improvements to its grocery delivery service via Uber Eats. Amid rising grocery prices, dubbed “veggie-flation,” Uber is stepping in to offer a solution. With new features rolling out, small business owners can expect tangible benefits while navigating potential challenges. Uber’s Fresh Days program stands out as a key feature, allowing customers to access substantial savings—up to 50% off—on a variety of fresh groceries including fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy. For small business owners, particularly those in the food industry or hospitality sectors, this could mean more affordable supplies. Uber One members can leverage an exclusive 30% discount on Tuesdays for fresh produce, meats, dairy, and eggs, enhancing efficient inventory management by reducing costs. “Every week, Uber Eats customers can unlock Fresh Days—offering big savings,” said Susan Anderson, Global Head of Delivery at Uber. The program is currently available in several countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Spain, with ongoing expansion planned. By capitalizing on these savings, small retailers can manage tight budgets while ensuring quality offerings to their clientele. An exciting development is the integration of ALDI into Uber Eats, providing access to over 2,500 stores nationwide. This means small businesses can now source groceries more easily and inclusively, as ALDI is the first retailer on the platform to accept SNAP-EBT payments. This move not only broadens the grocery access but also aligns with the growing demand among consumers for inclusivity in shopping options. In terms of the shopping experience itself, Uber Eats has unveiled several features designed to enhance user satisfaction. Small business owners can customize their orders with replacement preferences. If an item is unavailable, users can choose how to replace it, with AI-powered suggestions tailored to individual preferences. The ability to edit orders in real time allows for seamless adjustments, ensuring small business owners can adapt as needed to maintain inventory without the hassle of returning unwanted items. Moreover, Uber Eats has introduced enhanced live order chat capabilities. This means shoppers can send photos of unavailable or subpar items, enabling real-time decision-making for refunds or substitutes. For a small business aiming to deliver the best to its customers, these features support quality assurance directly from the grocery delivery source. However, small business owners should also consider potential challenges that come with these enhancements. While the price reductions through Fresh Days are substantial, they could lead to variable supply availability. This fluctuation may complicate inventory planning for those depending solely on Uber Eats for grocery sourcing. There is also the need to stay updated on the frequent changes in the discount policies and offerings by Uber Eats to make informed purchasing decisions. The Fresh Guarantee policy adds an assurance of quality by allowing refunds for items deemed spoiled or substandard upon delivery. Though beneficial, it comes with specific requirements, such as the necessity to report issues within 48 hours and include photographic evidence. Small business owners would need to be diligent in managing this process to ensure they receive due compensation for any poor-quality goods. As Uber continues to innovate with technologies aimed at enriching the grocery experience, small business owners have a significant opportunity to benefit from enhanced savings and options. With adaptability and proactivity, they can leverage these deliveries to bolster their operations and meet customer expectations more effectively. For more detailed information and updates, read Uber’s full press release here. This article, "Uber Eats Launches Fresh Days Program for Discounted Grocery Delivery" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Democratic and Republican congressional leaders are heading to the White House for a meeting with President Donald The President on Monday in a late effort to avoid a government shutdown, but both sides have shown hardly any willingness to budge from their entrenched positions. If government funding legislation isn’t passed by Congress and signed by The President on Tuesday night, many government offices across the nation will be temporarily shuttered and nonexempt federal employees will be furloughed, adding to the strain on workers and the nation’s economy. Republicans are daring Democrats to vote against legislation that would keep government funding mostly at current levels, but Democrats have held firm. They’re using one of their few points of leverage to demand Congress take up legislation to extend health care benefits. “The meeting is a first step, but only a first step. We need a serious negotiation,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The President has shown little interest in entertaining Democrats’ demands on healthcare, even as he agreed to hold a sit-down meeting Monday with Schumer, along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. The Republican president has said repeatedly he fully expects the government to enter a shutdown this week. “If it has to shut down, it’ll have to shut down,” The President said Friday. “But they’re the ones that are shutting down government.” The The President administration has tried to pressure Democratic lawmakers into backing away from their demands, warning that federal employees could be permanently laid off in a funding lapse. “Chuck Schumer said a few months ago that a government shutdown would be chaotic, harmful and painful. He’s right, and that’s why we shouldn’t do it,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” Still, Democrats argued The President’s agreement to hold a meeting shows he’s feeling the pressure to negotiate. They say that because Republicans control the White House and Congress, Americans will mostly blame them for any government shutdown. But to hold on to their negotiating leverage, Senate Democrats will likely have to vote against a bill to temporarily extend government funding on Tuesday, just hours before a shutdown — an uncomfortable position for a party that has long denounced shutdowns as pointless and destructive. The bill has already passed the Republican-controlled House and would keep the government funded for seven more weeks while Congress works on annual spending legislation. Any legislation to fund the government will need support from at least 60 senators. That means that at least eight Democrats would have to vote for the short-term funding bill, because Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is expected to vote against it. During the last potential government shutdown in March, Schumer and nine other Democrats voted to break a filibuster and allow a Republican-led funding bill to advance to a final vote. The New York Democrat faced fierce backlash from many in his own party for that decision, with some even calling for him to step down as Democratic leader. This time, Schumer appears resolute. “We’re hearing from the American people that they need help on health care and as for these massive layoffs, guess what? Simple one-sentence answer: They’re doing it anyway,” he said. Democrats are pushing for an extension to Affordable Care Act tax credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The credits, which are designed to expand coverage for low- and middle-income people, are set to expire at the end of the year. Some Republicans are open to extending the tax credits but want changes. Thune said Sunday that the program is “desperately in need of reform” and Republicans want to address “waste, fraud and abuse.” He has pressed Democrats to vote for the funding bill and take up the debate on tax credits later. It remains to be seen whether the White House meeting will help or hurt the chances for a resolution. Negotiations between The President and Democratic congressional leaders have rarely gone well, and The President has had little contact with the opposing party during his second term. The most recent negotiation in August between Schumer and the president to speed the pace of Senate confirmation votes for administration officials ended with The President telling Schumer to “go to hell” in a social media post. The President also abruptly canceled a meeting that was planned with congressional leaders last week, calling Democrats’ demands “unserious and ridiculous.” Schumer argued that the White House coming back to reschedule a meeting for Monday showed that “they felt the heat.” —Stephen Groves and Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press View the full article

Wall Street pushed higher early Monday despite growing anxiety over a possible U.S. government shutdown later this week. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.5% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%. Nasdaq futures climbed 0.6%. Prospects for a last-minute compromise between Republicans and Democrats appear rather bleak, with government funding set to run out Wednesday. Such political impasses have had limited impact on the market before, though a shutdown could delay the release of government data that traders, economists and the Federal Reserve rely on for clues about how the U.S. economy is faring. The government is scheduled to release its comprehensive September jobs report on Friday. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark lending rate earlier this month largely due to concern about a cooling labor market, though officials are still paying close attention to inflation, which has remained above the U.S. central bank’s 2% target. On Friday, stocks got some help from the report showing inflation in the United States accelerated to 2.7% last month from 2.6% in July, offering some hope that the Fed could continue cutting interest rates in order to give the economy a boost. One factor threatening to push inflation higher, adding to consumer woes, is President Donald The President’s tariffs, and he announced more late Thursday. They include taxes on imports of some pharmaceutical drugs, kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, upholstered furniture and heavy trucks starting on Oct. 1. In equities trading Monday, shares of British pharmaceutical giant GSK rose 2.8% after the company announced CEO Emma Walmsley will step down Dec. 31 after more than eight years leading the London-based drugmaker. Luke Miels, currently GSK’s chief commercial officer, will replace the 56-year-old Walmsley, who was the first woman to lead a major pharmaceutical company. Shares of Electronic Arts jumped 5.7% after it agreed to go private in a $55 billion buyout. In Europe at midday, the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.2%, while Britain’s FTSE picked up 0.4%. The German DAX was unchanged. In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was the regional outlier, giving up 0.7% to 45,043.75. Chinese markets advanced, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong adding 0.9% to 26,622.88, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.9% to 3,862.53. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.9% to 8,862.80, while the Kospi in South Korea surged 1.3% to 3,431.21. China factory data are due out on Tuesday and a quarterly business sentiment survey by the Bank of Japan comes on Wednesday. In energy trading early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $1.29, nearly 2%, to $64.43 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, declined $1.25 to $67.97 per barrel. Reports that the OPEC plus oil producing nations might raise their production limits next month have added to worries over oversupply, analysts said. Gold rose 1.2% to a record $3,854.60 an ounce. —Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott, AP Business Writers View the full article

