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UK prime minister tells MPs a trade war is ‘in nobody’s interests’ View the full article

Audiences are used to Hollywood mining pre-existing material for movies. For over two decades now, the industry’s go-to source for blockbusters has been comic books. And increasingly, it’s been video games. But occasionally, Hollywood turns to Reddit, too. This week, it was announced that the popular Hollywood actress Sydney Sweeney had acquired the film rights to a four-year-old Reddit post. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, the Reddit post in question is a short story by a Massachusetts-based high school English teacher named Joe Cote. That short story and post, titled “I pretended to be a missing girl so I could rob her family,” is about a girl who shows up at the house of a family whose daughter went missing years earlier. The girl says she is their missing daughter so she can stay with them for the night—a lie she uses in her attempt to rob their house. The Hollywood Reporter says that Warner Bros. won the rights to the film deal, which was described as “competitive.” Warner Bros. picked up the rights after Sydney Sweeney became attached to star in and produce the short story adaptation. Sweeney reportedly then brought Oscar-winning scriptwriter Eric Roth, of Forrest Gump fame, to make the story into a screenplay. A release date and director have not yet been announced. Hollywood has been interested in adapting Reddit posts into films before But “I pretended to be a missing girl” isn’t the only Reddit post that has been picked up for a movie adaptation before. This is actually the second confirmed time a Reddit post has attracted Hollywood’s attention. The first time happened nearly 14 years ago. As reported by Variety in 2011, Warner Bros. (seems like the studio loves Reddit, doesn’t it?) picked up the film rights to a Reddit post with the lengthy title “Could I destroy the entire Roman Empire during the reign of Augustus if I traveled back in time with a modern U.S. Marine infantry battalion or MEU?” This post was another short story, and this one explored what would happen if a group of modern-day U.S. Marines were transported back in time to the Roman Empire. The film adaptation’s working title was “Rome, Sweet Rome.” The short story was written by author and “Jeopardy!” champion James Erwin. However, those Reddit scribes hopeful that their next post—short story or otherwise—will be picked up by Hollywood and see them soon walking down the red carpet need to understand one thing: just because a studio picks up the film rights to something doesn’t mean that the film will ever see the light of day. The majority of acquired film rights go on to languish in “development hell,” an industry term used to describe projects that get stuck in purgatory for whatever reason, often due to a revolving door of talent coming to and leaving a project. In 2018, Little White Lies reported that “Rome, Sweet Rome” was stuck in development hell. Of course, just getting anything picked up by Hollywood, even if it is never made into a movie, is a success in its own right. And when it comes to Reddit posts, it’s now happened at least twice. As the superhero genre continues to die a slow death, Hollywood is certain to be looking for something it can generate movie ideas from for years to come. As the two examples above show, Reddit may be one of those places. View the full article

