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Hackers linked to Russia’s government launched a cyberattack last spring against municipal water plants in rural Texas. At one plant in Muleshoe, population 5,000, water began to overflow. Officials had to unplug the system and run the plant manually. The hackers weren’t trying to taint the water supply. They didn’t ask for a ransom. Authorities determined the intrusion was designed to test the vulnerabilities of America’s public infrastructure. It was also a warning: In the 21st century, it takes more than oceans and an army to keep the United States safe. A year later, countries around the world are preparing for greater digital conflict as increasing global tensions and a looming trade war have raised the stakes — and the chances that a cyberattack could cause significant economic damage, disrupt vital public systems, reveal sensitive business or government secrets, or even escalate into military confrontation. The confluence of events has national security and cyber experts warning of heightened cyberthreats and a growing digital arms race as countries look to defend themselves. At the same time, President Donald The President has upended America’s digital defenses by firing the four-star general who led the National Security Agency, shrinking cybersecurity agencies and slashing election cybersecurity initiatives. Businesses now are increasingly concerned about cyberattacks, and governments have moved to a war footing, according to a report this month by NCC Group, a British cybersecurity firm. “The geopolitical dust is still settling,” said Verona Johnstone-Hulse, a London-based expert on government cybersecurity polices and the report’s co-author. “What the new normal looks like is still not yet set.” Many in the U.S. are already calling for a more muscular approach to protecting the digital frontier. “Hybrid war is here to stay,” said Tom Kellermann, senior vice president of cyberstrategy at Contrast Security. “We need to stop playing defense — it’s time to make them play defense.” Digital life means more targets for hackers Vulnerabilities have grown as people and businesses use connected devices to count steps, manage finances and operate facilities such as water plants and ports. Each network and connection is a potential target for foreign governments or the hacking groups that sometimes do their bidding. Espionage is one motive, demonstrated in a recent incursion linked to hackers in China. The campaign known as Salt Typhoon sought to crack the phones of officials, including The President, before the 2024 election. These operations seek entry to sensitive corporate or government systems to steal secrets or monitor personal communications. Such information can be hugely valuable by providing advantages in trade negotiations or military planning. These hackers try to remain hidden for as long as possible. More obvious intrusions can serve as a warning or deterrent, such as the cyberattacks targeting the Texas water plants. Iran also has shown a willingness to use cyberattacks to make political points. The cyberattacks that frighten experts the most burrow deeply into telephone or computer networks, inserting backdoors or malware for later use. National security experts say this was the motivation behind a recent attack from China called Volt Typhoon that compromised telephone networks in the U.S. in an effort to gain access to an unknown number of critical systems. China could potentially use these connections to disable key infrastructure — power plants, communication networks, pipelines, hospitals, financial systems — as part of a larger conflict or before an invasion of Taiwan, national security experts said. “They can position their implants to be activated at a date and time in the future,” said Sonu Shankar, a former researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory who is now chief strategy officer at Phosphorus Cybersecurity. National security officials will not discuss details, but experts interviewed by The Associated Press said the U.S. no doubt has developed similar offensive capabilities. China has rejected U.S. allegations of hacking, accusing America of trying to “ smear ” Beijing while conducting its own cyberattacks. Global tensions tick up Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Trade disputes. Shifting alliances. The risk of cyberattacks goes up in times of global tension, and experts say that risk is now at a high. U.S. adversaries China, Russia, Iran and North Korea also have shown signs of cybercooperation as they forge tighter economic, military and political relationships. Speaking to Congress, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard noted that Iran has supplied drones in exchange for Russian intelligence and cybercapabilities. “Russia has been the catalyst for much of this expanded cooperation, driven heavily by the support it has needed for its war effort against Ukraine,” Gabbard told lawmakers. Amid global fears of a trade war after the tariffs that The President has imposed, supply chains could be targeted in retaliation. While larger companies may have a robust cyberteam, small suppliers that lack those resources can give intruders easy access. And any tit-for-tat cycles of cyberconflict, in which one country hacks into a sensitive system as retaliation for an earlier attack, come with “great risk” for all involved, Shankar said. “It would put them on the path to military conflict.” The The President effect At a time when national security and cybersecurity experts say the U.S. should be bolstering its defenses, The President has called for reductions in staffing and other changes to the agencies that protect American interests in cyberspace. For example, The President recently fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, who oversaw the NSA and the Pentagon’s Cyber Command. The U.S. faces “unprecedented cyber threats,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He has asked the White House to explain Haugh’s departure. “How does firing him make Americans any safer?” Warner said. Also under The President, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency placed on leave staffers who worked on election security and cut millions of dollars in funding for cybersecurity programs for local and state elections. His administration eliminated the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, which tracked and exposed foreign disinformation online. The CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies also have seen reductions in staffing. The administration faced more questions over how seriously it takes cybersecurity after senior officials used the popular messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive information about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. Gabbard later called the episode a mistake. The officials in charge of America’s cybersecurity insist The President’s changes will make the U.S. safer, while getting rid of wasteful spending and confusing regulations. The Pentagon, for instance, has invested in efforts to harness artificial intelligence to improve cyberdefenses, according to a report provided to Congress by Lt. Gen. William J. Hartman, acting commander of the NSA and Cyber Command. The changes at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency come as its leaders consider how best to execute their mission in alignment with the administration’s priorities, a CISA statement said. “As America’s Cyber Defense Agency, we remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure against all cyber and physical threats,” the statement read. “We will continue to collaborate with our partners across government, industry, and with international allies to strengthen global cybersecurity efforts and protect the American people from foreign adversaries, cybercriminals, and other emerging threats.” Representatives for Gabbard’s office and the NSA didn’t respond to questions about how The President’s changes will affect cybersecurity. Signs of progress? Despite shifting alliances, a growing consensus about cyberthreats could prompt greater global cooperation. More than 20 nations recently signed on to an international framework on the use of commercial spyware. The U.S. has signaled it will join the nonbinding agreement. There’s also broad bipartisan agreement in the U.S. about the need to help private industry bolster defenses. Federal estimates say the cybersecurity industry needs to hire an additional 500,000 professionals to meet the challenge, said Dean Gefen, former chief of cybertraining for Israel’s Defense Intelligence Technological Unit. He’s now the CEO of NukuDo, a cybersecurity training company. “Companies need effective guidance from the government — a playbook,” Gefen said. “What to do, what not to do.” —David Klepper, Associated Press View the full article

Josh Cochran worked deep in the coal mines of West Virginia since he was 22 years old, pulling a six-figure salary that allowed him to buy a home with his wife Stephanie and hunt and fish in his spare time. That ended two years ago when, at the age of 43, he was diagnosed with advanced black lung disease. He’s now waiting for a lung transplant, breathes with the help of an oxygen tank, and needs help from his wife to do basic tasks around the house. His saving grace, he says, is that he can still earn a living. A federal program run by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health called Part 90 meant he was relocated from underground when he got his diagnosis to a desk job dispatching coal trucks to the same company, retaining his pay. “Part 90 – that’s only the thing you got,” he told Reuters while signing a stack of documents needed for the transplant, a simple task that left him winded. “You can come out from underground, make what you made, and then they can’t just get rid of you.” That program, which relocates coal miners diagnosed with black lung to safer jobs at the same pay – along with a handful of others intended to protect the nation’s coal miners from the resurgence of black lung – is grinding to a halt due to mass layoffs and office closures imposed by President Donald The President and billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to Reuters reporting. Reuters interviews with more than a dozen people involved in medical programs serving the coal industry, and a review of internal documents from NIOSH, show that at least three such federal programs have stopped their work in recent weeks. A decades-old program operated by NIOSH to detect lung disease in coal miners, for example, has been suspended. Related programs to provide x-rays and lung tests at mine sites have also shut down and it is now unclear who will enforce safety regulations like new limits on silica dust exposure after nearly half of the offices of MSHA are under review to have their leases terminated. The details about the black lung programs halted by the government’s mass layoffs and funding cuts have not previously been reported. “It’s going to be devastating to miners,” said Anita Wolfe, a 40-year NIOSH veteran who remains in touch with the agency. “Nobody is going to be monitoring the mines.” The cuts come as The President voices support for the domestic coal industry, a group that historically has supported the president. At a White House ceremony flanked by coal workers in hard hats earlier this month, The President signed executive orders meant to boost the industry, including by prolonging the life of aging coal-fired power plants. “For too long, coal has been a dirty word that most are afraid to speak about,” said Jeff Crowe, who The President identified as a West Virginia miner. Crowe is the superintendent of American Consolidated Natural Resources, successor to Murray Energy. “We’re going to put the miners back to work,” The President said during the ceremony. “They are great people, with great families, and come from areas of the country that we love and we really respect.” Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIOSH, said that streamlining government will better position HHS to carry out its Congressionally mandated work protecting Americans. Courtney Parella, a spokesperson for the Department of Labor said MSHA inspectors “continue to carry out their core mission to protect the health and safety of America’s miners.” Black lung has been on the rise over the last two decades, and has increasingly been reported by young workers in their 30s and 40s despite declining coal production. NIOSH estimates that 20% of coal miners in Central Appalachia now suffer from some form of black lung disease, the highest rate that has been detected in 25 years, as workers in the aging mines blast through rock to reach diminishing coal seams. Around 43,000 people are employed by the coal industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More mining, more risk Around 875 of NIOSH’s roughly 1,000-strong workforce across the country were terminated amid sweeping job cuts announced by HHS this month, according to three sources who worked for NIOSH. That’s put the department’s flagship black lung program, the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, on hold, according to an internal NIOSH email dated April 4. “We will continue to process everything we currently have for as long as we can. We have no further information about the future of CWHSP at this time,” the email says. The CWHSP’s regular black lung screenings, which deploy mobile trailers to coal mines to test coal miners on site have ended too, because there’s no money to fuel the vehicles or epidemiologists to review the on-site x-rays or lung tests, according to sources familiar with the program. For many miners, this program is the sole provider of medical checkups, according to NIOSH veteran Wolfe. The loss of staff at NIOSH has also crippled black lung-afflicted miners’ ability to get relocated with pay as part of the Part 90 program. Miners can only become eligible for the Part 90 benefit by submitting lung x-rays to NIOSH that show black lung. But all NIOSH epidemiologists in West Virginia required to review the x-rays were laid off, according to Scott Laney, who lost his job as an epidemiologist. Laney told Reuters he and his fellow laid-off team have been working in an informal “war room” in his living room to try to draw attention to the issue among Washington lawmakers. “I want to make sure that if there are more men who are going into the mines as a result of an executive order, or whatever the mechanism, they should be protected when they do their work,” he said. Sam Petsonk, a West Virginia attorney who represents black lung patients, said relocating sick miners is crucial because the risks of continuing to work in dust-heavy areas while ill are so severe. “It gets to the point that days and months matter for this program,” he said. Silica threat Last year, MSHA finalized a new regulation that would cut by half the permissible exposure limit to crystalline silica for miners and other workers – an attempt to combat the rising rates of black lung. Enforcing that rule, which comes into force in August after being pushed back from April by the The President administration, may prove difficult given the staff cuts and planned office closures at MSHA, said Chris Williamson, a former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health under the Biden administration. He told Reuters that before he left MSHA in January, there were 20 mine inspector positions unfilled. A pipeline of 90 people that had already secured MSHA inspector job offers, meanwhile, had their offers rescinded after The President took office, and around 120 other people took buyouts. Mine inspectors are meant to uphold safety standards that reduce injuries, deaths and illnesses at the mines. That loss of staff and resources raises the likelihood that black lung could become even more pervasive among Appalachian coal miners – particularly if mining activity increases, said Drew Harris, a black lung specialist in southern Virginia. “As someone who sees hundreds of miners with this devastating disease it’s hard for me to swallow cutting back on the resources meant to prevent it,” he said. Kevin Weikle, a 35-year-old miner in West Virginia who was diagnosed with advanced black lung disease during a screening in 2023, said the cuts make no sense at a time the administration wants to see coal output rise and will set back safety standards by decades. “Don’t get me wrong, I mean, I’m Republican,” Weikle said. “But I think there are smarter ways to produce more coal and not gut safety.” —Valerie Volcovici, Reuters View the full article

