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This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I manage a small independent business. We recently brought on a young new hire, “Jim.” There are usually only three of us working. Jim’s girlfriend works from home and has been coming in every day to bring him lunch. At first it was fine, but they started to be very affectionate towards one another — for example, kissing multiple times, which is extremely audible. One morning they got into a fight, and when she brought him his lunch they decided to hash their fight out in our office. They never do this in front of clients, but I finally put my foot down and asked him to not bring personal arguments into the workspace and to limit his affection with his girlfriend. His reply was that he’s a human being and he doesn’t have enough time when he gets home to work things out. His solution to the affection is that he and his girlfriend walk outside. He does not get a lunch break because he has to be on the premises due to regulations, so he is on the clock when they go outside, usually for 15-20 minutes at a time. I’m second-guessing myself since my decision to confront him didn’t get the point across. I answer this question — and two others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. Other questions I’m answering there today include: Am I wrong for rejecting a candidate because of their email address? Candidates sending additional exercises we didn’t ask for View the full article

Google expands 'Circle to Search' to its iOS apps, enhancing visual search for iPhone users. The post Google Brings Circle To Search To iPhone appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. There was a time when I would confuse the terms “Dutch oven” and “slow cooker.” I couldn’t tell you why, but it was probably because I had never really operated either of them before and these vague, old-timey titles fused together in my mind. (I envisioned a cauldron over a fire.) Well, let the record show that they’re not the same. Not only are they completely dissimilar in appearances, but they specialize in somewhat different cooking tasks. H Both cookers are known for their slow and steady cooking properties, and due to their deep shape, the Dutch oven and slow cooker are both good candidates for high-moisture foods. The biggest difference is that one is a proper electronic appliance, and one is, well, a pot. The slow cooker Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann What is it?The slow cooker is a cooking appliance that includes a lightweight (usually aluminum) housing with an electric heating element at the bottom. There’s always a heavy ceramic vessel that sits snugly into the housing and this is where the food cooks. Oh, and there’s a lid. The lid fits loosely and that seems like a mistake at first, but it’s not supposed to be tight—steam is supposed to gently escape during cooking. On the front of every slow cooker is a control panel. This might be a simple rotating dial, or it could be a whole digital display with buttons and a timer. The settings are usually high, low, keep warm, and the amount of time it’s cooking for. Here's the one I have, and it works well for me. Hamilton Beach Four-Quart Slow Cooker $46.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Shop Now Shop Now $46.99 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg When to use your slow cooker The electric heating element in the housing gently heats the ceramic interior vessel to a range just around boiling. Depending on the model, low temperature might be around 200°F and it may only go as high as 300°F. With temperatures this low and gentle, you can see why it’s called a slow cooker. Most things that go in will take over an hour to cook. That makes this appliance great for hands-off cooking where you want flavors to deepen and meld, and tough meats that would benefit from the tenderization of low, slow heat. Where the slow cooker really shines is with set-it-and-forget-it cooking and keeping foods warm for a long period of time. Since it’s not cooked on the stove and the entire heating mechanism is enclosed, the slow cooker is safe to leave on the counter unattended. (As long as you trust your cats to leave it alone. It’s a gamble for me.) The slow cooker can be a huge helper when you need to free up the stove and oven, like for Thanksgiving. I think the “keep warm” function is the biggest boon for party hosting. I’ll keep a huge tank of Swedish meatballs warm in a large slow cooker, and a small batch of mulled glögg steaming in another. Set up the slow cooker for: Bean soups Stews with tough cuts of meat Chili Meatballs in gravy Mulled wine or other hot beverages You wouldn’t use the slow cooker for anything that needs to be done quickly, or anything that requires high heat. For example, you can’t sear something in the slow cooker. It’s a better tool for boiling, steaming, or keeping moist foods and drinks warm. The Dutch oven Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann What is it?A Dutch oven is not an appliance at all. I’m willing to bet that the word “oven” in the title is what throws off most people. In the simplest terms, it’s a heavy-duty cast iron pot with a lid. There are no moving parts, no plugs, and no instruction manual. The fanciest thing about it is the enamel glaze that can come in a rainbow of colors and makes the interior somewhat non-stick. I’ve been pretty obsessed with mine this winter. My Dutch oven was a gift and it has no brand name (many of the affordable ones are just as good as the fancy ones), but if I were to buy another one it would probably be a Lodge. Lodge Six-Quart Enameled Dutch Oven $79.90 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Shop Now Shop Now $79.90 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg When to use itThe Dutch oven excels at holding onto heat for long periods of time and distributing it evenly because of its dense walls. They’re also oven-safe up to 500°F (and maybe higher, depending on the brand). That makes this pot great for anything that needs to be cooked for a long period of time, any meals that move from the stove top to the oven, or things that benefit from roasting in an enclosed space in the oven. The Dutch oven is a great vessel for frying since the thick metal retains heat better than a thin pot. You won’t have to keep messing with the flame to maintain a 350°F temperature. My favorite things to throw in Ol’ Dutchie are bread for the increased oven spring (the final rise a loaf of bread does in the oven) and soup or stew. If you’re in need of a recipe, my crispy chicken and rice recipe really shows off what the Dutch oven is capable of. Pull out the Dutch oven for: Braised meats Roasted meats Sauces or soups that simmer at a low temperature Deep frying Bread baking You wouldn’t use the Dutch oven for anything that you want to cook quickly because it takes so long for the metal to come up to temperature. Frying eggs, quick stir-fried noodle dishes, and whipping up grilled cheese sandwiches are still best done in a classic frying pan. How to choose between the twoThe next time you're making pulled pork, stew, or white bean chili, you could reach for either cooking tool. When deciding between the two I usually ask myself a few questions: Do I want to do a little work or practically no work, are there tough cuts of meat I'd like to tenderize, and how much time do I have until I want to eat? If I have a few hours or tough bits of beef to cook, I'll probably dump the ingredients in the slow cooker. If I want to eat within the hour and/or the meal has seared and simmered elements, I'll likely turn to my Dutch oven. View the full article

With a new streamlined application, it’s easier than ever to apply to Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators. Here are six reasons why you should apply to our seventh annual BWFI program. 6 reasons to apply 1. Brand exposure. Every company ranked in the top 100 or earning honoree status in a category will appear in the fall (September) issue of the magazine and on fastcompany.com. 2. Talent retention. Public recognition as a Best Workplace for Innovators honoree provides powerful third-party validation that enhances your ability to recruit and retain top talent. 3. Editorial access. Fast Company editors will review all applications; the application represents an opportunity to highlight individuals and projects that showcase your company’s innovative prowess. The insight Fast Company editors glean from judging applications informs our ongoing coverage, often leading to stories. 4. Credibility. Fast Company’s reputation for writing about innovation is unparalleled in business media. Inclusion on the Best Workplaces for Innovators list is a powerful stamp of approval of your company’s efforts. 5. Employee recognition. The program honors an Innovative Team of the Year as well as an Innovative Leader of the Year, along with finalists in each category. 6. A level playing field. Every company is unique, so the application is structured to allow your company to focus on whatever particular initiatives and programs you’ve established to cultivate innovative work across your organization. There are different categories for different size companies, as well as companies from different regions and those with a particular focus on AI, automation, and machine learning. Outstanding achievement in business innovation For more than 15 years, Fast Company has been recognizing outstanding achievement in business innovation with its annual awards programs. In addition to Best Workplaces for Innovators, Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, Innovation by Design, World Changing Ideas, Brands That Matter, and the Next Big Thing in Tech lists have celebrated thousands of organizations transforming industries and shaping society through paradigm-shifting products, insights, or services. What differentiates Best Workplaces for Innovators from existing best-places-to-work lists is that it goes beyond benefits, competitive compensation, and collegiality (mere table stakes in today’s competitive talent marketplace) to identify which companies are actively creating and sustaining the kinds of innovative cultures that many top employees value even more than money. These are the places where people can do the best work of their careers and improve the lives of hundreds, thousands, even millions of people around the world. Best Workplaces for Innovators is the most authoritative list of companies cultivating an organization-wide commitment to innovation. We hope you’ll submit your company today. For more information on applying, see the FAQs. But don’t delay—the final deadline is March 28. View the full article

