Goutam Nair is a software engineer at Google working on AI applications.He credits networking and a focused rsum with landing him the job.He shared with BI the rsum he submitted and the message template he used for cold reachouts to recruiters.Landing a job, as the saying goes, can often come down to not just what you know, but also who you know.Software engineer Goutam Nair told Business Insider that submitting a good rsum and having a solid networking connection were both key to landing his current job at Google.He shared with BI the exact rsum he submitted in his job application and the networking template he used in LinkedIn cold reach-outs to recruiters and other software engineers already working where he wanted to be.Here are Nair's pointers.Getting the rsum right Nair submitted this rsum when applying for his job at Google. Goutam Nair Highlight relevant publications or projectsIf you don't have much professional or research experience yet, it helps to emphasize your contributions to the field via any open source projects on Github, for example, Nair said.As with any other job, the basic guidance still applies: Show employers what you've done that's applicable to the role you're applying for."I mostly just outlined the engineering projects that I'd done and then explained that in a concise way," Nair said.Convey your impact in results and numbersNair says he wishes he'd more clearly done this in his Google rsum and has since made adjustments to better quantify the impact of his work."Highlighting any impact in your previous projects, especially in a result-driven way, is effective," he said. "It's even better if these results can be quantified into a number."Instead of writing "Worked on building a novel recommendation model for page feeds," try instead: "Developed a novel recommendation model for page feeds that increased user engagement by 5%."Impact can be quantified in a number of ways, including business you've generated for the company, resources you've saved, features you've built, or how your work has improved customer engagement or satisfaction, for example.Stay briefFor many job applicants, it's good practice to keep a rsum to one page, with a bulleted listing of skills and experience tailored to the target role.Nair was also careful to focus on action verbs in his resume, starting bullets with words like "developed," "built," and "designed."Draw attention to your skills, but don't go overboardNair listed some programming languages and frameworks with which he has experience. He cautions against throwing in extra skills just for the sake of it, especially if you're not confident in them."Adding a lot of skills in this section, especially ones that you are not very proficient in, could backfire since you could also be judged on your knowledge of them in the technical interviews," he said.NetworkingA recruiter reached out to Nair for his current role at Google, but he'd laid the groundwork by previously reaching out to the recruiter in his prior job search.When Nair was searching for his prior roles, he blasted cold reach-outs to hiring managers, recruiters, software engineers, and others at his target companies to get a sense of who might be hiring for their teams or who might be able to refer him for a position."I was reaching out cold to everyone who had a title in their LinkedIn which said that they're hiring for the teams or that they're a manager for a team," he said. "You just have to send out as many cold emails as you can, and you might just get lucky."In his initial messages, Nair gave a quick overview of his experience and attached his rsum, but largely focused on keeping his requests "brief and to the point."He used this template for his asks:"Hi <name>,I'm a <role> working on <brief description of what you're working on>. I'm interested in <target role> at <company> and would love to connect to learn more about opportunities.I have also attached my rsum here. Let me know if we can chat!Thanks,<your name>"It was very much a numbers game, but it worked for Nair in the end."A lot of people might not respond, but that's basically the worst that can happen," he said. "You just need one person to respond, and that's kind of what happened to me."Preparing for the interviewsNair's interview process for his current role included several rounds of technical interviews focused on coding and problem-solving skills, he said, as well as a team match.He prepared for the interviews by scouring online forums to see what he could expect based on other candidates' previous experiences, brushing up on his technical skills, enlisting his friends for mock interview run-throughs, and learning from other interviews he was doing with different companies."Compared to the other companies that I did interview with, Google is a lot more focused on if you do understand the problem and are able to solve it from first principles as opposed to just needing to give a perfect solution," he said. "They care if you can solve the problem, if you're able to think through it, rather than having just memorized something that you've seen before."

I started an in-office job after working from home for years in Kenya.Now that I'm not around my son, he's more attached to his nanny than me.It's difficult, but I'm trying to look on the bright side.When I first held my son, time stood still. Like most mothers, his birth gave me a precious jewel my person. But I struggled to transition from the hospital and adapt to breastfeeding and sleepless nights. To make things worse, I had to face the reality of being a single mom in Kenya; this is not what I envisioned for myself. Yet, I chose to focus on what was before me: I was a mother now.I didn't rest much after leaving the hospital with my firstborn. The bills had to be paid, and there was little family or social support. So, I took to working from home, which I had been used to since the pandemic. Working from home has some challenges, but I enjoyed setting aside time to feed my son, check up on him, and enjoy some sun outside.Yet, one issue with online work was financial instability. I did a bit of blog writing, some social media management, and then some content management. The contracts were brief and only helped to meet expenses.I spent more time being a mother than earning. This was beneficial to my child as I was more hands-on. I kept up with his feeding, scheduled his sleep, washed him, monitored his play, and put him to sleep at night. He was growing healthy and happy, constantlygaining weighteach month. I had a helper who would come to do the household chores, but I was present and more involved.When my son turned 1 year old, I had to transition to the traditional 9-to-5 job. It was up to me to prepare for his future, so I needed a more stable cash flow. Plus, the one year I had spent away from my career affected my career goals or at least that's what I felt.But this meant I had to return to the office, too. So, I brought in a stay-at-home nanny, one who would care for my child while I worked on making ends meet.I worry my son is now growing too attached to his nannyGoing back to an in-office job in Nairobi has been strenuous. I have to wake up before my child and head to work. When he wakes, his new nanny