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The many contradictions of the vice-president should not distract from his ambitionView the full article

From the first time I saw Blade Runner and heard Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty describe “C-beams glittering in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate,” I’ve wondered what it would be like to see beyond the limits of human vision. What would it feel like to have eyes that could see what we can’t normally see? I envied animals who can see light frequencies in the infrared and superheroes with X-ray vision that let them see like a NASA telescope. And today, I envy five regular human beings who, after having their eye cones temporarily rewired with a laser, were able to perceive a new color outside the typical range of the human eye. They called this color “olo”—a name derived from the binary code 010, representing the cones in the eye that are activated during its perception thanks to that rewiring. It defies any comparison to anything humans have seen because, well, nobody has seen it except these five lucky individuals. As described in new research published in the scientific journal Science Advances, the subjects of this wild experiment agreed to describe it as a “blue-green of unprecedented saturation.” How our eyes work Most humans see the world through three types of light-sensitive cells in the retina, called cones. These detect red, green, and blue light, allowing us to distinguish roughly one million to 10 million colors. That’s enough to spot the difference between a ripe strawberry and a bruised one, or to admire a sunset’s gradient. But a rare few—almost always women—are born with a fourth cone type. These tetrachromats can see up to 100 million colors, spotting nuances invisible to the rest of us. For example, where a trichromat sees a single shade of green grass, a tetrachromat might perceive dozens of subtle variations. Yet even among those with the genetic mutation, true tetrachromacy is rare. The brain must adapt to process this extra input, and most screens can’t display these additional hues. The people in the experiment didn’t gain the ability to see millions of new colors. Instead, they glimpsed one artificial hue, like a single note added to a familiar song. The effect lasted only as long as the lasers fired, requiring subjects to stare unblinkingly at a fixed point. A twitch or glance away shattered the illusion. Researchers were able to bypass biology limitations using a system called “Oz”—a nod to the emerald goggles in The Wizard of Oz. First, they mapped individual cones in participants’ retinas using high-resolution scans, labeling each as red, green, or blue. Then, they fired precise laser pulses—100,000 times per second—at specific green-sensitive cones, while tracking minuscule eye movements 960 times per second to keep the aim steady. Normally, activating green cones also triggers neighboring red or blue ones, muddling the signal. But Oz’s precision isolated the green cones, sending the brain a code it had never decoded before. The result was “olo.” What Olo means for humans The implications stretch far beyond novelty. By selectively activating or disabling cones, researchers could simulate eye diseases, such as macular degeneration, and test therapies in real time. For color-blind individuals, Oz might trick the brain into perceiving missing colors by rerouting signals from surviving cones. James Fong, a UC Berkeley researcher who was one of the first coauthors in the study, told LiveScience that it could even probe whether humans can learn to interpret entirely synthetic colors: “It may be possible for someone to adapt to a new dimension of color.” Right now, however, Oz remains a lab curiosity. The system relies on million-dollar lasers, supercomputers, and participants willing to sit motionless for hours. The experiments targeted only peripheral vision—a speck the size of a fingernail at arm’s length—because the retina’s central zone, where vision is sharpest, has cones too tightly packed for current lasers to hit accurately. Scaling this to full sight would require mapping millions of cells and tracking eye movements with zero lag, which is a target quite far from what our current technology can achieve. “Our method depends on specialized lasers and optics that aren’t coming to smartphones anytime soon,” Fong told LiveScience. For now, olo exists only in flashes—a fleeting crack in the door to a stranger universe. View the full article

The fate of Google’s vast empire is now in the hands of a federal judge in Washington, D.C., as hearings begin to determine whether the tech giant should be broken up for maintaining an illegal monopoly in search. If the court rules against Google, the outcome could send shockwaves through the tech industry. The company might be forced to divest major assets—potentially including its Chrome browser or even the Android operating system. While the government has taken similar antitrust actions in the past, it’s been more than 25 years since a household name faced a breakup of this scale. So, what happened to the companies that were split up—or nearly split up—under government pressure? Let’s take a look back. Microsoft In 2000, Microsoft came dangerously close to being forced to separate its Windows operating system from its Office suite after a court found it had illegally stifled competition in the personal computer market. However, the breakup order was overturned by an appeals court the following year. Still, the monopoly ruling left a lasting mark on Microsoft. The company could no longer block PC makers from distributing software from competitors, paving the way for Google and others to grow. As web browsers became increasingly central to the computing experience, that shift proved critical. AT&T The government made multiple attempts to break up AT&T, starting in 1913, but didn’t succeed until 1984. The result was the dissolution of “Ma Bell” into several smaller regional companies—known as the Baby Bells—including US West, Ameritech, Nynex, and BellSouth, which handled local calling. AT&T retained control of its long-distance network but soon faced competition, driving prices down. To put it in perspective: A three-minute coast-to-coast call in 1987 cost $3.08 (about $8.45 today). Now, long-distance calls are typically unlimited and included in your monthly plan. Those Baby Bells grew up and became a strong competitor for AT&T, too: Nynex, GTE, and Bell Atlantic merged to become Verizon, whose market cap is now roughly equal to that of AT&T. Standard Oil The John Rockefeller energy company was broken up in 1911, one of the first dissolutions of a giant monopoly. It was split into 34 different companies, including Exxon Mobile, Chevron, and BP. That breakup changed the oil industry, sparking competition that has continued through today. It also changed the landscape for antitrust, introducing the “rule of reason,” which says businesses are anticompetitive only if they work against the public interest. That’s the rule judges are considering today as they weigh whether to break up Big Tech companies. IBM IBM could have been an early cautionary tale for today’s Big Tech giants. In 1969, facing a looming antitrust suit, the company chose to preemptively unbundle its hardware and software businesses—effectively treating them as separate entities. At the time, IBM commanded 70% of the computer market. This voluntary separation helped the company avoid an antitrust judgment, though it still spent years in court and tens of millions of dollars in legal battles. Missteps with subsequent product launches further eroded its market share and leadership. But the rise in competition ultimately lowered costs and helped spark the personal computer revolution. As legal scholar Tim Wu noted in 2018, Apple as we know it might never have existed without the government’s prosecution of IBM. “If IBM had been completely unwatched by regulators, by enforcement, doing whatever they wanted, I think IBM would have held on and maybe we’d still be using mainframes, or something—a very different situation,” he said in an interview with Vox. American Tobacco Before Big Tobacco became a catchphrase, there was American Tobacco—a company deemed so dominant that in 1911 it was found in violation of antitrust laws. Unlike other breakups, however, the dissolution of American Tobacco had little real impact on market dynamics. The newly formed companies—such as R.J. Reynolds and Liggett & Myers—continued to dominate, forming an oligopoly. With just a few players controlling the industry, prices remained largely unaffected by competition. Instead, increased marketing budgets drove a rise in consumer use. View the full article

Last week, news broke that the The President administration intends to propose zeroing out Head Start in the upcoming budget. While many people’s immediate concern is rightfully for the hundreds of thousands of children and families whose lives would be upended, attacks on programs that exclusively serve low-income Americans are a popular tactic because that population votes at low rates. In this case, however, the administration has picked an atrocious target: Even setting the immorality of causing so much harm aside, you benefit from Head Start programs whether or not you or anyone you know has ever stepped foot in one. Head Start (and Early Head Start, its companion program for children younger than 3) has enjoyed bipartisan support for almost 60 years and serves multiple functions: Sites provide important opportunities for child development, offer medical screenings for kids, connect families with local resources, and can serve as community hubs. They are also a critical source of free childcare for more than 700,000 families. Who are the 700,000 Head Start families? Who are Head Start families? They consist of many of the people we called “essential” just five years ago: grocery store stockers, home healthcare aides, hospital custodians, even staff in the childcare programs that serve middle- and high-income families. They are rural families; in many rural counties, Head Start is literally the only childcare program around. They are military families; there is even an on-base Head Start at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. They are agricultural workers who pick the produce that appears in your supermarket; in fact, more than 26,000 children of seasonal farm workers attend a Head Start. Imagine for a moment that Congress goes along with the administration’s proposal. All of these families’ lives will be thrown into chaos. As anyone who has a child can tell you, there’s no abundance of alternative affordable childcare options out there. Instead, people will do what they need to do, sacrificing their well-being along the way: They’ll cut back hours, work laddered shifts, find care of questionable quality that leaves them anxious and distracted. They may even drop out of the labor force altogether. Crippling system already in crisis Indeed, it may be helpful to reframe the headline here as “The President administration seeks to shutter more than 3,000 childcare programs,” and then to consider just how absurd such an action would be. After all, the childcare shortage in the U.S. is already harming the stability of family life and the economy. President Donald The President himself declared in 2019, “In more than 60% of American homes, both parents work. Yet many struggle to afford childcare, which often costs more than $10,000 per year. And it’s devastating to families, frankly.” Fewer choices and longer waits What’s more, the 700,000 families who will lose their childcare if Head Start goes away will not simply disappear. Instead, they will be thrust into the failed market for private childcare services, introducing yet more competition for scarce slots and scarce aid dollars. All Head Start families qualify for, but generally do not utilize, childcare subsidies available through a federal block grant program intended to serve both low- and moderate-income families (i.e., those making up to 85% of state median income—around $82,000 for a state like Michigan—or below, though states can and do set their limits lower). That subsidy program is already so underfunded it can reach only one in six eligible households. Take away Head Start, and existing waitlists and enrollment freezes will only get worse. The administration’s ostensible logic for squashing Head Start requires entirely eliding the childcare role Head Start plays. The budget document states, “This elimination is consistent with the Administration’s goal of returning education to the States and increasing parental choice. The Federal government should not be in the business of mandating curriculum, locations, and performance standards for any form of education.” Ignoring for a moment the glaring factual inaccuracies (Head Start merely requires sites to adopt some form of reasonable curriculum, not a specific one, and local agencies or groups apply to get funding for locations where they wish to host Head Start classrooms), this is a feint. There is no commensurate increase of early care and education grants to states being proposed to offset Head Start elimination, so parents will simply have fewer choices. In this respect, the educational content of Head Start is immaterial, and getting drawn into a debate over Head Start’s effectiveness is a distraction. Hypothetically, the administration could apply this exact same reasoning to shutting down the hundreds of schools and child development centers that are run by the Department of Defense, all of which come with curricula and performance standards. But of course they won’t propose that, because while some military families are struggling due to administration policies, such a large-scale cut would leave tens of thousands of service members with no access to care. Head Start is not a perfect program. There is a worthwhile conversation to be had about how Head Start may need to evolve if and when the nation moves toward a more comprehensive family policy that includes universal childcare and early learning alongside structural reforms that break down barriers keeping families in poverty. But this is not, in the end, really about Head Start itself. If America is to be strong and prosperous in an uncertain era, the well-being of American families must be placed front and center. There is no American family—and therefore no American business—that would be untouched by the ripple effects of abruptly gutting Head Start, and doing so would set the country on course for a future marked by yet more scarcity. The administration must turn back. View the full article