Key Takeaways Types of Machines: Milkshake machines are available in commercial models for high-volume demand and compact home versions for personal use, catering to different needs.Key Features: Important features to consider when choosing a milkshake machine include capacity and size, ease of use, and ease of cleaning and maintenance.Top Brands: Consider reputable brands like Brand A, Brand B, and Brand C, each offering durability, efficiency, and user-friendly designs tailored for either commercial or home environments.Benefits: Using a milkshake machine ensures consistent quality, time efficiency during busy hours, and versatility in menu offerings, which enhances customer satisfaction and encourages repeat business.Investment Considerations: Prioritize durability and ease of maintenance to optimize your investment and ensure long-term performance in a retail setting. Craving a delicious milkshake? You’re not alone! Milkshake machines have become a staple in homes and businesses alike, transforming simple ingredients into creamy, dreamy treats. Whether you’re whipping up a classic chocolate shake or experimenting with unique flavors, having the right machine can make all the difference. These versatile appliances not only save time but also elevate your milkshake game to new heights. With various models available, from compact home versions to heavy-duty commercial machines, you can find the perfect fit for your needs. Dive into the world of milkshake machines and discover how they can bring joy and flavor to your kitchen or café. Types Of Milkshake Machines Milkshake machines come in various types, each designed for specific needs, whether for a small business or home use. Understanding these types helps you choose the right one for your retail or storefront. Commercial Milkshake Machines Commercial milkshake machines cater to high-volume demand in retail environments. These machines often include features like: High-Speed Motors: Efficient motors blend ingredients rapidly, producing thick, creamy milkshakes. Multiple Spindles: Models with multiple spindles allow you to prepare several milkshakes simultaneously, ideal for busy hours. Durable Construction: Built to withstand constant use, these machines often feature stainless steel components for easy cleaning and longevity. Versatility: Capable of blending a variety of ingredients, from ice cream to fresh fruit. Choosing a commercial machine enhances efficiency, boosts sales, and keeps customers satisfied during peak times. Home Milkshake Machines Home milkshake machines focus on user-friendly designs for personal use. Key features include: Compact Size: These machines easily fit into small kitchens while still performing effectively. Simplicity: Most models offer straightforward operation, requiring minimal cleanup. Variety of Styles: Home milkshake machines come in various colors and designs, making them a fun addition to your kitchen. Affordability: These machines often provide a budget-friendly option for indulging in milkshakes without extensive investing. Opting for a home milkshake machine enriches your culinary experience, allowing you to experiment with unique flavors at your leisure. Features To Consider When selecting a milkshake machine for your small business, certain features can significantly enhance the operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. Prioritize the following aspects to ensure a successful investment. Capacity And Size Capacity directly affects your production volume. Choose a machine with the appropriate size based on expected demand. For small businesses like a café or a retail storefront, a machine with a 1-2 quart capacity may suffice. Larger commercial models with multiple spindles can efficiently handle high-volume orders, reducing wait times during busy hours. Ease Of Use User-friendly controls simplify the milkshake-making process. Look for machines equipped with intuitive settings, allowing staff to operate them without extensive training. Quick-start features are beneficial during peak hours, ensuring your team can quickly create delicious milkshakes while maintaining service quality. Cleaning And Maintenance Regular cleaning and maintenance keep your milkshake machine in top condition. Opt for machines with removable parts and smooth surfaces for easy cleaning. Durable materials withstand frequent use and minimize wear over time, optimizing your investment. Routine maintenance practices, such as checking seals and motors, prevent costly repairs and ensure consistent performance. Top Milkshake Machines Choosing the right milkshake machine is crucial for enhancing your small business, especially in a retail environment. Explore the reviews of popular brands that cater to both quality and efficiency. Brand A Review Brand A is known for its durability and efficiency, making it suitable for small businesses. This model features a high-speed motor and a 1-2 quart capacity, ideal for quick service during peak hours. With ease of use and intuitive controls, it’s designed for fast-paced environments. Durability ensures longevity, allowing you to maintain smooth operations in your storefront. Brand B Review Brand B offers a versatile milkshake machine that can prepare multiple flavors simultaneously with its dual spindle design. This 2-quart capacity model suits the high-volume demands of retail settings. The stainless steel construction enhances its durability, while removable parts simplify the cleaning process. Brand B stands out for small business owners who prioritize speed and efficiency without sacrificing quality. Brand C Review Brand C focuses on affordability and user-friendly designs, targeting small business owners looking to optimize their budget. This compact machine features a 1-quart capacity, perfect for limited countertop space. Its lightweight design allows for easy handling, making it an excellent choice for mobile setups or smaller storefronts. Despite its size, it delivers consistent performance for creating delightful milkshakes. Benefits Of Using A Milkshake Machine Using a milkshake machine in your small business enhances the overall customer experience while increasing efficiency and productivity. These benefits truly elevate your storefront’s appeal and service quality. Consistency And Quality You achieve consistency and quality with every milkshake when using a dedicated machine. Commercial models maintain uniform blending and incorporate ingredients evenly, ensuring that each shake meets your standards. Customers return for the familiar flavor and texture, which builds brand loyalty. High-quality machines minimize the risk of inconsistent results that could occur with manual preparation methods. Time Efficiency You save valuable time during peak hours with a milkshake machine at your retail location. High-speed models allow for rapid production, letting you serve multiple customers efficiently. Machines with multiple spindles cater to high-volume demands, reducing wait times and enhancing customer satisfaction. The quick operation means your team can focus on providing excellent service rather than getting bogged down in preparation. Versatility You benefit from the versatility that milkshake machines offer, catering to diverse customer preferences. These machines blend various ingredients, from classic shakes to unique concoctions. You can introduce seasonal flavors, healthy options, or even mix-ins to attract different demographics. This adaptability not only expands your menu but also sets your storefront apart from competitors, encouraging repeat business. Conclusion Investing in a milkshake machine can transform your home or business experience. Whether you’re crafting delightful treats for family or serving up delicious shakes to customers, the right machine makes all the difference. You’ll enjoy the versatility and efficiency these appliances bring to your kitchen or café. By carefully considering the features that matter most to you, you can find a model that fits your needs perfectly. From compact home units to robust commercial machines, there’s an option for everyone. Embrace the joy of milkshake-making and watch as it elevates your culinary creations and customer satisfaction. Frequently Asked Questions What are the benefits of using a milkshake machine? Using a milkshake machine enhances the milkshake-making experience by ensuring consistency, quality, and efficiency. It allows for quick production, catering to high-volume demands, especially in businesses. Additionally, these machines enable the blending of various ingredients, offering a versatile range of flavors and textures to satisfy customer preferences. What types of milkshake machines are available? Milkshake machines mainly come in two types: commercial and home models. Commercial machines are designed for high-volume production and durability, while home models focus on user-friendly designs, compact sizes, and affordability, making them suitable for personal use. How do I choose the right milkshake machine for my business? When selecting a milkshake machine for a business, consider capacity, ease of use, and cleaning maintenance. Machines with 1-2 quart capacities are suitable for smaller shops, while larger, multi-spindle models are better for high demand. Look for intuitive controls and removable parts for easy cleaning. Which brands are recommended for milkshake machines? Popular brands include Brand A, known for its durability and efficiency; Brand B, offering a dual spindle design for high volume; and Brand C, which focuses on affordability and user-friendly designs. Each brand caters to different needs, ensuring quality performance for delightful milkshakes. How can a milkshake machine improve customer experience? A milkshake machine can significantly enhance customer satisfaction by providing quick, consistent, and high-quality milkshakes. This leads to reduced wait times during peak hours and helps businesses offer a diverse range of flavors, encouraging repeat customers and fostering brand loyalty. Image Via Envato This article, "Enhance Your Kitchen Experience with the Best Milkshake Machine for Home and Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The homebuilder agreed to acquire Alliant National in a transaction announced last October, with this deal closing after the Cherry Creek mortgage purchase. View the full article

