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A reader writes: I have a tendency to have frequent UTI’s. They’re easily treated and not dangerous, but they make my life annoying for 1-2 days before the meds kick in. I am not in pain but I might really, really need to visit the bathroom on a very short notice and very often, at worst every 15 minutes or so. At best, I’m fine an hour after I take the first pill. There’s no way to know beforehand which way it’ll go. I’m looking for advice on dealing with the problems this causes in my work; healthwise, I am fine and am working with my doctor to prevent the UTI’s as much as possible. But it’s a feature my body has had for ~25 years, so “not having them” isn’t a super reliable plan on its own. I have taken sick days for the symptoms, but it feels excessive because I’m completely fine as long as I can take a quick break when needed. I have also tried working from home, but that still doesn’t solve this problem because I manage multiple projects and frequently lead long meetings/workshops involving several departments and outside vendors. So I can’t exactly pop out without everyone noticing, and even when remote it’s unlikely I could discreetly just vanish for a bit. There’s also no point in having the meetings without me, since I’m the one leading them and doing most of the talking. I could always reschedule; people are very understanding if someone is unwell, and a quick “sorry, but I can’t unfortunately make it today” is enough info. But rescheduling usually means having to move the meeting by several weeks or months, which disturbs everyone’s work and delays the project timeline. It also creates unnecessary extra work for me, which I’d rather avoid! Ideally, I’d want to just keep the meetings so everyone can move forward with their life and work. But during these days, my options seem to be either to (a) suck it up (and risk ending up squirming on my seat like an anxious kindergartner), (b) randomly excuse myself from the meeting without giving any reason (and risk people worrying there’s something wrong), or (c) excuse myself with some variation of “sorry, I have a condition and might need to quickly pop out for quite a few times” (and risk people thinking I’m, I dunno, sniffing cocaine? Using AI to cover my lack of knowledge? Screaming into the void in the supply closet? Having stomach problems and about to accidentally infect everyone with norovirus?). I’m getting extremely frustrated that I have to cause all this extra work for myself and others for what feels like a very silly reason. I’m not in pain or even tired, I just might need to use the bathroom a bit more often and on a shorter notice than usually. What’s your take on this? Should I just learn to deal with the frustration? Or could I ask for some kind of an accommodation? I’m not sure what exactly that would look like. Or is there perhaps some believable excuse I could casually use to pop out of meetings when needed? Or, is there some professional script for “Before we start, just a quick heads-up that I might need to go pee quite often. Nothing to worry about, everything’s fine. Now, there’s been some national changes in walrus rental prices, so let’s look into that first…” At the start of meetings, say this: “Before we start, a heads-up that I may need to step out multiple times for a quick medical thing. It’s nothing to worry about, just something I have to deal with when it comes up, and it’s flaring up today.” That’s it! You don’t owe anyone details beyond that, and this gives them all the info that matters for their purposes. The post how to say “sorry, but I really have to pee, again” in a professional way appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

The March 2026 Google core update drove far higher ranking volatility than the December 2025 core update. Nearly 80% of top-three results shifted, and almost one in four top-10 pages fell out of the top 100, according to SE Ranking data shared exclusively with Search Engine Land. The data. Volatility increased across every ranking tier. In the top 3, 79.5% of URLs changed positions, up from 66.8% in December. In the top 10, 90.7% shifted, compared to 83.1%. Stability dropped sharply. Only 20.5% of top 3 URLs held their exact position, down from 33.1%. In the top 10, that fell to 9.3%, from 16.9%. Churn intensified at the top. About 24.1% of pages ranking in the top 10 fell out of the top 100 entirely, versus 14.7% after the December update. It’s (sort of) complicated. The March 2026 core update began rolling out a day after the March 2026 spam update completed. This complicated attribution, according to SE Ranking: Based on historical patterns and the scale of movement, most volatility was likely driven by the core update, with the spam update amplifying disruption. That overlap likely skews direct comparisons to December, though March still appeared more volatile. More core update analysis. Meanwhile, independent analysis by Aleyda Solis, using Sistrix data from March 26 to April 11, found a consistent shift in where visibility concentrates. Rankings appeared to move from intermediary sites toward stronger destination sources. Website types gaining search visibility: Official and institutional. Specialist and niche. Established brands. Dominant platforms. Losses were more common among aggregators, directories, and comparison-driven sites. Winners and losers. Among the vertical shifts Solis highlighted: Dictionary and language reference sites declined, while larger reference platforms and major destinations gained visibility. Job aggregators like ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor lost ground, while employer sites and specialized platforms like USAJobs and Amazon.jobs surged. Government and institutional domains, including Census.gov and BLS.gov, saw strong gains on fact-driven queries. Travel and real estate visibility shifted away from broad discovery platforms toward stronger brands and primary destinations. Health results were re-sorted. Broad consumer health sites declined, while clinical, research-driven, and specialist sources gained. One exception: YouTube had the largest visibility loss in the dataset. Why we care. The data suggests Google’s March 2026 core update raised the bar for ranking. Strong brands, owned data, and direct query value won. Intermediaries now look increasingly exposed. View the full article

Investors turn attention to strong Wall Street earnings and bet on swift end to warView the full article