soothes and feeds him; they then spend the whole day together. When I leave the office at 5 p.m., I have to face a bit of traffic, making my arrival home even later.When I finally get home, I enter the door excitedly. "Hi baby, mummy missed you so much," I usually say. "Mummy has to work so that she can take care of you and buy you nice things," I add to justify my sudden disappearance from his life.In the beginning, my kid smiled back and hugged me. But things are changing. Of course, there would be consequences. The deep, unbreakable parent-child bond that we had had been weakened.One time, when I arrived home, he turned to his aunt, whom he calls Aunty, and said, "Aunty, mummy is back." After that, he continued playing with his toys and sat beside her.A few days ago, I had to send the nanny to a shop to buy something for the house. My son got anxious when he saw her head to the door. He started shouting, "Aunty! Aunty!" as he followed her. I called back, "Baby, come to mummy, come stay with mummy." The nanny told him to come with her to stop his hysterics, so my son quickly grabbed his shoes and left me there.That day, I was exhausted from work and the constant pressure to meet company goals. Suddenly, I was home alone, staring at the wall and wondering how my son could choose the nanny over me.I've been left with the dreaded mom guilt. My son has decided to give all his material affection to his nanny. Going back to the 9-to-5 killed motherhood for me.I'm trying to make the most of a difficult situationI've made the most of my few hours or minutes with my son. For instance, during bedtime, I help him prepare for bed. Since we sleep in the same room, I take it as an opportunity to either sing for him or tell him some made-up story as I watch him sleep in my arms. During the weekends, it is just me and him. We either go out or stay indoors and spend time together. I usually allow the nanny to leave on Saturdays and return on Sunday evenings.The fact that my son asks for his nanny means that she is doing something right. So, instead of seeing her as a threat, I embraced her as part of my small family. Even though I am paying her, I engage with her as well, and I go out of my way to show her my appreciation.I've often contemplated returning to working from home, but there is no easy solution. Working from home also blurs the lines between work and life. For now, I let the days roll by while I try to juggle career and motherhood.Still, I can't help but think: I don't want to lose my son to my career.

Former Democratic presidential candidate and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has had an unpredictable political career.But ending up as President Donald Trumps director of national intelligence was still, to many, a surprising twist.Gabbard has never worked in the intelligence bureaucracy. But her skepticism of US foreign intervention, forged during National Guard deployments overseas, and her distrust of the deep state make her a natural choice for a White House that wants to rein in US military operations worldwide and radically shrink the federal government.Gabbard was a rising star in the Democratic Party for much of the 2010s, going from a featured speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention to a long-shot presidential candidate in 2020. Eventually she broke with the party establishment over policy positions on Syria and Russia, first endorsing Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2016, then leaving the party altogether in 2022, to finally endorsing Trump and joining the Republican Party in 2024.Today, Explained host Sean Rameswaram spoke with the Economists senior editor Steve Coll about Gabbards long, strange trip, from growing up in a spiritual community in Hawaii, to her military deployment to Iraq, to her tumultuous time on the national political stage. Coll has written a long profile of Gabbard, and has published many books about US intelligence and foreign policy, including Ghost Wars, The Bin Ladens, and Directorate S.Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. Theres much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.Steve, America has a new spy chief. What makes Tulsi Gabbard different from, say, all the ones that preceded her?Many things, actually. She is an unorthodox choice in part because she doesnt have any direct experience in the intelligence world, and in part because of her unorthodox views about American power in the world and the deep state.I think youre being gentle and nice about it. Some people out there think that Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian operative. Well, that is a charge thats been leveled against her. She once sued Hillary Clinton for $50 million for saying something along those lines. I think that goes too far. [S]hes aligned with Donald Trumps agenda...to conduct a review of people who are disloyal and to take disciplinary action against them.But she has expressed sympathy for Putins dilemma and for dictators like Bashar al-Assad, the former dictator of Syria. She has called for a pardon for Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who exposed illegal surveillance of Americans. She sounds more like a progressive politician sometimes than an establishment spy chief. And I think she would say thats the point we need a different perspective on top of the American intelligence system.It sounds worth better understanding how an overhauled intelligence chief might further change our relationship with Russia. So lets better understand Tulsi Gabbard. Where does she get her start?She grew up in Hawaii in somewhat unusual circumstances. Her parents were members of a religious community called the Science of Identity Foundation, which was derived from the Hare Krishna branch of meditation and yoga teaching. The community that her parents belonged to and that she had considerable exposure to as a child was led by a charismatic guru named Chris Butler, who was a former surfer and college dropout who had lived on the streets as a Hare Krishna follower, but then started his own community. Some of its former members have described it as a cult. They have described him as an authoritarian figure and that he was worshiped to the extent that people prostrated themselves when he came into the room or regarded his food scraps as relics.And how does she get into politics?Her parents created a path into politics when she was a young woman. One of Chris Butlers most adamant views, at least in the 80s and 90s, was an opposition to homosexuality, which he regarded as an abomination, and also to the establishment of rights for gay and lesbian couples. And as a teenager, Tulsi Gabbard found herself on the streets of Honolulu protesting alongside her parents against the establishment of gay marriage rights in Hawaii. It was in that time when she was very young, just 20 or 21 years old, that she and her father simultaneously ran for public office in Hawaii. She was elected to the state legislature and her father was elected as a city councilman initially. Then 9/11 happened. She decided after 9/11 that she wanted to join the military. She initially joined the Hawaii National Guard, and then she was deployed to Iraq and went to a base north