I revisited my definition of strategy several years ago and realized recently that I hadn’t written about it—just presented it privately to executive teams in the context of my strategy work with them. I decided to rectify that oversight by writing this Playing to Win/Practitioner Insights (PTW/PI) piece on it called Revisiting my Definition of Strategy: Compelling Desired Customer Action. And as always, you can find all the previous PTW/PI here. Need for a DefinitionFor any field to develop, the terms used in the field must be defined. Otherwise, participants can’t discuss the field intelligently, and it is therefore hard for the field to advance. I experienced that phenomenon when I joined the founding board of the Skoll Foundation in 1999 (on which I served for 20 years). Its stated purpose was to invest in, connect, and champion social entrepreneurs, which sounded great. At my first board meeting, when we were reviewing candidates to receive the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (which included $1M in funding for their organizations), I asked what I thought was an innocent question: OK, so what is a social entrepreneur? I was relatively taken aback by the multitude of answers I got. Generally, it boiled down to a vague notion of a person doing good for humanity—in an entrepreneurial kind of way. I asked if Mother Theresa was a social entrepreneur. No. Okay, how about Steve Jobs? No. How about Muhammad Yunus? Yes. In due course, I gave up and realized that we had a vague definition that provided little guidance as to what was in or out. I found the fuzziness unsatisfactory, so I worked hard with the brilliant founding Skoll CEO Sally Osberg to come up with a clear and actionable definition of social entrepreneurship to guide our field-building work. In due course, we wrote up our definition in a Stanford Social Innovation Review article called Social Entrepreneurship: The Case for Definition, which has gone on to be the most downloaded article in the history of that journal and the most cited article in social entrepreneurship. Its popularity demonstrated that people in the field needed a definition of the field to work productively in it. Need for a Strategy DefinitionDespite business strategy being a much older field than social entrepreneurship, it still suffers from a lack of consensus on a definition. I see every definition under the sun as I observe and practice strategy. The most common definition is a list of initiatives which the company plans to carry out—and is called a strategic plan. I am not fond of that definition, as I explain in my viral video (with just under six million views), A Plan is Not a Strategy. Another definition is an adjective connoting importance. So, strategic sourcing is more important than sourcing. Strategic HR is more important than HR, and so on. Yet another common definition of strategy is a dream – e.g., our strategy is to become the best life insurance company in the world. These, and many more definitions floating around out in the business world, are simply not helpful. A list of initiatives is just a list. An adjective is just a modifier of another word. And hope is, as my friend AG Lafley always says, is not a strategy. My Original DefinitionIn the mid-1990s, as I did a decade later with social entrepreneurship, I leaped into the breach to attempt to provide a useful definition that could guide the practice of strategy. I think I came up with my original defintion in 1995, but the earliest slide of mine that I could find with it is the one below from January 1998 (if you look at the lower-left footer). That served as my definition for a quarter-century. Funnily, I was prompted to look for the origin of this definition because I was recently asked to work alongside a consultant who parroted this exact, word-for-word definition of strategy in his presentation – without citing me as the source. This kind of thing happens frequently, so I was not terribly surprised. And the beneficial outcome of his plagiarism is that it gave me the impetus to write this piece. In any event, there are five important elements of my original definition. First, it is made up of choices – to do some things and not to do other things. You don’t have a strategy if it doesn’t identify what you are not going to do. Second, it is an integrated set. It is not a list. It is a set of choices that fit together and reinforce one another. At the same time as I was doing this work, I was helping Michael Porter with his landmark 1996 Harvard Business Review article, What is Strategy? It debuted the idea of the central importance of fit and reinforcement in strategy. Third, the set of choices positions the firm in its industry. This definition was designed to complement the five-question Strategy Choice Cascade, which I created contemporaneously, and this is a reference to the Where-to-Play choice. Fourth, the set of choices is designed to create sustainable advantage relative to competition, which is an obvious connection to the How-to-Win choice. Fifth is the payoff of doing the first four and that is superior financial returns, which are both the reward and the proof that choices accomplish the third and fourth elements. My New DefinitionI liked the definition a lot, which is why I kept using it for a quarter-century. But about three years ago, I started including a modified definition (shown at the head of the article) in the presentations I give to clients as I work them through exercises to create strategy. Elements Kept As is clear, I kept the first two elements exactly as they were in the old definition. Nothing changed in my thinking. These are both critical to a useful definition of strategy and counter to the conventional practice of what most executives and consultants call strategy. These many years later, strategy is still primarily a disconnected list of initiatives called a strategic plan. That is why integrated set and choices are so very important – and are still the opening elements of my definition. One aspect on which I have elaborated is the choice element. I have come up with what those working on strategy find to be a useful test for whether or not they have made a strategy choice. A strategy choice is one for which the opposite of the choice is not stupid on its face. For example, a choice to be customer-centric is not a strategy choice because the opposite – ignoring your customers – is stupid on its face and will result in abject failure. That doesn’t mean such a choice is not important. In fact, if the opposite is stupid on its face, then it is what I call an operating imperative – it is imperative that you make that choice. But choosing an operating imperative won’t generate advantage because it is so obvious that every competitor should – and will – choose to do it too. Elements Subtracted I removed the other three elements of my old definition and replaced them with one new element. I didn’t remove the third and fourth elements because I no longer believed they were relevant or appropriate. They – Where-to-Play and How-to-Win – are both still critical elements of strategy. But this definition is meant to accompany the Strategic Choice Cascade, and those specifics are covered precisely and thoroughly in it, so I don’t need either here in this definition – at least I don’t think so. However, for any practitioner using this set of tools, I would encourage you to link this definition directly and explicitly to the Strategy Choice Cascade. I could have continued to include superior financial returns in the new definition. But I didn’t because after using the original version for a long time, I wanted to simplify wherever possible. And it felt to me that this aspect is obvious. If a strategy produces crummy financial returns, it isn’t a strategy worth having. Plus, the added element below incorporates this financial aspect implicitly. Element Added Over the past decade or so, I have been thinking a lot about why I am so committed to strategy – especially when so many others (e.g. them and her) downplay its importance or even relevance. Companies have gotten so big, so rich, can’t they do anything they wish? What is wrong with just asking every business or function what it wants, assembling that list, then funding each initiative and calling that its ‘strategy?’ But so many big companies fail! Nearly once every two years of the 140-year existence of the Dow Jones 30, one of these 30 corporate giants gets kicked out of the index because it has fallen on hard times. It became clear to me that while they are big and powerful, and control lots of things, they don’t control everything. A company controls how many employees it hires, how much it pays them, how many factories/service operations it builds, how many dollars to spend on advertising, how much to invest in R&D, through which distribution channels to sell, and on and on. The lists of things companies control is exceedingly long. However, the one essential element over which the company has zero control is the customer. Customers can take whatever actions they please – unless the organization is a regulated monopoly like the Department of Motor Vehicles, which customers are forced to use if they want to drive a car. Normal customers can’t be forced to do anything. Companies can’t impose decisions on them. Hence, the task of strategy is to make choices in areas under the control of the company that together compel desired customer action. Generically, the desired action is for customers to buy enough of the company’s offering at sufficiently high prices to earn attractive returns over the short and long term. If many buy but are willing only at too low a price, that does not amount to desired customer action. If customers instead buy at the target price but there are too few of them, that is also a failed strategy. Quantity and price are both necessary aspects of customer action. Happily, since I am a Peter Drucker fan, this view of strategy is consistent with his view of the purpose of business – which is to create and keep a customer. (It is not completely clear that he actually included the and keep part of that definition, but I think it is logically implied). I see the purpose of the strategy that guides a company’s action is to compel potential customers to become customers – at prices and volumes that make the economics attractive. Practitioner InsightsA big enemy of strategy is fuzzy definitions that make the job of creating effective strategy harder than it really needs to be. Strategy can’t be anything you want it to be. You need to embrace and enforce a tight definition to assist you in creating a valuable strategy. My latest and tightest definition has three elements: choices, integrated set, and desired customer action. An essential feature of the choices is that the opposite of each choice is not stupid on its face. It is an integrated set if the choices across the five questions of the Strategy Choice Cascade fit with and reinforce one another. And the choices must be configured to compel the thing the company does not control, which is desired customer action. If you ensure that you are guided by those three elements of a tight definition, you will be able to create productive, winning strategies. View the full article

Are you old enough to remember talking to your friends on the phone all the time? A phone with a cord? Then welcome to the Out of Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture, a guide to what's going down with all the youths out there. This week, the young 'uns are stealing each other's brainrots, guzzling heavy soda, (not) paying $500 for a rock, and being harassed by a rizzed-out robot. "Steal a Brainrot" If you know anyone under the age of 16, they are probably playing "Steal a Brainrot," and you are probably asking "Steal a what now?" so here's what it's all about: "Steal a Brainrot" is a multiplayer mini-game within maxi-games Roblox and Fortnite. In a game of Brainrot, up to eight players share a server, and each has their own base. The object of the game is to buy brainrots for your base and/or steal brainrots from other players' bases, while defending your own brainrots from thieves. Steal enough brainrots and you become more powerful and can make your base more defensible. The brainrots themselves are objects meant to reference "Italian brainrot," i.e.: low-quality internet memes. They vary in value and have vaguely Italian names, but they aren't based on actual brainrot memes. "Steal a Brainrot" is insanely popular, boasting a concurrent player count of over 20 million people, so you're probably asking, "Who is getting rich from this (and why isn't it me?)