At first blush, it sounds too good to be true: a learning experience that’s precisely tailored to a child’s needs, strengths, and struggles, speeding up or slowing down as the moment demands, with infinite patience. For a decade or more, that’s been the promise fueling the education technology industry—customized learning that fuels rapid progress. Yet, for the most part, it was too good to be true. Not because the ambition was wrong, but because the prevailing vision has had it backwards. A FAILED PERSONALIZED LEARNING APPROACH? The vision of AI in education that has drawn the most attention and investment centers on personalized learning. Think Khan Academy’s AI tutor, or models like Alpha School, where teachers are largely replaced by AI-driven platforms. Alpha School is a small but fast-growing network of private schools where students are taught via AI instruction, with adults in the room serving more as coaches and caretakers than teachers. The idea is intuitive: Every student gets an adaptive, AI-driven experience tailored to their specific needs and strengths. The algorithm meets the child. The teacher steps back. It sounds compelling, until you think about what it actually produces: device-mediated instruction. Students are in front of screens, moving through content at their own pace, supervised by adults whose job is more coordination and childcare than teaching. We’ve run this experiment already at scale, without choosing to. It was called the COVID pandemic. Years later, we are still recovering from what it did to student achievement, social development, and the relationship between kids and school. That experience, plus a broader cultural reckoning about screens and child development, has given us real evidence about when devices serve kids and when they don’t. The answer is more nuanced than either the techno-optimists or the skeptics would suggest. But one thing is clear: A screen is not a substitute for a teacher. The problem with personalized learning is that it turns the teacher into a bottleneck, rather than the leverage point. That architecture is backwards. Personalized learning puts the algorithm in the driver’s seat. But personalized teaching puts the teacher there, with dramatically better data, better tools, and more time to do what only a teacher can do. THE WRONG KIND OF HELP The reason kids come to school is fundamentally social. John Hattie’s decades of educational research consistently and unambiguously shows that teacher-student relationships, classroom discussion, collaborative problem-solving, and peer learning produce some of the strongest achievement effects. These aren’t incidental features of school. They are school. What teachers don’t need is more systems, more passwords, more time in front of dashboards. What they do need is what most have never had: synthesized assessment data that is connected to where the class is right now, and tied to what comes next in the curriculum. Assembling that picture is enormously time-consuming. For most teachers, it simply isn’t doable. Not at the level of precision that students deserve. This is where AI can change the equation. Not by replacing the teacher at the front of the room, but as the capable colleague handling the preparation work that makes great instruction possible. Think of what teachers who have access to a skilled teaching assistant are able to do. They delegate the time-intensive back-office instructional work so they can invest their energy where it matters most: the human work of teaching. Most teachers don’t have that luxury on a daily basis. AI can change that—if it’s built around the right problem. THE DATA PROBLEM NOBODY SOLVED Here’s what makes personalized teaching hard, and what makes most tools inadequate to it: You need data. Not end-of-year assessment data. Not a snapshot from September. You need to know where each student is right now, in the days and weeks before a specific lesson, connected to the specific skills that lesson depends on. That only works if the tools understand how knowledge builds across a curriculum sequence, not just within a single lesson. That’s a much harder data problem than it sounds. Formative assessment—the ongoing evidence a teacher gathers during instruction—is the heartbeat of good teaching. But in most schools, that evidence lives in disconnected systems, if it’s captured at all. Tools that can generate a lesson plan can’t tell a teacher whether her class is ready for it, because they don’t have access to that ongoing picture of student understanding. Knowing your kids isn’t just about having the data. It’s about being able to make sense of it—across every student, every skill, months of history. All at the speed good teaching actually requires. This is the problem HMH’s latest technology is finally beginning to solve. Rather than sitting between students and their teachers, our dynamic learning models work behind the scenes connecting data from tests and each student’s learning history to a map of how knowledge builds over time. Before a lesson on fraction-addition, a teacher using our platform can see whether his class has demonstrated mastery of equivalent fractions—and critically, he sees the reasoning, not just a recommendation. A transparent rationale he can interrogate, trust, and act on. Not a black box. That’s something the field has not been able to do, until now. THE VERSION THAT ACTUALLY WORKS As the technology advances, teachers with access to this kind of intelligence will walk into their classrooms differently. AI will surface exactly where their students are, explain it, and hand the teacher a concrete recommendation—before the bell rings. The teacher will still make the call. But she’ll make it with the level of situational awareness that used to take years to develop. And yet it was still never complete. Teachers with this kind of intelligence aren’t just better informed. They are freed up to be better teachers. The vision of AI as a tireless, personalized tutor for every student is a tempting goal, but it mistakes efficiency for education. It optimizes the transmission of content while leaving aside the things that actually make learning stick, like a teacher who notices when something is off, who adjusts mid-lesson, who makes a student feel genuinely seen. Those things don’t happen on a screen. They happen in a classroom, between people. Because the classroom isn’t the inefficiency we’re trying to optimize away. It’s the point. Jack Lynch is the CEO of HMH. View the full article

Sovereign wealth fund reconsiders backing for lossmaking golf tour as Iran war prompts investment rethinkView the full article

Automation doesn’t fail on its own — it does exactly what it’s trained to do. The problem is that when Google Ads is fed incomplete, misaligned, or overly broad signals, it can optimize toward the wrong outcome faster than most advertisers realize. In our second installment of SMX Now, our new monthly series, Ameet Khabra of Hop Skip Media will break down a real account where a 417% jump in conversions turned out to be the wrong kind of success. She’ll use that case study to explain the four key ways automation drift enters an account: signal drift, query drift, inventory drift, and creative drift. You’ll leave with a practical framework for diagnosing drift early, understanding where human oversight matters most, and managing automation more deliberately so it works toward real business goals — not just platform-reported wins. Join us May 6 at noon ET. Save your spot View the full article

Governor says near-$1tn PIF will focus on efficiency without retreating from global dealsView the full article

Foreign sales could push up US petrol prices and increase political pressure on The President administration to curtail exportsView the full article