of Baghdad in 2005. Insurgency was all around them. She has described this experience of war as transformational in her outlook on the American government, on American power. She eventually became a lieutenant colonel who became disillusioned by the wars that America fought after 9/11, particularly, in her case, Iraq. She did eventually come back to politics, first on the Honolulu City Council. And then, in 2012, a seat in Congress, one of the four that Hawaii has, opened up. She won the Democratic primary and she was immediately embraced by the national Democratic Party. At the Democratic convention that summer, they gave Tulsi Gabbard a coveted speaking spot. She arrived in Washington and [then-House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi took her under her wing. She was seen as maybe the next Obama, another Hawaiian politician, a woman of color, military career whats not to like? Good speaker, telegenic. Then very quickly, as these things go in Washington, it started to come apart. Partly, she didnt play the game. And she started to pick fights with leaders of her party, including Barack Obama, who she called out for not being sufficiently tough on Islamic terrorism. And so by the time the 2016 presidential cycle arrived, she was starting to drift away from the party that had embraced her. She decided to resign from the Democratic National Committee and to endorse Bernie Sanders for the 2016 campaign. And that decision just kept pulling her to the left of the party. What you can see by 2016 is the beginnings of what some people have called the horseshoe shape of American political populism, where the farther you go to the left, the closer you get to the MAGA right.It feels like a progression a lot of American voters have gone on, where they voted for Obama and then they moved toward Bernie and then they ended up voting for Donald Trump a couple of times.Yes, thats absolutely right. By 2019, shes still a Democrat and she can be critical of Donald Trump in public, although she met with him in the fall of 2016 after he was elected, when he was auditioning members of his first administration. In any event, she was already part of the MAGA conversation. She knew Tucker Carlson, went on his show on Fox News, and she won praise from some ardent Trump supporters in the manosphere and podcasting landscape and so forth. Nonetheless, she stayed in the Democratic Party with the ambition that she then exhibited in 2019, which was to run for president as an heir to the Bernie wing of the party. And she really had a rough time of it. She never came out of single digits. She wasnt really able to raise much money. She was attacked by Hillary Clinton and others as being a tool of foreign powers. And after that she paused her own campaign and endorsed Joe Biden. But she was clearly no longer interested in the partys leadership, and they were no longer interested in her, a relatively short time after her being such a rising star. How does she go from becoming a Republican to becoming one of the most important players in our intelligence community, if not the most important player? Well, you know, it really is a puzzle, because Donald Trump could have nominated her to be secretary of Veterans Affairs or something, and everyone would have said, What an innovative choice! And she would have gotten confirmed with no difficulty. Instead, he named her the top spy of the US system. As director of national intelligence, she has two jobs. One is to edit and filter what secret information the president and his top Cabinet gets every morning. Thats the most important part of the job. The second, also important, part is that she oversees the 18 sprawling American spy agencies from the CIA to the eavesdropping National Security Agency to others. She sets strategy, kibitzes about their budgets, and otherwise sets a direction for the intelligence community. She has no experience of these bureaucracies. She has not been an intelligence analyst. Indeed, a lot of her takes over the years on the foreign policy questions that she was most interested in were a bit garbled or a bit puzzling in different ways. She sometimes aligned herself with misinformation and propaganda that was coming out of Russia or Syrias dictatorship. She seemed an uncritical thinker. She clearly had strong policy views, but she would select facts as if she was just cruising the internet and making her arguments out of what she found. So it left me initially, as I was working on her biography, puzzled. Like, why this job? But the answer reveals itself in her own speaking and writing and her own convictions. And she brought some of this even to her confirmation hearing.And so this is, in fact, why Donald Trump, I think, is attracted to her leadership and why shes aligned with Donald Trumps agenda in the intelligence community, which is that her first job includes carrying out two executive orders that the president signed fairly early on that basically designate the director of national intelligence for a period of a couple or three months to conduct a review of people who are disloyal and to take disciplinary action against them, people who had weaponized intelligence in the previous administration or who were otherwise unreliable politically. Shes going to lead that review. And what you can say is that shes motivated to do it. She thinks there is a really deep-seated problem in the intelligence communities that she will now have the power to do something about.So those are her first tasks from her boss. But obviously a big part of her job will be countering US adversaries. China comes to mind. Russia historically would have come to mind. But what does putting Tulsi Gabbard in charge of our national intelligence say about where were heading with Russia and about what Trump wants to accomplish with Russia?Well, she never appeared to regard Vladimir Putin as an enemy of the United States. She tended to express herself indirectly about this by criticizing the Democratic elites for demonizing Putin. She would mock them for calling him the new Hitler. She blamed NATO for provoking Putin. So in that sense, she was aligned with President Trumps assessments of Putin as someone he could do business with, someone he should try to do business with. Perhaps there are people around President Trump who see grand strategy in this. They might say that US policy has driven Russia and China closely together, complicating Americas great power position, and that the US has to pull one of those two away, and Russias the better choice. That seems to be the hypothesis that has brought hawks and noninterventionists together in this early period of the Trump administration. But for Tulsi Gabbard, I dont hear anything on the chessboard like that. I think she just has an instinct that the elites have gotten it all wrong and that Vladimir Putin has been unfairly maligned.See More:

President Donald Trump says he wants the US to have the cleanest air and water on the planet a desire, unsurprisingly, shared by all Americans. Those resources dont just appear. They come from nature. Freshwater mussels, clams, and aquatic vegetation, for example, filter rivers and streams and provide clean places to swim and habitat for fish to thrive. They also lower water treatment costs. On larger scales, forests and grasslands absorb air pollutants and regulate rain cycles, which helps clean the air.Its a bit strange, then, that the Trump administration has fired hundreds of employees at the already short-staffed US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) the only government agency whose main goal is to conserve animals, ecosystems, and the life-supporting services they provide. Late last week, the Service terminated around 420 employees who were newly hired or recently promoted, amounting to about 5 percent of the agencys workforce, as part of a sprawling government purge.In his first term, President Trump proved that environmental stewardship and economic greatness can go hand-in-hand, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Vox. He will continue to protect Americas abundant natural resources while streamlining federal agencies to better serve the American people.During his first term, however, Trump did roll back a long list of protections for natural resources that were designed, in part, to keep Americans safe. The terminated Fish and Wildlife Service employees, meanwhile, worked to protect those very resources in a wide range of positions. They include scientists who help conserve imperiled animals, such as freshwater mussels, and workers who help farmers with issues like erosion and runoff that can pollute water.My sadness true sadness is I dont think theyve bothered to ask and really understand what the Fish and Wildlife Service does, Martha Williams, who led the FWS under the Biden administration, said of Trump administration officials. If they did, theyd realize were functioning in a way thats critical to rural and urban communities across the country. The Fish and Wildlife Service exists to protect the natural world. Martha Williams, the former director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Courtesy of Martha WilliamsWilliams acknowledges that the conservation community, including FWS, has not done a good enough job at linking its work to the everyday lives of Americans. Many people dont even know what the FWS does, so they gravity of this loss may not sink in.I wanted to let her explain. Our conversation, below, has been edited for length and clarity.Send us a tipDo you have information to share about the US Fish and Wildlife Service or other government agencies? Reach out to Benji Jones at benji.jones@vox.com, on Signal at benji.90, or at benjijones@protonmail.com.Benji JonesWhats keeping you up at night right now? Martha WilliamsWhat keeps me up at night is the wholesale decimation of expertise and of our approach to conservation. Our superpower was that we collaborated with states, with tribes, with local governments, with NGOs. We never had a big enough budget to do anything on our own. Everything the Fish and Wildlife Service does was working with communities was building community. And so coming in and slashing this work hurts people. It hurts communities. It hurts nature. It took decades and decades to build this collaborative approach that can be decimated in the blink of an eye.Benji JonesFor those of us who arent familiar with the Fish and Wildlife Service, or have never heard of it, what exactly does this agency do? Martha WilliamsCongress knew and passed laws that recognize that nature is essential to our own survival as a species. We require clean air, clean water. Congress charged the US Fish and Wildlife Service specifically to conserve, protect, and enhance animals, plants, and habitat, so that we would be able to survive. In the history of this country, weve had these crises, where, for example, migratory birds were completely decimated to make hats using their plumage. Congress passed a law, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, acknowledging that were about to lose all of these birds that are so important to us. The Fish and Wildlife Service implemented the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Congress also saw that we were losing species before our very eyes. As a response to that crisis, it passed the Endangered Species Act and asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to make sure these species are around into the future. The role of federal employees the role of the Fish and Wildlife Service is to do what Congress told us to do, and thats to implement these laws. That includes laws that created the National Wildlife Refuge System. The National Park System is so incredibly important. The Forest Service is important. But there are also more than 570 wildlife refuges across the country. Congress created this system specifically to conserve nature and to make sure species persist. The refuge system is different from these other systems of public lands because its so community based. A lot of the Refuge System lands are open to fishing and hunting. So many people get their food from refuges, in addition to seeking solace. A Maryland biologist holds several eastern elliptio, a species of freshwater mussel. Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty ImagesBenji JonesThe Fish and Wildlife Service protects endangered species, and some of these plants and animals are so rare that most people will never see them. So why should average Americans care about that work? Martha WilliamsFirst of all, the Fish and Wildlife Service does so much more than implement the Endangered Species Act. I want people to realize how much the Service does across the country and did internationally to make sure nature can not just exist but try to thrive. As a part of that, Congress requires the Service to look into these crazy, fascinating, endangered species that people may never see. Congress charges the Service with ensuring that these species dont blink out because they may be key, for example, to medical breakthroughs. Theres the Madagascar periwinkle plant thats only in Madagascar. Without us working internationally, we may never have gotten to understand the qualities this plant has to help prevent cancer. There are all these species that are hardly charismatic, but theyre critical to our own survival. I also think of these unknown pollinators or the pollinators we know, like the monarch butterfly. Theyre critical to food production in this country. Who knew in our lifetime that monarch butterflies could disappear? Its hard not to find awe in endangered wildlife. I think it is universal. If you want to have a release or a break, you go watch animal videos, right? To see a condor released and flying free. Or a cute little charismatic black-footed ferret that represents something much bigger than just the ferret: It represents the health of the prairie ecosystem. These endangered species are part of a web of life. And when a species blinks out, it collapses a whole system of nature that works together. Benji JonesThe Services role is more wide-ranging than most people realize. And I dont think a lot of us are connecting the dots between saving something like a rare butterfly and putting food on the table. Do you think the Trump administration knows about the Fish and Wildlife Service?Martha WilliamsI think that Elon Musk knows about the Endangered Species Act because his previous work with