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Fed chair nominee Kevin Warsh will lack ‘credibility’ in arguing rates should fall, says former Treasury secretaryView the full article

YOU can have an amazing business plan and strategy, but if there are issues with recruiting and keeping your people, your strategy will fail. Finding the right people and incorporating essential elements so that they will stay, are key to managing your organization’s greatest asset — your people. It starts with hiring for fit. Let’s say, hypothetically, that you could have two companies in the same industry in adjacent buildings. They may have very similar business models and customer bases; however, the two owners have very different values and personal philosophies — which lead to very different cultures and, therefore, very different strategies and plans. The target candidates for each company will be very different given the values and cultural differences. The way candidates are sourced, hired, trained, deployed, engaged, and evaluated might be very different. I know of two competing companies in which one has a strict uniform policy, and the other doesn’t. Can you see how that would affect everything? Looking back at my career, I can remember working for companies where I didn’t fit in. I can also recall places where I felt fully engaged. From a talent management perspective, it’s necessary to clearly define — and relay as early in the recruiting process as possible — what it means to “fit in” with your company. Strategies and plans can then be formulated to increase the company’s chances of attracting and hiring the candidates that fit that definition. Some organizations think that fitting in somehow happens by chance. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you successfully define the criteria and apply it in the selection process, employee retention will go up. As a result, all the associated time, effort, and costs of employee turnover will evaporate. This is how you begin to build your amazing culture based on sincerity and integrity. One way to define the culture fit for your organization is to ask employees their top three reasons why they work here. In one organization where we asked the question of the employees, one word, “community,” came up in every response even though they hadn’t discussed the assignment with each other. We then crafted an employer brand with the word “community” as the centerpiece. From the top to the bottom of the organization, everyone agreed that the employer brand was them. From that point forward, candidates could review the employer brand and know whether they’d fit in. If not, they knew not to bother applying. Aligning the 7 Elements for Success From my years of experience, I’ve identified seven elements associated with exceptional talent management: plan, attract, invest, deploy, engage, reward, and retain. Each of the seven elements must have a strategy that fits with the other six to provide the needed talent results. Too many organizations try to implement strategies for each element as if they were silos and essentially end up canceling each other out. Whenever conflicts exist among the seven elements, you won’t get the overall talent results you want and need. As you examine the seven elements, think about how each connects to the others. 1. Plan: This involves creating tactical plans that define what skills are needed, when, where, and their associated cost. This is a huge area of opportunity in most companies. Many organizations trade planning for fighting fires. Don’t overcomplicate it —keep it simple. 2. Attract: What avenues or sources will you use to attract talent? I’ve found that many companies have no idea about the variety of avenues available. They don’t understand or use their employer brand, or know how to recognize their target candidates when they walk in the door. 3. Deploy: Onboard employees in the organization, establishing employee connections and maximizing the opportunity for success. It’s critical that organizations do this on a consistent basis over time and across departments. 4. Engage: Define the norms, principles, and behaviors that your company embodies and reinforce them within the organization. 5. Invest: Analyze new skills and competencies you must develop in your people and know how they’ll be delivered. Your greatest asset is made even greater when you invest in them. Knowing what needs to be taught and the best way to do so provides personal and professional development — a key component in reducing turnover. 6. Reward: Establish how you will measure and reward success, alongside identifying future leaders. This, when combined with the earlier elements, enables your organization to realize infinite advantages. 7. Retain: Finally, agree on the strategies and processes used to retain employees who perform at the desired level. This element is the final scorecard of the other six elements. The more you can get each element to work well and work together with the other elements, the more your employee turnover rate and associated costs will nosedive. Together, the seven elements provide the formula for effectively managing your greatest asset — your people. And the end result: your people are as invested as you in building your business. * * * Clark A. Ingram is the Founder and President of People Profits, LLC, which focuses on the three greatest human capital problems affecting organizations: employee turnover, chronically open positions, and skills gap. He consults with a spectrum of companies and has consistently reduced turnover by more than 40 percent in the first year and achieved staffing at more than 90 percent. His new book is Churn: Proven Strategies to Overcome Failing Conventional Talent Management and Achieve Zero Turnover. Learn more at peopleprofits.com. * * * Follow us on Instagram and X for additional leadership and personal development ideas. * * * View the full article

