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Google sent out an email to advertisers yesterday about changes coming to Google Tag Manager. Specifically, Google Tag Manager will send events before loading a Google tag and Google calls this a "small change" that "will not harm measurement performance."View the full article

A new study from Columbia Journalism Review showed that AI search engines and chatbots, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Deepseek Search, Microsoft Copilot, Grok and Google's Gemini, are just wrong, way too often. I have said this time and time again, when I see an AI Answer, at this point, I just skip over it because I know I cannot trust it and this proves that.View the full article

President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last week is still making headlines, including celebrating cracking down on immigration; declaring male and female are the only two genders recognized by the U.S. government; loudly ending diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; implementing aggressive tariffs; and more. And one of the most shocking things to witness again in his address was a public display of bullying: President Trump calling Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, “Pocahontas.” It’s a nickname he has used to repeatedly mock her, once Warren shared publicly that she has Native American heritage. “Do you want to keep it going for another five years? ‘Yeah, yeah,’ you would say. Pocahontas says yes,” Trump said, in response to the Ukraine war. When asked by the media how she felt about being called Pocahontas by President Trump, Warren said: “I actually hit a nerve when I applauded the United States’s support of Ukrainian patriots. If that hits a nerve for Trump, then it’s worth sitting through the rest of that speech.” What happened to Warren is a reminder that bullying doesn’t just happen behind closed doors. Bullying can happen on a public stage. It can also happen in our workplaces, in the hallway, in meetings, and at events for all to witness and see. If you are the target of public bullying in your workplace, here are some ways to consider responding. Respond with humor In some cases, when being bullied in public, you may choose to respond with humor. This can sometimes deflect the situation, disarm and catch the bully off guard. Using humor can shift focus away from the hurtful comment that was made in the moment. “Everyone but Mita can reach those mugs,” a former colleague would tease me about my height at work, and how I couldn’t reach the mugs on the top shelf of the kitchen. They would make jabs about my height, why my lunch smelled so funny, how I spoke English so well, and a host of other bullying comments. On days that I would have the energy, I would respond with humor: My playful, fun response: I may be short, but I am packed full of fun! My embracing the bullying as a compliment response: I love being short. They usually don’t see me coming. My sarcastic response: Yes, being short is a real struggle. Somedays, I don’t know how I manage to get through the day. You can respond with humor to take control back from the situation. You can try to be playful, turn the bullying comment into a compliment, or just give a sarcastic response. And sometimes, when we don’t have the energy to respond or can’t think of the right response, this tactic might not be the right one at the moment. And if this colleague has a track record of bullying publicly, you can be prepared in the future for what you think they might say and use humor to diffuse and deflect. Let them know it’s not acceptable You can also let them know calmly and firmly that this bullying comment is not okay. By speaking up, you can be clear on your boundaries without escalating things further in the moment. You can say the following: I don’t appreciate that comment. I don’t find that funny. That’s not cool/ That’s not okay. They might come back and say, “Oh it’s just a joke,” or, “Stop being so sensitive,” or, “Wow, don’t take things so seriously” to try and shut you down again. Don’t get baited into raising your voice or getting distracted by saying something you might regret. You don’t want to respond with an unkind comment in the heat of the moment. More than likely, they may respond to make you seem like you are in the wrong for setting boundaries. They don’t want to take accountability for their actions or apologize. They want to discredit and dismiss your feelings. In return, you can say again firmly, “I don’t appreciate that comment. It’s not okay,” and remove yourself from the situation if possible, or move on to speak to another colleague. Say nothing in the moment There have been times when I was bullied in public at work where using humor or letting the individual know their behavior wasn’t acceptable wouldn’t have worked. Sometimes the individual bullying us in public can be junior or can be a peer. Other times, the individual bullying us can be more senior. Power dynamics in our workplaces can impact our ability to speak up in the moment. We can be afraid of retaliation during or after the incident and how it might impact our careers. If it feels unsafe or not productive for you to speak up in the moment, it may be best to say nothing. Staying quiet, walking away, or doing your best to remove yourself from the bully may be the best option. In my experience, bullies can thrive on attention and engagement. By not reacting, you may be indicating that you aren’t bothered by what happened. They may get bored of targeting you if they don’t see any type of response, and unfortunately move onto another target in the workplace. Ask a colleague to intervene If the bullying in public has happened before, share with a colleague you trust. Explain to them as many of the facts as you can of things that have happened before. They can be on the alert to help intervene in the future. They can be the one to say: Hey, that’s not funny. Got any better jokes? I don’t see anyone else laughing. That’s not cool, you need to stop. A colleague can also help redirect the conversation by offering “let’s talk about something else” or “let’s focus on something that’s more positive.” A colleague can also help remove you from the situation; you can walk away together or distance yourself from the bully. Finally, a colleague can go with you to HR to report and document what has been happening, especially if this behavior is persistent and harmful. It may be necessary to do this to protect yourself and others from this behavior. And having a colleague as a witness and someone to support you can make all the difference. Bullying can slowly chip away at your confidence. And when it’s public, you may feel a swirl of emotions: embarrassment, shame, anger and more. Remember that you can try to intervene on your own, and that can be a heavy burden. Ask for help and let others know what’s happening. Put a stop to public bullying not just for yourself, but for others who may be experiencing this harmful and hurtful behavior as well in our workplaces. View the full article

A new data report from Rand Fishkin at Sparktoro says that Google Search has seen 21.64% growth in searches year over year. This comes after his study that showed 1/3rd of Google searchers don't search all that much.View the full article

