David Lidsky's Blog, page 237

‘This made my face feel so much tighter’: TikTok users claim banana peels can act as a natural form of Botox

The internet is raving about a new beauty hack. But dermatologists aren’t convinced.

Botox can be expensive. You know what isn’t? Bananas. 

This scrappy search upstart is getting thousands of people to give up Google

As Google results grow cluttered and AI runs rampant on the web, Kagi is winning over disillusioned searchers with an engine that puts them first.

Search today sure ain’t what it used to be.

Why organizations struggle to build confidence in supply chain integrity

Lack of access to accurate data could mean big headaches for supply chains in 2025, new research shows

A strong supply chain ensures the right goods are available at the right time, in the right place, and in the right quantities. An effective supply chain strengthens everything from customer loyalty and company reputation to market resilience and consumer safety. But supply chains are notoriously vulnerable to costly disruption, tampering, and theft. In today’s world of rapidly shifting consumer demands, ensuring supply chain integrity is critical to maintaining a healthy supply chain, which can mean the difference between keeping pace with and falling behind the competition.

How time zones impact your work and mental health

For better productivity and wellness, nearshore roles to a similar time zone.

Imagine this: A team meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. in California. For software developers in Mumbai, it’s 5:30 a.m. the next day—prime sleeping hours or, at best, the tail end of an exhausting night shift. In Poland, where other team members are based, it’s already 1 a.m., and the developers are long offline. Awkward timing for a call, to say the least.

Santorini gets hit with multiple earthquakes. Here’s what to know

About 200 quakes with magnitudes of between 3 and 4.9 were registered from Saturday to Monday afternoon between Santorini, Greece, and the nearby island of Amorgos, authorities said.

Multiple earthquakes are rattling Santorini, a volcanic island in Greece, prompting authorities to dispatch rescuers with tents, a sniffer dog and drones, and to shut schools on four islands.

Trump’s tariffs could derail online shopping in the U.S.

Large tariffs would likely push prices upward—and could tank e-commerce.

A lot has changed since Donald Trump’s first term in the White House. E-commerce’s share of total retail sales has risen from 15% at the end of 2020 to 16.2%—a 1.2 percentage-point increase, but a near-10% rise in real terms. The number of packages entering the United States that come under the $800 de minimis threshold, which allows imports to enter the country “duty free,” has gone from around 600,000 in 2020 to more than one million in 2024.

Dozens of Education Department staff were put on leave over Trump’s anti-DEI order

The majority of Education Department employees placed on leave do not work in DEI initiatives and span all branches of the agency.

Dozens of employees at the U.S. Education Department were put on paid administrative leave in response to President Donald Trump’s order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the federal government, according to a labor union that represents hundreds of workers in the agency.

Trump signs order to create a sovereign wealth fund that could buy TikTok

Trump offered little in the way of detail, and it was unclear how the sovereign wealth fund would work.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday ordering the creation of a sovereign wealth fund within the next year, saying it could potentially buy the short video app TikTok.

Barnes & Noble will open 60 new bookstores in 2025, breaking last year’s record as bookstore revival ramps up

After a decade of downsizing, the beloved bookseller is seeing a resurgence thanks in part to TikTok’s #BookTok and a rise in so-called third spaces.

January was a long month, but we finally have some good news in 2025: Bookseller Barnes & Noble plans to open at least 60 new stores this year, topping last year’s record of 57 stores and marking a steady revival of its brick-and-mortar bookstores across the country.

Florida could see an 89% increase in home insurance rates thanks to climate change

Across the country, a new report finds that home insurance premiums will go up by an average of 25% over the next 30 years—and in some states, the bills will be much higher.

If you own a house, your insurance premiums have probably surged over the last several years. A new report outlines how much worse it could get as climate disasters keep growing: In Florida, for example, the insurance cost for an average house could go up 89% in the next 30 years. In Miami, the cost for a homeowner could go up by 322%, or an additional $11,000 a year.