Lisa Morgan, Freelance WriterFebruary 19, 202510 Min ReadTithi Luadthong via Alamy StockGenerative AIs use has exploded across industries, helping people to write, code, brainstorm and more. While the interface couldnt be simpler -- just type some text in the box -- mastery of it involves continued use and constant iteration.GenAI is considered a game-changer, which is why enterprises want to scale it. While users have various resources available, like OpenAI and Gemini, proprietary LLMs and GenAI embedded in applications, companies want to ensure that employees are not compromising sensitive data.GenAIs unprecedented rate of adoption has inspired many individuals to seek training on their own, often online at sites such as Coursera, EdX, and Udemy, but employers shouldnt depend on that. Given the strategic nature of the technology, companies should invest in training for their employees.A Fast Track To Improving Prompt Engineering EfficacyAndreas Welsch, founder and chief AI strategist at boutique AI strategy consultancy Intelligence Briefing, advocates starting with a Community of Multipliers -- early tech adopters who are eager to learn about the latest technology and how to make it useful. These multipliers can teach others in their departments, helping leadership scale the training. Next, he suggests piloting training formats in one business area, gathering feedback and iterating on the concept and delivery. Then, roll it out to the entire organization to maximize utility and impact.Related:Despite ChatGPT being available for two years, Generative AI tools are still a new type of application for most business users, says Welsch. Prompt engineering training should inspire learners to think and dream big.He also believes different kinds of learning environments benefit different types of users. For example, cohort-based online sessions have proven successful for introductory levels of AI literacy while executive training expands the scope from basic prompting to GenAI products.Advanced training is best conducted in a workshop because the content requires more context and interaction, and the value comes from networking with others and having access to an expert trainer. Advanced training goes deeper into the fundamentals including LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation, vector databases and security risks, for example.Andreas Welsch, Intelligence BriefingFunction-specific, tailored workshops and trainings can provide additional level of relevance to learners when the content and examples are put into the audience's context, for example, using GenAI in marketing, says Welsch. Prompting is an important skill to learn at this early stage of GenAI maturity.Related:Digital agency Create & Grow, initiated its prompt engineering training with a focus on the basics of generative AI and its applications. Recognizing the diverse skill levels within its team, the company implemented stratified training sessions, beginning with foundational concepts for novices and advancing to complex techniques for experienced members.This approach ensures that each team member receives the appropriate level of training, maximizing learning efficiency and application effectiveness, says Georgi Todorov, founder and CEO of Create & Grow, in an email interview. Our AI specialists, in collaboration with the HR department, lead the training initiatives. This dual leadership ensures that the technical depth of AI is well-integrated with our overarching employee training programs, aligning with broader company goals and individual development plans.The companys training covers:The basics of AI and language modelsPrinciples of prompt design and response analysisUse cases specific to its industry and client requirementsEthical considerations and best practices in AI usageEducational resources including online courses, in-person workshops, and peer-led sessions, and use of resources from leading AI platforms and collaborations with AI experts that keeps training up-to-date and relevantRelated:To gauge individuals level of prompt engineering mastery, Create & Grow conducts regular assessments and chooses practical projects that reflect real-world scenarios. These assessments help the company tailor ongoing training and provide targeted support where needed.Its crucial to foster a culture of continuous learning and curiosity. Encouraging team members to experiment with AI tools and share their findings helps demystify the technology and integrate it more deeply into everyday workflows, says Todorov. Our commitment to developing prompt engineering expertise is not just about staying competitive; its about harnessing the full potential of AI to innovate and improve our client offerings.A Different TakeKelwin Fernandes, cofounder and CEO at AI strategy consulting firm NILG.AI says good prompts are not ambiguous.A quick way to improve prompts is to ask the AI model if there's any ambiguity in the prompt. Then, adjust it accordingly, says Fernandes in an email interview.His company defined a basic six-part template for efficient prompting that covers:The role the AI should play (e.g., summarizing, drafting, etc.)The human role or position the AI should imitateA description of the task, being specific and removing any ambiguityA negative prompt stating what the AI cannot do. (E.g., dont answer if youre unsure)Any context you have that the AI doesnt know (E.g., information about the company)The specific task details the AI should solve at this time.[W]e do sharing sessions and role plays where team members bring their prompts, with examples that worked and examples that didn't and we brainstorm how to improve them, says Fernandes.At video production company Bonfire Labs, prompt training includes a communal think tank on Google Chat, making knowledge accessible to all. The company also holds staff meetings in which different departments learn foundational skills, such as prompt structure or tool identification.This ensures we are constantly cross-skilling and upskilling our people to stay ahead of the game. Our head of emerging technologies also plays an integral role in training and any creative process that requires AI, further improving our best practices, says Jim Bartel, partner, managing director at Bonfire Labs in an email interview. We have found that the best people to spearhead prompt training are those who are already masters at what they do, such as our designers and VFX artists. Their expertise in refinement and attention to detail is perfect for prompting.Why Developers May Have an EdgeEdward Tian, CEO at GPTZero believes prompt engineering begins with gaining an understanding of the various language models, including ChatGPT, GPT-2, GPT-3, GPT-4, and LLaMA.Its also important to have a background in coding and an understanding of NLP, but people often have minimal knowledge about the different language models, says Tian. Understanding how their learning concepts work and how they are structured can help significantly with prompt engineering. Working with pre-trained models can also help prompt engineers really hone their skills and [gain] a further understanding of how it all works.Chris Beavis, partner and AI Specialist at design-led consultancy The Frameworks suggests using the OpenAI development portal versus ChatGPT or Gemini, for example.It offers a greater level of control and access to different models. The temperature of a model is particularly important, allowing you to flex the randomness [and] creativity of answers over determinism [or] repeatability, says Beavis in an email interview.Chris Beavis, The Frameworks[The user] should start by identifying an idea or a challenge they are facing to see what impact AI can have. Try out different approaches, remember to give specific instructions, provide examples, and be clear about the format of the result you are expecting. Some other tips include breaking problems down into steps, including relevant data sets for context and prompting the AI to ask you questions about your request if its not clear.Most employees are experimenting with AI at The Frameworks in different ways, from image generation and summarization to more advanced techniques like augmented information retrieval and model training.I certainly think there is an initial barrier to overcome [when] familiarizing yourself with how to prompt, which may suggest the need for a beginner level of training. Beyond that, I think its a learning journey that will depend on your area of interest. A developer may want to explore how to connect AI prompting to data sets via APIs, copywriters may want to use it for brainstorming or drafting and strategists may want to use it to interrogate complex data sets. Its a digital literacy question.His company is finding the most useful applications are where they use code to combine prompts with data sets, like mail merging. That way, AI can be treated as a step in a repeatable problem-solving process.As with most companies, we started by simply seeing what the technology could do, says Beavis. As we become more familiar with the capabilities, we are finding interesting uses within client projects and our own internal processes.Intelligence Briefings Welsch says for software developers, mastery is a cost function such as getting the optimal output with the shortest possible prompt (to consume the least amount of tokens). For business users, he says proficiency could be measured by awareness of common prompting techniques and frameworks.Prompting is often portrayed as a glorified science. While teaching techniques is a good start for laying a foundation, Generative AI requires users to think differently and use software differently, says Welsch. [Trainees] can learn about examples of what these tools can be used for, but it is experimenting and iterating over an open-ended conversation that they should take away from it.Engage Specialized TrainersBrendan Gutierrez McDonnell, a partner at K&L Gates in the law firm's AI solutions group, says his company uses a multifaced approach to prompt engineering training.We have relied on experiential training provider AltaClaros prompt engineering course as an introduction for our lawyers and allied professionals to the world of prompt engineering. We have supplemented that foundational training with prompt engineering courses tailored to the GenAI [and other] AI solutions that our firm has licensed, says McDonnell in an email interview. These more tailored programs have been conducted in tandem by the vendor providing the solution and by our internal community of power users familiar with the specific solution.At present, the firm is building its own internal database of prompt engineering questions that work well with the various GenAI solutions. Over time, he expects the solutions themselves will recommend the best prompt engineering guidance to solve a particular problem.The best way to develop a degree of mastery is through education from outside educational vendors like AltaClaro, solution vendors like Thomson Reuters, and by learning from your colleagues, says McDonnell. Prompt engineering is best approached as a team sport. Most importantly, you must dive in and use the program. Be creative and push your own limits and the programs limits.Brendan Gutierrez McDonnell, K&L GatesK&L Gates has training programs for beginners that cover the basics and nuanced programs for advanced users, but before jumping into prompt engineering, he believes the user should have a fundamental understanding of how a GenAI solution works and whether the information input into the program will remain confidential or not.The user [should] understand that the output needs to be verified as large language models can make mistakes. Finally, the user needs to know how to vet the output. Once the user has these basics in order, she or he can start to learn how to prompt, says McDonnell. The user should be given problems to solve so that the user can put his or her prompting to the test and then review the results with peers. Having a training partner like AltaClaro can make sure that the training experience is effective, as they are experts in building programs tailored to the way lawyers learn best.Bottom LineOrganizations are approaching GenAI training differently, but they tend to agree its necessary to jumpstart better prompting.Where to get that training varies, and the sources are not mutually exclusive. One can hire expert help on-site, create their own programs and invest in GenAI online courses depending on the level of existing knowledge and the need to provide training that advances GenAI proficiency at varying levels of mastery.Read more about:Cost of AIAbout the AuthorLisa MorganFreelance WriterLisa Morgan is a freelance writer who covers business and IT strategy and emergingtechnology for InformationWeek. She has contributed articles, reports, and other types of content to many technology, business, and mainstream publications and sites including tech pubs, The Washington Post and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Frequent areas of coverage include AI, analytics, cloud, cybersecurity, mobility, software development, and emerging cultural issues affecting the C-suite.See more from Lisa MorganNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

James M. Connolly, Contributing Editor and WriterFebruary 19, 20257 Min ReadInk Drop via Alamy StockSo, you told a friend that you need to hire more IT folks. The friend replied, "Hah, good luck!"Circumstances dealt IT leaders a challenging hand over the past few years, from the great resignation to executive demands for digital transformation, and onward to corporate fascination with artificial intelligence, hiring and keeping IT talent requires new strategies.There was no single cause of today's hiring challenges, and there's no single, easy answer short of hitting the lottery and retiring. However, contributors to InformationWeek have shared their experiences and advice to IT leaders on ways to staff up and skill up, all while staying under budget and keeping IT operational lights on.In this guide to todays IT hiring and talent challenges, we have compiled a collection of advice and news articles focused on finding, hiring and retaining IT talent. We hope it helps you succeed this year.A World of ChangeHelp Wanted: IT Hiring Trends in 2025ITs role is becoming more strategic. Increasingly, it is expected to drive business value as organizations focus on digital transformation.IT Security Hiring Must Adapt to Skills ShortagesDiverse recruitment strategies, expanded training, and incentivized development programs can all help organizations narrow the skills gap in an era of rapidly evolving threat landscapes.Top IT Skills and Certifications in 2025In 2025 top IT certifications in cloud security and data will offer high salaries as businesses prioritize multi-cloud and AI.How To Be Competitive in a Tight IT Employment MarketA slumping economy, emerging