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. My manager has been freezing me out since I talked to HR about her Last May, I finished my masters and in September landed a job in my field and specialty. The first few months were great with my boss, Claire. She was super nice, let me know everything that was going on in the department, I got along with my other coworker in my department, and I finally felt like I had found my job and people. I even told Claire I had a disability that I put on my application. She was very understanding and supportive. Then in January, things changed. Claire accused me of trying to do her job anytime I suggested something and said I needed to stick to the things I was hired to do and to stop acting like the smartest person in the room. I was pulled into HR about this time and was told Claire made an off-hand comment about my disability and I needed to fill out official paperwork so I would be legally protected. The final straw when Claire yelled at me for making a judgment call when another department needed something from us and I was the only one in our department there, and then asked what my problem was while giving a textbook description of my disability. I went to our department head, John, and told him everything. He told me he’d talk to her and that I should go to HR. I went to HR and everything led to a hostile work environment investigation. I did not want that. The conclusion was there was no hostile work environment and my boss and I have different communication skills. However, during it, it was discovered I had made my coworker, Maddie, feel uncomfortable. No one was written up and nothing was done. Claire, John, and I were each given a different HR class to take. I had to take one about bullying in the workplace. My boss had to take one about the Americans with Disabilities Act. Since this happened, Claire has given me the silent treatment. 95% of our communication is through email. I am no longer privy to all the happenings of our department. I find out things by accident, when I walk in on her and Maddie talking. Claire goes out of her way to be passive-aggressive and petty to me in the emails. My cubicle is right across from her office and she used to always keep her door open, but now she keeps it closed most of the time. She didn’t wish me happy birthday on my birthday, when several people in other departments brought me gifts and cards. However, Maddie’s birthday was a week later and she came in with a card for her. John gives me good feedback, as do the other departments I work with. Is there anything I can do? I’m not exactly ready to run back to HR since this is how we got here. I didn’t expect Claire’s and my relationship to be the same. I just didn’t expect this. Jobs in my field are rare. HR probably did have a legal responsibility to investigate after you reported Claire’s comments; once they’re aware of something like that, they’re legally obligated to take action, even if that’s not what you wanted. But Claire is retaliating against you for talking to HR and for the subsequent investigation, and that’s illegal. Federal law makes it very clear that it’s illegal to retaliate against an employee for making a good-faith complaint of discrimination, even if the complaint were eventually found to be baseless. I know you don’t want to go back to HR, but if you want the situation to change, that’s really the only option. You’d go back to them and explain that Claire’s behavior toward you has noticeably changed since the investigation, that you’re concerned she’s retaliating against you for making a good-faith report, and that you’re formally requesting the company’s assistance in shutting down the retaliation. If you don’t trust HR to handle this competently and think it will make things worse, this may not make sense to do — but it’s really the only form of recourse available, or possibly a similar conversation with John. (I am curious about what happened between you and Maddie that led them to send you to an anti-bullying training and whether you think there was any merit to that. The answer wouldn’t change the steps that are available now, but if there were legitimate concerns about your behavior toward Maddie, that probably puts you in a less sympathetic position, although HR would have the same obligations regardless. It would make it messier, though.) 2. We’re written up for being one minute late I have worked for manufacturing companies for over 20 years, all in the office and a few of those years as mid-level management. I have a college degree, further education, and am salary. My current employer just implemented writing office staff up for being late. This is not a situation of being 10, 15, or 30 minutes late, nor of chronically being late. This is, “You were one minute late today.” Performance doesn’t matter, staying late or otherwise being early or on time doesn’t matter. Bad weather is not an excuse. Really, no excuse is allowed. And you can be terminated for a few instances in a year. None of these roles see clients in-person or are call center type jobs. Of all the companies I have worked for, this is the second one to implement this. I left the first in part because of it and will be leaving this one. It seems bananapants to me. Is this typical for what others see in this type of company? I get that is exists for then product floor but for salaried office staff? No, this is not typical and yes, it is bananapants. There are jobs where you really do need to be at your desk and ready to work by a specific starting time because you need to answer client calls, etc., and that can be true regardless of whether you have a degree, are salaried, and so forth. But that is not most jobs, and “writing people up” (a fairly ridiculous concept in itself) for being a minute later, regardless of context, is absurd and infantilizing. Related: ridiculously rigid attendance policy 3. My company can’t move past my conduct five years ago I have been with my construction company for 14 years, during which time I have significantly expanded my skill set and reached a senior level with a strong salary. However, my history here is complicated. Five years ago, while struggling with severe alcoholism, I had a significant professional lapse that resulted in my employer giving me an ultimatum: I had to complete rehabilitation and maintain sobriety to remain employed. I have now been sober for five years and have consistently performed as an exemplary employee. While my manager has forgiven me, it is clear that the family who owns the business has not. Despite my contributions, I am consistently passed over for public recognition and achievements, and the environment feels increasingly hostile. I am weighing whether it is better to stay and maintain my current status and salary or if it is time to cut my losses and move to a company where I can have a fresh start. I can sense that they can barely stand the sight of me; I feel like the ultimate pariah and it is very uncomfortable. I would appreciate any guidance you could offer on whether I should stay or begin looking for new opportunities. Yes, start looking! Without question. For whatever reason, they can’t get past what happened, and you’re better off going somewhere else where you can start fresh. Sometimes that happens! When people get used to seeing you a certain way, sometimes it can be really hard for them to see you differently, no matter how much you demonstrate that you’re no longer that same person. Sometimes that’s a failing on their side. Sometimes it’s because the earlier breach of trust can just never really be repaired, even when everyone hopes to. Either way, you’re better making a clean start with a company that doesn’t have that history with you. 4. Employer wants us to report all outside work, not just conflicts of interest My company likes to say they are not trying to be “Big Brother” but seem to enact policies that probe much beyond what other companies in the same industry ever do. I am very used to anti-moonlighting policies and those make sense: don’t do what we pay you to do for other people. Well, my company has a policy we’ve somewhat gotten around but they have recently been changes that makes it a bit harder. They want to know all outside work, including your hat-knitting business, working for a family business, unpaid time you may volunteer for anything that may constitute a business, how many hours per week, etc. Everyone must submit a form with “nothing to report” or report anything else and attest that they’ve covered all scenarios. My work is in technical compliance, and I would never moonlight without explicit transparency for a number of reasons. I have a part-time side hustle in a creative realm completely unrelated to this work. There is zero overlap, and I do the side work under an alias. You could never google my name and find my side project. My boss knows the general nature of the side work, and has been fine with me not reporting it. Many of us feel this policy is reaching too far into our personal lives and demanding information that doesn’t impact our jobs or our time at work. How should we handle this? Our company is shifting more and more toward Big Brother tracking and monitoring and it may be a mass exodus around here… Most likely, they’re requesting it because they’re concerned that if they leave it up to each individual employee to decide what’s relevant, someone may make the wrong call and not report something that’s actually a potential conflict of interest. They’ve decided it’s safer to ask you to report it all so that they can decide if it’s a conflict or not. Depending on the type of work you do for your company, that’s not necessarily outrageous; there are jobs where that would make sense. If you think it doesn’t make sense for your line of work, you and a group of coworkers can certainly try pushing back, explaining why you think it’s unnecessary — but all it takes to cause this kind of policy change is them having one person who decided something wasn’t relevant to report when it actually was. They may be overreaching in other areas, but this one probably isn’t worth the capital to try to fight. Related: interview with a conflict of interest professional 5. Companies promoting their businesses in comments on my LinkedIn posts I post regularly on LinkedIn and have a good following in my industry. This past week, a company liked my post and added a comment, which was a promotion for their business. I’m considering deleting it because I don’t want my posts/profile used to promote other businesses. On the other hand, it reflects on them and maybe it seems quite dramatic to delete it. What are your views? Delete it without hesitation. It’s spam! There’s nothing dramatic about deleting spam. The post manager is freezing me out, written up for being one minute late, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Legislative package set to form crucial part of UK prime minister’s push to regain momentum after local elections View the full article

