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You know what I miss? Listening to the radio. I’ve always loved background music, which helps me focus. But modern music-streaming services can be distracting. Yes, I enjoy having instant access to millions of songs with services like Spotify. But I find myself constantly fiddling—searching for the next song, hitting the forward button, and choosing new playlists. Radio stations are a great alternative. You just hit the play button, and someone else makes the decisions. Now, of course, Spotify and other such services offer radio-station-like options of their own. But there’s always that “next track” button tempting you to skip around. Plus, these options still don’t have that human touch. That’s why I was so excited to find this classic-seeming radio gem—with a decidedly modern twist. Unearth all sorts of incredible tech treasures with my free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. An eye-opening new discovery in your inbox every Wednesday! So long, Spotify—hello, Radio Garden ➜ Meet ​Radio Garden​, a free website with apps available for ​Android​ and ​iPhone​. It marries a Google-Earth-style globe interface with streaming-radio audio. With that one-two punch, ​Radio Garden​ helps you find and listen to radio stations from all over the world. A few quick clicks is all it takes to zoom into any city and start listening to its local stations. You can also browse and search for individual stations if there’s something specific you’re looking to find. It’s a powerful Spotify alternative, and the exact experience you have will depend in large part on the specific station or stations you pick. For instance, many stations are terrestrial radio stations, which means they’ll have ads. But you can find quite a few curated radio stations that are ad-free, too. Popping down to Miami, I found Chilltrax—a popular online-only channel that’s ad-free, independently owned and operated, and staffed by actual humans who are passionate about the music they’re playing. Moving from there to San Francisco, I discovered ​SomaFM’s classic Groove Salad​ station—also free from any and all commercials. I was listening to that ambient station 20 years ago, so it was a nice surprise to see that it’s still up and running and available now ​here. Those are great for focused work, but there’s so much you can explore within Radio Garden’s virtual walls. You could: Find a random city far away from you and listen to its regular radio stations for a bit of local flavor. Browse stations by genre and find something that fits your taste or current mood to play in the background. Create a list of your favorite stations to come back to. Or just listen to your own city’s local radio stations right on the Radio Garden website or app. Listen on the go Radio Garden is available on any device you’re using—on the web, for a computer, or via its official ​Android or ​iPhone apps on mobile. The service itself is completely free. It does insert a few visual ads, but it doesn’t add in any audio advertising or other stream interruptions. (You can remove those visual ads with a $25-a-year premium subscription, if you want.) Radio Garden doesn’t collect much personal data, either. It doesn’t even require an account or any sort of sign-in. Speaking of free, keep the tech treasures flowing with my Cool Tools newsletter. You’ll get a single new off-the-beaten-path gem like this in your inbox every Wednesday! View the full article

When a city burns, people often zoom in on houses, the individual cells that make up the fabric of a community. After the tragic fires in Los Angeles earlier this month, many publications, this one included, published essays, case studies, and guides shedding light on how to fire-proof a house. These guides are crucial tools for people who’ve lost their homes and for those who will be responsible for rebuilding them. But many experts are arguing that fire-proofing individual houses is not enough. They say we need to fire-proof entire communities. “You can almost think of it as a domino effect,” says Michael Gollner, an associate professor at UC Berkeley’s Fire Research Lab. All it takes is for one house to burst into flames for those flames—or the embers they will produce—to set the neighbor’s house on fire, and the neighbor’s neighbor’s house—until one by one, the houses end up falling like dominoes. This is what happened in L.A., where the fires recently burned more than 40,000 acres, destroyed 15,700 structures (including homes, schools, churches, synagogues, and various architectural gems), and displaced nearly 200,000 people who found themselves under evacuation orders. L.A. is not the first city to be ravaged by a wildfire, and tragic as it is, it will not be the last. Over the course of 2024, average global temperatures rose above 1.5 Celsius. This means that extreme weather events that are exacerbated by climate change—like wildfires, flash floods, and hurricanes—are likely to occur more frequently, and with more intensity. If officials seize the opportunity, however, Los Angeles could become a model of resilience and provide a blueprint for a wildfire-adapted city of the future. An aerial image taken on January 25, 2025 shows homes damaged and destroyed by the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles. [Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images] The anatomy of a fire-adapted community There is no silver bullet for a fire-adapted city. Every city faces unique challenges that stem from its geographical location, topographical features, or economic constraints, and building a fire-adapted community requires a multifaceted, ever-evolving approach. As the U.S. Department of Agriculture notes on its website: “A community doesn’t achieve ‘fire adapted community’ status or certification because the work to reduce wildfire risk never ends.” But a few facts remain universal. First: There is no fire without fuel, and cities are practically mines of combustible materials. There are the obvious contenders—gasoline-powered cars, wooden bungalows, dry vegetation. There are also the less obvious: palm trees (their dead fronds near the top are highly flammable) and juniper trees (they contain volatile oils). And perhaps the least obvious: highly flammable couches made of polyester fabric and polyurethane foam, aka plastic. The second point is a logical extension of the first: When fire is starved of fuel, it is easier to extinguish. In practical terms, a fire-adapted community is one that understands the value of buffers. These include hardscapes, nonflammable barriers like tall stucco walls, and landscapes that can be heavily irrigated in anticipation of a wildfire. The solution isn’t to rip out all the trees, or to stop planting new ones. Trees play a crucial role in reducing the urban heat island effect that often chokes urban environments. They also provide shade and oxygen. A better option, according to Gollner, would be for city planners and landscape designers to follow a hopscotch pattern when rebuilding. “You can have islands of trees and vegetation, but they need to be isolated,” Gollner explains. When vegetation is isolated, fires can still start, but firefighters will have a better chance at containing isolated fires. Architect Michael Kovac points to his house, which survived the Palisades Fire due to fire-resilient features used in its construction. [Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images] The sprawl problem The problem is that L.A. wasn’t built with buffers in mind. While the city has a vast footprint, its buildable land is ultimately finite. Urban infill—developing vacant or underutilized land within the city—could be a solution to accommodate growth without expanding outward. But almost 80% of Los Angeles today is zoned exclusively for single-family homes, preventing the construction of multiunit housing in these areas. As a result, when demand for housing rises, new development ends up being pushed farther out to the edges of the city—and closer to what is known as the wildland urban interface zone. This zone (which encompasses both Altadena and the Pacific Palisades) is more vulnerable to wildfires. Over the years, many experts have argued that L.A. should rezone and “built up, not out.” But Gollner—a self-described realist—is reticent of such a radical approach. “We’re not going to cancel the sprawl. I don’t see any shift in public sentiment that’s going to change it,” he says, adding, “Instead, I want to focus on rebuilding it in a more resilient way so that this isn’t going to happen again.” One answer might be to create what Justin Hollander, a professor of urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University, has called “new towns”—a kind of “zoning overlay” that stipulates a number of requirements for the developer of a new neighborhood. Unlike single-family zoning, which dictates how individual lots are to be used on a large parcel of land, an overlay would establish comprehensive requirements for the development of an entire community, including reliable public transit, safe pedestrian and bike paths, well-planned roadways, essential utilities, and community-wide fire-resistant features like buffers, appropriate landscapes, and so on. Hollander explains this zoning overlay would exist simultaneously with the underlying zoning while introducing new opportunities or restrictions. An approach like Hollander’s might also encourage broader, interconnected thinking, discouraging planners and developers from addressing one disaster while inadvertently exacerbating another (like building wider evacuation roads, which improve fire access but can increase erosion and runoff, making mudslides more likely). “When you work too hard to solve a single problem, that myopic viewpoint ends up detracting from holistic problem-solving,” Hollander says. Today, Altadena operates under its own set of zoning and development rules, outlined in Title 22—Planning and Zoning of the Los Angeles County Code. Hollander explains that Altadena would have to amend the rules to allow for “new towns” to be built by right, meaning developers wouldn’t have to go through lengthy approval processes or seek special permits. Then the county would have to approve the modifications. As Hollander envisions it, overlay zoning would provide the community with a tool to guide the reconstruction of Altadena that isn’t based on a lot-by-lot model of zoning, but on a larger area that would consider fire risks at a neighborhood level. “Each individual property owner can not realistically account for all of these considerations, but a master planner could,” he says. The process may seem administratively arduous, but it would pave the way for an intentionally designed community that is more connected, more walkable, and more resilient than it was before. The Malibu home of Nancy and Jim Evans (photographed on January 14, 2025) survived the Palisades Fire even though many neighboring homes didn’t. After the previous house on the same lot burned down in a 1993 wildfire, Evans built a fire-resilient structure with a metal roof, steel-reinforced walls with cinderblock at the bottom, double-paned windows, and 6 feet of stone encircling the house, clear of vegetation. The rest of the yard is landscaped with fire-resilient succulents and oak trees. [Photo: Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images] The seeds of a resilient community Already, Los Angeles has set up special parking restrictions banning street parking on narrow roads, sharp curves, and key intersections when high winds signal fire danger. Local governments in the L.A. region have also adopted defensible space rules that require property owners to clear away flammable vegetation and materials from their property to reduce fire risk. However, the ordinance applies only to houses in a so-called Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone. In 2020, state lawmakers passed a more aggressive, more restrictive fireproofing measure that specifically targets the first 5 feet around a home and bars things like brush and mulch, but also wooden fencing, furniture, and sheds. The bill’s aim is to create an “ember-resistant zone” within 5 feet of a house, which is known as “Zone 0,” but it has faced pushback and still hasn’t been implemented. “No one wants to cut down their petunias or juniper gasoline can next to their window,” says Gollner, though such changes can make a real difference. “What you do affects your neighbor, and your neighbor’s neighbor.” California also has one of the country’s most stringent building codes. Chapter 7A of the building code passed in 2008 mandates fire-resistant siding, tempered glass, vegetation management, and vents for attics and crawl spaces that are specially designed to prevent embers from flying in. According to a 2021 study, the new building code has proven to reduce average structure loss risk during a wildfire by 40%. But the building code applies only to new homes. And in both Altadena and the Pacific Palisades, where the biggest fires occurred, the majority of the housing stock was built before Chapter 7A went into effect. Now vast swaths of these neighborhoods have been reduced to ashes, and anything that gets rebuilt will have to adhere to Chapter 7A. It is a painfully, unthinkably overwhelming situation. But as Gollner points out, it is also “an opportunity to make a change for the future.” View the full article