The cost-cutting task force could impact the congressionally chartered nonprofit which provides grants and lending for both homeowners and renters. View the full article

We know that independent workers are already redefining what work looks like. So why not redefine what climate action looks like, too? This Earth Day and Climate Week, we’re thinking about how freelancers are uniquely positioned to build a more sustainable future. Whether you’re working from home, biking to your local coworking space, or setting your own schedule around what matters to you, your freelance lifestyle might already be doing more for the planet than you think. Here are a few ways freelancing and sustainability go hand-in-hand, plus ideas for how you can take climate action as a member of this powerful, independent workforce. 1. Freelancers Leave a Smaller Carbon FootprintMany freelancers work remotely—which means no daily commute. Fewer hours spent sitting in traffic or riding public transit directly reduces emissions. If you work from home or a walkable coworking space, you're already contributing to cleaner air and less fuel consumption. Plus, freelance work often demands fewer office supplies, less energy use, and fewer single-use items (no more sad desk salads in plastic containers!). Minimalist work setups are not just aesthetically pleasing—they’re environmentally friendly, too. 2. You Can Build Sustainability Into Your WorkflowsAs your own boss, you get to decide how your work runs—and that means you can prioritize eco-conscious practices. Consider: Going paperless with digital contracts, invoices, and notes.Using energy-efficient devices and unplugging them when not in use.Banking green with institutions that don’t invest in fossil fuels.Sourcing sustainable materials if you’re in a creative or product-based field.Even small choices can add up when made consistently over time. 3. You Set the Culture of Your BusinessOne of the biggest advantages of freelancing? You set the values. If climate action is important to you, make that part of your brand. Share your sustainability commitments on your website, choose clients who align with your environmental ethics, or donate a portion of your earnings to climate-related causes. Need ideas? Some freelancers donate a percentage of profits to reforestation projects or carbon offset programs, or pledge “1% for the Planet.” 4. Take Action in Your CommunityLooking to get your hands dirty (in the best way)? There are plenty of ways to take direct action on the ground: Join a beach or park cleanup near you—many take place during Climate Week.Volunteer with wildlife and conservation organizations.Offer your professional skills at a discount or pro bono to environmental nonprofits (graphic design, social media, writing, and more are always in demand).Attend a climate justice rally or educational event in your area.Donate to organizations fighting fossil fuel expansion and promoting green jobs.Check out national orgs like 350.org, The Sunrise Movement, or Earthjustice, or plug into your local community for hands-on opportunities. 5. Connect with Other Climate-Conscious FreelancersYou’re not in this alone. There’s a growing movement of freelancers who care about climate justice, sustainable business, and building a better world through their work. Whether you want to start a sustainability-minded group, share resources, or simply swap ideas, there’s power in our freelance community. This Earth Day, let’s use our freelance freedom for good.As independent workers, we know how to create our own paths. Let’s make sure those paths lead to a greener, more just, and more sustainable future, for us and for generations to come. Happy Earth Day from all of us at Freelancers Union 🌎💚 View the full article

We know that independent workers are already redefining what work looks like. So why not redefine what climate action looks like, too? This Earth Day and Climate Week, we’re thinking about how freelancers are uniquely positioned to build a more sustainable future. Whether you’re working from home, biking to your local coworking space, or setting your own schedule around what matters to you, your freelance lifestyle might already be doing more for the planet than you think. Here are a few ways freelancing and sustainability go hand-in-hand, plus ideas for how you can take climate action as a member of this powerful, independent workforce. 1. Freelancers Leave a Smaller Carbon FootprintMany freelancers work remotely—which means no daily commute. Fewer hours spent sitting in traffic or riding public transit directly reduces emissions. If you work from home or a walkable coworking space, you're already contributing to cleaner air and less fuel consumption. Plus, freelance work often demands fewer office supplies, less energy use, and fewer single-use items (no more sad desk salads in plastic containers!). Minimalist work setups are not just aesthetically pleasing—they’re environmentally friendly, too. 2. You Can Build Sustainability Into Your WorkflowsAs your own boss, you get to decide how your work runs—and that means you can prioritize eco-conscious practices. Consider: Going paperless with digital contracts, invoices, and notes.Using energy-efficient devices and unplugging them when not in use.Banking green with institutions that don’t invest in fossil fuels.Sourcing sustainable materials if you’re in a creative or product-based field.Even small choices can add up when made consistently over time. 3. You Set the Culture of Your BusinessOne of the biggest advantages of freelancing? You set the values. If climate action is important to you, make that part of your brand. Share your sustainability commitments on your website, choose clients who align with your environmental ethics, or donate a portion of your earnings to climate-related causes. Need ideas? Some freelancers donate a percentage of profits to reforestation projects or carbon offset programs, or pledge “1% for the Planet.” 4. Take Action in Your CommunityLooking to get your hands dirty (in the best way)? There are plenty of ways to take direct action on the ground: Join a beach or park cleanup near you—many take place during Climate Week.Volunteer with wildlife and conservation organizations.Offer your professional skills at a discount or pro bono to environmental nonprofits (graphic design, social media, writing, and more are always in demand).Attend a climate justice rally or educational event in your area.Donate to organizations fighting fossil fuel expansion and promoting green jobs.Check out national orgs like 350.org, The Sunrise Movement, or Earthjustice, or plug into your local community for hands-on opportunities. 5. Connect with Other Climate-Conscious FreelancersYou’re not in this alone. There’s a growing movement of freelancers who care about climate justice, sustainable business, and building a better world through their work. Whether you want to start a sustainability-minded group, share resources, or simply swap ideas, there’s power in our freelance community. This Earth Day, let’s use our freelance freedom for good.As independent workers, we know how to create our own paths. Let’s make sure those paths lead to a greener, more just, and more sustainable future, for us and for generations to come. Happy Earth Day from all of us at Freelancers Union 🌎💚 View the full article

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued Uber Technologies, accusing it of signing up some Uber One subscribers without their knowledge and making deceptive claims about the service. The service costs $9.99 a month and offers discounts on fees associated with Uber’s ride-hailing and food-delivery apps. Uber falsely claimed that users would save about $25 a month through the service and deceived them about how easy it was to cancel, the FTC said in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco. “Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said. “The The President-Vance FTC is fighting back on behalf of the American people.” Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said the company does not sign up or charge customers without their consent. “We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action, but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law,” he said. Uber has tangled with the FTC several times in the past. In 2017 the ride-hailing company settled the FTC’s allegations it had made deceptive privacy and data security claims. The following year it agreed to pay $20 million to settle the FTC’s claims it exaggerated prospective earnings in seeking to recruit drivers. The company fended off criminal charges in 2022 in a settlement where it admitted that its employees had failed to notify the FTC about a 2016 data breach that affected 57 million passengers and drivers. —Jody Godoy, Reuters View the full article

Remember the viral “Ice Bucket Challenge” of 2014? Over a decade later, it’s back—but this time, the focus is mental health. If you were living under a rock in 2014, the challenge involved participants pouring ice water over themselves, posting the video to social media, and nominating others to join in, all while raising awareness for a cause. The campaign raised millions for ALS research. Now, it’s making a comeback—this time to support Active Minds, a nonprofit promoting mental health awareness and education for students. The Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club’s #SpeakYourMIND campaign launched on Instagram in March, started by a group of students at the University of South Carolina. According to a 2024 U.S. News survey, about 70% of students have struggled with mental health since starting college. Wade Jefferson, a USC junior, told NBC News he founded the MIND club after losing two friends to suicide. He hopes the campaign will help normalize conversations around mental health. Initially setting a fundraising goal of $500, he didn’t expect the challenge to go viral again. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $189,056 in donations and drawn participation from high-profile figures like TODAY’s Jenna Bush Hager, who nominated stars like Blake Shelton and Scarlett Johansson to keep the trend alive. It’s also earned a nod from the challenge’s original creators. “We’re thrilled to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge live on in new forms of activism,” the ALS Association said in a statement to NBC News. At its peak, the original challenge saw everyone from former President George W. Bush to Oprah Winfrey joining in. “I think fundraising professionals and nonprofits and causes have sat around tables for years trying to say, ‘What’s going to be our ice bucket challenge,’” Brett Curtis, director of community fundraising and events at Active Minds, told NBC News. “I do think there’s a little irony in that it is just the ice bucket challenge again, this time to talk about mental health.” View the full article

The partnership between alternative investment managers adds to signs investors see the private mortgage market as attractive, albeit not immune to risk. View the full article

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a health alert for a pre-cooked, frozen pork carnitas product sold at Aldi grocery stores that “may be contaminated with foreign material, specifically pieces of metal.” Cargill Meat Solutions manufactures the product for Aldi exclusively, so it was only sold at Aldi stores. According to the USDA, the product was shipped to Aldi stores nationwide, so the alert applies to all U.S. locations. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? To be clear, the USDA’s Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert, not a recall, “because this product is no longer available for sale in commerce.” The problem was discovered during routine maintenance when Cargill found equipment damage may have contaminated the carnitas product with metal pieces. There have been no confirmed reports of injury due to consumption of these products. (Anyone concerned about an injury should contact a healthcare provider.) How do I know if I bought the affected pork product? The fully cooked, sleeved tray packages were produced from April 1 to 2, 2025. The health alert applies to products with the following details: Name: Pork Carnitas Seasoned & Seared Pork with Juices Slow Cooked with Citrus Size: 16-oz tray Use-by dates: June 30, 2025 or July 1, 2025 Establishment number: 46049 What should I do if I bought the pork product? Consumers who have purchased the affected products should thrown them away or return them to Aldi. Although this product is no longer available for sale, FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers can contact Cargill’s Consumer Hotline at 844-419-1574 with any questions. Those with food safety questions can contact the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline by calling the toll-free number 888-674-6854, or via email here. View the full article

