ResidentialBusiness

Understanding the difference between an equity and mortgage REIT is vital, as these two types of REITs serve distinct purposes within the real estate market. View the full article

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought said all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies "will cease immediately," adding that employees may be investigated if they go against the order. View the full article

Google has begun showing the ‘Price at Checkout’ within Google Shopping listings, both for paid ads and organic results. Merchants who alter prices at checkout risk suspension from Google Shopping, but this new feature provides an added layer of clarity for users. The big picture: Google has strict policies against misleading pricing, and this enhancement aligns with its broader efforts to improve trust in Shopping listings. Transparency in pricing could also pressure retailers to maintain consistency between advertised and final prices. Why we care. Online shoppers often encounter price discrepancies between initial listings and final checkout prices, leading to frustration and abandoned carts. This new feature could help searchers make more informed decisions without unexpected price changes. First seen. This update was first seen by industry expert, Arpan Banerjee, when Adriaan Dekker called it out on LinkedIn: What’s next. It remains unclear whether this is a full rollout or a limited test. Merchants should monitor their listings to ensure accurate pricing is displayed to avoid potential policy violations. View the full article

Featuring Matthew Prince, Cofounder and CEO, Cloudflare. Moderated by Brendan Vaughan, Editor in Chief, Fast Company. With a quarter of the global internet powered by Cloudflare—its network provides service to over 300 cities across more than 100 countries—the company is at the helm of delivering content and connecting millions. But as AI-powered bots grow at a prolific rate and cybersecurity risks become increasingly sophisticated, ensuring the safety of the internet requires innovative thinking. Join Cloudflare cofounder and CEO Matthew Prince for a one-on-one conversation on how the company plans to tackle the challenges of the future. View the full article

It makes sense that most of us focus on money when it comes to our happiness. Not being able to afford stuff like rent is stressful, and going into debt to feed yourself just exacerbates that sense of powerlessness. Whatever your financial situation, unless you’re oligarch-levels of wealthy you probably focus everything on making, saving, and stretching a much money as possible. But if you’re not happy even if your bills are paid and your debt is manageable, it’s probably because you’re thinking about money the wrong way. Instead of thinking about being affluent in terms of money, you should be thinking in terms of being affluent in time. What is time affluence? Time affluence—the feeling that you have enough time to accomplish everything you want to get done—is a crucial aspect of our happiness and sense of personal satisfaction. Time poverty is the opposite—that stressful feeling you get when there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Between commuting to and from our jobs, the time spent working, then the chores at home, many of us barely have time to eat some dinner and maybe stream a show before collapsing into bed—and starting the process over again the next day. Then, our weekends are filled with household projects and maintenance and other responsibilities (or second jobs or overtime). We keep telling ourselves that we’ll get back to a hobby, or make time to see friends, or get some extra sleep next week, or next month, or at some unknowable time in the future. Time poverty has been shown to have an adverse effect on both mental and physical health. The mistake many of us make is thinking that the answer to time poverty is simply having more money—but the key is using money to gain more time. If all you’re doing is selling more of your time (to a second job, or a more demanding position) then you’re actually increasing your time poverty even if your bank account is growing. On the other hand, having more money means you can potentially buy more time for yourself. The trick is to stop thinking solely in terms of how you’re spending your money and more in terms of how you’re spending your time. How to become time affluentTime is one of the few resources in our lives we can’t create more of no matter how creative, ambitious, or hard-working we are. You get 24 hours in a day and that’s it—and once those hours are gone you can’t get them back. But what you can do to become more time affluent is manage your time more effectively, treating it like the limited resource it is. You can achieve more time affluence by doing four fundamental things: Organize and prioritize. Since your time is limited, stop treating it like an amorphous, infinite resource you always have more of. Make lists of things you need or want to do and prioritize them. Then use time blocking to break each of those priorities into a fixed amount of time needed to accomplish them or at least move them toward completion. This avoids letting tasks pile up, which increases stress and that sense of not being in control of your time, and provides a visual guide to how your day will play out. And having clear times for specific activities to end will increase your efficiency. Delegate. Always think about what you can delegate to someone else. For example, if you can afford to hire cleaners for your home you can reclaim the time you would otherwise spend cleaning the house. You’re essentially buying time from someone else. But reclaiming that time doesn’t have to mean paying someone. If there are tasks that someone else in your life could be taking on (chores at home or work tasks not officially in your job description, for example) that will also claw back some time for you. Automate. Are there aspects of your life you can automate? Bill paying is an easy example of this: Instead of spending an hour every week paying bills individually, setting up automatic payments gets you that hour back. Think about any opportunities you have to automate stuff—prescription refills, meal plans (if it’s in your budget), even grocery shopping can be automated these days through weekly subscription platforms. Monotask. Finally, be aware of what’s known as “time confetti”—the way we spend little bits of time on a seemingly infinite scroll of activities, most of them online. Jumping from thing to thing can feel like multitasking, but it isn’t an efficient way to get stuff done. Instead, monotask, which means focusing on a single task until it’s done. It’s an extremely simple concept, but it requires discipline, like sticking to the time-blocking schedule you created, eliminating distractions, and forcing yourself to focus. Having more money can make some of these steps easier or even possible, surely—but you can apply these four principles to your time management no matter what your financial circumstances are, and improve your time affluence to poverty ratio at least a little bit. View the full article

Featuring Andy Dunn, Founder and CEO, Pie; Mélanie Masarin, Founder and CEO, Ghia and Ev Williams, Cofounder, Mozi. Moderated by Max Ufberg, Senior Editor, Fast Company. Loneliness isn’t just a lingering by-product of COVID lockdowns. According to former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, it’s a public health crisis. Businesses have taken this diagnosis as a cue to step in, fill those cracks in our social fabric, and develop a cure. Join this panel to hear from leaders who are looking to address the loneliness epidemic by building technology that facilitates in-person connection, creating products that encourage us to rethink the ways we socialize, and more. View the full article

Wall Street bosses praise president for engaging with business leaders and moving to reduce regulation View the full article

Featuring Joon Choi, President, Weverse; Aron Levitz, President, Wattpad Webtoon Studios and Co-President, Wattpad and Gita Rebbapragada, Chief Operating Officer, Crunchyroll. Moderated by Tania Rahman, Social Media Director, Fast Company. Cultivating a loyal fan base is every brand’s dream. So why not take a page out of the book of companies that have made fandom the foundation of their business? Hear from execs at Weverse, Crunchyroll, and Wattpad to gain an understanding of how these companies cultivate and serve their diehard fandoms—and how you can apply that approach to your customers. View the full article

Featuring Alexis Garcia, Cofounder, Brass Knuckle Films and Robert Rodriguez, Cofounder, Brass Knuckle Films. Moderated by Kc Ifeanyi, Executive Director of Editorial Programming, Fast Company. Robert Rodriguez, film director and founder of production company Troublemaker Studios, has certainly made an impact in Hollywood with films including El Mariachi, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, Sin City, and many more. And now he’s looking to redirect that impact back to his home state. Rodriguez is part of a larger push to make Texas the film capital of the world—a bold proposition that’s not without its challenges. Find out how Rodriguez plans to make that goal a reality—and get the full scoop on his secret project, Brass Knuckle Films. View the full article

