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Have you ever tried quickly looking something up on Wikipedia—just because you’re curious or maybe for work—only to, a half an hour later, wonder why you’re reading about the history of the European Space Agency? In my opinion, Wikipedia is one of the last good websites on the internet. Outside of the occasional fundraiser, there are no ads, no dark patterns, and no clickbait—it’s just information. Which leaves no doubt in my mind that falling into a Wikipedia rabbit hole is healthier than scrolling on social media. Even so, it can be addictive, and links are the reason why. Every Wikipedia article is jam packed with links to other Wikipedia articles, which is exactly why you end up down rabbit holes. Often, though, you don’t understand how you wound up where you did—so what if you could visualize exactly that? This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures! Your new digital cork board To create a visualization of how you got from point A to point B on Wikipedia, head to Wikiboard. ➜ Wikiboard creates a mind map—which allows you to see how various concepts are connected—as you browse Wikipedia. ⌚ You can start browsing immediately. ✅ To get started, open Wikiboard and enter your search term—it will pull up the corresponding Wikipedia page. The first article you select opens in its own box on Wikiboard, and as you browse, the site creates new boxes for every link you click, drawing lines from one article to another as they open. Once your board is created, you can scroll and zoom as much as you like. You can also rearrange the boxes and add sticky notes, allowing you to organize and add a bit of context to everything as you browse. ~ wikiboard.png This isn’t your father’s Wikipedia. ~ ☝️ One note: Wikiboard is currently only for larger screens, so you won’t be able to use it on your phone. 💡 This could be a useful research tool, enabling you to see how concepts relate to each other as you’re learning. You can even save separate boards in your browser so you to come back to them later. And while I could spin this as purely a research tool, it’s also just plain fun. There’s something amazing about visualizing your Wikipedia rabbit holes. Next time you feel like going on a deep dive, give Wikiboard a go. Going back and seeing the steps you took on your Wikipedia rabbit hole is endless entertaining, and can teach you a lot about your interests as well. You can open Wikiboard in your browser on any desktop-sized device. Wikiboard is free to use. You can opt to make a donation to support the developer if you like, but it’s not required. You don’t need to create an account to use Wikiboard, and the site has no ads. Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletter—starting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app that’ll tune up your days in truly delightful ways. View the full article

