Amazon has a Black Friday deal on a pair of Blink Mini 2 cameras. The security cam, which just arrived earlier this year, has a built-in spotlight and supports person detection. Typically, it costs $40 apiece or $70 for a pair, but you can get two Blink Mini 2 cameras today for $35. Thats a record low and cheap enough to qualify as a stocking stuffer. The compact security camera has color night vision capabilities thanks to its built-in LED spotlight. It supports person detection, although youll need a Blink Subscription for that. They start at $3 monthly or $30 annually for one device. (And you get a 30-day trial to see if its worth it.) The camera supports 1080p HD live view and has a wider field of view than its predecessor (143 degrees diagonally vs. 110 in the original). It also has a low-light image sensor. The Blink Mini 2 works with Alexa and supports two-way audio. The plug-in camera works indoors and out, but youll need a $10 weather-resistant power adapter to use it outside. However, it does include mounting screws in the box, along with a 13-ft indoor power adapter and a stand for each camera. You can order the camera in black or white. Check out all of the latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-two-pack-of-blink-mini-2-cameras-is-only-35-in-this-black-friday-deal-140009852.html?src=rss

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Apple "courting" Foxconn to build AI servers based on its M-series CPU to accelerate Apple Intelligence potential.

Google Assistant is continuing its work on Nest devices, but Gemini is going to be lending a helping hand.

The Exploration Company announced Monday it has raised $160 million to fuel development of its capsule that is designed to take astronauts and cargo to space stations.

Donald Trump's election victory may provide a lifeline for TikTok, which faces a potential U.S. ban in January if not divested from parent company ByteDance.

Being a good leader is challenging in the best of times. But in stressful or uncertain times, its even more daunting. As a manager, you are responsible for business results and your employees job satisfaction and well-being. Its a tall order, especially when most people who find themselves in management roles were never taught how to manage.The best way to make your employees feel respected and valued during stressful times is to be more empathic. Heres what empathy looks like in the workplace and how to put it into practice:Empathy isnt an emotion, its a choice Fast Company contributor Davianne Harris writes that empathy is often misconstrued as a way of responding or reacting in challenging situations. Empathy is a mindset more than an attribute. She explains that being an empathetic leader is the difference between telling employees how to solve a problem and developing people who can craft solutions in their own way.Leading with empathy requires making people feel heard and valued, which means asking your employees for their perspective, and considering what they express when making decisions.Transparent and clear communicationOne of the biggest ways to build and maintain trust as a leader is to be as clear and transparent as possible. Especially in times of uncertainty, employees crave straightforward, transparent messaging from their bosses that goes beyond directives and plans, explains Fast Company contributor Leah Mether.When things feel uncertain or stressful, share as much information as you can and be honest. People are smart and see through the platitudes. Its also helpful to be able to clearly articulate your team or companys vision, direction, and priorities and explain the why behind decisions.Its also important to set realistic expectations. Mether points out that when so much feels out of control, having realistic and clear expectations about job requirements, behavioral standards, workload sustainability, and work flexibility are essential.Put yourself in your employees shoesFast Company contributor Stephen Kohler advises leaders to useempathetic pragmatism, saying that navigating difficult times requires leaders to acknowledge the harsh realities of business while keeping in mind the people those decisions affect. Another way to think of it is balancing compassion with decisiveness. One of the biggest ways to put this into action is to put yourself in your employees shoes.It may sound obvious, but its easily overlooked. Ask yourself: If I were givenextra work, if I were reading about mass layoffs in my industry, if I heard our company missed its profit goals, what might I be thinking or feeling? How would it directly impact me, my team, or my family? How would I want to be treated? After all, treating people as you would like to be treated is called the golden rule for a reason.

