The headlines scream it daily: Markets are fluctuating wildly, AI is transforming entire industries overnight, supply chains are fracturing, and the workforce is reshuffling at unprecedented rates. According to the World Economic Forum, 78 million new job opportunities will emerge by 2030, but this comes amid massive workforce transformation, with 77% of employers planning upskilling initiatives while 41% anticipate reductions due to AI automation. All these moving parts are playing out against a global background of financial insecurity, war, climate change, and political disruption. The age of anxiety Welcome to the age of VUCA—volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity—a concept adopted by the military to describe post-Cold War conditions but now perfectly capturing our business landscape. And here’s the brutal truth. We’re facing this unprecedented VUCA while collectively and perfectly depleted from the trauma of the past five years. A recent American Psychiatric Association survey reveals that 43% of U.S. adults feel more anxious than they did the previous year, with 70% particularly anxious about current events. Research from meQ also finds that depression and anxiety rates are more than four times higher for people who feel least prepared for change. This isn’t another challenging period to weather. Chaotic change isn’t a bug in the code we can just rewrite. It’s a fundamental feature of our era, requiring a complete reinvention of our relationship with change itself. Why the U in VUCA Hurts So Much Right Now In a word, trauma. The pandemic threw us into societal trauma at a level few of us had ever known. Unlike normal adversity, where mental health improves once the challenge passes, the pandemic created persistent mental health issues that have worsened even after the acute phases passed. When it comes to mental health, trauma has a long tail. The pandemic delivered a perfect storm of traumatic conditions: Chronic and unrelenting. Rather than a sharp, short crisis, it dragged on with no clear endpoint. Pervasive impact. It transformed every aspect of life simultaneously—work, relationships, health, finances. Global with no escape. You couldn’t get on a plane to avoid it. Beyond our control. Individual actions had minimal impact on the overall trajectory. Shifting goalposts. Vaccines were promised, then delayed; variants emerged; reopenings were followed by new lockdowns. Aversion to Uncertainty This roller coaster of false hope and disappointment forced us to experience unrelenting uncertainty, and even in good times, our brains hate uncertainty. In a 2016 University College London study, people experienced more stress and anxiety when facing a 50/50 chance of receiving an electric shock than when facing a 98% certainty of receiving that same shock. Uncertainty was more unbearable than guaranteed pain. This preference made evolutionary sense when stability increased the chance of survival. In today’s business environment, it’s a dangerous liability. The fight-flight-freeze responses that helped our ancestors survive short periods of uncertainty now paralyze us in boardrooms, strategy sessions, and daily decision-making. We are not yet equipped to handle the ongoing uncertainty of today’s nonstop change. The New Approach to Change I often describe our current relationship to change as abusive. Another disruption shakes us off course, and we think “this time will be different,” but it never is. The resulting uncertainty plagues us as much as before, because we haven’t changed our approach. Transforming our ingrained fear of uncertainty requires a process that rewrites our own relationship with change. We are then empowered to lead our teams and organizations through this era of VUCA without end. Step 1: Reject our old-fashioned beliefs about uncertainty and change We all have deep-seated beliefs about how the world should work. I call these Iceberg Beliefs because they’re enormous and largely lie beneath the surface of our awareness. They often define how we react to change. Classic beliefs about change and uncertainty might sound like: ●  “If I keep my head down and work hard, certainty should be my reward.” ●  “Uncertainty is unbearable and unfair.” ●  “The more control I get, the better my life will be.” ●  “Steady as she goes wins the race.” ●  “Change is frightening. It should be resisted or ignored.” We have to discard these beliefs. For one, they’re not accurate. While hard work helps achieve our goals, it brings no guarantee of certainty or constancy. Second, they frame VUCA in a way that’s not useful. VUCA is happening to us all, and “fair”  has nothing to do with it.  These beliefs push us to waste our time and energy fighting for an illusion of certainty that will never come. We must reject these naive Icebergs and replace them with beliefs that reflect reality and point to a path ahead. Step 2: Reinvent and reimagine our beliefs about uncertainty and change Reinventing our relationship with change means rejecting old and tired thinking and constructing new belief systems. We can ease into this by first endorsing beliefs that get us more comfortable with change. ●  “Not all uncertainty ends badly. There have been college applications, new jobs, and reorgs that turned out well.” ●  “I’ve been through change before, and most of the terrible stuff I worried about at 3 a.m. every night didn’t actually happen.” ●  “I am powerless to change change, but I alone have the power to change my relationship with it.” Next, we can finally turn the tables on this abusive relationship by edging toward embracing change. We’ll get there with beliefs like “there is no growth without change” and “every change brings opportunity.” We can also recognize that some of life’s most exhilarating moments—falling in love, becoming a parent, getting a promotion, starting a new venture—involve profound uncertainty and change. Part of this work must include recalibrating our sense of what is under our control and mapping our sphere of control daily. Trauma distorts our sense of what we can and cannot influence. For example, during the pandemic, I found myself obsessively worrying about my elderly parents’ health in Australia—something I had limited control over—while neglecting my children’s online education happening right in front of me. I was systematically failing to control what I could because I was exhausted trying to control what I couldn’t. Step 3: Lead your people through change With the threat of uncertainty neutralized and our beliefs about change and control starting to shift, we turn attention outward. How can we react to disruption more productively? And how can we successfully lead the people who count on us through VUCA? Practice a growth mindset These habits of mind help us see opportunities and stay focused through chaotic disruption. As leaders, we shift our teams’ response to change when we approach challenges with principles such as: ●  Abandoning perfectionism. ●  Accepting inevitable mistakes. ●  Reframing mistakes as progress to value. ●  Encouraging creativity without judgment. We can also educate our managers in this new approach to change, and help them learn to coach their teams to do the same. When this training happens at scale, our entire workforce is much more equipped to navigate and accelerate through organizational changes. Adjust work to the demands of VUCA We can’t lead like “business as usual” when VUCA rules. However, with our greater resilience in the face of change, we can skillfully shift workplace expectations and norms to reduce VUCA’s impact, thereby protecting growth and well-being as changes unfold. ●  Reduce Volatile Processes. Slow processes down when possible. External forces put a ceiling on how much volatility you can control, but even small reductions help. The greatest athletes visualize the game in slow motion, while they respond in real time. Deal with one thing at a time rather than everything simultaneously. ●  Reduce Uncertain Outcomes. While you can’t eliminate uncertainty, take actions today that narrow the field of possible outcomes. That’s why we try to exercise and eat healthfully. While never a guarantee that we’ll dodge illness, it renders that uncertainty small enough to set aside for now. ●   Reduce Complex Problems. Break problems into smaller pieces. Think of untangling yarn—start with one strand, simplify it, then move to the next. Organizations like NASA excel at this approach, breaking seemingly impossible challenges into manageable components. ●   Reduce Ambiguous Information with Clarity. The U in VUCA is future-directed, while the A—ambiguity—is happening now. During change, people will fill information gaps with their Icebergs and fears. In my research, organizations that fare better during VUCA have transparency of process and open information. It’s widely held in military circles that in a battle, communication is often the first thing to fail. By the time an organization is in VUCA, it’s too late to develop lines of communication. Work now, preemptively, to build strategies to keep your people informed. The payoff is clear. Research at meQ shows that most change-ready, resilient, and supported employees are significantly VUCA-proofed, with rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout slashed by around 75% when compared with their less change-ready peers. Taking the Power Back from Change The ultimate reality? Periods of stability will become increasingly rare. The concept that we just need to get through this “liminal time” before returning to normal is outdated. It’s the brief periods of stability that are now liminal—unusual spaces between the predominant times of change, turmoil, and flux. Those who can adapt internally rather than demanding external stability will be best positioned to thrive. The pursuit of stability is a fool’s errand, and what we’re chasing is fool’s gold. The only thing at stake is this: Our entire mental health, wellness, happiness, productivity, and performance. It’s time to take back the power in our relationship with change.

