Published April 15, 2025 6:00am EDT close 'CyberGuy': Smarter dairy farms where robots milk the cows Tech expert Kurt Knutsson discusses how robots can milk, feed and clean cows on dairy farms, boosting efficiency and comfort. Picture this: A dairy barn full of cows being milked, fed and cleaned up after, but there’s no farmer in sight. Sounds a bit unusual, right? Well, it’s not as far-fetched as you might think. Thanks to cutting-edge agricultural robotics, this kind of scene is becoming more common. At this farm, a team of autonomous robots is taking care of all the essential chores, completely changing the way dairy farming works.These robots aren’t just doing the heavy lifting; they’re creating a stress-free, comfortable environment for the cows while keeping things efficient and sustainable.STAY PROTECTED & INFORMED! GET SECURITY ALERTS & EXPERT TECH TIPS – SIGN UP FOR KURT’S ‘THE CYBERGUY REPORT’ NOW Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)The rise of robotic dairy farmsIn a dairy barn managed by robots, cows can choose to be milked whenever they like, which is often more frequent than the twice-a-day schedule in traditional farms. This increased frequency is more comfortable for the cows and can lead to roughly a 10% increase in milk production.Lely, established in 1948 in the Netherlands, introduced its first Astronaut milking robot in the early 1990s. Since then, the company has developed various robotic systems that assist with cleaning, feeding and ensuring cow comfort. Today, Lely is focused entirely on robots for dairy farms, with approximately 135,000 units deployed worldwide. Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)From milking to manure: How robots lighten the load for dairy farmersTraditional dairy farms rely heavily on human labor for repetitive daily tasks, which can take up about a third of a farmer's workday. These tasks include milking, feeding and manure management. Lely's robots automate these tasks, allowing dairy farmers to focus on other aspects of their business and enjoy a more flexible lifestyle. The Astronaut A5 milking robot, for example, uses a laser-guided robot arm to clean the cow's udder before attaching teat cups. It also monitors milk output and collects data on 32 parameters, including milk quality and cow health indicators. Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Dairy industry 4.0The introduction of milking machines in the early 1900s and rural electrification in the 1950s significantly increased farm size and milk production. Lely believes that robots will enable small dairy farms to continue scaling sustainably. While dairy robots are expensive, Lely argues that they pay for themselves over time through increased milk production and lower labor costs. Other robots, such as the Vector mobile robot for continuous feeding and feed pushing, and the Discovery Collector, a robotic manure vacuum, further reduce labor needs.AI also plays a critical role in optimizing feeding systems, reducing waste and improving sustainability, which are key factors in modern dairy farming. Wearable technology and smart sensors are also becoming increasingly important tools in herd health monitoring, offering farmers real-time insights into cow well-being and productivity. Discovery Collector manure solution (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Cows vs robotsCows are curious animals and tend to interact with robots. Lely has had to cow-proof its robots to ensure they can function autonomously around cows. This includes modifying the robots' design and programming, such as adding contact-sensing bumpers and relocating emergency stop buttons. Engineers have also had to consider the social dynamics within a herd. For example, the Discovery Collector robot had to be programmed to assert its dominance within the herd to avoid being blocked by cows.Lely recognizes the importance of designing robots that are not only functional but also trustworthy and reliable. Jan Jacobs emphasizes that the robots are not intended to be friends with the cows or the farmers but rather professional employees. Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)SpecsHere are some specs of the Lely Astronaut A5 milking robot:AI Features: Equipped with a 3D camera, laser-guided teat detection and AI-powered Lely Horizon software for herd management and data analysisDimensions: 7 x 4 x 8 feetWeight: 2,000 poundsPower: 220V, 30 ampsAir Pressure: 80 psiWater: Standard connection Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)From dairy farmers to robot managersLely is working to integrate its robots seamlessly into the daily lives of dairy farmers, who are increasingly becoming robot managers. This requires farmers to manage the robots and learn how to interpret the data they generate. The additional time and flexibility afforded by robots have allowed some dairy farmers to diversify their operations. One Lely customer, for example, has added a restaurant and farm shop to his dairy, allowing patrons to observe the robots at work while enjoying cheese made from the cows they care for.Lely helps farmers prepare for the shift to robotic dairy farming, both in terms of the physical environment and their mindset. This includes managing the massive amount of data generated by the robots and using it for long-term optimization. Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Flexibility and sustainabilityMany dairy farms are adopting robots to decrease their dependence on hired help and gain greater flexibility. Farmers report that robots have allowed them to prioritize their personal lives and spend more quality time with their families. Robots also contribute to the long-term viability of smaller dairy farms by making the profession more appealing to younger generations. The reduced workload and commitment associated with robotic farming make it a more attractive career path. Astronaut milking robot (Lely) (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)PriceThe cost of a milking robot can be several hundred thousand dollars, plus an additional $5,000 to $10,000 per year in operating costs.Kurt's key takeawaysSo, what's the future of dairy farming look like? It seems like robots are poised to play a huge role, helping farmers work smarter, not harder. It's interesting to think about how these technologies will continue to evolve and shape the industry in the years to come.At the end of the day, dairy farming is about people and animals. While robots can handle many of the repetitive tasks, it's the farmer's knowledge and care that truly make a difference. These technologies are tools, and how farmers use them will determine the future of their farms and the well-being of their herds. It's definitely a blend of the old and the new for dairy farmers who are purchasing these robots.Knowing what you know now, how would you feel about buying milk from a robotic dairy farm? Does it change your perception of the product? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.

