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Consumers are redefining what loyalty looks like. Values like sustainability, authenticity, and transparency are driving decisions — and personalization is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s expected. Whether you’re shaping in-house campaigns or developing strategies for clients, this new white paper, Beyond the Purchase: The Future of Consumer Behavior in 2025, breaks down the trends that matter most for marketers right now. Inside, you’ll discover: How values-based marketing is reshaping customer expectations Where immersive experiences like AR, VR, and live streaming fit in Why hyper-personalization and real-time engagement are key to conversion How to balance personalization with growing privacy concerns It’s a must-read for marketers focused on delivering strategies that resonate — and drive results. Get your copy here. View the full article

Typing with a keyboard is second-nature to most of us at this point. Typing on a game controller, however, is not. For as long as I've played games, I've loathed having to slowly hover my on-screen cursor over each key with a joystick. It just isn't fun. It seems Microsoft agrees with the challenges of game controller to keyboard inputs—especially when using a typical on-screen keyboard design for PC. As a result, the company is planning to roll out an on-screen keyboard designed for use with an Xbox controller with an upcoming version of Windows. This should, in theory, make interacting with Windows much easier when you're locked into your controller, and away from your mouse and (physical) keyboard. As reported by The Verge, the new on-screen keyboard has shortcuts that incorporate the buttons on your Xbox controller. As you can see from the screenshot below, "X" activates backspace, "Y" activates the space bar, the menu button activates "enter," the left trigger activates the "&123" menu, the screen share icon actives the microphone, the left button actives the left arrow, the right button activates the right arrow, and clicking in the left stick activates caps lock. Microsoft also notes that the keys in this mode have been aligned vertically, which it believes will support "better controller navigation patterns." Players can be the judge when this rolls out in full, but I imagine it'll be easier that dragging the cursor around the horizontally-aligned design of the existing on-screen keyboard. In fact, the overall experience is likely similar to the on-screen keyboard Xbox players are already used to—if you're coming from Microsoft's console. Credit: Microsoft How to try Microsoft's new Xbox on-screen keyboardMicrosoft added the new on-screen keyboard to the Windows 11 Release Preview Channel. That means PC users will be able to experience it whenever Microsoft drops the next official update for Windows 11. However, you don't have to wait until the official update if you really want to try out this keyboard today. You can enroll your PC in the Windows Insider program to try out early builds of upcoming versions of Windows. This is, essentially, a beta program, which I don't tend to recommend users install on their main devices. However, if you're going to enroll in the Insider program, the Release Preview Channel is the most stable option to choose, as Microsoft seeds the version of Windows the intend to release to the general public—as long as no Insiders discover any device-breaking bugs that need to be addressed. View the full article

Headlines over real estate sales policies, as well as economic upheaval, are having a negative impact on how insiders are seeing the market today. View the full article

MANDAN, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The nine-person jury awarded Dallas-based Energy Transfer and its subsidiary Dakota Access hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The lawsuit had accused Netherlands-based Greenpeace International, Greenpeace USA, and funding arm Greenpeace Fund Inc. of defamation, trespass, nuisance, civil conspiracy, and other acts. When asked if Greenpeace plans to appeal, Senior Legal Adviser Deepa Padmanabha said, “We know that this fight is not over” and said the organization’s work “is never going stop.” “That’s the really important message today, and we’re just walking out and we’re going to get together and figure out what our next steps are,” Padmanabha said. The organization said it plans to appeal the decision. Energy Transfer called the verdict a “win” for residents of Mandan, North Dakota, and across the state. “While we are pleased that Greenpeace has been held accountable for their actions against us, this win is really for the people of Mandan and throughout North Dakota who had to live through the daily harassment and disruptions caused by the protesters who were funded and trained by Greenpeace,” the company said in a statement to The Associated Press. The company, who previously said the lawsuit was about Greenpeace not following the law and not free speech, also called the verdict a win for “Americans who understand the difference between the right to free speech and breaking the law.” The case reaches back to protests in 2016 and 2017 against the Dakota Access oil pipeline and its Missouri River crossing upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s reservation. For years the tribe has opposed the line as a risk to its water supply. The multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since mid-2017. Plaintiffs’ attorney Trey Cox has said Greenpeace carried out a scheme to stop the pipeline’s construction. During opening statements, he alleged Greenpeace paid outsiders to come into the area and protest, sent blockade supplies, organized or led protester trainings, and made untrue statements about the project to stop it. Attorneys for the Greenpeace entities said there is no evidence to the claims, that Greenpeace employees had little or no involvement in the protests and the organizations had nothing to do with Energy Transfer’s delays in construction or refinancing. Greenpeace representatives have said the lawsuit is a critical test of First Amendment free speech and protest rights and could threaten the organization’s future. — Jack Dura, Associated Press View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. You can now pre-order a brand-new Pebble Watch, which is a sentence that will confuse a lot of people and excite others. Pebble was one of the first smartwatches, launching even before the first Apple Watch. We wrote about it here on Lifehacker in 2013. Now it’s back in two versions, running $149 and $225, both expected to ship later this year. Some quick background on PebblePebble was an early smartwatch brand whose devices featured an e-ink display (like the kind you might see on an e-book reader). Its Kickstarter launches broke records for the platform. I had heard that the Pebble Time was the most successful Kickstarter project ever at the time of its launch, so I checked Kickstarter’s list of its 12 most funded projects to see if it still holds that title. Pebble’s three generations hold the #2, #6, and #12 spots. People loved this watch. And they continued to love it, even after the company was bought by Fitbit in 2016. A project called Rebble did its best to maintain the old watches’ functionality over the years, providing app store updates and replacing some of the old cloud services. As the years went by, it got harder and harder to keep using Pebble watches. Both the Android and iPhone apps disappeared from phones’ official app stores, and “how to set up a new Pebble” guides got more complicated, but some users persisted. Google now owns Fitbit and Pebble users managed to successfully lobby Google to open-source the Pebble OS, opening the doors to new Pebble watches. Who is making the new Pebble watches, and why? Pebble founder Eric Migicovsky is leading this project. He wrote: “I've tried pretty much every other smartwatch on Earth, yet I still wear my Pebble every day—nothing else matches its features and long battery life. I really, really, really hoped someone else would create a proper replacement, but no one has stepped up, and my stash of old Pebbles is dwindling!” In an AMA on the Pebble subreddit, Migicovsky mentioned several times that the team is small and that they’re trying not to bite off more than they can chew. Since the OS is now open source, several questions about features were met with answers like “No, but that sounds like a nice feature for someone to add to the open source PebbleOS!” The new watches aren’t going to be sold under the Pebble name, though, since Google still owns that trademark. They are called the Core Time 2 and the Core 2 Duo. A redditor asked what is “duo” about it, and Migicovsky replied: “Du-over 😉” The Core 2 Duo ($149) is “like Pebble 2, but better”The Core 2 Duo will have a black-and-white screen and a plastic (polycarbonate) frame in either black or white, and is expected to start shipping in July. Its look and feel are intended to be just like the old Pebble 2, although some of the internals are upgraded and it has more durable buttons. Other specs include the following (I’ve bolded differences from the Core Time 2): 1.2-inch, always-on e-paper screen 30-day battery life A microphone and speaker, although voice calls won’t be natively supported IPX8 water resistance (the 8 typically means the device can go at least 3 meters underwater, but the X indicates that it isn’t tested for dust resistance) Step tracking and sleep tracking Physical buttons 22-millimeter standard watch strap Bluetooth connectivity No wifi or cellular connectivity No GPS No NFC payments (“Too hard to do as a small company, sorry.”) No heart rate monitor This model has a barometer and compass, where the Core Time 2 does not. The Core Time 2 ($225) is “like Pebble Time 2, but better”The Core Time 2 is larger than the Core 2 Duo and will have a color touchscreen and a metal frame. Not only is the screen bigger than its sibling, it’s also “53% bigger and [has] 88% more pixels” than its predecessor the Pebble Time 2. It’s expected to ship in December 2025. The Core Time 2 has almost all the features of the Core 2 Duo listed above, except that it will not have the compass and barometer (those were included in the Core 2 Duo as a favor to a friend, Migicovsky said in the AMA). On the bright side, it will have a heart rate monitor. 1.6-inch, always-on e-paper screen 64-color display Touchscreen 30-day battery life A microphone and speaker, although voice calls won’t be natively supported IPX8 water resistance (same as Core 2 Duo) Step tracking and sleep tracking Physical buttons 22-millimeter standard watch strap Bluetooth connectivity No wifi or cellular connectivity No GPS No NFC payments No barometer and compass This model has a heart rate monitor, where the Core 2 Duo does not. You can find full specs for both watches here. Note that while the watches will not have GPS, Migicovsky noted that developers could choose to use phone GPS for mapping or fitness purposes. This is a common approach for minimalist wearables, including Whoop and some Fitbits. Your old Pebble charger will work, but so will a modern USB-C cableMigicovsky noted in the AMA that the new watches will use the same charger as previous Pebble watches. (“Take that, everyone who said I should throw out my box of 10-year-old chargers,” said one redditor.) The charger that ships with the new watches will be a connector that plugs into a USB-C cable, so you’ll still need to bring that connector with you when you travel, but you won’t need to carry a whole special charging cable. This is the same approach that Coros took for its Pace Pro, and I even bought a similar style of charging adapter for my Garmin watch—it’s a convenient format. The company intends to stick around, but isn’t making any promises about future productsIn response to questions about other colors, features, or future products, Migicovsky repeatedly said they were going to focus on what they were able to do for now. He isn’t making any promises about when more units will be available to order, so if you want to be sure of getting one of the new watches, it makes sense to pre-order now. The new watches’ operating systems will be open source, and developers are invited to add the features they’d like to see. There is a Discord to organize efforts, and Migicovsky linked to it, saying: “All development is happening on the discord (https://discordapp.com/invite/aRUAYFN) and github (https://github.com/pebble-dev/pebble-firmware).” “We're a gadget company," Migicovsky said. "We make cool gadgets that we ourselves want and then sell them. No plans to make them for a wider audience.” But he also added: “The goal is sustainability—the company is designed to potentially last forever.” View the full article