As the economist Milton Friedman once said, “Only a crisis—actual or perceived—produces real change.” Humanity has of course been faced with countless crises, leading to profound and often unexpected change. These crises define and differentiate generations and leave lasting impacts for years to come. In 2020, a crisis that would change everything hit the world seemingly overnight. Everyone remembers where they were the day the world shut down. Offices stood empty. Cars, previously stuck in traffic on daily commutes, sat parked in driveways. Trains and buses ran empty, if at all. The bustle of Times Square turned silent and Broadway went dark. As smog cleared from cities like Los Angeles and Mumbai, people started to see views lost for decades. Billions of meetings switched to virtual platforms. For many people across the globe, work would never be the same again. Even before COVID-19, the rapid rate of transformation in the workplace was extraordinary. In the 1970s there were typewriters, landline phones, and filing cabinets. In the ’80s, the fax machine became an office staple. Before long, some lucky people got their hands on a mobile phone. Then, the “information superhighway” arrived, and with it, email, social media, cloud storage, and collaboration software became the new normal. Desktop technology gave way to mobile working. Digital natives were the majority; digital nomads were on the rise. There were apps for everything. Flexible working and work-life balance became hot topics. But, in many ways, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a devastating period for so many people across the globe, has been remarkable. It has compressed the impact equivalent to all the changes of the previous half a century into a few short years and it has been to the great benefit of both companies and their people. The office as a digital construct With rapid advancements in technology, where work is conducted is no longer confined to a singular place. The workplace is now a digital construct. The office is on the cloud, and people are increasingly linked by technology. All the information, resources, and connectivity that billions of us need to do our jobs are distilled into a single portable device and people can now use an app to find their workplace—for the hour, the day, or the week. This shift is radically transforming how and where people work, and a company’s head office no longer has the monopoly on where work can take place. As a result, hybrid and more flexible ways of working have become more common for a significant proportion of white-collar workers, with companies enabling their employees to work across multiple locations. Stanford University Professor Nicholas Bloom’s groundbreaking research has shown that hybrid working is very profitable for firms. His compelling findings have highlighted that hybrid working has no negative effect on productivity while significantly reducing costly employee turnover. This is why some 80% of Fortune 500 companies embrace hybrid working for managers and professionals. The office isn’t dead Over the past few months, there has been a lot of news about more rigid Return-to-Office (RTO) mandates and how they’ve been gaining significant momentum amongst companies of all sizes. The trend is unmistakably taking place with companies prioritizing time for their teams to collaborate in person on a regular basis. However, where and how people work is actually far more nuanced than a binary choice between working from a traditional city center office or from home. There’s a third option: working out of a local coworking space or office, near to home, with other like-minded people. In fact, most white-collar employees are working from a combination of all three of these locations and this is evident in our network at IWG, with our centers in the heart of the suburbs and local communities showing the strongest increase in demand from across the network, while cities also continue to thrive. Better for the bottom line and better for the planet A very clear advantage of today’s hybrid revolution is a reduction in costs, for businesses and employees alike. Independent research from Global Workplace Analytics reveals that reducing their traditional property footprint by adopting hybrid working enables companies to realize average annual savings per employee of $11,000. The financial implications of more localized work are also sizable for employees. Research conducted by IWG and Development Economics has shown that workers could save as much as $30,000 per year if they switch from commuting to a city center daily to working locally four days a week. This is particularly relevant for younger, lower-paid workers facing the challenging combination of student debt and the stubbornly high cost of living. Even these wins fade into insignificance when compared with the savings that reduced commuting will make to the environmental price our planet is paying for those who are able to reduce their commutes and work closer to home. Businesses can also cut energy usage by a fifth (19%) because of the more efficient use of office space or by providing teams access to flexible workspace. Furthermore, International Workplace Group research conducted with sustainable development consultancy Arup has shown that a hybrid working model that combines a local flex space and home produces fewer carbon emissions than any other permutation of working. The study found that, in cities in both the U.S. and the U.K., the reduction in emissions brought by this model could be as high as 90% in the U.S. (Atlanta) and 80% in the U.K. (Glasgow). The productivity gains of hybrid working and tackling proximity bias The recent shift to more flexible ways of working has resulted in some instances of what academics describe as “proximity bias”. This is when business leaders and senior managers treat workers who are physically closer to them more favorably, stemming in some instances from an outdated assumption that those who work remotely are less productive than those who work from a company’s headquarters. All business leaders should remember that what your people are doing and how you’re managing them are by far the most important factors in performance and productivity. If work isn’t being carried out effectively, it’s not the fault of the location. It’s generally the fault of management not making job expectations clear or setting good KPIs. Those problems will be the same whether your teams are sitting 10 feet away from you, or a local office or even 1,000 miles away. A number of convincing studies—including those conducted by Professor Bloomm—have shown productivity increases (3% to 4%) and reduced quit rates (35%) as a hallmark of hybrid working. International Workplace Group’s own research with business leaders backs up these findings. In a recent survey of more than 500 business leaders in the U.S. and the U.K., more than 6 in 10 cite improved productivity as one of the key business benefits, while 7 in 10 CEOs highlight that employee happiness has increased through the adoption of hybrid working. Looking to the future When nearly 20 years ago, I first made a comment about the rise of hybrid and more flexible ways of working, I could have never predicted the precise forces that would bring it about. In years to come the COVID-19 pandemic will rightfully be seen as having one of the most transformative impacts on the world of work as any other event in the past 100 years. It compressed the impact equivalent to all the changes of the previous half a century into a few short years. We are now seeing companies rapidly learn how to manage dispersed workforces using the latest technology and new management techniques while improving the happiness and the work-life balance of their teams. I can safely say that the office will always play a crucial role in corporate life. Headquarters have evolved to become hubs of creativity and connection, with intentional spaces and activities to maximize collaboration. At the same time, companies are increasingly empowering their teams to stay productive by working closer to home in workspaces near where people actually live. These permanent shifts are providing incredible momentum for the flexible workspace sector. We are seeing the most rapid growth we have experienced in our 35 years of operations. All of this confirms the reality. The office isn’t dead—and never will be—it’s just moved to a much more convenient place. View the full article

Google can now show the "price at checkout" within the Google Shopping listings, both paid and organic. I am not sure if this is new, being that Google has had policies about suspending merchants who change their pricing at checkout and even allows Googlebot to add items to the cart for this reason.View the full article

Google is testing a new shopping ad format. This format expands product listings available within a store, shows the products with larger images and product details and then lets you swipe through a carousel of those items.View the full article

The company is valued more as a moonshot rather than a carmakerView the full article

Is your SEO career at risk in the era of AI? Find out how to excel and make an impression in this new SEO landscape. The post Ask An SEO: How Can You Distinguish Yourself In This Era Of AI Search Engines? appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Alphabet may have hoped that Donald Trump winning the White House would quell talk of a Google breakup, but that doesn’t seem likely. In a filing late last week, the Justice Department reiterated its suggestion that Google be forced to sell the Chrome web browser following a verdict last August that determined the company to be an illegal monopoly. That’s a setback for Google, and it could signal trouble ahead for other companies, as the government continues to take an aggressive stance on Big Tech. In some cases, that could be financial trouble. Google pays handsomely to be the default search engine for Safari, Apple’s Web browser. In 2022, Google’s revenue share payment to Apple was estimated at $20 billion. That worked out to 17.5% of the company’s operating profit that year. With that sort of money at risk, Apple asked to intervene as a defendant in the government’s case against Google last year, saying it didn’t want to lose “the ability to defend its right to reach other arrangements with Google that could benefit millions of users and Apple’s entitlement to compensation for distributing Google search to its users.” (Last month a judge denied that request.) Last week, however, the DOJ did agree to let Google pay Apple for services that were unrelated to search. The ripple effect could go well beyond finances. While Google was the only Big Tech company with a judgment against it, the Federal Trade Commission had expressed grievances against several other companies during the Biden administration. And the fact that the DOJ is not standing down on Google has executives worrying they might be next. Meta, for instance, is set to go on trial next month in a case that could see it forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. That case, originally filed by the FTC in 2020, alleges Meta overpaid for the two apps in an attempt to maintain a monopoly on personal social networks. Another judge set October 2026 as the start date for the FTC’s antitrust suit against Amazon. Apple is not immune from legal action either. The DOJ, along with 16 state and district attorneys general, sued the company last March for monopolizing the smartphone market. “This is . . . the first signal of the Trump Justice Department’s approach to antitrust litigation,” said Damian Rollison, director of market insights at AI-powered marketing solutions company SOCi. “The willingness of the Trump Justice Department to reinforce and continue prior actions against Big Tech has dangerous implications for Meta and Apple as well, given the cases they face in the next several months.” Federal officials are targeting each of these companies for something different, but there are some similar threads in the prosecutions. While Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta all operate in different parts of the technology world today, they share a common focus: artificial intelligence. “These are not firms anymore; they’re platforms,” says Ram Chellappa, professor of information systems and operations management at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. “As these platforms become bigger and their knowledge of the user increases and ownership of user data increases, they all . . . want to be the platform from which you do things. . . . Meta didn’t buy Instagram for the tech. They bought it [in 2012] for the user base, [and] their data. The future will boil down to who has the best training data for AI.” With the looming threat from the DOJ (as well as other threats made during the presidential campaign), the CEOs of major tech firms have been cozying up to Trump since he was elected. Google and Microsoft both donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. Meta did as well, and agreed to pay the president $25 million to settle a lawsuit for suspending his social accounts in 2021. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also contributed to the inauguration fund and has radically overhauled the opinion page of The Washington Post to reflect libertarian viewpoints and exclude opposing points of view (as well as killing a planned endorsement of Kamala Harris during the campaign). It’s unclear so far how effective those actions have been in shielding their companies from further scrutiny from the DOJ or FTC. View the full article

