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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

President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on a wide range of imports, including oil and metals, in the coming months, expanding his plans to enact sweeping trade levies well beyond those set to hit China, Canada and Mexico on Saturday. View the full article

Group is latest tech company to consider move away from longtime American corporate haven View the full article

Construction projects are won through the construction bidding process. In a nutshell, construction bidding involves a project owner who wants to build a construction project and contractors who can provide construction services. Managing the construction bidding process and expanding your customer base without breaking the bottom line is a delicate art. Whether you’re a seasoned construction professional or new to the business, you can always learn more about submitting a construction bid! What Is Construction Bidding? Construction bidding describes the process of bid submission and approval between a construction company and its customer, but it can also describe how subcontractors get work from the contractor once a job has been taken. Construction bidding can also be referred to as the construction tender process. Construction bidding can also be referred to as construction tendering, contractor tendering, construction proposal submission, project bid submission or simply project bid submission. A construction bid lives or dies on accuracy. Using blueprints, construction plans and material quantity takeoffs, the bidder must estimate a realistic cost (including a profit margin) to make the job viable. What Is a Construction Bid? A construction bid is a set of documents that a contractor submits to a project owner to demonstrate why its firm should be selected for the execution of a construction project. A construction bid should explain the scope of work, pricing breakdown, subcontractor list, qualifications among many other details. A construction bid may also be referred to as a construction bid proposal, bidding proposal, contractor’s offer or contractor proposal. To have an accurate forecast and competitive bid, you need tools to help estimate costs, time and other resources. ProjectManager is project management software that offers planning, scheduling and tracking tools to ensure you keep to your bid during construction management. Use our unlimited file storage to manage your construction bidding documents. Once your bid wins, you can start planning your construction projects with our Gantt charts, project calendars, kanban boards and more. Get started for free. /wp-content/uploads/2023/04/event-plan-gantt-chart-light-mode-CTA.jpgAfter you win your bid, track your project with powerful scheduling software. Learn more! What Is a Construction Bid Package? While their names sound similar, a construction bid and a construction bid package differ. A construction bid package is a set of documents prepared by the project owner and sent to contractors interested in participating in a project to give them relevant information such as the construction specifications, architectural drawings and contract terms, among other details. What Should Be Included In a Construction Bid? There’s no one-size-fits-all style to a construction bid, however, certain elements are required when submitting one. When making a construction bid, be sure to include the following: Contact Information: A bid will be discarded if there’s no contact information for the construction company that submits it or the potential customer to whom it’s addressed. The basic information is name, address, phone and/or email and a place for signatures, either to acknowledge receipt or agreement on the terms. Also, include the location of the project. Scope of Work: Next comes a project overview before getting into pricing details. Here, outline the scope of the project, the services provided, the schedule for the work, necessary materials and other features required to get the job done. This section should be detailed and include customer expectations, any subcontractors that’ll be hired, removal of trash, visitor rules, safety protocols and more. Construction Drawings and Specifications: These are the blueprints for any construction project and they offer the information to build the structure properly within the desired standards. Drawings may include a site plan, floor plan, elevations, etc. while specifications include written instructions and key components that complement the drawings. Project Schedule: The work schedule will be detailed here, from the start to the end and all milestones in between. It’s a good idea to determine the extent to which you’re liable for any events that cause delays in the execution of the project. Those events could be inclement weather, delayed permits, etc. Block out the calendar, noting working days, vacation, supply lead time, zoning approval and other third-party processes that can impact the timeline. Cost Estimate and Pricing Breakdown: Estimate the price for the entire project here. Break down the total cost into subsections, including labor and materials. Add a section on costs if the project goes over the scope to manage the customer’s expectations. Contractor’s Licenses and Certifications: These licenses and certifications may include things such as a general contractor license, specialty contractor license, trade certifications or professional certifications. They ensure public safety and peace of mind. References and Previous Projects: If there is any related experience from previous projects or references, be sure to include them. This can help build confidence in one’s ability to meet and surpass expectations. Quality Control Plan: A construction quality control plan outlines the procedures and processes that will be used to ensure the final product is up to the needed quality standards and specifications. It helps ensure projects are delivered at maximum efficiency, safety and client satisfaction. Subcontractor List: If there are any specific subcontractors who will be hired to perform various tasks, be sure to list them. It helps