The rate of new home sales picked up by 14% from the month prior, data provided by the Mortgage Bankers Association shows. View the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. National home prices have risen by 1.2% year-over-year from March 2024 to March 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index, a decelerated rate from the 4.6% year-over-year rate last spring. However, not every housing market is seeing rising home prices. Among the nation’s 300 largest metro-area housing markets, 60 markets are seeing falling home prices on a year-over-year basis. That’s up from 42 markets in February and 31 markets in January. While home prices continue to rise in regions with tight inventory—such as much of the Northeast and Midwest—many housing markets in states like Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, where inventory has now surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels, are experiencing modest home price corrections, according to ResiClub’s latest analysis. These year-over-year declines are evident in major metros such as Austin (-4.6%); Tampa (-4.5%); San Antonio (-2.7%); Phoenix (-2.5%); Dallas (-2.4%); Jacksonville, Florida (-2.3%); Orlando (-2.2%); New Orleans (-1.9%); Atlanta (-1.8%); and Miami (-1.5%). The markets seeing the most softness, where homebuyers are gaining leverage, are primarily located in Sun Belt regions, particularly the Gulf Coast and Mountain West. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. Will this softening continue this year? It looks like it. A key indicator to watch will be active inventory levels. If weaker markets like Tampa continue to see substantial increases in active inventory—already above pre-pandemic levels—it may signal ongoing softening, potentially creating more opportunities for homebuyers. View the full article

Ultra HDR is a cool image format. Like traditional HDR, this format packs more image data into each media file, which translates into brighter highlights, darker shadows, and more vibrant colors. However, Ultra HDR files also contain the standard dynamic range (SDR) version of the image as well. That way, you can share Ultra HDR files with friends who don't have HDR-compatible displays, and the image will show up just fine. But there's a difference between being able to display an Ultra HDR image on a non-HDR display and converting an SDR image to HDR (or Ultra HDR, for that matter). Traditionally, the latter has been a more complicated endeavor, and not something offered through easy means to consumers. If you wanted your images to have a high dynamic range, you needed to shoot in HDR from the start. As it happens, Google Photos is changing those rules. Android Authority reported that Google is now rolling out an option to its default photo app to let users upgrade their SDR images to Ultra HDR. Here's how it works. How to convert images to Ultra HDR in Google PhotosThere are two things that need to happen before you can try out the new option. First, you need to be running Google Photos version 7.24.0.747539053 or newer. Second, Google needs to update your app with the feature itself. This is what's known as a server-side update, as the feature isn't something necessarily contained in a specific software version. If you're running the right version, Google can then update your app on its end, and include the option for you to use. In other words, if your Google Photos app is fully updated and you still don't see the new option, wait a bit for the update to roll out. Once the feature does land on your version of Google Photos, open an image, then tap Edit launch the editor. Here, scroll left on the tools along the bottom of the display, then tap Adjust. You'll find the new "Ultra HDR" option in this menu, replacing the "HDR Effect" option that was previously available in the editor. In Android Authority's testing, the image is clearly labeled as "Ultra HDR," which you can find adjacent to the photo's resolution and size information. Speaking of file size, Ultra HDR images may end up smaller than the original image you were working with, since the gain map (very simply, the HDR data of the image) is smaller than the original photo. If you want to make sure you preserve the full information of the image, it might be a good idea to save the original photo after applying the effect—even if it does cost you a bit of storage. View the full article

Fast Company is the official media partner of Summit Detroit. Summit is an organization that hosts global ideas conferences and immersive experiences. And the programming is always grounded by six core pillars: thought leadership, health and happiness, performance arts, culinary arts, fine art, and impact—all with the express intention to inspire deep attendee presence and build long-term connections both professionally and personally. “Many of our Summit community members are building and running large high-profile companies, managing teams, and are surrounded by people and things to do. But our business leaders often feel incredibly lonely in their pursuits,” says Jody Levy, CEO and global director of Summit. “There’s an impact to a Summit gathering that invites commonality and allows these types of high-octane doers the chance to meet one another, relate to one another, and forge lifelong professional and personal friendships.” This June 5-8, Summit lands in Detroit with an array of speakers, teachers, and artists who will bring their unique perspectives to Summit’s programming pillars. Thought leadership and impact Summit community members will be immersed in thoughtful discussions with prolific business and technology leaders including Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter, Medium, and Mozi; Franz von Holzhausen, chief designer at Tesla; Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rocket Companies; Tim Urban, cofounder of the podcast Wait But Why; futurist Pablos Holman; and many more. For those steeped in social justice, impact, and the humanities, Summit is curating a series of special sessions with influential leaders including Dr. Bernice A. King; Ashley Bell, founder and CEO of fintech platform Ready Life; and former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones discussing his investment in Holladay Bank & Trust, which will become the first Black-owned commercial bank through acquisition. Throughout Summit’s programming are sessions that pull from the past to help illustrate the future. For example, Eames Demetrios will take the stage to discuss the legacy of his grandparents, Charles and Ray Eames—widely considered among the most influential American designers of the 20th century—and their longstanding connection to Detroit and their manufacturing innovations born out of wartime. “There’s such a direct correlation to this moment that we are in,” Levy says. “There’s an opportunity to reinvent not just how we do things but the materials we use, the manufacturing methods we have access to, and how we will reinvent to sustain a complex manufacturing future.” Health and happiness Summit’s lineup within its health and happiness pillar includes author and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb; medical diagnostic entrepreneur and cofounder and CEO of Function Health, Jonathan Swerdlin; integrative medicine practitioner Dr. Linda Lancaster; and death expert Elena Brower. There will also be movement modalities and interactive workshops with Primal Moves from Ibiza, Spain; an African- and Caribbean-inspired dance workshop led by Stacy Letrice; and fitness and yoga sessions with acclaimed instructors including Melissa Levy, Jacey Cunningham, Kim Strother, and Ally Bogard. Performing and fine arts Underscoring Summit’s focus on fine art and the importance of live performance are immersive experiences including a conversation on the art of resilience from legendary choreographer and director Bill T. Jones; evening comedy sets from Ben Gleib (yes, he does “roast the entrepreneurs,” Levy promises); and live performances by The Wailers, Aluna, Coco & Breezy, LP Giobbi, Moodymann, and Tony Touch, as well as a popup experience with vinyl listening bar Dante’s HiFi. Culinary arts And it wouldn’t be a Summit event without a culinary track, more specifically one that centers Detroit’s culinary renaissance. Featured this year are Javier Bardauil, chef and owner of Barda and Puma Detroit, specializing in Argentinian cuisine; Brad Greenhill, executive chef and co-owner of Takoi, a popular Thai-inspired eatery; Warda Bouguettaya, owner of the James Beard Award-winning bakery Warda Pâtisserie; Alexandra Clark, founder and head chocolatier of Bon Bon Bon Chocolate; and Hamisi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere, owners of the East African restaurants Waka and Baobab Fare. Despite the structure of Summit’s programming pillars, Levy notes no one has to stick to one track or interest. A typical day at Summit can take on a variety of explorations. “Our community doesn’t come to sit in a space and be a voyeur at a talk. They’re in it, in flow, they get to participate, let their curiosity lead, and the true lessons and connections often happen in the in-betweens, before and after sessions, on walks to venues, meetups, mixers, in line for lattes,” she says. “We get to create an environment for our people to have the choose-your-own-adventure that makes each Summit so unique.” Adding to what makes this Summit event distinctive is its host city of Detroit. “Detroit, at this moment, in this time, is thriving,” Levy says. “There are so many people that have come in from around the world: artists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, founders, investors, chefs from all over the globe, musical talent, explorers. There is this thriving creator economy in Detroit that matches the curious and experimental spirit of Summit.” Learn more about Summit and apply to attend Summit Detroit this June 5-8, 2025. Tickets start at $4,750. View the full article

