Amid his dramatic reshaping of the federal government, President Donald Trumps latest high-profile dismissal could become among his most consequential.On Feb. 7, Trump fired Colleen Shogan from her role as Archivist of the United States, the head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and government official responsible for overseeing the preservationboth physical and digitaland promulgation of government records. Shogans dismissal marks the first time that a sitting president has fired the nations archivist since the position was established in the 1930s.This evening, President Trump fired me. No cause or reason was cited, Shogan said in a statement on her LinkedIn at the time. It has been an honor serving as the 11th Archivist of the United States. I have zero regrets I absolutely did my best every day for the National Archives and the American people.The dismissal wasnt exactly unexpected. The New York Times reports that Trump had grown to despise the agency for its role in alerting the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2022 to his alleged misappropriation and mishandling of classified documents at his Florida estate of Mar-a-Lago following his first term in officea case a federal judge dismissed in July of last year. (His ire extended to Shogan despite her not assuming the Archivist post until 2023, months after the agency alerted the DOJ.) And Shogan wont be the last NARA official to get the axe: The president has reportedly in recent months drawn up a list of staff to fire in retaliation for their role in the classified documents investigation, according to Rolling Stone. (Shogan, NARA, and the White House did not respond to Fast Companys requests for comment.)Trumps revenge tour appears to be expanding to every corner of the federal government. But unlike some of Trumps other high-profile firings, the dismissal of Shogan also has the potential to dramatically undermine the scaffolding of American democracy.NARA does more than just collect, digitize, and maintain government records. As an independent agency within the executive branch, its responsible for, among other things, administering the Electoral College process by providing the official instructions for how the states transmit electors votes to Congress; overseeing the process of ratifying new Constitutional amendments; managing the document classification system and, in turn, the delicate balance between public transparency and national security; and publicizing the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register, the two documents that codify rules and chronicle the daily goings-on, respectively, of the federal government. If the U.S. Constitution is the core operating system of the U.S. government, the Archivist of the United States and NARA are the maintainers of the systems foundational codebase of legal and historical documents.In a democracy, you need an apolitical, independent actor whose job is to do essential things like record, certify, and provide access [to documents] for public inspection, says Dominic Byrd-McDevitt, the director of community engagement at the Digital Public Library of America. Thats the reason the archivist administers things like the Electoral College and constitutional amendment process: In order for these processes to have legitimacy, NARA is required by law to certify certificates of ascertainment and ratification documents and make them available to the public for viewing.NARAs critical role in controlling the official documents that are the lifeblood of American governance requires that the agency remain a neutral steward of the governments entire legal and regulatory regime. The statute regarding the office of the Archivist of the United States stipulates that the position be appointed without regard to political affiliations and solely on the basis of the professional qualifications required to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office of Archivist.But archivists and historians are already bracing for Trump to install political loyalists at the agency who will bend to his will. (Much as hes done elsewhere.) A partisan archivist could lead to biased (or outright malicious) decision-making when it comes to document access, preservation, and release; delay or block access to records in compliance with the President Records Act to protect political interests; or even, at the very worst, facilitate meddling with the Electoral College or federal regulations in the service of maintaining power. Its not so hard, in this context, to imagine a world where someone deliberately destroys official records in order to obstruct an investigation into potentially illegal government activities. And which recent president has tried to interfere with the Electoral College, destroy documents, and wipe out government regulations wholesale?All of these factors not only create a precedent for future political exploitation by subsequent administrations, but threaten to undermine the U.S. governments historical integrity and democratic accountability. Bureaucracies maintain their institutional legitimacy by consistently applying rules, regulations, and procedures, and injecting potential political malfeasance into the organization tasked with maintaining those rules means corrupting the very mechanisms that define the shape and scope of American governance.Indeed, Trump already appears to have broken the law in his firing of Shogan. In a letter addressed to Trump regarding Shogans dismissal published on Feb. 10, the American Historical Association (AHA), the oldest professional organization for historians in the United States, noted that the president was legally compelled to, in the words of Title 44 of the U.S. Code, communicate the reasons for any such removal to each House of the Congress. Whether Trump decides to actually do so may signal whats ahead of the agency.The American Historical Association awaits the White Houses compliance with the law by informing Congress of the reasons for Dr. Shogans dismissal, wrote AHA executive director James Grossman. Democracy rests on the rule of law. And the history of the United States rests on unfettered access to the archival record.Without additional action from Trump, Deputy Archivist (and career NARA staffer) William Bosanko will now execute the Shogans responsibilities, a temporary reprieve for those concerned about the institutions integrity. But with Secretary of State Marco Rubio rumored to be assuming control of the agency as its acting head (a move that Byrd-McDevitt points out would be illegal) and the rest of the chaos currently roiling the federal government, it is unlikely that NARA and its workforce will emerge unscathed.As it happens, Byrd-McDevitt held the title of Digital Content Specialist at NARA from 2011 to 2019. I worked there: They are civil servants doing their jobs, he says. That shouldnt put a target on their back.