Chancellor will rely on a spending squeeze to try to ensure she complies with her fiscal rulesView the full article

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is honing in on infant formula in his food safety review. RFK Jr. says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will further test formula brands for heavy metals after some concerning results from Consumer Reports (CR) were released earlier this week. “The FDA will use all resources and authorities at its disposal to make sure infant formula products are safe and wholesome for the families and children who rely on them,” Kennedy said in a statement. HHS is calling the plan “Operation Stork Speed.” On Tuesday, CR revealed the results of testing on 41 types of powdered formula, from major labels such as Enfamil and Similac to smaller startups like Bobbie. Brands were tested for heavy metals including arsenic, lead, BPA, acrylamide, and PFAS. Per the report, the results were “concerning” with “about half of the samples” that were tested containing “potentially harmful levels of at least one contaminant.” However, the formula wasn’t heavy-metal-ridden across the board. The report noted that the “other half of the samples showed low or no levels of concerning chemicals—showing that there are many good options on the market.” The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry rates arsenic as the most toxic substance in the environment. When it came to the formula with the highest level of the substance, Abbott Nutrition’s EleCare Hypoallergenic took the top slot. The formula had 19.7 parts per billion (ppb). The second highest level was found in Similac Alimentum at 15.1 ppb (also made by Abbott). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits arsenic in municipal drinking water to 10 ppb. Abbott told CR in a statement, per the report, that the company had questions about CR’s methodology, and noted that heavy metals are found in the natural environment and may therefore show up in “trace amounts” in any food products, and even in breast milk. “We look forward to working with the secretary, the FDA, and the scientific and medical communities to continue to make infant formulas even closer to breast milk and support the aims of Operation Stork Speed,” Scott Stoffel, divisional vice president of external communications and public affairs at Abbott, told Axios in a statement. While RFK Jr. campaigned on some heavily controversial ideas, such as vaccine scepticism, health officials seem to be greeting the investigation into infant formula warmly. “It’s very encouraging to see the FDA issue this announcement immediately after Consumer Reports shared our findings about contaminants in infant formula,” said Brian Ronholm, head of food policy for CR. “We look forward to seeing the details of how they intend to implement the plan, and we hope the FDA is provided adequate resources and staffing to actually follow through on their promises.” As it stands, it’s tough for parents to know which brand of formula to choose. That’s especially true because some of the most well-known brands seemed to be the ones with the highest rates of heavy metals. Four main formula companies—Nestlé, Abbott, Perrigo, and Reckitt—dominate the market, though in recent years some smaller startups, such as MyHeart and Bobbie, have emerged. In 2022, after a major formula recall kicked off a formula shortage, the newer brands hoped to help meet demand and create more natural formulas. Bobbie was listed in the new reports “best” formulas, and MyHeart was listed in the “good” category. View the full article

A new survey from Paychex reveals that small businesses across the U.S. are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity, revenue, and workforce development. According to the study, which surveyed over 1,000 business owners and HR leaders, 72% of small businesses have a positive outlook on AI, despite ongoing concerns about data accuracy, security, and privacy. Among businesses currently using AI, 66% reported increased productivity as a key benefit. Additional advantages cited by respondents included cost savings (44%), revenue growth (40%), improved recruiting (35%), higher employee satisfaction (34%), and enhanced customer acquisition (34%). The study also found that 82% of respondents believe AI is helpful to their business, and 76% expect it to have a moderate to significant impact over the next five years. Currently, 65% of surveyed businesses report using AI, with its adoption most prevalent in customer support (64%), finance and accounting (42%), and HR functions (50%). “AI allows a business to punch way above its weight,” said Beaumont Vance, Paychex senior vice president of data, analytics, and AI. “It’s a particularly great equalizer for small- and medium-sized businesses in an increasingly competitive landscape. Understanding and embracing AI’s full potential can boost efficiency, enhance decision-making, and deliver tangible ROI.” Despite its benefits, the survey highlights challenges associated with AI implementation. One in five (18%) respondents reported difficulties due to poor data quality, and 53% stated that having accurate data would improve their trust in AI tools. Data security and privacy concerns also remain significant. According to the survey, 54% of businesses cited data privacy and security as major obstacles to AI adoption. Among them, 45% expressed concerns about how technology companies use their data, while 17% indicated they do not trust technology companies with their data. Looking ahead, 72% of small businesses plan to invest at least $1,000 in AI within the next year, with human resources emerging as the top investment area. The survey found that 53% of respondents plan to direct AI investments toward HR functions, including recruiting (44%), onboarding (41%), and employee retention (32%). These findings underscore the growing role of AI in human resources, from talent acquisition to long-term employee development. The Paychex survey was conducted online between February 7 and 17, 2025, with responses collected from 1,129 business owners and HR leaders. The results were not weighted. Image: Paychex This article, "Paychex Survey Finds AI Adoption Gaining Traction Among Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A new survey from Paychex reveals that small businesses across the U.S. are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity, revenue, and workforce development. According to the study, which surveyed over 1,000 business owners and HR leaders, 72% of small businesses have a positive outlook on AI, despite ongoing concerns about data accuracy, security, and privacy. Among businesses currently using AI, 66% reported increased productivity as a key benefit. Additional advantages cited by respondents included cost savings (44%), revenue growth (40%), improved recruiting (35%), higher employee satisfaction (34%), and enhanced customer acquisition (34%). The study also found that 82% of respondents believe AI is helpful to their business, and 76% expect it to have a moderate to significant impact over the next five years. Currently, 65% of surveyed businesses report using AI, with its adoption most prevalent in customer support (64%), finance and accounting (42%), and HR functions (50%). “AI allows a business to punch way above its weight,” said Beaumont Vance, Paychex senior vice president of data, analytics, and AI. “It’s a particularly great equalizer for small- and medium-sized businesses in an increasingly competitive landscape. Understanding and embracing AI’s full potential can boost efficiency, enhance decision-making, and deliver tangible ROI.” Despite its benefits, the survey highlights challenges associated with AI implementation. One in five (18%) respondents reported difficulties due to poor data quality, and 53% stated that having accurate data would improve their trust in AI tools. Data security and privacy concerns also remain significant. According to the survey, 54% of businesses cited data privacy and security as major obstacles to AI adoption. Among them, 45% expressed concerns about how technology companies use their data, while 17% indicated they do not trust technology companies with their data. Looking ahead, 72% of small businesses plan to invest at least $1,000 in AI within the next year, with human resources emerging as the top investment area. The survey found that 53% of respondents plan to direct AI investments toward HR functions, including recruiting (44%), onboarding (41%), and employee retention (32%). These findings underscore the growing role of AI in human resources, from talent acquisition to long-term employee development. The Paychex survey was conducted online between February 7 and 17, 2025, with responses collected from 1,129 business owners and HR leaders. The results were not weighted. Image: Paychex This article, "Paychex Survey Finds AI Adoption Gaining Traction Among Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

After the Federal Reserve moved to slow the pace of quantitative tightening, the Fed chair floated the idea of continuing to allow mortgage-backed securities to roll off its books even after the central bank has met its monetary policy objectives in reducing its balance sheet. View the full article

