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London-based group is testing its self-driving cars in Germany and the US and hopes to ‘soon’ agree deals with automakersView the full article

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. Typing isn’t always the best way to get your thoughts down. Sometimes talking through an idea leads to better clarity. New AI tools can reliably transform those spoken thoughts into clean, organized text. I’ve spent months experimenting with voice AI tools—first on my phone, and now on my laptop. They’ve been helping me pull ideas from my brain onto paper. The tools below have become crucial to my workflow. Why voice AI beats traditional transcription Traditional transcription simply converts speech to text. Modern voice AI does much more: Instant transformation: Speak naturally and get a polished draft, outline, or summary Smart cleanup: AI removes filler words and adds proper punctuation Format flexibility: Convert speech into various formats like bullet lists or structured documents Context awareness: AI understands context and organizes your thoughts logically. Because it’s grounded in your own words, it doesn’t hallucinate. 5 ways I like using voice AI Here are some scenarios where voice AI is particularly valuable: 1. Journal entries Instead of staring at a blank page, I speak my thoughts at day’s end. The AI transforms my stream of consciousness into organized reflections. 2. Meeting follow-ups After an in-person meeting, I open my voice AI app, hit record, and talk through key points while they’re still fresh. I don’t worry about the structure of my sentences or about pausing as I think. The AI waits for me and summarizes my rambling. 3. Presentation planning Speaking through presentation ideas helps me figure out my narrative flow. The AI helps me organize my thoughts into a structured outline. I can talk through multiple potential versions, then compare them on screen later. 4. Book notes To preserve insights from something I’m reading, I turn on a voice AI app and flip through the pages or scroll through the text to remind myself out loud about intriguing passages or ideas. I then save the structured note the AI creates. I like being able to look back at the text while dictating the note. And the editing part of my brain interferes less when I’m talking than when I’m typing. 5. Daily planning Starting my day by verbally mapping out my priorities helps me think through what’s ahead more effectively than typing out a list. Voice AI apps to try Letterly Easy to use: Just press the app’s big button. Up to 15 minutes per recording. Cross-platform: Record or access your past text-from-voice across automatically synchronized desktop, web, and mobile apps. Smart format detection: The magic transform option can automatically reformat your words, turning lists into bullets or structuring email drafts for quick copy-and-pasting into other apps. Customizable outputs: Transform recordings into LinkedIn posts, podcast or video scripts, structured documents, or your own custom formats. Iterative refinement: Try different transformations of the same recording until you get exactly what you need. Multiple languages: Record in any of 90 languages, or record in one language and have the app translate your text into another. Offline and screen-off options: Record anywhere, even without Internet access. Try using background mode without your screen on. I often record with my AirPods while walking with my phone in my pocket. Founder’s tip: “Don’t confuse it with dictation,” says Letterly’s founder and CEO Anton Lebedev. “You don’t need to pronounce the perfect text you want to write. Instead, think out loud, speak slowly, quickly, or even chaotically. AI will understand you. Think of it like a writing assistant you’re telling what to write. The assistant can understand you and figure out how to rewrite the text.” Letterly Pricing: $80/year after a free trial Oasis Multi-purpose output: Get your recording transformed simultaneously into various formats—from a memo or outline to a blog post or TED talk. Make custom templates: Create and name short prompts that reflect your preferred styles or formats. Those become part of your personalized prompt library for transforming future recordings. I made one for my journal entries. Web accessibility: Like Letterly and Audiopen, you can access your recordings and transformed text through a browser on any device. Oasis pricing: $5/month or $50/year for enough credits for hundreds of monthly uses. AudioPen Customize rewrite length: Customize the length setting if you’d prefer summaries of your transcribed recordings to be shorter or longer. Create and access them on your phone or on any device through your browser. Shareable audio notes: Send individual audio note links to colleagues or collaborators. Or send then to other apps with a Zapier integration. Flexible organization: Combine multiple audio notes or their summaries into larger collections. You can search for old notes or arrange them in folders. Rich template selection: Choose from various transformation templates. AudioPen pricing: $99/year or $159/two years after a free trial. Bottom Line Start with Letterly if you want simplicity and reliability. Consider Oasis if you want a slightly cheaper option or need to simultaneously access multiple format variations of the same content. AudioPen is useful if you want to customize the length of your voice summaries or if sharing or combining audio notes is important to your workflow. Where to use voice AI Voice AI shines when typing isn’t practical or when you want to think freely without your hands on a keyboard. Here are situations where you can try it: At home Comfy chair: Capture book notes without interrupting your reading rhythm. Kitchen: Document recipe adjustments or cooking notes while your hands are busy with ingredients. Bedside: Record late-night musings without disrupting your wind-down routine with a bright screen. Garden: Log landscaping ideas or random thoughts while your hands are dirty. On the move Walking: Capture project ideas and inspiration during your daily stroll. Commute: Draft emails and plan your day while on the subway or bus. Car: Record thoughts safely after parking but before you forget an important idea. At work Quiet space: Create reflective journal entries while looking out the window. Conference: Capture insights between sessions to avoid being overwhelmed when you get home. Doctor’s office: Record appointment details and follow-up steps while the info is fresh. Active time Outdoors: Draft journal entries or creative