Some Black consumers may be breaking up with Target this February.It all started late last month, when the retailer announced that it was ending its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The move drew widespread rebuke from social justice organizers, including New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant. Although Target said one set of its racial-equity initiatives had already been scheduled to conclude, the timing was notable: The move came just days after the White House called for a federal DEI ban, and as several other companies took similar actions.Beyond renaming its supplier diversity team now called supplier engagement and ending diversity-focused surveys, Target hasnt said what the change will mean for the many Black entrepreneurs who sell everything from coffee to sunscreen on its shelves. The webpage for the retailers Black Beyond Measure initiative, which highlights dozens of Black-founded brands and connects business owners to a program designed to democratize access to retail education, remains active.But Targets critics, including Minneapolis-based civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong, view the move as a surrender to the new presidential administrations attack on equity programs. In a news conference outside Targets Minnesota headquarters on Jan. 30, 2025, Armstrong called for a nationwide boycott of the store to begin on the first day of Black History Month.While many social media users posted in support of the boycott, some Black founders whose brands are stocked by Target and there are dozens of them have been more conflicted. Tabitha Brown, whose products can be found in various aisles, from books to cooking appliances, asked customers to reconsider boycotting Target. Withholding their dollars, Brown insisted, will hurt Black businesses far more than the corporations that sell their products.This request for restraint garnered a mixed response on social media. Some Black consumers accused Black business owners of selling out the very racial community that contributed to their success.So, why would a Black business owner ask consumers to patronize a retailer that signaled it doesnt care about Black customers? And how did something as mundane as where people buy toilet paper and shampoo become a litmus test for racial consciousness in the first place?Black consumers and the fight for dignityThe marketplace has long been a battleground where Black Americans have sought to assert their citizenship. Most of the nations biggest household brands didnt begin to take African American consumers seriously until after World War II. Before that shift, advertisements and product packaging were more likely to feature degrading Black caricatures to appeal to white shoppers, than to address Black consumers directly.This segregated commercial landscape reinforced the belief among some community members that Black people would not be taken seriously as citizens until they were taken seriously as consumers. They would need to vote with their dollars, patronizing only those brands and retailers that respected them.In my research on marketing campaigns aimed at Black women, Ive examined how the struggle for consumer citizenship complicated the dynamic between Black entrepreneurs and consumers. On the one hand, businesses have long leveraged Black ownership as a unique selling proposition in and of itself, urging shoppers to view Black brand loyalty as a path to collective racial progress.Unlike their larger competitors, Black entrepreneurs relied on their racial community to stay afloat. Patronizing African American businesses could therefore be framed as a racial duty. Conversely, as African American advertising pioneers made clear, recognition from big brands was a political victory of sorts because it signaled that Black dollars were just as valuable as anyone elses. Competing for Black dollarsCorporate attention to Black consumers ebbs and flows in a cycle that is especially noticeable in the beauty and personal care industry. In seasons of limited competition for African American customers, entrepreneurs typically thrive, even while they struggle to meet the capital demands of a growing brand. Their success, however, beckons larger corporations, which then seek to capitalize on consumer niches they previously ignored.Two common approaches that mass market brands pursue to compete for Black dollars include acquiring smaller, established Black brands and developing their own niche products. Large corporations deployed both strategies during a period of intense expansion into the beauty market of the 1980s.Black owners tried to stave off their competition by creating a special emblem that alerted shoppers to their authenticity. Then, as now, social justice organizations, such as Rev. Jesse Jacksons Operation PUSH, also initiated boycotts and urged Black consumers not to choose lipstick over liberation.Nevertheless, many Black entrepreneurs sold their brands, and by 1986 nearly half of the Black hair care market was no longer Black-owned.A linked fateParsing winners and losers within the world of Black enterprise is as difficult now as it was in earlier periods. African American business owners often possess a cultural consciousness that distinguishes their brands, even when they cant match the resources of larger competitors. And as they figure out how to survive an uneven playing field, Black entrepreneurs sometimes face accusations of betraying their racial community.In a market governed by the law of supply and demand, Black consumers benefit from increased competition. Yet, racial loyalty sometimes asks that they eschew these benefits for the sake of keeping Black dollars in Black hands.Four years ago, when Target launched its Black Beyond Measure funding initiative, it seemed that the retailer had struck a rare balance in supporting Black brands and their customers. In addition to curating a collection of products to lure shoppers, Target used the campaign as an opportunity to position entrepreneurs to flourish well beyond Black History Month.Now, as Black consumers and business owners weigh varying responses to the retailers decision to reverse their commitment to DEI values, one question endures: Do Black dollars matter?Timeka N. Tounsel is an associate professor of Black studies in communication at the University of Washington.This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A lot of architecture think-tank stuff loses me, but this one I can both follow and get behind. Amor Immeuble is a Paris-based quartet of architects interested in material research and experimentation. They recently encountered a series of beautifully-crafted marble pieces that were once prized and are now considered waste. With their "Deposees" series, the group considers how best to preserve these pieces and integrate them into modern life.Essentially, the group notes that as fireplaces are no longer needed for heat, they're often removed during renovations to free up floor space. However, they often have ornate marble mantles that were the must-have interior design feature of the 19th century. They were sold by catalog, as the group explains:"Nineteenth-century marble-makers flooded France with these kit dressings by the wagonload, standardizing catalogs with a limited series of model-types, utilitarian syntheses of historical styles.""The ambivalent status of these standardized ornamentsarchitectural archetype or decorative product, indispensable figure in the domestic landscape or cumbersome antiqueis inevitably debated during interior renovation projects.""What position should we, as architects, adopt in such situations? What is the value of this ornamented interface, ultimately stripped of all function when the ducts are condemned? What place should be given to the many pieces that have been deposited? Among these sheet-rock facings, consoles and modillions stand out, more elaborate and massive in their function as projecting supports." "The generic nature of the fragments collected enables us to turn them into three-dimensional assemblies that temporarily occupy the domestic space of the gallery: the rock, reduced to an ornamental motif, is used here for its structural capacity, and the contoured form becomes a framework component, abstracted from its original orientation and symbolism." At present there's no practical application for the salvaged mantle fragments, but the constructions pictured here were exhibited at the DNL Gallery in Paris.