It’s been a wild few years for Snowflake, from a record-breaking IPO to a plummeting stock price to a data-breach scandal. Sridhar Ramaswamy took over in the heat of the turmoil and helped steady the ship, in part by betting big on AI. Ramaswamy shares lessons from the company’s turnaround including insights behind high profile partnerships with OpenAI and Anthropic, how Snowflake embraced China’s Deepseek early, and why Ramaswamy calls Snowflake the most consequential AI-data company in the world. This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode. I had a guest on the show recently who confided that a lot of CEOs are kind of paralyzed right now by sort of external uncertainties in the world, shifting tariffs, and regulations, and executive orders. How do you deal with, and think about, the environment and all the changes relative to the things that you can control yourself? One of my firm beliefs in life is that you need to focus on the things that you are going to have an impact on. There are many things that, let’s face it, we are simply not going to have any impact on. Obsessing about unchangeable things in the short term is the recipe for being uncertain about life. There is a lot of macro uncertainty. Businesses will react, and we will have to worry. For example, if the stock market keeps going down, or if the business climate gets worse, it’ll have an impact on Snowflake, but so far, it’s been heads down, get great product work done, get great customer deployments done. You recently said that Snowflake is the most consequential data and AI company in the world. That is an ambitious assertion, especially for a business that, at least previously, was known as a data storage company. How do you back up that claim? The most important data for the most important enterprises in the world is already stored on Snowflake. Snowflake is the gold standard for analytics. We have something like 700-odd Global 2000 companies that are on Snowflake, and if you exclude the folks from China that we are not even going after, that is 700-something out of 1,600. They all put their most important prized information on top of Snowflake. Large public companies close their books every month on top of Snowflake. Financial institutions share data with each other. Snowflake is the beating heart of at least the U.S. financial system in terms of how data moves from place to place. I mentioned at the beginning that Snowflake was one of the first U.S. companies to adopt DeepSeek. You’re also the only data platform, big one, to offer models from both OpenAI and Anthropic. What did you see in DeepSeek, and second, why have you leaned into having multiple models available? Our strength is as a data platform. We are not a foundation model company, and honestly, most companies have no business of pretending that they are foundation model companies. It takes very specialized expertise, incredible talent density, and a very, very big wallet. And so for this, we decided to go the way of partnerships. We collaborate with a lot of folks. We focus on developing data products, which, in my mind, is the place where value is going to be realized. When people think about OpenAI, they think, “Ah. These are the people that make the foundation models.” No, no, no. OpenAI is an amazing product company. ChatGPT is a legitimate product. It is going to approach the pantheon of the greats, the products that have a billion-plus users, and so helping people get value from models and the data that Snowflake has is what we are about. Hence the leaning into heavy partnerships. Things like hosting DeepSeek quickly, that’s just a little bit of making sure that you can still run the hundred-meter sprint in 10 seconds. It was a challenge. It was an amazing model. We had it out in two days flat. There was a lot of anxiety about DeepSeek. You don’t necessarily feel that same kind of anxiety, or even if you do, you feel like you have to have it available. Let’s break that anxiety down. There are many parts of DeepSeek. One is the open-source model. DeepSeek also offers services on servers that are hosted in China, where if you use their app, for example, everything that you are typing in is getting sent to China. Now, without getting too much into geopolitics, people will rightfully say that sending business data to China is a bad idea. It’s the same kind of fear that we have about TikTok. Hosting the DeepSeek model does not introduce any kind of security compromise. We host it. We take security and risk management very seriously. Us hosting DeepSeek did not cause issues like that. Any anxiety about, “Oh, DeepSeek can do things so much more cheaply than OpenAI. They’re cheaper, faster ways to build these models”? See, that’s the part of it that I actually like. That’s not anxiety. The reason I like that is because if there are highly capable-models that are freely available, the value of the data that is in Snowflake goes up. It doesn’t go down. The value of the model companies goes down, and they have to innovate even harder. But innovation is a good thing for all of us. The cheaper that models get, the more broadly adoption there is, the more benefit that we, as society, are going to get, and certainly, Snowflake as a business. You have mentioned the trend of businesses moving to India. You are an immigrant to the U.S. from India. You came from India with just a few suitcases and a couple hundred dollars, as I recall. There’s so much angst in the U.S. around immigration right now. How much do you think about it, given your personal experience? Look, I’m incredibly blessed. I came with a bachelor’s degree, yes, I think it was $700. Neither of my parents went to college. I got a doctorate from Brown that Brown entirely paid for. I got a monthly stipend and a free PhD, and I think I’ve contributed in meaningful ways to the country, helping create great, amazing businesses. I think the larger issue is that our population feels like there is enough prosperity to go around. People in our country need to feel like they have a prosperous future before they’re willing to lean in and say, “We want more immigrants to share in that prosperous future.” But I think those are the core issues that our government needs to address, where all of us feel like they have the opportunity like how I got the opportunity. My take is there’s no generosity without prosperity. What do people and business leaders most misunderstand about the state of technology right now? I think they are both feeling pressure about things like AI, but are also flooded with options for what to do. I think there’s just so much noise coming in terms of partnerships between X and Y or this new agent, take this or the other. I think that just separating out what is real from what is hype, I think, is very hard. I would say this is less a misunderstanding than an amount of confusion, and I don’t think the AI industry helps itself with things like not talking about hallucination rates or not talking about things like what it takes for something to truly be enterprise-grade? There’s a little bit of, “look, ma. It’s so cool,” kind of attitude to some of the things that happen in AI. I think there is a maturity process that is going to happen, but figuring out what is real from what is hype is the biggest challenge that business leaders, enterprise leaders face today. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Every year around this time, I prepare to move my living room lemon tree outside for the season. In the fall, when temperatures drop below 40 degrees overnight, Daisy (yes, she has a name) gets rolled into my living room, where she winters under a grow light, and then as soon as the overnight temperatures stabilize in spring, back out she goes to live on the patio. Since I live in the Pacific Northwest, this is the only way to keep a lemon tree; they simply aren’t built to withstand a real winter outside. But, even if you are unwilling or unable to host your trees inside your home or greenhouse over the winter, you may still be able to turn your patio into a mini orchard. Generally, when you buy trees or shrubs, you plant them in the ground, and the expectation is that these plants will grow to get quite large. But if you don’t have the room to plant a large tree or shrub, you can consider getting a tree or shrub small enough to remain in a pot. Smaller and smaller dwarf type trees and shrubs are being cultivated all the time, and regardless of what kind of fruit you like, it is almost guaranteed that there will be a variety that is small or micro enough to remain in a pot. My potted lemon tree is not expected to get much larger than this, so I roll the pot into my living room each winter. Credit: Amanda Blum These potted plants, which should remain under six feet, can live on your patio, so long as they get enough sunlight, water and heat in the summer. In fact, your patio can provide the opportunity to better control the environment for your potted plant. You can provide shelter from storms, control the moisture level to help prevent disease, and move it around if the original location doesn’t suit it. At least for spring and summer, you and your micro trees should be very happy on your patio. The problem comes in winter. When you purchase plants you should always pay attention to their winter hardiness rating. For instance, cacti can’t survive a cold winter outside, but a pine tree has no issue. Plants generally go dormant over the winter, which means they focus on root growth, and not leafing, fruiting, or flowering. These small trees and shrubs are particularly vulnerable, since their roots are not in the ground, but a pot, so they lack the insulation the ground can offer. The first way to ameliorate the winter hardiness issue is to bring your plants into a greenhouse during winter—that’s what nurseries do. Of course, most people (including me) lack a greenhouse. The second best option is a spot in your home where the plant will be able to get enough light, water, and heat to survive the winter. Since your home is inevitably heated enough for the temperatures to remain above forty degrees at night, your tree is fine. Remaining situated near a window or under a grow light is sufficient for these plants. A third location might be the garage, or another unheated building, because even though temperatures will drop below forty degrees, if they consistently stay between 20 and 40, the plant will remain dormant, isn’t exposed to wind or freeze, and should be able to survive. Just because the plant is dormant doesn’t mean it won’t require care; you’ll need to check moisture levels every few weeks. You can’t allow the soil in the pot to get too dry. My lemon tree stays warm inside all winter under a grow light and some natural sunlight from a nearby window. Credit: Amanda Blum If you can’t bring your plants inside, you’ll need to find ways to insulate them outside, and you have a few options. Remember, the walls of your home provide some shield from the wind, and give off some heat, so relocating the plant next to the wall is a good start. You can create a cage around the plant using chicken wire and fill the cage with straw. The straw provides the insulation, while allowing for air flow, and the straw is unlikely to transmit disease or virus to the plant. You can also mound up compost or wood chips around the pot itself; this will recreate the insulation the ground offers to protect the roots. You can even purchase tree blankets, which provide a layer of breathable insulation. The thing to remember is that, like a blanket, this insulation only helps temper the winter conditions, not ameliorate them. For some trees, like citrus, this simply may not be enough warmth. For that reason, choose your patio fruit carefully, depending on what growing zone you live in and whether you have the ability to make these plants your roommates over winter. There are very winter-hardy citrus now, but you might be better suited to a patio blueberry or apple. If your plants are going to live outdoors, you’ll want to choose a heavy ceramic or concrete planter—one that provides some insulation from the cold. But if your plant is moving indoors with you all winter, you may be impressed by how good-looking plastic planters have become. Modern, self-watering, and—most importantly—light, they can make moving your patio tree indoors and out a lot easier. To find the right variety tree or shrub for your yard, you should start with a local nursery. However, don’t be afraid to buy a plant that will be shipped to you; I’m constantly surfing through the One Green World catalog, because they carry varieties of cold hardy trees my local nursery doesn’t. View the full article

Streamline your work by using the AI prompts provided to quickly find migration issues and ensure all aspects are addressed before launch. The post How To Identify Migration Issues Quickly Using AI appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