If you’re on the hunt for budget-friendly crafting supplies, knowing where to shop can make a significant difference. Michaels is well-known for its extensive selection and rewards program, whereas Texas Art Supply offers an impressive variety of products for artists. JOANN thrives in fabrics and seasonal items, and Hobby Lobby provides diverse crafting options with regular discounts. Tandy Leather Houston specializes in quality leather supplies. Let’s explore each of these stores in more detail. Key Takeaways Michaels offers competitive prices on a wide range of arts and crafts supplies, with seasonal discounts and a rewards program for savvy shoppers. Texas Art Supply features over 60,000 art products at competitive prices, catering to both professionals and kids with budget-friendly options. Hobby Lobby provides frequent sales and a customer-friendly return policy, making it an excellent choice for budget-conscious crafters. JOANN Fabric and Crafts is a one-stop shop for affordable fabrics and crafting materials, with regular promotions and discounts for students and military personnel. Tandy Leather Houston specializes in high-quality leather crafting supplies, offering budget-friendly options and knowledgeable staff to assist with selections. Michaels Michaels stands out as the largest arts and crafts supplies store chain in the United States, catering to a wide array of crafting needs. Known for its extensive selection, it offers everything from art materials and scrapbook items to fabric and yarn, making it a top choice among discount craft stores. Located at Brookhollow Shopping Center in Houston, TX, Michaels additionally features seasonal decorations for holidays like Halloween and Christmas. The store’s rewards program through the Michaels app allows you to access sales and coupons, enhancing your savings. With a diverse inventory of DIY materials suitable for various crafting hobbies, Michaels consistently provides competitive prices, ensuring budget-conscious crafters find what they need without overspending. Texas Art Supply Located at 2001 Montrose Blvd in Houston, TX, Texas Art Supply has been a staple in the arts and crafts community since its establishment in the 1950s. As the largest stand-alone arts and crafts store in the U.S., it offers over 60,000 art products, including specialty papers and popular name brands. You’ll find competitive pricing on name-brand items, making it an affordable choice compared to larger retail chains. The store furthermore stocks a wide range of kid-friendly art supplies, perfect for young artists enthusiastic to explore their creativity. In addition, the knowledgeable staff is always ready to help you select the right materials, including discount floral supplies, ensuring you find exactly what you need for your projects. Hobby Lobby Hobby Lobby stands out as a premier destination for crafters seeking a diverse range of supplies at competitive prices. You’ll find everything from scrapbooking materials to sewing necessities and DIY home project items. The store frequently offers sales and discounts, giving you the chance to save considerably on your crafting materials. In addition, Hobby Lobby has a customer-friendly return policy, ensuring your satisfaction with every purchase. If you’re planning seasonal projects, their dedicated section for holiday decor offers a vast selection year-round. Plus, if you want to maximize your savings, don’t forget to look for a craft direct discount code to use at checkout. This way, you can keep your crafting costs low during your exploration of creativity. JOANN Fabric and Crafts For those seeking a one-stop shop for their crafting needs, JOANN Fabric and Crafts offers an extensive array of fabrics, crafting materials, and seasonal decor. This store is perfect for budget-conscious DIY enthusiasts, providing: A thorough selection of fabrics, from cotton to fleece. Discount floral options that allow you to create beautiful arrangements without overspending. Regular sales and promotions that help you save considerably on various craft items. Classes and tutorials to improve your skills, covering everything from sewing to home decor projects. Additionally, JOANN’s discount program for students, teachers, military personnel, and healthcare workers makes crafting even more affordable. You’ll find everything you need to bring your creative ideas to life, all during your budget. Tandy Leather Houston Tandy Leather Houston stands out as a premier destination for leather crafting enthusiasts, offering an extensive selection of high-quality leather materials and tools since its establishment in 1919. This store specializes in various types of leather, including veg-tan and chrome leather, available in multiple colors to suit your projects. You’ll find crucial tools and resources, making it an ideal stop for both beginners and experienced crafters. Furthermore, Tandy Leather offers a wide range of crafting supplies, including dyes, hardware, and patterns, ensuring you have everything needed for your leather projects. Their knowledgeable staff is ready to assist you with project ideas and material selection, making it a valuable resource for those seeking quality resale craft supplies in Houston. Frequently Asked Questions Which Is Cheaper, Hobby Lobby or Michaels for Crafts? When comparing prices at Hobby Lobby and Michaels for crafts, you’ll find that Michaels often offers lower regular prices on items like fabric and seasonal decor. Nevertheless, Hobby Lobby frequently runs sales and clearance events, which can lead to significant savings. To guarantee you get the best deal, it’s wise to compare prices on specific items at both stores. Availability of products may vary, so check both before making a purchase. What Is the Most Popular Craft Store? The most popular craft store varies by location and customer preference, but JOANN Fabric and Crafts, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby are frequently mentioned. JOANN offers a wide selection of fabrics and DIY supplies, whereas Michaels provides an extensive range of art materials and a rewards program. Hobby Lobby is known for its home decor and seasonal items, often featuring sales. Each store has unique strengths, appealing to different crafting needs and preferences. Does Dollar General Have a Craft Section? Yes, Dollar General does have a craft section. You can find a variety of affordable supplies, including wooden craft sticks, decorative craft tape, and clothespins. They likewise offer materials for DIY projects, such as tissue paper and foam paint brushes. Seasonal items and decorations are available too. To maximize your crafting experience, you should regularly check their craft section for new arrivals and potential discounts on various supplies. What Is the Best Crafting Website? The best crafting website depends on your specific needs. Amazon offers a vast selection of supplies for various projects, whereas eBay provides competitive prices for both new and used items. For specialized crafts, consider sites like Oriental Trading for themed supplies or Fabric.com for a variety of fabrics. Many of these sites feature user reviews, helping you make informed choices. Don’t forget to look for sales and coupons to maximize your savings. Conclusion In conclusion, exploring these five discount craft stores can greatly improve your crafting experience without stretching your budget. Michaels offers a variety of arts and crafts materials, whereas Texas Art Supply caters to artists with an extensive product range. JOANN is ideal for fabric and seasonal decor, and Hobby Lobby provides diverse crafting options. For those focused on leather projects, Tandy Leather Houston is a reliable choice. Each store presents unique opportunities to find quality supplies at affordable prices. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Must-Visit Discount Craft Stores for Budget Supplies" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

