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Users of weather forum say Paris temperature data may have been manipulated for wagers on prediction market platformView the full article

There’s a question I ask every guest on my podcast, Inspired with Alexa von Tobel. It comes near the end of every conversation, after we’ve gone deep on business models, hard pivots, and the relentless grind of building something from nothing. The question is simple: What’s a mantra that runs through your head? I started asking it on a hunch. After years as a founder, dropping out of Harvard Business School to launch LearnVest during the height of the financial crisis, scaling it to acquisition, and then building Inspired Capital, I had come to believe that mindset wasn’t a soft variable. It was a hard one. The words we repeat to ourselves shape the decisions we make, the risks we take, and how quickly we get back up when things go sideways. What I didn’t expect was how consistent the pattern would be. Seven seasons and more than 300 conversations with some of the most ambitious founders and leaders in the world later, nearly every single person has one. A phrase. A word. A sentence they return to, especially when it’s hard. And the science tells us why that matters more than we think. The neuroscience of positive self-talk Researchers have studied positive self-talk for decades, and the findings are striking. According to psychologist Ethan Kross, people who engage in intentional self-talk, particularly using second or third person (“You can do this” rather than “I can do this”), demonstrate measurably better emotional regulation and higher persistence under stress. Referring to yourself by name or in the third person creates psychological distance, allowing you to process difficulty the way you would coach a close friend through it. This isn’t motivation-poster territory. It’s behavioral science with real implications for how leaders operate. What founders have figured out intuitively, researchers have been proving empirically: the mind responds to repetition. When you return to the same phrase under pressure, you’re essentially training a neural shortcut, a mental circuit that fires automatically when you need it most. What exceptional founders say to themselves Mine is get up, dress up, show up. Get up early to own the morning. Get dressed because how you present yourself signals something to your own brain before it signals anything to the world. And show up with 150% energy, with intention, with a positive attitude — every single day, regardless of what happened yesterday. It’s a three-beat rhythm I return to constantly. And when that’s not enough, I have a second one: onwards and upwards. Because sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply keep going. May Habib, founder and CEO of Writer, has a single word: forward. “On the tough days,” she told me, “my brain beats to that drum. Forward, forward, forward.” There’s something almost physical about the way she described it, a drumbeat rather than a thought. Repetition, especially under stress, converts conscious mantras into something closer to instinct. For founders navigating the relentless uncertainty of building a company, that kind of automatic anchor is invaluable. Mikey Shulman, founder of Suno, the AI music platform changing who gets to make music, shared a mantra he borrowed from a grad school colleague: go team. He first heard it after accidentally destroying a month’s worth of work. His colleague gave him a high five and said, simply, “go team.” What struck me was its intentional inclusivity. The mantra reframes both wins and losses as collective rather than individual. For anyone building a company, that shift matters enormously. Mistakes don’t belong to one person. Neither does progress. And then there’s Dr. Becky Kennedy, the child psychologist and founder of Good Inside, who shared a mantra she borrowed from her second-grade teacher: if something feels too hard, it just means the first step isn’t small enough. Stop staring at the mountain. Find the smallest possible step. Take it. It’s one of the most actionable pieces of advice I’ve encountered across seven seasons of this podcast, and it applies as much in the boardroom as it does in parenting. Why this matters for leaders I used to think strategy drove performance. Seven seasons and 300 conversations have largely convinced me otherwise, and I believe the internal architecture comes first. The words you repeat to yourself shape how you show up to every meeting, every hard conversation, every moment when the easier path is to slow down or stop. The research backs this up. Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology and author of the landmark Harvard Business Review piece “Building Resilience,” found that people who maintain an optimistic explanatory style, treating setbacks as temporary and specific rather than permanent and sweeping, demonstrate measurably greater resilience and persistence over time. That’s not wishful thinking. It’s a trainable cognitive habit, and the founders I’ve spoken with have built exactly that, one repeated phrase at a time. The best founders don’t wait for the right conditions to feel confident or resilient. They manufacture those states daily, deliberately and repeatedly, through the simple act of returning to a phrase that anchors them. It’s not magic. It’s discipline that looks like magic from the outside. The question I’d leave you with is the same one I ask every guest: What’s yours? If you don’t have an answer, that might be the most important thing you work on this week. Not the roadmap. Not the deck. The words you say to yourself when no one else is listening, because those are the ones that shape everything. View the full article

Los Angeles just became the first major school district to put limits on screen time at school. The resolution, which was brought by Nick Melvoin, a concerned parent, passed 6-0 with one recusal. Now, screens in schools will no longer be a free-for-all. The district will have to create policies around screen time based on both grade level and subject. The resolution will also prohibit screens in first grade and below, bans screen time at recess for middle and elementary schoolers, and will restrict access to YouTube in class. Additionally, it will make clear to parents how they can go about opting out of using screens at school. Screen time is part of most children’s home lives, but in recent years, especially since the pandemic, it’s become part of their daily school day, too — even early on in their education. That means that devices like laptops and iPads are typical for elementary school aged kids. Digital teaching tools, like Google Classroom, Kahoot, and Clover, are also commonplace. However, many parents feel that their children spend enough time on screens while outside of school. They want to see a return to pencils and paper in school. That’s true for Nick Melvoin, a board member who introduced the resolution in LA. Melvoin says devices that children used to continue learning while schools were closed were a “lifeline” but that in 2026, it’s no longer necessary to have kids depending on them in school. “I believe that we have the opportunity to lead the nation, to establish comprehensive, developmentally grounded screen-time limits that puts students before screens,” Melvoin said at a meeting on Tuesday. “This is not about going backwards. This is about rethinking screen time in schools to make sure we are doing what actually helps students learn best,” he explained. The vote in LA came after pressure from local parents reached a boiling point. Parents were not only demanding meetings with school administrators and speaking out at public meetings, but they also created a group called Schools Beyond Screens. The group’s mission is for “safe and intentional technology” in schools. Currently, upon visiting the site, a message celebrating the reform appears. “Schools Beyond Screens Celebrates the Unanimous Passage of the ‘Using Technology with Intention’ Resolution!'”it reads. “On April 21, LAUSD school board members unanimously passed the ‘Using Technology With Intention’ resolution. It will pave the way for an overhaul of the district’s technology policies, in time for the 2026-2027 school year.” Anya Meksin, a mother and the deputy director of the group, told NBC News that the reform is “history” and that the group hopes it “will trickle down to the rest of the country very, very quickly.” Meskin adds, “We see this as a big cultural shift into how schools approach technology.” While similar actions have been taken in smaller districts, such as Bend, Oregon and Burke County, North Carolina, LA is by far the largest city to restrict screens in the classroom. View the full article

The most sustainable piece of clothing you own probably has nothing to do with recycled polyester or organic cotton. It’s the little black dress you’ve worn on repeat for 15 years and the pair of ripped Levi’s 501s you can’t imagine ever throwing away. The harder question—the one the fashion industry has never quite figured out—is how to design something like that on purpose. How do you make a garment someone loves now and will continue to wear for years? This is something Sarah Bonello thinks about constantly as she designs for her new label, The Park. After decades in fashion PR, where she developed a finely tuned sense of what the market was missing, Bonello believed there was room for a line of basics—T-shirts, simple dresses, pedal pushers—that make it easy to get dressed in the morning. She came to the conclusion that the garments we love are the ones that fit beautifully, thanks to the drape and feel of the fabric. “It was interesting to see the pieces I’ve had for 20 years that I never want to get rid of,” she says. “They’re evergreen pieces that make you feel beautiful.” Bonello set out to reverse engineer some of her favorite garments, creating a collection she believes will make women look and feel good at any age and size; 18 months ago, she launched The Park with a tightly edited collection of T-shirts, trousers, and dresses. The bet paid off faster than she expected: Retailers like Moda Operandi and Net-a-Porter started selling out of her pieces regularly, and Nordstrom has just picked up the brand. Now she’s expanding the line, making her best-selling silhouettes in new materials—velvet, a gossamer sheer—while keeping the edit deliberately tight. The Park tries to be sustainable from the ground up. Each piece is made using fabrics with a small environmental footprint, like fibers sourced from responsibly managed forests and nylon made from fashion waste. But Bonello doesn’t believe most consumers buy clothes because of their environmental credentials. What she believes—and what she’s building her entire business around—is that she can nudge customers toward more sustainable behaviors simply by making pieces they want to wear on repeat. The Anti-Trend Collection To make clothes that fit beautifully and will last for years of repeated wear, Bonello knew she needed exceptional fabrics. She scoured the market for high-quality materials from leading mills. Eventually, she came across the Spanish textile innovator Pyratex, which had created a fabric called Power 3, made from a blend of micro-Tencel and recycled elastane. These materials are sourced from sustainably managed forests and are certified by both OEKO-TEX (that tests for harmful toxins) and the Forest Stewardship Council. But what sold her wasn’t the certifications; it was how the fabrics feel. They offer a bit of compression, so you feel hugged by the garment. They’re soft and drape nicely. But they also have some of the features of technical activewear, like moisture-wicking, antibacterial, and temperature-regulating qualities. “This is too expensive of a material to use in yoga, but the clothes I am making are activewear, in a way, because we have active lives,” Bonello says. Bonello used the fabric to develop The Park’s first collection, which is narrow by design: tops, bodysuits, bralettes, straight-leg trousers, skirts, a handful of dresses—almost entirely in black, white, and neutrals. No prints. No seasonal collections. No reason to come back next month for something new, which is the whole point. Fit is where Bonello is most obsessive. Everything is pull-on; there are no fussy zippers or buttons. The designs work from size 0 to 16. The goal is a garment that fits on good days and bad ones, across years and decades. “One day I could fit into a pair of jeans, the next day I can’t,” she says. “I don’t like that feeling, so I really don’t want my [customer] feeling that way.” The fabric can go in the washing machine, packs flat, and doesn’t wrinkle. These aren’t glamorous properties, but they lead to something a wearer actually keeps. And the temperature-regulation and moisture-wicking qualities have produced some memorable testimonials. “I’ve had people say, ‘Listen, Sarah, I bought this dress with me and I wore it five days in a row and it didn’t smell,’” Bonello says. Because the fabrics are expensive and the business model is premised on quality over quantity, the prices reflect it. A simple tank starts at $135; a semi-sheer skirt runs $575. Most pieces land between $300 and $500. Many customers come to The Park because the pieces pair well with what they already own: the high-quality basics they’d been searching for to wear with their Phoebe Philo trousers or Chanel jacket. Luxury retailers understood the pitch immediately. The brand is also carried in the kind of curated boutiques where a salesperson knows the regulars by name: ByGeorge in Austin, Kick Pleat in Dallas, and Hampden Clothing in Charleston, South Carolina. What The Park is attempting has a lineage. Bonello names her references readily: Jil Sander, Phoebe Philo, even Eileen Fisher. These designers are known for their clean lines and enduring silhouettes. And importantly, their garments don’t require a specific body type, age, or cultural moment to work. It’s a tradition of fashion that treats getting dressed as a problem to be solved once, not an occasion for constant reinvention. The Fabric Obsessive Over the months as The Park has grown, Bonello has expanded her palette of materials. Each new addition filters through the same lens of how it drapes and feels on the body, coupled with sustainability. The newest line, Re-Wear, is built on a fabric made from recycled textile waste that is even softer than Pyratex Power 3—designed to feel like your favorite vintage T-shirt. Bonello has used it to create tanks and long-sleeve tees that sold out immediately and had to be restocked. A thicker, scuba-style fabric appears in turtlenecks and bralettes; it’s made from recycled polyester derived from plastic bottles and certified to the Global Recycled Standard. Several dresses come in a velvet made from recycled polyester that is both OEKO-TEX and GRS certified. And then there’s the showstopper: The sheerest pieces in the line use a material developed with Circ, a Virginia-based company that has pioneered a hydrothermal process to recover cotton cellulose from blended textile waste—one of the hardest material streams in the industry to recycle. The resulting fabric is so delicate that Bonello ships it to customers with white gloves. She’s already developing a sturdier version for future seasons. The Customer Doesn’t Care Here’s the uncomfortable truth Bonello has learned: Most of her customers (some 80%, the designer says) don’t particularly care about any of this. When she launched The Park, she led with the eco-credentials of her materials, but it didn’t move the needle. What they do care about, she found, is how well the clothes fit. So she stopped leading with sustainability. Now she leads with the clothes. The bet is that if a garment is good enough, the sustainable behavior follows on its own. It’s a counterintuitive business model, at least by the standards of an industry that has spent the past two decades accelerating in the opposite direction. The fast-fashion playbook, pioneered by Zara and perfected by Shein, is built on velocity. The goal of many brands is to get new styles to consumers as fast as possible, price them low enough to feel disposable, and count on the next trend to drive the next purchase. Even luxury brands have quietly embraced the logic, expanding their number of annual collections and leaning into “drops” (limited-edition collabs) and exclusivity to keep demand perpetually restless. The entire system is engineered to make customers feel like what they bought last season is already passé. Bonello is betting against that current. She’s creating a small edit of enduring pieces that spurs customers to buy only what they need. But to create a sustainable business, she’s counting on customers who are willing to pay more for the garments, return for additional silhouettes, and tell other people about them. “I’m trying to create pieces that will stand the test of time,” she says. “I want you to have this and own this in 10 years.” Whether The Park’s model can scale is an open question. Bonello is one designer with a small collection, swimming against an industry that generates billions of dollars from planned obsolescence. But the bet she’s making—that the most powerful sustainability argument isn’t an environmental one, it’s an aesthetic one—may actually work. You can’t guilt people into buying less, but perhaps you can make them something they love too much to replace. View the full article