We’re only in the third month of the year and already there have been a number of bizarre food trends go viral on TikTok—from a $19 strawberry to feeding babies spoonfuls of butter. The latest is a yogurt, called Coconut Cult, that costs $39 for a 16 ounce jar. On many a for-you-page, you can find influencers incorporating a scoop of the super-live probiotic yogurt into their morning routine and instructing viewers how to properly eat it. “I’ve never looked hotter,” one user posted, adding her stomach “has never been flatter.” (Not everyone on the platform was impressed with the results, however, and some weren’t fans of the reportedly sour taste.) Available in three standard flavors (Original, Chocolate Mousse, and Harvest Strawberry) and limited, seasonal releases, Coconut Cult is not a regular yogurt you snack on. According to the California-based brand, it is meant to be consumed more like a daily probiotic supplement. The website claims that two tablespoons a day is enough to experience less bloating, more regularity, improved mood and mental health, better digestion and skin, and boosted immunity,. (The brand warns against double dipping into the same jar with a dirty spoon to avoid interfering with the live bacteria.) “This is the most probiotic-rich coconut yogurt you will find on the market in the grocery store,” one nutritionist weighed in on TikTok. The certified nutritionist, NTP, BFA, who goes by Claire The Nutritionist, did disclaim that people with certain conditions, such as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, might be best avoiding the product as it can worsen the symptoms. For the everyday yogurt enthusiast, however, the difference between this yogurt and other options, according to founder Noah Simon-Waddell, is that many yogurts are pasteurized after fermentation to be shelf-stable, despite the fact this process can reduce or eliminate live cultures. (Some manufacturers may add them back in after the process as probiotics need to be alive and active in order to do their job in creating a healthy environment in the gut.) Packaged with roughly 50 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) per ounce (plain yogurt typically contains at least 1,000,000), Coconut Cult is certainly not lacking in that department. “Fifty billion CFU per ounce is extremely high for food-based probiotics,” health creator Brooke Harter, who is currently pursuing her Masters in nutrition, told Delish. While high doses may be beneficial for some, excessive amounts could lead to digestive distress like bloating, gas, and diarrhea.” She added that research also says a lower-dose of well researched and specific probiotics is better than a higher-dose of mixed dose of strains, like those found in Coconut Cult. However, thanks to the glowing endorsements, jars of the stuff are flying off the shelves at Whole Foods and the website is experiencing shipping delays up to three weeks due to demand. Coconut Cult is reportedly producing five times as many jars as they were in 2024 to keep up with demand. “I created this yogurt as part of my healing journey, as a way to heal myself and my gut, which was really sick,” founder Simon-Waddell posted on TikTok in 2022. “I didn’t create this yogurt as some kind of genius startup business plan to sell incredibly expensive yogurt.” And at approximately $10 per 8-ounce jar (the brand’s website, thecoconutcult.com, sells 16-ounce jars for $39 with a two-jar minimum purchase), it certainly costs more than your standard Chobani. View the full article

Last September, as Hurricane Helene barreled toward the coast of Florida, Andrew Hazelton was in a plane flying into the eye of the storm. The plane was collecting crucial data to help understand the path and intensity of the hurricane—and Hazelton was simultaneously watching to see how the real-time data matched what scientific models predicted. At the time, he was working at a NOAA lab at the University of Miami; in October, he was promoted to another NOAA job focused on helping the government’s computer models of hurricanes continue to get even better. (NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is in charge of tracking, predicting, and responding to hurricanes, among many other things, from deep sea exploration to climate research.) At the end of February, Hazelton became one of hundreds of NOAA employees to lose his job through cuts pushed by DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. The team was already short-staffed, Hazelton says. Now it will be even harder to do the work. “They’re going to do their best to try to continue the mission—NOAA is very mission-focused on protecting laws and property. That’s what we want to do. But when you lose expertise, you lose people. Any one person can only do so much during the day. So fewer tests will get run, and there will be less expertise to make improvements. And it’ll degrade the forecast over time.” Andrew Hazelton As hurricane forecasts improve, that translates directly into saving lives. When Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992, causing around $27 billion in damage, most forecasts could happen only a day or two in advance of a hurricane. Now, forecasts five days in advance can be as accurate. “That has a lot of implications,” Hazelton says. “That means that the forecast ‘cone’ that people see is smaller. People who are under harm’s way can get out sooner and prepare better. But it also means that people who aren’t going to be as directly affected don’t have to close their business or close their school.” The modeling is on track to eventually provide accurate forecasts seven days in advance. That’s because of the work of scientists like Hazelton, who has a PhD in meteorology, and was part of the team helping the models continually improve. Though he was fired because he was a “probationary” employee—meaning that he’d been in his current role for less than a year—he had already been working in NOAA labs at universities for nearly a decade. Most probationary employees were in a similar position, he says, and had been working with NOAA at universities or as contractors for years, even if they were relatively early in their careers. “You’re losing people who are motivated to improve themselves and build their career, build your organization, hungry, all of those things—but also have that experience,” he says. “You’re not getting rid of people who haven’t really done anything.” NOAA is expected to potentially fire more than 1,000 additional employees. In total, that would mean losing around 15% of its staff. As a result, the U.S. will have less information about the weather at a time when climate change is making it more extreme. Hurricanes, for example, come with stronger winds, higher storm surges, and more rainfall as the planet heats up. “The lack of data is going to degrade the forecast—for all sorts of weather,” Hazelton says. “So these improvements that we’ve become accustomed to are going to be harder and harder to come by. It’s possible we could even see the forecast get worse again. That would result in more deaths and loss of property and loss of life.” The forecast improvements that we’ve come to take for granted, he says, have been the result of investments over decades. And those investments were already efficient: NOAA’s improvements in hurricane forecasting have saved an estimated $7 billion since 2009, or 20 times as much as the agency spent on its forecasting system Though the current administration has a vision of privatizing weather data, it’s worth noting that private weather companies rely heavily on sources from NOAA—a system that can’t easily be replaced. “This basic forecast and lifesaving data—watches and warnings—is something I don’t think the private sector can really replicate,” Hazelton says. “At least not easily.” View the full article