The EcoFlow 125W portable solar panels come in a four-pack for up to 500W capacity. The best part? They're lightweight and modular.

These trends will blur the lines between human and machine intelligence, unlocking productivity and creativity.

In brief: Do you ever look at your extensive Steam library, including all those games you bought in sales but never got around to playing, and wonder how much money you've spent in total? The good – or bad – news is that there's a buried tool within Valve's platform that tells you precisely how much money you've handed over, including microtransactions and DLC. While there are ways to find the estimated value of a Steam account, such as the Steam Calculator, the platform itself can show users the exact amount they spent since opening their account. As pointed out by Reddit user trotski94, you can discover the chilling figure by going to the Steam client and navigating to Help > Steam Support > My account > Data related to your Steam account > External funds used. The figures are a sum of external funds that have been applied to your Steam account, either to purchase games on the Steam store or fund your Steam Wallet. Steam also offers a way to see where all that money went. To see your entire Steam purchase history, go to Help > Steam Support > My account > Data related to your Steam account > Purchase history. Or you can go directly to this page. My total is $3,697, though the real spend would have been slightly higher – I joined Steam after purchasing Half-Life 2 in 2004 but opened a new account in 2009. My total spend pales in comparison to some of the figures posted to Reddit. One person has spent $14,842, but the biggest spender in the thread has somehow spent $26,437 on Steam games over the years. There will be even bigger spenders, of course. Last summer, it was estimated that a user called stasik had spent anywhere from $500,000 up to $700,000 to gain the highest-level Steam account in the world: level 5,960. For most people, the actual amount they've spent on video games over their lifetimes will be even higher than what Steam shows. Many of us spent a lot of money on physical titles before Valve helped render them obsolete. Then there are the pre-PC computers and consoles, not to mention other current storefronts like the Epic Games Store and GOG. Still, nobody said this was a cheap hobby. h/t: PCGamer // Related Stories

Electric vehicles are quietly crushing old stereotypes about being delicate or unreliable, and the data now backs it up in a big way. According to Germany’s ADAC — Europe’s largest roadside assistance provider — EVs are actually more reliable than their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts. And this isn’t just a small study — it’s based on a staggering 3.6 million breakdowns in 2024 alone. For cars registered between 2020 and 2022, EVs averaged just 4.2 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles, while ICE cars saw more than double that, at 10.4 per 1,000. Even with more EVs hitting the road, they only accounted for 1.2% of total breakdowns — a big win for the battery-powered crowd. Recommended Videos Among standout performers, some cars delivered exceptionally low breakdown rates. The Audi A4 clocked in at just 0.4 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles for 2022 models, with Tesla’s Model 3 right behind at 0.5. The Volkswagen ID.4, another popular EV, also impressed with a rate of 1.0 – as did the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross at 1.3. On the flip side, there were some major outliers: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 showed a surprisingly high 22.4 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles for its 2022 models, while the hybrid Toyota RAV4 posted 18.4. Interestingly, the most common issue for both EVs and ICE vehicles was exactly the same: the humble 12-volt battery. Despite all the futuristic tech in EVs, it’s this old-school component that causes 50% of all EV breakdowns, and 45% for gas-powered cars. Meanwhile, EVs shine in categories like engine management and electrical systems — areas where traditional engines are more complex and failure-prone. But EVs aren’t completely flawless. They had a slightly higher rate of tire-related issues — 1.3 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles compared to 0.9 for ICE cars. That could be due to their heavier weight and high torque, which can accelerate tire wear. Still, this trend is fading in newer EVs as tire tech and vehicle calibration improve. Now, zooming out beyond Germany: a 2024 Consumer Reports study in the U.S. painted a different picture. It found that EVs, especially newer models, had more reliability issues than gas cars, citing tech glitches and inconsistent build quality. But it’s worth noting that the American data focused more on owner-reported problems, not just roadside breakdowns. So, while the long-term story is still developing, especially for older EVs, Germany’s data suggests that when it comes to simply keeping you on the road, EVs are pulling ahead — quietly, efficiently, and with far fewer breakdowns than you might expect.