If you’re on the hunt for budget-friendly crafting supplies, knowing where to shop can make a significant difference. Michaels is well-known for its extensive selection and rewards program, whereas Texas Art Supply offers an impressive variety of products for artists. JOANN thrives in fabrics and seasonal items, and Hobby Lobby provides diverse crafting options with regular discounts. Tandy Leather Houston specializes in quality leather supplies. Let’s explore each of these stores in more detail. Key Takeaways Michaels offers competitive prices on a wide range of arts and crafts supplies, with seasonal discounts and a rewards program for savvy shoppers. Texas Art Supply features over 60,000 art products at competitive prices, catering to both professionals and kids with budget-friendly options. Hobby Lobby provides frequent sales and a customer-friendly return policy, making it an excellent choice for budget-conscious crafters. JOANN Fabric and Crafts is a one-stop shop for affordable fabrics and crafting materials, with regular promotions and discounts for students and military personnel. Tandy Leather Houston specializes in high-quality leather crafting supplies, offering budget-friendly options and knowledgeable staff to assist with selections. Michaels Michaels stands out as the largest arts and crafts supplies store chain in the United States, catering to a wide array of crafting needs. Known for its extensive selection, it offers everything from art materials and scrapbook items to fabric and yarn, making it a top choice among discount craft stores. Located at Brookhollow Shopping Center in Houston, TX, Michaels additionally features seasonal decorations for holidays like Halloween and Christmas. The store’s rewards program through the Michaels app allows you to access sales and coupons, enhancing your savings. With a diverse inventory of DIY materials suitable for various crafting hobbies, Michaels consistently provides competitive prices, ensuring budget-conscious crafters find what they need without overspending. Texas Art Supply Located at 2001 Montrose Blvd in Houston, TX, Texas Art Supply has been a staple in the arts and crafts community since its establishment in the 1950s. As the largest stand-alone arts and crafts store in the U.S., it offers over 60,000 art products, including specialty papers and popular name brands. You’ll find competitive pricing on name-brand items, making it an affordable choice compared to larger retail chains. The store furthermore stocks a wide range of kid-friendly art supplies, perfect for young artists enthusiastic to explore their creativity. In addition, the knowledgeable staff is always ready to help you select the right materials, including discount floral supplies, ensuring you find exactly what you need for your projects. Hobby Lobby Hobby Lobby stands out as a premier destination for crafters seeking a diverse range of supplies at competitive prices. You’ll find everything from scrapbooking materials to sewing necessities and DIY home project items. The store frequently offers sales and discounts, giving you the chance to save considerably on your crafting materials. In addition, Hobby Lobby has a customer-friendly return policy, ensuring your satisfaction with every purchase. If you’re planning seasonal projects, their dedicated section for holiday decor offers a vast selection year-round. Plus, if you want to maximize your savings, don’t forget to look for a craft direct discount code to use at checkout. This way, you can keep your crafting costs low during your exploration of creativity. JOANN Fabric and Crafts For those seeking a one-stop shop for their crafting needs, JOANN Fabric and Crafts offers an extensive array of fabrics, crafting materials, and seasonal decor. This store is perfect for budget-conscious DIY enthusiasts, providing: A thorough selection of fabrics, from cotton to fleece. Discount floral options that allow you to create beautiful arrangements without overspending. Regular sales and promotions that help you save considerably on various craft items. Classes and tutorials to improve your skills, covering everything from sewing to home decor projects. Additionally, JOANN’s discount program for students, teachers, military personnel, and healthcare workers makes crafting even more affordable. You’ll find everything you need to bring your creative ideas to life, all during your budget. Tandy Leather Houston Tandy Leather Houston stands out as a premier destination for leather crafting enthusiasts, offering an extensive selection of high-quality leather materials and tools since its establishment in 1919. This store specializes in various types of leather, including veg-tan and chrome leather, available in multiple colors to suit your projects. You’ll find crucial tools and resources, making it an ideal stop for both beginners and experienced crafters. Furthermore, Tandy Leather offers a wide range of crafting supplies, including dyes, hardware, and patterns, ensuring you have everything needed for your leather projects. Their knowledgeable staff is ready to assist you with project ideas and material selection, making it a valuable resource for those seeking quality resale craft supplies in Houston. Frequently Asked Questions Which Is Cheaper, Hobby Lobby or Michaels for Crafts? When comparing prices at Hobby Lobby and Michaels for crafts, you’ll find that Michaels often offers lower regular prices on items like fabric and seasonal decor. Nevertheless, Hobby Lobby frequently runs sales and clearance events, which can lead to significant savings. To guarantee you get the best deal, it’s wise to compare prices on specific items at both stores. Availability of products may vary, so check both before making a purchase. What Is the Most Popular Craft Store? The most popular craft store varies by location and customer preference, but JOANN Fabric and Crafts, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby are frequently mentioned. JOANN offers a wide selection of fabrics and DIY supplies, whereas Michaels provides an extensive range of art materials and a rewards program. Hobby Lobby is known for its home decor and seasonal items, often featuring sales. Each store has unique strengths, appealing to different crafting needs and preferences. Does Dollar General Have a Craft Section? Yes, Dollar General does have a craft section. You can find a variety of affordable supplies, including wooden craft sticks, decorative craft tape, and clothespins. They likewise offer materials for DIY projects, such as tissue paper and foam paint brushes. Seasonal items and decorations are available too. To maximize your crafting experience, you should regularly check their craft section for new arrivals and potential discounts on various supplies. What Is the Best Crafting Website? The best crafting website depends on your specific needs. Amazon offers a vast selection of supplies for various projects, whereas eBay provides competitive prices for both new and used items. For specialized crafts, consider sites like Oriental Trading for themed supplies or Fabric.com for a variety of fabrics. Many of these sites feature user reviews, helping you make informed choices. Don’t forget to look for sales and coupons to maximize your savings. Conclusion In conclusion, exploring these five discount craft stores can greatly improve your crafting experience without stretching your budget. Michaels offers a variety of arts and crafts materials, whereas Texas Art Supply caters to artists with an extensive product range. JOANN is ideal for fabric and seasonal decor, and Hobby Lobby provides diverse crafting options. For those focused on leather projects, Tandy Leather Houston is a reliable choice. Each store presents unique opportunities to find quality supplies at affordable prices. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Must-Visit Discount Craft Stores for Budget Supplies" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Furbo 360° cat camera and Furbo 360° dog camera allow for full pet monitoring and interaction; the treat tosser acts as the primary camera with 360-degree rotation and a wide view, while the second, more compact camera acts as an additional fixed vantage point for extra room coverage. They both have features like 4X HD zoom, two-way audio, and night vision, as well as AI alerts for barking, activity, and emergencies, so pet owners can stay in the loop, earning the device a PCMag Editor’s Choice Award. There’s even a daily diary that records a time-lapse video of your pet’s day, and reminders on how many treats you’ve given out if your pet is on a diet. Set-up is easy, with most reviews noting that it takes just minutes. Furbo 360° Cat Camera + Mini $58.00 at Amazon $112.00 Save $54.00 Get Deal Get Deal $58.00 at Amazon $112.00 Save $54.00 Furbo 360° Dog Camera + Mini $58.00 at Amazon $112.00 Save $54.00 Get Deal Get Deal $58.00 at Amazon $112.00 Save $54.00 SEE -1 MORE It’s worth noting that to unlock most features on these cameras, the Nanny Pro subscription is required, with plans starting at $9.99 per month. The app lets you connect up to four cameras at once. While generic indoor cameras used for pets are typically designed for security and owner peace of mind, the Furbo is one of the few cameras that can also be used for training and separation anxiety, with the two-way audio letting pet parents calm their furry friends when they’re out. The main downside is the recurring cost, but given the amount of features a subscription unlocks, it still offers solid bang for your buck. The camera is also fairly app-dependent and requires a strong wifi signal and nearby power outlet, with treat tossing only working within a specific range. Still, if you want the ultimate blend of interaction, panning ability, and monitoring, the Furbo 360° Cat Camera + Mini Bundle and Furbo 360° Dog Camera + Mini Bundle are worthy contenders. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $199.99 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.00 (List Price $349.00) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $299.00 (List Price $399.00) Fire TV Stick 4K Plus Streaming Player With Remote (2025 Model) — $29.99 (List Price $49.99) Amazon Fire TV Soundbar — $99.99 (List Price $119.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $35.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $59.98 (List Price $79.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