Planning to hit the road this holiday season? Or maybe just thinking about an extended drive of some sort for sometime in the new year? The next time you’ve got a driving adventure ahead of you, today’s Cool Tools discovery is exactly the new virtual companion you need. It’s a truly cool app I encountered recently that enhances your standard navigation setup and offers some really smart extras that’ll make whatever trip you’re taking infinitely more interesting—and enjoyable. Lemme show ya what it’s all about. This tip originally appeared in the free Cool Tools newsletter from The Intelligence. Get the next issue in your inbox and get ready to discover all sorts of awesome tech treasures! Next-level navigation So, we’ve all got our standard navigation go-to—be it Google Maps, Waze, or (maybe?) even (gasp!) Apple Maps (hiccough). But in addition to those basic getting-you-where-you-need-to-go basics is an opportunity to inject some extra entertainment into your journey along the way. ➜ And that’s precisely what an app called Roadtrippers​ is all about. Roadtrippers is a service that helps you find worthwhile stops and sights along whatever route you’re taking. Whether you’re looking for parks and monuments, activities and experiences, or even just especially interesting or commendable hotels and restaurants, it’s a spiffy supplement to your standard mapping setup and a welcome way to enhance an adventure. ⌚ Depending on the nature of your trip and how deeply you want to explore your options, you’ll need anywhere from three to 15 minutes to poke around a route and unearth something useful. ✅ To start, either pull up ​the Roadtrippers website​ in any browser you’re using or grab the official Android app​ or iOS app​ for a phone or tablet—and then: Click inside the “Starting point” field within the “Create a route box” on the web or tap the “Start planning your trip” field in the mobile app. Fill in where you’re starting and where you’re going. You can use a specific address, if you want, or just stick to a broad city name for either piece of the puzzle. At some point along the way, Roadtrippers will prompt you to sign in or create a free account. You can either use an email address or follow the options to sign in via Google, Apple, or Facebook, if you’d like. Make sure you pick the “Quick Launch” option, then click or tap through to get your trip a-goin’. 💸 Roadtrippers may prompt you to upgrade to a free trial of a premium plan somewhere in this process, but you can just “X” out of that prompt and continue with the free version. It has plenty of info to keep you busy. Once you see the map view, just tap any icon along the route to look at it more closely and optionally add it into your trip. 💡 Be sure to zoom in to specific parts of the route, too—using either the standard two-finger pinching gesture on mobile or the plus and minus icons (or, alternatively, a mouse scroll wheel) on desktop—to reveal even more detail and specific suggestions for different parts of your drive. You can also click or tap the “Explore” tab to browse through the available suggestions. There, you can filter by the specific type of attraction, as well as its distance from your route, and also choose to sort by popularity, distance, rating, or number of reviews. And, once more, anytime you find something interesting, you can add it directly onto your route with a single click or tap. ☝️ Now, a note: Sooner or later, you’ll almost certainly encounter limitations and additional nudges to upgrade to a paid subscription. Those plans do offer some intriguing extras, and if you use Roadtrippers enough over the long haul, they might be worthwhile to consider—if you’re so inspired. 🧠 BUT, you really can make the most of the app and its drive-enhancing intelligence even with just the free base version. Keep in mind: Even though Roadtrippers won’t let you add more than three total destinations to any trip you’re planning, you can still use it to look along a route and find interesting places—then simply add ’em into your plans in Google Maps or whatever regular navigation app you’re already using. While Roadtrippers allows for only a single saved trip at a time in its free level, you can easily delete any trip you’ve already planned and then reset that limitation so you can start again. And if you really get into the Roadtrippers thing and want to go all in with one of its premium plan options, you can find coupon codes that’ll bring the cost down by a good amount right on the Roadtrippers website​. Whether you end up taking one of the premium plans out for a test-drive or just stickin’ with the simpler free version, Roadtrippers is a tremendous resource to add into your trip-planning toolbox. All that’s left is to plan out the perfect road trip playlist​ and secure some salty snacks. Roadtrippers is available ​on the web​ or in native apps for both ​Android​ and ​iOS​. It’s free to use, at its base level, with ​optional subscriptions​ that lift limitations and unlock extra features. Those range from $36 to $60 a year, though coupon codes​ can lower those costs considerably. The site does require you to create an account to do much, but promises not to send you any upsells or other marketing info if you opt out of those options. And it doesn’t share or sell any information. Treat yourself to all sorts of brain-boosting goodies like this with the free Cool Tools newsletter—starting with an instant introduction to an incredible audio app that’ll tune up your days in truly delightful ways. View the full article