ideas while surrounded by nature Exercise: Outline presentations or brainstorm on the treadmill Shopping: Create lists or remind yourself about products Voice AI on your laptop I used to rely exclusively on mobile voice AI apps, but lately I’ve been relying on laptop voice AI apps. These are less focused on transforming text and more on putting your spoken text on your clipboard so you can paste into any tool you’re using. It works with Google Docs, Word, email, or whatever else you’re using. I use these on my laptop because it’s quicker and easier for me to talk than to type. Here are three worth trying: Flow Quick to start: Once you’ve installed the software, just hold down the function key to start recording in any of 100+ languages. Your recording gets instantly transcribed and the cleaned-up text is copied to your clipboard. Works anywhere on your computer: Paste transcribed text directly into any application—email, documents, or messaging apps. Reduces screen and hand fatigue: Record while looking away from your screen to reduce eye strain and give your hands a break. Flow pricing: Free for up to 2,000 words/week; $12/month billed annually for unlimited words and extra features. $8/month for students and educators. TalkTastic Simple transcription: Made by the team that created the Oasis mobile app, TalkTastic is designed to be simpler. Instead of transforming your speech into various text types, it just puts a cleaned-up version of what you say onto your clipboard to paste into any app. Smart text transformation: You can optionally set it to analyze your screen context to offer transformed versions of your text. Free: While in beta, there’s no cost for TalkTastic. MacWhisper Advanced transcription: Use this free software to transcribe online meetings, podcasts, or live dictation. You can even upload files to transcribe. Pay once for pro features: Enable YouTube transcriptions, batch uploads, translation, and top AI model usage with a one-time purchase. MacWhisper pricing: Free for basic usage; about $60 for pro upgrade; 20% discount with this link. Journalists, students, or non-profits can email support@macwhisper.com for 50% off. Other ways to use your voice to benefit from AI ChatGPT has a powerful voice mode in its mobile and desktop apps. Rather than typing out AI queries, you can have a conversation with an AI bot. Here’s why that’s so useful. Perplexity’s mobile app voice AI mode is terrific. I ask it a series of questions, like an oracle. It beats Google on many of my queries. The AI understands what I’m asking, then gathers and summarizes a helpful response. Citations in the app ensure I can check on its info sources. Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot have recently-upgraded mobile voice modes. Converse with human-sounding AI bots without thumb typing. Open-source options abound. This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. Subscribe here. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go… 1. How do I give 360 feedback to my clueless coworker? I have been asked to complete a 360 review for the junior staffer on my team. In general, I would like to only be positive in these, as that’s what I want in return! And I have never expressed these feelings to this coworker. But he is like a little baby in the outfit of a 26-year-old man. He doesn’t have the general sense at work you’d like someone four years into their career to have — as an example, he scheduled our boss to meet with board members, assigning them a meeting time without asking them for input on their schedules. The problem is just basically that all the time — he is not supposed to be so entry-level but his work problem-solving skills are like me at 20, in my first internship. He’ll also do things like answer questions in a group setting that were clearly directed to someone with authority/experience, What is a nice way to put this? I’d love to just say “Bob is eager and kind, but could really benefit from more training in X” but I don’t know what X is, because it’s not project management or tone or anything, it’s just having a clue. The complicating factor here is that I am only one year older than him and not a supervisor, though my role is more senior, and my tenure with the organization is longer. But I am worried about overstepping by correcting his behavior in the moment. And I’m worried I may have bitch-eating-crackers syndrome with him, because I’m annoyed that he constantly says “Thank you” instead of “sorry” as we’re all taught to do — but sometimes, his incompetence has resulted in hours of extra work for me and he thanks me “for my leadership”! It probably doesn’t help that when I held his role, I was paid two-thirds of what he earns now. What should I say in the review? Is there a succinct, kind way to describe the problem? “Bob is eager to lean and kind, but could benefit from more coaching in problem-solving and political awareness (for example, checking board members’ schedules rather than simply assigning them a meeting time, or recognizing when questions in a group are being directed to someone with more authority or experience).” That said, is there more to it than just problem-solving and political awareness? If his incompetence is causing hours of extra work for you, that sounds like there might be an issue with basic skills as well — so whatever that issue is, make sure you name it and provide a couple of examples to illustrate it too. If you’re uncomfortable putting this in writing, another option is to talk to Bob’s boss and say, “Here are the things I’d like to give feedback on. I’m not sure how to put this in writing without being more blunt than I’m comfortable with since I don’t have any supervisory authority over him, so I hoped to get your advice on how to frame it / wondered whether I could share the feedback with you informally as areas for you to watch / wondered whether you could synthesize this into the overall feedback you share with him.” 2. High school career counseling is using ChatGPT My high school student received an email from an employee of the school district advertising “ChatGPT Interview Prep” and “NLP for Interview Confidence,” supposedly teaching them how to craft strong interview answers from ChatGPT. I’m surprised by this. I do think kids should learn interview prep, but maybe not this way. When I interview people, we can tell if they are only good at giving pre-planned answers that don’t go in depth; typically when we debrief, we’ve all noted they had the right answers but lacked depth/examples, didn’t get deeper on a line of questioning… My high school kid also