A 'binary big bang' occurred when AI foundation models cracked the natural language barrier, kickstarting a shift in our technology systems: how we design them, use them, and how they operate.

Say hello to 2025you will be tracked.gettyUpdated on January 10 with new reports into a user location data leak with major privacy implications. An ironic spat this week in the world of big tech. Google attacked Microsoft for its long history of tricks to confuse users and limit choice, less than than three weeks after it was accused of reducing peoples choice and control over how their information is collected, in response to its new plan to digitally fingerprint users devices, not just Android and Chrome the usual targets of such criticism. That tracking is now just six weeks away.Two unrelated stories barely a fortnight apartand yet not really unrelated at all. The common theme is users as pawns, subject to the whims of the staggeringly expansive ecosystems they rely on each and every day.Google slammed Microsoft after the Windows maker was caught spoofing the Google homepage when users searched for Google on Bing.com. Windows LatestApple went to court to help Google defend its default search spot on a billion iPhones. Its not too many months ago that the iMaker released a video inspired by Hitchcocks The Birds that essentially warned those iPhone users to steer clear of Chrome.This was a clear attempt from Microsoft to make Bing look like Google for this specific search query, reported The Verge. The Google result includes a search bar, an image that looks a lot like a Google Doodle, and even some small text under the search bar just like Google does. Microsoft even automatically scrolls down the page slightly to mask its own Bing search bar that appears at the top of search results.Chrome and Google Search are not one and the same, albeit both carry privacy risks. And thats why those iPhone users are better using Google Search within Safari than Chrome, albeit that becomes much less the case if youre logged into a Google account as you do so. But Chrome doesnt play a leading role in the latest Google tracking warning that hit the headlines just before the holidays. Notwithstanding that Chrome has hogged the bulk of Googles tracking headlines in recent years, with cookies and incognito mode and its privacy sandbox playing recurring roles.The latest issue started when Google pushed out an update to its advertising ecosystem. The changes, it said, have been prompted by the broader range of surfaces on which ads are served (such as connected TVs and gaming consoles), and mean they will be less prescriptive with partners in how they target and measure ads.Fingerprinting is not just a browser issue anymore.This is digital fingerprinting across connected devices, the UKs information regulator was quick to point out. Fingerprinting involves the collection of pieces of information about a devices software or hardware, which, when combined, can uniquely identify a particular device and user... The ICOs view is that fingerprinting is not a fair means of tracking users online because it is likely to reduce peoples choice and control over how their information is collected. The change to Googles policy means that fingerprinting could now replace the functions of third-party cookies.And given the nature of these other devices and that users wont realize whats taking place, there are serious implications. Identity Week warns that organizations using Googles advertising tech can implement fingerprinting without violating Googles policies and complying with the requirements of data protection law... Fingerprinting is so hindering to privacy expectations because it relies on signals that are not easy to wipe. Even if data is permanently deleted, fingerprinting biometrics could detect and recognize your identity.Interesting parallels between the return of digital fingerprinting which is infamously difficult for a user to detect and an unprecedented new leak of user location data, which also exposes a vast array of apps collecting data from users devices. The Gravy Analytics leak highlights the sheer scale of the location data industry, another user tracking ecosystem that takes place behind the scenes, is difficult to detect, and which most users would likely disable if they could.As 404Media neatly puts it, the [Gravy Analytics] news is a crystalizing moment for the location data industry. For years, companies have harvested location information from smartphones, either through ordinary apps or the advertising ecosystem, and then built products based on that data or sold it to others. In many cases, those customers include the U.S. government... But collecting that data presents an attractive target to hackers.What I suspect will prompt users to sit up and take notice more than the scale of the leak is the number of popular apps contributing the data in the first place. Candy Crush, Tinder [and] MyFitnessPal, Wired reports, are amongst the thousands of apps hijacked to spy on your location... Some of the worlds most popular apps are likely being co-opted by rogue members of the advertising industry to harvest sensitive location data on a massive scale.There are various lists of these apps now doing the rounds suffice to say its extensive. Per Wired, it includes dating sites Tinder and Grindr; massive games such as Candy Crush, Temple Run, Subway Surfers, and Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells; transit app