The top five banks had a combined second-lien loan volume of more than $95 billion at the end of December 2024. View the full article

Tory leader attempts to manage expectations of party’s performance ahead of council elections on May 1View the full article

Electric vehicles have seen a lot of success in recent years, but there are still some concerns—from range anxiety to insufficient charging infrastructure—that limit their overall adoption. Hybrids don’t have those same worries, and hybrid sales have been gaining momentum as the growth of EV sales has slowed. That’s caused some carmakers to pull back on EV offerings and prioritize hybrids instead. But now a company called Horse Powertrain is offering an alternative to carmakers who are hesitant to go fully electric while still allowing them to develop EVs—and keep their EV production lines. Called the Future Hybrid Concept, it’s essentially a way for automakers to retrofit a battery electric vehicle into a plug-in hybrid. That means automakers could have one production line that makes a variety of powertrains, both developing EVs and also offering hybrid versions. Horse Powertrain is a joint venture by French auto manufacturer Renault and Chinese conglomerate Geely (Geely subsidiaries include Volvo and Polestar) created to develop “low-emission” hybrid and combustion systems. Horse Powertrain is unveiling its Future Hybrid Concept at the Shanghai auto show this week. The Future Hybrid Concept is one compact unit that includes an internal combustion engine, an electric motor, and a transmission. This allows automakers to “hybridize” their existing battery electric vehicles, the company says, to meet fluctuating customer demands while also “eliminating the need for multiple platforms and production lines.” The Future Hybrid Concept can bolt directly onto an EV’s subframe with “minor” modifications, per Horse. This means that carmakers could manufacture both EVs and hybrids on one assembly line, reducing complexity. Currently, hybrids are often assembled on the same production lines as internal combustion vehicles, and EVs on another, because of the distinct components they need. Some manufacturers have found ways around this: Honda, for instance, upgraded its Ohio factories so that gas vehicles, hybrids, and EVs can be manufactured on the same lines. But for other automakers that have yet to make those upgrades, or that have prioritized EV innovation but now want to diversify their offerings, Horse Powertrain says its retrofit concept can fit into existing operations. It would also eliminate “most of the tooling and unique assembly steps” hybrids need, the company says, so that manufacturing lines can be simplified. “Through our innovation, we can deliver a full hybrid powertrain system that seamlessly integrates onto a battery electric vehicle platform,” Matias Giannini, CEO at Horse Powertrain, said in a statement. The Future Hybrid Concept system includes an onboard charger, and could work with a variety of fuels, including gas, ethanol, methanol, and other synthetic fuels. The first vehicles using Horse Powertrain’s Future Hybrid Concept are expected to be on the road as early as 2028. Horse Powertrain already has 17 production plants and five R&D centers across Europe, Asia, and South America, and expects to produce 5 million powertrain engines annually. View the full article