Adding both “Date published” and “Date updated” to articles can confuse Google, causing it to display outdated dates in search results. The impact? A 22% drop in CTR for one site, according to an SEO case study shared by SEO professional Abby Gleason on LinkedIn today. Why we care. Your position in the search results only matters if people click. Searchers may be less likely to click on your fresh content if Google displays an older publication date. What happened. Gleason shared this screenshot of an unspecified website and explained what happened: The site in question saw a sharp decline in CTR starting in late August, when “Date updated” was added alongside “Date published.” Despite content updates in 2024 and 2025, Google displayed publish dates as old as 2021 in search results. The fix. If you have both, remove one date that appears on the page. Use whichever date best represents its freshness – either the date the content was published or updated, not both. The datePublished and dateModified Schema doesn’t seem to matter as much as the on-page date, Gleason further explained in a follow-up comment: “…only having one date on-page is more impactful than the schema changes. Definitely limit on-page to just one date (the most recent update) but it shouldn’t hurt to maintain both datePublished and dateModified attributes in schema.” Google advice. This echoes a best practice Google shared in this help doc: “Minimize the presence of other dates on the page: If you’ve followed the best practices and find incorrect dates are being selected, consider removing some or all other dates that appear on the page.” Dig deeper. 4 SEO tips to boost click-through rate View the full article

Paris has spoken, and fashion’s final authority has laid down the law: This coming fall, it’s all about power shoulders, enveloping outerwear and a color palette that runs from somber to surreal. If Milan softened up with romance and New York leaned into Y2K grunge, Paris countered with sartorial surety — a wardrobe built for the sharp, the serious, and the spectacular. Coats are enormous, tailoring is back and drama is dialed up on every front. While trends may start in luxury, they quickly trickle down, as fast fashion companies like Zara, H&M, and Shein race to transform runway spectacle into mass-market hits. Here’s what ruled the runways: Coats so big, they might eat you If you thought last season’s outerwear was oversized, Paris just laughed in your face. This season, coats aren’t just big — they’re monstrous. At Louis Vuitton, Nicolas Ghesquière sent out blanket coats with pannier-like hips, reminiscent of 19th-century railway travelers layering for the journey ahead. Meanwhile, Balenciaga’s Demna reined in the theatrics to focus on pure, sculptural volume: wool coats, puffer-gown hybrids, and structured trenches that redefined silhouette without gimmicks. Marine Serre, ever the sustainable innovator, crafted oversized outerwear from upcycled materials, proving excess and ethics can coexist. Shoulders wide enough to rival a Renaissance painting Power shoulders are back, and they mean business. At Givenchy, Sarah Burton’s debut delivered tailored coats with razor-sharp shoulders, softened only by impeccable drape. Victoria Beckham exaggerated the shoulder line on evening silhouettes, creating a statuesque effect. Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson played with distorted proportions, adding surrealist twists to a commanding frame. And at Saint Laurent, Anthony Vaccarello took the idea to its purest form, distilling power into sculpted, precise shoulders that framed every silhouette like armor. The message? Whether you’re in a power suit or a party dress, take up space. Red, black and blue Color took a turn for the cinematic this season. Valentino’s Alessandro Michele bathed his collection in deep, bloody red, reinforcing its intensity with a show set in a Lynchian restroom. Meanwhile, Akris explored blue — midnight, cobalt, and cerulean dominated a collection that felt like a meditative study on fabric and light. Balenciaga presented black as a statement rather than a default, stripping away excess and letting the depth of the shade do the talking. The takeaway? Monochrome dressing is in, but it’s not minimal. Logos are out A quiet revolution in high fashion: the return of discreet, considered luxury. No screaming logos, no gimmicky hype — just clothes so well-made they speak for themselves. At Dior, Maria Grazia Chiuri reworked historical silhouettes into supremely wearable tailoring, proving craftsmanship is the ultimate flex. An uncharacteristically restrained collection at Rick Owens focused on impeccable construction: bomber jackets lined with leather, laser-cut leather shorts mimicking chainmail, and hoodies made of natural rubber that moved like liquid. This is luxury for those who know. Tech meets couture Tech-infused fashion isn’t new, but Coperni took it further with a runway staged as a ’90s LAN party, complete with gaming influencers live-streaming the show. The collection borrowed from cyberculture, with Tamagotchi-shaped bags, futuristic fabrics and anime-inspired styling. Louis Vuitton collaborated with Kraftwerk on a limited-edition capsule inspired by Trans-Europe Express, blending heritage travel motifs with futuristic detailing. Even Balenciaga got in on the game, crafting couture-worthy sportswear in collaboration with Puma. The message? The future is interactive. Femininity stripped naked This season, femininity wasn’t soft — it was bold, aggressive and unapologetically exposed. Designers stripped it back to its rawest form, literally in some cases. Rick Owens put models in structured outerwear, but left their chests bare, reinforcing a vision of sensual strength. At Givenchy, sheer knit catsuits left little to the imagination, countered by razor-sharp tailoring. Valentino’s fever dream pushed sensuality further, with plunging necklines, sheer lace and corseted waists that oozed eroticism. The theme mirrored the naked dress takeover at the Oscars days earlier, where sheer, body-revealing gowns dominated the red carpet. But where Hollywood leaned ethereal, Paris went tougher — sheer fabrics paired with armor-like corsetry, exposed skin framed by rigid tailoring. At Chloé, aristocratic silhouettes became sensual with transparency, suggesting that power and vulnerability can — and should — coexist. The message? Femininity, stripped of fragility, dressed for battle. Final verdict: Paris sets the agenda The last of the fashion capitals to show, Paris always has the final, snooty say on what’s hot and what’s not. And this season, the message was clear: go big, be bold, and invest in pieces that actually matter. Whether it’s the presence of a power coat, the strength of a structured shoulder, or the quiet confidence of truly luxurious fabric, the best collections weren’t about trends — they were about statements. And in a world that feels increasingly uncertain, that kind of sartorial confidence is exactly what we need. —Thomas Adamson, AP fashion writer View the full article

Featuring Jerry Grammont, CEO, Mabï Artisanal Tea; Jori Miller Sherer, President, Minnetonka and Mika Shino, Founder and CEO, Issei Mochi Gummies.Moderated by Kc Ifeanyi, Executive Director of Editorial Programming, Fast Company. These executives have built their companies around their respective cultures, from creating iced teas derived from ingredients native to the Caribbean, to designing moccasins in partnership with Indigenous artists, to putting a fresh spin on Japanese mochi. Hear how they’re uplifting their communities and bridging them to the broader public—which is not without its challenges. View the full article

Featuring Brad Charron, CEO, Aloha and Carla Vernón, CEO, The Honest Company. Moderated by Yasmin Gagne, Staff Editor, Fast Company. When a company’s momentum reverses direction (or is even on the brink of bankruptcy), how does a leader pivot toward recovery and a return to success? In this panel, you’ll hear from CEOs who seized the reins of their companies when they were struggling—and managed to get things back on track. View the full article