try, try again Report: Apple will take another crack at iPad multitasking in iPadOS 19 It would be Apple's first overhaul of iPad multitasking since 2022's iPadOS 16. Andrew Cunningham – Apr 14, 2025 12:40 pm | 91 The M4 iPad Pro. Credit: Apple The M4 iPad Pro. Credit: Apple Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Apple is taking another crack at iPad multitasking, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. This year's iPadOS 19 release, due to be unveiled at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, will apparently include an "overhaul that will make the tablet's software more like macOS." The report is light on details about what's actually changing, aside from a broad "focus on productivity, multitasking, and app window management." But Apple will apparently continue to stop short of allowing users of newer iPads to run macOS on their tablets, despite the fact that modern iPad Airs and Pros use the same processors as Macs. If this is giving you déjà vu, you're probably thinking about iPadOS 16, the last time Apple tried making significant upgrades to the iPad's multitasking model. Gurman's reporting at the time even used similar language, saying that iPads running the new software would work "more like a laptop and less like a phone." The result of those efforts was Stage Manager. It had steep hardware requirements and launched in pretty rough shape, even though Apple delayed the release of the update by a month to keep polishing it. Stage Manager did allow for more flexible multitasking, and on newer models, it enabled true multi-monitor support for the first time. But early versions were buggy and frustrating in ways that still haven't fully been addressed by subsequent updates (MacStories' Federico Viticci keeps the Internet's most comprehensive record of the issues with the software.) Stage Manager was Apple's first crack at a full overhaul for the iPad's app multitasking; the original implementation dated back to iOS 9, the first release to allow a pair of iPad apps to run side by side on the screen at the same time. Apple gradually improved this multitasking mode in subsequent releases, and it's still the way multitasking works on older iPads and the $349 11th-generation iPad. But features like Split View and Slide Over were designed for iPads with weaker processors and as little as 2GB of RAM; by the time the iPads began shipping with the same M-series processors that Apple used for the Macs, it was clear that the hardware was capable of more. A hallmark of our iPad Pro reviews, from the original in 2015 all the way up through last year's M4 models, is that iPadOS and its apps aren't making the best possible use of the hardware, especially for the prices Apple charges. The new software update could fix that, making the iPad Pro and Air feel more like the laptop replacements they're clearly capable of being. It could also feel like another half-measure. Either way, we'll know more in just a few weeks. Andrew Cunningham Senior Technology Reporter Andrew Cunningham Senior Technology Reporter Andrew is a Senior Technology Reporter at Ars Technica, with a focus on consumer tech including computer hardware and in-depth reviews of operating systems like Windows and macOS. Andrew lives in Philadelphia and co-hosts a weekly book podcast called Overdue. 91 Comments

Arnhildur Pálmadóttir was around three years old when she saw a red sky from her living room window. A volcano was erupting about 25 miles away from where she lived on the northeastern coast of Iceland. Though it posed no immediate threat, its ominous presence seeped into her subconscious, populating her dreams with streaks of light in the night sky. Fifty years later, these “gloomy, strange dreams,” as Pálmadóttir now describes them, have led to a career as an architect with an extraordinary mission: to harness molten lava and build cities out of it. Pálmadóttir today lives in Reykjavik, where she runs her own architecture studio, S.AP Arkitektar, and the Icelandic branch of the Danish architecture company Lendager, which specializes in reusing building materials. The architect believes the lava that flows from a single eruption could yield enough building material to lay the foundations of an entire city. She has been researching this possibility for more than five years as part of a project she calls Lavaforming. Together with her son and colleague Arnar Skarphéðinsson, she has identified three potential techniques: drill straight into magma pockets and extract the lava; channel molten lava into pre-dug trenches that could form a city’s foundations; or 3D-print bricks from molten lava in a technique similar to the way objects can be printed out of molten glass. Pálmadóttir and Skarphéðinsson first presented the concept during a talk at Reykjavik’s DesignMarch festival in 2022. This year they are producing a speculative film set in 2150, in an imaginary city called Eldborg. Their film, titled Lavaforming, follows the lives of Eldborg’s residents and looks back on how they learned to use molten lava as a building material. It will be presented at the Venice Biennale, a leading architecture festival, in May.  