For most of my life, I’ve relied on a paper map when I go outdoors. Then, in March, I joined my friend Rusty on the Appalachian Trail for two weeks. He told me to download FarOut.FarOut was my introduction to the world of app-based navigation. It’s focused on thru-hikers, and has useful details, including comments that tell you whether a specific water source is flowing, and if so, how well. It took me a minute to get the hang of it — I was hiking southbound, and it defaults to northbound — but once I did, I was impressed.FarOut works like a guidebook. But the kind of backpacking I ordinarily do is on more offbeat trails in the local national forests — not the wilderness highways FarOut specializes in. So for my first solo trip, to the Ventana Wilderness area of the Los Padres National Forest, I thought I’d try out some of the other navigation apps, as part of an absolutely transparent ploy to get my job to let me fuck off outdoors more often; there are a lot of hikes I want to do. I suspect many of our readers are connoisseurs of the great indoors, but I also know you love gadgets, and let me tell you something: so do backpackers. You would not believe the conversations I have had with absolute strangers about gear.I do work at the phones website. We kind of specialize in having feelings about appsNow, I’m not going to top Outdoor Gear Lab — I love their reviews, and have found them reliable guides when it comes to big purchases* — but I do work at the phones website. We kind of specialize in having feelings about apps.I considered several options. I quickly discarded onX Backcountry when I discovered on one of my trial hikes how quickly it drained my phone battery. I also used CalTopo to prepare for the hike, but because it’s a fairly complex platform with a steep learning curve, I don’t think I’ve spent enough time with it to give it a proper review.I figured I might as well keep it simple. I already knew Google Maps wouldn’t cut it; the acquisitions Google has made over the years suggest that the company’s more interested in cars than pedestrians. Looking at the Health and Fitness category on the Apple App Store, I noticed AllTrails ranked #10, so trying the popular app seemed natural. The other app I saw frequently mentioned on hiking subreddits — besides CalTopo — was Gaia GPS. So I figured I’d start with those two.There are a few other apps in the space I didn’t consider. The most notable are Avenza and Goat Maps. I’ve found Avenza limited, but it seems the feature set has been updated since the last time I played with it. Goat Maps is new to me, but it’s from the same team that created Gaia GPS before it was sold to Outside. (More about that in a minute.)Route planningBecause this was my first solo hike, I was not interested in doing anything especially difficult. I’ve been to the Ventana Wilderness before, and am familiar with the Pine Ridge Trail, which I viewed as the backbone of my trip. One of the things AllTrails has going for it is suggested routes — for this area, 41 possible hikes.I had originally contemplated doing an overnight at China Camp before heading down the Pine Ridge Trail to Sykes Camp as an out-and-back, but after hiking with Rusty, I decided I could be more ambitious. I considered a few routes before settling on what AllTrails calls the Big Sur Sykes Hot Springs Extended Loop. That was partly because I’d checked in with the Big Sur Trail Map, a volunteer information repository hosted by Jack Glendening for trail conditions, and discovered a few trails I might have otherwise wanted to use were overgrown.Once I started mapping my route, I noticed some troubleAllTrails has user comments, which can be useful. One user told me to prepare for ticks and poison oak. Another suggested a stop at Timber Top for a meal or snack as it was beautiful, even if it was a detour, so I worked that into my agenda.In order to get a sense of what I’d be doing, I used tools to create my routes, with different lines for each day. CalTopo, AllTrails, and Gaia all have “snap to route” tools that let you automatically follow a trail the map knows about, which makes creating a route easier. But once I started mapping my route, I noticed some trouble. AllTrails said this was a 32.8-mile hike. I had trouble getting Gaia to acknowledge the fire road that would be part of my route with its auto-route tool set; also, the app insisted I was hiking 40 miles. Both the AllTrails and Gaia “snap to route” tools were easier to use than CalTopo, and it came up with a totally different mileage count than either: a 35-mile hike.Here’s the AllTrails route I planned. It was the easiest tool to use for routing by farHere’s CalTopo’s route-planning; you can see I’m considering doing the route in three days, rather than four.This is the Gaia GPS route plan. As you can see, it’s a mess, and because it was hard to edit, it was difficult to correct the mess.Similarly, looking at elevation gain, AllTrails told me to expect 9,160 feet, CalTopo told me to expect 8901 feet, and Gaia, for some reason, was insisting on 19,000 feet. I gotta say, 19,000 feet did not seem like it was in the vicinity of right. Looking at the map I created on Gaia, I think that’s because the “snap to route” tool had given me some weird detours.Well, what’s a couple miles and a few hundred feet of elevation between friends? I decided the smartest move would be to plan a four-day hike with three overnight stops: Sykes Camp, Rainbow Camp, and Outlaw Camp. I figured having more stops meant I could more easily absorb some unexpected miles if I had to.AllTrails’ route-building tool was easiest to use, and the easiest to edit if I made a mistake. While I appreciated Gaia’s similarly easy snap-to-trail function, it was a profound pain in the ass to edit after I’d made a route. And CalTopo was the most finicky for route-building of the bunch, requiring painstaking clicking. But it also had the best feature set, in terms of lines, colors, and editing. It also had more base layers and overlays showing, among other things, where to expect cellphone service.CalTopo and Gaia let you build and edit maps on a phone, but I primarily used my laptop because a big screen is better for planning routes, and a mouse is a more precise tool than my finger. Tinkering with Gaia on my phone, I found route creation buggy. AllTrails doesn’t seem to offer route creation on the iPhone at all. This didn’t matter much for me, but if you’re creating routes on the fly in the backcountry, you’re out of luck with AllTrails, and Gaia may suddenly quit working.Why use apps at all?I harbor a deep and profound pro-paper bias. A notebook is the best organizational tool available to you. I own hundreds of paper books because they don’t have DRM and they can’t be altered post-publication, or removed from my devices. I like paper maps a great deal, and have used them as my main navigation tool for my entire hiking career.Paper maps have downsides. They don’t respond well to water, for instance. Wear and tear can render them unusable. They may be out of date. And, of course, there are no crowdsourced comments telling you about trail conditions before your hike.The obvious benefit of the navigation apps is the reassuring little blue dotThe obvious benefit of the navigation apps is the reassuring little blue dot that tells you exactly where you are on the trail, without requiring nearly as much work. You can pull out your phone and see how much farther you need to go before arriving at a landmark. And most of us have our phones on our hikes because they’re the most convenient way to take photos. Gaia and AllTrails offer downloadable maps as part of a premium service — for a subscription fee, of course. That’s either $59.90 for Gaia or $89.99 for Gaia’s Outside Plus, which includes access to Outside’s assorted publications. The AllTrails Plus subscription I tested was $35.99 a year; after I went on my hike, it announced AllTrails Peak, which costs $79.99 a year and includes AI tools for route planning. (Given what I know about LLMs, I personally would not trust an AI to plan any hiking route, but I suppose your mileage may vary.) CalTopo, which offers its own set of subscription plans at $20, $50, and $100 a year, shows weather data and information about how much sunlight any part of its map gets at any hour of the day.There are a couple downsides to these apps. They drain the phone battery, which necessitates carrying a portable charger, which means more weight. If the phone doesn’t work — because, say, you dropped it — the app won’t work either. And there are, of course, the privacy issues.I don’t want people to know where I am at all timesMy location is sensitive information; I don’t want people to know where I am at all times. AllTrails defaults to sharing your data publicly, so anyone on Earth can look up your hikes. While you can change this setting, defaults matter. “Public trail activities and community reviews are a big part of the AllTrails experience,” spokesperson Mia DeSimone in an email. I was also prompted to review my hike afterwards — part of the crowdsourced data that makes AllTrails work, I suppose.AllTrails also shares your data. Some of that is unobjectionable — payment providers, for instance — but some of it, like sharing data with marketing partners, raised my eyebrows. “AllTrails does not process sensitive personal data, including precise geolocation, for purposes other than actual use of the AllTrails platform,” DeSimone said.I can’t speak to the pluses and minuses of AllTrails Peak, which I haven’t experimented with. But after my hike, AllTrails also discontinued its “Advanced Conditions” feature that showed weather along a prospective route, what to expect from the ground (wet? icy?), and mosquito activity. AllTrails Peak users will get access to “Trail Conditions,” which DeSimone says is “significantly more robust and precise than Advanced Conditions.” Some AllTrails users seem unhappy about the new pricing tier.I got this AllTrails pop-up after my hike. Reader, I did not review it.Gaia similarly defaults to public sharing, because of “a social component designed to help users connect, share experiences, and discover trails,” said Devin Lehman, general manager of Gaia GPS, in an emailed statement. “Public sharing of hikes is the default setting to encourage this community engagement.” Gaia also shares some data, including location data, with unnamed “service providers,” but Lehman said this is done “under strict data protection agreements” and is used to “support and power specific features and functionalities.”Last year, Gaia began requiring sign-ins, catching a few people who were on multi-day trips by surprise. “To ensure minimal disruption, we implemented a ‘snooze’ option allowing users to defer login for up to 28 days if prompted during an active trip,” Lehman wrote. “Users entirely offline (airplane mode or zero cell service) would not see the prompt at all. However, we understand some users in areas with intermittent service did encounter unexpected prompts. We’ve taken user feedback seriously and continue refining our app experience to better support uninterrupted outdoor adventures.”Its parent company, Outside, also jacked up the cost of subscriptions, and on April 14th this year, it removed access to the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps. “While we understand some subscribers valued the National Geographic Trails Illustrated maps, these maps offered limited regional coverage and