improve planning and scheduling and helps establish a more accurate project budget. Bonding Information: A bond bid is a legally binding agreement between the contractor, project owner and surety company. It ensures that the winning contractor will enter into the contract and provide a performance bond and a payment bond. Proof of Financial Stability: Demonstrating financial stability can help convince project owners of a reliable and capable contractor. It may include things like credit reports, financial statements, lines of credit, bonding capacity, insurance certificates and other supporting documentation. Proof of Insurance: This may include workers’ compensation insurance, general liability insurance, commercial auto insurance, etc. This section of a construction bid can help with risk mitigation and protecting project stakeholders. Existing Conditions: Describe the job site as it currently is after conducting a preliminary site assessment. List the conditions of the site as it stands now, what action will be taken to respond to these conditions and who will be responsible for what. Also, note how conditions discovered after the start of the project will be dealt with and who will decide on the scope and cost of any remediation. Terms of Payment: Detail how you’ll get paid for the job if selected by the customer. Most won’t pay the total cost upfront, so decide what down payment you require and the frequency of installments for the balance. These payments can be tied to various milestones in the project, which should be identified. Schedule of Values: Itemize all of the work involved in the construction project including the estimated cost of each item. This will act as the basis for progress to the payment contractor as it outlines how the total contract sum is distributed across various work items. Relevant Documentation: Because of the size of most construction projects, it’s critical to the bid to identify any sub-projects and an owner who’s responsible for them. This will help the customer know who’s responsible for what when the project begins. It also defines who has legal authority when it comes to signing documents. Construction Bidding Process When involved in the construction bidding process, you should ideally have accurate estimates and a low bid. Many customers only look at the bottom line and go with the lowest bidder. However, don’t bid yourself out of business. Keeping that in mind, it’s best to follow these steps in the construction bidding process. 1. Solicitation The very first step in the construction bidding process is when a project owner announces that a construction project will be built and then utilizes a request for proposal, invitation to bid or a request for qualifications document to reach out to potential contractors who are interested in participating in the project. Request for Proposal: A request for proposal (RFP) is a construction document that project owners send out to contractors to receive construction proposals from them. Once contractors submit their bid packages, they’re evaluated by the project owner so they can select who’s the contractor that best meets the requirements for their construction project. The RFP should include parameters and guidelines so contractors can understand what should be included in their bid packages. Invitation to Bid (ITB): This is a form document that the project owner issues to solicit competitive bids from qualified contractors. It is the starting point for the bidding process and plays a key role in ensuring a fair and transparent procurement process. It includes things like project information, bidder qualifications, project scope and drawings, bidding instructions and contract information. Request for Qualifications (RFQ): The RFQ is particularly important in larger and more complex construction projects. It acts as a screening process to identify qualified contractors, narrowing down the pool of potential bidders before issuing a request for proposal. This should aim to assess the contractor’s qualifications, capabilities and experience instead of focusing on specific pricing information. 2. Prequalification This is a formal process where a project owner or general contractor evaluates potential subcontractors based on their capabilities and qualifications before inviting them to submit bids. Beyond comparing prices, prequalification helps assess a subcontractor’s overall suitability for the project based on different factors such as financial stability, experience, safety record, etc. Below, we’ve outlined the criteria. Company Information: Basic details about the contractor’s business, including legal name, business structure, and years in operation. Experience and References: A list of completed projects similar in scope, size, and complexity, along with client references to demonstrate reliability and capability. Financial Stability: Proof of financial health, such as recent financial statements, to ensure the contractor can handle the project’s budget and cash flow needs. Licenses and Certifications: Copies of necessary licenses, certifications, and insurance policies to ensure the contractor meets legal and safety requirements. Safety Record: A summary of the contractor’s safety practices, including accident records and safety programs, to demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a safe work environment. 3. Site Visit and Pre-Bid Meeting During a site visit, potential bidders can examine the site, looking at any existing structures, topography, soil conditions and more. If there are potential issues or constraints that could impact the project, they will gather this information during that time. Pre-bid meetings are formal gatherings when the project owner provides potential bidders with the information they need to know about the project, answering any questions along the way. 4. Bid Package Preparation and Submission Preparation and submission are the two main phases of preparing a construction bid. During the preparation phase, a comprehensive set of construction documents will be assembled, including client-provided documents and company documents. The proposal will have a deadline for submission. Once the contractor has detailed the information required by the customer, they submit the bid before or on the deadline. 