technologies, and over-hiring has led to a tight IT jobs market. Yet positions are still abundant for individuals possessing the right skills and attitude.The Soft Side of IT: How Non-Technical Skills Shape Career SuccessHeres why soft skills matter in IT careers and how to effectively highlight them on a resume. Show that you are a good human.Salary Report: IT in Choppy Economic Seas and Roaring Winds of ChangeLast year brought a sustained adrenaline rush for IT. Everything changed. Some of it with a whimper and some of it with a bang. Through it all IT pros held steady, but is it enough to sail safely through the end of 2024?Quick Study: The Future of Work Is HereThe workplace of the future isn't off in the future. It's been here for a few years -- even pre-pandemic.10 Unexpected, Under the Radar Predictions for 2025From looming energy shortages and forced AI confessions to the rising ranks of AI-faked employees and a glimmer of a new cyber-iron curtain, heres whats happening that may require you to change your companys course.Finding TalentAI Speeds IT Team HiringCan AI help your organization find top IT job candidates quickly and easily? A growing number of hiring experts are convinced it can.Skills-Based Hiring in IT: How to Do it RightBy focusing directly on skills instead of more subjective criteria, IT leaders can build highly capable teams. Here's what you need to know to get started.The Evolution of IT Job Interviews: Preparing for Skills-Based HiringThe traditional tech job interview process is undergoing a significant shift as companies increasingly focus on skills-based hiring and move away from the traditional emphasis of academic degrees.IT Careers: Does Skills-Based Hiring Really Work?More organizations are moving toward skills-based hiring and getting mixed results. Heres how to avoid some of the pitfalls.Jumping the IT Talent Gap: Cyber, Cloud, and Software DevsBusinesses must first determine where their IT skill sets need bolstering and then develop an upskilling strategy or focus on strategic new hires.Top Career Paths for New IT CandidatesMore organizations are moving from roles-based staffing to skills-based staffing. In IT, flexibility is key.Why IT Leaders Should Hire Veterans for Cybersecurity RolesMaintaining cybersecurity requires the effort of a team. Veterans are uniquely skilled to operate in this role and bring strengths that meet key industry needs.How to Find a Qualified IT Intern Among CandidatesIT organizations offering intern programs often find themselves swamped with applicants. Here's how to find the most knowledgeable and prepared candidates.The Search for Solid Hires Between AI Screening and GenAI ResumesDo AI-generated job applications gum up the recruitment process for hiring managers by filling inboxes with dubiously written CVs?3 Things You Should Look for When Hiring New GraduatesEach year, entry-level applicants in IT look a little different. Heres what you need to be looking for as the class of 2023 infiltrates the workforce.Why a College Degree is No Longer Necessary for IT SuccessWho needs student debt? A growing number of employers are hiring IT pros with little or no college experience.Recruiting TalentIn Global Contest for Tech Talent, US Skills Draw Top PayAfter several years of economic uncertainty and layoffs, US talent is once again attracting good pay in the global competition for tech skills. But gender disparity continues in many job categories.Hiring Hi-Tech Talent by Kickin It Old SchoolUsing elements of a traditional approach to recruiting IT professionals can attract and grow the modern workforce, but it's the soft skills shown during an interview that make a big difference.The Impact of AISkills on Hiring and Career AdvancementDemand is high for professionals with knowledge of AI, but do such talents really get implemented on the job?How to Channel a Worlds Fair Culture to Engage IT TalentEven the most well-funded and innovative companies will fail if they lack one thing: A diverse, united team. A CEO shares his experience and advice.Bridging IT Skills Gap in the Age of Digital TransformationInnovations in automation, cloud computing, big data analytics, and AI have not only changed the way businesses operate but have intensified the demand for specialized skills.5 Traits To Look for When Hiring Business and IT InnovatorsHiring resilient and forward-thinking employees is the cornerstone to innovation. If youre looking to hire a trailblazer, here are five traits to seek, as well as questions to ask.CIOs Can Build a Resilient IT Workforce with AI and Unconventional TalentAs the IT talent crunch continues, chief information officers can embrace new strategies to combine traditional IT staff with nontraditional workers and AI to augment the workforce.Pursuing Nontraditional IT Candidates: Methods to Expand Talent PipelinesEmployers winning in this labor market know how to look at adjacent skills and invest in upskilling their internal candidates while creating alternative candidate pools.Hiring with AI: Get It Right from the StartAs organizations increasingly adopt artificial intelligence in hiring, its essential that they understand how to use the technology to reduce bias rather than exacerbate it.Secrets to Hiring Top Tech TalentTo hire best-in-class IT talent, your company must have interesting technical problems to solve.Keeping TalentMeaningful Ways to Reward Your IT Team and Its AchievementsA job well done deserves a significant reward. Here's how to show appreciation to a diligent staff without busting your budget.Recognize the Contributions of Average IT PerformersEvery IT departmenthas its marginal performers. How do you get the most out of them?How to Manage a Rapidly Growing IT TeamMaintaining IT staff performance and efficiency during rapid growth requires careful planning and structure. Here's how to expand your team without missing a beat.Do Women IT Leaders Face a Glass Cliff?Are organizations more likely to promote women to top IT management posts during hopeless crisis situations? Apparently, yes.Skills Gap in Cloud Tools: Why It Exists and Ways to AddressAs enterprises shift to modernize applications, a companys most important asset is talent performance to back it up.Addressing the Skills Gap to Keep Up with the Evolution of the CloudAs cloud adoption increases, companies must focus on upskilling employees through continuous learning to maximize cloud and AI potential.The AI Skills Gap and How to Address ItWorkers are struggling to integrate AI into their skill sets. Where are we falling short in helping them leverage AI to their own benefit and the benefit of their employers?About the AuthorJames M. ConnollyContributing Editor and WriterJim Connolly is a versatile and experienced freelance technology journalist who has reported on IT trends for more than three decades. He was previouslyeditorial director of InformationWeek and Network Computing, where heoversaw the day-to-day planning and editing on the sites. He has written about enterprise computing, data analytics, the PC revolution, the evolution of the Internet, networking, IT management, and the ongoing shift to cloud-based services and mobility. He has covered breaking industry news and has led teams focused on product reviews and technology trends. He has concentrated on serving the information needs of IT decision-makers in large organizations and has worked with those managers to help them learn from their peers and share their experiences in implementing leading-edge technologies through such publications as Computerworld. Jim also has helped to launch a technology-focused startup, as one of the founding editors at TechTarget, and has served as editor of an established news organization focused on technology startups at MassHighTech.See more from James M. ConnollyNever Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.SIGN-UPYou May Also LikeWebinarsMore WebinarsReportsMore Reports