As a creator or brand trying to get going with video marketing it can feel like everyone else has a ring light, a script, and a multi-camera setup — and you’re still figuring out where to start. You know what helps to remember, though? All of those folks started out exactly where you are now. Video is a great format to explore: it helps your audience connect with you more deeply and puts a face to the (brand) name. It’s not a trend; video marketing is here to stay. Can you succeed in your social media marketing strategy with a text-first approach? Of course. We’ve got tons of data to prove it. You don’t need to hop on the video marketing bandwagon just because everyone says so. However, if you’re shying away from video marketing only because speaking to the camera gives you fear tingles, I have a bumper guide here to make it less intimidating. We’ll unpack questions like: How do you get started with video marketing?How to create high-quality videos that perform well?How do you publish video content consistently without burning out?I also share examples of my favorite creators and brands who are acing video marketing, so you have creators to look to for inspiration! How to build a video marketing strategy in 7 stepsVideo marketing can be overwhelming. But it becomes easier when you take one step at a time. You don’t have to learn and do it all in one day. Here’s a step-by-step process to follow for creating a successful video marketing strategy: 1. Determine how video fits into your overall social media marketing strategyVideo marketing has plenty of benefits: It helps you share authentic stories, foster a stronger connection with your audience, and become more memorable. But don’t hop on video marketing just because everyone else is. You need to figure out how video marketing fits into your larger social media marketing strategy. Does it build trust with your social media community?Does it help build awareness by showing your products in action?Does it add a touch of human connection to your social profile?Does it help you repurpose content at scale and stay consistent with your social efforts?Your video marketing strategy doesn’t work in a silo. Think of video marketing as a conduit to push your overall marketing strategies. Once you determine where video marketing fits in your funnel, it also becomes easier to develop video content ideas. For example, if you’re creating video content to build awareness about your product or service, you’ll focus on how-to videos and explainer videos. If you’re hoping to convert potential customers who are already product-aware, you might want to show off specific features and how they help solve common problems. 2. Decide which social platforms you will use for video marketingVideo content is present on almost all popular social media platforms. But that doesn’t mean you should have a video strategy for every social channel that supports it. That’s a quick road to creator burnout. Start by focusing on social media channels where you’re already present. Would you benefit from adding video marketing to them? Beginning from a platform where you’ve already built a foothold also allows for more experimentation and quicker feedback from your audience. Next, look at where your target audience spends most of their time. For example: More than half of Instagram’s users are 34 or younger.X (formerly Twitter) is most popular amongst the 25-34 age group.Facebook’s largest audience is men between the ages of 25 and 34.YouTube is the most popular social media channel of choice for Gen Alpha.You want to create video content where your target audience is present and watching. If a majority of your target audience uses a social platform, it’s a good choice for your video marketing strategy. Lastly, you want to examine which social platforms are suitable for the kind of videos you want to create. Instagram Reels are suitable for polished short-form videos.Facebook is good for long-form video content that uses storytelling.LinkedIn is best for thought leadership or behind-the-scenes video content.YouTube is best for long-form videos that require an in-depth exploration of a topic.TikTok videos are best for casual, off-the-cuff, and relatable short-form video content.Learn more about which social platforms are right for you in our chat with Lindsay Gamble: But remember that the above are general cultural preferences of the platform and aren’t set in stone. You can easily repurpose your TikTok videos for Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and even Facebook Reels. The difference in each social network isn’t so huge that you have to start from scratch for every platform. Create videos for one platform and adapt them for other networks as much as possible. The ideal social platforms for video marketing will be a combination of the above three: Channels where you already have a social presenceChannels where your target audience is presentChannels that are suitable for your goalsFor example, let’s say you’re growing your Instagram following and have an audience there. Your followers also watch Instagram Reels and TikTok videos, and your goal is to build deeper brand awareness. Then, Instagram Reels is the best choice for you to begin with. ⚡Pro-tip: It’s best to go deep, not wide. Start slow and steady with video marketing in terms of how many social networks you should be on. If you can, start with just one platform and repurpose your videos for the remaining platforms (instead of creating different video content for each channel).To take it even further, choose adjacent networks like TikTok and Instagram because you can easily repackage video content made for one network for the other. Creator, consultant, and speaker Jade Beason also recommends following your genuine interest. “I started on YouTube because I naturally gravitate toward long-form, landscape video content. This made it easier for me to stick with it through all of the hard times, the flop errors, etc.,” she says. “Go with the type of format you prefer, and that will tell you which platform to start with,” she adds. “TikTok is for you if you only like sharing short-form video content. If you like to have multiple formats, then maybe it’s Instagram. If it’s long-form, then it’s YouTube.” 3. Plan your content topics, video script, and content production in advanceVideo campaigns require preparation before you can sit down and create the actual video. You need to figure out: Video production logistics (equipment, setting up your camera, etc.)Your content topics (for the whole video marketing campaign or just one video)A rough video scriptLet’s break these down one by one. 🎥 Video production logisticsUnderstanding aperture, focus, and other complicated camera terms can be intimidating. But you don’t need fancy equipment to create high-quality videos. All you need is: A camera: A relatively new phone that can shoot high-quality videos is more than enough — you might also be able to boost your camera's video quality in your mobile settings. You don’t need a high-end camera to begin your video marketing efforts.A backdrop: You can use a simple wall background or a cute corner of your home. A green screen is also a good option if you need it.A microphone: While you can do without a fancy camera, I’d argue that a mic is a must. When your audio is crisp, your content feels more polished and professional — even if you filmed it on your phone. If you can, invest in microphones like Shure MV7 or a Rode Wireless ME. But even a relatively inexpensive plug-in lapel mic is more than enough. Something is better than nothing.Natural light: You don’t need a ring light right away. Try to shoot in places that get good sunlight, like directly in front of a window. And while you can just place your camera on a stack of books, a tripod can be handy to get the right angle.In the beginning, try to ace just these three aspects of video production — it’ll ensure you have high-quality visuals and audio. As you get used to creating videos, you can layer more artificial lights, a better backdrop, etc. Jade also advises choosing a comfortable location. “Film somewhere where you’re comfortable, especially in the beginning. The more comfortable you are, the easier it will be to come off as yourself on camera,” she says. Remember — you don’t have to figure all of this out right away. You’ll learn as you go. 📚 Content topicsYou might already have some ideas flowing after figuring out your goals, but also try to seek inspiration from: Other brands and creators: What video content are your competitors creating? How is it performing for them? Can you create videos on the same subject with your unique take? For example, creator Aakanksha Monga provided practical tips to make traveling more affordable (a common topic in her niche): Your audience’s comments, questions, and messages: The best source of content ideas is your audience. Are they asking a question or leaving feedback you could create video content about? Like any other content type, an effective video marketing strategy rests on the foundation of your audience’s needs. For example, business owner Anshita Mehrotra answered a question she received in her Instagram Stories in one of her reels. Trends: Is there any trend going on in your industry or in the social network as a whole that you could participate in? Tweak it to fit your niche so it doesn’t feel out of place. For example, creator Vibha Sree tried a viral Korean skincare product on Indian skin (since most of her audience is Indian). 💡Related reading: How to Find Unlimited Content Ideas for Social Media in 2025🗒️ Video scriptJotting down some rough pointers on your opening sentence and the subtopics you want to cover is a good idea. But don’t just read your script for the camera. Instead, speak to the camera like you’re talking to a friend. Keep the script just to ensure you cover everything necessary in your video. Setting up a teleprompter app (on your phone, iPad, or laptop) right at eye level behind your camera is also helpful. This can help jog your memory and reduce the number of takes you need for each video. 4. Batch create video content for all your social media platformsOne of the easiest things you can do to make video content creation less overwhelming is to batch-create video content. That means you’ll combine all similar tasks — like filming all your footage in one or two days. This way, you create multiple videos together in a short span. You can assign another day to edit the footage. Freelance writer and creator Lizzie Davey uses this tactic. “I film a load of B-roll in one go that I can use for weeks/months afterward and upload all that footage into Canva so it's ready to use,” she says. “Then, I have templates for the different types of videos I create, so I duplicate whichever type I plan to use and work from that instead of starting from scratch. I can then pull in the B-roll footage quickly and easily.” Batch creation makes things easier because you don’t have to dress up and set up your camera, mic, and lighting daily. Instead, you do it just once or twice per week. Once you’ve filmed a couple of videos, you’ll slot another day or two for batch editing. Here’s how that might look in a weekly schedule: It’s also beneficial because you can capitalize on your flow state: You get in the zone of shooting and speaking to the camera or editing, and continue doing it instead of breaking out of that focused zone. ⚡Pro-tip: Swap outfits on filming days so it doesn’t look like you’ve shot multiple videos in one day.⚡Another pro-tip: Record one test video with your camera and microphone set up and watch it before shooting anything else. This will ensure there’s no error in your video production — like a faulty mic setting, a shadow on your face, etc. — before you shoot hours of footage.How far out can you batch create content? It depends on your schedule, marketing strategies, and industry. For example, if you want to post two short-form videos a day on TikTok, you can perhaps create a week’s worth of content (14 videos) in two or three days. But if you can take it a little slower, you can create content even further in advance. If you work in a time-sensitive industry (like the news niche), you can only create content maybe a few days in advance. Either way, we wouldn’t recommend creating videos too far ahead — a month at most. This is because your video content creation capabilities refine with time and practice. You want to make the most out of your skills without rushing the process. Plus, if you get any fresh content ideas in the middle, it’s not worth postponing them too much. 💡Remember: The video creation process can be creatively tiring. Initially, you might be able to create only one or two videos a day — that’s completely fine! Give yourself a pat on the back and show up again tomorrow. You can create more videos in less time as your video production skills develop.Jade agrees. “The biggest mistake people make is they try to do too much too soon,” she says. “Creating video content yourself is a huge task, especially when you don’t have any video production or editing background.” “Start with a platform that feels comfortable for you, and keep making micro-improvements in your journey. That way, creating video content won’t feel like this huge mountain you have to climb.” 5. Edit your videos using video editing toolsNow your editing time is scheduled in your calendar — but how do you do that, exactly? Many social networks have in-built video editing capabilities, but you can also incorporate video editing tools to take it up a notch. Video editing tools can help you edit videos for multiple platforms in one go and also refine your overall editing skills. Here are some video editing tools you can try: CapCut is one of the best free video editors, especially for editing TikTok videos. You can even add trending TikTok audios directly in CapCut to your videos (if you’ve saved them on TikTok). CapCut is also quite beginner-friendly! There are paid plans for advanced editing features.Canva has the best template library, but the video editor is a little basic. If you’re a beginner on a time and budget crunch, Canva’s templates will come in handy.Descript has transcript-based editing, so you can edit your videos using your script. If you erase something from the transcript, it gets cut from the video (like magic!). This tool is best for the kind of videos that can have a lot of filler, like podcasts. Some of its best features are limited to the paid plan, though.🛠️Looking for more video editing tool options? Here’s a list of the best 15 free and paid video editing software.How do you edit video content like a pro? Firstly, remember it takes time to learn advanced video editing skills. It’s not something you can gain overnight. The good news? The more you edit your videos, the finer your video editing chops will get. That said, here are some video editing tips you can apply right away: Trim the fat: Cut any unnecessary clips from your videos and keep only the content that’s 100% necessary to deliver the message. This will make your videos sharper and engaging.Use transitions: Transitions can make a video snappier and more entertaining. They’re also an excellent tool for storytelling. Add transitions — especially in your short-form video content — to keep your video viewers hooked.Add captions and text overlays: Your video viewers are often watching video content on mute. Make it a best practice in your video marketing to always add text overlays and subtitles to your videos. Cherry on top: They also make your video more accessible.💡Learn more: How to Edit TikTok Videos6. Schedule your videos using social media management softwareYou’ve shot and edited your video footage for multiple videos. What next? Your video strategy is incomplete until you publish video content consistently. Our research found consistent posting gets you five times ( 🤯) more engagement than inconsistent posting. Content batching and batch editing will help you stay consistent because you’ll shoot and edit videos in advance. The next step is using a social media management software so your video content goes out automatically instead of you publishing it manually. A marketing tool like this is one step above a content calendar: It not only shows which content will go live on what date, but also automates the task of publishing. There are plenty of such tools in the market, but my favorite is Buffer. Not only is it super easy and intuitive to use to connect your social channels and schedule video content, but it also has built-in social analytics, engagement features, AI capabilities, and a lot more. It’s the whole package. My most used feature is the Create space. Whenever I get a content idea — which is often when I’m not at work — I can just open my Buffer mobile app and jot it down. The organization nerd in me is ecstatic that I can even assign tags to it to make my content library even neater. Now, when I sit to create content, I already have a backlog of content ideas ready for me to work on. Sayonara, blank page syndrome. You can do all of this under one tab and for free! Getting started with video marketing might be overwhelming, but getting started with Buffer is easy-peasy. 7. Analyze your performance metrics regularly to understand what’s workingA crucial component of any digital marketing strategy is analyzing your performance and understanding what’s working and what needs improvement. Video marketing is no different. Which metrics should you monitor? If you’re just starting with video marketing, video views are the most important performance metric to understand whether or not you’re increasing your reach. As you keep posting consistently, also analyze each individual video to understand which videos get the most engagement. Maybe they are all about a specific topic in your niche. Dice and slice the data to understand your audience’s preferences: Do instructional videos perform better than explainer videos? How do how-to videos fare compared to testimonial videos? The goal is to find patterns so you can replicate your success. Each social network will have native analytics to help you understand how your video content has performed. But if you want to look at analytics from all your social profiles together, it’s best to use an analytics tool. I love Buffer’s analytics feature because it doesn’t just throw numbers at you; it does the work of finding your: Best type of postBest day to postBest type of content to postWhich metrics you care about will also depend on your video marketing goals. For example, video views are important if your goal is to increase brand awareness. However, click-through rates might be more vital if you aim to boost conversions. Set aside a few minutes each week to analyze your video content performance. And let the insights you gain fuel your future video content creation. 7 of our favorite video marketing examples from creators and brandsWhat does effective video marketing look like in action? Here are seven examples to help inspire you: 1. Morning BrewMorning Brew is a business media company that regularly publishes business-related news on all its social channels. Their video content is often time-sensitive and has a touch of humor. They’re taking this up a notch by also releasing a show on YouTube. What you can learn from Morning Brew’s video marketing: Morning Brew aces social listening with its video content. They’re always on top of the news and simplify its impact for their audience. Try to become the go-to reliable source of information about the latest news in your industry using video content. 2. ModashModash is an influencer marketing tool that has recently doubled down on its YouTube strategy. What I love about their YouTube channel (beyond the engaging visuals) is that almost every video is repurposed from a guide already on their blog. For instance, the above video was adapted from an influencer gifting guide on the Modash blog. What you can learn from Modash’s video marketing: If you already have marketing assets you can repurpose for video content, do it! It’ll make it easier to get started and provide additional ways for your audience to consume the same content. 3. Katie Gatti TassinKatie Gatti Tassin is the face behind The Money With Katie Show. She often shares stitches from other popular TikTok videos with her opinions. Katie also crossposts this on her Instagram account, where she has more followers than TikTok. Stitching with another video is a low lift way to not only get more content ideas, but also appear in front of more people who’ve already seen the video. What you can learn from Katie’s video marketing: When you come across popular videos in your niche and want to add to it, stitch (for TikTok) or remix (for Instagram) with those videos to improve your reach. 4. Deya Aliaga KuhnleDeya Aliaga Kuhnle is a business owner who shares her business journey and advice using her YouTube channel. What stands out in Deya is her candidness in speaking openly about her struggles and transparently about her numbers. This builds trust and helps her audience connect with her better. What you can learn from Deya’s video marketing: Let your personality shine in your video content. It’ll set you apart and make you more memorable. Try to be as transparent and authentic as you can — just like you are offline. 5. Heike YoungHeike Young is the Head of content, social, and integrated marketing at Microsoft. She has a strong personal brand on LinkedIn — and most of that has been built on video content. The one word that comes to mind when you see Heike’s content is ‘relatable.’ Whether it’s her candid, straightforward advice or hilarious skits, Heike speaks to all marketers’ struggles. What you can learn from Heike’s video marketing: Relatability is a massive component of making your video marketing campaigns successful. Show your audience you understand their problems and pair it with your product or service as the solution. 6. SuperbobaSuperboba is a small business selling vegan milk teas. The company’s Instagram goes beyond the traditional ‘buy from us!’ approach and shares a ton of behind-the-scenes video content. Superboba’s videos often feature its co-founder, Vanessa Oi-Gwan Lau, making the audience feel more connected to the brand. What you can learn from Superboba’s video marketing: Brand videos don’t always need to be just about the product. Incorporate authentic behind-the-scenes content into your strategy. This will make the audience feel more connected to your company and build more trust. 7. YNABYou Need A Budget (YNAB) is a personal finance and budgeting app (that I’ve been personally using and loving for years!). The company’s YouTube game is super strong and worth taking a few lessons from. YNAB’s YouTube strategy is a mix of product tutorials and educational content about personal finance. Like Morning Brew, YNAB aces social listening and answers their audience’s pesky questions — but they do so with evergreen content. What you can learn from YNAB’s video marketing: If your product or service requires educational content, lean into it with an entertaining, story-driven approach. But don’t forget to mix it up by answering your audience’s evergreen questions in your niche — even if they aren’t directly related to your product or service. How to create quality video content regularly without burning out? 7 pro tipsVideo marketing is about working hard and working smart. Before I share some practical advice for creating quality video content sustainably, it’s worth noting that in the beginning, creating a single video will take hours, and editing, if you’re new to it, will come with a bit of a learning curve. There’s no way to skip that phase — but I promise, it will get easier!. If you keep at it, your patience will pay off, and each task will be completed faster. And you’ll even enjoy video content creation more. 1. Repurpose existing contentRepurposing content is the number one way to extract the most from your video content without creating new videos from scratch. The best part? Repurposing allows for a ton of creativity. You can do a lot beyond converting one long-form video into various short-form videos (although that’s quite neat). Do you have a long-form blog post? Consider it your script and repurpose it into video content. Summarize the key points and add high-quality visuals.Do you have an audio-only podcast? Use a marketing tool like Audiogram to convert your transcript into shareable video content.Did you create various short-form videos on a topic? Combine those clips to make a long-form video.Repurposing offers endless possibilities. Instead of constantly brainstorming new video content ideas, make room to think creatively about recycling existing videos into more video content. 💡Learn more: How to Get the Most Out of Every Piece of Content You Create2. Content batchingWe’ve already discussed it, but batch creating your video content will reduce your mental load, eliminate context-switching, and allow you to get into deep work mode. Schedule one day for filming each week or each month (depending on your posting frequency). Change your outfit and tweak your background slightly to have some variety in your videos. Always do a test run first to ensure the mic placement, lighting, and everything else is correct. 3. Use video templatesYou can create a classic reusable video template so you don’t have to think about creative video content production every time. For example, you can have a content format for customer testimonial videos where you ask them a set of similar questions. This doesn’t require a ton of creative energy and allows you to stay consistent with your video strategy. Many video editing tools, like Canva, also have video templates built-in. Even Instagram has a ‘Use template’ option in some of its trending videos. Templates make it easy to combine your clips and create a stunning video, without spending too much time editing. Have a handful of templates handy so you can rely on them — especially for busy weeks when you’re drained but need something to keep your publishing streak going. 4. Reuse your video clipsOne video clip can have a long shelf life. Use high quality visuals multiple times in your videos — especially generic B-roll. I promise no one notices. Even if they do, they don’t care as long as it doesn’t impact the quality of your video content. Organize your video clips into folders like customer testimonials, animations, behind the scenes footage, etc. This will make them handy to reuse whenever you need them. 5. Repost your video contentIt might sound wrong, but there’s no shame in reposting your video content. Repost videos that didn’t perform as well as you hoped to check if it was just a timing issue.Repost videos that outperformed your expectations to check if they’ve stood the test of time.Either way, not all of your followers have seen every single one of your videos. Reposting allows your video content to reach more people. And even if someone comes across a reposted video, 99% of the time, they’ll not mind watching it again. 6. Embrace low-lift content formatsSome video marketing is comparatively lower lift than others — like talking-head videos or behind-the-scenes content. Use them as much as you can to maintain a consistent posting schedule. And even in other content formats like explainer videos or how-to videos, don’t strive for perfection as much as you strive for authenticity. You don’t need every tiny detail to be impeccable in your video frames. Authentic is always better than overproduced, and done is better than perfect. Don’t get in your own way. 7. Start a content seriesA content series is when you create multiple videos around the same topic. It’s a great addition to your video marketing strategy because it allows you to go in-depth on one of your content pillars and also reduces decision fatigue. For example, if you’re a food creator, you could start a ‘15-minute recipes’ video content series to show your audience meals you can make quickly after a tiring workday. You can imbibe several of these into your video marketing strategy and use them when you’re out of new content ideas. 7 pro tips to help you succeed at video marketingIt can be disheartening to pour your sweat and tears into creating video content, only for it to fall flat. While no one can guarantee the success of your video marketing strategy, it’s possible to take a few proactive steps to stack the odds in your favor. 1. Optimize your video for SEOAlmost all social platforms have search engine capabilities today. Google even shows YouTube videos at the top of search engine result pages (SERPs) for various keywords. Social search engine optimization is using the right keywords in your video title, subtitle, and description/caption. Whenever you’re creating a video on any topic: Conduct a quick competitor analysis by searching for the term yourself to see what others have covered and missed.Use a search engine optimization tool like Semrush or Ahrefs (if you already have a content marketing strategy) to find related keywords and questions on your video topic. A free tool like Answer The Public can also suffice.Add relevant and popular hashtags to improve the visibility and discoverability of your video content.Ensuring you add and speak relevant keywords can improve your video performance and also help you appear on search engine result pages. 💡Learn more: Social Media SEO in 20252. Have hooks that stop the scroll (especially for short-form videos)A hook is the beginning sentence or phrase of your video. It should be captivating enough to stop someone from scrolling (and then the video should be engaging enough to keep them hooked till the end). How do you make your hooks more enticing? Notice what makes you stop the scroll and dissect why. Use the same principles in your own video content.Use copywriting formulas and power words to entice curiosity and perk up people’s ears.Iterate and refine your first hook multiple times before landing on the final one.Lizzie suggests experimenting with various hooks. “I think the biggest thing that helped improve my video performance was keeping the videos simple and adding really engaging hooks,” she says. “Try experimenting with different types of hooks and video formats to see what works best for your audience, because it might be very different.” 💡Learn more: 6 Psychological Techniques to Help You Write Great Social Media Hooks3. Tell stories, not just factsHumans are wired to love and remember stories. When creating video content, ask yourself: Am I sharing a story or just sharing information? If it’s the latter, try to connect a human story — either from your life, your brand, or even a fictional one (as long as you state that it’s fictional!) — to your info to make your videos more memorable and engaging. A great example here would be using a customer case study along with a stat like, “Our tool saves you X hours per week.” Storytelling is also a skill that will develop over time. But if you view your video marketing from the story-driven lens from the beginning, it’ll ensure you build a foundation for success from day one. 💡Learn more: 11 Storytelling Formulas to Supercharge Your Social Media Marketing4. Show your personalityVideo marketing is about building a deeper connection with your audience and showing them who you are in real life as closely as possible. So don’t create a ‘professional video’ just because you think you’re supposed to. Are you funny and goofy in real life? Let that shine through in your video content. Jade says an easy way to show your personality on video is to ditch the video script and just use a few prompts instead. “ What’s helped me the most is not scripting my videos,” she says “I write prompts for my videos to get a rough idea of what I’m trying to get across. I don’t read these prompts out; I simply refer to my notes and then I let myself speak freely.” “Doing this gives me the ability to share my thoughts in a way that feels personal to me, to go on tangents should I feel the need to do so, and even make mistakes.” Showing your personality online can be scary (what if they don’t like me?) because it requires vulnerability. But it’ll foster a stronger relationship with your followers and make you much more memorable. 5. Capitalize on trends and trending soundsTrending content can help you improve your chances of success and even go viral. Especially with short-form video content, there are always tons of trending sounds or trends floating on social networks. Leave some room in your content calendar to create trending content. Remember, these trends are time-sensitive, so you must hop on the bandwagon quickly — before the trend becomes irrelevant. ⚡Pro-tip: In Buffer, you can use notification posting to capitalize on trends — this means you get a notification on your mobile device when it’s time to post to finish publishing. You can prepare your post and schedule it, but when it’s time to post, you can add music (like trending sounds!) to ensure you hop on trends every now and then.6. Have a nicheWe’re all for experimentation here at Buffer. But there’s no denying that having a niche — even a broad one — is a solid strategy for success. When you have a niche, you have some focus on your content topics. This allows the algorithms to understand what your account is about and put it in front of the right people. Your audience also starts knowing you for one thing when you solidify a niche. In a TikTok experiment that increased her following by over 1,000% in 30 days, senior content writer Kirsti Lang, found that having a niche (or connected niches) was a core contributor to her success. “When viewers enjoy a video in your feed, they’ll tap over to your profile to see if there are more. And if what you find there is a hot mess of all sorts of unrelated things, you’re going to bounce back to their home without tapping ‘follow,” she says. “A random assortment of videos might help you go viral every now and then (if you’re lucky), but they’re not the smoothest path to audience growth.” Want to learn more about how you can find your niche as a creator? Learn from Gigi Robinson: 7. Create a video distribution planVideo marketing doesn’t have to stay limited to your social strategy. Video content has lots of use cases beyond that Created explainer videos about how your product works? Use them as demo videos on your website.Created video content to promote your brand story? Embed it in the ‘About’ page of your own website.Created customer testimonial videos? Add it to your case studies and sales deck to pitch to future customers.Measuring video marketing success will also change as you evolve your distribution plan. Instead of just measuring the social impact, look at the bigger picture of how video content has improved your overall business. Lights, camera, practice! If you’re just getting started with video content, give yourself some time and grace. Your first video won’t be perfect (and likely not your second, either). Creating videos involves many tasks at once, and it takes time and practice for everything to click. Want to make it a little smoother? Use a tool like Buffer to ideate, schedule, and analyze your video content across all social platforms. You focus on improving your video ideas, filming, and editing — leave the rest (read: tedious) tasks of scheduling posts, analyzing content, and planning a content calendar to us. Here's how to get started. View the full article