Moovit; My Period Calendar & Tracker, a period-tracking app with more than 10 million downloads; popular fitness app MyFitnessPal; social network Tumblr; Yahoos email client; Microsofts 365 office app; and flight tracker Flightradar24.... religious-focused apps such as Muslim prayer and Christian Bible apps, various pregnancy trackers, and many VPN apps, which some users may download, ironically, in an attempt to protect their privacy.Users dont like being tracked behind the scenes. Thats why the Gravy leak has made headlines and its why digital fingerprinting is doing the same. And theres another new twist as reported by Reuters: Google has failed to persuade a federal judge to dismiss a privacy class action claiming it collected personal data from people's cellphones after they switched off a button to stop the tracking. This may lead to a trial in the summer. It follows Googles destruction of billions of data records last year, in the wake of a similar lawsuit relating to data collection while using Chromes incognito mode.Interesting timing nonetheless, two warnings, a legal ruling and a privacy-invasive data leak all within a couple of weeks. The risks, of course, fall to all those millions and millions of users whether on Chrome or Edge or Android or Windows or all of the above. I approached Google and Microsoft for any comments on the various angles to all this nothing yet.Digital fingerprinting begins Feb. 16; in the meantime, just keep all this in mind.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 29: Alex Pereira of Brazil reacts prior to the UFC light heavyweight ... [+] championship fight during the UFC 303 event at T-Mobile Arena on June 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesIs Alex Pereira moving up to heavyweight for his next fight?It sounds like a definite possibility. According to Brazilian MMA content creator Laerte Viana, Pereira is rumored to be moving toward a fight with No. 3 heavyweight Alexander Volkov.The fight would not be a championship bout, but it seems likely the winner would get the next shot at the heavyweight title. UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones is expected to defend his title against interim champion Tom Aspinall at some point in 2025.LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 29: Alex Pereira of Brazil reacts to his victory in the UFC light ... [+] heavyweight championship fight against Jiri Prochazka of the Czech Republic during the UFC 303 event at T-Mobile Arena on June 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesThe winner of Pereira-Volkov would appear to be set up as the No. 1 contender. Pereira is the former UFC middleweight champion and reigning light heavyweight king.He has expressed interest in moving up to heavyweight to pursue a championship in a third weight class. The UFC has never had a fighter win a world title in three different divisions.Pereira has ascended to become one of the biggest stars in combat sports, and at 38, he is seeking to maximize his time in the UFC and his window as an elite fighter.Volkov is a veteran of 49 professional mixed martial arts bouts and 17 in the UFC. Hes never been UFC champion, but he has been on the cusp of a title shot multiple times. Most recently, Volkov lost a disputed split decision to former interim champion Ciryl Gane at UFC 310.LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - DECEMBER 07: Alexander Volkov of Russia exits the Octagon after his heavyweight ... [+] bout during the UFC 310 event at T-Mobile Arena on December 07, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)Zuffa LLCIf Volkov had won that fight, he would already be in a position to fight the winner of Jones-Aspinall. As it is, UFC President Dana White felt Volkov got a raw deal and vowed to make it up to him.Perhaps putting him in a position for a big-money showdown with Pereira and another shot at becoming the No. 1 contender is the offer.While Pereira-Volkov is an intriguing fight, there is still a chance Pereira stays at light heavyweight to face No. 1 contender Magomed Ankalaev or even Khamzat Chimaev in March.Ankalaev is considered a longshot for that date because he observes Ramadan and would not have proper time to train for the fight. Chimaev is the No. 3 middleweight in the world, so he could be shifting gears to lock horns with Pereira at light heavyweight.Chimaev may not want to wait for the winner of Dricus du Plessis and Sean Stricklands rematch at UFC 312. Fighting Pereira for the light heavyweight title is a shorter path to a championship opportunity, but he could be climbing into the Octagon with a bigger and more dangerous opponent than DDP or Strickland.Its an interesting situation that will play out through official announcements from the UFC over the next few weeks.Here is a look at what we believe is already in place for UFC 313. Besides Pereiras fight and the Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo clash, the other bouts seem like prelims.UFC 313 Card - Known Fights(5) Amanda Lemos vs. (7) Iasmin Lucindo StrawweightBrunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan MiddleweightAlex Morono vs. Carlos Leal WelterweightMairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall FeatherweightBruno Silva vs. Joshua Van Mens FlyweightJhonata Diniz vs. Vitor Petrino HeavyweightDjorden Santos vs. Ozzy Diaz MiddleweightStay tuned for more information on UFC 313 and other events from the promotion in the first quarter of 2025.