The climate tech sector is at a crossroads. We have the tools we need to fight climate change, but the real challenge is scaling and deploying them. This is where “climate-curious” outsiders play a crucial role. At Epic Cleantec, a company I cofounded to tackle water scarcity through innovative reuse technology, none of us came from an environmental background. That outside perspective turned out to be a huge advantage. When I began this journey, I didn’t know much about water. I wasn’t a trained environmental or civil engineer, which meant I never even learned about how things were traditionally done. This lack of traditional expertise freed us from being tied down by how things were “supposed” to work, allowing us to find fresh solutions to persistent problems. My path to climate tech was anything but linear. I had flirted with a wide range of disparate career paths spanning veterinarian, chef, club promoter, historian, political lobbyist, and lawyer. I even briefly entertained becoming a rabbi, until my own rabbi convinced me not to take that path. Unsurprisingly, I often faced skepticism at conferences and industry events, where our company’s unconventional approach was met with doubt. But here’s the key takeaway: Solving the climate crisis isn’t just about creating new technology. It’s about turning these innovations into practical, widespread solutions. That’s where operational know-how comes in—something outsiders often bring to the table. People who’ve run businesses, managed complex regulations, and scaled global operations have the experience to make climate solutions a reality. Why climate tech needs outsiders The climate tech industry has largely been driven by environmental scientists and policymakers. But solving the climate crisis calls for more than just scientific advances—it requires major business transformation. To truly deploy climate solutions on a global scale, we need the same expertise that turned industries like fintech, e-commerce, and cloud computing into giants. Investors get it. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink predicts the next wave of unicorns will come from climate tech. But to build these companies, we need more than passion. We need professionals who understand scaling—product managers who can push out software, operations experts who can optimize supply chains, and strategists who know how to drive rapid market adoption. The idea that climate tech needs deep environmental knowledge is a misconception. What’s truly needed are professionals who know how to turn great ideas into sustainable, scalable businesses, all while navigating complex regulations. The future of climate impact depends on commercial success. The solutions are ready, they just need deployment A lot of the technology needed to curb emissions and build climate resilience is already here. From energy storage to electrification, water reuse to regenerative agriculture, many solutions are ready to go. So, the challenge isn’t really about innovation; it’s about implementation. Just look at how SaaS and fintech industries scaled quickly by leveraging automation, networks, and efficient capital use. If we applied those same strategies to climate tech, we could meet our climate goals much faster. Imagine applying the lessons learned during the rapid growth of ride-sharing or cloud services to solar energy, battery tech, or industrial decarbonization. Climate tech isn’t just about better tech; it’s about changing systems. It requires navigating complex regulations, aligning with ever-changing corporate sustainability goals, and getting entrenched industries on board. Outsiders who have scaled companies in heavily regulated fields like healthcare, finance, and transportation are particularly equipped to drive this change. A crucial moment for climate tech Climate tech isn’t a niche anymore—it’s becoming one of the most exciting frontiers of innovation. As more professionals from traditional tech and business sectors seek out purpose-driven careers, climate tech offers a unique blend of meaning and market opportunity. The influx of outsiders isn’t just helpful, it’s essential. For climate tech to thrive, we need to embrace professionals with diverse and wide-reaching expertise. Industry leaders must actively recruit people with transferable skills, and investors must see the value in teams that blend technical knowledge with business acumen. Solving the climate crisis isn’t just about inventing new technologies—it’s about getting them into the world at scale, fast. The opportunity is huge, but the urgency is even greater. To meet global climate goals, we must think outside the box and bring in the people who are ready to challenge the norms. For those “climate-curious,” there’s never been a better time to dive in because climate tech isn’t just the future of innovation, it’s the future of business. The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. View the full article

When Amazon stopped letting us download copies of our Kindle books last month, I began looking for ways to preserve e-books and audiobooks that I've paid for. Buying from Amazon really limits those options thanks to DRM (Digital Rights Management), which is designed to prevent piracy, but ends up having far bigger consequences on digital goods like e-books. Eliminating DRM effectively removes Amazon's control over what you do with your e-books. If Amazon were to go DRM-free, you'd be able read Kindle e-books on any e-book reader or app that you like. Amazon wouldn't be able to easily track your reading habits and you'd be free to keep an offline backup of all of your purchased content. That's what makes the idea of bypassing DRM appealing to so many. Given the choice, I'd love to buy audiobooks on Audible and use apps such as Bound or Prologue to listen to them. I think these apps are superior audiobook players and are better at library management than Audible's apps. It'd also be a chance for me to escape Amazon's ability to track my listening habits. Sadly, those options don't exist today. What Amazon's terms of service allow you to doOnce you pay for an e-book on Amazon, it has been licensed, not sold to you, according to the company's terms of service. This gives the company a lot of leeway in deciding what you do with a purchased e-book. The terms of service explicitly forbid bypassing the DRM and reading it on devices or apps that Kindle doesn't officially support. This isn't just an Amazon problem. Janet Vertesi, a sociology professor at Princeton University, told me via email that buying a book through big tech doesn't grant you ownership of your copy. "You are not in charge of how you access or read that [e-book]. It is like the difference between Spotify playlists and having a home music library. You pay money to own the [e-book], but because Amazon owns everything about the delivery pipeline and the Kindle necessary to read the purchase, you don't get to exert any choice." Similarly, Audible classifies a sale as the purchase of a license, and goes on to say that you should download the audiobook immediately after purchasing, as the company cannot guarantee that content will be available to redownload in the future. To make matters worse, Amazon forbids you from bypassing DRM on the audiobook files. "The more we buy into these closed garden ecosystems, the fewer choices we have…they can and do use this power to subdue alternatives, eliminate competition, and maintain monopoly, among other things," Vertesi told me. She runs Opt Out Project, a blog dedicated to helping people find alternatives to products and services made by big tech firms. The legalities involved in bypassing DRMBypassing DRM is illegal in the US, thanks to the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), but it may be legal in other regions. The DMCA, among other things, makes it difficult to create a legal backup of the digital media you own. I reached out to Cory Doctorow, an author and vocal DRM critic, to learn more about this subject. In an email, he explained the complexities involved in understanding where the boundary lies here. "It isn't a copyright infringement to move a book from one device you own to another ([aka 'format shifting']). However, in 1998, the US Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which created a new kind of copyright—a copyright that protects DRM itself," Doctorow wrote. "Under Section 1201 of the DMCA, it's a felony (punishable by a [five]-year prison sentence and a [$500,000] fine) to give someone a "circumvention device" that defeats an "access control" for a copyrighted work. This law applies even if you don't violate copyright. "Say I tell you that you have my permission to move a book I wrote (and am thus the copyright holder for) from your Kindle to another device. If the Kindle book has DRM, you're still not allowed to move it. The fact that I am the copyright holder has no impact on whether Amazon—a company that didn't create or invest in my book—can prevent you from moving that book outside of its walled garden...In fact, if I supply you with a tool to remove DRM (like some versions of Calibre), then I commit a felony and Amazon can have me sent to prison for five years for giving you a tool to move my book from the Kindle app to a rival app like Kobo," he wrote. When you download a Kindle e-book, it's available in the AZW format, and audiobooks from Audible use the proprietary AAX format. If you download these to your computer, that is format shifting, but it may be illegal if you had to circumvent DRM to do it. Doctorow added, "that means that even though copyright law says you can format shift your books, music, videos, games, [etc.], DMCA 1201 (a "paracopyright law") makes this an imprisonable felony if you have to break DRM first." The tools that let you bypass DRM The Calibre app allows you to read and manage DRM-free e-books you've purchased. Credit: Pranay Parab Calibre offers a way to take your e-books out of digital walled gardens. It lets you download purchased books off your Kindle, convert those to any format you like, and to read them on any app or device. For Audible, that tool is Libation, a free and open-source app that backs up your audiobook library. I contacted Robert McRackan, the developer of Libation, to understand how the app works, and why it was developed. McRackan wrote, "…what apps like Libation do is a service to the community that I believe in. It's also in [direct] contradiction to Audible's terms of service…" Free tools like these continue to work only because the developers are able to dedicate time to keeping them up-to-date, and because Amazon hasn't decided to go after them. If that changes, it could be game over for these apps. I can't offer guidance on downloading these apps and using them to remove DRM for your e-books. But they do exist, and, as of this article, they appear to work. There's a world beyond Amazon for digital booksIf you're truly interested in owning your digital media, you should consider looking beyond Amazon for digital book purchases. There are many alternatives to the Kindle store and to Audible, and some of them offer DRM-free e-books and audiobooks. When I asked Vertesi and Doctorow about DRM-free storefronts for books, they pointed me to Bookshop.org (which has DRM-free options for e-books), Tor Books (which is entirely DRM-free) and Libro.fm (for DRM-free audiobooks). While Libro.fm is totally DRM-free and has a collection that's good enough to rival that of Audible, the picture outside of Amazon isn't always rosy. Doctorow wrote, "Even great [e-book] stores like Bookshop.org are pressured by the big publishers to put DRM on most of the books they sell." Similarly, Audible is known to push authors into signing deals that offer better royalties if they keep their audiobooks exclusive to the service. In case your favorite book is a part of such a deal, your only choice is either buy it through Audible, or try to purchase a DRM-free e-book and use text-to-speech tools to have an AI-generated voice read it to you. This is a hacky way to convert any book into an audiobook, and it doesn't come anywhere close to the skills of a great narrator, but it's a DRM-free option. If your favorite e-book is an Amazon exclusive, you can get it via your local library. Of course, you could always buy it physically: Paper is DRM-free, after all. However, without changing the DMCA, we can't expect to see real, lasting change in this space. Doctorow said as much to me: "What we really need to do is get rid of DMCA 1201, that law that makes it a crime to format shift your media...it's the same law that stops farmers from fixing their tractors, blocks independent mechanics from fixing your car, stops rivals from setting up alternative app stores for phones and games consoles...this law is a menace!" View the full article