I had a student visit my office hours recently looking for career advice to help him marry his scholastic endeavors with his extracurricular activities as a student athlete. He began to expound upon his experiences in and out of the classroom here at the University of Michigan, the high expectations of the business school, and the pace of the classes. But what captured my attention most was the way he described the complexities of being a gymnast. Of course, it was more nuanced than just jumping and flipping; there’s the full-body physical conditioning of the sport and the mental fortitude it commands. All the things. However, as the student gave me a peek into his world of gymnastics, it became clear to me that what he was actually doing was defying gravity (cue the song from Wicked)—if only for a moment in time. When he jumps in the air, contorting and bending his body in mid-flight, he is essentially testing the boundaries of what’s possible relative to the forces of gravity’s pull. Hours after our conversation, I found myself coming back to the idea of gravity. I went the entire day thinking about the profound nature of gravity and the role it plays in life. I couldn’t shake it. We all know gravity to be an invisible force that brings mass objects together—particularly, toward the center of the earth. It’s a force that keeps your feet on the ground. In many ways, culture acts as a gravitational force that brings people together and keeps our ways grounded in the expectations of people like us. Of course, this is a powerful idea when we think about organizational culture. So, we invited Chrysi Philalithes, the former Chief Digital and Innovation Officer of Bono’s non-profit to fight AIDS (RED), and Dario Calmese, Vanity Fair cover photographer and artist, to the FROM THE CULTURE podcast to contextualize gravity even further. The way Philalithes describes it, when you enter a new organization for the first time, it’s kind of like moonwalking. Not the Michael Jackson moonwalk where you slide backwards while appearing to be walking forward, but the moonwalk of astronauts that bounce up and down as they walk the moon’s surface. With a gravitational pull about 1/6th that of the earth, astronauts feel lighter when they walk on the moon and, therefore, “bunny hop” as they traverse its surface. Likewise, when new employees start at an organization, the gravitational pull of its culture isn’t as strong so they kind of bounce around finding their way. That’s why new folks are so valuable to an organization because they can bring new perspectives to the table that have not yet been normalized. The gravity of the organization has not brought them down to the ground—i.e., reality—just yet, so they get to test the boundaries of what’s possible, if only for a little while. The social solidarity that comes from the gravitational pull of an organization’s culture helps get people on the same page, but it also prevents people from seeing things outside their shared peripheral vision. New perspectives, however, give the organization an opportunity to see the world differently and potentially identify new solutions that may have historically resided within the organization’s blindspot. This boon from new perspectives is especially felt with new senior leadership. Consider Levi’s, for example. The beloved denim brand was experiencing sluggish growth after the outgoing CEO, Chip Bergh, led the organization through a major turnaround back in 2011. So, Levi’s hired Michelle Gass as President in January 2023 and Kenny Mitchell six months later to moonwalk the gravitational forces of the company and bring in some new perspective. What came from this new perspective was a strategic pivot toward direct-to-consumer (DTC), a multi-phase partnership with Beyoncé, and a cultural resurgence of the brand. The moonwalking resulted in 14.1% year-over-year revenue increase from 2025, driven by a 16% rise in DTC sales—both of which were already up the year prior from 2024. But here’s the catch: after a while, the gravitational force of the environment pulls you back to earth, so it’s important to keep finding new ways to defy gravity. Like my student who trains and conditions himself as a gymnast, leaders must also continue to train themselves to broaden their perspective. Whether it be through reading, continued education, or advisors, leaders must simultaneously keep their feet on the ground (aligned with the organizational culture) and in the air (exploring fresh possibilities), if they are to realize the benefit of moonwalking, as Gass and Mitchell have, long after the newness wears off. Check out the full conversation with Chrysi Philalithes and Dario Calmese on the FROM THE CULTURE podcast available here or wherever you get your podcast. View the full article