Algae on the Greenland ice sheet absorb light and accelerate meltingLaura HalbachDark algae that grow on the surface of Arctic ice sheets are likely to expand their range in the future, a trend that will exacerbate melt, sea level rise and warming.These algae are not a new phenomenon, says James Bradley at the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography in Marseille, France. But if they bloom more intensely, or the bloom is more widespread, then it would be an important thing to consider in future projections of sea level rise. AdvertisementGreenlands ice sheet, which covers most of the island, is rapidly melting due to rising temperatures, making it the biggest single contributor to sea level rise worldwide.Ancylonema algae under the microscopeNature CommunicationsAncylonema algal species bloom on ice patches, called ablation zones, which are exposed as the snow line recedes on the ice sheet each summer. The blooms darken the ice, reducing its reflectivity and absorbing more heat, thereby enhancing melt in these areas by an estimated 10 to 13 per cent. Unmissable news about our planet delivered straight to your inbox every month.Sign up to newsletterTo better understand this feedback loop, Bradley and his colleagues collected Ancylonema samples from the south-west tip of the ice sheet and examined the cells with advanced imaging techniques.The results revealed that the algae are highly adapted to nutrient-poor conditions, suggesting that they could make inroads into ice at higher elevations, where nutrients are scarce.Global warming is already causing the snow line to retreat to increased altitudes over time, exposing more ice, which is less reflective than snow and therefore accelerates melt. Ice algae add yet another layer to these interactions that will need to be accounted for in future climate projections.Weve been studying glacier algal blooms for several years now, but one of the big questions remaining has been how they are able to grow to such high numbers in such nutrient-poor ice, says Christopher Williamson at the University of Bristol, UK, who wasnt involved in the project. One big part of understanding this puzzle is how much nutrient is needed by the glacier algal cells and whether they are able to efficiently take up and store the scarce nutrients available in the system. This study does a great job of demonstrating these things using cutting-edge methodologies.Journal reference:Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56664-6Topics:

Exercise can influence your risk of developing age-related conditionsOlja Simovic / AlamyDoes your lifestyle play the biggest role in determining your risk of age-related conditions, or does the influence of your genes dominate? Thanks to the largest study of its kind, we now have our most comprehensive view yet of how these two factors influence the chance of developing 22 conditions, including dementia and heart disease.Prior studies have linked a wide range of environmental factors to ageing more quickly. But these have involved just a few thousand people and didnt look at the risks of specific

Punit Soni worked at Google, Motorola and as the chief product officer at Flipkart in India. He couldn't shake the desire to build a company of his own and launched a health tech startup.Sonit said life as a founder can be lonely and has extremes, but feels his work is meaningful.This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Punit Soni, the CEO of Suki, an AI voice solution for healthcare professionals valued at $295 million. Business Insider has verified Soni's employment with documents. The following has been edited for length and clarity.Born to a nuclear scientist father and a psychologist mother in Mumbai, my early life was steeped in academia. I got a degree in engineering at the National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra in 1998 and a master's in electrical engineering at the University of Wyoming in 1998.I worked as a quality assurance engineer in semiconductors before pursuing an MBA at The Wharton School in 2007. After my MBA, I considered private equity or consulting, but Silicon Valley's siren call brought me back to tech.My career in Big TechIn June 2007, I applied to Google as a product manager. At Google, I spearheaded Google+ Games and mobile initiatives. I helped grow the mobile team and launched features like Mobile Hangouts and Instant Upload. Over those five years, I learned about scaling products and seeing failure as an opportunity.I left Google in August 2012 for an executive role at Motorola as VP of product management. While at Motorola, I gained insight into the e-commerce market in India, which prompted me to eventually leave and move to Bangalore. I began my role as chief product officer at Flipkart in India's tech hub.After a decade in the Bay Area, I felt like all the roles at the time were the same, and I wanted to exercise a different part of my brain. Being in India and adjusting to a different workforce was an interesting challenge. At Flipkart, I was responsible for all product initiatives and helped scale the company. I left in 2016, and Flipkart was acquired by Walmart in 2018.I couldn't ignore the entrepreneurial itch After working at tech giants and successful startups, the entrepreneurial itch I'd had since my early days in Silicon Valley could no longer be ignored.While at Motorola, I was trying to build Moto X, which had its first always-on voice interface. Building this software made me aware that voice was going to be the default for most devices. At that time, conversations around the artificial intelligence were just starting, but these insights helped me develop my company Suki. I wanted to build something that made healthcare tech assistive and invisible, so doctors could focus on patients.Many of my former Google colleagues who were leaving the company were going into education or healthcare. I saw healthcare as an area where I could make an impact. I came up with the idea for Suki and started building the foundational elements while in India. My family was sick and tired of me complaining about starting something new and encouraged me to leave Big Tech to do it myself.It was a big shift going from employee to founderI left Flipkart in 2016 and returned to the States to spend the next six months settling down. We moved houses, and I had to adjust to a new area and new schools for my kids. I was lucky enough to have saved resources that helped me launch Suki, so I didn't have to change too much of my lifestyle. I was also mentally prepared, knowing that there were not going to be that many incoming resources or revenue at the start of a new business venture.Becoming a founder impacts your emotional and mental health. For the first few years, I worked off fumes and juggled many hats. No day was the same. Whereas in Big Tech, I had more of an established work routine. At Google and Flipkart, I was a senior executive with many people reporting to me, but at Suki, I had to start from the bottom to