PayPal users are warned of new no-phish phishing attacks.Getty ImagesUpdate, Jan. 10, 2025: This story, originally published Jan. 9, now includes a statement from PayPal and further background information regarding phishing mitigation for users.When is a phishing attack not a phishing attack? That is the question posed by Fortiguards chief information security officer after he was targeted by a new attack using a legitimate PayPal feature from a legitimate address with a seemingly legitimate URL as well. Heres what you need to know about the phish-free PayPal phishing attack.The Evolution Of Phishing AttacksPayPal Users Now In The CrosshairsPhishing attacks are getting ever more clever in their approach, as a recent news article highlighting how genuine Google security prompts are being used to scam victims to give up their account credentials revealed. While the do-not-click advice is, as always, the baseline for anti-phishing best practices, its no longer good enough when legitimate features are being exploited by hackers in no-phish phishing attackers. Let this example of just such an attack, using legitimate PayPal functionality, be a warning to you: if the CISO of a security company thinks its highly dangerous then so should you.A genuine email cant still be a problem, can it? Thats the question that Fortiguard chief information security officer, Dr. Carl Windsor, posed in a new warning posted to the Fortiguard Labs Threat Research blog, Jan. 8. Reporting how the email in question, purporting to be from PayPal and the sender address appears to be valid and not spoofed, and using a genuine PayPal money request feature, could fool his mother, the standard test he uses in such circumstances, Windsor warned that the attack doesnt use traditional phishing methods. In fairness, it sounds pretty fishy to me so far, but lets explore further to see what Windsor means.The No-Phish PayPal Phishing ScamThe email, the URLs, and everything else is perfectly valid, Windsor explained, and when you click on the link (dont do that,) the victim is redirected to a PayPal login page showing a request for payment. The trick being employed by the attackers here is that your PayPal account address is linked to the address it was sent to rather than the one it was received at. The victim might not notice that the email was addressed to a user who had registered a free Microsoft 365 test domain to create the distribution list that contained the target emails. By then using the legitimate PayPal payment request feature and using this list as the recipient address, everything looked completely legitimate. Apart from the to: address field, which the victim can easily miss unless they happen to be a chief information security officer, or at least youd hope not. The payment request, in this case, was for $2,185.96 which is large enough to be profitable at scale yet small enough not to raise too much suspicion for many corporate targets.PayPal phsihing withoiut the usual phishing tactics.Fortiguard Labs Threat ResearchAs a trusted commerce platform, PayPal takes pride in our work to protect our customers from evolving scams and fraud activity, including this common phishing scam, a PayPal spokesperson said, We encourage customers to always remain mindful online, especially this time of year, and to visit PayPal.com for additional tips on how to protect themselves.Mitigating The PayPal Phishless Phish AttackBy way of background, PayPal told me that it takes all the necessary steps to protect customers as scammers continually evolve their attack methodologies. This involves a number of things, used in combination, such as manual investigations and technology-led protections. Paypal is also proactive when it comes to limiting accounts and declining transactions that are deemed to be potentially risky. PayPal customers have likely already seen some of these fraud detection technologies in action, such as the fraud reminder notifications and advice that come part-and-parcel with global invoice and peer-to-peer money requests.The best solution is the Human Firewall, Windsor said, someone who has been trained to be aware and cautious of any unsolicited email, regardless of how genuine it may look.Elad Luz, head of research at Oasis Security, meanwhile, warned that exploiting a vendor feature and sending from a verified source makes these attacks difficult for mailbox providers to distinguish from genuine communications, leaving PayPal as potentially the only entity capable of mitigating the issue.As well as resources detailing how to spot a fake PayPal email and how to keep scammers from gaining access to your PayPal account PayPal advises customers to:Remain mindful when being asked to participate in a transaction, particularly with someone they dont know or to whom they do not owe any money.Not pay any unexpected or suspicious invoices or payment requests, but also not respond to those requests in any way, including the sharing of personal information.If a customer has shared personal information or clicked links, they should change their account password and contact PayPal as well as their financial institution immediately.Enable two-factor authentication.Report any phishing emails to the PayPal security team by forwarding them to phishing@paypal.com and then deleting them.

