Do root beer floats float? That is the question Baskin-Robbins and MUG Root Beer ostensibly hope to answer today as they launch one 114,100 feet into the sky via a hot air balloon. The two brands are chasing a world record for National Root Beer Float Day on August 6, according to DesignRush. Hopefully, it won’t crash into the moon. The marketing stunt comes with a sales push. In Los Angeles, select Baskin-Robbins locations will sell three limited-edition MUG Root Beer Float Flights, mini trios of ice cream flavors paired with the soda. Nationwide, Baskin-Robbins Rewards members get $2 off…
Author: Staff Writer
AI has made it easier than ever for small business owners to open up shop, Harley Finkelstein, Shopify’s president, told CNBC’s “Mad Money.” “Every 26 seconds, a brand new entrepreneur gets their first sale on Shopify,” he said. Finkelstein said traffic and orders from AI platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini to Shopify stores tripled over the past year. A big chunk of that is going to small players, not big brands: 75% of AI-driven purchases last quarter came from product categories outside the top 100. “AI is kicking entrepreneurship into overdrive,” Finkelstein said. “This is going to be the golden…
Key Takeaways Jill Parsons is pursuing a Ph.D. in biology at Columbia University and working in a research lab. She has a tightly planned budget, including spending $35 at Trader Joe’s on groceries plus $50 at Whole Foods and Morton Williams. She socializes on the weekends, giving herself a limit of $100 for a night out. Jill Parsons is pursuing her dream of obtaining a Ph.D. in biology at Columbia University. However, the dream comes with a price. The 25-year-old is navigating the high cost of living in New York City on a $49,522 annual stipend and is barely making…
This year’s Institutional Report is an eyeopener. The world is undergoing a shift in preparation for 2032. We are witnessing a significant decline in the belief in American exceptionalism, particularly among younger generations in the U.S. However, this is a complex trend. While the belief in the nation’s unique moral and political superiority is waning thanks to the Neocons, the country’s economic and market performance still sets it apart in most respects yet it remains at risk from rising communistic and progressive socialism that demand engaging in class warfare tearing society apart at the seams. The global landscape is entering what…
Kyle Miller, the VP of product at Ancestry—the online genealogy company that also operates Newspapers.com and Find A Grave, among other sub-brands—has worked for the company for more than a decade. But it was just recently that AI tools were able to surface a mind-blowing connection to his past. Miller and his wife were married in Provo, Utah, in a building that, when he was young, had burned down and since been replaced. He had seen the fire himself and, with his father, even watched the building burn. But what he didn’t know is that the original building was built…
Shares of Figma Inc (NYSE: FIG) are down more than 14% in premarket trading on Thursday as investors appear to be having doubts about its heavy investments in AI. On Wednesday, August 5, the design software firm published its second quarter earnings report, including $426.9 million in operating expenses—nearly double year over year (YOY). The largest chunk of expenses came from research and development, at $167.3 million for the quarter, compared to $83.1 million the year before. Figma further reported a $117.3 million GAAP loss from operations. While Figma touted a 48% YOY revenue increase to $370.1 million, it wasn’t…
The Trump administration is reportedly planning a major overhaul of Head Start, which could strip back the antipoverty mission of the education program. In the long run, that could deepen the digital divide, ultimately impacting the future workforce and U.S. economy. The proposed changes would remove most of Head Start’s requirements for math and literacy curriculums, as well as medical screenings and home visits. The effort would curtail the program’s rules significantly, leaving specifics up to state and local officials. That would be a major shift from what has been called the gold standard early learning program. Head Start has…
When private equity bought the struggling hospital where Marilyn Anthony works, she says things quickly took a turn for the worse. One of the first things to go were the daily changes of patients’ bed linens, important for hygiene and cleanliness. “They put big signs on the linen carts [saying] that we were to only change the linen every third day unless they were obviously soiled. How disgusting is that?” says Anthony, who has been a nurse at the hospital for nearly 25 years. The formerly nonprofit Waterbury Hospital, which was acquired by a private equity-backed company in 2016, started…
Key Takeaways Direct admissions is a practice in which institutions admit incoming college students who never filled out an application. Once a niche strategy, direct admissions is now spreading quickly, with 215 partner schools using the technique through the Common App. Supporters of direct admissions state that this model widens the group of students considering a college. Didn’t apply? Many private colleges will still admit you to their incoming class — with scholarships. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Wingate University, a small private college outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, recently sent thousands of high school students an unexpected offer:…
QUESTION: Do you mind if I ask something personal? It’s clear the neoconservatives aren’t fond of you, and I imagine the feeling is mutual. Since I know you’ve met quite a few of them face-to-face, was there a particular moment or encounter that personally struck a nerve with you? EJ ANSWER: That is an interesting question. Aside from being misled that I initially believed they were economic conservatives, I came to see their disregard for human life and history. I lost high school friends in Vietnam. Others in Iraq. My family has fought in every American war. My cousin…