The Robots Exclusion Protocol (REP), commonly known as robots.txt, has been a web standard since 1994 and remains a key tool for website optimization today. This simple yet powerful file helps control how search engines and other bots interact with a site. Recent updates have made it important to understand the best ways to use it. Why robots.txt matters Robots.txt is a set of instructions for web crawlers, telling them what they can and can’t do on your site. It helps you keep certain parts of your website private or avoid crawling pages that aren’t important. This way, you can improve your SEO and keep your site running smoothly. Setting up your robots.txt file Creating a robots.txt file is straightforward. It uses simple commands to instruct crawlers on how to interact with your site. The essential ones are: User-agent, which specifies the bot you’re targeting. Disallow, which tells the bot where it can’t go. Here are two basic examples that demonstrate how robots.txt controls crawler access. This one allows all bots to crawl the entire site: User-agent: * Disallow: This one directs bots to crawl the entire site except the “Keep Out” folder: User-agent: * Disallow: /keep-out/ You can also specify certain crawlers to stay out: User-agent: Googlebot Disallow: / This example instructs Googlebot not to spider any part of the site. It is not recommended, but you get the idea. Using wildcards As you can see in the examples above, wildcards (*) are handy for making flexible robots.txt files. They let you apply rules to many bots or pages without listing each one. Page-level control You have a great deal of control over spidering if needed. If you need to block only certain pages instead of blocking an entire directory, you can block just specific files. This gives you more flexibility and precision. Example: User-agent: * Disallow: /keep-out/file1.html Disallow: /keep-out/file2.html Only the necessary pages are restricted, so your valuable content stays visible. Combining commands In the past, the Disallow directive was the only one available, and Google tended to apply the most restrictive directive in the file. Recent changes have introduced the Allow directive, giving website owners more granular control over how their sites are crawled. For example, you can instruct bots to only crawl through the “Important” folder and stay out of everywhere else: User-agent: * Disallow: / Allow: /important/ It’s also possible to combine commands to create complex rules. You can use Allow directives alongside Disallow to fine-tune access. Example: User-agent: * Disallow: /private/ Allow: /private/public-file.html This lets you keep certain files accessible while protecting others. Since robots.txt’s default is to allow all, combining Disallow and Allow directives is generally not needed. Keeping it simple is generally best. There are situations, though, that require more advanced configurations. If you manage a website that uses URL parameters on menu links to track clicks through the site and you can’t implement canonical tags, you could leverage robots.txt directives to mitigate duplicate content issues. Example: User-agent: * Disallow: /*?* Another scenario in which an advanced configuration might be needed is if a misconfiguration causes random low-quality URLs to pop up in randomly named folders. In this case, you could use the robots.txt file to disable all folders except the ones with valuable content. Example: User-agent: * Disallow: / Allow: /essential-content/ Allow: /valuable-content-1/ Allow: /valuable-content-2/ Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Comments Comments can be a handy way to outline information in a more human-friendly way. Comments are led by the pound sign (#). On files that are manually updated, I recommend adding the date the file was created or updated. That can help troubleshoot if an older version was accidentally restored from the backup. Example: #robots.txt file for www.example-site.com – updated 3/22/2025 User-agent: * #disallowing low-value content Disallow: /bogus-folder/ Managing crawl rate Managing the crawl rate is key to keeping your server load in check and ensuring efficient indexing. The Crawl-delay command lets you set a delay between bot requests. Example: User-agent: * Crawl-delay: 10 In this example, you’re asking bots to wait 10 seconds between requests, preventing overload and keeping things smooth. Advanced bots can sense when they are overloading a server, and the Crawl-delay directive isn’t needed as much as it may have been in the past. Dig deeper: Crawl budget: What you need to know in 2025 XML sitemap link Although Google and Bing prefer website owners to submit their XML sitemaps via Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, it is still an accepted standard to add a link to the site’s XML sitemap at the bottom of the robots.txt file. It may not be necessary, but including it doesn’t hurt and could be helpful. Example: User-agent: * Disallow: Sitemap: https://www.my-site.com/sitemap.xml If you add a link to your XML sitemap, ensure the URL is fully qualified. Common pitfalls with robots.txt Incorrect syntax Make sure your commands are correctly formatted and in the right order. Mistakes can lead to misinterpretation. Check your robots.txt for errors in Google Search Console – the robots.txt check is in Settings. Over-restricting access Blocking too many pages can harm the indexing of your site. Use Disallow commands wisely and think about the impact on search visibility. This can apply to blocking the bots that feed the newer AI search tools. If you block those bots, you have no chance to appear in answers those services generate Forgetting that bots don’t always follow the protocol Not all spiders obey the Robots Exclusion Protocol. If you need to block bots that don’t “behave” well, you will need to take other measures to keep them out. It’s also important to remember that blocking spiders in robots.txt does not guarantee information won’t end up in an index. For example, Google specifically warns that pages with inbound links from other websites may appear in its index. If you want to make sure pages don’t end up in an index, use the noindex meta tag instead. Wrapping up As mentioned above, it’s generally best to keep things simple with robots.txt files. Updates in how they are interpreted, though, make it a much more powerful tool than in the past. For more insights and detailed examples, check out these articles from Google Search Central: Introduction to robots.txt Robots Refresher: page-level granularity Robots Refresher: robots.txt — a flexible way to control how machines explore your website View the full article

Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, said it again, that Google does not have a system to recognize if a site is run by a big brand and then automatically just ranks it higher. He said on X, "but no, we don't have a brand-ranking system."View the full article

In late February, Microsoft began quietly testing its new AI Search interface and engine probably named Bing Copilot Search or maybe just Copilot Search. Well, now it seems to be more rolled out, according to Mayank Parmar at Windows Latest.View the full article

Google is testing placing vertical gray bars by the search results titles and descriptions, indenting them in a bit, for stylist purposes. I am not sure what this adds to the search results, but Google decided to test it.View the full article

There is nothing accountable or legitimate about unelected officials setting taxation and spending policyView the full article

It seems the Google Search local feature that showed Questions and answers on local panels is no longer working for most businesses. I know Google disabled them in India, but they worked fine everywhere else.View the full article

It’s rarely possible to be 100% efficient, 100% of our workday. We need breaks and working with others means we need time and space for that collaboration to happen. But oftentimes, a needed break or interaction can balloon into an unneeded time suck that leaves you feeling frustrated that you didn’t accomplish what you actually needed to get done. So how do you identify when you’re spending way too much time in an area and then eliminate that waste so that you have more time for what’s most important? As a time management coach, here’s what I’ve found to be the most effective ways to make this happen. Identifying your time sucks Honest awareness: Sometimes you already know exactly what’s stealing your time. You just need to be honest with yourself and willing to address it. Do you know that you just can’t resist checking your email every time a new message indicator pops up? Do you know that you think you can just watch one YouTube video and then seemingly the next second you realize you’ve watched 10? Do you know that you can never just send a quick text to your best friend, it always becomes a 20-minute text conversation? Write down what you already know is taking more time than it should during your day as a commitment to admitting it and fixing the issue. Automatic monitoring: Once you’ve recorded what you already know, one of the easiest next steps is to look at the automatic monitoring already in place on your phone. Most phones will give you a weekly report of where you spent time on different apps. You may think that you’re not scrolling that much on Instagram, but the data may tell a different story. You can also set up automatic reports of your computer usage if you find that’s an issue in addition to your phone. Personal time tracking: A third way to identify your time sucks is through personal time tracking where you can make note of where your time is going both on and off the screen. I typically recommend tracking your time for at least two days, but if you want to do a more thorough analysis, document it for a week. This can be done on paper, in an Excel document, or by using tools like Toggl or Timeular. My clients sometimes prefer the software options because of the ability to see consolidated reports. But if you find them overwhelming, it’s completely fine to keep things simple. If you complete the above three steps, you’re starting to get a clear picture of where your time might be overinvested. Then it’s time to take action. Here are some tips on eliminating, or at least reducing, the three biggest time sucks in most people’s days. Eliminating Your Time Sucks Screen time Some screen time can be a nice mental break. But if your data shows that you have more than 30 minutes of personal screen time during the workday that doesn’t fall into designated times off, like your lunch break, then you’re probably spending too much time in that category. If you can’t handle social media or news sites, put the nuclear option on your device so that you’re completely blocked from viewing them outside of scheduled times and have no option to undo the choice. You can also add online shopping sites or TV or movie sites like NetFlix or Hulu to the blocked list. If you work from home and are a gamer, considering locking up your controllers in a timed box so that you can’t even think about beating the next level. Communication In addition to screen time, inefficient communication can be a huge time suck in your workday. In fact, I see it as one of the biggest time wasters among people who are working much longer hours than they would prefer. To start, you’ll want to reduce or eliminate any scheduled meetings that don’t actually need to happen. There are many times where an email could suffice instead of a meeting. For example, when people contact me who I don’t know asking for a 15-minute meeting to explain something, I always reply by asking them to send over more information in written form. That way in less than a minute, I can scan what they sent and decide if it merits a conversation, and my workflow isn’t interrupted by unnecessary meetings. If you’re in an office environment, beware of the drive-by meetings. They can be super useful, but they also can be productivity destroying. If you really need to focus and have a door, close it. If you don’t have a door or people open your door spontaneously, put up a sign and/or put on headphones. Some of my clients even go so far to set up “office hours,” which are times when they’re OK with drop-in chats. Outside of those office hours, they request that people schedule a meeting. And finally, email and other asynchronous communication tools like IM or Slack can consume massive amounts more time than needed if you let them. One of the best ways to reduce time in these areas is to have designated times you log in and batch reply to all of the new messages, such as at the beginning, middle, and end of the workday. If that’s not permissible, at least give yourself a few spaces throughout the day to get focused work done by turning off notifications and if needed, putting up “Do not disturb.” Disorganization A final category of time suck during the workday is plain disorganization. You can waste so much time by being lost or losing items. Start with a plan: I encourage all of my clients to make daily and weekly planning a ritual so that they’re clear on their priorities and always know what to do next. But if that’s too overwhelming to start, at least write down the three most important things to accomplish for the day. That simple act can dramatically increase your progress on your most critical tasks. Leverage your energy: If you’re a super morning person, purposefully block that time from meetings, spend minimal time on email, and get your hardest tasks done first. If you’re barely awake until 10 a.m., do the opposite. Start slow responding to others and having a few meetings, and then block off 3 p.m. and later for your own work. Failing to organize your tasks around your energy levels can leave you frustrated because you have the time but not the mental capacity to get hard work done. Organize your environment: You don’t need office drawers worthy of a Pinterest post. But you do need to be able to find what you need when you need it. If your physical disorganization or electronic disorganization is causing you to waste needless time searching for things, take some time to get yourself in order. Sometimes that looks like spending a couple of hours purging your desk and filing things away. Other times, it’s best to work on a few papers or folders a day until you have sufficient organization. Your time will rarely be 100% utilized. But by following these tips you can dramatically reduce the time lost on time sucks so that you can invest it in what matters to you most. View the full article