As AI becomes more advanced in quality, leaders are increasingly invoking AI to justify unpopular decisions like layoffs. However, much of that story collapses under scrutiny, and workers know it. This gap between rhetoric and reality is eroding trust. This amplifies inequities and quietly sets organizations up for long-term cultural and performance damage. Author, speaker, and strategist Lily Zheng sees a clear pattern: executives are using AI to explain decisions that are in fact driven by past mistakes, investor pressure, or leadership preference. Companies that went on aggressive hiring sprees during the pandemic are now quietly “correcting” courses. They’re framing workforce reductions as bold AI-driven reinventions rather than acknowledging strategy missteps. Afterwards, they say that they’re “seeking productivity gains through AI. This sounds more sophisticated than “Oops, we hired too many people based on flawed assumptions.” Employees, however, live the truth that those narratives obscure. As Zheng notes, “they know firsthand that the bullish stance their corporate PR is putting out on AI and productivity is by no means reflected by reality.” When leaders insist that layoffs are due to AI efficiency, employees recognize that this can be anything from spin to outright cynicism. The emotional impact is real, and it results in a steep erosion in trust and morale that only becomes apparent in engagement scores, productivity data, and retention. The cultural cost of “AI made me do it.” Blaming AI for difficult choices hits workplace culture hard. When leaders offload responsibility onto “the algorithm,” they sidestep accountability for those who suffered job cuts, whose workloads intensify, and whose careers stall. Emerging research suggests that while only a minority of organizations have truly eliminated roles because AI is doing the work, far more are using AI as a rhetorical cover for broader cost-cutting or restructuring decisions. Just like the branding of partially-automated driving as “self-driving” led to drivers to completely take their attention off the road, the cynical branding of AI as “a replacement for people” is driving executives to completely abdicate their responsibility as leaders. This has disastrous results. The message to employees is clear: Leadership will tell whatever story is convenient to them, no matter what the data says. That perception disproportionately harms those who already depend on transparent processes and fair criteria to access opportunity. We’ve seen this film before Zheng draws a stinging parallel to the hybrid work backlash. Studies have found that well-designed hybrid models can deliver equivalent productivity with significantly lower attrition—often around a one-third reduction in resignations—especially for women, caregivers, and people with long commutes. Yet many leaders reverted to command-and-control models like imposing rigid return-to-office mandates despite the evidence. Some doubled down with digital surveillance tools that actually reduce productivity, as employees redirect energy into gaming the system and managing perceptions rather than doing meaningful work. Zheng’s point is that the same pattern is now playing out with AI. Instead of reimagining management practices, metrics, and culture to harness AI responsibly, leaders are using it to prop up familiar but ineffective habits—whether that’s centralized control, presenteeism, and blunt cost-cutting. In both cases, leaders prioritize what feels familiar over what data and research say is actually effective. From empowerment to “workslop.” We need to be more honest about what AI can and cannot do. Large language models might be powerful statistical inference tools that are ideal for complex, pattern-heavy tasks with abundant data. But they are not magical “do my job” buttons. When leaders forget this, their policies inadvertently incentivize workers to produce AI “workslop.” Fresh research shows that workslop destroys productivity: people spend time correcting unhelpful drafts, redoing incomplete analyses, and untangling confusing memos instead of advancing core work. To make matters even more déjà vu-inducing, some leaders are mandating a minimum number of hours of “AI usage” as if this were a performance metric. Zheng likens this to ordering construction workers to use a sledgehammer, even when the building renovation doesn’t require it. The tool becomes the goal, rather than the quality of the house. Zheng highlights a critical, often-missed prerequisite in creating a healthy culture around AI: strong management fundamentals. Leaders need clear norms around accountability—“you own the quality of your output, regardless of tools”—as well as transparent decision-making, and outcome-based performance metrics. Without these, AI simply magnifies existing dysfunctions. The key to building fair, worker-centered AI practices Given its well-documented propensity to propagate bias, it’s important to build fairness into AI strategy, too. The leaders who are getting this right aren’t handing out generic subscriptions and hoping for the best. They’re building and fine-tuning their own models on carefully audited, domain-specific data. Zheng recommends the following practices: Rigorously audit your internal data for bias. You need to make sure it’s clean of identifiable information and ensures compliance with regulations before training AI models. Treat AI outputs as drafts, not decisions, and make it explicit that humans remain fully accountable for outcomes. Involve organizational design experts, people practitioners, frontline employees, and legal in AI governance and tool selection, not just IT and finance. Avoid vanity metrics like “AI hours used” and measure value in terms of quality, equity, customer outcomes, and worker well-being. Build channels for employees to flag AI-related harms, workload inequities, or biased outputs—and act on that feedback. These practices not only mitigate risk but also create the norms and foundation to leverage AI safely and effectively. They signal that companies will hold technology to the same standard of accountability as any other business decision. A more honest and inclusive AI story There are some positive examples of organizations reinvesting AI-driven productivity gains into upskilling, innovation, and better jobs rather than headcount cuts. Zheng sees similar bright spots where leaders are talking about AI as a way to help “our strongest assets—our people—do more,” rather than as an excuse to declare half the workforce disposable. The real leadership test is not whether you are using AI, but how honestly you narrate its role and who benefits from it. And for future-minded leaders, that means resisting the temptation to let AI absorb blame. What they should do instead is stand squarely in the discomfort of complex, three-dimensional decisions that involve tools and people. View the full article