Google announced it is expanding AI Overviews to show on more Google Lens results, including more novel or unique images. This is still only showing on a subset of searches, but now more than when Google first added AI Overviews to Google Lens in May of 2024. Plus, Google is also adding to its Chrome app and Google app for iOS a new Lens feature that lets you select and search whatever’s on your screen with just a simple gesture. AI Overviews and Lens. Google wrote, “now, with help from our advanced AI models, Lens can go much further and provide information on the contents of more novel or unique images. For those kinds of queries, AI Overviews will begin to appear more often in your Lens results, with no need to add a question to your visual search.” Here is what this looks like – in the example, you see some weird texture on your car and you want Google to tell you about what this might be. Google’s AI Overview says this looks like a carbon vinyl wrap for paint protection. Lens on Chrome and Google App on iOS. Now when you are on a screen in Chrome or on the Google app, you can ask Google Lens what you are looking at. You can do this by drawing, highlighting or tapping on the screen to get more details. Here is how this works: To get started on iOS in Chrome or the Google app, open the three-dot menu and select “Search Screen with Google Lens” or “Search this Screen” respectively. Then, use whatever gesture comes naturally to select what you want to search. After you make a selection, you’ll see visual matches and other kinds of helpful results. You can then tap “Add to your search” to refine by color, brand or another detail, or you can ask follow up questions to dive deeper into a topic. Here is a GIF of it in action: Why we care. With the AI Overviews using Lens for a page you are viewing, this may lead to people viewing your website and then using this feature, ultimately resulting in them leaving your site. Or it may take people off your competitor sites and on to yours. It all depends, as you can imagine. You should be aware of these new Google Search features, because they may end up helping or hurting you in the long run. View the full article

Meanwhile, home prices are set to grow 3 to 4% in 2025, a Fitch report predicts. View the full article

Five keys to success. By Jody Padar Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

Five keys to success. By Jody Padar Radical Pricing – By The Radical CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Jody Padar. View the full article

Personal touches matter. By Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

Personal touches matter. By Ed Mendlowitz Tax Season Opportunity Guide Go PRO for members-only access to more Edward Mendlowitz. View the full article

US president’s public exchange of insults with Zelenskyy forms part of rapid pivot towards RussiaView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. When building out your DIY toolkit, it can be difficult to find good quality tools at an affordable price. Milwaukee tools are known for their durability and are often used by professionals for carpentry and construction jobs, but they are outside the price range of many DIYers. If you're looking for tools, there's a great sale right now at Home Depot offering up to 50% off cordless Milwaukee sets. Driver setDrills and drivers are the essential tools of any aspiring home maintenance DIYer. The Milwaukee 18-volt impact driver set is on sale right now for $99, 50% off its regular price. The set includes an 18-volt impact driver, a 2-amp-hour battery, a charger, and a tool bag. If you need a replacement driver or just want to upgrade from using a cordless drill as a driver, this is a good deal. Milwaukee 18-volt impact driver set $99.00 at Home Depot $199.00 Save $100.00 Get Deal Get Deal $99.00 at Home Depot $199.00 Save $100.00 Battery and chargerThe Milwaukee 18-volt, 8-amp-hour battery and charger set is on sale for $149, 40% off its regular price. The set comes with the battery and the charger, allowing you to use many Milwaukee M-18 tools for up to eight hours without needing to swap out the battery. If you need extra batteries for your growing Milwaukee cordless tool collection, adding a longer-lasting option can help you level up your DIY game. Oscillating multitool setAn oscillating multitool is becoming a staple for a well-rounded tool kit because of its versatility, cutting, sanding, and buffing multiple materials. The Milwaukee 18-volt oscillating tool set is on sale for $179, 45% off its regular price. It comes with the tool, an 18-volt, 5-amp-hour battery, a charger, and a tool bag. It’s a good addition to an existing toolkit if you already have a few basics, or for a beginner who needs a multi-functional tool to try out different projects and materials. Milwaukee 18-volt oscillating tool set $179.00 at Home Depot $328.00 Save $149.00 Get Deal Get Deal $179.00 at Home Depot $328.00 Save $149.00 Tool setsA good quality set of cordless tools is a must for DIY and home maintenance enthusiasts. These Milwaukee sets can help you build out a first-time kit or replace a broken or worn-out set. The Milwaukee 18-volt 5-tool combo kit is on sale for $299, 50% off its usual price. The kit comes with a drill, an impact driver, an oscillating multi-tool, a reciprocating saw, a work light, a 1.5 CP battery, a 3 CP battery, a charger, a tool bag, a blade, and sanding attachments for the oscillating tool. CP batteries are compact versions of Milwaukee’s regular 18-volt batteries and are lighter and smaller than their counterparts. This kit has everything you need to get started on most DIY and home maintenance projects. An expanded Milwaukee 18-volt, 9-tool combo kit is on sale for $599, 45% off its regular price. The kit includes a drill, a quarter-inch impact driver, a half-inch impact wrench, a reciprocating saw, a circular saw, an oscillating tool, a cutoff grinder, a work light, a blower, a 3 CP battery, a 1.5 CP battery, a charger, and a tool bag. If you’re ready to do some carpentry or larger repair projects around the house, this tool kit is a good investment. The Milwaukee 12-volt, 5-tool cordless kit is on sale for $199, 50% off its list price. This kit includes a drill, an impact driver, a ratchet, a reciprocating saw, a work light, a CP 1.5 battery, a charger, and a tool bag. The voltage of this kit means that it’s made for smaller projects or projects where a lighter touch is needed, like installing shelving or cutting lighter, more delicate material. It’s a great beginner kit for someone just getting into DIY, or testing out their home maintenance chops. Milwaukee 12-volt, 5-tool cordless kit $199.00 at Home Depot $399.00 Save $200.00 Get Deal Get Deal $199.00 at Home Depot $399.00 Save $200.00 View the full article

New residential construction decreased 9.8% to an annualized pace of 1.37 million last month, slipping after a nearly 16% surge in December, according to government data released Wednesday. View the full article