Microsoft Advertising's team posted its monthly recap of what is new with the Microsoft Advertising platform. There are new items across Shopping campaigns, audience ads, and Performance Max (PMax) management and more.View the full article

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: Help! None of my coworkers have kids and don’t understand what it’s like. A: No two people’s lives are the same and people with all kinds of family structures have issues that pull their time and attention away from work. That said, few things in life are as schedule-disrupting as being a parent. In an ideal world, your boss and coworkers wouldn’t need to be parents themselves to understand things like needing to miss work when you have a sick kid or having a hard out each day at daycare pick-up time. Also, in an ideal world the school day and calendar would align better with the typical work day. We are obviously not in an ideal world, and unfortunately resentment between parents and coworkers without children is common. Here are my suggestions to deal with it. Suggest changes that would benefit everyone Most parents can’t make 8 a.m. meetings, as that’s prime time for getting the kids out the door and to school. You know who else hates 8 a.m. meetings? Just about everyone. Rather have your colleagues resent you for being exempt from attending, suggest to your manager that morning meetings get rescheduled for after 9 a.m. The same goes for taking time off for life’s unexpected problems. You have to leave work when your kid is sick or when there’s a snow day, doctor’s appointment or a recital. But everyone has things pop up, whether it’s their own dentist and doctor appointments, or the needs of their relatives or pets. If you’re in a leadership position, you can help foster a culture that recognizes that life’s obligations sometimes need to take priority over work. If you’re not in a leadership position, you can be the change you want to see by happily covering for your colleagues when something comes up. Hopefully the next time your kid gets pink eye they’ll remember the time you took over for them when their dog had to go to the vet. Call it out If you feel like you’ve made a good faith effort to prove how you’re a team player, have demonstrated that you are just as productive as the non-parents on your team, and have offered solutions and you still feel resentment, you might want to be direct and talk to your coworker or manager about it. As with any difficult workplace conversation, you can still enter it with a collaborative mindset. There’s a problem and you are going to solve it together. You are not on opposing teams. As with other workplace disagreements, it can be helpful to approach the conversation with curiosity. Try something like: “I’ve noticed a lot of comments about my schedule. Is there something that’s causing an issue for the team or workflow that I’m not aware of?” If there is an issue you’re not aware of (like a domino effect of work falling on one person when you leave), once it’s out in the air you can problem solve. If there’s not an actual issue, just vague resentment, calling it out might force the person to address their own bias, or at least be the start of a conversation that can lead to more understanding. Want some more reading on working parents? Here you go: I’m the CEO of a family tech company. Here’s how I’ve created kid-friendly work hours The school year used to favor working parents, but not anymore 4 simple ways leaders can better support working parents How longer school days benefit working mothers View the full article

Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Company’s work-life advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions. Q: Help! None of my coworkers have kids and don’t understand what it’s like. A: No two people’s lives are the same and people with all kinds of family structures have issues that pull their time and attention away from work. That said, few things in life are as schedule-disrupting as being a parent. In an ideal world, your boss and coworkers wouldn’t need to be parents themselves to understand things like needing to miss work when you have a sick kid or having a hard out each day at daycare pick-up time. Also, in an ideal world the school day and calendar would align better with the typical work day. We are obviously not in an ideal world, and unfortunately resentment between parents and coworkers without children is common. Here are my suggestions to deal with it. Suggest changes that would benefit everyone Most parents can’t make 8 a.m. meetings, as that’s prime time for getting the kids out the door and to school. You know who else hates 8 a.m. meetings? Just about everyone. Rather have your colleagues resent you for being exempt from attending, suggest to your manager that morning meetings get rescheduled for after 9 a.m. The same goes for taking time off for life’s unexpected problems. You have to leave work when your kid is sick or when there’s a snow day, doctor’s appointment or a recital. But everyone has things pop up, whether it’s their own dentist and doctor appointments, or the needs of their relatives or pets. If you’re in a leadership position, you can help foster a culture that recognizes that life’s obligations sometimes need to take priority over work. If you’re not in a leadership position, you can be the change you want to see by happily covering for your colleagues when something comes up. Hopefully the next time your kid gets pink eye they’ll remember the time you took over for them when their dog had to go to the vet. Call it out If you feel like you’ve made a good faith effort to prove how you’re a team player, have demonstrated that you are just as productive as the non-parents on your team, and have offered solutions and you still feel resentment, you might want to be direct and talk to your coworker or manager about it. As with any difficult workplace conversation, you can still enter it with a collaborative mindset. There’s a problem and you are going to solve it together. You are not on opposing teams. As with other workplace disagreements, it can be helpful to approach the conversation with curiosity. Try something like: “I’ve noticed a lot of comments about my schedule. Is there something that’s causing an issue for the team or workflow that I’m not aware of?” If there is an issue you’re not aware of (like a domino effect of work falling on one person when you leave), once it’s out in the air you can problem solve. If there’s not an actual issue, just vague resentment, calling it out might force the person to address their own bias, or at least be the start of a conversation that can lead to more understanding. Want some more reading on working parents? Here you go: I’m the CEO of a family tech company. Here’s how I’ve created kid-friendly work hours The school year used to favor working parents, but not anymore 4 simple ways leaders can better support working parents How longer school days benefit working mothers View the full article

Learn the impact of AI on social media strategies, helping brands create captivating and engaging content effortlessly. The post Generative AI And Social Media: Redefining Content Creation appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