The big picture: Nvidia's Jensen Huang kickstarted CES this year with his keynote. We listened to it and read a fair amount of analysis since. If you don't have 90 minutes to spare, we can sum it up for you: Nvidia has all the software. Or at least it has more than you do. Want to build a robot? They have software for that. Design a factory? Check. Autonomous cars, drug discovery, video games they have that too. And it is not just a basic application on offer; it has multiple layers for designing a robot, modeling out its physical world interactions, and then putting it into production. Nvidia has software for all of those.Editor's Note:Guest author Jonathan Goldberg is the founder of D2D Advisory, a multi-functional consulting firm. Jonathan has developed growth strategies and alliances for companies in the mobile, networking, gaming, and software industries.This is not exactly news, we have written about this before, but the point of all this is to drive home the message that most companies will get a big leg up by starting with Nvidia's offerings.In fairness, we have no idea how successful any of these will be. We are fairly certain that Nvidia is not too clear on that either. Their superpower is the ability to take chances without fear of failure, and our suspicion is that many of this week's announcements will face mixed results.That being said, the sheer quantity and depth of their offerings should be sobering for everyone else. Put simply, for companies who do not plan to train their own foundational models, working with Nvidia's tools is going to be the easiest way to develop AI applications.Jensen showcased AI-powered simulations for autonomous driving at CES, highlighting Nvidia's cutting-edge Cosmos platform.This is especially true for other semiconductor companies. Here, Nvidia's lead is doubly formidable. First, competing with Nvidia in selling AI semis requires a massive investment in software, and probably half a decade to build it out. // Related StoriesAMD is a year or two along that journey, and they are way ahead of number three. Broadcom does not have the software offerings, but they are going to do just fine selling to that handful of companies building their own foundational models. Everyone else has a long journey just to reach table stakes.The other item we pulled out of Huang's remarks was the level to which Nvidia is 'eating its own dog food.' They seem to be using AI tools to accelerate the development of their own chips. We think it is too soon to tell how much of the semiconductor design cycle can benefit from transformer-based AI models, but if even half of the workflow can be improved (dare we say 'accelerated') by AI, then Nvidia is going to have a meaningful productivity advantage over its competitors.Last year, Nvidia added $70 billion of revenue and $52 billion in operating profit, while only adding $6 billion in operating expenses. And now there is a risk that they are going to get even more productive?

This article first appeared in The Checkup,MIT Technology Reviewsweekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first,sign up here. This week marks a strange anniversaryits five years since most of us first heard about a virus causing a mysterious pneumonia. A virus that we later learned could cause a disease called covid-19. A virus that swept the globe and has since been reported to have been responsible for over 7 million deathsand counting. I first covered the virus in an article published on January 7, 2020, which had the headline Doctors scramble to identify mysterious illness emerging in China. For that article, and many others that followed it, I spoke to people who were experts on viruses, infectious disease, and epidemiology. Frequently, their answers to my questions about the virus, how it might spread, and the risks of a pandemic were the same: We dont know. We are facing the same uncertainty now with H5N1, the virus commonly known as bird flu. This virus has been decimating bird populations for years, and now a variant is rapidly spreading among dairy cattle in the US. We know it can cause severe disease in animals, and we know it can pass from animals to people who are in close contact with them. As of this Monday this week, we also know that it can cause severe disease in peoplea 65-year-old man in Louisiana became the first person in the US to die from an H5N1 infection. Scientists are increasingly concerned about a potential bird flu pandemic. The question is, given all the enduring uncertainty around the virus, what should we be doing now to prepare for the possibility? Can stockpiled vaccines save us? And, importantly, have we learned any lessons from a covid pandemic that still hasnt entirely fizzled out? Part of the challenge here is that it is impossible to predict how H5N1 will evolve. A variant of the virus caused disease in people in 1997, when there was a small but deadly outbreak in Hong Kong. Eighteen people had confirmed diagnoses, and six of them died. Since then, there have been sporadic cases around the worldbut no large outbreaks. As far as H5N1 is concerned, weve been relatively lucky, says Ali Khan, dean of the college of public health at the University of Nebraska. Influenza presents the greatest infectious-disease pandemic threat to humans, period, says Khan. The 1918 flu pandemic was caused by a type of influenza virus called H1N1 that appears to have jumped from birds to people. It is thought to have infected a third of the worlds population, and to have been responsible for around 50 million deaths. Another H1N1 virus was responsible for the 2009 swine flu pandemic. That virus hit younger people hardest, as they were less likely to have been exposed to similar variants and thus had much less immunity. It was responsible for somewhere between 151,700 and 575,400 deaths