Central bank also lifts inflation projection as chair Jay Powell warns of tariff impactView the full article

Leftovers can be challenging. Occasionally, you’ll have a meal so good that you actually look forward to scarfing it down cold the next day, but that's not always the case. I usually have bits and bobs of leftovers—things I didn't care for in the first place, or stray ingredients I can’t seem to get rid of. My curse however, is that I hate (hate!) tossing edible food. So over the years, I’ve gotten better at reworking leftovers, and you can too. Here are my favorite ways to repurpose leftovers into incredible new meals. Recipes for using leftoversI run into two types of leftovers: leftover meals and leftover single ingredients. Let’s start with leftover meals. This section is how I like to transform prior dinners or lunches—like sausage and peppers or chicken salad— to give them a new life. Leftovers as pizza toppings Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Do I have a borderline problem with eating personal pizzas? Who’s to say. But that continual experience has given me the confidence to say leftovers make for great pizza toppings. If pizzerias can put chopped chicken cutlets and penne on their pizza, so can you. Here’s how I like to pizza my leftovers. All you need is a ball of thawed pizza dough from the grocery store and a bit of cheese to act as your “glue.” Egg roll ‘emWhat do the stray container of leftover brisket, the green curry chicken from three days ago, and the sausage and peppers from Sunday have in common? They’d all be great with a crispy egg roll shell wrapped around them. Egg rolling your leftovers is extremely simple with a pack of premade wrappers that you can buy from the refrigerated aisle of your grocery store. Once you’ve secured your delicious leftovers in the center, deep fry or air fry them for a wonderful lunch or dinner. Stack leftovers into a lasagnaIt helps to think of leftover food as a component that needs a new vehicle to carry it, like pizza dough or an egg roll wrapper. Pasta noodles are a versatile main ingredient too. While you could toss your leftovers with spaghetti, turning it all into a stacked lasagna is more impressive, and personally I think it’s more appetizing. While I’m using Thanksgiving leftovers here, you certainly aren’t limited to that. Boil the pasta noodles and use them to sandwich each layer of leftovers, like thinly sliced meatloaf, creamed spinach, or vegan steamed dumplings. (It’s okay to layer carbs with carbs.) Make a delightful brunch casserole Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Casseroles are always a wondrous mish-mash of ingredients. What makes them sliceable is the addition of some sort of flavorful binder, like eggs or cheese. I added a few eggs, a torn up English muffin, and shredded cheddar to the leftovers of my seven-layer dip recipe and baked it for about 20 minutes at 350°F to make this absolutely scrumptious casserole. You can casserole anything from leftover waffles to rice and beans with this method. Risotto your leftoversI showed you how to fake risotto with leftover rice, but you can also throw your leftovers into risotto. Risotto is another one of those helpful carbs that act as a vehicle for your once-fresh food. Though this recipe is geared toward Thanksgiving leftovers, the concept stands for any leftover protein and veg. Make your risotto as usual and just after you ladle in the last bit of stock, drop in your chopped leftovers to warm up in the pot. Build a satisfying sandwichSandwiches are like old episodes of your favorite show—it’s your back-up when you don’t know what to watch (or eat, in this case). A leftovers sandwich is the solution when you can’t figure out what to do with that massive casserole from your cousin’s brunch party. Since leftovers can be irregularly shaped (as opposed to sliced deli meats), I suggest grabbing large slices of bread and potentially leaving them untoasted. Then the soft texture can hug and hold onto the fillings better. Here are some ways you can tweak a sandwich to make it even more delightful. Make the best oatmeal of your life Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann For the longest time, I thought I hated oatmeal. It turns out, I was just not adding enough fun stuff to it. Oats are bland, which makes them a terrible main event, but a great supporting act for other bolder ingredients. Your leftover dishes from the week are already cooked and full of flavor. Simply make a batch of savory oatmeal and nestle your chicken parmesan, Thai gaeng keow-wan curry, or vegetable korma into the bowl with it. Here's my recipe for spicy, savory oatmeal with herbs and kimchi. Recipes for common leftover ingredientsThis section is devoted to my most common leftover ingredients. These are things that maybe haven’t made it into a full meal yet—like raw celery or cooked leftover rice—but they’re living their last moments in my fridge. I’ll lean on these recipes to keep them from becoming trash. The many iterations of leftover rice Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann There was a year or two that I would order Chinese food take-out frequently, and end up with tubs of extra rice stacked up in my freezer. A day of reckoning would come once a month when I would have to figure something out, or I’d have no freezer space. So I have more than one way to use up leftover rice. This crispy rice cake, this fake risotto, and this comforting rice salad are all good to have in mind. The problem with celeryCelery is one of those ingredients that will haunt your crisper drawer for 100 years. I’m not even exaggerating, it actually grows more stalks while it's in there. Its only charm is how crunchy it is, so I wouldn’t recommend egg rolling it or putting it on pizza. My solution for unused stalks is to make this salad which relies on thin, diagonal slices to maintain crunch but reduce “stringiness.” The vinaigrette adds much needed flavor, the Thai chili wakes up your palate, and the hard boiled eggs create a more satiating dish. Leftover pie crustWhether it's store-bought pie crust sitting in your freezer or you never got around to using the other half of that double-crust pie dough recipe, there's no reason to let that flaky pastry go to waste. Use it to make a filling quiche and mix in any leftover vegetables you might have in the fridge. Avoiding eggs to save money? That's fine, use this recipe to make a lazy pot pie with your leftover crust and a can of creamy chicken soup. Extra hard boiled eggs Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Boiled eggs make a great on-the-run snack, so I’ll often cook up a bunch at the beginning of the week and keep them in the fridge. But some weeks will wrap up and I’ll have a few that I never got to. Unless I feel like crushing three or four cold eggs, so instead I’ll make a yam kai dao salad. Shallow frying the hard-cooked eggs give them an appealing crispy-chewy exterior and the lime and fish sauce dressing creates a flavor profile you’ll look forward to eating again with next week’s eggs. Cold plain pastaI find it infuriating that the “proper” serving of dry pasta is two ounces. I would like to eat a pound of it but alas, I have been shamed by society, so I’ll begrudgingly put the supposed extra in a container for the next day. With this clever trick, I now look forward to leftover pasta. This works for both plain boiled pasta or pasta that has a light coating of sauce. Add butter to a frying pan and tip the cold carbs into the melted butter. Stir and loosen the pasta as it warms up and then let it fry so it gets crispy and brown on the bottom. Serve it immediately to enjoy the new crunchy-soft texture of your stir-fry-revived pasta. That half-can of coconut milkKind of like the cup of puréed pumpkin I didn’t need for a recipe, I’ll occasionally end up with an unused portion of coconut milk in my fridge. I don’t particularly like it in my coffee, but that flavorful, fatty gift from nature cannot be wasted. Although you can freeze it, I decided the best way to use it up would be to capitalize on its inherent richness and make it into a luxurious coconut pudding for one. This simple recipe uses a cherry compote to top it off but you could substitute another fruit, jam, or go without and let the silky coconut speak for itself. View the full article

