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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's union is appealing an appellate panel's ruling that allows acting CFPB Director Russell Vought to fire 90% of the bureau's staff. View the full article

Amazon’s new Echo Dot Max is a $99 ball. Its Echo Studio is a $199 ball. Its Echo Show is a tablet (starting at $179), attached to a ball. For its grand refresh of its Alexa-powered line of speakers and tablets, Amazon spent three years rethinking the foundations of its audio engineering to conquer the home theater market in the most spherical manner possible. “Legitimately—they sound really good,” says our senior editor Liz Stinson, after a listening test. But from my own discussions with the design team, it’s clear that what Amazon has created are not just new voice assistants, or even mix-and-matachable speakers capable of creating a 3D soundscape for movies and music in your home. What these new Echo products are supposed to do is enable a more intuitive (and intimate, and surveillant) AI for home tomorrow—one that doesn’t just hear what you say, but senses what you do. The industrial design behind Amazon Echo This is not the first time that Amazon has snuck Alexa into a little speaker ball. Its existing Echo Dot is already exactly that. But the Dot’s sound quality is middling at best. If you wanted something that sounded better from Amazon, you had to buy a larger Echo Studio: a big cylinder. When Amazon talked to its own customers, people often said it was just too large for them to buy. And that’s because our entire culture has been wooed by tiny Bluetooth speakers with good enough audio quality. “If I can get acceptable sound out of a small device, that’s what I expect now,” says Phil Hilmes, Director, Audio Technology at Amazon Lab126. Amazon’s goal was to make a more competitive wave of smaller Echos that still sounded superb—even if that meant they cost more. So they doubled down on space efficient spherical designs across the new Echo line. To a casual observer, nothing looks all that new. But once you actually remove the original Dot’s candy shell, it’s clear just how differently the new Echos are built compared to the old ones. The old Dot was basically a single driver (a sound emitter), wrapped in a block of plastic housing that kept it positioned inside the ball. The new Echo speakers get rid of this housing entirely. A single driver has been replaced with multiple that specialize in different frequency ranges. These drivers connect directly to the outer shell, which doubles as an exoskeleton. This design leaves lots of empty space inside the sphere for tweeters and subwoofers to float, blowing air out of the speaker to make sound. “At the end of the day, when we want to get more sound, it’s all about how much air can we push out of this thing?” says Hilmes. The Echo Dot Max has two drivers—one tweeter for the highs, and a larger woofer for mids and lows. They aim right at you for maximum clarity. Amazon telegraphs what “right at you” looks like by placing a new, flat control panel on the front of each speaker. Amazon says the Dot Max is one of the smallest two-way speakers ever created. The larger Echo Studio—promising Dolby Atmos sound—has three drivers that handle highs and mids. It also features a 4-inch subwoofer for the bass. Subwoofers are large by nature; they push more air and have bigger diaphragms to make those low sounds. When Richard Little, senior manager of audio technology at Amazon, holds up the Studio’s subwoofer—a cone the size of a coffee mug complete with saucer—I cannot imagine how it fits inside. In fact, it barely fits. It fires straight down into the base, and the entire bottom of the Studio has been perforated to allow air out. Meanwhile, those three other drivers can only squeeze in by being integrated right into the subwoofer’s own structure. It’s basically a wad of sound structures. Clever geometry and some small plastic caps are all that keep this pile of drivers sounding clear rather than buzzy and cacophonous. Amazon is wrapping the Echos in a new, 3D-knit fabric that offers a more luxe texture but doesn’t dampen sound. I actually think that’s a missed opportunity. The black cannonball design is still jarring, even when wrapped in domestic-friendly textiles. So why not lean into the unique shape? The internal components are so interesting that Amazon could have created a clear speaker celebrating high-end audio with throwback vibes like Nothing has been capitalizing upon. “We want to work our way [there],” says Pete Kyriacou, VP of product at Amazon, who admits Amazon has considered the more head-on audiophile approach. “And we want to earn that credibility through people listening to our devices.” Everything else the Echos can do The new Dot Max and Studio configure themselves automatically to project sound inside any room, and the more you add, the more the speakers can position 3D audio in space. This is particularly exciting for the team as it’s planning that the Echo can be part of a come-as-you are home theater setup. One in front of your TV acts something like a soundbar. Another stuck on a shelf to the side widens the soundscape—with each speaker compensating the right frequencies to sound balanced. Stick one behind your couch, and audio flies in from behind your head for full surround sound with three speakers. The system supports up to five, and the better 3D audio positioning is only available with the Studio, as the Dot Max doesn’t have Dolby Atmos support. Optimization is automatic and constant. In fact, one of the most important parts of the audio is an AI that analyzes frequencies every moment, and tunes the power draw up and down across each individual driver dynamically to milk the most possible sound at any given moment. (The team tells me that this AI system doubles bass output through software optimization alone.) But of course, while Amazon is focusing on audio quality, its vision for Alexa+ goes much deeper. The speakers will glow with a blue ring when you activate them, and as the conversation goes on, it dulls to something more akin to a smile than a circle—a nod to the Amazon logo that glows less brightly in your face. “We’re finding what’s the right way to keep that light ring on without being intrusive,” says Kyriacou, noting that the smile gives “this human aspect of what you’re talking to.” Beyond music Inside all of the new Echo devices live various sensors, including Wi-Fi for mapping devices in space, ultrasonic proximity detection that knows where you are, vibration-reading accelerometers that feel the tremors of your touch (or perhaps footfalls?), microphones for your voice, and cameras inside the two Echo Show tabletop tablets that can see who you are. For the first time, Amazon is assembling all of these sensors into an AI platform it calls Omnisense. AI is incredibly powerful at discovering insights hiding in sensor data. And with Omnisense, Amazon will likely be able to detect subtleties in our habits that we can’t even imagine. But in the immediate, Kyriacou says it will allow Amazon to “start getting more proactive with Alexa.” That means these devices will know who is in the room, learn their routines (are they cooking or winding down with a book), and offer the right response (turn up the music? dim the lights?) for these moments. The Echo Show will see you coming, and change its own UI—perhaps from family photos to smart home notifications—as you move closer. This sort of specific, contextually aware understanding has been a holy grail of the quite flawed promise of the smart home, and Amazon is redoubling its efforts to own the space through its latest wave of meticulously developed Echos. No doubt, Amazon’s storefront and services will move ever closer to our daily routines through speakers that are capable of harvesting new troves of largely invisible data. And while it’s a crafty enough plan, I can’t help but wonder if there’s one significant flaw. To use the Echo Dot Max or Studio to watch movies, in particular, you need to be using a Fire TV. Amazon has a grand vision for taking over the smart home through your home theater, but it’s limiting its reach to the most ardent Amazon loyalists. Sure, Amazon has shipped more than 200 million Fire TV devices to date. But that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of TVs in use worldwide. View the full article

Defence secretary tells top brass that they should resign if they disagree with his policies View the full article