Zoho Corporation has launched Projects Plus, a new AI-powered project management platform designed to enhance efficiency and collaboration for mid-sized and enterprise organizations. The platform integrates four key Zoho applications—Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints—allowing businesses to leverage data-driven insights, streamline workflows, and facilitate collaboration in real-time. The introduction of Projects Plus follows a year of substantial growth for Zoho Projects, which saw a 20% year-over-year revenue increase in 2024. Additionally, the company reported a threefold rise in user migration from third-party project management tools, with 55% of new users transitioning from Microsoft Projects and JIRA. “Like many of our Enterprise solutions, Zoho Projects Plus was developed to deliver supreme value and meet the needs our customers had been demonstrating within our software suite, particularly between Zoho Projects and Zoho Analytics,” says Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist at Zoho. “Projects Plus synthesizes the latest AI-driven tools, data-first analytics, and privacy-focused protections into software that anticipates the evolving needs of international Enterprise organizations, expanding Zoho’s global reach.” Comprehensive AI and Data-Driven Management Zoho Projects Plus introduces a data-centric approach to project management by integrating AI-powered tools that enhance decision-making. The platform’s Predictive Analysis feature uses historical data to forecast risks, estimate timelines, and anticipate resource needs, allowing for proactive project planning. Other key capabilities include: Progress Tracking and Bottleneck Analysis – Real-time dashboards replace static tools like Gantt charts, providing up-to-date project status insights. Quality Control Analytics – Automated analytics ensure that deliverables meet predefined standards throughout the project lifecycle. Advanced AI Automation – Zoho’s AI assistant, Zia, enhances resource allocation, streamlines workflows, and enables smarter project forecasting. Industry Adoption and Business Impact Early adopters of Zoho Projects Plus have reported improved efficiency and visibility across teams. Steve Wooster, Vice President of Operations at Virtuoso, highlighted the platform’s impact on enterprise-wide project coordination. “Leveraging Zoho Projects for enterprise-wide projects has increased visibility, improved communication and coordination across divisions, and ultimately led to more successful project delivery,” Wooster says. “Now, with Projects Plus, that functionality has increased while offering ease of use. Having Projects Plus directly connect between Zoho Projects, Sprints, and Analytics reduces friction by ensuring teams maintain a full, transparent view of company priorities and the ability to customize data use by department.” Dave Smith, founder and principal analyst at InFlow Analysis, emphasizes the role of AI in redefining project management. “With Zoho Projects Plus, organizations can embrace a future where project management is not just about tracking deadlines but about leveraging AI, automation, and unified workspaces to predict, optimize, and transform outcomes,” Smith says. “By integrating hybrid project management, collaborative work management, and a powerful layer of data analytics with contextually embedded AI across all applications, Zoho is furthering its support for mid-market and Enterprise companies by redefining how teams execute seamlessly and intelligently.” Pricing and Availability Zoho Projects Plus is now available globally. In the U.S., the platform is priced at $16 per user per month, which is 27% lower than the combined cost of purchasing Projects, Sprints, WorkDrive, and Analytics separately. Regional pricing details can be found at Zoho’s official site. As Zoho continues to expand its enterprise offerings, Projects Plus marks a significant step in delivering scalable, AI-enhanced project management solutions for businesses across various industries. Images: Zoho This article, "Zoho Unveils Projects Plus, a Unified AI-Driven Project Management Platform" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Zoho Corporation has launched Projects Plus, a new AI-powered project management platform designed to enhance efficiency and collaboration for mid-sized and enterprise organizations. The platform integrates four key Zoho applications—Projects, WorkDrive, Analytics, and Sprints—allowing businesses to leverage data-driven insights, streamline workflows, and facilitate collaboration in real-time. The introduction of Projects Plus follows a year of substantial growth for Zoho Projects, which saw a 20% year-over-year revenue increase in 2024. Additionally, the company reported a threefold rise in user migration from third-party project management tools, with 55% of new users transitioning from Microsoft Projects and JIRA. “Like many of our Enterprise solutions, Zoho Projects Plus was developed to deliver supreme value and meet the needs our customers had been demonstrating within our software suite, particularly between Zoho Projects and Zoho Analytics,” says Raju Vegesna, Chief Evangelist at Zoho. “Projects Plus synthesizes the latest AI-driven tools, data-first analytics, and privacy-focused protections into software that anticipates the evolving needs of international Enterprise organizations, expanding Zoho’s global reach.” Comprehensive AI and Data-Driven Management Zoho Projects Plus introduces a data-centric approach to project management by integrating AI-powered tools that enhance decision-making. The platform’s Predictive Analysis feature uses historical data to forecast risks, estimate timelines, and anticipate resource needs, allowing for proactive project planning. Other key capabilities include: Progress Tracking and Bottleneck Analysis – Real-time dashboards replace static tools like Gantt charts, providing up-to-date project status insights. Quality Control Analytics – Automated analytics ensure that deliverables meet predefined standards throughout the project lifecycle. Advanced AI Automation – Zoho’s AI assistant, Zia, enhances resource allocation, streamlines workflows, and enables smarter project forecasting. Industry Adoption and Business Impact Early adopters of Zoho Projects Plus have reported improved efficiency and visibility across teams. Steve Wooster, Vice President of Operations at Virtuoso, highlighted the platform’s impact on enterprise-wide project coordination. “Leveraging Zoho Projects for enterprise-wide projects has increased visibility, improved communication and coordination across divisions, and ultimately led to more successful project delivery,” Wooster says. “Now, with Projects Plus, that functionality has increased while offering ease of use. Having Projects Plus directly connect between Zoho Projects, Sprints, and Analytics reduces friction by ensuring teams maintain a full, transparent view of company priorities and the ability to customize data use by department.” Dave Smith, founder and principal analyst at InFlow Analysis, emphasizes the role of AI in redefining project management. “With Zoho Projects Plus, organizations can embrace a future where project management is not just about tracking deadlines but about leveraging AI, automation, and unified workspaces to predict, optimize, and transform outcomes,” Smith says. “By integrating hybrid project management, collaborative work management, and a powerful layer of data analytics with contextually embedded AI across all applications, Zoho is furthering its support for mid-market and Enterprise companies by redefining how teams execute seamlessly and intelligently.” Pricing and Availability Zoho Projects Plus is now available globally. In the U.S., the platform is priced at $16 per user per month, which is 27% lower than the combined cost of purchasing Projects, Sprints, WorkDrive, and Analytics separately. Regional pricing details can be found at Zoho’s official site. As Zoho continues to expand its enterprise offerings, Projects Plus marks a significant step in delivering scalable, AI-enhanced project management solutions for businesses across various industries. Images: Zoho This article, "Zoho Unveils Projects Plus, a Unified AI-Driven Project Management Platform" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