In the Star Trek universe, the audience occasionally gets a glimpse inside schools on the planet Vulcan. Young children stand alone in pods surrounded by 360-degree digital screens. Adults wander among the pods but do not talk to the students. Instead, each child interacts only with a sophisticated artificial intelligence, which peppers them with questions about everything from mathematics to philosophy. This is not the reality in today’s classrooms on Earth. For many technology leaders building modern AI, however, a vision of AI-driven personalized learning holds considerable appeal. Outspoken venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, for example, imagines that “the AI tutor will be by each child’s side every step of their development.” Years ago, I studied computer science and interned in Silicon Valley. Later, as a public school teacher, I was often the first to bring technology into my classroom. I was dazzled by the promise of a digital future in education. Now, as a social scientist who studies how people learn, I believe K-12 schools need to question predominant visions of AI for education. Individualized learning has its place. But decades of educational research are also clear that learning is a social endeavor at its core. Classrooms that privilege personalized AI chatbots overlook that fact. School districts under pressure Generative AI is coming to K-12 classrooms. Some of the largest school districts in the country, such as Houston and Miami, have signed expensive contracts to bring AI to thousands of students. Amid declining enrollment, perhaps AI offers a way for districts to both cut costs and seem cutting edge. Pressure is also coming from both industry and the federal government. Tech companies have spent billions of dollars building generative AI and see a potential market in public schools. Republican and Democratic administrations have been enthusiastic about AI’s potential for education. Decades ago, educators promoted the benefits of “One Laptop per Child.” Today, it seems we may be on the cusp of “one chatbot per child.” What does educational research tell us about what this model could mean for children’s learning and well-being? Learning is a social process During much of the 20th century, learning was understood mainly as a matter of individual cognition. In contrast, the latest science on learning paints a more multidimensional picture. Scientists now understand that seemingly individual processes—such as building new knowledge—are actually deeply rooted in social interactions with the world around us. Neuroscience research has shown that even from a young age, people’s social relationships influence which of our genes turn on and off. This matters because gene expression affects how our brains develop and our capacity to learn. In classrooms, this suggests that opportunities for social interaction—for instance, children listening to their classmates’ ideas and haggling over what is true and why—can support brain health and academic learning. Research in the social sciences has long since proved the value of high-quality classroom discourse. For example, in a well-cited 1991 study involving over 1,000 middle school students across more than 50 English classrooms, researchers Martin Nystrand and Adam Gamoran found that children performed significantly better in classes “exhibiting more uptake, more authenticity of questions, more contiguity of reading, and more discussion time.” In short, research tells us that rich learning happens when students have opportunities to interact with other people in meaningful ways. AI in classrooms lacks research evidence What does all of this mean for AI in education? Introducing any new technology into a classroom, especially one as alien as generative AI, is a major change. It seems reasonable that high-stakes decisions should be based on solid research evidence. But there’s one problem: The studies that school leaders need just aren’t there yet. No one really knows how generative AI in K-12 classrooms will affect children’s learning and social development. Current research on generative AI’s impact on student learning is limited, inconclusive, and tends to focus on older students—not K-12 children. Studies of AI use thus far have tended to focus on either learning outcomes or individual cognitive activity. Although standardized test scores and critical thinking skills matter, they represent a small piece of the educational experience. It is also important to understand generative AI’s real-life impact on students. For example: How does it feel to learn from a chatbot, day after day? What is the longer-term impact on children’s mental health? How does AI use affect children’s relationships with each other and with their teachers? What kinds of relationships might children form with the chatbots themselves? What will AI mean for educational inequities related to social forces such as race and disability? More broadly, I think now is the time to ask: What is the purpose of K-12 education? What do we, as a society, actually want children to learn? Of course, every child should learn how to write essays and do basic arithmetic. But beyond academic outcomes, I believe schools can also teach students how to become thoughtful citizens in their communities. To prepare young people to grapple with complex societal issues, the National Academy of Education has called for classrooms where students learn to engage in civic discourse across subject areas. That kind of learning happens best through messy discussions with people who don’t think alike. To be clear, not everything in a classroom needs to involve discussions among classmates. And research does indicate that individualized instruction can also enhance social forms of learning. So I don’t want to rule out the possibility that classroom-based generative AI might augment learning or the quality of students’ social interactions. However, the tech industry’s deep investments in individualized forms of AI—as well as the disappointing history of technology in classrooms—should give schools pause. Good teaching blends social and individual processes. My concern about personalized AI tutors is how they might crowd out already infrequent opportunities for social interaction, further isolating children in classrooms. Center children’s learning and development Education is a relational enterprise. Technology may play a role, but as students spend more and more class time on laptops and tablets, I don’t think screens should displace the human-to-human interactions at the heart of education. I see the beneficial application of any new technology in the classroom—AI or otherwise—as a way to build upon the social fabric of human learning. At its best, it facilitates, rather than impedes, children’s development as people. As schools consider how and whether to use generative AI, the years of research on how children learn offer a way to move forward. Niral Shah is an associate professor of learning sciences & human development at the University of Washington. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. View the full article