Set in 2150, her speculative film Lavaforming presents a fictional city built from molten lava.COURTESY OF S.AP ARKITEKTAR Buildings and construction materials like concrete and steel currently contribute a staggering 37% of the world’s annual carbon dioxide emissions. Many architects are advocating for the use of natural or preexisting materials, but mixing earth and water into a mold is one thing; tinkering with 2,000 °F lava is another.  Still, Pálmadóttir is piggybacking on research already being done in Iceland, which has 30 active volcanoes. Since 2021, eruptions have intensified in the Reykjanes Peninsula, which is close to the capital and to tourist hot spots like the Blue Lagoon. In 2024 alone, there were six volcanic eruptions in that area. This frequency has given volcanologists opportunities to study how lava behaves after a volcano erupts. “We try to follow this beast,” says Gro Birkefeldt M. Pedersen, a volcanologist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), who has consulted with Pálmadóttir on a few occasions. “There is so much going on, and we’re just trying to catch up and be prepared.” Pálmadóttir’s concept assumes that many years from now, volcanologists will be able to forecast lava flow accurately enough for cities to plan on using it in building. They will know when and where to dig trenches so that when a volcano erupts, the lava will flow into them and solidify into either walls or foundations. Today, forecasting lava flows is a complex science that requires remote sensing technology and tremendous amounts of computational power to run simulations on supercomputers. The IMO typically runs two simulations for every new eruption—one based on data from previous eruptions, and another based on additional data acquired shortly after the eruption (from various sources like specially outfitted planes). With every event, the team accumulates more data, which makes the simulations of lava flow more accurate. Pedersen says there is much research yet to be done, but she expects “a lot of advancement” in the next 10 years or so.  To design the speculative city of Eldborg for their film, Pálmadóttir and Skarphéðinsson used 3D-modeling software similar to what Pedersen uses for her simulations. The city is primarily built on a network of trenches that were filled with lava over the course of several eruptions, while buildings are constructed out of lava bricks. “We’re going to let nature design the buildings that will pop up,” says Pálmadóttir.  The aesthetic of the city they envision will be less modernist and more fantastical—a bit “like [Gaudi’s] Sagrada Familia,” says Pálmadóttir. But the aesthetic output is not really the point; the architects’ goal is to galvanize architects today and spark an urgent discussion about the impact of climate change on our cities. She stresses the value of what can only be described as moonshot thinking. “I think it is important for architects not to be only in the present,” she told me. “Because if we are only in the present, working inside the system, we won’t change anything.” Pálmadóttir was born in 1972 in Húsavik, a town known as the whale-watching capital of Iceland. But she was more interested in space and technology and spent a lot of time flying with her father, a construction engineer who owned a small plane. She credits his job for the curiosity she developed about science and “how things were put together”—an inclination that proved useful later, when she started researching volcanoes. So was the fact that Icelanders “learn to live with volcanoes from birth.” At 21, she moved to Norway, where she spent seven years working in 3D visualization before returning to Reykjavik and enrolling in an architecture program at the Iceland University of the Arts. But things didn’t click until she moved to Barcelona for a master’s degree at the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia. “I remember being there and feeling, finally, like I was in the exact right place,” she says.  Before, architecture had seemed like a commodity and architects like “slaves to investment companies,” she says. Now, it felt like a path with potential.  