5. Bid Evaluation & Selection After the project owner has gathered bid packages from multiple contractors, there’s a period when the customer goes through all the submitted bids. They’ll choose the one that best fits their needs, which will be the winner of the bid. 6. Contract Award Because of the details of the bid, it can be used by both parties as a legally binding contract once agreed upon. However, it’s more likely the customer and the winner of the bid will finalize the terms and conditions sketched out in the bid and create a legal contractual agreement they both sign. 7. Notice to Proceed This is a formal document that gives the contractor the go-ahead to begin working on a project. It includes information like project and contract details, start date, contract tie, financial aspects and signatures. After all of this, the project will begin and follow the agreed-upon schedule and pricing of the bid. Types of Construction Bidding There are different types of construction bidding, also known as construction tenders which allow project owners to specify what type of contractors and subcontractors may send bids and other guidelines for their bidding process. There are four main types of tender in construction: open, negotiated, selective and serial tendering. Here’s a quick overview. Open Tendering This type of construction tender allows any contractor to apply for a construction project. The main benefit of using an open tender process for your project is that it allows you to gather many construction bids, which helps you find the best contractor for your projects, whether you’re looking for a low-cost bid, an experienced contractor or the best price-quality ratio. Open tendering is the preferred method for construction government projects because it promotes fair competition, ensures transparency and helps decision-makers select the bid that best fits the needs of their community. In the US, city and state governments are constantly accepting bids for a variety of public construction projects, which are often posted on their websites or authorized construction bidding websites that show available open tenders and the information you’ll need to send your bids. Negotiated Tendering This is a special type of tender that’s used whenever the project owner has decided he’d like to proceed with a particular contractor and proceeds to only receive a bid from him. From there, the owner will continue to negotiate its price, terms and specifications. Selective Tendering A selective construction tender allows a small group of contractors to apply for a construction bidding process, which combines the simplicity of negotiated tendering, but widens its scope so you can get different types of bids and have a better understanding of what your project might cost. Serial Tendering Serial tendering consists of opening a construction bidding process for multiple related projects that are expected to be completed in the future, such as when a construction firm wants to build a series of apartment complexes with similar characteristics. The main benefit of this type of tender is that it allows both the construction owner and contractor to take advantage of economies of scale for resources such as materials and equipment and it simplifies the construction bidding process. How to Bid On Construction Jobs Before we dive into the steps of the construction bidding process, it’s important to know the key elements of construction bidding. Whether you’re a project owner or a contractor, you’ll need to know about these elements. There are several types of project delivery and procurement methods, as well as different types of construction contracts from which you can choose. Each has pros and cons depending on the specific requirements of your project, so you’ll need to evaluate which of them works best for you. The following are the most popular methods and contracts for your construction bidding process. 1. Define Your Project Delivery Method A project delivery method defines the responsibilities and risks assumed by the project owner, construction managers and contractors when starting a construction project. Design Bid Build: This project delivery method consists of a design phase where a designer creates construction documents. Then those documents are released to contractors who will estimate the project costs and present a bid to the project owner. The project owner then will evaluate bids and select a contractor. Design-Build: An alternative method to design-bid-build in which the contractor assumes responsibility for the design and construction of the project. Construction Manager at Risk: In the construction manager at risk method, the construction manager commits to delivering the construction project at a guaranteed maximum price (GMP). 2. Select a Construction Procurement Method Here’s a brief explanation of the main responsibilities of the project owner and contractors under the two most popular construction procurement methods. General Contracting: The project owner hires a general contractor who will build the construction project. The contractor executes the construction work and might hire subcontractors to cover certain areas. Construction Management: The project owner hires multiple subcontractors for each type of construction work such as plumbing, electrical work or masonry. This requires a huge effort from the owner and is suggested for bigger construction firms. 3. Choose a Contract Model The project owner and contractor must agree on a contract model to establish a legally binding agreement for the execution of the construction project. Here are some examples. Cost Plus Fee Contract: A cost plus fee contract requires contractors to report costs as they occur rather than deducting them from a budget. Then the project owner pays for the accumulated costs plus a fixed fee that’s agreed with the contractor before executing the project. Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Contract: In a GMP contract, the contractor defines a guaranteed maximum price for the project owner. The contractor must commit to this price even at his own expense if costs exceed his construction estimates. Time and Materials Contract: In a time and materials contract (T&M), the project owner pays an hourly rate for labor and purchases materials as needed by the contractor. It’s a good alternative when the project scope is uncertain and when close supervision is needed. /wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-construction-ebook-banner-ad.jpg Construction Bidding Best Practices The construction bidding process is highly competitive and there can be dozens of businesses vying for one job. How do you differentiate yourself and win the work without losing money in the process? Use Construction Bidding Websites Contractors typically find and secure construction contracts by using construction bidding websites. Here are some of the most popular: BidClerk: A platform for construction professionals to access bidding opportunities, project data and contact information for projects across various sectors. ConstructionBidSource: Provides a searchable database of active construction bids and RFPs from public and private sectors across the U.S. Blue Book Building & Construction Network: A comprehensive database offering access to construction project leads, contractor directories, and industry resources. Dodge Construction Network: Offers a wide range of project leads, construction bids and contractor tools to help professionals find opportunities and manage their bids. iSqFt: A subscription-based service offering construction bidding opportunities, plans, specifications and contact details for contractors and suppliers. Find RFP: A platform that specializes in aggregating public and private sector bids, RFPs and procurement opportunities for contractors. PlanHub: Am online construction bidding and project management platform that connects contractors with opportunities and project information. GovWin by Deltek: Focuses on government contracts and provides comprehensive bid tracking and project management services for contractors. ConstructConnect: shows a wide variety of construction tenders located in the state of Texas. Know the Competition It helps to know who else is bidding on the job. Know the competitors and what they’re doing. It’s helpful to network or join building trade groups to stay updated on what others in the construction industry are doing. When there’s a proposal, it doesn’t hurt to be the first one to bid, so keep an eye on marketplaces where bids are posted. Be Judicious With Your Bidding Although it helps to be the first to bid, it’s not ideal to bid on every job with a proposal. Spend time making the best proposal for the job while also ensuring it fits what your organization can accomplish at a profit. Cultivate a niche and look for work that will result in repeat business. Build Relationships Business is better executed on the foundation of a strong relationship, so strive to build relationships with people who are in a position to make decisions on awarding work to your company. Identify the individuals responsible for pulling the trigger on new work and develop trust with them. Accentuate Your Strengths When in the construction bidding process, don’t be bashful. Promote the qualities your business has that make it the right fit for the customer. Show off the team and be sure to let them know you have the experience necessary to do the job right. Sometimes value is more important than the price tag. Take Your Time Take your time when making the bid. Make sure to do the research and explain how you can give them the best return on their investment. If you know anyone who has worked for the customer previously, talk to them to get an idea of what the customer wants. Construction Bid Template This construction proposal template allows you to gather all the elements you’ll need to prepare a construction bid or proposal, such as the scope of work, costs, work schedule and timeline for your project. It’s easy to use and can help you streamline the construction tender process whether you’re a construction firm, general contractor or subcontractor. /wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Construction-Proposal-Screenshot-600x468.jpg More Construction Project Management Templates Construction projects involve creating a variety of documents which help the project management team have a better understanding and control over all the different areas of the project. Making all these documents from scratch can not only be challenging but also time-consuming, which is why we’ve created dozens of free construction management templates for Excel and Word. Here are some of them. Construction Estimate Template This free construction estimate template for Excel allows you to list down all your project costs such as materials, labor, equipment rental or any other cost categories you’d like to include. Construction Schedule Template This construction schedule template allows you to use an interactive Gantt chart to map out your project tasks on a timeline, identify dependencies, schedule resources, find the critical path of your project and much more. ProjectManager & Construction Bids ProjectManager is award-winning software used to organize plans that are productive and easy to share. Building your bid is akin to starting a project; you need to define a budget, manage resources, create a schedule and show it to your potential customer in the hopes that they accept your bid. Manage All Your Construction Bids In One Place ProjectManager’s kanban board is the perfect tool to track all the construction bids your organization is either evaluating or applying for. A kanban board has columns that allow you to group your construction bids by their status, such as sent, in review and approved. ProjectManager’s kanban boards allow you to communicate with your team members in real time and attach files with unlimited storage. /wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Kanban-flow-bid-proposal-construction-light-mode-1600x787.png Lay Out Your Project on Gantt Charts When you’ve done the due diligence and are ready to create a schedule, our online Gantt chart is there to organize all your tasks. Add a start and end date to each task and they populate a visual timeline