had to create a LinkedIn profile (not sure what why) and it is clear she used ChatGPT. I feel like it’s a lot of the same buzz words on LinkedIn, but using the words “reinforcing client relationship” in a job description for babysitter is funny. What are your thoughts on a high school “career office” offering an interview prep workshop that teaches kids how to use ChatGPT to craft answers? Would you ask the school about this or weigh in with your professional opinion as a person who interviews job candidates? Should I be concerned about my district’s standards? I assumed ChatGPT would be crap at interview prep, but to test that out I asked it to generate likely interview questions for a couple of jobs, and it actually did a decent job both of suggesting questions you might receive for those positions and of describing the sorts of things you should build your answers around. It would be terrible at suggesting actual answers (since those need to be based on your own experiences and expertise) but it was pretty good at explaining the types of things your answers should cover. So, depending on how the school is using it, it’s not the worst idea in the world, as long as they’re stressing that sometimes it ends up being wildly off-base. However, the LinkedIn thing — no. I’m skeptical that most high school kids need LinkedIn profiles at all, and anything that results in describing babysitting as “reinforcing client relationships” is teaching them the absolute wrong lessons. And that’s of course part of the problem with ChatGPT; the person using it needs to have enough expertise to know if what it’s suggesting is good or not. A high school student won’t know what a good LInkedIn profile looks like, so might not spot it when ChatGPT suggests something insane. Frankly, I’m not a huge fan of high schools teaching “interview prep” at all; they’re often bad at it, or the lessons center around the types of interviews kids aren’t likely to have until years down the road. But you’d need to know more about exactly what they’re doing to know if there’s something complaint-worthy here or not. 3. My boss keeps giving me conflicting instructions My job involves compiling information into a short, standardized document. My manager reviews every document I turn in and frequently gives me feedback that contradicts previous feedback he has given me. For example, today he told me “when you describe Regulation 1, always include parts A, B, C, and D,” when in the past he has said “only include the part of Regulation 1 that pertains to this document, Part A.” The circumstances are exactly the same for the two cases, and this happens constantly. My instinct is that constantly redoing things to different standards is just part of my job and I should say nothing. Am I right? With a decent boss, the right thing would be to say, “I want to make sure I’m handling these correctly. When I turned in the X document, you’d said I should only include the relevant part of Regulation 1, which was Part A. How do I know when I should include A, B, C, and D even if only one part is relevant, and when I should only include the relevant part?” It’s possible there’s some piece to this that would make it make sense — like that the first document had a different audience than the second, or some other reason that you’re not currently spotting — and so he’ll be able to give you helpful guidance on spotting that yourself in the future. Or maybe he just changes his mind every other day, who knows. But a reasonable boss would want you to ask. If he’s a terrible boss — if he’s a tyrant whose whims of the day determine what’s correct more than reality does, or someone who reacts poorly to having it pointed out that he’s giving you conflicting instructions — that would change things. But otherwise, start by assuming you should ask. 4. I’ve been getting all my colleague’s meeting invites … for 10 years I’m hoping you can help me on something that has been plaguing me for years. When I started at this large company, I was an admin assistant and my duties included managing the calendar of our director, so he added me as a delegate to his calendar in Outlook. Eventually I got another job at the same company, but I continued to receive all of his meeting requests. I reached out to IT many times and to the director, who always shrugged and said he’d ask IT. No one ever resolved this, so I made an Outlook rule and sent all the meeting invites to a folder that I would occasionally mass delete. Over the years, twice I have tried to reach out to IT (but I was in a different department at this point) saying, “Hey, this started happening again.” They’d respond to say they would look into it and I’d check back but they hadn’t spoken to the director, and eventually they just stopped responding. I’ve just lived with this, thinking the director will retire long before I do. Now there has been some reorganization and the director is in my department! I’ve also grown in my career a bit, and my circle and his has more overlap than before. This is a regular reminder that I have a folder of his meeting invites, and I’m starting to feel weird about it. Do I try to reach out to our joint IT person about it and pester it until it’s fixed? I’m worried that I’ll get in trouble for having had access to these invites for so long, but I truly don’t pour over the details or have any context for any of it. I was just an entry-level employee and it was an annoyance that I lived with, but now I’ve been here almost a decade and it’s starting to gnaw at me that I could get in trouble for this. What should I do? You’re not likely to get in trouble for it; you asked them to fix it many times! But yes, reach out to IT now and say, “This is still happening, I really do need it fixed, how do we make that happen?” This time, follow up every few weeks until it’s dealt with. It’s ridiculous that it’s still happening. 5. Should federal workers state the obvious when writing cover letters? Should federal employees applying for jobs in the private sector mention that they’re applying due to the decimation of government jobs, or would that be gauche? I’m finding myself applying to jobs at a company I worked at for years and years that I had just left recently for the stability of a fed role. Clearly that did not work out! Should I address that elephant in the room in my cover letters, or assume the hiring manager can figure it out and just write a normal letter? Just write a normal letter. They know what’s going on, and if for some reason they don’t and are curious about why you’re leaving, they’ll ask. View the full article