A reader writes: I’m hoping for some guidance on dealing with an employee who is convinced she isn’t advancing because she’s a woman, but it’s truly due to her putting in barely adequate effort and believing that advancement comes from checking off boxes and “time served.” We’re in a creative niche industry that’s fairly evenly split between men and women, although the larger industry that we’re a part of is still very male-dominated. Our company is a small privately owned company (under 50 people), roughly evenly split, with women at all levels, including in leadership. I’m a woman in the top level of our company and am involved in deciding who is ready to be promoted to the next level. We have a list of hard skills that people need to master at each level to advance, but there are also less easily quantifiable soft skill components, which get more important as people advance (we do have a list and try to give guidance on how to develop these, but it’s impossible to say someone has “mastered” creativity or client interaction, for example). The other more senior women and I regularly try to coach younger employees on strategies for dealing with the sexism that we unfortunately still deal with outside of the company, but in 20 years, there have been very few examples I have ever seen or heard about inside of it — and the few that have come up have been addressed immediately. One employee, Mia, has been saying she earned a promotion because she “checks all the boxes” on the hard skill list and she doesn’t like doing the soft skills, so they’re not important — and because of those things, the only possible reason she’s being held back is because she’s a woman. An accurate analysis is that she adequately performs most of the hard skills for her current level but never excels at any of them, hasn’t proven any ability in the next level’s hard skills, and is terrible at all of the soft skills (she’s gotten this feedback). Her “proof” of sexism holding her back is that a male employee who was hired a few months after her (and has been amazing in almost all of the skills) has received a promotion. (We don’t necessarily have a set number of positions at each level; we generally promote when we feel people are ready and take on more work to allow for the growth.) It’s also worth noting that Mia did a different role for the first year and was almost fired from that, so technically she has been in the same role as this man for less time, but she doesn’t think that matters. Two other women who have been hired since Mia are doing really well and are more realistically likely to step up before she does, assuming they continue their current trajectories. Overall, I’m flummoxed because her take on this seems to show a remarkable lack of self-awareness on her part. Mia is still an asset in her current role, although she’s becoming toxic about the situation around other employees, so I’m not sure how much longer we’ll feel that way. Do you have any suggestions on how to convey this is a performance issue that has nothing to do with her being a woman? I’m a little worried she’ll try to file a discrimination lawsuit if she leaves (it feels unfounded, but I don’t know much about the law). You can read my answer to this letter at New York Magazine today. Head over there to read it. The post our mediocre employee thinks we’re not promoting her because of sexism appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

President Donald The President said he would fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he does not resign after his term as head of the central bank ends in May. The President made a similar threat against Fed Gov. Lisa Cook before attempting to fire her last August. View the full article

Concerns about a full-blown supply crisis recede as Asia cuts consumptionView the full article

When Tiffany Davis has a question about a symptom from the weight-loss injections she’s taking, she doesn’t call her doctor. She pulls out her phone and consults ChatGPT. “I’ll just basically let ChatGPT know my status, how I’m feeling,” said the 42-year-old in Mesquite, Texas. “I use it for anything that I’m experiencing.” Turning to artificial intelligence tools for health advice has become a habit for Davis and many other Americans, according to a West Health–Gallup Center on Healthcare in America poll published Wednesday. The poll, conducted in late 2025 and backed up by at least three other recent surveys with similar findings, found that roughly one-quarter of U.S. adults had used an AI tool for health information or advice in the past 30 days. Dr. Karandeep Singh, chief health AI officer at the University of California San Diego Health, said AI tools, many of which now incorporate web search, are an upgraded version of Google health searches that Americans have been doing for decades. “I almost view it like a better entry portal into web search,” he said. “Instead of someone having to comb through the top, you know, 10, 20, 30 links in a web search, they can now have an executive summary.” Most recent AI health users are looking for quick answers Most Americans using AI tools for health purposes say they want immediate answers. In some cases, it helps them evaluate what kind of medical attention they need. “It’ll let me know if something’s serious or not,” Davis said of ChatGPT, which she typically consults before scheduling medical appointments. The Gallup survey found about 7 in 10 U.S. adults who have used AI for health research in the past 30 days say they wanted quick answers, additional information or were simply curious. Majorities used it for research before seeing a doctor or after an appointment. Rakesia Wilson, 39, in Theodore, Alabama, said she recently used AI to better understand her lab results after an endocrinologist visit. She also regularly uses ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to decide whether she needs to take time off for a doctor’s appointment or can simply monitor an ailment. “I just don’t necessarily have the time if it’s something that I feel is minor,” said Wilson, who said she sometimes works up to 70-hour weeks as an assistant principal. Younger adults and lower-income users have used AI to bridge care gaps On the whole, the findings suggest that the rise of AI tools hasn’t stopped people from seeking professional medical care. About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say they have sought out a doctor or other health care professional for health information in the past year, while about 3 in 10 say that about AI tools and chatbots, according to a KFF poll conducted in late February. Similarly, a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October found that about 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they get health information at least sometimes from AI chatbots, while about 85% said the same about health care providers. But there are indications that some Americans are using AI for health advice because they are struggling to obtain professional medical care, at a time when federal policy and market factors are worsening health costs and creating obstacles to access around the country. A small but significant share of respondents in the Gallup study say they used AI because accessing health care was too expensive or inconvenient. About 4 in 10 wanted help outside of normal business hours, while about 3 in 10 did not want to pay for a doctor’s visit. Roughly 2 in 10 did not have time to make an appointment, had felt ignored or dismissed by a provider in the past or were too embarrassed to talk to a person. The KFF survey found that younger adults and lower-income people were more likely to say they used an AI tool or chatbot for health information because they could not afford the cost of seeing a provider or were having trouble accessing health care. Americans are divided on whether AI medical advice can be trusted Tech experts often warn that AI chatbots don’t think for themselves — and therefore can sometimes spout false information. Those concerns have trickled down even to frequent AI users. About one-third of adults who had recently used AI for health information said they “strongly” or “somewhat” trust the accuracy of health information and advice generated by AI tools, according to the Gallup poll. About the same share, 34%, distrusted it, and another 33% neither trusted it nor distrusted it. Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, an ear, nose and throat doctor and the president of the American Medical Association, said he loves when patients come in and have “more evolved questions than they used to have” because they used AI for research. But he said AI should be considered a tool and not a stand-in for medical care. “It is an assistant but not an expert, and that’s why physicians need to be involved in that care,” he said. There are also concerns about privacy, according to KFF. About three-quarters of U.S. adults said they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about the privacy of personal medical or health information that people provide to AI tools or chatbots. Singh, of UC San Diego Health, said most AI tools have settings users can toggle to prevent their data from being used to train future models. But that requires user vigilance — and not being careful can have consequences. Last summer, for example, internet sleuths on Google discovered private ChatGPT conversations that had been indexed on a public website without the users realizing it. Tamara Ruppart, a 47-year-old director in Los Angeles, said she is lucky enough to have doctors in her husband’s family that she contacts instead of turning to AI. With her family history of breast cancer, using a chatbot for health advice feels too risky. “Health care is something that’s pretty serious,” she said. “And if it’s wrong, you could really hurt yourself.” —Ali Swenson and Linley Sanders, Associated Press View the full article