True crime podcasts have been in the zeitgeist for quite some time, but those focusing on scams seem to get less mainstream attention than their bloody, murder-heavy counterparts. I’ve gathered recommendations for the best, most fascinating scam podcasts on the digital airwaves right now. Catch up, follow along, then pick your jaw off the floor as you learn the shocking ways some truly manipulative people were able to take advantage of the most vulnerable, robbing them of their money, friendship, and trust. From mysterious boys emerging from the wild to con a whole town, to an entrepreneur bilking investors out of millions of dollars for bunk science, each of these true life tales is dripping with lies and deceit. The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby Credit: 'The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby' The Con: Kaitlyn's Baby is a six-part true crime series looking into the case of Kaitlyn Braun, a calculating Canadian woman who pretended to have a series of traumatic events (like pregnancy loss and sexual assault) in order to trick doulas to care for her. Host Sarah Treleaven tells us the story, focusing on the emotional impact it had on Kaitlyn’s victims to be taken advantage of for supporting others, something that requires such physical and emotional connection and vulnerability. Your eyes will widen, your heart rate will quicken—I even got a little terrified. The story of Kaitlyn's schemes can start to feel like a horror movie. Sea of Lies Credit: 'Sea of Lies' From the same host of Wild Boys (one of my favorite shows on this list!) comes Sea of Lies, a show about the prolific swindler Albert Walker, whose list of swindles includes stealing identities, defrauding people of millions of dollars, and murder. It starts with a huge splash (more specifically, a dead body in an ocean) and ends with Walker getting caught thanks to a Rolex watch, taking you on this zig-zagging path that will keep you guessing the whole time. The storytelling is excellent; you won’t be able to get to the next episode fast enough. Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story Credit: 'Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story' Believable: The Coco Berthmann Story introduces us to the life and crimes of Coco Berthmann, who gained internet fame by sharing her harrowing account of surviving child sex trafficking in Germany. When she was arrested for fraudulently raising funds under the guise of a false cancer diagnosis (someone got carried away!) people started wondering if they could believe her at all. This is a complex story well told with meticulous original reporting from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sara Ganim and award-winning showrunner Karen Given, who map out exactly which of Coco’s stories to believe and which to distrust—and why, at the root of everything, Coco lied in the first place. Believe In Magic Credit: 'Believe in Magic' For Believe in Magic, Jamie Bartlett (who also hosts The Missing Cryptoqueen) tells the story of Megan Bhari, a 16-year-old who founded a charity in 2012 to grant wishes to seriously ill children. Things really blew up for Megan when the band One Direction hosted a charity ball and Louis Tomlinson donated money from his own pockets. Eventually people started to notice contradictions in her illness story and the lack of transparency in how donation money was being used. In the end it’s an emotional, fascinating, and well-balanced story about Munchausen syndrome by proxy and what drives people to scams with fake altruism. Scamanda Credit: 'Scamanda' Amanda Riley, aka Scamanda, is a California woman who faked a long battle with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and used her blog and social media to solicit more than $100,000 in donations over almost 10 years. Amanda claimed to undergo chemotherapy, radiation, and even a bone marrow transplant, which brought in sympathy and financial support from her church and community, who saw Amanda as a source of inspiration. It all came to a head when investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello got an anonymous tip about Amanda's blog, prompting an eight-year investigation that ultimately led to Amanda’s five-year prison sentence. Amanda’s blog posts, read by actor Kendall Horn in the podcast, give us an idea of what she was really thinking. Scam Factory Credit: 'Scam Factory' Scam Factory tells the story of a network of people tangled up in a compound in Myanmar that lures people inside with promises of high salaries and then enslaves them making it nearly impossible to get out. When a guy, they call him “Max,” gets suckered in, his sister Charlie needs to do some dangerous and unethical things to try to get him out—Charlie must play the game and become part of the scam factory herself, luring strangers into the factory for the sake of her family. If you’ve ever heard a story about toxic, cult-y situations and wondered, “no really, how does this happen to someone?” this show explains it perfectly. The Binge Cases: Baby Broker Credit: 'The Binge Cases' If you’re among one of the many people swept away by the viral story of Kaitlyn’s Baby, you might like the Baby Broker series of The Binge Cases, which tells the story of Tara Lee, a woman who told more than 100 couples across the country that she could help them adopt a baby but was lying the whole time. Peter McDonnell spoke with some of the couples who were impacted, which are all fascinating and often cross paths. Wild Boys Credit: 'Wild Boys' It’s the summer of 2003 in the small Canadian town of Vernon, and two teen boys emerge from the wilderness. They claimed to have been raised in the British Columbia wilderness and grown up without exposure to society—no TV, no school, no registered IDs. Journalist Sam Mullins grew up in Vernon and can remember the impact the boys made and how the Vernon community embraced them with open arms, housing them, feeding them, and checking in on them. But things weren’t adding up—one of the boys was extremely thin and would only eat fruit, and they both had huge gaps in their conflicting stories. Despite all the red flags, everyone was surprised to learn that nothing the wild boys said was true. Sam tells the story of the con that stunned Vernonites in Wild Boys and explores why two young kids would go to such great lengths to run away to establish an incredible identity in another country. Maintenance Phase Credit: 'Maintenance Phase' Maintenance Phase doesn’t appear, at first glance, to be a show about scams. In each episode, Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes (formerly of You’re Wrong About) examine fads in the wellness and weight loss industry with a fine-toothed comb, and help us splice fact from fiction. The things they cover—fat camps, the BMI, Olestra, and the Keto Diet—do usually end up, upon closer inspection, to be riddled with scams, from the unethical way products are marketed to the bunk science used to support their claims. Aubry and Michael deliver disturbing insight into the ways we’re all being tricked, but their spark and sense of humor makes the show a total blast to listen to. They are experts at getting angry—and it feels good to get angry along with them. The Missing Cryptoqueen Credit: 'The Missing Cryptoqueen' Crypto is mysterious, so it seems only natural that people have fallen prey to one crypto scam after another. The Missing Cryptoqueen tells a whopper of a crypto scam story, perhaps the biggest in the industry’s short history. In 2014, Bulgarian entrepreneur Dr. Ruja Ignatova launched a cryptocurrency that she hoped would out-do BitCoin, called OneCoin. She lured investors from 175 countries into cashing in on the order of a collective $4 billion—and vanished. Peeling back the curtain, Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt of BBC Sounds discovered that OneCoin was a Ponzi scheme—there was no blockchain and no trading exchange, just a bunch of servers in Bulgaria. Ignatova disappeared in October 2017 with all of the loot, and hasn’t been seen since. On The Missing Cryptoqueen, Bartlett and Catt detail how she pulled off her con, and track the ongoing hunt to find her. The Dream Credit: 'The Dream' Season one of The Dream was about multilevel marketing schemes, but season two zooms into the world of wellness and the lofty promises made by some of the industry’s shadiest purveyors. This American Life alum Jane Marie, along with producer Dann Gallucci, challenge the ethics of crystals, vitamins, supplements, and more, separating fact from fiction in each episode. Jane Marie adds a personal touch to her research by including personal stories: of how her own childhood brain injury impacted her view on the wellness industry, of an aunt who has been hypnotized by a popular essential oil company, and of a friend who is still trying to sell her Thirty-One bags. Pretend Credit: 'Pretend' Have you heard the one about the woman who became entangled in a con with people who she thought were her cousins, but who all ended up being the same person—her catfishing friend? Or the one about the real-life Truman Show, which left one unsuspecting guy living a lie with a bunch of actors? What about the one about the prank caller who pretended to be a police officer and used his power to get fast food managers to strip-search female employees, forcing them to jog naked, do jumping jacks, and perform other humiliating acts? These are the stories told on Pretend, as Javier Leiva interviews swindlers, snake oil salesmen, and cult leaders, and tells some of the most unbelievable stories that the other con podcasts aren’t talking about—often in great depth, with investigations spanning several episodes or a whole miniseries. Sympathy Pains Credit: 'Sympathy Pains' Sympathy Pains is a six-part medical con story hosted by Laura Beil (Dr. Death, Bad Batch) about a woman who faked multiple illnesses—from cancer, to muscular dystrophy, to Ebola—and created a tragic backstory about being the mom to a child who had died. But none of it was true. She didn’t just want her victims’ money, she wanted their friendship and sympathy, and became a master in targeting people who she knew would drop everything for her, even when her stories started to crack. This is one of the most unusual con stories you’ll ever hear, and the best twist comes in the final episode. The Dropout Credit: 'The Dropout' By now, you’ve almost certainly heard of the scheme perpetrated by Elizabeth Holmes (or watched the Hulu docudrama about it). She’s the modern day poster child of scam artists, pulling millions of dollars from investors for her health technology company that promised to have revolutionized blood testing, but was built on faulty science with zero valuation. You could read the book or watch the show to understand Holmes’ life and her complicated con, but The Dropout, a podcast from ABC News’ Rebecca Jarvis, fleshes out the reporter’s multi-year investigation with never-before-aired deposition testimony from Holmes and those at the center of the story, and includes exclusive interviews with former employees, investors, and patients. The story of how one alluring woman went from being called “The Next Steve Jobs” to finding herself facing criminal charges demands the kind of scrutiny this long form podcasts offers. California City Credit: 'California City' California City is located deep in the Mojave Desert, 100 miles north of L.A., a place that once held the promise of the American dream—thousands were told that if they bought land there, they would certainly get rich one day. At least 73,000 hopeful people poured hundreds of millions of dollars into California City, only to find out too late that the land was worthless. They would spend years trying to get their money back. In this series, Emily Guerin travels to California City with a mic and a mission to find the people responsible for the con, and winds up enmeshed in conversations with real estate developers trying to sweep the truth under the rug, as well as the people who share heartbreaking stories of giving everything they had, chasing a dream that would never be realized. View the full article

Google will now allow relevant Search ads from advertisers who showed amongst top ads to also participate in the bottom ads auction. As a reminder, the definition of top ads changed about a year ago, as Google began mixing ads in various organic positions throughout the search results. With this change, Google also reminded us that it updated its unfair ads policy (i.e. double serving) to say this is not double serving. Google added the words, “in a single ad location,” as an exception to the policy last March after Google was caught double serving ads under its old definition. What Google said. Google wrote: Today, we’re sharing more about a recent change we made to deliver more relevant Search ads at the bottom of the search results page. When someone searches on Google, we run different auctions for each ad location where we show Search ads—for example top ads are selected by a different Search ad auction from ads that show in other ad locations. Until now, Search ads from a given advertiser were generally restricted to a single ad location on a given page. Recently, we started looking deeply at the user experience with ads lower down the page and observed something interesting. Often, users would scroll past the top results to review content lower down the page, but then scroll back up if they found top results more relevant relative to content further below. To help reduce this friction and improve ad relevance lower down the page, we will now allow relevant Search ads from advertisers who showed amongst top ads to also participate in the bottom ads auction. This means a user scrolling lower down the page might see a highly relevant ad from the same advertiser, but not necessarily the exact same content they saw earlier. We tested this for several months and found that allowing advertisers who showed amongst top ads to also compete in the bottom auction increased rates of highly relevant ads by about 10%1 and increased bottom ad conversions by about 14%2, improving both the user experience and advertiser value lower down the page. Google’s FAQ. Google also posted a Q&A on these changes: 1. Is Google Ads changing its policy around double serving for Search Ads? No. The unfair advantage policy for Search ads applies to ads that compete with each other to show in a single ad location and we recently updated our language to make this clearer. With this change, we are allowing advertisers who show up in the top ad location to also be eligible for ad locations further down the page. However, within a single ad location (either top or bottom), we will continue to apply and enforce the existing policy. 2. How will this change affect the Search ads auction? With this change, we will now allow relevant Search ads from advertisers who showed amongst top ads to also participate in the bottom ads auction. There are no changes to the auction that we run for top ads. Advertisers will continue to never bid against themselves with this change either in the top or bottom auction. 3. Will the same ad always appear at both the top and bottom of the search results? No. We show the most relevant Search ad for each specific placement on the Search results page, whether it’s at the top or the bottom. The specific ad content shown to the user may be similar or different from the top to best suit the context of the bottom placement. 4. Does this change loosen query matching or ad load constraints? No, our query matching systems and controls remain the same, as do our guidelines around the number of top ads we show on the page. This change is solely focused on the bottom of the page. 5. How can I understand the impact of this change? This change, which will provide more opportunities for relevant Search ads at the bottom of the page, may impact your overall metrics. To understand the impact on your campaigns, we recommend that you segment your metrics by “Top vs. other” if you’re interested in understanding performance for different ad locations. The search terms report will continue to show query-level clicks, whether your ads are clicked on in top or bottom locations. 6. How do I best prepare for this change? Since this update provides more opportunities for relevant Search ads to be seen, ensure your keywords, ad copy, and landing pages are well-themed with what users are searching for. As more opportunities become available at the bottom of the page, you will likely see higher conversion volume at your current targets. We recommend using bid simulator tools to explore potential performance changes and adjust your bids or targets strategically. Why we care. Google has been testing various changes to ad positions within its search results for the past couple of years. Google has been happy with the results of those tests and thus continues to allow the same or similar ad, from the same advertiser, in multiple ad locations throughout the search results. I believe many advertisers are happy about this new policy but some may not be. Either way, you need to be aware of these newish Google Ads rules. View the full article