A March 2025 survey by the National Association for Business Economics shows growing inflation concerns — and a diminishing chance of rate cuts — in 2025, but also optimism about avoiding a recession. View the full article

Elon Musk’s company, like the US itself, seems like a sell View the full article

US has grown to nearly two-thirds of global equity market value, but some analysts see danger in ‘huge bet on AI’View the full article

Final price expected to be £119mn, with work completed next year View the full article

Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. But we demand real peaceView the full article

Staley is appealing against a lifetime FCA ban from City roles over his disclosure of links to the disgraced financier View the full article

Spending on defence will need to rise substantially if the UK is to meet the challenges it facesView the full article

Top regulator was concerned about German lender’s credit risk managementView the full article

Chevrolet Silverado’s complex supply chain leaves it particularly vulnerable to a looming trade warView the full article

Starting on Saturday, March 1, 2025, some advertisers have noticed their ads are not running and not getting impressions or clicks. The ads are simply not being served or delivered. In fact, there are tons of complaints about this in the Google Ads Forum. Google has not yet commented on the issue. What we know. Starting March 1, some advertisers are saying that some of their campaigns are not serving ads. Some are saying they have received zero impressions or clicks on their ads. The crazy thing, this has been now going on for almost two days and Google has not responded about the issue, at least not yet, since it is the weekend. We do not know exactly how widespread the issue but as I covered at the Search Engine Roundtable, there are tons of complaints about this issue. Example. Here is a chart I shared from the forums showing the drop in impressions and clicks: The cause? It is unclear what the cause is but Navah Hopkins posted on LinkedIn her theory, she wrote: Looks like eCPC got disapproved – my other theory is that it’s tied to Google Business Profile (brands connecting their GBP for local ads). Anyone with a GBP connected to their Google Ads NOT experiencing the outage? I suspect it might be related to the enhanced CPC for Search and Display Ads deprecating in March, but it is unclear. Why we care. If you are managing a Google Ads account, you may want to check if the ads ran over the weekend. If not, you may want to reach out to your ad representative at Google to find out what is wrong. We still do not know what is going on and if this is some sort of bug or policy change. View the full article

Recommendations by parliamentarians come as ministers consider amendments to flagship legislation View the full article