For the first time in more than 40 years, a new hormone-free intrauterine device (IUD) is coming to market in the U.S.—and it’s designed with patients’ comfort in mind, both during the insertion process and once it’s in place. The new IUD, called Miudella, comes from the pharmaceutical company Sebela Women’s Health Inc. It was approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in late February, and is the second hormone-free IUD to be approved since 1984, when the copper-based option Paragard first became available. With the addition of Miudella, there will now be six IUD options available in the U.S. Not only does this advancement provide patients seeking a hormone-free IUD with more than one option, it also marks a potentially major improvement in IUD design. By reducing insertion pain and post-insertion bleeding and cramping, Miudella is addressing two potential side effects of IUD placement that many women feel have long been overlooked. A new option in an ultra-limited market According to Kelly Culwell, a board-certified OB-GYN and head of research and development at Sebela Women’s Health, bringing an IUD to market, especially in the U.S., is “a very expensive and time consuming proposition.” Because of those barriers, she says, many pharma companies simply choose not to invest as much in studying women’s health. “There really isn’t a generic IUD, and the reason for that is it’s a very time-intensive and cost-prohibitive development process, especially for companies that aren’t really putting a lot of money or time or effort into women’s health development,” Culwell explains. “A lot of the bigger pharma companies are focusing on things that could bring in a lot more money; things like oncology or neurology—so there just hasn’t been a lot of innovation [in women’s health overall].” These factors have resulted in a limited selection of IUD options in the U.S. compared to places like Europe, Culwell says—despite the fact that IUDs are considered to be one of the most effective forms of birth control, preventing pregnancy 99% of the time or more. Currently, there are four hormonal IUDs on the market (three of which were made by the same company) and one hormone-free IUD. Hormonal IUDs work by releasing a progestin hormone into the body, which thickens the cervical mucus and prevents sperm from entering the uterus. For patients who are sensitive to hormones, though, this might not be the best option. These patients may want to opt for a hormone-free IUD, which uses copper to prevent pregnancy. The metal is toxic to sperm, killing them before they can make it through the uterus. The only currently available hormone-free IUD, Paragard, has a copper wire wound around the entire T-shaped structure of the device. But there’s a major drawback to that design: Copper can initiate an uncomfortable inflammatory response in the patient, resulting in side effects like cramping and heavy bleeding. Miudella, which has been in development for about 15 years, seeks to improve on both this existing hormone-free IUD model and the construction and delivery of IUDs more generally. [Image: Sebela Women’s Health Inc.] Designing a more flexible IUD To start, Miudella’s developers wanted to find a way to decrease the amount of copper on the device in an attempt to lessen the side effects caused by the metal. In the past, Culwell says, other companies have attempted a similar strategy, but found that lowering the dose of copper reduced the IUD’s effectiveness. After extensive trial and error, the Miudella team found that placing copper strategically on three key points of the device could maintain effective pregnancy prevention rates while lowering the copper dose to less than half that of Paragard. “The Miudella has copper placed right at the bottom of the IUD, which is at the internal part of the cervix, and then at the top of the arms, which is at each of the tubal openings,” Culwell says. “You don’t necessarily need copper throughout the entire uterine cavity, you just really need copper at the key places where the sperm will be going by, to basically prevent them from making their way to the egg.” Miudella also bucks the standard material construction of IUDs. Currently, all of the IUDs on the market in the U.S. use a rigid, plastic T-frame that holds one stiff position. To account for the varying anatomies of the uterus, Miudella has swapped that plastic frame for one made of nitinol, an ultra-flexible metal alloy commonly used for procedures like cardiac stents and orthopedic implants. “Nitinol is super elastic,” Culwell says. “It has shape memory properties, so it actually can conform nicely to varying sizes and shapes of uterus. A uterus can be narrow, it can be short, it can be wide, and so having something that’s not just a rigid T allows for some conformity there.” Aiming for a less painful insertion process The nitinol frame allowed Miudella’s developers to make some changes to the actual IUD insertion process, which can be painful for some women—so much so that, in 2022, TikTok saw an outpouring of stories from women who felt that their pain during the procedure had not been properly addressed. Just last August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its first-ever recommendation that patients should actually be counseled on pain management before the procedure, as well as permitting the use of topical lidocaine during the process. To increase patient comfort, Miudella’s developers invented a new insertion tube designed for more gentle insertion. Because of nitinol’s compressive properties, the tube can be manufactured about a millimeter narrower than Paragard’s insertion tube. Additionally, while other IUD insertion tubes have a flat, blunt end, the Miudella tube comes with a tapered tip. [Photo: Sebela Women’s Health Inc.] “To have it more tapered so that it would be more comfortable for the insertion process is actually a challenge,” Culwell says. “It’s a bit difficult to create this tapered tip that you could reproduce consistently, because then you also have to be able to get the IUD out without much resistance and force. There was a lot of experimentation on getting the tip of the insertion tube to be able to be nice and tapered, but also to allow easy passage of the IUD. In fact, there’s a proprietary way that that tapered tube is designed: It has slits in the side that decrease friction during the deployment process.” Most other IUDs, due to the rigidity of their plastic frames, have to be loaded by the practitioner within five minutes of placement to hold their shape. In the case of Paragard, the device has to be manually loaded with the fingers by pushing the two arms of the IUD down into a tube—typically while the patient is actively waiting in the stirrups. The added benefit of Miudella’s unique tube and nitinol frame is that the device can be pre-loaded before it even arrives at the doctor’s office. Currently, Miudella has been approved for use up to three years, whereas Paragard is approved for up to 10. Culwell notes that the team at Sebela is in the process of studying Miudella’s effectiveness for up to eight years of use. In her own practice as an OB-GYN, Culwell says, she’s glad to see that the CDC has started to offer more guidance on pain management during IUD placement. Still, she believes that women have historically “not been listened to when it comes to pain in particular,” and that the pharma industry needs to invest more in innovating with patient comfort in mind. “We’re continuing, as a community, to do more and more research on pain management for IUD inserts,” Culwell says. “I think it lagged behind—for way too long, but there was no research done on IUD pain. So, I think continued innovation and then continued informed consent and making sure that we really offer patients pain management techniques are key, because IUDs are terrific methods for people who want them, but it can’t be torture to get them in. That shouldn’t be the trade-off.” View the full article

The builder's lending unit bought servicing and secondary market approvals that weren't part of Guild's previous acquisition of CCM's production and branding. View the full article

As the 30-year fixed-rate declined by almost 20 basis points, borrowers took advantage, boosting rate-and-term transaction volumes, Optimal Blue said. View the full article

In late February, the federal government abruptly cut funding to dozens of organizations that fight housing discrimination across the country, threatening their survival and dealing a setback to civil rights enforcement efforts in the United States, fair housing advocates say. More than 160 groups nationwide rely on federal funding to investigate and file complaints on behalf of people who think they have been denied housing because of disability, race, sex, national origin, religion, or because they have children. In some states, including California, fair housing organizations also represent people who suspect they’ve been discriminated against because they pay rent with government housing assistance, like Section 8 vouchers. “I was shocked,” said Caroline Peattie, executive director of Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California, who received notice that her organization’s grant funding had ended abruptly. Housing discrimination is illegal under the landmark Fair Housing Act of 1968. But the law has no teeth if advocates don’t have the resources to enforce it, Peattie said. The current administration appears to have targeted fair housing programs for deep cuts, despite their relatively low cost. Housing advocates worry the cuts will mean they won’t be able to pursue discrimination cases and that some fair housing groups will have to cease operating altogether. Peattie received a notice from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development that said “HUD is terminating this award because it no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.” “This affects us, and our ability to be a viable organization that can provide housing services to communities that we serve,” Peattie said. “There was no warning whatsoever.” Last month, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California was among 78 grantees that got sudden notice that they’d no longer receive funding, said Nikitra Bailey, executive vice president of the National Fair Housing Association, whose members include fair housing groups nationwide. The total cost of the canceled grants is estimated at $12.1 million, Bailey said, or less than a half-percent of Housing and Urban Development’s total $255 billion budget for fiscal 2025. A HUD spokesperson wrote in an email, “The Department is responsible for ensuring our grantees and contractors are in compliance with the President’s Executive Orders. If we determine they are not in compliance, then we are required to take action.” Trump’s executive orders have targeted programs that mention diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across the federal government. However, fair housing advocates aren’t sure how their programs conflict with the orders. The HUD spokesperson didn’t explain why the canceled grants might have violated executive orders and didn’t answer a follow-up email asking for specific examples of noncompliance on the part of the agencies whose contracts were canceled. Peattie said she had not been notified that her organization was noncompliant. Housing discrimination is especially common in cities like New York and Los Angeles where vacancy rates are low and competition for apartments is stiff. “So our concern,” Peattie said, “is that as things get tighter in the rental markets, we will start to see more cases of housing discrimination.” The budget cuts send a message, said Jasmine Perry, a home health aide in the San Francisco Bay Area, who was denied housing and filed a discrimination complaint through Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California nearly two years ago. “It gives the people who denied me the okay to keep doing what they’re doing and to do it more. It’s really sad,” Perry said. Landlords repeatedly rejected Perry’s rental applications as she searched for an apartment in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco. Perry, who is Black, suspected discrimination based on her race or because she planned to use a Section 8 rent subsidy to pay her rent. Section 8 is the nation’s largest housing assistance program for low-income people—it provides a subsidy that tenants can use in any apartment, provided rents don’t exceed limits set by local housing authorities. Perry finally obtained the voucher after 11 years on a waiting list, and she had just 90 days to use it before it expired. She turned to Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California, which investigated and found that the management of one apartment building where she was rejected welcomed applicants without subsidies while discouraging those with them. Perry won a $37,000 settlement from the building management. She said her experience with filing a discrimination complaint showed her that “I have rights. I can exercise my rights.” Bailey of the National Fair Housing Association would not say how her group would respond to the funding cuts. However, some members of the organization’s leadership are currently appealing to members of Congress to restore the funding. Even groups that have not received notices of grant cancellations are on edge. In Southern California, the Long Beach-based Fair Housing Foundation told Capital & Main in an email that its funding remained intact. Likewise, funding had not been cut at the Fair Housing Council of Orange County. But the group’s David Levy wrote, “We are still monitoring the situation as we believe we could still get a notice of cancellation.” And Levy worries about funding for the coming year. “The grant cancellations have now called into question whether the new administration will fund [fair housing] grants at all.” In an email to Capital & Main, a HUD spokesperson said, “The Department will continue to serve the American people, including those facing housing discrimination or eviction. When the Department puts out a notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) any eligible organization is invited to apply.” But the administration has given other indications that fair housing programs could be on the chopping block at Housing and Urban Development—and employees of the department are also stressed. An internal document—obtained by the American Federation of Government Employees Council 222, which represents HUD workers, and viewed by Capital & Main—shows the agency plans to slash fair housing staff positions within the agency by more than 75%. Union president Antonio Gaines said the document is unofficial, and is derived from multiple sources that have proven to be reliable in the past. In early February, a web page describing the types of discrimination covered under the Fair Housing Act disappeared from the HUD website. It was replaced with a “page not found” message but the page is currently accessible on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. “There is a perpetual state of fear, anxiety, fear of retaliation or reprisal, anxiety, every other distressful terminology that you can use can be applied to the environment,” Gaines said. —By Robin Urevich, Capital & Main This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues. View the full article