Priority Notifications is a new Apple Intelligence feature that's rolling out with the iOS 18.4 update, which is currently in beta. It's one of the last AI features that we will see with the iOS 18 update cycle, and it goes hand-in-hand with Apple's Notifications Summary feature, though they are distinct. Perhaps because of the backlash Apple got to Notification Summaries, this feature isn't even enabled by default. You have to enable it instead. How Priority Notifications WorkLike many new Apple Intelligence features, Priority Notifications uses on-device AI processing to figure out what your most important notification is at any given point. Then, it surfaces those notifications (sometimes bundling up two or three and providing a summary) right to the top. When the feature is enabled and an important notification comes in, you'll see it a new Priority Notifications box above the rest of your pings. Like with many Apple Intelligence features, this box has that same multicolor glow all around it, so you can know it was made by AI. What exactly is important and not, is deemed by Apple's processing algorithms. In my testing, I found that things like missed calls, one-time codes for deliveries or logins, messages from my bank about transactions and emails from my work account always came up top. These will depend on the person and the use case, but overall, this feature is designed to help people who don't manually manage their notifications well. So, if you're always swimming in dozens of notifications from food delivery apps, shopping apps, or news apps, having a dedicated section up top to tell you when you've missed an important message or a call might be genuinely useful. How to enable and customize Priority NotificationsApple isn't enabling this feature by default, even if you've already enabled Apple Intelligence. To find it, go to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications and toggle it on. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Now, you can let Apple do its thing, and it'll try to figure out which of your notifications are truly important. But to improve things, you can go one step further. If you scroll down, you will see a list of all the apps that can feed into the Priority Notifications system. If you don't want to see any false positives, you can apps you don't want to see in the Priority Notifications box, like food delivery apps, news apps, and so on. Credit: Khamosh Pathak If you find that Priority Notifications isn't for you, you can come back to Settings > Notifications > Prioritize Notifications to disable it altogether. If you're feeling the notifications overload, you can also take some time to customize the rest of the iPhone notifications system so that it works for you, instead of against you. View the full article

Featuring Logan Eggleston, Pro Athlete, LOVB Austin Volleyball; Rosie Spaulding, President, LOVB Pro and Stef Strack, Founder and CEO, Voice in Sport. Moderated by Tania Rahman, Social Media Director, Fast Company. Women’s sports have finally been receiving the recognition they deserve. The goal now is to make sure this moment isn’t just a trend, and to ensure women athletes achieve the equity that remains elusive. Join this panel of executives and athletes to understand the strategy behind making women’s sports not just a cultural force but a thriving ecosystem of sustainable businesses. View the full article