In today’s corporate landscape, optics often precede outcomes, especially in technology-led transformations. Announcements of new platforms, AI-powered strategies, or “digital-first” pledges frequently come long before the underlying infrastructure to support them. That was Ted’s reality as the chief growth officer at a global bank when his CEO unveiled a high-profile “AI-Powered Growth Strategy” positioned as a bold leap forward. The announcement made headlines and thrilled investors, but behind the scenes, the organization wasn’t prepared. Ted was given a skeletal team of two direct reports, a patchwork of third-party tools, and the mandate to partner with five global banking divisions serving more than 500 employees. He was expected to turn the AI vision into reality with little structural support. This tension is common—and survivable. Leaders who maintain credibility don’t scrap such pledges or decry them. Instead, they manage the gap between promise and proof. A well-intentioned CEO may launch an initiative to signal innovation, but when systems or skills lag, ambition can outpace execution. We—Jenny, as an executive adviser and learning & development expert, and Kathryn, as an executive coach and keynote speaker—have identified five strategies to help executive teams navigate these moments with integrity and strategic foresight, especially when the initiative is more symbolic than substantive in its early stages. 1. Balance bold aspiration with candid honesty In the early stages of transformation, perception often outpaces progress. Stakeholders want visible proof that change is real. McKinsey found that 70% of digital transformations fail to meet their intended outcomes because senior executives either overpromise or disengage when early wins don’t materialize. Those charged with execution must balance bold aspiration with candid honesty, communicating both the vision (“Here’s where we’re heading”) and gap (“Here’s what it will take to get there”) to maintain trust and momentum. Behind the scenes, Ted allocated 20% of the budget to data cleanup and capability-building, unseen but essential work such as strengthening data quality and governance, building the pipelines and quality controls that support mission-critical AI, and elevating the organization’s baseline AI literacy. Within a year, three pilots validated the transformation narrative and quieted early skeptics. Edelman’s Trust Barometer shows that stakeholders extend grace when leaders communicate with clarity and consistency, not performative certainty. Credibility, not charisma, sustains momentum through uncertainty. Try this: Balance vision with transparency. Use confident yet realistic language, such as “We’re learning in real time” or “This is a multi-year capability build.” 2. Map What’s Performative vs. What’s Possible Not every element of a high-visibility initiative will yield immediate results. The key is distinguishing symbolic actions that signal intent from those that build lasting capability. Theresa, chief digital officer at a consumer goods firm, launched a public “digital transformation week” with town halls and press coverage. She brought in her AI agency partners and major retail customers to show alignment and signal momentum, partnership, and focus. The event created attention, but she knew the real work would happen out of sight. She used a short-horizon/long-horizon approach. The short horizon created urgency and rallied stakeholders, while the longer horizon anchored on execution. She reassigned 30% of her team to integrate legacy systems, clean priority datasets, and run joint sprints with her AI partners. That groundwork created a technical foundation strong enough to support advanced modeling. Within nine months, they delivered a demand-forecasting model that reduced inventory outages by 18%, transforming a performative launch into measurable operational value. When mapping an initiative, clarify two horizons: Short horizon (0–6 months): What signals matter? (e.g., visible executive sponsorship, internal messaging, external storytelling) Mid / long horizon (6–24+ months): What structural enablers must be built? (e.g., data platforms, technology partnerships, governance, skills) Visibility matters, but only when it’s paired with substance. Try this: Separate the symbolic from the structural. Create a two-horizon map to test balance: “Which actions build momentum?” and “Which build capability?” Then ensure both are visible. 3. Leverage Visibility as Currency When a high-profile initiative captures attention, use that spotlight to build political capital and secure future resources. Leaders who link early symbolic wins to longer-term learning sustain engagement and trust. Julie, a chief marketing officer we advised, leveraged her company’s “Digital Reinvention” campaign to secure additional funding for employee upskilling, positioning it as the bridge between aspiration and execution. Try this: Treat visibility not as validation, but as leverage. Ask, “What can this attention buy us: credibility, talent, or momentum?” That perspective turns optics from vanity to value. 4. Build Small Wins that Prove Real Value Symbolic gestures lose power without substance. Once the spotlight fades, stakeholders want proof. Anchor your narrative in small, visible wins: projects, pilots, or behaviors that validate early promises. Start with pilots that address real pain points: automate a reporting process, improve data access for a critical team, or integrate AI into a single workflow. For Ted, that meant delivering credible proof points—an AI-powered lead scoring model that lifted conversion rates by 12%, a unified customer insights dashboard, and a monthly “What We’re Learning” series to build internal momentum. Small, visible progress converts skepticism into trust and gradually shifts perception from “It’s all optics” to “It’s starting to work.” Try this: Start small, but make progress visible. Choose one pilot that solves a visible pain point within 90 days. Publicize lessons learned, not just the result, to show that momentum is real, even if imperfect. 5. Reframe the Narrative: From “Optics” to “Opportunity” The best leaders don’t deny the optics, they reframe them as stepping stones to a larger transformation. Gary, a nonprofit CEO we coached, introduced his first AI pilot as symbolic but necessary. It wasn’t yet transformative, but it sparked a mindset shift: leaders began talking about data ethics, digital fluency, and decision-making transparency. As he put it, “The project wasn’t about the tool. It was about changing how we think.” Reframing is essential. Deloitte and BCG both show that real value emerges when strategy, technology, and human systems align. Symbolic gestures only matter if they lead to lasting capability and behavior change. When leaders treat optics as openings rather than distractions, they turn visibility into belief. Stakeholders who see learning, transparency, and follow-through extend trust, and grant the runway needed for real transformation. Try this: Name the signal and the shift. Say, “This initiative signals where we’re headed.” Then ask, “What new conversations or capabilities did this open up?” In complex transformations, optics are not the enemy. They’re a catalyst for belief. What matters is how leaders use those moments to align teams, secure investment, and guide the narrative from promise to proof. Integrity isn’t about rejecting optics; it’s about ensuring they serve a larger purpose. The most effective leaders turn visibility into accountability and symbolic beginnings into lasting systems. View the full article