COURTESY OF S.AP ARKITEKTAR COURTESY OF S.AP ARKITEKTAR COURTESY OF S.AP ARKITEKTAR COURTESY OF S.AP ARKITEKTAR Lava has proved to be a strong, durable building material, at least in its solid state. To explore its potential, Pálmadóttir and Skarphéðinsson envision a city built on a network of trenches that have filled with lava over the course of several eruptions, while buildings are constructed with lava bricks. She returned to Reykjavik in 2009 and worked as an architect until she founded S.AP (for “studio Arnhildur Pálmadóttir”) Arkitektar in 2018; her son started working with her in 2019 and officially joined her as an architect this year, after graduating from the Southern California Institute of Architecture.  In 2021, the pair witnessed their first eruption up close, near the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula. It was there that Pálmadóttir became aware of the sheer quantity of material coursing through the planet’s veins, and the potential to divert it into channels.  Lava has already proved to be a strong, long-lasting building material—at least in its solid state. When it cools, it solidifies into volcanic rock like basalt or rhyolite. The type of rock depends on the composition of the lava, but basaltic lava—like the kind found in Iceland and Hawaii—forms one of the hardest rocks on Earth, which means that structures built from this type of lava would be durable and resilient.  For years, architects in Mexico, Iceland, and Hawaii (where lava is widely available) have built structures out of volcanic rock. But quarrying that rock is an energy-intensive process that requires heavy machines to extract, cut, and haul it, often across long distances, leaving a big carbon footprint. Harnessing lava in its molten state, however, could unlock new methods for sustainable construction. Jeffrey Karson, a professor emeritus at Syracuse University who specializes in volcanic activity and who cofounded the Syracuse University Lava Project, agrees that lava is abundant enough to warrant interest as a building material. To understand how it behaves, Karson has spent the past 15 years performing over a thousand controlled lava pours from giant furnaces. If we figure out how to build up its strength as it cools, he says, “that stuff has a lot of potential.”  In his research, Karson found that inserting metal rods into the lava flow helps reduce the kind of uneven cooling that would lead to thermal cracking—and therefore makes the material stronger (a bit like rebar in concrete). Like glass and other molten materials, lava behaves differently depending on how fast it cools. When glass or lava cools slowly, crystals start forming, strengthening the material. Replicating this process—perhaps in a kiln—could slow down the rate of cooling and let the lava become stronger. This kind of controlled cooling is “easy to do on small things like bricks,” says Karson, so “it’s not impossible to make a wall.”  Pálmadóttir is clear-eyed about the challenges before her. She knows the techniques she and Skarphéðinsson are exploring may not lead to anything tangible in their lifetimes, but they still believe that the ripple effect the projects could create in the architecture community is worth pursuing. Both Karson and Pedersen caution that more experiments are necessary to study this material’s potential. For Skarphéðinsson, that potential transcends the building industry. More than 12 years ago, Icelanders voted that the island’s natural resources, like its volcanoes and fishing waters, should be declared national property. That means any city built from lava flowing out of these volcanoes would be controlled not by deep-pocketed individuals or companies, but by the nation itself. (The referendum was considered illegal almost as soon as it was approved by voters and has since stalled.)  For Skarphéðinsson, the Lavaforming project is less about the material than about the “political implications that get brought to the surface with this material.” “That is the change I want to see in the world,” he says. “It could force us to make radical changes and be a catalyst for something”—perhaps a social megalopolis where citizens have more say in how resources are used and profits are shared more evenly. Cynics might dismiss the idea of harnessing lava as pure folly. But the more I spoke with Pálmadóttir, the more convinced I became. It wouldn’t be the first time in modern history that a seemingly dangerous idea (for example, drilling into scalding pockets of underground hot springs) proved revolutionary. Once entirely dependent on oil, Iceland today obtains 85% of its electricity and heat from renewable sources. “[My friends] probably think I’m pretty crazy, but they think maybe we could be clever geniuses,” she told me with a laugh. Maybe she is a little bit of both. Elissaveta M. Brandon is a regular contributor to Fast Company and Wired.