Winson Lau has always had contingency plans. But he wasn’t prepared for data centers. Lau relies on water and electricity to operate his thriving export business in Malaysia’s Johor province, where he raises a kaleidoscope of tropical fish in rows of aquariums, including albino fish with red spots that can fetch up to $10,000 from collectors. His contingency plans in the event of an outage involve an intricate system of purifying wastewater through friendly bacteria and an alarm system to quickly switch to backup power. But these measures can’t compete with the gigantic, power-guzzling and thirsty data centers being built in Johor. The province is on track to have at least 1.6 gigawatts of data centers at any given moment from nearly nothing in 2019, making it the fastest-growing data center market in Southeast Asia, according to a report published in April. Data centers are large, windowless buildings filled with racks of computers that need lots of electricity. To prevent overheating, they rely on energy-intensive air conditioning systems using pumped water. Increasingly used by tech companies for running artificial intelligence systems, the power demand from future facilities in Malaysia may rise to over 5 gigawatts by 2035, according to researchers at Malaysia’s Kenanga Investment Bank. This is more than half of Malaysia’s entire renewable capacity in 2023. Over 95% of the energy available to Malaysia in 2022 was from fossil fuels, according to the International Energy Agency. The country is now fifth-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas globally. And with planned renewable projects, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in September that the country was “confident of a surplus of energy” to fuel large projects and keep exporting. But Lau doesn’t fancy the chances of his homegrown business competing against the foreign-funded behemoths for energy. Even without data centers, Malaysia is susceptible to power interruptions because of storms, including one that lasted 30 minutes last year and killed 300,000 fish, costing Lau over $1 million. He worries that data centers would result in longer outages. To survive, he is moving to Thailand and already scouting potential locations for a new fish farm. “Big data center is coming and there is shortage of power,” he said. “It’ll be crazy.” Costs versus benefits Malaysia is betting that potential economic growth from data centers justifies the risk. Once touted as an Asian tiger on the cusp of becoming rich, its industries shrunk in the late 1990s after the Asian financial crisis. It has since languished in the middle-income trap. Data centers, the government hopes, will modernize its economy and indirectly create thousands of high-paying jobs. But experts worry that Malaysia, and others like Vietnam, Indonesia and India vying for billion-dollar investments from tech giants, may be overstating data centers’ transformative capabilities that also come at a price: Data centers gobble up land, water and electricity while creating far fewer jobs than they promise. Most data centers provide 30 to 50 permanent jobs while the larger ones create 200 jobs at most, according to a report by the American nonprofit Good Jobs First. Add to this the rapid increase in power and water use and some experts like Sofia Scasserra, who researches digital economies at the Amsterdam-based think tank Transnational Institute, said that tech companies exploiting resources in poorer countries while extracting data from their populations to get rich is akin to “digital colonialism.” She compared data extraction to silver mining in Bolivia, which enriched colonial Spain but left nothing behind for Latin America. “They are extracting data in the same way. Data doesn’t even leave (behind) taxes,” she said. Indeed, only a small portion of Malaysia’s data center capacity is actually for Malaysian users. Through a network of submarine cables that fans out into the world, they service East Asia, China and Europe. And the data centers themselves are run by foreign companies like America’s Equinix and Microsoft as well as Chinese competitor GDS Holdings that works with tech giants like Alibaba. These data centers are also on the front lines of AI competition between the U.S. and China. Shortly before he left office, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration proposed new rules that would limit exports of advanced AI chips made by U.S. companies like Nvidia, part of a strategy to deprive China and other U.S. adversaries from gaining access to AI technology through data centers in places likes Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Although it’s unclear if the Trump administration will retain the policy, which hasn’t yet taken effect, GDS Holdings saw its stock drop more than 18% on the day of the announcement. Filling the void For now, artificial intelligence is driving the hunger for even more data centers, with tech companies seeking out bigger — and cheaper — sites worldwide as a part of a “global strategy,” said Rangu Salgame, chairman and CEO of Singapore’s Princeton Digital Group, which is building a 170-megawatt site in Johor. Data centers larger than 40 megawatt typically need land the size of seven football fields — about enough power for 36,000 American homes, according to data center service provider Stream Data Centers. That’s costly to build in rich nations like the U.S., which over time has built more data centers than any other country but where land comes at a high price. Enter Malaysia, with its inexpensive land, excess power capacity and tax incentives. The country was the fastest growing data center market in Asia Pacific in the first half of 2024, according to global real estate firm Cushman and Wakefield. This makes Malaysia the eighth-largest data center market in terms of operations and the fifth-largest behind China, India, Japan and Australia when accounting for projects already in the pipeline. Globally Malaysia ranks 14th in terms of operational capacity — still smaller than Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin — but it is on track to be among the top 10 markets in five to seven years, according to Pritesh Swamy, who heads research on data centers in Asia for the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. “We are talking about a region that really grew at a pace that nowhere in the world has seen,” Salgame said. Next door to Malaysia is Singapore, which paused the construction of new data centers in 2019. The moratorium was over concerns that the energy-guzzling infrastructure was straining the tiny country’s limited resources. In 2019, data centers consumed 7% of the total electricity in the city-state that imports both power and water while aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. They have been trying to build data centers sustainably since 2022, when the moratorium ended. In the meantime, Malaysia has stepped in to fill the void, attracting investments of over $31 billion — three times the investments for 2023 — in the first 10 months of 2024, according to research by real estate firm Knight Frank. Johor already has 22 mostly foreign data centers spanning over 21 hectares, according to the research firm Baxtel. That’s the equivalent of nearly 40 football fields, although not all of the data centers are operational. Concerns over power and water shortages The data centers that are running look anonymous from the outside. But they can be identified by the tell-tale signs of barbed wire fences, CCTV cameras and patrolling security guards. Elsewhere, a thicket of cranes and workers operating construction machinery is transforming the landscape in the sleepy province. Salgame said that he hoped data centers could accelerate clean energy growth and experts like Putra Adhiguna of the Jakarta-based think tank Energy Shift Institute agreed that this could happen, but warned that the sheer volume of unforeseen, future demand complicates the transition. “Add data centers on top of that, it just becomes much more challenging,” he said. Tropical Malaysia is warmer than the countries that were initially preferred by data centers, including Ireland, and would require more water and power for cooling, said Alex de Vries, the founder of Digiconomist, a research company studying the unintended consequences of digital trends. He said that these companies are moving to new countries after their promises of economic growth were found to be “empty.” And while new solar or wind farms can be built faster than other forms of energy, data centers need a lot of electricity from the get-go. “These big tech companies are trying to distract you from the really simple math,” he said. Malaysia acknowledges that the energy demand from data centers is “substantial” but believes that Johor’s rise as a “data center powerhouse” will make it a “key player in Southeast Asia’s digital ecosystem,” said Malaysian Investment, Trade and Industry minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz in an email. He added that Malaysia was writing efficiency guidelines for data centers and has a policy to let them buy clean energy directly from producers. But concerns are rising among residents about potential water shortages in the future — echoing the concerns of other developing countries like Chile. Malaysia, like much of Southeast Asia, is at risk of extreme weather including drought, according to a 2022 U.N. climate change report. Francis Hutchinson, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, said that Johor has faced recent disruptions and new stressors, like a growing population and water parks to boost tourism, could exacerbate the crisis. “Water, more than power, is a potential issue,” he said. AP writer Eileen Ng contributed from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Matt O’Brien in Providence, Rhode Island contributed to this report.. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. —Anirruddha Ghoshal and Vincent Thian, Associated Press View the full article