Agile is a useful project management methodology when used correctly. Unfortunately, if the whole team is not familiar with it, things can become inefficient. To avoid that, all agile team members must know what a product backlog and sprint backlog are, both of which are essential for planning and prioritizing tasks in agile project management. These concepts also apply to scrum, kanban and other similar agile frameworks. What Is a Product Backlog? The product backlog is a list that compiles all the tasks and user stories that must be done to complete the whole project. But it’s not just a simple task list. An effective product backlog breaks down each of the backlog items into a series of steps that help the development team. The product backlog is important for product management, and the implementation of agile and it’s also one of the seven scrum artifacts that shape the scrum methodology. But even if it’s been planned out, the product backlog is not set in stone. Like most aspects of agile project management, there are going to be changes. Flexibility is crucial. Agile teams can get help managing a product backlog with project management software. ProjectManager is online work and project management software designed for agile and traditional projects. Our robust task list project view can collect product backlog items, set priorities, add descriptions and assign team members. Since we have multiple project views, teams can then switch to the kanban board view and collaborate to plan their sprints. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Manufacturing-overlay-CTA-TAsk.jpgProjectManager’s task lists help teams manage their product backlog. Learn more! What Should Be Included in a Product Backlog? While the concept of a product backlog is simple enough, it can be unwieldy, as it’s composed of everything that must be completed to bring in a successful project. One must know the project inside and out, and then have the skill set to break each of those individual tasks into a series of steps that can then be assigned to the team, who must not only complete it but understand it. Here are the most important elements of a product backlog. User Stories & Epics User stories are short, simple descriptions of a feature or functionality from the end user’s perspective, typically following the format: “As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit].” Epics are larger user stories that require multiple sprints or tasks to complete and are later broken down into smaller, actionable user stories. Technical Improvements These are backend or infrastructure-related enhancements that improve system performance, scalability, security or maintainability. Examples include refactoring code, optimizing database queries or upgrading frameworks. Bug Fixes Bug fixes address defects in the software that impact functionality, performance or user experience. These issues are identified through testing, user feedback or monitoring tools and must be prioritized based on their severity and impact. Research & Spikes Spikes are time-boxed investigations or experiments to gain knowledge, reduce uncertainty or evaluate technical feasibility. They are often used when teams need to explore new technologies, architectural decisions or complex requirements before committing to implementation. Non-Functional Requirements These define system attributes such as performance, reliability, scalability and security. Unlike functional requirements, which describe what the system should do, non-functional requirements specify how well the system should perform under various conditions. Dependencies & Constraints Dependencies are tasks or requirements that rely on completing other work items before they can be implemented. Constraints refer to limitations such as budget, time, regulatory requirements or technical restrictions that influence how a product is developed. Story Points Story points are a unit of measure used in agile project management to estimate the effort required to complete a task or user story. They consider complexity, risk, and time, helping teams gauge workload and prioritize tasks without relying on exact time estimates. Acceptance Criteria Acceptance criteria are the specific conditions and requirements that a product or feature must meet for it to be considered complete and acceptable by the customer or stakeholder. They provide clear guidelines for successful implementation and testing. Backlog Items Priority Levels and Status Backlog items’ priority levels and status help teams organize and track work in an agile backlog. Priority levels (e.g., high, medium, low) define importance, while status (e.g., to-do, in progress, done) indicates progress toward completion. What Is a Sprint Backlog? The sprint backlog is a subset of the product backlog. The sprint backlog comes from the product backlog, but it contains only the product backlog items that can be completed during each agile sprint. Think of it as the marching orders for the team as they go off on their short sprint. The complexity of the project will determine the sprint backlog, but overall the idea is to dedicate the team only to those tasks that can be completed during the sprint. Of course, if it is a complex project the sprint backlog can also grow in complexity and length. Unlike the product backlog, though, the sprint backlog is unchanged during the period of the sprint. It can be changed, but only during the sprint planning meeting. Once agreed upon, the items and steps to complete them are frozen for the length of the sprint. Product Backlog Example The product backlog example below shows the epics, user stories, bug fixes, spikes and technical improvements a software development team plans to work on over two different sprints. It also shows a priority level, story points, assignee status and acceptance criteria for each backlog item. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Product-backlog-example-2.png Sprint Backlog Example A sprint backlog contains the tasks the development team commits to completing within a sprint. Below is an example of a two-week sprint focused on improving user authentication and enhancing the checkout process. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Sprint-backlog-example-2.png Sprint Goal: Enhance user authentication and improve the checkout experience for a smoother purchasing process. Sprint Backlog Items: User Story: As a user, I want to reset my password via email so I can regain access to my account. (High Priority, Assigned to Development Team, In Progress, 5 Story Points) Implement the “Forgot Password” functionality (High Priority, Assigned to John, In Progress, 3 Story Points) Design the password reset email template (Medium Priority, Assigned to Sarah, To Do, 2 Story Points) Integrate email service for password reset (High Priority, Assigned to Mike, To Do, 3 Story Points) Bug Fix: Fix the checkout button not responding on mobile devices (Critical Priority, Assigned to Emma, Done, 2 Story Points) Technical Improvement: Optimize database queries for faster page load times (Medium Priority, Assigned to James, To Do, 5 Story Points) Spike: Research two-factor authentication (2FA) implementation options (Low Priority, Assigned to Linda, To Do, 3 Story Points) Non-Functional Requirement: Ensure password reset meets security best practices (High Priority, Assigned to Development Team, To Do, 2 Story Points) Throughout the sprint, tasks move through different statuses such as To Do, In Progress and Done, ensuring that progress is tracked effectively. We created the product backlog and sprint backlog examples above using our free product backlog template for Excel. However, while Excel templates can be useful for agile teams, they can’t compete with ProjectManager, a project management software for agile and product development teams. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Agile-sprint-kanban-board-redesign.jpg ProjectManager’s product backlog shows project tasks and user stories, as well as their deadline, who’s assigned to complete them, their priority level and percent complete. Managers can easily drag and drop these tasks to refine the product backlog. In addition, ProjectManager also allows team members to interact in real time. Who Owns the Product Backlog? The product backlog is created by the product owner, who is the project’s key stakeholder and therefore has a full vision of the project. The product backlog is a guide for the agile team and therefore must be written out clearly and simply to avoid any miscommunication or misunderstandings. To make the process as thorough as possible, it must be organized, and each item explained in full as part of the plan to move successfully through the project. The product owner knows what the customer wants and can work backward from there to make sure everything is done to meet that goal. That’s the product owner’s lodestar, and if the customer’s interests are always leading the backlog, the work will be effective. Who Owns the Sprint Backlog? The development team owns the sprint backlog in scrum. While the product owner is responsible for prioritizing and managing the overall product backlog, once a sprint begins, the development team selects the work they commit to completing and has full ownership of the sprint backlog. The scrum master ensures that the team follows scrum practices, but they do not control the sprint backlog. Only the development team can add, remove or modify tasks within the sprint backlog during the sprint, based on progress and new insights. Product Backlog Template We’ve created a free product backlog template for Excel, which allows agile project management teams to manage their backlog items and plan sprints. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Product-backlog-template-new.png How to Manage a Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog It’s clear that for the team to work effectively, they must understand the difference between a product backlog and a sprint backlog, and how these two scrum artifacts interact to move the project forward. 1. Identification of Product Backlog Items Identifying project backlog items involves gathering, defining and prioritizing requirements that contribute to the project’s goals. This includes user stories, features, bug fixes, technical improvements and research tasks. Inputs come from stakeholders, customers and the development team. The product owner ensures backlog items align with business objectives, while refinement sessions help clarify and estimate their effort. 2. Product Backlog Refinement or Product Backlog Grooming To respond to changes and adapt to an agile framework, agile teams constantly update their product backlogs. That’s known as backlog grooming or backlog refinement. It consists of adding, deleting and prioritizing tasks in the agile product backlog to maximize the efficiency of an agile workflow. This is done during an agile event called a product backlog grooming meeting. The product owner is responsible for overseeing this process, but everyone in the agile team helps. 3. Product Backlog Prioritization Product backlog prioritization ensures the most valuable and impactful items are addressed first. The product owner prioritizes backlog items based on factors like business value, customer needs, dependencies and technical feasibility. Techniques such as MoSCoW (must-have, should-have, could-have, won’t-have), WSJF (weighted shortest job first) and value vs. effort help determine priority. Regular backlog refinement keeps priorities aligned with project goals. 4. Effort & Complexity Assessment Effort and complexity assessment helps the development team estimate the time and resources required for backlog items. Techniques like story points, T-shirt sizing (S, M, L, XL) and planning poker are used to gauge complexity and workload. Factors such as technical difficulty, dependencies and risks influence estimates. Accurate assessments support sprint planning, ensuring realistic commitments and balanced workloads. 5. Sprint Planning During the sprint planning meeting, everyone on the development team should discuss what must be done and how it will be completed to determine what product backlog list and the items from that list are then moved to a sprint backlog list. At this point, each item on the sprint backlog is broken down into tasks or steps that will be taken to complete the item. All of this must be communicated and agreed upon. As noted above, once started there can be no changes to the tasks and steps needed to complete them. 6. Execution of Product Backlog Items This occurs during sprints, where the development team selects high-priority tasks from the backlog and works on them incrementally. Tasks are broken down into actionable steps, assigned to team members, and tracked using scrum boards or kanban. Daily stand-ups help monitor progress, address blockers and ensure alignment. Completed items undergo testing and review before deployment. 7. Sprint Review and Retrospective Sprint review involves the development team presenting completed work to stakeholders for feedback. This session ensures that the product aligns with business needs and allows for adjustments to the backlog based on insights gathered. Sprint retrospective focuses on internal team improvements. The team reflects on what went well, what could be improved, and action items for enhancing future sprints, fostering continuous improvement. Product Backlog vs. Sprint Backlog: Key Differences Understanding the difference between a product backlog and a sprint backlog is essential for effective agile project management. While both are key components of scrum, they serve different purposes. The product backlog is a dynamic, high-level list of all project requirements, while the sprint backlog is a focused subset of tasks selected for a specific sprint. The chart below highlights the key differences between the two. Feature Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Purpose Contains all potential work for the product Defines work committed for the current sprint Ownership Managed by the Product Owner Managed by the Development Team Scope Broad, covers the entire product Focused, limited to a single sprint Contents Features, user stories, technical tasks, bug fixes, research items Selected user stories, tasks, bug fixes, and sprint goals Timeframe Long-term, evolving over time Short-term, updated only during the sprint Prioritization Continuously refined and reprioritized Fixed during the sprint (unless critical changes occur) Level of Detail Can include high-level epics and partially defined tasks Fully refined and broken down into actionable tasks Flexibility Items can be added, removed, or reprioritized at any time Items are locked in once the sprint starts (except in special cases) What Does an Effective Sprint Backlog Look Like? By definition, the sprint backlog is easier to create. It’s smaller and more digestible, but that doesn’t mean it can be developed without thinking strategically about the capacity of the team and the resources at hand. If you give a team more than it can handle, the product gets bogged down. Teams might feel they can do more than they can, so it’s up to the development team and the scrum master, an expert in scrum methodology who guides through skill and experience, to know what the team can do by having a good estimation of their ability. Define Parameters for the Sprint Remember, a sprint is usually only over two weeks, though this time can differ depending on the size of the team and project resources, so the sprint length is another variable to determine. The sprint, while short, must not overtax the team or force them to rush and produce a sloppy deliverable. Therefore, as the sprint backlog and the steps necessary to complete are being figured out by the development team, brainstorm with them, and open a dialogue to determine what is feasible in terms of a strategy for the sprint. Before moving a task from the product backlog to the sprint backlog, the product owner and scrum master must be sure the team is clear on the steps needed to complete that task. Get them to sign off, so no confusion could cause trouble during the sprint. Don’t Forget to Prioritize It’s always a good idea to prioritize tasks on your product backlog from crucial to less important. This is a task for the product owner, being the one most intimate with the needs of the stakeholders. While the scrum master would seem a logical choice to help with prioritizing, it’s important to remember that the scrum master is only there to help with the process, not with the product. But that’s another term and process for another time. With knowledge of the product backlog and sprint backlog, you’re well on your way to using agile to help with your project management. It’s a great organizing principle, and one more arrow in your quiver. Agile Project Management Templates As stated above, agile is an important project management methodology used in many industries such as product and software development. There’s a lot to learn about agile and for that reason, we’ve created free guides and templates to help you manage your agile projects. Here are some of the most important templates to help with your product backlog. Requirements Gathering Template Our free requirements gathering template for Word can help you collect what information you need to solve the problem or achieve the objective of your project. This is where the product backlog starts to help stakeholders and users understand what is required. Once they all agree, teams can start to develop the tasks necessary to get there. Product Development Template You have the requirements, but you need to know the pathway to deliver the product to market. That’s where our free product development template comes in. It helps you organize all the parts so they work together to deliver the product on time and within its allotted budget. Get everyone involved in product development, from idea to product design. Agile Sprint Plan Template The whole point of having a product backlog is to prepare your team for upcoming sprints. Our free agile sprint plan template lets you involve the entire team in the collaborative process of planning for a sprint. See the phases of the sprint and fill in the details, which saves time and gets your team to work faster. Manage Your Backlog with ProjectManager ProjectManager is award-winning software that helps agile teams manage their product backlog and collaborate in planning sprints. Our multiple project views let agile teams work with the tools they prefer while giving other departments that might manage their work differently the features they require. All project views share real-time data so there’s a signal source of truth that keeps everyone working together. Manage Your Backlog on Kanban Boards One of the multiple project views in the kanban or scrum board, an essential agile project management tool. This visual workflow feature allows teams to manage their backlog on cards and then work together in planning sprints. Managers get transparency as cards move from one column to the next, representing the production cycle. If there’s a potential bottleneck, managers can reallocate resources quickly to clear it up and keep teams moving forward. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Kanban_Marketing_Wide_Zoom-150_Moving-task-to-different-status.jpg Track Progress With Real-Time Dashboards For a high-level view of the progress and performance of your team, we have real-time dashboards. There’s no setup required as with other inferior tools, and the software automatically captures and calculates six project metrics that are then displayed in colorful and easy-to-read graphs and charts. Managers get critical information that provides them with valuable insights in real time to make better decisions. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Dashboard_Construction_Wide_Zoom-150.jpg Generate Reports With One Click When you need more detail than the dashboard can provide, there are several real-time reports that you can generate with a keystroke. Get reports on project status, variance, costs and more. All our reports can be filtered to show only the data you want to see. It’s easy to share them as PDFs or even printed out, depending on how your stakeholders prefer to be updated. More data means a better understanding of your project for you and your stakeholders. /wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Reports_Wide_Zoom-150_Project-Status-Report.jpg Our software is collaborative to the core, which is what agile teams need to work better together, whether that’s managing their backlog or planning sprints. Comments can be made at the task level, you can even tag someone not in the team if you require their opinion. Teams can also share files. All updates are delivered by email notifications or in-app alerts so everyone is always working together. When creating a product backlog and sprint backlog, it’s crucial to have the right tools to organize, prioritize and assign all those tasks. ProjectManager is online project management software with a real-time dashboard to track the progress of the project and offers a robust online platform with kanban boards for teams to collaborate during sprints. Try it today and see for yourself with this free 30-day trial. The post Product Backlog and Sprint Backlog Management: A Quick Guide appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Former Blair adviser Jonathan Powell is working behind the scenes to shepherd talks View the full article