For decades, huge swaths of Brazil’s Cerrado ecosystem have been used to support the global demand for burgers. Forests and grasslands were replaced by pastures along with farms growing soy to feed cattle. But a major restoration project is now underway on an area nearly twice as large as Manhattan. If you fly over one part of southwestern Brazil, you’ll see a patchwork of dozens of square plots where a local university is studying different methods of helping native plants regrow on former cattle pastures. On more than 25,000 acres, along rivers and the edge of remaining pieces of forest, new vegetation has been growing quickly over the past two years. Wildlife cameras track the native species that are returning, from puma to an endangered species of rabbit. The environmental group Conservation International is working on the project with an unlikely set of partners: a forestry company and the tech giant Apple. Why Apple is investing in forests The project is one piece of Apple’s climate strategy. “When we look at the global climate science, it’s clear that we have to cut emissions as quickly as possible, but we also have to end deforestation and rapidly scale up carbon removal in order to stay within 1.5 degrees [of global temperature rise],” says Chris Busch, director of environmental initiatives at Apple. The company’s first priority is reducing its own emissions. Through tactics like using recycled rare earth elements in iPhones and helping suppliers shift to renewable energy at factories, it has already cut its emissions by 60% compared to 2015. By 2030, it’s aiming to hit 75%. But for the remaining 25%, Busch says, “We just don’t have a clear line of sight to how to avoid those emissions at scale today within our value chain. So that is where nature comes in to play a role for us.” There are several ways to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, including nascent technology like direct air capture. But Apple knew that in order to reach its short-term goals for 2030, it would need to lean on nature’s ability to capture carbon because no other approach was ready to scale up quickly enough. At the same time, the company recognized that there weren’t enough nature-based carbon credits available to buy—and restoration and preservation projects often struggle to prove that they actually have as much benefit as they claim. In 2021, Apple committed $200 million to the Restore Fund, a new fund established with Conservational International and Goldman Sachs, to help carbon removal grow more quickly and to focus on creating quality projects. (In 2023, it pledged an additional $200 million for a second fund within the program.) One of the first investments, in 2022, was Project Alpha in Brazil. Restoration and planting started in 2023. It’s the first step in a larger effort that will eventually restore 741,000 acres of degraded land across Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile. A biodiversity hot spot The Cerrado ecosystem, which originally sprawled over more than a million square miles in Brazil with a mix of dense forests, grasslands, and wetlands, is a biodiversity hot spot. Many of its 1,600-plus species of animals, and 10,000 species of plants, can’t be found anywhere else. It’s also quickly disappearing. “It’s faced a rate of loss that’s fairly extreme,” says Will Turner, senior vice president at Conservation International’s Center for Natural Climate Solutions. “Well over half of the native Cerrado vegetation has been destroyed, predominantly due to agriculture.” The restoration project is focusing on an area that was converted for grazing in the 1990s, and bought the land from cattle farmers. As grasslands were replaced by pasture, they were planted with invasive grasses to feed cattle. The grass chokes off the growth of native plants. Because it’s spread so much, the non-native grass makes restoration expensive and challenging. That’s why the project took a new approach: Instead of focusing solely on restoration, it’s happening in combination with carefully managed forestry. Why an environmental group wanted to partner with a forestry company BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group (TIG), the forestry partner on the project, is planting tree farms on half of the former grazing land, and managing restoration on the other half. In some ways, the solution seems counterintuitive: The tree farms will grow eucalyptus, a non-native species from Australia. In other parts of Brazil, environmental groups have derided eucalyptus plantations, arguing that they’re destructive. But the trees can thrive in degraded soil where other species struggle to grow. They also grow quickly, taking up large amounts of CO2. Since deforestation reduces rainfall, planting new trees can also help with the hydrological cycle. And as global demand for wood continues to grow, the new plantations—which are FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified—can potentially help avoid deforestation of native trees in places like the Amazon rainforest. Some critics argue that eucalyptus overuses groundwater, but Conservation International says that’s often caused by poor management. If a eucalyptus plantation is managed well, the nonprofit says, recent research suggests it will use the same amount of water as a native forest. (The forestry company is also screening out locations that have insufficient water availability and monitoring water security for others in the area.) When TIG bought grazing land from farmers, it carefully tracked where the cattle were moved, making sure that the process didn’t lead to new land being cleared elsewhere. (The company agreed to this, along with other sustainability critera, as part of the project.) Then, with guidance from Conservation International, it began “assisted natural regeneration,” taking steps to help native vegetation regrow. In some areas, it’s also planting seeds or seedlings. Having the forestry company on the site also means that its crew can protect the restored areas from encroachment from other farmers or fight wildfires if needed. The forestry company will earn carbon credits both as its trees capture CO2 and as native vegetation is being restored. Apple also has a stake in the project. “What we’re aiming to do is generate a financial return as an investor in those projects, but also a carbon return,” says Busch. “Part of the return that we get on that investment is carbon credits.” Third-party auditors will monitor the project before the carbon credits are issued. Apple is also helping with some of the monitoring technology, including testing ways to use the iPhone’s lidar scanner to measure the diameter of trees. Without the forestry part of the project in place, Conservation International says it’s unlikely that any restoration would have happened in the area at all. Including forestry makes the restoration financially viable. And it helped it happen at a large scale: The project will increase the restoration across the entire Cerrado region by 50%. “At the end of the day, what we think is really important is figuring out how to get to scale in terms of restoration and carbon sequestration quickly,” says Apple’s Busch. “That needs to be funded somehow. The conservation side of the operation is truly [financially] sustainable because it can be funded by the business side.” View the full article