that year. To cause a pandemic, the H5N1 variants currently circulating in birds and dairy cattle in the US would need to undergo genetic changes that allow them to spread more easily from animals to people, spread more easily between people, and become more deadly in people. Unfortunately, we know from experience that viruses need only a few such changes to become more easily transmissible. And with each and every infection, the risk that a virus will acquire these dangerous genetic changes increases. Once a virus infects a host, it can evolve and swap chunks of genetic code with any other viruses that might also be infecting that host, whether its a bird, a pig, a cow, or a person. Its a big gambling game, says Marion Koopmans, a virologist at the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. And the gambling is going on at too large a scale for comfort. There are ways to improve our odds. For the best chance at preventing another pandemic, we need to get a handle on, and limit, the spread of the virus. Here, the US could have done a better job at limiting the spread in dairy cows, says Khan. It should have been found a lot earlier, he says. There should have been more aggressive measures to prevent transmission, to recognize what disease looks like within our communities, and to protect workers. States could also have done better at testing farm workers for infection, says Koopmans. Im surprised that I havent heard of an effort to eradicate it from cattle, she adds. A country like the US should be able to do that. The good news is that there are already systems in place for tracking the general spread of flu in people. The World Health Organizations Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System collects and analyzes samples of viruses collected from countries around the world. It allows the organization to make recommendations about seasonal flu vaccines and also helps scientists track the spread of various flu variants. Thats something we didnt have for the covid-19 virus when it first took off. We are also better placed to make vaccines. Some countries, including the US, are already stockpiling vaccines that should be at least somewhat effective against H5N1 (although it is difficult to predict exactly how effective they will be against some future variant). The US Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response plans to have up to 10 million doses of prefilled syringes and multidose vials prepared by the end of March, according to an email from a representative. The US Department of Health and Human Services has also said it will provide the pharmaceutical company Moderna with $176 million to create mRNA vaccines for pandemic influenzausing the same quick-turnaround vaccine production technology used in the companys covid-19 vaccines. Some question whether these vaccines should have already been offered to dairy farm workers in affected parts of the US. Many of these individuals have been exposed to the virus, a good chunk of them appear to have been infected with it, and some of them have become ill. If the decision had been up to Khan, he says, they would have been offered the H5N1 vaccine by now. And we should ensure they are offered seasonal flu vaccines in order to limit the risk that the two flu viruses will mingle inside one person, he adds. Others worry that 10 million vaccine doses arent enough for a country with a population of around 341 million. But health agencies walk a razor-thin line between having too much vaccine for something and not having enough, says Khan. If an outbreak never transpires, 340 million doses of vaccine will feel like an enormous waste of resources. We cant predict how well these viruses will work, either. Flu viruses mutate all the time, and even seasonal flu vaccines are notoriously unpredictable in their efficacy. I think weve become a little bit spoiled with the covid vaccines, says Koopmans. We were really, really lucky [to develop] vaccines with high efficacy. One vaccine lesson we should have learned from the covid-19 pandemic is the importance of equitable access to vaccines around the world. Unfortunately, its unlikely that we have. It is doubtful that low-income countries will have early access to [a pandemic influenza] vaccine unless the world takes action, Nicole Lurie of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) said in a recent interview for Gavi, a public-private alliance for vaccine equity. And another is the impact of vaccine hesitancy. Making vaccines might not be a problembut convincing people to take them might be, says Khan. We have an incoming administration that has lots of vaccine hesitancy, he points out. So while we may end up having vaccines available, its not very clear to me if we have the political and social will to actually implement good public health measures. This is another outcome that is impossible to predict, and I wont attempt to do so. But I am hoping that the relevant administrations will step up our defenses. And that this will be enough to prevent another devastating pandemic. Now read the rest of The Checkup Read more from MIT Technology Review's archive Bird flu has been circulating in US dairy cows for months. Virologists are worried it could stick around on US farms forever. As the virus continues to spread, the risk of a pandemic continues to rise. We still dont really know how the virus is spreading, but we do know that it is turning up in raw milk. (Please dont drink raw milk.) mRNA vaccines helped us through the covid-19 pandemic. Now scientists are working on mRNA flu vaccinesincluding universal vaccines that could protect against multiple flu viruses. The next generation of mRNA vaccines is on the way. These vaccines are self-amplifying and essentially tell the body how to make more mRNA. Maybe theres an alternative