Critics complain of heavy redactions to thousands of documents held by the US justice departmentView the full article

The Definitive Guide to Private Equity’s Transformation of the CPA Profession. Exclusively for PRO Members Only, here The accounting profession is changing faster than at any time in its modern history—and private equity is driving the shift. More than $30 … Continued Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

The Definitive Guide to Private Equity’s Transformation of the CPA Profession. Exclusively for PRO Members Only, here The accounting profession is changing faster than at any time in its modern history—and private equity is driving the shift. More than $30 … Continued Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

After several glum years, interest is picking up ahead of the new yearView the full article

In a darkening world, burying one’s head in the sand is a rational strategyView the full article

And what Will Somerindyke’s company, Regulus Global, means for the future of conflictView the full article

An intolerable burden is being placed on future generations that will result in financial crises and political instabilityView the full article

The US justice department released fewer documents than required and redacted many of themView the full article

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. The post weekend open thread – December 20-21, 2025 appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

There are warning signs that your home network may have been compromised, such as unusual traffic patterns and slowdowns in system performance, but now there's a simple tool to help determine if your router or connected devices are being used to conduct malicious activity. IP Check, from threat monitoring firm GreyNoise, will alert you if your IP address has been observed scanning the internet as part of a botnet or residential proxy network. As GreyNoise outlines, residential IP compromise often isn't obvious to the user because you're still able to conduct business as usual, such as streaming, emailing, and web browsing. All the while, though, threat actors are routing malicious activity through your home IP address and can potentially exploit your network for everything from account takeovers to malware distribution. Check your IP address for suspicious activityTo use IP Check, you simply need to open the tool in a browser window, and you'll get one of several results. If your IP is clean, that means that your network hasn't been caught scanning the internet (nor does it belong to any known business service infrastructure). Credit: Emily Long Your IP may also be flagged as being in the GreyNoise database, which is not a sign of compromise—this is likely because you're using a VPN, corporate network, or cloud provider, and the tool can distinguish between an IP belonging to a data center and one that's being exploited. (Note that Apple users browsing in Safari with Private Relay enabled will likely see "Possible Spoofed Traffic Detected," which also is not necessarily cause for alarm. Try checking your real IP in a different browser like Chrome or Firefox to confirm.) Credit: Emily Long If your IP is identified as malicious or suspicious, you should investigate further. If you toggle open the Observed Activity section of the scanner, you can see when the first and last instances of the scanning behavior occurred and what types were detected along with actionable next steps. As BleepingComputer notes, you can get into the weeds with detecting malicious activity by reviewing device logs, network traffic, and activity patterns, but checking your IP address is the simplest place to start. View the full article

In two-hour press conference Marco Rubio backed the president’s contentious policies while urging patienceView the full article

UnitedHealth Group has laid off dozens of remote employees in healthcare technology and services marketing from its Optum unit, who were given two weeks notice in November, sources told Health Payer Specialist. Fast Company has reached out to UnitedHealth for confirmation. Those employees were based in “multiple states on the East coast and in the Midwest,” according to that report, and are among UnitedHealth’s roughly 400,000 employees across the U.S. (It is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest healthcare insurer.) The healthcare giant is just the latest company in a string of industries to announce layoffs, which have hit almost every sector of the American economy in 2025. The layoffs come amid fierce criticism of the company’s healthcare and insurance practices. UnitedHealth Group and UnitedHealthcare have received backlash and widespread criticism over consumer allegations of costly insurance, overbilling, denial of necessary care, and patient privacy violations, among other complaints. (UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder in December 2024 was met with little sympathy by some Americans, as Fast Company previously reported.) On Friday, the company released the first round of results of an independent audit of its business, saying it was committed “to setting a new standard of transparency for the health care marketplace,” and vowing to make improvements through “23 action plans”—with 65% to be completed by the end of 2025, and all 100% by the end of the first quarter of next year in March 2026. Those include: enhancing policy governance and maintenance, strengthening processes for ongoing monitoring and tracking progress of corrective actions, enhancing risk, and optimizing manufacturer discount processes. “We hope that you see these assessments as a commitment to setting a new standard of transparency for the health care marketplace, as we believe that you and every person who engages with our health system deserves to understand how we go about our work,” CEO Steve Hemsley said in the statement. View the full article