." The answer: Two groups are making most of the dough. The first is the game's developers, SpyderSammy and DoBig Studios, who get a cut of all the micro-transactions within "Steal a Brainrot" (players can spend real money for in-game items). The other beneficiary of all this brainrot is the Roblox Corporation, who provide the platform in exchange for the rest of the money from Brainrot micro-transactions. As for why it isn't you, it's because you don't have any good ideas. What is “heavy soda”?Unlike "heavy water," in which H2O's hydrogen atoms are replaced by deuterium atoms, heavy soda is pop with extra syrup—as hard as this is to believe, some people think Sprite and Mountain Dew just aren't sweet enough. Heavy soda comes from self-serve soda machines. Some, apparently, have a toggle to increase or decrease the amount of syrup in the resulting drinks, and many people on TikTok are great fans of the beverage that results from setting the machine on "maximum syrup." Sometimes called "dirty soda," heavy soda supposedly originated in gas stations on the Southern tip of Missouri. If your gas station drink machine looks like this: ... then you are probably at least 1,000 miles from a Whole Foods. But maybe not for long; thanks to boosters on TiKtok, heavy soda is spreading. Polaroid aesthetic making a comebackI've been messing around with Nano Banana, the image generator within Google's Gemini AI app, and so have the kids, but they're not using it for wrinkle-smoothing and paunch reduction. They're getting in touch with the 1970s aesthetic of the instant camera and creating Polaroid-style pictures of themselves with famous people, fictional characters, and everything else. One of the more popular variants of the trend involves combining a picture of your current self with your younger self, resulting in surreal-but-poignant videos like these: Making your own is easy: Install Gemini. Upload the current picture and older picture. Then write a prompt for Gemini like, "Generate a picture taken with a Polaroid camera, desaturated colors, with a camera flash as the single light source and a 1970s suburban tract house as a background." Are people really buying $1000 rocks from Anthropologie? A few weeks ago, TikTok user Phoebe Adams posted a video where she pranks her boyfriend by opening a box that contains a rock she said cost $150. "It's a special rock from Anthropologie," she explains to her angry boyfriend. "It’s gonna sit on our entryway table. It's a one-of-kind rock that they actually found on the ground," she adds. The video blew up and people started imitating it in videos like this: and this: But then things kicked up a notch when the real Anthropologie set up an actual rock display at a store so Phoebe could continue to gaslight her long-suffering boyfriend Dan: All of this leads to the question of whether this is a retailer cleverly taking advantage of an unexpected trend—or was the entire thing viral marketing from the beginning? I'm 50/50. Viral video of the week: RizzbotSpeaking of things that are probably guerrilla marketing campaigns, this week's viral video celebrity is Rizzbot. Formally known as “Jake the Rizzbot,” this four-foot-tall walking (and dancing) robot in a cowboy hat has been traveling all over the country for the past several months, rizzing people up with its robotic swagger and robotic Gen Z slang. Videos from the official Rizzbot channel has racked up hundreds of millions of views for videos like this, where Rizzbot goes off on a rando's fit: But Rizzbot can be a total jerk too and sometimes shouts obscenities at people for no reason: or promises a compliment only to deliver a roast, proving that no one should trust a clanker: Rizzbot is a decorated version of Unitree Robotics G1 "Humanoid Agent AI Avatar," a $16,000 robot that can joke around with people and sometimes keep from falling over. Despite appearances, Rizzbot is not acting autonomously. Someone is carefully controlling his every move and word, but we don't know who or why. The bot is most often seen in downtown Austin, and has some serious connections to the Texas Robotics lab at UT, though. View the full article

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated and expanded a food safety alert regarding possible Listeria contamination in several prepared pasta meal products. The extent of the outbreak is now known to have occurred in at least 15 states and has unfortunately resulted in multiple deaths. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? On Friday, the CDC issued a new alert along with an expanded list of prepared pasta meal products that may be contaminated with Listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium. According to an accompanying CDC tracking page, there have now been 20 cases of Listeria believed to be related to the outbreak. The first reported case happened back in August of 2024. An additional four cases, for a total of five for the year, were reported by that December. But in 2025, the number of cases for the year has so far tripled to 15, bringing the total number of those who have gotten sick from this outbreak to 20. The most recent confirmed sickness from the outbreak occurred on September 11. Of the 20 cases, the CDC says that 19 have resulted in hospitalizations. Unfortunately, four individuals have died due to consuming food linked to this outbreak. What products are included in the outbreak? A number of products have been associated with the Listeria outbreak. These products have been reported by both the CDC and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). September 26: The CDC said the following product has been added: “FreshRealm held beef meatball marinara linguine meals” September 25: An FSIS notice said the following products were included: “Marketside Linguine With Beef Meatballs & Marinara Sauce” “Trader Joe’s Cajun Style Blackened Chicken Breast Fettucine Alfredo” June 2025: An FSIS notice said other ready-to-eat pasta meals were believed to be possibly contaminated with Listeria. Those included: “Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine Tender Pasta With Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken and Shaved Parmesan Cheese” “Marketside Grilled Chicken Alfredo With Fettuccine Tender Pasta With Creamy Alfredo Sauce, White Meat Chicken, Broccoli and Shaved Parmesan Cheese” “Home Chef Heat & Eat Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with Pasta, Grilled White Meat Chicken, and Parmesan Cheese” All the products listed above have various sell-by dates and other marks listed in the notices that can help determine if the product in possession is one covered under a recall or alert. Where were the products sold? The products listed above were sold at various stores nationwide. Depending on the product, it could have been sold at: Kroger Walmart Trader Joe’s Some of the products may have expiration dates that have already passed, and may also no longer be on sale, yet they could remain in a person’s refrigerator. Where is the outbreak located? This Listeria outbreak has now spread to 15 states: California: 2 cases Florida: 1 case Illinois: 1 case Indiana: 1 case Louisiana: 2 cases Michigan: 2 cases Minnesota: 1 case Missouri: 1 case Nevada: 1 case North Carolina: 1 case Ohio: 1 case South Carolina: 1 case Texas: 3 cases Utah: 1 case Virginia: 1 case However, the CDC stresses that these are only the known cases and likely to not represent the full extent of the outbreak. “This outbreak may not have been limited to the states with known illnesses, and the true number of sick people is likely higher than the number reported,” the agency noted. What is Listeria and what are its symptoms? Listeria is a bacterium that can cause serious illness in individuals, according to the CDC. The agency says that about 1,250 people are infected with Listeria in America each year. Of those cases, about 172 die. Anyone can contract a Listeria infection, but the infection is particularly harmful for pregnant women, newborns, people with weakened immune systems, and those aged 65 or older. Symptoms of a Listeria infection can differ depending on whether an individual is pregnant or not and whether the illness is invasive (has spread to other body parts beyond the intestines) or not, according to the CDC. In pregnant individuals, invasive symptoms include fever and flu-like symptoms. In other individuals, invasive illness symptoms include the above plus headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and seizures. Intestinal illness can include symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. What should I do if I have the products included in the outbreak? You should not eat the affected food. The FSIS says the products should instead be thrown away or returned to their place of purchase. The CDC also has instructions on how to clean your refrigerator if it contains recalled food. Full details about the outbreak and the recalls can be found on the CDC’s notices here and here and the FSIS’s notices here and here. View the full article

Chancellor tells her party conference the government cannot ignore the bond marketView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. Floodlight cameras usually cost a lot more than the casual buyer wants to spend, but Blink’s Wired Floodlight Camera has quietly slipped to a price that makes it hard to ignore for starting or extending a home security setup. Right now it’s $49.99 on Amazon (regularly $99.99), which is the lowest price it’s ever been, according to price trackers. Blink Wired Floodlight Camera $49.99 at Amazon $99.99 Save $50.00 Get Deal Get Deal $49.99 at Amazon $99.99 Save $50.00 This is a hardwired security camera with bright dual-LED floodlights, a loud siren, and the ability to record sharp 1080p video. The LEDs crank out 2,600 lumens combined—enough to light up a driveway or backyard—and also enable color night vision. That means you’re not stuck with blurry grayscale clips when something sets off the motion sensor after dark. The performance holds up beyond just brightness. The camera has a wide 143-degree field of view, motion alerts arrive almost instantly, and daytime footage shows accurate colors and detail. At night, black-and-white video looks clear out to about 30 feet, while color video with the floodlights on is plenty usable even if the tones are a bit washed compared to daytime shots, notes this PCMag review. Through the Blink app, you can check the live feed, turn lights on or off, save recordings, and use two-way talk. There’s also a 105dB siren built in, which is loud enough to scare off trespassers or get a neighbor’s attention. The catch is that not all of the software features are free: Without a subscription, you’re limited to live viewing and motion alerts. With the $3 per month Basic plan, you get 60 days of video history, person detection, photo capture, and longer live streams. For multiple cameras, the $10 per month Plus Plan gives you the same perks plus an extended warranty and discounts on future Blink gear. If you’d rather skip subscriptions, Blink sells its Sync Module 2 hub for around $50. Pair it with a USB drive, and you can save clips locally. As with most Blink products, Alexa and IFTTT support are included, so you can connect it to routines and other devices, but there’s no compatibility with Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit. Installation is straightforward if you’re comfortable wiring an outdoor light fixture, and Blink includes the screws, nuts, and guides you need. If not, hiring an electrician is the safer move. All told, this is one of the most affordable ways to add a floodlight camera to your home. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium JetBlack) — $819.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $319.00 (List Price $349.00) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Battery Doorbell Plus — $79.99 (List Price $149.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $49.98 (List Price $79.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) — $24.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base — $229.99 (List Price $549.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

JPMorgan Chase is significantly enhancing its offering for affluent clients by expanding the J.P. Morgan Private Client experience to 53 Chase branches across New York, Connecticut, Florida, and Texas. This move nearly triples the availability of this tailored banking and wealth management service, aiming to better serve the needs of established clients and potentially attract small business owners who want a more personalized approach to their financial operations. With more locations than ever, qualified clients can access services designed to meet their unique financial needs through various channels, including J.P. Morgan Financial Centers, dedicated private client offices, and select Chase branches. This change reflects a growing demand from affluent clients for personalized service from their primary banking institution. Jennifer Roberts, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, emphasized this commitment. “Through our J.P. Morgan Financial Centers, J.P. Morgan Private Client Offices, and now select Chase branches, we are redefining how affluent clients are served, offering a highly personalized level of service that aligns with their unique needs,” she stated. What does this mean for small business owners? Key Takeaways: Enhanced Personalized Service: Small business owners classified as affluent may now benefit from a dedicated senior banker at select Chase branches, providing highly personalized banking services, wealth management strategies, and investment advice. This one-on-one attention can be instrumental in navigating complex financial landscapes. Comprehensive Support: The offering includes access to concierge services that promise 24/7 priority support from a team familiar with each client’s specific needs. This kind of tailored support can help business owners handle their personal and business banking needs more effectively. Exclusive Financial Planning: Custom financial strategies will be developed to help clients preserve and grow their wealth, taking into account their specific goals and challenges. For business owners, this means potentially more informed and strategic decision-making. Convenient Access Across Regions: With branches located in