Buying a car is a hellish experience. Aside from the cost (nearly $50,000 for an average new car these days!) there’s the exhausting battle of wills you must engage in. No matter how well you prepare, walking into a dealership sometimes feels like walking into a battle, because everyone there is trying to take advantage of you—even if you know exactly what car you want. Unless you’re paying cash, the trickiest part of the car-buying experience isn’t dealing with the salesperson. It’s dealing with the finance people. The finance manager at your typical car dealership is often the highest-paid person there—and for good reason. They’re the ones who really work the angles to ensure the dealer gets as much money out of you as possible. They have a long list of subtle tricks they use to get you to sign a contract that might not be the best deal you could get—or even the deal you thought you were getting. Here are the tricks you should look out for after the salesperson hands you over to the finance people. Drawing your attention to the wrong numberCar salespeople are forever trying to do one basic thing when you’re financing a new car: Focus on the wrong number. The number they typically want you to pay attention to is the monthly payment. They’ll ask you what your budget is, then feel you out to see how high you can actually go, then work backward from there to come up with a deal that hits that monthly number but gets them the most profit over the long term. Common tricks include the infamous Four Square, where the salesperson jots down numbers, talks fast, crosses stuff out, and guides you to see that monthly payment and nothing else. Even if you defeat the Four Square and negotiate an out-the-door price on the car and a financing deal you can live with, that monthly number can still haunt you. One trick to watch out for is a monthly number that’s just slightly off what you expected—it’s close to what you negotiated, but not exactly right. That means it’s time to go through that contract with a fine-toothed comb, because something’s been altered. They may have added fees or something else into the total price, and when it’s amortized over several years the extra payment is small and they simply hope you won’t notice. Messing with the trade-in valueIf you’re trading in a vehicle as part of your transaction, the salesperson might proudly inform you that they’re going to value that trade-in at the same amount you owe on it. Which is great—as long as it’s true. What the finance guy might do is value the trade-in at a lower amount, then roll the extra money owed into the overall principle of the loan—and since they get incentives to write loans, the bigger the better (for them). This is probably illegal in your area, but that doesn’t stop them from making an “honest mistake” sometimes. Add-ons that increase the price unexpectedlyYou’ve negotiated your deal and you feel pretty good about the price you got for the car and the terms you’re getting for the financing. Then you sit down with the finance person and suddenly the price and payments are higher—because a long list of features and options you assumed were included in the price were not, actually, included. Now you have to choose between paying more for the car you thought you were getting, or starting the process over to get less car than you want. Interest rate markupsIf you finance your car purchase through the dealership, you should still look for financing elsewhere, if only to know what the available rates are. Because dealerships often mark up their interest rates to make the deal better for themselves. They call their lender and get a rate of, say, 6% for your car deal. But when they present the financing numbers the rate is 8% because the finance folks have marked up the rate—the dealer gets to keep that extra 2% charged on the loan. Always ask if the rate in the contract is the dealer’s “buy rate” or if they’re packed on some extra points without telling you. "Yo-yo-ing" This is a lot less fun than it sounds. It works like this: You negotiate the deal and buy the car. You take the car home. You love the car. Then a few days later the dealer calls and tells you that your financing was denied, so you have to come back in and re-negotiate the deal. Often, if you inspect the paperwork the finance people handed you, you’ll find fine print that states the sale isn’t final and that the dealer has the right to cancel the sale if they need to. They’re banking on a version of the sunk-costs fallacy to drive you to negotiate against yourself and pay more for the car. All you can do to defend against this is to get outside financing and read your paperwork carefully. Look for language that allows the dealer to cancel the sale—keywords like “conditional” or “not final” are often hints about this. If you see anything you’re not certain about, ask directly—and if you don’t like the answer, walk away. Bundling multiple negotiations into oneBuying a new car isn’t one simple transaction—you’re probably doing two or three separate things in parallel. You’re trading in a car—essentially negotiating a sale price for your old vehicle; you’re negotiating a price on a new vehicle; and you’re negotiating financing terms. What finance people at dealerships love to do is bundle those negotiations into one huge, messy deal. This way, if you push back on one aspect of the deal they can just make up for it in another. For example, let’s say you decide you’re not getting enough value for your trade-in and you push to get $500 more for it. The dealer reluctantly agrees—and adjusts your financing terms to claw back that $500. The more confusing and interconnected the bundle is, the harder it is for you to figure out if you’re getting what you actually want. The only real defense is to insist on separating these negotiations so you can see clearly what each one looks like. Adding "standard" things without askingSometimes you sit down with the finance folks and suddenly the price you negotiated is higher in the paperwork—because they’ve gone ahead and added “standard” stuff like gap insurance (covering the value of your car if you total the car and your insurance doesn’t cover the remaining debt on the loan) or extended warranties. They’ll often argue that the price you negotiated is still in effect—it’s the cost of the car, not the extra services. They’ll also often imply that these are required fees of some sort instead of add-ons. Gap insurance and warranties might be a good idea—but you should be aware of their costs before you’re presented with a contract. And dealers will sometimes add these in even if you already have your own insurance—which is almost certainly going to be a better deal for you overall. View the full article

PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environments) is a widely used project management methodology mostly found in Europe and especially the United Kingdom. This structured approach to managing projects includes something called the project board. What is a project board in PRINCE2? That’s what we’ll answer first. Then we’ll explain who makes up a project board and their key responsibilities. There is a project board in PRINCE2 because it benefits the project, a topic that we’ll also get to. What Is a Project Board in PRINCE2? The project board is a group of key stakeholders who provide overall direction and governance for the project in PRINCE2. They are responsible for making high-level decisions, ensuring the project aligns with the organization’s goals and maintaining control over its progress. In PRINCE2, the project board plays a critical role in overseeing the governance and direction of the project. They make key decisions, providing strategic direction and ensuring the project remains aligned with the organization’s objectives. It consists of senior stakeholders and decision-makers who hold the ultimate authority and accountability for the project’s success. However, the project board is at a higher level than the project manager who has to plan, manage and track the work. While the project board is there to help and guide the project, first there has to be an approved project, plan, schedule and budget. For this, project management software is essential, regardless of the project management methodology used. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software flexible enough to work in any project management methodology, especially PRINCE2. It has multiple project views to plan and execute the project. Project managers can use robust Gantt charts to schedule tasks, resources and costs, including linking task dependencies to avoid costly delays, filtering for the critical path and setting a baseline to track progress in real time. Once those plans are made, they’re shared across the software. Teams can open the project view that best serves their purposes, whether that’s the visual workflow of kanban boards or the powerful task lists that show priority or add attachments and comments to better collaborate. Even the project board can stay updated on progress by using the calendar view with its monthly summary. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gantt-CTA-2025.jpgProjectManager’s Gantt chart helps plan, manage and track projects in real time. Learn more Who Makes Up the Project Board? The project board in PRINCE2 is composed of three key roles that ensure the project receives the necessary direction, support and governance. These roles provide strategic oversight, make high-level decisions and ensure the project remains aligned with business objectives and user needs. Each project board member is distinctly responsible for ensuring the project’s success. Executive The executive is the most senior person on the project board and has ultimate accountability for the project’s success. This role is responsible for ensuring that the project delivers value to the organization by meeting business objectives and justifying the investment in the project. They are responsible for the following. Ensures the project aligns with organizational goals and priorities Approves the business case and ensures the project continues to justify its existence Allocates resources and makes high-level decisions on issues such as project scope and budget Acts as the main link between the project and the senior leadership of the organization Ensures the project stays on track and can make tough decisions regarding project continuation, termination or change Senior User The senior user represents the interests of the users who will benefit from the project’s deliverables. This role is crucial in ensuring that the project’s outputs meet user needs and are deliverable within the agreed timeframe, cost and quality. They help with the following. Represents the stakeholders or user community who will use or benefit from the project’s outcomes Defines and validates the project’s requirements and ensures the project meets those needs Monitors the project’s deliverables to ensure they are acceptable to the users Works with the project manager to ensure user requirements are effectively managed throughout the project lifecycle Approves the quality standards for the project deliverables Senior Supplier The senior supplier represents the suppliers or providers of the resources, expertise and technical capability required to deliver the project. This role ensures the project is technically feasible and that the resources provided meet the required standards. They are responsible for the following. Ensures the technical quality and feasibility of the project’s deliverables Provides the necessary resources, expertise and capability to meet project requirements Supports the project manager by ensuring the project has access to the required technical and specialist skills Ensures that the suppliers or contractors involved in the project adhere to the required standards and deliver the agreed-upon products or services Helps to resolve any technical issues that arise during the project Together, the executive, senior user and senior supplier form the core of the project board, providing essential governance, decision-making and direction to ensure the project’s success. Each role has a critical function that ensures the project meets its objectives, stays within scope and delivers value to the organization and end-users. Project Board Key Responsibilities Now that we know who makes up the project board and their individual roles and responsibilities, let’s look at the project board in PRINCE2 as a whole. It holds key responsibilities for overseeing the project’s direction, ensuring it remains aligned with business goals and making high-level decisions to guide the project to successful completion. They provide strategic leadership and governance and ensure the project is appropriately resourced, managed and delivering value to the organization. Here are its core responsibilities. Project Governance The project board provides overarching governance, ensuring the project adheres to PRINCE2 principles while maintaining alignment with organizational goals. It holds accountability for the project’s success by setting clear objectives, monitoring risks and ensuring appropriate controls are in place. The board enforces structured decision-making and maintains authority over project viability, scope and progress. Governance also includes overseeing stakeholder engagement and ensuring their interests are considered throughout the project lifecycle. By maintaining visibility and enforcing accountability, the project board ensures the project remains justified and well-managed and can deliver expected outcomes within constraints such as time, cost and quality. Decision-Making Authority It also holds final decision-making authority over the project. It is responsible for approving key milestones, such as project initiation, stage transitions and project closure. When risks, issues, or changes exceed the project manager’s tolerance levels, the board makes high-level decisions to keep the project on track. The project board ensures alignment with strategic priorities and provides direction when conflicts arise. This authority also includes making go/no-go decisions at critical points, determining resource allocation and approving major changes that impact scope, cost or timeline. By maintaining control, the board ensures the project remains viable and meets business expectations. Project Assurance The project board is responsible for guaranteeing independent project assurance and verifying that processes, risks and controls are managed. While assurance roles may be delegated, the board ensures compliance with PRINCE2 principles, including business justification, learning from experience and defined roles and responsibilities. Assurance covers progress tracking, risk management and stakeholder engagement to prevent deviations from the plan. It also ensures that reports are accurate, that quality management processes are followed and that appropriate governance structures are in place. By maintaining oversight, the board safeguards the project’s integrity and ensures it is managed effectively and efficiently. Resource Management Securing adequate resources is a core responsibility of the project board. It ensures that financial, human and technical resources are available to support project execution. This includes approving funding, assigning skilled personnel and ensuring suppliers or partners meet their obligations. The board evaluates resource constraints and reallocates them when necessary to mitigate risks or address issues. Effective resource management ensures that dependencies are met, schedules remain feasible and deliverables are achieved within scope. By maintaining control over resource allocation, the board ensures the project remains viable, cost-effective and capable of delivering the intended benefits. Strategic Alignment The project board ensures that the project remains aligned with the organization’s strategic objectives. It continuously assesses whether the project’s outcomes contribute to broader business goals and provide long-term value. If changes in corporate priorities arise, the board evaluates whether the project should continue, be adjusted or be closed. This responsibility includes ensuring stakeholder expectations are managed and project outputs are relevant to business needs. By maintaining strategic alignment, the board helps prevent wasted investment in projects that no longer serve the organization and ensures that resources are directed toward initiatives that deliver maximum impact. Benefits Management The project board ensures that the project delivers tangible benefits as outlined in the business case. It reviews benefit realization plans and ensures that expected outcomes are clearly defined, measurable and achievable. Throughout the project lifecycle, the board assesses whether projected benefits remain viable and takes corrective action if necessary. After project completion, it oversees post-implementation reviews to verify whether benefits have been realized and whether further action is needed. By maintaining accountability for benefits management, the board ensures the project contributes positively to the organization and justifies the investment in its execution. Approving Key Management Products The project board is responsible for reviewing and approving critical PRINCE2 management products, ensuring they are accurate, complete and aligned with project objectives. This includes approving the business case, which justifies the project’s existence, as well as stage plans, which outline the approach for each phase. The board also reviews exception reports when project performance deviates beyond tolerance levels and makes necessary adjustments. Other key products, such as the project initiation document (PID) and end project report, require board approval to confirm alignment with business needs. By overseeing these documents, the board maintains control and ensures project success. Benefits of Establishing a Project Board Establishing a project board provides numerous benefits by ensuring effective governance, clear decision-making and strategic oversight throughout the project. With the right people in place, the project board helps align the project with organizational goals, manages risks and ensures that resources are effectively utilized, ultimately leading to successful project outcomes. Here are some key benefits of having a project board in place. Clear project governance Defined decision-making authority Improved strategic alignment Stronger risk and issue management Efficient resource allocation Enhanced stakeholder engagement Better project assurance and oversight Faster resolution of escalated issues Increased accountability and transparency Improved benefits realization Structured approval of key project documents Greater control over project viability and justification Stronger support for the project manager Reduced scope creep and uncontrolled changes Better compliance with organizational policies and standards Free Project Management Templates for PRINCE2 For those interested in more than understanding PRINCE2 but want to apply it as a project management methodology, below are some of the over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word available for download from our site. These three free templates can help when working in PRINCE2. Project Initiation Document Template Use this free project initiation document template for Word to outline the project’s objectives, scope, deliverables, role and overall plan in PRINCE2. It provides a clear, structured foundation for the project by consolidating essential information into one place, ensuring that all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the project’s purpose and approach. Business Case Template In PRINCE2, the business case is a crucial tool that helps justify a project’s viability by outlining its benefits, costs, risks and expected outcomes. Download this free business case template for Word to ensure that projects remain aligned with business objectives and continue to provide value throughout their lifecycle. Project Brief Template Download this free project brief template for Word. This is a key document in PRINCE2 that provides a high-level overview of the project before it is fully initiated. It ensures that all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the project’s purpose, scope and approach. How ProjectManager Helps Manage PRINCE2 Projects To better manage a PRINCE2 project or any project, templates are only so much help. They can help write a project initiation document, business case and project brief, but once a project has been approved it needs dynamic planning, management and tracking. Templates are static documents that aren’t made for project management, project management software is. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software with multiple project views that allow everyone on the project team and project board to do their work with the right tools. Stay Projective With Robust Resource Management No matter how well-planned a project is, it’s the resources that execute that plan. First, resources are scheduled to Gantt charts. Our software allows project managers to set the team’s availability to make it easier to assign the right person for the right job at the right time. To oversee resource allocation across all projects, visit the color-coded workload page. This shows who is overallocated or underutilized and allows project managers to balance their workload without leaving the chart. There’s also a team page that shows daily and weekly summaries of team activity, which can be filtered by progress, priority and more. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Team-Light-2554x1372-1.png Monitor Progress and More With Real-Time Dashboards and Reports Resources aren’t the only things that have to be monitored and controlled. There are costs, time, tasks, etc. For a high-level overview of key project metrics, toggle to the real-time project or portfolio dashboards. There’s no setup required. They automatically collect live data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts. For more detail, generate reports with a keystroke. There are status and portfolio reports as well as reports on variance, timesheets, workload and more. All of them can be filtered to focus on key data points or a broader view of progress to share with the project board. Even our secure timesheets help track labor costs to keep the project on budget. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Dashboard-light-mode.jpg Related PRINCE2 Content Of course, there’s more to PRINCE2 than just understanding what a project board is. For those curious about the principles, aspects, roles and processes in this project management methodology, below are a handful of links to recent articles on the subject from our blog. What Is PRINCE2? Principles, Aspects, Roles & Processes Top 15 Project Management Methodologies: An Overview What Is a Product Breakdown Structure (PBS)? How to Create a Project Initiation Document How to Create a Project Brief (Example Included) ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay up to date with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Project Board in PRINCE2: Key Roles and Responsibilities appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