Key Takeaways Role and Importance: A project champion drives project success by aligning initiatives with organizational goals and fostering team collaboration.Key Responsibilities: Their main duties include advocacy for the project, resource management, risk assessment, and conflict resolution to ensure smooth project execution.Effective Leadership: Strong leadership skills, effective communication, and problem-solving expertise are essential traits that set a project champion apart within a team.Benefits of Advocacy: By securing necessary resources and enhancing communication, project champions significantly improve project outcomes and team dynamics.Challenges and Solutions: Project champions face challenges such as resource limitations and resistance to change, which can be mitigated through enhanced communication, collaboration, and technology adoption. In the fast-paced world of project management, having a project champion can make all the difference. This key role not only drives the project forward but also ensures that it aligns with the organization’s goals. A project champion is your go-to person for navigating challenges and rallying support from stakeholders, making it essential for project success. You might be wondering what exactly sets a project champion apart from other team members. It’s their unique blend of passion, influence, and strategic thinking that empowers them to advocate for the project and inspire the team. Understanding the significance of this role can help you unlock the full potential of your projects and achieve outstanding results. Understanding the Role of a Project Champion A project champion serves as a key driver in project management, ensuring alignment with your business goals and enhancing team productivity. This individual plays a vital role in fostering collaboration and guiding the project toward successful outcomes. Definition of a Project Champion A project champion is a person who advocates for a project within your organization. This role includes promoting the project’s vision and securing the necessary resources for its success. They possess a deep understanding of project management principles and contribute to strategic planning, ensuring the project aligns with your overarching business strategy. Key Responsibilities Advocacy: Champions advocate for the project to stakeholders, highlighting its value and importance in achieving business objectives. Resource Allocation: Champions identify and secure funding, technology solutions, and personnel essential for project completion. Team Collaboration: Champions foster teamwork by facilitating communication among team members and encouraging collaboration, enhancing operational efficiency. Risk Management: Champions assess potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them, ensuring your project stays on track. Performance Monitoring: Champions track project milestones and performance metrics, utilizing data analysis to optimize workflows and adjust strategies. Conflict Resolution: Champions address conflicts that arise during the project, promoting problem-solving and maintaining team morale. Stakeholder Engagement: Champions maintain regular communication with stakeholders to gather feedback and ensure their interests are aligned with project goals, enhancing customer retention. By understanding the project champion’s role and responsibilities, you can leverage this position to drive your projects towards successful completion and foster business growth. Importance of a Project Champion A project champion plays a vital role in the success of a project within your small business. This individual drives initiatives, ensuring alignment with overall business goals. Benefits to Project Success Alignment and Goal Setting: A project champion clarifies objectives, ensuring the project aligns with your business strategy. This clarity fosters team focus and accountability. Resource Management: Effective resource allocation falls under their purview. They monitor budgeting, ensuring resources are available to meet project timelines and maintain operational efficiency. Obstacle Management: Project champions proactively identify risks and potential obstacles. By managing these threats, they maintain project momentum and improve overall productivity. Enhanced Communication: A project champion facilitates communication among team members and stakeholders. They provide timely updates, ensuring everyone stays informed about project status and decisions. Impact on Team Dynamics Fostering Collaboration: Project champions encourage teamwork, cultivating a collaborative environment that promotes employee engagement. This collaboration enhances workflow and improves employee management. Conflict Resolution: They address conflicts swiftly, using their problem-solving skills to maintain team harmony. Effective conflict resolution contributes to a more productive atmosphere. Empowering Team Members: A project champion develops team capabilities through delegation and employee training. They empower individuals to take ownership of tasks, boosting morale and promoting business growth. Improving Performance: By regularly monitoring performance and providing feedback, project champions enhance team outputs. This improvement leads to better project outcomes and supports overall business objectives. Qualities of an Effective Project Champion Effective project champions embody specific qualities that can drive small business success. These qualities enhance team dynamics, empower employees, and ensure projects align with business goals. Leadership Skills A project champion showcases strong leadership skills that inspire and motivate your team. They establish clear goals, ensuring everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. They maintain organizational credibility by knowing key players and building trust. Setting a sense of urgency fuels productivity and encourages timely delivery of project milestones. A project champion challenges the team with innovative ideas, fostering a culture of creativity and adaptability. By leveraging effective leadership, they contribute to improved workflow and overall project management. Communication Abilities Excellent communication skills are vital for a project champion, ensuring seamless interaction among all stakeholders. They provide regular updates on project status, addressing any ups and downs that may arise. Communicating project objectives clearly helps align the team’s efforts with the broader business strategy. By fostering open channels of communication, a project champion enhances collaboration and effective employee management. Their ability to convey complex information in a digestible format ensures that all team members, from executives to individual contributors, stay informed and engaged. Problem-Solving Expertise Problem-solving expertise sets a project champion apart in navigating challenges that arise during project execution. They identify potential risks early, employing proactive risk management strategies to mitigate impacts. When obstacles occur, their decision-making abilities allow them to find efficient solutions quickly. A project champion enhances operational efficiency by streamlining processes and optimizing resource allocation, ultimately contributing to budget adherence and time management. Their focus on problem-solving enables your small business to adapt to dynamic environments, maintaining momentum toward business growth. Challenges Faced by Project Champions Project champions encounter significant challenges that can hinder the progress and success of the project. These obstacles require careful management and strategic planning to overcome. Common Obstacles Lack of Resources: Insufficient funding, personnel, or equipment can severely impact your project’s advancement. Limited resources restrict your ability to execute essential tasks and strategies effectively. For small businesses, navigating budgeting constraints is crucial in securing necessary resources. Resistance to Change: Stakeholders or team members may hesitate to embrace new ideas or processes. This resistance often stems from concerns about altering established routines or a lack of awareness regarding the benefits of change. Cultural barriers within your organization can further complicate the adoption of innovative business processes. Strategies for Overcoming Challenges Enhance Communication: Use strong communication skills to present the project’s vision clearly and address any concerns from stakeholders. Maintaining open lines of communication fosters teamwork and eases transitions during implementation. Foster Collaboration: Encourage collaboration among team members to build buy-in for new initiatives. Engaging employees in the decision-making process can reduce resistance and enhance productivity while improving employee management and morale. Prioritize Training: Invest in employee training and development to build the necessary skills for adopting new technologies and processes. This commitment to employee growth boosts confidence and capacity, addressing gaps in knowledge that may lead to resistance. Implement Technology Solutions: Leverage technology tools that streamline workflows and enhance project management. Adopting software solutions can improve budgeting, time management, and data analysis, driving operational efficiency in your business. Use Risk Management Techniques: Identify potential obstacles early and use risk management strategies to mitigate them. By developing contingency plans, you create a flexible approach to adapt to challenges as they arise, ensuring project continuity. By addressing these common challenges strategically, you can position your project champion effectively within your small business, driving successful outcomes and promoting business growth. Conclusion Embracing the role of a project champion can significantly elevate your project’s success. By advocating for your team’s vision and fostering collaboration, you create an environment where everyone feels valued. Your ability to navigate challenges and maintain focus on organizational goals is crucial in driving projects forward. Remember that the qualities of a project champion—leadership, communication, and problem-solving—are essential for inspiring your team. As you work to overcome obstacles and enhance team dynamics, you’ll not only improve project outcomes but also contribute to your organization’s growth. Prioritizing this role can unlock the full potential of your projects and lead to exceptional results. Frequently Asked Questions What is the role of a project champion in project management? A project champion acts as a key advocate for a project, promoting its vision and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. They secure resources, encourage team collaboration, manage risks, and resolve conflicts, ultimately driving the project toward success. Why are project champions important for small businesses? In small businesses, project champions clarify objectives, manage resources efficiently, and identify obstacles proactively. They enhance communication, foster collaboration among team members, and empower employees, leading to improved project outcomes and supporting overall business growth. What qualities make an effective project champion? An effective project champion possesses strong leadership skills, excellent communication abilities, and problem-solving expertise. These qualities inspire and motivate the team, ensure seamless stakeholder interaction, and facilitate effective navigation through challenges. What challenges do project champions face? Project champions often encounter challenges such as limited resources and resistance to change. These obstacles can hinder project success and require strategic approaches to overcome, including improving communication, fostering collaboration, and implementing effective training. How can project champions overcome challenges? Project champions can address challenges by enhancing communication among team members, fostering collaboration, prioritizing relevant training, leveraging technology, and applying risk management techniques. These strategies help ensure successful project outcomes and promote organizational growth. Image Via Envato This article, "The Essential Role of a Project Champion in Driving Project Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Key Takeaways Role and Importance: A project champion drives project success by aligning initiatives with organizational goals and fostering team collaboration.Key Responsibilities: Their main duties include advocacy for the project, resource management, risk assessment, and conflict resolution to ensure smooth project execution.Effective Leadership: Strong leadership skills, effective communication, and problem-solving expertise are essential traits that set a project champion apart within a team.Benefits of Advocacy: By securing necessary resources and enhancing communication, project champions significantly improve project outcomes and team dynamics.Challenges and Solutions: Project champions face challenges such as resource limitations and resistance to change, which can be mitigated through enhanced communication, collaboration, and technology adoption. In the fast-paced world of project management, having a project champion can make all the difference. This key role not only drives the project forward but also ensures that it aligns with the organization’s goals. A project champion is your go-to person for navigating challenges and rallying support from stakeholders, making it essential for project success. You might be wondering what exactly sets a project champion apart from other team members. It’s their unique blend of passion, influence, and strategic thinking that empowers them to advocate for the project and inspire the team. Understanding the significance of this role can help you unlock the full potential of your projects and achieve outstanding results. Understanding the Role of a Project Champion A project champion serves as a key driver in project management, ensuring alignment with your business goals and enhancing team productivity. This individual plays a vital role in fostering collaboration and guiding the project toward successful outcomes. Definition of a Project Champion A project champion is a person who advocates for a project within your organization. This role includes promoting the project’s vision and securing the necessary resources for its success. They possess a deep understanding of project management principles and contribute to strategic planning, ensuring the project aligns with your overarching business strategy. Key Responsibilities Advocacy: Champions advocate for the project to stakeholders, highlighting its value and importance in achieving business objectives. Resource Allocation: Champions identify and secure funding, technology solutions, and personnel essential for project completion. Team Collaboration: Champions foster teamwork by facilitating communication among team members and encouraging collaboration, enhancing operational efficiency. Risk Management: Champions assess potential risks and develop strategies to mitigate them, ensuring your project stays on track. Performance Monitoring: Champions track project milestones and performance metrics, utilizing data analysis to optimize workflows and adjust strategies. Conflict Resolution: Champions address conflicts that arise during the project, promoting problem-solving and maintaining team morale. Stakeholder Engagement: Champions maintain regular communication with stakeholders to gather feedback and ensure their interests are aligned with project goals, enhancing customer retention. By understanding the project champion’s role and responsibilities, you can leverage this position to drive your projects towards successful completion and foster business growth. Importance of a Project Champion A project champion plays a vital role in the success of a project within your small business. This individual drives initiatives, ensuring alignment with overall business goals. Benefits to Project Success Alignment and Goal Setting: A project champion clarifies objectives, ensuring the project aligns with your business strategy. This clarity fosters team focus and accountability. Resource Management: Effective resource allocation falls under their purview. They monitor budgeting, ensuring resources are available to meet project timelines and maintain operational efficiency. Obstacle Management: Project champions proactively identify risks and potential obstacles. By managing these threats, they maintain project momentum and improve overall productivity. Enhanced Communication: A project champion facilitates communication among team members and stakeholders. They provide timely updates, ensuring everyone stays informed about project status and decisions. Impact on Team Dynamics Fostering Collaboration: Project champions encourage teamwork, cultivating a collaborative environment that promotes employee engagement. This collaboration enhances workflow and improves employee management. Conflict Resolution: They address conflicts swiftly, using their problem-solving skills to maintain team harmony. Effective conflict resolution contributes to a more productive atmosphere. Empowering Team Members: A project champion develops team capabilities through delegation and employee training. They empower individuals to take ownership of tasks, boosting morale and promoting business growth. Improving Performance: By regularly monitoring performance and providing feedback, project champions enhance team outputs. This improvement leads to better project outcomes and supports overall business objectives. Qualities of an Effective Project Champion Effective project champions embody specific qualities that can drive small business success. These qualities enhance team dynamics, empower employees, and ensure projects align with business goals. Leadership Skills A project champion showcases strong leadership skills that inspire and motivate your team. They establish clear goals, ensuring everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. They maintain organizational credibility by knowing key players and building trust. Setting a sense of urgency fuels productivity and encourages timely delivery of project milestones. A project champion challenges the team with innovative ideas, fostering a culture of creativity and adaptability. By leveraging effective leadership, they contribute to improved workflow and overall project management. Communication Abilities Excellent communication skills are vital for a project champion, ensuring seamless interaction among all stakeholders. They provide regular updates on project status, addressing any ups and downs that may arise. Communicating project objectives clearly helps align the team’s efforts with the broader business strategy. By fostering open channels of communication, a project champion enhances collaboration and effective employee management. Their ability to convey complex information in a digestible format ensures that all team members, from executives to individual contributors, stay informed and engaged. Problem-Solving Expertise Problem-solving expertise sets a project champion apart in navigating challenges that arise during project execution. They identify potential risks early, employing proactive risk management strategies to mitigate impacts. When obstacles occur, their decision-making abilities allow them to find efficient solutions quickly. A project champion enhances operational efficiency by streamlining processes and optimizing resource allocation, ultimately contributing to budget adherence and time management. Their focus on problem-solving enables your small business to adapt to dynamic environments, maintaining momentum toward business growth. Challenges Faced by Project Champions Project champions encounter significant challenges that can hinder the progress and success of the project. These obstacles require careful management and strategic planning to overcome. Common Obstacles Lack of Resources: Insufficient funding, personnel, or equipment can severely impact your project’s advancement. Limited resources restrict your ability to execute essential tasks and strategies effectively. For small businesses, navigating budgeting constraints is crucial in securing necessary resources. Resistance to Change: Stakeholders or team members may hesitate to embrace new ideas or processes. This resistance often stems from concerns about altering established routines or a lack of awareness regarding the benefits of change. Cultural barriers within your organization can further complicate the adoption of innovative business processes. Strategies for Overcoming Challenges Enhance Communication: Use strong communication skills to present the project’s vision clearly and address any concerns from stakeholders. Maintaining open lines of communication fosters teamwork and eases transitions during implementation. Foster Collaboration: Encourage collaboration among team members to build buy-in for new initiatives. Engaging employees in the decision-making process can reduce resistance and enhance productivity while improving employee management and morale. Prioritize Training: Invest in employee training and development to build the necessary skills for adopting new technologies and processes. This commitment to employee growth boosts confidence and capacity, addressing gaps in knowledge that may lead to resistance. Implement Technology Solutions: Leverage technology tools that streamline workflows and enhance project management. Adopting software solutions can improve budgeting, time management, and data analysis, driving operational efficiency in your business. Use Risk Management Techniques: Identify potential obstacles early and use risk management strategies to mitigate them. By developing contingency plans, you create a flexible approach to adapt to challenges as they arise, ensuring project continuity. By addressing these common challenges strategically, you can position your project champion effectively within your small business, driving successful outcomes and promoting business growth. Conclusion Embracing the role of a project champion can significantly elevate your project’s success. By advocating for your team’s vision and fostering collaboration, you create an environment where everyone feels valued. Your ability to navigate challenges and maintain focus on organizational goals is crucial in driving projects forward. Remember that the qualities of a project champion—leadership, communication, and problem-solving—are essential for inspiring your team. As you work to overcome obstacles and enhance team dynamics, you’ll not only improve project outcomes but also contribute to your organization’s growth. Prioritizing this role can unlock the full potential of your projects and lead to exceptional results. Frequently Asked Questions What is the role of a project champion in project management? A project champion acts as a key advocate for a project, promoting its vision and ensuring alignment with organizational goals. They secure resources, encourage team collaboration, manage risks, and resolve conflicts, ultimately driving the project toward success. Why are project champions important for small businesses? In small businesses, project champions clarify objectives, manage resources efficiently, and identify obstacles proactively. They enhance communication, foster collaboration among team members, and empower employees, leading to improved project outcomes and supporting overall business growth. What qualities make an effective project champion? An effective project champion possesses strong leadership skills, excellent communication abilities, and problem-solving expertise. These qualities inspire and motivate the team, ensure seamless stakeholder interaction, and facilitate effective navigation through challenges. What challenges do project champions face? Project champions often encounter challenges such as limited resources and resistance to change. These obstacles can hinder project success and require strategic approaches to overcome, including improving communication, fostering collaboration, and implementing effective training. How can project champions overcome challenges? Project champions can address challenges by enhancing communication among team members, fostering collaboration, prioritizing relevant training, leveraging technology, and applying risk management techniques. These strategies help ensure successful project outcomes and promote organizational growth. Image Via Envato This article, "The Essential Role of a Project Champion in Driving Project Success" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

