David Lidsky's Blog, page 50

You might want a VPN on your phone. Here’s how to get started

The internet is increasingly being locked behind identity checks, alarming privacy advocates. VPNs offer more than just a way around them: They keep your personal data out of the hands of third parties—and hackers.

Interest in virtual private networks (VPNs) has surged in America and Europe this year. Countries on both sides of the Atlantic have recently enacted new age-verification laws designed to prevent users from accessing certain websites unless they first confirm their legal identity. Using a VPN can bypass these age checks by making a website think you are in a country that doesn’t require ID verification.

The subtle art of correcting your boss

Four winning strategies for saving a more senior leader from a mistake—without tanking your career in the process.

Unless you’re at the very top of the food chain, you have to do a certain amount of managing upward, where you are trying to influence the decisions of the people above you in the org chart. This relationship can be particularly awkward when you have to fix a mistake or a false impression of your supervisor or someone else with a more senior role.

Leadership Isn’t Masculine—Or Feminine. It’s Human

Three overlooked ‘soft skills’ that fuel hard business results.

When Melanie Dulbecco became CEO of Torani Syrups 34 years ago, she stepped in as its first non-family leader with less than $1 million in annual sales and an uncertain future. What happened next defied expectations. Under her leadership, Torani has averaged more than 20% annual growth year over year for three decades—doubling in size every few years. In 2024, the company reached $500 million in sales and is on track to hit $1 billion by 2030.

Google’s AI chatbot spirals, declaring ‘I am a disgrace to all universes’

A looping bug sent Google’s AI into a self-roast spiral.

AI might not have the capacity for human emotion, but it sure knows how to perform a believable mental breakdown. 

How scientists caught AI writing their colleagues’ papers

A new study in Nature Human Behaviour reveals how large language models quietly shaped research writing from 2020 to 2024.

A massive new study scanned more than a million scientific papers for signs of artificial intelligence, and the results were overwhelming: AI is everywhere.

Why Sweetgreen is ditching the fries customers loved

A botched rewards program rollout is just one ingredient in the fast-casual restaurant chain’s sales slump.

Sweetgreen is about to make some major changes amid slumping sales. Sadly, that includes ditching its newly introduced yet mega-popular menu item: Ripple Fries.

Trump’s crypto 401(k) executive order: Risks of saving for retirement in alternative assets, and who stands to benefit most

The order, signed Thursday, opens the door to allowing alternative assets like cryptocurrencies, private equity, and real estate into retirement accounts.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that opens the door to allowing alternative assets like cryptocurrencies, private equity, and real estate into 401(k) retirement accounts. Here’s what to know.

This con is robbing seniors blind—and growing fast

Criminals posing as bank reps or government agents are convincing older Americans to move their money—straight into scammers’ hands.

The number of older Americans getting scammed out of their savings has exploded over the last four years.

What the U.S. wants to achieve at the international plastic treaty talks

The U.S. aims to finalize text for a global agreement on plastic pollution that all countries will support, the State Department said.

Under President Donald Trump‘s leadership, the United States has withdrawn from international negotiations and commitments, particularly around climate. But the U.S. is very much involved in treaty talks for a global accord to end plastic pollution.

Bed Bath & Beyond rises from the dead—and yes, they’ll take your coupons

A new store opens today, but the revival may end there.

In the early 2000s, it was hard to pass through any major suburban center and not cross a Bed Bath & Beyond. The home retail stores were ever-present back then and so popular that one of the brand’s locations featured as a major plot point in the 2006 Adam Sandler comedy Click, which grossed nearly a quarter-billion dollars worldwide.