Saudi Arabia meeting comes as both Kyiv and Moscow launched attacks on each other’s territoryView the full article

Neom, the insane urban development project in Saudi Arabia, appears to be sinking faster than the giant holes they keep digging in the middle of nowhere. Increasing delays and soaring cost overruns have led to project cancellations and a general scaling back of the original vision. Now a Wall Street Journal report has uncovered an internal audit that reveals evidence of deliberate manipulation of finances by management to justify rising cost estimates to investors. The sense of impending disaster is even more shocking when you look at the only crazy structure that is now standing in Neom: an unbelievably giant palace. New satellite images obtained by Business Insider via US space company Maxar Technologies have revealed the gigantic complex, which appears to feature at least 16 buildings (plus other buildings in the property), four swimming pools, private beaches, extensive gardens, a marina, 10 helipads, and its own golf course. The palace is thought to be owned by Saudi Arabian ruler Mohammed bin Salman, and it’s only one of five palaces that will be built for the royal family in the 10,230-square-mile region known as Neom. The development of Neom is supposed to become Saudi Arabia’s transitional path from an oil economy towards one based on technology, advanced manufacturing, green energy, and tourism. It includes a 110-mile-long “vertical city” called the Line—which has since been scaled back to just over one mile—along with other futuristic settlements that will allegedly include everything from hydrogen processing plants to luxury hotels. Bin Salman chairs the boards of Neom and its sub-projects, frequently approving architectural choices seemingly impossible to build, like this giant 30-story-high chandelier conceptualized by a Marvel concept artist because, reportedly, the Prince likes The Avengers. Fraud is in the air These lavish personal palaces and flashy renderings offer a stark contrast to the financial reality of the project. Initially, its promoters were looking to attract $500 billion in public and private capital, but Neom is reportedly having a hard time getting the money. The delays and cost overruns kept mounting and, in 2024, bin Salman fired Neom’s CEO of six years, Nadhmi al-Nasr, putting in a new team tasked with turning the project around in place. Now the WSJ has uncovered an internal audit that reveals evidence of deliberate manipulation of finances by management to justify rising cost estimates. Capital expenditure for building Neom to its “end-state” by 2080 was estimated at $8.8 trillion, more than 25 times the annual Saudi budget. According to the paper, the high costs due to the remote location, ambitious design, and unrealistic projections seem insurmountable, despite executives hiding rising costs by inflating profit assumptions. The audit shows that the crown prince encouraged Neom to use the internal rate of return (IRR) to assess project profitability, leading to concerns about the project’s financial viability. Then revenue estimates were increased to cover cost overruns, leading to a higher internal rate of return. Along the way, the Neom staff suggested a few cost-cutting measures, like reducing the height of The Line, but the crown prince rejected this. He ordered to find cost savings elsewhere. And when a project manager challenged the unrealistic cost estimates, he was removed. The WSJ reports that McKinsey helped create financial models, validated projections, and served as both planner and validator, raising potential “conflicts of interest.” Despite the audit findings, a Neom spokeswoman told the WSJ that the project remains on track and is demonstrating tangible progress. On social networks and YouTube, the organization and its top brass keep posting videos claiming progress. I follow them. They always look like the same holes in the middle of nowhere. We won’t have to wait long to see if the Prince and his organization can actually realize these pharaonic visions or if they will just end digging the most expensive hole in history. The Line’s first phase is supposed to open its first half-mile section, including a stadium, in 2034. Just nine years away. That will be the year the World Cup starts in Saudi Arabia, right in that stadium. No matter if it gets finished on time or not, I’m sure bin Salman will be watching the kick off game from one of the hundred (I’m guessing given its size?) living rooms in his cozy new palace. View the full article