In the business world, advertisers are the stunt performers. Our fragmented media and pop cultural landscape has forced brands to really push stunts into the weird and wonderful. Whether it’s Snoop threatening to give up smoking, Ben Affleck working a Dunkin’ drive-thru, or a devil baby terrorizing the streets of New York. Meanwhile in Hollywood, the stunt performers are the ones who actually pull off the death-defying action that can make us gasp. They’re a breath of IRL fresh air in a world blanketed by visual-effects technology. Now, for the biggest night in entertainment, these two worlds converge for a pretty epic stunt by both worlds’ definition. Disney Advertising, Jimmy Kimmel’s Kimmelot, and Ryan Reynolds’s Maximum Effort, have enlisted five different brands to create six commercials that will air during the Oscars ceremony, tonight at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET, featuring more than 75 stunt performers executing classic Hollywood stunts like skydiving, high falls, and dynamic fight scenes. John Campbell, Disney Advertising’s senior vice president of entertainment and streaming solutions, says that a lot of their conversations with CMOs have revolved around looking to create quality content that can maximize a given cultural moment, in particular to live audiences. The Oscars ticked all of those boxes. For the participating brands—Carnival Cruise Line, Kiehl’s, L’Oréal Paris, MNTN, and Samsung—Campbell says they saw the advantage of teaming up on a unique concept. “We had this concept to shine a light on the stunt community and the tremendous impact that they have on film for all of us as fans,” says Campbell. “We see them as Hollywood’s hidden heroes, so we put the hypothesis out there: What if we invited them to step into the spotlight on entertainment’s biggest night? And honestly, what came about is kind of wild. We had 75 real-life stunt performers, 150 crew members, and we did this in a little over a week of filming and producing.” The result may well be the biggest advertising stunt ever done for the Oscars. Brands playing nice Marketers typically do not like sharing the spotlight. But here, with Carnival Cruise Line, Kiehl’s, L’Oréal Paris, MNTN, and Samsung, there’s a balance among brands across product categories so that they can creatively all row in the same direction. Campbell says that the company has brands it works with on a consistent basis and had a sense of who might want to test the waters of a new concept like this. “The question is, are brands really going to play together? So we’ve had to find the right brands who are going to trust Disney advertisers, going to trust the Academy in order to say, ‘You know what, we are going to play together, and something really special is going to come about.‘” Kiehl’s general manager John Reed says this is the brand’s national TV-commercial debut, and it wanted to showcase authenticity, craftsmanship, and innovation. “With this being a multibrand project, it was important to us that the Kiehl’s spot felt endemic to the brand while fitting into the larger storytelling,” says Reed. “That we can stand out while fitting in.” L’Oreal Paris USA president Laura Branik says this idea was a natural fit to showcase the performance of the brand’s Infallible 3-Second Setting Mist in a breakthrough way. “The collaborative process was really rooted in a shared vision and creativity,” says Branik. “We worked closely with Disney Advertising from the very start—from brainstorming concepts to shaping the final execution. We have all been working toward the same goal of elevating stunt performers who are so deserving of this spotlight, which has made the process truly collaborative and fun.” The Carnival Cruises ad features stuntwoman Hannah Betts jumping from a helicopter at 11,000 feet right into the pool of a Carnival Cruise ship. The clip in the ad was Bett’s first take. “The Oscars delivers the right audience of prospective Carnival cruisers who love the fun of travel and live events,” says Carnival CMO Amy Martin Ziegenfuss. “This collaboration provided an opportunity to be more contextually relevant within the program, alongside other great brands and partners.” The only nonconsumer brand of the lineup is ad tech firm MNTN, the parent company for Reynolds’s creative shop Maximum Effort. CEO Mark Douglas says that the company aims to showcase the power of storytelling during commercial time, and this stunt aligns perfectly with that mission. “It’s the ultimate way to show how advertising can be as thrilling and impactful as the content it complements,” says Douglas. Stunt Advertising Evolved It’s a novel concept getting five brands to collaborate on a six-ad extravaganza during the Oscars to celebrate stunt performers. But this isn’t Disney Advertising’s first crack at experimental ads. Back in 2022, it worked with Kimmelot and Maximum Effort for the series finale of The Walking Dead. They created a series of ads for Autodesk, Deloitte, DoorDash, MNTN, and Ring, featuring four characters who died over the course of the show’s 11-season run. All five commercials were shot in two days. Last year, the companies collaborated again, this time for a Groundhog Day-like campaign for Lay’s. That was a series of eight ads starring Stephen Tobolowsky, who played Ned in the 1993 comedy-film classic Groundhog Day, just trying to buy a bag of chips. The spots ran 75 times on the calendar’s Groundhog Day, taking up a third of ABC’s commercial inventory for the day, appearing during Good Morning America, General Hospital, Shark Tank, 20/20, and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Campbell says that the goal was to evolve the approach, this time with multiple brands, and on perhaps the biggest night of live-event TV outside of the Super Bowl. “It was really asking, how do we continue to push ourselves, to push the boundaries, and use the full platform of Disney in order to keep pushing these creative boundaries?” he says. The Stunts Chris Denison directed the Carnival spot and coordinated the stunts and cast every stunt performer across all six commercials. He’s performed stunts in films for Zac Efron, Jared Leto, and Ewan McGregor, as well as being Sam Worthington’s stunt double in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. Denison says that his first thought when he heard about this overall idea was, “Dude, don’t mess this up!” “All kidding aside, when I first heard of the concept of a series of stunts-centric commercials geared toward paying homage to our profession, I was struck by a tremendous sense of responsibility, both to my peers and the legends of the business who came before us,” says Denison. “I knew instinctively that if the commercials that we produced were anything less than amazing, they would fall far short of the mission of honoring the overall stunt community. As a result, my team and I poured absolutely everything we had into this process.” The biggest challenge from a stunt perspective was using the action to tell a meaningful story inside the boundaries of a 30-second spot. “I’m a firm believer that action should be a storytelling device; that is, all stunts should be used to drive a story forward, else you risk losing your connection with the audience,” says Denison. “The creative team and our fantastic directors did us so many favors in this regard, but we as a department had to be absolutely ruthless about distilling the action down to its core.” He points to the Samsung “Fight” commercial. “Our first iteration of the fight was over a minute long,” says Denison. “With the help of our fearless fight coordinator, Steve Brown, we literally workshopped that thing for weeks, stripping out the proverbial shoe leather while highlighting the individual storytelling elements. I believe that the finished product is as compelling as a 30-second fight can get. This challenge persisted across each of the spots, and in every instance we put a hard focus on hyperefficient storytelling through cool action to create what we felt was the best result possible.” What stands out to Denison about this advertising stunt is the sheer variety in the spots. From a massive drop off a 12-story office building and a practical skydive out of a helicopter over an ocean to precision-driving in a trophy truck out in the desert. “Each spot is wildly different, and yet they all tell a broader story of what kind of content the stunt community is capable of producing,” says Denison. “It was incredibly fun getting to switch gears so rapidly and complete so many different action sequences in a short amount of time. As under the radar as stunt performers are used to flying, there are individuals within the stunt community whose names are even less well-known, and yet their work is absolutely everywhere on screen.” Denison goes on to point out a few of the less-than-famous folks Oscars viewers will see. “Whether or not the audience recognizes this, I think it’s a very fun Easter egg that the boom operator in the ‘Fight’ commercial is a UFC Hall-of-Famer, the first assistant director in the Kiehl’s spot is an accomplished supercross racer, and the dude in the floatie in the Carnival Cruise ship pool is Hugh Jackman’s stunt double.” View the full article