lacked the global scope and dynamic functionality our growing user base needs,” Lehman wrote. He says Gaia “substantially expanded” its offerings in the last few years, and the price increase reflects “the ongoing investment required to maintain and continuously improve Gaia GPS.”Be that as it may, I’ve got several friends who are disgruntled Gaia subscribers looking around for another option. And I personally do not have faith in Outside’s management of Gaia, or its other properties, in the long run.On the trailRun away with me! Elizabeth LopattoBecause I was uncertain about my mileage, I decided to track myself several ways: AllTrails, Gaia, and my Apple Watch Series 6. The Apple Watch isn’t really an ideal fitness tracker for outdoors enthusiasts — it’s flimsy and its battery drains too fast; even the Ultra 2 only gives you 72 hours in low power mode. What it does have going for it is that I already own it, and there are other pieces of gear that were more important to upgrade after my experience on the AT. The Big Four in pack weight are your tent, sleeping bag or quilt, sleeping pad, and pack itself. Updating my tent and quilt, both expensive, also meant I lost about 5 pounds of weight from my pack immediately. Since this wasn’t a long hike and I was already carrying a battery, the Apple Watch’s propensity to drain quickly, even with both low power mode and theater mode on, didn’t seem too terrible.I set out from the trailhead Monday morning, and turned on tracking for AllTrails, Gaia, and my Apple Watch. As with all tracking, there are opportunities for user error — I am of course capable of forgetting to turn this stuff on, or pausing it and then never unpausing it. I mention this because there was user error: I paused the AllTrails tracker and then never unpaused it, so as far as it’s concerned, I hiked 3.7 miles that first day.See? I really did walk some number of miles. Perhaps 11, who knows!I was more successful with my watch and Gaia. I started my watch late — looking at the map, I seem to have missed at least a mile before I started it; it recorded 9 miles of walking. I did start Gaia at the beginning of my hike, and it recorded I hiked 11.6 miles. Both watch and app recorded about 2,400 feet of ascent, a little less than what CalTopo told me to expect (2,600 feet of elevation gain) and significantly less than what AllTrails told me to expect (3,000 feet).I arrived at Sykes Camp, alongside the Big Sur River, a little after 4PM, and set up my tent. It was close enough to dinnertime that I decided to eat. As I was hunched over the stove, a woman walked by, so I said hello. She was looking for the hot spring, and continued walking upriver. About 45 minutes later, she returned. She hadn’t found it.The hot spring wasn’t listed on the AllTrails map, the CalTopo map, or either of my paper maps. But it was on Gaia, and after dinner, I found the hot spring, a half-mile hike on a somewhat overgrown path downriver, and soaked blissfully for about half an hour. I’d post a selfie, but this is the internet, and I know better than to post feet for free.If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is. Elizabeth LopattoThe next morning I packed up and headed off to Rainbow Camp around 8:45AM. This, I knew, would be an up-and-down day of ridgeline hiking; AllTrails had a helpful elevation map telling me roughly what to expect. Unlike Sykes, Rainbow Camp was likely to be a place I’d be alone. Most of the people I’d spoken to the day before were doing an out-and-back, with Sykes as their only stop. But this ridgeline hike was spotted with wildflowers.I’d planned for this to be a fairly short day, only about 7 miles. I pulled into Rainbow Camp around 2PM and was underwhelmed — it was buggy and not especially scenic. So after eating lunch and refreshing my water supply, I decided to push on to Cold Spring Camp. The AllTrails map suggested it would only be 5 miles more. It was uphill, though, about 2,000 more feet of climbing. Even if I dragged along at 1 mile an hour, I’d still arrive before sunset.I’d thought about camping at Cold Spring before I set off, and had shied away from it both because of the climb and my uncertainty about the actual mileage of my hike. But I was feeling good, and I’d used my Garmin InReach Mini to check in about my change of plans, so I shoved off.According to my trackers recording my actual route — Gaia and AllTrails — it was more like 6 miles, not 5. Gaia tracked 4,884 feet of climb over a total distance of 13.6 miles; AllTrails suggested I’d climbed 5,213 feet over 14.6 miles. (Did I miss a mile somewhere on Gaia? I don’t see a gap in the recording, so I’m not sure how to account for the difference.) My Apple Watch said I’d gone 11.5 miles, also with 4,884 feet of climb — but its battery died before I made camp. I set up camp at Cold Spring, and watched the sun go down over the ocean as I ate dinner.The extra mileage meant I could plausibly make it home the following day. Sure, there were several camps available if I was too tired to do the rest of the hike, but depending on which tracker I used as my source of truth, I had somewhere between 11 and 13 miles left, a fairly easy day of hiking, particularly since it would all be downhill. The third day opened with ridgeline views; I was above a thick ceiling of clouds hiding the ocean. There were, of course, more wildflowers. When I turned off the dirt road onto Terrace Creek Trail, I met a day hiker going the other direction, who warned me about ticks on the grassy descent toward a redwood grove. (Maybe because he went through just before me, or maybe because of the permethrin I’d used on my clothes, I didn’t see any.) I made it back to the parking lot a little after 4PM. I’d had some user error with my Apple Watch — forgetting to start it again after breakfast at Timber Top, so there was an hour and a half gap in its data — and it recorded 11 miles. AllTrails crapped out at some point between when I set off from Cold Spring and breakfast, so it didn’t record my entire hike. Still, it got 11.63 miles. Gaia also had a gap in its recording (something wrong with my phone?) and put me at 12.7 miles.I thought the hike would settle how long the route was. It did, in a way — certainly the hike was longer than the 32.8 miles AllTrails had promised. If we take Gaia’s tracking, which was the most complete of the bunch, as the source of truth, I’d hiked 38 miles, 39 if I added the hike to the hot spring. Conclusion… of some sortWhile I had my paper maps (and compass) with me, the point was to test the apps, and they worked well enough that I didn’t have to refer to my “real” maps at all. But I also didn’t come away with a single clear winner, whether AllTrails or Gaia was best. AllTrails offered better route-planning features, while Gaia was more reliable on the trail. Both had worrisome inaccuracies in their data, which meant in practical terms that I lugged around another day of food in extra weight because I wasn’t totally sure how far I’d be climbing or walking. That’s consequential — food and water are usually the heaviest things a hiker carries.I certainly wouldn’t recommend relying on either of these, particularly without a backup map, and I’m not sold on how they handle my privacy. AllTrails seems to be aimed at people who are more casual hikers than I am. I don’t think Outside has been a good steward of Gaia (or of Outside Magazine). I also hesitate to recommend pricey subscriptions to these apps, given the issues I had with them. In fact, as I was writing this, I realized the most useful app in planning the trip was the one I hadn’t downloaded maps from: CalTopo.I haven’t tested CalTopo in the backcountry yet, so consider this a cliffhanger. Please feel free to pop over to the comments to demand I be allowed to go backpacking for work sooner rather than later, so you can hear more about my map-related misadventures. I’ve been eyeing the Tahoe Rim Trail for later this summer, and if I’m testing gear, it doesn’t count as vacation time, right? Right? Outdoor Gear Lab’s top bra recommendation’s largest size is a C cup, and the reviews are written primarily for teeny tatas. That’s an astounding editorial failure. Not only do athletes of big titty experience have a harder time finding bras at all, we are more likely to experience boob pain — which is a major reason women quit sports. Breast tissue is dead weight, so bra structure is crucial. A bra that’s stretchy enough to fit over your head won’t keep the girls in place during high-impact exercise. Some other rules of thumb: racerbacks press on your traps; thin straps cut into your shoulders; a thick, tight band is a must for weight distribution. A low-cut bra means an astonishing amount of cleavage, but a high neckline will make your gazongas look even bigger, so pick your poison, I guess. (Also, a high-cut bra worn for a long time will incubate a real banner crop of cleavage zits and, in some cases, chafing.) For running, I like Enell’s High Impact Bra — it’s the only one I’ve tried that’s kept my rack from bouncing. (It’s also recommended by Swole Woman Casey Johnston.) I’m still on the lookout for the best backpacking bra; the Enell one is too binding for all-day wear.See More:

My first memory of the Nintendo Switch is about as mundane as it gets. I don’t recall unboxing it, powering it on for the first time, or bringing it to a rooftop party. Instead, I see myself sitting in my ex’s living room on a random weekday. As they cooked, I sat quietly as I climbed atop of my first Divine Beast in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.  I don’t remember this because it was a triumphant achievement that showed off what kind of spectacle my new next-gen console could pull off; I remember it because I was very depressed. Recommended Videos While Nintendo was starting a meteoric rise in March 2017, I was hurtling towards the ground faster than Link with a depleted stamina wheel. I had just come off a stressful election year marred by a wave of beloved celebrity deaths. The world felt like it was coming to an end, an alarmist thought that especially felt true as a new administration wreaked havoc on the United States come March. My personal life wasn’t going much better. My ambitions were non-existent and I was locked into a day job career that I never wanted. I was becoming more despondent by the day and I could sense that a breakup was imminent. It would be months until I’d go to therapy for the first time in my life, so all of this pent up anxiety that I tried to keep quiet bled into my Joy-cons as I gripped onto them for dear life. Nintendo I find myself reflecting on this small moment now as the Nintendo Switch 2’s June 5 release date looms. For the first time in eight years, I’ll unbox a brand new Nintendo console on that day. Its internal storage will be empty. My Samus avatar won’t greet me when I boot it up because I won’t have logged into my account yet. The tablet will be a blank canvas that I will fill over the next eight years of my life one download at a time. And though it’s an arbitrary moment in time born from cold boardroom meetings and clinical earnings calls, I see the start of a new console era as an opportunity to reinvent myself too. If I look back through my life, I can map my development by the video game hardware I’ve owned. My Sega Genesis takes me back to the early days of my childhood spent playing Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with my brother before he got wrapped