Anthropic, Menlo Ventures, and other AI industry players are betting $50 million on a company called Goodfire, which aims to understand how AI models think and steer them toward better, safer answers. Even as AI becomes more embedded in business systems and personal lives, researchers still lack a clear understanding of how AI models generate their output. So far, the go-to method for improving AI behavior has focused on shaping training data and refining prompting methods, rather than addressing the models’ internal “thought” processes. Goodfire is tackling the latter—and showing real promise. The company boasts a kind of dream team of mechanistic interpretability pioneers. Cofounder Tom McGrath helped create the interpretability team at DeepMind. Cofounder Lee Sharkey pioneered the use of sparse autoencoders in language models. Nick Cammarata started the interpretability team at OpenAI alongside Chris Olah, who later cofounded Anthropic. Collectively, these researchers have delivered some of the field’s biggest breakthroughs. Goodfire founder and CEO Eric Ho, who left a successful AI app company in 2022 to focus on interpretability, tells Fast Company that the new funding will be used to expand the research team and enhance its “Ember” interpretability platform. In addition to its core research efforts, Goodfire also generates revenue by deploying field teams to help client organizations understand and control the outputs of their AI models. Goodfire is developing the knowledge and tools needed to perform “brain surgery” on AI models. Its researchers have found ways to isolate modules within neural networks to reveal the AI’s “thoughts.” Using a technique they call neural programming, they can intervene and redirect a model’s cognition toward higher-quality, more aligned outputs. “We envision a future where you can bring a little bit of the engineering back to neural networks,” Ho says. The company has also been collaborating with other AI labs to solve interpretability challenges. For example, Goodfire has helped the Arc Institute interpret the inner workings of its Evo 2 DNA foundation model, which analyzes nucleotide sequences and predicts what comes next. By understanding how the model makes its predictions, researchers have uncovered unique biological concepts—potentially valuable for new scientific discoveries. Anthropic, too, may benefit from Goodfire’s insights. “Our investment in Goodfire reflects our belief that mechanistic interpretability is among the best bets to help us transform black-box neural networks into understandable, steerable systems—a critical foundation for the responsible development of powerful AI,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in a statement. According to Ho, Goodfire has also been fielding requests from Fortune 500 companies that want to better understand how the large language models they use for business are “thinking”—and how to change faulty reasoning into sound decision-making. He notes that many within businesses still see AI models as another kind of software, something that can be reprogrammed when it produces incorrect outputs. But AI works differently: It generates responses based on probabilities and a degree of randomness. Improving those outputs requires intervention within the models’ cognitive processes, steering them in more productive directions. This kind of intervention is still a new and imprecise science. “It remains crude and at a high level and not precise,” Ho says. Still, Goodfire offers an initial tool kit that gives enterprises a level of control more familiar from traditional deterministic software. As companies increasingly rely on AI for decisions that affect real lives, Ho believes the ability to understand and redirect AI models will become essential. For instance, if a developer equips a model with ethical or safety guardrails, an organization should be able to locate the layer or parameter in the neural network where the model chose to bypass the rules—or tried to appear compliant while it wasn’t. This would mean turning the AI black box into a glass box, with tools to reach inside and make necessary adjustments. Ho is optimistic that interpretability research can rise to the challenge. “This is a solvable, tractable, technical problem, but it’s going to take our smartest researchers and engineers to solve the really hard problem of understanding and aligning models to human goals and morals.” As AI systems begin to surpass human intelligence, concerns are growing about their alignment with human values and interests. A major part of the challenge lies in simply understanding what’s happening inside AI models, which often “think” in alien, opaque ways. Whether the big AI labs are investing enough in interpretability remains an open question—one with serious implications for our readiness for an AI-driven future. That’s why it’s encouraging to see major industry players putting real funding behind an interpretability research lab. Lightspeed Venture Partners, B Capital, Work-Bench, Wing, and South Park Commons also participated in the funding round. Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das will join Goodfire’s board of directors. While most of the tech world now rushes ahead with the development and application of generative AI models, concerns about the inscrutable nature of the models often get brushed aside as afterthoughts. But that wasn’t always the case. Google hesitated to put generative models into production because it feared being sued over unexpected and unexplainable model outputs. In some industries, however, such concerns remain very relevant, Das points out. “There are extremely sensitive use cases in law, finance, and so on, where trying to deploy AI models as we know them today is just not feasible because you’re relying on a black box to make decisions that you don’t understand why it’s making those decisions,” Das says. “A good part of [Goodfire’s] mission is just to be able to do that.” View the full article

Take a look at your to-do list. Does it seem never-ending? The thing about task lists is that they are filled with specific things you need to accomplish. Combine that with an ever-expanding inbox, and you have a recipe for busy work days. While you may get many things done, you may not feel like they are adding up to a more significant contribution to the mission of your workplace or your own big-picture goals. To ensure that the specific things you’re doing lead to important outcomes, you need some time in your schedule to reflect on the big-picture goals you have and their relationship to the actions you’re taking day-to-day. Here are a few things you can do to clear the mental space to make sure your days are not just busy, but productive. The value of unstructured time Ensuring that your daily activities lead up to something more substantial will not happen by magic. Instead, you need to regularly save some time that is not devoted to the particular tasks that are already on your task list. There are several purposes for this time. You want to reflect on whether the things that take up most of your time are related to the most important goals both for you and the organization. Chances are, there are many things you have to do each day that do not contribute significantly to that mission. Identify some of the activities that soak up your time that are not that productive. Are they necessary? Are there things you’re doing that you can put further down the list of priorities? Do you need to talk to your supervisor about some of the things that clutter your calendar? Are there things you should be doing to make your contribution that are not happening? You also want to have a list of activities you’re not doing that you need to be doing. You’ll need to figure out how to add more of those into your daily and weekly schedule. Finding a space to make space One problem with trying to take a big-picture view of things is that you are likely to be surrounded by reminders to take care of the next task. You probably have documents on your desk and your computer desktop that need to be completed. You have an email inbox with a constant drip of new messages crying out to be answered. You have DMs from team members asking for information. That can make it difficult to disconnect enough to create the mindset you need to think about strategic issues. It can be helpful to use physical distance from your most pressing tasks to think strategically. Consider taking a walk or going to a conference room at your workplace that has a whiteboard. The distance has two benefits: First, it separates you from the specific reminders of the tasks at hand; second, psychology research suggests that physical distance can actually help you think more abstractly about your work. When you think more abstractly, you’re better able to ignore the specific tasks and focus on the primary accomplishments you’d like to achieve as well as the general barriers that may stand in the way of success. Drawing your big-picture goals When talking about strategic goals, we often use phrases like achieving a vision or seeing the future. Yet we also tend to lay out our goals in written documents. Sometimes, it can be helpful to take the language of envisioning more literally. Sketches and diagrams may be helpful for changing the way you think about your desired contribution. So many of our workplace tools involve writing (like email, instant messages, and meeting agendas) that we get locked into needing the right words to describe what we want to bring about. Grab a big sheet of paper or use a whiteboard. Leave the words behind at first and just sketch out processes, concepts, or prototypes. Don’t worry if you don’t think you’re good at capturing likenesses. The power of sketches and diagrams comes from being able to use space as an element of your thinking to engage the massive amount of brain real estate devoted to vision more deeply. View the full article