The first sign that something had changed was the Topo Chico. It arrived on our porch one afternoon—a case of it—along with Graza olive oil and La Roche-Posay face wash. When our 4-year-old announced she would eat nothing but Uncrustables for the foreseeable future, a box arrived within the hour. The prices were lower than on Amazon, and we got them faster, with no delivery fee. It turns out that my husband had gotten hooked on Walmart—all without ever setting foot in a store. Earlier this year, he discovered that our American Express card included a Walmart+ membership. He activated it on a whim. Since then, he’s been placing orders on the app almost daily, from go-to groceries to last-minute horseradish for Passover. Fifteen years of loyalty to Amazon Prime didn’t stand a chance. We’re not alone. Something surprising is happening to America’s largest retailer. Walmart, the company that has for decades served as the nation’s destination for rural and working-class families, has quietly reinvented itself into a digital behemoth that is now taking direct aim at Amazon’s customers, who are more affluent and urban. Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce sales account for approximately 18% of the company’s total revenue, amounting to more than $100 billion in the last fiscal year. Its e-commerce sales are growing roughly four times faster than its overall growth rate, increasing by 20% in the most recent quarter, the 11th consecutive quarter of double-digital growth. And five years ago, it launched Walmart+, a membership program that is a direct competitor to Amazon Prime, complete with benefits like a free Peacock subscription to rival Prime Video. (At $98 per year, Walmart+ is cheaper than Amazon Prime, which costs $139 annually.) To be clear, Walmart is not about to dethrone Amazon in the realm of online shopping. With upwards of $440 billion in U.S. e-commerce sales in 2025, Amazon’s dominance is enormous and deeply entrenched. But something has shifted. Walmart has found the specific terrain—grocery delivery, last-mile fulfillment from stores, the seamless blend of digital and physical—where Amazon is weakest. And it’s exploiting that terrain with a discipline and speed that should make Amazon nervous. Walmart’s Pitch to Affluent Shoppers Since its founding in 1962, Walmart has targeted budget-constrained families by promising low prices. Those customers are still core to the business. But for the past several years, new shoppers have quietly been showing up—those with a household income well above six figures, who shop online and order things like prestige hair color from Madison Reed and premium pet food from the Farmer’s Dog. Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData Retail, says the trend began when inflation spiked in 2022, in the aftermath of the pandemic. “Middle- and higher-income consumers migrated to Walmart because they realized they could buy the same products they were getting elsewhere, but a bit cheaper,” he says. “When this first happened, people thought Walmart would lose these new customers when people adapted to the new price levels, but this hasn’t happened.” Indeed, during Walmart’s Q3 2025 earnings call, CEO Doug McMillon said households earning more than $100,000 accounted for 75% of the company’s market share gains in the quarter. A 2024 Brick Meets Click/Mercatus report found that Walmart’s affluent customer base grew almost five times faster than its average monthly active users in the first half of that year—and that this segment spends 1.5 times more per month than lower-income households. Where Walmart was once gaining on regional grocers like Kroger and discount competitors like Dollar General, it’s now pulling customers directly from the retailers that wealthier shoppers had previously called home, including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Target. Winning over affluent consumers has been a long game for Walmart, says Andrew Lipsman, an independent analyst and consultant at Media, Ads + Commerce. Walmart has spent more than a decade investing in its e-commerce operation, which inevitably attracts wealthier consumers. “E-commerce generally skews more affluent, so the overall income skew of their customer base will increase as dollars shift to e-commerce,” Lipsman says. Creating a robust online shopping experience also means that wealthier consumers have no reason to visit Walmart’s brick-and-mortar stores, which are more basic and warehouse-like than the retailers they might be used to, where a delightful, highly curated in-store experience is part of the sell. Walmart has been working to refresh some of its stores to make them more appealing, but it’s still far from a luxurious shopping experience. “Walmart is investing more in stores, but it’s not consistently better across every location,” Saunders says. “Online provides, especially that higher-income consumer, with an alternative channel through which to shop.” Restocking Shelves With Premium Brands When my husband first fell down the Walmart app rabbit hole, I’ll admit I was skeptical. Would we end up with a pantry full of brands I’d never heard of? As it turns out, no. Walmart carries Rao’s pasta sauce, Graza olive oil, Garofalo pasta—the same brands we were already buying at Whole Foods, at prices that made our prior receipts suddenly look embarrassing. I realized we had been overpaying for marinara sauce for years; the same jar of Rao’s at Walmart is nearly $2 less than at Whole Foods. Julie Barber, EVP and chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S., says the company has been broadening its brand assortment in ways that would have seemed unlikely a decade ago. Her team added the French pharmacy brand La Roche-Posay to the beauty aisle and trained in-store skincare consultants to help customers pick products. On the grocery shelves, you can find pasta sauce from the cult New York restaurant Carbone and Glen Powell’s Smash Kitchen line of better-for-you condiments. Last year, Walmart launched BetterGoods, an in-house food brand that specializes in global flavors. And the company just announced that it’s rebranding Great Value, its largest private-label brand. “We’re giving people access to an incredible value across our entire assortment,” Barber says. “We sell MacBooks. We sell Cheerios. We want to make sure that no matter what it is, you get the best price at Walmart.” Locking In Customers With Walmart+ The Walmart+ program has been the critical mechanism for converting more affluent shoppers into loyal, high-frequency customers. Its pitch to time-pressed, higher-income households is straightforward: the same everyday low prices Walmart has always offered, now delivered to your door in under two hours, and sometimes in an under an hour. Deepak Maini, SVP and GM of Walmart+, who came to Walmart from Amazon, says the program stands out from Amazon Prime because it gives customers the ability to shop both in store and online, “something that we can uniquely do differently than our competitors.” (Amazon declined to be interviewed for this story.) Over the past five years, Maini’s team has added benefits to the program to make it even more competitive with Amazon Prime, including free pharmacy delivery, a Peacock streaming subscription, and the OnePay credit card offering 5% cash back on all Walmart purchases. Walmart+ currently costs $41 less than Amazon Prime. For a household that’s been conditioned to expect Amazon-style convenience, that price difference, combined with Walmart’s grocery expertise and delivery speed, is proving persuasive. According to PYMNTS Intelligence, nearly one in four American consumers now subscribe to both Walmart+ and Amazon Prime memberships, up from just 12% in 2021. Walmart+ membership has grown to an estimated 30 million in the U.S., and while that remains a fraction of Amazon Prime’s 201 million, it is growing significantly faster. Walmart+ subscriptions grew more than 29% in a recent comparable period, while Amazon Prime grew by less than 3%. That said, Saunders notes that Amazon has spent two decades building out its Prime program, which is very robust and hard for consumers to give up. It’s constantly adding new benefits to the program, including free Grubhub+, EV charging, and Alexa+. “Walmart is actively building an ecosystem around its loyalty scheme, but Prime is much stickier,” he says. “Amazon has made Prime so valuable that even if customers don’t use it for e-commerce, it is painful to give up.” Walmart’s Secret Weapon: Grocery If there is one arena where Walmart has closed the gap with Amazon, it’s in groceries. Walmart is the largest grocer in the U.S., commanding 21% of all grocery spending—more than double its nearest competitors Kroger and Costco, which each have just under 9% of the market. In the world of online grocery sales, Walmart is pulling ahead of Amazon, owning 28% of market share, compared with Amazon’s 22%. That gap has been widening for years. The reason comes down to something Amazon’s billions of dollars cannot easily replicate: stores. Walmart operates more than 4,700 locations across the country, and the vast majority of Americans live within 10 miles of one. That physical footprint, once seen as a liability in the age of e-commerce, has become the company’s single greatest competitive asset in the race to deliver groceries fast. There’s a reason I can get my Uncrustables or Topo Chico within an hour. “It’s coming out of the store inventory,” says Tracy Poulliot, Walmart’s EVP of e-commerce and marketing. “Over the past 10 years, we’ve been on this journey to centralize a lot of these systems so we can optimize decisions for customers wanting to shop in store, online, via pickup or delivery.” The result is a network that covers 95% of U.S. households with same-day delivery—a reach no dedicated e-commerce fulfillment infrastructure could match at that speed or cost. “We know speed matters,” Poulliot says. “It’s a really important part of convenience for consumers.” More than 25% of Walmart’s orders are now “expressed,” which promises delivery in under an hour. That figure is striking when you consider the logistics involved: A human picker has to select the items from store shelves, hand them off to a driver, and get them to a customer’s door, often in less time than it takes to watch a sitcom. AI is now threaded throughout that system, from the back end to the customer-facing experience. When it comes to logistics, algorithms determine which items should sit in which stores based on local demand patterns, order frequency, and delivery time windows—decisions that shift seasonally and dynamically. For consumers, the Sparky AI shopping assistant helps navigate inventory, plan meals, and restock recurring orders. “The next frontier of convenience, we believe, is removing that cognitive burden through our digital channels in a way that’s just really hard to do in a traditional in-store environment,” Poulliot says. The economics of all this are improving rapidly. Walmart reduced its U.S. net delivery cost by 20% per order in its most recent fiscal year, even as order volumes increased. The company now has four next-generation fulfillment centers, with roughly half of total fulfillment center volume automated—using autonomous shuttle aisles, AI-powered bin sequencing, and multistory buildings that double throughput while cutting unit handling costs by approximately 20%. It’s an e-commerce operation that has moved from margin drag to profit contributor, with advertising and membership revenue layered on top as the highest-margin streams in the business. “With its store network, Walmart has an inbuilt advantage,” Saunders says. “It doesn’t mean it will always triumph over Amazon, but at the moment it has the infrastructure and distribution that Amazon does not.” How Amazon Is Beefing Up Its Grocery Game Amazon has been scrambling to address its grocery weakness for nearly a decade, and its attempts have exposed just how hard it is to build a food business from scratch. In 2017, the company spent $13.7 billion to acquire Whole Foods in an explicit bet that physical stores were the key to winning grocery. In 2020 it launched Amazon Fresh, a mass-market grocery chain, pouring resources into dozens of locations across the country. But these stores never found a format that worked economically. In January 2026, Amazon announced it was closing all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores—roughly 70 locations—admitting they had failed to create “a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion.” Some locations will be converted to Whole Foods; the company plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores over the next several years, including a smaller urban format called Whole Foods Market Daily Shop. Amazon is not retreating from grocery. In August 2025, Amazon launched same-day delivery of fresh perishables—produce, dairy, meat, seafood—and expanded the service to more than 2,300 cities and towns by December 2025. The early numbers have been striking: Perishable grocery sales through the same-day service grew 40 times over since January 2025, according to Amazon’s own figures, and fresh groceries now make up 9 of the 10 most-ordered items in markets where the service is available. Customers who add fresh groceries to their same-day orders shop approximately twice as often as those who don’t, a loyalty signal Amazon clearly finds encouraging. However, the structural disadvantage remains: Amazon is trying to build digitally what Walmart already has physically, embedded in communities across the country. The Battle Is Just Starting Walmart and Amazon are going toe-to-toe, but it’s not clear that these companies see each other as adversaries. “I don’t frame Amazon vs. Walmart as zero-sum,” Lipsman says. “The reality is that both have been gaining share in e-commerce for a long time, at the expense of everyone else. Having a strong competitor makes them both better.” In other words, the real losers are the Krogers trying to build out digital delivery, Target watching its affluent shoppers drift away, and the thousands of neighborhood grocers that cannot match the fulfillment infrastructure or membership ecosystems of either giant. Both Walmart and Amazon “very, very innovative, very entrepreneurial retailers,” Saunders says. “You might expect that with Amazon, which has always been pioneering. But the culture of Walmart is also very much about rethinking, testing, and experimenting. For a company of its size and age, that is quite exceptional.” For now, they occupy different centers of gravity. Amazon’s power lies in the breadth of its marketplace, the stickiness of Prime, and its unmatched logistics for nonfood merchandise. Walmart’s edge is in grocery, in physical proximity to the American consumer, and increasingly in the loyalty of the affluent, time-pressed household that once belonged exclusively to Amazon. A growing number of American households—including mine—subscribe to both Walmart+ and Amazon Prime, using each service for what it does best. The deeper question is what happens when the two programs are no longer complementary but interchangeable—when Walmart can deliver everything Amazon can, or vice versa. At that point, the real battle will begin. For my family, that reckoning hasn’t arrived yet. The Walmart boxes keep coming, stacked on the porch next to the Amazon ones, full of Topo Chico and Garofalo pasta and the occasional emergency box of Uncrustables. View the full article