that shows you the entire project on one page. /wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Construction-Gantt-chart-showing-task-lists-and-due-dates-1600x728.webp Create Dependencies and Milestones At this point, you can link all four types of task dependencies to avoid bottlenecks that can delay the execution phase of the project. Plus, set milestones as diamond icons on the timeline to mark when one phase ends and another begins. Milestones can also be used to mark any important dates you don’t want to slip through the cracks during the heat of the project. /wp-content/uploads/2024/10/how-to-make-a-gantt-chart-linking-task-dependencies.webp Unlimited File Storage for Documentation Construction projects are complicated and involve lots of documentation. Our online tool has unlimited file storage that acts as a central hub for your project documents, making it easy to find when you need it. No more messy desks or cluttered email folders to search through. You can share the project with your customer and, if they accept your bid, they’ll be notified by email and in-app alerts on the project’s progress. Construction Bidding FAQs Construction bids are often confused with similar construction documents like construction proposals, construction quotes and construction estimates. Here are the main differences between them to avoid confusion. What Is the Difference Between a Construction Bid and a Construction Proposal? While construction bids and construction proposals are very similar, there’s one key difference between them. Construction bids, also referred to as construction bid proposals are used when the conditions of a construction project are well-defined such as its scope of work, drawings, specifications and documentation. In these cases, the owner is simply looking for a general contractor with the capabilities to execute the work within the timeline and budget that’s been outlined in a construction plan by architects, engineers and the construction project management team. A construction proposal, on the other hand, is used when some project details are unknown or left open so that contractors can create a proposal that they think best serves the needs of the project owner. The two documents that project owners might use to gather construction bids and proposals are an invitation for bid (IFB) or a request for proposal (RFP). What Is the Difference Between a Construction Bid and a Construction Quote? A construction quote is a document that shows the estimated costs for labor or materials for completing a construction project, a portion of it or a specific task. One unique characteristic of construction quotes is that they’re only valid for a limited amount of time due to the ever-changing price of commodity resources such as lumber and fluctuating labor costs. Construction quotes can be used in many ways. For example, a construction project owner might request a quote from a construction contractor, or a contractor may ask for a quote to find out the cost of materials from its supplier. What Is the Difference Between a Construction Bid and a Construction Estimate? While a bid is an estimate, they aren’t the same thing. There’s no hard and fast rule, but most of the time when a contractor is talking about an estimate, they’re referring to the costs of materials and labor for their project. The construction bid is what’s sent to the customer as the final, fixed price for the entire job. Regardless of the difference, estimates need to be accurate so no money is lost if the bid is accepted. Related Content Construction Bids: Mastering Construction Bidding Construction Documents (Templates Included) Types of Construction Contracts: Pros, Cons & Best Practices ProjectManager is an online tool that gives you live data for better decisions. Keep your customers updated with a real-time dashboard that automatically calculates project variance, costs and more and displays them in shareable graphs and charts. Plan, monitor and report on your construction project, while getting instant status updates from the job site. Try our software today with this free 30-day trial. The post Construction Bidding Basics: Mastering Construction Bids appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

One of the largest non-profit blood centers in the country, New York Blood Center (NYBC), said it was hit with a ransomware attack over the weekend and is now experiencing disruptions in its services, including longer than normal processing times for blood donations, plus the cancelling and rescheduling of some blood donations. NYBC provides blood to over 200 hospitals in the northeast, including New York and New Jersey, and transfusion-related medical services to over 500 hospitals across the nation. “At this time, we do not have a specific timetable for system restoration,” NYBC said in a statement on its website. “We are working diligently with third-party experts to restore our systems as quickly and safely as possible.” What happened? On Sunday, January 26, New York Blood Center Enterprises identified suspicious activity affecting its IT systems. It contacted cybersecurity experts who investigated and confirmed it was the result of a ransomware incident. “We took immediate steps to help contain the threat, including taking certain systems offline,” NYBC confirmed. The attack comes at a critical time, when blood donations in the U.S. are at a critically low level. Currently, the New York and New Jersey region face a “blood emergency” resulting from a 30% drop in donations in recent weeks since the holidays, totaling 6,500 fewer donations and crippling the region’s blood supply, according to the NYBC. What can I do to help? Donations typically decrease during the holidays, and this January poses additional challenges with colder than normal temperatures causing blood drive cancellations, and flu, COVID-19, and RSV reducing donor eligibility. Currently, donations of all blood types are urgently needed, especially Types O- and B-, which are down to a dangerously low 1-3-day supply. In the coming weeks, NYBC may have to do another push for more blood donations. If you’re eligible, you can donate your blood, but be prepared for the possibility of longer wait times or unexpected scheduling changes. Here’s more information about how to donate. View the full article