affluent-rich states, clients can easily find a convenient branch that provides these exclusive services, combining the usual banking experience with specialized financial insight. However, there are some potential challenges small business owners may want to consider before diving into this offering: Eligibility Requirements: The new private client services are designed for those with qualifying deposit and investment balances. This may exclude some small business owners who do not meet these thresholds. Balance Between Services: While personal service is emphasized, business owners should consider how this offering integrates with their existing banking relationships. It’s essential to weigh the benefits of a dedicated service against their current banking solutions. Limited Geographical Reach: While this expansion covers states with high affluent demographics, small business owners operating in less populated or rural locations may find that these services are not readily accessible. The J.P. Morgan Private Client offering positions Chase as a significant player in the competitive financial market, especially for affluent clients seeking to consolidate their banking needs. As noted by Stevie Baron, Head of Affluent Banking at Chase Consumer Banking, “Affluent clients tell us they increasingly want to consolidate their investments with their primary bank.” This consolidation can streamline operations for small business owners, allowing them to manage both their business and personal banking under one roof with potentially beneficial relationships and terms. For small business owners exploring ways to enhance their banking experience, the features and advantages of the J.P. Morgan Private Client offering could provide tangible benefits. In a world where financial decisions can be complex, having a supportive network can alleviate stress and contribute to smarter financial planning. For more information about the J.P. Morgan Private Client offering, including the newly added locations, visit jpmorgan.com/financialcenters. This expansion marks an important step in addressing the specific needs of affluent clients and could serve as a model for other banks looking to attract and retain high-net-worth individuals and small business owners alike. This article, "Chase Expands J.P. Morgan Private Client Services to 53 New Branches" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

JPMorgan Chase is significantly enhancing its offering for affluent clients by expanding the J.P. Morgan Private Client experience to 53 Chase branches across New York, Connecticut, Florida, and Texas. This move nearly triples the availability of this tailored banking and wealth management service, aiming to better serve the needs of established clients and potentially attract small business owners who want a more personalized approach to their financial operations. With more locations than ever, qualified clients can access services designed to meet their unique financial needs through various channels, including J.P. Morgan Financial Centers, dedicated private client offices, and select Chase branches. This change reflects a growing demand from affluent clients for personalized service from their primary banking institution. Jennifer Roberts, CEO of Chase Consumer Banking, emphasized this commitment. “Through our J.P. Morgan Financial Centers, J.P. Morgan Private Client Offices, and now select Chase branches, we are redefining how affluent clients are served, offering a highly personalized level of service that aligns with their unique needs,” she stated. What does this mean for small business owners? Key Takeaways: Enhanced Personalized Service: Small business owners classified as affluent may now benefit from a dedicated senior banker at select Chase branches, providing highly personalized banking services, wealth management strategies, and investment advice. This one-on-one attention can be instrumental in navigating complex financial landscapes. Comprehensive Support: The offering includes access to concierge services that promise 24/7 priority support from a team familiar with each client’s specific needs. This kind of tailored support can help business owners handle their personal and business banking needs more effectively. Exclusive Financial Planning: Custom financial strategies will be developed to help clients preserve and grow their wealth, taking into account their specific goals and challenges. For business owners, this means potentially more informed and strategic decision-making. Convenient Access Across Regions: With branches located in affluent-rich states, clients can easily find a convenient branch that provides these exclusive services, combining the usual banking experience with specialized financial insight. However, there are some potential challenges small business owners may want to consider before diving into this offering: Eligibility Requirements: The new private client services are designed for those with qualifying deposit and investment balances. This may exclude some small business owners who do not meet these thresholds. Balance Between Services: While personal service is emphasized, business owners should consider how this offering integrates with their existing banking relationships. It’s essential to weigh the benefits of a dedicated service against their current banking solutions. Limited Geographical Reach: While this expansion covers states with high affluent demographics, small business owners operating in less populated or rural locations may find that these services are not readily accessible. The J.P. Morgan Private Client offering positions Chase as a significant player in the competitive financial market, especially for affluent clients seeking to consolidate their banking needs. As noted by Stevie Baron, Head of Affluent Banking at Chase Consumer Banking, “Affluent clients tell us they increasingly want to consolidate their investments with their primary bank.” This consolidation can streamline operations for small business owners, allowing them to manage both their business and personal banking under one roof with potentially beneficial relationships and terms. For small business owners exploring ways to enhance their banking experience, the features and advantages of the J.P. Morgan Private Client offering could provide tangible benefits. In a world where financial decisions can be complex, having a supportive network can alleviate stress and contribute to smarter financial planning. For more information about the J.P. Morgan Private Client offering, including the newly added locations, visit jpmorgan.com/financialcenters. This expansion marks an important step in addressing the specific needs of affluent clients and could serve as a model for other banks looking to attract and retain high-net-worth individuals and small business owners alike. This article, "Chase Expands J.P. Morgan Private Client Services to 53 New Branches" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Saudi-backed transaction orchestrated by Jared Kushner and Silver Lake is biggest ever leveraged buyoutView the full article

A few years back, Deanna Conley had just moved to Newport, Rhode Island with a 3-month-old and 3-year-old. She soon joined a focus group for a new type of club forming in her area. This club—part daycare, part adult coworking space, and a little bit gym—would fulfill Conley’s post-moving needs: It offered community in a town where she knew no one, a space to work as a small business owner without an office, and affordable childcare. “The cost of a nanny was really prohibitive for us,” Conley says. Her older son had been in traditional daycare prior to the family’s move, but Conley thought this club might be a bit different. “I was really interested in and excited about this new idea of whole family care,” she says, “versus just childcare.” The club eventually became a daycare-gym-coworking hybrid workspace called Haven. It opened in Newport in 2019, and has since opened another location in Rhode Island and one in New Jersey. In January, Haven announced it’s franchising throughout the U.S. It, and other companies like it, may change how parents juggle work and kids. Per the Economic Policy Institute, childcare for one infant in the U.S. costs more than public college tuition in 38 states. That, plus the reality that many people work remotely, makes the idea of a space that mixes childcare, coworking, and fitness needs appealing to parents. That’s especially true in a world where more remote work means people are parenting more in bubbles than in villages. While gyms such as the YMCA and Minnesota-based fitness chain Life Time provide childcare, typically they cap care at a couple hours—perfect for a workout, not so great for work. Haven offers a village for the price of daycare—with coworking and fitness opportunities thrown in. “We can’t fix the high cost of childcare,” says Haven founder and CEO Britt Riley, acknowledging that early childhood educators deserve their pay. “But we can provide as much more value as we can.” She wants “to keep you in the workforce, help you feel close to your kids, [and] decrease your mom guilt.” Reports found that in 2023, just 15.8% of business with 1,000 or more employees offer on-site childcare, while just 7.6% of medium-sized business do. Other spaces that combine daycare and coworking exist in the U.S. and abroad, but Haven, with several hundred members across its clubs, remains unique as a fully licensed childcare facility (for ages zero to five), meaning parents can leave the building without their children, that’s begun franchising. (Other coworking spaces with childcare avoid the time-consuming licensing process because parents remain on-site with their kids.) ‘Very much what young parents need’ In today’s professional landscape, remote work has grown arguably more common than affordable childcare. Haven was born “out of a need,” says Riley, who’d been looking for childcare for her 1-year-old and infant but couldn’t find anything she felt comfortable with that wasn’t too high cost. “I got stuck on this idea that there was something else we could do.” Having worked in marketing at companies like Patagonia, Riley used her business acumen to attract investors, raising just under $20 million. She recently tapped a former Patagonia colleague to head Haven’s franchising efforts. Though Riley says regulations for childcare licensing are “extremely stringent” to ensure children’s safety, she prioritized giving members the ability to take meetings elsewhere (think coffee shops or clients’ offices) while their children stay at Haven. Notably, Riley refers to Haven as a “club” (where membership costs between $650 and $2,500 a month) rather than a “daycare/coworking space.” The coworking space “is just an amenity that’s there for the parents,” she says. “Club” offered a way to describe a “community,” Riley adds, where parents can look out the window mid-workday and see their kids playing outside, or pop into a dark room for a massage after meeting with an on-site personal trainer. Back in Rhode Island, self-employed business owner Conley has also relied on Haven for date nights. Her local Haven has hosted evenings in which members’ pajama-clad kids can eat, do crafts, and watch a movie while their parents go out for dinner. “It felt to me very much what young parents need,” Conley says. Rethinking the ‘quick drop-off model’ Haven’s clientele includes military families, full-time remote workers, gig workers, self-employed people, and even parents who work at offices. Riley says those clients use the facility for a quick workout before bringing their kids home. Haven’t isn’t the only coworking-slash-daycare in the game. MOMentum in suburban Pennsylvania caters to similar clientele. (Despite its name, dads account for about one-third of those working at MOMentum’s converted church building facility.) Like Haven, MOMentum grew from a need. Cofounder Mary Beth Thomas says the after school childcare program at her kids’ school was a mandatory paid five days, when she needed fewer. She was also looking for an alternative to the quick drop-off model in the morning: “We want our kids to get used to the fact that their parents are nearby and they’re going to peek in on them, and it’s not something that causes anxiety,” Thomas says. “It’s more of a comfort.” At MOMentum, which costs between $1,520 and $1,690 per month for full-week attendance, parents can join their kids for a music class, or eat lunch with them. MOMentum has just one location that offers childcare and coworking, and though Thomas has gotten inquiries about franchising, she prefers to keep the business local. “We’re more grassroots,” she says. “We want other people to come up with something that meets the needs of their community,” she says, and not something “just cloning MOMentum.” When Lauren Perrett opened BubbaDesk in November 2022 in Australia, she says there were no similar offerings. “Coworking and childcare were seen as completely separate categories,” she says. Instead of trying to compete with daycare, Perrett adds, her company pursued a new category that she calls “close-proximity care integrated with coworking.” BubbaDesk’s individual subscription membership costs up to $175 AUD ($115 USD) a day, and businesses like Canva and a large Australian bank have purchased memberships for their employees. (Haven offers corporate packages, too.) A spreading model While BubbaDesk’s model resembles Haven’s more closely than MOMentum’s, with eight locations across Australia, Perrett is concerned that franchising could compromise its standards, which are so important when it comes to keeping children safe and cared for. “Quality, safety, and culture are nonnegotiable, and the integrated nature of our spaces makes centralized training and oversight essential,” she says. To ensure Haven preserves its culture and safety standards, Riley speaks with all serious owner candidates personally. As much as she wants Haven’s availability to spread, she’s looking to keep the ecosystem cohesive, with a 2-by-3-foot poster proclaiming its values at each club. She calls the model, per the poster, “a blend of a wise mentor, a compassionate friend, your most supportive and loving family member.” Haven started awarding franchises in the second quarter of 2025. Riley won’t say how many have been awarded so far, but they “go as far west as Illinois,” with most in New England and Mid-Atlantic states. Even people in countries known for their progressive childcare policies, like in Scandinavia, have asked about opening Haven locations. For now, Riley envisions parents one day being able to travel with their children and work from Havens around the world. “It’s such a beneficial way of looking at childcare as whole family care,” says Conley. “Rather than parents in this rat race, trying to figure out schedules and hours and payments.