If you’re considering starting a bookkeeping business, it’s critical to follow five fundamental steps that can set you up for success. First, you’ll need to identify your target market, which involves comprehending the specific needs of potential clients. Next, creating a detailed business plan will help define your services and establish clear financial goals. Once you have that in place, you can focus on obtaining the necessary certifications, registering your business, and selecting the right bookkeeping software. Finally, a strong marketing strategy is imperative for attracting clients effectively. How do you begin? Key Takeaways Identify your target market by focusing on niches like e-commerce or healthcare to address specific bookkeeping needs. Create a detailed business plan outlining services, target market, and financial projections to guide your startup. Obtain necessary certifications and register your business, including an EIN and professional liability insurance for credibility. Choose the right bookkeeping software like QuickBooks or Xero based on your clients’ needs for efficiency and effectiveness. Develop a marketing strategy that includes online presence, valuable content, and networking to attract clients effectively. Identify Your Target Market Identifying your target market is a foundational step in launching a successful bookkeeping business. With about 62% of small businesses lacking in-house accountants, there’s a significant opportunity for you to provide external support. To determine how to start a bookkeeping business effectively, focus on specific niches like e-commerce or healthcare, which have unique bookkeeping needs. Conduct surveys or interviews with potential clients to comprehend their pain points and preferences, tailoring your services accordingly. Analyzing your competitors will likewise help you spot gaps in their offerings and pricing structures, enabling you to differentiate your services. Furthermore, engaging with local small business organizations or attending networking events can provide valuable insights into the specific needs of your target audience. Create a Detailed Business Plan Creating a detailed business plan is crucial for launching a successful bookkeeping business. This plan should outline your target market, services, competitive analysis, and financial projections. A solid bookkeeping company business plan helps guide your strategic direction and keeps you focused. Section Details Importance Target Market Identify who your clients are and what they need. Tailors your services. Financial Projections Estimate startup costs, typically between $1,000 to $5,000. Informs budgeting. Marketing Strategy Include channels like social media and networking events. Attracts potential clients. Additionally, clarify your business structure, such as sole proprietorship or LLC, to address liability and taxation. Setting clear financial goals and timelines with milestones can guarantee you remain accountable during the growth of your bookkeeping services. Obtain Necessary Certifications and Register Your Business To establish a reputable bookkeeping business, it’s vital to obtain the necessary certifications and register your business properly. Start by considering certifications like the Certified Bookkeeper (CB) from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers; this improves your credibility and shows potential clients you possess the expertise they need. Next, focus on registering your business. Choose a suitable structure, such as a sole proprietorship or LLC, and file the necessary paperwork with your state or local government for legal compliance. Don’t forget to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) for tax purposes, which you can get for free from the IRS website. Moreover, professional liability insurance, including errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, is fundamental to protect your business from client claims. Finally, research local regulations to determine if specific licenses or permits are required, as these can vary depending on your location and services outlined in your bookkeeping business plan. Choose the Right Bookkeeping Software Choosing the right bookkeeping software can markedly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your business operations. When you’re figuring out how to start a bookkeeping business with QuickBooks, consider options like QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks. Each has unique features that cater to different needs. Here’s a comparison to help you decide: Software Key Features Best For QuickBooks Online Invoicing, expense tracking, reporting Extensive management Xero Inventory management, multi-currency E-commerce businesses FreshBooks Time tracking, client management Freelancers QuickBooks Online is especially favored for its extensive suite that improves client management. Moreover, investing time in certification can boost your credibility. Using advanced features like automated invoicing and real-time reporting improves productivity and client satisfaction, making your bookkeeping services more effective. Develop a Marketing Strategy to Attract Clients Developing a marketing strategy is essential for attracting clients to your bookkeeping business, especially as competition increases. Start by building a strong online presence, particularly on LinkedIn, where 80% of B2B leads originate. Create valuable content like blog posts and webinars that tackle common bookkeeping challenges, since 70% of consumers prefer learning through articles over advertisements. Implement a referral program to encourage existing clients to recommend your services; word-of-mouth is highly trusted, with 92% of people relying on recommendations from friends and family. Utilize SEO best practices on your website to improve visibility, as 75% of users don’t scroll past the first page of search results. Finally, attend local networking events and join small business organizations to cultivate community relationships, as 85% of small businesses rely on local partnerships for growth. This approach will guide you on how to start a bookkeeping business from home effectively. Frequently Asked Questions What Do You Need to Start a Bookkeeping Business? To start a bookkeeping business, you’ll need a few key items. First, budget around $1,404 for fundamentals like bookkeeping software, a computer, and high-speed internet. Consider obtaining certifications to boost your credibility. Choosing effective software, such as QuickBooks Online, is vital for managing client accounts. Furthermore, establish a business structure like an LLC for liability protection, and secure appropriate insurance to protect your business and instill confidence in clients. What Is One of the Most Common Bookkeeping Mistakes That Business Owners Make? One of the most common bookkeeping mistakes you make is failing to separate your personal and business finances. This oversight can lead to tax complications and inaccurate financial reporting, making it difficult to assess your business’s true performance. Furthermore, neglecting timely transaction recording and misclassifying expenses can create discrepancies in your financial statements. To maintain accuracy, always track accounts receivable diligently and perform regular bank reconciliations to spot errors before they escalate. What Is the Golden Rule of Bookkeeping? The golden rule of bookkeeping is to always use a double-entry system, meaning every debit must have a corresponding credit. This practice guarantees balanced accounts, helping you prevent errors and gain a clear view of your financial health. It simplifies account reconciliation, as your main ledger should match bank statements. How to Start a Bookkeeping Business With No Experience? To start a bookkeeping business with no experience, enroll in a thorough bookkeeping course; you can complete this in about 10 weeks. Consider obtaining certifications like the Certified Bookkeeper or QuickBooks certification to improve your credibility. Use cloud-based software like QuickBooks Online for efficient operations. Leverage your network for initial clients as you build an online presence on platforms like LinkedIn. Finally, commit to ongoing education for continual skill development and networking opportunities. Conclusion To conclude, launching a bookkeeping business requires careful planning and execution. By identifying your target market, creating a thorough business plan, obtaining necessary certifications, selecting the right software, and developing an effective marketing strategy, you’ll position yourself for success. Each step is essential in establishing a strong foundation for your business. Take the time to address each area effectively, and you’ll be well on your way to attracting and retaining clients in a competitive market. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Essential Steps to Launch a Bookkeeping Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

If you’re considering starting a bookkeeping business, it’s critical to follow five fundamental steps that can set you up for success. First, you’ll need to identify your target market, which involves comprehending the specific needs of potential clients. Next, creating a detailed business plan will help define your services and establish clear financial goals. Once you have that in place, you can focus on obtaining the necessary certifications, registering your business, and selecting the right bookkeeping software. Finally, a strong marketing strategy is imperative for attracting clients effectively. How do you begin? Key Takeaways Identify your target market by focusing on niches like e-commerce or healthcare to address specific bookkeeping needs. Create a detailed business plan outlining services, target market, and financial projections to guide your startup. Obtain necessary certifications and register your business, including an EIN and professional liability insurance for credibility. Choose the right bookkeeping software like QuickBooks or Xero based on your clients’ needs for efficiency and effectiveness. Develop a marketing strategy that includes online presence, valuable content, and networking to attract clients effectively. Identify Your Target Market Identifying your target market is a foundational step in launching a successful bookkeeping business. With about 62% of small businesses lacking in-house accountants, there’s a significant opportunity for you to provide external support. To determine how to start a bookkeeping business effectively, focus on specific niches like e-commerce or healthcare, which have unique bookkeeping needs. Conduct surveys or interviews with potential clients to comprehend their pain points and preferences, tailoring your services accordingly. Analyzing your competitors will likewise help you spot gaps in their offerings and pricing structures, enabling you to differentiate your services. Furthermore, engaging with local small business organizations or attending networking events can provide valuable insights into the specific needs of your target audience. Create a Detailed Business Plan Creating a detailed business plan is crucial for launching a successful bookkeeping business. This plan should outline your target market, services, competitive analysis, and financial projections. A solid bookkeeping company business plan helps guide your strategic direction and keeps you focused. Section Details Importance Target Market Identify who your clients are and what they need. Tailors your services. Financial Projections Estimate startup costs, typically between $1,000 to $5,000. Informs budgeting. Marketing Strategy Include channels like social media and networking events. Attracts potential clients. Additionally, clarify your business structure, such as sole proprietorship or LLC, to address liability and taxation. Setting clear financial goals and timelines with milestones can guarantee you remain accountable during the growth of your bookkeeping services. Obtain Necessary Certifications and Register Your Business To establish a reputable bookkeeping business, it’s vital to obtain the necessary certifications and register your business properly. Start by considering certifications like the Certified Bookkeeper (CB) from the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers; this improves your credibility and shows potential clients you possess the expertise they need. Next, focus on registering your business. Choose a suitable structure, such as a sole proprietorship or LLC, and file the necessary paperwork with your state or local government for legal compliance. Don’t forget to obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN) for tax purposes, which you can get for free from the IRS website. Moreover, professional liability insurance, including errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, is fundamental to protect your business from client claims. Finally, research local regulations to determine if specific licenses or permits are required, as these can vary depending on your location and services outlined in your bookkeeping business plan. Choose the Right Bookkeeping Software Choosing the right bookkeeping software can markedly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your business operations. When you’re figuring out how to start a bookkeeping business with QuickBooks, consider options like QuickBooks Online, Xero, and FreshBooks. Each has unique features that cater to different needs. Here’s a comparison to help you decide: Software Key Features Best For QuickBooks Online Invoicing, expense tracking, reporting Extensive management Xero Inventory management, multi-currency E-commerce businesses FreshBooks Time tracking, client management Freelancers QuickBooks Online is especially favored for its extensive suite that improves client management. Moreover, investing time in certification can boost your credibility. Using advanced features like automated invoicing and real-time reporting improves productivity and client satisfaction, making your bookkeeping services more effective. Develop a Marketing Strategy to Attract Clients Developing a marketing strategy is essential for attracting clients to your bookkeeping business, especially as competition increases. Start by building a strong online presence, particularly on LinkedIn, where 80% of B2B leads originate. Create valuable content like blog posts and webinars that tackle common bookkeeping challenges, since 70% of consumers prefer learning through articles over advertisements. Implement a referral program to encourage existing clients to recommend your services; word-of-mouth is highly trusted, with 92% of people relying on recommendations from friends and family. Utilize SEO best practices on your website to improve visibility, as 75% of users don’t scroll past the first page of search results. Finally, attend local networking events and join small business organizations to cultivate community relationships, as 85% of small businesses rely on local partnerships for growth. This approach will guide you on how to start a bookkeeping business from home effectively. Frequently Asked Questions What Do You Need to Start a Bookkeeping Business? To start a bookkeeping business, you’ll need a few key items. First, budget around $1,404 for fundamentals like bookkeeping software, a computer, and high-speed internet. Consider obtaining certifications to boost your credibility. Choosing effective software, such as QuickBooks Online, is vital for managing client accounts. Furthermore, establish a business structure like an LLC for liability protection, and secure appropriate insurance to protect your business and instill confidence in clients. What Is One of the Most Common Bookkeeping Mistakes That Business Owners Make? One of the most common bookkeeping mistakes you make is failing to separate your personal and business finances. This oversight can lead to tax complications and inaccurate financial reporting, making it difficult to assess your business’s true performance. Furthermore, neglecting timely transaction recording and misclassifying expenses can create discrepancies in your financial statements. To maintain accuracy, always track accounts receivable diligently and perform regular bank reconciliations to spot errors before they escalate. What Is the Golden Rule of Bookkeeping? The golden rule of bookkeeping is to always use a double-entry system, meaning every debit must have a corresponding credit. This practice guarantees balanced accounts, helping you prevent errors and gain a clear view of your financial health. It simplifies account reconciliation, as your main ledger should match bank statements. How to Start a Bookkeeping Business With No Experience? To start a bookkeeping business with no experience, enroll in a thorough bookkeeping course; you can complete this in about 10 weeks. Consider obtaining certifications like the Certified Bookkeeper or QuickBooks certification to improve your credibility. Use cloud-based software like QuickBooks Online for efficient operations. Leverage your network for initial clients as you build an online presence on platforms like LinkedIn. Finally, commit to ongoing education for continual skill development and networking opportunities. Conclusion To conclude, launching a bookkeeping business requires careful planning and execution. By identifying your target market, creating a thorough business plan, obtaining necessary certifications, selecting the right software, and developing an effective marketing strategy, you’ll position yourself for success. Each step is essential in establishing a strong foundation for your business. Take the time to address each area effectively, and you’ll be well on your way to attracting and retaining clients in a competitive market. Image via Google Gemini This article, "5 Essential Steps to Launch a Bookkeeping Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Learn what technical SEO is and how to optimize your site for crawling, indexing, and AI visibility with proven best practices. View the full article