Tehran has a maximum of 16 days of storage before it will need to curtail its outputView the full article

Leaked documents show IRGC secretly acquired system and used it to guide strikes during war in March View the full article

Britain, Italy and France have borne the brunt of a sovereign debt sell-off sparked by the Iran warView the full article

The world’s economy has managed to withstand a great deal of chaos, but new IMF forecasts show that things could get worseView the full article

Critics worry the country is heading towards a two-tier system. Dentistry is a cautionary tale View the full article

Brussels wants firms opening factories in the EU to transfer knowledge and employ local staff. Will it work?View the full article

Top law firm offers Joshua Feltman a guaranteed pay package of $80mn over three yearsView the full article

US president says meetings could happen this week in Islamabad but further discussions will take place in EuropeView the full article

Report by IFS says policy did little to increase affordability for those on lower incomesView the full article

Nobody is better than Donald The President at changing the subject. Much like the weather in New England, if you don’t like what people are saying about The President now, just wait five minutes. Sure enough, he moved on from calling Pope Leo XIV “weak on crime” and digitally turning into Jesus over the weekend by reaching back to that time he (rather successfully) cosplayed as a McDonald’s worker. In a fresh PR stunt designed to make him look somewhat normal while celebrating flagship policy, the president had McDonalds “delivered” to the White House by a DoorDasher. Unfortunately for The President, changing the subject from his spat straight out of the Middle Ages might be the only thing this latest stunt accomplished. Instead of getting people talking about his “No Tax on Tips” policy, though, it got people talking about how the stunt was a flop. In other words, it went about as well as anything else The President has done lately. Straining credulity As a tee-up for Tax Week, the White House arranged for a DoorDasher to participate in the fantasy that the Secret Service routinely allows random people to hand-deliver lunch to the president. The driver, Sharon Simmons, was meant to express her gratitude to The President on behalf of all service workers, as cameras snapped pics of the president being folksy. It did not exactly go as planned. The first thing that went wrong was that the staginess itself took center stage. Upon opening the exterior door and seeing a scrum of cameras, The President joked, “This doesn’t look staged, does it?” Further highlighting the aura of unreality, he seemed to have an entire dossier about the woman committed to memory. “So, the reason for this is the fact that I heard you picked up an extra $11,000 because the tax bill was so big,” he prompted, citing a statistically improbable amount of savings that Simmons herself would later refute. The stilted conversation that followed centered around the various personal and financial hardships she has recently endured, which the extra cash helped ameliorate. The President couldn’t resist turning the conversation political, however, awkwardly coaxing from Simmons the fact that she voted for him, and soliciting her opinion about trans women in sports. (“I really don’t have an opinion on that,” Simmons replied.) The stunt only went from mild failure to fiasco, though, as observers began dissecting it online. Backfiring spectacularly Aside from the uncanny staged nature of the event, several eagle-eyed social media users quickly seized on Simmons’s familiar look. It turned out they had seen the Arkansas resident star in a reel shared by Rep. Jason Smith on Facebook recently, and during a Ways and Means Committee field hearing in Las Vegas last July. In both instances, Simmons had gushed about the ways The President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act would greatly benefit people such as herself. 🇺🇸 During the @WaysandMeansGOP field hearing in Nevada, I had the privilege of hearing from Sharon Simmons about how the One Big Beautiful Bill will make a real difference in her life. As a mother and caregiver, she shared how this tax relief will help her and her family. Her… pic.twitter.com/3nkdGBT3u4 — Rep. David Kustoff (@RepDavidKustoff) July 28, 2025 It’s one thing for a The President PR stunt to come off as stage-managed and forced; it’s another for it to feature an apparent professional MAGA plant. Not only does her inclusion call into question just how many plants might be deployed in other capacities to help advance The President’s agenda, but it also makes The President’s previous accusations of inorganic protest against him look like mere projection. Making matters worse, the head of public affairs at DoorDash quickly began spiraling when he attempted to tamp down the backlash to the event. In a series of now-deleted tweets, Julian Crowley disputed on X that there was anything fishy about a woman from Arkansas appearing in a pro-The President capacity at events in Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas a year apart. (“You need to touch grass,” he wrote at the end of one tweet explaining how this everyday American obviously lived in Nevada last year, before moving to Arkansas more recently.) Crowley’s crash-out soon became a story unto itself, beyond underlining the failure of The President’s stunt. Adding fuel to the fire, so to speak, the stunt drew further glaring attention to fast-rising fuel costs since the war in Iran began. The high cost of gas has been a major issue for delivery drivers over the past six weeks, complicating the White House’s intended economic messaging. Sure, The President may have tipped Simmons $100, but if he really wanted to do something for drivers, he might have increased the IRS mileage deduction rate, as DoorDashers are begging for and as Sen. Ruben Gallego has been agitating for throughout the war. Diminishing returns As a former reality TV star, The President often seems to think in reality TV terms. His publicity stunts tend to have a theatrical quality, but they are also episodic in nature—”This week, on a very special The President, our hero hosts a Tesla infomercial on the White House lawn.” The platonic ideal of a The President stunt is probably his McDonald’s visit in late 2024. It began as glib commentary about then-opponent Kamala Harris’s claim of working at Mickey D’s in her teens, but it bloomed into something way more effective. Like all his most successful publicity stunts, that one dominated media attention, shored up his base, infuriated his detractors, shifted social media conversation, and launched countless memes. He even got new merch out of it. Monday’s doomed DoorDash stunt, though, only shows how far The President has fallen in the 18 months or so since the 2024 election. The disastrous PR stunt came amid multiple personnel shake-ups in his Cabinet, a public souring on his immigration approach after the chaos in Minneapolis, bipartisan calls for the 25th amendment due to his erratic nuclear threats against Iran, not to mention the perpetually lingering Epstein files, which are always a slow news day away from returning to the forefront of discourse. The President’s popularity is now in free fall, and the failed DoorDash extravaganza is just the latest example. It was meant to give him an easy win, like his visit to McDonald’s; instead, the inept execution has eclipsed the stunt itself, and only extended the long streak of recent losses. Or to put it in reality TV terms: The The President show appears to be on the bubble. View the full article

