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US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew N Ferguson warned more than a dozen major technology companies Thursday that censoring US citizens or weakening data security protections at the behest of foreign governments could violate US law.Ferguson sent formal letters to 13 tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft reminding them of their legal obligations to protect American consumers privacy and data security despite mounting pressure from overseas regulators, the FTC said in a statement.I am concerned that these actions by foreign powers to impose censorship and weaken end-to-end encryption will erode Americans freedoms and subject them to myriad harms, such as surveillance by foreign governments and an increased risk of identity theft and fraud, Ferguson wrote in the letters, the statement added.The warning shot marks a more confrontational stance toward foreign regulatory influence over American technology services.Companies receiving the letters included Akamai, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Cloudflare, Discord, GoDaddy, Meta, Microsoft, Signal, Snap, Slack, and X, according to the agency.Ferguson invited the firms to schedule meetings with his office by August 28 to discuss how they will honor their privacy commitments to US consumers while facing competing global regulatory demands.For enterprise technology buyers, the FTCs warning creates new questions about vendor reliability and data protection commitments. Organizations that rely on cloud services, collaboration platforms, and security tools from the targeted companies now face uncertainty about whether their providers will maintain consistent global security standards.European laws driving compliance concernsFerguson specifically cited three foreign regulations that he said could pressure tech companies to compromise American users rights: the EUs Digital Services Act, the UKs Online Safety Act, and the UKs Investigatory Powers Act.The DSA, which applies to platforms with more than 45 million monthly EU users, requires companies to remove illegal and harmful content or face fines of up to 6% of global revenue. The UKs Online Safety Act establishes similar content moderation requirements for platforms serving British users.More concerning to US officials is the UKs Investigatory Powers Act, which can require companies to weaken their encryption measures to enable UK law enforcement to access data stored by users, the FTC said.Earlier this year, the British Home Office secretly ordered Apple to create backdoors in its encrypted cloud services under the Investigatory Powers Act. Apple, however, has ceased offering its Advanced Data Protection feature in Britain rather than comply with the demand.For enterprise customers, the regulatory fragmentation creates complex compliance challenges.Legal threat to non-complianceFerguson warned that companies could face FTC enforcement action if they weaken security promises to comply with foreign demands. Under the FTC Act, companies that promise consumers encrypted communications but then adopt weaker security measures could be found guilty of deceptive practices, he said.If a company promises consumers that it encrypts or secures online communications but then adopts weaker security in response to demands from a foreign government, such an action could be considered a deceptive practice under the FTC Act, the agency said in the statement.The FTC has brought dozens of cases over the past two decades against companies that failed to keep promises about consumer data protection, the agency noted.Encryption controversy escalates tensionsThe FTCs intervention comes amid growing tensions between US officials and foreign governments over encryption policies. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recently called foreign demands for encryption backdoors a clear and egregious violation of Americans privacy and civil liberties.The standoff highlights broader concerns about the extraterritorial reach of European and British regulations. Critics argue that foreign laws increasingly dictate global technology policies, potentially undermining American digital competitiveness and innovation.While law enforcement agencies argue they need access to encrypted communications for investigations, privacy advocates and tech companies contend that backdoors inevitably weaken security for all users.Gabbard has warned that foreign encryption demands would open up a serious vulnerability for cyber exploitation by adversarial actors, reflecting growing concerns within the Trump administration about foreign regulatory overreach.Industry implicationsFergusons warning could embolden other US agencies to push back against what the administration views as inappropriate foreign regulatory overreach. Apple has already demonstrated this approach by withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK market rather than comply with encryption backdoor demands.The intervention reflects broader concerns about regulatory fragmentation in global technology markets. Organizations operating across multiple jurisdictions must navigate conflicting requirements while maintaining consistent security standards, creating complex compliance challenges for both vendors and their enterprise customers. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Inspired Entertainment announces the launch of three virtual sports games, available via bet365.The three games, V-Play NHL, NBA Re-Play, and Re-Play eSports, will be available to play on desktop and mobile via bet365. Inspired promises players the latest in gaming developments, includingcutting-edge motion capture, modern animation techniques, and more.V-Play NHL is an officially licensed product with the NHL, meaning it features real teams and logos for extra authenticity. The same can be said for NBA Re-Play, officially licensed by both the NBA and the NBPA and using archive footage for an extra dose of reality.In a slight departure from traditional sports, Re-Play eSports offers fast, always-on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) virtual gameplay, based on official tournament archive footage. The virtual e-sports game is backed with in-game data and video feeds for a realistic experience for users.The wider virtual sports landscapeAll three apps offer in-game betting opportunities for their players and are part of a growing number of officially licensed North American virtual sports products available through bet365.Were excited to expand our partnership with bet365 through the launch of these groundbreaking products, said Brooks Pierce, President & CEO of Inspired. With V-Play NHL, NBA Re-Play, and Re-Play eSports, we continue to redefine whats possible in virtual sports, delivering high-quality, immersive content that resonates with both fans and bettors.The launch highlights the ongoing focus from bet365 to expand in the US, with a clear focus here on American sports, teams, and pastimes.Inspired continues to lead the way in virtual sports innovation, said a bet365 spokesperson. With compelling visuals, official league integrations, and thrilling gameplay, these titles are set to be a major hit with our global audience.All three products are now live on bet365s global platform, available on both desktop and mobile.Featured image: Inspired EntertainmentThe post Inspired Entertainment announces three virtual sports games for hockey, basketball, and esports appeared first on ReadWrite.