his companies has put some species in the crosshairs. But no, I dont think that the Fish and Wildlife Service has been top of mind for them. I think the firing was indiscriminate. Theyre looking to cut people where it is most convenient, hence going after probational employees the new employees, or employees who have just been promoted to different positions.They dont know what the agencies do. They dont know what these people do. They dont have the scientific expertise to understand why, for example, deep sea sponges might be important and might be critical to the next innovation. Theyre cutting innovation because they have this complete lack of curiosity. If I could get President Trump, Elon Musk, and some of the DOGE people out on a trip in nature, would they think the same? Once youre exposed to the awe of nature you realize its bigger than we are. Williams holds a Bolson tortoise, the largest and rarest land reptile. Courtesy of Martha WilliamsBenji JonesHow will losing roughly 5 percent of the Fish and Wildlife Service affect the work it does conservation and what will that mean for Americans?Martha WilliamsThis administration is cutting off our nose to spite our face. The Fish and Wildlife Service was already so lean that we could hardly manage the National Wildlife Refuge System that we already have. The cuts focus on this next generation of leaders. This whole probationary cut means were losing people who are leaders in collaborative community conservation. Theyre extraordinary. So theyve just cut the very people who live and breathe serving people in the United States, serving their communities, and making sure that nature sticks around for the benefit of everyone.Its not only heartbreaking. It hurts our national security. It hurts infrastructure. It makes people less safe. The Fish and Wildlife Service has an Office of Law Enforcement that has focused on international wildlife trafficking. Wildlife trafficking is absolutely linked to international criminal syndicates, so by cutting that work, we are letting international criminal syndicates that trade in people and drugs and wildlife go scot-free.It cuts so little in the budget compared to the impact these people make. The Fish and Wildlife Services leverages its money. We get a tiny budget and work with everyone else to get work done on the ground, to prevent flooding, to prevent wildfires. Heres an example: My understanding is they cut employees as they were going out to start prescribed fires in the South. If you dont do prescribed fire, you risk catastrophic wildfires.Benji JonesWill those push some endangered species closer to the edge? Martha WilliamsMy understanding is that a number of the biologists hired to work on Hawaiian forest birds were fired. These are species about to blink out, and you cant believe how incredible they are. In Hawaii, the birds are these peoples ancestors. They dont separate the birds from their community and ancestors, and you have a responsibility to take care of them. We have solutions, and this administration just yanked them and said, I guess were going to give up on them and have them be gone forever.Benji JonesThe Fish and Wildlife Service is facing other impacts from the new administration. For example, it froze funding for work it supports overseas. Why is FWS funding international conservation?Martha WilliamsCongress passed the Endangered Species Act, which includes international species. The Fish and Wild Service still believes in the law. That includes working on international species to make sure they do not go extinct. Further, the US is a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). As a party to CITES and as the agency that implements CITES for the United States, that necessarily includes international species. Science also tells us that nature is essential for our very own existence. That includes these small [and lesser-known] species that are critical to nature and also to medical research. And thats across the world. Theres a system of laws in place, and the Fish and Wildlife Service has learned to be excellent at what we are asked to do. We are like the golden retriever of agencies: We work with everybody, and we want to be the very best and come back and say, Okay, what can we do next? Throw the ball again, because were right here and we believe in this work, and were going to serve this country the very best we can.A bee flies near a flower thats already occupied by an endangered butterfly known as the Taylors checkerspot, in Washington state. Butterflies are among the worlds most important pollinators. Ted S. Warren/Associated PressBenji JonesThe Trump administration weakened the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act in its first term, effectively making it easier to harm wildlife without recourse. Do you expect more of the same or will this time be different?Martha WilliamsI dont think I can answer that because the administration is so unpredictable. So I dont know. Do I worry? Yes, based on the first administration. I worry for the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Im worried for the Endangered Species Act. But again, Im used to a world where those changes have to happen through Congress, and I dont know whether this administration is going to follow the traditional system of laws. So I think its up in the air. I know that the Fish and Wildlife Service employees will always do the best with what they are tasked with doing. I know they have learned to work with others and work within the communities where they live. That gives me hope.Benji JonesWhats your message at this moment for people who voted Donald Trump into power? Martha WilliamsYou may have voted for Trump to slash the federal government, but DOGE is picking on the wrong people. Its slashing the people who are actually doing a really good job, and are really important to you. Give the Fish and Wildlife Service a chance, because were not the bad, evil people. These are people who live in your community, who are there to serve you and the American people. I have a hard time believing that the people who voted for Trump meant to dismantle this work that is built on helping your community.Benji JonesWhat can people who really care about wildlife and nature do right now? Martha WilliamsGo to your members of Congress and tell them that this work matters. Be engaged. Pay attention. Try to learn the facts. See More:

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are now part of Call of Duty Black Ops 6 and Warzone, but the game's latest store prices are putting many players off, with some saying to buy the set costs the same as a full gameTech14:55, 21 Feb 2025Those are some pricey Turtles(Image: Activision)Call of Duty Black Ops 6 can now dive into Season 2 Reloaded, with new maps, modes, and weapons and the reveal of a new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater remaster, apparently.Still, the conversation around microtransactions has reared its head again, and while fans have previously been disappointed in the lack of realistic outfits for their characters to wear, this time around it's a matter of price.With all four of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being added as part of the latest update, fans were disappointed to learn that if they want to buy all of them it'll cost over 50 not far off the price of the game itself.Pointing out that each skin costs 2,400 Call of Duty points (almost 17) per turtle, Call of Duty fans are less than impressed at the cost of buying the bundle."F*** that is more than a pizza, not a cowabunga dude," one turtle fan complained."Cowabummer, dude", another joked.The Teenage Mutant Turtles are back in vogue (which we're very pleased about), but given you could get the whole lot of them in Fortnite for under 30 just a few months ago, it's disappointing to see such a high cost."Jesus 20 each is wild. Even a 30 bundle with all of them would've been justified but this is criminal.""Dude you could buy 4 real turtles for that price," another said.Commenters also pointed out that you can only use the TMNT operators when playing on one side of a match, meaning there's every chance you spend that money and get to play in half of the games you play. In fact, the melee weapons included in each bundle aren't available in Ranked Play.Article continues belowFor some, it's too much. "I cant wait for Battlefield," one commenter said, with EA's shooter expected to make a comeback later this year.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

GTA 6 is slated for this year, and while PC fans get a free upgrade of GTA 5 in the coming weeks, some are worried Rockstar is trying to placate those playing on the platformTech14:51, 21 Feb 2025Imagine this on a high-end PC(Image: Rockstar)Grand Theft Auto 6 fans are counting down the days knowing the game is still on track for a 2025 release, but yesterday's announcement of an updated version of GTA 5 coming to PC was a very pleasant surprise.Sadly, the news hasn't been met with the wave of positivity Rockstar Games may have anticipated, as the community sits tight for the GTA 6 long-awaited Trailer 2 release dateDespite rumours that GTA 6 could come to PC as early as 2026, some are speculating this free upgrade means bad news for PC players when it comes to the studio's upcoming crime epic.Content cannot be displayed without consent"Grand Theft Auto V on PC is getting a free upgrade on March 4 with features previously only available in the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions of GTA Online.""This upgrade also includes improved graphics options, faster loading times, and more," the studio posted yesterday, and while some are particularly overjoyed by the improvements, there are concerns that Rockstar will giveth and taketh away.While some were more than a little grumpy that PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players had to buy the upgrade, and others were salty it took three years, others are concerned the March 4 update will mean GTA 6 won't hit the platform anytime soon."GTA 6 definitely dropping if they're giving up the booty like this. Seriously though, happy for the PC gang getting this" one commenter said, before another reminded them they won't be playing it on PC."Great now we can play this while console players are playing GTA 6," another fan said. "We just gotta wait it out! And same when GTA 6 online comes out, but still we'll be ok if were patient" another positive-minded commenter added.For more on GTA 6, check out this fun "rite of passage" idea fans have concocted, as well as rumours of a surprise celebrity appearance gracing Vice City's airwaves.Article continues belowWe've also heard that GTA 6 could be a new Metaverse, as Rockstar has reportedly spoken to creators about building things for its upcoming game.For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.

Yes, but the benefits wont last

By Thomas Maxwell Published February 21, 2025 | Comments (0) | Apple will pull end-to-end encryption feature from UK following government order to build a backdoor. Justin Sullivan/Getty Good work, Britain. Owners of Apple devices in the United Kingdom will be a little less safe moving forward as the company pulls its most secure end-to-end (E2E) encryption from the country. The move is in response to government demands there that Apple build a backdoor into its iCloud encryption feature that would allow law enforcement to access the cloud data of any iPhone user around the world. Apple has for many years marketed its products as being the most safe and secure personal electronics available on the market. Being a key pillar of the brand, Apple has consistently pushed back against government orders around the world to decrypt confiscated devices or build similar backdoors into its products. The most famous instance was when, under President Trumps first administration, Apple refused Department of Justice demands to unlock an iPhone used by the attacker in a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California. The FBI eventually paid a third-party Australian firm a reported $900,000 to identify an exploit chain and crack open the device. Following its decision to pull E2E cloud encryption from the UK, Apple on Friday told Bloomberg that enhancing the security of cloud storage with end-to-end encryption is more urgent than ever before and that it remains committed to offering our users the highest level of security for their personal data and are hopeful that we will be able to do so in the future in the United Kingdom. The UK order asked Apple for access to global user data under the countrys Investigatory Powers Act, a law that grants officials the authority to compel companies to remove encryption under a technical capability notice. Building a backdoor into any encryption product defeats the purpose, essentially rendering the security moot. If there is a backdoor, Apple and privacy advocates have long argued, then bad actors and authoritarian states will be able to find and exploit those backdoors or demand Apple provide access. The entire purpose of end-to-end encryption is that nobody, not even Apple, can access a users sensitive data. Backdoors are an inherent vulnerability. End-to-end encryption of iCloud, formally called Advanced Device Protection, covers data storage, device backups, web bookmarks, voice memos, notes, photos, reminders, and text message backups. The way ADP works, data is stored in the cloud but can only be decrypted locally on a users device, using a key stored in the Secure Enclave security component built physically into Apple devices. Bloomberg reports that Apple will not remove end-to-end encryption for other features including iMessage, FaceTime, password management, and health data. So all of that is safe for now.With todays move, Apple is essentially saying that it would rather pull the E2E encryption altogether and inform customers they will be less safe, rather than build an open door for the UK government. It is a shrewd move by Apple even though consumers there will no longer have the same amount of security as others around the globe. Of course, because no security is entirely bulletproof, hackers and law enforcement groups still manage to find ways to penetrate iPhones, and doing so is a billion-dollar business for companies like Israels NSO Group, which supplies iPhone cracking software to governments around the world. It is essentially playing a cat-and-mouse game with