For a company with one of the most important jobs in information security, assessing the risks and opportunities of AI might feel less like an analytical exercise and more like a roll of a 20-sided die. That’s because a password manager, which already has to defend a customer’s most valuable credentials against both outside attackers and the customer’s own carelessness, now has to contend with AI on multiple fronts. AI can help a password-management firm develop code and find vulnerabilities faster, but it may also enable clients to ship sloppy, vibe-coded apps that expose passwords. And while AI agents promise to zip through complex tasks with a single-minded focus, hallucinations or prompt-injection attacks could cause them to err like any tired, distracted human, just faster and at scale. “You have to start with helping your customers understand their blast radius and also just how pervasive this challenge is within their ecosystem,” says Nancy Wang, chief technology officer of 1Password. Keeping customers out of self-inflicted trouble The Toronto-based company’s AI strategy starts with trying to keep enterprise customers out of trouble in the first place. It uses an on-device agent to audit AI model use and flag risks that a client’s management would want to know about. “Hey, Mrs, CISO, did you know that your developers are using DeepSeek model on this branch of your code base?” Wang says of the Chinese-developed LLM that’s drawn criticism over its security risks. “That has actually happened.” She adds that “some security best-practices conversations” followed with the developers in question. Nancy Wang Automated scanning by the agent, which also checks for installed software updates and other signs of device health, helps 1Password spot sloppy password management. “When we discover unprotected unencrypted credentials on disk because we have our own device agent, we can then move those credentials into our secure, encrypted vault,” Wang explains. 1Password, like other password managers, encrypts saved credentials end-to-end, leaving no way for the company to view saved passwords. Wang adds that its software is designed so an AI agent cannot see the plain text of a password even as it is auto-filled into a site. Companies can also direct employees to install 1Password’s Device Trust agent on personal devices, addressing one frequent and often successful attack vector. Compliance, however, can be uneven, much like the family 1Password accounts bundled with business plans that often go unused on employees’ computers. Stopping agents from going awry AI agents can automate routine business tasks but, by their non-deterministic nature, require systematic monitoring to ensure they stay focused. Wang calls that a “greenfield opportunity” for 1Password to learn at scale from analyzing agent behavior. “What was the prompt? What did the agent do with the prompt? Was the output of the prompt?” she says. The resulting log files “will then feed back as a learning mechanism for the agent and the model.” In February, 1Password announced a benchmark for AI agent behavior, the Security Comprehension and Awareness Measure (or SCAM) index, and published its code under an open-source license. “We’re teaching an agent to recognize what is a phishing link, what is insecure credential handling,” Wang says. She thinks that agents, as “stateless beings,” can’t be managed as if they were humans. “We need new identity standards that are specific for agents that take into context,” Wang adds. “What that agent was created to do, what it is doing, right, and also the drift between what it’s doing now and the original intent.” Now this: In addition, 1Password is studying how AI developers and users are integrating 1Password and developing secured connections for AI apps—today allowing Anthropic and OpenAI agentic tools to read from 1Password vaults, and eventually to write back into them. The command-line interface in 1Password that most non-technical users probably don’t know exists has proven surprisingly popular among people paying for their own accounts. “The usage of our CLI product, which has been our longest running developer offering, has 2.5x-ed,” Wang says—with the highest growth coming from people on individual and family plans. Her thesis: “a tailwind of vibe coding driving that usage increase.” Putting AI to work in 1Password itself This company, like so many others, is leveraging AI to accelerate its software development—but vibe coding is not part of that picture. 1Password has already rolled out such AI coding models as Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Claude Code, first with humans checking their work. “You’re prompting, it generates code,” she says. “But the human is still validating, creating testing harnesses.” Wang cites one early success, a refactoring project to pull out services that had been run through a single MySQL database. “Can we actually use an agent to help us speed up the refactoring process?” she recalls. “And the answer came back, resounding yes”—with the work done in four weeks instead of the four to five months she estimated human engineers would have needed. But 1Password is now moving towards automated testing of this automated code generation. “We have full agent loops that are running in the background,” Wang says. “We set up a testing harness for every coding agent, so once it passes that testing harness eval, it will actually merge requests into the code repo itself.” AI scanning of code for vulnerabilities shows particular promise, as seen in efforts like Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and the Mythos model developed from that. “The finding vulnerabilities piece will be greatly accelerated with the likes of Glasswing,” she says. But that will only create more work for developers, AI or human: “How do we harden those vulnerabilities, how do we defend against those vulnerabilities?” That leaves Wang with an unsettled conclusion: “AI’s been a mixed bag, just because that work has been so gnarly and technical.” View the full article

Companies rushed to make purchases amid fears that the Iran war would send prices even higherView the full article

On a Saturday morning, you head to the hardware store. Your neighbors’ Ring cameras film your walk to the car. Your car’s sensors, cameras, and microphones record your speed, how you drive, where you’re going, who’s with you, what you say, and biological metrics such as facial expression, weight, and heart rate. Your car may also collect text messages and contacts from your connected smartphone. Meanwhile, your phone continuously senses and records your communications, info about your health, what apps you’re using, and tracks your location via cell towers, GPS satellites, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. As you enter the store, its surveillance cameras identify your face and track your movements through the aisles. If you then use Apple or Google Pay to make your purchase, your phone tracks what you bought and how much you paid. All this data quickly becomes commercially available, bought and sold by data brokers. Aggregated and analyzed by artificial intelligence, the data reveals detailed, sensitive information about you that can be used to predict and manipulate your behavior, including what you buy, feel, think, and do. Companies unilaterally collect data from most of your activities. This “surveillance capitalism” is often unrelated to the services device manufacturers, apps, and stores are providing you. For example, Tinder is planning to use AI to scan your entire camera roll. And despite their promises, “opting out” doesn’t actually stop companies’ data collection. While companies can manipulate you, they cannot put you in jail. But the U.S. government can, and it now purchases massive quantities of your information from commercial data brokers. The government is able to purchase Americans’ sensitive data because the information it buys is not subject to the same restrictions as information it collects directly. The federal government is also ramping up its abilities to directly collect data through partnerships with private tech companies. These surveillance tech partnerships are becoming entrenched, domestically and abroad, as advances in AI take surveillance to unprecedented levels. As a privacy, electronic surveillance and tech law attorney, author, and legal educator, I have spent years researching, writing, and advising about privacy and legal issues related to surveillance and data use. To understand the issues, it is critical to know how these technologies function, who collects what data about you, how that data can be used against you, and why the laws you might think are protecting your data do not apply or are ignored. Big money for AI-driven tech and more data Congressional funding is supercharging huge government investments in surveillance tech and data analytics driven by AI, which automates analysis of very large amounts of data. The massive 2025 tax-and-spending law netted the Department of Homeland Security an unprecedented $165 billion in yearly funding. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of DHS, got about $86 billion. Disclosure of documents allegedly hacked from Homeland Security reveal a massive surveillance web that has all Americans in its scope. DHS is expanding its AI surveillance capabilities with a surge in contracts to private companies. It is reportedly funding companies that provide more AI-automated surveillance in airports; adapters to convert agents’ phones into biometric scanners; and an AI platform that acquires all 911 call center data to build geospatial heat maps to predict incident trends. Predicting incident trends can be a form of predictive policing, which uses data to anticipate where, when, and how crime may occur. DHS has also spent millions on AI-driven software used to detect sentiment and emotion in users’ online posts. Have you been complaining about Immigration and Customs Enforcement policies online? If so, social media companies including Google, Reddit, Discord, and Facebook and Instagram owner Meta may have sent identifying data, such as your name, email address, phone number, and activity, to DHS in response to hundreds of DHS subpoenas served on the companies. Meanwhile, the The President administration’s national policy framework for artificial intelligence, released on March 20, 2026, urges Congress to use grants and tax incentives to fund “wider deployment of AI tools across American industry” and to allow industry and academia to use federal datasets to train AI. Using federal datasets this way raises privacy law concerns because they contain a lifetime of sensitive details about you, including biographical, employment, and tax information. Blurring lines and little oversight In foreign intelligence work, the funding, development and controlled use of certain AI-driven gathering of data makes sense. The CIA’s new acquisition framework to turbocharge collaboration with the private sector may be legal with proper oversight. But the line between collaborating for lawful national security purposes versus unlawful domestic spying is becoming dangerously blurred or ignored. For example, the Pentagon has declared a contractor, Anthropic, a national security risk because Anthropic insisted that its powerful agentic AI model, Claude, not be used for mass domestic surveillance of Americans or fully autonomous weapons. On March 18, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed to Congress that the FBI is buying Americans’ data from data brokers, including location histories, to track American citizens. As the federal government accelerates the use of and investment in AI-driven spy tech, it is mandating less oversight around AI technology. In addition to the national AI policy framework, which discourages state regulation of AI, the president has issued executive orders to accelerate federal government adoption of AI systems, remove state law AI regulation barriers and require that the federal government not procure the use of AI models that attempt to adjust for bias. But using advanced AI systems is risky, given reports of AI agents going rogue, exposing sensitive data, and becoming a threat, even during routine tasks. Your data The surveillance capitalism system requires people to unwittingly participate in a manipulative cycle of group- and self-surveillance. Neighborhood doorbell cameras, Flock license plate readers, and hyperlocal social media sites like Nextdoor create a crowdsourced record of all people’s movements in public spaces. Sensors in phones and wearable devices, such as earbuds and rings, collect ever more sensitive details. These include health data such as your heart rate and heart rate variability, blood oxygen, sweat and stress levels, behavioral patterns, neurological changes, and even brain waves. Smartphones can be used to diagnose, assess, and treat Parkinson’s disease. Earbuds could be used to monitor brain health. This data is not protected under HIPAA, which prohibits healthcare providers and those working with them from disclosing your health information without your permission, because the law does not consider tech companies to be healthcare providers nor these wearables to be medical devices. Legal protections People have little choice when buying devices, using apps or opening accounts but to agree to lengthy terms that include consent for companies to collect and sell their personal data. This “consent” allows their data to end up in the largely unregulated commercial data market. The government claims it can lawfully purchase this data from data brokers. But in buying your data in bulk on the commercial market, the government is circumventing the Constitution, Supreme Court decisions, and federal laws designed to protect your privacy from unwarranted government overreach. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable search and seizure by the government. Supreme Court cases require police to get a warrant to search a phone or use cellular or GPS location information to track someone. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act’s Wiretap Act prohibits unauthorized interception of wire, oral and electronic communications. Despite some efforts, Congress has failed to enact legislation to protect data privacy, the use of sensitive data by AI systems or to restore the intent of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Courts have allowed the broad electronic privacy protections in the federal Wiretap Act to be eviscerated by companies claiming consent. In my opinion, the way to begin to address these problems is to restore the Wiretap Act and related laws to their intended purposes of protecting Americans’ privacy in communications, and for Congress to follow through on its promises and efforts by passing legislation that secures Americans’ data privacy and protects them from AI harms. Anne Toomey McKenna is an affiliated faculty membe at the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences at Penn State. This article is part of a series on data privacy that explores who collects your data, what and how they collect, who sells and buys your data, what they all do with it, and what you can do about it. It is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