While the rest of the nation watched in horror, bad weather turned deadly and quickly wreaked havoc. Houses were ravaged, and tens of thousands of residents were displaced. That’s Los Angeles since the historic wildfires struck in January, destroying more than 16,000 structures and leaving thousands of people homeless. It was also western North Carolina in late September after Hurricane Helene created raging rivers that flooded some houses and swept others away. Nearly 74,000 homes in the area were damaged or destroyed, around 10,000 of which were in Buncombe County, where the city of Asheville is located. Every disaster is unique, and these two were markedly different. But from a housing perspective, they have some important similarities—and L.A. leaders can learn from what Buncombe County has already gone through in its recovery. Among other things, both regions have been hot real estate markets with ever-increasing property values that have been gradually pushing lower-income people out. Catastrophes like fires and hurricanes can, paradoxically, cause housing prices to rise over time: Supply is tighter, speculators may capitalize on newly vacant properties, and investors and residents often rebuild bigger than before. That makes it imperative to get residents into safe homes as quickly as possible, before conditions change that might make that unfeasible. From left: Before and after roof repair [Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity] Buncombe County is still in the early stages of its response; the disaster was so overwhelming that simply accounting for everyone and filing initial claims has taken months. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency has come, state legislators have allocated aid and are debating more, and federal assistance seems to be on its way, though given the Trump administration’s focus on government downsizing, it’s unclear when it will arrive or whether the amount will be even close to what’s needed. The governments of Asheville and Buncombe County have been very responsive, observers say. But what’s been truly critical is the work of community organizations, which have cooperated with one another in an unprecedented way to help thousands of renters and homeowners begin returning to their homes. “It’s been a grassroots effort of seeing what the community needs and how to respond,” says Lukas Ray, communications and engagement officer at Mountain Housing Opportunities, an affordable housing group. “It’s a collaboration: Put your head down and work together.” In some ways, the region was well-positioned for a disaster, if such a thing is possible. Weeks before the hurricane, the city had released a 100-plus-page affordable housing plan that it spent a year hammering out with local housing and social service agencies. So when the storm hit and brought mass unemployment with it, they knew just how vulnerable many of the area’s renters were, and made preventing displacement a priority. [Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity] An eviction moratorium would have been ideal, but that’s a state-level decision that officials in Raleigh failed to enact. However, more than $5 million in rental assistance has been a boon to the 1,000-plus households who received it. Some of those funds came from the city and county, but most were raised through private donations and distributed by a church. “Rental assistance was recommended [in the affordable housing plan] to prevent further displacement,” said Susan Bean, housing and transportation director at MountainTrue, a grassroots environmental group. “That made it easier—it was a need that was clear.” Another of the plan’s recommendations was to expand home repair resources for low-income homeowners, work that was already underway pre-Helene. Following COVID-19, the area’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate had aimed to streamline the work of a few home repair organizations, using bespoke software and a universal intake form. The initiative, Asheville Regional Coalition for Home Repair, or ARCHR, was on the verge of a soft rollout when the storm hit, and the coalition quickly took it live. They’ve since received more than 300 applications from low-income households. “We see a lot of roof issues—trees on roofs, wind damage, or roofs that were already in disrepair before the storm,” said Joel Johnson, home repair director at the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. ARCHR is a one-stop shop that allows each group to tackle the job it’s best at, whether that’s roof repair or access issues or water damage. And as an organized, coordinated entity, it’s better positioned to receive government funding and individual donations. [Photo: Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity] ARCHR is also part of a bigger-picture effort that’s getting underway. In the early months after the hurricane, community stakeholders talked to leaders from places like Louisiana, Florida, and eastern North Carolina that had experienced similar disasters. They recommended Buncombe County form a long-term recovery group, a collaborative body composed of key nonprofits, local governments, and community funders that includes subgroups focusing on case management, rental assistance, repairs, and construction. “This is a local way to respond to a disaster, to provide a coordinated process,” says Sarah Roth, interim director of emergency operations at United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County, which is helping lead the process. “The groups look different in every community.” Buncombe County’s long-term recovery group is still figuring out its mission and scope. Leaders are seeking a fiscal sponsor—a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that can accept funding on their behalf—so they can hit the ground running when government assistance finally arrives. In the meantime, they’re sharing real-time data with policymakers and advocating for on-the-ground needs. The housing groups are concerned that damaged or destroyed properties may be replaced by more expensive structures. In response, said David Bartholomew, an attorney with Pisgah Legal Services, “We’re all looking to make sure that when there’s opportunity, we get in there and can take advantage.” One group is already doing that. In December, the nonprofit BeLoved Asheville bought an 8-acre parcel of land in Swannanoa, one of the regions hit hardest by the storm, for $1.6 million in community donations. Its leaders plan to build a small enclave of at least 15 two- and three-bedroom houses for very-low-income people. Their purchase is timely. While Buncombe County’s real estate prices have remained stable so far, they’re likely to rise soon as the weather warms and investors begin eying vacant properties. Property values could look very different next year. L.A. housing leaders may want to take note. The speed, creativity, and collaboration could serve them well, too, as they launch a recovery effort that, as in Buncombe County’s case, is predicted to last around a decade. View the full article

The Lamborghini of baby strollers is literally a Lamborghini. Luxury carmaker Automobili Lamborghini is getting into baby gear by partnering with the British nursery brand Silver Cross for a limited-edition stroller called the Reef AL Arancio. Just 500 of the strollers will be made and each comes with a numbered edition plaque. Silver Cross calls it a “super stroller,” and it retails for about $5,000. [Image: Silver Cross] The stroller’s design borrows from the Lamborghini’s foundations, Silver Cross says, with an automotive-inspired brake pedal, hand-finished handlebar, and high-performance suede with Italian leather details. It comes with a high-gloss polycarbonate carry cot, full suspension wheels, and a cup holder. Lamborghini badging uses the Italian company’s script wordmark, and its bull-and-shield logo is incorporated throughout. The design process for the Reef AL Arancio took more than two years and included meetings with the Automobile Lamborghini design and licensing teams and visits to Lamborghini showrooms to draw inspiration. The finished product is designed “to mirror the intricacy and faceted nature of the vehicles,” Silver Cross says. [Image: Silver Cross] While babies aren’t impressed by luxury brands, their parents increasingly are. High-end baby gear like smart cribs, electronic bottle warmers, and pricey strollers have proliferated as fertility rates have fallen and the age of first-time mothers has risen. With parents having fewer children at older ages, they have more to splurge on their kids; some, apparently, are even willing to drop $5,000 for a one-of-500 stroller. In 2020, Bentley Motors announced its own officially licensed kids bicycle and stroller tricycle brand called Bentley Trike, created in collaboration with Posh Baby & Kids. With the Lamborghini stroller, now your baby can travel in style with luxury car-branded gear all the way from the crib until the training wheels come off. View the full article

A bartender makes a Brandy Alexander, pouring equal parts of a Courvoisier V.S.O.P brandy, Marie Brizard crème de cacao, and fresh cream. He shakes it with ice, strains through a fine mesh strainer, and finishes it off with a neat pile of freshly-grated nutmeg. This imagery may seem to be out of a bartending documentary, but it’s actually a scene from an anime series, Bartender: Glass of God. It’s this unavoidable, radical attention to detail in the animation itself that tells the story of a Japanese way of life–putting extreme care into one’s craft. During scenes inside the bar, the liquor wall features an elaborate selection of spirits, the labels of which are meticulously drawn. They include Maker’s Mark bourbon, Roku gin, and Laphroaig scotch, all of which fall under the portfolio of Suntory Global Spirits, which provided “production support” for the show. The show’s ability to combine real-life liquor brands with attention to detail helps it pull off a focus on craft that isn’t often seen outside of live-action documentary. The series portrays bartending as an empirical trade through the experience of each viewer watching on a screen. Not everyone watching will be a bartender nor will they each absorb every single nuance incorporated into the anime. But the care in the crafts of animation and bartending that Nakazawa meshed together with Suntory and other partners reveal a comprehensive and respectful illustration of the power of a cocktail. A reboot with emphasis on details—and brands Bartender originated as a Japanese manga, or graphic novel, in 2004 to then be turned into an anime series in 2006. Last year, anime studio Liber released a 12-episode revival, with streamer Crunchyroll releasing episodes dubbed in English from July through October. Creatives behind the reboot said the goal was to be as accurate as possible with cocktails and vibes. “We focused on creating an authentic bar ambiance that viewers could experience through anime, ensuring the movements and atmosphere retained a sense of realism,” says Takaaki Nakazawa, the series’ lead producer. [Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] Nakazawa and his team pulled this off by consulting renowned Japanese bartenders Akihiro Sakoh of Sakoh Bar in Tokyo’s Shibuya district and Noriyuki Iguchi of Bar Gaslight in Tokyo’s Ginza district. “Before production, we interviewed them and filmed their actions—cocktail-making techniques and handling bottles—which the animation team studied closely to replicate the movements,” Nakazawa says. “They also prepared all the cocktails featured in the entire anime series.” [Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] Suntory’s involvement is integrated throughout the series—mostly contained to brands behind the bar—but the anime also takes its protagonist, Ryu, to the Suntory Whisky Yamazaki Distillery in Osaka, Japan. It looks precisely in the anime the way it looks on Google Maps street view, down to the shrubbery. “Every glass of whisky is a coalescence of memories–like history, distilled,” Ryu says to his friends outside the distillery. “And even if our guests know nothing about that history, isn’t it better that we know the meaning contained within each glass, so we can serve something that transcends flavor alone?” [Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] This statement sums up the overall message of Bartender, which highlights the longing to feel empowered through human connection. Creating these scenes, with all of the partnerships involved in settings where the Suntory brand is so prominently placed, gives the viewers a sense that they can too feel that sense of empowerment when sipping on its products. Focus on craft Nakazawa has been a huge fan of the original Bartender manga and felt emboldened to reimagine it, borrowing some plot lines but catering it to a new generation. “When a customer visits a bar, they don’t perceive everything in a straightforward way,” he says. “Their perception changes depending on their individual circumstances.” “It’s not what a typical, you know, Western audience would think of immediately,” says Crunchyroll CCO Asa Suehira. “We want to showcase anime more than just entertainment, but an art form that bridges cultures and tells a universal story.” Crunchyroll currently has 15 million subscribers, most of whom are in North America, but the service has been working to expand globally, including into Southeast Asia and India. [Image: © Araki Joh, Kenji Nagatomo/Shueisha, Bar hoppers] From an American perspective, the narrative may come across as cliché and over-exaggerated, but hospitality as an art form is taken more seriously in Japanese culture. The anime takes that reverence for craft and applies to a profession most American viewers might not think about much. “When you have an excellent bartender, they’re able to connect with a lot of people,” says Chris Leavitt, a Las Vegas bartender and cocktail content creator. “That aspect was on par with what I experience as a bartender myself. It’s so important for someone who mans a bar to understand that’s the priority over everything.” Neither Toho nor Crunchyroll commented on sponsorships other than Suntory. But dozens of other liquor brands, like Beefeater gin, Dolin vermouth and Heering cherry liqueur, are heavily featured in the show too despite not being Suntory brands. Leavitt commends the precise attention given to the animation, from the style in which Ryu holds his bar spoon through his fingers, to the motion of his Japanese hard shake, both in close-ups and wide shots. “That’s exactly how these bartenders operate,” he says. “Nothing was inaccurate. Every drink recipe was on point.” View the full article