The Trump administration’s freeze on foreign aid has left humanitarian organizations in the lurch, halting lifesaving services and putting the future of the sector at risk. Even if organizations find ways to continue their work, experts say the move puts the global reputation of the United States at risk. The Trump administration announced a sweeping and unprecedented freeze on foreign assistance last week. This halts billions of dollars: In fiscal year 2022 (the most recently reported numbers), the U.S. promised $70.3 billion for humanitarian aid and other foreign “peace, security, and economic development” efforts. Although Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a waiver for lifesaving services, Alex de Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation, says the definition of what counts as this kind of aid isn’t clear. Humanitarian aid workers themselves say there is still little guidance or clarity about which organizations qualify, and whether that permission supersedes the suspension letters they received. It’s also not clear whether the waiver covers things like data collection or information systems that then allow lifesaving aid work to function efficiently. The Famine Early Warning Systems website run by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), for example, became unavailable in the wake of the announcement. “Maybe collecting data is not seen as saving lives, but it’s like telling a physician, ‘You can administer medicine but you can’t give a diagnosis,’” de Waal says. Humanitarian work in Sudan, Uganda, and other countries halted The freeze concerns not just new contracts but also current contracts—including ones with foreign governments, which may be considered treaties. De Waal says that means it’s a breach of contract and unlawful. It also means that humanitarian organizations are concerned they won’t be reimbursed for work they’ve already been contracted to do. Until more guidance is issued by the State Department or USAID, “we really have to continue to assume that our activities are to be suspended,” says one senior aid worker at an organization that works in countries including Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia. “And this is true for pretty much all [international nongovernmental organizations, or INGOs].” The impact for people in those countries is already devastating. In Sudan, that worker’s organization runs feeding centers for malnourished babies and children, which require 24-hour care. “Having to immediately shut these feeding centers means that these babies will die in a matter of hours,” they say. In Uganda, the organization runs reception and transit centers for refugees coming from Congo. Just last week, the Congo city of Goma fell to rebel forces, ushering in even more violence and insecurity. That means the number of refugees entering Uganda is growing, but with the closing of those centers—which provide food, shelter, and organizational services—refugees are left without support. “Then you start to play this out—what does this look like as more and more people come every day because of the violence happening in Congo, and there continues to be no one actually organizing new arrivals?” the senior aid worker says. “You can imagine that is going to lead to continued scarcity of resources on the ground, and then conflict and violence will ensue when there’s no order there, and more and more people [will be] on the brink of starvation.” Risk to the entire humanitarian sector Some groups, particularly if they have private funding, may be able to continue their work during this freeze. For the aid worker who spoke to Fast Company, though, the risk is too great for their midsize organization. Continuing their work could result in millions of dollars in uncovered costs and no reassurance that they would be reimbursed by the U.S. government. They already fear having such costs because of details like Sudanese labor laws, which require six months’ notice for employees before their contracts are terminated. That means even if the organization halts its work immediately, it will still need to pay hundreds of frontline workers for six months of employment. “If that’s an uncovered cost of $2 million—just for Sudan, not to mention [the other countries we work in]—we will go under,” the worker says. “As will almost every INGO and USAID contractor.” Though there are still many unknowns amid the chaos, the senior aid worker noted that donations to organizations doing humanitarian work could be crucial to allow them to continue their services. They also advocated for pressure on Congress and elected officials “to say that this is unconscionable, this is not who we are, and we don’t want to see this happen.” Destructive to U.S. national security Beyond the appalling, immediate human toll and risk to humanitarian work at large, the freeze also threatens international relations and national security. Many U.S. administrations have seen foreign aid as a national security issue, de Waal says, and even if the funding gets reinstated, the freeze has “basically sent huge shock waves” through the world of U.S. allies. That’s because the U.S.’s reputation is now taking a hit. “It telegraphs so clearly that the United States is not a reliable partner. It is not an entity that you can trust or depend on to make good on its word,” says Hilary Matfess, an assistant professor at the University of Denver Josef Korbel School of International Studies. “And that’s a really easy narrative to exploit if you are one of our near-peer or great power competitors.” That could spur anti-U.S. sentiment, and more. Without the U.S. providing much-needed aid around the globe, there will be a vacuum that other countries may be strategically looking to fill. “If you’re Russia or China right now, you just have to be kind of sitting back giddily to watch the United States be so willing to sacrifice the reputation that it’s built through its aid programs,” Matfess says, adding that from a policy perspective, this was like the U.S. “shooting itself in the foot.” Combating the influence of rising powers like Russia and China is done, Matfess says, “in part by cultivating global alliances and doubling down on partnerships based on the idea that we can do good in the world. . . . This withdrawal suggests that all of that is fragile and untenable.” It also suggests the U.S.’s approach to foreign relations is to “bully” its way into maintaining influence, she notes, though she says she doesn’t “have a lot of faith in that being able to work.” De Waal called the action of freezing foreign aid “entirely impetuous and reckless.” He says the move only makes sense in the context of a total reboot of U.S. strategy. (The aim of that reboot may be to completely change the country’s approach to foreign aid; the freeze came as part of Trump’s “America First” agenda, and a State Department memo noted that Rubio will, over the next few months, decide whether to “continue, modify, or terminate programs.”) “But in the moment between pushing the reboot button and the reboot happening,” de Waal says, “an awful lot of havoc can happen.” View the full article