Busy Season sets up a year of tough decisions for monumental transformations. By CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Busy Season 2026 proves to be a mixed bag as firms face monumental transformations. By CPA Trendlines Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Launch of GPT-5.4-Cyber follows concern about ability of Anthropic’s Mythos to find software bugsView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The JBL Tune Buds 2 True Wireless Noise-Canceling Earbuds are currently on sale for just $39.99 on StackSocial, down from their usual $109.95 price. They're open-box models, meaning the earbuds were excess retail inventory or store returns that have been checked for functionality and repackaged. The packaging may show signs of handling or extra stickers, but the earbuds themselves are verified to be in brand-new condition. For just $40, you get the earbuds, a charging case, a USB-C cable, and three sizes of silicone ear tips. The listing also includes a third-party one-year parts-and-labor warranty. The Tune Buds 2 are built around 10mm dynamic drivers designed to deliver JBL’s familiar Pure Bass Sound. In practice, that tends to translate into stronger low-end presence in music genres like hip-hop, EDM, and pop. JBL also includes Spatial Sound, which widens the listening field for standard stereo tracks. The earbuds support Adaptive Noise Canceling, allowing you to block outside noise when commuting or working in a busy space. And when you need awareness instead of isolation, Ambient Aware and TalkThru modes let outside sound in so you can hear announcements or talk with someone nearby without removing the earbuds. The earbuds also support Bluetooth 5.3, multi-point connection for switching between devices, and Google Fast Pair for quick Android pairing. They also have an IP54 rating, which means they can withstand sweat, dust, and light rain, making them suitable for workouts or outdoor walks. As for its battery life, JBL estimates up to 12 hours of playback from the earbuds alone, or about 10 hours with noise canceling turned on. You can adjust EQ settings, personalize the sound profile, and control noise-cancellation levels in the JBL Headphones app. For everyday listening, travel, and casual calls, the current $39.99 sale price makes these earbuds an accessible option for wireless audio. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Fire TV Stick 4K Plus Streaming Player With Remote (2025 Model) — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $59.98 (List Price $79.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

