David Lidsky's Blog, page 267

Girl Scout Cookie season is here: These two popular flavors are on the chopping block, so stock up while you can

It’s that time of year again, when young entrepreneurs start going door-to-door selling familiar sweet treats.

On Tuesday, Girl Scouts of the USA kicked off its 2025 cookie season. (As a former Girl Scout, I can say that finding inventive ways to sell cookies was my first experience as an entrepreneur.)

Try this technique to schedule deep work directly into your calendar

By specifying how long to spend on each task, timeboxing helps you create a realistic plan taking into account your priorities and available time.

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Sam Altman offers clues about where OpenAI is headed

In his latest blog post, Sam Altman gave his take on what’s been happening behind the scenes at OpenAI—and what’s next for its technology.

On Sunday OpenAI cofounder and CEO Sam Altman published a blog post titled Reflections about his company’s progress—and the speed bumps along the way—during its first nine years. Altman’s words are important because OpenAI has a very good chance of being first to reach AGI, or artificial general intelligence (machines that are generally as smart or smarter than humans), then progressing on toward superintelligent systems (which are far smarter than humans). And these systems, when applied in the real world, could affect all of us in profound ways. Altman’s comments, however, might illuminate this transition a bit more with some added context.

Dockworkers resume labor talks, focusing on automation at ports

The International Longshoremen’s Association wants to eliminate past labor-contract concessions on automation, arguing they pose a threat to jobs.

Contract talks covering 45,000 dockworkers on the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts are set to restart on Tuesday in a labor dispute that will help set the pace of automation at ports stretching from Maine to Texas.

China’s Trina Solar sets world record for solar conversion tech

Trina’s large-surface-area n-type fully passivated heterojunction modules demonstrated an efficiency of 25.44%.

China’s Trina Solar has set a new world record for the conversion efficiency of a certain type of solar module, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Trump denies report that his team plans to scale back tariffs

The ‘Washington Post’ had reported that Trump aides were exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but only cover certain sectors deemed critical to national or economic security.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Monday denied a newspaper report that said his aides were exploring tariff plans that would only cover critical imports, deepening uncertainty among business leaders about future U.S. trade policies.

Flying this winter? Here’s what to do if your flight is canceled

When airlines expect bad weather to create problems for flights, they often give travelers a chance to postpone their trips by a few days without having to pay a fee.

Winter weather often causes flight delays and cancellations. While airlines can’t control the weather, they are required in the U.S. to provide refunds to customers whose flights are canceled. Here’s what to know about your rights, and what to know when cancellations start piling up:

If you buy a Ford EV, you can still get a free home charger through March

Ford extended the popular program, after sales of its EVs hit a record in the fourth quarter of 2024, with more than 30,000 vehicles sold.

After record EV sales in 2024, Ford is extending a program in which it gives a complimentary home charger and installation to EV buyers.

Meet the ethics czar who will vet Trump officials

David Huitema faces special challenges ahead of Trump’s second term.

The top U.S. ethics official charged with preventing government workers’ conflicts of interest is about to take the hot seat in Washington, as President-elect Donald Trump‘s new cabinet and other appointees declare their financial assets and prepare for their new jobs.

Online shopping grew to $1.2 trillion over the holiday season, Salesforce found

The strong sale season was boosted by surges in mobile and social media commerce, according to new Salesforce data.

Online sales hit record highs—$1.2 trillion globally and $282 billion in the U.S.—over the holiday season, but high return rates could hit strong profit margins, according to new data from Salesforce.