If you use Google Chrome, listen up: You may be running malicious extensions without even knowing it. As reported by The Hacker News, cybersecurity researchers with Socket's Threat Research Team have identified 108 extensions available in Google Chrome that steal login credentials, user IDs, and browsing data. All 108 extensions route that information back to servers controlled by a single operator, despite these extensions being published by five different developers (GameGen, InterAlt, Rodeo Games, SideGames, and Yana Project). These extensions collectively have around 20,000 installations, which isn't a massive pool of targets considering Chrome's 3.62 billion users, but is still a concern given the number of extensions involved in this coordinated scheme. Socket's team identified that there are some key categories these extensions are published under: Telegram sidebar clients, which display a working Telegram chat interface in the browser; slot machine and Keno games, which offer a playable gambling experience; YouTube and TikTok "enhancers;" page utility extensions; and one text translation tool. All extensions appear to offer the services advertised in the Chrome Web Store, all the while running malicious programs under the surface. Users who install the Telegram client may get a functioning chat experience, but underneath, the extension is stealing that user's Telegram Web sessions every 15 seconds, which leaks all messages, contacts, and linked accounts. 54 of the extensions steal your Google account identity when you click the "sign-in" option, which leaks your email, name, and profile picture to the operator. (Notably, the scheme does not grant the operator access to your Google account.) Forty-five of the extensions have a backdoor that can open any URL the operator wants in your browser. Seventy-eight of the extensions can inject HTML code into your browser. Five extensions can remove YouTube and TikTok security measure in order to inject gambling ads and overlays onto the sites. And when you sign up for the text translation tool, it sends your email and full name to the server, as well as anything you translate with the extension. How to protect yourself from these malicious extensionsThe first thing you should do is check to see whether you have any of these extensions running in your browser. Some of the more popular extensions identified here include "Telegram Multi-account," "Black Beard Slot Machine," "Page Locker," and "InterAlt," but you can find a complete list of the extensions, including their Chrome Extension IDs, on Socket's report here. If you used Telegram Multi-account, Socket recommends logging out of all Telegram Web sessions using the Telegram app. You can find the option from Settings > Devices > Terminate all other sessions. If you signed into any of these extensions with your Google account, assume your identity was exposed, and review your third-party app permissions here. Unfortunately, if you used Text Translation with your email, your name and email address were exposed. Going forward, exercise extreme caution before installing new extensions in your browser. While the Chrome Web Store should only contain "safe" extensions, malicious programs find their way onto the marketplace. Always carefully review each listing before installing the extension: If the extension requires sensitive information, lacks many reviews, or the listing is poorly constructed, it's best to avoid it entirely. View the full article