Allie and Ryan Larsen at their wedding. Brett & Jessica Photography 2025-04-15T10:27:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Allie and Ryan Larsen eloped in November 2021. Allie Larsen loved eloping but wished she had done a few things differently that day. She regrets not having a small reception or hiring a videographer. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Allie Larsen, a 37-year-old who lives in Raleigh. It has been edited for length and clarity.My husband Ryan and I met on Instagram in 2018, right before I turned 30.I followed his sister on Instagram because we both worked for the same modeling agency a long time ago. I'd never met her, but she posted a picture with her brother. I commented, "Is your brother single?" She was like, "Actually, he is." I lived in California then, so he flew out there for a job interview, and we ended up meeting up.We got together, and we've been inseparable ever since.We did long distance for two years. He lived in Raleigh at the time, so I then moved to North Carolina for him.We got engaged in August of 2021.Eloping over a traditional weddingGrowing up, I always envisioned myself having a wedding.I called a few venues to get some quotes and figure out their schedule, and they were booked out for a year or two. I just really didn't want to wait that long.After thinking about it more, we decided eloping was the best avenue. I was already 34 at that point. I was just like, "I do not want to wait. I want to get married now. I've already been with you for four or five years. It took us this long to be physically together and get engaged, and I'm just ready to do the damn thing and call you mine." The Larsens eloped. Brett & Jessica Photography We got married in November, so we were only engaged for a few months. We eloped in Raleigh, and it worked out perfectly. One of our favorite places is the North Carolina Museum of Art. I saw on Google that people were eloping there, so I reached out to the museum. All you need is permission, and you can get married on the grounds for free. It was a beautiful fall day, and the fact that it was free was a plus.We just had our parents, our photographer, and our officiant there.We booked dinner at a restaurant after we got married that night, and I ordered a little cake from a local bakery. That was it.Our parents gave us money for our wedding, and we used that to buy a beach house. We wouldn't have been able to do that if we had spent all that money on a big wedding.I loved eloping, but I wish we had done a few things differentlyI regret not getting a videographer. Right after we eloped, I saw a lot of people getting into the content creation realm for weddings, which is such a genius idea.I didn't need a fancy video. I just would have loved to have social content I could look back on and share. My photographer took a few videos, but having someone dedicated to capturing those moments — like me putting on my dress or us doing our vows — would have been ideal.We also didn't say our own vows. We used the officiant vows, which were great, but I think that's your opportunity to write your vows. You don't even have to do them in front of the officiant. You could do them in the morning before you get officially married. The couple during their ceremony. Brett & Jessica Photography That is your moment. No one's around. No one's listening. You don't have to get nervous. You're not on a microphone. You can just express how much you love each other.I really wish we did that, even if we wrote something down and shared it with each other. To have that forever to give our kids would have been amazing.I also wish I had taken more time getting ready. I did my own hair and makeup. I spent weeks before perfecting it, so I didn't feel as rushed the day of. I took a lot of time to figure out the best makeup that would look good on camera. I went to Sephora, and I felt really confident.I took some videos of myself rushing to get ready, then threw my dress on, and my husband and I went out in the yard and took pictures with our dog.But I wish I had taken a moment to sit there and cherish the fact that those were my last few moments as a single woman. We got ready in separate bedrooms, but I wish we had put more time and energy into getting ready together, having Champagne, and having a few quiet moments together.I wish we had a small receptionAfter the wedding, we went to dinner with our parents, but I do wish we had a small reception. We planned to have one a few months later, but it never happened.After we got married and took pictures, we went back to our house and had a charcuterie board and some Champagne before dinner. It would have been so special if we had just had our close friends in Raleigh there to celebrate. They didn't have a reception. Brett & Jessica Photography Something I did to offset that was I still had my bachelorette party after we got married. We had our surprise elopement, and then all my best friends and I went to Palm Springs.They weren't like, "Wait, she's already married. This is weird." All my friends were there, acting like I was about to get married. It was everything I'd ever dreamed of.Eloping was so specialI think a lot of people plan these extravagant events, and they lose the true meaning of a wedding.It's about celebrating your love, your journey, and just the two of you. Allie Larsen doesn't regret eloping. Brett & Jessica Photography The thing about your wedding is you can do whatever you want. No one says you have to walk down the aisle after your bridesmaids and stand up there.You can still feel as special and loved eloping as you would having a big wedding. Recommended video