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are bitter rivals in the commercial space race, but they agree on one thing: Settling space is an existential imperative. Space is the place. The final frontier. It is our human destiny to transcend our home world and expand our civilization to extraterrestrial vistas.This belief has been mainstream for decades, but its rise has been positively meteoric in this new gilded age of astropreneurs. Expanding humanity beyond Earth is both our birthright and our duty to the future, they insist. Failing to do so would consign our species to certain extinctioneither by our own hand, perhaps through nuclear war or climate change, or in some cosmic disaster, like a massive asteroid impact.But as visions of giant orbital stations and Martian cities dance in our heads, a case against human space colonization has found its footing in a number of recent books. The argument grows from many grounds: Doubts about the practical feasibility of off-Earth communities. Concerns about the exorbitant costs, including who would bear them and who would profit. Realism about the harsh environment of space and the enormous tax it would exact on the human body. Suspicion of the underlying ideologies and mythologies that animate the race to settle space.And, more bluntly, a recognition that space sucks and a lot of people have underestimated the scale of suckitude, as Kelly and Zach Weinersmith put it in their book A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?, which was released in paperback earlier this year.A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, ShouldWe Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?Kelly and Zach WeinersmithPENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE, 2023(PAPERBACK RELEASE 2025)The Weinersmiths, a husband-wife team, spent years thinking it throughin delightfully pragmatic detail. A City on Mars provides ground truth for our lofty celestial dreams by gaming out the medical, technical, legal, ethical, and existential consequences of space settlements.Much to the authors own dismay, the result is a grotesquery of possible outcomes including (but not limited to) Martian eugenics, interplanetary war, andmemorablyspace cannibalism.The Weinersmiths puncture the gauzy fantasy of space cities by asking pretty basic questions, like how to populate them. Astronauts experience all kinds of medical challenges in space, such as radiation exposure and bone loss, which would increase risks to both parents and babies. Nobody wants their pregnant glow to be a by-product of cosmic radiation.Trying to bring forth babies in space is going to be tricky business, not just in terms of science, but from the perspective of scientific ethics, they write. Adults can consent to being in experiments. Babies cant.You dont even have to contemplate going to Mars to make some version of this case. In Ground Control: An Argument for the End of Human Space Exploration, Savannah Mandel chronicles how past and present generations have regarded human spaceflight as an affront to vulnerable children right here on Earth.Ground Control: An Argument for the End of Human Space ExplorationSavannah MandelCHICAGO REVIEW PRESS, 2024Hungry Kids Cant Eat Moon Rocks, read signs at a protest outside Kennedy Space Center on the eve of the Apollo 11 launch in July 1969. Gil Scott-Herons 1970 poem Whitey on the Moon rose to become the de facto anthem of this movement, which insists, to this day, that until humans get our earthly house in order, we have no business building new ones in outer space.Ground Control, part memoir and part manifesto, channels this lament: How can we justify the enormous cost of sending people beyond our planet when there is so much suffering here at home?Advocates for human space exploration reject the zero-sum framing and point to the many downstream benefits of human spaceflight. Space exploration has catalyzed inventions from the CAT scan to baby formula. There is also inherent value in our shared adventure of learning about the vast cosmos.Those upsides are real, but they are not remotely well distributed. Mandel predicts that the commercial space sector in its current form will only exacerbate inequalities on Earth, as profits from space ventures flow into the coffers of the already obscenely rich.In her book, Mandel, a space anthropologist and scholar at Virginia Tech, describes a personal transformation from spacey dreamer to grounded critic. It began during fieldwork at Spaceport America, a commercial launch facility in New Mexico, where she began to see cracks in the dazzling future imagined by space billionaires. As her career took her from street protests in London to extravagant space industry banquets in Washington, DC, she writes, crystal clear glasses replaced the rose-colored ones.Mandel remains enchanted by space but is skeptical that humans are the optimal trailblazers. Robots, rovers, probes, and other artificial space ambassadors could do the job for a fraction of the price and without risk to life, limb, and other corporeal vulnerabilities.A decentralization of self needs to occur, she writes. A dissolution of anthropocentrism, so to speak. And a recognition that future space explorers may not be man, even if man moves through them.In other words, giant leaps for mankind no longer necessitate a mans small steps; the wheels of a rover or the rotors of a copter offer a much better bang for our buck than boots on the ground.In contrast to the Weinersmiths, Mandel devotes little attention to the physical dangers and limitations that space imposes on humans. She is more interested in a kind of psychic sickness that drives the impulse to abandon our planet and rush into new territories.Mary-Jane Rubenstein, a scholar of religion at Wesleyan University, presents a thorough diagnosis of this exact pathology in her 2022 book Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race, which came out in paperback last year. It all begins, appropriately enough, with the book of Genesis, where God creates Earth for the dominion of man. Over the years, this biblical brain worm has offered divine justification for the brutal colonization and environmental exploitation of our planet. Now it serves as the religious rocket fuel propelling humans into the next frontier, Rubenstein argues.Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space RaceMary-Jane RubensteinUNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, 2022 (PAPERBACK RELEASE 2024)The intensifying NewSpace race is as much a mythological project as it is a political, economic, or scientific one, she writes. Its a mythology, in fact, that holds all these other efforts together, giving them an aura of duty, grandeur, and benevolence.Rubenstein makes a forceful case that malignant outgrowths of Christian ideas scaffold the dreams of space settlements championed by Musk, Bezos, and like-minded enthusiastseven if these same people might never describe themselves as religious. If Earth is mans dominion, space is the next logical step. Earth is just a temporary staging ground for a greater destiny; we will find our deliverance in the heavens.Fuck Earth, Elon Musk said in 2014. Who cares about Earth? If we can establish a Mars colony, we can almost certainly colonize the whole solar system.Jeff Bezos, for one, claims to care about Earth; thats among his best arguments for why humans should move beyond it. If heavy industries and large civilian populations cast off into the orbital expanse, our home world can be, in his words, zoned residential and light industry, allowing it to recover from anthropogenic pressures. Bezos also believes that space settlements are essential for the betterment of humanity, in part on the grounds that they will uncork our population growth. He envisions an orbital archipelago of stations, sprawled across the solar system, that could support a collective population of a trillion people. Thats a thousand Mozarts. A thousand Einsteins, Bezos has mused. What a cool civilization that would be.It does sound cool. But its an easy layup for Rubenstein: This numbers game approach would also produce a thousand Hitlers and Stalins, she writes.And that is the real crux of the argument against pushing hard torapidly expand human civilization into space: We will still be humans when we get there. We wont escape our vices and frailties by leaving Earthin fact, we may exacerbate them.While all three books push back on the existential argument for space settlements, the Weinersmiths take the rebuttal one step further by proposing that space colonization might actually increase the risk of self-annihilation rather than neutralizing it.Going to space will not end war because war isnt caused by anything that space travel is apt to change, even in the most optimistic scenarios, they write. Humanity going to space en masse probably wont reduce the likelihood of war, but we should consider that it might increase the chance of war being horrific.The pair imagine rival space nations exchanging asteroid fire or poisoning whole biospheres. Proponents of space settlements often point to the fate of the dinosaurs as motivational grist, but what if a doomsday asteroid were deliberately flung between human cultures as a weapon? It may sound outlandish, but its no more speculative than a floating civilization with a thousand Mozarts. It follows the same logic of extrapolating our human future in space from our behavior on Earth in the past.So should we just sit around and wait for our inevitable extinction? The three books have more or less the same response: Whats the rush? It is far more likely that humanity will be wiped out by our own activity in the near term than by any kind of cosmic threat. Worrying about the expansion of the sun in billions of years, as Musk has openly done, is frankly hysterical.In the meantime, we have some growing up to do. Mandel and Rubenstein both argue that any worthy human future in space must adopt a decolonizing approach that emphasizes caretaking and stewardship of this planet and its inhabitants before we set off for others. They draw inspiration from science fiction, popular culture, and Indigenous knowledge, among other sources, to sketch out these alternative visions of an off-Earth future.Mandel sees hope for this future in post-scarcity political theories. She cites various attempts to anticipate the needs of future generationsideas found in the work of the social theorist Aaron Benanav, or in the values expressed by the Green New Deal, or in the fictional Ministry for the Future imagined by Kim Stanley Robinson in his 2020 novel of the same name. Whatever you think of the controversial 2025 book Abundance, by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, it is also appealing to the same demand for a post-scarcity road map.To that end, Mandel envisions the creation of a governing body that would require that techno-scientific plans, especially those with a global reach, take into consideration multigenerational impacts and multigenerational voices.For Rubenstein, religion is the poison, but it may also offer the cure. She sees potential in a revival of pantheism, which is the belief that all the contents of the universefrom rocks to humans to galaxiesare divine and perhaps alive on some level. She hasnt fully converted herself to this movement, let alone become an evangelist, but she says its a spiritual direction that could be an effective counterweight to dominionist views of the universe.It doesnt matter whether any sort of pantheism is true, she writes. What matters is the way any given mythology prompts us to interact with the world were a part ofthe world each of our actions helps to make and unmake. And frankly, some mythologies prompt us to act better than others.All these authors ultimately conclude that it would be great if humans lived in spacesomeday, if and when weve matured. But the three books all express concerns about efforts by commercial space companies, with the help of the US government, to bypass established space laws and normsconcerns that have been thoroughly validated in 2025.The combustible relationship between Elon Musk and Donald Trump has raised eyebrows about cronyismand retributionbetween governments and space companies. Space is rapidly becoming weaponized. And recent events have reminded us of the immense challenges of human spaceflight. SpaceXs next-generation Starship vehicle has suffered catastrophic failures in several test flights, while Boeings Starliner capsule experienced malfunctions that kept two astronauts on the International Space Station for months longer than expected. Even space tourism is developing a bad rap: In April, a star-studded all-woman crew on a Blue Origin suborbital flight was met with widespread backlash as a symbol of out-of-touch wealth and privilege.It is at this point that we must loop back to the issue of suckitude, which Mandel also channels in her book through the killer opening of M.T. Andersons novel Feed: We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.The dreams of space settlements put forward by Musk and Bezos are insanely fun. The reality may well suck. But its doubtful that any degree of suckitude will slow down the commercial space race, and the authors do at times seem to be yelling into the cosmic void.Still, the books challenge space enthusiasts of all stripes to imagine new ways of relating to space that arent so tactile and exploitative. Along those lines, Rubenstein shares a compelling anecdote in Astrotopia about an anthropologist who lived with an Inuit community in the early 1970s. When she told them about the Apollo moon landings, her hosts burst out in laughter.We didnt know this was the first time you white people had been to the moon, they said. Our shamans go all the time The issue is not whether we go to visit our relatives, but how we treat them and their homeland when we go.Becky Ferreira is a science reporter based in upstate New York, and author of First Contact, a book about the search for alien life, which will be published in September.