Appleeach time hackers find an exploit, they are able to take advantage of it for a limited time before Apple plugs the hole. ADP was intended as a way to make it tougher for nefarious actors to access certain data, though it makes it more difficult for users to recover their content if they lose their devices.NSO Group and other firms claim they only sell their exploits to governments and law enforcement and prohibit the software from being used to spy on dissidents or journalists. But reporting over the years has put those claims in significant doubt, as NSOs software has been linked to hacks of journalists around the globe, including Jamal Khashoggi, whose devices were monitored leading up to his brutal assassination by Saudi intelligence agents. If you live in the UK, you will need to manually disable ADP during an unspecified grace period to keep your iCloud account. Bloomberg says that Apple will release feature guidance on this process sometime soon.Daily NewsletterYou May Also Like By Florence Ion Published February 20, 2025 By Kyle Barr Published February 19, 2025 By Florence Ion Published February 19, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published February 18, 2025 By Thomas Maxwell Published February 14, 2025 By Matthew Gault Published February 13, 2025

Cloud storage has been one of the better advancements of the last 15 years. The ability to access any of your documents, photos, videos, or file of any type wherever you are is no short of a miracle. Some folks still dont have a firm grasp on what exactly cloud storage is. In short, its just saving stuff to someone elses computer. But thats hogwash. Just save it to your own computer and do the same thing yourself. Right now, you can get this UGreen NASync 2-Bay desktop for a solid 15% discount, getting it for only $297down from $350.See at AmazonMy parents will never understand this fairly simple techno babble, but the cloud is just some companies servers which you can access when online. The problem with this comes to trust. No matter how much these big companies tout security, it will always be a concern to the end user when youre leaving your precious data in the hands of someone else. Plus what happens to your files if the company goes under? Now dont get me wrong, I dont think Google is going anywhere anytime soon, but its a concern nonetheless. Also what if Google decided to reduce its capacity per user, or increase its fees? Its better to just take matters into your own hands.Your Own Personal Cloud StorageThe UGreen NASync desktop has two bays supporting up to 24TB each, with the option to install two additional compact SSDs of 8TB each. So you can feasibly hit a capacity of 64TB of personal cloud storage. Its powered by a 12th gen 4-core Intel processor and the network port utilizes 2.5GbE, allowing for transfer speeds of up to 312.5MB/s. You can download movies and large files in mere moments.You can easily access you NAS from multiple devices, syncing and backing up all your files so you never have to worry about losing anything. Then remotely access your NAS from anywhere you have an internet connection.The NAS also acts as a media streaming hub. The high-speed network ports allows for seamless streaming of any of your movie or TV show files from any device including your phone, laptop, tablet, and more. The NAS also has HDMI output, so when youre home, you can watch movies on your TV while cutting out streaming entirely.For a limited time, you can get the UGreen NASync 2-Bay desktop for just $296a 15% discount from its standard price of $350 which saves you $54.See at Amazon

Brixen Public Library / Carlana Mezzalira PentimalliSave this picture! Marco CappellettiLibrary, CommunityBrixen, ItalyArchitects: Carlana Mezzalira PentimalliAreaArea of this architecture projectArea:3013 mYearCompletion year of this architecture project Year: 2022 PhotographsPhotographs:Marco CappellettiManufacturersBrands with products used in this architecture project Manufacturers: Arte, Askeen, Boden Service, Erlacher , Falegnameria Longato, Inoxferdi, Nerobutto, Seeber, Seeber-Tendacor, SerimaMore SpecsLess SpecsSave this picture!Text description provided by the architects. Architectural firm Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli has completed the new Brixen Public Library (Bolzano, Italy), a stone's throw from the Duomo a public institution founded in 1984, which, with its legacy of over 36.000 books represents a landmark for the entire Isarco Valley. Following on from the Music School, the studio doubles its presence in Tyrol's oldest city by giving the community a contemporary space for learning and sharing, a welcoming urban living room that reinforces cultural identity and instills a strong sense of social cohesion."This is not a library intended as a large container of books quite the opposite. It is a project deeply rooted in its context, designed to welcome and generate human relationships and exchanges, intertwining cultures, practices, and people of different ages "; explain the architects Michel Carlana, Luca Mezzalira, and Curzio Pentimalli.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!The project consists of the construction of a unitary complex which includes a new building and the restoration and annexation of the existing buildings of the Ex Finance, a portion of the Ex Court (the first two levels), and the Ex-Prison (part of the ground floor and first floor. The intervention is completed by the redefinition of the existing external spaces, two pedestrian access areas to the north and south of the Ex Finance building, and the garden adjacent to Via Bruno, which was once private and owned by the Bishop. Planting itself silently and extremely respectfully into its surroundings, the intervention is located south of the Ex Court, in the void generated between two existing buildings, where, before the demolition, a lot belonged to the Diocese. A real connecting infrastructure, the new building behaves structurally like a "tree" that leans its cement "branches" towards the buildings of the Ex Finance and the Ex Court, establishing a perpetual relationship between new and old, and inspiring the architects to rename the project, "Kulturbaum, tree of culture".Save this picture!The analogy continues on a planimetric level, dictated by the need for great flexibility and adaptability of the spaces of a contemporary public library. Far from adopting the classic shelving system, the building has a double perimeter shell located between the external concrete walls and the wooden paneling that covers the interiors, and which houses most of the serving spaces: from the vertical distribution to the toilets to the furniture with bookcases, fixed benches, tables, and more. This "cortex" envelops the space, completely freeing it from any functional obligation. The versatility of the environments has also guided the intended management and use of the library. By controlling some strategic access points, the complex can be completely or partially permeable to the different floors. In this way, both the buildings and the related external appurtenances serve as independent elements to be used autonomously, to perform multiple functions and events at different times. The connections that are created between the new building and the existing buildings are tangible and fulfill formal, functional, and distributive needs. The new building is the result of a mass that deforms through contractions and dilations to recompose itself according to the surrounding stereometries. Far from self-referencing, the complex changes as if it were a sensitive organism that continuously adapts to the needs of the site and the project.