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. Back-to-school season used to mean loading up on fresh pencils and notebooks. More often now, though, it means loading up on new tech. (Although, you can still buy pencils and notebooks and probably should.) Just as you've started getting your class materials through e-book downloads and begun integrating apps into your studies, you should be leveling up your academic tools, too, to meet modern standards and make your time more productive. There are a ton of great devices out there right now to help you study and manage your scholastic life, but it’s hard to know where to start. Here’s what I recommend. Tools for studying and working in classFirst up, the tools you should be bringing with you when you're working in class or otherwise on the go. When you need to listen, be engaged, or take notes, you should be able to do so seamlessly. A keyboard cover to stop coffee, crumbs, and dust from gunking up your computer. All it takes is one accident while you’re cramming for a test to throw off your whole week. Make sure to get one that is designed for your exact keyboard. For instance, if you use a MacBook Pro, try this one for $12.95. I picked one of these up after I got a new MacBook when I started grad school and even though it took some time to adjust to the feeling of typing on a big piece of rubber, it made cleaning my keyboard so much easier for me. Every time I cleaned it, stains, crumbs, and dust came off—which made me consider that if it hadn't been there, they would have been lodged in my keys. A laptop cooling pad for when you’re doing heavy work back to back to back. Laptop coolers can help keep your computer from overheating, so you can spend all day doing work without worrying about it getting too hot. This Ice Coorel version ($17.98) has six-inch fans and is suitable for laptops between 14 and 16 inches, plus it’s collapsible, so you can take it on the go. Another benefit? It props your computer up slightly so you don't need to hunch over as much, aiding your posture and keeping you more comfortable. Ice Coorel Laptop Cooling Pad $17.98 at Amazon $19.99 Save $2.01 Learn More Learn More $17.98 at Amazon $19.99 Save $2.01 An e-reader tablet to read your textbooks and take quick notes. You can get a refurbished, older version of the Amazon Fire 7 for about $64. If you have a preferred notes or organizational app—like my fav, Notion—opt for an iPad instead, so you can use the app on there. Not sure which version to pick? Start here. Once you've picked, grab a stylus pen for $10 so you can scribble notes, make mind maps, draw diagrams, or do whatever else makes you retain your materials better. A portable laptop charger so your computer never dies in class. The charm of old classrooms at big universities wears off instantly the minute you get to a lecture hall and realize all the seats by the precious few outlets are taken, if there are even an outlets at all. Whether you’re in the library, in class, in the cafeteria, or on the go, a portable laptop charger, like the ZeroKor power bank ($53), is going to save you a lot of headaches. Tools for studying and working on your ownStudying in your dorm or living space is an unavoidable task made maddening by the existence of other people, who can be noisy or have no respect for your stuff. In addition to the following gadgets, I recommend you familiarize yourself with some study techniques you can use alongside them. Sleeping headphones to block out noise. These comfy wireless headbands are designed to block noise out and funnel the sounds you want—be it music or white noise—directly into your ears. They’re perfect for sleeping or studying, since they are soft and close-fitting, meaning you won’t get a headache and they’re easy to carry around. Try the Musicozy sleep headphones ($17), for example. Whenever you're working, but especially when you're studying, you want to be distraction-free and in a state of what's known as "deep work." Blocking out the world around you is a good first step, but you should also consider following the Pomodoro technique, which asks you to work uninterrupted in 25-minute increments interspersed with five-minute breaks. Gadgets shouldn't replace old-school mindsets or techniques, but they can enhance them. A Pomodoro timer Speaking of good old Pomodoro, you can pick up a specialty timer for under $20 that will sit on your desk and keep track of your focus sessions for you. You might think that's a silly gadget to buy, since your phone certainly has a built-in timer feature, but your phone is also full of all the distractions you're trying to avoid when you're engaging in deep work, so it's best to stay away from it if it's too tempting. On the other hand, you can download a Pomodoro app that will not only provide you with a timer, but block all your distracting apps while it's running, which is the best of both worlds. My favorite is FocusPomo. A second laptop screen so you can see and do more. A portable monitor is helpful when you have to look at references to complete work and don’t want to be switching between tabs or minimizing all your windows to see everything at once. They come at different price points, so you don’t have to break the bank: Koorui sells a portable 15.6-inch monitor for $80. I had a setup like this at my old job, where I had three screens that stretched across my desk. I can't tell you how much more productive I was when I didn't have to shift and minimize windows constantly and could just glance at another screen to see the reference materials for what I was working on on the main one. Portable Monitor, 15.6" and 1080P FHD $79.99 at Amazon $95.99 Save $16.00 Learn More Learn More $79.99 at Amazon $95.99 Save $16.00 A desk-mounted power strip so you’re never fighting anyone for an outlet. Your phone, tablet, computer, and countless other pieces of tech all need to be charged, so you should have outlets at your desk to keep them all in one place. The Emerising power strip ($30) has four USB ports and three AC outlets to juice it all, right on your desk. Another option that has served me well at home, at school, and at work is the humble multicharger. I've long used the STM Charge Tree ($64), which can charge an Apple Watch, Airpods, and iPhone simultaneously, folds up for easy transportation, and only needs access to one outlet. A lock to protect your tech so no one else uses it. Ever had a roommate who takes your stuff all the time? Pick up a combination lock that attaches to the smooth surfaces of your tech to keep them where you want them, even when you’re not around. Try the CaLeQi security lock ($10). A lap desk so you can work wherever you want. A lap desk saves my back from destruction since I just won't give up the habit of working anywhere but an ergonomic desk. The lap desk I prefer is just $30 and has a holder for your tablet, USB charging docks, a little drawer for accessories, and a cup holder for your coffee. Foldable Laptop Desk $29.99 at Amazon Learn More Learn More $29.99 at Amazon A monitor clip so you can see your notes while you work. It’s a small annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but glancing down at your paper notes while you work is tedious, so eliminate the issue with the Kensington Flex Clip copyholder ($14), which attaches to your laptop monitor and holds your documents at eye level. And if you haven't taken handwritten notes in a long time and can't imagine why this is on the list, let me explain: Handwriting your notes actually helps you remember them better. Gadgets, tech, and apps are all crucial to modern-day learning, but mixing in some of the old-style tricks every now and then can be helpful, too. View the full article

The Gaza Riviera plan is off the table and a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine is backView the full article

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday. When Mary Beth Laughton became president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) earlier this year, she inherited an organization with a rich heritage: REI was founded in 1938 by Lloyd and Mary Anderson, who joined some fellow outdoor enthusiast friends to buy ice axes that were only available in Europe at the time. Since then, REI has retained its status as a cooperative (co-op)—a $30 lifetime membership fee unlocks member rewards, discounts, and free standard shipping—and now boasts 25 million lifetime members, 195 stores, and 14,000 employees. Laughton came into a company that was losing money and ceding ground to competitors. REI reported a net loss of $156.4 million in 2024; revenue fell 6.2% to $3.53 billion. To reverse the slide and position the brand to become “the most trusted retailer for people who love the outdoors,” Laughton last week unveiled a multi-year strategic plan that aims to leverage REI’s strengths while improving retail and membership experiences. She spoke exclusively with Modern CEO about the plan. Evolve, evaluate, elevate, engage “It’s not about necessarily reinventing the co-op,” she says of the strategy. “It’s about unleashing these assets that we already have and make us unique. But the reality is that we need to drive profit so that we can reinvest in communities and employees and back into the business.” The plan calls for REI to evolve its culture, evaluate its inventory to make sure stores are stocked with a comprehensive and current product assortment, elevate its customer service and experience, and engage members. “We’re talking about being a more connected, focused, and trailblazing culture,” she says, putting customers at the center, doing fewer but more high-impact projects, and moving faster. She adds: “If we don’t get the culture right, the rest of the strategic pillars aren’t going to matter.” Differentiating the REI experience To combat competition from big-box retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, e-commerce giant Amazon, and newer brands with their own stores such as Cotopaxi, Laughton and her team are focused on differentiating the REI shopping experience. They are doing so with products that appeal to casual and expert outdoorspeople alike, while tapping into the knowledge and insights of REI’s 9,000 retail employees, known as “Green Vests” in a nod to the uniform they wear. “They have a lot of passion for the outdoors; they can offer a lot of guidance and expertise,” she says. She’s also looking for ways to “bring the Green Vest online”—weave expert advice throughout the online shopping experience. Those Green Vests also have their own expectations of REI. Employees at 11 stores have voted to unionize, an effort that began in 2020 amid concerns about worker safety during the pandemic. Earlier this year, REI and the unions that represent the workers reached an agreement that paves the way for contract negotiations. “We’re showing that we want to make progress, and we’re working collaboratively to get there,” Laughton says. New vision, solid roots Laughton is well positioned to help REI get crisp on the fundamentals of retail and online shopping. Before joining the co-op, she ran Nike’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) business globally, which included its more than 6,000 stores, e-commerce site, and more (she spent nearly a decade at the footwear and apparel giant earlier in her career). Before Nike, she was president and CEO of Athleta, spent more than eight years at Sephora, and got her career start as a McKinsey & Company consultant. In the same way that Athleta expanded its customer base with workout gear in a range of sizes, as well as styles suitable for wear outside the gym or yoga studio, Laughton sees an opportunity to make sure REI is stocked with items that make people feel comfortable and stylish while hiking or skiing. “We have a thousand brands, and we can mix and match and outfit people in a way that they actually want to dress for the outdoors,” she says. But don’t expect the co-op to stray too far from its roots. “We want to be on-trend, but we also want to make sure that we’re not trendy,” she says. “Because that’s not REI.” Fine-tune your search results Modern CEO is proud to publish on Fast Company and Inc. on Monday mornings. If you like what you’re reading, please consider customizing your Google searches so that these outlets appear more frequently as “top stories” when you search relevant topics. You may add Inc. as a source preference by clicking here, and click here to add Fast Company as a preferred source. Read more: gearing up Patagonia’s founder never wanted to be a billionaire, so he did something about it Cotopaxi’s CEO won’t abandon color in her quest to compete with Patagonia Arc’teryx built an exoskeleton. Here’s what it’s like to walk in it View the full article