Public schools in America are becoming testing grounds for a tenuous theory: that poverty can be avoided by making three choices in the right order. Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill this month requiring schools to teach students this so-called success sequence: that if you graduate from high school, get a full-time job, and wait until marriage to have children, you’ll likely be “successful” in avoiding poverty. Utah lawmakers passed their own success sequence resolution in 2024, and states including Ohio, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Texas considered similar legislation this year. This wave of education policy largely originates from model legislation provided by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that published the influential Project 2025 agenda. It represents a growing effort to codify a particular view of mobility into public school curricula, one that suggests personal choices primarily drive economic prosperity. While the sequence enjoys real popularity across party lines — and to many casual observers sounds fairly innocuous as life advice — policy experts say the actual evidence underpinning its anti-poverty message is thin and vastly overstated.The success sequence, explainedThe term “success sequence” first appeared in 2006 when historian Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and sociologist Marline Pearson co-authored a report for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. They wrote that modern teenagers “lack what earlier generations took for granted: a normative sequence for the timing of sex, marriage and parenthood.” Their solution was to promote the “success sequence.”The concept was later popularized by Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill at the Brookings Institution, a liberal-centrist think tank, and championed by researchers at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Institute for Family Studies (IFS), particularly Brad Wilcox, who directs the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia.Advocates claim the results are impressive: According to research from IFS, 97 percent of millennials who follow all three steps avoid poverty as adults. Even among those who grew up in poverty, the majority who complete the sequence reach middle-class status or higher.“We do have, in certain parts of our state, problems with fatherlessness, and we do have pockets in our state like in metro Nashville with poverty and lots of kids not having the type of economic opportunity that we all want them to have,” Tennessee Rep. Gino Bulso, the House sponsor of the bill, told Vox. “When I saw [the success sequence] cut across all demographics, that even Black adults were 96 percent likely to avoid poverty, I thought it was something we should go ahead and introduce.”But the idea has been largely debunked, as the evidence confuses correlation with causation. As Michael Tanner of the libertarian Cato Institute pointed out in 2018, “Ownership of a private jet is even more strongly associated with financial success, yet that doesn’t mean jet ownership is what allowed these individuals to escape poverty.” There’s little to back up the claim that the exact sequence matters. A 2021 study funded by the federal Department of Health and Human Services found that young adults who finish high school, work full time, and get married are less likely to experience poverty, but the specific order doesn’t seem to matter much. These steps — except for marriage — don’t strongly predict family stability either, and researchers say more data is needed to understand what really helps young people thrive. ”Even with delaying parenthood, the importance of that for poverty is swamped by the importance of having and keeping a job, so it’s worth asking whether policymakers are also making it easier for people to access contraception and abortion services and to have an income when they have kids,” said Paul Bruno, an education policy professor. “If not, I’m not sure that having classes about those things amounts to much more than scolding students about things a long time in the future that they either already know or have limited control over.”Despite the success sequence’s weak intellectual basis, it remains very popular across political and demographic lines. According to a 2021 American Enterprise Institute survey, 77 percent of Americans support teaching the concept, including 85 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Democrats, and 78 percent of independents. Support spans racial groups as well, with 68 percent of Black respondents, 80 percent of white respondents, and 74 percent of Hispanic respondents favoring its inclusion in school curricula.“Teaching the success sequence has overwhelming support on the left and right, with higher, and more intense support among conservatives, so it’s not surprising that red states are leading on these bills,” Nat Malkus, the deputy director of education policy at AEI, told Vox. “The broad support among liberals is there, but the minority of liberal opponents would be more vocal in their opposition, so the same bills could be more trouble than blue state legislators are willing to bear.”Bruno cautioned that polling support for educational concepts often proves fragile upon implementation, pointing to the Common Core standards as an example. “It’s very easy to find political support for proposals for schools to teach kids stuff that sounds nice,” he said. “Because the proposals sound nice and are pretty vague about the details and don’t ask anybody to make any hard choices, this often means the real support is not that strong.”Matt Bruenig of the left-wing People’s Policy Project think tank has been pointing out methodological problems with the sequence for the last decade. At its heart, he argues, the formulation is about deflecting attention from how policy choices produce poverty. “It’s always been a way to undermine efforts to improve the welfare state,” he told Vox. “That’s why the right likes it and why they want to teach it to students.”For most people, the success sequence sounds like harmless and practical life advice. But its deeper appeal, Bruenig argued, is that it offers lawmakers a palatable way to frame poverty as a matter of personal failure rather than systemic design. Teaching personal responsibility while ignoring structural barriersWhen Tennessee’s success sequence bill was being debated, Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn of Nashville attempted to add language to teach that economic barriers can prevent students from completing the sequence. Her amendment — which framed delayed marriage and childbearing among millennials as the result of challenges like wage stagnation, student debt, and unaffordable child care and housing — ultimately failed.In an interview with Vox, Behn pointed to her own experience: “I make $26,000 a year as a Tennessee legislator. I have student debt from graduate school, I rent, and I represent a large swath of millennials who have decided to forego children because of the negative economic impact. My amendment would have made the curriculum address the reality facing many young people. Without it, we risk teaching young people a narrative that blames them for systemic failures.”She continued: “We have foster kids sleeping on the floors of our [child services] offices. We have gay kids sleeping in their cars because of the policies forcing schools to out them to their parents. No young person working three jobs can afford the down payment on a house in Nashville, where I represent. The Tennessee legislature has done nothing to address the affordability of living, and yet expect us to buy into a false narrative that if you follow one individualized path, you can claw your way out of systemic poverty. Give me a break.”Rep. Bulso, who sponsored the bill in Tennessee, said it’s “very rare” for the legislature to amend any bills on the floor of the House, adding that “it didn’t seem to me that the substance of the amendment added anything to what we were doing.” He said, “the last thing we want to do” is present facts to students that could “cause emotional distress,” but he believes the success sequence ultimately presents a “very compelling and uplifting message.”Curriculum vs. realityEducation researchers have long questioned whether school-based instruction on life choices really influences students’ future decisions. Teen pregnancy has declined dramatically over recent decades, for example, not primarily because of abstinence education, but due to increased access to high-quality birth control. How these broad success sequence concepts will translate into actual classroom instruction remains an open question. “Thoughtful implementation is key to ensure the success sequence is used to inform, rather than browbeat students,” said Malkus, of AEI. “But I am confident educators can manage this, particularly given the far more charged topics ‘family life’ teachers have to routinely cover.” Malkus believes teachers should have flexibility in presentation. “The requirement to teach the success sequence does not mean it cannot be taught in context,” he added. “I trust most teachers have the common sense to do this well, and I think when it comes to their local schools, most Americans do too.”But Bruno, the professor, worries about opportunity costs. “Teaching the success sequence probably won’t have much impact for anybody, but will take up time and energy that could be used to teach kids skills that will actually help them get jobs or to set up social safety nets that make sure they don’t fall into poverty if they get hit with bad luck,” he said. “Those costs are going to be especially important for kids from lower-income families.”Some critics offer alternative frameworks for addressing poverty in educational settings. Bruenig suggests students could “learn about countries that have low levels of poverty and inequality” and study “notable successes in poverty reduction in America, such as the massive drop in elderly poverty following Social Security expansion and the halving of child poverty that occurred in 2021 following an increase in child benefits.”Bulso, meanwhile, is optimistic. “I would hope that 100 percent of students in middle and high school will be exposed to facts that actually show them that if they follow the sequence where they finish high school and go to college and get a job and have full-time employment and then get married and then have children, their chances are better than in some other circumstances,” he said. “The most important milestone is finishing high school.”See More:

GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games is remaining tight-lipped, but one insider has predicted the game will indeed launch this year - while other fans start to get desperateTech10:52, 15 Apr 2025Updated 10:52, 15 Apr 2025Look, Rockstar, we're almost bored about writing about GTA 6 at this pointGrand Theft Auto 6 is expected to launch in 2025, and while fans are worried it's been delayed, Take-Two's CEO has explained why we're still waiting for that elusive second trailer.While rival (and former Rockstar dev) Leslie Benzies has been waxing lyrical about GTA 6, one industry insider has come out of the woodwork to suggest GTA 6 will launch in 2025 after all – even going as far as to tip a release date of sorts for the long-awaited crime epic.‌Article continues belowDetective Seeds, who was also one of the accounts that shared the news about the Elder Scrolls Oblivion remake, has suggested that the big day will fall in mid-November.Content cannot be displayed without consentDetective Seeds, who also suggested GTA 6 will feature Sony and PlayStation branding heavily in its marketing, has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to post a GTA image along with "Remember remember the middle of November" earlier this month.‌We've reported on how signs have pointed to October, based on release dates for fellow Take-Two titles Mafia: The Old Country and Borderlands 4, but we're still waiting for confirmation from Rockstar.Still, it's interesting to see an account commit so publicly to a window, and Detective Seeds followed up with a suggestion that we'll get a fresh trailer at the end of May.As ever, a fistful of salt is required, but that's not stopped the GTA community circling April 18 in their calendars. Why? Because a random Reddit account told them to.‌Expect Vice City to be packed with detail(Image: Rockstar)User Vegetable-Dot-5918 (rolls off the tongue) suggested there will be news in "7 days" like some kind of wild Ring spinoff.While we admire the confidence, it's very similar to last month where an account called "ZestycloseAd6898" led fans astray.Article continues belowStill, we're excited to hear more whenever Rockstar does prepare to unleash its marketing hype machine, so maybe circle the date in pencil just to be safe.For more on GTA 6, check out why Rockstar Games might follow a Nintendo-set precedent for its pricing, and how other publishers are scrambling to clear the game's inevitable 'blast zone'.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.‌‌‌