Israa Nasir is a psychotherapist and founder of WellGuide, a digital community for mental health awareness. Her work centers around helping people redefine their relationship with productivity and achievement to lead more mindful, purpose-driven lives. She has been featured in Vox, NBC, and Teen Vogue and invited to speak at Google, Meta, and Yale. What’s the big idea? Productivity isn’t always a good thing. It can be a way to fill the void of unmet emotional needs, perpetuate a constant state of busyness, and erode well-being. For productivity to be healthy rather than toxic—an activity, not an identity—it must come from a place of self-care, balance, and personal fulfillment. Below, Israa shares five key insights from her new book, Toxic Productivity: Reclaim Your Time and Emotional Energy in a World That Always Demands More. Listen to the audio version—read by Israa herself—in the Next Big Idea App. 1. Know the difference between healthy and toxic productivity On the surface, healthy and toxic productivity can both look like achieving goals, but their roots couldn’t be more different. Healthy productivity aligns with your values and allows you to work with intention and purpose without sacrificing your well-being. Toxic productivity pushes you to do more out of fear, shame, the need for external validation, or a drive to prove your worth—not out of genuine purpose. In toxic productivity, productivity habits become an identity rather than an activity. We learn harmful or unhelpful messages about productivity throughout our early childhood experiences. You must bring awareness to your habits and patterns before you can unlearn them. Ultimately, the long-term effects of toxic productivity are harmful. Studies show that if you link your self-worth solely to productivity, you’re at a greater risk for mental health challenges like anxiety and depression because you’re constantly striving to meet self-imposed, impossible demands. By recognizing when productivity stops serving you and starts consuming you, you can shift to a healthier, more intentional way of working—one that enhances your life rather than depletes it. 2. Emotions play a role in productivity It’s easy to think of productivity as a purely logical process, but emotions like guilt, fear of failure, and the need for approval deeply influence productivity. Sometimes, we use productivity to cope with uncomfortable feelings. Other times, productivity habits or lack thereof can trigger uncomfortable feelings. For instance, productivity guilt is the feeling that you’re never doing enough, often resulting in overwork. The American Psychological Association shows that those who struggle with productivity guilt tend to work long hours and take fewer breaks, which leads to burnout. “Emotional regulation isn’t just about feeling better. It enhances productivity.” Learning to regulate your emotions is crucial. This means learning to identify, understand, manage, and release difficult emotions. Tools like mindfulness, journaling, movement crafts, and setting realistic goals can help you manage feelings constructively, allowing you to operate from a place of balance instead of anxiety. Emotional regulation isn’t just about feeling better. It enhances productivity. By helping you focus, make clearer decisions, and stay motivated through emotional awareness, you can begin asking yourself: Am I working from a place of purpose or fear? This question is the key to creating sustainable productivity. 3. Toxic productivity often hides in daily habits Toxic productivity isn’t always obvious. It often lurks in small, seemingly harmless habits, such as working through lunch, checking emails at midnight, or staying glued to your phone for fear of missing something. Toxic productivity can also mask itself as personal development habits, self-care, meeting emotional needs, and chronic busyness. These behaviors can snowball into a lifestyle that prioritizes doing over being, leading to feelings of disengagement and exhaustion. You can transform toxic habits into nurturing ones. Instead of working nonstop, schedule genuine breaks, like a quick walk or a few minutes of mindful breathing. Research shows that taking short, regular breaks can boost productivity by up to 40%. Allow your brain space to reset. Also, balance the well-being of your relationships with your productivity habits. This helps you stay connected to community and have your emotional needs met so that you don’t have to turn to toxic productivity habits. This approach turns productivity from a draining cycle into a process of growth where self-care is the driving force rather than self-neglect. 4. Busting myths that keep you trapped in toxic productivity Our culture is filled with productivity myths that can keep you stuck. For example, you might believe multitasking makes you more efficient, but research shows it can reduce efficiency by up to 40%. Then there’s the myth that busyness equals productivity or that doing more equates to more success. But that’s also far from true. Research shows that only 20% of daily tasks drive 80% of our results. These beliefs can lead you to overcommit, so you’re constantly busy but rarely fulfilled. “Working smarter-not-harder means giving yourself permission to focus on what really matters rather than just filling time.” By reframing these myths, you start to see productivity as a personal, flexible practice, not a rigid checklist. Working smarter-not-harder means giving yourself permission to focus on what really matters rather than just filling time. You’re not bound by external definitions of success, achievement, or productivity. Be guided by your own sense of fulfillment. 5. Rest is essential In a society that glorifies the hustle, rest is often seen as something you earn only after checking off your to-do list. But rest is not a reward; it’s essential. Neuroscience research shows that the brain needs downtime to process information, form memories, and spark creativity. A study from the University of California found that people who took regular rest breaks were 26% more likely to experience breakthroughs in problem-solving compared to those who worked nonstop. Rest isn’t just about physical recovery either. It’s also a mental reset for approaching tasks with fresh energy and creativity. By intentionally building rest into your day, such as setting aside quiet moments or practicing active rest through hobbies, rest becomes part of the productivity cycle. Embracing rest as a cornerstone of productivity means honoring your own rhythm, allowing you to approach each task with clarity, resilience, and purpose. Re-imagining productivity means questioning cultural frameworks about achievement and self-worth. Toxic productivity is the quiet whisper urging you to always be in the next stage, closer to the conclusion. But living this way takes you out of the present. It keeps joy at a distance. The most optimized life is not the happiest life. This article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission. View the full article