reassess the skills I was good at and learn new ones to help move the company forward.The best part of starting my own company is the pride I feel in building something that has a real impact. Over 350 healthcare systems are using Suki to help doctors focus on patient care.I also really value the control and autonomy I have now compared to my prior careers in Big Tech. I want to create a drama-free environment at Suki with no internal political hierarchies. I care about our combined collective success. I want Suki to be a workplace where we give each other feedback and improve each other's work.Financially, I didn't have any dramatic changes moving from being an employee to a founder because I always maintained a middle-class lifestyle. However, it's still uncomfortable building something because you have to use more money than you're making.Life as a CEO has extremesSome days being a CEO is empowering, while others are exhausting and frustrating. It can feel like you're on a treadmill that never stops.Entrepreneurship is also lonely, and early on, I had to face failures and overcome them. I was a poor CEO for the first two or three years because I couldn't manage my emotional state.I've made every founder mistake because of my challenges with regulating my emotions. I've had countless sleepless nights, lost my temper, let go of people, people have let go of me, and even lost friendships. The key lesson I learned was how to react to these situations constructively while moving forward.I've learned that a good CEO knows how to channel their energy, learn relationship management, and invest in the right operations and people. One of my major challenges was finding the right people. My advice is to hire candidates who are better than you in every area. People romanticize startup life. Building a company is not a financial or professional decision it's a romantic one. You need to love your idea and have the emotional intelligence and energy to see it through.Ironically, I don't wish entrepreneurship on anybody. It's a risky financial decision to leave a stable job. But I love what I'm doing most days. The idea of building something meaningful from the ground up was incredibly important to me.

I bought my kids everything they wanted and gave them a $400 allowance.When they started to seem complacent about money, my wife and I decided to cut their allowance.They had to get after-school jobs to make extra money, and it showed them the value of hard work.Growing up in an African household with tough parents meant you had to work to earn your keep. Don't get me wrong, my parents were loving, but they didn't play around when it came to teaching us work ethics and the value of money. My five siblings and I stayed in school, and when school was out in the summer, we got jobs from as early as 12. Around this age, our parents required us to stay proactive and explicitly said that we had to work.Of course, as a young man, there were things I wanted, like the latest shoes and clothes to keep up with my friends. My parents didn't really have any room in their budget for "extras." If I wanted anything that wasn't a basic need, I had to buy it myself. So I worked hard to afford what I wanted. These experiences shaped my money mindset and helped me become the financially responsible adult I am today.I used to buy them everything they wantedI didn't understand at the time why my parents wouldn't just buy me the things I wanted, and it was tough for me to have to work so hard while other friends and classmates of mine had more time to just be kids. I swore my kids would have a different experience. I wanted to provide everything they needed without them having to struggle for it. I chose to over-compensate for the things I lacked growing up.My son and two daughters, now 11, 13, and 15, got whatever they wanted, and things they didn't even ask for sometimes. They would often ask for new clothes and the latest tech gadgets, which I always bought. I would take them on trips and always purchased school supplies ahead of the new year. True to this, my son and two daughters knew the best life. They never lacked anything, at least not in a material sense.I also gave each of them a $400 monthly allowance, just in case they needed anything else I wasn't giving them directly. I liked knowing they were well-catered to and didn't have any financial concerns. While I provided for them, I also wanted them to learn positive lessons in life and develop the best values.I tried to instill in them that hard work was important and promised to give more if they helped with chores around the home or ran errands for my office. I told myself that although I was giving them most things money could buy, they were still learning important lessons along the way. However, all good things come to an end, and their good attitudes did the same, eventually.Over time, they stopped being gratefulOne thing my kids taught me was that when given everything, you become complacent. They no longer had the desire to work harder and achieve things.My son's grades started slipping, and he told me he wasn't worried because he had everything he needed and knew I would hire him to work for me. That was a very disappointing answer.Both of my daughters also developed a bad attitude and often put up a fight before helping their mother with chores around the house. They started giving me a hard time about picking up school activities and earning extra credit. Sometimes, we volunteered at our local church, which I thought they enjoyed, but they started turning down these opportunities. Soon, I worried that they would go down the wrong path.We cut their allowance and they had to start workingAfter reflecting on our situation and how hard it was for me growing up, I had a change of heart. I sat down with my wife, and we decided to cut our children's allowance from $400 to $100 to help them find the right path and inner motivation. If nothing changed, we would revoke the allowances completely. After all, they say that you never know the value of what you have until you lose it.This decision was met with a lot of resistance, yelling, and screaming, but we stood our ground. To make up the difference in their allowances, the kids had to find after-school jobs. They had to work if they needed extra shoes, clothes, and necessities. Although this drastic change was unwelcome, it was necessary.I wanted my kids to learn about financial responsibility, develop a work ethic, and understand the importance of savings. These were critical lessons that would take them through every step of life.It was hard at first, but our dynamic has shiftedAs you can imagine, change is never easy, and my kids didn't appreciate the new rules I was enforcing. Helping them stay on track was challenging, especially while they were finding jobs. It felt harsh, but sometimes tough love is needed. Today, my son and daughters have been working for close to a year. Jobs are the new norm, everyone is earning their keep, just as I did when I was younger.For the most part. They have a better attitude toward money and are not wasteful because they finally see how much it takes to make it. We cut them some slack at times, though, and get them a few things here and there. We answer all their questions about money and urge them to do better. Financial responsibility is an important topic in our home. The next step is getting our kids savings accounts, as we want them to understand how to save for a rainy day.