Ruby Franke was once one of the most popular YouTube family vloggers, posting videos featuring her husband and six children on her channel, 8 Passengers, that racked up more than 1 billion views.In some, she chronicled their family vacations and family activities, such as painting together. In others, she detailed how she banned her 16-year-old son from sleeping in his bedroom for seven months and threatened to behead a stuffed animal.In August 2023, Franke was charged with child abuse and pleaded guilty four months later.While the crimes that led to the charges, such as denying her kids water and handcuffing them for extended periods of time, didnt appear on 8 Passengers, her children viewed the vlogging as a larger pattern of abuse.In October 2024, 21-year-old Shari Franke, Rubys oldest daughter, testified to Utah lawmakers about what being a child influencer against her will had done to her.I come today as a victim of family vlogging, Shari said, to shed light on the ethical and monetary issues that come from being a child influencer. She added, If I could go back and do it all again, Id rather have an empty bank account now and not have my childhood plastered all over the internet. No amount of money I received has made what Ive experienced worth it.Her testimony took place just a few weeks after California passed a law mandating that a portion of proceeds from social media content featuring kids must be set aside in a trust for the child when they turn 18.Im a social media researcher whos spent the past two years advocating for the children of family vloggers. As recently as 18 months ago, Id written about how there were no legal protections for the children of influencers, even as child actors have robust laws in place to protect their earnings.Now thats starting to changebut theres still more work to be done.New laws for a new ageSome children featured in their parents social media content go viral as toddlers; others have their first menstrual cycles broadcast to the world; and they can be pressured by their parents to be the talent that sustains their familys financial livelihood.California has the Coogan Act, which protects the financial interests of entertainers under 18. But this was passed in 1939, long before the rise of social media; until recently, there has been no comparable Coogan Act for the children of family vloggers.In August 2023, however, Illinois became the first U.S. state to pass a law protecting the financial interests of the children of family vlogging. The bill requires parents to put aside 50% of the earnings for a piece of content featuring their child. The money must go into a trust that the child can access upon turning 18. If theres no money available for them, they can sue their parents.Minnesota was the next state to pass this kind of legislation, in May 2024. This one went beyond financial considerations, prohibiting children under 14 from appearing in more than 30% of their parents social media content. If children do appear in these videos and the videos are monetized, money must be put into an account, similar to Illinois.In December 2023, I consulted with legislators on drafts of Californias measure. This bill, which was signed into law in September 2024, is similar to Illinoiss law but has been considered an important step in regulating family vlogging content given the states relationship with the entertainment industry.Work is workThese laws are not geared toward the casual parent who wants to share a picture of their child on Facebook or Instagram. Theyre putting guardrails in place for a form of child labor that, until recently, has gone wildly unchecked.In the spring of 2024, I provided written testimony to the state of Missouri, which was considering its own law. I pointed out that there are more than 500 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute, TikTok boasts more than 150 million active monthly users in the U.S. alone, and Instagram users watch 17.6 million hours of Reels per day. I explained how, over the past decade, Ive interviewed more than 150 content creators and influencersand Ill often hear them say theyve been paid upward of $8,000 per post.Brand sponsorships remain a gray area in these laws; most of the new legislation encompasses only payments directly from platforms. But I want to emphasize that were not talking about a few extra bucks here and there. It can be enough money to raise a family. And its workfor everyone involved.Whats nextIllinois, Minnesota, and California may have passed laws, but the issue remains on the table elsewhere.Washington state has tried to introduce such a bill, and Shari Frankes testimony came as Utah begins considering its own legislation. However, I believe that any work on combating the problem of exploiting children for social media demands a holistic approach.Importantly, children cannot consent to appearing in their parents content. While it may seem fun to appear in mom or dads video, young children have no concept of the internets dangers. They dont understand that content can move beyond its intended audience. They dont understand that the internet is foreverthat one day, when theyre applying to college or for jobs, Google search results may yield their baby photos.In 2023, Maryland attempted to introduce legislation that would include Right To Be Forgotten provisionsan addendum allowing children to request social media platforms delete content about them when they turn 18. The measure never gained momentum, and the bill stalled. But states can look to the European Union, which has some of the strongest Right to Be Forgotten legislation in the world, for inspiration.Social media platforms also have a role to play. If they wanted to, they could regulate or ban monetized content centered on children. That being said, family vlogging content is a moneymaker for platforms: It racks up billions of views, which keeps audiences on the hosting site, such as YouTube or Instagram, for longer. So you might assume that platforms would never intervene on their own if it risked hurting their bottom line.But one thing Ive learned from studying social media platform governance is that public opinion matters. And in my ongoing research on family vlogging, Ive witnessed a massive shift in public opinion over the past two years, as the press pays more attention to the phenomenon, content creators and audiences are more critical of it, and former children of family vloggers, like Shari Franke, tell their stories.If platforms can quickly churn out their own versions of AI chatbots, they can build teams to figure out how to help regulate and enforce family vlogging legislation in the U.S.and have the opportunity, in my view, to be on the right side of history.Jessica Maddox is an assistant professor of journalism and creative media at the University of Alabama.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Spanish architecture practice XStudio has inserted a ceramics workshop and apartment into the worn-out shell of an abandoned bar on the island of Gran Canaria.The project, called House M, occupies an old corner building in the Arenales neighbourhood of the Canary Island's capital Las Palmas, which had stood abandoned for decades.Drawn to its ruined appearance, XStudio retained its worn facade but replaced a bar on the ground floor with a ceramics workshop and added a concrete volume above that contains an apartment for the workshop's owner.XStudio has converted an abandoned bar in Gran Canaria"The Arenales neighbourhood is very central, but despite that, it has suffered decades of degradation," XStudio partner Ancor Surez told Dezeen."It is a humble neighbourhood, with mostly old houses that are poorly preserved and that are a testament to better times," he said. "However, that 'decay' gives it a special charm in our opinion. We believe that responding with humble and honest architecture was the best way to relate to the environment."Entering through the original doors in the old building's pale yellow-painted facade, the workshop occupies a single open space that has been left largely untouched and painted white.A workshop occupies the open space on the ground floorA separate entrance leads into the apartment, where a stairwell and metal staircase reveal a mint green-coloured steel skeleton that frames the first-floor rooms, reinforced by the existing walls and pillars."The main concept was to establish a dialogue between the new architecture and the existing building," explained Surez.Read: Julio Sanchez Arimayn transforms warehouse complex into creative studios in Buenos Aires"This dialogue was based on contrast. Assuming the impositions of the municipal regulations, a new body was added to the existing one to complete the apparent volume of the building," Surez continued."It does so while respecting the facade composition of the original building, proposing an honest architecture that assumes its function in the context without prejudice."A metal staircase leads up to the apartmentIn the apartment, an area of timber-framed glazing surrounds a small courtyard next to the living area and stairwell to the west, while the more private bedrooms are located to the east of the plan.These new spaces are defined by exposed materials, including thermo-clay blocks, exposed concrete and the steel frame, which reference the rough texture of the existing structure.Exposed materials feature throughout"The entire project was approached from honesty, respecting the footprint of time and showing the new naked materials," said Surez.Other recent examples of adaptive reuse on Dezeen include Studio Gang's conversion of a former tobacco warehouse in Lexington into the College of Design at the University of Kentucky and Fala Atelier's transformation of a shop in Porto into an apartment.The photography is by David Rodrguez.The post XStudio transforms abandoned bar in Gran Canaria into a workshop and apartment appeared first on Dezeen.