like we said Trump team puts EV tax credit on the block, Tesla is on board: Report Elon Musk is on record as saying it would hurt competitors more than Tesla. Jonathan M. Gitlin Nov 14, 2024 2:40 pm | 141 Credit: Getty Images Credit: Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreSome electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids are set to get less affordable from next year, it seems. As expected, the incoming Trump administration has set its sights on killing off the IRS clean vehicle tax credit, according to a report in Reuters this afternoon.The clean vehicle tax credit was overhauled as part of President Joe Biden's signature climate legislation. Until then, the size of a plug-in vehicle's tax credit was based on its battery capacity, with a credit of up to $7,500 available. But from 2023 the rules changed, requiring a certain amount of domestic production to qualify, as well as adding price and income caps to address criticism that the tax credit mostly subsidized the already-wealthy.Far fewer vehicles are now eligible for the rebate at time of purchase, particularly after the US Treasury Department got tougher about Chinese content, although a loophole means that none of these conditions apply to leased EVs.Ending the tax credit is not something the incoming administration can do via executive actionCongress controls government spending, and this would require new legislation. But the budget reconciliation process results in bills that cannot be filibustered, and Reuters says that the Trump transition team will likely use this route as part of a larger revamp of tax laws.Tesla was a major beneficiary of the new clean vehicle tax credit; under the previous scheme, an OEM was only eligible until it sold its 200,000th plug-in vehicle, at which point the credit available to its customers began to sunset. Teslawhich exclusively sells plug-in vehicleswas unsurprisingly the first to reach this threshold, at which point its EVs became more expensive than competitor cars. But the sales cap was eliminated under the new rules.One might expect the company would be up in arms over this proposal. But according to Reuters, that's not the caseTesla is in favor of ending the clean vehicle tax credit, and CEO Elon Musk has previously said such a move would be far more damaging to rival companies than to Tesla.Jonathan M. GitlinAutomotive EditorJonathan M. GitlinAutomotive Editor Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica's automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC. 141 Comments Prev story

start your usb drives Microsoft makes it easier to do a clean Windows install on Arm-based PCs Generic install media brings Arm PCs closer to feeling like any old x86 PC. Andrew Cunningham Nov 14, 2024 2:22 pm | 2 Credit: Microsoft Credit: Microsoft Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreFor some PC buyers, doing a clean install of Windows right out of the box is part of the setup ritual. But for Arm-based PCs, including the Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X Plus and Elite chips in them, it hasn't been possible in the same way. Microsoft (mostly) hasn't offered generic install media that can be used to reinstall Windows on an Arm PC from scratch.Microsoft is fixing that todaythe company finally has a download page for the official Arm release of Windows 11, linked to but separate from the ISOs for the x86 versions of Windows. These are useful not just for because-I-feel-like-it clean installs, but for reinstalling Windows after you've upgraded your SSD and setting up Windows virtual machines on Arm-based PCs and Macs.Previously, Microsoft did offer install media for some Windows Insider Preview Arm builds, though these are for beta versions of Windows that may or may not be feature-complete or stable. Various apps, scripts, and websites also exist to grab files from Microsoft's servers and build "unofficial" ISOs for the Arm version of Windows, though obviously this is more complicated than just downloading a single file directly.Per usual when you do a from-scratch installation of Windows, you'll need to make sure you can find all the drivers for your hardware so that all of your hardware functions like it's supposed to. Some of these drivers may be downloaded automatically through Windows Update if you've got an Internet connection; others may need to be grabbed manually from your computer manufacturer's website.If your Arm PC shipped with Windows 11, you should have no problem installing a fresh copy of the operating system. If your PC shipped with Windows 10 instead, Windows 11 ought to be supported most of the time, but there are some early Windows 10 Arm PCs that don't meet the operating system's hardware requirements. You need at least a Snapdragon 850 processor; you can check the full Arm compatibility list here.Andrew CunninghamSenior Technology ReporterAndrew CunninghamSenior 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. 2 Comments Prev story