It’s easy to get swept up in headlines predicting the end of the design industry as we know it. It’s true: AI tools can now generate in seconds what once took days for teams of designers. So it’s no longer a question of whether these tools will be used—but how, why, and by whom. If design as we know it is being automated, what remains? And what becomes more valuable? In the 1930s, cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that mechanical reproduction—photography, film, the printing press—was transforming not just how art was made, but how it was perceived. His concern wasn’t just about losing originality or craft; it was about losing aura—the sense of presence that comes from a work’s connection to time, place, and purpose. When something can be reproduced endlessly, that connection starts to dissolve. And in the post-internet world, it’s all but collapsed—context has become slippery, distributed, and flattened. The role of creative direction, then, is to restore that lost dimensionality—to place things, to anchor them in context. The craft of execution is no longer a differentiator. For surface-level visuals, speed and quantity now rule. But this shift reveals something deeper: When production is automated, the designer’s role becomes less about making and more about meaning. I’ve felt this shift firsthand. At the outset of my career, I spent hours—days—in Photoshop extending backgrounds, removing objects, and meticulously cutting out product images for e-commerce sites. It was repetitive, yes—but also meditative. There was a quiet satisfaction in working with images by hand, pixel by pixel. That kind of technical work is now (thankfully) almost entirely automated. Although I miss blocking off an afternoon to push pixels, the ability to delegate those tasks means I no longer need to dedicate time to erasing shadows—I spend that time deciding what the image should say in the first place. Not all design disciplines are equally affected by AI. Those who work with material, scale, and space—book designers, muralists, sign painters, mosaicists—continue to operate through tacit knowledge and touch. Their work still resists automation because it’s rooted in place and presence—it has “aura.” But even in brand design, something similar holds true: The more a designer’s value is bound to personal taste, knowledge of context, and aesthetic judgment, the more durable it becomes. It’s tempting to hold onto the idea of the designer as auteur, untouched by context. But that belief overlooks how meaning is actually made: not by the author alone, but in conversation with culture, with tools, with audience. Mistaking authorship for authority leads to stagnation. If you’re a designer today, your ability to thrive depends on shifting your creative identity from executor to editor, and from technician to translator. The cost of not adapting isn’t just irrelevance. It’s being indistinguishable from the tools themselves. As Chris Braden, my former CCO at Public Address, has said: “In nature, things that don’t move are dead.” Which is why creative direction matters more now than ever. If designers are no longer the makers, they must become the orchestrators. This isn’t without precedent. Rick Rubin doesn’t read music or play instruments. Virgil Abloh was more interested in recontextualizing than inventing. Their value lies not in original execution but in framing, curation, and translation. The same is true now for brand designers. Creative direction is about synthesizing abstract ideas into aesthetic systems—shaping meaning through how things feel, not just how they look. This opens up a new kind of opportunity for ideas to come from more rigorous places—critical theory, art history, cultural analysis—without being stripped of their richness. AI can absolutely help translate complex ideas into accessible ones. But it’s the designer who chooses which ideas to bring forward, how to apply them, and why they matter in a given moment. That’s not just a function of intelligence—it’s a function of intuition, authorship, and taste. Taste isn’t just personal preference. It’s an evolving, often unstable framework—shaped by experience, exposure, and the cultural moment—that informs how we make aesthetic judgments. It’s not fixed, nor is it singular. What feels resonant in one context may fall flat in another. Taste is less about knowing what’s right and more about understanding what’s relevant—what aligns, what disrupts, what works now. In a world of infinite possibilities, taste becomes less of a crown and more of a compass. ThorloArtworld It’s no longer enough to know what’s trending from scrolling your various feeds. As Abloh understood, when originality becomes obsolete, novelty comes from recombination, from juxtaposition: from having a point of view. If your value lies in how you see—and how you help others see—that’s not just algorithm-resistant. It’s literally irreplaceable. AI is a tool—but like all technologies, it’s not neutral. It reflects the choices of its makers and transforms every system it touches. It influences markets, media, and belief. It expands what’s possible while quietly reshaping how meaning is made. And its impact on creative work is especially complex. It’s a medium, a system, a collaborator. It can generate, iterate, and surprise. But it can’t decide what matters. It can’t assign meaning. It can’t make a choice. AI responds to input. Creative direction is that input. This shift raises real questions for the future of design education and hiring. What does a portfolio look like when visuals are no longer enough? Increasingly, it might look less like a finished book and more like a screenplay: a series of prompts, iterations, references, and decisions that show how a designer directed a process, not just executed an outcome. The goal isn’t to hide the machine but to show how it’s been used with intention. We’re moving into an era where synthesis and judgment—not just execution—are the creative differentiators. AI will continue to evolve, and yes—it will replace certain tasks and even entire roles. But it won’t replace curiosity. It won’t replace intuition. And it won’t replace the ability to decide what matters. View the full article

I was strolling up the hill in Greater Boston to a French cooking class. The rich aroma of melting butter and fresh herbs greeted us as it wafted through the chilly fall air. My friend Sylvie and I were eager to learn the art of soufflé-making. The French instructors asked for everyone’s background. When Sylvie said she was from France, they pressed her to be specific: Which part of France? When they learned she hailed from Strasbourg, the Parisiennes exchanged disapproving glances. Sylvie eyed their silent, snooty disdain. It got worse. When Sylvie started asking about techniques, we received curt responses and pronounced sighs. We left feeling as deflated as a collapsed soufflé. The French instructors may have mastered the art of French cooking but failed miserably in practicing humility toward Sylvie. They could have done so by celebrating Sylvie’s hometown as a region with its own culinary specialties. In snubbing Sylvie, the instructors missed an opportunity to demonstrate the rich diversity of soufflés across geographies and to toast the diversity of participants in the cooking class. Humility is based on a common theme: Train your focus on others, not on yourself. The importance of managing your ego Early in my Silicon Valley career, I had the good fortune to work for Bart, a humble leader who left his ego at the door. Bart regularly sought out employees at all levels for their input on new products and improving the company. He collaborated with individuals and other stakeholders, so they could see what made sense for the business. He asked customers crucial questions and listened carefully to their answers. Bart never threw his weight around. Instead, he was a role model for how to be in a position of power while ensuring each employee felt heard, included, and invited to showcase their influence. Humility requires you to check your ego and ensure that you don’t let it dictate your actions. Seek and embrace feedback Later in my career while running my diagnostic equipment business, we hired a head of research and development. This professional came with an impressive pedigree—his PhD and postdoctoral research were from some of the top schools in the world. With his vast knowledge, accomplishments, and experience he easily could have asserted himself. You know, that arrogant person who knows best, never admits he’s wrong, and isn’t open to suggestions. We’ve all met that individual. But our new head of R&D was actively soliciting feedback on products from collaborators, customers, and salespeople across the globe with less education. In the end, he was able to integrate input from a broad mix of stakeholders into our products. He always showed his gratitude for ideas people gave him and considered many of them for possible future use. Listen more than you speak William is a strength and conditioning coach friend of mine who trains professional and amateur athletes. He says that one of the most common phrases he hears from his clients is “You really understand me.” He believes that this is because he allows his clients to do most of the talking. They feel heard and understood, he says, because he signals he’s listening intently. According to him, the following practices are key to being a good listener: Practice active listening without planning your response. If you predict what the other person is about to say, your response could miss the mark. Respond only after the person you’re speaking with is done talking. Show genuine interest in others’ perspectives. Our natural tendency is to blurt out what we think. Resist the urge. Instead, draw the other person out through thoughtful questions. Don’t interrupt or dominate conversations. This is arguably the hardest to do because we want to be heard. Keep your lips together when you feel compelled to interject. Learn to sense when to yield the conversation to another person. You don’t want the reputation of being that person who doesn’t know when to stop talking. Ask thoughtful follow-up questions. Think through your follow-up question before you ask it. If you’ve been listening carefully, a question will come to mind with little effort. Don’t underestimate the impact of curiosity There’s a concept called epistemic humility, which refers to a trait where you seek to learn on a deep level while actively acknowledging how much you don’t know. Approach each interaction with curiosity, an open mind, and an assumption you’ll learn something new. Ask thoughtful questions about other’s experiences, perspectives, and expertise. Then listen and show your genuine interest in their responses. Let them know what you just learned. By consistently being curious, you demonstrate you’re not above learning from others. Juan, a successful entrepreneur in the healthy beverage space, approaches life and grows his business with intellectual humility. He’s a deeply curious professional who seeks feedback and perspectives from customers, employees, advisers, and investors. Juan’s ongoing openness to learning led him to adapt faster to market changes in his beverage category: He quickly identifies shifting customer preferences as well as competitive threats, then rapidly tweaks his product offerings to keep competitors at bay. He has the humility to realize he doesn’t have all the answers and embraces listening to key voices that help make his business even more successful. A final reflection Being humble makes us more approachable and respected. With humility, we value others’ perspectives. The French soufflé instructors lost their class participants’ respect because far from practicing humility, they served up snobbery along with their lessons on creating the perfect soufflé. Humility isn’t about diminishing oneself. It’s about having a balanced perspective about yourself while showing genuine respect and appreciation for others. And if you’re open to the journey, the growth and self-awareness will enrich your life and the lives of those around you. View the full article