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Delivering feedback as a leader can feel challenging, but with the right training and awareness, you can set yourself up for success. In this article, industry leaders share the common mistakes they’ve observed and practical tips that can help you communicate feedback more effectively and constructively to foster a more productive work environment. Focus on Behavior, Not Character When feedback judges the individual—and not the action—a poor outcome is almost guaranteed. “You’re not a team player” is an example of feedback that makes an assertion about a person’s character. The receiver of this feedback is likely to experience a “fight, flight, or freeze” response because the feedback conversation has just become deeply personal. As a result, the feedback will not be heard by the receiver and therefore misses the opportunity to promote learning, growth, or improvement. Moreover, the leader has lost trust and credibility with the receiver when a different approach could have strengthened the relationship. Conversely, when feedback focuses on the observable behavior and the impact of that behavior—and not the individual’s character, personality, or worth—the conversation looks and feels different. For example: “In today’s meeting, you talked over your colleagues on three separate occasions,” gives the receiver the context for the feedback and the observable behavior. “The effect was that half of the team stopped participating, which means we’re missing their input and we aren’t creating the conditions for our best work,” describes the impact of that behavior on the organization. When the feedback is behavior-focused, the receiver is better positioned to stay open to the message and is more likely to understand how to change their behavior in the future. Nancy McGuire Choi, Chief Operating Officer, The Nebo Company Use the ‘SBI-A’ Model for Effective Feedback Delivering difficult feedback is one of the most common skills we are brought in to teach leaders. A common mistake I see leaders make when delivering feedback is relying on the outdated “sandwich method” where they wrap constructive criticism between two pieces of praise. While it might feel kinder, in practice it often backfires. Unskilled leaders end up glazing over the constructive feedback and confusing people about the real message, making it seem like the issue isn’t a big deal. A far more effective strategy is the SBI-A model: Situation, Behavior, Impact, Alternative. Start by describing the situation and the specific behavior you observed. Do not assume you know their intention. Then, explain the impact of that behavior on the team, the work, or the organization. You may offer them a chance to explain their intention. Finally, offer an alternative for how the situation could be approached differently in the future. SBI-A Example: Situation: “In yesterday’s team meeting . . .” Behavior: “. . . you interrupted two colleagues before they finished sharing their points.” Impact: “When that happened, others shut down and we lost potentially valuable contributions.” Alternative: “Next time, please try to pause and let others finish before jumping in with your perspective.” This method keeps feedback specific, actionable, and free from mixed messages. Bailey Parnell, Founder & CEO, SkillsCamp Adopt Data-Driven Framework to Externalize Feedback The most damaging mistake leaders make when delivering feedback is emotional transference. This happens when the leader, feeling anxious or uncomfortable about the potential for conflict, unconsciously makes the feedback about their own feelings rather than the employee’s growth. Instead of a calm, objective conversation, it becomes an emotional event where the employee is forced to manage not only the feedback but also the leader’s discomfort. The focus shifts from the employee’s behavior to the leader’s emotional state, which immediately triggers defensiveness and erodes trust while eliciting in many cases an emotional response from the employee. The most practical tip to avoid this is to adopt a simple, data-driven framework that externalizes the feedback, making it objective and actionable. One way to think about this is, “Beyond the emotions, you are okay, don’t shrink from action.” I also recommend the SBI-A Model to help with this. Ultimately, this structure allows a leader to live the principle that clarity is kindness. By providing a clear, factual account of the situation, the behavior, and its impact, you give your employee the gift of awareness and a clear choice about the impact they want to create going forward. You owe that to your people, to lead. Beverly Flores, Founder & CEO, Thyme Out Consulting Balance Empathy and Directness in Feedback A common pitfall when providing feedback is failing to strike a balance between being empathetic and direct. To address this issue, I’ve adopted the radical candor approach, which has now become integral to my company’s culture. It helps find the middle ground between ignoring people’s feelings, which only strengthens misunderstandings, and being overly concerned about the emotional side, which may prevent one from actually communicating change and creating an environment for growth. We have an internal saying that reflects our culture: every team member can take any feedback but strives to provide the best possible. In this equation, “the best possible” stands for honest, detailed, and thoughtful feedback, and should not, in any case, be mistaken for merely pleasant enough to avoid conflict. The game changer for any leader is also being ready to ask for and receive feedback before giving it to the team. Such a first step boosts trust and maximizes the value of any input that follows. This approach also contributes to a leader-leader model, empowering everyone, regardless of their role, to contribute ideas, drive innovation, learn from mistakes, take 100% responsibility for the results, and choose an “intend to” perspective instead of waiting for instructions. Anton Pavlovsky, Founder and CEO, Headway Inc Allow Time for Reflection Before Correction The greatest feedback mistake that leaders make is addressing issues on the spot rather than hearing the person out first during emotional moments. When a caregiver commits a mistake, healthcare managers tend to move directly to corrective action, which leads to defensiveness that inhibits learning. Military aviation led me to understand that debriefing is more effective than on-the-job correction since individuals require time to digest what occurred before they can internalize instructions. The best way to provide feedback is by requesting the individual to discuss their thought process before you give them your observations. When a nurse makes a wrong decision when prescribing medication, the prompt, “Walk me through your decision-making,” will help identify a lack of knowledge, system malfunction, or external factors. This approach has helped us retain 34% more of our staff in 18 months since employees feel that they are heard and not judged. Stephen Huber, President and Founder, Home Care Providers Address One Issue at a Time The most frequent fault that I commit as a leader is that I often present feedback in the form of a performance audit rather than a conversation. I will sit down with someone and lay out a laundry list of problems, throwing everything out there simultaneously regardless of the context or time. I learned this lesson the hard way at the beginning of my career with a junior developer who failed to meet project deadlines. Rather than addressing the pattern in the moment, I accumulated all the missed deadlines to review during our monthly check-in. Both of us got bogged down in the conversation, and nothing fruitful was achieved. My practical trick: The rule of one thing. Identify which single issue is the most significant and should be addressed, then talk about it within 48 hours of realizing it happened. Do not use the feedback sandwich technique. Here is what works: “I observed that the API documentation for the client project was three days late. Can you explain to me how that happened so that we can avoid this in the future?” Then be quiet and listen. This short-term intensive approach has reshaped my team’s response to directions. The reality is that people actually make changes because they are not overwhelmed by several areas of improvement in parallel. The discussion is not controlling, and each problem is solved before it escalates to more serious issues. Rahul Jaiswal, Project Manager, Geeks Programming Transform Feedback into Two-Way Conversations One common mistake I see leaders make is treating feedback as a one-time “download” instead of a two-way conversation. Sometimes leaders deliver feedback as a type of verdict, something they need to get through quickly, versus an opportunity to build trust, alignment, and growth. If the leader’s feedback feels transactional, the employee’s curiosity and motivation shut down, which makes their morale plummet. A practical tip: Shift from “performance policing” to “partnership.” Instead of telling someone what they did wrong, frame feedback as a two-way exploration. “Here’s what I noticed. How did it feel from your side?” This simple shift transforms feedback into a two-way conversation that helps the other person feel seen and engaged in cocreating the path forward. It builds trust, alignment, and growth, and increases performance, morale, and retention. Anu Mandapati, CEO, Qultured Connect Feedback to Future Growth One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is delivering feedback without pointing to the real issue and without connecting that issue to the future. Too often, feedback gets stuck in the past, focused on what went wrong as opposed to being framed as an act of service to help someone grow. Leaders may avoid conflict, downplay their message, or fail to highlight the one key behavior that needs to change to drive progress. However, people care about their growth, their development, and their impact. That’s why effective feedback must be more than vague commentary. It should be grounded in direct observation, placed in context, and connected to future outcomes. Done well, feedback answers three questions for the person receiving it: Why does this matter? Why should I care? And how will this help me develop? When leaders approach feedback this way, they transform it from a judgment about the past into a catalyst for growth and impact. Dr. Isabel Bilotta, Director, People & Performance, Deutser Provide Clear Accountability in Feedback A big mistake that I see leaders make, including myself, is providing feedback without accountability. Let’s say a direct report comes to you to tell you that they’ve completed a particular task, you have a look, and see that there are problems. Maybe those problems can be regarded as errors, or maybe you’ve seen what they’ve accomplished, love it, and want them to continue. Doesn’t matter. When providing feedback or other guidance, a good leader makes sure to include the who, what, and when. Who should do the work? What should that work entail? And when should it be completed? The “who” when you’re meeting with someone one-on-one is usually evident, but not always. Some leaders have a habit