Theres really no argument that all of the eXtended reality experiences available to us now are nothing but illusions. As believable as the visuals might be, it all breaks down when you try to take into account the other sense of the body. It isnt just the sense of touch either, which is often what designers and inventors try to immediately address. Other senses, however, are even harder to recreate or fool.Our sense of taste, for example, is very complex and sophisticated, even if we try to distill them down to basic groups like sweet, sour, salty, etc. Virtual reality makes that even harder because you dont have the real thing in front of you to put in your mouth. In the future, however, that might not be much of a problem, at least if this rather odd-looking device becomes the standard for VR tasting.Designers: Liu Yiming et al (City University of Hong Kong)The idea of licking a device, much less putting one in your mouth, might sound not only weird but also unsettling, but short of having real food in your hand all the time, thats the only compromise you can get in mixed reality environments. At the same time, however, it will be difficult to deliver every single flavor you might be able to taste in such an experience, but biomedical engineers from the City University of Hong Kong have designed a rather curious way of doing just that.Shaped like very thick lollipops, the devices are meant to be licked and, depending on the scenario, induce a certain flavor in the persons mouth. The secret, in a nutshell, is special tiny gels that get activated by a very low voltage of electricity. When the gel interacts with saliva, it produces an intended flavor, depending on the composition of the gel.With the current form of this VR Lollipop, there are 9 gel pouches that each reproduce distinct flavors, including salt, sugar, milk, cherry, citric acid, green tea, passion fruit, grapefruit, and, strangest of all, durian. The intensity of these flavors depends on how much voltage is used to activate the substance, but the size of the lollipop limits each flavor to only one hour. Covering other flavors will probably depend on how well they can be recreated by these red algae gels.That said, taste isnt actually a solitary sense and is largely impacted by our sense of smell. A runny nose, for example, could throw our sense of taste off, and a foul odor can very well ruin our appetite. The next step, then, would be to recreate and deliver the scents associated with these flavors, which would probably be an interesting exercise with durian involved.The post Lollipop-shaped lickable devices try to recreate tastes in VR first appeared on Yanko Design.