up in his own teenage  angst. The GameCube conjures countless memories of the formative high school years that I spent bonding with my close friends over rounds of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I’m back in college when I think about the Wii, navigating physicality for the first time in both my relationships at the time and the video games I was playing. Each console, each handheld tells countless stories about where I have been and how I have evolved alongside the tech that followed me there. That now weighs on me as I prepare to power down my Switch for what could be the final time in just a few weeks. My instinct has been to process that moment with a retrospective about the system, reflecting on the games that made it one of the best video game consoles of all time. Instead, I’ve found myself more and more focused on mapping my own generation. Who was I during this eight-year Switch era? What will be the snapshot I see when I think back to Super Mario Odyssey or Fire Emblem: Three Houses? Nintendo The answer doesn’t feel as simple as it once was when I was younger and console generations were shorter. I began that journey at rock bottom, hopeless and floundering amid societal collapse. The Switch would follow me through multiple breakups, several jobs, three apartments, the death of a close friend, and unprecedented moments in history that chipped away at my mental health. Just as the Switch is inseparable from a pandemic that defined its power, I can’t untangle those eight years from the waves of pain and uncertainty that washed over me between new game releases. If the Nintendo Switch 2 had launched in 2020, I’d be able to tell you with relative certainty that the Switch represented the worst years of my life. But eight years is a very long time, much longer than these hardware time capsules usually hang around. A period that long is bound to bring arcs, both for the console and its players. Nintendo kept steady while riding a wave of momentum shifts due to a changing landscape around it, but my ride was different. While I started at the bottom, playing Breath of the Wild as an escape from the world around me, I began to rise. I started therapy and got a better job months after the Switch released, just when everything was at its most hopeless. I made a more serious career pivot in 2020, landing a dream job that put me on the path to a career in video game writing I’d always thought was unobtainable. I eventually landed here at Digital Trends and made a name for myself writing work that I’m proud of. I stumbled my way through relationships only to land into something more secure and healthy. I hit a peak alongside the Switch in 2023, the same year it would release the double whammy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. When I look into my Switch’s display now, catching a glimpse of my reflection in the black screen, I see an era of rebuilding. These were eight years that threw the challenges of adulthood at me and dared me to overcome them. It felt impossible in the moment, but I’m still here. Maybe I’m just looking too closely to find patterns, but I see a direct parallel to that story and Nintendo’s own. Like me, Nintendo was listless in its Wii U era. It had no idea where to go after the Wii’s success, just as I didn’t know how to turn the creative fulfillment of my college days into something sustainable in adulthood. It too was at rock bottom when the Switch released, in desperate need of a second act. Nintendo got one, and so did I. If this is the start of a new era for Nintendo, who’s to say it can’t be another beginning for myself as well? But our lives don’t stay the same for very long. Ahead of the Switch 2’s launch, I find myself in a similar low to the one I was in back in 2017. History has repeated itself as a mentally taxing election year has yielded the same president that made my life hell for the Switch’s first four years on the market. The career I built for myself is one strong wind away from tilting over as games media endures an intense period of contraction, one that destroyed the website that gave me the dream job that catapulted me to success in 2020. Some days, I’m every bit as distant and despondent as I was back then. When I turn on my Switch 2 for the first time in a few weeks, it will feel cyclical in a way that’s bound to leave me overlooking just how much I’ve accomplished between launches. But I’m trying to approach it with a bit more hope this time. If this is the start of a new era for Nintendo, who’s to say it can’t be another beginning for myself as well? I know that I’m capable of climbing out of despair, even as the biggest forces in the world fight against me. There will be change. I will undoubtedly pack my things into 50+ boxes again in between playing levels of the latest Mario game. I will fall out of touch with some friends and gain some new ones. Perhaps I’ll miss Nintendo’s big Switch 3 reveal in 2033 because I’ll be too busy nursing an injured pigeon during my shift at a bird rehabilitation center. Maybe the Switch 3 won’t happen at all as Nintendo moves on to its next bright idea after a disappointing generation that calls for a creative overhaul. I can’t possibly know who I will be the moment I power my Switch 2 down for the last time. All I know is that Mario will probably be there at the finish line, looking not one day older than he does now while I greet him with a grayer beard. I’ll try not to be jealous of his eternal youth — some Italians just age better than others. Instead, I’ll embrace those differences, as grumpy as I no doubt will be in my middle age, as every change will be a sign that I’ve made it through another leg of an ongoing relay race. I’ll be ready to pass the controller to whichever version of me is up next when I get there.

Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. If you're lucky enough to receive a lump sum of cash, it might be tempting to take the trip that's been on your bucket list. But if you want to take the responsible route, BI broke down how to manage a windfall that includes age, risk factors, and financial goals.On the agenda today:Why Microsoft is flattening its management layers.HBO Max is mocking itself with memes as it rebrands … again.The Seed 100: Here are the best early-stage investors of 2025.Goldman Sachs is leaning into AI. Here's what we know about five of its tools.But first: Let's talk tariffs.If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here.This week's dispatch Mint Images/Getty Images/Mint Images RF 'A lose-lose situation'There are a few ways to think about President Donald Trump's trade deal with China.For one, Wall Street loves it. Stocks recovered their "Liberation Day" losses. Fears of an imminent recession, at least viewed through the lens of the betting markets, have already started to subside.But the real-world ripple effects of the current tariff situation are far less clear-cut. Friday's downbeat consumer sentiment data, the second-worst reading on record, showed just how gloomy people feel right now.Consider how a range of businesses — big and small — reacted in the aftermath of the 90-day pause on higher tariffs with China.Retail titan Walmart said it will raise prices in light of Trump's tariffs. John David Rainey, Walmart's chief financial officer, told CNBC, "the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb."Toy maker Hasbro abruptly reversed course on its decision to raise prices and halt some production following Monday's deal, but the future isn't clear. Gina Goetter, Hasbro's chief financial officer, said at a conference, "every day is a new adventure."And for small businesses, planning ahead during this rapidly changing global landscape is proving to be particularly difficult.One small-business owner quantified the tariff impact. Jamey Stegmaier told BI he worries they could put his board game company, Stonemaier Games, out of business.If the full 145% tariffs had remained in effect, he'd need to raise the price of his Wingspan game, which sells for $65, to close to $200."No one would buy it," he said.He'd love to move production to the US to avoid tariffs. However, the US doesn't have the infrastructure or expertise he said he needs.The current US-China trade agreement also isn't a complete relief. The 30% tariffs are "still painful," Stegmaier added.Ultimately, the unpredictability surrounding Trump's tariff policy means customers could start seeing higher prices across the board."There's no math that makes it work," Stegmaier said. "There's no silver lining. It's a lose-lose-lose situation for everyone involved."Microsoft's bid to flatten management Satya Nadella (right) celebrates Microsoft's 50 year anniversary with Steve Ballmer (center) and Bill Gates (left) Jeffrey Dastin/REUTERS Microsoft is axing 6,000 jobs to increase "span of control," or the number of employees reporting to each manager. The cuts come as the tech giant reduces costs and invests heavily in AI.The half-dozen Microsoft insiders whom BI spoke to about the cuts see the effort as a good thing.Also read:Max is roasting its own rebrand Turning HBO in to HBO Max and then Max and now HBO Max is pretty funny — something the streaming service is acknowledging itself by distributing this meme to the media. Warner Bros. Discovery The streamer is tacking "HBO" back onto its name after abandoning it in 2023. That may seem a bit ridiculous, and Max is well aware. Instead of being laughed at, Max is opting to laugh with the internet.The social team at Warner Bros. Discovery cooked up a host of memes for the occasion. BI's Dan Whateley broke down why silliness, rather than sincerity, could be the right move.Also read:The top 100 early-stage investors of 2025 Courtesy of Ben Ling, Ann DeWitt, Meltem Demirors, Kevin Mahaffey, Alexis Ohanian, Ava Horton/BI Seed-stage investors reach for their checkbooks after hearing merely the kernel of an idea. They may have the hardest job in VC.Back for its fifth year, BI's Seed 100 list uses Termina's data analysis to identify and honor these dealmakers. Their interests span tech, from defense to consumer.Also read:Five tools in Goldman's AI arsenal Getty Images; Jenny Chang-Rodriguez/BI The bank's tech chief once said AI would be as ubiquitous as email, with 100% of the workforce relying on it. With Goldman Sachs' up-and-coming slate of AI tools, the bank appears to be on track.BI kept tabs on the rollout of these resources, ranging from an AI assistant to a translation tool.This week's quote:"These days Gates looks like a sage compared to Musk and compared to the administration."— Michael Morris, a professor at the Columbia Business School, on both Elon Musk's and Bill Gates' approach to efficiency.More of this week's top reads:How to get a job in the booming business of secondaries.We found 200 "podcasts" peddling opioids. Now Spotify is taking them down.Meet the CEOs behind YouTube's biggest stars.Please, kids: Do not set your Chromebook on fire.Hulk Hogan's beer brand is eyeing a takeover of the Hooters name.Why Citadel Securities is training its developers on a coding language that hasn't even been released yet.Meta's Llama has reached a turning point with developers as delays and disappointment mount.Brevan Howard hires longtime JPMorgan dealmaker Carlos Hernandez as its first executive chair.In a chilly funding market, a VC explains why legal tech is "as hot as you can humanly imagine."The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.