The U.S. government gives other nations $68 billion of foreign assistance annually—more than any other country. Over half of this sum is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, including funds for programs aimed at fighting hunger and disease outbreaks, providing humanitarian relief in war zones, and supporting other lifesaving programs such as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. President Donald Trump suspended most U.S. foreign aid on January 20, 2025, the day he took office for the second time. The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order that for 90 days halted foreign aid funding disbursements by agencies like USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. A week later, dozens of senior USAID officials were put on leave after the Trump administration reportedly accused them of trying to “circumvent” the aid freeze. The Office of Management and Budget is now pausing and evaluating all foreign aid to see whether it adheres to the Trump administration’s policies and priorities. I’m a scholar of foreign aid who researches what happens to the U.S. government’s local partners in the countries receiving this assistance when funding flows are interrupted. Most of these partners are local nonprofits that build schools, vaccinate children, respond to emergencies, and provide other key goods and services. These organizations often rely on foreign funding. A “reckless” move Aid to Egypt and Israel was spared, along with some emergency food aid. The U.S. later waived the stop-work order for the distribution of lifesaving medicines. Nearly all of the other aid programs remained on hold as of January 29, 2025. Many development professionals criticized the freeze, highlighting the disruption it will cause in many countries. A senior USAID official issued an anonymous statement calling it “reckless.” InterAction, the largest coalition of international nongovernmental organizations in the U.S., called the halt contrary to U.S. global leadership and values. Of the $35 billion to $40 billion in aid that USAID distributes annually, $22 billion is delivered through grants and contracts with international organizations to implement programs. These can be further subcontracted to local partners in recipient countries. When this aid is frozen, scaled back, or cut off altogether, these local partners scramble to fill in the gaps. The State Department manages the rest of the $68 billion in annual U.S. foreign aid, along with other agencies, such as the Peace Corps. How local nonprofits respond and adapt While sudden disruptions to foreign aid are always destabilizing, research shows that aid flows have fluctuated since 1960, growing more volatile over the years. My research partners and I have found that these disruptions harm local service providers, although many of them manage to carry on their work. Over the years, I have conducted hundreds of interviews with international nongovernmental organizations and these nonprofits’ local partners across Latin America, Africa, and Asia about their services and funding sources. I study the strategies those development and humanitarian assistance groups follow when aid gets halted. These four are the most common. 1. Shift to national or local government funding In many cases, national and local governments end up supporting groups that previously relied on foreign aid, filling the void. An educational program spearheaded by a local Ecuadorian nonprofit, Desarrollo y Autogestión, called Accelerated Basic Cycle is one example. This program targets young people who have been out of school for more than three years. It allows them to finish elementary school—known as the “basic cycle” in Ecuador—in one year to then enter high school. First supported in part by funding from foreign governments, it transitioned to being fully funded by Ecuador’s government and then became an official government program run by the country’s ministry of education. 2. Earn income Local nonprofits can also earn income by charging fees for their services or selling goods, which allows them to fulfill their missions while generating some much-needed cash. For example, SEND Ghana is a development organization that has promoted good governance and equality in Ghana since its founding in 1998. In 2009, SEND Ghana created a for-profit subsidiary called SENDFiNGO that administers microfinance programs and credit unions. That subsidiary now helps fund SEND Ghana’s work. Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee and the Grameen Bank, which is also in Bangladesh, use this approach too. 3. Tap local philanthropy Networks such as Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support and Global Fund for Community Foundations have emerged to promote local philanthropy around the world. They press governments to adopt policies that encourage local philanthropy. This kind of giving has become easier to do thanks to the emergence of crowdfunding platforms. Still, complex tax systems and the lack of incentives for giving in many countries that receive foreign aid are persistent challenges. Some governments have stepped in. India’s corporate social responsibility law, enacted in 2014, boosted charitable incentives. For example, it requires 2% of corporate profits to go to social initiatives in India. 4. Obtain support from diaspora communities Diasporas are people who live outside of their countries of origin, or where their families came from, but maintain strong ties to places they consider to be their homeland. Local nonprofits around the globe are leveraging diaspora communities’ desire to contribute to economic development in their countries of origin. In Colombia, for example, Fundación Carla Cristina, a nongovernmental organization, runs nursery schools and provides meals to low-income children. It gets some of its funding from diaspora-led nonprofits in the U.S., such as the New England Association for Colombian Children, which is based outside of Boston, and Give to Colombia in Miami. A push for the locals to do more Trump’s stop-work order coincided with a resurgence of a localization push that’s currently influencing foreign aid from many countries. With localization, nations providing foreign aid seek to increase the role of local authorities and organizations in development and humanitarian assistance. USAID has been a leading proponent of localization. I believe that the abruptness of the stop-work order is likely to disrupt many development projects. These projects include support to Ukrainian aid groups that provide emergency humanitarian assistance and projects serving meals to children who don’t get enough to eat. To be sure, sometimes there are good reasons for aid to be halted. But when that happens, sound and responsible donor exit strategies are essential to avoid the loss of important local services. Susan Appe is an associate professor of public administration and policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

Handover to Red Cross comes with Israel due to free 183 Palestinian prisoners in exchange later on Saturday.View the full article

The Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank have announced the launch of SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica, a program designed to showcase and support 28 Michigan-based small businesses throughout the 2024-25 NBA season. Beginning January 31, participating businesses will receive brand exposure through in-arena promotions at Little Caesars Arena, as well as digital marketing support via the Pistons’ website and social media channels. SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops is an extension of both organizations’ commitment to bolstering Metro Detroit’s small business community. This marks the second consecutive year Comerica and the Pistons have partnered to provide business owners with resources and visibility. “The Detroit Pistons SHOP313 Small Business Platform recognizes the value and importance of small businesses in our community,” said Dave Sanabria, Detroit Pistons Vice President of Partnership Engagement. “Our partnership with Comerica Bank delivers unique opportunities to help small businesses grow and positively impact their own local neighborhoods and communities.” During each designated game, seven small businesses will participate. Six businesses will engage directly with customers at the SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops area in the UWM District Market concourse, while one business will receive suite access, providing a business-to-business networking environment. Additionally, all participating businesses will benefit from: Digital signage inside Little Caesars Arena Brand awareness through social media promotion The SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica will take place on the following dates: Friday, Jan. 31 vs. Dallas Mavericks Wednesday, Feb. 26 vs. Boston Celtics Tuesday, March 11 vs. Washington Wizards Friday, April 11 vs. Milwaukee Bucks The first set of small businesses featured includes: Dynamic Roofing (Carleton) – Specializing in asphalt roofing systems with over 20 years of experience. Happy Deals LLC (Detroit) – Family-owned home goods store offering quality products at discounted prices. Rev’d Up Fun (Woodhaven) – Indoor entertainment venue featuring games, attractions, and dining. SkinbarVII (Detroit) – High-end facial spa focused on skincare treatments using premium ingredients. Suburban Truck Driving School (Romulus) – CDL training facility preparing individuals for careers in trucking. The Alexis Company (Detroit) – Screen printing business specializing in personalized sportswear and promotional items. NYX Cleaning Services, LLC (Ann Arbor) – Commercial cleaning company offering eco-friendly professional cleaning services. “As we continue to grow and expand our small business banking services, we are committed to delivering valuable resources small businesses need to succeed and thrive,” said Meghan Storey, Comerica Bank Senior Vice President and Michigan Director of Small Business Banking. “Working with the Detroit Pistons and the team’s SHOP313 Small Business Platform creates new opportunities for us to assist business owners and entrepreneurs as they work to raise their visibility, viability and future success.” This article, "Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank Launch SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops to Support Metro Detroit Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank have announced the launch of SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica, a program designed to showcase and support 28 Michigan-based small businesses throughout the 2024-25 NBA season. Beginning January 31, participating businesses will receive brand exposure through in-arena promotions at Little Caesars Arena, as well as digital marketing support via the Pistons’ website and social media channels. SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops is an extension of both organizations’ commitment to bolstering Metro Detroit’s small business community. This marks the second consecutive year Comerica and the Pistons have partnered to provide business owners with resources and visibility. “The Detroit Pistons SHOP313 Small Business Platform recognizes the value and importance of small businesses in our community,” said Dave Sanabria, Detroit Pistons Vice President of Partnership Engagement. “Our partnership with Comerica Bank delivers unique opportunities to help small businesses grow and positively impact their own local neighborhoods and communities.” During each designated game, seven small businesses will participate. Six businesses will engage directly with customers at the SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops area in the UWM District Market concourse, while one business will receive suite access, providing a business-to-business networking environment. Additionally, all participating businesses will benefit from: Digital signage inside Little Caesars Arena Brand awareness through social media promotion The SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops presented by Comerica will take place on the following dates: Friday, Jan. 31 vs. Dallas Mavericks Wednesday, Feb. 26 vs. Boston Celtics Tuesday, March 11 vs. Washington Wizards Friday, April 11 vs. Milwaukee Bucks The first set of small businesses featured includes: Dynamic Roofing (Carleton) – Specializing in asphalt roofing systems with over 20 years of experience. Happy Deals LLC (Detroit) – Family-owned home goods store offering quality products at discounted prices. Rev’d Up Fun (Woodhaven) – Indoor entertainment venue featuring games, attractions, and dining. SkinbarVII (Detroit) – High-end facial spa focused on skincare treatments using premium ingredients. Suburban Truck Driving School (Romulus) – CDL training facility preparing individuals for careers in trucking. The Alexis Company (Detroit) – Screen printing business specializing in personalized sportswear and promotional items. NYX Cleaning Services, LLC (Ann Arbor) – Commercial cleaning company offering eco-friendly professional cleaning services. “As we continue to grow and expand our small business banking services, we are committed to delivering valuable resources small businesses need to succeed and thrive,” said Meghan Storey, Comerica Bank Senior Vice President and Michigan Director of Small Business Banking. “Working with the Detroit Pistons and the team’s SHOP313 Small Business Platform creates new opportunities for us to assist business owners and entrepreneurs as they work to raise their visibility, viability and future success.” This article, "Detroit Pistons and Comerica Bank Launch SHOP313 Pop-Up Shops to Support Metro Detroit Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The future of the continent will be shaped in the once-mocked south View the full article