Nearly 100 years ago, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and Harland Bartholomew designed a master plan for the city of Los Angeles, drawing a ring around the river at its heart. The plan addressed their concern about the rapid urbanization of cities in the West, which was frequently pushing nature to the outskirts. By centering the river and allowing it to move freely amid fields and wetlands, the planners envisioned a public green space where distant neighborhoods could come together as one. But the plan was quickly dismissed as out of step with the industrialist vision of the 1920s and ’30s. Then, in 1938, after a devastating flood, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to build concrete channels that separated the river from its ecosystem and continue to confine it today. Copies of the original plan still exist, one of which sits in the Los Angeles Public Library, where it fell into the hands of the artist and video game designer Alice Bucknell. A still from The Alluvials [Image: courtesy Alice Bucknell] For Bucknell, the plan served as an essential bridge to the past, and it laid the groundwork for their visionary project, The Alluvials, a computer-generated, speculative fiction world, accessible through both a film and a video game. The Alluvials, which reimagines L.A. through the lens of water and the natural world, brings the lost dream of the Olmsted-Bartholomew plan to life—remixed as a private development known as Next LA, where the river has been transformed into a teeming wetland filled with iridescent beams of light. A series of ethereal voices guide the audience through a climate-stricken Western water system, from the dried-up basin of the Hoover Dam to the fire-torn Malibu coast. Like the plan that inspired it, The Alluvials issues a warning about where society is heading. In the midst of its eco-surrealist imagery, Bucknell offers a stark picture of the future: a deserted downtown, near-total drought, and corporate control over the remaining water resources. But by infusing this dystopian landscape with alternative histories, from the Olmsted-Bartholomew report to an Indigenous sacred site, Bucknell presents a compelling vision of what Los Angeles might have been and what it could still be. The film version of The Alluvials is divided into seven chapters, and the video game contains interactive versions of four of them. The film opens with aerial shots peering down into the city, which has become half desert, then cuts rhythmically through the region’s aquatic ecosystems, each rendered in the digital universe with a neon tech-noir aesthetic. Along the way, viewers meet a cast of familiar characters: the celebrity mountain lion P-22; the Lassen pack of gray wolves from Northern California; and El Aliso, a sycamore tree that once served as a meeting place for leaders of the Kizh-Gabrieleño Tribe, the original occupants of the Los Angeles River Basin. Bucknell was walking the streets of downtown L.A., a few blocks from the design school SCI-Arc, where they teach, when they stumbled upon the plaque for El Aliso. The memorial was created by members of the tribe in 2015 to honor the tree, which had long served as a place of worship and gathering. Set into concrete by Highway 101, however, the story all but disappears—making it precisely the kind of the history that Bucknell felt was important to center in their work. In The Alluvials, El Aliso grows tall in the reforested earth of Next LA. The sycamore tells its own story to players: how it lived for more than 400 years, witnessing waves of colonization and shading lush wineries before it was felled to make way for commercial development. In front of the tree, the memorial plaque hangs, embossed as an enormous hologram, like a curator’s introduction to the work of a venerated artist. In this fictional world scarred by climate disaster, El Aliso appears like an oasis, a momentary glimpse into what a worthy burial might have looked like, and a reminder of the many stories that 400-year-old trees can still tell. Bucknell amplifies the power of El Aliso’s story by bringing this nonhuman being back to vivid life. Stills from The Alluvials [Image: courtesy Alice Bucknell] The artist also celebrates the long history of the yucca moth, which is often outshone by its iconic companion, the Joshua tree. In the dried-out upper basin of Hoover Dam, The Alluvials recounts the symbiotic relationship between the yucca moth and the Joshua tree, describing it as an entrancing love story that dates back more than 40 million years. The depiction is not only uplifting, as it casts a flurry of white moths like snow against red rock; it is also a reminder of how complex relationships can be sustained throughout many ages of the Earth. The Alluvials universe is at its most powerful when viewers are completely immersed in the ambiguity of time. Racing along the lush L.A. River, you can’t tell if you’re deep in the future, experiencing the artificial paradise of Next LA, or deep in the past, exploring the imagination of Olmsted and Bartholomew. By the same token, the spell is broken when the script too closely resembles the modern day. In a later chapter of the film, for instance, viewers learn that Next LA’s private water developer puts mood stabilizers in bottled water to combat chronic anxiety over constant wildfires. It’s a satire that hits too close to home. Zooming out, however, Bucknell’s signature cyberpunk—from the beating electronic score to fluorescent animal silhouettes—largely erases time altogether. Staring up at the dense galaxy of animated stars, I almost wished I didn’t find it so beautiful. Born in the mid-1990s, I remember the precise years when my peers began to diverge into those who spent more time offline, lacing up boots and heading outdoors, and those who found greater fulfillment in the community and self-expression found in cyberspace. Both worlds offer their own comfort and sense of control, and sometimes I don’t know which I find more breathtaking—the natural cathedrals of mountains and oceans, or the technological systems made possible by generations of human hands and minds. Throughout The Alluvials, particularly on the banks of the river, I felt grateful to live in this age of the Earth, when one person can so completely render their imagination into an immersive experience that others can enjoy. Whatever the limitations of the human world, whether bureaucracy or debate, artists can overcome them and create wonders that never made it into reality. This work goes hand in hand with advocacy; in the development of their game, Bucknell worked closely with the nonprofit Friends of the LA River, which for decades has worked to build more connected green space along the river. A still from The Alluvials [Image: courtesy Alice Bucknell] Some critics may be quick to dismiss The Alluvials for its style or poetic flourishes, but they cannot deny its broad appeal to a growing audience. The film and game have been featured at over a dozen exhibitions and festivals, from Los Angeles to Madrid, and Bucknell continues to offer access to both by request via their website. Computer-generated worlds are steadily eclipsing traditional storytelling formats like books and magazines. In this context, Bucknell’s work stands as a compelling contribution to California’s climate fiction, echoing the legacy of the speculative fiction of Octavia Butler, who first offered scenes of a fire-torn California to the popular imagination back in the 1990s. But times have changed; Bucknell and other artists of the 21st century no longer have to imagine what that future might look like. Their task is much harder: They remind us that, to paraphrase Butler, looking into the future is still, as much as it was before, an act of hope. This story was originally published by High Country News. View the full article

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