The history of search offers clues about where we’re headed in the AI era – but there’s more to learn and more to do to move forward with practical steps. AI changes the way people search. Instead of short queries that once required digging through blended results, users can now ask complex questions and get direct answers. Much of the work to optimize for AI, though, overlaps with what SEO professionals have been doing for years. Our community is already adapting and well-positioned to take on this shift. This article outlines practical steps to navigate the evolving landscape. SEO, AEO, GEO: Defining the new terms Before diving in, it’s worth addressing the terminology. It’s still new, and no single label has fully crystallized for this AI layer on top of SEO. Two terms have gained traction: AEO (answer engine optimization), which focuses on optimizing content so it’s chosen as the answer in AI-driven results like Google’s AI Overviews. GEO (generative engine optimization), which describes a broader approach across generative AI platforms. Neither feels perfect. AEO is a bit clunky, and GEO risks confusion with geography and local search. Still, these are the terms currently in use. For simplicity, I’ll use GEO in this article. Dig deeper: The origins of SEO and what they mean for GEO and AIO How GEO extends SEO While tools like ChatGPT are undoubtedly cool – and early adopters, myself included, are spending a lot of time tinkering – the broader story is different. For most people, AI will matter less as a standalone tool and more through its integration into phones, web browsers, and search engines. GEO is a new layer that sits above SEO. Often, tools like ChatGPT will search and compile information. These tools provide a layer of abstraction and do much of the grunt work. They still scan the digital world and then collate that information to simplify things for the user, while search engines like Google continue to provide the best overall digital map of the world. If traditional SEO was about matching keywords, AEO is about being the best answer – and the easiest to integrate into an AI response. GEO: Strategic foundations There’s no firm consensus on GEO tactics, but most of what’s recommended is simply good SEO. That said, tactics that lost ground in the zero-click landscape may regain utility in AI Mode, where the AI does the deep dive and collates information for users. Here are some basic strategic foundations to put in place to set yourself up for visibility in AI tools. 1. Focus on your customers I’ve long championed bringing traditional marketing thinking into SEO, and GEO is the natural evolution of that approach. Know your audience. Create personas, gather feedback, and define their goals, pain points, and the jobs they rely on your product or service to support. Customer insight is key to building a customer-first strategy that helps you stand out in the age of AI. 2. Real expertise wins The web is full of derivative content that does little to stand out. This creates a problem for AI. Model collapse happens when AI keeps training on AI-generated content without new signals, leading to increasingly stale and inaccurate results. The solution is what humans are still best at – fresh insights from: Interviews. Original research. Proprietary data These provide AI with something new – and worth citing. That’s an opportunity. Have a voice, and bring something original to the table. Frameworks like the Value Proposition Framework and SCAMPER can also support your SEO content marketing process here. 3. Branding is key Homepage traffic is up as a result of mentions in AI tools. Recent studies show engagement from AI-driven traffic may even surpass organic, long the gold standard for user engagement. Make sure your branding is strong. Create unique names for your products and services so they’re easy to reference in AI tools and simple for users to search. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. 4. Your website is important Your website remains critical in the age of AI. Anything you publish will likely drive brand searches and send people to your site. Structure it so visitors landing on your homepage can quickly explore and find more detail. Dive into your customers’ wants, needs, and pain points – and answer the questions that matter most to them. The ALCHEMY website planning framework can help guide this work. 5. Conversational content works Think beyond static blog posts. Consider: FAQs that are detailed and rooted in customer insight. Step-by-step explainers. Long-form guides that anticipate follow-up questions. Structure your content to cover all your customers’ questions and concerns. Remember, many will turn to AI to learn more about you. 6. Beyond Google Gen Z already uses TikTok and Instagram as search engines. YouTube remains the second-biggest search platform globally. AI-powered tools are simply the next step in the ongoing fragmentation of upper-funnel discovery. Your approach should be to diversify your content so it surfaces wherever people look: Your own website. Third-party sites and industry publications. Social platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Search engines such as Google and Perplexity. Video and professional platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn. Think of modern AI SEO as search everywhere optimization. Dig deeper: What’s next for SEO in the generative AI era What to do next: Practical steps for marketers AI is helping people research and make purchase decisions. Your role is to be part of the discussion. Modern SEOs are in good shape – much of what AI requires builds on the strategic SEO work we already do. Add in some PR, social media, and content creation (which often sit under the SEO umbrella), and you’re well on your way to a functional GEO strategy. Getting started is crucial. To stay ahead: Create content worth quoting: Write the piece an AI (or a human journalist) would want to reference. That means clear answers, evidence, original insights, and a point of view – not filler. Anticipate the full conversation: Don’t just answer the first question – answer the follow-ups, too. If someone asks, “How does AI change SEO?” they’ll also want to know, “What should I do about it?” Build that into your content. Structure for machines and humans: Use headings, lists, FAQs, and concise summaries to help AI parse your work. But don’t forget the narrative depth that keeps people reading. Diversify your discovery footprint: Don’t rely on Google alone. Research your audience, understand their hangouts, and publish in the formats and places where they ask questions today: LinkedIn, YouTube, podcasts,and industry forums. AI tools crawl all of it. Focus on authority signals: Show the human behind the content. Add author bios, cite sources, and link to your work elsewhere. AI engines, like search engines before them, lean on trust and authority. Experiment, measure, refine: Try different formats, test and measure how your content shows up in AI summaries, track brand mentions, and adapt. SEO has always been iterative – this new era is no different. The opportunity in the chaos As SEO evolves into GEO – or whatever it may end up being called – this really is the best approach. There’s no doubt a lot of change is happening. But much of it is part of the same gradual evolution we’ve seen before, where clicks declined and Google started answering questions directly. AI now makes it even easier for customers to find the information they’re looking for. They may not read it on your site – at least not initially – but the AI will, and that’s the point. Another strength we have as SEOs is that change is constant. If you’ve been in SEO for any length of time, you’ve lived through Panda, Penguin, Mobilegeddon, BERT, helpful content updates – the list is long (and may cause PTSD for many of us). The key is to treat this as the next evolution. AI is being integrated into search, and it will likely become the way the masses adopt the technology. Don’t see this as the death of SEO. Instead, view SEO and AI (or GEO/AEO, etc.) as close, contributing partners, and evolve your plan to match the changing landscape. Your job as a marketer is to feed these tools the information they need to point customers to you and your clients. This shift will likely mean fewer short-term manipulations and tactical opportunities – but better results for businesses that do the basics well. At its core, good SEO/GEO is just good marketing: understanding your customers, meeting their needs, and communicating clearly. Amid the chaos lies opportunity. For those willing to embrace the challenge, experiment with new tools, and keep going. That’s what we’ve always done as SEOs, which is why we’re best positioned to embrace this new world. Dig deeper: SEO at a crossroads: 9 experts on how AI is changing everything View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. As far as tablets go, the Amazon Fire Max 11 is a well-designed crowd-pleaser with a large, vibrant display. Right now, you can get it for 38% off as part of the Amazon Fire Max 11 Productivity Bundle, which includes a keyboard case and stylus pen that transforms it into a fully functional laptop complete with essential accessories for design, studying, and everyday use. Amazon Fire Max 11 Productivity Bundle $221.49 at Amazon $356.97 Save $135.48 Get Deal Get Deal $221.49 at Amazon $356.97 Save $135.48 The tablet features an 11-inch display certified for low blue light with a 2000 × 1200 pixel resolution and 410 nits of brightness, making it bright enough to use in sunny conditions. It has 4 GB of memory, dual-band Wi-Fi 6 (but not 6E), and 64 GB of storage. The octa-core processor is improved and more efficient than that of previous Fire tablets. The 7,500mAh battery lasts around 14 hours, but according to this PCMag review, it takes close to four hours to charge and lasts around eight hours with constant video streaming at maximum brightness. According to the listing, the aluminum body is three times as durable as the iPad 10.9-inch (10th generation) as measured in tumble tests, and the design with slim, rounded corners makes it both sleek and ergonomic to hold. The Fire Max 11 can capture 1080p video, and the PCMag reviews mention that the 8 MP cameras (one on the front, and another on the back, which has auto-focus) are suitable for video calls and basic snapshots, but they can’t compete with smartphones. While tablets like the iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab might have stronger hardware and more mature app ecosystems (you don’t get Google Play), with the included keyboard and stylus, the Amazon Fire Max 11 Productivity Bundle delivers a total package at a comparatively low price point. Beyond included accessories, its strengths lie in the large LCD display, decent hardware for the price, respectable performance, and overall value—especially for those who are already in the Amazon ecosystem. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium JetBlack) — $819.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $319.00 (List Price $349.00) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Battery Doorbell Plus — $79.99 (List Price $149.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $49.98 (List Price $79.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) — $24.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base — $229.99 (List Price $549.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

A reader writes: My workplace has drinking heavily interwoven into the culture. You doubtless know the kind of place — never had a work social event without copious amounts of booze, boss bringing around beers on Friday afternoons, work parties with an open bar being relocated to another bar where the limitless company tab covers five shots for everyone at the table in five minutes, that kind of vibe. I didn’t know that was the culture when I was applying, and I’ve had a lot of issues with alcohol and drugs in the past. Over the past year and a half, I’ve had some life stuff going on that meant I got to the point where I felt it would be good for me to cut out drinking, and oh my god I did not foresee “the receptionist is having a Pepsi with no rum in it” to be the apparently catastrophic event it seems to be. Apparently I’m fun when I’m drinking (yeah, I am, until I’m stumbling home throwing up and sobbing at 3 am) and I have a unique ability to keep the party going (not a good thing in my case!) so whenever I’m at any work social event, the pressure is constant, especially from a few of my bosses. No thanks? Oh, come on! I’ve been trying to cut back? It’s just one, on a special occasion! I have to work tomorrow? Oh, it’ll be fine, we’ll be okay if you’re a few hours late tomorrow if you go too hard! And so on and so forth, to the point where once my boss at a party, after being told I wasn’t drinking this time, handed me a glass of what I thought was ginger ale but turned out to be a dark and stormy, because “I know you like them!” Another has told me after a few drinks, probably joking but still, that they hired me for my personality, so I have to go to the bar after with everyone and if I don’t, it’ll come up at my performance review. Even if I drove, they don’t reliably accept when other people say they can’t drink because they’re driving — or, on one occasion I can remember, pregnant. We don’t have HR — after they abruptly fired the HR guy, they decided to split up his duties between four of my bosses, most of whom are on the drink-pushing side of the equation. I would really like to have my “no thanks” respected, but I’m hesitant to go into my issues with my bosses because from what I’ve seen so far, it probably won’t help. Any suggestions, besides doubling down on the old job hunt? In an ideal world, you’d talk to your bosses and point out that the drinking-heavy culture is really problematic for a whole range of people — people in recovery, people who are pregnant or on medications where they can’t drink, people who don’t drink for religious reasons, and people who just plain don’t drink or don’t feeling like drinking at the moment. And in that ideal world, your bosses would then address it on two fronts: (1) having a zero-tolerance policy for pressuring anyone to drink and (2) reconsidering how heavily alcohol features in their work events in the first place. But it doesn’t sound like you’re in that ideal world. Any chance, though, that it’s worth a conversation anyway? Is there a manager who you’d be comfortable pointing out the above to, possibly (although not necessarily) paired with an explanation that you’ve stopped drinking and the pressure has become a problem? (You don’t need to disclose that about yourself, but if you’re comfortable doing it, it might help them take the conversation more seriously.) You could also point out the legal liability for the company when ““I’m driving” isn’t immediately understood as a reason not to drink. If not, or if that doesn’t work, then — short of finding a new job — all you can really do is limit your exposure to these events (hard to do when they’re in the office during work hours) and tell people to stop when they’re trying to get you to drink. Feel free to say, “No, and it’s weird to push people to drink; you don’t know what their reasons for not drinking might be.” If you find that easy to do, then great; that might be all you need. But if you find that hard to do, and as a result you’re making decisions you don’t want to make (like drinking when you’re trying not to), that’s a sign that this is really not a culture you should stay in. It’s easier said than done to find a new job, especially if you’re otherwise happy with this one, but at that point that would be the right move. The post my office loves to drink, and I’m trying to stop drinking appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

Google’s YouTube has agreed to pay $24.5 million to settle a lawsuit President Donald The President brought after the video site suspended his account following the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks on the Capitol following the election that resulted in him leaving the White House for four years. The settlement of the more than four-year-old case earmarks $22 million for The President to contribute to the Trust for the National Mall and a construction of a White House ballroom, according to court documents filed Monday. The remaining $2.5 million will be paid to other parties involved in the case, including the writer Naomi Wolf and the American Conservative Union. Alphabet, the parent of Google, is the third major technology company to settle a volley of lawsuits that The President brought for what he alleged had unfairly muzzled him after his first term as president ended in January 2021. He filed similar cases Facebook parent Meta Platforms and Twitter before it was bought by billionaire Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded as X. Meta agreed to pay $25 million to settle The Presidents’ lawsuit over his 2021 suspension from Facebook and X agreed to settle the lawsuit that The President brought against Twitter for $10 million. When the lawsuits against Meta. Twitter and YouTube were filed, legal experts predicted The President had little chance of prevailing. After buying Twitter for $44.5 billion, Musk later became major contributor to The President’s successful 2024 campaign that resulted in his re-election and then spent several months leading a cost-cutting effort that purged thousands of workers from the federal government payroll before the two had a bitter falling out. Both Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg were among the tech leaders who lined up behind The President during his second inauguration in January in a show of solidarity that was widely interpreted as a sign of the industry’s intention to work more closely with the president than during his first administration. ABC News, meanwhile, agreed to pay $15 million in December toward The President’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. And in July, Paramount decided to pay The President $16 million to settle a lawsuit regarding editing at CBS’ storied “60 Minutes” news program. The settlement does not constitute an admission of liability, the filing says. Google confirmed the settlement but declined to comment beyond it. Google declined to comment on the reasons for the settlement., but The President’s YouTube account has been restored since 2023. The settlement is will barely dent Alphabet, which has a market value of nearly $3 trillion — an increase of about $600 billion, or 25%, since The President’s return to the White House. The disclosure of the settlement came a week before a scheduled Oct. 6 court hearing to discuss the case with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in Oakland, California. —Barbara Ortutay and Michael Liedtke, AP Technology Writers View the full article