Ever wondered what your pets are dreaming about when they suddenly kick their paws in their sleep?Maybe theyre chasing a mouse, or a cat. Maybe theyre pawing at you for treats. Or, maybe theyre just running around the house, rummaging through the garbage, scratching the couch, jumping on beds all the things theyre not allowed to do when theyre awake.Its hard to say. But one thing is for sure: People have been connecting these sudden twitches to dreams in animals, and in humans, for years.In humans, during the deepest stage of sleep, we have twitches in our limbs but also in our eyes. These are called rapid eye movements, REM for short. And, the science here is pretty certain. REM sleep is when we are likely dreaming. In animals, scientists also believe their twitching limbs is a likely sign of them dreaming as well. I mean, we know we have dreams. We know that we are moving around in our dreams to some extent, says Mark Blumberg, a neuroscientist at the University of Iowa. So it just makes sense to think, Oh, movements. Why wouldnt they be connected?But then, he observed twitching in really young animals and asked, A newborn animal has had very little waking risk experiences. What the hell are they dreaming about?If twitching was really related to dreaming, youd expect that the older you get and the more experiences you have, the more youd dream, and the more youd twitch.So, to get to the bottom of this mystery, Blumberg began experimenting on newborn rats. In a study, he surgically disconnected the part of the brain responsible for creating dreams. We found no effect at all on twitches. And so I was like, Okay, what is this about? If dreams were responsible for twitching, why did cutting the part of the brain responsible for them have no effect? Blumberg spoke with Unexplainable host Noam Hassenfeld about how this seemingly small question why do we twitch in our sleep? has fundamentally shifted how we understand the relationship between the brain and the body.Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. Theres much more in the full podcast, so listen to Unexplainable wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.All right, Mark, just to make sure before we dive in here, when I think of sleep twitches, I think of those twitches I get, like, right when Im falling asleep.Hypnic jerks, yeah.Is that part of this? Is that different?Its a separate phenomenon. Its more akin to whats called a startle than a twitch. Youre not in REM sleep when that happens, and there are a lot of theories about it, but the fact is its an extremely hard thing to study.Well, if were just talking about these REM sleep twitches, then how common are they? Do all kinds of animals and people twitch?Ive got a website that collects all these different videos, and what you see across different animals is that the parts of the body that the animals really, really rely on for bringing sensory information into their brain are the parts that twitch the most. So for us, you know, rapid eye movements are twitches of the eyes. We also twitch our fingers a lot when were adults. With cats, you see their paws moving a lot. Ferrets, you see whisker twitches; rats, you see lots of whisker twitches. They use their whiskers to learn about the world just as well as we use our eyes. And if all of these twitches arent just, you know, enacting dreams, how do you start figuring out what they actually are?Well, you know, the first thing you have to do is try to figure out what parts of the brain are producing this. I mean, how is this all happening? And what we started to see when we were recording brain activity is that the brains of neonates, baby rats, were much more active during sleep and much more active when animals were twitching than when they were awake, Its one thing to think that sleep has brain activity associated with it. That was a huge finding 80 years ago. Its another thing entirely to see that the brain activity is greater. And I mean much greater during REM sleep than during waking. And I assume its reasonable to think that all of that brain activity is connected with these twitches, right? Is there a way to actually test it?Yeah, I mean, the biggest problem was methodological. How do you record brain activity in a very, very small baby rat, which was the best animal for doing this sort of work. You have to figure out how to get them in a stable situation so you can drop these very fine electrodes into the brain. And so it took years to get the methods going. But what we started to see is that every time the animal twitches, 10 milliseconds later, the part of the brain thats responsive to sensory input for that limb shows a huge burst of activity. So twitch, activity. Twitch, activity. Not the other way around. This is a sensory signal, right? So this timing here matters. If you have a twitch, and then you get a burst of activity in the brain after that twitch, then you have a pretty good idea that thats a sensory signal that youre picking up on. Yeah, so like a signal the brain is getting from a nerve or a muscle or something?Yeah, the sensory input. So every time you move a limb, you have sensors in your muscle, you have sensors in your skin and your joints. And those sensors, when you have movement, they produce neural signals that flow up into the brain. Thats how we know when our arms are moving or when you touch something. We have sensors all throughout our limbs. And so when the limbs were moving, thats when we were seeing the brain activity in parts of the brain that are responsive to those types of sensory signals.Wow. Okay, so youre essentially flipping the traditional hypothesis on its head, right? Its not dreams causing twitches, its twitches causing dreams, or its twitches causing some impact in the brain?Yeah, I mean, obviously twitches are not going to be the sole source of all things in the dreaming brain, but that it is at least providing sensory input to the brain during sleep, that we know for a fact. So it does flip it on its head and it completely changes the calculus of whats happening in a dreaming brain.So then why would the twitching be happening to begin with? Like, whats the point of all of this twitching?Well, so this is where you have to start to think about what is it thats special about twitches, right? The first thing that you notice is that the movements are discrete. And it turns out that discreteness is incredibly important. So imagine that youre standing at a switchboard with hundreds of different switches. Lets just say theyre neurons, and then all the wires from all of those switches lead to a whole bunch of lights. So every switch controls a different light, okay? And lets say that those lights are muscles. If youre sitting at that switchboard and you want to figure out which switches control which lights, you dont just start throwing all the switches simultaneously, right? Because if you did, youre gaining no information. All youre seeing is a bunch of lights turn on and youve thrown a bunch of switches. The answer is you throw one switch at a time, you see which light comes on, and then you make that connection. And so thats the difference between wake movements and twitches. You know, Im sitting here talking to you, and Im gesturing, and Im moving all my limbs simultaneously, my posture, my neck, my eyes, everythings moving