As artificial intelligence puts Americans out of work, there are programs available to help them land on their feet—but experts warn they’ll need to ramp up quickly to meet the demand. One new pilot program sends a $1,000 monthly stipend to workers displaced by AI while providing career support to help them return to the workforce. Called the AI Dividend, it’s an initiative that’s privately funded through donations to the Fund for Guaranteed Income (a nonprofit that distributes cash through various programs, including its AI Commons Project) in partnership with What We Will, which provides recipients with community support and career resources. The Fund for Guaranteed Income facilitates a range of similar programs that use cash as a stopgap for marginalized Americans, and has distributed roughly $25 million over the last five years. “The need that we are hearing and seeing for people who are getting displaced by AI made us start thinking this would be a good application of this intervention,” says Eli Berk-Rauch, the research lead for the Fund for Guaranteed Income and the AI Commons Project. “Regardless of where AI goes from here, there’s already people being displaced and facing unique challenges in the job market.” Berk-Rauch explains that the cash isn’t designed to replace lost income, but to provide some financial support, so that recipients can focus their time and energy on updating skills and applying for jobs. “We’re trying to ferry workers to their next role,” says What We Will’s director of media and communications, Kyle Abasi. “We’re building up capacity to meet workers where they are with workforce development, whether that’s skill sharing or mentorship or job referrals.” The AI Dividend is one of just a few programs offering relief to workers stuck in the crosshairs of AI job displacement. While such programs are only currently offering assistance to a tiny fraction of affected workers, they offer a glimpse into potential solutions that are becoming more necessary by the day. We’re Going to Need a Bigger Safety Net Though the full impact of AI on employment is yet to be seen, recent developments and forecasts paint a grim picture. According to a recent Gallup poll, 18% of all U.S. employees and 23% of those whose organizations have adopted AI say it is somewhat or very likely their job will be eliminated in the next five years. Research from Goldman Sachs suggests those who are displaced by AI alsoface a more challenging path back into the workforce. The impact of the AI Dividend is currently being tested by a small group of pilot participants. It’s still very early days—the pilot is only a few weeks old—but Abasi and Berk-Rauch say the results could help shape larger assistance programs for AI-displaced workers in the future “With the scale of what might come, we do feel like there’s some degree of policy changes that we need to make to stabilize the economy, stabilize people’s livelihoods, and we hope that this can be a model,” Abasi says. And “running experiments like this is how you build the evidence base to demonstrate whether this would work at that type of scale as a solution,” adds Berk-Rauch. Entry-Level Workers Face the Highest Risk AI job displacement can impact professionals at any level of seniority, but the technology’s proficiency in administrative tasks, which tend to fall to more junior employees, has created even greater challenges for entry-level workers. According to a recent report by the Brookings Institution, 15 million college graduates work in jobs that are highly exposed to AI displacement, including 11 million in “gateway” occupations that act as a bridge to higher wage roles. “AI is good at performing discrete tasks that are repetitive in nature, and a lot of entry-level jobs are administrative in nature,” says Darrell West, a senior fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation of the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution. “We know entry-level workers are being particularly hit, but there are more advanced occupations that also face some risks.” Prior to entering the job market, students can tap into a broad array of financial support programs, like federal Pell Grants, state-level financial aid programs and financial aid offered by institutions directly. But West says most who lose their job or struggle to enter the labor market after graduating are on their own. “You have to find a retraining program, and oftentimes you have to pay for that retraining,” he says. “There’s little public assistance for adult education, and that’s where this unemployment problem is arising.” Building Skills While Building Communities Cash may be an effective way to support those displaced by AI as they update their skills and find their way back into the labor force, but other programs are looking to community service as a way to help build those skills while supporting local communities. Since its founding in 1988, City Year has provided financial support to 40,000 17-to-25 year-olds in exchange for serving as Student Success Coaches in 60 of the country’s most under-resourced school districts. The program is offered through AmeriCorps, a bipartisan government program that pays people — mostly young adults — to engage in community service. During their ten months of service, Student Success Coaches provide one-on-one academic and homework support, work with teachers to track students’ progress, lead extracurricular activities, and more. In exchange, they receive a $25,000 stipend, healthcare benefits and a Pell Grant worth up to $7,500 to put towards training programs, student loans or graduate school. City Year also equips them with employable skills that employers — like Deloitte, Salesforce, and ServiceNow — are actively seeking. “We are now the only non-four-year institution that is a recruitment pathway into Deloitte,” says City Year CEO and alumnus Jim Balfanz. “So, if you’re a young adult and you want to work for Deloitte, which is a great little company, you need to graduate from one of the universities on their recruitment list — unless you graduated from any four-year university program and completed City Year.” According to a new white paper published by City Year, 91% of alumni secured a job or enrolled in higher education within 12 months of completing their service term, and 83% credit the program for building the skills that launched their careers. “There’s an opportunity for us to leverage national service as part of a solution to the workforce disruption,” says Balfanz. “We’ll also have an incredible additional set of benefits to our society in terms of the development of young people and services provided to communities across the country.” City Year currently operates in 29 American cities, with a 30th on the way, as well as the United Kingdom and South Africa. Though it’s the largest program of its kind, it’s going to take a lot more to stem the tide of youth unemployment, which hit a post-pandemic record of 11.4% last June. “We have an existing infrastructure that you could — from federal, state, local and private-public investments – go from $1 billion a year to $10 or $15 or $20 billion; that really could scale,” Balfanz says. “Our role is to be a leader and an innovator in our space and an exemplar and a coalition builder, because it’s the coalition that’s going to scale to the size of the workforce disruption challenge in the US.” Will it be enough? AI’s advancement has proven relentless, and the technology’s impressive prowess is creating workforce disruptions at a speed and scale few could have anticipated. “AI is getting better and better, which means it can do more sophisticated tasks, which means that a broader range of jobs are going to be affected,” says West of the Brookings Institution. “So, this problem of people not getting their first job or getting laid off later in life is going to become more acute.” In the face of such rapid and widespread workforce displacement, those who are serious about finding a solution have little time to develop and test novel ideas. Though they’re too small to meet the existing demand, much less what’s expected in the coming years, programs like City Year and the AI Dividend provide two of the only solutions tested in practice. “This is not a temporary problem or a small-scale issue,” says West. “It’s really a fundamental change in the nature of the economy, and we’re going to need some solutions that meet that challenge. We can’t just continue business as usual.” View the full article

Cosmetics group’s chief also credits recovery in Chinese market as revenues in Europe and north Asia grow View the full article