We all “scream for ice cream,” and you’ll shriek at the profit potential in a mobile ice cream business. Running an ice cream truck business is among the most sought-after food truck ideas. You have the flexibility to decide whether to operate on a set route or at events. Additionally, you can select the days you wish to operate and determine if you want to run your business seasonally. For more information about ice cream trucks, and to keep track of industry trends, check out the International Association of Ice Cream Distributors and Vendors. Additionally, stay informed about this development – Nissan introduced a prototype all-electric ice cream truck equipped with rooftop solar panels, and they have been operational on the roads in the UK for a period of time. Why You Should Start an Ice Cream Truck Business You love ice cream You have childhood memories of a neighborhood truck and want to continue the tradition You love children You want to be independent and own your own business How to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business with These Simple Steps Entrepreneurs and food trucks are a great match. Before you launch your ice cream truck business, work your way through these steps: Research Nearby Ice Cream Truck Businesses You should research these businesses as competitors. And you should research how they do business. Find out what products they sell and what’s been most popular. You can get those answers by reading through their websites and social media pages. Find Suppliers The proximity of suppliers may impact what type of frozen treat you sell. Ice cream trucks are typically large, heavy diesel-fuel trucks. In other words, you want to make trips to resupply as infrequently as possible or find a supplier who will deliver. You’ll want to set up storage freezers in your home or headquarters and resupply them as needed. Need to know: An ice cream truck is connected to a power source overnight. When fully charged, the truck can keep the ice cream frozen for 10-12 hours at a temperature of 90 degrees. This means you should ensure that your suppliers are not located too far away. Write an Ice Cream Truck Business Plan What’s your target market? Are you going to run various set routes, or are you going to focus on attending events? Or a mix of both? As part of your business plan, you’ll need a name. You’ll also need to estimate a budget, which will include a calculation of other expenses, including the cost of restocking, any labor costs, and the cost to purchase and maintain the truck. Without a well-written business plan, it’s unlikely for owners to get business loans. Establish Menus, Choose Flavors, and Set Prices There is a wide variety of delicious ice cream products available. These include hard ice cream, soft-serve ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, sundaes, pre-packaged ice cream, low-calorie options, numerous flavors, and other ice cream novelties—there’s even ice cream designed for pets. Before purchasing ice cream for your ice cream truck business, take a look at what other ice cream vendors are offering. Form a Business Entity and Register Your Business Your business name is very important. When you check with your Department of State, you may find that your name is already taken. You may also find that someone else has already claimed the web domain. Take your time with this step, and use friends and family to brainstorm a business name. The majority of ice cream truck business owners choose the Limited Liability Company LLC as the business entity. Open a Business Bank Account Open a business bank account and obtain a business credit card. POS System The majority of food truck vendors have switched to a contactless point of sale system, although you may still need a cash box. Find an Ice Cream Truck Don’t scrimp on the truck. If ice cream melts or reaches room temperature, you must discard it. Most ice cream trucks are outfitted with a deep cell battery, which is designed to be frequently drained and recharged. And the trucks will have cold plate freezers, an ice cream dipping cabinet, and soft serve machines. It’s a lot to keep cold. If you’re purchasing a used ice cream truck, ensure it is thoroughly inspected. Regardless of whether you have a used or new ice cream truck, incorporate regular preventative maintenance into your daily routine. Purchase Your Ice Cream Truck Equipment If the truck isn’t already outfitted, you’ll need the cold plate freezers, the ice cream dipping cabinet, and a soft-serve machine. You’ll also need related supplies such as ice cream cones, napkins, and serving containers. Apply for Permits and Licenses Needed for Ice Cream Trucks Start at the state level and work your way down through the county clerk’s office and local officials. Ice cream truck drivers may need special licensing and registration for their motor vehicles, depending on the vehicle’s weight. Although it’s a mobile business, you’ll need a business license. Get Insured Small business owners operating an ice cream truck business require general business insurance, which should encompass general liability insurance and commercial auto insurance. While ice cream manufacturers typically hold product liability insurance, you will also need this coverage, as you may be combining the ice cream with toppings and dips to create unique products. Prepare for a Health Inspection Each person who handles food needs Food Handling Certification. Make sure you have those records handy for the inspection by the local health department. The inspector from your local Department of Health will also want to see a schedule for cleaning and maintenance, as well as that proper steps are taken to prevent food contamination. Get Your Taxes in Order Since you’re selling a product, you’ll need to collect and report sales tax. For that, you’ll need an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Plan an Ice Cream Truck Route If you develop the right routes, your potential customers will become repeat customers. One of the best ways to do this is by using an App. Customers can use the App to see where you are and when you will arrive in their neighborhood. Consider Employing Staff Whether to employ staff or not is a major factor in how you run the business. You should choose workers who have strong customer service skills. You may only need staff for the summer season, or year-round, depending on the climate where you operate. If you have staff, you’ll need to obtain Workers Compensation Insurance. Market Your Business Are you going to offer new ice cream flavors? Make an announcement on social media accounts. Reward repeat customers by offering free ice cream after a set number of purchases. If you don’t have marketing knowledge, encourage customers to offer input. Expand Your Ice Cream Truck Business If a route isn’t performing well, don’t hesitate to make changes. Participate in events like festivals and seek feedback from your customers. Some ice cream truck vendors study school bus routes – which are good indicators of where children live. How Much Does it Cost to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business? The largest expense when starting an ice cream truck business is the vehicle itself. You should budget a minimum of $10,000 for the truck. Related ice cream truck costs include fuel, oil, tires, insurance (typically ranging from $800 to $1500 each year), and stocking the ice cream (at least $500). Business insurance will generally cost between $500 and $1200 each year. With a solid business plan, you might be able to secure a business loan. Is it Profitable to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business? Yes. During peak seasons, the typical monthly income is $5,000, based on working 20 days. This results in average annual profits of $60,000. Image: Depositphotos This article, "How to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We all “scream for ice cream,” and you’ll shriek at the profit potential in a mobile ice cream business. Running an ice cream truck business is among the most sought-after food truck ideas. You have the flexibility to decide whether to operate on a set route or at events. Additionally, you can select the days you wish to operate and determine if you want to run your business seasonally. For more information about ice cream trucks, and to keep track of industry trends, check out the International Association of Ice Cream Distributors and Vendors. Additionally, stay informed about this development – Nissan introduced a prototype all-electric ice cream truck equipped with rooftop solar panels, and they have been operational on the roads in the UK for a period of time. Why You Should Start an Ice Cream Truck Business You love ice cream You have childhood memories of a neighborhood truck and want to continue the tradition You love children You want to be independent and own your own business How to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business with These Simple Steps Entrepreneurs and food trucks are a great match. Before you launch your ice cream truck business, work your way through these steps: Research Nearby Ice Cream Truck Businesses You should research these businesses as competitors. And you should research how they do business. Find out what products they sell and what’s been most popular. You can get those answers by reading through their websites and social media pages. Find Suppliers The proximity of suppliers may impact what type of frozen treat you sell. Ice cream trucks are typically large, heavy diesel-fuel trucks. In other words, you want to make trips to resupply as infrequently as possible or find a supplier who will deliver. You’ll want to set up storage freezers in your home or headquarters and resupply them as needed. Need to know: An ice cream truck is connected to a power source overnight. When fully charged, the truck can keep the ice cream frozen for 10-12 hours at a temperature of 90 degrees. This means you should ensure that your suppliers are not located too far away. Write an Ice Cream Truck Business Plan What’s your target market? Are you going to run various set routes, or are you going to focus on attending events? Or a mix of both? As part of your business plan, you’ll need a name. You’ll also need to estimate a budget, which will include a calculation of other expenses, including the cost of restocking, any labor costs, and the cost to purchase and maintain the truck. Without a well-written business plan, it’s unlikely for owners to get business loans. Establish Menus, Choose Flavors, and Set Prices There is a wide variety of delicious ice cream products available. These include hard ice cream, soft-serve ice cream, ice cream sandwiches, sundaes, pre-packaged ice cream, low-calorie options, numerous flavors, and other ice cream novelties—there’s even ice cream designed for pets. Before purchasing ice cream for your ice cream truck business, take a look at what other ice cream vendors are offering. Form a Business Entity and Register Your Business Your business name is very important. When you check with your Department of State, you may find that your name is already taken. You may also find that someone else has already claimed the web domain. Take your time with this step, and use friends and family to brainstorm a business name. The majority of ice cream truck business owners choose the Limited Liability Company LLC as the business entity. Open a Business Bank Account Open a business bank account and obtain a business credit card. POS System The majority of food truck vendors have switched to a contactless point of sale system, although you may still need a cash box. Find an Ice Cream Truck Don’t scrimp on the truck. If ice cream melts or reaches room temperature, you must discard it. Most ice cream trucks are outfitted with a deep cell battery, which is designed to be frequently drained and recharged. And the trucks will have cold plate freezers, an ice cream dipping cabinet, and soft serve machines. It’s a lot to keep cold. If you’re purchasing a used ice cream truck, ensure it is thoroughly inspected. Regardless of whether you have a used or new ice cream truck, incorporate regular preventative maintenance into your daily routine. Purchase Your Ice Cream Truck Equipment If the truck isn’t already outfitted, you’ll need the cold plate freezers, the ice cream dipping cabinet, and a soft-serve machine. You’ll also need related supplies such as ice cream cones, napkins, and serving containers. Apply for Permits and Licenses Needed for Ice Cream Trucks Start at the state level and work your way down through the county clerk’s office and local officials. Ice cream truck drivers may need special licensing and registration for their motor vehicles, depending on the vehicle’s weight. Although it’s a mobile business, you’ll need a business license. Get Insured Small business owners operating an ice cream truck business require general business insurance, which should encompass general liability insurance and commercial auto insurance. While ice cream manufacturers typically hold product liability insurance, you will also need this coverage, as you may be combining the ice cream with toppings and dips to create unique products. Prepare for a Health Inspection Each person who handles food needs Food Handling Certification. Make sure you have those records handy for the inspection by the local health department. The inspector from your local Department of Health will also want to see a schedule for cleaning and maintenance, as well as that proper steps are taken to prevent food contamination. Get Your Taxes in Order Since you’re selling a product, you’ll need to collect and report sales tax. For that, you’ll need an Employer Identification Number (EIN). Plan an Ice Cream Truck Route If you develop the right routes, your potential customers will become repeat customers. One of the best ways to do this is by using an App. Customers can use the App to see where you are and when you will arrive in their neighborhood. Consider Employing Staff Whether to employ staff or not is a major factor in how you run the business. You should choose workers who have strong customer service skills. You may only need staff for the summer season, or year-round, depending on the climate where you operate. If you have staff, you’ll need to obtain Workers Compensation Insurance. Market Your Business Are you going to offer new ice cream flavors? Make an announcement on social media accounts. Reward repeat customers by offering free ice cream after a set number of purchases. If you don’t have marketing knowledge, encourage customers to offer input. Expand Your Ice Cream Truck Business If a route isn’t performing well, don’t hesitate to make changes. Participate in events like festivals and seek feedback from your customers. Some ice cream truck vendors study school bus routes – which are good indicators of where children live. How Much Does it Cost to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business? The largest expense when starting an ice cream truck business is the vehicle itself. You should budget a minimum of $10,000 for the truck. Related ice cream truck costs include fuel, oil, tires, insurance (typically ranging from $800 to $1500 each year), and stocking the ice cream (at least $500). Business insurance will generally cost between $500 and $1200 each year. With a solid business plan, you might be able to secure a business loan. Is it Profitable to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business? Yes. During peak seasons, the typical monthly income is $5,000, based on working 20 days. This results in average annual profits of $60,000. Image: Depositphotos This article, "How to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Here’s why that happens and what it means. Please note: correlation does not imply causation and past performance is not indicative of future results. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. I used Ahrefs…Read more ›View the full article