The results of the 2024 US presidential election kicked off a flurry of speculation about what changes a second Donald Trump administration will bring in terms of policy, including cybersecurity.InformationWeek spoke to three experts in the cybersecurity space about potential shifts and how security leaders can prepare while the industry awaits change.Changes to CISAIn 2020, Trump fired Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Christopher Krebs after he attested to the security of the election, despite Trumps unsupported claims to the contrary. It seems that the federal agency could face a significant shakeup under a second Trump administration.The Republican party believes that agency has had a lot of scope creep, AJ Nash, founder and CEO of cybersecurity consultancy Unspoken Security, says.For example, Project 2025, a policy playbook published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, calls to end CISAs counter-mis/disinformation efforts. It also calls for limits to CISAs involvement in election security. The project proposes moving the CISA to the Department of Transportation.Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during his campaign, but there is overlap between the playbook and the president-elects plans, the New York Times reports.Related:I think it safe to say that CISA is going to have a lot of changes, if it exists at all, which I think [is] challenging because they have been very responsible for both election security and a lot of efforts to curb mis-, dis- and malinformation, says Nash.AI Executive OrderIn 2023, President Biden signed an executive order regarding AI and major issues that arose in the wake of its boom: safety, security, privacy, and consumer protection. Trump plans to repeal that order.We will repeal Joe Bidens dangerous Executive Order that hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology. In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing, according to a 2024 GOP Platform document.Less federal oversight on the development of AI could lead to more innovation, but there are questions about what a lack of required guardrails could mean. AI, how it is developed and used, has plenty of ramifications to cybersecurity and beyond.The tendency of generative AI to hallucinate or confabulate that's the concern, which is why we have guardrails, points out Claudia Rast, chair of the intellectual property, cybersecurity, and emerging technology practice at law firm Butzel Long.Related:While the federal government may step back from AI regulation, that doesnt mean states will do the same. You're going to see California [and] Texas and other states taking a very proactive role, says Jeff Le, vice president of global government affairs and public policy at cybersecurity ratings company SecurityScorecard.California Governor Gavin Newsom signed several bills relating to the regulation of GenAI. A bill -- the Texas Responsible AI Governance Act (TRAIGA) -- was introduced in the Lone Star State earlier this year.Cybersecurity RegulationThe Trump administration is likely to roll back more cybersecurity regulation than it will introduce. I fully anticipate there to be a significant slowdown or rollback on language or mandated reporting, incident reporting as a whole, says Le.Furthermore, billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, which will look to cut back on regulation and restructure federal agencies, Reuters reports.But enterprise leaders will still have plenty of regulatory issues to grapple with. They'll be looking at the European Union. They'll be looking at regulations coming out of Japan and Australia they'll also be looking at US states, says Le.That's going to be more of a question of how they're going to navigate this new patchwork.Related:Cyber Threat ActorsNation state cyber actors continue to be a pressing threat, and the Trump administration appears to be planning to focus on malicious activity coming out of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.I do anticipate the US taking a more aggressive stance, and I think that's been highlighted by the incoming national security advisor Mike Waltz, says Le. I think he has made a point to prioritize a more offensive role, and that's with or without partners.Waltz (R-Fla.) has been vocal about combatting threats from China in particular.Preparing for ChangePredicting a political future, even just a few short months away, is difficult. With big changes to cybersecurity ahead, what can leaders do to prepare?While uncertainty prevails, enterprise leaders have prior cybersecurity guidelines at their fingertips today. It's time to deploy and implement the best practices that we all know are there and [that] people have been advising and counseling for years at this point, says Rast.