to dairy farms of the type that are seeing H5N1 in their cattle. Scientists are engineering yeasts and plants with bovine genes so they can produce proteins normally found in milk, which can be used to make spreadable cheeses and ice cream. The cofounder of one company says a factory of bubbling yeast vats could replace 50,000 to 100,000 cows. From around the web Bird flu has been circulating in US dairy cows for months. Virologists are worried it could stick around on US farms forever. As the virus continues to spread, the risk of a pandemic continues to rise. We still dont really know how the virus is spreading, but we do know that it is turning up in raw milk. (Please dont drink raw milk.) mRNA vaccines helped us through the covid-19 pandemic. Now scientists are working on mRNA flu vaccinesincluding universal vaccines that could protect against multiple flu viruses. The next generation of mRNA vaccines is on the way. These vaccines are self-amplifying and essentially tell the body how to make more mRNA. Maybe theres an alternative to dairy farms of the type that are seeing H5N1 in their cattle. Scientists are engineering yeasts and plants with bovine genes so they can produce proteins normally found in milk, which can be used to make spreadable cheeses and ice cream. The cofounder of one company says a factory of bubbling yeast vats could replace 50,000 to 100,000 cows.

I've been saving for retirement for most of my career and should be on track by retirement age.However, I'm not sure I'll ever want to stop working.Not only do I love my work as a writer, I also think I'll have a hard time spending my savings.Some people worry about not having enough money for retirement. For now, at least, I don't feel I have to worry about that. I'm 45 years old, about 20 years away from retirement age, and I've been saving and investing for retirement for most of my career in a steady, disciplined, diversified way.Especially after making big gains in the stock market over the last few years, I'm actually feeling good about my retirement account balances. If all goes well for the next few decades, I should be in good shape to be on track for retirement. But even if and when I can afford to quit working, I still might not "retire" in any traditional sense.I'm just not sure what I'd do in retirement and I love my jobRetirement might sound like paradise, right? No more work! Do whatever you want! But some people struggle to make the emotional adjustment to retirement. Especially if you're used to having a stimulating, rewarding, demanding career that gives you a lot of meaning and connection, the weekdays in retirement might feel empty.Not everyone is lucky enough to feel this way about their job, but I really love my career as a freelance writer. I love learning new things, meeting new people, and getting paid for doing what I do best. I don't want to feel bored or lonely in retirement. How do you stay busy and grounded without the structure of a career? Do I have to get hobbies or join a gym? Is this all a huge cry for help that I need to get a life?The point is that retirement planning is not just about money. Even though I might be on track to have my everyday living expenses covered in retirement, I can't envision the day-to-day routine of how I'll fill the hours if I don't have work to keep me busy anymore. Like other would-be retirees, I'll need to think ahead about how I want to live life and what I want to do when I grow up apparently, that big question never goes away at any age. I can't picture a future without my creative craft of writing, the work that has defined my life and everyday purpose.I'd have a hard time spending my savings if I wasn't making an incomeBy the time I've saved up enough money to retire, I might feel uncomfortable spending my savings. Retirement can bring a lot of big, scary expenses like nursing home bills and end-of-life care. Or, on a happier note, I might want to help contribute to my grandchildren's college tuition or keep traveling internationally for as long as possible. Even if I'm 70 years old and in good health, I might still be worried about providing for my 85-year-old "future self" in the event that I have serious health problems and need round-the-clock care.Feelings like these can make it hard for anyone to splurge in retirement, even for those who can afford to. Though many are putting off retirement due to financial worries, recent research has shown that some retirees actually underspend in retirement that is, they don't spend as much of their retirement account balances as they could. I might end up being one of those "underspenders" in retirement. What if I can't bear to part with all those big, reassuring numbers in my investment account that I worked so hard to make bigger?If I do retire in some capacity, I can't ever see myself truly putting work aside. At the very least, I think I'd get a side hustle. I love having income! Even in retirement, I like the idea of making the numbers in my brokerage account bigger.I want to stay creative, productive, and engaged with lifeAfter leaving his network late-night TV show, David Letterman wasn't ready to officially "retire," and I probably won't be able to either. (Not to compare myself with a legendary comedian like him.) But I like the idea of a Letterman-style retirement: instead of disappearing into oblivion, just keep showing up to do a few meaningful projects. Do what you love without the grind of a full-time job.I will keep saving for retirement, even if I don't retire in the traditional way. Not everyone gets to keep working for as long as they want to; sometimes retirement gets imposed upon people whether they like it or not. But I'm rethinking the conventional wisdom on what a happy retirement means. I'm not afraid to keep working for many years to come.