TikTok stepped onto the social scene in 2016 and completely reshaped the way we create and consume content, but nearly a decade later, with over 1 billion monthly active users uploading millions of videos daily, standing out can feel impossible. How do you capture attention and keep viewers hooked? It comes down to more than creative ideas — you need to grow skills that transform good concepts into great content: especially editing. But here’s the good news: you don’t need professional editing training to create a standout TikTok video. Whether you're just starting with TikTok’s intuitive built-in editor or you're an experienced creator exploring advanced tools like CapCut, this guide has you covered. In this article, you'll discover practical editing tips, best practices for video length and aspect ratios, and actionable insights into navigating TikTok’s algorithm, empowering you to confidently create videos that capture attention, boost engagement, and maximize your reach. Master the built-in TikTok editing toolI take an intuitive approach to deciding which tool to use: I edit right in TikTok when I know I don’t have much manipulation to do, or I take the clips into CapCut on desktop or mobile if there’s a bit more flair I want to add. All that to say, it helps to understand the different options available to you. Before you start editing your videos, get cozy with TikTok's editing tools, which offer a range of features and capabilities to enhance your video content. Understanding TikTok’s built-in video editorThe TikTok video editor is intuitive, offering straightforward tools perfect for quick adjustments or beginner-friendly edits. Creating and uploading videos on TikTokReady to make a TikTok video? Here’s a step-by-step approach: Launch the TikTok app and tap the “+” button at the bottom of the screen.Select your preferred video length (anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes). We recommend longer as longer videos get more views.Choose to record directly in the app or upload videos you’ve previously filmed. Pre-recorded clips can be useful for polished, high-quality videos edited with external software.Start your edit immediately or save your footage as a draft for future new edits — drafts are great for experimenting without the commitment of immediate posting.You can also create your videos in TikTok Studio, a separate app specifically for content creators who want all their content in an easily accessible place along with your analytics and inspiration. Or, if you want to get very creative with text or want to try an editing tool with a few more options across the board, consider a free TikTok video editor like CapCut or even Canva. Structuring, trimming, and splitting your TikTok videoGreat video editing isn't just about adding effects — it’s often about removing the unnecessary. Mastering how to edit videos by trimming and splitting your clips effectively will help keep your viewers hooked from start to finish. You’ll find all editing features by hitting the “Edit” button in the side panel. Structure your TikTok video effectivelyA compelling TikTok video follows an intentional structure designed to capture attention, sustain momentum immediately, and prompt viewer interaction: Hook viewers in the critical first three seconds. Use bold statements, intriguing questions, or surprising visuals upfront.Keep your video engaging with quick cuts, smooth transitions, and subtle video effects.End with a strong, clear call-to-action (CTA) to encourage likes, shares, or follows.In her series on “making dinner menus for the week”, food creator Zoe Barriesode uses the same hook that achieves three things: tells a new audience what to expect from the video, lets her existing audience know that it’s a similar video to her previous content that they’ve seen, and places it in one of her content categories or pillars. Trimming videos for optimal engagementTikTok’s built-in video editor makes it incredibly easy to trim your footage, so you can film one in one long sequence — like I prefer to do — and then split it up to remove things like the millennial pause or your cat walking across the frame (although I wouldn’t mind seeing that). Here's how to trim videos within the TikTok app: Tap the scissors icon in the editor.Drag the edges of your clips inward to remove unnecessary footage.Preview your video afterward to double-check your edits. 0:00 /0:04 1× Splitting clips to enhance storytellingSplitting clips in the TikTok video editor adds room for dynamic storytelling by enabling smoother transitions, impactful text overlays, and engaging video effects. To split your clips using TikTok’s editor: Select the clip you want to split.Tap the split tool within the editor.Drag the split marker to your desired point to create separate segments. 0:00 /0:04 1× Fitness creator Taliyah Joelle takes a unique approach to split clips by putting in three different clips that makeup one “What I Eat In A Day” video. Play around with the aspect ratioTikTok’s native aspect ratio is 9:16, which perfectly fits most smartphone screens. However, they’ve also introduced the ability to upload landscape videos (dimensions) that mimic YouTube’s format. So, I encourage you to play around with aspect ratios when filming. And don’t worry — your videos won’t be downranked, as proven by creator Josie Jabs’ viral landscape video. Enhancing your TikTok videos with audio, visual effects, and textOnce you've structured your TikTok video, elevate it even further by strategically using engaging audio, impactful sound effects, appealing video effects, and informative text overlays. Boost engagement with trending audioTikTok users love audios. With data pulled directly from TikTok, 88% of TikTok users said that “sound is essential to the TikTok experience,” while 73% admitted they would "stop and look" at ads on TikTok with audio. Using popular TikTok sounds helps align your content with current trends and increases visibility in the algorithm. Check TikTok’s Creative Center regularly to discover trending music or audio.When you add music, adjust the background music volume so your voice/voiceover remains clear.If you run a business account, remember that not all music is cleared for business use on TikTok. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so stick to royalty-free music. For tracks that might be under copyright, look for the "Approved for business use" tag on TikTok. Read TikTok's official statement on the commercial use of music.I love using audio from undiscovered or underrated artists who make music I really enjoy. Sometimes, that leads to them commenting on my videos, which is a fun bonus. Add sound effects for maximum impactStrategic use of sound effects adds humor, surprise, or emphasis at critical points in your TikTok videos. To effectively use sound effects in TikTok’s built-in video editor: Navigate to the "Sounds" tab and select "Sound Effects."Choose and place effects strategically to highlight specific moments, punchlines, or transitions.Kirsti loves a pop or ding sound effect in her videos, which makes them extra engaging to watch. Using captions and text overlays for clarityAdding clear captions and text overlays significantly enhances the accessibility and engagement of your TikTok video, as well as boost its searchability. Use TikTok’s auto-generated captions to make your videos more accessible and SEO-friendly.Apply bold or colorful text overlays to emphasize critical points, CTAs, or key takeaways.This video by music creator Derrick Gee is a masterclass in using text as an add-on to the quality of your video. Instead of just having the captions play out on the screen (which works great), he uses them as punchlines for his points in the video. Play around with visual effectsTikTok is known for its dynamic, visually engaging videos—and that’s thanks largely to its vast library of visual effects. You don’t have to go overboard, but experimenting with effects can instantly elevate your video, turning good content into something truly scroll-stopping. Here are some quick ways to effectively incorporate visual effects into your TikTok videos: Try subtle color filters: Add filters to enhance the mood of your video or create a consistent visual look without overpowering your content.Use transitions thoughtfully: Effects like "Zoom," "Morph," or "Swipe" can keep viewers visually engaged, especially during cuts between clips.Don’t forget AR effects: Augmented reality effects can add humor, personality, or a creative twist to your storytelling — great for capturing initial attention.For inspiration, look at creators like Eugene Healey, who shares videos on brand strategy that consistently perform well using creative collages and the Green Screen effect. Posting and optimizing your TikTok videosAfter you’ve finished editing, optimizing your TikTok video posting strategy is crucial to achieving maximum reach, visibility, and engagement. Finalizing and posting your TikTok videoBefore you hit upload, follow these steps to help with visibility and engagement on your videos: Review your video before you upload because you can’t edit existing TikToks.Select an engaging video cover image — remember, once you post, it can’t be changed.Craft concise, captivating captions with strategic hashtags, blending trending and niche tags to enhance discoverability.Adjust privacy settings and enable comments, duets, and stitches to boost interactions.Schedule at your best time to post on TikTok, leveraging analytics to identify when your audience is most active and likely to engage.Analyzing and engaging after postingOptimizing your posted TikTok videos doesn’t stop once they go live. Analyzing their performance is essential for growth: Review TikTok analytics to track engagement metrics, including likes, comments, watch time, and audience behavior.Actively engage by replying to comments, strengthening community connections, and boosting your video's performance in TikTok's algorithm.Leverage viewer feedback to inspire follow-up content, maintaining audience interest over time.Your turn to hit publishEditing is a skill – one that takes time to hone. And like any other skill, you need practice to improve at it. Now, you don't have to become Oscar-winner good at editing. But you’ll definitely want to find the style that works best for you and your audience. Whether your vibe is quick cuts or bold edits, or you prefer subtle storytelling and minimalist tweaks, the best approach is the one that feels true to you. Experiment often, stay curious, and don't be afraid to try new things. As you do, you'll naturally develop a style that feels uniquely yours, resonates with viewers, and sets your content apart. View the full article