I’ve always been a doer. I move fast, I love learning new things, and I don’t sit still for long. Productivity has been a faithful companion throughout my career, and I attribute much of my success to one key trait: the courage to take action—even when things seem uncertain or complex. I trace this mentality back to a moment in my childhood. I was about 11 years old, growing up in the Netherlands, where a bicycle isn’t just a toy—it’s your main mode of transportation. One day, I had my first flat tire and it was raining (as it always is). I felt defeated and immobile. No bike meant no freedom, no way to get from A to B. I walked home, and my dad, calm as ever, looked at me and said, “No problem, let’s fix it.” Fix it? This was 1984. There was no YouTube tutorial. No step-by-step guide. Just a deflated tire, some tools, and a kid who had no idea what he was doing. We sat together with a bucket of water to find the hole, sandpaper, and glue to patch it, and metal tools to remove and reinsert the tire. Step by step, we repaired it. He didn’t do it for me—we did it together. That day changed my mindset. I realized that if I can fix this, I can fix anything. From that moment on, I’ve believed that most problems are solvable, most obstacles are temporary, and most fears are exaggerated. How I honed my growth mindset That mindset was tested often. I wasn’t the strongest student. I worked hard at a demanding public high school, but the grades didn’t come easy. Worse, many of my teachers seemed to doubt me—or at least, didn’t hide it well. Except for one: Mr. Bosman, my physical education teacher. He had an infectious energy and a simple motto. Every time he introduced a new exercise, he’d explain, demonstrate, wait for confirmation, and then shout a single word—his command, his mantra: “Do!” (but in Dutch of course) That word stuck with me. It was the only positive affirmation I got from a teacher in those years, and it became my philosophy. When in doubt? Do. When overwhelmed? Do. When uncertain? Still . . . do. Don’t sit still, action over inaction wins always. Fast-forward to my corporate career at The Baan Corporation (a software company that is now part of Infor Global Solutions), I remember meeting Jan Baan—the company’s visionary founder. I was just 25, eager, and still finding my professional rhythm. I asked him how he managed to get so much done—and so well. He told me, “Michel, I try to make 20 decisions in a day and still leave time to correct two of them. That’s better than making two perfect decisions and missing out on the other 18.” That’s when it clicked for me. Perfection is slow and paralyzing. If I want to move forward, I need to take action while being willing to learn and correct my mistakes in the process. Why action-oriented leaders win In my work as an executive coach, I meet many bright, capable, ambitious leaders who still hold onto the opposite mindset. They’re carrying around the weight of things people said to them years ago. Whether that’s “I’m not ready,” I’m not qualified enough, “ or “Someone else can do it better.” But most of the messages have little merit, and I encourage people to focus on taking action instead. A recent study published in Current Psychology found that leaders who rely on internal trait-based resources—like resilience, self-discipline, and adaptability—are better equipped to manage stress and perform well in complex, high-stakes environments. It’s important to note that those qualities aren’t built by sitting still. Leaders need to sharpen them through movement, iteration, and learning by doing. Another study in the International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal showed that self-leadership and mindfulness training measurably improve a leader’s confidence and decision-making. It’s not perfection that builds capability—it’s repetition, awareness, and the courage to act even when clarity is incomplete. This mindset also aligns with modern neuroscience. The brain rewards progress—even small wins—with dopamine, which motivates us to keep going. Final thought: action drives culture When leaders adopt a bias for action, they don’t just transform themselves—they create a ripple effect. They inspire teams to take initiative. They build cultures where progress The Presidents perfection, where learning is constant, and where speed is a strategic advantage. Momentum, after all, is contagious. Decisive leadership removes bottlenecks, boosts morale, and accelerates performance. But hesitation at the top leads to confusion, disengagement, and organizational drag. And once you lose momentum, it’s hard to rebuild. Action creates clarity. Action builds confidence. Action fuels momentum. So don’t wait for perfection or permission. Just start doing. View the full article

Commercial intent keywords are search terms used to research a brand, product, or service before buying. View the full article

These days, when you head to a shop to buy clothes, most brands package your purchases in a recyclable paper bag, which looks more eco-friendly than plastic. But behind the scenes—in back rooms that most customers never see—every single clothing retailer has enormous piles of flimsy plastic bags (sometimes called poly bags). These bags keep clothes clean as they travel across the complex global supply chain before arriving at the store. “We need to keep clothes in good condition as they move from factories to shipping containers to trucks,” says Candan Erenguc, chief operations officer at Anthropologie. Most local recycling facilities don’t have the equipment to recycle poly bags, which are more complicated to break down than more solid plastics like water bottles. So most retailers simply send them in the regular waste stream where they will end up in a landfill. Since plastic does not biodegrade, these bags will break down into tiny fragments of microplastic that will end up in our waterways and food. Anthropologie has been on a mission to find a way to recycle the poly bags it collects across its 215 retail stores. Over the past 18 months, it has partnered with Waste Management (WM), the largest recycling company in the United States, to develop a solution. Now, store associates collect these bags and send them to special facilities that are equipped to recycle them into other plastic products, extending their life. Anthropologie has already recycled more than 60,000 tons of poly bags, which have been transformed into pellets that will be used to create other plastic items, including trash bags. “It has been a very seamless process, and we want to make sure other retailers know they can do it as well,” says Erenguc. That said, things like trash bags cannot be further recycled, so they will eventually end up in a landfill. So it is still incumbent on brands to find ways to reduce the amount of plastic they consume and discard. For decades, flimsy plastic bags have been a challenge for municipal recycling facilities that collect household waste. If you accidentally put them in your curbside recycling bin, they can clog up the recycling equipment, shutting the system down. As a result, people have been encouraged to simply dispose of these bags in the regular waste stream, where they will be landfilled or incinerated. However, recycling technology is quickly improving, according to Tara Hemmer, chief sustainability officer at WM. For one thing, WM is now investing in robotics and computer vision technology that can better catch plastic bags that end up in the waste stream and separate them from the rest of the trash, so they don’t cause a major disturbance. And perhaps more impressively, there are now several industrial recycling facilities across the U.S. that are specifically designed to recycle poly bags. Some of these plants are owned by WM. But there are also independent recyclers that partner with WM. “We work with our customers to make sure they can direct their waste to the right facility in our third-party network,” says Hemmer. Erenguc wanted to find a way to collect poly bags and ship them to these locations. However, as a major retailer, this presented a logistical challenge. It was also important for the process to be easy for employees to understand and follow. Each of Anthropologie’s 215 stores is staffed with dozens of employees who must be trained on best practices when it comes to waste disposal. Moreover, it was unclear where the nearest recycling facility would be for each store. “We didn’t want to be transporting poly bags back and forth across the country, because that isn’t good for the environment either,” Erenguc says. But this is where WM could help. Anthropologie brought in members of the WM team to study the situation and come up with a solution that would be easy for retail employees to adopt. WM identified the address of the closest recycling facility for each store. Retail associates now collect plastic bags and when they have achieved a certain volume, they ship them out to a designated facility. The recycling plants turn poly bags into pellets that can than be used to create other products. “It’s such a streamlined solution,” Erenguc says. “It was so easy to execute, but we’ve already managed to divert 60,000 pounds of plastic from landfills.” Hemmer says that many retailers are eager to divert waste from landfill. While there’s been a narrative that companies have abandoned their sustainability goals, that hasn’t been her experience. “We’ve found that companies still have goals and are marching towards them,” she says. “And consumer product companies are trying to increase the amount of recycled content that goes into their products.” Hemmer says that recycling technology is improving every year. WM is currently working to make it possible to recycle plastic bags in residential areas, beginning with a plant in Chicago that will reach about 3,500 households. But often the obstacle to bringing about change at scale isn’t technological—it’s logistical. People, as well as companies, are more likely to adopt new processes if they’re simple. “Part of our job is to help troubleshoot,” says Hemmer. “But diverting waste from landfill is actually a lot easier than you’d imagine.” View the full article

As a particularly cold winter sputters to an end, Pennsylvania’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which helps residents pay their heating bills, closed on Friday—several weeks earlier than expected. Funding for LIHEAP has dried up because federal workers who administer the program were recently laid off by the The President administration, said Elizabeth Marx, the executive director at the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, a legal advocacy group that assists people struggling to pay their utility costs. About $19 million has yet to be sent to the state. The state Public Utility Commission sent a letter to Congess this week about the shortfall and called the fund a “lifeline for Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable households.” Marx said the delay in federal funds couldn’t happen at a worse time. April is known as the start of “termination season,” she said, when her organization sees an uptick in the number of households whose electricity or gas is turned off. State regulations prohibit winter disconnections before April 1. “Every year we have a spike in calls to our emergency hotline because, all at the same time, people are receiving termination notices,” Marx said. “This is a time when the demand for LIHEAP increases dramatically.” LIHEAP is among dozens of aid programs caught short by mass firings in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Part of broad budget cuts by the The President administration, the entire staff that allocates funds for LIHEAP was eliminated two weeks ago. HHS did not respond to a request for comment. Administered largely by states, LIHEAP distributes more than $4 billion a year to 6.2 million low-income households nationwide to help with heating and cooling costs. Last year, LIHEAP provided assistance to 346,000 Pennsylvanians, including 55,000 people who were in danger of having their heating cut. About $400 million in LIHEAP funding has yet to be sent to the states. In 2025, Pennsylvania had so far received $71 million by early April. Marx said that no one has explained the delay. “The funding hasn’t yet been cut. We just haven’t gotten it,” Marx said. “We have no idea when the remaining amount of funds are going to come to Pennsylvania.” Sanya Carley, the faculty director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, said the gutting of the staff is behind the funding interruption. “With the layoffs at HHS, that means that nobody is there to allocate the remainder during the more extreme, excessive heat months,” she said. LIHEAP is “one of our cornerstone social assistance programs,” said Juanita Constible, a senior advocate for environmental health at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). It can mean the difference between a family being able to afford to stay in their home or not, or to feed themselves or not, she said. Even if funds were sent this week, the program wouldn’t be able to reopen immediately. “You can’t just turn a program like that on a dime,” Marx said. The delay could also mean bad news this summer and beyond. Without help from LIHEAP to pay debts to utility companies that accumulated over the winter, thousands of households could lose power, leaving them with limited access to electricity this summer. The pause in payments will likely drive up demand for aid in the fall, advocates said. LIHEAP also covers maintenance and repair to home furnaces. Utility disconnections can lead to other losses for families scrambling to make ends meet. (Think of a refrigerator full of spoiled groceries.) They can spur evictions and, in some cases, cause children to be removed from homes deemed unsafe. And as Pennsylvania and the rest of the country face increasingly hot summers because of climate change, air-conditioning is no longer a convenience but a life-saving necessity. Prolonged heat exposure exacerbates chronic conditions including asthma, diabetes, and hypertension and can endanger pregnant women, children, and the elderly. LIHEAP was among the programs seen as most critical for helping families in Philadelphia at a climate justice event hosted by Drexel University last week. “The federal government is disinvesting in data to understand health disparities, data to understand climate risk, funding for energy solutions. The LIHEAP program is now at risk,” said Mathy Stanislaus, the executive director of Drexel’s Environmental Collaboratory. “Now more than ever, we really need to figure out how we can link up community-based leadership and priorities for state and local solutions,” Stanislaus said. The event brought together four community groups, called the Philadelphia Climate Justice Collective, to present recommendations for a “just climate transition plan” for the city. Finding solutions for neighborhoods with an atypically high heat index were part of the collective’s report. “The government’s disinvestment and dismantling casts a long shadow,” Stanislaus said in an interview, referring to the fallout from federal cuts led by DOGE, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. For example, the North Philadelphia-based nonprofit Esperanza lost a $500,000 grant for Hunting Park that would have covered the cost of weatherizing homes and planting trees. Hunting Park is a neighborhood where summer temperatures routinely register 10 to 15 degrees higher than wealthier and greener areas of the city. Despite the funding cuts, the collective’s leadership said they will continue working to help Philadelphia’s most underserved residents. “The federal government is completely erasing the history of environmental justice. The EPA administrator issued a memo two weeks ago that says we’re not going to consider the burdens of communities of color and low-income neighborhoods,” Stanislaus said. “We need to push back.” One of the participating organizations, the Overbrook Environmental Education Center, lost a promised $700,000 federal grant. “We’re disappointed, but we’re not devastated,” said Jerome Shabazz, its executive director. “Are we going to rely on these folks to define for us what our dignity should look like, who we should protect and who we should love and who we should give consideration to? How are we going to have an attitude where the most vulnerable amongst us are not the people we want to serve?” he asked. “That’s not acceptable. If we’re talking about climate and environmental justice, then we must be just.” More than 70% of LIHEAP recipients come from households with at least one senior citizen, person with disabilities, or child under the age of 6. Constible, of the NRDC, said if LIHEAP disappeared there would be “a lot more evictions.” “We’d see a lot more potential deaths or serious physical harm. I think we’d see a lot more families trying to make a decision between heating and eating, or stalling medical care that they need,” she said. Marx said the disruption to LIHEAP funding is occurring as more people are losing access to consistent electricity, water, and gas service. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, last year one in four Pennsylvania households said they had trouble paying their energy bills. Even before this winter, LIHEAP funding had fallen since the 2021-2022 fiscal year, when Pennsylvania received more than $480 million. This year, the state was allocated around $200 million. Now, experts say the situation is dire. “People will die,” Carley said. “People will die this summer if they cannot cool their homes and they cannot pay their bills.” This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. View the full article