Health Tech  Rate this post Receiving a diagnosis related to genetics can be a life-changing moment, filled with uncertainty and questions. One such diagnosis that often comes unexpectedly is the presence of an XXX chromosome, also known as Triple X syndrome or Trisomy X. This genetic condition, exclusively affecting females, involves the presence of an extra X chromosome, resulting in a total of 47 chromosomes rather than the usual 46. For most people, the concept of having an extra chromosome might immediately bring concerns about health, development, or quality of life. However, the journey following an XXX chromosome diagnosis is often more nuanced and less severe than initially feared. In this article, we’ll explore what it means to be diagnosed with Triple X syndrome, what to expect after the diagnosis, and how individuals and families can navigate this genetic variation with confidence and clarity. Understanding the XXX Chromosome Every person is born with 23 pairs of chromosomes—22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. Typically, females have two X chromosomes (XX), and males have one X and one Y (XY). In Triple X syndrome, a female has three X chromosomes (XXX) instead of two. This condition is caused by a random error during the formation of the reproductive cells, known as nondisjunction. It’s estimated that 1 in 1,000 female births may have the XXX chromosome, but many cases go undiagnosed due to the absence of obvious symptoms. How Is XXX Chromosome Diagnosed? Most cases of Triple X syndrome are discovered in one of the following ways: Prenatal Testing: Through amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling (CVS), genetic tests may reveal the presence of an extra X chromosome before birth. Developmental Delays: Some girls with XXX chromosome may show mild delays in motor skills, speech, or learning, prompting genetic testing. Infertility Evaluations or Other Medical Concerns: In adolescence or adulthood, some individuals undergo genetic testing due to irregular menstrual cycles, fertility issues, or other unexplained symptoms. The diagnosis is confirmed using karyotyping, a lab technique that maps chromosomes to identify abnormalities. What Happens After the Diagnosis? 1. Meeting with a Genetic Counselor After a confirmed diagnosis, the first step is typically a consultation with a genetic counselor. These professionals explain the nature of the condition, what caused it, and the potential implications for the individual and the family. They also provide emotional support and answer any pressing concerns. 2. Monitoring Developmental Milestones In childhood, girls with the XXX chromosome may experience: Slight delays in speech or language development Learning difficulties (especially in reading or math) Coordination issues Taller-than-average height It’s important to remember that intelligence in most girls with XXX chromosome falls within the normal range, although some may require additional educational support. Early intervention programs, speech therapy, and occupational therapy can make a significant difference in helping children meet their developmental milestones. 3. Regular Health Checkups While most females with the XXX chromosome are healthy and live normal lives, doctors may recommend monitoring certain aspects of physical and emotional health, such as: Muscle tone and motor development Puberty progression Menstrual cycle regularity Fertility status later in life Emotional or behavioral challenges like anxiety or low self-esteem With proper support, the majority of females with Triple X syndrome develop typically and may not require extensive medical intervention. 4. Education and Support Services Some girls may benefit from Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) or 504 Plans in school, ensuring that they receive personalized learning accommodations. Parents are encouraged to advocate for their child’s needs and work closely with educators. 5. Emotional Well-being and Counseling Because of the potential for social or emotional difficulties, some children or teens may benefit from psychological counseling. Addressing issues like self-esteem, social skills, or anxiety can significantly improve their quality of life. For families, support groups and online communities offer a valuable space to share experiences, learn from others, and build a support network. Long-Term Outlook The prognosis for females with the XXX chromosome is generally excellent. Most lead full, independent lives and experience normal fertility. In fact, many go through life never knowing they have Triple X syndrome unless diagnosed through genetic testing. There is no cure for the XXX chromosome condition—nor is one needed in most cases. The focus is on supportive care to manage any developmental, educational, or emotional challenges that may arise. Social Implications and Misconceptions Due to limited public awareness, some misconceptions surround the XXX chromosome. For instance, there’s no evidence to support the idea that Triple X syndrome leads to aggression or intellectual disability. These outdated notions stem from flawed studies conducted in the 1960s and have since been disproven. Education, compassion, and scientific understanding are key to erasing stigma and supporting individuals with this condition. Conclusion A diagnosis of the XXX chromosome or Triple X syndrome can initially be unsettling, but the reality is that most females with this condition live healthy, fulfilling lives. With early diagnosis, appropriate developmental support, and ongoing health monitoring, challenges can be addressed effectively. For families navigating this journey, the focus should be on understanding, advocacy, and ensuring that each individual with Triple X has access to the tools they need to thrive. FAQs: Q1. What causes the XXX chromosome? Triple X syndrome occurs due to a random error during cell division, leading to an extra X chromosome in each cell.Q2. Can the XXX chromosome be inherited? No, it is not typically inherited. It is usually a spontaneous genetic change.Q3. Do all females with Triple X show symptoms? No. Many females with Triple X syndrome have no noticeable symptoms and may never be diagnosed.Q4. Can females with the XXX chromosome have children? Yes, most females with Triple X have normal fertility and can conceive without complications.Q5. Is treatment necessary for Triple X syndrome? There is no specific treatment, but supportive therapies (like speech or educational help) may be beneficial if challenges arise.Tech World TimesTech World Times (TWT), a global collective focusing on the latest tech news and trends in blockchain, Fintech, Development & Testing, AI and Startups. If you are looking for the guest post then contact at techworldtimes@gmail.com

No notes.Baby Erdoğan's MustacheIt's called diplomacy, guys.This year's European Political Community, an annual forum for European leaders founded in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, kicked off on Friday in Tirana, Albania. Europe's leaders were greeted with a ten-ish minute presentation that celebrated Europe's commitment to sovereignty and shared triumphs over evil. There were flashing lights and dance performances, and a few different video sequences. And to close out the show, as Politico reports, the Albanian government landed on the obvious editorial choice: a montage of the summit's leaders pictured as AI-generated babies, who each said "Welcome to Albania" in their country's language.It was perfect. Did baby-fied Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey's authoritarian strongman, rock a tiny AI-generated mustache? He did indeed! Did French President Emmanuel Macron smack his gum in pleasant bemusement as he watched his AI baby self smile onscreen? You bet!Our hats are off to Edi Rama, Albania's recently re-elected president. So far, between MAGAworld and its monarch embracing AI slop as its defining aesthetic, AI-generated misinformation causing chaos, and attempted AI mayors and political parties, this is easily the most compelling use of generative AI in politics we've seen. PolitickingThe camera televising the event repeatedly panned to the crowd, where the response from Europe's most powerful was mixed. Some laughed, while others bristled; some mostly looked confused. Which makes sense, given that this is a serious conference where, per Politico, the majority of leaders are looking to push for harsher sanctions on Russia as its war on Ukraine wages on and tense talks between Moscow and Kyiv continue without a ceasefire.It's unclear how the AI baby bit fit into Albania's message of a peaceful, unified Europe. Though the presentation did start with childlike drawings, the sounds of kids laughing, and a youthful voiceover, so maybe it was an attempt to bring the show full circle? Or maybe, considering the heavy subject matter and fast-heating global tension and uncertainty, Rama just wanted to break the ice.Anyway. We're sure nothing will humble you, a leader of a nation, like sitting in an auditorium and oscillating between unsure grimaces and giggling whilst staring down your AI-generated baby face.More on AI and guys in Europe: The New Pope Is Deeply Skeptical of AIShare This Article