A group including "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary and Frank McCourt has submitted a bid for TikTok.They face an uphill battle to buy the app, with owner Bytedance still fighting a looming US ban.McCourt previously told BI the deal, which does not include TikTok's algorithm, faces a murky path to success."Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary is teaming up with billionaire Frank McCourt on a long shot effort to buy TikTok.O'Leary and the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner are part of a group called "The People's Bid for TikTok," which said on Thursday it had submitted a bid for the video app to Chinese tech giant Bytedance.The consortium has an uphill battle to acquire TikTok, despite the app being threatened with a ban in the US if it's not sold by January 19.Bytedance insists it has no plans to sell the app, which has some 170 million US users, despite President Joe Biden signing a law in April setting a deadline for the app to be sold, or face a ban.Bytedance is challenging the law in the Supreme Court after losing appeals in lower courts, claiming the potential ban from US app stores is a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech.The court is due to hear oral arguments in the case on Friday.President-elect Donald Trump has asked the court to pause the law that would ban TikTok until after his inauguration later this month.Any deal to buy TikTok is complicated by the fact that TikTok's recommendation algorithm the key to the app's compulsive scrolling is likely covered by Chinese export rules prohibiting the sale of sensitive technology without a license.No clarityMcCourt told Business Insider in December that the group's $20 billion-plus proposal, which would not include the recommendation algorithm, is complicated because "we don't know what ByteDance is selling."He said that Bytedance had refused to discuss a potential sale, meaning it was "very, very difficult to have precision" over what a deal might look like.McCourt and O'Leary's vision for the app, which is also backed by the likes of investment firm Guggenheim Securities and World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, includes turning TikTok into a decentralized social media app that gives users more control over their personal data.The group said they would aim to work closely with incoming president Donald Trump, who has previously expressed support for TikTok and met with the company's CEO last month.Bytedance did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

Starbucks underwent a lot of changes in 2024, and more are likely coming in 2025.New CEO Brian Niccol will face choices about unionized stores and the China business.Starbucks faced slumping sales and dealt with activist investors in 2024.Starbucks was on the cusp of a big change in late 2024. This year will bring even more shifts for both baristas and coffee-lovers.Starbucks' sales had slowed and even lost ground in the first half of 2024. Customers and employees pointed to operational challenges for the company, such as a lengthy menu and an explosion of mobile orders. There were even two activist investors with stakes in Starbucks during the summer.Then, in August, the coffee chain surprised investors by saying that Brian Niccol would take over as its CEO, replacing Laxman Narasimhan, who had held the job for roughly a year and a half.Niccol was known for turning around the Mexican grill chain Chipotle after a food poisoning crisis. He announced some changes after starting as CEO in September, such as cutting the number of discounts that Starbucks offers to members of its loyalty program.Starbucks has also stopped charging extra for non-dairy milk, and is bringing back self-service bars for milk and other condiments to reduce complexity for its baristas.It's already clear that those were just opening salvos.Niccol said in October that he's "putting a full-court press" on getting drinks to customers within four minutes of when they placed their order.He has also said he wants Starbucks to return to being a "third place" where people can hang out a role it played for many patrons in its early years of national expansion.Store employees whom Starbucks calls "partners" could get details on how that change will happen at three-hour meetings scheduled to take place later this month.Partners have pointed to some specific areas where Starbucks might have to make adjustments to achieve Niccol's goals. Some have said that their Starbucks stores need to be better staffed, especially during the busiest times.Others have suggested that a better process needs to be developed for handling mobile orders, which can be difficult to manage in addition to customers who walk in and others who order at the drive-thru.There are further issues that Niccol will need to address in 2025.These include Starbucks' unionized stores, which account for about 4.5% of the chain's locations. Starbucks workers at those stores went on strike in the days leading up to Christmas and have yet to secure a contract. An agreement would be the first ever between Starbucks and its store workers.Starbucks and Niccol also have to craft a strategy for the company's business in China, its second-largest market after the US. In October, Niccol said that Starbucks was considering "strategic partnerships that could help us grow in the long term."The following month, Bloomberg reported that Starbucks was weighing selling a stake in its China business and finding a partner in the country to manage the unit.Niccol has only been at the helm for four months, but it's clear he has big plans for the coffee chain at home and abroad. Investors were hopeful when he joined the company, though it's too soon to tell whether his actions will result in a recovery this year.Starbucks' challenge for 2025 will be to make itself more than a place for a quick cup of coffee. The chain has long held itself to higher service and quality standards than most fast-food joints, from offering healthcare benefits to part-time employees to encouraging customers to stick around the store and relax.Yet one barista with almost two decades of experience at the company said his store has drifted from those higher standards lately."It started out as a trendy, quirky coffee shop job, and it's just morphed into this soulless fast-food empire since that time," the employee told Business Insider earlier this year.Do you work at Starbucks and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com.