The speedy progress of AI development continues to dominate headlines, but the latest story to hit the news cycle is more bad press than good press: It turns out that Google's latest Gemini 2.0 Flash image editor is rather adept at automatically removing watermarks from images. Google pushed out the experimental native image generation capabilities a few days ago, promoting its capabilities in terms of combining images and text, editing images through conversational prompts, and improving its "world understanding" to give users AI-generated pictures that are more realistic overall. As TechCrunch reports, the newly upgraded tool was quickly put to one specific and rather nefarious use: Removing watermarks from proprietary images. You can find evidence of it on Reddit and X; while the watermark removal isn't perfect—the AI is only imagining the pixels that replace what's covered by the watermark, after all—it definitely leaves you with a usable image, one free of any copyright or authorship labels. It isn't exactly ironic that an AI tool should wind up being so capable at circumventing basic copyright protections. Gemini and other generative AI models have been trained on vast amounts of copyrighted text, images, and video, often without permission or recompense—something the AI companies are reluctant to talk about, unless it's to argue that this qualifies as fair use. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Though the idea of using an AI trained on scraped copyrighted works to steal an image someone else owns is galling, there are a few caveats worth mentioning. For a start, these new Gemini tools are only available to developers for the time being, and are still labeled as experimental—no doubt Google is going to make tweaks before general users get their hands on them. It's also worth noting that other shady watermark removal tools are already all over the web, even if none of them is not quite as smart as this and other advanced AI-powered versions would likely be. Still, it highlights the nefarious ways AI tools can be deployed, even as they're being relentlessly pushed out to businesses and consumers, and underlines the need for stringent guardrails. ChatGPT and Claude AI models are two that will refuse explicit requests to remove watermarks, and no doubt Google will add the same blocks to Gemini after all the negative coverage. The limits of AI image editingAs noted above, the watermark removal capabilities of Gemini can currently only be accessed through developer-facing tools, including AI Studio and the Gemini API. However, I also wanted to give it a go using the latest models available through the Gemini Advanced tools available to anyone paying $20 a month. I took screenshots of several copyrighted and watermarked images from Shutterstock (after first sifting through all the AI-generated results the site offered me), opened and resaved it in Photoshop (after dismissing all the pop-ups asking me to try Photoshop's latest AI tools), and then let Gemini get to work. Gemini gave me a pretty good approximation of the original image. Credit: Shutterstock / Gemini Most of the time, Gemini refused to get involved with watermark removal at all—telling me it wasn't capable of editing images, or explaining that it's "essential to respect copyright laws"—but it was happy to produce variations on the originals, watermark-free, and based on its training on copyrighted material. While these variations often weren't all that much like the originals, in one case it gave me a very close copy of a composite rocket ship photo, and in another it directed me to some watermark removal tools on the web—thanks, Gemini! Of course, you can also start from scratch and just describe a watermarked image you're hoping to emulate. ChatGPT didn't really understand the watermark removal assignment. Credit: Shutterstock / ChatGPT ChatGPT, meanwhile, did accept requests to remove watermarks, but then produced something completely different (and rather odd). Image editing is already available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers, but as I've noted before, it's definitely not yet up to the level of a human Photoshop expert. The debate over copyright, fair use, and AI safety guardrails will continue, even as upgrade after upgrade makes these AI tools more advanced (even if they're not particularly useful). One issue the likes of Google and OpenAI may need to start worrying about is where they'll get fresh training data for their models, once they put all the flesh-and-blood creatives out of business. View the full article