Nations must work out how to contend with The President’s America and ChinaView the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. Battery-powered cameras are convenient until you realize how often they need recharging. That’s where the Ring Spotlight Cam Pro Solar Bundle, now $199.98 on Amazon (down from $289.98), makes sense. The included solar panel keeps the battery topped up, even through stretches of cloudy weather, so you don’t have to climb up a ladder every few weeks. At this price—the lowest it’s ever been, according to price trackers—you’re getting both the camera and the panel in one box, which covers power, monitoring, and lighting in a single package. Ring Spotlight Cam Pro, Solar | 3D Motion Detection, Two-Way Talk with Audio+, and Dual-Band Wifi (2022 release) - Black $199.98 at Amazon $229.99 Save $30.01 Get Deal Get Deal $199.98 at Amazon $229.99 Save $30.01 The camera itself is one of Ring’s more advanced models. It records sharp HDR video at 2K resolution with a wide field of view and offers color night vision when the spotlights kick on. Reviewers note the footage looks crisp, and two-way audio is clear enough for conversations. Ring also adds extras like 3D motion detection and Bird’s Eye View, which maps out the path of movement on your property. Combined with instant alerts, you can see not just that someone approached your yard but exactly where they walked. Bright built-in spotlights act as a deterrent and make night recordings more useful than standard infrared-only clips. The system integrates easily with Alexa and has a long list of IFTTT automations for third-party gear, but it doesn’t support Google Assistant or Apple HomeKit. That said, there are caveats worth considering. Out of the box, you get live view and motion alerts, but most of the smarter features require a Ring Home subscription. The Basic Plan, at $4.99 per month, unlocks video history, person detection, and the ability to share or download clips. Without it, you’ll lose stored footage once the included 30-day free trial ends. The solar panel also isn’t the most subtle piece of hardware, so it may stand out if mounted in front of your house. And while setup is straightforward through the Ring app, the bundle’s price is still higher than many competing solar cameras. That said, if you want to minimize battery charging and prefer a system that’s easy to install and manage, this deal brings a premium package to its lowest cost yet. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 2 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds — $199.00 (List Price $249.00) Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge 256GB Unlocked AI Phone (Titanium JetBlack) — $819.99 (List Price $1,099.99) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $319.00 (List Price $349.00) Blink Mini 2 1080p Indoor Security Camera (2-Pack, White) — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Battery Doorbell Plus — $79.99 (List Price $149.99) Blink Video Doorbell Wireless (Newest Model) + Sync Module Core — $34.99 (List Price $69.99) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen, 2-pack, White) — $49.98 (List Price $79.99) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen, 2023) — $24.99 (List Price $49.99) Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base — $229.99 (List Price $549.99) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) — $69.99 (List Price $139.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

The new Adobe Premiere Mobile is now available for free in the Apple Store. It promises “pro-level” video editing for YouTube and TikTok pros—or anyone who needs cutting multiple tracks of video at 4K resolution together with motion graphics, subtitles generation, overlay captions, AI-generated stickers, and a never-ending list of technical features. That’s cool, but Adobe really had me on board when it showed off its AI sound generator, which can interpret your vocals to generate actual effects. Like you hum, “pa-pa! pa-pa! Paaaaa-para-pa-PA!” in your iPhone’s microphone, ask Premier to turn it into a fanfare, and it will remake your voice into a full orchestral 20th-Century-Foxy intro. It’s a fun feature that will save people countless hours going through never-ending lists of sound effects and music clips for their video edits. But please disregard my childhood Freddie Mercury dreams for a minute. The new Premiere looks like an excellent upgrade to Adobe Premiere Rush, the company’s previous free mobile video app. Rush looked bad and behaved even worse. Its interface was too hard and imprecise for my fat fingers to navigate on a tiny screen, and its feature set was lacking at best. Users often complained about the app simply not working. Adobe promises that this will not happen with the new Premiere Mobile, which is supposed to handle 4K HDR video with ease on any modern iPhone thanks to its new native iOS architecture. “Premiere Mobile is built from the ground up to take advantage of the core technology the iPhone offers”, says Mike Folgner, director of product management, digital video and audio at Adobe. “Creators want frame-by-frame precision, responsive and fast performance, and the ability to work across multiple tracks with full creative control. We saw how excited creators were about infinite layers in Photoshop mobile, and we knew we needed to bring that same freedom to Premiere mobile where we’re offering creators unlimited tracks.” Its unlimited multitrack timeline actually works like the desktop version, the company claims, editing with frame-accurate precision. “We know that more and more content is being created entirely on mobile, from quick, short-form clips to more advanced edits,” Folgner tells me. “It’s important to us that we meet creators where they are and empower all creators to tell their stories. “With Premiere Mobile, our goal is to provide the precision and control needed for complex edits, while keeping the experience intuitive for those just getting started.” A new look Aesthetically, the new app’s interface seems to have taken a page from the successful Photoshop Mobile, with new, bolder control handles and style. Indeed, as Folgner points out, they have applied the same design principles and language to the new app. “We’re making significant strides so that if a user is familiar with a toolset or interaction in one app, they can easily recognize and understand it in another,” he says. It seems that Adobe has finally figured out that a tiny phone display requires an entirely different interface. The larger controls and AI-aided features—from the way clips get cut and snap to each other to its one-click background removal feature—will help with that. At least one beta tester is happy with the UX redesign. YouTuber and designer Mai Pham believes “it is just truly built differently.” When I asked her how, she say it’s built for mobile workflows, and that it is a “game changer.” For Pham, “the large timeline view really makes it feel powerful, but still intuitive on a phone. It’s not just a desktop tool squeezed into mobile, it’s designed differently, and I can’t wait to see how it grows and evolves.” Folgner says Adobe has worked with hundreds of creators throughout several stages of the process to shape the new app with their feedback. He claims that beta testers are excited about “how more efficient, unconstrained, and fluid” the new app is. Music to my lips The Generative Sound Effects tool is what stole my attention, however. It’s a good example of how AI can actually help the creative process. Premiere Mobile doesn’t make you search in a database to slap a stock audio clip onto your timeline: it creates perfectly timed sound elements based on text prompts and voice input. You describe the sound you want, hum the timing, and the AI builds custom audio that matches exactly what you want. This matters because most creators spend ridiculous amounts of time hunting through stock audio libraries or recording their own Foley effects. Now they can conjure soundscapes with their mouths. The app also includes a speech enhancing feature, another must-have AI feature when it works. In theory, it transforms amateur audio recordings from your phone’s mic into crystal-clear voiceovers by removing echo and background noises. AI galore Adobe is leaning hard on AI for many other functions. The new app includes a way to generate animated captions following different styles, with automatic subtitle generation, motion effects, and cinematic transitions all powered by AI. It also has automated color grading tools to unify your clips’ looks or change the mood of your video. These are handled with a single finger in what Adobe calls tap-to-adjust functionality. Adobe also claims that its Firefly-based tools will let users generate “commercially safe” stickers, turn images to video clips directly within the mobile interface, and expand the background of a video clip. Finally, one-tap exports automatically resize videos for every major social platform including TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram, keeping the main action in frame again using AI. This intelligent export system, Adobe claims, creates platform-optimized versions with proper aspect ratios and compression settings. Adobe Premiere Mobile is available now for—”paPA-paPAAAAAA!”—free. View the full article

OpenAI just released Instant Checkout for ChatGPT—a new feature that lets users directly make purchases within the ChatGPT interface. ChatGPT can now spend your money for you. It’s a huge deal—both for users, brands, and the future of agentic AI. Here’s why. Stickers at the ready Consumers are already enthusiastically turning to chatbots like ChatGPT to research products before deciding what to buy. As TechCrunch shared earlier this year, referrals from chatbots to top merchant websites are up almost 400% year over year. I personally used ChatGPT to research an $800+ laptop purchase this summer. Before, users could do their research in ChatGPT, but they needed to go directly to a merchant’s website to actually check out. Instant checkout seeks to close that loop by allowing you to buy products within ChatGPT’s interface—sometimes with as little as a single click. I tested out the new system within hours of its launch. OpenAI initially rolled out Instant Checkout with a single merchant partner: Etsy. (Shopify retailers will apparently follow soon.) To see how it works, I fired up my ChatGPT interface and asked the bot to find me a Bichon Frise sticker on Etsy (Bichons are the best kind of dog—and the kind I happen to have). After about 30 seconds of research, ChatGPT presented me with three different Bichon Frise sticker options. Helpfully, it suggested which sticker would be best for a water bottle, the back of my laptop, and other use cases. Before, I would’ve had to go to Etsy’s website to actually buy my sticker. Now, though, when I clicked on the one I liked best, a prominent “Buy” button appeared. Clicking it brought up a standard set of payment options—Google Pay, Link payments, and the like. Selecting an existing credit card from my Google Pay account, I confirmed my address and pressed “Buy.” ChatGPT popped up a message saying it was communicating with Etsy. Seconds later, I got a purchase confirmation in my ChatGPT window. I had spent $4.81, and my Bichon Frise sticker was on the way! Why it matters Yes, the ability to purchase bespoke vinyl stickers using the world’s most powerful AI is neat. But in the bigger scheme of things, why does Instant Checkout matter? Firstly, instant checkout is significant because it’s not intended to be a one-off tool. Along with its launch, OpenAI rolled out a new open source protocol—termed the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)—that the company says will allow for direct communications between merchants and providers of chatbots like ChatGPT. By implementing ACP, merchants can make it easy for chatbot users to purchase things directly from them. The fact that OpenAI rolled out a fully formed protocol along with its new feature suggests they’re trying to build an ecosystem for chatbot shopping, not simply rake in a bit more revenue during the upcoming Black Friday season. The company clearly hopes that other chatbot builders will adopt its protocol, creating an ecosystem that will bring in a wide range of merchants. The release notes for Instant Checkout say that any merchant using the Stripe platform can enable the new protocol in a few clicks. Many retailers are doubtless scrambling to have their tech teams do that straight away. If OpenAI succeeds with this ambition, they’ll put their tool in a place to compete with the Amazons and Walmarts of the world—not just Google and other search engines. If chatbot shopping really takes off, it could become a whole new sales channel for merchants. The fact that it supports small merchants and allows purchases in a single click—without an external merchant account—could help to dramatically level the playing field for merchants and creators who struggle to compete with Amazon and other giants. The new protocol is also significant because it gives a clear “why” to the emerging discipline of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). As I’ve shared previously, brands are scrambling to get their products mentioned and recommended within chatbots. Before, though, many brands wondered if doing the work of GEO was really worth it. Referrals from AI bots are increasing rapidly, but they’re still tiny. Why invest money and resources in getting your brand into chatbots now? Why not wait and see what the future brings? With Instant Checkout, chatbots are now not just a research tool, but an actual source of revenue and sales. It’s also far easier with a protocol like ACP to attribute purchases directly back to a chat. That will make brands far more willing to throw money at generative engine optimization in an effort to get not only mentions, but actual sales from the bots. I already predicted a generative engine optimization craze before Instant Checkout rolled out—the new feature only deepens the appeal of GEO. Useful agents? Finally, instant checkout represents the newest direction for the concept of AI agents—which has seen feverish excitement in Silicon Valley, but not much application in the real world. It’s cool to watch a computer research your flight to Atlanta or plan out a lunch for you. But most people probably won’t actually use AI to do those things. If an AI can actually close the loop and directly make purchases on your behalf, though, that might make AI agents worth using. Imagine asking ChatGPT to plan your kid’s firetruck themed birthday party (the kind of thing many parents, myself included, already do). If the system just gave you some ideas for cake toppers and placemats, that would be neat, but of limited value. If it could list all of the items you needed to make an awesome party, get your permission to buy them from 10 different merchants at once, and then have them all sent to your door with a single click, that would be a much more useful tool. People already use OpenAI’s Deep Research—one of the only successful applications of agentic AI technology—to explore new topics or summarize news. With Instant Checkout OpenAI may have created another agentic AI tool that normal people will actually use. OpenAI has already proven itself adept at spending gobs of money from venture capital backers and partners like Microsoft. With Instant Checkout, it’s ready to start spending yours, too. View the full article