of speaking very passively and use language like, “We should be sure to do X, Y, and Z,” without clarifying who “we” is. Simple fix: change “we” to “you.” The “what” is usually pretty well-defined, too, but not always. A manager who says, “I’d like to see improvement in how you do X,” should be more specific. Better to say, “I’m glad that you’re making 40 sales calls a week, but I need that to be 60.” The “when” is very often forgotten. To the manager, it might seem obvious: as soon as practicable or even possible. But that begs the question of what is practicable or even possible. Prioritization is something that the manager should better understand than the direct report, as the manager should better understand how the work fits into the overall picture. “I’d like you to be making 60 sales calls a week by the end of this month,” is a good approach. Steven Rothberg, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, College Recruiter Apply ‘Theory of Mind’ in Feedback One mistake leaders often make when delivering feedback is failing to apply Theory of Mind—the capacity to discern and interpret others’ mental states, including beliefs, intentions, emotions, and desires. ToM helps leaders anticipate how recipients will interpret feedback and their emotional responses, influencing whether they actually “receive” it or reject it. Most of us have likely been in a situation where our supervisor gave feedback that felt one-sided, cold, and devoid of any indication that they took even a moment to consider our perspectives. When this happens, we typically question the legitimacy of the communication. Leaders and those entrusted in their care co-construct meanings during feedback conversations. These conversations should be co-constructed dialogues, not one-way communications that violate relational trust. Applying ToM is critical to maintaining positive relationships and momentum toward goal achievement. I recommend that leaders conduct a “Mental Model Check” before engaging in feedback discussions. They should pause and ask themselves: “What is the goal of my feedback?” “What, specifically, am I hoping to achieve through this conversation?” “How will this serve the person?” “What might be influencing this person’s current capacity to receive feedback (e.g., stress levels, recent events, workload)?” After establishing their intentions and how the feedback will support the person receiving it, leaders should further reflect: “What is this person probably feeling and thinking about [insert the feedback topic]?” “What do I know about how they take in and process information?” “What do they need from me to trust that I intend to help them?” “What must I do to adapt my communication to their preferences?” After considering these aspects, leaders should open the conversation with an invitation to dialogue that frames the person as an equal participant. They might try something like, “Help me see your perspective on [situation]. I want to gain a better understanding of your point of view. What did you have in mind when [specific incident] happened?” Thinking through these kinds of questions stretches one’s empathy and forces leaders to imagine the other person’s thoughts and emotions before presenting their own view. This approach can go a long way in preventing misunderstandings and strengthening trust in working relationships. Sandra Buatti-Ramos, Founder, Hyphen Innovation Avoid Humor When Delivering Feedback Even though it is well-intentioned, trying to ease tension or make the conversation less awkward usually backfires. When feedback is wrapped in jokes, employees often leave the conversation uncertain about whether the concerns raised were genuine or just casual banter. This ambiguity can lead them to question if their work or mistakes are being taken seriously, ultimately eroding trust. In some instances, what the leader intends as lighthearted can actually come across as dismissive or demeaning. A more effective approach is straightforward, respectful communication. I recommend focusing feedback on specific behaviors and their outcomes, completely avoiding jokes or sarcasm. Rather than saying with a chuckle, “Well, that report was a bit of a disaster,” try: “The report contained several errors that created confusion for the client. Let’s discuss how to prevent this in the future.” This delivers feedback that is constructive, actionable, and clearly communicates the seriousness of the matter. In my experience, employees consistently respond better to honest, respectful feedback than to humor that obscures the essential message. Dimi Baitanciuc, Co-Founder & CEO, Brizy.io Request Specific Feedback for Improvement “Grow through feedback” is one of our company values, and we truly stand by it! We rely on feedback to build trust, hold each other accountable, and improve our work. We also encourage all teammates (especially managers and leaders) to develop a habit of regularly giving and asking for specific 360-degree feedback, both strengths (glows) and areas for improvement (grows). One common mistake I’ve seen leaders make is not being specific enough in their feedback requests. It’s challenging to provide meaningful input when the request is too broad: “Do you have any feedback about my work in the last quarter?” or, “Here’s a document; let me know what you think.” It’s much easier to respond to a focused prompt. For example: “From your perspective, what went well and what could have been improved about my planning and execution of our GTM Hackathon?” Or: “Do you think the questions I highlighted in yellow will drive a healthy debate between RevOps and Data on ownership?” Specificity makes the feedback process far more productive. The practical tip: be specific, consistent, and timely. Feedback doesn’t have to be lengthy or intense. Simply acknowledge the behavior and its impact, then follow up with a question or request. These quick moments of feedback, given regularly, build trust and foster a culture of continuous improvement. Over time, both leaders and their teams grow stronger because feedback becomes not a rare event, but a normal part of how you work together. Julianna Kobs, Executive Business Partner, Zapier Tailor Feedback to Project Stage One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen leaders make is giving feedback that isn’t appropriate to the stage of the project. Feedback during the brainstorming phase should look very different from feedback given on a project that is mid-stage or near completion. To be constructive, leaders need to understand the timelines their team members are working under. A team member might be juggling multiple deadlines, coordinating efforts with others, or navigating variables outside their control. For example, feedback suggesting a major overhaul should take into account the time and opportunity cost involved, particularly if the person is accountable to other stakeholders. On the other hand, feedback that is overly narrow or prescriptive when a project still needs big-picture direction can be just as unhelpful. Surface-level details may be the first things to stand out, but effective leaders know how to prioritize feedback that drives progress at the right stage. Effective feedback should be calibrated to the project’s context and framed as clear, specific, and actionable next steps. Luke Marsh, CMO, Innago Encourage Honest Feedback for Team Success I once asked our customer service team lead to share feedback on the manager. The manager was a recent hire, while the team leader had been with us for more than three years. She decided to be kind and didn’t give the objective truth. The manager’s performance deteriorated, which negatively affected team morale. We received more requests for paid time off and mental health days. We were forced to hire part-time workers to meet deadlines, incurring an extra expense. Employees were clashing with each other, and we only learned about this during the team lead’s exit interview. She shared the objective comments on the manager that she would have given months ago. It is okay to want to be kind and have your coworkers’ backs. However, when we ask for feedback, we are not asking for it as a form of punishment. We want to know areas that need our attention, training, or improvement to enhance our services and team spirit. Jacky Fischer, CEO, 3 Men Movers View the full article

Here are two high-level truths essential to understanding the present and future of robotics. First, we want robots to work for us. Second, when it comes to work, humans have three historical blueprints for recruiting labor: animals, through the process of domestication; other humans, through employment, but also subjugation and outright enslavement; and machines, through the development of physical systems for performing actions. Why does this matter to understanding the present and future of robotics? While we’ve created an astonishing diversity of machines in the broadest sense, those first two blueprints for recruited labor—animals and other humans—have so far dominated our conception of robots. Today our most celebrated robots, all of them marvels of design and engineering, are machine evolutions of animals and other humans. You can see the echoes of those same dogs and draft animals we recruited as labor thousands of years ago in this dog and this dog, another dog, and this mule. And you can see our adoration of humanoid robots in Agility Robotics’ Digit, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, Tesla’s Optimus, and Unitree’s G1. There are straightforward reasons for this. First, as a species we’ve done a lot of work designing the world for us and our animal helpers, so it makes sense to design robots resembling ourselves and those animals for work in those spaces. As an example, this humanoid robot from Under Control Robotics is designed to work alongside humans in human workplaces such as warehouses and construction sites, a machine enhancement of human-like capabilities. Second, we have an innate tendency in our psychology toward anthropomorphism. Our brains are hardwired through evolutionary adaptation to discern complex social signals. A major reverberation of this adaptation is that we tend to anthropomorphize the stuff around us, affixing human characteristics to non-human things. It’s why we have trains with faces in Thomas & Friends and why Star Wars’ C-3PO—a machine—is anxious and chatty. It’s also why many people name their cars and Roomba vacuum cleaners. The pivot Here’s the pivot ahead, though: there are important spaces in our future that aren’t designed for us. Anthropomorphized animal- and human-like robots are designed to replicate human and animal capabilities, but those capabilities are based on physiologies that don’t have the same advantages for work in outer space, in oceans, on the blades of wind turbines, or inside volcanoes. While nature certainly has many highly specialized adaptations, the physiologies of humans and animals are simply not made for maneuvering inside gas and water pipes; they can’t be dropped from aircraft without parachutes or thrown into battlefields; they aren’t well-suited for fighting lithium battery fires inside a landfill. Humanoid and animal-inspired robots also tend to be complex, power-hungry, and expensive—unhelpful traits for the scale of work we’ll need them to do. For these kinds of work, our future needs weird robots. This means radically self-reliant robots with unconventional form factors designed to work in extreme environments. Here are three speculative, weird robots we’ll need in the near future. Space Ball Multiple companies are currently building low-Earth orbit space stations that will continue human presence in space beyond the International Space Station’s planned decommissioning in 2030. A big promise of these commercial endeavors is the opportunity to conduct science experiments in space for industries developing advanced materials, medicine, and other technologies. Tending to these experiments where there’s no air or atmosphere will require robotic form factors capable of maneuvering in zero gravity and operating in temperatures that fluctuate between negative 85° Fahrenheit and 257° Fahrenheit. What might that look like? A spherical robot, applying electrostatic forces to affix itself to surfaces, with a dexterous array of pivoting grippers, sensors, and cameras that emerge when it’s not rolling from one spot to another. Here on earth, this same kind of robot might someday help search and rescue teams conduct reconnaissance by rolling across steep and rugged terrain in any kind of weather and at night—conditions in which it’s not safe for human and canine teams to work. Seabed Seeder Seagrass meadows, which are highly effective “blue carbon” sinks, also play outsized roles in protecting coastlines from storm surges, improving water quality, and nurturing commercial fish stocks. Those roles will only grow in importance as we work to mitigate the effects of climate change. Globally, we’ve already lost nearly 30% of seagrass meadows and we’re currently losing about 7% each year. Reversing that through restoration will require planting roughly two football fields of seagrass every hour. Planting native seagrass, while also removing invasive seagrass species, will require robots capable of working across underwater terrain in dynamic currents for long periods of time. What might that look like? An aquatic planter with independently sensing legs, topped with a helix-like underwater turbine to self-generate power from the currents. This same kind of robot might eventually patrol urban waterways, removing trash and plastic waste before it can reach our oceans. Bridge Blob There are more than 600,000 bridges in the United States and approximately a third of them are designated “structurally deficient” as of 2024. Those bridges are crossed by 168.5 million motorists every day. At the present rate of repair, it’ll take more than 50 years to fix these bridges, so we’re going to need a lot of help. While the bulk of research into particle-armored liquid robots is focused on biomedical applications, their unique properties—capable of navigating tiny fissures in concrete and other materials, enduring harsh conditions, and yet deformable—means they could eventually be used with bridges to inspect, apply coatings, and remove contaminants. What might that look like? Thousands of tiny armored blobs working mostly unseen to help bridges and other big infrastructure self-heal. Farther into the future, this same kind of robot might continuously clean your home’s roof, windows, and siding, working year-round to remove moss, algae, and dirt—no ladders required. View the full article