We are living through a fundamental shift in what work is for. As AI takes on more routine cognitive tasks, the uniquely human capacity to imagine, connect, and create meaning becomes the primary source of organizational value. Yet most companies are still measuring performance metrics prioritized for a different era: inventory turnover, cost per lead, and utilization rates. These metrics were designed to optimize extraction. They are poorly equipped to cultivate imagination. The organizations that will win in the Imagination Era are those that build new measurement systems to match their new ambitions. Not because metrics are magic, but because what a company chooses to measure is a declaration of what it believes matters. If you want to build a culture of creativity and human flourishing, you need key performance indicators that make that aspiration visible, and therefore actionable. Below is a framework of Imagination Era KPIs organized across five categories. These are not replacements for financial performance metrics. They are the upstream investments that make sustainable performance possible. 1. Intentional Thought and Reflection In an always-on work culture, deep thinking has become structurally endangered. We schedule every hour, measure output in deliverables, and treat open time as inefficiency. But the cognitive work that drives innovation (for example, synthesis, pattern recognition, strategic reframing) requires unstructured mental space. Time to Think and Ponder measures the specific minutes per week an employee or team dedicates to deep reflection and open-ended thinking. This is time that should be protected on the calendar and treated as nonnegotiable. Creative Downtime tracks time away from screens specifically for mind-wandering, which neuroscience tells us activates the brain’s default mode network—the system responsible for imagination, empathy, and future planning. Reflective Journaling quantifies time spent in self-assessment, what some leaders call “think diaries”: a practice of making thinking visible before it becomes action. Organizations that track these metrics are making a structural argument: that thinking—and reflection on how we think—is work, not a break from it. 2. Team Collaboration and Collective Wisdom The knowledge that matters most in complex organizations rarely lives in one person or one department. It lives in the relationships between them. Yet hybrid work environments and siloed structures have made those relationships harder to build and maintain. Cross-Departmental Collaboration measures the frequency and number of new projects initiated by different teams coming together. Think of it as a version of creative abrasion—where difference generates insight. Apprenticeship Engagement tracks the number of active mentoring relationships, addressing one of the most underappreciated costs of remote and hybrid work: the collapse of informal knowledge transfer. Team Rituals monitors shared practices: end-of-week reflections, small-win celebrations, and peer recognition moments. Incentivizing these practices builds the psychological safety necessary for people to take creative risks. None of these requires a significant budget. All of them require intentional leadership. 3. Movement and Physical Engagement The body is not a vehicle for transporting the brain to meetings. Movement, physical engagement, and time in natural environments are not wellness perks. Instead, think of them as inputs to the cognitive and creative capacity that organizations depend on. I call this sentient intelligence: the irreplaceable data that comes from being a body in the world. Walking Meetings measure conversations held in motion, a practice with a robust research base showing improvements in divergent thinking and perspective-taking. Post-Recess Productivity Boost tracks the measurable difference in team focus and creative output following regular outdoor or movement-based breaks. Instead of treating recess as lost time, treat these micro-breaks as a performance investment. Time Spent in Nature quantifies minutes in natural environments, a data point that sounds soft until you understand that attention restoration research consistently shows that when we are in nature, cognitive fatigue decreases and complex problem-solving improves. When leaders track these metrics, they normalize the idea that physical experience and intellectual output are integrated domains. 4. Experimentation and Restorative Action Innovation cultures are built on a tolerance for small failures and a bias toward trying. But most performance systems punish both! When every experiment must be justified in advance and every outcome evaluated against a predetermined standard, organizations systematically eliminate the conditions that make breakthrough thinking possible. Prototyping Frequency measures the number of small-scale experiments and “ugly” mock-ups created to test concepts quickly. This reframes speed-to-prototype as a leading indicator of innovative capacity rather than a sign of incompleteness. Big, Audacious Ideas track the generation of bold ideas that serve either organizational transformation or broader social impact, ensuring that strategic ambition doesn’t atrophy under the weight of short-term pressures. Sabbatical Impact measures team effectiveness and new idea generation specifically in the period following extended breaks, building an evidence base for the counterintuitive case that rest is a performance strategy. The goal is not to celebrate experimentation for its own sake, but to build the institutional muscle memory that makes innovation repeatable. 5. Meaning and Well-Being Purpose is not a perk! Research consistently links employee sense of meaning to retention, discretionary effort, and resilience under pressure. Yet most organizations measure engagement as a proxy for meaning. And even engagement surveys often tell leaders what employees think they want to hear, rather than what is actually true. Meaning Gauge uses pre- and post-project surveys to assess how connected employees feel to the significance and impact of their work beyond simple profit metrics. Autonomy Levels assess the degree of independence employees have in managing their own time, projects, and MTR (Move, Think, Rest) cycles—recognizing that autonomy is not just a satisfaction driver, but a prerequisite for creative work. Reduced Stress Metrics track reductions in reported stress levels as MTR practices become embedded in culture, creating a feedback loop between organizational investment and human capacity. Together, these metrics shift the conversation from “are people happy?” to “are people flourishing?”—a distinction with significant strategic implications. From Extraction to Cultivation Shifting from extraction to cultivation requires more than new metrics. It requires a new theory about the purpose of organizations. But measurement is where culture change becomes concrete. When a leadership team reviews Imagination Era KPIs alongside revenue and margin, it sends an unambiguous signal about what the organization values and what it is willing to protect. In a world where artificial intelligence can optimize virtually any extractive process, the sustainable competitive advantage belongs to organizations that cultivate what machines cannot replicate: human imagination, connection, and meaning. The metrics you track are the first step toward making that advantage real. View the full article

Swiss group beats expectations as coffee growth offsets impact of baby product sagaView the full article

Retailers flag weak outlook as consumers rein in spendingView the full article

Drones are huge. And, while there’s lots of restrictions around them, a lot of travelers take them on road because they produce some amazing sweeping aerial shots. There’s lots of amazing brands out there but one that I think is super cool is the Antigravity A1. Released in late 2025, attempts to render the traditional gimbal obsolete for a vast segment of creators. By leveraging a dual-lens 360-degree capture system, the A1 records everything in every direction simultaneously. The result is a “fly now, frame later” experience that feels less like piloting a drone and more like directing a virtual camera in a pre-recorded digital environment. I was sent one to use and want to share my experience and why I like this product so much. Two Lenses = No Blind Spots What make’s Antigravity 360’s so special is the two lenses. Most drones feature a single lens that points forward. However, the A1 features two ultra-wide-angle lenses positioned on the top and bottom of the central fuselage that each captures a 200-degree field of view. When those images are combines, they overlap to create a seamless 360-degree sphere. And, in the final exported footage, the drone itself is digitally removed, creating the illusion of a camera floating in mid-air with no visible means of support. The sensors themselves are 1/1.28-inch CMOS units. While smaller than the 1-inch sensors found on some “Pro” level photography drones, they are massive compared to typical 360 action cameras. This allows for significantly better low-light performance and a higher dynamic range, capturing details in the highlights and shadows that would typically be lost in the harsh contrast of a midday sun. Most countries require drones weighing 250 grams or more to be registered and subject to stricter flight rules. Antigravity clearly understood the importance of this threshold because they made the A1 to weigh exactly 249 grams with its standard battery meaning it’s not considered a commercial drone so you don’t have to register it. And the drone feels remarkably sturdy. It utilizes a high-grade carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer that offers a better strength-to-weight ratio than the standard ABS plastic found in cheaper models. The folding mechanism is satisfyingly tactile, clicking into place with a precision that suggests long-term durability. When folded, the drone is roughly the size of a large smartphone, though about three times as thick. The Flight Experience The Vision Goggles: These are sleek, lightweight, and feature dual 4K micro-OLED displays with a 120Hz refresh rate. The latency is nearly non-existent and they have integrated head tracking. Because the drone is recording in 360 degrees, you aren’t limited to seeing what is in front of the drone. When you turn your head to the left, the goggle feed pans to the left. If you look down, you see the ground passing beneath you. This provides a sense of presence and spatial awareness that is simply impossible with a traditional fixed-camera drone. The drone uses a single-handed motion controller. You point the controller where you want to go and pull the trigger to accelerate. Tilt your wrist left to bank, or raise the nose of the controller to climb. It is an incredibly intuitive system that allows even a novice to fly through complex environments within minutes. For professional FPV pilots who prefer the precision of manual acrobatic flight, the A1 does support a traditional “Mode 2” stick controller, but the motion controls are so fluid that most users will likely never switch back. Here’s a video of the drone in action: Camera Performance The marketing for the Antigravity 360 proudly displays “8K Resolution.” In a traditional camera, 8K means every pixel is packed into a 16:9 rectangle. In 360 video, those pixels are spread across a full sphere. When you “reframe” that 8K sphere into a standard flat video, you are looking at a “crop” of the total image. The color science is noticeably improved over previous 360 cameras. The A1 features a “Vivid” profile for those who want punchy, social-media-ready colors, and a 10-bit “Log” profile for professional editors who need to match the footage to other cameras in a color-grading suite. The stabilization, powered by Antigravity’s “FlowState” algorithms, is nothing short of miraculous. You can fly in 20mph winds, and the footage remains as steady as if the camera were on a tripod. The Editing App The “Antigravity Studio” app allows you to download footage wirelessly (at speeds up to 80MB/s) and reframe your video using your phone’s gyroscope. You simply watch the video and move your phone around to “film” the scene in real-time. The app also features “Auto-Frame,” an AI tool that identifies subjects and automatically generates a cut that keeps them in focus. For a solo creator, this effectively provides a virtual camera crew that never misses a shot. Battery Life Battery technology remains the bottleneck for all small drones. The A1’s standard Intelligent Flight Battery provides a theoretical 24 minutes of flight. In real-world conditions with moderate wind and constant recording, expect closer to 19 or 20 minutes. While 20 minutes sounds short, the “work per minute” is much higher than a traditional drone. Because you don’t need to re-fly a path to get different angles, a single 20-minute flight can yield the same amount of usable footage as three flights with a Mavic. For those who need more time, the “Pro Battery” (which pushes the weight over 250g) offers a staggering 39 minutes of flight time, though it does compromise the drone’s agility slightly. In terms of flight dynamics, the A1 is a “cinewhoop” style flyer. It is stable and predictable rather than aggressive and twitchy. It has a top speed of roughly 36 mph, which is plenty for following bikes or cars, but it won’t keep up with a professional racing drone. The “Turtle Mode” is a life-saver; if you crash and end up upside down, the drone can flip itself over using its propellers, allowing you to take off again without a “walk of shame” to recover the aircraft. Who is this for? The Antigravity 360 is a niche product that is rapidly becoming mainstream. Extreme Sports Athletes: For skiers, mountain bikers, and surfers, the A1 is a game-changer. You can set it to “ActiveTrack” and just go. Because it’s 360, it will never lose you, even if you go under the drone or take a sharp turn. Real Estate Videographers: The A1 is perfect for interior tours. It can fly through a house, and in post, you can look at the architecture, the floors, and the ceilings in one seamless take. Travel Vloggers: The portability and the “invisible drone” effect make it the ultimate travel companion for those who want high-production-value shots without a full crew. **** The Antigravity 360 (A1) is the most exciting drone I have tested. By removing the need for a gimbal and the stress of manual framing, it allows the pilot to focus on the one thing that truly matters: the story they are trying to tell. While the image quality isn’t quite at the level of a high-end cinema drone, and the lenses are admittedly delicate, these are small prices to pay for the creative liberation the A1 provides. It bridges the gap between traditional cinematography and the immersive world of VR. If you are a creator who is tired of the same old “drone shots” and want to push the boundaries of what is possible in the air, the Antigravity 360 is an essential addition to your toolkit. How to Travel the World on $75 a DayMy New York Times best-selling book to travel will teach you how to master the art of travel so that you’ll get off save money, always find deals, and have a deeper travel experience. It’s your A to Z planning guide that the BBC called the “bible for budget travelers.” Click here to learn more and start reading it today! Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: SafetyWing (best for budget travelers) World Nomads (best for mid-range travelers) InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over) Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage) Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Need a Rental Car? Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they’ll be able to find the best — and cheapest — rental for your trip! Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. The post How the Antigravity 360 Drone Will Change Your Travels appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. View the full article

Higher energy prices stoked by conflict have resulted in higher borrowing costs for governmentView the full article

Women face discrimination on several different fronts at work. They are 14% less likely to be promoted than their male colleagues. They still face pay gaps. And they suffer professionally for being caregivers at home, facing higher levels of burnout and a higher incidence of leaving the workforce altogether. According to a new report, working women also face unfair assumptions about their health from men. A new survey from Mira, a fertility tracking and health site, found that more than a third (37%) of men surveyed said they attributed a female colleague’s behavior to their hormones. Even more men (39%) said that they expect women to manage their emotions “differently” than men at work. Perhaps most troubling, nearly a quarter—23% of the men surveyed—said they’ve questioned a female colleague’s leadership decisions based on assumptions about their hormonal state. Yikes. While, of course, people who get periods can experience physical and emotional distress monthly, that doesn’t mean they are incapable of controlling themselves at work. In fact, it may even mean (given that the average age of the onset of menstruation is now 11.9 years old) that people with periods have years of experience when it comes to managing emotional distress. To that point, one 2020 survey published by the U.K. job search website Totaljobs found that the majority of male respondents said they were more than twice as likely as their female coworkers to yell or even quit their jobs due to uncontrolled emotions. However, there were some positive findings. Men largely acknowledged that period pain can impact a woman’s mental and physical health: 86% said they realize those unique challenges exist. Perhaps not surprisingly, nearly one-third (31%) of men said their education didn’t prepare them to understand women’s health. Unfortunately, the information gap doesn’t seem likely to improve. Only two-thirds of Gen Zers said they felt educated about the topic, versus 70% of millennials. Encouragingly, 83% said they would teach their sons about women’s health. So, while women still face all kinds of judgment at work that men don’t have to deal with, the good news is that in 2026, many men want to do better. View the full article