Wholesale Produce Supply, a food supplier based in Minneapolis, has recalled more than two dozen varieties of its fresh cut and processed cantaloupe products due to a risk of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced. According to a notice posted by the FDA on Monday, September 29, no illnesses have been reported to date, but Listeria has the potential to cause serious infections. Here’s what to know: Which products are affected by the recall? Wholesale Produce Supply fresh cut cantaloupe was sold to distributors in Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, who may have distributed the product to other states. The impacted products were sold under two brands: Harvest Cuts and Fresh and Finest. They were distributed to “traditional grocery locations.” The recall notice does not name specific retailers. Fast Company reached out to Wholesale Produce Supply for additional details and will update this story if we hear back. Affected products were packed in traditional plastic clamshell containers. Some packages included only cantaloupe, while others featured cantaloupe mixed with other fresh-cut fruits. The potential Listeria contamination was discovered during routine testing performed by the company, according to the FDA. Wholesale Produce Supply has suspended production and distribution of the affected lot and is investigating the cause of the problem. The company has recalled the following retail products. You can find the full product descriptions, UPC codes, and lot numbers on the FDA website. Cantaloupe and Honeydew (12-ounce) Cantaloupe Chunks (8-ounce) Cantaloupe Chunks (16-ounce) Cantaloupe Chunks (6-ounce) Cantaloupe Chunks “F&F” (12-ounce) Cantaloupe Chunks (5-pound) Cantaloupe Spears (16-ounce) Fruit Medley (8-ounce) Fruit Medley “F&F” (12-ounce) Fruit Mix (16-ounce) Fruit Mix (6-ounce) Fruit Mix CHWG (MCT) (5-pound) Fruit Salad (16-ounce) Fruit Salad (6-ounce) Fruit Tray CHPG w/ Dip “HC” RND (2-pound) Fruit Tray w/ Strawberries “HC” (2-pound) Fruit Tray w/ Watermelons “HC” (2.5-pound) Fruit Tray w/ Watermelons “HC” (2.5-pound) Luau Blend Fruit Mix “F&F” (10-ounce) Melon Mix (16-ounce) Melon Mix (6-ounce) Melon Mix Bowl (48-ounce) Melon Mix Bowl & Grapes (48-ounce) Melon Mix CHW (MCT) (5-pound) Melon Mix Spears (16-ounce) Consumers should not eat the recalled product Customers who have purchased affected Harvest Cuts or Fresh and Finest products should not consume them. Rather, return the product to the place of purchase for a full refund. If you have any questions, contact Wholesale Produce Supply by calling (612) 378-2025. Some people are more at risk of Listeria infection Consuming foods contaminated with Listeria can lead to infection, which can be potentially serious and even fatal. According to the Mayo Clinic, healthy people rarely become very ill from Listeria infection. However, pregnant women, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems are more at risk for infection. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Listeria infection is “the third leading cause of death from food borne illness in the United States.” View the full article

Former police minister Nkosinathi Emmanuel Mthethwa had been named in corruption allegations this monthView the full article

Visa has officially launched its new Visa Commercial Solutions (VCS) Hub, aiming to revolutionize commercial payments for small businesses and fintechs alike. By integrating advanced technologies, including generative AI, Visa is transforming a traditionally complex landscape into a more accessible and streamlined system. This development holds significant implications for small business owners who are continually looking for ways to enhance their operations and improve cash flow management. The VCS Hub promises to dramatically simplify financial management for businesses by providing a unified platform that addresses various payment needs. This shift is particularly beneficial for small enterprises that may lack extensive financial resources or the infrastructure to handle complicated payment processes. The platform offers an end-to-end solution for payables, allowing businesses to manage invoice and supplier payments efficiently. It supports flexible, ad-hoc payments, granting organizations the agility necessary to respond swiftly to evolving business scenarios. “Visa is not just modernizing commercial payments; we’re reinventing them,” stated Gloria Colgan, SVP and Global Head of Product for Visa Commercial Solutions. With the VCS Hub, companies can leverage GenAI-driven workflows to automate accounts payable, which not only optimizes cash flow but also diminishes manual bottlenecks. This level of automation can free up valuable time and resources for small business owners, allowing them to focus more on growth and less on tedious financial management. Key enhancements of the VCS Hub include: AI-Powered Payables: Generative AI algorithms will drive automated workflows that anticipate business needs, helping to streamline financial operations. Embedded Payments: The platform allows for seamless integration into existing business applications like accounting and ERP systems. This feature simplifies the management of payments by embedding payment functionalities right within the tools small businesses already use. Reporting and Insights: Advanced analytics will enable users to access actionable insights and predict market trends. This data-driven approach empowers small business owners to make informed decisions in real time. Personalized Experiences: The platform can tailor user experiences through AI-generated recommendations, alerts, and next steps that aim to enhance growth and operational efficiency. The VCS Hub is not just a technological upgrade; it is a strategic move to democratize access to competitive payment technologies for smaller players, often sidelined in the digital transition. With the capability to centralize fragmented systems into a single ecosystem, small businesses can enjoy a more integrated payment experience that traditionally only larger corporations had. However, as with any new technology, challenges may arise. Some small business owners might need to invest time in training and adapting existing processes to leverage the full capabilities of the VCS Hub. Initial unfamiliarity with AI-driven platforms could lead to a learning curve that requires patience and resource allocation. Moreover, while Visa’s open APIs enhance integration, small businesses might find themselves relying heavily on third-party vendors for technical support and updates. Businesses will need to evaluate their current IT capabilities against the new system’s requirements to ensure a smooth transition. Visa is currently accepting consultations from new issuers and fintechs to explore how the VCS Hub can transform their business operations. For small business owners looking to innovate and streamline their payment processes, this could be an opportune moment to engage with Visa representatives to discover the potential benefits tailored to their specific needs. As commercial payments continue to evolve, the VCS Hub by Visa represents a pivotal step toward a more intelligent and efficient financial ecosystem for small businesses. By embracing this new technology, small businesses can better position themselves to thrive in a competitive landscape. For more details, you can view the original press release from Visa here. Image via Visa This article, "Visa Launches AI-Driven VCS Hub, Transforming Commercial Payments Today" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Visa has officially launched its new Visa Commercial Solutions (VCS) Hub, aiming to revolutionize commercial payments for small businesses and fintechs alike. By integrating advanced technologies, including generative AI, Visa is transforming a traditionally complex landscape into a more accessible and streamlined system. This development holds significant implications for small business owners who are continually looking for ways to enhance their operations and improve cash flow management. The VCS Hub promises to dramatically simplify financial management for businesses by providing a unified platform that addresses various payment needs. This shift is particularly beneficial for small enterprises that may lack extensive financial resources or the infrastructure to handle complicated payment processes. The platform offers an end-to-end solution for payables, allowing businesses to manage invoice and supplier payments efficiently. It supports flexible, ad-hoc payments, granting organizations the agility necessary to respond swiftly to evolving business scenarios. “Visa is not just modernizing commercial payments; we’re reinventing them,” stated Gloria Colgan, SVP and Global Head of Product for Visa Commercial Solutions. With the VCS Hub, companies can leverage GenAI-driven workflows to automate accounts payable, which not only optimizes cash flow but also diminishes manual bottlenecks. This level of automation can free up valuable time and resources for small business owners, allowing them to focus more on growth and less on tedious financial management. Key enhancements of the VCS Hub include: AI-Powered Payables: Generative AI algorithms will drive automated workflows that anticipate business needs, helping to streamline financial operations. Embedded Payments: The platform allows for seamless integration into existing business applications like accounting and ERP systems. This feature simplifies the management of payments by embedding payment functionalities right within the tools small businesses already use. Reporting and Insights: Advanced analytics will enable users to access actionable insights and predict market trends. This data-driven approach empowers small business owners to make informed decisions in real time. Personalized Experiences: The platform can tailor user experiences through AI-generated recommendations, alerts, and next steps that aim to enhance growth and operational efficiency. The VCS Hub is not just a technological upgrade; it is a strategic move to democratize access to competitive payment technologies for smaller players, often sidelined in the digital transition. With the capability to centralize fragmented systems into a single ecosystem, small businesses can enjoy a more integrated payment experience that traditionally only larger corporations had. However, as with any new technology, challenges may arise. Some small business owners might need to invest time in training and adapting existing processes to leverage the full capabilities of the VCS Hub. Initial unfamiliarity with AI-driven platforms could lead to a learning curve that requires patience and resource allocation. Moreover, while Visa’s open APIs enhance integration, small businesses might find themselves relying heavily on third-party vendors for technical support and updates. Businesses will need to evaluate their current IT capabilities against the new system’s requirements to ensure a smooth transition. Visa is currently accepting consultations from new issuers and fintechs to explore how the VCS Hub can transform their business operations. For small business owners looking to innovate and streamline their payment processes, this could be an opportune moment to engage with Visa representatives to discover the potential benefits tailored to their specific needs. As commercial payments continue to evolve, the VCS Hub by Visa represents a pivotal step toward a more intelligent and efficient financial ecosystem for small businesses. By embracing this new technology, small businesses can better position themselves to thrive in a competitive landscape. For more details, you can view the original press release from Visa here. Image via Visa This article, "Visa Launches AI-Driven VCS Hub, Transforming Commercial Payments Today" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Struggling with the same issues sprint after sprint? Learn how to conduct root cause analysis effectively—and turn recurring chaos into real improvements. The post Root Cause Analysis in Project Management: A Step-by-Step Guide for Teams appeared first on The Digital Project Manager. View the full article

Short-term thinking and rigid hierarchies stifle creative solutions. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

Short-term thinking and rigid hierarchies stifle creative solutions. The Disruptors With Liz Farr Go PRO for members-only access to more Liz Farr. View the full article

