Author: knjohn

T-Mobile Starlink is offering free (temporary) access even if you’re not a T-Mobile customer | Mashable

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T-Mobile’s Starlink satellite messaging service is free for everyone to try — even AT&T and Verizon customers.

During the Super Bowl on Sunday, T-Mobile announced the public beta launch of its direct-to-cell program with Starlink. Customers can sign up, free of charge, until it moves out of beta in July. And you don’t have to be a T-Mobile subscriber to try it out.

“When your service is amazing and different, you want as many people to try it as possible,” reads the announcement. “T-Mobile is giving AT&T and Verizon customers the opportunity to try out T-Mobile Starlink satellite service on their existing phones.”

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Are AI features good for dating apps? | Mashable

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Frustration with dating apps isn’t hard to find in 2025. Between talk of dating app fatigue and dating apps becoming increasingly similar online, you can hardly swipe on your FYP without some complaint about being on “the apps.”

Dating app executives seem to be aware of this. Both Hinge’s CEO and Bumble’s former CEO mentioned burnout and exhaustion, respectively, and Tinder is enlisting influencers to try to entice young adults into swiping.

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McDonald’s was having a rough 2024. An E. coli outbreak made it worse | CNN Business

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Visits to McDonald’s plunged because of an E. coli outbreak last fall — and so did its profits.

Fourth-quarter sales at McDonald’s locations open for at least one year fell 1.4% in the United States, a reversal compared to the same time period a year prior when sales rose 4.3%. The rough quarter only compounded with the rest of a tough 2024, with McDonald’s value perception slipping among its cash-conscious customers, many of whom ended up eating elsewhere.

“Our performance in 2024 did not meet our expectations,” CEO Chris Kempczinski said on a call with analysts Monday. “It was a big year, and at times it felt like McDonald’s was part of almost every major news story, reflecting the reach and visibility of our brand.”

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Trump instructs Treasury to halt penny production | CNN Business

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President Donald Trump announced Sunday that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt the production of pennies, citing the high cost of producing one cent.

“For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time,” Trump said in a post to social media as he returned to Washington from the Super Bowl.

The penny has been under fire for years, with the movement to eliminate the penny picking up steam last month after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency posted on X calling attention to the high cost of producing the single-cent coin.

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Orcas off Antarctica filmed teaching calves to hunt in incredible new footage | Live Science

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Stunning new footage captures the moment adult orcas carefully teach their calves how to hunt, demonstrating how to push a seal off a bit of ice before getting the young to give it a go themselves.

The clip shows a group of seven orcas — four adults and three calves — as they circle a seal on a tiny chunk of ice in western Antarctica’s Marguerite Bay. The lesson, which lasted over an hour, was filmed for the new PBS show “Nature: Expedition Killer Whale,” which follows a remarkable group of pack ice orcas (Orcinus orca) that live off the coast of Antarctica.

“The biggest surprise was the careful, measured way in which the females kept the seal corralled close to the piece of ice without fatally injuring it, so that it would climb back out onto the ice,” Leigh Hickmott, a whale biologist and science advisor for the show, who observed the encounter from a boat nearby, told Live Science in an email.

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Is the moon still geologically active? Evidence says it’s possible | Live Science

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The moon may still be geologically active, judging from the way the lunar far side is wrinkling as the moon contracts. At least, that’s what planetary scientists who have discovered 266 lunar “wrinkle ridges,” say, as all of these ridges appear to have formed during the past 160 million years in the rare volcanic plains on the lunar far side.

“Knowing that the moon is still geologically dynamic has very real implications for where we’re going to put our astronauts, equipment and infrastructure on the moon,” said one of those scientists, Jaclyn Clark of the University of Maryland, in a statement.

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Communicate With Employees to Maintain Engagement | Business News Daily

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Effective workplace communication can foster meaningful, authentic employee engagement and solid working relationships that will strengthen your organization’s core. However, businesses sometimes confuse disseminating information with communication.

Genuine employee communication is a two-way street that includes personal connections, sharing the big picture, and giving and accepting feedback. Engaged employees are more productive and loyal, make fewer mistakes, and produce higher-quality work – ultimately impacting customer satisfaction.

In contrast, poor communication between management and their teams can lead to tangible losses, such as time spent correcting errors – and lost time often equals lost profit. A Grammarly and Harris Poll study found that ineffective communication processes cost U.S. businesses up to $1.2 trillion every year.

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Ford lost $5 billion on its EV business in 2024—and things could get worse this year | Fast Company

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Ford Motor on Wednesday projected up to $5.5 billion in losses on its electric vehicle and software operations this year, a loss similar to last year and a sign of the severe difficulties in cutting costs on battery-powered models.

The automaker forecast overall profitability for 2025, but even that was lower than in 2024. For the fourth quarter, it reported a net profit of $1.8 billion, up from a loss of $500 million in the year-ago quarter as pension-related costs weighed on results.

The company’s shares were down nearly 5% in after-hours trading

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Nevada dairy cows have been infected with a new strain of bird flu | Fast Company

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Dairy cattle in Nevada have been infected with a new type of bird flu that’s different from the version that has spread in U.S. herds since last year, Agriculture Department officials said Wednesday.

The detection indicates that distinct forms of the virus known as Type A H5N1 have spilled over from wild birds into cattle at least twice. Experts said it raises new questions about wider spread and the difficulty of controlling infections in animals and the people who work closely with them.

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Responsible AI Implementation Is Possible—Start With This AI Compliance Checklist – AllBusiness.com

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing industries by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enabling smarter decision-making. However, integrating AI into business operations brings challenges, especially concerning legal and ethical compliance.

Small business owners, in particular, must navigate these complexities to ensure their AI systems align with current laws and uphold public trust. Developing a comprehensive AI compliance checklist is a critical first step toward responsible AI use.

Explore this detailed framework for ensuring responsible AI implementations that adhere to existing legal and ethical standards, including in key areas such as data protection, algorithmic transparency, fairness, and regulatory updates.

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