Defiant Ukrainian president sees no need to make amends for explosive Oval Office row with Donald TrumpView the full article

Journalists love a good tech prototype. These exciting experiments break up the monotony of covering the same incremental refreshes day-in and day-out.They also come with a downside: As attention grabbing as they are, there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever actually come to market. That’s why covering them can be a bit tricky, as it can be difficult to decide how much attention to give a product consumers might never actually see. Luckily, Lenovo actually made good on one of its earlier promises at CES this year, showing off a rollable laptop that’s set to launch sometime in 2025. Now, the company has three additional concepts it's showing off for Mobile World Congress, all of them arguably as cool. A foldable spin on that CES’ rollable screen Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt First, there’s the ThinkBook Flip AI PC, which you can think of as a more affordable take on that rolling laptop from CES. Rather than having some of the screen hidden inside the laptop and unfurling like a scroll, this laptop’s screen folds over the top-half of the device, stretching across both the sides of the lid. Using your hands, you can unfold it to get an especially tall vertical display, or, alternately, mirror the front of your screen to the backside for presentations. Or, you could use the laptop in a sort of tablet mode while it’s closed. It’s similar to existing devices like the Yoga Book 9i, sure, but unlike on those, the screen is continuous and the keyboard is built into the device. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt There are upsides and downsides to this approach. Because there’s no need to house a rolling mechanism, the Flip AI PC is actually able to get a little taller than a rollable laptop, but at the same time, it’s also a bit more top heavy, so you can’t use the fully extended screen at a steep angle without extra support. Snap-on laptop monitors Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Also in the realm of extended laptop displays are the Magic Bay Dual Display and 2nd Display laptop accessories. Technically, this isn’t the first time Lenovo’s shown off concepts for Magic Bay, existing technology that allows certain accessories to snap onto pogo pins on the back of some ThinkBook laptops. Those have even included secondary displays before, but this year’s ideas definitely are a bit more involved. Starting smaller, the Magic Bay 2nd Display is an 8-inch vertical screen that complements a laptop with a (non-touch) tablet-like companion. It’s similar to the 10-inch horizontal panel that sits above your laptop screen that Lenovo showed off at last year’s CES, and coincidentally recalls my husband’s own desktop setup. As handy as it seems—it’s even on a hinge for a customizable angle— it’s nonetheless overshadowed by Lenovo’s other Magic Bay display concept. Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt The Magic Bay Dual Display turns your laptop into a three-monitor workstation, with additional 13.3-inch screens on either side of your device, complete with a 120Hz refresh rate across both. At 2.6 pounds, it's rather heavy, so it comes with a built-in kickstand. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen an idea like this, but when I saw this in person, I was impressed by how much more intuitive the connection process seems compared to current third-party alternatives. A solar-powered laptop Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt Outside of the realm of screens, there’s also an experimental solar-powered laptop that can charge off sunlight, called the Yoga Solar PC. It works through a solar cell built into the back of the laptop’s lid, which Lenovo says has “an over 24% solar energy conversion rate” and can charge up enough to play one hour of video within about 20 minutes of direct sunlight. I didn’t get to see it in action, seeing as I was in a dark room while Lenovo was showing it off, but I can say the solar technology doesn’t seem like it’s impacting the form factor too much. It was plenty thin looking to my naked eye, and the company says it’s 0.6-inches thin and 2.69 pounds. If that’s still too big for you, Lenovo did also show off the Solar Power Kit for Yoga concept, which is a standard battery bank that connects to a detachable USB-C solar panel (I didn’t see this one in person). Credit: Lenovo Evolutions on earlier concepts Credit: Lenovo While I got to see (most of) the above concepts in person, the company also has a few iterative changes on earlier ideas, and showed that it’s prototyping out its own version of competing devices. These include a glasses-less 3D ThinkBook, similar to devices that Asus and Acer already have on the market, as well as an AI-powered robotic companion named Tiko that would attach to laptops via Magic Bay. For more functionality, there’s also a Tiko Pro in the works, a small horizontal Magic Bay display that combines the advantages of the 2nd Display with AI-powered widgets. Again, we’ve seen versions of these either from competitors or at previous Lenovo concept announcements, but they’re still worth keeping an eye on. A bit more exciting is the Hybrid Dimensional 24-Inch Curved Monitor, which can supposedly display 3D visuals while simultaneously showing 2D assets without any loss in resolution, although this needs to be seen with your own eye to really be judged, and I have yet to get hands-on time with it. Bringing AI to non-AI PCs Credit: Lenovo Finally, there are tools to bring AI to non-AI PCs. Lenovo says it’s experimenting with two dedicated neural processing units, or NPUs, that can connect to existing PCs either through a USB stick or a monitor. Working like an external graphics card, the Lenovo AI Stick contains a 32TOPS NPU that can plug into a computer without an NPU over Thunderbolt to allow it to run LLMs and AI graphics tools locally. It can work off just the laptop’s own power, but Lenovo says you can also plug it into a wall at the same time for increased performance. Meanwhile, the AI Display with NPU Inside does much the same thing, but rather than including the NPU in a hub-like structure, builds it right into your monitor. This comes with the added benefit of allowing the screen to physically rotate, elevate and tilt to follow your movements, but like most monitors, it’s much bulkier and does need to be plugged into a wall at all times. Lenovo also says it’s working on an “AI Ring” that would provide gesture-based control while in spatial computing apps, although the company didn’t go into much detail beyond that. And that’s it on Lenovo’s MWC concepts. It’s a pretty wide array. Again, none of these are guaranteed to come to market, but that does mean they get to be a bit wackier than the typical product announcement. Personally, I’d love to get my hands on the Magic Bay Dual Display, and I could see the AI Stick being useful to developers. In the meantime, the company also announced a number of chip upgrades for its existing ThinkPad, ThinkBook, IdeaPad, and Yoga laptops that will start hitting the market with the new Yoga 7 2-in-1 and IdeaPad Slim 3x this month. View the full article