Mario Platt, Vice President and CISO, LastPassNovember 14, 20244 Min ReadElly Miller via Alamy StockShadow IT has long been a problem for companies, from personal devices brought into the workplace to untested software installed inside the perimeter. As companies have moved to cloud, the problem has only become more tangled: Well-meaning employees set up unsanctioned services, and technical teams use unapproved cloud services to add functionality to their projects.Plus, remote employees and their mashup of consumer and pro-sumer technologies bring less visibility and more risks into the IT-security equation.According to HashiCorp's 2024 study, only 8% of companies had highly mature" practices across both infrastructure and security lifecycle management. Add to that mix the chaos of a merger or divestiture, and problems can grow quickly. The blending of two technology platforms in a merger or the breaking apart of common infrastructure in a divestiture likely leads to breakage and the loss of security oversight.Managing shadow IT is an ongoing challenge that requires a combination of technical controls, governance processes, and cultural change to address it effectively. Here are three ways that companies can get a handle on shadow IT.1. SSO is necessary, but far from sufficient. A common way to gain visibility into cloud and on-premises services is to rely on single sign-on (SSO) platforms to know which applications and services employees are using. The challenge, however, is that not every application is SSO-enabled, especially cloud or mobile applications on employees personal devices that are often used for work.Related:Separations and divestitures produce duplicates of most critical services, new devices for employees, and the need for a revamp of all security controls, as a company moves from legacy services to a new platform. During these times, detection, analysis and response to threats (DART) can be particularly challenging.The lesson for corporate security teams is not only to gain visibility, but to create a backend process that educates employees and diverts them from non-approved risky applications to approved platforms.2. Assets must be discovered across hybrid infrastructure. Another challenge is the proliferation of remote and mobile workers, whose devices -- often poorly managed -- exist in home offices or often connect from the road.For in-house workers, companies have default control over on-premises technology, even if that technology is non-sanctioned shadow IT. To help manage remote technology, companies should have agents on any device connecting to a corporate cloud service or using a virtual private network. Such security can be sufficient, depending on how your company implements the defenses and checkpoints.Related:During a merger, organizations must gain clear visibility of all IT assets across the new enterprise and enforce a zero-trust approach to any access to sensitive corporate data. During a separation, organizations may lose visibility of devices and applications, resulting in shadow IT and potential vectors of attack.The transition to remote work caused by the coronavirus pandemic forced many companies to switch to secure web gateways to enforce policies with in-house and remote employees. Companies should focus on additional zero-trust security measures to enforce security policies even when employees are outside of the corporate firewall.3. Cultural changes are necessary. Organizations must make sure that every cloud service supports their mission of security, and no technology is unmanaged. This is especially true during challenging events, such as a merger or divestiture.Shadow IT comes from a culture that treats the security teams as gatekeepers that can be evaded. According to software supply-chain firm Snyk, more than 80% of companies have developers skirting security policies and using AI code completion tools to generate code. ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) became the top shadow IT in 2023, months after release.Related:Companies need to show employees why security is necessary to keep the business running and what the consequences could be if that focus is lost. Keeping that focus is admittedly difficult, especially when companies often go through a cycle of alternately emphasizing security and cost savings.Effective management of shadow IT calls for a combination of strong technical measures and cultivating a culture of security awareness, thereby reducing the risks associated with unapproved tools and services. In times of rapid digital transformation, especially during mergers and divestitures, creating a flexible IT infrastructure that adapts to change is key to safeguarding security and maintaining trust across the business.About the AuthorMario PlattVice President and CISO, LastPassMario Platt is an accomplished, highly respected and innovative information security expert, with a multi-faceted track record of expertise ranging from penetration testing, operations, product management, design authority, risk management and governance; with success in attaining and maintaining compliance through security frameworks, across telecommunications, retail, healthcare and public sector organizations throughout the last 15+ years.See more from Mario PlattNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Weight-loss drugs are helping pin down a potential source of chronic painneotemlpars/ShutterstockMedications like Ozempic and Wegovy may be able to reduce both chronic and acute pain. This makes these types of drugs promising safer alternatives to pain treatments such as opioids.Ozempic and Wegovy work by mimicking a hormone released after eating known as GLP-1, which reduces appetite and regulates blood sugar levels. While these medications are only approved for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, a growing number of studies have shown that