Vaping devices are getting a makeover—one that seems likely to turn more teens into consumers. Experts have long worried that nicotine vapes appeal to minors with flavors like Cotton Candy and Blue Razz, along with bright candy-colored designs. Today’s vapes double as digital gadgets. Some mimic video games, others resemble smartphones or tamagotchi-style pets that “die” if you stop puffing. It’s gamified addiction. Behind the flashy designs lies a serious danger. Research shows that vaping harms both cardiovascular and respiratory health and can lead to nicotine dependency. Many of these new products are also unregulated, often smuggled in from overseas manufacturers. As vapes become more like toys, their health risks—and appeal to children—only increase. Vapes are going digital Dozens of vape manufacturers have started integrating screens into their products, originally meant to show simple battery displays. Some keep it basic—like Fumot’s design, which features a digital-clock-style percentage gauge below its signature monkey icon. But others are going bigger. Raz uses animated fire symbols, while Geek Bar displays constellations—mini light shows embedded in a puff. Some devices push things even further, embedding full-on video games just inches from the mouthpiece. The Craftbox V-Play, for example, comes in flavors like Strawberry Blowpop and Grape Escape, and features three built-in games: knockoffs of Pac-Man and Tetris, plus a fighter jet simulator. Marketed as a “Vapentertainment system,” the device even plays music as you game. For those seeking more connectivity, some vapes now function like smartphones. The Swype 3000 is perhaps the most well-known. It syncs with the user’s actual phone, displaying notifications and offering a limited suite of apps on the vape’s body. The tech is far from seamless—Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos reported issues like buggy games and blurry alerts—but the concept is catching on. Brands like Airfuze, Vookbar, and Feed Sync are also producing so-called smart vapes. Despite their digital upgrades, vapes remain cheap, often selling for less than $20 wholesale (comparable to their analog predecessors). And, of course, they’re still disposable. Once the nicotine runs out, you’re left with a dead vape that doubles as a cheap video game console—or a phone with no service. A legal gray area Many gamified, screen-equipped vapes operate in a legal gray zone. They’re rarely manufactured in the U.S. (most come from Chinese factories) and almost none have received marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. In 2024, the FDA sent a warning letter to the online retailer Vapes and Such cautioning against selling products that “may be attractive to youth” by “imitating a smartphone” or “imitating gaming technology.” Vapes have long faced criticism for their appeal to minors. In 2023, Juul agreed to pay $462 million in a settlement over its marketing tactics, which regulators said were designed to target children. Over time, concern shifted from flavors to design—sleek, candy-colored devices that looked more like tech accessories than tobacco products. “If it looks glamorous and it looks appealing, that’s going to be the first driver that will bring a horse to water,” Brian King, at the time the FDA’s tobacco regulator, told The New York Times. Screens represent the next evolution of that appeal. They don’t just make vapes look glamorous, they make them status symbols. With built-in games and push notifications, they’re nicotine devices and conversation starters. But that allure can be dangerous, especially for young users. View the full article

Offices, apartment buildings and retail locations in Los Angeles face a tangle of difficulties as the smoke clears from January's wildfires. High on the list is inadequate insurance, a common problem in California. View the full article

The web is being swamped by AI slop—but the swamp is creeping closer to home. Your email inboxes, phone SMS apps, instant messaging, and social media services are all being overtaken by inauthentic content. From AI-generated footage of Hollywood actor Brad Pitt that conned a French woman out of $800,000, to phishing emails that direct victims to live chats with AI bots purporting to be from a legitimate business but which are actually criminals, AI scams are everywhere. Two in every three people tested by Vodafone failed to identify an AI-driven phishing attack. One of those people was George Wilson, the founder of a small business based in Marietta, Georgia. Wilson asked Fast Company to use a pseudonym and not to disclose details of his business or bank information, concerned that being publicly identified as a scam victim could damage his company’s reputation and make him a future target. In November 2024, Wilson received an email claiming to be from his bank stating that an invoice payment he didn’t recognize was being delayed. After clicking a link in the email, he was taken to a convincing online chat page, where a supposed bank representative explained the situation. “It was all done in real time,” says Wilson. “Their dialogue was super natural, too, so while I was initially confused and suspicious, they managed to get rid of my fears.” The representative told him he was the target of an attempted scam and assured him the bank had blocked it. Wilson no longer has the chat log, but suspects he must have shared some information during the exchange that gave the scammers access to his account. The next day, several thousand dollars were taken from his business before he realized what had happened, contacted his bank, and learned he’d been scammed. The human-like interaction led Wilson to be defrauded of thousands—money he never recovered. “With AI, attackers can tailor messages to appear highly personalized, making it harder than ever for employees to distinguish a fake email from a legitimate one,” says Katie Paxton-Fear, an ethical hacker and cybersecurity lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University. The lure of AI for cybercriminals is obvious, and mirrors why the general public uses LLMs and other AI tools: They can generate convincing content at scale with minimal work. A lab-based study published in Harvard Business Review found that AI-generated phishing emails successfully deceived victims 60% of the time. It’s a high payoff for low effort, especially as LLMs take over the burden of crafting emails. “We know that social engineering is one of the most effective forms of attack anyway, rather than malicious code, because you’ve got to try and have some way of landing the malicious code on victims,” says Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity professor at the University of Surrey. “It’s not surprising that LLMs are being used in the first instance to try and produce more effective versions of that.” As the public becomes more aware of AI-powered phishing, cybercriminals are already moving several steps ahead. Cybersecurity firm Kela reports that discussion of malicious AI tools on the dark web has increased 200% in the past year. In 2023, there were around 4 daily mentions; by 2024, they spiked to 14-plus. This booming underground market is a “seismic shift” in cyberthreat development, says Yael Kishon, AI product and research lead at Kela. Even open forums like Hack Forums are buzzing with discussions about optimal models for different attacks. A “Dark AI” forum regularly hosts new posts and replies, with a pinned mega list of AIs used for illicit purposes garnering nearly 20,000 views and more than 100 replies—on a public forum. Far more activity takes place in dark web spaces. This growing trade in malicious LLMs is a worry to the general public, but it’s not surprising. “Once upon a time, to be a cybercriminal you needed skills, you needed knowledge, and needed to be able to code,” says Rob Allen, chief technical officer at ThreatLocker, which monitors the rise of LLMs among criminals. “Now all you need, really, is bad intentions.” Only some mainstream LLMs have built-in guardrails to prevent malicious use, and dark web LLMs often rely on open-source models without safeguards or cracked versions of commercial ones. According to Kela’s analysis, discussions around jailbreaking LLMs have surged 52% year over year. Malicious LLMs sold on criminal forums typically fall into two categories: jailbroken commercial LLMs or altered open-source models. Their approaches vary. EscapeGPT, launched in August 2023 at around $65 a month, was based on ChatGPT’s 3.5 Turbo, analysis of its behavior showed. WormGPT, developed from an open-source model in 2021, reportedly brought in about $14,000 monthly by charging for access. This underground market reflects the legitimate AI industry: Competition is fierce, pricing strategies abound, and model creators market their tools aggressively. FraudGPT, a model released in July 2023, gets poor reviews (partly because its creators allegedly scam their own buyers) but still boasts in marketing materials about its 8.5-terabyte training data set. GhostGPT, one of the latest and most talked-about malicious LLMs, is either a jailbroken version of ChatGPT or a modified open-source model, according to researchers at Abnormal Security. “GhostGPT is a chatbot specifically designed to cater to cybercriminals,” the researchers say. “By eliminating the ethical and safety constraints typically built into AI models, GhostGPT can provide direct, unfiltered answers to sensitive or harmful queries that would be blocked or flagged by conventional AI systems.” Access is priced competitively: $50 for a week’s access to a Telegram bot, $150 for a month (less than OpenAI charges for access to ChatGPT Pro), or $300 for three months. The model can generate phishing emails and malware prompts on demand. It also boasts fast responses and no data logs, minimizing the digital trail for law enforcement. In testing, Abnormal Security got it to produce a convincing Docusign phishing email in less than a minute from the prompt “Write a phishing email from Docusign.” GhostGPT may be the newest model making waves in cybercrime circles, but it follows a familiar pattern. “We found that most use an API from OpenAI and jailbreaking prompts,” says Zilong Lin, a researcher at Indiana University Bloomington, who conducted an August 2024 analysis of more than 200 malicious LLMs available on the dark web. Criminals prefer jailbreaking existing models because building one from scratch is costly, Lin tells Fast Company. And with many models simply a single jailbreak prompt away from being shorn of their protections, it’s never been easier to leverage the capabilities of the world’s most powerful chatbots for nefarious means. But solutions can be complicated, says ThreatLocker’s Allen. “Fundamentally, everything is to a greater or lesser degree vulnerable,” he explains. “Most things are weaponizable.” This story was supported by Tarbell Grants. View the full article