The return-to-office (RTO) push at companies such as Amazon and AT&T—which both required employees to be back in the office full-time this month—has been met with discontent and frustration from much of their workforces. Some Amazon employees have said they are looking for new jobs, if they haven’t left already, while people at both companies have reportedly struggled to even find an open desk. But other leaders are not letting the prospect of low morale or limited workspace derail their plans to return to the office full time in 2025. According to a memo obtained by Business Insider, the latest addition to the mix is Dell, which had already tested the waters with an RTO policy that applied to just a handful of departments. As of September, employees on the sales team and across a subset of other roles (including leadership positions) were asked to return to the office. Starting in March, however, Dell also will be “retiring the hybrid policy” and expect most employees to be in the office five days a week. The new mandate will apply to all employees who live within about an hour commute of a Dell office—regardless of whether they currently have a remote or hybrid arrangement. (A Dell spokesperson did not clarify whether employees who live farther would have to request an exemption or would automatically be allowed to continue working remotely.) According to Business Insider, employees who remained remote would not be put up for promotion without explicit approval from three senior leaders. This seems to be a slight shift from a policy Dell already had in place that rendered fully remote employees ineligible for promotion. “What we’re finding is that for all the technology in the world, nothing is faster than the speed of human interaction,” CEO Michael Dell wrote in the memo. “A 30-second conversation can replace an email back-and-forth that goes on for hours or even days.” In a statement to Fast Company, a Dell spokesperson added, “We continually evolve our business so we’re set up to deliver the best innovation, value, and service to our customers and partners. That includes more in-person connections to drive market leadership.” In his memo, the CEO noted that across departments that had started coming into the office, “we have seen these areas come alive with new speed, energy, and passion.” Other CEOs and business leaders have used similar rationale to justify bringing workers back to the office at least three days a week, with a growing number of companies ramping up to five days. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy echoed that sentiment when he announced that starting in 2025, the RTO policy would require employees to come into the office daily, rather than just three days a week. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” he wrote in a memo. “If anything, the last 15 months we’ve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits.” Like Jassy, Michael Dell had previously expressed his support for remote work. As recently as late 2022, Dell had openly said, “From my experience, if you are counting on forced hours spent in a traditional office to create collaboration and provide a feeling of belonging within your organization, you’re doing it wrong.” But as corporate America has shown over the past few years, he’s not the first business leader to make such a drastic reversal on remote work—and certainly won’t be the last. View the full article

Elementor rolls out an intuitive AI site planner that streamlines website design from brief to visual layout The post Elementor Rolls Out WordPress AI Site Planner appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

It's hard to escape AI these days. Apple just made Apple Intelligence opt out, and Google Workspace users are now seeing big, hard-to-dismiss Gemini buttons all over their apps. The world's biggest tech companies are doing their best to sell you on a generative AI future, but even when you can't turn AI off, there are steps you can take to fight back. Even outside of Workspace, Google is one of the most egregious AI pushers around. The company has tried to push its Gemini AI in almost all of its properties, even though it's shown inaccurate search results recommending everything from eating rocks to adding glue to pizza. Even if you have no interest in AI search results, you'll still be forced to see elements of Google's Gemini all over Gmail and its other web apps. If that gets your goat, no worries—you can use Hide Gemini, a Chrome extension that hides Google Gemini elements from various Google sites—to pretend you live in the good older days of 2020. Hide Gemini removes the Ask Gemini button from Gmail and uses CSS to hide other egregious Gemini elements across Google's various sites, even the dreaded AI Overview box. Once you install it, the extension starts taking effect immediately. With these types of extensions, there's sometimes a worry that they may negatively impact the functionality of your service. An extension that blocks one element could sometimes inadvertently stop you from accessing other essential features. Fortunately, there are no such side effects associated with Hide Gemini. Since it uses CSS blocking, it merely hides unwanted AI elements without affecting any other functionality. Note that this extension, just like AI, isn't magic. It only hides persistent AI elements (such as the aforementioned Ask Gemini button), but not temporary promotional ones. If you've never used Gemini, you may see a Try Gemini button, which this extension does not hide. The developer says this is to avoid causing compatibility issues. Similarly, it doesn't block the "Help me write" prompt that may appear in Google Docs while you're working on a document. These minor limitations seem reasonable to me, and I'm happy to recommend Hide Gemini. It makes Google products a lot less annoying to use, even if it doesn't block the AI itself so much as makes it invisible. View the full article

Companies have told chancellor that scaling back tax breaks on savings accounts could boost UK financial servicesView the full article