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas for the stock market, which may be headed for a “Santa Claus Rally,” according to analysts, including those at Goldman Sachs and Citadel Securities. “Barring any major shocks, it will be hard to fight the overwhelmingly positive seasonal period we are entering and the cleaner positioning set-up,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s trading desk team said in a client note, as reported by Bloomberg. “While we don’t necessarily see a dramatic rally, we do think there is room to go up from here into year end.” Scott Rubner of Citadel Securities agreed, noting: “Following a year of strong portfolio returns and record household wealth, retail participants enter 2026 with both conviction and balance-sheet capacity to increase market participation.” Markets saw a pickup in volatility from November to mid-December, but that volatility appears to be easing, Ethan Feller, stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, told Fast Company. “At the same time, major indexes are consolidating just below record highs. Taken together, those conditions tilt the odds toward a ‘Santa Claus rally’ this year,” Feller said. Here’s what to know about the so-called Santa rally. What’s a “Santa Claus rally”? The term refers to a rally in the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next year. On those days, the S&P 500 Index has gained an average of 1.3% about 79% of the time since 1950, according to Investopedia. With those odds of nearly 80%, the likelihood is pretty good, but not guaranteed. On Wall Street, the saying goes, “If Santa Claus should fail to call, bears may come to Broad and Wall.” Meaning, if there is no rally, that can be a bad sign for the year ahead. There are a few general theories about why this year-end rally exists, including: holiday spending, year-end bonuses that get recirculated into the market, general holiday optimism, and end-of-tax-year considerations. How is the S&P 500 Index performing now? At the close of afternoon trading on Friday, December 19, the S&P 500 Index was up nearly 1% at 6,834.50, well above the 6,000 threshold. It closed up 0.8% on December 18, after four straight days of losses. What are some risk factors this year? There are some reasons for concern about the markets as the year comes to a close. Some analysts told Barron’s it is too early to tell whether there will be a rally before those five days start on December 24, as they are still assessing how inflation, the labor market, consumer spending, and future Fed rate cuts could pave the way for Santa’s return. View the full article

Principal will be distributed pro rata among the senior A1 through A3 certificates, and subordinate bonds will not receive any principal until all senior classes are reduced to zero. View the full article