There’s a lot of momentum around women’s sports right now, as ad spending doubled in 2024 and the largest dedicated female sports fund recently announced it has expanded from $150 million to $250 million. While these leaps and bounds are notable, more progress is needed to ensure this isn’t a fleeting moment—but rather the beginning of transformative change. Of course, more money always helps, too. “Women’s sports is skyrocketing and it’s because we are more visible, more than ever, right now,” Stef Strack, founder and CEO of Voice in Sport, said during a panel discussion at the Fast Company Grill at SXSW. “Investors are looking at women’s sports as a growth opportunity, not a charity, and that is a really key moment.” Deals flow to professional volleyball And investors are putting a lot of money behind women’s sports. League One Volleyball (LOVB), a new professional women’s league with teams in six cities, raised $160 million through investors, according to Rosie Spaulding, the league’s president, which also has a youth-to-pro ecosystem with 60 youth clubs across 23 states. What’s more, to have a brand like Adidas partner with LOVB for a multimillion-dollar, multiyear deal is a sign of change, she said. “When we first started League One Volleyball, I thought women’s sports were on the rise back in 2020,” Spaulding said. “I think now we can all say that they’re on fire.” Another “really, really awesome” development is that professional athletes are able to build a brand and benefit from sponsorship deals from more brands that are interested in partnering with women in sports, added Logan Eggleston, who plays on the LOVB Austin team in the league’s inaugural season. She’s a partner with CELSIUS, maker of energy drinks, and that’s an added benefit to making a living playing the sport she loves. “I didn’t know that professional volleyball was a thing when I was younger,” Eggleston said. “To be able to show those young athletes what they can potentially be one day, and then also provide resources and mentorship for them, is so incredible.” A long way to go But all three panelists noted that more change is needed—from the level of investment to media attention to addressing pay inequity to policy changes (and enforcement) around Title IX to an improved focus on the athlete experience. “We’ve seen a ton of momentum, but right now we still have so much more progress to make,” Strack said. “There’s a lot of discrimination built into the current system, so we have to look fundamentally at everything in the ecosystem and think about, how do we reengineer it?” Strack rattled off various stats that show that more change is needed, including: only 10% of sports sponsorship dollars go to women athletes, no women landed in the top 100 list of highest-paid athletes, and that 93% of schools at the collegiate level aren’t complying with Title IX, the federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities. “We have to think about what do we do at the grassroots level, what do we do at the professional level, and then what do we do on the federal policy side to really change things for girls and women in sports,” Strack told the audience. Even more basic changes matter, Spaulding added, like giving women’s sports prime time slots or providing uniforms that actually fit women or fan gear that’s made for women. “Yes, there’s been more media, more investment through media, through private equity, through partnerships, et cetera,” she said. “But there’s a long way to go, and it’s all in the details.” Why fan support matters And buy-in from the fans is also important, Eggleston said. “They need to show up for women’s sports, they need to learn about the sports, educate themselves on the sports, get to know the athletes, the players that they’re getting to watch.” And while equal pay would be “amazing,” Eggleston said if more female athletes become household names like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have in women’s basketball, that also moves the needle—and particularly if young boys grow up with female athletes as their favorite players. “That would be so cool to see,” said Eggleston, who said she’s already experiencing the “perfect time” to be an athlete in women’s sports. “It’s so cool to be starting a league right now when the momentum is really, really just being driven forward. And I just can’t even imagine what’s going to be happening in the next five years.” View the full article

Google faces official charges for allegedly favoring its services in search results and restricting app developers on Google Play. The post EU Charges Google With DMA Violations: What This Means appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The lender says its technology will supercharge scale, preventing a potential hiring and firing spree which doomed it after the recent refinance boom. View the full article

Quick: Send me a large file. Even today, decades after a famous comic about this exact problem, it's not necessarily simple. Messaging services don't allow truly huge files; neither do most email providers. You could stick the file in a cloud storage space, sure, but only if you're paying for enough storage space and not using that space for anything else at the moment. Isn't there some way to send a file directly, without using up any cloud space? There is. File.pizza is a web service that allows you to directly share a file from your computer with another device—no cloud storage or app needed. FilePizza isn't the only application like this. There's p2pfileshare.com and sharedrop.io, to name a couple. FilePizza stands out because of the simplicity—just share a file and copy the URL—and because it has a unique URL. The name of the application, while silly, has a crucial advantage: It's easy to remember. You can, on any computer, open a browser and type the url "file.pizza" to start sharing a file. Just drag the file onto the browser window, set a password if you want, then click Start. Credit: Justin Pot You now have a bunch of ways to share the file. There's a QR code, which is handy if you're trying to get a file onto a mobile device. There are also links you can copy and paste into a text. Credit: Justin Pot You might have noticed that I haven't blurred the QR code or the link above. There's a reason for that: These links only work as long as the computer is on and the browser window offering the file is open. Without a cloud service, it's on your device to share the file with whoever might download it. Close the tab, and the file is gone. That has downsides, obviously, but the upside is that you don't have to worry about the file being shared in the long term. This is a tool for one-time transfers. The person who opens the link will see the name of a file and a button to download it. When they click the button a direct connection is established. Credit: Justin Pot The speed of the download, obviously, is going to depend on your internet connection. If you've got a decent upload speed, though, this won't be an issue. And it works extremely well if you're on the same wifi network. Give it a shot the next time you need to send a file directly. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I started a new job about four months ago in a team of six people in a mid-sized company, and my five immediate coworkers have been nothing but nice and helpful. They answer all of my questions, take lots of time to explain stuff, include me in lunch plans, go out of their way to make sure I have the equipment I need, etc. We spend one week per month in the office and work from home the rest of the time. There is a group chat for just our team and our manager where we discuss work, but also post the occasional funny meme, talk about our weekends, just normal stuff. The thing is that I’m pretty sure there is another group chat with the same people minus our manager to which I have not been invited. This is starting to bug me a little bit, but I’m not sure if I should say something? I “know” about the other chat because during my interview, when I was given the opportunity to talk to one future coworker alone, I asked about the culture around communication and he mentioned they have group chat with the boss and one without. When I never encountered the second one once I started working, I figured that I misremembered that, but recently I had my first annual review with my boss and he made an offhanded remark like, “I know you guys have this chat where you probably talk shit about me, but I don’t care as long as the work gets done.” To which I just said something noncommittal. Some background: I’m the first new person in the team (barring temps and interns) in more than a decade. I’m also the only woman. It’s possible to share only the immediate history of a group chat, so if they wrote something weird about me early on, they could invite me without me seeing that. I don’t think the others are close friends outside of work, but they have worked together for ages and know each other well as a result. It’s not an issue of me not receiving information about career opportunities and the like. We are all established in our careers, 40 and older, and it’s a very collaborative job. It’s pretty much impossible to make oneself look good at the expense of others. In my review, our manager said that everyone told him that I’m a great addition to the team, and I’m not worried about being excluded from (male) networking opportunities because the job doesn’t work that way anyway. Their jobs are also super secure (in Europe, unionized), no reason to feel threatened by the newbie. It’s also a job that attracts introverted, slightly awkward people (I include myself in that). My coworkers have pretty niche interests they can get very intense about, that I don’t necessarily share. I think they either just write about their nerdy stuff there and haven’t invited me because they rightly assume I wouldn’t be interested anyway, or else they talk really bad shit about our manager and don’t (yet) feel safe that I wouldn’t tell him if I saw that. In both cases I’m probably better off not being in that group chat, but I’m still feeling a little weird about being excluded. How long would you wait before saying something, if at all? Do you want to be in the second group chat? If you don’t really care, I wouldn’t bother saying anything at all. It’s very likely that one of the explanation is one of these, some of which you’ve already considered: * they use it mostly for niche interests that they know or assume you don’t share * they use it to shit-talk the boss and they don’t feel comfortable adding a new person to that (I wouldn’t normally assume this is the explanation, but it’s interesting that your boss himself described it that way, and it makes me curious whether you’ve noticed an unusual level of grumbling about the boss and/or whether he might be particularly frustrating to work for) * they’re somewhat socially graceless and thus never thought about adding you * something about the chat feels particularly male to them and they assume a woman wouldn’t be interested (this potentially covers a really wide range of things, from “90% of the chat is fantasy football and, rightly or wrongly, we assume that’s not your thing” to “there’s harassment in that chat”) * they just feel closer to each other, having worked together longer (and being together on a continent that you’re not on, it sounds like?) and it’s just their friend group chat and they don’t really see it as a second work chat That said, if it’s bothering you, there’s no reason you can’t say, “Hey, is there a group chat for all of us except Frank, and can I get in on that if so?” If there’s some reason they don’t want to add you, they can say, “Oh, it’s literally all about ancient Roman military strategy and occasional falconry talk, we figured you wouldn’t be interested in it” or whatever. View the full article