The Small Biz Breakdown crew is back this week with more fascinating discussions on some of the hottest topics in small business. Our panel talks about the latest model release from OpenAI, ChatGPT-4.5, and they’re always open to talking about how AI is taking over more aspects of our lives. The crew also talks about the death of Skype and how it will (or won’t) impact their lives. Check out the discussion on these topics and more in this week’s episode of Small Biz Breakdown … Small Business News Roundup – March 2, 2025 US Businesses Lag in Digital Workplace Transformation, Security Risks Persist, Zoho Study Finds A new study from Zoho Corporation reveals that US businesses are falling behind global counterparts in digital workplace transformation, with security gaps and slow adoption of digital tools hindering progress. Krause Appointed Acting IRS Commissioner as O’Donnell Retires IRS Chief Operating Officer Melanie Krause will assume the role of acting IRS Commissioner following the retirement of Doug O’Donnell, the Internal Revenue Service’s acting Commissioner since January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced. eBay Enhances Local and Fast-Shipping Shopping Experience with New UX Updates eBay has introduced a series of user experience (UX) enhancements designed to help shoppers find local listings and fast-shipping items more efficiently. The updates include improved delivery estimates, new search filters, and clearer retail standards, making it easier for customers to make informed purchasing decisions. Suzy Levian Launches EmpowerHer to Support Women Entrepreneurs Suzy Levian, founder of Suzy Levian New York, has announced the launch of EmpowerHer, a new initiative designed to provide financial and mentorship support to female entrepreneurs. Timed to coincide with Women’s History Month, the program aims to remove financial barriers and help women grow their businesses through grants, scholarships, and networking opportunities. Salesforce Expands Google Partnership, Bringing Gemini AI to Agentforce Salesforce and Google have announced a significant expansion of their partnership, integrating Google’s Gemini AI models into Agentforce and strengthening ties between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Customer Engagement Suite. The move aims to enhance AI-powered customer service capabilities, providing businesses with more flexibility in deploying AI agents. PayPal Introduces PayPal Open, a Unified Payments and Growth Platform for Businesses PayPal has announced the launch of PayPal Open, a unified platform designed to streamline payments and financial services for businesses of all sizes. The new platform integrates all of PayPal’s merchant solutions under one system, allowing businesses to access payment processing, financial tools, and AI-driven insights through a single interface. FedEx Report Highlights Convenience and Digital Trends Driving E-Commerce in 2025 FedEx has released its 2025 E-Commerce Trends to Watch Report, detailing how shifting consumer expectations are shaping the competitive landscape for digital retailers. The report, produced in collaboration with C Space, underscores the growing importance of convenience, seamless returns, and social media-driven brand engagement as key factors for success. SBA Administrator Loeffler Outlines Day One Priorities, Focuses on Accountability and Economic Growth Newly confirmed U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler issued a memo on her first day in office, outlining her priorities to restructure the agency into what she calls an “America First engine for free enterprise. Small Business Confidence Surges Despite Economic Challenges, Bluevine Survey Finds Small business owners are entering 2025 with heightened confidence despite persistent economic uncertainty, according to Bluevine’s 2024 End-of-Year Business Owner Success Survey (BOSS) Report. The survey of 1,200 small business owners (SBOs) found that 79% expressed confidence in their business outlook, an increase from 73% in mid-2024. Goodyear Unveils Cooper WORK Series RHA 2 Tire for Super-Regional and Regional Fleets Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has introduced the Cooper WORK Series Regional Haul All-position (RHA) 2, a commercial truck tire designed to balance fuel efficiency with durability for super-regional and regional fleets. Gas Prices Hold Steady as National Average Remains at $3.16 Gasoline prices across the U.S. remained largely unchanged over the past week, with the national average for a gallon of gas holding at $3.16, according to AAA. The price per kilowatt hour of electricity at public EV charging stations also remained stable at 34 cents. Meta Rolls Out New Instagram DM Features, Enhancing Connectivity and User Experienc Meta has introduced a series of updates to Instagram Direct Messages (DMs), adding new features designed to improve communication and engagement. The latest tools include message translation, music stickers, scheduled messages, pinned content, and group chat QR codes, all aimed at making conversations more seamless and interactive. IRS Warns Taxpayers to Choose Tax Preparers Carefully to Avoid Fraud and Identity Theft The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is urging taxpayers to exercise caution when selecting tax professionals, warning that while most preparers are reputable, some engage in fraud, identity theft, and other scams. The agency emphasizes that taxpayers remain legally responsible for their tax returns, even if prepared by someone else. This article, "Weekly RoundUp – February 27, 2025" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The Small Biz Breakdown crew is back this week with more fascinating discussions on some of the hottest topics in small business. Our panel talks about the latest model release from OpenAI, ChatGPT-4.5, and they’re always open to talking about how AI is taking over more aspects of our lives. The crew also talks about the death of Skype and how it will (or won’t) impact their lives. Check out the discussion on these topics and more in this week’s episode of Small Biz Breakdown … Small Business News Roundup – March 2, 2025 US Businesses Lag in Digital Workplace Transformation, Security Risks Persist, Zoho Study Finds A new study from Zoho Corporation reveals that US businesses are falling behind global counterparts in digital workplace transformation, with security gaps and slow adoption of digital tools hindering progress. Krause Appointed Acting IRS Commissioner as O’Donnell Retires IRS Chief Operating Officer Melanie Krause will assume the role of acting IRS Commissioner following the retirement of Doug O’Donnell, the Internal Revenue Service’s acting Commissioner since January, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced. eBay Enhances Local and Fast-Shipping Shopping Experience with New UX Updates eBay has introduced a series of user experience (UX) enhancements designed to help shoppers find local listings and fast-shipping items more efficiently. The updates include improved delivery estimates, new search filters, and clearer retail standards, making it easier for customers to make informed purchasing decisions. Suzy Levian Launches EmpowerHer to Support Women Entrepreneurs Suzy Levian, founder of Suzy Levian New York, has announced the launch of EmpowerHer, a new initiative designed to provide financial and mentorship support to female entrepreneurs. Timed to coincide with Women’s History Month, the program aims to remove financial barriers and help women grow their businesses through grants, scholarships, and networking opportunities. Salesforce Expands Google Partnership, Bringing Gemini AI to Agentforce Salesforce and Google have announced a significant expansion of their partnership, integrating Google’s Gemini AI models into Agentforce and strengthening ties between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Customer Engagement Suite. The move aims to enhance AI-powered customer service capabilities, providing businesses with more flexibility in deploying AI agents. PayPal Introduces PayPal Open, a Unified Payments and Growth Platform for Businesses PayPal has announced the launch of PayPal Open, a unified platform designed to streamline payments and financial services for businesses of all sizes. The new platform integrates all of PayPal’s merchant solutions under one system, allowing businesses to access payment processing, financial tools, and AI-driven insights through a single interface. FedEx Report Highlights Convenience and Digital Trends Driving E-Commerce in 2025 FedEx has released its 2025 E-Commerce Trends to Watch Report, detailing how shifting consumer expectations are shaping the competitive landscape for digital retailers. The report, produced in collaboration with C Space, underscores the growing importance of convenience, seamless returns, and social media-driven brand engagement as key factors for success. SBA Administrator Loeffler Outlines Day One Priorities, Focuses on Accountability and Economic Growth Newly confirmed U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler issued a memo on her first day in office, outlining her priorities to restructure the agency into what she calls an “America First engine for free enterprise. Small Business Confidence Surges Despite Economic Challenges, Bluevine Survey Finds Small business owners are entering 2025 with heightened confidence despite persistent economic uncertainty, according to Bluevine’s 2024 End-of-Year Business Owner Success Survey (BOSS) Report. The survey of 1,200 small business owners (SBOs) found that 79% expressed confidence in their business outlook, an increase from 73% in mid-2024. Goodyear Unveils Cooper WORK Series RHA 2 Tire for Super-Regional and Regional Fleets Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has introduced the Cooper WORK Series Regional Haul All-position (RHA) 2, a commercial truck tire designed to balance fuel efficiency with durability for super-regional and regional fleets. Gas Prices Hold Steady as National Average Remains at $3.16 Gasoline prices across the U.S. remained largely unchanged over the past week, with the national average for a gallon of gas holding at $3.16, according to AAA. The price per kilowatt hour of electricity at public EV charging stations also remained stable at 34 cents. Meta Rolls Out New Instagram DM Features, Enhancing Connectivity and User Experienc Meta has introduced a series of updates to Instagram Direct Messages (DMs), adding new features designed to improve communication and engagement. The latest tools include message translation, music stickers, scheduled messages, pinned content, and group chat QR codes, all aimed at making conversations more seamless and interactive. IRS Warns Taxpayers to Choose Tax Preparers Carefully to Avoid Fraud and Identity Theft The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is urging taxpayers to exercise caution when selecting tax professionals, warning that while most preparers are reputable, some engage in fraud, identity theft, and other scams. The agency emphasizes that taxpayers remain legally responsible for their tax returns, even if prepared by someone else. This article, "Weekly RoundUp – February 27, 2025" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Since March 1st, there are many Google Ads accounts that are not serving ads. The Google Ads forum is filled with complaints about this and as far as I can tell, I cannot find a single response from an official Google Ads representative (as of yet).View the full article