Factory aerosols can transform the clouds aboveGetty Images/iStockphotoPlumes of pollution from large factories can trigger snowfall and leave holes in clouds that stretch over large areas, satellite images have revealed.It has long been known that tiny particles of pollutants like soot, known as aerosol pollution, can affect clouds in many ways. Water vapour can condense on pollutant particles, triggering cloud formation, and pollutants can also alter the properties of existing clouds. AdvertisementWhile studying these effects, Velle Toll at the University of Tartu in Estonia noticed that there were sometimes holes in clouds downwind of major pollution sources. He and his colleagues have now analysed thousands of satellite images of North America and Eurasia and found 67 places where this effect can be seen, during the correct atmospheric conditions.Weather radar confirmed that these events were causing snowfall. In the biggest instance the team found, up to 15 millimetres of snow fell over a 2200-square-kilometre (850-square-mile) area.This happens because pollutant particles cause supercooled water droplets in clouds to freeze around them, producing ice crystals that grow into snowflakes, says Toll. And if we have water coming out of the cloud as snow, then we end up with less clouds. Get a dose of climate optimism delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterIn the absence of any particles, water droplets in clouds can stay liquid even when the air is as cold as -40C (-40F).This satellite image shows reduced cloud cover downwind of a copper smelter in CanadaVelle TollThe 67 pollution sources the team found are mostly oil refineries and factories producing metals, cement or fertilisers. But surprisingly, the researchers occasionally saw a similar effect near four nuclear power stations that dont produce any aerosol emissions.This might be because the warm air rising from these power stations is lifting up aerosol pollution from elsewhere, but the team hasnt confirmed this. We dont have a definite explanation for that, says Toll.In theory, the aerosol effect could be used to deliberately trigger snowfall, but it would only work where clouds of supercooled liquid water droplets are already present, says Toll.Journal reference:Science DOI: 10.1126/science.adl0303Topics:weather

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. Google DeepMind has a new way to look inside an AIs mind We dont know exactly how AI works, or why it works so well. Thats a problem: It could lead us to deploy an AI system in a highly sensitive field like medicine without understanding that it could have critical flaws embedded in its workings. A team at Google DeepMind that studies something called mechanistic interpretability has been working on new ways to let us peer under the hood. It recently released a tool to help researchers understand what is happening when AI is generating an output. Its all part of a push to get a better understanding of exactly what is happening inside an AI model. If we do, well be able to control its outputs more effectively, leading to better AI systems in the future. Read the full story. Scott J Mulligan Whats on the table at this years UN climate conference Talks kicked off this week at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Running for a couple of weeks each year, the global summit is the largest annual meeting on climate change. The issue on the table this time around: Countries need to agree to set a new goal on how much money should go to developing countries to help them finance the fight against climate change. Complicating things? A US president-elect whose approach to climate is very different from that of the current administration (understatement of the century). This is a big moment that could set the tone for what the next few years of the international climate world looks like. Heres what you need to know about COP29 and how Donald Trumps election is coloring things. Casey Crownhart This story is from The Spark, our weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things energy and climate. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The FBI is investigating crypto predictions-betting platform Polymarket Its investigating whether the firm allowed US traders to bet on the election. (Bloomberg $)+ Doing so would have been a violation of an agreement with the US government. (NYT $)+ Polymarket claims to be a fully transparent prediction market. (WSJ $)2 OpenAI is calling for the US government to invest in AI Without financial support, the US could lose crucial ground to China, it warns. (WP $)+ The firm floated the idea of building a colossal data center. (The Information $) 3 AI-generated Elon Musk propaganda is rife on Facebook Pro-Musk inspiration porn is the content of choice for spammers. (404 Media)+ Trump is surrounding himself with terminally online edgelords. (The Atlantic $)4 The online right has a misogynistic new rallying cry Your body, my choice is being spread by young men seeking to provoke. (New Yorker $)+ The upcoming presidency could usher in an age of gendered regression. (The Guardian)5 Chinas human factory workers are under pressure Robots are creeping into every level of the manufacturing process. (FT $)+ Three reasons robots are about to become way more useful. (MIT Technology Review)Efforts to revitalize native facilities arent exactly going to plan. (6 The future of chipmaking in AmericaWired $)+ Whats next in chips. (MIT Technology Review)7 Blindbox live streaming is thrilling shoppers in ChinaYou never know what youre going to get. (NYT $) 8 What the glacial Earth may have looked like Around 700 million years ago, the entire planet was covered in ice. (Ars Technica)+ Life-seeking, ice-melting robots could punch through Europas icy shell. (MIT Technology Review)9 How to protect the worlds largest single coral colony The newly-discovered colony is the size of two basketball courts. (Vox)+ The race is on to save coral reefsby freezing them. (MIT Technology Review)10 These researchers have reinvented the wheel This morphing wheel can roll over obstacles up to 1.3 times the height of its radius. (Reuters) Quote of the day Shawty crunk, so fresh, so clean. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta CEO-turned rapper, debuts a reworked version of 2002 rap hit Get Low in a tribute to his wife, the Wall Street Journal reports. The big story Marseilles battle against the surveillance state June 2022Across the world, video cameras have become an accepted feature of urban life. Many cities in China now have dense networks of them, and London and New Delhi arent far behind. Now France is playing catch-up. Concerns have been raised throughout the country. But the surveillance rollout has met special resistance in Marseille, Frances second-biggest city.Its unsurprising, perhaps, that activists are fighting back against the cameras, highlighting the surveillance systems overreach and underperformance. But are they succeeding? Read the full story.Fleur Macdonald We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.) + This years gurning championship winning mugshots do not disappoint.+ What does it mean to have personal style, exactly?+ Amsterdams unofficial police cat is absolutely adorable (and he lives on a boat!)+ Save the wormsthis writer certainly is.