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!To resolve the minor differences in elevation between the three buildings, the new "branches" compensate for the changes in elevation through slight slopes. The new volume contains two vertical links with different characteristics. The closed fire escape, in addition to serving all floors of the courthouse as an emergency exit, also acts as a staircase that connects the ground floor with the attic of the new building. The open staircase has been positioned barycentrically with respect to the functional masses that develop along the various levels. It facilitates quick connections between the floors, inviting those who walk through it to enjoy glimpses of the new spatiality. Compositionally and functionally, both staircases are incorporated into the "cortex", while the pre-existing Ex-Finance staircase is mainly intended for service use.Save this picture!Total continuity is guaranteed between the exteriors, enhanced by the insertion of tailored furnishing elements, and the interiors of the new library, intended to perform as a truly public space. Entering the new building is like stepping into a portion of the city center. Access to the new building is from the ground floor through the infotheque. From here, a generous quadruple-height space, occupied by the reception area, grants access to the lifts. To the south, there is a newspaper library that can be made independent, ensuring excellent flexibility. On the first floor, the fiction area is designed as an open space that provides access through a second reception area to the activities located in the Ex Court and ExFinance or to the upper floors via a staircase and lifts. The second floor is mainly occupied by the non-fiction/treatise area, which directly connects to the Ex-Finance building, extending this function.Save this picture!Save this picture!Save this picture!On the third floor, an additional reception area acts as a junction between the multipurpose room and the literary events area. Toilets, cleaning rooms, storage areas, and information desks are evenly distributed on the various levels. The renovation of the other existing buildings has enhanced their ancient character and their high degree of flexibility to accommodate different activities open to the public. The Ex-Finance building is configured as an access point to the new intervention with the main front facing Piazza Duomo. On the ground floor, in addition to the two access points to the north (main) and south (secondary), there is an infotheque, a borrow and return area, and cloakroom spaces. The first floor houses the internal offices of the library, while the second and third floors host spaces for non-fiction and treatises and a multipurpose room. Accessibility is granted through a designated independent stairwell and lift.Save this picture!The ground floor of the Ex Court building mainly houses service areas: automated warehouses, the area for checking the 24-hour borrow and return area, an external counter, toilets, and technical rooms. The first floor encompasses the children's area, the kids' area, and the music department with an archive, playroom, and a multipurpose room. The entrance is located on the first floor from the south of the building, the children's area is situated on the east side of the corridor, while the playroom is on the west. Continuing along the corridor, before the frescoes room, the multipurpose room is located to the east and the music archive to the west. To the north, the children's area is housed in a more secluded setting, with two independent rooms and a large area that can also be divided with furniture containing books and games.Save this picture!In the Ex-prison building, a passage gallery and an adjacent ancillary room have been built. Special attention has been paid to natural lighting, which is essential not only for reading but also for the maintenance and conservation of books. The south wall of the building, devoid of interesting views, is deliberately blind to prevent the entry of direct light, and equipped on the inside with a "bookcase wall" that occupies the entire height of the building. This continuous boiserie becomes the library's manifesto as a treasure chest of knowledge. The main components of the context have been reinterpreted in a contemporary key, such as the characteristic "erker" typical bow windows that characterize the historic center. Two of these, of a giant order, favor strategic views: the building overlooks the two main areas of Brixen, the White Tower and the bell tower of the Cathedral on one side, and the Bishop's Palace on the other, tracing a line of continuity with the city's landmarks and most iconic elements. Formally, the two erkers on the outside represent the extension of the volume of the building, within which they recreate a spatiality typical of Nordic culture, forming alcoves ideal for reading or admiring the landscape. The large windows, which trace the boundary between inside and outside, have been designed to favor indirect light at the points where there is the greatest flux and concentration of people.Save this picture!Save this picture!Finally, two large skylights placed at the top of the complex pitched roof allow the sun's rays to cross the entire height of the building and reach the ground floor, thanks to an articulated system of retraction of the different floors, which plays a fundamental role in the introspection system between them. Each internal glimpse, in which everything has been custom designed, is different, due to the great geometric and volumetric complexity of the building, camouflaged on the outside with clean and essential lines that blend perfectly with the pre-existing structures. The project of the new Brixen Public Library project by Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalliintensifies the close relationship between architecture and context. Its formal outcome is a public venue, inspired by the architectural characteristics of Brixen, where the new feeds the old and vice versa, restoring exceptional architecture capable of interweaving historical and contemporary fabric.Save this picture!Project gallerySee allShow lessProject locationAddress:Piazza Duomo 4, 39042 Brixen, ItalyLocation to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.About this officePublished on February 21, 2025Cite: "Brixen Public Library / Carlana Mezzalira Pentimalli" 21 Feb 2025. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/1026833/brixen-public-library-carlana-mezzalira-pentimalli&gt ISSN 0719-8884Save!ArchDaily?You've started following your first account!Did you know?You'll now receive updates based on what you follow! Personalize your stream and start following your favorite authors, offices and users.Go to my stream