The £40bn impact of the inheritance tax shake-up will prompt more families to spend or gift the money View the full article

Prime minister will listen to business over exact details, as some within Labour push for ‘serious tooth removal’ View the full article

Rocketlane has introduced a new invoicing feature designed to eliminate billing errors, accelerate approvals, and integrate seamlessly with accounting tools like NetSuite and QuickBooks. The update aims to streamline billing processes for professional services teams, reducing manual effort and improving cash flow management. Professional services teams frequently encounter issues with billing accuracy due to manual data reconciliation, lengthy approval cycles, and disconnected financial systems. Rocketlane’s new invoicing capability is designed to resolve these inefficiencies by providing a centralized solution for managing complex billing scenarios. “Too many teams spend time dealing with exports from their financial systems, verifying data and invoices outside their systems,” said Srikrishnan Ganesan, CEO of Rocketlane. “With this new feature, teams on Rocketlane can effortlessly review effort and time logs, manage approvals, creating error-free invoices, and automating reconciliation, staying aligned with their accounting systems.” Key Features and Benefits Flexible Billing for Complex Scenarios Rocketlane supports time-and-materials (T&M), fixed-fee, and subscription-based billing models, along with multicurrency handling to facilitate global operations. Automated Approval Workflows Customizable workflows allow teams to tailor approval processes, speeding up sign-offs while ensuring accuracy. Unified Dashboard for Revenue Visibility Users can monitor invoices, track payments, and forecast cash flow through a centralized dashboard. Seamless Accounting Integration The feature syncs invoices and payments with accounting platforms such as NetSuite, Sage, and QuickBooks, reducing manual reconciliation efforts. Accelerated Cash Flow Approved time logs can be automatically converted into invoices, eliminating manual bottlenecks and allowing teams to focus on business growth. Rocketlane’s invoicing capability is designed to be a game changer for service teams. “With accurate timesheets, streamlined approvals, and seamless integrations like Salesforce and NetSuite, we’ve made invoicing effortless for professional services teams. Everything—from projects to timesheets—aligns perfectly to deliver precise, on-time invoices without delays or constant follow-ups,” said Ganesan. The new invoicing feature is available now, offering professional services teams a more efficient way to manage billing, reduce errors, and improve financial operations. This article, "Rocketlane Unveils Seamless Invoicing to Improve Billing Accuracy for PSA Teams" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Rocketlane has introduced a new invoicing feature designed to eliminate billing errors, accelerate approvals, and integrate seamlessly with accounting tools like NetSuite and QuickBooks. The update aims to streamline billing processes for professional services teams, reducing manual effort and improving cash flow management. Professional services teams frequently encounter issues with billing accuracy due to manual data reconciliation, lengthy approval cycles, and disconnected financial systems. Rocketlane’s new invoicing capability is designed to resolve these inefficiencies by providing a centralized solution for managing complex billing scenarios. “Too many teams spend time dealing with exports from their financial systems, verifying data and invoices outside their systems,” said Srikrishnan Ganesan, CEO of Rocketlane. “With this new feature, teams on Rocketlane can effortlessly review effort and time logs, manage approvals, creating error-free invoices, and automating reconciliation, staying aligned with their accounting systems.” Key Features and Benefits Flexible Billing for Complex Scenarios Rocketlane supports time-and-materials (T&M), fixed-fee, and subscription-based billing models, along with multicurrency handling to facilitate global operations. Automated Approval Workflows Customizable workflows allow teams to tailor approval processes, speeding up sign-offs while ensuring accuracy. Unified Dashboard for Revenue Visibility Users can monitor invoices, track payments, and forecast cash flow through a centralized dashboard. Seamless Accounting Integration The feature syncs invoices and payments with accounting platforms such as NetSuite, Sage, and QuickBooks, reducing manual reconciliation efforts. Accelerated Cash Flow Approved time logs can be automatically converted into invoices, eliminating manual bottlenecks and allowing teams to focus on business growth. Rocketlane’s invoicing capability is designed to be a game changer for service teams. “With accurate timesheets, streamlined approvals, and seamless integrations like Salesforce and NetSuite, we’ve made invoicing effortless for professional services teams. Everything—from projects to timesheets—aligns perfectly to deliver precise, on-time invoices without delays or constant follow-ups,” said Ganesan. The new invoicing feature is available now, offering professional services teams a more efficient way to manage billing, reduce errors, and improve financial operations. This article, "Rocketlane Unveils Seamless Invoicing to Improve Billing Accuracy for PSA Teams" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Data shows significant expansion of AI Overviews to answer more complex queries and consolidation in trusted sources cited in its answers The post AI Overviews Data Shows Massive Changes In Search Results appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. This comment section is open for any non-work-related discussion you’d like to have with other readers, by popular demand. Here are the rules for the weekend posts. Book recommendation of the week: Case Histories, by Kate Atkinson. After loving Liz Moore’s Long Bright River, I wanted more literary fiction mysteries where the character development gets as much attention as the plot. (Amazon, Bookshop) * I earn a commission if you use those links. View the full article

There’s a growing trend in Silicon Valley where engineers are therapizing themselves with ChatGPT . Well, not exactly therapy, but using self-reflective prompts to unlock profound insights into their lives. It’s like getting advice from a friend who’s exceptionally skilled at active listening—except she’s 300,000 years old and has lived over 100 billion lives (it doesn’t quite make sense, but neither does the time we’re living in). I visited the Commons, one of the founding hubs of “Cerebral Valley” in San Francisco, where a community of Claude and ChatGPT superusers gathered to discuss “AI for inner work.” This mostly Gen Z group shared their unconventional tactics for using AI to catalyze personal growth and self-discovery. One participant explained how he uploaded all his journal entries from age 10 to Claude to analyze pivotal moments of growth. He hadn’t realized the profound impact of his immigration to the U.S. until Claude pointed out how it still shapes his sense of home today. The host discussed how she uses it as a Jungian analyst to interpret her dreams, highlighting how effectively it uncovers unconscious patterns. Personally, I use large language models to enhance my relationships. After several failed attempts to truly hear each other during heated arguments with my partner, I recorded one of these discussions and uploaded the audio to NotebookLM. The AI revealed where we were misunderstanding each other—showing how we’d talk past one another when triggered—and uncovered the unproductive patterns in our dynamic. This led to a breakthrough conversation where we genuinely listened. While the relationship ultimately didn’t work out, I credit AI with helping us reach a deeper level of mutual understanding and respect. How to foster connections, not replace them While concerns about human-AI relationships altering dynamics are valid, AI is here to stay. The real question isn’t whether AI will be part of our lives—it already is. The pressing question is how we design systems that foster connection, not replace it. Used mindfully, AI can enhance our relationships, offering new ways to understand ourselves and each other, ultimately helping us grow. These methods may enhance how we deliver care in therapy. Therapy has long been about the delicate dance of self-understanding—therapists attuning to the unsaid, guiding clients toward truths both desired and feared. What if AI could sit in the wings, not as an observer but as a collaborator, capturing threads too subtle for the human mind to detect? This isn’t about machines delivering platitudes or algorithms attempting empathy. It’s about systems integrating into the therapist’s workflow—offering transcription, analysis, and even creative interventions based on psychodynamic or cognitive principles. AI can identify themes in client narratives, highlight emotional shifts, and provide therapists with data-driven insights that inform—not dictate—clinical judgment. For example, an AI assistant transcribing and organizing session notes might suggest that a client’s recurring references to “freedom” coincide with ambivalence toward a career decision. Or it could flag a subtle shift in tone that hints at an underlying conflict the therapist might explore. Far from diminishing the therapist’s role, these tools enhance their ability to stay present, ensuring no vital detail is overlooked. The skepticism surrounding AI often stems from the fear that technology will replace human connection. But we, as a collective, have the power to decide. AI can honor the sanctity of the therapeutic relationship, staying in the background like a skilled psychometrist or note-taker, allowing therapists to fully engage in connection. Challenges and opportunities Real challenges remain. How do we ensure these tools are trained on diverse and representative data? How do we guard against bias? Most importantly, how do we design systems to stay humble—aware of their limits and deferring to the therapist’s expertise? What excites me most is the potential for AI to support somatic practices in therapy. Growing evidence shows the body plays a crucial role in processing trauma and achieving emotional regulation in ways that talk therapy cannot. With AI handling the cognitive load of administrative tasks, therapists can focus more on facilitating somatic therapies—approaches that engage the body through techniques like grounding exercises, mirroring, and physical presence. In this vision, AI enables individuals’ greater access to self-understanding. Clients can individually identify patterns, process insights, and build awareness—work that can be done outside traditional therapy. With AI managing these aspects at a low cost, therapists can focus on interventions requiring empathy, presence, and connection. The future of therapy could balance AI-driven self-discovery with somatic and relational work, ensuring transformative healing. In mental health, technology must follow humanity. The best AI systems amplify therapists’ capabilities without overshadowing them. This emerging era of augmentative AI could empower practitioners to go deeper, help clients feel more seen, and make healing more precise, without losing its art. The question to ask perhaps isn’t about whether AI can do what therapists do. It’s how AI can help therapists do what they do better—with clarity, presence, and attunement. As these tools quietly find their place in therapy rooms, the possibilities for transformative growth—for both clients and clinicians—are just beginning. Angelia Muller is cofounder and CEO of Attunement. View the full article

It’s been a minute since Lifehacker looked at the slang of Generation Z—long enough that Generation Alpha has had time to develop and spread some of its own special buzzwords and jargon. Below is an alphabetized collection of slang taken from both Gen Z and Gen A, in case someone younger than you says something you don't understand. As with all slang, if you need an online list to know what a word means, you are too old to say it aloud. 304: Hoe. (Type "304" on a calculator and turn it upside down.) 4+4: Ate. Four plus four is eight, or "ate." (See "ate") Alpha male: Taken from animal ethology, an alpha male is the dominant member of a group of males, or just a male who is in charge. (See "beta male" and "sigma male.") Ate/eat: Done very well, often regarding clothing. e.g.: "You ate that outfit." See also: "serving." Aura: Someone who is mysterious and cool is said to "have aura." Baddie: A bad/wild girl. Meant as a compliment. Baka: Japanese word meaning “crazy" or “foolish.” Used mainly in the anime community. Based: Independent in a cool way. Bed-rotting: Staying in bed all day. You may know it as “lazing around.” See also: "Hurkle-durkle." Beta male: A beta male, or just "beta," is a weaker, subservient male. (See "alpha male" and "sigma male") Bop: A girl who sleeps around. Also: a great song. Boysober: Someone who has sworn off sex, relationships, and/or dating. Brain-rot: A description of the overuse of stupid slang. See also: “Skibidi.” Also used to describe the effects of being overly online. Brat: The contemporary meaning of "brat" is an adjective describing a person who is edgy, imperfect, and confident. It was coined by pop star Charli XCX who defined it as "that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes. Who feels herself but maybe also has a breakdown." Bruzz: Bros. Part of the -uzz family of slang words. See "Huzz" and "-uzz" Bubba truck: A lifted or otherwise modified pick-up truck. Bussin': Very good or excellent. Cap: A lie. Often used to say "no cap." Cake: Butt, especially a nice butt. Chad: An attractive man; an “alpha male.” See "Giga-Chad." Chat: A reference to streamers addressing their chat windows aloud. Saying “chat” in real life is an ironic joke. Chud: A physically unappealing person. Sometimes used for a man who holds right wing views. Coomer: A man who masturbates too often. Corn: “Corn” is algo-speak that means “porn.” Used in online spaces where the word might cause your account to be flagged or banned. Coworker-core: A catch-all description for things that are unfunny or uninteresting in a way that appeals to older people. Dead: Past tense of having died laughing. If someone responds to a joke with "dead" or a skull emoji, they find it funny. Deadass: Seriously. Used like, "I am deadass not lying." Delulu: Delusional. Doomer: A person who is overly negative and/or cynical. Drip: A fashionable or stylish look. Edgar: A variation of the Caesar haircut worn especially among Hispanic males. Also refers to the kind of person who wears the haircut. Fanum tax: The theft of food between friends. Named for streamer Fanum, known for “taxing” his friends by taking bites of their meals or stealing fries. Fax, no printer: Telling the truth, since "fax and "facts" are pronounced the same. It's a colorful way of saying "facts, no cap." Fent-fold: A description of the bent-over posture of people nodding on heavy drugs. Fit: Short for "outfit." Fuhuhluhtoogan: Supposedly from Baltimore slang, this is a nonsense word used so people will ask what it means but never receive an answer. Often paired with "Jittleyang." Gamer dent: The temporary indentation left on someone’s hair or skin after wearing headphones for too long. Geeker: Someone who uses a lot of drugs. Giga-Chad: A Chad among Chads. Glaze: To overly praise someone, often insincerely, or with the hope of getting something in return. Gleek: An older slang term that is gaining prominence lately, gleeking describes squirting saliva from under the tongue. Glizzy: Hot dog. "Glizzy" was originally slang for Glock or gun, but came to mean hot dog based on the hot dog shape of a Glock's magazine. Green fn: An interjection one might used when someone does something cool or impressive. Often used ironically. Gooning: Extended masturbation without orgasm done for the purpose of entering an altered state of consciousness. Gyatt or Gyat: Once an interjection used when seeing someone sexy, like “god-DAMN,” “gyatt” has come to mean “attractive booty.” Hewwo: An overly cute way of saying "hello." Usually used online, and often ironically. HGS: Abbreviation for "home girls" used in comment sections. Hurkle-durkle: Based on an archaic Scottish word, “hurkle-durkle” means to lounge in bed after it is time to get up. See also: “bed-rotting." Huzz: -uzz slang for "hoes." See "bruzz" and "-uzz." "It's giving": Used to convey that something has a specific vibe. Example: "That dude texts you every 10 minutes; it's giving desperate." "It's so over": The situation is hopeless. The opposite of "we're so back." See also: "Doomer." Jelqing: The use of stretching or weights in an attempt to increase penis size. Jit: A kid. Used ironically online. Jittleyang: Supposedly from Baltimore slang, this is a nonsense word used so people will ask what it means but never receive an answer. See also: "Fuhuhluhtoogan." JOMO: A play on FOMO (fear of missing out) JOMO is an acronym that stands for “joy of missing out.” "Learn Chinese": Sports slang directed at failing players. They are in danger of being sent to play in China, so they should "learn Chinese." Looksmaxxing: Maximizing one’s physical attractiveness through personal grooming, working out, and dressing stylishly. See also: “-maxxing.” -maxxing: A suffix used with any word to indicate trying to improve. Seeing your friends could be called "friendmaxxing," working out could be called "gymmaxxing," making jokes could be called "jestermaxxing," etc. Mid: Average, bland, expected. Mewing: A facial exercise meant to strengthen the jawline. Mirror sex: Using a mirror to watch yourself have sex. Mog: To be more attractive than someone, usually in an intentional or aggressive way. Example: "I was rizzing up this girl, but he walked in and totally mogged me." Neurospicy: A different way of saying “neuro-divergent.” NPC: Non-player character. Originally describing video game characters, NPC is now used on the internet to mean people who don't think for themselves. Opp: Short for "opposition." Someone who is out to get you. An enemy. Pink cocaine: Also known as "pink snow," pink cocaine is slang for a powdered drug mixture that usually contains some combination of ketamine, MDMA, meth, opioids, and other substances. Pole: A gun. See "up pole." "Press F for respect:" In 2014 video game Call of Duty: Advanced Warfighter, the player attends a funeral and a prompt is given that reads "Press F to pay respects." Now, a singular "F" in a chat window indicates respect. It's usually ironic. Regarded: “Regarded” is algo-speak for “retarded." Rizz: As a noun, "rizz" means charisma. As a verb, "rizz" or "rizz up" means attracting someone with your charisma. Serve: Wearing a particularly stylish outfit. See also: "ate." Serve cunt: To act in a powerfully and unapologetically feminine way; to slay. Sigma male: An internet-created male classification, a "sigma male" is as dominant as an alpha male, but is outside the male hierarchy, i.e.: a lone wolf. Originally used seriously, the concept was so widely derided it's now almost always used ironically. (See "Alpha male" and "Beta male.") Skibidi: Named after “Skibidi Toilet,” a popular series of YouTube videos, “skibidi” itself has no specific meaning, beyond ridiculing the overuse of slang itself. See “brain-rot.” Skrt: Onomatopoetic word for the sound of tires squealing upon acceleration. Sweat: A person who tries too hard, usually used in reference to video games. The adjective form is "sweaty." Spawn point: Mother. Based on the spot you start in a video game. Spoopy: Spooky. Striker: Stolen/no-title car. Tradwife: Believer in traditional married gender roles. Treatler (and Treatlerite): "Treatler" and "Treatlerite" are online insults that combine "treat" and "Hitler" to refer to entitled users of services like Doordash or Uber Eats who regard luxury delivery services as a human right, and don't consider the hardships of the people who do the work that makes "private taxis for burritos" possible. TS: TS originally was AAVE shorthand for "this shit," but it is often used to just mean "this." Turnt: Excited or intoxicated, or excitedly intoxicated. Unc: Short for "uncle," used to describe slightly older people. Example: "The class of 2024 are unc-status to the class of 2028." See "yunc." -uzz: -uzz slang words use "uzz" at the end of any word, so "bros" becomes "bruzz," "hoes" becomes "huzz," "granny" becomes "gruzz," etc. Up pole: To raise a gun. Twelve: Police. Twin: Best friend. "We're so back": Opposite of "it's so over." Wojack: The name of a style of internet drawings used to quickly stereotype someone. See this post for a full explanation of the Wojak universe. Yapping: Describes a presentational style often seen on online streams of talking a lot and/or quickly while not saying anything worthwhile. Yeet: To quickly and/or forcibly eject. Yunc: Yunc is a variation of "unc." In AAVE, a "yn" is a "young n-word." So "yunc" means something like "young uncle," or a person who may be young but has uncle vibes or unc status. Zoomer Perm: A curly on top, short on the sides haircut popular among young people. View the full article