Does anyone else feel like generative AI has plateaued? Remember 2022, when text-to-image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E debuted? I think we all contributed to melting a glacier or two with our gleeful exploration of these platforms. Once I mastered writing prompts that resulted in images beyond the realm of "uncanny valley meets ’80s airbrush poster art"—an aesthetic AI favors—I was enamored. My prompts became consistent enough that Denver-based artist Jared David Paul asked me to collaborate to create prompts describing sculptures he’d made. The final AI-generated visuals were printed and exhibited alongside the sculptures. They were strange and imperfect, but there was an undeniably compelling relationship between the physical objects and the AI-produced images. Then, in late 2022, ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM), was publicly released. Suddenly, the future—for better or worse —had arrived. Schools banned AI, and headlines warned of doom for copywriters and novelists. With 22 years as a visual designer, art director, and animator, staying relevant is an important focus for my career. Rather than waiting for AI to make me obsolete, I dove in. I’ve found AI useful for planning a trip to Alaska, retouching images in Photoshop, rapid wireframing in Figma, and refining work documents. In 2023, I enrolled in "Artificial Creativity" at Parsons School of Design. There, I learned about the historical foundations of human creativity and how AI might succeed or fall short in replicating these traits. I have embraced AI as a tool, accepting that it could eventually mean the dissolution of my career and many others. I hold out hope that, as taxpayer bases diminish, governments will enact laws to protect workers or offer universal basic income (UBI) so we can be unemployed without becoming unhoused. Little attention is paid to workers losing their jobs, but attention will be unavoidable when no taxes are being collected. I am writing specifically about the generative AI and LLMs proliferating in the creative industries. I know very little about AI for medical or manufacturing purposes for instance and would not want to make statements that I cannot support. I believe those tools as well as the “agents” many tech companies are currently working on are indeed advancing at an impressive rate. The tools I am most familiar with are Midjourney, DALL E, ChatGPT, Claude and Adobe’s Firefly, which can be found natively in Adobe creative apps. I’ve been exploring DeepSeek. Its UI is intuitive, and it seemingly matches ChatGPT’s capabilities while being open-source, 30x cheaper to train, and 95% less resource-intensive. I’ve even gone so far as to build my own GPT. I trained an AI career coach on Machiavelli’s The Prince. War and business aren’t so different! Once the knowledge base is there, it doesn’t devolve. Unlike humans, AI won’t forget something it learned before. These technologies haven’t slipped since they were first released, but my question to you is, when using AI, are the results reliable? Recently, I asked Photoshop to remove an image background. Instead, it created a new one featuring a woman beside a robot. Illustrator fared no better when I requested vector art of a motmot bird—a well-documented species. Twenty seconds later, I received a black-and-white image of a man in a suit. This isn’t useful or quirky—it disrupts my workflow. I ended up drawing the bird myself. I probably prefer it that way. I don’t want to be replaced or see the industry flooded with "designers" who are just prompt engineers. For a presumably pro-union audience, that sentiment should resonate. I asked ChatGPT why visual AI lacks the sophistication of language models. It responded with two self congratulatory paragraphs—AI has learned ego from us too! But its key point was: "Unlike text models, which interpret language, visual AI must grasp complex elements like color harmony, spatial balance, and stylistic consistency." Replace "visual AI" with "designer," "illustrator," or "photographer" to see why we remain essential. Writers, I haven’t forgotten you. Great writing captures human depth—emotions, challenges, dreams. AI writing B2B blog copy? Fine. AI writing novels? I’ll suffer a small death. Frankly, I’m relieved AI adoption has been slower than predicted. The tech industry, true to form, pushed unfinished products to market. "Move fast and break things"—what a model! No doubt, tech CEOs and venture capitalists (hoarding supervillains) made obscene amounts of money in the process, but they may also have unintentionally provided us with a delay that will help protect jobs and incomes. AI still lacks nuanced human abilities, keeping us competitive. I’m no Luddite—AI is here to stay. Master relevant tools. Work faster but charge the same. This window won’t last forever. Call it "greedflation" compensation. If you aren’t already, get involved. Shape the conversation. Contact representatives, join the Freelancers Union, and discuss AI with your employer. We must push for protections in creative work, ensuring fair compensation for human labor. Build unique skills that differentiate you from machine-generated work. AI and humans can coexist, but we must foster a market where authenticity and originality are prioritized. Together, we can lead the way for the responsible integration of AI and create an industry where technology complements, rather than replaces, human creativity. View the full article