InsightsBreaking Through: People-Centered Transformation Powered by LearningPatrick Voorhies, Ed.D.August 13, 2025Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty ImagesIn brief:Many organizations hit barriers to connecting learning measurement to behavior change that brings value to the business, but systems can be created to advance progress.In any role or industry, learning measures can be embedded into learning for more immediate impact enriching the experience and driving better business outcomes.Talent development leaders can speed progress when they build on whats in place, starting with systems where data is already being captured, and shifting to measure outcomes over activities.This post is co-authored by Patrick Voorhies, Ed.D., Manager, Talent & Development, Motiva Enterprises, and Susan Douglas, Ph.D., Professor of Practice at Vanderbilt University and an executive and team coach. Achieving higher-level results from learning and leadership development remains elusive for many organizations. As we discussed in our recent post, Beyond the Survey: Design Learning Data for Real-Time Impact, there are many complexities and challenges slowing progress.For organizations working to drive real change and transformation, old models for learning measurement are too slow and ineffective. It takes systems, discipline, and transparency to achieve real results. We recommend a more adaptive and holistic approach where you consider each programs unique goals and outcomes within the larger context of business objectives.Beyond current models: thinking holistically around the power of learning analytics and metrics to fuel action and change behaviors aligned with business objectives.Here we share three examples of practical shifts organizations made to move toward human-centered inquiry, recognizing the power of learning analytics and metrics to fuel action and change behaviors aligned with the business.Example 1 Starting small and simple to show insightsWe recently worked with a large multinational energy company where the approach to evaluating leadership development programs, especially those for frontline supervisors, was rooted in participant satisfaction, facilitator effectiveness, and Net Promoter Score (NPS). Following the global enterprise deployment of a new supervisor development program to several hundred frontline leaders worldwide, executive sponsors tasked program leaders to report on the success of the offering.Previously, program managers and stakeholders had become conditioned to answer questions from executives about the effectiveness of learning programs to say that they had a nearly perfect NPS and received glowing e-mails from previous program participants. However, in the backdrop of a more competitive landscape, executive sponsors wanted more robust evidence of success: was there any chance that participants intended to change their behavior after participating in the program? Were they going to use the new skills they learned?In our work with this organization, we collaborated with stakeholders to implement a streamlined evaluation form that was only 7 Likert scale post-learning questions that focused on self-perceptions of learning transfer: usefulness of content, applicability to their job, support on the job from their manager and colleagues, and opportunity to apply their newly acquired skills. The higher response rate for this more straightforward form from otherwise busy frontline leaders formalized feedback mechanisms and directly tied the feedback obtained from participants to the outcomes that executives cared about: learning and leader effectiveness tied to organizational outcomes.Start where you are. By continuously guiding highly skeptical stakeholders to embrace an adaptive mindset, we began to shift their focus away from limitations around reporting and data and more toward the possibilities even within imperfect systems.There was value in fewer questions that were targeted and research-backed, beyond standard satisfaction, NPS, or facilitator ratings. Gaining buy-in required trust and a willingness to experiment. Skepticism only disappeared when this new approach delivered more actionable insights for stakeholders and executives. Most participants found they could apply the content on the job, use what they learned, and felt supported by their leaders. These insights helped us refine the program and strengthened executive confidence in our impact.Example 2 Embedding learning practices into existing operations and routinesWhile not a company we have directly worked with, we have both admired the way that Amazon utilizes data to inform practice, and how they could use this information to continuously improve business operations or safety training programs. From reviewing Amazons safety practices, they monitor real-time factors using data such as work-hour patterns to understand fatigue risks during peak shifts, and incident hotspots such as repetitive motion injuries in specific roles.In our experience, weve observed that these kinds of practices could alert managers to take real-time actions if employees exceed exposure times or if certain patterns are likely to happen. Safety training programs for both managers and employees can help account for behaviors to address issues related to a safety stand down or the focus of the next safety briefing. This can rely on data already tracked as part of business operations, such as driving, equipment use, or order fulfillment.Amazons practices are an excellent example of the kind of participatory feedback loops we are recommending. They do not feel like extra work for employees and partners. Organizations can measure the frequency of leadership check-ins, quality of post-incident briefs, and perceptions