The number can be tailored to suit the occasionView the full article

Technology Transformation Services (TTS), a high-tech consulting group housed within the General Services Administration (GSA), is tasked with helping agencies modernize their internal systems and public-facing websites. In the past, the group has had the resources and personnel to create innovative new solutions: for example, building Login.gov, a single sign-on system for secure access to government services, along with Cloud.gov, the government’s cloud hosting environment. But now, with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) at the helm, the group faces a rapidly shrinking headcount and mandate, says a source within the GSA. Two DOGE operatives—GSA acting administrator Stephen Ehikian and TTS director Thomas Shedd—held a “demo day” last Friday where TTS technologists demonstrated the projects they’re working on to the larger organization, says a source within the GSA who spoke on a condition of anonymity. The source says Shedd has been evangelizing to TTS staffers that “shipping and delivery” of projects is the only focus of the group, echoing a common tech industry ethos. Shedd earlier commented that he believed the deep tech talent and government experience within TTS would be very useful in bringing new efficiency to the government. Shedd, who worked as a software engineer at Tesla for eight years before joining Musk’s DOGE, told staffers that he “needs wins” to demonstrate TTS’s value to DOGE leadership, the source says. Last week Shedd held an all-hands in which he read a statement saying that DOGE still intends to cut TTS staff by at least half. TTS staffers have been forced into an uneasy “waiting for the other shoe to drop” mode, according to the GSA source. “Blanket cuts across an organization rarely lead to increased efficiency,” says Kate Green, a former U.S. Digital Service engineer. “When you cut people in large groups, institutional knowledge is lost, those left have to rethink how they work, and there’s a significant loss in trust. This isn’t a recipe for quick wins.” Meanwhile, Shedd and Ehikian have kept TTS staffers busy continually submitting project status reports. But they are not setting new agendas or redirecting the efforts of TTS’s technologists. “The only agenda they really are driving is cutting costs for the most part,” the source says. “We haven’t received any clear guidance on what the goals of the organization are supposed to be after all the cuts—or even what they can be with so many cuts past the bone to the marrow,” the GSA source says. TTS’s scope will likely narrow to a handful of statutorily required projects, including Login.gov; FedRAMP, which standardizes cloud security for federal agencies, and Cloud.gov, a hosting environment for government digital services.. But the line between essential and nonessential projects has yet to be defined or explained, the source says. “The uncertainty around the products that will remain active is making it very difficult for organizations that depend on TTS products to be able to plan,” Green says. “For instance, state governments and other agencies that use login.gov are very concerned about how the product will evolve and they have data privacy concerns.” DOGE already completely eliminated one technology group under TTS, 18F, firing about 70 people including engineers, designers, and procurement specialists. The move was announced during the early morning hours of Saturday, March 1. (DOGE didn’t respond to Fast Company’s request for comment.) The federal government struggles to adopt more efficient technologies partly because of a risk-averse culture, and partly because of layers of policies and regulations that must be satisfied. A charitable interpretation is that DOGE has in mind a “destroy to create” approach to modernizing government systems. But, based on the group’s actions so far, and on the fact that its presidential mandate expires on July 4, 2026, it seems more likely that DOGE’s real agenda is just the “destroy” part. In other words Musk is trying to do the same thing to government that he did with his takeover of Twitter. “Maybe that’s fine in private industry where the tools that you’re working with are Twitter or Tesla and the impact to the public is not as great and lives are not lost,” says Itir Cole, a U.S. Digital Service staffer who recently left the government rather than becoming part of DOGE. “But when you do this for a federal program, if it fails at any point there could be lives lost.” View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I’m no stranger to the crisping prowess of the air fryer. (Here are some of my favorite models.) The powerful convection heating mechanism reheats leftovers, blisters veggies, and roasts meats quickly and with a sizzling finish reminiscent of an actual deep fryer—sans the vat of oil. But after using the Ninja Crispi—an air fryer that comes apart for easy storage—my interest in crispy crusts has changed to something totally unexpected: dips. Making dip in an air fryer is not normal. Dips have always been a stove top thing—you cook the ingredients in a pot or pan, then you pour it all into a casserole dish. Maybe at the end you move it to the oven for a broiled cheesy crust. But things have changed for me: Now I can make a heaping container of spicy buffalo chicken dip, broil it, serve it, and store the leftovers, all in the same vessel. Ninja Crispy Air Fryer $179.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Shop Now Shop Now $179.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Why dip works in the Ninja Crispi All this can be done because the Ninja Crispi is designed to come apart. The PowerPod (Ninja's name for the handheld convection engine) lifts on and off the cooking chamber. That container is made of clear tempered glass. It's pretty enough to be used as a serving dish, and small enough to fit in the fridge with your other containers. The Crispi cooking system comes with two containers (one large and one small), so you can still cook in one while you have something stored in the other. Plus, both containers come with lids. Here's my full Ninja Crispi review. Making dip in an air fryer might seem unhinged, but there are benefits to this style of cooking. It has the minimal clean-up of one-pot cooking, but it’s cooking from the top-down instead of the bottom-up. You cook ingredients directly in the air fryer container, stopping to lift off the Ninja Crispi PowerPod to stir when needed. When the necessary ingredients are cooked, simply mix in spices and the creamiest ingredients—sour cream, yogurt, or mayonnaise. Then top with cheese and put the PowerPod back on to melt it until browned and bubbly. Your air fryer has just become a quick, efficient broiler. No need to empty the dip into a new dish—simply serve it as-is. Here are my favorite dips to make in the Crispi right now. Buffalo Chicken Dip RecipeThis dip is quick to make and almost too easy to eat. The right buffalo sauce is key, so make sure you love the one you’re using. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Ingredients: 8 ounces butterflied chicken breast ¼ teaspoon salt Pinch MSG ½ cup plain Greek yogurt 2 ounces cream cheese 2 to 4 tablespoons buffalo hot sauce (I use Hot Ones buffalo hot sauce) ⅓ cup shredded cheddar, plus more for topping 1 to 3 sliced scallion, white ends and greens separated 1. Lay the thinly sliced chicken breast onto the grate of the Ninja Crispi, sprinkle with salt and MSG. Cook the chicken on bake mode for 10 minutes, or until cooked through but not too browned. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Slide the grate out from under the chicken, and remove it. Shred the chicken with two forks directly in the Ninja Crispi container. 3. Add the yogurt, cream cheese, two tablespoons of buffalo sauce, cheddar, and the white and light green parts of the scallion. Cook it for another five minutes on bake mode. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 4. The cheeses and yogurt should be super soft. Mix everything together thoroughly and taste to see if you want more hot sauce. Spread the dip out flat and top the dip with a little more shredded cheese. Cook it for another three to five minutes on bake mode. Sprinkle the green scallion slices over the top and serve. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann French Onion Dip RecipeI never imagined being able to caramelize onions in an air fryer before, but it works in the Crispi. Don’t skip the MSG and Worcestershire sauce—they bring in the hearty umami boost that we all look for in French onion dip. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Ingredients: 2 medium onions (about 14 ounces), sliced 2 teaspoons neutral oil 1 tablespoon butter ¼ teaspoon salt 4 ounces full-fat sour cream 3 ounces plain Greek yogurt ¼ teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Pinch MSG 1. Spread out the onion slices into the small Ninja Crispi container. (Do not use the grate.) Drizzle the oil over the top along with the salt. Toss the onions a little to get them in contact with the oil, but you don’t have to be too precise about it. Break the butter up into chunks over the onions. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 2. Cook the onions for about 30 minutes on bake mode, stirring every three to five minutes. (Caramelizing onions takes time no matter how you do it.) Stir often. This step is important so the onions cook evenly. Some of the ends will still burn and that’s totally OK. It’s actually a good thing. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 3. Once the onions are softened and evenly browned, remove the PowerPod and let the caramelized onions cool for about 15 minutes. Stir in the sour cream, yogurt, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, and MSG. Serve at room temperature or cover it with the Ninja Crispi lid and put it in the fridge until chilled. Extra-Meaty Seven-Layer Dip RecipeThis dip is great for a party. If you're a guest, stop at Step 5, pack up the container with the NinjaCrispi lid, and throw the PowerPod in the car. Plug in the Pod and broil the cheese just before serving. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann Ingredients: 1 pound ground turkey (or other ground meat) ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 1 packet taco seasoning (or any another spice mix of choice) Sliced olives (I used jalepeño stuffed green olives) ½ can refried beans ½ cup sour cream (or plain greek yogurt) 2 to 3 tablespoons salsa Sliced green onions ½ cup shredded cheddar 1. I sprinkle the baking soda over the surface of the ground turkey and, with a gloved hand, mix it into the meat. This will help brown the meat and keep it tender. 2. Put the meat into the container of the Ninja Crispi without the grate. Note: In the picture I’m using the small container, but the dip almost didn’t fit by the end. I'm considering the large container for next time. On bake mode, cook the meat for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring and flipping the meat every five minutes or so. It'll look somewhat gross at first with the top browning and raw meat lurking underneath, just keep cooking it. The air fryer cooks from the top down, so flipping as you break up the meat morsels is the best way to cook it evenly. 3. When the meat looks mostly browned and nearly finished cooking through, stir in the salt and seasoning packet. Finish cooking the meat completely. Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann 4. Stir some olives into the meat. Then top the meat with more olives. Spread the refried beans over the top of the meat. Layer the sour cream on top of that, followed by a thin layer of salsa, green onions, and top it all with shredded cheddar. If using the small container, gently press the dip down so it’s below the rim of the dish. You don’t want the cheese to touch the PowerPod. 5. Cook the dip for another minute or two on the bake setting to melt the cheese, and serve with chips, crisp breads, or between two hamburger buns for a fancy sloppy joe. Why not? View the full article