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here. Its time for a partythe Conference of the Parties, that is. Talks kicked off this week at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Running for a couple of weeks each year, the global summit is the largest annual meeting on climate change. The issue on the table this time around: Countries need to agree to set a new goal on how much money should go to developing countries to help them finance the fight against climate change. Complicating things? A US president-elect whose approach to climate is very different from that of the current administration (understatement of the century). This is a big moment that could set the tone for what the next few years of the international climate world looks like. Heres what you need to know about COP29 and how Donald Trumps election is coloring things. The UN COP meetings are an annual chance for nearly 200 nations to get together to discuss (and hopefully act on) climate change. Greatest hits from the talks include the Paris Agreement, a 2015 global accord that set a goal to limit global warming to 1.5 C (2.7 F) above preindustrial levels. This year, the talks are in Azerbaijan, a petrostate if there ever was one. Oil and gas production makes up over 90% of the countrys export revenue and nearly half its GDP as of 2022. A perfectly ironic spot for a global climate summit! The biggest discussion this year centers on global climate financespecifically, how much of it is needed to help developing countries address climate change and adapt to changing conditions. The current goal, set in 2009, is for industrialized countries to provide $100 billion each year to developing nations. The deadline was 2020, and that target was actually met for the first time in 2022, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which keeps track of total finance via reports from contributing countries. Currently, most of that funding is in the form of public loans and grants. The thing is, that $100 billion number was somewhat arbitraryin Paris in 2015, countries agreed that a new, larger target should be set in 2025 to take into account how much countries actually need. Its looking as if the magic number is somewhere around $1 trillion each year. However, it remains to be seen how this goal will end up shaking out, because there are disagreements about basically every part of this. What should the final number be? What kind of money should countjust public funds, or private investments as well? Which nations should pay? How long will this target stand? What, exactly, would this money be going toward? Working out all those details is why nations are gathering right now. But one shadow looming over these negotiations is the impending return of Donald Trump. As I covered last week, Trumps election will almost certainly result in less progress on cutting emissions than we might have seen under a more climate-focused administration. But arguably an even bigger deal than domestic progress (or lack thereof) will be how Trump shifts the countrys climate position on the international stage. The US has emitted more carbon pollution into the atmosphere than any other country, it currently leads the world in per capita emissions, and its the worlds richest economy. If anybody should be a leader at the table in talks about climate finance, its the US. And yet, Trump is coming into power soon, and weve all seen this film before. Last time Trump was in office, he pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement. Hes made promises to do it againand could go one step further by backing out of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) altogether. If leaving the Paris Agreement is walking away from the table, withdrawing from the UNFCCC is like hopping on a rocket and blasting in a different direction. Its a more drastic action and could be tougher to reverse in the future, though experts also arent sure if Trump could technically do this on his own. The uncertainty of what happens next in the US is a cloud hanging over these negotiations. This is going to be harder because we don't have a dynamic and pushy and confident US helping us on climate action, said Camilla Born, an independent climate advisor and former UK senior official at COP26, during an online event last week hosted by Carbon Brief. Some experts are confident that others will step up to fill the gap. There are many drivers of climate action beyond the White House, said Mohamed Adow, founding director of Power Shift Africa, at the CarbonBrief event. If I could characterize the current vibe in the climate world, its uncertainty. But the negotiations over the next couple of weeks could provide clues to what we can expect for the next few years. Just how much will a Trump presidency slow global climate action? Will the European Union step up? Could this cement the rise of China as a climate leader? Well be watching it all. Now read the rest of The Spark Related reading In case you want some additional context from the last few years of these meetings, heres my coverage of last years fight at COP28 over a transition away from fossil fuels, and a newsletter about negotiations over the loss and damages fund at COP27. For the nitty-gritty details about whats on the table at COP29, check out this very thorough explainer from Carbon Brief. DAN THORNBERG/ADOBE STOCK Another thing Trumps election will have significant ripple effects across the economy and our lives. His victory