of leadership commitment to safety through iterative data collection. These practices can be embedded in the evaluative mindsets of the team through continuous challenging of assumptions, feedback to those who can act in near-real time, and iterative improvement.Data-driven adaptations and leadership engagement are hallmarks of the types of embedded evaluation approaches we advocate for within systems, learning programs, and organizations. Weve observed that practices like these have yielded a reduction in recordable injury rates and lost time incidents.Example 3 Humanizing data at the point of careHave you ever answered questions about how youve been sleeping or feeling in the waiting room of your doctors office? That is measurement-based care, grounded in measures completed by patients. Unlike measuring blood pressure with a cuff or doing a blood test to assess A1C levels, in mental health care, we dont have many tools that can give us access to meaningful metrics. When patients complete brief measures on their problems and concerns, and their providers review and talk about the results in that visit, the research shows that care is more effective and efficient. When the questions spark curiosity and the answers are used to guide collaboration, peoples symptoms improve faster.We can apply lessons from this to learning and development. By collecting data throughout an intervention, learners encounter smaller bite-sized sets of questions that are less burdensome. Questions that are directly relevant to the experience at hand provide a valuable moment for reflection-in-action, a core component of learning that influences behavior. When the data becomes part of the dialogue in the moment, youve transformed a learning experience into a multi-modal strategy of engaging with learners. This both increases learning transfer and can reinforce the connection to larger goals. And, when you use readily accessible technology to capture and display data, you gain the advantage of real-time data for immediate use and aggregation for long-term organizational learning.So, how do you embed measurement within peoples daily jobs?Three Practical Steps to Shake Up Your Organizations Approach to Learning MeasurementStart where you areNo system or tool is perfect and most organizational data is messy. Dont let this reality block progress toward program improvement. If you already collect happy sheets or other forms of participation data, its easy to switch out questions in existing tools and forms to more evidence-based questions such as those that assess learning transfer. Sharing findings and recommendations from the data you collect is what will drive the desire for learning and improvement by bringing voices of stakeholders from the frontline to the C-suite. We think that this cadence of sharing the perspectives of the organization with decision makers creates the desire for more program improvement supported from the top down.Go to where the data isEmbed in existing programs, systems, and tools. Most interventions are plagued with low response rates for the surveys and instruments that they deploy. This makes sense when you consider the constant state of overwhelm most knowledge workers find themselves in, not to mention deskless workers, such as those in remote or field operations. Formative check-ins on critical levels of change such as motivation, intent to apply, or cognitive load during the progress of a program can open up opportunities to course-correct even as the program is delivered.Embrace measuring outcomes over activitiesParticipation and reaction data is the easiest data to collect, but it is also the least helpful in evaluating program outcomes. Discovering participants do, or do not, attend your program or if they like it has no bearing on how that training may improve organizational effectiveness or performance. In times of economic uncertainty, some learning experiences may appear to be a luxury, such as expensive leadership development programs. Your C-suite may feel that you are the events planning team rather than understanding your strategic role in driving the performance of the organization. To change this perception, you must present data that demonstrates how this kind of development is a critical lever to performance. If you cant make that case, desired culture change will remain elusive.Learning evaluation and measurement for leadership development programs can feel like a monumental, impossible task where data is elusive and participants are unwilling captives to your ploys to collect data. By starting small and taking an iterative mindset to evolve over time, and in a way that is already part of the operational rhythm of your program or business, you can build the momentum and credibility needed to embed evaluation in a way that establishes actionable insights and builds an organization of data-informed decisions.Read more:Beyond the Survey: Design Learning Data for Real-Time ImpactHow to Assess Leadership Skills for a Leadership Development ProgramTalent ManagementTransformationShare this resourceShare on LinkedInShare on FacebookShare on XShare on WhatsAppEmail this PageConnect with usChange isnt easy, but we can help. Together well create informed and inspired leaders ready to shape the future of your business.Contact usLatest InsightsTalent ManagementScale Innovation with Speed: The ABCs of Leading InnovationInnovation is an organization-wide capability requiring leaders who can foster collaboration, experimentation, and execution at Read more: Scale Innovation with Speed: The ABCs of Leading InnovationArticleStrategic AlignmentWhy the Tortoise Doesnt Win Anymore: Speed to Skill as a Competitive AdvantageIn a fast-changing market, sustainable advantage comes from how quickly organizations can identify skill needs, Read more: Why the Tortoise Doesnt Win Anymore: Speed to Skill as a Competitive AdvantageArticleTransformationBreaking Through: People-Centered Transformation Powered by LearningOrganizations can embed learning measures into learning for more immediate impact to enrich the experience Read more: Breaking Through: People-Centered Transformation Powered by LearningArticleFuture of WorkFPT Partners with Harvard Business Impact, Empowering Global Workforce with AI-Driven Learning SolutionsFPT partners with Harvard Business Impact to boost leadership development and talent growth. Read more: FPT Partners with Harvard Business Impact, Empowering Global Workforce with AI-Driven Learning SolutionsNewsThe post Breaking Through: People-Centered Transformation Powered by Learning appeared first on Harvard Business Impact.

As the holiday season approaches, its the perfect time to upgrade your creative toolkit without stretching your budget. Whether youre diving into 3D modeling, refining your animations, or exploring digital painting, theres something for everyone in this years Pre-Black Friday sales. From powerful tools like Cinema 4D plugins and Blender add-ons to versatile software like Clip Studio Paint and Cascadeur, these deals are tailored for designers, artists, and game developers eager to elevate their projects.In this guide, weve organized the best discounts under the top categories3D Design Tools, 2D Design Tools, and Rendering & Visualizationwith direct links to the offers. Dont miss these limited-time deals!Pre-Black Friday sales: Available earlier in November3D Design Tools3dtools.infoWhat: Packs of PBR materials and Cinema 4D pluginsDiscount: Up to 50%BproductionWhat: Population 2 (crowd animation add-on for Blender)Discount: 30% (use code NEWCROWD)Daz 3DWhat: Selected products (3D characters and assets for DAZ Studio)Discount: Varies, with daily dealsFlippedNormalsWhat: 3D models, materials, and brushesDiscount: Up to 50%FoundryWhat: Mari Individual subscriptions (monthly or annual)Discount: 50% (new subscribers only)LotPixelWhat: Access to 3D models and textures (subscriptions and credit packs)Discount: Up to 29% (subscriptions), 32% (credit packs)NekkiWhat: Cascadeur (Indie and Pro subscriptions)Discount: 25% (Pro, use code PRO25), 30% (Indie, use code Indie30)VinziWhat: Atlux (visualization plugin for Unreal Engine)Discount: 20% (perpetual licenses), 50% (first month of subscriptions)2D Design ToolsCelsysWhat: Clip Studio Paint (Pro and Ex editions)Discount: 40% (Ex), 60% (Pro)ExpresiiWhat: Expresii (digital painting software)Discount: 25% (use code IEBD0YY)Paintstorm StudioWhat: Paintstorm StudioDiscount: 50%Rendering & VisualizationRebusFarmWhat: Online rendering servicesDiscount: 50% (get the same number of render credits purchased for free)Black Friday sales: Available on or until 29 November3D Design Tools3D Scan StoreWhat: 3D scans of heads and entire peopleDiscount: 55%CGTraderWhat: Selected 3D modelsDiscount: Varies, up to 50%GameDev MarketWhat: Game assets, including 3D modelsDiscount: Up to 60%KitBash3DWhat: Cargo subscriptions (access to kitbash asset kits)Discount: 50%Nouvelle Mesure LabWhat: 3D models, plants, and Forest Pack assetsDiscount: 40%Friendly ShadeWhat: Subscriptions to 3D scanned material libraryDiscount: Up to 60%DimensivaWhat: Pro membership (access to architectural 3D models)Discount: Up to 50%Globe PlantsWhat: 3D plantsDiscount: 45%The Pixel LabWhat: VFX assets, materials for OctaneRender, Redshift, and UE5Discount: 30%2D Design ToolsAdobeWhat: Creative Cloud All Apps subscriptionsDiscount: 50% (new annual subscriptions)CorelWhat: Painter, PaintShop Pro, AfterShot ProDiscount: Up to 42%SerifWhat: Affinity products (Photo, Designer, Publisher)Discount: 50%SkylumWhat: Luminar Neo (image editing software)Discount: 80%Lost MarbleWhat: Moho (Debut and Pro editions)Discount: 40%Rendering & VisualizationiRenderWhat: Online rendering servicesDiscount: 50% bonus (over $575), 100% bonus (over $1,500)Soft8SoftWhat: Verge3D (Blender, 3ds Max, Maya)Discount: 25%ThinkineticWhat: Pulldownit for 3ds Max and MayaDiscount: 25%VizPeopleWhat: Photographic cutout people, 3D models, and texturesDiscount: 50%3D and 2D Tools & SoftwareGlobe PlantsWhat: 45% off plant assets.When: Black Friday.Soft8SoftWhat: 25% off Verge3D licenses (including version 7).Discount Code: BlackFriday.AffinityWhat: 50% off Photo, Publisher, and Designer.Topaz LabsWhat: Up to 54% off AI-powered image tools and plugins.AnastasiyWhat: Up to 50% off Photoshop plugins.NevercenterWhat: 15% off Silo & Milo, CameraBag Photo, CameraBag Cinema, and Pixelmash.Discount Code: SAVENOW.3D Models, Libraries, and TexturesFlipped NormalsWhat: Up to 50% off assets.CGTraderWhat: Discounts up to 50% on 3D content.Hum3DWhat: Up to 80% off 3D models.HDRI HubWhat: 50% off all products.Discount Code: BLACK.MaxTreeWhat: 40% off high-quality tree and plant libraries.When: November 21 to December 2.3D Scan StoreWhat: 55% off all 3D scans.Friendly ShadeWhat: 60% off subscription plans for scanned textures.Game Design & Animation ToolsKitBash3DWhat: Discounts on Cargo subscription plans.Cascadeur ProWhat: 30% off until November 21.iToo SoftwareWhat: Discounts on Forest Pack, RailClone, and other assets.When: November 21 to November 28.JangaFXWhat: 30% off licenses.Discount Code: BLACKFRIDAY.Plugins, Scripts & UtilitiesKstudioWhat: 30% off Project Manager, Spline Flow, and other plugins.When: November 20 to December 6.ArchvizToolsWhat: 50% off Maxscripts.Discount Code: black24.When: November 22 to December 7.Spline DynamicsWhat: 50% off 3ds Max plugins and scripts.Discount Code: black50.When: November 25 to December 2.CGProceduralsWhat: 30% off RailClone assets for 3ds Max.Discount Code: BLACKFRIDAY.When: Until December 2.EKDToolsWhat: Free Ecollapse script and 30% off other tools.Discount Code: blackfriday30.When: Until December 6.PULZEWhat: 25% off Scene Manager, Render Manager, or Project Dream.Bonus: Includes 500 Project Dream credits.Discount Code: BF2024.Dont Miss Out on These DealsThese incredible Black Friday deals are perfect for anyone looking to elevate their creative projects. Whether youre working on a 3D game environment, creating stunning visuals, or refining your designs, these offers will save you money while unlocking powerful tools and resources. Act nowmost deals are only available for a limited time!

Apple announced a new $100 billion commitment to America, a significant acceleration of its U.S. commitment that now totals $600 billion over four years.

Apple is about to introduce the ultra-thin iPhone Air, then iPhone Fold in 2026, and the 20th-anniversary upgrade in 2027 marking three straight years of significantly different iPhone designs.iPhone 17 Air will lay the foundation for the next several iPhone generationsApple's iPhone release cycle has famously been in a tick-tick-tock state since the iPhone 3G. Those ticks went a generation or two longer in some cases, like with iPhone 16 looking very similar to each generation back to iPhone 12.According to the Power On newsletter from Bloomberg, Apple could have a hot streak going for it in terms of new iPhone designs in the next three years. While each generation will feature mostly similar models to what we've seen previously, there will be at least one model in each year that is a significant departure. Rumor Score: Likely Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

For more ways to supercharge your workflow, check out more articles in ourTech for Architects series, which includes our recommendations of Top Laptops for Architects and Designers.Whether we like it or not, AI (or rather, the persistent talk of AI) is everywhere. At least thats how it feels. Between all the LinkedIn posts, conference panels and endless hot takes, one cannot escape the constant declarations that artificial intelligence is transforming architecture as we know it.But behind the cascade of generative imagery, glowing headlines and chatGPT-fied think pieces, a quieter truth lingers: for most architects, AI hasnt transformed much at all. (The Emperors new robe was generated in Midjourney, apparently.)Jokes aside, though, this does not necessarily mean that AI is not useful. In fact, some AI tools are genuinely making daily tasks faster or more visually compelling. But when it comes to core processes such as design development, construction documentation and regulation, this revolution that everyone speaks of hasnt quite arrived. Not yet, anyway.So, is AI truly going to reshape architecture, or are we all simply mistaking aesthetic novelty for actual innovation? Lets cut through the buzz and take a closer look at whats happening and, well, what isnt.What the Hype PromisesAI generated image with Midjourney The architecture industry is no stranger to buzzwords, but few have arrived as forcefully as AI. Promises to supercharge your workflow (although you can find this one for pretty much any industry) or redefine the future of design are now filtering into headlines, product pages and panel discussions with remarkable speed.These phrases tend to center on disruption and the idea that this novel technology will soon be able to take over drafting, automate decisions and, as a result, fundamentally rewrite the design process. For some, this is exciting and welcomed with open arms. For others, it is anxiety-inducing. But both the early adopters and the anxious skeptics have something in common: theyre overestimating where things stand.Most of the examples used to support these bold claims arent tied to built projects. Instead, they come from concept-heavy visuals, generated for competitions, social media or speculative exploration.Thats not to say they dont have value. Some of these tools are intriguing, to say the least. But so far, theyve had more impact on how architecture looks than how its developed or delivered.The Reality on the Ground (And Whats Getting In The Way)AI generated image with Midjourney For all the sweeping predictions, AI is still finding its footing in practice. According to the State of AI in Architecture report by Chaos and Architizer, most usage today is limited to early-stage ideation: moodboards, sketch-based visual studies and rough massing concepts. These tasks are often carried out by individuals experimenting on their own, not through firm-wide workflows.In these early moments, the tools have value. Sketch-to-render tests by Keir Regan-Alexander, for example, demonstrate how AI can generate compelling visuals without the overhead of modeling, which is useful for feasibility studies or informal client previews. But even then, the results are often approximate. Outputs may distort scale, space or proportion, missing the nuance of a trained designers intent.As projects move into documentation or construction, the tools fall short. Most platforms still operate in isolation, without meaningful integration into BIM or project management systems. More than half of survey respondents cite limited architecture-specific functionality as a major obstacle, followed by integration issues, lack of training and time constraints.This means that trust and reliability remain sticking points. What works for conceptual imagery rarely meets the standards needed for permits or client deliverables. Beyond the technical gaps, many firms remain hesitant due to concerns around authorship, control and creative identity. Some firms are experimenting with custom models or internal tools, but most rely on generic platforms with limited oversight of outputs.So while AI is certainly in the room, its still sitting at the edge of the table. An occasional assistant in the early stages, perhaps, but not yet a partner in the full design process.Where Real Change Is BrewingWhile generative imagery tends to get the attention, some of the most useful applications of AI are showing up in less celebrated parts of the workflow.Energy modeling, climate analysis and daylight studies may not be flashy, but they shape critical decisions early on. Tools like Cove.Tool are already helping architects compare environmental outcomes without waiting on consultants or running multiple manual iterations.AI is also finding its footing in feasibility and early layout planning. Platforms like Hypar and TestFit can quickly sketch out options that take site constraints, zoning and rough cost estimates into account. These tools dont pretend to design the project, but they can point toward whats plausible, giving architects a clearer starting point.Documentation is another overlooked area. Automating things like repetitive tagging, dimension checks or early code reviews might not feel like innovation in the headline sense, but its exactly the kind of dull, slow work that could benefit from support.Real transformation may come not through disruption, but through relief, freeing architects from the friction that slows down everything else.So, Is It a Revolution Yet?Unsupervised: Refik Anadol by Refik Anadol Studio, Studio Winner, 2023 Architizer Vision AwardsAt this point, calling AI a revolution in architecture feels premature, but calling it irrelevant would be just as misleading. While it definitely hasnt rewritten the rulebook of the industry, it is, in a way, rewriting the margins. Quietly, tools are chipping away at inefficiencies, simplifying analysis and making certain tasks just a little faster or smarter.The real shift might not come from viral images or sweeping claims, but perhaps it can come with small, steady integrations and tools that actually help architects do their jobs better, not just differently.For more ways to supercharge your workflow, check out more articles in ourTech for Architects series, which includes our recommendations of Top Laptops for Architects and Designers.The post Is AI Revolutionizing Architecture or Is That Just How It Looks Online? appeared first on Journal.

Backlighting is one of the most evocative lighting techniques in photography, and in summer, it becomes even more magical. Whether youre capturing portraits, still life, or nature, summer backlighting introduces a radiant glow that adds depth, softness, and an ethereal quality to your images. When used creatively, it transforms ordinary scenes into atmospheric works of art.Why Backlighting Works So Well in SummerSummer light tends to be warmer, stronger, and more directional, especially during golden hour or late afternoon. When positioned behind your subject, the sun can outline shapes with rim light, create luminous flares, and highlight translucent textures like fabric, hair, or leaves.The result was dreamy, cinematic images that emphasize emotion and light.Creative Backlighting TechniquesHeres how to go beyond basic silhouettes and experiment with artistry:Sun Flare Play: Embrace lens flare by shooting toward the sun and adjusting your angle. Use a wide aperture to get starbursts or haloed light. Let a bit of the sun peek through trees or over your subjects shoulder for a soft, glowing effect.Rim Lighting for Definition: When the sun outlines your subject, you get natural rim lighting. This helps separate the subject from the background and adds a painterly glow, ideal for portraits or macro shots.Translucent Textures: Hold up thin fabrics, sheer curtains, or leaves and let light pass through. This trick reveals intricate detail and introduces an otherworldly ambiance.Backlight Exposure and Camera SettingsBacklighting can confuse your meter. To get the look you want:Expose the subject to avoid underexposure (use exposure compensation if needed).Try spot metering for more control over highlights and shadows.Use a lens hood or hand block to reduce unwanted flare unless thats part of your vision.Tip: Embrace ImperfectionSometimes the best artistic effects happen when you break rules, like letting flare wash over your subject, or intentionally overexposing parts of the image to amplify mood. Summer backlighting invites experimentation. Let go of precision and lean into creative play.Extended reading:10 awesome summer photography ideas to try yourselfThe post Artistic Effects with Summer Backlighting appeared first on 500px.