Continent’s biggest powers gathered at London summit to salvage something from crumbling postwar orderView the full article

Europe will put troops on ground but plan ‘must have strong US backing’, says UK prime minister after London summitView the full article

OpenAI has introduced GPT-4.5, a research preview of its latest and most advanced AI model, which is now available to ChatGPT Pro users and developers worldwide. The model represents “a step forward in scaling up pre-training and post-training,” according to OpenAI. GPT-4.5 advances OpenAI’s approach to AI development by focusing on unsupervised learning, a technique that enhances a model’s ability to recognize patterns, draw connections, and generate creative insights without explicit reasoning. “GPT-4.5 is an example of scaling unsupervised learning by scaling up compute and data, along with architecture and optimization innovations,” OpenAI stated in its announcement. “The result is a model that has broader knowledge and a deeper understanding of the world, leading to reduced hallucinations and more reliability across a wide range of topics.” The model was trained on Microsoft Azure AI supercomputers, and OpenAI states that it is expected to “hallucinate less” compared to its predecessors. OpenAI notes that interacting with GPT-4.5 “feels more natural” and that the model has “improved ability to follow user intent, and greater ‘EQ.’” These advancements make it particularly useful for “tasks like improving writing, programming, and solving practical problems.” The company also highlights GPT-4.5’s ability to integrate ideas naturally in conversations. “GPT-4.5 has a better understanding of what humans mean and interprets subtle cues or implicit expectations with greater nuance and ‘EQ,’” the company stated. The model also “shows stronger aesthetic intuition and creativity.” According to OpenAI, GPT-4.5 has been evaluated against previous models, showing improved factual accuracy and reduced hallucination rates. In a comparative evaluation, OpenAI reported that GPT-4.5 scored a SimpleQA accuracy of 62.5%, higher than GPT-4o and other OpenAI models. Additionally, its hallucination rate was 37.1%, significantly lower than GPT-4o’s 61.8%. OpenAI also shared data indicating that human testers preferred GPT-4.5 over GPT-4o in several areas, including “creative intelligence,” “professional queries,” and “everyday queries.” As part of its release, OpenAI states that it conducted extensive safety evaluations on GPT-4.5. “Each increase in model capabilities is also an opportunity to make the models safer,” OpenAI said. The model was trained using “new techniques for supervision that are combined with traditional supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF).” The company also referenced its Preparedness Framework, which it followed to “stress-test our improvements” before deployment. GPT-4.5 is now available to ChatGPT Pro users on web, mobile, and desktop platforms. OpenAI announced that it “will begin rolling out to Plus and Team users next week, then to Enterprise and Edu users the following week.” The model supports various capabilities, including “search, file and image uploads, and the ability to use canvas to work on writing and code.” However, OpenAI clarified that GPT-4.5 “does not currently support multimodal features like Voice Mode, video, and screensharing in ChatGPT.” For developers, GPT-4.5 is also being made available through OpenAI’s API offerings, including the Chat Completions API, Assistants API, and Batch API. “Based on early testing, developers may find GPT-4.5 particularly useful for applications that benefit from its higher emotional intelligence and creativity—such as writing help, communication, learning, coaching, and brainstorming,” OpenAI stated. However, due to its high computational requirements, OpenAI is evaluating “whether to continue serving it in the API long-term.” The company encourages user feedback to help guide this decision. OpenAI acknowledges that GPT-4.5 is still in a research preview phase. “We’re still exploring what it’s capable of and are eager to see how people use it in ways we might not have expected,” the company stated. “With every new order of magnitude of compute comes novel capabilities,” OpenAI added. “We continue to be surprised by the creativity of the community in uncovering new abilities and unexpected use cases. With GPT-4.5, we invite you to explore the frontier of unsupervised learning and uncover novel capabilities with us.” This article, "OpenAI Unveils GPT-4.5, Its Most Advanced AI Model to Date" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

OpenAI has introduced GPT-4.5, a research preview of its latest and most advanced AI model, which is now available to ChatGPT Pro users and developers worldwide. The model represents “a step forward in scaling up pre-training and post-training,” according to OpenAI. GPT-4.5 advances OpenAI’s approach to AI development by focusing on unsupervised learning, a technique that enhances a model’s ability to recognize patterns, draw connections, and generate creative insights without explicit reasoning. “GPT-4.5 is an example of scaling unsupervised learning by scaling up compute and data, along with architecture and optimization innovations,” OpenAI stated in its announcement. “The result is a model that has broader knowledge and a deeper understanding of the world, leading to reduced hallucinations and more reliability across a wide range of topics.” The model was trained on Microsoft Azure AI supercomputers, and OpenAI states that it is expected to “hallucinate less” compared to its predecessors. OpenAI notes that interacting with GPT-4.5 “feels more natural” and that the model has “improved ability to follow user intent, and greater ‘EQ.’” These advancements make it particularly useful for “tasks like improving writing, programming, and solving practical problems.” The company also highlights GPT-4.5’s ability to integrate ideas naturally in conversations. “GPT-4.5 has a better understanding of what humans mean and interprets subtle cues or implicit expectations with greater nuance and ‘EQ,’” the company stated. The model also “shows stronger aesthetic intuition and creativity.” According to OpenAI, GPT-4.5 has been evaluated against previous models, showing improved factual accuracy and reduced hallucination rates. In a comparative evaluation, OpenAI reported that GPT-4.5 scored a SimpleQA accuracy of 62.5%, higher than GPT-4o and other OpenAI models. Additionally, its hallucination rate was 37.1%, significantly lower than GPT-4o’s 61.8%. OpenAI also shared data indicating that human testers preferred GPT-4.5 over GPT-4o in several areas, including “creative intelligence,” “professional queries,” and “everyday queries.” As part of its release, OpenAI states that it conducted extensive safety evaluations on GPT-4.5. “Each increase in model capabilities is also an opportunity to make the models safer,” OpenAI said. The model was trained using “new techniques for supervision that are combined with traditional supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF).” The company also referenced its Preparedness Framework, which it followed to “stress-test our improvements” before deployment. GPT-4.5 is now available to ChatGPT Pro users on web, mobile, and desktop platforms. OpenAI announced that it “will begin rolling out to Plus and Team users next week, then to Enterprise and Edu users the following week.” The model supports various capabilities, including “search, file and image uploads, and the ability to use canvas to work on writing and code.” However, OpenAI clarified that GPT-4.5 “does not currently support multimodal features like Voice Mode, video, and screensharing in ChatGPT.” For developers, GPT-4.5 is also being made available through OpenAI’s API offerings, including the Chat Completions API, Assistants API, and Batch API. “Based on early testing, developers may find GPT-4.5 particularly useful for applications that benefit from its higher emotional intelligence and creativity—such as writing help, communication, learning, coaching, and brainstorming,” OpenAI stated. However, due to its high computational requirements, OpenAI is evaluating “whether to continue serving it in the API long-term.” The company encourages user feedback to help guide this decision. OpenAI acknowledges that GPT-4.5 is still in a research preview phase. “We’re still exploring what it’s capable of and are eager to see how people use it in ways we might not have expected,” the company stated. “With every new order of magnitude of compute comes novel capabilities,” OpenAI added. “We continue to be surprised by the creativity of the community in uncovering new abilities and unexpected use cases. With GPT-4.5, we invite you to explore the frontier of unsupervised learning and uncover novel capabilities with us.” This article, "OpenAI Unveils GPT-4.5, Its Most Advanced AI Model to Date" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick says levies will take effect on Tuesday but Trump is still deciding ratesView the full article