Does anyone else feel like generative AI has plateaued? Remember 2022, when text-to-image generators like Midjourney and DALL-E debuted? I think we all contributed to melting a glacier or two with our gleeful exploration of these platforms. Once I mastered writing prompts that resulted in images beyond the realm of "uncanny valley meets ’80s airbrush poster art"—an aesthetic AI favors—I was enamored. My prompts became consistent enough that Denver-based artist Jared David Paul asked me to collaborate to create prompts describing sculptures he’d made. The final AI-generated visuals were printed and exhibited alongside the sculptures. They were strange and imperfect, but there was an undeniably compelling relationship between the physical objects and the AI-produced images. Then, in late 2022, ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM), was publicly released. Suddenly, the future—for better or worse —had arrived. Schools banned AI, and headlines warned of doom for copywriters and novelists. With 22 years as a visual designer, art director, and animator, staying relevant is an important focus for my career. Rather than waiting for AI to make me obsolete, I dove in. I’ve found AI useful for planning a trip to Alaska, retouching images in Photoshop, rapid wireframing in Figma, and refining work documents. In 2023, I enrolled in "Artificial Creativity" at Parsons School of Design. There, I learned about the historical foundations of human creativity and how AI might succeed or fall short in replicating these traits. I have embraced AI as a tool, accepting that it could eventually mean the dissolution of my career and many others. I hold out hope that, as taxpayer bases diminish, governments will enact laws to protect workers or offer universal basic income (UBI) so we can be unemployed without becoming unhoused. Little attention is paid to workers losing their jobs, but attention will be unavoidable when no taxes are being collected. I am writing specifically about the generative AI and LLMs proliferating in the creative industries. I know very little about AI for medical or manufacturing purposes for instance and would not want to make statements that I cannot support. I believe those tools as well as the “agents” many tech companies are currently working on are indeed advancing at an impressive rate. The tools I am most familiar with are Midjourney, DALL E, ChatGPT, Claude and Adobe’s Firefly, which can be found natively in Adobe creative apps. I’ve been exploring DeepSeek. Its UI is intuitive, and it seemingly matches ChatGPT’s capabilities while being open-source, 30x cheaper to train, and 95% less resource-intensive. I’ve even gone so far as to build my own GPT. I trained an AI career coach on Machiavelli’s The Prince. War and business aren’t so different! Once the knowledge base is there, it doesn’t devolve. Unlike humans, AI won’t forget something it learned before. These technologies haven’t slipped since they were first released, but my question to you is, when using AI, are the results reliable? Recently, I asked Photoshop to remove an image background. Instead, it created a new one featuring a woman beside a robot. Illustrator fared no better when I requested vector art of a motmot bird—a well-documented species. Twenty seconds later, I received a black-and-white image of a man in a suit. This isn’t useful or quirky—it disrupts my workflow. I ended up drawing the bird myself. I probably prefer it that way. I don’t want to be replaced or see the industry flooded with "designers" who are just prompt engineers. For a presumably pro-union audience, that sentiment should resonate. I asked ChatGPT why visual AI lacks the sophistication of language models. It responded with two self congratulatory paragraphs—AI has learned ego from us too! But its key point was: "Unlike text models, which interpret language, visual AI must grasp complex elements like color harmony, spatial balance, and stylistic consistency." Replace "visual AI" with "designer," "illustrator," or "photographer" to see why we remain essential. Writers, I haven’t forgotten you. Great writing captures human depth—emotions, challenges, dreams. AI writing B2B blog copy? Fine. AI writing novels? I’ll suffer a small death. Frankly, I’m relieved AI adoption has been slower than predicted. The tech industry, true to form, pushed unfinished products to market. "Move fast and break things"—what a model! No doubt, tech CEOs and venture capitalists (hoarding supervillains) made obscene amounts of money in the process, but they may also have unintentionally provided us with a delay that will help protect jobs and incomes. AI still lacks nuanced human abilities, keeping us competitive. I’m no Luddite—AI is here to stay. Master relevant tools. Work faster but charge the same. This window won’t last forever. Call it "greedflation" compensation. If you aren’t already, get involved. Shape the conversation. Contact representatives, join the Freelancers Union, and discuss AI with your employer. We must push for protections in creative work, ensuring fair compensation for human labor. Build unique skills that differentiate you from machine-generated work. AI and humans can coexist, but we must foster a market where authenticity and originality are prioritized. Together, we can lead the way for the responsible integration of AI and create an industry where technology complements, rather than replaces, human creativity. View the full article