Compliments come in many forms, and handling them well is an important part of building strong relationships and projecting a positive image. Sometimes a simple “Thank you” will do. But in other cases, praise may have a negative undertone, which you will want to respond to. Still others may be laudatory comments that you can build upon. Here’s how to respond to a broad range of compliments. 1. “I LIKE YOUR STYLE” The best and easiest answer to this compliment is “Thank you.” Whenever someone compliments you on your style (“I love your look” or “I love your purse/tie”), responding with “Thank you” shows grace and appreciation. Don’t undercut those compliments. I once knew a vice president who replied to a “I like your purse” comment by looking down at her purse and replying: “Oh, this old thing!” In doing so she dismissed the compliment and suggested a poor self-image. Anything you’re wearing is a reflection of you. Resist the temptation to deny something positive about yourself. This includes compliments about what you’re wearing, a new hairstyle, or anything else about your physical appearance. 2. “YOU LOOK GREAT. HAVE YOU LOST WEIGHT?” A compliment like this one has an edge, so responding can be tricky. If you respond with a simple “Thank you,” you’re tacitly accepting the quasi-insult (“Have you lost weight?”) and the fat-phobia in the statement. You might turn the negative into a positive: “Thank you for noticing, I’ve been working out.” You can also sidestep and respond only to the positive part of the sentence, “Thank you, I feel great too.” Whatever strategy you use, it’s best to assume the person is probably well meaning but inept. A negative reaction, such as, “Do I look like I’ve gained weight?” delivered with a cutting tone would hurt your relationship with a colleague who is friendly but chose their words poorly. 3. “I LOVE WHAT YOU SAID IN THE MEETING” When someone compliments you for something you shared at a meeting, a simple “Thank you” will often work. Such a compliment also provides an opportunity for you to reinforce the point you made in the meeting. To do so, you might add, “I really believe we have a great pitch to take to customers.” If it’s your boss who expressed this sentiment, you might say, “I would love to talk to you about next steps.” In short, you can build on what you said in the meeting and reinforce what your colleague or boss found praiseworthy. If the praise comes from your boss or a colleague, build upon it. Don’t just say, “Thank you.” And don’t dismiss the compliment. As a marketing professional in Toronto explains, “It’s annoying when a compliment is deflected immediately with a ‘couldn’t have done it without the team/or person X.’ Sometimes it’s nice just to hear a compliment accepted.” Begin with a statement of appreciation, such as, “I’m glad you liked it” or “Thanks, that means a lot to me.” But go beyond that. Find a bridge that connects both of you. If it’s your boss, you might say, “I’d like to talk to you about this program and how we can implement it.” If the compliment came from a colleague, respond, “I enjoyed working with you on this project.” 4. “IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE TALKING TO YOU” If you are at the end of a job interview and you hear these words, do your best to take the relationship to the next level. While for many job applicants this note of appreciation could feel like a throwaway line, it’s a compliment you can build upon. Instead of simply reiterating the interviewer’s words (“It has been a pleasure talking to you too”) build on what she has said. Begin with a “Thank you,” and then ask what the next steps are, or when you might hear from her. The point is to make that compliment a springboard to the next steps in a relationship. 5. “YOU’RE BALANCING SO MUCH—FAMILY, KIDS, AND WORK. I DON’T KNOW HOW YOU GALS DO IT” From time to time you may get a compliment that comes with a dollop of sexism. The “compliment” above parades as a goodwill statement but embodies negative assumptions about women’s roles. Your response will be tricky, but the last thing you want to do is accept the premise that all women have responsibility for their family, children, and work. Nor do you want to respond harshly. So, even though the speaker might be well intentioned, you must respond by questioning the premise. A good response would be, “I’m glad you think I’m handling all those things, but my husband and I share responsibilities.” 6. “YOU REALLY LET HIM HAVE IT!” If you stand up to someone there may be times when you get this compliment from a colleague. Perhaps you’ve criticized someone for sexist behavior or for questioning your viewpoint. You won’t want to go on about the negative exchange. Just smile and move on. View the full article

How trading houses Vitol, Trafigura and Mercuria have managed to get some of their oil tankers out of the GulfView the full article

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. Coworker threatened me and HR isn’t doing anything Last fall, a coworker made an inappropriate comment toward me (called me a “ho” out of nowhere) and also made a statement about using a gun on me. She made these comments in front of several coworkers, who reported the incident. Around that same time, it had been announced that she was receiving a promotion, which added to the confusion. The following week, we were told this employee was no longer with the team. About a month ago, we learned she had actually been on leave and has now been reassigned to a different team within the organization. While I have not had direct contact with her since the incident, I feel uneasy knowing she is still employed here, given the nature of what was said. Leadership and HR have not communicated much about the situation, and I’m unsure what protections or boundaries are in place. I have asked for support from HR to avoid interaction, but they have been less than helpful. My manager is also frustrated with HR and has offered to help me come up with our own safety plan, which I appreciate, but I’m not sure what that should realistically include or whether that responsibility should fall on us. What is a reasonable course of action here? Is it appropriate to push HR more directly for clarity on safety measures, or to formally request that I not have any interaction with this person? How much responsibility should I or my manager be taking on in creating a “safety plan” in a situation like this When things are at the point that you need a safety plan, the person really shouldn’t still be working there — not unless there are extenuating circumstances that mitigate what happened (for example, a medical issue that has been treated, combined with compelling reason to believe that whatever caused the original threat won’t be repeated and sincere contrition). It’s absolutely appropriate for you and your manager to push HR very directly for a clearer answer about how you can feel safe at work. Ideally your manager would take the lead on advocating for this … and also should have a conversation with HR, the company’s lawyers, and her own boss about the company’s legal and moral liability when an employee has threatened to shoot another employee. 2. Can I wear earbuds to drown out diet talk? Recently, I’ve been wearing two earbuds at the office with music or podcasts in the background while I work. Typically, this isn’t something I like to do because I think it can come off as unprofessional. Especially because I’m in my 20’s — I think my generation can get a reputation for constantly being on our phones (and to a certain extent I understand that reputation and it can be true), so that’s another reason I try to avoid it. Recently, everyone in the office has been talking about their diets – weighing themselves, the amount of calories they consume, the foods they’re cutting out, etc. As someone in recovery from an eating disorder, hearing these things can be difficult for me. For a while, I was in a really good place where, yes, it was annoying to hear these conversations, but I could try and zone it out. Lately though, the repetition of these conversations has hit more closely and makes it more difficult for me to focus on my work and maintain my recovery. I would love to ask my coworkers to not talk about these things during work, but I’m not sure it’s my place do that given that it’s a “me” issue that I have to work through. My solution has been to wear two earbuds while I work to drown out those conversations. Is this a happy medium compromise, or do you think it would come off as too unprofessional? It’s pretty office-dependent; in many offices, it would be a non-issue and completely unremarkable. In others, it might feel out of sync with the culture but still be fine to do (especially if you explain it helps you focus). In a minority of others, it would feel out of sync with the culture in a way that could affect how you were perceived there. So, first: does anyone else wear earbuds? Do you need to be able to hear people talking to you unexpectedly? If you’re still left unsure, ask your manager about it! It’s fine to say, “I’ve found some of the chatting in the office distracting and realized I focus really well with headphones on — is it okay with you if I keep doing that?” There’s a pretty good chance you’ll hear it’s fine. (And if you don’t, you could potentially approach it as a formal accommodation if you’re willing to disclose what’s going on.) But also, you do have some standing to ask people to lay off on the diet talk, and there’s advice here on how to do it. 3. Is there a polite way to offer editing services? I am a very active member of an online community for a particular hobby and would love to work for this community. I have years of experience as a writer and editor, and I have noticed that the site could probably use one — they put out a lot of content and quite a few errors get missed. I also want to add that I’ve been interviewed by the owner of this community, so I’m not a complete stranger. I’m struggling with a polite way to say to them, “You need an editor. Would you like to hire me?” *Is* there a polite way to say this? Any suggestions? It probably isn’t going to be a super high priority for an online hobby community, which likely has limited resources and may rely mostly or entirely on volunteers. But you can offer! It’s okay to be straightforward about it: say you’re a fan of their work and active member of the community, work professionally as an editor, have noticed their content not infrequently contains editing errors (you could include something like “understandably, since I’m sure the people creating it have lots of demands on their time”), and you’d love to talk with them about what an editing arrangement could look like if that’s something they’re interested in. Assuming you’re not offering to volunteer your services, you’d want to make that clear (probably by stating your rates up-front or mentioning that you’d be open to discounting them if you are). 4. What to say to a worker who was striking when we last spoke I work for a company that provides vendor services to an industry that has a fair amount of unionized workers. A few months back, I contacted a client to check in, only to be told rather awkwardly that his department was on strike so he wasn’t sure how things were going. Such news typically doesn’t make it to a national level for this industry unless it’s very large or there’s some unusual circumstance. I’ve been doing this job for over half a decade and this was my first time speaking with a striking employee. At the time, I just wished him luck and well wishes, and ended the call. It’s clear from the notes on his account that he’s now back at work, so today I reached out again. I got voicemail this time, but if I had gotten him on the phone, should I have said anything about the strike? Google doesn’t tell me much about how the strike was resolved, so for all I know he’s not happy about it, and it’s not appropriate for my role to get involved in those discussions. Overall, this feels pretty low-stakes but I’m curious about your thoughts. You don’t need to reference the strike. It would also be fine to say, “Glad you’re back” or “Glad the strike didn’t have to last very long” (if it didn’t) or “I hope the strike was successful” or otherwise express your support. 5. How to explain my recent layoff As a result of some reorganization in the department, I was recently made redundant after only a year and a half on the job. Leadership made their decision based on shifting strategic priorities and it had nothing to do with my performance. How should I think about explaining this redundancy to potential employers as I begin to apply for new positions? The “reason for leaving last position” question is bound to come up on applications and in interviews and I’d like to have an answer prepared. Being laid off is a completely routine and unremarkable reason for leaving a job and you won’t need a lengthy explanation! You can simply say, “Our team had a reorg that significantly changed our priorities and my position was eliminated as part of that.” If multiple positions were cut, you can say, “A reorg eliminated multiple positions on my team, and I was laid off as part of that.” The post coworker threatened me and HR isn’t doing anything, telling someone they need editing, and more appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

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