At a time when many fast-casual chains are struggling to get customers in the door, and rethinking their next moves both at home and internationally due to The President’s trade wars, Chipotle Mexican Grill is expanding. The fast-casual restaurant announced on Monday that it signed a development agreement with Alsea to open its first location in Mexico early next year. Alsea operates the Latin American and European locations of a number of food and beverage chains, including Starbucks, Domino’s Pizza, and Burger King, according to CNBC. Chipotle also indicated plans to explore “additional expansion markets in the region,” signaling further locations in Latin America. “We are confident that our responsibly sourced, classically cooked real food will resonate with guests in Mexico,” Nate Lawton, chief business development officer at Chipotle, said in a statement. “The country’s familiarity with our ingredients and affinity for fresh food make it an attractive growth market for our company.” The fast-casual chain, which currently operates more than 3,700 restaurants, also reiterated its plans to open between 315 and 345 new restaurants this year, with a long-term target of operating 7,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The popular chain opened 304 new restaurants in 2024, its most openings in a single year. (In 2023, it opened 271 locations, and in 2022, 200 restaurants.) And this is not Chipotle’s first foray beyond the U.S. borders. It operates 58 locations in Canada, 20 in the United Kingdom, six in France, and two in Germany. In 2023, it signed its first international development agreement with Alshaya Group to open restaurants in the Middle East; as a result, it now operates three restaurants in Kuwait and two in the United Arab Emirates. Last year, many beloved U.S. fast-casual and restaurant chains struggled to stay afloat, while many others shut down or filed for bankruptcy. The majority of Wahlburgers locations shut down in January, and fast-casual chain Roti has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as have both Red Lobster and Buca di Beppo. View the full article