Bidding and tendering are critical steps in winning a project. Learn how to structure a successful tender, along with proven tips to maximize success. The post Guide to Bidding & Tendering Process for Project Management appeared first on project-management.com. View the full article

When considering Trump’s new aesthetic policy on federal buildings (the famously vague Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture executive order) there’s a line from The Princess Bride that immediately comes to mind. I’m of course referring Inigo Montoya’s iconic “I do not think it means what you think it means” response to Vizzini’s incessant “inconceivable!” declarations regarding the Dread Pirate Roberts. While Trump’s action has rightfully been decried by seemingly every legitimate design organization and authority in the country, I simply want to analyze the specific verbiage (and thus the actual meaning) of the order itself. Let’s break it down. Regional and traditional The first paragraph of the executive order directs the General Services Administration “…to advance the policy that Federal public buildings should be visually identifiable as civic buildings and respect regional, traditional, and classical architectural heritage in order to uplift and beautify public spaces…” Let’s focus on the “regional” and “traditional” verbiage. While these phrases are often thrown around in everyday vernacular, what do they actually mean? What regions and traditions do this policy refer to? American regions and traditions, no doubt. But which American regions or traditions? For that matter, what are American regional and traditional buildings? Surely this verbiage is not referring to grand plantations, churches, buildings of early colonial cities, or even the manufactured historicism of places like Washington, D.C.; none of those buildings are “regional” or “traditional” to these United States, or frankly anywhere in North America. Do we look instead to structures like Monticello or Mount Vernon? Unfortunately no. Sadly these, too, are just Americanized versions of European immigrant architecture. While made in America, they cannot be categorized as either regionally authentic or traditionally American. Besides these pesky technicalities, claiming any of these as our own would mean embracing a sort of stylistic “birthright citizenship” which I’m not sure this administration is keen to do. A style of shared ethos Defining authentic American regional and traditional architecture isn’t as simple as many would tend to believe. I’d argue that it’s defined more by a shared ethos and a way of living versus anything stylistic. We’re talking about living off the land, embracing hyper-local materials, an honesty of construction, and taking advantage of everything that nature provided (sightlines, elevation, solar orientation, prevailing winds, water collection, renewable resources, etc.) as it was quite simply a matter of life and death for early settlers and indigenous cultures. Ironically, following these principles would mandate that every new federal building be as low-impact and as hyper-sustainable as possible. While far from an exhaustive list, when looking for examples to draw upon we’re really talking about indigenous longhouses and makeshift settler cabins, cliff dwellings and mining camps, tobacco barns and slave quarters, cotton-gins and kivas, freedman’s villages and ancient pyramid mounds, and everything in between. It’s a mashup of cultures, methods, and experience and often more functional than pretty, but it’s also undeniably American. Classical terminology Now that we’ve broken down the beginning of the order, let’s dive into the “classical” terminology meaning. The Oxford Dictionary describes this term specifically as “Of, relating to, or characteristic of Greek or Roman antiquity.” Using this and every other definition of the term “classical,” we can easily determine that “classical architecture” = Greek/Roman architecture. For the reasons mentioned previously, including “classical” architecture in this order is more than a little confusing and seems wholly incongruent with the “American” spirit of the executive order and risks undermining the current administration’s stance on birthright citizenship (in regard to “immigrant” architecture at least). That said, since it’s specifically called out in the order by name, we’ll break this down as well. A burst of color So what is “Greek/Roman architecture?” While America has undeniably fetishized “classical” architecture from the beginning, we’ve never managed to get it quite right when building our own—even in our very best examples (Lincoln Memorial, other D.C. monuments and buildings). While we tend to get the proportions and scale spot on, we’re always missing one critical aspect: these buildings were rarely (if ever) white. They were nearly (if not) always painted with a rainbow array of vibrant polychrome colors (blues, purples, reds, golds, greens, etc.), therefore giving these ancient cities a much different look than what our collective societal imagination tends to illustrate. This not as a minor point. Should we truly want to embrace “classical” architecture, we must also fully embrace this polychrome version. To not do so simply perpetuates the modern “neo-classical” style which was never mentioned in this executive order. While it might be a shock to the system the next time I’m in D.C., I frankly look forward to seeing the rainbow parade of color that, according to the specific language of the executive order, should be coming soon to our nation’s capital. Considering this administration’s enthusiasm with the wholesale cutting of costs, maybe we can have a community paint party and save a little cash? God only knows this group doesn’t like to hire actual experts, so this seems like a great solution. If so just let me know where to grab my brush. The impact on others While this breakdown is certainly in the weeds, words matter—especially on legal documents impacting the lives and livelihoods of others. As silly as it sounds coming from an unabashed modernist, I look forward to this renewed focus on our truly “traditional” and “regional” designs—not the least of which being those incorporating the vernacular architecture of our First Nations peoples and those of the enslaved/formerly enslaved. I mean it seems only right considering that we stole their land and their freedom, eradicated much of their culture, and set them up generations of inequity… And here I thought this administration was calling for the disillusion of DEI…now I realize what they were doing. They just wanted to call even more attention to the many many atrocities of American history by putting them on full display within our most iconic federal buildings. An order is an order after all… William H. Dodge is founder and design principal at p-u-b-l-i-c and cofounder and artist at A Gang of Three. The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more. View the full article

