Author: Staff Writer

If you’re considering buying a home services franchise, start by understanding the industry landscape. Research key sectors like pest control or home health care. Next, evaluate your finances and set a clear budget. Explore various franchise options that align with your interests. Connecting with current franchisees can provide valuable insights. With these steps in mind, you can effectively position yourself for success. Ready to explore funding options and finalize your agreement? Key Takeaways Research the home services franchise landscape to understand various sectors, demand, and initial investment requirements before making a decision. Establish a clear budget, including startup costs and…

Television and movie actors on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to ratify a four-year contract with studios and streaming services, a month after their union leaders negotiated a deal they say provides protections against synthetic actors created by artificial intelligence.The ratification was widely expected and a walkout never seemed to be in the cards during drama-free negotiations, but the vote assures there will be no repeat of the 2023 actor and writer strikes that seriously shook the entertainment industry.More than 90% of votes from members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists approved of the agreement, with about…

Every June, the school year ends, and the framework that kept us afloat all year vanishes. If you’re lucky, your child is in camp. If you’re very lucky, camp goes past 3 p.m. And if you’re really lucky, it doesn’t cost as much as a mortgage payment. A time that signifies fun and freedom for our kids is a three-month scheduling nightmare for adults. And the strange part is everyone knows it’s coming, yet many workplaces expect parents to function as though nothing in their daily life has changed. After talking to dozens of parents about this, coupled with my…

I can recall feeling a little betrayed when I learned the backstory of my favorite cartoon. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe didn’t get its start as the brainchild of a television writer or a comic book artist. No, the muscle-bound toy came first—which meant my preferred entertainment was essentially a 30-minute commercial for action figures. (Battle Cat sold separately.) But even though He-Man’s origins seem crass and capitalistic, there’s real pop culture affection for him and his franchise; otherwise, there’d be no live-action Masters of the Universe in 2026. Creating He-Man may have been motivated by nothing more…

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. I love Laura Vanderkam’s books about how to make the most of time. It’s never about stuffing more into our days. It’s not about productivity. It’s about savoring and being creatively thoughtful about what we choose to do. Her books 168 Hours and Tranquility by Tuesday changed how I think about my own weeks. For example, her argument for “effortful before effortless,” nudged me to spend more of my discretionary time on my hobbies. Her latest book, Big Time, released last month, makes the case for time…

The historic racetracks that host the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing are each in the midst of an evolution, with major upgrades, renovations, and in one case, a complete rebuild—and they’re all happening at once. It’s part of an industry-level reckoning with the changing demands of horseracing spectators, and the changing fortunes of horseracing itself. The three racetracks—Churchill Downs in Louisville, Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, and Belmont Park in Elmont, New York—are all in various stages of renovation, each with a design led by the sports-centric architecture firm Populous. They’re getting new grandstand configurations and infield access improvements, fancier…

On Monday, June 8, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC) kicks off. As its name suggests, the weeklong event is primarily aimed at developers who make apps for Apple’s myriad operating systems. But it’s also a big day for Apple consumers, who get to see previews of the software that will be available on Apple devices this fall. Thanks to an AI focus, WWDC26 may be one of the most consequential Apple developer conferences ever. Here’s what to expect from Apple when the company’s keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time in a few days—as well as some…

Enterprise AI today feels strangely familiar: The infrastructure is powerful. The capabilities are real. The demonstrations are impressive. Models can write, summarize, reason, code, search, retrieve, translate, classify, plan, and increasingly act. The raw machinery is there.  And yet, inside companies, the same pattern keeps repeating: pilots everywhere, transformation nowhere near the promise. The first article in this series argued that large language models were never built to run a company because companies operate through memory, context, feedback, constraints, state, incentives, and dependencies — not through isolated sequences of text. The second argued that enterprise AI must move from answers to outcomes,…

What’s the point of a manager, really? Ask an executive, and they may say managers are essential for ensuring accountability and team performance. Ask an employee, and they’ll probably tell you that becoming a manager is their main path to advancement. Both perspectives hold truth, and both underscore a pressing need to reconsider how management roles operate. Many organizations have a lot of managers in their ranks, perhaps due to a long-standing belief that investing in manager positions will improve business performance. However, promoting employees to management as a retention strategy has overpopulated leadership ranks while diminishing the quality of…

As artificial intelligence (AI) takes over many entry-level tasks, early career roles are becoming harder to find and land, with postings declining by 35% since 2023. This decrease has created an experience gap. Entry-level candidates lack the skillset employers are looking for and at the same time, traditional pathways to gain those skills are disappearing. For years, entry-level roles were the natural starting point for a career. But in reality, they served a deeper purpose. These roles were how new graduates learned to operate in the workforce, providing an opportunity to gain and practice skills, contribute to business outcomes and…