A Google Search Console glitch resulted in a message to site owners implying that impressions have only just started being reported. The post New Google Search Console Message Glitch Gives SEOs A Scare appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Apple Music has an edge among music streaming services in specific categories, including sound quality, music organization, and lack of ads. While it may not be the best option out there for all users, it offers a solid experience (especially if you're on iOS). Here are the tips, tricks, and hidden hacks to get the most out of Apple Music. Import songs directly from other streaming services to Apple MusicMoving from one music streaming service to another can be a huge hassle, not least because you won't want to lose all the playlists you've curated in the transition. There are third-party services that facilitate transfers, but Apple Music has a direct import feature powered by SongShift that works with Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube Music. To import your library, go to Settings > Apps > Music and toggle Sync Library on. Tap Transfer Music from Other Services, select the music app you want to transfer from, and follow the prompts. Apple Music will look for matches in its catalog—if it can't find one, you may need to review and approve an alternate version. You can also do this through Settings in the Music app on iOS and Android or via the web app. Add songs to multiple playlists Apple Music at onceApple Music has long lacked the ability to add songs to more than one playlist at a time, meaning that if you had a track you wanted to save in multiple places, you had to go through that process separately for each playlist. If you have a device running iOS 26.4, you can now select multiple playlists at once, eliminating the previous hassle. Open the song, tap the three dot menu, and select Add to Playlist. Tap the multi-select button in the bottom-right corner, select the playlists you want included, and tap the check button in the top-right corner to confirm. (This is iOS only, so you still have to select playlists one by one on Mac.) Use "Playlist Playground" to generate Apple Music playlists with AIIf you don't like hand-picking songs for your playlists, you can employ AI to do it for you. Apple Music's "Playlist Playground" feature on iOS generates playlists from natural language prompts, so you can simply give AI a vibe and let it do its thing. It'll create a playlist with 25 songs, which you can further customize with additional prompts or manually add and reorder tracks. Sync Library must be enabled in your device Settings, then open Apple Music, go to Library > New Playlist > Create New Playlist, and enter your prompt in the search field. Note that at the time of writing, Playlist Playground is available in beta only for U.S. users on iOS 26.4. Use Smart Playlists on Mac for automatic updates in Apple MusicAnother feature for curating music without having to add songs one at a time is Smart Playlists, which automatically organizes tracks added to your library into playlists based on criteria you specify. You can set as many rules as you'd like using a long list of parameters—everything from genre and artist to sample rate and beats per minute—and a total number of items, and Apple Music will take care of the rest. If you enable Live updating, playlists will update as library items are added, removed, or changed. A few downsides: You can't manually edit Smart Playlists—instead, you have to change the criteria. This feature is also desktop-only, but if library sync is on, you should be able to listen on other devices. To create a Smart Playlist, open the Music app on your Mac and go to File > New > Smart Playlist. Enable haptics in Apple Music for multi-sensory listeningA small but mighty feature for enhancing your Apple Music experience on iOS is Music Haptics, an accessibility setting that plays haptic vibrations to the beat of what you're listening to. Vibrations work with any discernible beat on supported songs across music genres. Music Haptics was designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing users and introduced with iOS 18. To enable, go to Settings > Accessibility > Music Haptics and toggle the feature on. You can set the vibration intensity (light, medium, or strong) and select whether to play haptics for the entire song or just vocals. Use Apple Music Sing to turn song lyrics into karaokeApple Music has lyrics for singing along with your favorite music (to view, open the song that's playing and tap the Lyrics button at the bottom of the screen), but you can take it a step further with Sing, a karaoke mode that turns down the vocals while highlighting beat-by-beat lyrics. Ensure lyrics are on, then tap the mic icon above the music controls and use the slider to adjust the volume for vocals. Apple Music Sing is supported on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV 4K. Use (or create) Shortcuts in Apple Music to curate your listening experienceShortcuts is one of our top iPhone hacks for automating tasks or workflows you use frequently. You can do everything from opening a music streaming app automatically when you connect to your Bluetooth headphones to automating messages when you leave from or arrive to a specific location. Apple Music users have created and shared ideas for shortcuts for launching specific playlists, shuffling through specific genres, pausing playback at the end of a song, and more. You can also create your own in the Shortcuts app. Back up your Apple Music library in case you cancelIn the event you stop paying for Apple Music, you'll lose your playlists and downloads, which can't be restored even if you resubscribe. (Access to purchased music isn't affected if you cancel.) However, there is a workaround to back up your library and save it for later, whether in Apple Music or another streaming service. Third-party service TuneMyMusic lets you export from Apple Music to a CSV or TXT file, which you can download and store on your device or in the cloud (or transfer to a different streaming platform). You can then use the same service to upload the file back to Apple Music. Reddit users also endorse the Hezel app for Apple Music library backups. Manage your device's storage space for downloaded musicYou will almost certainly want to download music and podcasts to your device so you can listen offline instead of streaming, but if you add thousands of tracks or have automatic downloads enabled, you may quickly hit the limits of your storage space. Apple lets you choose how much storage you want to dedicate to Music content, and if that limit is reached, your device will offload songs you haven't listened to in order to make space. On your iOS device, go to Settings > Apps > Music > Optimize Storage (under Downloads). Toggle the setting on and select the minimum storage amount, which ranges from 8 GB (1,600 songs) to 256 GB (51,200 songs). Note that some Reddit users have reported that Apple Music has gone over their set storage limit. You may be able to force offloading by choosing "None" for storage space. You can also remove downloaded content manually, either by item within the Music app or en masse under Settings > Apps > Music > Downloaded Music. Track your Apple Music listening statsApple Music's native Replay feature tracks basic listening stats broken down by month and by year (similar to Spotify Wrapped), but if you want to keep tabs on your activity in a more frequent and detailed way, you'll need to connect to a third-party service. Last.fm, a popular option for "scrobbling," doesn't play as nice with Apple Music on its own as with other streaming services—for example, it only tracks music added to your library, so anything that's streamed has to be scrobbled manually. However, there are a few other apps with Last.fm integrations for iOS, macOS, and the Apple Music web player that will scrobble more seamlessly. View the full article