I collect a lot of things and one of the things I have a lot of is stationery. In both my desk at home and at the office, I have several pieces of office supplies lying around. Sometimes though when I actually need a pair of scissors or some tape, I suddenly cannot find them and I end up borrowing one from my officemate. At worse, there are times when I actually buy a new one only for the old one to pop up later on. I try to be more organized by using organizer tools but sometimes, I feel like its a lost cost. Designer: Bae Seung BinThis concept for office supplies just might be a savior for my wallet and my productivity. Ofiistory is a series of desk supplies that is designed to help you save time looking for the thing that you need and keep your desk organized while at the same time, reducing product waste. It also adds to your design aesthetics if thats something youre particular about. Its inspired by Japanese brand Mujis low cost and eco-friendly design and elevates it to a modular and more functional level.Basically its a 5-in-1 system that you can use individually or attach to each other if you prefer to be more organized. They are mostly of the same shape and size so its easy to integrate them into one item. Four of the five items in the system have rectangular cuboid shape with rounded edges with a hollowed-out top and a cut-out section at the bottom to make it more stable and to insert the fifth item underneath. The four items are a clock, a sticky notes holder, a tape dispenser, and a pen holder.The fifth one is a wireless charger whose tail can be slipped under the other four to put them together. They can be attached and reattached securely without needing an additional organizer. Since there are no screws or additional components, this system is also easy to produce, assemble/disassemble, repair, and replace. The ideal method to be used is CNC milling which has a lower carbon footprint. All parts can also decompose at the end of life of the product so it will not harm the environment that much. The Ofiistory has a matte finish which is through a seal coat then waxing and sanding to get its smooth finish. Its perfect for a woodsy, minimalist aesthetic and can even fit other items on your desk and space. The post Modular desk organizer lets you tidy up your space in a few pieces first appeared on Yanko Design.

This may not be the ideal laptop creatives are craving after all.

We tried dozens of house shoes to find the best pairs for working from home, running errands, and avoiding cold floors. Here are the ones worth your feet.

A team Microsoft calls BadPilot is acting as Sandworm's initial access operation, the company says. And over the last year it's trained its sights on the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia.

A US judge has ruled in favor of Thomson Reuters in a AI training fight against Ross Intelligence, a legal AI startup, according to The Verge. Thomson Reuters sued Ross Intelligence in 2020 for using the companys legal research platform Westlaw to train Ross Intelligences AI without permission. Westlaw indexes large amounts of non-copyrighted material, but mixes it with its own content.Ross Intelligence argued that the training should be classified under fair use practices, but the judge disagreed. Instead, the court held that Ross Intelligences use of the copyrighted material affected its original value because the company intended to develop a direct competitor.The ruling is significant because it could have implications for future cases where copyrighted material is used for AI training. One wrinkle: this particular case concerned non-generative AI, which is not the same as generative AI used in large language models to create new material based on previous training data.

Its already known that todays generative AI (genAI) tools often have trouble with basic facts. Now, its clear they dont well with current events either.Thats the upshot of a test by the BBC, which asked ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity to answer 100 questions using BBC articles as a source; more than half of the answers (51%) were wrong.One in five answers (19%) were based on directly incorrect facts and 13% of quotes had been modified from the source.cFor example, the AI tools believe that Rishi Sunak is still the UKs Prime Minister, and they gave the wrong death date for TV personality Michael Mosley.The price of AIs extraordinary benefits must not be a world where people searching for answers are served distorted, faulty content that appears to be fact, Deborah Turness, managing director of BBC News, wrote. In what can feel like a chaotic world, it really cant be right that consumers seeking clarity are met with yet more confusion.