Meghan Markle has been teasing the launch of her lifestyle brand, now called As Ever, for a while now, and Markle finally revealed its product line earlier this week. But while followers of the Duchess of Sussex are just now learning what her brand will offer, Markle’s fledging business has already faced its fair share of controversy. In the spring of 2024, Markle dropped the first hint at a potential business in the form of several artisanal jars of jam sent to various celebrity friends, each branded with the name “American Riviera Orchard.” The next update didn’t arrive until this February, when Markle announced on Instagram that she had scrapped the “American Riviera Orchard” brand for As Ever. Most recently, in a newsletter mailed to subscribers this Monday, Markle offered some insight into As Ever’s first product drop, which will include a raspberry spread, wildflower honey, dried flower sprinkles, various teas, and crepe and shortbread mixes. So far, it’s unclear when exactly As Ever’s products will be on sale, how much they’ll cost, and whether Markle plans to branch out from food and beverage into other types of lifestyle products. As fans of Markle await these details, fans of the drama are paying attention to several other stories overshadowing As Ever’s launch—including a legal dispute over its logo, concerns about the originality of its new name, and critiques around the tone of its marketing. Here’s everything you need to know about the drama surrounding As Ever. A logo mishap The strangest controversy that’s popped up around As Ever has to do with its logo. The brand’s emblem—a white-on-gold line drawing inside an elegant, elongated octagon—features a palm tree bookended by two symmetrical hummingbirds. An anonymous source told Vanity Fair that the brand chose the tree as a reference to Markle’s home in California, while the hummingbirds are a favorite of Markle’s husband, Prince Harry. But some outside viewers have been skeptical of the inspiration behind the design. Critics noted that the design looked oddly similar to the historic coat of arms used by Porreres, a small town in Majorca, Spain, since the 1400s. In an interview with The Sun in February, the mayor of Porreres, Francisca Mora Veny, said she was considering legal action against As Ever for the logo (though she went on to admit that she may not be able to afford such a challenge). “We don’t want our coat of arms to be perverted,” Veny said, adding, “The only difference with their logo and our coat of arms is that theirs shows two hummingbirds and ours are either swallows or pigeons—historians cannot agree.” In a further statement to the publication El País, she said, “It’s a total copy.” So far, it’s unclear whether Veny has reached out directly to Markle, or whether she plans to move forward with a legal dispute. New name, new challenges The change of brand name from “American Riviera Orchard” to “As Ever” has also drawn some unwanted attention to Markle’s business. In her Instagram announcement video, Markle shared that she originally chose “American Riviera” to represent her neighborhood, Santa Barbara, but she found that the title would limit her business to selling items that were manufactured and grown in the area. So, she explained in the video, she opted instead for “As Ever,” a name that she claimed was secured in 2022. Based on an application filed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Markle’s team submitted a request for the As Ever trademark on September 17, 2024. Per the document, the application had been approved by the examining attorney but had not yet been published as of March 26. Since Markle announced the name change back in February, at least two businesses of the same name have come forward to express their surprise. The first is a New York-based clothing brand called As Ever, run by owner Mark Kolski since 2017. Kolski told Vanity Fair that he was surprised not to have received advance notice about Markle’s brand, but that he didn’t plan to make any changes to his own business or to take action against Markle. “If they had intentions of making clothes out of the gate then it could have been a problem,” Kolski said. “They’re choosing not to make clothing at this time, but that could change. I have no interest in having any public forum battle against this new venture. That’s not who I am.” Jen Corbett, owner of the company As Ever Photography, has taken a similar stance to Kolski. In an initial Instagram post reacting to Markle’s branding, she wrote, “When one of the most famous people in the world starts using your biz name of 12+ years (that you named in honor of your grandmother), seems like they could throw me a lil bone?” However, that post has since been deleted, and Corbett has posted a follow-up story to clarify that, “I had a bit of fun posting about Meghan Markle using my biz name, but I am in no way interested in hate mongering against her.” As Ever’s perception problem Aside from its branding, As Ever is also drawing some backlash for the tone of its marketing. On As Ever’s new website, a message to fans notes, “As Ever is more than a brand—it’s a love language.” And in her newsletter sent to fans this week, Markle explained that her raspberry spread’s “keepsake packaging” could be repurposed to hold “love notes” or “special treasures.” In response to that suggestion, Margaret Hartmann, senior editor at The New Yorker, quipped that Markle’s latest “big idea” is “rinsing and reusing jam jars.” It’s a jab that builds on commentary surrounding Markle’s Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, which was widely criticized for presenting an out-of-touch look at Markle’s privileged life in Montecito (one particularly harsh review from The Guardian labeled it “toe-curlingly unlovable.”) It’s difficult to cast a judgment on Markle’s new brand just yet, considering that its products haven’t even dropped (though the number of number of issues As Ever has faced with its branding so far does seem concerning for such a new company.) If As Ever’s luxe look is anything to go by, Markle’s raspberry spread isn’t going to retail for prices one might find in the grocery store—in which case, it doesn’t seem likely that the brand will do much to repair the image of inauthenticity that’s plagued Markle’s other ventures as of late. View the full article