US tech giant says it has harnessed a new state of matter to create the basic building blocks of a quantum machineView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless earbuds are down to $54.99 (their lowest price, according to price-tracking tools) on Woot, a massive drop from their usual $179.99. This deal runs for the next three days or until stock runs out, and if you’re a Prime member, shipping is free (otherwise, you’ll have to shell out an extra $6, and shipping isn’t available to Alaska, Hawaii, or PO boxes). Additionally, they come with a two-year Sennheiser manufacturer warranty, so you're covered if anything goes wrong. Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless Earbuds $54.99 $179.99 Save $125.00 Get Deal Get Deal $54.99 $179.99 Save $125.00 Available in black, these earbuds come with four sizes of silicone ear tips for a more comfortable and snug fit. They use Bluetooth 5.2 and support multiple codecs, including AAC, AptX, and AptX Adaptive for high-fidelity playback (though LDAC is missing). Plus, their 7mm dynamic drivers push a 5Hz to 21kHz frequency range, delivering a well-balanced sound signature—the bass hits hard without distortion, and the highs remain crisp even at high volumes. The touch controls are well-designed—a single tap on the left earbud toggles transparency mode, while the right earbud handles playback. Double and triple taps manage track navigation (backward on the left, forward on the right) and voice assistants, respectively. If that doesn’t work for you, the companion app lets you customize controls. The Smart Control app also includes EQ adjustments, though the three-band EQ is somewhat basic, according to this PCMag review. Noise cancellation on the CX Plus is above average, especially for a budget-friendly pair. It does well with low-frequency sounds like plane engines, and cuts down mids and lows in crowded spaces, but higher-pitched noises reportedly leak. Battery life is rated at around eight hours per charge, with the case adding another 16 hours (your mileage may vary). And, with an IPX4 rating, they can handle sweat and light rain; if you need something more waterproof, though, the Jabra Elite 7 Pro ($154.99) might be a better choice, though it costs nearly three times as much. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I am a manager on a team where there are two managers and five individual contributors: Buffy, Cordelia, Xander, Willow, and Anya. Buffy and Willow are very good friends. They joined the team at around the same time, about two years ago. Cordelia joined the team just under a year ago and quickly got adopted by Buffy and Willow as “one of the gang.” They have similar tastes and are always lending each other books, talking about shared interests, etc. Xander has been in and out of the team, but is well integrated socially with the others. Anya joined the team straight out of college in September. She had been an intern here during college, but on a different team. She enjoyed it enough to want to come back when she was hired permanently after graduation. She said she was looking forward to joining our team because it skews young (Buffy, Cordelia, and Xander are all in their 20s and Willow is in her 40s but acts younger). Before Anya joined, Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia were vociferous about how excited they were and how they wanted her to feel like a member of the team. Unfortunately, they have certain habits that exclude Anya (for example, they all go for coffee together but Anya only drinks tea). There was also an incident a couple of months ago where Anya was catching up with an old contact from her internship days, without knowing that this contact was Cordelia’s ex-boyfriend. There was nothing inappropriate about Anya and Cordelia’s ex having a catch-up meeting, and indeed I would have encouraged Anya if I knew, because it’s good for her to have a wide network. But apparently the others found out when they saw the meeting in Anya’s Outlook and gave her a bit of a hard time, possibly insinuating that she was trying to date the ex herself (which there is no evidence of). (I have only thirdhand information about this incident and only one side of the story.) Anya has been very unhappy almost since she started, but hadn’t said anything to me or the other manager. She told someone from her previous team about it, and that person spoke to his manager, who spoke to the other manager in our team, so it’s now all come out. According to the manager in that team, Anya was very outgoing during her internship, but the other manager and I have found her reserved from day one on our team, which we just assumed was her personality. I think there may be some feedback loops going on where Anya is quiet and the others forget she’s there and don’t include her, which leads her to withdraw further. I spoke to Anya today, and she is desperately unhappy and wants to move to a different team. The other manager and I think we can address it with Buffy, Willow, and Cordelia. We think that if they knew they were making Anya feel excluded, they would change their behavior. We wouldn’t make it a disciplinary issue or anything, but more ask what they can do to change the dynamic. (We’re also agreed that if they’re told about the behavior and continue to make Anya feel excluded, that could become a disciplinary issue, but right now they seem to be completely unaware.) The difficulty is that Anya doesn’t want us to talk to the team members because she thinks it will rebound on her. I have told her that unless I identify the problem/pattern with them and ask them for help in solving it, it’s not going to magically get any better. I have also pointed out that working in a medium-sized company, she could move now only to find that later she has to work with one of the others and that will be harder if things don’t get addressed now. The other manager and I are also concerned that moving would reflect badly on Anya, particularly because new graduates in our company normally stay in their first role for two years. Anya seems paranoid that the others are gossiping about her, but aside from the ex-boyfriend incident, I think they are probably being self-absorbed, not mean. Last week, we had a work social event and Anya left early without saying much. The next morning, Cordelia contacted me to find out if I knew why Anya had left early and if she was feeling okay. So I do have evidence that team members care about Anya and want her to feel included (even if their behavior isn’t making that happen). Anya is clear that she doesn’t blame me or the other manager and acknowledges that she could have spoken to us directly and earlier. But she also wants to leave the team and get a fresh start. I have told her that even if she leaves, we probably need to address the situation with the other team members so no one is treated the way she has been treated in the future. She said she will go away and think about it, but if she doesn’t want us to speak to the other team members, can/should we do it anyway? Would it be better to let her have the fresh start (even if it looks bad to the team/other managers)? Can I help her be more resilient? I hope you didn’t promise Anya that it’s her call whether you talk to the others about what’s happening, because as the team’s manager you need to be able to talk about team dynamics that concern you, even if Anya doesn’t want you to. That said … I can’t really tell what’s going on! Are Buffy, Cordelia, Xander, and Willow being cliquish and exclusionary, or is Anya not meshing with the team for other reasons? Aside from the ex-boyfriend thing — which was really inappropriate, which I’ll say more about in a minute — it doesn’t sound like they’ve been actively exclusionary (it’s not like getting coffee together needs to exclude tea drinkers!). Maybe there’s more to it than what’s described in your letter, but based on what’s here it sounds like they’re just a pretty close group, and (a) that can be legitimately hard for a new person to break into, (b) especially if they’re not the sort who’s willing to actively jump in but rather waits to be invited, but (c) that doesn’t necessarily mean that the others did anything wrong. It might be a matter of them just needing to be more aware that because they’re so close, that’s a tough dynamic for a new person to come into, and so if they want future hires to feel welcome, they need to go out of their way to actively include them, more than they have been. And that’s a message that’s important for you to deliver, even if Anya doesn’t want you to — because it affects your team as a whole, not just her, and because it will affect other hires in the future. However, if Anya doesn’t want you to raise it, you should be sensitive to that in the way you approach it. Stress that these are your observations, not something Anya asked you to address, and ask people to prioritize not making Anya feel awkward as things move forward. (Also, you do need to address the ex-boyfriend thing if you haven’t already. There’s nothing inappropriate about Anya talking with someone from another team — and even if she started dating the ex, that’s something Cordelia and her coworkers would need to handle professionally. You need to call that out and ask them to remember that workplace rules are what apply when they’re at work, even if they might have different expectations of people in their personal lives.) Back to Anya. If she wants to leave the team, you shouldn’t stand in the way of that. You can suggest she give it a little time before deciding, to see if things change now that you’re aware of the situation, but ultimately if she’s not happy, leaving might be the right choice for her — and that’s true even if we think she should give her current team more of a chance. If it’s really true that changing jobs before two years would reflect badly on her internally, you should explain how that’s normally perceived so she has all the information and can make the right decision for herself — but she does get to decide it herself, even if you think she’s making the wrong choice. I do wonder if some of your concern is about feeling you will have failed if she leaves over this … and I do think there’s an important lesson here about paying more attention to team dynamics and how new hires are adjusting, and being more proactive about helping them become part of the team. For example, knowing that you have a close-knit team that might be hard for newcomers to break into, can you look for opportunities to connect your next new hire with people individually? Even just “Willow, could you take Anya to coffee and tell her about your experience with X?” and similar suggestions can really change people’s experience in this regard. But meanwhile, you can’t change what’s already happened and Anya gets to do what she decides is right for her. View the full article