As of this writing, the future of TikTok hangs in the balance, and swaths of “TikTok refugees” are popping over to RedNote. RedNote is China’s version of Instagram with around 300 million users. This is a bad idea. I’ve been astounded at how cavalier people have been about it. I get a whiff of two distinct sentiments underlying this behavior: A defeatism around being farmed for data, resulting in a “Who cares, what does it matter?” attitude. A presumption that America—with its corporate oligarchs, big tech monopolies, and titanic military industrial complex—is just as bad as China, if not worse. These points are simply not rooted in the real world. It does matter for us as individual and as Americans who has access to our data at scale. Those adopting RedNote as an “F-you” the U.S. government’s TikTok ban are cutting our country’s nose off to spite its face. I know, I know Big Tech is predatory I’ll be the first one to call out the predatory nature of Big Tech. Twitter/X selling user data to surveillance firms and law enforcement with zero oversight. Facebook manipulating users through their news feeds on top of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. YouTube becoming a pipeline for radicalizing young men. Instagram damaging the mental health of children, particularly girls. The buying, selling, and manipulation of our data and our minds has become so commonplace that it’s nihilistically accepted as a fact of life. Big Tech is almost always backed by Big Finance. ByteDance, which owns TikTok, is backed by Sequoia Capital China, General Atlantic, SoftBank, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, among others. RedNote itself enjoys backing from American-founded VCs like GSR Ventures, who, along with GGV Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Walden International, among others, have invested more than $3 billion in Chinese technology companies linked to the country’s military, surveillance, and human rights abuses. Are we “cooked,” as the kids say? Maybe, but that’s no reason to turn up the temperature on ourselves. The frying pan is better than the fire. Care about yourself Unlike TikTok, which stores American user data on U.S. servers owned by Oracle, RedNote would collect your data and send it straight to China. Why should you care your data is being harvested, and where it’s going? Firstly, this data can be used against you in phishing attempts and identity theft, ordeals that can impact you for decades. While criminals are doing the phishing and identity-thieving in the U.S., I’d bet it’s being performed by more sophisticated, capable attackers in China. Your online content could be used to create deepfakes that fool other victims. Secondly, you’ve probably heard some version of “TikTok is a psyop.” I don’t believe this is overblown. The Chinese version of TikTok restricts content under a certain age to educational, scientific, artistic, and otherwise more enriching content. It also limits how long minors under age 14 can use it—40 minutes each day, only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. We are getting a more toxic version of TikTok. You may have at least a vague notion of how social media is diminishing your attention span, distracting you from meaningful relationships, or warping your worldview. This is intentional as part of TikTok’s cognitive warfare efforts. Thirdly, there is value in being able to perceive the world for what it actually is. China is notorious for censorship, and I’m quite curious to see how Chinese RedNote users respond to content involving, say, Tiananmen Square or China’s arbitrary detaining of Uyghur Muslims. If China will censor and manipulate its own people to this degree, imagine what they’ll do to you. Care about the nation There’s a lot of “f— America” going around these days, and I guess I get it. We live in a country united only by the vigilante slaying of a healthcare CEO. Trump, Palestine, school shootings, childcare costs, recession, Big Oil, military contractors, microplastics —we didn’t start the fi-yer! We have to remember that our country is not any of these things. This country is We The People. The everyday folks grinding it out day after day. We’re getting up in the morning and going to work. Raising our kids. Paying bills. Finding small ways to enjoy life and not let it drive us insane. Sometimes voting feels like pissing in the wind, but even though the lobbyists and corporations have huge sway over our government, our government is accountable to us. We can openly shout them down and vote them out. The administrators of our government are still subject to the law, unlike members of the CCP. At the end of the day, we’re all in this big American boat. Whether you’re proud to be here (like I am) or not, this is your boat. Jumping ship to RedNote would only exacerbate the schisms and grievances we’re all so tired of already. Because that’s what the Chinese government wants. They don’t have to have a precise aim, only to make us more confused and fractured. Don’t fool yourself about China RedNote’s Chinese name, Xiaohongshu, more directly translates to “little red book.” This name refers to Chinese dictator Mao Zedong’s Little Red Book, which contains over 260 political aphorisms like “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Styled after philosophical texts like those from Sun Tzu and Confucius, Little Red Book was key to building a cult of personality around Mao and enacting his “Cultural Revolution.” His ministry of culture mandated every Chinese citizen own a copy and carry it with them. Mao would have loved RedNote, and TikTok, to be fair. It’s safe to say that RedNote’s name is more than a wink and a nod to the dictator, the personage of state power manifest. While many fresh American users are loving getting to know regular Chinese people, it isn’t these people who are the threat. It’s the fact that the Chinese government can use whatever data it wants for whatever purposes it wants. That’s just how their regime is set up. Most of what we complain about here in America, China is doing to a much greater degree, from the forced labor and even sterilization of Uyghurs to arresting monks in Tibet for their religious beliefs to silencing whistleblowers and journalists to harassing Taiwan with its military. That regime has been busy in regards to the U.S. over the past several years. They’ve infiltrated networks within America’s telecommunications, energy, water, and other infrastructure sectors. They’ve stolen our military technology. They’ve hacked U.S. government departments and targeted U.S. citizens who have been critical of China China is a clear and present danger. They aren’t playing nice, and we shouldn’t play into their hands. No matter how much it might entertain us. View the full article