According to Databox, around 80% of marketers prefer looking at short term goals, like eCPI, because it's easy to measure, all the competitors are doing it, and it saves money. However, as a subscription app, planning for the long term is critical, especially for campaigns on ad networks.Let’s say you pay $0.60 for an install, a relatively low cost in the US. If the user who installed your app churns on day 1 - 25% of users will likely do so according to Business of Apps - that $0.60 is a sunk cost.Elina Dakhis, Senior Strategic Partnership Manager at ironSource, with a focus on Apps Beyond Games, shares her insights on why LTV is important for your subscription-based app and tips to master it.Why you shouldn’t spend all of your resources optimizing towards short term goalsBefore diving into how to measure success in the long term, let’s first dive into why you shouldn’t devote all of your attention to short term goals and achieving low CPIs.Higher bids bring in revenue generating usersIt’s possible to have great install rates but flat revenue - there isn’t always a clear correlation. Often, the problem lies in optimizing towards driving cheap installs, or low quality installs that drive very little value. Meanwhile, more expensive installs lead to users that will spend time in your app, engaging with your premium content, generating more revenue, and eventually converting to subscribers.Diversity of bids means diversity of usersLocation, device platform, and network all have an impact on the price of the cost per install. For example, CPI differs by country depending on how big the audience is, how much they spend inside apps, etc. To reach a diverse set of users across different geos, devices, and networks, it’s important to remain open to a range of costs. Just because a bid is low, doesn’t mean those users aren't valuable, and vice versa.So, you shouldn’t be narrowing in on achieving low CPIs - high CPIs are actually quite valuable. That said, to determine what’s best for your strategy, it’s crucial to look at long term goals. We suggest calculating your LTV.Longer term goals help you determine user acquisition costsBlindly paying for low CPIs without looking at long term metrics, such as LTV, means you could be missing out on an opportunity to spend more to acquire high-quality users and increase profit. If you know how your users behave in your app in the long term, you can predict how much revenue you'll generate from your users, and you can make more calculated decisions for your UA budget.How to build the LTV model for campaigns on networksTo get a clearer picture into the effectiveness of your campaigns, it’s important to look at user behavior after they install the app and into the long term. Note that you should build dedicated LTV models for the different channels you’re running with - social, ad network, etc. Here’s how to measure LTV for your ad network campaigns taking into account multiple revenue streams:1. Plot the ARPU curve taking into account all revenue generatorsARPU, or the average revenue per user, is determined by calculating the accumulated revenue generated by a segment of users on a specific day after install. To determine ARPU, first, sum all of the revenue generators - the amount subscribers pay, the revenue from in-app purchases, and the revenue from ads. Then, divide that by the number of installs. For example, if a segment of 1,000 users generates $6,000 over 6 months, the Month 6 ARPU would be $6. If those 1,000 users generate $12,000 over 12 months, the Month 12 ARPU is $12.When building the ARPU curve for subscription apps, it’s important to take into account all of your revenue generators - subscriptions, in-app purchases and ads. For some apps, you can stop at choosing a relevant ARPU goal, 12 months for example, to determine the value of your users. For most, however, you’ll need to construct an LTV model from the right trendline.2. Choose the right trendline for each revenue generator to build your LTV modelPlace a trendline over the average revenue per user (ARPU) curve to build the LTV model. Doing so automatically fills in the revenue predictions from the last day of calculated data to the end of the users’ lifetime in your app.When building the LTV curve for a hybrid model with subscriptions, ads, and/or in-app purchases, keep the behavior of these components in mind. A logarithmic trendline usually works better for the LTV curve for apps that don’t monetize with subscriptions. We’ve found that a power curve fits over the ARPU the most accurately for subscription apps. This is because subscription apps tend to offer some kind of utility that stands the test of time. Once you’ve built the ARPU curve for each revenue stream, stack them on top of each other to get a more accurate prediction. Below is a more detailed example.The graph above is the LTV model for the first 180 days of a Social Utility App - their monetization model is based on subscriptions and ads. As you can see, we plotted the ARPU curves (solid lines) based on data we already had for subscriptions and ads separately. From there, we placed power curves (dotted line) to predict the future revenue - keep in mind that the end of the LTV curve does not indicate a user’s last day in the app. Based on the graph, we can assume that the LTV for the average user will be $0.80 for weekly subscribers, $0.25 for monthly subscribers, and $0.15 for ads.Now’s the time to start measuring the granular metrics to optimize the precision of your LTV model. There’s more to creating a winning LTV model than just choosing the right trendline.3. Enrich the model with more dataThere’s a lot of uncertainty behind building an accurate revenue prediction, and it’s important to be comfortable with this. Typically, apps have many more non-subscribers than subscribers and subscription rates are constantly changing. IAPs offer a glimpse into the level of user engagement, but often don’t paint the whole picture of how users behave in your app.It’s important to look at other engagement events outside of just how much a user is paying each week, month, or year or their engagement with IAPs and ads when building the LTV model. In fact, you should be tracking as many metrics as possible, as early as possible. You can include any type of in-app engagement, such as opening the app a certain number of times, editing a few photos, etc. This granular understanding of your app’s overall performance will help you determine exactly where you stand, allowing you to streamline your strategy towards investing in the right users.If you start including other metrics into your LTV model and you see different behaviors for different user groups, you should consider building different models to reflect different revenue streams - subscription, IAP, ads - rather than combining them into one.4. Build a different model for each subscription time frameMany apps offer weekly, monthly, and annual subscriptions, and these users are going to behave differently and bring in revenue at different rates - it’s not one size fits all.Rather than converting annual subscriptions to the monthly equivalent, it’s best to build an LTV model for weekly vs. monthly vs. yearly subscriptions. From there, if you’re including an engagement metric outside of revenue, you can apply a different rate to each model (since, for example, churn will be different for monthly users compared to weekly users). This way you’ll improve the accuracy of your LTV model and have a better idea of how specific users are interacting with your app according to different subscription models.What now?Once your LTV model is ready, the next step is adjusting your KPIs based on the information to ensure you’re making the best decisions for your UA strategy. Choose a reasonable margin you’d like to maintain and determine the shortest KPI possible where you can still accurately predict long-term user behavior in your app. Often, it’s the average time it takes a user to subscribe. Your work doesn’t end here - continue to adjust the data so the LTV model remains as updated as possible and takes into account fluctuations in user behavior, such as during holiday seasons, unexpected pandemics, political unrest, etc.Measuring short term goals are important, but long term goals are just as, if not more, important to calculating overall success and the effectiveness of your campaigns. Start measuring your LTV model using the above steps and be sure to take into account multiple revenue streams.