My concentration is shot. I know this because I've checked my phone four times while writing this opening paragraph. I'm addicted to my phone in a way that feels both embarrassing and completely normal, which is perhaps the most damning part. My phone feels essential for everything: my job requires Slack and email responsiveness, my hobbies live in apps and group chats, and even my downtime involves scrolling through feeds I don't actually enjoy. These days, we tend to think of upgrades (in life, in tech, wherever) as adding features, but sometimes the real upgrade is eliminating. So I did something a little radical this year: I bricked my iPhone. Well, sort of. And it's been the best tech decision I've made in years. What I actually did to fix my concentrationWe talk about phone addiction like it's a personal failing, but cut yourself some slack. Every app, every notification, every infinite scroll is designed by engineers whose job is to keep us locked in. As such, we've eliminated almost all empty space from our lives, filling every waiting moment with content consumption. Waiting for the train? Scroll. In line at the store? Scroll. Between tasks at work? Scroll. I can't afford to go full "dumb-phone", so I took a middle path: "demoting" my smartphone, so it functions like a dumb phone while retaining genuinely useful features like navigation, ride shares, and FaceTime. Here's what I did: I turned on grayscale mode. It's amazing how boring your phone becomes when it looks like an old newspaper. That dopamine-triggering red notification badge? Just gray. Instagram's carefully curated visual feast? Gray. Suddenly my phone looked as exciting as a filing cabinet. I deleted the time-consuming apps. I got rid of the primary social media apps, any news apps that were really just anxiety delivery systems, and more social media apps. If I wanted to check something, I'd have to do it on my computer, which added just enough friction to make me reconsider whether I actually cared. I turned off non-essential notifications. Actually, I turned off almost all notifications. No badges, no banners, no sounds. My phone became silent unless someone was actually calling me or texting me directly. I started physically separating myself from my phone during focused work. It went in another room, face down in a drawer, anywhere but within arm's reach. Out of sight, out of the dopamine loop. How bricking my iPhone was the ultimate life hackThis might sound embarrassing, but it's honest: at first, it felt like phantom limb syndrome. My thumb kept reaching for apps that weren't there. I'd pull out my phone in line at the coffee shop only to stare at a blank screen and think, "Now what?" The answer, it turned out, was nothing. And that nothing was exactly what I needed. The first week was genuinely uncomfortable. My brain kept expecting hits that weren't coming. I felt anxious, ashamed, humbled, understimulated, almost itchy—which pretty much told me everything I needed to know about how deep the addiction ran. Luckily, the benefits rolled in faster than I expected. Within two weeks, I noticed I could read for longer stretches. I also think my work as a creative improved. Deep work—the kind where you're tackling genuinely hard problems—requires getting into a flow state. I need at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted focus to even enter that zone, and for me, an Instagram notification shatters it instantly. By removing the interruption infrastructure from my phone, I suddenly had whole mornings where I could think clearly. Along with dumbing down my phone, I set an intention to become more observational again. I'd be waiting somewhere and instead of reaching for my phone, I'd just...look around. Watch people. Notice architectural details. Eavesdrop on conversations. Observe the weather shifting. It sounds small, but it completely changed my relationship with being in public spaces. I believe boredom is where creativity lives. When your mind isn't being constantly fed, it starts generating its own entertainment. I had ideas in the shower again. Real ideas, not just fragments borrowed from something I read online; I had original thoughts that surprised me, connections my brain made when it wasn't being force-fed content. This sounds mundane, but I promise, it's the opposite. This is how thinking actually works when you let it. Especially with social media, I'd settled into this constant need to perform my life. While I still find this performance necessary to "make it" as a creative these days, I learned that most of my FOMO was an algorithm problem. You're not actually missing out on anything important; you're being shown a curated highlight reel designed to make you feel inadequate. Once you step out of that stream, you realize how much of it was manufactured anxiety. The things I thought I needed to keep up with turned out to be completely forgettable. The bottom lineMy bricked iPhone is a downgrade in features and an upgrade in life quality. That's the whole story, really. We frame phone usage as a personal responsibility issue, but that's like blaming people for getting hooked on substances that were engineered to be addictive. Companies build their algorithms around persuasive technologies. They run A/B tests on features to maximize engagement. They know exactly what they're doing, and what they're doing is turning your attention into profit. Look, I'd love to go more radical with it, but I have limits. For work, I need to be responsive—Slack messages can't wait three hours. And I genuinely adore getting laughs in a group chat, which is a timely thing. Those moments of connection matter, and I'm not interested in becoming a total digital hermit. But going forward, I'm desperate to keep getting my brain back. My ability to think deeply, pay attention, create meaningfully, and connect authentically—these aren't optional luxuries. They're the whole point. If your phone feels like it owns you more than you own it, maybe your next upgrade isn't a new model. Maybe it's just making your current one a little more boring, a little less exciting, and a lot more brick-like. Your brain will thank you for it. View the full article

Justices find revocation of remuneration was inappropriate and left electric car chief uncompensated for his work View the full article