Apple just hit another snag in its effort to find a foothold in the headset market targeting everyday users. The tech giant has reportedly canceled its project to build augmented reality glasses that could be paired with its devices. The project, code-named N107, was supposed to produce glasses that look normal but have added displays and would require connection to a Mac, Bloomberg reported. Yet the company reportedly struggled to produce the right tech at an attractive price point. Apple initially tried to get the glasses to pair with an iPhone, but ran into problems with battery life, Bloomberg reported. But the switch to the Mac, which has a bigger battery and faster processors, performed poorly among Apple’s executives, the report said. Pulling the project means Apple is likely falling even further behind its tech competitors. Meta, for example, unveiled its Orion AR glasses last fall. The Apple glasses were reportedly similar to Xreal’s One and Lenovo’s ThinkReality versions of AR glasses. At the same time, Apple’s Vision Pro headset has been slow to find adoption due to its $3,499 price tag. The company reportedly paused work on the Vision Pro 2 last summer in order to focus on creating a cheaper model. View the full article

If you had an Apple Watch between 2015 and February of last year, there’s a chance the company might owe you a small payout. That’s thanks to a recent $20 million settlement on a class action lawsuit over swollen batteries. Apple has denied all wrongdoing, saying in a statement sent to Lifehacker sister publication CNET that “we strongly disagree with the claims made against these early generation Apple Watch models.” Still, rather than move forward with legal fees, the company is just choosing to pay a lump sum and get it over with instead. Given that the lawsuit, Smith et al. v. Apple Inc, lasted for over five years, that’s understandable. Getting your piece of the settlement might not be so simple, however. In order to qualify, you need to have already taken action, having reported battery swelling on an Apple Watch first-generation, Series 1, Series 2, or Series 3 model to Apple between April 24, 2015 and Feb. 6, 2024. If that sounds like you, you do not need to submit a claim, but there are a few steps you can take to ensure payment. First, keep an eye out for an email or postcard notifying you of your eligibility for payment. This will have a notice ID or confirmation code, which you’ll then need to enter on the settlement website to update your payment information. You’ll have until April 10 to send this information over, and if you feel like you should qualify but don’t get a notice, you can also reach out to a toll free number or the settlement administrator’s address to get the ball rolling, per section 7 of the settlement site’s FAQ. Alternatively, if you’d rather opt out of the settlement, which will preserve your right to pursue your own legal action against Apple, you can do so through the same process. Once the dust has settled, class members can expect a payout of about $20 per affected watch, although specifics might vary depending on the number of people who update their payment information, capping out at $50 per affected watch. View the full article

Justice department alleges John Harold Rogers accessed sensitive information including briefings and policy deliberationsView the full article

N-VA’s Bart De Wever takes over after marathon talks as anti-establishment forces gather strength across EuropeView the full article

Usually, it’s the businesses that are behind robocalls, but if you work at a nail salon or an auto repair shop, get ready for customers to start sending hordes of AI Karens your way. Google’s latest experimental AI feature, available to those who sign up for “Ask for me” on Google Search Labs, is aiming to be a sort of personal AI secretary for you. Once enabled, it’ll pop up an “Ask for me” button under certain searches, promising to call local shops for you to help you figure out availability, service costs, and the like. Clicking the “Ask for me” button will take you to a form, where you’ll fill out, for example, the make and model of your car, what services you need, and when you can come in. Google will then canvass local shops (there doesn’t seem to be an option to send a call only to a specific shop) and then email or text you back with results. On their end, business owners will hear a message at the start of every call indicating that it’s an automated system calling on behalf of a potential customer, Google spokesperson Craig Ewer told The Verge. If that sounds annoying, business owners can opt out, either within their Google Business Profile settings or by simply telling the AI not to call them back. For those that decide to humor the robocalls, Ewer told The Verge that Google is doing its best to ensure businesses don’t get overloaded with calls, and will use information collected from prior calls to help answer future ones without bothering an employee. Over on X, Google product lead Rose Yao said Ask for me is powered by Duplex, an existing Google feature that (mostly) uses AI to make reservations on your behalf, but it’s more geared towards research than actually booking anything. As it’s still experimental, it’s limited to nail salons and auto shops for now, though it could presumably expand in the future. As someone with social anxiety, I can see the surface level appeal here, although I’m not sure I’d ever want to commit the sin of making someone else talk to a robot. View the full article

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday he appointed Chris Rocheleau, a former senior aviation official, as the acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Rocheleau will be handling the response to the deadly collision of an American Airlines plane with an Army Black Hawk helicopter that sent both plunging into the Potomac River on Wednesday night. He will serve in the position until President Trump’s nominee is confirmed by the Senate. Michael Whitaker, the FAA’s most recent administrator, resigned as President Trump took office, following public criticism from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk who had called on Whitaker to “resign.” Rocheleau has more than two decades of experience working for the FAA, serving in multiple roles there, including: acting associate administrator for aviation safety; chief of staff; assistant administrator for policy, international affairs, and environment; executive director for international affairs; and director of the office of emergency operations and investigations. Most recently, he served as an executive at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA). “Chris is an outstanding leader who will be good for the FAA, good for aviation and good for the country, especially at this challenging time,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen in a statement. “He has demonstrated excellence at every level in the government, military, and aviation industry.” The announcement comes after an American Airlines regional jet with 64 people on board collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter with three soldiers on board near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan Washington National Airport. Officials said they expected no survivors. The American Airlines flight included several figure skaters, including 1994 world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. On Thursday, the president appeared to falsely blame a “diversity push” at the FAA for the midair collision, even blaming Democrats for their policies. Tennessee Garvey, a pilot and the chair of the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals, has pushed back against President Trump’s comments. The plane wreckage is currently being housed in Hangar 7 at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. A preliminary report into the investigation will be released in one month. View the full article

The healthcare sector is one of the most common targets for hackers and cyber criminals, and yet another data breach has put the personal data of more than a million patients at risk. Community Health Center (CHC), a nonprofit healthcare provider in Connecticut, has disclosed that hackers gained access to its system in October and stole sensitive health and personal information belonging to 1,060,936 individuals. What happened with CHC? According to reporting by Bleeping Computer, hackers had access to the CHC network for several hours on October 14, 2024, though the breach was not discovered until January 2, 2025. Stolen data may include names, birthdates, addresses, phone numbers, emails, and Social Security numbers as well as medical records and health insurance information. CHC has indicated that it was not a ransomware attack, and no data was locked or deleted. What you can do if your data was stolenWhile you can't un-leak your personal data, you can (and should) be on the lookout for signs that it is being used maliciously. CHC is offering 24 months of free identity theft protection through IDX, including credit and cyber monitoring and ID theft recovery. According to CHC's filing with the Maine attorney general, those affected by the breach were notified by letter beginning on Jan. 30—and that consumer notice includes a QR code to activate monitoring services, or you can go to the IDX website and enter the enrollment code provided. The deadline to sign up for identity theft protection is April 30. You should also commit to other best practices for securing your data, including utilizing credit monitoring services (even if you don't qualify for IDX enrollment), activating credit freezes and fraud alerts, staying skeptical of requests for your personal information (don't give anything out via text, email, or phone until you've verified), and never clicking strange links. Of course, the CHC incident isn't the only one to compromise patient data—and it's far from the largest. The major breach of UnitedHealth Group subsidiary Change Healthcare (first reported in October 2024) is now believed to impact nearly twice as many people as previously disclosed. That ransomware attack included the health insurance, billing, and payment information as well as medical records and sensitive personal data of nearly 190 million patients. Ascension Health suffered a similar breach in February 2024, which affected nearly 6 million individuals. View the full article