Author: arthursheikin@gmail.com

[ad_1] When you answer the phone, do you say “hello” or offer some sort of greeting right away, or do you expect the caller to initiate the conversation?If you’re over the age of 28, my guess is you’re confused by this question. Of course you say “hello” when picking up the phone.But Gen Z — a generation raised in a post-landline universe — may disagree. They expect you — the person calling — to speak first.A recent viral tweet brought up this alarming etiquette divide. Someone who works in recruiting tweeted that she’s noticed that when she calls Gen Z…

[ad_1] What’s left of the AI coding startup Windsurf will be acquired by its competitor Cognition, the two companies just announced.Google announced on Friday that it had hired Windsurf’s CEO and other key executives and licensed its technology, leaving Windsurf’s future as an independent company in doubt. This also meant a previous deal with OpenAI to acquire it was off.Now, Windsurf interim CEO Jeff Wang says Cognition’s acquisition will be a “perfect fit” that would provide endless opportunities for engineers to “100x” their productivity. The terms of Cognition’s deal, announced Monday, weren’t disclosed.”The last 72 hours have been the wildest…

[ad_1] President Donald Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education can officially be revived.On Monday, the Supreme Court said that Trump’s administration can move forward with its plan to terminate over 1,300 of the Department of Education’s employees. Prior to the terminations, the department had 4,133 workers on staff. After the department announced in March that it planned to slash half of its workforce, a federal judge in May blocked those plans from moving forward indefinitely.The Supreme Court’s Monday ruling temporarily suspends that federal judge’s block while the legal process plays out. The three liberal judges dissented.”Today, the Supreme…

[ad_1] Meta announced on Monday that it will take additional measures to crack down on accounts sharing “unoriginal” content to Facebook, meaning those that repeatedly reuse someone else’s text, photos, or videos. This year, Meta has already taken down around 10 million profiles that were impersonating large content creators, it said. Plus, it has taken action against 500,000 accounts that were engaged in “spammy behavior or fake engagement.” Those actions have included things like demoting the accounts’ comments and reducing the distribution of their content to prevent the accounts from monetizing. The update from Meta follows only days after YouTube…

[ad_1] Millennials and Gen Z are getting into it online over a behavior that’s been dubbed the “Gen Z Stare.”As more of Gen Z enters the workforce, some millennials are saying the younger workers are greeting customers and colleagues with wide eyes, blank expressions, and pregnant pauses.While some online argue it could be a sign of workplace awkwardness or underdeveloped soft skills like communication, others are pushing back and saying the trend’s blame is misplaced.It’s the latest example of Gen Z’s workplace etiquette going under the microscope. Some members of the generation have been criticized by their older coworkers for…

[ad_1] While dividend growth continued to slow in the second quarter, there is some encouraging news on what may lie ahead. The net change in dividends — the increases minus decreases — for domestic U.S. common stocks rose $7.4 billion in the second quarter of 2025, according to S & P Dow Jones Indices . That is significantly less than the $16 billion increase in the year-ago period and the $15.3 billion gain in the first quarter of this year, the firm found. Economic uncertainty may have had companies limiting the size of their dividend increases, but once policies become…

[ad_1] Cognition, the startup behind the viral AI coding agent Devin, announced in a blog post on Monday that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf. The announcement comes just days after Google hired away Windsurf’s CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and research leaders in a $2.4 billion deal, a reverse-acquihire that left the rest of the startup’s 250-person team behind. Google’s deal occurred just hours after OpenAI’s $3 billion offer to acquire Windsurf expired, clearing the way for the AI coding startup to explore other options. The frenzy to acquire Windsurf represents a…

[ad_1] Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari currently dominate the web browser market, with Chrome holding a significant share due to the tech giant’s ongoing innovations, particularly in integrating generative AI into its search functionalities.  However, users seeking alternatives will find a variety of browsers aiming to challenge these industry giants. To help navigate the competitive landscape of the browser wars, we’ve compiled an overview of some of the top alternative browsers available today. This includes browsers leveraging AI, open-source browsers that promote customization and privacy, and “mindful browsers”—a new term that refers to browsers designed to enhance user well-being. AI-powered…

[ad_1] Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has pivoted from antisemitism to anime girl waifus. Musk wrote in an X post on Monday that AI companions are now available in the Grok app for “Super Grok” subscribers who pay $30 per month. According to posts that Musk has shared, it seems that there are at least two available AI companions: Ani, an anime girl in a tight corset and short black dress with thigh-high fishnets, and Bad Rudy, a 3D fox creature. “This is pretty cool,” Musk wrote, then shared a photo of the blonde-pigtailed goth anime girl. Given that this…

[ad_1] Some of America’s favorite big-box retailers are expanding in 2025.Walmart, Target, Trader Joe’s, and Costco have all opened a batch of new stores this year, and many more are coming in the second half of the year.In total, they expect to open a combined 68 locations across more than a dozen states.Here’s the full list: Target plans to open 300 stores in the next decade. Talia Lakritz/Business Insider TargetTarget began 2025 with 1,963 locations in the US, which puts its stores within ten miles of most American households.After closing a few underperforming locations in recent years, the Minneapolis-based retailer…