Much like how the character Jack Dawson proudly proclaims to be king of the world after boarding the Titanic, film director James Cameron could claim to be king of the box office. Cameron chooses to take a mellower approach, letting the numbers do the talking. His latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, hits theaters this Friday and is primed to break even more box office records. Let’s take a look at the history of this franchise before we discuss industry projections. A brief history of the ‘Avatar’ films The first Avatar film came out in 2009 and received generally positive reviews. “Cameron and his artists have so lovingly imagined the moon of Pandora that every shot of the film contains new wonders. One can lose oneself in this world,” gushed Vulture’s Bilge Ebiri. On both the domestic and world stages, Avatar became the highest grossing film of all time. Domestically, Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens dethroned it in 2015, and similarly, Avengers: Endgame took the No. 1 spot worldwide in 2019. However, Avatar fought back in 2021 and retook the title of worldwide highest grossing film of all time thanks to a re-release. Beyond box office records, the first Avatar film also introduced the industry and audiences to new technology. Cameron and his team developed the Fusion Camera System, which shot in 3D. Additionally, the team utilized virtual cinematography to aid in the motion-captured sequences. The release of Avatar: The Way of Water, the second film in the series, was delayed, in part, so even more technology could catch up with Cameron’s vision. This time around, Cameron created new ways to film underwater to introduce a new group of Na’vi, the moon-dwelling species at the heart of the franchise. The 2022 release also marked an expansion of the scope of the project. Cameron’s original idea was to make a trilogy. After establishing a writers’ room in 2013, three movies became five. Cameron’s gamble paid off as the sequel became the third highest-grossing film of all time globally. What are critics saying about ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ so far? Ahead of its theatrical release, critics have given Avatar: Fire and Ash mixed reviews. Most praise the film’s visuals, but lament the thin repetitive storyline. “Fire and Ash is sound and fury signifying nothing. Or at least nothing excitingly new,” wrote David Rooney of the Hollywood Reporter. Owen Gleiberman of Variety agreed and even posed a hard question. “It’s fine, but do we actually care about it?” On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie had a 67% Tomatometer rating and a 93% Popcornmeter rating as of Friday. What are the box office predictions? Despite the mixed reviews, Avatar: Fire and Ash is still expected to perform well at the box office. Variety predicts the film will make $90 million to $105 million domestically on its opening weekend and an additional $250 million to $275 million around the world. (Deadline makes a similar forecast with a combined global box office of $340 million to $380 million.) The previous Avatar films, Variety further notes, become record breakers not only because of impressive opening weekends but also because of long-running box office dominance. Fire and Ash is expected to follow the same pattern. If it does, the potential is huge. Combined, the previous two films have already generated more than $5 billion at the global box office. Either way, the movie is expected to be a boon for Twentieth Century Studios and parent the Walt Disney Company. View the full article

Trove of documents related to late sex offender published after bipartisan pressure forced The President to give his consentView the full article

On Friday, Google announced it had filed a lawsuit against SerpApi for scraping the Google search results. Google alleges that SerpApi is running an "unlawful" operation that bypasses Google's security measures to scrape search results at an astonishing scale.View the full article

Clicking through search results to a website comes with the risk of landing on a spoofed page that is actually a phishing scam, but so does navigating directly by typing a URL into your browser. As reported by Krebs on Security, researchers at security firm Infoblox have identified a swath of scams on lookalike and parked (or placeholder) domains. If you end up on one of these websites, you'll be directed not to the trusted page you're expecting but scam content, including scareware and other malware. Lookalike domains contain malicious contentThis scam capitalizes on you navigating directly to a website by typing the URL into your browser's address bar. If you accidentally mistype either the top-level domain (TLD)—.gov or .com, for example—or the second-level domain (SLD), which is the company name (Google or Amazon), you could land on a page that has been commandeered by threat actors for malicious purposes. In some cases, these may be typosquats, meaning cybercriminals have registered domain names that look nearly identical to trusted ones. In others, they may be real domains that have expired and are simply advertising placeholders that spread malware. Infoblox researchers found that visiting one of these sites often initiates a chain of redirects, through which threat actors profile data like your IP geolocation, device fingerprint, and cookies. That means you don't necessarily need to click any links on the parked page to be served malicious content. They note, though, that parked websites were only malicious if visited from a residential IP address and benign if accessed using a VPN or a non-residential IP. How to avoid parked domain scamsOne common piece of advice for avoiding phishing websites is to type trusted URLs directly into the address bar rather than clicking through search, as threat actors will try to exploit results, including placing paid ads, to redirect you to malicious domains. This can still be a safe way to get to your destination, but you should check your spelling of both TLDs and SLDs carefully, as small errors could land you on a scam site. I've covered similar website trickery like homograph attacks, which use lookalike characters in URLs to direct you to phishing sites that, on the surface, appear to be legitimate domains. Unless you inspect the address very carefully, you may not catch the scam. View the full article

Microsoft Advertising rolled out asset-level editorial review, giving advertisers visibility into policy approvals for individual ad components — not just entire ads — and reducing delays caused by single non-compliant elements. What’s new. First announced in June, advertisers can now see headlines, descriptions, and images reviewed separately inside the Microsoft Advertising interface. If one asset violates policy, only that component is blocked, while compliant assets continue to serve. Why we care. This shift minimizes campaign disruption and speeds up approvals. Instead of rebuilding or resubmitting whole ads, advertisers can quickly identify and fix the exact asset causing the issue, getting campaigns live faster. How it works. The platform flags disapproved assets directly in the dashboard, surfaces warning banners when components are blocked, and clearly shows asset-level status alongside campaign details. Bottom line. Asset-level reviews replace an all-or-nothing approval process with a faster, more precise system that keeps compliant ads running and advertisers in control. View the full article