Running a successful construction project takes many moving parts working together. From scheduling crews and managing budgets to coordinating with stakeholders and ensuring quality standards, leadership plays a central role in keeping everything on track. Two of the most important roles on a job site are construction managers and project managers, each bringing a different focus and skill set to the table. Understanding how these roles differ helps owners, contractors, and teams set the right expectations and build stronger collaboration. Knowing where responsibilities overlap and where they diverge can prevent confusion, improve communication, and keep projects moving forward. By comparing a construction manager vs. a project manager side by side, you can see how they work together to deliver a project on time and within budget. What Is a Construction Manager (CM)? A construction manager oversees every stage of a construction project, from pre-construction planning to final delivery. They coordinate crews, manage subcontractors, track budgets, and make sure work is performed safely and to specification. They also handle procurement, site logistics, and quality control, working closely with architects, engineers, and inspectors to resolve issues as they arise. Their job requires balancing timelines, costs, and resources while keeping stakeholders informed and satisfied. Construction managers spend a lot of time problem-solving on the job site, making real-time decisions to keep the schedule on track. They must anticipate delays, manage risk, and maintain strong communication between all parties involved. Their success is measured by whether the project is completed on time, within budget, and at the expected quality level, which makes having accurate, up-to-date information critical. Project management software gives construction managers the tools they need to plan, monitor and adjust work as conditions change. With scheduling features, they can map out tasks, assign crews and track progress in real time. Budget tracking tools allow them to compare planned costs against actuals, while reporting features make it easy to share updates with owners and stakeholders. Collaboration tools ensure everyone stays connected, reducing miscommunication and rework. ProjectManager brings all of these capabilities into one platform with multiple project views, including Gantt charts, kanban boards and task lists, so construction managers can work the way they prefer. Its real-time dashboards track labor, costs and progress so issues can be addressed quickly before they escalate. Resource management and workload tracking ensure crews are used efficiently, while secure file sharing and commenting keep communication organized. Our software makes it easier for construction managers to stay in control of complex projects and deliver results on schedule. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/construction-gantt-resources-costs-150-CTA-BUTTON-1.jpgLearn more What Does a Construction Manager Do? A construction manager oversees the entire building process from planning to completion. They coordinate people and resources to keep work moving efficiently and make sure the project stays on schedule and within budget. Their role is to manage day-to-day operations, solve problems quickly and ensure the finished project meets quality and safety standards. Key Construction Manager Responsibilities A construction manager leads the on-site delivery of a building project, turning plans into reality while balancing time, cost and quality. Below are the core responsibilities that define the role, each explained so you can see how they contribute to successful construction delivery. Project planning — Develops the overall construction plan, sequences tasks logically, coordinates with designers and owners, and sets milestones that guide the team from groundbreaking to handover. Scheduling — Creates and manages the project schedule, assigns timelines to crews and subcontractors, monitors progress daily, and adjusts sequences when delays or changes occur. Budgeting and cost control — Prepares cost estimates, tracks actual spending against the budget, approves invoices, and implements cost-saving measures to keep the project financially healthy. Resource allocation and workforce management — Assigns labor and equipment where they are needed most, balances workloads to avoid bottlenecks and ensures crews have the tools and training to perform safely and efficiently. Subcontractor coordination — Selects and manages subcontractors, defines scopes of work, enforces schedules and quality standards and resolves disputes that could impact delivery. Safety and compliance — Implements safety programs, enforces site rules, conducts inspections and ensures work meets regulatory and code requirements to protect workers and avoid costly violations. Quality assurance and control — Sets quality expectations, monitors workmanship through inspections and testing and ensures the finished product meets design specifications and owner expectations. Risk identification and mitigation — Identifies potential schedule cost and safety risks early, develops mitigation plans and responds quickly when issues arise to reduce impact on the project. Communication and stakeholder management — Keeps owners, subcontractors, inspectors and the project team informed through regular updates, meetings and reports so decisions are aligned and misunderstandings are minimized. Procurement and materials logistics — Manages ordering, delivery and storage of materials, coordinates with suppliers to prevent shortages and schedules deliveries to match site needs and avoid delays. /wp-content/uploads/2023/06/construction-schedule-template.jpg Get your free Construction Schedule Template Use this free Construction Schedule Template to manage your projects better. Get the Template What Is a Project Manager (PM)? A project manager is responsible for planning, executing and closing projects across a wide range of industries. They oversee the entire project lifecycle, define goals, create schedules, manage resources, and keep teams aligned to ensure work is completed on time and within budget. Project managers work closely with stakeholders to clarify expectations, address risks, and resolve issues that could disrupt progress. Their role is about coordination and communication as much as planning. A project manager brings together people from different departments, keeps everyone focused on priorities and tracks progress against milestones. They also monitor budgets and performance so problems are spotted early and corrective action can be taken before they impact project success. What Does a Project Manager Do? A project manager oversees the planning and delivery of projects from start to finish. They organize tasks, manage resources and keep the team aligned so work stays on schedule and within budget. Their job is to guide the project through each phase, solve problems as they come up, and make sure goals are met. Key Responsibilities of a Project Manager A project manager ensures a project moves from idea to delivery by coordinating people, processes and priorities. They provide direction and structure so teams know what to do, when to do it and why it matters. The following responsibilities outline the core areas where a project manager adds value across industries. Project initiation — Defines project objectives, secures stakeholder approval and establishes the project charter that sets scope, timelines and success criteria. Scope management — Clarifies what is in scope and what is out of scope, documents requirements and controls changes so the project delivers agreed outcomes. Schedule planning — Develops a realistic schedule, sequences tasks, sets milestones and monitors progress to keep the project on track. Budgeting and cost control — Estimates costs, tracks spending against the budget and implements corrective actions to prevent overruns. Resource management — Assigns people and equipment, balances workloads and ensures the team has what it needs to complete tasks efficiently. Risk management — Identifies potential problems, assesses their impact and likelihood and creates mitigation plans to reduce surprises. Stakeholder communication — Keeps stakeholders informed, manages expectations and facilitates decision making through regular updates and clear reporting. Quality management — Defines quality standards, monitors deliverables and ensures work meets requirements before it’s accepted. Procurement and vendor management — Oversees purchasing contracts, manages vendor performance and coordinates deliveries to support project timelines. Monitoring, reporting and closure — Tracks performance against the plan, produces status reports and leads project closeout activities to capture lessons learned and confirm acceptance. /wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-construction-ebook-banner-ad.jpg Construction Manager vs. Project Manager: 8 Key Differences Construction projects succeed when everyone knows their role and responsibilities. Comparing a construction manager vs. a project manager highlights where their duties overlap and where they differ. This breakdown of eight key differences illustrates how each position contributes to project success, helping owners and teams understand their respective roles and responsibilities on the job site. 1. Scope of Responsibility Scope of responsibility refers to the range of duties each role covers from start to finish. It includes decision-making, authority oversight of people and processes and the level of involvement in planning, execution and delivery. A clear understanding of scope prevents duplication of work and ensures accountability throughout the project lifecycle. Construction Manager The construction manager’s scope focuses on overseeing all on-site activities. They manage subcontractors, coordinate schedules and ensure compliance with safety standards and building codes. Their job is to ensure daily operations run smoothly, solve problems quickly, and maintain productivity. Construction managers work closely with crews to make sure work meets quality expectations and is completed on time. Project Manager The project manager’s scope covers the entire project lifecycle from initiation through closing. They handle planning, budgeting, risk management and communication with stakeholders. Project managers track progress across multiple teams, ensuring that work aligns with project goals and client expectations. Their responsibility is broader and more strategic, balancing resources, timelines and deliverables to meet overall success criteria. 2. Timeline Involvement Timeline involvement refers to how each role contributes to scheduling and meeting deadlines. It includes creating schedules, monitoring progress and making adjustments when delays occur. Both construction managers and project managers work to keep the project on time, but they engage with the schedule at different levels of detail and decision-making. /wp-content/uploads/2022/02/construction-gantt-2024-600x327.pngLearn more Construction Manager The construction manager is hands-on with day-to-day scheduling. They coordinate subcontractors, adjust work sequences and respond to issues that could slow down progress. Their focus is tactical, making sure crews stay productive and tasks are completed as planned. They often communicate changes to the project manager to update the overall schedule. Project Manager The project manager develops the master schedule and oversees progress across all phases. They look at long-term deadlines, milestones and dependencies to ensure the project stays aligned with client goals. Their involvement is strategic, balancing timelines between multiple teams and making decisions that keep the project on track at a higher level. Related: 20 Free Excel Construction Templates 3. Primary Focus Primary focus describes what each role prioritizes in their day-to-day work. It defines whether their attention is on operations strategy or overall project direction. Understanding primary focus helps teams know where to go for decisions and who is responsible for specific aspects of project success. Construction Manager The construction manager’s primary focus is execution. They spend most of their time on-site managing workers, ensuring safety and troubleshooting problems. Their goal is to keep work moving smoothly without sacrificing quality. They are deeply involved in coordinating materials and labor to meet daily targets and respond quickly to operational challenges. Project Manager The project manager’s primary focus is planning and oversight. They concentrate on project objectives, budgets, risks and stakeholder expectations. Their role is to maintain alignment between the client’s vision and the team’s execution. They look at the big picture, making sure decisions support the overall project goals and deliver the expected results. 