Americans can’t get enough chicken—brands like Raising Cane’s and Chick-fil-A have risen as fast-food superstars while others race to consolidate their spot as winners of the chicken sandwich wars. Now, Chili’s is entering the game in a big way. Value menus, a staple of chain and fast-food restaurants, bundle multiple menu items at a discounted price, giving customers a full meal without the full cost. Now, Chili’s—whose value meal includes an entrée, fries, a soda, and bottomless chips and salsa—is adding chicken sandwiches to the mix. “We’re setting our sights on fast food chicken sandwiches, offering our gigantic Big Crispy and Spicy Big Crispy chicken sandwiches in the same 3 For Me value meal,” George Felix, Chili’s Chief Marketing Officer, said in a press statement. The Big Crispy will be offered in six different variations: the Original, Nashville Hot Big Crispy, Spicy Big Crispy, Honey-Chipotle Big Crispy, Buffalo Big Crispy, and the Deluxe Big Crispy. The chicken sandwiches are allegedly larger in size than that of its competitors, with the new value menu rollout serving as commentary on other fast food restaurants shrinking their menu items. “Over the past few years, we’ve exposed the fast food shrinkflation by serving our massive burgers in the industry-leading $10.99 3 For Me meal for a value that can’t be found in the drive-thru,” Felix said. Chili’s claim follows that of many customers who have noticed that, while value menu pricing has remained relatively the same, the menu items have shrunk ahead of inflation—a phenomenon refered to as ‘shrinkflation.’ In one viral post on Reddit’s r/ChickFilA subreddit, a user shared two images allegedly take five years apart, depicting how a chicken sandwich has decreased in size. “Shrinkflation happened to every corporate entity in the world,” a user responded. In fact, Its not just fast food restaurants who have fallen victim to shrinkflation—reports have found that products like the Chobani yoghurt flip cups and Kleenex boxes have started to offer less product than before. “With inflation as high as it is, and more consumers paying closer attention, attempts by brands to squeeze more profit out of each sale by changing package sizes may not go unnoticed,” Fast Company writer Sam Becker wrote about the trend. As part of the expanded value menu launch, Chili’s is hosting a pop up inspired by shrinkflation—or what the company is calling “value injustice”—inviting visitors to serve as jurors by putting fast food items on trial. The Chili’s Big Crispy Food Court will be open on April 16 in downtown Manhattan, with attendees hearing “evidence” comparing fast food items and the new Big Crispy 3 for Me meal. Attendees will then be able to share their “verdict” via CourtTV. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Working from a laptop all day usually means juggling tabs, resizing windows, and constantly switching between apps. A second monitor helps, but it’s not always practical if you’re moving between home, office, and travel. The Mobile Pixels Trio 3 Pro aims to solve those problems by turning your laptop into a three-screen setup that travels with you, and it's currently on sale for $449.99 on StackSocial. It works across most systems, including macOS, Windows, Linux, and even devices like the Nintendo Switch or Samsung DeX. The appeal is straightforward: You attach two 14.1-inch displays to your laptop with USB-C or Mini HDMI, slide them out, and suddenly you have a full multi-screen layout without needing a desk setup. Each panel runs at 2240x1400 resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate, so text looks sharp, and scrolling feels smooth. It’s not just about adding screens, though. The four viewing modes change how you can use them. Landscape mode works for typical multitasking, like spreadsheets and browsers side by side. Portrait mode is useful for long documents or coding. There’s also a collaboration mode that lets you flip a screen outward for someone sitting across from you, and a presentation mode that does the same for a wider audience. The screens are IPS with anti-glare coating, so they stay readable during long work sessions, and its 65W pass-through charging means you’re not giving up a port just to power everything. The whole setup weighs just over four pounds, adding some bulk to your bag, and its brightness tops out at 300 nits, which is fine indoors but less ideal in bright environments. It’s also not meant for color-critical work, so designers or editors may still prefer dedicated monitors. The real question is whether you actually need the option of using three screens. If you'd actually benefit from multiple screens fairly often, the Mobile Pixels Trio 3 Pro is a good call. If you mostly stick to one or two apps, it might feel like overkill. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Fire TV Stick 4K Plus Streaming Player With Remote (2025 Model) — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $59.98 (List Price $79.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