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Despite being one of the most celebrated and influential architects of all time, Frank Lloyd Wright has never had what may be one of the top indicators of cultural importance: a Hollywood biopic. That may soon change, as the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has recently struck a licensing deal with Hollywood production company Galisteo Media to bring Wright’s story to the big screen as a movie. “He was the greatest American architect. He was incredibly ambitious and headstrong and visionary. He also was a flawed person, and his life was filled with triumph and tragedy,” says Rob Rosenheck, cofounder of Galisteo Media. “This is a big gap in American popular culture that we don’t have a feature film about Frank Lloyd Wright.” Galisteo’s deal focuses on the 1920s, a period in Wright’s life when he relocated to Los Angeles and embarked on a series of innovative residential designs. Designed using novel textured concrete blocks, these homes came to be known as Mayan revival architecture and launched a nationwide trend throughout the ’20s and ’30s. This was also a turning point in the life of Wright, who died in 1959 at the age of 91. Wright had gone West in his early 50s in the wake of the devastating 1914 tragedy in which his mistress and six other people were murdered in Wright’s Wisconsin home, Taliesin. “The murders at Taliesin are a critical moment in Wright’s path,” says Rosenheck. “They’re an essential part of the story, and they are the inciting incident that propels him toward coming to Los Angeles.” Wright’s time in L.A. was transformative, leading to a reinvention of his approach to architecture that resulted in some of his most famous work, from the Mayan revival homes to the Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater. Rosenheck and Gailsteo Media cofounder Cindy Capobianco are intimately familiar with Wright’s works from this era. Since 2019, they’ve owned and lived in the Ennis House, a Wright-designed private residence from 1924 located in the Loz Feliz area of Los Angeles. Known for its appearance in the film Blade Runner, it was one of the four textile block homes Wright built in the Los Angeles area during this period. When Rosenheck and Capobianco bought the house from billionaire Ron Burkle for $18 million, it was the highest price ever paid for a Wright-designed residence. And the house had some baggage. Its concrete block construction method, while innovative in the early 1920s, was prone to structural decay, especially after sustaining significant damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. Rosenheck and Capobianco, founders of Lord Jones, an early cannabis company that helped establish the market for cannabis and CBD-infused health and wellness products, had the means to keep the historic house in good shape. The couple also has experience in the film industry. Their production company was behind Lover of Men, a 2024 documentary film exploring Abraham Lincoln’s romantic relationships with men. Living in a Wright house and learning more about his life and work, they were surprised to realize there had never been a feature film about him. “It just was natural for us to think about producing a film about the life and work of Frank Lloyd Wright,” says Rosenheck. As stewards of the Ennis House, Rosenheck and Capobianco have an ongoing relationship with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. They began talks about a potential licensing deal last year. In July, the two groups announced that they’d reached a deal for Galisteo to have exclusive rights to produce content about Wright’s life, focusing on the period of his life in Los Angeles. Galisteo declined to share details on the financial terms of the deal. “Engaging in new media is not only beneficial in terms of shining a light and making people aware of Wright and his significance, and really ongoing contributions to architecture and the built environment. But it’s also resonant with Wright himself. He was a person that engaged robustly with media,” says Joseph Specter, CEO and president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. That ethos is behind other partnerships the foundation has made in recent years. The organization has made a varied range of licensing deals celebrating and expanding the work of Wright, collaborating with brands including Airstream, Steelcase, and New Balance. Specter says this is the first licensing deal focused specifically on storytelling. “The similarities between those licensing deals and a project like this are about creating awareness, excitement, and deeper understanding about who he was, and how his work even affects our lives today,” says Specter. A former professional opera singer who ran the Arizona Opera for a decade before joining the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation earlier this year, Specter says he is not nervous about handing Wright’s life story to filmmakers. “What I found most exciting about that work was to empower people who were creators, directors, designers, choreographers, and ultimately performers to do their best work,” he says. Rosenheck says Galisteo has developed a treatment for a feature film about Wright and he has been meeting with writers, directors, and actors to try to find the right collaborators for a project. He’s optimistic a film could be in the works soon, as well as other projects, from TV series to podcasts. “Everyone’s aware of Frank Lloyd Wright. Everyone’s aware that this story has not yet been told, and it’s been on people’s wish lists,” he says. “Every time we talk to an actor or a director or a writer, everybody has a vision for it, everybody has passion for it. And everybody understands the stakes that are involved in getting the story right.” View the full article

Experience sharpens judgment, boosts productivity, and teaches lessons that only come from years on the job. Yet, despite its value, companies continue to undervalue those with the most experience to offer. Employers have spent the past decade championing inclusivity. Yet, our latest survey of 1,000 Americans over 50 by DateMyAge found that 73% of over-50s feel treated as if their best years are already behind them, and 62% believe that employers have written them off professionally. Ageism isn’t just a workplace issue. It’s a cultural one. We wanted to explore it more deeply to challenge the idea that life and ambition have an expiration date. Age bias, sometimes subtle but often not, presents a stubborn barrier for those in midlife. Companies ask questions about retirement plans rather than career goals, neglect to provide learning and training opportunities, and quietly exclude them from office social events. It’s no wonder loneliness, depression, and low self-worth are rampant among older workers. Bias is discouraging, but you cannot let it bring your career to a sudden halt. Talent doesn’t have an expiration date. If you want to prove it, you need to maintain business as usual. That means growing, contributing, and delivering value. You need to show that age is just a number. Maintain your worth The older you get, the more people assume you’ve fallen behind. The best way to challenge this assumption is to be the person who knows everything. That means anticipating competitor moves, industry trends, and regulatory changes before they hit the headlines. And don’t let your title confine you. Job descriptions don’t stay static, and neither should you. Look at what’s leading change in your industry—whether that’s artificial intelligence, sustainability, geopolitics, or something else—and identify the skills and knowledge that will deliver the most value to your employer. Not only does this keep you relevant, but it also rebrands you as someone who adapts, innovates, and grows, regardless of age. Interestingly, a study published in Experimental Aging Research shows that while the workplace is rife with implicit age bias, explicit bias is far less common. This suggests that these attitudes are unconscious, and those who display unconscious bias are often far more open to working on it. When you demonstrate that your knowledge is sharper than ever (and that you’re committed to evolving your skills), you leave little room for the assumption that you’re past your prime. You will likely find that your colleagues’ perceptions will shift quickly. Deliver business-critical value The reality is, nearly all older workers have their professional development stunted by ageism. And, sadly, I’ve seen too many senior professionals fall into the trap of setting learning aside and accepting their time is near, which only fuels the belief that they’re coasting towards retirement. But instead of accepting ageism as fate, you should use it as motivation. Be the one pushing for training opportunities, designing new processes, piloting new technology, and calling for collaboration across departments. When you’re visibly driving progress, you’re making an impact that’s hard to discredit, especially when it delivers business-critical value. Whether it’s growing revenue, cutting costs, or increasing market share, focus on delivering measurable impact. Even a modest process improvement could save your employer millions, and value speaks louder than stereotypes. If the numbers are positive, nobody will question how old you are. They’ll be asking what more you can deliver. Shape your company’s future Getting involved in projects that will shape the company over the next decade isn’t just a way to stay busy; it’s a way to stay relevant. Whether that’s market expansions, transformation initiatives, or sustainability programs, these are high-impact areas where your experience can make a measurable difference. And when you’re actively involved in building the future, nobody can question whether you’re stuck in the past. Mentorship is another way to provide value that only employees with years of experience can offer. In exchange, by connecting with colleagues across generations, you gain insight into emerging trends, evolving tools, and fresh perspectives, which creates an opportunity for everyone to learn and grow. And with a clear view of the up-and-coming talent, you can take ownership of planning for your exit. Retirement is inevitable, but it should be on your own terms. Rather than waiting for management to make the call about your future, be proactive in guiding and developing your eventual replacement. Doing so demonstrates that you don’t intend on sticking around past your time, but that your mind is still firmly focused on fulfilling your duties, rather than planning for your future away from the workplace. Overcoming age bias requires hard work In an ideal world, age bias would have no place in the office. Unfortunately, that isn’t reality, but you cannot let bias dictate your path. If you slow down, step aside, and stop trying, you’re unfortunately only confirming the assumptions others have made about you. The best approach is to pull up your socks, show your resilience, and get to work. Every time you take on a high-value project, teach a younger colleague something new, and contribute positively to the balance sheet, you’re sending a clear message: Age is no measure of ability. View the full article