4. Decision-Making Authority Decision-making authority refers to the level of control each role has over project outcomes. It covers who approves changes, makes resource allocations and resolves conflicts. Understanding this difference ensures clear communication and prevents delays caused by unclear ownership of key decisions. Construction Manager The construction manager makes operational decisions related to daily work on-site. They decide how to sequence tasks, assign crews and handle immediate challenges. While they have authority over site activities, they typically escalate significant scope or budget changes to the project manager for approval before proceeding. Project Manager The project manager has broader decision-making authority that spans the entire project. They approve scope changes, adjust budgets and manage risks that affect delivery. Their decisions are guided by stakeholder expectations and project goals, balancing constraints to keep the project on track while minimizing negative impacts on cost and schedule. 5. Interaction with Stakeholders Interaction with stakeholders refers to how each role communicates with clients, vendors and other project participants. It includes the frequency, type and purpose of communication and determines how information flows between the field and project leadership. /wp-content/uploads/2024/10/project-status-report-screenshot-2024-600x388.pngLearn more Construction Manager The construction manager mainly interacts with subcontractors, inspectors and on-site personnel. They focus on operational communication such as progress updates, site safety and addressing issues in real time. They serve as the point of contact for on-site questions and report key developments back to the project manager. Project Manager The project manager regularly communicates with clients, executives and high-level stakeholders. They provide status reports, manage expectations and facilitate decision-making discussions. Their role is to keep stakeholders informed and engaged, ensuring that project objectives are met and that changes are approved at the appropriate level. Related: 20 Best Construction Scheduling Software of 2025 (Free & Paid) 6. Responsibility Over Deliverables Responsibility over deliverables defines which parts of the project each role ensures are completed correctly. It includes physical outputs, documentation and meeting contractual obligations. Clear responsibility helps prevent gaps or overlaps in accountability. Construction Manager The construction manager is responsible for the physical deliverables produced on-site. They ensure construction meets design specifications, safety requirements and quality standards. Their work is hands-on, verifying that each stage of construction is built correctly before moving on to the next phase. Project Manager The project manager is accountable for the overall completion of deliverables across the entire project. They confirm that all tasks, documentation and final outputs align with the contract and stakeholder expectations. They coordinate with multiple teams to ensure everything is finished and accepted on time. 7. Risk Management Scope Risk management scope refers to the types of risks each role is responsible for identifying, assessing and mitigating. This includes safety, financial schedule and quality risks and how each role responds to potential threats to the project’s success. /wp-content/uploads/2024/01/risk-image-lightmode-600x331.pngLearn more Construction Manager The construction manager focuses on safety risks and day-to-day operational issues. They enforce safety protocols, monitor work conditions and resolve site problems quickly. Their goal is to prevent accidents, minimize delays and keep crews productive through proactive problem solving and real-time adjustments. Project Manager The project manager takes a broader view of risk by monitoring financial, legal and schedule-related threats. They create risk registers, track mitigation plans and escalate issues to stakeholders when necessary. Their approach is preventative, ensuring risks are identified early and contingency plans are in place to avoid major setbacks. 8. Tools and Documents Tools and documents refer to the systems and paperwork each role uses to manage their work. This includes plans, reports, schedules and software that support decision making and communication throughout the project. /wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Construction-daily-report-example-600x358.pngFree download Construction Manager The construction manager relies on daily logs, safety checklists, site plans and progress reports. They may use construction management software for scheduling and field communication. Their tools help them track productivity, resolve site issues and maintain compliance with safety and quality standards. Project Manager The project manager uses Gantt charts, dashboards, risk registers and project documentation. They depend on project management software to monitor performance, manage resources and communicate with stakeholders. Their tools provide a high-level view of progress, enabling them to keep the project aligned with objectives and deadlines. How ProjectManager Helps Construction Managers and Project Managers Whether you’re managing daily construction operations or the entire project lifecycle, ProjectManager gives you the tools to stay organized and deliver results. Construction managers can track site progress in real time, assign tasks to crews and document safety checks in one place. Project managers can create schedules, monitor budgets and manage risks with live dashboards and reports. Together, these features keep teams aligned and projects running smoothly from planning to completion. Learn more about how our software can support both construction managers and project managers. Stay Organized with Task Lists ProjectManager allows construction managers and project managers to create and manage detailed task lists for every phase of the project. Construction managers can assign tasks to crews, set priorities and track completion in real time, while project managers can monitor dependencies, deadlines and overall progress. Task lists keep everyone accountable, provide a clear view of work in progress and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. /wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Task-Card-List-Light-Mode-Bid-Proposal.png Manage Resources and Track Performance With built-in resource management, both roles can balance workloads and avoid bottlenecks. Construction managers can see which crews or equipment are available and assign them efficiently. Project managers can track budgets, risks, and deliverables using live dashboards and customizable reports. This real-time visibility allows quick adjustments so projects stay on time and within budget. /wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Team-summary-better-data-light-mode-home-screen-dashboard.png Related Construction Management Content Looking at a construction manager vs. a project manager helps understand the larger concept of construction management. For those who care to delve into the subject deeper, below are some recent posts on construction methods, techniques, documents and more. 18 Construction Methods and Techniques 10 Types of Construction Projects with Examples 32 Construction Documents (Templates Included) 8 Free Construction Forms for Excel and Word How to Manage a Construction Project Step by Step The Construction Resource Management Process Explained ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management software that connects teams, whether they’re in the office or at the job site. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post Construction Manager vs. Project Manager: 8 Key Differences appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Charlie Javice, the founder of a startup company that promised to revolutionize the way college students apply for financial aid, was sentenced Monday to more than seven years in prison for cheating JPMorgan Chase out of $175 million by greatly exaggerating how many students it served. Javice, 33, was convicted in March of duping the banking giant when it bought her company, called Frank, in the summer of 2021. She made false records that made it seem like Frank had over 4 million customers when it had fewer than 300,000. Addressing the court before she was sentenced, Javice, who was in her mid-20s when she founded the company, said she was “haunted that my failure has transformed something meaningful into something infamous.” Sometimes speaking through tears, she said she “made a choice that I will spend my entire life regretting.” Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein largely dismissed arguments by Javice’s lawyer, Ronald Sullivan, that he should be lenient because the negotiations that led to Frank’s sale pitted “a 28-year-old versus 300 investment bankers from the largest bank in the world.” Still, the judge criticized the bank, saying “they have a lot to blame themselves” after failing to do adequate due diligence. He quickly added, though, that he was “punishing her conduct and not JPMorgan’s stupidity.” Javice was among a number of young tech executives who vaulted to fame with supposedly disruptive or transformative companies, only to see them collapse amid questions about whether they had engaged in puffery and fraud while dealing with investors. Her prosecution drew comparisons to the case against Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of a blood testing company, Theranos, that collapsed amid fraud allegations. Javice, who lives in Florida, has been free on $2 million bail since her 2023 arrest. The judge said she could remain free while she appeals the verdict. She was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and wire fraud charges. Her lawyers had argued that JPMorgan went after Javice because it had buyer’s remorse. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Javice founded Frank to launch software that promised to simplify the arduous process of filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a complex government form used by students to apply for aid for college or graduate school. Frank’s backers included venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg. The company said its offering, akin to online tax preparation software, could help students maximize financial aid while making the application process less painful. The company promoted itself as a way for financially needy students to obtain more aid faster, in return for a few hundred dollars in fees. Javice appeared regularly on cable news programs to boost Frank’s profile, once appearing on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list before JPMorgan bought the startup in 2021. Sullivan told Hellerstein that his client was very different from Holmes because what she created actually worked, unlike Holmes, “who did not have a real company” and whose product “in fact endangered patients.” Sullivan said the bank rushed its negotiations because it feared another bank would acquire Frank first. A prosecutor, Micah Fergenson, though, said JPMorgan “didn’t get a functioning business” in exchange for its investment. “They acquired a crime scene.” Fergenson said Javice was driven by greed when she saw that she could pocket $29 million from the sale of her company. “Ms. Javice had it dangling in front of her and she lied to get it,” he said. And in seeking a long prison sentence for Javice, prosecutors cited a 2022 text she had sent to a colleague in which she called it “ridiculous” that Holmes got over 11 years in prison in the Theranos case. Prosecutors added that the message was “desperately needed” because of “an alarming trend of founders and executives of small startup companies engaging in fraud, including making misrepresentations about their companies’ core products or services, in order to make their companies attractive targets for investors and/or buyers.” —Larry Neumeister, Associated Press View the full article