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Unpatched systems are a ticking time bomb. Fifty-seven percent of cyberattack victims acknowledge that available patches would have prevented breaches, yet nearly one-third admit failing to act, compounding the risk. Ponemon research shows organizations now take an alarming average of 43 days to detect cyberattacks, even after a patch is released, up from 36 days the previous year. According to the Verizon 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report, attackers’ ability to exploit vulnerabilities surged by 180% from 2023 to 2024. Chronic firefighting makes manual or partially automated patching overly burdensome, further pushing patching down teams’ priority lists. Relying on manual or partially automated patching systems is considered too time-consuming, further reducing patching to the bottom of a team’s action item list. This is consistent with an Ivanti study that found that the majority (71%) of IT and security professionals think patching is overly complex, cumbersome and time-consuming. When it comes to patching, complacency kills Attackers aggressively exploit legacy Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), often ten or more years old. A sure sign of how effective attackers’ tradecraft is becoming at targeting legacy CVEs is their success with vulnerabilities in some cases, 10-plus years old. A sure sign that attackers are finding new ways to weaponize old vulnerabilities is reflected in the startling stat that 76% of vulnerabilities leveraged by ransomware were reported between 2010 and 2019. The misalignment between IT and security teams compounds delays, with 27% lacking cohesive patch strategies and nearly a quarter disagreeing on patch schedules. One of the unexpected benefits of automating patch management is breaking the impasse between IT and security when it comes to managing the patch workload.    “Typically, on average, an enterprise may patch 90% of desktops within two to four weeks, 80% of Windows servers within six weeks and only 25% of Oracle Databases within six months from patch release date”, writes Gartner in their recent report, “We’re not patching our way out of vulnerability exposure.” The report states that “the cold, hard reality is that no one is out patching threat actors at scale in any size organization, geography or industry vertical.” Ring deployment: proactive defense at scale Every unpatched endpoint or threat surface invites attackers to exploit it. Enterprises are losing the patching race, which motivates attackers even more. In the meantime, patching has become exponentially more challenging for security and IT teams to manage manually. Approximately a decade ago, ring deployment began to rely on Microsoft-dominated networks. Since then, ring deployments have proliferated across on-premise and cloud-based patch and risk management systems. Ring deployment provides a phased, automated strategy, shrinking attacker windows and breach risks. Ring deployment rolls out patches incrementally through carefully controlled stages or “rings:” Test Ring (1%): Core IT teams quickly validate patch stability. Early Adopter Ring (5–10%): A broader internal group confirms real-world compatibility. Production Ring (80–90%): Enterprise-wide rollout after stability is conclusively proven. Ivanti’s recent release of ring deployment is designed to give security teams greater control over when patches will be deployed, to which systems and how each sequence of updates will be managed. By addressing patching issues early, the goal is to minimize risks and reduce and eliminate disruptions. Gartner’s ring deployment strategy escalates patches from internal IT outward, providing continuous validation and dramatically reducing deployment risk. Source: Gartner, “Modernize Windows and Third-Party Application Patching,” p. 6. Ring deployment crushes MTTP, ends reactive patching chaos Relying on outdated vulnerability ratings to lead patch management strategies only increases the risk of a breach as enterprises race to keep up with growing patch backlogs. That’s often when patching becomes cybersecurity’s endless nightmare, with attackers looking to capitalize on the many legacy CVEs that remain unprotected. Gartner’s take in their recent report “Modernize windows and third-party application patching” makes the point brutally clear, showing how traditional patching methods routinely fail to keep pace. In contrast, enterprises embracing ring deployment are getting measurable results. Their research finds ring deployment achieves a “99% patch success within 24 hours for up to 100,000 PCs,” leaving traditional methods far behind. During an interview with VentureBeat, Tony Miller, Ivanti’s VP of enterprise services, emphasized that “Ivanti Neurons for Patch Management and implementing Ring Deployment is an important part of our Customer Zero journey.” He said the company uses many of its own products, which allows for a quick feedback loop and gives developers insight into customers’ pain points. Miller added: “We’ve tested out Ring Deployment internally with a limited group, and we are in the process of rolling it out organization-wide. In our test group, we have benefited from deploying patches based on real-world risk, and ensuring that updates don’t interrupt employee productivity–a significant challenge for any IT organization.” VentureBeat also spoke with Jesse Miller, SVP and director of IT at Southstar Bank, about leveraging Ivanti’s dynamic Vulnerability Risk Rating (VRR), an AI-driven system continuously recalibrated with real-time threat intelligence, live exploit activity, and current attack data. Miller stated clearly: “This is an important change for us and the entire industry. Judging a patch based on its CVSS now is like working in a vacuum. When judging how impactful something can be, you have to take everything from current events, your industry, your environment and more into the equation. Ultimately, we are just making wiser decisions as we are not disregarding CVSS scoring; we are simply adding to it.” Miller also highlighted his team’s prioritization strategy: “We have been able to focus on prioritizing Zero-Day and Priority patches to get out first, as well as anything being exploited live in the wild. Using patch prioritization helps us eliminate our biggest risk first so that we can reduce our attack surface as quickly as possible.” By combining ring deployment and dynamic VRR technology, Ivanti Neurons provides enterprises with structured visual orchestration of incremental patch rollouts. This approach sharply reduces Mean-Time-to-Patch (MTTP), accelerating patches from targeted testing through full deployment and significantly decreasing the exposure windows that attackers exploit. Caption: The Ivanti Neurons interface visually manages deployment rings, success thresholds, patching progress and streamlining operational clarity. Source: Ivanti Neurons Comparing Ivanti Neurons, Microsoft Autopatch, Tanium and ServiceNow: Key strengths and gaps When selecting enterprise patch management solutions, apparent differences emerge among leading providers, including Microsoft Autopatch, Tanium, ServiceNow and Ivanti Neurons. Microsoft Autopatch relies on ring deployment but is restricted to Windows environments, including Microsoft 365 applications. Ivanti Neurons expands on this concept by covering a broader spectrum, including Windows, macOS, Linux and various third-party applications. This enables enterprise-wide patch management for organizations with large-scale, diverse infrastructure. Tanium stands out for its robust endpoint visibility and detailed reporting features, but its infrastructure requirements typically align better with resource-intensive enterprises. Meanwhile, ServiceNow’s strength lies in workflow automation and IT service management integrations. Executing actual patches often demands significant additional customization or third-party integrations. Ivanti Neurons aims to differentiate by integrating dynamic risk assessments, phased ring deployments and automated workflows within a single platform. It directly addresses common enterprise challenges in patch management, including visibility gaps, operational complexity and uncertainty about vulnerability prioritization with real-time risk assessments and intuitive visual dashboards. Caption: Ivanti Neurons provides real-time patch status, vulnerability assessments, and risk exposure metrics, ensuring continuous visibility. Source: Ivanti Neurons Transforming patch management into a strategic advantage Patching alone cannot eliminate vulnerability exposure. Gartner’s analysts continue to stress the necessity of integrating compensating controls, including endpoint protection platforms (EPP), multifactor authentication, and network segmentation to reinforce security beyond basic patching. Combining ring deployment with integrated compensating controls that are part of a broader zero-trust framework ensures security, allows IT teams to shrink exposure windows, and better manage cyber risks. Ivanti’s approach to ring deployment incorporates real-time risk assessments, automated remediation workflows, and built-in threat management, directly aligning patch management with broader business resilience strategies. The design decision to make it part of Neurons for Patch Management delivers the scale enterprises need to improve risk management’s real-time visibility.   Bottom line: Integrating ring deployment with compensating controls and prioritization tools transforms patch management from a reactive burden to a strategic advantage. Daily insights on business use cases with VB Daily If you want to impress your boss, VB Daily has you covered. We give you the inside scoop on what companies are doing with generative AI, from regulatory shifts to practical deployments, so you can share insights for maximum ROI. Read our Privacy Policy Thanks for subscribing. Check out more VB newsletters here. An error occured.