is a tragic loss for climate progress, as my colleague James Temple wrote in an op-ed last week. Give it a read, if you havent already, to dig into some of the potential impacts we might see over the next four years and beyond. Keeping up with climate The US Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule to fine oil and gas companies for methane emissions. The fee was part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. (Associated Press) This rule faces a cloudy future under the Trump administration; industry groups are already talking about repealing it. (NPR)Speaking of the EPA, Donald Trump chose Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York, to lead the agency. Zeldin isnt particularly known for climate or economic policy. (New York Times) Oil giant BP is scaling back its early-stage hydrogen projects. The company revealed in an earnings report that its canceling 18 such projects and currently plans to greenlight between five and 10. (TechCrunch) Investors betting against renewable energy scored big last week, earning nearly $1.2 billion as stocks in that sector tumbled. (Financial Times) Lithium iron phosphate batteries are taking over the world, or at least electric vehicles. These lithium-ion batteries are cheaper and longer-lasting than their nickel-containing cousins, though they also tend to be heavier. (Canary Media) I wrote about this trend last year in a newsletter about batteries and their ingredients. (MIT Technology Review)The US unveiled plans to triple its nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Thats an additional 200 gigawatts worth of consistently available power. (Bloomberg) Five subsea cables that can help power millions of homes just got the green light in Great Britain. The projects will help connect the island to other power grids, as well as to offshore wind farms in Dutch and Belgian waters. (The Guardian)

Disney's CFO Hugh Johnston discussed Universal Studios' upcoming theme park, Epic Universe.Johnston said in a call it's "generally beneficial" for Disney when other attractions open in Central Florida.Both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort are adding new attractions. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Epic Universe's arrival in Central Florida might be good for its direct competitor, Walt Disney World.Disney's Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston discussed Universal Orlando Resort's upcoming theme park during Thursday's earnings call. When asked how Epic Universe's May 2025 debut could impact Walt Disney World, Johnston seemed optimistic."The early bookings that we have next summer are actually positive," Johnston said.He said that when other attractions and theme parks open in the area, it's "generally beneficial" for Disney. Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World in Florida. Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Disney Dreamers Academy Dennis Speigel, founder of International Theme Park Services, Inc., told Business Insider that Epic Universe's opening will likely bring more foot traffic to Central Florida, which can benefit the local attractions industry."I think the length of stay for the tourists in Florida is going to increase dramatically," he said. "I think people are going to load another day or a day and a half during their visit because there's more to do."Representatives for Disney and Universal Orlando Resort did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.NBCUniversal first announced Epic Universe in 2019."Our new park represents the single-largest investment Comcast NBCUniversal has made in its theme park business and in Florida overall," Brian L. Roberts, chief executive of Comcast Corporation, said in a press release. "It reflects the tremendous excitement we have for the future of our theme park business and for our entire company's future in Florida." Illustration of Universal Orlando Resort's Epic Universe. Universal Orlando Resort Universal Orlando Resort was the company's oldest park in 1990, followed by Islands of Adventure in 1999 and Volcano Bay in 2017.At Epic Universe, guests will get the opportunity to explore five worlds: Super Nintendo World, The Ministry of Magic from the "Harry Potter" franchise, the Isle of Berk from the "How to Train Your Dragon" franchise, Dark Universe featuring monsters from classic horror films, and Celestial Park.However, Disney shocked fans in August when Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro said its parks were also expanding. The announcement came after the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District's board of supervisors approved a $17 billion development deal from Disney two months earlier.Although Disney won't build a separate theme park, the entertainment giant will add new areas to its existing properties. Magic Kingdom will become home to a land dedicated to Disney villains and another based on the "Cars" franchise.Disney's Animal Kingdom will introduce a new land called Pueblo Esperanza, which will have attractions based on the 2021 film "Encanto" and the "Indiana Jones" series.At Disney's Hollywood Studios, guests will explore a new land based on the company's "Monsters, Inc" films. Finally, Disneyland Resort's Avenger's campus will expand and an attraction related to director James Cameron's "Avatar" series will arrive.According to Thursday's earnings report, Disney expects its Experiences segment's operating income to grow 6% to 8% compared to 2024.