Kentucky Fried Chicken is being uprooted from its ancestral home state in a shake-up announced Tuesday by its parent company that will relocate the chain’s U.S. corporate office to Texas. The food chain now known as KFC—launched by Colonel Harland Sanders and his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices—will be based in Plano, Texas, and about 100 KFC corporate employees will be relocated in the next six months, said Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. The relocation of KFC’s corporate office from Louisville brought a quick response from political leaders in Kentucky. “I am disappointed by this decision and believe the company’s founder would be, too,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement. “This company’s name starts with Kentucky, and it has marketed our state’s heritage and culture in the sale of its product.” Beshear, a Democrat, said he hopes Yum rethinks moving KFC employees out of Kentucky. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg also expressed disappointment with the corporate reshuffling of workers to Texas, noting that the brand “was born here and is synonymous with Kentucky.” Yum said the move is part of its broader plans to designate two brand headquarters in the U.S.—in Plano and Irvine, California. KFC and Pizza Hut will be headquartered in Plano, while Taco Bell and Habit Burger & Grill will remain based in Irvine, the company said. Yum added that 90 U.S.-based employees who have worked remotely will be asked to eventually relocate to the campus where their work occurs. Yum and the KFC Foundation will maintain corporate offices in Louisville, the company said. The governor and mayor said they were grateful those jobs are being retained in Kentucky’s largest city. “I’ve asked to meet with the Yum CEO soon and am heartened Yum will retain its corporate headquarters and 560 employees here,” Greenberg said in his statement. “I will work tirelessly with Yum’s leadership to continue growing its presence in Louisville.” Employees being shifted will receive relocation and transition support, the company said. Yum said that designating two brand headquarters is meant to foster greater collaboration among its brands and employees. “These changes position us for sustainable growth and will help us better serve our customers, employees, franchisees and shareholders,” Yum CEO David Gibbs said in a news release. Yum also announced it would provide a $1 million endowment to the University of Louisville’s College of Business to fund Yum-sponsored scholarships. And the company said KFC will continue its brand presence in Louisville with the goal of building a first-of-its-kind flagship restaurant. KFC’s ties to Kentucky run nearly a century deep. In 1930, at a service station in Corbin, Kentucky, Sanders began feeding travelers and spent the next nine years perfecting his blend of herbs and spices, as well as the basic cooking technique, KFC’s website says. And the goateed entrepreneur’s likeness is known globally, having been stamped on KFC restaurant signs and chicken buckets. There are now over 24,000 KFC outlets in more than 145 countries and territories around the world, the brand’s website says. —Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press View the full article

Overall home loan application activity fell 6.6% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, with volume resembling the frigid start to the year. View the full article

Freelancers often encounter unique challenges regarding retirement savings, primarily due to the fluctuating nature of their income. In fact, according to Statistica, on average, self-employed individuals receive an old-age pension that is only 79% of what their employed counterparts earn within OECD countries. This disparity accentuates the need for freelancers to take proactive measures to ensure financial stability in their later years. Starting early and having a solid plan are crucial to achieving long-term financial security. This article will explore essential lessons every freelancer should know about retirement savings. Start Early and Stay ConsistentOne of the most convincing reasons to start saving for retirement early is the power of compound interest. When you invest your money, not only do you earn interest on your initial principal, but you also earn interest on the interest that accumulates over time. This snowball effect can significantly enhance the growth of your savings, resulting in a much larger sum by retirement age. Delaying retirement savings can be risky; even a few years can mean less time for your investments to compound. A late start necessitates higher contributions later on, which can strain your finances, especially with unpredictable freelance income. Building consistent saving habits, irrespective of income fluctuations, is essential. Even if you can only set aside a small amount monthly, consistently prioritizing retirement savings instills a sense of financial discipline and creates a cushion for the future. Freelancers can still retire comfortably by strategically diversifying their income streams, such as through side gigs, passive income ventures, or part-time work, alongside committing to ongoing professional development for better rates. Ultimately, it’s about making a plan, sticking to it, and leveraging the incredible benefits of compound interest over time. Choose the Right Retirement AccountsFreelancers have several retirement savings options tailored to their unique circumstances, each with distinct benefits. Traditional and Roth IRAs are popular choices. A traditional IRA allows for tax-deductible contributions, while taxes are owed upon withdrawal in retirement. In contrast, a Roth IRA involves contributions made with after-tax dollars that can grow tax-free. For higher-income freelancers, a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA is advantageous. It allows contributions of up to 25% of income, with higher limits than traditional IRAs, making it ideal for those with variable earnings. Another excellent option is the solo 401(k), which combines the benefits of a traditional 401(k) with the flexibility of a self-employed plan. This plan permits both employee and employer contributions to maximize savings potential. Freelancers must stay informed about annual contribution limits and recent changes in self-employed retirement plans, as these can directly impact their savings potential. For example, the annual limit of contributions to an IRA increased from $6,500 to $7,000 in 2024. In addition, high-yield savings accounts can be an excellent option to grow your retirement wealth. While these accounts aren’t as fluid as they may seem, their high interest can be of great value for creating a robust retirement fund. Budgeting and Planning for Inconsistent IncomeWhen you're self-employed, developing a structured approach to retirement savings is essential while managing your unique income fluctuations. One effective strategy is allocating a fixed percentage of your income towards monthly retirement savings. A standard recommendation is 10-15%. To ensure consistency, consider setting up automatic transfers to your retirement account right after you receive payment for a project. This "pay yourself first" approach helps prioritize retirement savings and reduces spending temptation. While saving for retirement is critical, balancing it with building an emergency fund is equally essential. Aim to save at least three to six months' worth of living expenses in a separate account; this financial cushion will help you weather lean months without dipping into your retirement savings. Tax planning is also vital for freelancers, especially when preparing for quarterly tax payments. To avoid surprises at tax time, factor in your savings contributions when estimating your annual income. Set aside a portion of your income — typically 25-30% — for taxes, which enables you to meet your quarterly obligations without straining your budget. By implementing these strategies, you can create a comprehensive financial plan that secures your retirement while maintaining stability during income fluctuations. Avoid Mistakes and Seek GuidanceFreelancers often face various pitfalls when saving for retirement, one of which is overestimating future earnings. It is crucial to set realistic financial expectations, as income can fluctuate significantly. Relying solely on Social Security for retirement income is another common mistake; benefits are often inadequate for a comfortable lifestyle. Diversifying your income streams through freelance work, investments, and side projects can provide additional financial security. Younger generations, including millennials, should educate themselves about various investment opportunities beyond traditional stocks, such as real estate or peer-to-peer lending. Accessible financial tools like budgeting apps, retirement calculators, and investment platforms can help you track your savings and manage your finances more effectively. Additionally, seeking affordable financial advice from certified professionals or reputable online resources can provide tailored strategies to enhance your retirement plan. ConclusionAs a freelancer, taking proactive steps toward retirement savings is crucial to securing your financial future. Starting small is manageable and can lead to significant growth Over time when combined with consistent contributions. Establishing a dedicated retirement account and regularly setting aside a portion of your earnings creates a safety net that can provide stability during uncertain income periods. Remember, the earlier you begin saving, the more time compound interest has to work in your favor. Stay informed about various investment options and seek professional guidance to strengthen your retirement plan. View the full article