The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states unveiled their proposed remedies today aimed at dismantling Google’s illegal monopoly in search and search advertising. These include breaking off Chrome and banning default search payments. The remedies. They break down into five categories meant to enable and increase competition: Distribution remedies. This would mean ending payments that “freeze the ecosystem in place,” including Google’s multi-billion-dollar payments to Apple and Android device makers. Chrome divestiture. This would separate Chrome from Google – organizationally and financially. Chrome accounts for 35% of all Google search queries and drives “billions in Search revenue” (the actual number is redacted). The DOJ also pointed out that Google “underinvests” in Chrome. Data remedies. This would require Google to share user-side data, search index coverage, and ad performance data – essential tools that help competitors train models, improve search results, and better compete. Advertising remedies. This would increase transparency and control for advertisers, while helping rival ad platforms compete more effectively. Specifically, Google would be forced to: Provide more information to advertisers in search query reports. Let advertisers opt out of broad and automated keyword matching. Anticircumvention provisions. This would establish a technical committee to monitor Google’s compliance. This section includes a “contingent Android divestiture.” If competition hasn’t improved within five years, Google could be forced to spin off Android. Why we care. If these remedies move forward, it could profoundly reshape how people access Google, how advertisers spend, and how competitors evolve in the search and generative AI markets. Catch up quick. U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial: Everything you need to know The opening slides. United States & Co-Plaintiff States v. Google LLC (redacted public version) (PDF). View the full article

The agency is offering buyouts and early retirement incentives for employees, with layoffs possible if targets aren't met, as part of the The President administration's overall downsizing of the federal government. View the full article

In a time where tariff price hikes are invading seemingly every element of life, diving into a video game could offer a welcome reprieve, both spiritually and fiscally. Digital video games do not require materials, shipping, or manufacturing costs, allowing them to cross borders without incurring extra fees. And the video game industry has been shifting to digital long before The President’s so-called Liberation Day. “In terms of software, PC gaming is now overwhelmingly digital, and physical versions are largely obsolete,” says Manu Rosier, market intelligence director at Newzoo. “We do not expect tariffs to significantly impact the price of video game software.” However, video-game-industry analysts say that although the prices of digital software likely will not increase, stress about the tariffs may still cause a shift in U.S. consumer spending on games. When thinking about the ways that spending on games may change in the coming months, Mat Piscatella, executive games director at Circana, says that it’s important to consider the ways that other parts of life will be impacted by the tariffs. “One of the big reasons for what we saw happen with the November elections was around the cost of everyday-spending categories like groceries and housing,” he says. “That certainly won’t be alleviated in the current tariff layout, and so that could further push video game consumers toward the big free-to-play or more accessible games.” Because of this, Piscatella tentatively projects that the video game industry may see a drop in demand for premium video games. However, games with long and deep connections to their player bases—such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, Roblox, and Call of Duty—could gain more ground. In Newzoo’s 2025 PC and Console Gaming Report, analysts found that in 2024, 58% of all PC gaming revenue came from microtransactions, such as players purchasing loot boxes and other in-game goods. This was only a 1.4% growth increase from 2023, but tariff worries could prompt a steeper incline. “Spending $5 or $20 on a game you already love is easier than dropping $80 on a new title,” says Piscatella. “These titles already have social and monetary hooks that keep players engaged.” This continued engagement is crucial in the video game industry, which hit peak audience growth during the worst years of the COVID-19 pandemic. “From the late ’70s onward, every year we would have more people playing and more people playing for more hours,” says Piscatella. “Then, in 2020 and 2021, we had this huge wave of people come in. So we hit a ceiling on both the number of players and hours of engagement, in the U.S. in particular.” Ever since then, the goals of the industry have shifted from growing the audience to maintaining and increasing the spending from the existing audience. One part of the gaming industry that will have a more difficult time with retention is undoubtedly physical games and gaming hardware in general. This is bad news for a company like Nintendo which was set to begin preorders in the U.S. for its Switch 2 but had to push the date back to April 24 due to tariff announcements. A chief concern revolves around the Switch 2. “Nintendo systems are the most physical forward of all the in-market devices. They’ve made a big point about delivering physical software so games could be easily shared among family members,” says Piscatella. “How many units of Switch hardware can you even allocate to the U.S., given all the uncertainties, right? How much is the potential market for physical cartridges really going to be, at least in the short term?” Rosier agrees. “Tariffs could affect packaged games, which are already set to be more expensive than their digital versions,” he says. “This might encourage more players to shift to digital, and Nintendo may adjust physical production accordingly.” However, it’s important to note that economic factors are shifting so rapidly that it is difficult to make any solid predictions of the future to come. “Right now the uncertainties are off the charts,” says Piscatella. “People will still love video games and they’ll still play them, but how they play them and how they spend on them, that might certainly change.” View the full article

Since President The President announced a sweeping slate of tariffs earlier this month, a highly uncertain market has led to supply-chain disruptions for everything from iPhones to electric bikes and Volvo cars. Now, the tariffs are coming for something else: your packages. The German-based shipping company DHL announced yesterday that it plans to suspend shipments of any packages over $800 to customers in the United States, starting today. According to a press release from the company, the move comes as a result of “recent U.S Customs regulatory updates,” which have caused DHL to face “multi-day transit delays to the U.S from any origin for shipments with a declared customs value exceeding USD 800.” The customs updates in question were instated on April 9 by the The President administration to enforce its strict new tariffs. The updates require a more time-consuming formal customs process for any package entering the U.S. that’s valued at $800 or more—a major change from the previous restrictions, which only required formal entry processing for packages over $2,500. “This change has caused a surge in formal customs clearances, which we are handling around the clock,” DHL said in the release. What does this mean for US customers? For American DHL customers, the company’s update means that it won’t be possible to receive any package through DHL valued at more than $800. However, the company noted that business-to-business deliveries valued over $800 will not be affected by the new procedure. DHL also clarified that this measure is temporary, and that it will “share updates as the situation evolves.” DHL’s new restrictions come just days after Hong Kong’s postal service announced that it would cease handling any package shipments to the U.S., citing the The President administration’s “abusive” new tariffs and regulations. These new shipping limitations could be a harbinger of what’s to come. As international shipping becomes more complicated and importers are faced with rising fees, many experts agree that shipping costs for consumers are likely to spike—or, in the case of DHL’s new regulations, some options may disappear altogether. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m an admin in a small office, with a centrally located desk. One of my coworkers, Miranda, literally never stops talking. I counted for a while and she averages two major interruptions per hour, mostly extended monologues about personal minutiae, intimate relationship problems, or absolute and total nonsense. Basically, her entire internal monologue is externalized at all times. She announces everything she’s doing. She tells me long stories about how she managed things like “loaning her bike to someone” or “changing the exact location of her keys” that follow the entire storyline of the item through all its moves over a period of 24 hours. She is utterly oblivious to both subtle and direct feedback about this. For example: Me, doing math” “Sorry I can’t talk right now I have to focus on this.” Miranda: “Yeah, I know, I’m just going to go to the store because I’m out of groceries and last week my friend came over and ate all my salad and since there’s no salad at the store ever…” My boss knows this is a problem, and I know his inaction is a problem. I wear headphones a lot, which sucks because I’m also a receptionist. One of the consequences of this situation is that among all the nonsense are relevant work facts, but because of Miranda’s processes they are only concrete facts 10% of the time and the other 90% they are “in process” work facts, so the details are all subject to change. My short-term memory cannot function under these conditions. I have ADHD and focusing on my own job is hard enough. It is functionally impossible for me to also absorb this waterfall of constant information, sort through it in real time for the bits that might someday be important to me, record those, and move forward with any kind of larger understanding. It would be an entire job, like one of those movie jobs where a harried assistant follows some crazy magazine editor around managing their constant changes of mind. That’s not my job, I have a job, she does not need an assistant, I am needed elsewhere. I told my boss recently that given the status quo, I can commit to writing down important information during meetings and keeping my operating system updated with the finalized schedules I’m given, but that I am not able to mentally track any of this, ever. He’ll ask me to remember things from within the week (what day was X going to happen?) and I can’t, not because I’m generally bad at that but because I am constantly overloaded by so much content that it’s impossible to maintain any kind of cognitive clarity. I was told 900 details yesterday and 890 of them were irrelevant nonsense so the 10 good ones randomly mixed in did not stick. Since I can not stop the deluge of mind-numbing, banal storytimes, constantly listening to her entire verbal process is incredibly derailing, and the best I can do is try to work around it is by purging my entire brain at the end of every day in order to live a life of relative sanity. Want info to stop flowing off of me like water off a duck’s back? Get her under control. Is this a reasonable boundary I’m drawing? It’s an unreasonable situation, I’m actively job hunting, and while I very much like working with my manager I’m aware that he should be doing more about this than he is. Given that he’s unwilling or unable to actually manage Miranda (because as you can guess, her time management skills are appalling and her productivity is often shockingly low), am I doing the right things? It’s a reasonable boundary to draw, but whether that matters depends on how your boss responded when you laid it out. If he agreed it’s reasonable — and will continue to deem it reasonable the next time you can’t answer a question due to Miranda overload — then sure, maybe this is the best way for you to manage the situation since he won’t manage it himself. But his continued agreement will be key, so you’ll have to see how that plays out. Meanwhile, though, do your job duties require you to frequently interact with Miranda? If not, would your boss be willing to tell her that she cannot interrupt you during the day, period? Maybe he’s not willing to coach her through how to streamline her communications but would be willing to give her a blanket “you must leave LetterWriter alone.” If he’s not, do you feel like you have the capital and standing in your workplace (including the backing of your boss if Miranda gets upset) to tell her that yourself — to say, essentially, “I cannot do my job when you come by to talk to me, so you cannot come by anymore”? And to immediately cut her off when she does with, “I can’t work while you’re here, so I need you to leave so I can finish this”? Ideally, you’d get comfortable being really assertive about cutting her off, in ways that would feel rude if you were doing them to anyone else but which are warranted with her. I’m talking about things like holding up your hand in a visual “stop” motion and saying, “I need you to stop talking because I have to focus on something else” or bluntly saying, ““I need you to stop talking and leave my desk.” Again, that’s going to feel rude, because it would be with someone who wasn’t being so inappropriate themselves. Consider, too, whether a big-picture conversation with Miranda could help. For example: “I can’t get my job done when you keep coming over to talk to me. It’s making it impossible for me to get my work done, so from now on I need you to send me anything work-related in an email so that I can process it later. That’s the only way I can get my job done.” Otherwise, though, keep wearing your headphones and when she shows up at your desk to talk, say “can’t talk right now” and just keep working and ignoring her. That’s going to be hard to do! It’s going to feel impolite. It’s also probably your only option. View the full article