Google’s AI Max for Search campaigns is changing how we run search ads. Launched in private beta as Search Max, the feature began rolling out globally in late May, with full availability expected by early Q3 2025. But will AI Max actually drive incremental growth or simply take credit for conversions your existing setup would have captured anyway? This article: Breaks down the key metrics to track in AI Max. Shares early results from travel, fashion, and B2B accounts. Includes a Google Ads script to make analysis faster and easier. Understanding AI Max Think of AI Max as Google combining the best parts of Dynamic Search Ads and Performance Max into regular search campaigns. It does not replace your keywords. Instead, it works alongside them to find more people who want what you’re selling. AI Max does three main things. Finding new search terms your keywords might miss, using search term matching. Writing new ad headlines and descriptions that match what people are actually searching for. Sending people to the best page on your website instead of just the one you picked. The real game changer came in July 2025, when Google began showing AI Max as its own match type in reports. Before this, figuring out what AI Max was doing felt like looking into a black box. Now, we can finally see the data and make smarter decisions. Evaluating AI Max: Metrics that matter When you’re looking at AI Max performance, start with the basics. Open your search term tab and look for the Search terms and landing pages from AI Max option. This lets you see AI Max results separately from your exact match, phrase match, and broad match keywords. Compare conversion share and budget share The first thing to check is how many conversions come from AI Max versus your regular keywords. If AI Max is bringing in 30% of your conversions but eating up 60% of your budget, you know something needs attention. Look at the cost per conversion, too. AI Max might cost more at first, but that’s normal while Google learns what works for your business. Look beyond cost – focus on conversion rates Don’t just focus on the cost. Pay attention to conversion rates. AI Max often finds people who are ready to buy but use different words than you expected. These new search terms can be gold mines if you spot the patterns. One of AI Max’s biggest benefits is finding search terms you never thought to target. Look at your search terms report and filter for AI Max queries. You’ll probably see some surprises. Let’s say you sell running shoes and target “best running shoes.” AI Max might show your ads for “comfortable jogging sneakers” or “shoes for morning runs.” These are people who want the same thing but use different words. The smart move is to add these high-performing terms to your regular keyword lists. Identify irrelevant traffic If you’re getting clicks from people searching for “cheap shoes” when you sell premium products, add “cheap” as a negative keyword. AI Max respects negative keywords, so use them to guide the system toward higher-quality queries. Dig deeper: Google’s AI Max for Search: What 30 days of testing reveal Tracking the learning process Every AI system needs time to learn, and AI Max is no different. Plan for a learning phase The first few weeks often look expensive because Google is still figuring out what works. Don’t panic if your costs jump initially. Track your performance daily during the first month As AI Max learns your patterns, you should see costs stabilize and conversion rates improve. If things keep getting worse after three weeks, then it’s time to make changes. Keep an eye on the types of search terms AI Max finds over time Early on, you might see lots of random queries. As the system learns, the terms should become more relevant to your business goals. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. When things go wrong The biggest mistake people make is changing too much, too fast. AI Max needs data to work properly, and constantly adjusting things prevents the system from learning. That said, some problems need quick fixes. If AI Max is spending money on completely irrelevant searches, add negative keywords immediately. If the AI creates ads that violate your brand guidelines, remove those assets right away. Watch your overall account performance, not just AI Max numbers. Sometimes, AI Max might look expensive on its own, but it actually helps your other campaigns perform better by capturing different types of traffic. Planning for the future AI Max is still evolving, and Google keeps adding new features. To adapt: Build reporting systems that can grow with these changes. Set up automated reports for the metrics that matter most to your business. Don’t try to control everything. The businesses seeing the best results from AI Max are the ones that: Set clear goals. Provide good data. Let the system do its job. Your role shifts from managing keywords to managing strategy. Start testing AI Max on a small scale if you’re nervous about it. For example: Create one campaign with AI Max enabled and compare it to your existing campaigns. Run an AI Max for Search campaign experiment and let Google evaluate if the experiment is statistically valid. Once you see how it works for your specific business, you can decide whether to expand. Case studies: AI Max in action These are early results from a limited data set and shouldn’t be viewed as statistically significant. I’m sharing them to illustrate what I’ve seen so far – but the sample size is small and the timeframe short. Take these numbers with caution. Case 1: Tourism and travel This advertiser already had a solid search setup and was seeing good results. Growth, however, was difficult because of heavy competition and the fact that strong keywords were already in play within a modern search structure. Match typeAvg. CPC (€)CVR (%)AI Max€0.111.47%Broad match€0.093.79%Exact match€0.539.00%Exact match (close variant)€0.227.11%Phrase match€0.166.25%Phrase match (close variant)€0.113.27% AI Max generated additional conversions, but relative to the existing setup the impact was limited. The conversion rate was much lower than other match types. Because the average CPC was low, there was no cost spike, but performance still lagged. Broad match – also known for surfacing broader, newer queries – had an even lower CPC (€0.09) and a conversion rate more than twice that of AI Max. In this account, AI Max’s contribution was minor. Search term overlap analysis showed AI Max had a 22.5% overlap rate, meaning 77.5% of queries were new to the campaign. That’s a fairly good sign in terms of query discovery. Case 2: Fashion ecommerce This account focused on women’s clothing and already had a well-optimized campaign. The goal was to expand reach during the competitive holiday season, when exact match keywords became increasingly expensive. Match typeAvg. CPC (€)CVR (%)AI Max€0.082.15%Broad match€0.122.89%Exact match€0.678.45%Exact match (close variant)€0.286.78%Phrase match€0.195.92%Phrase match (close variant)€0.144.11% AI Max performed well here, delivering the lowest CPC at €0.08 and a respectable 2.15% conversion rate. Although conversion rates were lower than exact and phrase match, the cheaper clicks kept cost per acquisition competitive. AI Max also captured fashion-related long-tail searches and seasonal queries that the existing keyword set had missed. Notably, AI Max outperformed broad match with both lower costs and better conversion rates. This suggests its ability to better understand product context and user intent – especially important in fashion, where search terminology is diverse. Search term overlap analysis showed only an 18.7% overlap rate, meaning 81.3% of queries were completely new. That level of query discovery was valuable for extending reach in a highly competitive market. Case 3: B2B SaaS This account promoted project management software and had a mature strategy focused on high-intent keywords. Conversion tracking was strong, measuring both MQLs and SQLs. The client wanted to test AI Max for additional lead generation opportunities. Match typeAvg. CPC (€)CVR (%)AI Max€0.890.76%Broad match€0.721.23%Exact match€1.844.67%Exact match (close variant)€1.223.91%Phrase match€1.053.44%Phrase match (close variant)€0.942.88% In this case, AI Max struggled. Despite a reasonable CPC of €0.89, the conversion rate was just 0.76%. That pushed CPA well above the client’s target, making AI Max the worst-performing match type in the account. It tended to capture too many informational searches from users not yet ready to convert. Even broad match, typically associated with lower-intent traffic, outperformed AI Max with a 1.23% conversion rate at a lower CPC. The complexity of the B2B buying cycle favored exact and phrase match keywords over AI Max’s broader interpretation. Search term overlap analysis showed a 31.4% overlap rate, leaving 68.6% of queries as new. However, these were mostly low-intent informational searches that didn’t align with SQL goals – underscoring the importance of high-quality conversion tracking when evaluating AI Max. Wider industry sentiment Advertiser feedback so far mirrors these mixed results. In a recent poll by Adriaan Dekker, more than 50% of respondents reported neutral outcomes from AI Max, while 16% saw good results and 28% reported poor performance. Tips to analyze AI Max search terms You can analyze AI Max queries in Google Sheets using a few simple formulas. If your search term report has the term in column A and match type in column B: To check whether a search term appears in both AI Max and another match type: =IF(AND(COUNTIFS($A:$A;A2;$B:$B;"AI Max")>0;COUNTIFS($A:$A;A2;$B:$B;"<>AI Max")>0);"Overlap";"No Overlap") To count how many match types trigger a given term: =COUNTIFS($A:$A;A2) can be used to count how many match types trigger on that search term. To measure query length with an n-gram analysis: =(LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1," ","")))+1 These checks show whether AI Max is surfacing unique queries, overlapping with existing match types, or favoring short-tail vs. long-tail terms. Because AI Max is still in early stages, it’s hard to draw firm conclusions. Performance may improve as the system learns from more data, or remain flat if your setup already covers most transactional queries. That’s the question advertisers will answer in the coming months as more tests and learnings emerge. So far, results can be positive, neutral, or negative. In my experience, neutral to negative outcomes are more common – especially in accounts with strong existing setups, where AI Max has fewer opportunities to add value. A Google Ads script to uncover AI Max insights To make analyzing AI Max performance easier, I created a Google Ads script that automatically pulls data into Google Sheets for deeper analysis. It saves hours of manual work and includes the exact formulas mentioned earlier in this article, so you can immediately spot overlap rates and query patterns without manual setup. The script creates two tabs in your Sheet: AI Max: Performance Max search term data with headlines, landing pages, and performance metrics. Search term analysis: A full comparison of all match types, including AI Max, with automated formulas. The analysis covers: Overlap detection between AI Max and other match types. Query length analysis (short-tail vs. long-tail). Match type frequency counts to identify competitive terms. Automatic cost conversion from Google’s micro format into readable currency. How to use it: Create a new Google Sheet and copy the URL. In Google Ads, go to Tools > Scripts. Paste the script code and update the SHEET_URL variable. Run the script to automatically populate your analysis. With this setup, you can quickly calculate the same metrics I used in the case studies – like the 22.5% overlap rate in the tourism account or the 81.3% new query discovery in fashion. The automated workflow makes it easier to see whether AI Max is surfacing genuine new opportunities or simply redistributing existing traffic. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Did you know you can customize Google to filter out garbage? Take these steps for better search results, including adding Lifehacker as a preferred source for tech news. One method for faster, more interesting study sessions is popular in elementary schools, which is why you may not have heard of it, though it’s applicable to all ages: the KWL chart. The chart is easy enough for a fourth-grader to construct, but helps make even graduate-level study sessions more fruitful by making them more engaging and easy to follow along with. All you need is a notebook and a pen on hand the next time you're reading, watching, or listening to new material. (For $10, you can even get a notebook full of pre-made KWL charts so you don't have to do the work of drawing them yourself.) What is a KWL chart?KWL stands for Know, Want to Know, and Learn. Its use is popular among teachers of younger kids, but it’s recommended by universities, too. KWL charts are part of the constructivist teaching method, which is based on the constructivist theory, or belief that people learn more when they’re actively engaged in the meaningful process of constructing knowledge rather than just passively receiving information. Put more simply, constructivists believe that you learn more when you interact with your material as opposed to just reading or hearing it. A smattering of research in the wide world of academia has also suggested that KWL charts are more effective for reading comprehension than conventional, passive techniques. To better understand constructivist learning, think of all the other kinds of activities you did in elementary school. Activities like building a model volcano or playing Jeopardy! with big cards taped to the whiteboard are constructivist. You probably even remember some of the content you learned during those games or activities, even though they were years ago and you struggle to remember more boring passages you read just last week. There's a reason for that: Being engaged with a concept truly does make a difference. How to use a KWL chartKWL is similar to the SQ3R method in that you’ll be using a pencil and paper to take notes as you study. On your paper, make three columns and title them Know, Want to Know, and Learn. (If you get one of those KWL notebooks I mentioned, this is already done for you.) With or without the pre-made notebook, try to do this by hand, not digitally, as handwriting is better for retention. While it's easier to do this in a word processing doc and you might even think you should, so you don't run out of room for all your ideas, the limited space offered by physical paper is a good thing: Also like the SQ3R method, you want to do this on small chunks of material, like a chapter or brief section of text, instead of focusing on too big of an area. In the event you've already scaled-down your focus to just one chapter or section but you still think you'll have too much content for three columns on one page, you can opt for three pages, each labeled with one of the KWL pillars, but that should be the maximum space allowance you give yourself. KnowBefore starting to read a given chapter or section (or watch part of a recorded lecture, listen to an assigned podcast, etc.), write everything you already know—or think you know—about it in the Know column. Think of this a little like blurting, a learning technique that calls on you to write or say everything you know about a topic before checking it against your notes to see what you missed. In this case, you may not have pre-existing notes to reference, but it will still get you in the zone, at least in terms of using active recall to pull anything you might be familiar with out of the recesses of your memory. Want to knowNext, move over to your Want to Know section and write down what you’d like to learn or get from the material. If you don’t know much about the topic, it’s fine to write that you want to know what it even is or jot down broad questions, but for an easier way to set specific goals, look at things like chapter subheadings, summaries, or tables within your materials, and base your questions off of those. For instance, if your chapter includes a graph showing that a certain disease is more prevalent in a specific country, one of your want-to-know questions can be why that is. This is a chance to get creative. Ask unorthodox questions. Take some time to sit and think over what you could endeavor to find out beyond What is this chapter about? The more curious you allow yourself to be, the more you'll engage with the content. LearnFinally, consume the content, whatever it is. As you go through the material, pay close attention for anything that could help you answer the questions you wrote in your want-to-know section. Take notes elsewhere on the page if necessary, because when you’re done, you’ll reflect on what you learned, review the materials and your notes, and mark it down in the Learn column. You can write what you learned overall, but be sure that this column also includes the answers to the questions you posed in the second step. Finishing up with KWLAfter all three columns are filled out, you're not quite done. I recommend revising your notes, especially if the chart got messy. Use blurting to see how much of the material stuck with you, then check your blurting against the chart and the source material. Alternately, try a different technique to further entrench the content in your brain. Use your want-to-know questions to create a flashcard deck, for instance, and then follow the Leitner method of flashcard review. Try using the Feynman method by explaining the chapter content to a friend, a relative, or even an AI bot, which can help you break down complicated concepts into smaller bites. Try this for a variety of uses, even your personal recreational reading. KWL works well for not only the reading comprehension it was designed to enhance, but also taking notes during a lecture, participating in a classroom activity, going to a workshop, or even just watching a documentary. The whole purpose is to keep you focused and curious while you consume information, so you stay engaged as you try to find answers to the original questions you laid out. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web...View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. I'm a shut-in, which makes me the perfect candidate for a smart security system. I want to know exactly what's going on outside at all times of day, even while I'm still tucked tightly in bed. You don't have to be a serial introvert to benefit from a few cameras and connected devices in your home. If you're frequently away, you may also want to keep a record of packages and people who have passed through while you're out. Smart security systems are not just about catching a neighborhood cat in the act. They help keep a watchful eye when you can't, and they can be automated to trigger other devices as needed—such as a motion sensor turning on a smart light and recording a video clip, or a door opening to trigger a deafening alarm. The good news is that smart security systems are fully customizable to meet your specific needs. Some brands offer third-party monitoring as an added security measure, providing extra assistance when you're away from home. Setting up a smart security system is just as straightforward as setting up a smart home. You'll want to choose your smart security ecosystem first, then decide if you want something that's highly expandable later on. You can also keep it simple with a video doorbell that syncs with a smart display inside the home, especially if you're renting and don't have many customization options. Here's how to get started. Choosing a method of smart security Smart security systems range from the expansive to the simplistic, just like the smart home does. You choose the ecosystem you want to live in and then build from there. But before you can select that, you need a device to function as the entry point. It could be a security camera, a video doorbell, or a smart lock. The idea is that whatever you use to enter your home is the first line of defense. Everything after that is an add-on. Most people start with a security camera, with the most popular option being the video doorbell. The video doorbell offers it all: a window to the world, a clear indication that there's an eye on the outside, and the ability to deliver instant notifications for sound and movement at your door. It also serves as a button that people can press to let you know they've arrived. Installation can vary from easily mountable to more involved, depending on whether you integrate an existing doorbell chime. (I've personally eschewed this way because the chime on my old house is broken and I have no intention of ever addressing it.) As long as you have smart displays or speakers inside the home, or a smartphone with connected accessories that blare notifications, you don't need to connect it to a chime. Not all smart locks take over the door! This August smart lock works over existing door hardware so you don't have to swap out the deadbolt. Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker Smart locks are another way to start a smart security system, though they are pricier and a bit more complicated to install, since there's no one-size-fits-all turn-key solution for every front door. The installation process will vary depending on the type of door you have and whether you can easily swap out the lock. If you're a renter or love your door, there are "retrofit" smart locks from brands like August that allow you to keep the original keys and hardware intact. Smart locks offer access logs that track who has entered and exited the home. Some also provide tamper alerts, conditional access codes, and lockouts for repeated incorrect access codes. And with most other smart locks, you won't have to manage physical keys. There are smart security systems that extend beyond cameras and door locks to include a base station with a siren, a centralized control panel, and motion and door/window sensors. This is the route to take if you need something particularly sophisticated, especially if you want home monitoring included in the package. It requires more setup beforehand, but you can effectively string together a security system without hiring a professional to do it. The security system can also integrate with an existing smart home. If you have smart bulbs, for instance, you can set them up to turn on when a sensor detects movement. The major players in smart securitySmart security can be more overwhelming to start with than a smart home, due to the breadth of options available. But the only wrong route to take is the one that complicates the eventual goal of having a connected home you can monitor remotely. Let's start with the most straightforward entry points through the typical smart home tech players, where you might have already established yourself. Google's smart security ecosystem, Nest, includes security cameras and smart locks. It offers the benefit of professional monitoring through ADT, and you can integrate third-party cameras and sensors from brands like TP-Link's Kasa or Tapo accessories. However, brands outside of Nest may not be manageable through the Google Home app, meaning you won't have access to video clips or previews from the main app feed (though you can still ask Google to stream them to a smart display). For diehard iPhone users, there's Apple's ecosystem of HomeKit-compatible smart security hardware, including devices that have been vetted and approved by the company. You can choose cameras from Eufy, Logitech, Eve, and Aqara, all of which support Apple's HomeKit Secure Video (HKSV) for encrypted video storage in iCloud. Professional monitoring is typically offered through a handful of third-party solutions that are HomeKit-compatible, such as ADT, Vivint, or Ring. Amazon also has its own lineup of offerings, which I like to call "platform agnostic," as they are designed to work on either Android- or iPhone-compatible smart homes. Amazon's Alexa ecosystem comprises smart speakers and smart displays that deeply integrate with Ring and Blink's various security cameras, as well as other compatible devices. Ring and Blink are established flagship brands in the Alexa ecosystem, and they work best if you stick to one or the other, with Blink being the "affordable" brand and Ring having more premium options. If you're particularly set on going with a brand that has its original bearings in home security, ADT can help you get set up with Google's hardware and other compatible bits. Vivint also offers professional installation, along with options for building out the smart home beyond cameras and motion sensors. This route can be particularly pricey, since you're paying a third-party to handle the installation for you, as well as a monthly or annual subscription price. A more affordable route to take, and one that most people will likely find themselves drawn to, is the do-it-yourself approach with contract-free professional monitoring, allowing you to pay only for what you need, when you need it. Companies like SimpliSafe and Abode make it super easy to concoct your own network of smart security devices that work in tandem with one another. SimpliSafe offers month-to-month monitoring, while Abode offers on-demand, temporary professional monitoring by the day or week. SimpliSafe and Abode feature base stations, which are smart home hubs equipped with all the requisite connectivity hardware for automating devices, including cameras and motion sensors, as well as providing battery and cellular backup, and a loud alarm that blares in the event of an intruder or other emergency. This route can be cheaper, although it may also cost more if you want something particularly expansive. If you build your own smart security system, you can choose to mix and match as you please. With the advent of Matter, the unifying connection protocol, it has become easier to link ecosystems. However, Matter does not yet fully support the ideal streaming bandwidth required for security cameras and video doorbells, so you won't be able to trigger automations based on that criterion. The do-it-yourself route is attainable for anyone who doesn't mind a weekend of customizing and adjusting a new system. But if you have security cameras in your setup, I recommend sticking with the camera brand as the main "anchor" of the security system and building around that. If you have a Ring video doorbell, for instance, consider adding Abode or SimpliSafe as an option for third-party motion sensors and similar devices, especially if you're not using the Ring base station. It is easier to manage if you stick with the full Ring security system, as you'll only have to interface with one main app to check in on the home. But the option is there to mix in another provider. Picking the right smart security system Some security cameras are so easy to install they magnetize to a metal rack. Credit: Florence Ion/Lifehacker The best way to determine which system suits your specific needs is to consider the situation. If you're already a tech enthusiast, consider one of the DIY routes and integrate a system like Abode with one of the three main digital assistants—Google, Apple, or Alexa—as your main controller. This offers the most combination of mixing and matching brands, plus the added benefit of on-demand professional monitoring as needed. If you're a renter, consider the less permanent option. SimpliSafe and Ring's ecosystems were built around this flexibility, as it's each brand's bread and butter. They include everything you need right out of the box, like a base station that connects to a variety of renter-friendly accessories, stick-and-peel motion sensors, and rental-friendly camera mounting. Ring lets you pay for professional monitoring on a month-to-month basis, although it's not required to use the hardware, whereas SimpliSafe accommodates self-monitored systems. Amazon's Blink is also a viable option to consider for temporary or non-DIY living situations, especially if you prefer notifications via a smart display or speakers. For first-time home owners, consider a hybrid approach that works right out of the box, but also allows you to add to it later. Google's Nest products work particularly well in a household that's all-in, from Nest security cameras to the Nest Thermostat, which also serves as a motion sensor in the connected home. If you want to add professional monitoring at a later time, you can integrate a SimpliSafe or Abode system into an existing setup without disrupting what you've put together, or have ADT take over on a month-to-month basis. If you don't have the patience for this kind of smart home maintenance, or you'd rather opt for a professional monitoring company to handle it all, there is no shame in choosing ADT or Vivint. It will cost you more, but both companies have had ample time to establish secure device partnerships. You can get the whole kit and kaboodle through either brand, from motion sensors to security cameras. This is also the route to take if protecting your property while you're not there is key. Companies like ADT boast a massive network of monitoring centers across the continental U.S., and again, you don't have to handle everything yourself. A smart home with sirensIt can be overwhelming to start your journey into smart security. But once you set it up, you won't be able to live without the constant reminders that everything is in perfect order in your house. Indeed, I use the cameras to check in with my home and make sure it's still standing there. Sometimes that peace of mind is all it takes to allow yourself hard-earned time off. Regardless of which route you choose for your smart home, don't feel like you have to jump in all at once. I started my smart home security system with a doorbell camera and a connected thermostat. They weren't even from the same ecosystem—the doorbell camera was Ring, and Nest handled the thermostat—but I learned how to use mobile apps to develop routines around each of them. Now I live with mostly Google's Nest cameras, which take on the bulk of the surveillance work. I've incorporated a few budget-friendly brands, such as TP-Link's Kasa, around the house for a little added extra help when I need it, and a smart lock that can be remotely managed to let me know when I've left the front door unlocked. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. While tech companies might increasingly seem to think I want media created by AI for no specific purpose other than to fill time, all I really need is tech that automates the tedious parts of entertainment. Collecting and organizing the movies I actually want to watch, streaming music throughout the house, or creating the ambiance I need to immerse myself in a show. For actually useful home entertainment tech, here's where smart home gear can be helpful for watching TV and movies, listening to music, or playing games. Whatever your media of choice, the time you spend watching shows, listening to music, or playing games is a deeply human affair. And that means not every piece of tech that tries to automate your habits is necessarily going to be an improvement. Here, I'm less interested in how to shovel as many YouTube videos into your queue as possible, and more in how you can use tech to find and manage the media you want in the way you want it. With that in mind, here are some of the smart home gadgets that I've found genuinely useful for my home entertainment needs. Streaming boxes and sticks Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K AI-Powered Streaming Stick $24.99 at Amazon $49.99 Save $25.00 Learn More Learn More $24.99 at Amazon $49.99 Save $25.00 At this point, it's hard to find a television that doesn't have some kind of smart system on it, eager to serve up apps for your favorite streaming services. However, some of these platforms are more helpful than others. Even if your TV already has its own operating system, you can get a streaming stick or standalone box with a better platform. Google TV: This one is a personal favorite of mine. The Google TV Streamer box adds a Google-powered interface that can search for shows and movies across all of your streaming services. You can even add items to your watch list from search results on your phone, which is easily one of the most convenient ways to keep up with that show your friend told you about that you can't remember the name of. Now, just tap to add it to your watch list and it will show up on your TV at home. Roku: If you're looking for something more platform-agnostic, Roku's streaming sticks and boxes offer the widest suite of streaming services in one box. Since it's not owned by any company that also offers a video streaming platform (like, say, Amazon) you can find almost every streaming service. It lacks some of the more comprehensive search options you'll find on Google TV, but Roku more than makes up for that with its excellent physical remotes and a range of devices at every price point. Apple TV/Amazon Fire TV: Both Amazon and Apple offer their own streaming boxes that perform reasonably well, but they share a common downside: They both tend to overly privilege their own content stores. If you're heavily invested in either the Apple or Amazon ecosystem, then these might be the best options for you to buy, rent, and discover movies and shows. However, if you're a little more platform-agnostic, the other two options on this list might be a better fit. On a tangential note, one last excellent tool for organizing your watchlists is Letterboxd. This app isn't a streaming service or platform, but it's one of the best ways to discover new shows, rate and review the ones you've seen, and connect with people who share your tastes. Build ambience with smart lightsFor a while, I thought the idea of putting lights behind my TV—much less syncing those lights to what's on my screen—seemed like a needless extra. After trying it out, though, it's a game-changer. Ambient lighting behind your TV can reduce eye strain, particularly when you're watching in a dark room, making it extra immersive. In recent years, it's gotten easier than ever to sync colorful backlighting to echo the edges of what appears on your screen. It's great when watching movies, and even better when playing games, where your eyes are constantly trying to refocus as you move through virtual game worlds. Here are a couple of the most accessible systems for setting up lighting like this: Philips Hue Sync: The Philips Hue system has a feature called Hue Sync that lets you connect your smart lights to what's on your screen. The app can pair with Windows/Mac computers, some models of LG or Samsung TV, or you can use the separate Hue Play box to connect any HDMI source to your lights. Govee: If you want to save a bit of cash, Govee has a more accessible light syncing system. It offers similar features to the Hue Play Box for $260, including the sync box as well as a light strip. Even if you don't want to go to the extra effort (and expense) to sync your lighting to your display, any ambient lighting can make your viewing experience a bit better. You can even use smart home automations to automatically turn on your ambient lighting when you turn off the overhead living room lights. Upgrade your music with smart assistant-powered speakers Sonos Era 300 - Black - Wireless, Alexa Enabled Smart Speaker with Dolby Atmos (Pack of 2) $898.00 at Amazon $958.00 Save $60.00 Learn More Learn More $898.00 at Amazon $958.00 Save $60.00 For everyday use, smart speakers are fine. They can recite recipes, set timers, or play podcasts and you probably won't notice the difference much. But for listening to music, it can help to have something a bit higher quality in your home. One of my favorites is the Sonos Era 300. This speaker can field wireless streaming from a wide variety of music apps, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon, or you can pair your phone via Bluetooth. It also has a 3.5mm line-in for your more analog music devices. In the past I've also used similar products from Bose, and it's worth exploring your needs when picking an audio system. Sonos in particular is known for its robust system for enabling multi-room audio. If you want to set up speakers in your living room, kitchen, office, or bedrooms, and easily play music across all of them, or move music from one room to another, Sonos is a great choice. Bose speakers offer some similar features, though its multi-room capabilities aren't quite as strong as Sonos. However, Bose soundbars are great at creating room-filling audio, particularly for movies and shows. If you're more interested in television, and only need to use your speakers solely for listening to music occasionally, the Bose ecosystem might be your better option. Bring your record collection into the 21st centuryThe phrase "smart record player" might make analog purists wince, but hear me out. The Victrola Onyx is one of my favorite smart home devices, specifically because it threads the needle of bringing old-school analog collections into the modern smart home environment. This model uses a typical RCA output, so if you have an existing analog speaker system, you can connect to it and get that full warm, crunchy audio quality you're used to from your existing record collection. However, it's also equipped with Sonos streaming, so you can keep listening to your albums in another room. It gives you the option of streaming your audio, without forcing you to lose the tactile quality of vinyl. View the full article