Stanton Williams to Design Fleming Research Centre at St Marys Hospital, London, United KingdomSave this picture! Stanton WilliamsStanton Williams has been selected to design the Fleming Centre, a state-of-the-art research and public engagement facility to be constructed on the St Mary's Hospital campus in Paddington, London. Announced by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the project aims to create a global hub for collaboration and innovation in addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a significant healthcare challenge affecting populations worldwide. The Fleming Centre forms part of the broader Fleming Initiative, a joint venture between Imperial College Healthcare and Imperial College London.The Centre will act as a multidisciplinary space where researchers, policymakers, clinicians, behavioral scientists, commercial partners, and the public can collaborate. It aims to harness diverse expertise to combat AMR on a global scale. Additionally, it will be part of an international network of similar facilities strategically positioned around the world to foster collective action and knowledge-sharing on this critical issue.Save this picture!Stanton Williams was chosen following a RIBA design competition that included a three-day design exhibition. The exhibition showcased concepts from five shortlisted architectural teams, including AHMM, Allies and Morrison, Grimshaw, and Wilkinson Eyre with White Arkitekter. Furthermore, the exhibition gathered feedback from over 300 visitors and 100 written responses, which helped guide the final decision. The selected design was recognized for its strong balance of functionality, design quality, and alignment with the local community's needs. Related Article RIBA Awards House of the Year 2024 to Six Columns by 31/44 Architects The next phase of the project involves further refining the design, engaging with the public through consultations, and submitting a planning application in collaboration with Westminster City Council. The Fleming Centre is part of a larger redevelopment of St Mary's Hospital, which is included in the Government's New Hospital Programme. It is expected to open in 2028, coinciding with the centenary of Sir Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin at St Mary's.The Stanton Williams design integrates the historical significance of the site, known as The Bays, which consists of industrial warehouses from the 1850s that were adapted for hospital use in 1983. The proposal preserves this heritage while incorporating modern elements, such as the Fleming Discovery Centre, to highlight advancements in scientific research. The design aims to prioritize sustainability, including renewable energy systems like a water-source heat pump and photovoltaic panels, as well as biodiverse landscaping and a low-carbon structure. Public engagement is a key feature, with the ground floor designed as an open, inviting space that provides views into laboratories and exhibition areas to make science more accessible to visitors.Save this picture!In other similar news, architectural firms Snhetta and HGA have just began work on the Barbara and Gerson Bakar Research and Academic Building (BRAB) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Additionally, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) has been announced as the architect of the Alisher Navoi International Scientific Research Centre, an expansive cultural and educational facility taking shape in New Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Finally, Vjosa National Park, Europe's first "wild river national park," spans 190 km of free-flowing river and will feature a visitor research and information center designed by Danish firm CEBRA.Image gallerySee allShow lessAbout this authorNour FakharanyAuthorCite: Nour Fakharany. "Stanton Williams to Design Fleming Research Centre at St Marys Hospital, London, United Kingdom" 10 Jan 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1025513/stanton-williams-to-design-fleming-research-centre-at-st-marys-hospital-london-united-kingdom&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream