Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy streams on Peacock beginning Thursday, February 13, and opens in theaters outside the United States on February 14.Even the cheeriest romantic comedy ending can leave us with a nagging question: What follows happily ever after? After all, there are no neat, easily satisfying endings in real life a truth hit home in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth in a series of rom-coms whose heroine has seen her share of happily ever after. Its the first entry in the franchise to be undercut by a note of genuine sadness, leaving Bridget (Rene Zellweger) the widowed mother of two small children: 9-year-old Billy (Casper Knopf) and 4-year-old Mabel (Mila Jankovic). While director Michael Morris take on Helen Fieldings novel of the same name also has a totally unexpected and novel touch of childlike wonder and magic, theres no avoiding that this chapter in Bridgets story is in large part about grief. Shes older and a little wiser and, though the movie ditches some of the usual silliness as a result (for the better perhaps, after the misfire that was 2004s Edge of Reason), this is more than made up for by a whipsmart script from Fielding, Dan Mazer, and Abi Morgan.With her husband Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) gone though not Firth himself, who plays the late Mr. Darcy as Bridgets imagined companion at some especially poignant moments Mad About the Boy jokes that its protagonist is back where she started in Bridget Jones Diary. Shes still susceptible to bad advice, with her trio of pals Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson), and Tom (James Callis) reiterating their favorite solution to lifes many problems: sex. As the endearing everywoman navigates the era of Tinder while simultaneously juggling childcare, all the things the series is known and loved for relatability, mishap-packed charm, picture-perfect London locations, and great running gags are in plentiful supply. She even finds herself at the epicenter of a classic love triangle, caught between the affections of swoony, part-time ranger Roxster (Leo Woodall the boy of the title) and the more sedate new teacher at her kids school, Mr. Wallaker (Chiwetel Ejiofor).Much as a calamitous meet-cute in the park with Roxster and stomach-suctioning date-night knickers might sound like well-worn ground for the series, Mad About the Boy ascends to fresh levels of sly self-awareness and crackling comedy with the bonus of parenting jokes that rival the heights of About a Boy or the BBC sitcom Outnumbered. In fact, young Mabel gets some of the best lines, and her comic timing often outstrips that of her older co-stars. (Her main quip is asking every man she encounters if he is going to be her new daddy.) Having Mabel and Billys perspective in the mix leavens some of the heavier passages; the enigmatic owl who takes up residence outside of the kids bedroom window takes much of the credit there.There is also a sizzling energy between Zellweger and her latest love interest Woodall, and the movie is refreshingly unjudgmental about the 27-year age-gap wedged between them. If anything, one of its few disappointments is that their relationship could use more screentime. We dont get much backstory for Roxster, a character who claims to be more responsible than your average 28-year-old but then wildly waltzes in and out of Bridgets life more than once. Mr. Wallaker is shown to be the more reliable prospect in comparison, with Mad About the Boy drawing obvious parallels between his brand of uptight rationalism and Marks no-nonsense approach to life. The heat Ejiofor generates opposite Zellweger cant quite compare to the uncontrolled flames she and Woodall ignite, but smaller sparks do fly.Bridget Jones: Mad About the BoyAlongside these bright new stars in the Bridget Jones universe, fan favorites from earlier in the series make encore appearances, including Emma Thompson as Bridgets snippy doctor and Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as her madcap parents. Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant), miraculously raised from the dead after being killed off in Bridget Jones Baby, appears to offer a trace of the franchises smutty, slightly outdated 2000s humor while he occasionally mucks in with babysitting duties. But most notably there is a newfound gentleness in this story about loss. Mad About the Boy recycles some some musty material on the topic, but treads carefully to ensure its meaningfully used: a lesser movie would have over-sentimentalized Billys storyline of a son struggling after his fathers death or cynically used his plight simply as a means to bring Bridget and Mr. Wallaker together. Whatever room is made for schmaltz, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy always stays (one sickly musical number notwithstanding) just on the right side of artlessness and sincerity.

Stalling growth in the Dutch tech sector has sparked urgent calls for fresh funding streams.New data released today reveals the number of new startups in the Netherlands is declining. The country is also suffering from a severe lack of local investors.The findings emerged in the State of Dutch Tech report by Techleap, a non-profit that supports startups and scaleups in the Netherlands.The report raises concerns about the nations funding landscape. In 2024, only 104 startups raised over 100,000 a 23% decline over the previous year. The number of deals, meanwhile, dropped by 20%.Myrthe Hooijman, Techleaps director of ecosystem change and governmental affairs, said the startup struggles were a worrying signal.We need startups to build scaleups that can grow to unicorns, Hooijman told TNW. The decline potentially weakens our future potential. We must accelerate the transition from research to ventures, and learn from expert ecosystems, together with addressing the need to expand access to early-stage capital.Dutch techs funding fortunesAmid the gloom, the report also exposed positive signs for Dutch tech.Collectively, the sector raised 3.1bn in venture capital during the past year a 47% increase over 2023. The countrys VC market remains the fourth-largest in Europe, behind the UK, Germany, and France.Dutch deep tech has been a big target for the funding. The sector attracted 1.1bn last year and now accounts for 35% of the ecosystem. Techleap credits the success to government initiatives such as Brainport Eindhoven. The Netherlands also raised two new unicorns in 2024: Mews and DataSnipper.DataSnipper, an automation platform for audit and finance teams, reached the milestone $1bn (965mn) valuation in February after raising $100mn ($97mn) in a Series B round. The companys CEO will share her story at this years TNW Conference.Mews, a hospitality management scaleup based at TNW City, passed the landmark a month later. The company hit a valuation of $1.2bn (1.1bn) after securing $110mn (101mn).Overall, the Dutch scaleup ratio has risen from 13% to 21.5% over the past five years. However, this growth still trails the European average (23%) and lags way behind the US (54%).Dutchinvestors have also slowed down. In 2024, domestic investment plummeted from 61% to just 15%.Hooijman urged them to expand their spending in growth phases.We need to continue our work to unlock the late-stage capital through institutional investors, he said.Alongside new funding streams, Techleap is pushing for improved access to tech talent. The non-profit has also called for greater European collaboration through a startup entity that covers the entire continent.The future of Dutch tech is a key theme at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale. Use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the check-out to get 30% off the price tag. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

Deepfakes have become alarmingly difficult to detect. So difficult, that only 0.1% of people today can identify them.Thats according to iProov, a British biometric authentication firm. The company tested the publics AI detective skills by showing 2,000 UK and US consumers a collection of both genuine and synthetic content.Sadly, the budding sleuths overwhelmingly failed in their investigations.A woeful 99.9% of them couldnt distinguish between the real and the deepfake. Think you can do better, Sherlock? Youre not the only one.Register NowIn iProovs study, over 60% of the participants were confident in their AI detection skills regardless of the accuracy of their guesses. Still trust your nose for digital clues? Well, you can test it for yourself in a deepfake quiz released alongside the study results.The quiz arrives amid a surge in headline-grabbing deepfake attacks.In January, for instance, the tabloids were enraptured by one that targeted a French woman called Anne.Scammers swindled her out of 830,000 after using deepfakes to pose as Brad Pitt with deepfakes of the actor. The fraudsters also sent her footage of an AI-generated TV anchor revealing the Hollywood stars exclusive relationship with one special individual who goes by the name of Anne.Poor Anne was roundly mocked for her naivety, but shes far from alone in falling for a deepfake.Deepfakes on the riseLast year, a deepfake attack happened every five minutes, according toID verification firm Onfido.The content is frequently weaponised for fraud. A recent study estimated that AI drives almost half (43%) of all fraud attempts.Andrew Bud, the founder and CEO of iProov, attributes the escalation to three converging trends:The rapid evolution of AI and its ability to produce realistic deepfakesThe growth of Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS) networks that offer cheaper access to sophisticated, purpose-built, attack technologiesThe vulnerability of traditional ID verification practicesBud also pointed to the lower barriers of entry to deepfakes. Attackers have progressed from simple cheapfakes to powerful tools that create convincing synthetic media within minutes.Deepfaking has become commoditised, Bud told TNW via email. The tools to create deepfake content are widely accessible, very affordable, and produce results undetectable to the human eye. Its creating a perfect storm of cybercrime, as most organisations lack adequate defences to counter these attacks.Traditional solutions and manual processes like video identification simply cant keep up. Organisations must adopt science-based biometric systems combined with AI-powered defences that can detect, evolve with, and prevent these attacks.AI will take centre stage at TNW Conference, which takes place on June 19-20 in Amsterdam. Tickets for the event are now on sale. Use the code TNWXMEDIA2025 at the check-out to get 30% off the price tag. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with

It was discovered last year that location data for US military and intelligence personnel serving overseas was being sold by a Florida-based data broker, but the source of that sensitive data was unclear at the time.Its now been revealed that the data was captured by a variety of mobile apps with revenue-sharing agreements with a Lithuanian ad-tech company, and then resold by an American company The problem of location data captured by appsA great many apps capture location data. For some apps, this is clearly a necessity, such as map apps, transit navigators, and so on. For others, theres a tangential benefit, like camera apps which can store the location at which a photo was taken. Apples own Camera app does this, for example, so that we can search for photos taken in particular places.But there are also countless examples of apps which collect location data for no clear reason. iOS forces apps to request permission for this, and weve probably all seen apps pop up the request for no apparent reason.This is likely because location data is valuable to advertisers. Developers sign agreements with ad-tech companies which allow ads within their apps to be targeted by country (or even by city) in return for a share of the revenue.The problem is that many of these agreements have vague terms which may allow the location data to be re-sold. Even where the agreement doesnt permit this, rogue companies can re-sell it anyway.Locations sold for US military and intelligence personnelIt last year came to light that that Datastream, a US company, was selling location data for US military and intelligence personnel. An investigation by Wired and others has now revealed how this data was captured.The joint investigation by WIRED, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), and Netzpolitik.org analyzed a free sample of location data provided by Datastream. The investigation revealed that Datastream was offering access to precise location data from devices likely belonging to American military and intelligence personnel overseasincluding at German airbases believed to store US nuclear weapons. Datastream is a data broker in the location data history, sourcing data from other providers and then selling it to customers []The data was likely collected through SDKs (software development kits) embedded in mobile apps by developers who knowingly integrate tracking tools in exchange for revenue-sharing agreements with data brokers.Following this reporting, the office of Senator Ron Wyden demanded answers from Datastream Group about its role in trafficking the location data of US military personnel. In response, Datastream identified Eskimi as its source, stating it obtained the data legitimately from a respected third-party provider, Eskimi.com.Eskimi is a Lithuanian ad-tech company, which claimed that the data was not supposed to have been re-sold.Its not known at this stage which apps were the source for the data, but investigations are continuing. Its also unclear whether the agreements signed by the developers actually allowed the location data to be re-sold, rather than used purely to serve ads within their apps.Its not being suggested that anyone specifically set out to capture military data, but filtering by locations of US military bases both at home and overseas would be an exceedingly trivial way to identify people who are likely to be serving personnel.Surveillance companies with better business modelsZach Edwards, senior threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Silent Push, says this is just one example of a growing problem. He says many ad-tech companies are selling location data to both corporations and governments.Advertising companies are merely surveillance companies with better business models, Edwards says.Its not the first time that apps have exposed location data of military personnel serving overseas. There have also been known examples of the military and US law enforcement agencies purchasing location data.9to5Macs TakeEven leaving aside the sensitivity of military data, nobody using an iPhone or Android app expects their location data to be re-sold, no matter what may be buried within the small-print of the privacy policy.Its time for laws to ban the sale of sensitive personal data.Photo byJoel Rivera-CamachoonUnsplashAdd 9to5Mac to your Google News feed. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.Youre reading 9to5Mac experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Dont know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Feb 12, 2025Ravie LakshmananIT Security / CybercrimeThe North Korea-linked threat actor known as Kimsuky has been observed using a new tactic that involves deceiving targets into running PowerShell as an administrator and then instructing them to paste and run malicious code provided by them."To execute this tactic, the threat actor masquerades as a South Korean government official and over time builds rapport with a target before sending a spear-phishing email with an [sic] PDF attachment," the Microsoft Threat Intelligence team said in a series of posts shared on X.To read the purported PDF document, victims are persuaded to click a URL containing a list of steps to register their Windows system. The registration link urges them to launch PowerShell as an administrator and copy/paste the displayed code snippet into terminal, and execute it.Should the victim follow through, the malicious code downloads and installs a browser-based remote desktop tool, along with a certificate file with a hardcoded PIN from a remote server."The code then sends a web request to a remote server to register the victim device using the downloaded certificate and PIN. This allows the threat actor to access the device and carry out data exfiltration," Microsoft said.The tech giant said it observed the use of this approach in limited attacks since January 2025, describing it as a departure from the threat actor's usual tradecraft.It's worth noting that the Kimsuky is not the only North Korean hacking crew to adopt the compromise strategy. In December 2024, it was revealed that threat actors linked to the Contagious Interview campaign are tricking users into copying and executing a malicious command on their Apple macOS systems via the Terminal app so as to address a supposed problem with accessing the camera and microphone through the web browser.Such attacks, along with those that have embraced the so-called ClickFix method, have taken off in a big way in recent months, in part driven by the fact that they rely on the targets to infect their own machines, thereby bypassing security protections.Arizona woman pleads guilty to running laptop farm for North Korean IT workersThe development comes as the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) said a 48-year-old woman from the state of Arizona pleaded guilty for her role in the fraudulent IT worker scheme that allowed North Korean threat actors to obtain remote jobs in more than 300 U.S. companies by posing as U.S. citizens and residents.The activity generated over $17.1 million in illicit revenue for Christina Marie Chapman and for North Korea in violation of international sanctions between October 2020 and October 2023, the department said."Chapman, an American citizen, conspired with overseas IT workers from October 2020 to October 2023 to steal the identities of U.S. nationals and used those identities to apply for remote IT jobs and, in furtherance of the scheme, transmitted false documents to the Department of Homeland Security," the DoJ said."Chapman and her coconspirators obtained jobs at hundreds of U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 corporations, often through temporary staffing companies or other contracting organizations."The defendant, who was arrested in May 2024, has also been accused of running a laptop farm by hosting multiple laptops at her residence to give the impression that the North Korean workers were working from within the country, when, in reality, they were based in China and Russia and remotely connected to the companies' internal systems."As a result of the conduct of Chapman and her conspirators, more than 300 U.S. companies were impacted, more than 70 identities of U.S. person were compromised, on more than 100 occasions false information was conveyed to DHS, and more than 70 U.S. individuals had false tax liabilities created in their name," the DoJ added.The increased law enforcement scrutiny has led to an escalation of the IT worker scheme, with reports emerging of data exfiltration and extortion. "After being discovered on company networks, North Korean IT workers have extorted victims by holding stolen proprietary data and code hostage until the companies meet ransom demands," the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in an advisory last month. "In some instances, North Korean IT workers have publicly released victim companies' proprietary code."Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.SHARE

Microsoft on Tuesday released fixes for 63 security flaws impacting its software products, including two vulnerabilities that it said has come under active exploitation in the wild.Of the 63 vulnerabilities, three are rated Critical, 57 are rated Important, one is rated Moderate, and two are rated Low in severity. This is aside from the 23 flaws Microsoft addressed in its Chromium-based Edge browser since the release of last month's Patch Tuesday update.The update is notable for fixing two actively exploited flaws -CVE-2025-21391 (CVSS score: 7.1) - Windows Storage Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability CVE-2025-21418 (CVSS score: 7.8) - Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability"An attacker would only be able to delete targeted files on a system," Microsoft said in an alert for CVE-2025-21391. "This vulnerability does not allow disclosure of any confidential information, but could allow an attacker to delete data that could include data that results in the service being unavailable."Mike Walters, president and co-founder of Action1, noted that the vulnerability could be chained with other flaws to escalate privileges and perform follow-on actions that can complicate recovery efforts and allow threat actors to cover up their tracks by deleting crucial forensic artifacts.CVE-2025-21418, on the other hand, concerns a case of privilege escalation in AFD.sys that could be exploited to achieve SYSTEM privileges.It's worth noting that a similar flaw in the same component (CVE-2024-38193) was disclosed by Gen Digital last August as being weaponized by the North Korea-linked Lazarus Group. In February 2024, the tech giant also plugged a Windows kernel privilege escalation flaw (CVE-2024-21338) affecting the AppLocker driver (appid.sys) that was also exploited by the hacking crew.These attack chains stand out because they go beyond a traditional Bring Your Own Vulnerable Driver (BYOVD) attack by taking advantage of a security flaw in a native Windows driver, thereby obviating the need for introducing other drivers into target environments.It's currently not known if the abuse of CVE-2025-21418 is linked to the Lazarus Group as well. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added both the flaws to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, requiring federal agencies to apply the patches by March 4, 2025.The most severe of the flaws addressed by Microsoft in this month's update is CVE-2025-21198 (CVSS score: 9.0), a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in the High Performance Compute (HPC) Pack."An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted HTTPS request to the targeted head node or Linux compute node granting them the ability to perform RCE on other clusters or nodes connected to the targeted head node," Microsoft said.Also worth mentioning is another RCE vulnerability (CVE-2025-21376, CVSS score: 8.1) impacting Windows Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) that permits an attacker to send a specially crafted request and execute arbitrary code. However, successful exploitation of the flaw requires the threat actor to win a race condition."Given that LDAP is integral to Active Directory, which underpins authentication and access control in enterprise environments, a compromise could lead to lateral movement, privilege escalation, and widespread network breaches," Ben McCarthy, lead cybersecurity engineer at Immersive Labs, said.Elsewhere, the update also resolves a NTLMv2 hash disclosure vulnerability (CVE-2025-21377, CVSS score: 6.5) that, if successfully exploited, could permit an attacker to authenticate as the targeted user.Software Patches from Other VendorsIn addition to Microsoft, security updates have also been released by other vendors over the past couple of weeks to rectify several vulnerabilities, including Found this article interesting? Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.

Ilya Khrustalev, Fractional CTO & Tech AdvisorFebruary 12, 20254 Min ReadAldar Darmaev via Alamy StockAn appropriately chosen technology stack enhances productivity, harmonizes work processes, and encourages employees to deliver high-quality results. Conversely, an incorrect choice can lead to a situation where the tools and technologies fail to meet the specific demands of the job or do not align with the skills and expertise of the team members.A misaligned data ecosystem leads to an extended learning time. At the beginning of a project, software specialists invest time in mastering new tools, which may slow down the process of development itself. Even after acquiring proficiency in the requisite technologies, engineers may struggle with their application leading to an increased number of bugs, higher maintenance costs and decreased efficiency of the entire development process.Using misaligned solutions negatively impacts team performance and innovation in the long term. When I joined a co-living marketplace, I observed that the team were using multiple frontend technologies, which led to a fractured codebase. Implementing standardization tools improved productivity and code quality, and sparked effective ideas like SEO improvements, server-side rendering, and A/B testing.Misaligned Tech Stacks Limit Professional DevelopmentRelated:A misaligned tech stack limits a team's ability to acquire new skills and grow professionally. Outdated technologies dampen engineers motivation and foster a sense of apathy. Developers dedicate more time to maintaining outdated systems and have fewer chances to explore innovative technologies.I saw such a situation at Mail.ru Games where engineers were tasked with maintaining outdated games. The ongoing process of bug fixing depleted their motivation and limited their capacity to implement creative solutions. Sunsetting these old projects allowed engineers to focus on new technologies and foster professional growth.Misalignment is especially harmful to remote workers. A study revealed that 60% of remote professionals feel their tech stacks are inadequate, which leads to wasted time in meetings and searching for information across disconnected applications. Enhancing the remote stack is more difficult but essential for productivity in hybrid work environments.Team leads frequently manage cross-functional teams, with distinct technologies. Consequently, it becomes crucial to harmonize these tools so that none of the components become a bottleneck. A well-structured stack supports collaboration, maximizing productivity and achieving business objectives. Research indicates that organizations with strong cross-functional collaboration see nearly double the revenue growth.Related:A streamlined technology stack significantly impacts scalability, especially for startups that need quick iteration cycles. Well-documented, widely used technologies allow teams to grow quickly and ensure flexibility in response to rapidly changing requirements.Signs Your Tech Stack Is Stifling Team GrowthAnother sign that the technology is hindering the team's ability to do its job well is when developers often need assistance from a team lead or senior engineers. This happens when a company does not have a centralized knowledge base where all information is organized according to processes, such as in Confluence.Less obvious signs include difficulty in onboarding new team members. At the co-living marketplace where I worked, the rapid adoption of multiple frontend technologies led to complexity, and the team was unable to innovate or launch new features. In contrast, at a dating app Badoo, we had a well-structured tech stack that enabled onboarding within a day.Increasing technical debt and low bus factor -- where only a few engineers are experts in certain technologies -- also stifle growth.Related:In general, the CTO can take practical steps to determine if the technology stack is limiting the potential of their team and realign the stack for growth:Conduct a thorough inventory of company technologies. This software asset management is especially important for large organizations where the use of stacks may lack standardization.Identify outdated frameworks and libraries that are no longer under long-term support. These can reduce productivity and pose security risks.Gather feedback from teams to identify concerns about the current stack, including technical limits and engineers' feelings about using it. Employees can provide insight into tools that boost or hinder productivity.Develop a prioritized plan to upgrade or phase out outdated technologies based on measurable benefits such as developer productivity and software costs, as well as subjective factors such as team satisfaction.Discuss the proposed changes with the team leads and key stakeholders. Start with smaller groups to get their feedback and then expand the conversation to the entire development team to gain approval.An appropriately chosen tech stack is a strategic asset that can greatly enhance team productivity and employee morale. By optimizing workflows and meeting the needs of employees, organizations can create a more efficient and rewarding work environment, ultimately leading to greater success of a product in a competitive landscape.About the AuthorIlya KhrustalevFractional CTO & Tech AdvisorIlya Khrustalev is a tech advisor and fractional CTO with over 20 years of experience, specializing in helping startups and tech companies achieve ambitious goals through strategic technology transformations. Advising different startups, he helps to develop innovative technological solutions for the companies products. Ilya focuses on scaling operations while fostering meaningful social impact. His expertise, honed at corporations like Badoo, Yandex, and Lamoda, along with his entrepreneurial background, enables him to seamlessly bridge the gap between technology and business. He delivers tailored solutions that streamline processes, reduce costs, and align teams, empowering organizations to scale efficiently and navigate change with confidence.See more from Ilya KhrustalevNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Were looking for a tenacious, self-motivated and energetic people-person to help us support our growing client base in the Americas region. Our world-leading SaaS products have a steep learning curve so youll need to be a cool tech cucumber yet be amazing with humans. Empathy, patience, curiosity, humour, ability to multi-task and friendliness are key to success in this role.RoleYou will be part of a small but incredibly high-performing global team offering help to our B2B clients across two products (Award Force and Good Grants). You will communicate with colleagues and clients across countries, cultures and time zones on a daily basis.Our support is across email tickets, phone, live chat and 1-1 Zoom calls. Once trained, you will take up onboarding and run client meetings to help with issue resolution, best practices and product adoption.Youll test and report bugs, put forth considered feedback to product teams; always seeking to improve our products.We play startup every now and thennew tools implemented as experiments and our processes are always evolving. Youll be part of this too. If you have a great idea, lets test it out! Were not big on bureaucracy, only results. We dont expect you to be a slave to your chair, but you will need to be flexible.EssentialsYoure located anywhere in the Americas region (Central and Eastern timezones preferable)You are able to work as an independent contractor, responsible for your own insurance requirements, tax and 401k contributionsNative English speaker (or 100% fluent), bi-lingual is a bonus!You have a natural aptitude with technology, experience with SaaS and are able to learn (and use) new systems quicklyWords like HTML, CSS, JS, API, Integrations, Dev console, staging & production environments, GitHub repo, database queries etc are not alien to you. You don't need to know how to work them but you must know about them (well enough)You have fantastic interpersonal skills and are an excellent communicator, verbal and writtenYou love to talk to clients. Four-five meetings a day only makes you more energetic!You love solving problems and helping others solve theirsYou write in well constructed sentences and pay attention to detailYoure curious, and love learningYou are not shy to upsell or answer sales-y questionsYoure super organised and process oriented. You are comfortable using multiple software for various aspects of the role. We have a process for everything!You have the ability to communicate complex issues in plain languageYou can work independently, are self-motivated, but enjoy being part of a teamWorking remotely suits you perfectly, your natural work ethic makes you a high performer!You are flexible to attend team meetings outside of usual working hours on scheduled daysYou have access to fast, reliable internet and a dedicated space to work without distractionsResponsibilitiesProduct supportSelf-driven learning to become a product expertBe the first port of call on all inbound support queries via email/tickets, phone and (later) chatRun 1-1 Zoom calls with clients to help resolve queries and provide technical consultationProvide technically accurate responses after carefully testing necessary scenariosWork with the engineering team to resolve bugs and follow through with updatesBe amazing with clientsRespond quickly (were big on speed)Able to really listen to people, get to the heart of the issue and see it through to resolutionConvey appreciation and respect to our clients at all timesStrive to build trusting relationships based on honesty and transparencyWith an aim of 100% retention, proactively reach out to suggest improvementsApply NowLet's start your dream job Apply now

Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands (LDS) has presented its draft masterplan for Bristols Western Harbour, outlining proposals for the redevelopment of the citys western gateway. A public engagement process is now underway until 9 March 2025.Western Harbour, situated at the westernmost end of Bristols Floating Harbour, is notable for its views of the Avon Gorge and Clifton Suspension Bridge, as well as its harbour infrastructure, which includes three large, listed Bond warehouses. The masterplan seeks to shape the future of the 33-hectare site by introducing new housing, infrastructure, and public spaces.LDSs proposals include between 750 and 1,200 new homes, alongside community and cultural spaces, workplaces, independent retail, and restaurants. The scheme intends to replace existing road infrastructure with a single tree-lined route, removing the equivalent of five football pitches of tarmac. Plans also propose the restoration and repurposing of the Grade II-listed Bond warehouses to accommodate public Bristol archives and residential loft apartments.Source: Google Street ViewPlans also propose the restoration and repurposing of the Grade II-listed Bond warehousesAlex Lifschutz, founding director of LDS, said: Within the development area just next to the vibrant communities of Hotwells and Southville are incredible engineering artefacts historic dock gates, the double-decker Ashton Avenue Bridge, Plimsoll and Junction swing bridges, Brunels lock and Swivel Bridge. We want to make the area more accessible and enjoyable for those taking a leisurely stroll and for commuters or cyclists.He added: We will vastly improve the green open space and waterside walks, planting hundreds of trees and improving ecology, at the same time installing flood defences to protect against the effects of climate change.Bristol City Council has indicated that changes have been made to the proposals following public feedback. Councillor Tony Dyer, leader of Bristol City Council, stated: Weve listened to feedback and have adjusted our proposals for Western Harbour based on how people felt about the initial ideas shared back in the autumn.Among the revisions, the Riverside Garden Centre is set to remain in its current location, while Ashton Meadows is intended to be preserved as a green open space linking Greville Smyth Park to the river and further recreational areas beyond.Councillor Andrew Brown, chair of the economy and skills committee and harbour committee, commented: By bringing together the well-established assets, heritage, and communities in the area with a mix of new shops, cafs, cultural uses, creative workspaces, and homes we can create a vibrant and sustainable neighbourhood.The Western Harbour project is funded through the West of England Mayoral Combined Authoritys Investment Fund.>> Also read:Stride Treglown gets go-ahead for 435 new homes in Bristol>> Also read:Hodder & Partners gets go ahead for tallest building in BristolThe masterplan team includes:Arup Structures, civil engineering, MEP, and sustainabilityAvril Baker Consultancy EngagementBeckett Rankine Marine structuresEadon Consulting Moving bridgesGleeds Cost adviceJubb Highways and transportSLR Consulting Landscape designThe Townscape Consultancy Heritage

Police decision to withdraw objection to David Chipperfield-designed redevelopment of Royal Mint site comes under fire on first day of public inquiryAerial view of David Chipperfields plans for the former Royal Mint siteA planning decision on proposals to build a Chinese super-embassy in London has been politically pre-determined at some of the highest levels of central government, a lawyer for local residents has told a public inquiry into the scheme.Simon Bell, representing the Royal Mint Court Residents Association, said the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had sought to influence independent public bodies which had objected to the proposals, including the Metropolitan Police.Bells comments came on the opening day of the planning inspectorates inquiry into plans designed by David Chipperfield to redevelop the 2ha former Royal Mint site next to the Tower of London into the largest embassy in Europe for the Chinese government.> Also read:Met Police withdraws objection to Chipperfields Chinese super-embassy after reviewing three-year-old evidenceThe proposals are largely identical to a previous scheme refused by Tower Hamlets council in 2022, partly due to public safety concerns over the limited capacity of surrounding streets to accommodate large numbers of protestors.The plans were resubmitted by the Chinese government last year but called in by Angela Rayner last October on heritage grounds and to allow the communities secretary to consider whether the scheme was consistent with the development plan for the area.It was then symbolically refused by Tower Hamlets councillors in December in a vote strongly influenced by opposition from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), which argued that the sites surrounding streets could not safely contain more than 100 protestors.However, the council was notified last month by home secretary Yvette Cooper and foreign secretary David Lammy that the MPS had withdrawn its objection.Cooper and Lammys letter stated that the force was content that there is sufficient space for protestors while admitting that there remain differences of opinion on where protesters would most likely congregate.The Met said, in a separate but similarly worded letter three days later, that it had based its decision to withdraw its objection on a three-year-old document provided by Tower Hamlets council which claimed up to 2,000 protestors could be safely accommodated around the site.The 10-page Pedestrian Comfort Assessment, drawn up by Arup and Cundall for the Chinese government, was not part of the new application but had been presented to the MPS as a material consideration by the council.The start of the inquiry comes three days after a large protest against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) outside the Royal Mint site which was attended by more than 3,000 protestors, resulting in closures of several major roads around Tower Hill junction for around three hours.Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a cross-party parliamentary group co-chaired by Iain Duncan Smith which opposes the influence of the CCP, told the opening day of the public inquiry that theMPS change of position appeared to have been influenced by forces other than the merits of the application.He said: We do not know why two secretaries of state felt it necessary to give advance notice of the polices withdrawal. The public understanding is that the police are operationally independent and that their decisions regarding public safety ought to brook no interference.Whatever the true sequence of events here, it is clear that the government lost no time in communicating a decision to the Inspector which ought properly to have been communicated by the police.The opening day of the Chinese embassy inquiry yesterdayDe Pulford also criticised Tower Hamlets for appearing to have changed its position multiple times, from unanimously refusing the scheme in December to furnishing the MPS with obsolete documents from a previous application and then seemingly falling back on its previous position last week.In a statement published last Friday, the council said it stands by its symbolic vote for refusal, which it said had been made by councillors after the Met had spoken very persuasively about issues with the application at the planning committee.The council added that the vote should count as evidence for the planning inspectorate so it can see what stance the council would have taken at the inquiry had the Metropolitan Police felt able to maintain its objection.However, the council said it was not able to formally submit additional evidence to the inquiry on the MPS change of position given the timescale.This means the inquiry is in the unusual position of not having an official opposition which will cross examine the schemes applicant, as the council has said it is no longer in a position to present evidence in support of its refusal.TheRoyal Mint Court Residents Association was originally lined up as the opposition to the Chinese government but withdrew due to the ill health of the residents groups chairman.Meanwhile, the planning inspector has refused a request by former communities secretary Robert Jenrick to summon certain individuals from the MPS and from Tower Hamlets council and to disclose any correspondence between the individuals and government departments including the prime ministers office.Jenrick said the MPS had not explained the motive behind the councils unsolicited provision of the Arup and Cundall document, or why this had been favoured over the forces own, much more recent analysis which had previously formed the basis of its opposition.The Met has also offered no rationale to explain why their estimate of protestors who could be accommodated at the site has grown 20 times since December, Jenrick added.The planning inspector, Claire Searson, said in a response to Jenrick that she did not consider that it is necessary at this time to exercise her power of summons, adding that she will ensure that evidence is thoroughly tested so that I can produce a properlyreasoned report.The MPS said in its response to Jenrick that its change of position was based on a combination of evidence provided through the PedestrianComfort Assessment, internal data sets on historic protest activity at the existing Chinese Embassy,detailed site surveys, and the experience of internal Subject Matter Experts with independentoperational judgement, based on history and experience of policing protest in London.The force said in a separate statement that Saturdays protest passed without any significant incidents and provided useful insight into the capacity of the site and the impact of protests on the road network.It added: Safety is our top priority and we have shared our learning with partners, including Transport for London.The Home Office, the Foreign Office, the Metropolitan Police Service, Tower Hamlets council, Arup and Cundall have all been contacted for comment.