A bold blue train zooms by at more than 200 miles per hour. Passengers on board are typing away at their laptops or sitting down for a coffee in the cafe. The train is on its way from Paris to Madrid, or perhaps from Amsterdam to Warsaw, or maybe even on a long haul from Naples to Helsinki. As it zips through international borders and across cultures, the train doesn’t slow down, and the people aboard hardly notice. This is the vision for Starline, a proposal to reinvent the European high-speed rail network into a single seamless system. The idea comes from 21st Europe, a new think tank focused on large-scale ideas for the future of Europe. Founded by Kaave Pour, who previously ran Ikea’s global innovation lab Space10, this new venture is using design as the lens to view the biggest challenges and opportunities for the European continent in the 21st century. “If a continent like Europe should become stronger we need to be more connected,” says Pour. [Image: 21st Europe] “There’s a narrative to be changed with trains, that they are back and they are amazing and they can do quite remarkable things,” Pour adds. “But design has been missing from that equation.” The Starline concept is a comprehensive reimagining of a rail system that has linked the continent for centuries, complete with train and station design concepts, unified ticketing systems, cross-border security protocols, and a framework for EU-wide governance. Starline proposes five main routes, with 39 stations and at least one in every European country, and connecting hubs in major cities like Paris, Berlin, and Milan. [Image: 21st Europe] It’s long been possible to make the kinds of end-to-end journeys Starline maps out in this new European high-speed rail network, but as of now travelers have to complete their journey on a mix of regional and high-speed trains. The journey is slower than what the proposed Starline would offer, and is often bogged down in cross-border complications, including misaligned schedules, differing levels of rail infrastructure, and varying labor laws determining how long train conductors can work a shift. “Networks are good within nations. France has a great transportation network, and we do in Denmark as well,” says Pour, who’s based in Copenhagen. “But as soon as trains cross borders things start to crack.” “If we can’t travel freely from country to country, the whole idea of a single market and a more unified continent is impossible,” Pour says. [Image: 21st Europe] A unified Europe is suddenly a more pressing concern. Within the first few weeks of the second Trump administration, alliances between the U.S. and European countries have faltered to the point where many European leaders are looking inward for strength. The Starline project was in development before this geopolitical turmoil, but Pour says the idea for better connections between European nations and cities has been bubbling up in policy circles for years. With the rise of low-cost airlines, train travel has fallen out of favor with many European travelers. But the environmental toll of air travel is high, especially for short-haul flights, which have a much higher carbon footprint than high-speed rail. Some countries have explored banning flights for routes that can be traveled by train within a few hours. Starline’s proposed connections and speed suggest a more proactive effort, focused on improving rail service to the point where it outcompetes those short-haul flights. [Image: 21st Europe] Developed in partnership with design and technology studio Bakken & Bæck, and in consultation with experts in mobility, infrastructure, and European policy, the concept uses current transportation policy and planning as a springboard. The European Commission has developed a framework called the Trans-European Transport Network, or TEN-T, which envisions a continent-wide approach to transportation planning, from roads to rails to waterways. For the rail portions, it’s a more modest plan than Starline’s European high-speed rail network, with a goal of having trains in its core network traveling at 100 miles per hour or faster by 2040. [Image: 21st Europe] “The TEN-T network is already laying a foundation for policy and for which routes are essential for Europe’s connectivity. 21st Europe’s approach is that we build on existing studies and existing policy frameworks,” Pour says. “We have then expanded the ambition of that network.” [Image: 21st Europe] Starline’s approach combines Europe’s high-speed rail with an emphasis on logistics. It proposes building new transportation hubs just outside of crowded or historic city centers that can accommodate airport-scale passenger loads while also serving as processing points for freight. “I think it’s quite simple that if we’re able to move better we’re also able to trade better, and for Europe to have that ability is quite essential to our economies,” Pour says. These hubs also create the potential for ambitious design, which Pour says would be critical for ensuring the system becomes a new kind of essential infrastructure. “We do hope that these stations, when designed, are seen as an attempt for Europe to build new landmarks for the next century rather than always being teased as being the museum of the past,” Pour says. Part of that design-centric approach is the train itself. Pour says 21st Europe chose a bold blue for the train as a way of making it an iconic object, like New York’s yellow cabs or London’s red buses. “Europe has been bad at building the brand around transportation as much as the infrastructure itself,” Pour says. “This train needs to be a landmark for Europe’s next chapter.” View the full article