ServiceNow is a popular platform for organization-wide, enterprise-grade ITSM. But it’s rarely the platform everyone uses. Teams working in the Atlassian ecosystem typically rely on Jira for project management and sprint planning, which makes Jira Service Management particularly attractive — since it integrates natively with other Atlassian products. When organization-wide ITSM processes need to cross through software development projects (either because they impact these projects or require developer input), teams need to deal with two siloed systems that don’t share data effectively. That’s where an integration that supports bidirectional sync comes in. Here’s everything you need to know to connect ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, and your IT management processes with a low-code 2-way integration. You can sync ServiceNow incidents to issues without having to write scripts and still keep your ITSM, ITOM, or ITAM workflows fully integrated. The use case we’ll be using to demonstrate this integration focuses on change requests, but it can easily be re-applied to incident management, DevOps, or any other ticket collaboration between an IT Department and an engineering team. This integration will be built through Unito, a 2-way low-code integration platform with support for ServiceNow, Jira Service Management, Jira, and 50+ other industry-leading tools. Overview Tools: ServiceNow and Jira Service Management Use cases: Ticket escalation, product management, software development Great for: Product managers, IT, customer success, software developers, project management Unito’s two-way sync integration for ServiceNow and Jira Service Management allows users of any technical background, from product managers to software developers and team leads, to sync ServiceNow records with Jira Service Management issues. This integration syncs updates back and forth between both tools, creates new work items, and can even automate repetitive actions. This in-depth guide shows you how that’s done. Why would an organization use both ServiceNow and JSM? ServiceNow and Jira Service Management are both popular options for ITSM and IT support, but they have different strengths. ServiceNow is a complex, but robust platform that’s suited to enterprise-scale ITIL, where compliance and structured governance are vital. Jira Service Management, on the other hand, offers faster setup, more accessible pricing, and native integration with other Atlassian products (Jira Software, Confluence, Bitbucket). It’s also more suited to agile and DevOps workflows. Both platforms have similar functionality, but they operate in completely different environments. When these two platforms are used within the same project, workflow, or organization, data silos can form. Incidents logged in one system don’t reach the other. Updates need to be copied and pasted manually. The right integration eliminates this extra administrative work. Unito’s integration vs. ServiceNow’s Jira Service Management Spoke ServiceNow offers “Spokes,” built-in integrations for other popular apps, like Jira Service Management. This Spoke allows ServiceNow users to automate certain actions between this platform and Jira Service Management. These automations cover a wide range of actions, from adding users to an organization to looking up issue statuses and creating comments. These Spokes have limited support for two-way syncing, and require some technical knowledge to deploy and maintain. Additionally, they come at an additional cost above your ServiceNow license. Setup in ServiceNow and Jira Service Management Once you connect your tools to Unito, the platform can only operate within the same permissions as the user who authorizes Jira and ServiceNow. So if you’re able to create new records/incidents or issues, then Unito will be able to create and sync them too through a flow. What’s a Unito flow? A flow represents the connection between ServiceNow and Jira Service Management that allows your data to sync bidirectionally. Building a flow takes the average Unito user 12 minutes on average (once they’re familiar with the interface), though obviously it will take a bit more time when you set up your very first flow. Connecting ServiceNow to Unito for the first time All you need to connect ServiceNow to Unito is your: ServiceNow Domain URL: https://INSTANCENAME.service-now.com ServiceNow Username ServiceNow Password Connect to Unito with a new ServiceNow account Some ServiceNow instances require newly created users to change their password immediately upon login. If you’re using a new ServiceNow account to connect Unito, this can disrupt the authentication process by the forced password change. Make sure that account has CRUD access to the same records and tables you plan on syncing. You’ll also need to disable the Password reset flag on any new account or reset the password before connecting to Unito. Solution: Disable password reset flag Choose a ServiceNow table to sync with Jira Service Management ServiceNow is vastly configurable in countless ways, but Unito is able to link incidents from your tables no matter how your instance is configured. But you’ll still need to consider what incidents precisely you plan to sync. In our demo use case, we’re syncing records from a table called Incidents into Jira Service Management. Setup in Jira Service Management If you’re connecting Jira Service Management to Unito via OAuth2, then there are no extra steps to sync your ServiceNow cards other than the on-screen instructions when adding your account for the first time: Anyone using Jira Service Management on-premise (local server) may wish to review our guides to on-premise installations or connecting Jira via ngrok. If you’re connecting Jira Service Management without OAuth2, you’ll need to follow a few extra steps: Step 1. Connect a ServiceNow table and Jira Service Management project to Unito Sign up for Unito if you haven’t already! Navigate to the Unito App and select +Create Flow. Select Start Here to connect ServiceNow and Jira Service Management. Then +Choose account to specify the JSM Project and ServiceNow Table you plan on syncing. Click Confirm. You can either type in the name of your table or scroll through the list to find the one you want to connect. Only records from that specific table and your project in JSM will sync in this particular flow. Afterwards, you can duplicate this flow and change to another project or table to go through this process faster. As described above, we chose the table Change Request by typing it into the search box. Read more about connecting tools to Unito. Step 2. Choose a flow direction for creating new incidents or issues Your low-code Unito flow lets you automatically create new ServiceNow incidents or JSM issues based on manual activity. So for example, when someone on your team creates a new issue in Jira, Unito automatically creates a linked record in ServiceNow. Select a flow direction with one of the three directional arrows to indicate: from ServiceNow to JSM, JSM to ServiceNow, or both. When is the best time to create a 2-way flow? Choose a 2-way flow direction if you have incidents in a specific ServiceNow table that you want added to a specific Jira Service Management project and issues in JSM that you want added to that same table in ServiceNow. Read more about flow direction. Step 3. Filter out unrelated issues or incidents from syncing by setting rules Now we can set up rules to determine which manual actions in your tools will automatically create new ServiceNow incidents or Jira Service Management issues. This is extremely useful for filtering out unrelated data from syncing, particularly if your ServiceNow tables contain large volumes of data. You’ll want to apply rules that filter out all but the most essential incidents or issues. SyncToServiceNow[System]Change Since both Jira Service Management and ServiceNow are vastly configurable in countless ways, everyone will have a unique method of filtering their data with rules. Which fields should I use for my rules? We recommend select lists in Jira Service Management or choice fields in ServiceNow to use in your rules. The logic will then tell your flow to only sync issues or incidents if specific values from those fields are present. Issues and incidents that match your rules will stay in sync with Unito. As soon as the rules no longer apply, that item will stop syncing. For example, if the Hardware category above is changed from a synced issue or record, Unito will no longer keep it updated unless the category changes back to Hardware. Find out more about setting rules in Unito. Step 4. Link fields between ServiceNow incidents and Jira Service Management issues This is where you tell Unito which fields in ServiceNow to link with similar fields in Jira Service Management so that manual changes in one affect the other automatically. When you first open this screen, you’ll be presented with two options. Select Auto-map to begin with a prebuilt template that can later be modified. Click + Add mapping to add a new pair of fields to be synced. Then, click Select a field for each tool, and find the appropriate field to map. Tip: If you aren’t sure where to put data from one tool when it syncs over to the other, you can always add it to the Description Footer, e.g., Issue ID to Description footer in the example above. Clicking on the gear or cog icon beside a pair of fields will allow you to configure the individual values or statuses of that field to link them when one or the other is changed manually. Not TestedIn ProgressNot StartedIn UAT The most common field mapping for integrations between ServiceNow and Jira Service Management pairs ServiceNow’s Incident State field with JSM’s Status field. You can match Incident States and Statuses closely (e.g., “New” with “In Progress”) or match different options (e.g., “In Progress” to “Resolved) to represent how your workflow actually moves through these tools. Useful Links for this section: Here’s how to create a custom field in ServiceNow. Find out more about setting field mappings. Step 5. Launch your ServiceNow Jira Service Management integration If you’ve followed the steps above, your flow will now: Add a new issue in Jira Service Management when a record is created in ServiceNow based on the rules you set in Step 3. Create a new record in ServiceNow when you manually add a JSM issue based on your rules. Keep ServiceNow incidents and JSM issues in sync as long as they match the conditions of your rules. Here’s a quick snapshot of our synced ServiceNow record and Jira Service Management issue, highlighting a few of the fields that are being kept in sync: If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. Ready to optimize your support workflows? Meet with our team to see what Unito can do for your workflows. Talk to sales What’s next after you sync ServiceNow and Jira Service Management with Unito? Learn how to duplicate this flow for additional use cases Build an automated ticket escalation queue from Jira Service Management to Jira Cloud Connect ServiceNow to monday.com, Azure DevOps to ServiceNow, ServiceNow to Google Sheets, or ServiceNow to any other tool supported by Unito. Try to sync Jira issues to Google Sheets. Smartsheet and Salesforce ServiceNow and Smartsheet Salesforce and ServiceNow ServiceNow and Wrike ServiceNow and Jira Resources for ServiceNow users Read an overview of Unito’s ServiceNow integration How does Unito stack up against ServiceNow Integration Hub? Salesforce or ServiceNow? Why not use both? How to run a ServiceNow export to Microsoft Excel. FAQ: Jira Service Management ServiceNow integration Why would an organization use both ServiceNow and Jira Service Management? Many organizations use both ServiceNow and Jira Service Management to handle organization-wide ITSM and developer-specific support workflows. ServiceNow often serves as the main ITSM solution for enterprise organizations, while Jira Service Management is used within software development teams. The former is robust, with rigid systems that support best practices for ITIL compliance and auditability. The latter is more aligned with the agile processes involved in DevOps, as well as offering native integrations with other Atlassian platforms. What are common use cases for a ServiceNow-JSM integration? A ServiceNow-JSM integration supports a wide array of use cases within ITSM and software development, such as: Ticket escalation: Tickets might begin in ServiceNow and need to be escalated for development work in JSM. An integration ensures context and status updates transfer seamlessly between tools. Change request tracking: When change requests impact development workflows, developers and team leads need to investigate their impact and share their input. With an integration, the result of that investigation can be shared automatically without any manual work. Performance reporting: If ITSM workflows pass through both ServiceNow and Jira Service Management, reporting tools in either platform don’t tell the full story. Integrations can centralize data in whichever platform you end up using for performance reporting. What’s the difference between Unito and the ServiceNow-JSM Spoke? ServiceNow’s JSM Spoke allows users to automate actions with limited two-way syncing capability between the two tools, requiring some level of technical knowledge to build and maintain. Unito’s two-way integration is no-code, with a simple visual interface that allows business users to build their own integrations in minutes. Unito also allows you to integrate both ServiceNow and Jira Service Management with 60+ other tools, while ServiceNow’s JSM Spoke only pairs these tools together. Can Unito sync custom fields between ServiceNow and Jira Service Management? Yes, Unito supports a wide range of ServiceNow custom field types, like choice fields, reference fields, and journal fields. Unito also supports custom fields in Jira Service Management. Does Unito only support ServiceNow incidents? Unito supports ServiceNow incidents, change requests, problems, and service requests from ServiceNow. View the full article