simultaneously, right? Thats waking. One of the characteristics of waking movements is that theyre continuous, and theyre simultaneous, and theyre highly complex. But when youre twitching, one twitch at a time, you ping your body. And the body pings you back. And then you know that the first thing is related to the second thing and thats the discreteness of twitching. And that explains why these animals are twitching so much. You never grow and develop more than you do when you are young.So, your theory is that the power goes out and theyre flipping switches in a fuse box to see which switch controls which light because theres no other stimuli coming in, right? Theyre in a controlled environment, so theyre essentially doing sort of an experiment to learn their own body?Yeah, exactly. Its like theyre bootstrapping their system. Theyre self-organizing their sensory motor system and its done from within. Its a big mystery as to how we develop things like our sensory motor system. How do you actually learn about your body when youre a newborn rat or a human and youre born, you have no idea how your body is formed. You have no idea how it moves, and its going to be changing every single day as you grow and figure out new things, right? So how do you figure out how to move that body in real time through the process of development? You cant prescribe this. You cant blueprint this. Theres no genetic mechanism that can tell you exactly how youre going to be on day three versus day five. So you need to have a system thats highly adaptable.And if twitching is about learning, we would assume younger animals would twitch more, is that the case?Absolutely.And then, I mean, older animals also twitch.Yes.Why would they be twitching?Good question. First, we dont twitch as much when were older. But second, some animals do twitch quite a lot. And the part of the body that twitches matters. And this is just a theory because nobody has really explored it with the level of sophistication that we need. But we have to calibrate our systems, you know, over the day we get tired, we lose control, you know, our vision gets worse and worse through the day. And then you wake up the next day and youre rejuvenated. I think its possible that twitches continue throughout life, for some parts of the body, for that purpose; to calibrate a weary system. And theres some hints out there in the world that this could be happening, including work that was done in humans. But theyre mostly hints and it needs to be done more systematically.And why do you think the scientific community missed this for so long, missed understanding twitches as a developmental process?Because when you label something as a byproduct of dreams, why would anybody spend their time studying it?Like, its just closing off further inquiry?Yeah, I mean, I dont want to be too flippant about it. Dreams are fascinating, but theyre kind of a red herring when it comes to studying sleep. There is, to my mind, many, many fascinating things about sleep that have nothing to do with dreams, and the focus on dreams is kind of a distraction from what really matters.See More:

The spate of federal firings that stretched throughout last week escalated last Friday, and continued through the holiday weekend. Nearly all of those fired were probationary employees, a status usually conferred on new workers, those that switch agencies, and the recently promoted, that provides fewer protections against removal. Reports have been unclear about exactly how many people were fired and where. However, we do know some details:Roughly 400 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) workers focused on research, science, and administrative support; About 3,600 Health and Human Services workers, including at least: 750 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) employees, at least 1,000 National Institutes of Health workers, and 750 people at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA);At least 400 Homeland Security employees, including 200 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees;About 2,300 at the Department of the Interior, including 800 at the Bureau of Land Management and 1,000 at the National Parks Service;More than 3,000 Forest Service employees at the Department of Agriculture;More than 1,000 Veterans Affairs professionals; At least 300 Environmental Protection Agency workers;More than 1,500 NASA employees (10 percent of the agencys workforce).By several accounts, the firing process was a haphazard one probationary employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which manages the USs nuclear weapons, were asked to return to work after being fired, for instance.The Trump administration has argued these cuts (and more) are needed to slash federal spending, and to shrink a bloated bureaucracy.However, the latest reduction in force is unlikely to provide taxpayers with major savings, and could jeopardize the governments mandate to protect its citizens.Take, for instance, the VAs claim that its terminations will save $98 million per year. That is a lot of money to me, but it represents only 0.00145 percent of the $6.75 trillion the federal government spent in the 2024 fiscal year. Celebrating that cut is like me jumping for joy because I managed to save a tenth of a penny by foregoing something at the grocery store. Sure its money saved, but not really an appreciable sum.The point is and its a point others have made the US will need to make massive cuts, on the trillion, not million, dollar scale if it really wants to appreciably tighten its belt. To do that, it would need to slash spending on expensive programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the defense. Now to the other claim: that the government is too big.Much like with the VAs savings, those let go represent a fraction of the federal workforce. If you combine the latest round of layoffs with previous rounds and even with the roughly 75,000 people who took the governments buyout offer then just under 4 percent of the governments 2.4 million person workforce has been cut. That means the government is still pretty big. The good news about that is it means government services are unlikely to keel over tomorrow. The worry is about the day after tomorrow. Were not out of fire season, and fire experts and Forest Service workers are expressing great concern that they wont have the manpower to keep communities safe.Its just going to be a disaster for the wildfire response this season, one Forest Service firefighter told Stateline.Spring break and summer travel season are coming in fast too. The FAA was clear that it didnt fire any air traffic controllers, but, as you read in this newsletter a few weeks ago, aviation experts believe our flight systems are seriously overtaxed. Right now, flight operations are like a rubber band, the University of North Dakotas Daniel Adjekum told me recently. And we keep pulling it.And its not just a matter of fire or flying: a disaster could happen at any time requiring FEMAs full attention; the CDC might need to be called into action over a new pandemic federal agencies were already struggling to get bird flu under control. Its impossible to tell you right now what the effects of these cuts will be, and if things will go as badly as some now claim. But the worry is, if things do go south due to lack of personnel, it will be too late avoidable tragedy will have struck.This piece originally ran in the Today, Explained newsletter. For more stories like this, sign up here.See More:

The 1970s and 1980s were a very different time to live in there was no internet for a start. However, there were some pockets of joy for the youngsters in the shape of LCD handheld gamesTech11:24, 19 Feb 2025Updated 11:24, 19 Feb 2025LCD games - giving joy to youngsters in the 70s and 80s (Image: eBay)Imagine a time before PlayStations, Xbox 360s, and the Nintendo Switches.In fact go right back to a time with barely any internet, phones attached to walls, taking photographs with cameras, then waiting several days to see how the images came out. These were simpler, more basic times, where entertainment wasn't just the swipe of a screen away, it required a bit of legwork. If you're in the same ball-park age as me, you'll know that life was the reality.But we did have pockets of joy, and in the case of LCD games, pockets full of joy. However, through modern eyes it's the equivalent of buying a PC which could only ever run one application, but to youngsters they were cutting edgeThey didn't work through several levels of sophisticated gameplay, if anything things just going a bit quicker was the sign of moving up a tier.So here, for our readers the Daily Star has rated and slated some of the classics.Donkey Kong has spawned a whole host of follow-ups(Image: eBay)From Nintendo in 1982 came the "daddy" of handheld consoles. It's duel screen was the 80s equivalent of having a 85inch telly. Not only did your character had to climb scaffolding to leap over the primate launched barrels on the one screen, that character then had to move up to an upper screen to complete the job. For extra challenges you couldn't jump when there's a girder above your head. Maybe its caked in nostalgia, but... Rated.Snoopy Tennis - watch out for Lisa(Image: Reddit)A very compact little piece, and very basic in its concept. When Charlie Brown hits the tennis balls towards Snoopy, you, as Snoopy, move up and down to intercept each ball. To add an extra layer of jeopardy, you need to press to hit to return the ball. What's more occasionally Lucy will appear and launch a rocket of a ball at you. You just have to ditch everything and go for her ball. I recently reunited with my console, and popped some batteries in. After a couple of goes, the next time I picked the game up was when the batteries were going flat and it went on some epic noisy meltdown, which convinced my wife my bedtime cabinet was possessed. Slated.Invasion Of The Mummy's Tomb had two different levels, which was a big deal at the time(Image: eBay)Although the watch batteries of the other LCD games offered a pretty impressive lifespan, that was nothing compared to that of Invaders of the Mummy's Tomb, which operated by solar power. An absolute God send to a child with limited funds. This game was so ahead of its time, it offered not one, but two different environments to play in - trust me in the 80s this was cutting edge. In both scenes you control an explorer, in the scene outside he has to hit snakes and scorpions coming from the bottom of the screen, thus preventing them from attacking your camel which is resting at the top of the screen. After reaching a certain score an opening appears in the pyramid, allowing you to enter when you want, you can also stay outside to keep on hitting the snakes if you so desire. RatedMini Munchman - grinning face eats fruit, and sometimes ghosts(Image: eBay)I think even with the most basic knowledge of consoles, it's fairly easy to see where Grandstand got the inspiration for this game. However, the British manufacturers decided to add bells and whistles to this little gem, where you have to guide your not-Pac-Man around to collect some healthy eating options, with bonus bridges to evade the spirited pursuers. Theres about 20 fruit to collect before you move on to the next level, two of which are hidden under the bridges. And to get your own back on the ghosts there are two pieces of power food on the maze, and once youve nabbed one youll have five seconds to eat the ghosts. RatedOctopus - divers dodge tentacles to grab treasure(Image: Reddit)Article continues belowFrom the Game and Play selection, the object of the game is to get as much treasure out of the sunken ship as possible, while avoiding the tentacles of a giant octopus. If you get touched, you die. For each piece of treasure you snatch you get one point. After you've picked up any amount of treasure you can climb back into the boat and get a three point bonus. This is another of those games where I just lack any desire to start again once I've reached a decent score as there's just not enough variety to keep you returning. Slated

After years of requests, Microsoft could finally bring back the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series with a pair of remasters and they're intended to 'shadow drop', putting fans on noticeTech11:17, 19 Feb 2025Tony Hawk Pro-Skater 3 launched in 2001(Image: Activision)Few games from the nineties and 2000s captured the cultural zeitgeist like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. Whether you were a fan of real-life skating or didn't know your heelflip from your kickflip, there was something for everyone.The games eventually burned out, putting the series on hiatus, but a new rumour suggests Microsoft could be looking to revive the digital version of the Hawkman himself, launching a pair of remasters this year.Better yet, as part of Xbox's new multiplatform strategy they could come to PS5, too so everyone can rekindle their love of the series.Microsoft, which now owns Activision-Blizzard which published the series, is reportedly set to show off THPS 3 and THPS 4 remasters at its annual Xbox showcase in June.That comes via eXtas1s, a Spanish leaker with a solid track record of leaks.According to his report in the video above, Tony Hawk's second set of remasters will 'shadow drop' and get an instant release at the show, giving Xbox and PC fans something to play immediately after.Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 let you hang off of vehicles(Image: Activision)In fact, PS5 fans will also get to play the classics, too, as the report suggests the game will come to PS5 as well as part of Microsoft's push to get its games on as many platforms as possible.The leak follows on from professional skater Tyshawn Jones appearing on the Breakfast Club podcast and pointing out he's in an upcoming remaster that hasn't been announced yet - oops."Im in a Tony Hawk coming out, thats cool, Jones revealed.They got a new one they remastering so thats about to come out, I was in the last one.That last one was a pairing of the first two games remade for PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2020 before coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch in 2021.As for these titles, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is considered by many as the pinnacle of the series, bridging the gap between console generations when it launched in 2001.Article continues belowThe fourth instalment, which launched a year later, introduced a more laid-back career mode and even Jango Fett from Star Wars as an unlockable character.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.