Elon Musk’s foray into government has proven disastrous for his business life. Since taking up work for President Donald The Presidents’ so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk’s electric car company Tesla has seen sales slide and has become a target for protests. Now some believe that damage could be terminal and that Musk poses a risk to companies outside of his own. The Reputation Risk Index looks at reputational threats facing companies and organizations. It recently found that being associated with Musk posed the second biggest threat to companies, between the harmful or deceptive use of artificial intelligence and backtracking on DEI. The index, which is based on a survey with 117 public affairs leaders and former heads of state, found it’s not just being associated with Musk that’s risky, but being singled out and publicly criticized by him. “With his controversial omnipresence in the media landscape, 28% of the council identified this association as a top reputational risk, highlighting Musk’s impact on businesses that extend well past his own,” Global Risk Advisory Council chair Isabel Casillas Guzman said in the report. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives predicted in a note Sunday that even if Musk were to quit DOGE and get back to his car company “there will be permanent brand damage.” And if Musk stays in government, brand damage could grow for Tesla, calling it a “code red situation” for the company. Musk “needs to leave the government, take a major step back on DOGE, and get back to being CEO of Tesla full-time,” Ives wrote. Musk’s hard turn to DOGE has shown that mixing business with politics can backfire, especially for a public CEO of a company that relies on customers who in large part don’t share his views. If Musk wasn’t planning on leaving his post as a “special government employee” after the 130-day limit comes up, he might find a more persuasive business reason that it’s time to get back to his day job. View the full article

Hallucinations in Google's AI Overviews offer insights into how the ranking algorithms understand search queries and choose answers The post AI Overviews Glitch May Hint at Google’s Algorithm appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The steeple of Boston’s Old North Church has a historic claim to fame. In 1775, Paul Revere arranged for lanterns to be displayed as a signal to colonists that communicated British troop movements, and the route of an impending invasion: one lantern if by land, two if by sea. Now, 250 years later, the church is once again a messenger for a dire moment in American history. April 18 marked 250 years since Revere’s ride the night before the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside Boston that set off the Revolutionary War. To mark the occasion, a Boston art collective called Silence Dogood (its name a tip of the hat to one of Benjamin Franklin’s pseudonyms) used the occasion to project far less veiled messages in vintage-style typefaces onto the Old North Church’s steeple. “The Revolution Started Here and It Never Left,” “Let the Warning Ride Forth Once More: Tyranny Is at Our Door,” and “One if by Land, Two if by D.C.” were digs at President Donald The President and statements of identity about Boston as the birthplace of the American Revolution. “Two-hundred fifty years later, tyranny has returned,” the group said in a statement. “Let Boston once more be the beacon in the country’s hour of darkness and relight the rallying signal to protect our liberty.” Silence Dogood started last month with a projection at the Old State House responding to border czar Tom Homan’s comments about “bringing hell” to the city. The visual protests have grown “in a very organic way” since, an organizer tells Fast Company. The group is finding ways to both react to events as they unfold in real time and mark the anniversary of the Revolutionary War with messages about the The President administration’s abuses of power. Projections were a staple of protest against The President in his first term; activists and artists projected critical messages onto The President’s hotels in cities like Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Silence Dogood has taken that concept and adopted it for Boston, and for the nation’s semiquincentennial, with thoughtful font and location choices. That the White House touted The President a king only bolsters the group’s message. The projections were written in a handful of fonts, including some the group has customized. One was chosen as an homage to colonial-era pamphlets like Thomas Paine’s 1776 “Common Sense,” which gives their projections a sense of historic context, paired with a more blocky font used in all-caps. As a medium, projection allows the collective to make large statements directly on the places where history happened, and messages can be quickly designed and executed. Since launching, they’ve projected onto the facades of other historic buildings, including Faneuil Hall and Old South Meeting House. The group uses a Reon solar-powered mobile electric generator, 1,600-lumen Epson projectors, and a computer using the projection mapping software MadMapper. By bringing their projections to historic sites and using fonts and anniversaries to tie history to the modern day, Silence Dogood has tapped into a potent medium that brings timely messages to timeless locations with only the power of type and light. View the full article

New market research from Intel shows that Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, and 6 GHz adoption has become a massive popular success in only four years. The post Massive market adoption: 5000+ Wi-Fi devices now support 6 GHz, 1230+ support Wi-Fi 7, Intel says appeared first on Wi-Fi NOW Global. View the full article

Popular language learning app Duolingo is giving its bite-size lesson treatment to one of the oldest games in the world: chess. Duolingo’s chess course will take users, who can range from complete novices to those with a solid understanding of how to play, through its gamified exercises to become better game players. The focus is mostly on attracting new players, including those who have felt chess is too difficult to learn or otherwise inaccessible. “For the most part, a lot of chess products out there are usually built by an advanced user for more advanced-use cases—someone who already is familiar with chess and is kind of trying to elevate their abilities even further,” Edwin Bodge, Duolingo senior product manager, tells Fast Company. “So we are more targeting beginners and think that we’re addressing a part of the market that hasn’t previously been addressed.” Users can learn how each piece moves, spot tactical patterns, and build a strategy. They can then apply those lessons in “mini matches,” which are just a few minutes long, to full games against its character Oscar. The bot will track how many matches the user has won and lost and can scale up or down the difficulty based on past performance. “This is a game that’s been played for so long, and essentially Duolingo is now carrying the torch of [getting] more people interested in this game that has been around for so long and put our unique spin on it,” Bodge said. Chess is the company’s first new subject since it branched beyond languages and introduced math and music classes in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The company launched in 2012 and has amassed more than 37 million daily active users as it brought language learning to the iPhone age and leaned heavily into attracting a young user base. The company said that chess is the fastest course its developed to date thanks to advancements in AI. The product team pitched CEO Luis von Ahn on the course in late August and its first engineer started on the job in November. Duolingo is testing chess with a limited number of learners starting Tuesday. It’ll roll out to all learners on iOS in English in the coming weeks, it said, with plans to eventually extend to additional operating systems and other languages in the coming months. View the full article

Haven assets in demand as criticism of US Fed unnerves investors View the full article

And he probably knows itView the full article

While Zoom is unquestionably the biggest name in videoconferencing, its free tier has some limitations—particularly the 40-minute time cap on group meetings. The good news is that several excellent platforms offer generous free plans capable of handling everything from brief check-ins to extended sessions. Ready to explore other options? Check out these free Zoom alternatives. Google Meet If you’re already embedded in the Google ecosystem, Google Meet is about as convenient as it gets. Joining meetings is straightforward, accessible via a web browser without needing software downloads, or through dedicated mobile apps. Its free tier supports up to 100 participants in a meeting and group sessions up to an hour in length. For one-on-one meetings, the time limit is 24 hours—though, if you’re holding 24-hour meetings . . . seek help. Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams is more than just a meeting tool, and while its full suite of features might seem overwhelming if you only require video calls, the free tier offers a nice set of meeting capabilities. Access is provided through web, desktop, and mobile applications, and you can host meetings with up to 100 participants for an hour. Beyond meetings, the free plan includes unlimited chat and file sharing integrated within the Teams environment, making it a good option for groups looking for a legit collaborative platform. Features like screen sharing, customizable backgrounds, and the unique Together Mode, which places participants in a shared virtual setting, are available. And for some reason, Teams lets you hold 30-hour one-on-one meetings—outdoing Google by an extra six hours. Again: Don’t be crazy. Jitsi Meet As a truly free option, Jitsi Meet is a compelling alternative to providers with both free and paid tiers. This platform offers encrypted communication and notably does not require user accounts for hosting or joining meetings. While there’s no set user limit, Jitsi matches the 100 participants that the other freebies offer. There are no arbitrary time limits on meeting duration. Standard features like screen sharing, chat, virtual backgrounds, and polling are included, while an option for end-to-end encryption adds another layer of security. And if you’re looking for even more control, Jitsi Meet can also be self-hosted. Zoho Meeting Finally, consider Zoho Meeting, which allows meetings with up to 100 participants for up to an hour, putting it on par with Google Meet and Microsoft Teams in terms of basic capacity. The service includes essential meeting features like screen sharing, chat functionalities, virtual backgrounds, and whiteboarding. While Zoho Meeting is particularly attractive if you’re already using other Zoho products, it also stands alone as a capable option for anyone seeking a reliable free meeting platform outside of the Google or Microsoft spheres. View the full article