For years, companies have assumed the internet was built for people. Websites were designed to attract human attention, explain, persuade, reassure, and eventually convert. Search engine optimization, user experience, digital merchandising, and checkout design all rested on the same basic premise: the user was a person sitting in front of a screen. That premise is beginning to crack. Not because people are disappearing, but because they are starting to delegate. More and more often, the first system reading your site, comparing your offer, interpreting your policies, or even initiating a purchase will not be a human being. It will be a software agent acting on someone’s behalf. That is the direction implied by Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol, by Google’s Agent2Agent protocol, its guide to agent protocols and its Universal Commerce Protocol, by OpenAI’s Operator and Agents SDK, and by the growing work from companies such as Visa, Mastercard, and Cloudflare to make agentic commerce trustworthy and operational at scale. This is not just a story about better chatbots or prettier interfaces. It is a story about the web acquiring a second interface: one for humans, and another for machines. From pages to actions The old web revolved around pages. You published information, people found it, and then clicked through a sequence you controlled. The emerging web revolves more and more around actions. Agents do not care very much about your homepage, your visual hierarchy, or the emotional arc of your funnel. They care about whether they can understand your catalog, verify your policies, access reliable data, and complete a task without unnecessary friction. That is why the most consequential developments in AI are increasingly not just models, but protocols. Anthropic describes MCP as “a universal, open standard for connecting AI systems with data sources,” meant to replace fragmented integrations with a single protocol. Google’s A2A describes a world in which agents advertise capabilities through an “Agent Card,” discover one another, and collaborate on tasks. Google’s own commerce work goes one step further: UCP is explicitly designed to integrate checkout logic directly with Google AI Mode and Gemini, with “native checkout” framed as the default path for unlocking “full agentic potential.” In other words, the stack is moving from content to execution. The next SEO is not SEO For two decades, companies learned that visibility depended on being legible to search engines. What is now emerging is more demanding. It is no longer enough to be indexable. You have to become usable. That is why ideas such as llms.txt matter. As I argued in a recent piece, websites were built for humans, while language models are better served by a concise, “fat-free” entry point that reduces ambiguity and strips away the noise of menus, scripts, repeated elements, and layout. The llms.txt proposal is simple: place a markdown file at /llms.txt that acts as a curated map for language models, exposing what matters, what is canonical, and where the useful resources live. The official proposal frames it as a way to “provide information to help LLMs use a website at inference time,” precisely because context windows are limited and converting complex HTML into useful plain text is often difficult and imprecise. That does not make llms.txt some magical ranking hack. It is not. It is closer to digital housekeeping for a world in which more and more discovery, summarization, and recommendation are mediated by AI systems. The point is not to game a ranking algorithm. The point is to reduce machine confusion. That distinction matters. The same logic applies to newer, more experimental ideas such as identity.txt. The site describes it as “a portable identity file that tells AI tools who you are, how you think, and on what terms,” adding that “llms.txt tells AI about websites. identity.txt tells AI about people.” Whether identity.txt itself becomes broadly adopted is almost secondary. What matters is the direction of travel: the web is beginning to produce machine-readable self-descriptions on purpose, rather than leaving models and agents to infer everything from noisy HTML, metadata fragments, and guesswork. And this is unlikely to stop with those two examples. Google’s agent protocol guide explains that each A2A agent can publish an Agent Card describing its name, capabilities, and endpoint. The point is obvious: systems are starting to announce themselves to other systems in standardized ways. Once that logic takes hold, it is easy to imagine a broader ecosystem of machine-readable files for policies, permissions, provenance, fulfillment, pricing logic, returns, and authenticated identity. Brands will still matter. But brands will no longer be enough Many companies still treat AI as something layered on top of the web: a chatbot in customer service, some generated copy in marketing, an assistant in the app. That view is too shallow. What is actually happening is that a machine-facing layer is being added underneath the visible web and, in some contexts, in front of it. When a user asks an agent to find the best black blazer under a certain price, with quick delivery, decent return conditions, and a fit similar to previous purchases, the interaction does not begin with a homepage visit. It begins with machine interpretation. That changes the basis of competition. Strong brands will still matter because trust still matters. But trust will increasingly need to be expressed in forms machines can process: structured attributes, current inventory, transparent return rules, delivery promises, verified merchant identity, and payment systems that can distinguish a legitimate agent from a malicious bot. Visa says its aim is to “ensure only approved AI agents transact,” while Mastercard argues that protocols are essential to scaling agentic commerce because they support clear user intent, secure credentials, and verifiable agent identity. Cloudflare, working with the payment ecosystem, has made the same point more bluntly: merchants will need ways to grant access to legitimate AI agents while stopping fraudulent traffic at the front door. What this means for companies: the case of Inditex A global leader such as Inditex makes this shift easier to understand because it sits right at the intersection of brand, logistics, e-commerce, and scale. Inditex started relatively late in e-commerce compared with digital natives, but it eventually built one of the most effective integrated retail systems in the market. In its FY2025 results, the company reported sales of €39.9 billion, online sales of €10.7 billion, and explicitly highlighted that the integration of store and online operations enables a “seamless global omnichannel experience.” That gives Inditex a major advantage in an agent-mediated environment. Zara and the rest of the group already possess many of the things agents are likely to value: strong brand recognition, rapid inventory rotation, integrated logistics, broad geographic coverage, and operational coordination between physical and digital channels. But there is also a risk. Fashion has historically depended on presentation, aspiration, curation, and friction that was often commercially useful. Agents compress all of that. They reduce merchandising to a decision layer in which price, availability, size confidence, delivery date, returns, and trusted identity can become more visible than the atmosphere of the site itself. In that world, the question is no longer “Is your site compelling?” It becomes: “Can an agent use you efficiently?” For Inditex, the strategic response is not cosmetic. It is structural. So what should Inditex do? First, it should start treating its websites not only as destinations for humans, but as structured surfaces for agents. That means richer machine-readable catalogs, more explicit size and fit signals, clearer inventory and delivery metadata, cleaner policy exposure, and more robust authentication layers. Second, it should seriously experiment with machine-oriented descriptive files. A well-designed llms.txt at group and brand level would make sense, especially for clarifying what is canonical, how content is organized, how fast product information changes, and which resources are official. It would not be an SEO trick. It would be an agent usability layer. Third, it should prepare for protocol-driven commerce rather than assuming that all transactions will continue to begin inside its own interface. If Google is building UCP to support commerce inside AI-native environments, and if payment networks and infrastructure companies are building trust layers for agentic commerce, then large retailers should assume that agent-facing checkout, verification, and discovery will become strategically important. Inditex could be unusually well positioned for that transition. But the companies that win in the next phase of commerce will not necessarily be the ones with the prettiest interfaces. They will be the ones that make themselves easiest for agents to understand, trust, and use. The web is starting to expose its machine layer There is an understandable temptation to dismiss things like llms.txt, identity.txt, Agent Cards, or machine-readable policy layers as marginal technical curiosities. That would be a mistake. They are early signposts. No, llms.txt is not yet some universally adopted standard. And no, adding it will not magically transform a company overnight. But that misses the point. Small files and lightweight conventions matter because they reveal where infrastructure is going. The web spent decades perfecting interfaces for human eyes. Now it is beginning, awkwardly but unmistakably, to expose interfaces for software agents. That is the deeper shift. The original web connected documents. The platform web connected users and services. The next one will increasingly connect agents, tools, merchants, payment systems, and authenticated identities. And when that happens, the strategic question changes. It is no longer just, “How do I get people to visit my website?” It becomes, “How do I make my company understandable, trustworthy, and actionable to the systems that increasingly stand between me and my customers?” That is not a design tweak. It is a new layer of digital strategy. View the full article

Including action steps and key metrics. By Jackie Meyer Go PRO for members-only access to more Jackie Meyer. View the full article

Including action steps and key metrics. By Jackie Meyer Go PRO for members-only access to more Jackie Meyer. View the full article

A family member gets the credit he’s due. By Ed Mendlowitz Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

A family member gets the credit he’s due. By Ed Mendlowitz Call Me Before You Do Anything: The Art of Accounting Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

How to maximize three activities. By August Aquila MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention Go PRO for members-only access to more August J. Aquila. View the full article

How to maximize three activities. By August Aquila MAX: Maximize Productivity, Profitability and Client Retention Go PRO for members-only access to more August J. Aquila. View the full article

Google is giving advertisers more control when appealing disapproved ads in bulk — a small but meaningful update that could save time and reduce accidental resubmissions. Driving the news. Google has added a new option in its bulk ad review workflow that lets advertisers select ads from specific campaigns when requesting a policy re-review. Previously, advertisers appealing disapproved ads in bulk often had to resubmit all eligible ads across an account — including older campaigns that hadn’t been updated. That created extra work and could clutter the review process with ads that weren’t actually fixed. What’s new. Advertisers can now click a new “Select eligible campaigns” option on the Google Ads policy violations page when filing a bulk appeal. That means they can: send only recently fixed ads for review, avoid including outdated campaigns, and streamline the appeal process. Why we care. Bulk appeals are often used after widespread disapprovals or policy issues. Being able to narrow submissions by campaign should make the process faster, more precise, and easier to manage at scale. For agencies and large accounts, the update could also reduce the risk of confusion when handling multiple policy fixes at once. The bottom line. This isn’t a flashy product launch, but it’s the kind of workflow improvement advertisers have been asking for — giving teams more control and less friction when fixing disapproved ads. First spotted. This update was first spotted by Hana Kobzová of PPC News Feed. View the full article