With the April 15 deadline right around the corner, you want to ensure you're taking advantage of all the deductions you can. Andy Phillips, Vice President of H&R Block’s Tax Institute, says his tax experts are getting plenty of questions from filers looking to maximize every deduction available to them. I wrote about some wacky and unexpected tax deductions last week, but what about the most common ones that filers just don't fully understand? From gig worker perks to retirement contributions, here are the tax deductions every filer needs to know. Retirement contributions and traditional IRA deductions Phillips says that if you contribute to a tax-advantaged traditional retirement account (IRA, 401(k), etc.), you may owe less tax than if you didn’t contribute. With a 401(k), you might not even realize you’re receiving an exclusion if you have your contribution automatically made in conjunction with your paycheck. The money comes out before the taxes do, resulting in a reduction of your taxable income. With a traditional IRA, you can still get a tax deduction without requiring access to an employer plan. However, your tax break may be limited if you also participate in an employer plan. For self-employed taxpayers, SEP IRA and SIMPLE (Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees) IRA contributions are “above the line” tax deductions. See the other self-employed deductions below. Self-employment expenses As side hustles become ever more popular, it’s no surprise that self-employment expenses are more common. For example, if you pay for your own qualified health insurance, that may count as an “above the line” deduction. Also, you can deduct half of your self-employment tax above-the-line. On top of that, Phillips reminds filers you can deduct business expenses like internet costs, office supplies, advertising, and business travel from your business income. And, for qualifying individuals, you can take the home office deduction. Student loan interestPhillips reminds filers with student loan debt that you can deduct some or all of the interest you paid that year for a qualified student loan. In fact, federal student loan borrowers could qualify to deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest per tax return per tax year. You can claim the student loan interest tax deduction as an adjustment to income—you don’t need to itemize deductions to claim it. Charitable contributionsYou will need to itemize your deductions if you want to deduct your charitable donations. "Many people find it worth itemizing these deductions," says Phillips, "particularly if you give regularly to a church or other charity." It’s also possible to deduct the current fair market value of goods you donate to charity. Make sure you get a receipt for your donations, whether they are cash or goods. And don’t forget to keep track of your mileage if you drive on behalf of a charity; that’s tax-deductible, too. Your kids—even newborns?You can claim all qualifying children that were born or adopted within the tax year you are filing. Even if your child was born on Dec. 31, your child may be able to be claimed as a dependent on your taxes. However, Phillips clarifies that if your child is born after Dec. 31, even though your pregnancy lasted most of the tax year, you’ll have to wait until you file the next year’s return to claim them. To be your qualifying child, the child must: Be related to you as your child, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, or descendant of any of them; Be under age 19, a full-time student under age 24, or permanently and totally disabled; Not provide more than half of the child’s own total support; and Live with you for more than half of the year they were alive. Not be filing a joint return with a spouse unless it’s to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated payments If you are a dependent who’s earning income, good news—your parents can still claim you as a dependent so long as other dependent rules still apply. Your earned income doesn’t go on their return. Filing tax returns for children is easy in that respect. However, you may need to report it on your own tax return. What can't you deduct from your taxes?While you're searching for all the possible deductions out there, you're going to hit a few roadblocks. Commuting costsUnfortunately, commuting costs are not tax deductible. Commuting expenses incurred between your home and your main place of work, no matter how far, are not an allowable deduction. Costs of driving a car from home to work and back, again, are personal commuting expenses. This is also true for fares you pay to ride any sort of public transportation to and from work. Phillips points out, though, that if you are a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces and travel more than 100 miles away from home in connection with the performance of services as a member of the reserves, you can deduct your qualified travel expenses. Your cat's vet billsUnfortunately, deducting medical expenses for pets is not allowed as a medical expense on your tax return. Phillips says the only exception would be when an animal is a certified service animal, like a guide dog, to assist you. Service animals generally aren’t considered pets, though. If you have a physical disability or are hearing or visually impaired, you can deduct medical expenses for your pets if they are certified service animals. Expenses that may be covered include purchasing, training, and maintenance of the animal which includes food, grooming, and medical care. Remember to keep accurate records and consult with a tax professional if you have any questions or concerns. By taking advantage of these deductions, you can potentially lower your tax liability and keep more of your hard-earned money. View the full article

Technology workers in Kenya have held a vigil for a colleague who died in unclear circumstances after she was unable to travel to her home in Nigeria for two years. Ladi Anzaki Olubunmi, a content moderator for TikTok employed by the subcontractor Teleperformance Kenya, died last week and her decomposing body was discovered in her house after three days. It was unclear what caused her death, but colleagues say she had complained of fatigue and was “desperate to go back home.” Teleperformance Kenya told the Associated Press on Wednesday that they didn’t deny Olubunmi her leave to go home. Her family in Nigeria says she only traveled once since coming to Kenya three years ago. Content moderators working for subcontracted firms based in Kenya have in the past described working conditions that they say include lower than average pay, lack of mental health support, long working hours and intimidation. More than 100 former Facebook content moderators have sued the social media company over what they say is poor pay, horrible working conditions and unfair termination of employment by Facebook’s subcontracted Kenya-based firm, Samasource. Dozens of content moderators and data labelers working for various global tech companies met during Tuesday’s vigil and said that poor working conditions may have contributed to their colleague’s death. “There are more than 100 Nigerians working under Teleperformance company who haven’t had work permits for the last two years and so they have not been able to travel home despite having an annual return ticket benefit,” said Kauna Malgwi, a friend of the deceased. Olubunmi’s family was informed of her death a day after her body was discovered by a neighbor. Teleperformance emailed Olubunmi’s brother notifying him of her death and gave him contacts of Kenyan investigating officers who he could call for information, autopsy and burial arrangements. “The family cannot afford to take her body home, so they are considering asking her church in Nairobi to bury her,” Malgwi said. —Evelyne Musambi, Associated Press View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. Here are four updates from past letter-writers. 1. An employee is out to get my star performer, and no one else cares (first update) I thought it could be good for the folks who were predicting catastrophe with Dave to hear what actually happened. Sometimes situations aren’t ideal but that doesn’t mean doom either. I respected Tina’s wishes and did not go to HR. Given some of the vehement responses, I did extra legwork with Maria and HR contacts at previous companies in the same industry before making my final decision. Quoting one HR professional when I asked about noting it in Dave’s record in case there is a pattern: “That is not a thing. We aren’t school admins keeping a permanent record in that way. We handle illegal behavior, or actionable behaviors against internal policies. […] That’s it!” Given that Maria and every professional I talked to agreed HR would not do anything with this information and Tina did not want it shared, I did not reach out to HR. I know some folks will probably still disagree, but I’m comfortable I did my due diligence. Dave is still here and has been a model employee. I had no authority to fire Dave and agree he should have been! Jen is improving all the time. I think today’s Jen would have fired Dave. Small consolation but I try to see the silver linings. I’m still cautious, but hopeful we can continue to work well together in the coming years. My team has grown and is doing well. There have been no issues with Dave or anyone else but I also make sure to ask if they are having any issues with staff in our one-on-ones. I’m also getting an award for an idea Tina gave me before this all went down. I offered to have her receive the award instead, but she understandably wanted nothing to do with this department. Tina is doing amazing! This year she got a max raise, max bonus, 5/5, and got a special bonus as well. Her manager is getting a prestigious global leadership award for the problem Tina solved as well. Sadly for the company but happily for Tina, she left and moved across the country to live closer to family. She was able to leverage her new salary and recent accomplishments to land a similar high level role at her new company. She seems excited about transitioning to that industry and I’ve let her know I’m happy to be a reference whenever she needs me. In the end, all the nasty stuff that Dave, Jen, and Sally pulled launched Tina into a higher paying career track. I’m grateful to have worked with her and hope for nothing but the best for her. She deserves to work at a good place with better people than our company offered her. 2. Returning to an office where an estranged friend works (#3 at the link) I wrote in last fall regarding my return to an office where a former friend, Ashley, with whom I had had a falling out, still worked. You suggested doing nothing and remaining pleasant and professional. I did follow that advice, although I’m not sure any course of action I took or didn’t take would have changed much. Unfortunately, it started off on the wrong foot from the very first day. I came into the office and started walking down the hallway. Ashley was walking down the hallway from the other end, towards me. She saw me, stopped, turned around, and walked back the way she came. Later that same day, we passed each other in the hall and she didn’t acknowledge me in any way. She just passed me by like she didn’t know me. I can’t really say that our interactions have been bad because there haven’t been any. We are in the office once per week and she ignores me. We have a Teams group chat and she never reacts to anything I say. I had hoped that things might change in the new year. But I was recently asked to give a presentation during an in-person meeting about my experience overseas. The meeting agenda was distributed in advance. She came to the meeting. When it was my turn to present, she left. So I’ve given up any chance of reviving the friendship. We are moving to two days per week in office in March and three days per week in September. Not sure what impact that will have. As for Stephanie, everything is good there. We talk every day and it’s like I never left. Thank you for giving me a chance to put some of my thoughts and feelings on paper and be heard. Even though this situation is my fault, it’s still incredibly frustrating. 3. Invited to be a guest speaker and then blown off (#4 at the link) I did somewhat take your advice (in combination with some advice from a friend of mine)! I ended up emailing that professor the next day to very politely share my feelings. I know you said I didn’t owe him anything, but I’m the kind of person that needs to speak up when I’ve been impacted by someone else. I basically told him that I was disappointed when the tech issue arose and no time was taken to try to resolve it as I had spent time preparing the dialogue and stepped away from work to be present (this event was in the middle of the workday). I informed him that alum do not have access to authorized school Zoom accounts and that it would be helpful to test out meeting connections to avoid this happening to guest speakers in the future. The prof was very apologetic in his response and explained that he hadn’t anticipated alum having trouble accessing the meeting. I got the impression he thought the tech issue was on my end and didn’t think my absence was a big deal until I had said something. He offered to have me speak at his next scheduled class, but I kindly declined. I knew that he had initially only scheduled one class for speakers and that he was accommodating me with a second class to make up for the inconvenience. I didn’t feel right taking away from the students’ regular scheduled content and thought it would be weird for me to show up as the only speaker for that second day. At that point, I had also lost the excitement I initially had about being a speaker. The email chain ended on a positive note and I said we could keep in touch, but I do think it has impacted my opinion of this professor a little bit. 4. HR hasn’t kept up with local employment regulations (#4 at the link) Thanks so much for answering my question! I read the comments with a great deal of interest — there were widely varying perspectives, and I was surprised to find some folks more concerned about making HR look bad (not my intention — they manage to do that all by themselves) than making sure my coworkers know about the new benefit to which they’re now legally entitled. An update: Once the employment policies intranet page had been updated by HR in early February, I did share the information with all of my New York colleagues and all of the early-career staff in my department (which is spread across the U.S.) via two Teams messages/posts. My intent in sharing it beyond the New York office is to see whether we can collectively encourage the company to match the benefit in all the locations where it operates. I kept an excited “how cool is this new benefit” tone throughout those Teams messages/posts. As some commenters rightly surmised, it’s very difficult to know that there are updates to our online employment policies page, since they’re neither announced nor tracked. I’m glad to know my instincts were closely aligned with your advice. View the full article