Our phones are making us unhappy, but I’m not sure cutting myself off from humanity’s universe of information with a dumbphone is the answer. It’s kind of like how we know walking is healthier than driving, but it’s a moot point when the average person lives 27 miles from their workplace. However, maybe our smartphones don’t need a lobotomy. Maybe they just need to respect our boundaries. This is an idea explored in a new concept called Aperture, by the London studio Special Projects. It’s a case that crops your smartphone into a small square of your screen when you flip your case over, revealing a series of smart widgets. By the same firm that developed ideas like discrete, skin-pressed messages for Blackberry and a Paper Phone for Google, Aperture was inspired when Adrian Westaway, cofounder and director of technology and magic at Special Projects, flipped his iPhone case backward and saw a little window left open where the cameras were supposed to be. Senior designer Matteo Bandi ran with this idea in UI renderings, imagining a system in your full-feature smartphone could deliver a tiny version of just a few apps you need. These widgets might be a camera, step-by-step instructions pulled from a recipe, or even a compass pointing you toward your destination. It’s a smartphone’s function without the fluff. Most of these experiences are even presented in stoic black and white—slicing back the candy colors behind another dopamine hit. But the demo still finds a few moments of whimsy, largely through its little smiling mascots. (The mascots really come to life when, sitting at a table with friends, the faces from each phone look at one another and hop into a cozy ball.) “We’re trying to find the right balance between being helpful and not preachy,” says Clara Gaggero Westaway, cofounder and creative director at Special Projects. “It’s like, we don’t want to take technology away, but how can we help people to use technology in a way that makes them have a better life?” Aperture is clever but admittedly not entirely original. Special Projects points to all sorts of precedent within the industry playing with this same idea. UX designers have been exploring the concept for more than a decade now, from a very charming birdhouse alarm clock, to an Apple patent for a smart iPad case that reveals just part of the screen, to the current Samsung Smart View case that allows you to see the time, answer a call, and skip the track of a song. But Aperture is framed a bit differently than any of these approaches. Part of that sensation might simply come down to the fact that Aperture wouldn’t be as slickly integrated as Samsung’s Smart View that easily folds open and closed. Instead, the team imagines you literally take your case off and turn it around, opting into and out of the experience. “One of the words that I think is quite key is friction,” says Gaggero Westaway. “You cannot use it compulsively. You almost have to have a conscious behavior to say, ‘Okay, [now] I’m gonna take it off and doomscroll again.” At face value, we have products that get close to Aperture’s core idea. The Apple Watch’s original pitch was to be a product that kept you from looking at your phone, and its screen size isn’t so different from what an Aperture case would be. But Special Projects bristles just a bit at the idea of selling technology to amend your relationship with technology. “There’s also something weird about it feeling like you’ve made a new object,” Westaway says. “Like you can have two things in your hands that you’ve always had, and then you just [put them together]. And now it’s reshaped.” The other thing that Aperture reveals is what exactly makes our phones feel toxic these days. Tools to help with cooking and navigation feel additive to our experience. Screen time, in these senses, feels positive to our well-being. It’s when trying to picture something like an Instagram or TikTok feed squeezing into that little window that my stomach lurches just a bit, and the mechanisms of addiction reveal themselves. Instead of a mini social feed, Special Projects imagined that Aperture would instead offer a break from social media. So if you’re using Instagram when you flip your case around, Aperture will present a focus timer for you to do anything else but be on your phone. “We sort of arbitrarily translated [Instagram as a] timer as an escape. I think that will be a space for us to explore,” Bandi says, noting there are many ways to frame dedicated time to do something else. Aperture would be a challenging concept to bring to market, especially on iPhones, which have more rigid limitations than Androids. But a Special Projects client has expressed interest, and promised funding, to help commercialize the idea (probably in the form of a case you can buy). And with the advent of generative AI, it becomes easier to imagine how some of Aperture’s mini app interpretations, like its recipes, could feasibly work. But for now, Special Projects is putting Aperture’s earliest incarnations into the wild to solicit feedback, and understand what customers might want in such a product before realizing it for market. “We were just putting this out as a thought piece, and were absolutely not going to try and commercialize it. Then this [funding] opportunity came up,” Westaway says. “Rather than disappear for a year, we thought we could have an exploratory approach.” View the full article

In today’s dynamic, diverse, and rapidly changing workforce, organizations’ success is dependent upon creating an environment where different perspectives come together. That’s how we produce the best ideas. Despite the recent attacks on them, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion principles provide a crucial foundation for thriving companies. If companies want to experience the benefits of broad ideas, they need to attract talented employees from different backgrounds. And once they’ve hired those top talents, they need to make sure that they don’t exclude anyone from participating in discussions and sharing their honest views. Many arguments support why successful organizations need to be able to capture the best from as wide a range of people as possible. Here are a few of the main ones. 1. Results in greater creativity and innovation By bringing a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the table, organizations ensure that they have a large enough reservoir that they need to come up with fresh approaches and new, groundbreaking solutions. In my book, Emotional Intelligence Game Changers: 101 Simple Ways to Win at Work + Life, I delve into how to create a culture of creativity. In an organization, employees need to be able to bounce new and diverse ideas off each other. They also need to trust that the company will value their uniqueness and contributions. In a diverse and rapidly changing landscape, organizations that limit their circle to people of similar backgrounds risk stagnation. They’re also likely to fail in their quest to recruit and keep talented people who are necessary for ongoing growth and success. 2. Boosts connection and collaboration When all employees feel free and empowered to share their thoughts and ideas, it builds a culture of connection and collaboration. As a result, teamwork skills begin to develop among diverse groups, breaking down barriers and increasing understanding of and respect for those who are different from us. The effect of this is increased motivation and commitment to work toward shared goals. CultureCon’s latest showed that when employees feel their voices are genuinely valued, they are 3.5 times more likely to report higher job satisfaction. 3. Increases the organization’s ability to attract and retain top talent Being known as an organization that supports DEI principles is attractive to people who are looking for a place to work where they will be treated fairly and equitably. These individuals are looking for places where they can thrive and get the opportunity to work with other talented people. When they find a place where companies appreciate and recognize them, they are more motivated to remain with the organization. CultureCon’s research found that 63% of employees are more likely to stay at a company that actively prioritizes DEI. 4. Improves job satisfaction and well-being When staff witness a genuine commitment to ensuring that they value, hear, and appreciate everyone, an atmosphere of trust and loyalty spreads through the organization. This leads to reduced turnover and enhanced job satisfaction, which makes people feel excited to be part of the organization. The result is greater productivity and overall organizational success. 5. Enhances the organizational brand and reputation Having a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, and social responsibility has far-reaching effects beyond the organization itself. The reputation that it builds will make the organization stand out as a leader. It will also attract new loyal customers, and secure more business opportunities. Customers and clients will search out organizations that they trust will develop fair, equitable, and diverse workplaces. DEI might be under attack, but organizations that continue to invest in it will reap the rewards in the long run. An inclusive, supportive workplace that encourages a broad range of ideas to flourish will result in creativity, innovation, and a positive work culture. And in the long term, those are the organizations that will last. View the full article

Google's Danny Sullivan explained what to expect, from an SEO perspective, when a site starts publishing on a completely new topic The post Google Explains SEO Impact Of Adding New Topics appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Claim comes as MPs hear evidence in wake of substation fire that led to hundreds of cancelled flightsView the full article