Large loan balances are increasingly common in non-QM and HELOC securitizations, bringing faster prepayments and higher delinquency risks, Bank of America Securities research shows. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I've always been the kind of person who needs to write my thoughts down, for fear I'll forget my latest brilliant idea. I used to keep multiple notebooks at the ready for this purpose, but they would invariably get lost, get messy or damaged, or just be too annoying to keep organized. I switched to using apps, but I never built the muscle memory to keep it consistent, and opening a phone has never been good for my productivity. Then I learned about the Rocketbook Core reusable smart notebook. I tried it out, and now it has replaced all my productivity apps and my paper notebooks—and the best part is, it's super affordable, only costing me around $24. Rocketbook Core Reusable Smart Notebook Lined Pages For School, Work and Creative Projects, Executive Size 6x8.8, Green - Premium $23.99 at Amazon $29.99 Save $6.00 Get Deal Get Deal $23.99 at Amazon $29.99 Save $6.00 The Rocketbook looks like a paper notebook at a glance, but its pages aren't paper, but a material that functions a little bit like a whiteboard: You can write on it using the included stylus, then wipe the ink away with a damp cloth. Unlike a whiteboard, your hands won't get smudged with ink, and it won't smear across the pages themselves either (unless you're writing too fast and don't give the ink a moment to dry). Once dry, no amount of wiping with your fingers or a dry cloth will erase your writing. Credit: Daniel Oropeza A reusable notebook is kind of neat, but the real draw is the integration with the free Rocketbook app, which scans your notes and organizes them for you. At the bottom of each notebook page, you'll find different "smart tags" that you can use to essentially make folders or bookmarks within the Rocketbook app, so you can send your scanned notes to that specific category. Credit: Daniel Oropeza Say you make one of the seven smart tags on the bottom of the page "Biology." Every time you scan an image and circle that tag (or write it on the "tag" box on the bottom right), it will go to that folder. You can then choose to upload these files to other apps, such as Google Drive, Slack, Dropbox, or OneNote. This video provides a detailed explanation of how the smart tags work: Once you use up the pen that comes with the notebook, you can replace it with another, provided you buy the right kind of erasable ones. A regular pen will not work. Because I like being organized and and also easily misplace things (like the special erasable pen I need for my special notebook), I added this pen holder, which also keeps the notebook closed when not in use. Credit: Daniel Oropeza If you want to depend less on your phone while also reducing the amount of notebooks littered around your house—and you don't have the big bucks to buy a Supernote or reMarkable—the Rocketbook might be a great option for you. It has been revolutionary for me. View the full article