D-Wave is about to make waves. The quantum computing firm announced on Wednesday that, for the first time, it was able to “successfully simulate the properties of magnetic materials” using its Advantage2 annealing quantum computer, which “allows us to invent and evaluate new materials without needing to build them in the lab,” D-Wave CEO Dr. Alan Baratz tells Fast Company. In effect, this means that D-Wave has achieved “quantum supremacy” on a useful problem, something it says nobody else has yet been able to accomplish, and which is detailed in a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science. “This is a really important moment in time for the entire quantum computing industry,” says Dr. Baratz. “For the first time ever, we’ve demonstrated a quantum computer being able to solve a difficult, real-world problem that classical computers can’t solve. It’s what everybody aspired to achieve, and we’re quite excited about it.” ’25 years of hardware development’ Quantum computing has largely remained theoretical until recently, but D-Wave’s achievement is a notable breakthrough as it’s demonstrated that its quantum computer can, in fact, outperform classical computers in materials simulations. To simulate the property of magnetic materials on a classical computer—as the D-Wave team recently did using its quantum computer—would require nearly one million years, and more energy than the entire world utilizes over the course of a year. D-Wave’s team did it in 20 minutes. But there was a lot of work that went into it. “These are results that could not be done in a couple of months or years,” says Mohammad Amin, chief scientist at D-Wave. He added, the results “are really the results of 25 years of hardware development,” and this specific achievement “also took two years of collaboration among 11 institutions worldwide.” What this means going forward Dr. Seth Lloyd, professor of quantum mechanical engineering at MIT, said in a statement with D-Wave’s announcement that large-scale, “fully error corrected” quantum computers are still years away. But quantum annealers, a type of quantum computer designed to efficiently solve optimization problems, are useful in the here and now. “The D-Wave result shows the promise of quantum annealers for exploring exotic quantum effects in a wide variety of systems,” Lloyd said. According to D-Wave, scientists could use quantum computing to test out and simulate new materials—specifically, those used in all sorts of technologies from pacemakers to cellphones. Many of these materials need to be synthesized in a lab, which takes considerable amounts of time and money. But the ability to simulate the materials before they’re actually created? That can allow for significant resource savings, and potentially speed up technology development and make numerous products more efficient. “There’s no shortage of potential applications,” says Amin. View the full article

Backups are always a smart move. If your data is only stored in one location, it's not safe, as it only takes one device failure to lose all that information for good. While there are plenty of ways to back up your data, companies like Google make it easy with built-in cloud backups. Once you set it up, all of the photos and videos you take are synced to the cloud, so you never need to worry about losing everything if your phone goes belly-up. While cloud backups are convenient, they're far from the only option you have, as you could routinely save copies of your photos and videos to an external drive. If you move platforms—say, from Android to iPhone—and you'd prefer to use Apple's services over Google's, it doesn't make much sense to keep all that data on Google's servers, either. Speaking of which: Perhaps you simply don't want to trust Google with all of the media you've taken over the years, and would like to take back the data you've already shared. The trouble is, it's been difficult to decouple photos and videos from a Google Photos backup without also deleting those items from the device you're using as well—defeating the purpose entirely. The "best" workaround has been to use a separate device or browser than the one you're using, which is more of a pain than it should be. That's what Google's "Undo device backup" feature is all about. The company first announced it back in December, as a way for users to remove any photos and videos from the cloud, if those photos and videos are already on the device in question. The feature has been available on iOS first (perhaps as a solution for iPhone users who inadvertently uploaded their media to Google Photos), but Google is now rolling out the feature to Android users too. Now, no matter which platform you use Google Photos on, you can undo your backup while keeping all your photos and videos safe. How to undo your Google Photos backupIf you want to delete your photos and videos from a Google Photos backup without deleting those photos and videos locally from your device, here's how: First, open Google Photos on your iPhone or Android. Next, tap your profile picture or initial, then head to Photos settings > Backup. Scroll down, then choose Undo backup for this device. Here, tap the box next to “I understand my photos and videos from this device will be deleted from Google Photos,” then tap Delete Google Photos backup. Google says that once you make this decision, Backup will automatically turn off for the device you're using. As such, make sure you have a plan for how to back up those items going forward. Let's say you have a Pixel phone, and you choose to undo your backup: Now, those photos and videos only exist on this Pixel. If you break your phone, or it simply spontaneously dies (which does happen), you'll lose those memories forever. View the full article