At 50, Jennie Young started using several dating apps and felt that they were all toxic.The Burned Haystack Dating Method began as an academic project and now has a Facebook group with over 128,000 members.Young, a college professor, has advice for the companies behind dating apps. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Jennie Young is a professor of rhetoric and women/gender studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. In February 2023, she started a Facebook group for the Burned Haystack Dating Method.I thought I knew what to expect when I downloaded my first dating app. I was 50, had been divorced for 10 years, and had just gotten out of a long-term relationship. As someone who's generally tuned in to pop culture and social media, I thought I was prepared for what I would encounter. And, in some ways, I was.What I wasn't prepared for was the size or extent of the problem women were facing while looking for love online.There weren't just a few men acting badly whom I could quickly dispatch. It was the magnitude of the toxicity. There were a lot of bad actors, and the behavior wasn't just annoying; it was deeply problematic. It seemed that swiping left didn't make a difference; they'd just show up in my matches again a few days later.My frustration wasn't unique. Articles from 2024 alone included: "It's Not You: Dating Apps are Getting Worse" in The New York Times; "America is Sick of Swiping: Dating Apps are Falling Back to Earth" in The Atlantic; and "Why Gen Z is Ditching Dating Apps" in Time.I went from Match to Bumble to Tinder to Hinge and encountered the same problems ad infinitum. I felt frustrated and quickly realized it was not just me.I developed my own methodAfter a few months, I decided to make it an academic project. I'm a professor of rhetoric and women/gender studies at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.An understanding of rhetoric allows me to quickly parse text and read between the lines to determine what people are revealing without intending to, and a solid grounding in feminism helps me recognize the sometimes subtle flags of sexism and aggression that women encounter frequently on dating apps.The project evolved into a new dating method that I named the Burned Haystack Dating Method. My method encourages daters to filter out time wasters and red flags as soon as possible.As of November 13, there were over 128,000 women/nonbinary people in my private Facebook group and 60,000 followers on Instagram.I chose to share the method on social media because it's free. Accessibility was important to me from the beginning; I didn't want to monetize the information by keeping it behind a paywall, and I didn't want to charge women for consultation or "coaching."A little over a year and a half after creating the method and developing a following, I've learned a few things that I feel would keep daters happier with the apps.Women feel like their preferences are being ignoredHere is a typical scenario I've experienced, and that has been repeated to me on several occasions by women who have spent time online dating: A woman is excited to set up her new dating app profile. She carefully selects her prompts, writes thoughtful responses, and curates her pictures. She sets boundaries around things like age, geography, marital status, political orientation, and lifestyle factors.To me and many of those I've spoken to, the apps appear to honor almost none of this.A woman told me she had specified that she was looking for a 40-to-45-year-old politically liberal nonsmoker within 50 miles of her home. This didn't stop the app she was using from showing her a full line-up of 60-year-old chain smokers from three hours away. So she swiped left, but the next matches were even worse, and eventually, the same men she swiped left on originally reappeared.Other women have mentioned reporting toxic behavior directly to dating apps.Dating app companies are not responsible for fixing the users, nor is that even possible, but there are things I feel they could do better Here are three ideas.Listen to users: Honor the boundaries articulated. If someone swipes left, don't show the same person to them again. If you don't have anyone who meets the said criteria, then simply say that. Leave it up to the individual whether they want to expand their filters or just wait. They're all adults.Do a better job of screening: AI tools can now screen for tone problems such as aggression.Get the bad actors out: When reports are made regarding toxicity, aggression, and deceit even if it just means lying about age or marital status verify and remove the offenders. Users also need to be more vigilant about reporting bad behavior to the apps, as many of the companies will take the necessary steps to remove the profile.These changes won't solve the larger cultural problems women face in the dating market, but implementing them could improve the dating app experience while we continue to address the problems in society.But while it would improve things for daters, it's not likely it would improve things financially for the apps. Last month, Albert Fox Cahn, a journalist, wrote in BI that the apps face a problem when it comes to the popularity contest."It turns out dating apps face a unique barrier to success: The more effective your app is, the less profitable it becomes. People pay to find a partner, and once you find one, the app loses your business," Cahn wrote.In the end, it looks like dating apps and singles face a conflicting definition of success.A representative from Match Group., the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, told BI they have made investments to improve both their automated and manual moderation and review tools."These tools include automatic scans of profiles for red-flag language and images, manual reviews of suspicious profiles, activity, and user generated reports, as well as blocking email addresses, phone numbers and other identifiers," a Match Group. respresentive said.The representative said the company spends $125 million a year on the "trust and safety teams, technology, partnerships, and initiatives and is focused on improving safety across the Match Group portfolio."According to Bumble, the appmatches people who have mutually swiped on each other. The platform is set up so that women make the first move, and they can reply within 24 hours, or the match expires.Bumble said that anyone who experiences harassment is encouraged to use the app's "Block and Report" system. Bumble also said the app is using automated and AI-based technology to identify potential violations before members even report them.