Sonali De Rycker, a general partner at Accel and one of Europe’s most influential venture capitalists, is bullish about the continent’s prospects in AI. But she’s wary of regulatory overreach that could hamstring its momentum. At a TechCrunch StrictlyVC evening earlier this week in London, De Rycker reflected on Europe’s place in the global AI race, balancing optimism with realism. “We have all the pieces,” she told those gathered for the event. “We have the entrepreneurs, we have the ambition, we have the schools, we have the capital, and we have the talent.” All that’s missing, she argued, is the ability to “unleash” that potential at scale. The obstacle? Europe’s complex regulatory landscape and, in part, its pioneering but controversial Artificial Intelligence Act. De Rycker acknowledged that regulations have a role to play, especially in high-risk sectors like healthcare and finance. Still, she said she worries that the AI Act’s broad reach and potentially stifling fines could deter innovation at the very moment European startups need space to iterate and grow. “There’s a real opportunity to make sure that we go fast and address what we’re capable of,” she said. “The issue is that we are also faced with headwinds on regulation.”  The AI Act, which imposes stringent rules on applications deemed “high risk,” from credit scoring to medical imaging, has raised red flags among investors like De Rycker. While the goals of ethical AI and consumer protection are laudable, she fears the net may be cast too wide, potentially discouraging early-stage experimentation and entrepreneurship. That urgency is amplified by shifting geopolitics. With U.S. support for Europe’s defense and economic autonomy waning under the current Trump administration, De Rycker sees this moment as a decisive one for the EU. Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW “Now that Europe is being left to fend [for itself] in multiple ways,” she said. “We need to be self-sufficient, we need to be sovereign.” That means unlocking Europe’s full economic and technological potential. De Rycker points to efforts like the “28th regime,”a framework aimed at creating a single set of rules for businesses across the EU, as crucial to creating a more unified, startup-friendly region. Currently, the mishmas of labor laws, licensing, and corporate structures across 27 countries creates friction and slows down progress. “If we were truly one region, the power you could unleash would be incredible,” she said. “We wouldn’t be having these same conversations about Europe lagging in tech.” In De Rycker’s view, Europe is slowly catching up—not just in innovation but in its cultural embrace of risk and experimentation. Cities like Zurich, Munich, Paris, and London are starting to generate their own self-reinforcing ecosystems thanks to top-tier academic institutions and a growing base of experienced founders. Accel, for its part, has invested in over 70 cities across Europe and Israel, giving De Rycker a front-row seat to the continent’s fragmented but flourishing tech landscape. Still, on Tuesday night, she noted a stark contrast with the U.S. when it comes to adoption. “We see a lot more propensity for customers to experiment with AI in the U.S.,” she said. “They’re spending money on these kinds of speculative, early-stage companies. That flywheel keeps going.” Accel’s strategy reflects this reality. While the firm hasn’t backed any of the major foundational AI model companies like OpenAI or Anthropic, it has focused instead on the application layer. “We feel very comfortable with the application layer,” said De Rycker. “These foundational models are capital intensive and don’t really look like venture-backed companies.” Examples of promising bets include Synthesia, a video generation platform used in enterprise training, and Speak, a language learning app that recently jumped to a $1 billion valuation. De Rycker sees these as early examples of how AI can create entirely new behaviors and business models, not just incrementally improve existing ones. “We’re expanding total addressable markets at a rate we’ve never seen,” she said. “It feels like the early days of mobile. DoorDash and Uber weren’t just mobilized websites. They were brand new paradigms.” Ultimately, De Rycker sees this moment as both a challenge and a once-in-a-generation opportunity. If Europe leans too heavily into regulation, it risks stifling the innovation that could help it compete globally – not just in AI, but across the entire tech spectrum. “We’re in a supercycle,” she said. “These cycles don’t come often, and we can’t afford to be leashed.” With geopolitical uncertainty rising and the U.S. increasingly inward-looking, Europe has little choice but to bet on itself. Whether it can do so without tying its own hands remains to be seen. But if the continent can strike the right balance, De Rycker believes it has everything it needs to lead, and not just follow, in the AI revolution. Asked by an attendee what EU founders can do to be more competitive with their U.S. counterparts, De Rycker didn’t hesitate. “I think they are competitive,” she said, citing companies Accel has backed, including Supercell and Spotify. “These founders, they look no different.” You can catch catch the full conversation with De Rycker here : Topics

The government announcement on 14 May about how it sees the future of the digital identity market operating means the uncertainty of the last few months is over. Investors had stopped investing and several identity service providers (IDSPs) have had to put their plans on hold waiting for this day. Those barriers have now been lifted. IDSPs are working though what the government wallet means for them and the disruptive change it will bring to the market. Business cases are being re-examined. The good news is that the 14 May meeting promises to mark a welcome shift in government and identity industry relations. There is understanding and recognition that the secretary of state’s decision to press ahead with announcing the Gov.uk Wallet in January was a bold and reasonable one to make with the information he had available. There is also understanding and recognition by the secretary of state, Peter Kyle, of the unintended consequence of that decision on industry. Identity is like time – it seems simple until you realise it’s all relative. It’s that complexity that government and industry now need to wrestle with together. The consensus is that both sides can learn from the experience and build forward together with more certainty. Let’s take a moment to consider the future this new partnership can unlock. The government’s digital wallet and credentials can be likened to the role of the Bank of England in the financial system – it acts as the identity provider of last resort. Relying parties, such as retailers, can’t directly access what’s inside someone’s wallet - instead, they must go through a registered digital verification service (DVS). Think of these organisations as the retail banks of the identity ecosystem, with the Office for Digital Identity and Attributes (OfDIA) playing a role similar to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Of course, unlike the Bank of England or the FCA, neither the government wallet nor OfDIA are independent – but perhaps that’s a question for the next generation to solve. The point is this: the banking system offers a useful role model for how the identity and personal data market could evolve – where a person’s data, like their money, is something they own, store securely, and choose to share through trusted intermediaries. And here’s the other exciting thing about that analogy. The UK is the global powerhouse in financial and regulatory technology (fintech and regtech) – streets ahead of what’s brewing in Silicon Valley. We sometimes forget that. This is not just hype - it’s rooted in the real-world muscle of London, still the financial capital of the world. It’s this deep, practical, and highly specialised expertise – built in the crucible of high-trust, high-stakes finance – that’s now being unlocked for something new: a sovereign identity and personal data market. While the big tech giants have the global reach to roll out platforms at scale, it’s the UK that holds the keys to making the data economy actually work – in a way that fits with western democratic values. Not big tech surveillance. Not top-down state control. But something more balanced. More human. More trusted. That’s the real prize this new government partnership holds – not just for the digital identity sector, but for the future of the UK economy. A chance to lead the world once again – this time, in building the data layer of democracy. Now comes the hard part. For the past two decades, working in digital identity in the UK was often a lonely road – misunderstood, underfunded, and sometimes even ridiculed. Yet a small group of pioneers kept the flag flying, laying the groundwork that has now led to the creation of OfDIA – a regulatory framework that finally unlocks the innovative potential of the private sector. With the starting gun fired, identity is now going mainstream. A new wave of ideas – powered by trusted digital credentials – is about to flood the market. But identity alone won’t be enough to survive, let alone thrive. What matters now is value. Take banking. Customer-owned personal data stores – shared voluntarily, under their control – are a far richer source of information than anything a credit reference agency can offer. If banks became certified under the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework (DIATF) and the government added a domestic PEP (politically exposed persons) flag to the wallet, they could cut compliance costs by millions. The same goes for major recruiters, NHS trusts, and universities. With DBS certificates, HM Revenue & Customs data, qualifications, and right-to-work credentials in the wallet, time-to-hire and onboarding costs could be dramatically reduced – if these institutions become DVS certified. This isn’t evolution. It’s disruption. Supply chains will shift. Whole new categories of value-added identity services will emerge. Startups will rush in. Competition will intensify. And current identity providers? They’ll need to level up – fast – or risk being left behind. Meanwhile, in the short term, the tasks ahead are a bit messy and incomplete – but necessary. First, the government has set an ambitious goal - to introduce the public to digital ID through age verification for alcohol sales by Christmas. It’s a bold target, and one we should support – but with less than six months to go, it’s a tall order. Proof of concepts will be ready, but full-scale roll-out? Unlikely. Still, the urgency is welcome. Even if we miss the mark, it pushes the whole system forward and identity providers will have to forge new collaborations and ways of working they have not had to consider before. More importantly, this initiative can serve a greater purpose – unlocking regulatory resistance to digital identity across the wider economy. Right now, regulators aren’t aligned, and until they are, in-house compliance teams have no choice but to block innovation. But once the rules change, the brakes come off. Compliance professionals can become allies of change, working with technologists to enable business, not hold it back. And when that alignment happens – regulators, compliance, and tech all pulling in the same direction – the stage is set for the real magic. For the entrepreneurs, the builders, the investors - with government setting the guardrails and the market delivering the innovation - the future won’t just be an upgrade, it’ll be a transformation. Communication, education, and outreach programmes can transform every community – even those post-industrial regions that have been left behind. There should be no reason why people have to leave their hometowns to seek work and opportunity. We can find new and diverse ways of working once we know who we all are. In conclusion, 14 May could well be remembered as a watershed moment – not just for government and the identity industry, but for the future of the UK economy. And that’s before we even begin to explore the power of person-centric, controlled artificial intelligence (AI) – AI that serves individual creators, not big tech monopolies. So, hats off to Peter Kyle for his bold decisions and refreshing honesty. This is a moment that demands goodwill and open collaboration. Government and industry must move as one – the stakes are too high for division. This isn’t just about digital identity. It’s about sovereignty. It’s about dignity and rebuilding trust in an age of data. If we get this right in the UK, we won’t just be rebuilding the country and creating economic growth. We’ll empower people. We’ll unlock opportunity. And we’ll show the world how democracy can evolve – and thrive – in the digital era. The game is now well and truly on. And everything’s to play for. Let’s rise to meet it. David Crack is chair of the Association of Digital Verification Professionals, a trade body representing companies involved in the electronic validation of documents and digital identities. Read more about digital identity A driving licence in an app is a boost for digital identity - but not for angry suppliers - It’s rare that a digital government development attracts interest from mainstream media, but the announcement of a digital driving licence brought widespread national coverage. Distrust builds between digital ID sector and government amid speculation over 'ID cards by stealth' - The latest meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on digital identity was more exciting than it sounds. European Digital Identity Wallet: One ID for EU citizens - The European Digital Identity Wallet is a personal digital wallet with which you will be able to identify yourself digitally in the future. Is this the solution for a centralised ID?