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☆ Millennials rejoice: Wedge sandals are back!
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chloé's runway show this week featured models (and celebs) in high-heeled wedge sandals. It wasn't the clothes on the models but rather the image of the celebrities sitting in the front row — all wearing big, chunky platform wedge sandals. Technically, Vogue already declared "wedge sandals are back" last April. AdvertisementElder millennials have suffered the indignity of seeing some of the trends of their youth come back — low-rise jeans, trucker hats. But wedge sandals?

Persons: —, Chemena Kamali, millennials, Vanessa Friedman Organizations: Service, Vogue France, Vogue, New York Times Locations: Paris

☆ A bizarre Willy Wonka-themed children's event became a viral disaster. Here's everything that went wrong.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A disastrous Willy Wonka-themed children's event went viral for all the wrong reasons. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Instead, the bizarre Willy Wonka-themed event in Glasgow, Scotland, featured a sparse warehouse filled with low-budget props and drew comparisons with the similarly ill-fated Fyre Festival. Videos of customers confronting event organizers have since been shared on social media. "I ended up playing Willy Wonka for three and a half hours straight," Paul Connell told The Independent.

Persons: Willy Wonka, Here's, —, Stuart Sinclair, Sinclair, Paul Connell, Wonka, Connell, BI's Katie Notopoulos Organizations: Service, Illuminati, The Daily Mail Locations: Glasgow, Scotland

☆ It's not just you. Eggshells really are chipping more.
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

There's actually a reason — and it has to do with the same avian flu outbreak that made eggs so expensive last year. AdvertisementLast year, egg prices went through the roof, with prices more than doubling in certain US states. Because so many chickens died from the flu, egg producers had to adapt. The good news is that egg prices have normalized, thankfully (although they're still more expensive than 2019). That means the worst of the flu outbreak is over, and production is back up.

Persons: —, I've, I'd, It's, they'd, Sheila Purdum, Purdum, it's, Kevin Harvatine, they're Organizations: Service, University of Nebraska, Influenza, of Animal Science, Penn State University Locations: Lincoln

☆ 'The Unknown' is the best part of the disastrous Willy Wonka house
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A crummy "Willy Wonka experience" event in Glasgow went viral for how laughable and disappointing it was. Amid the cheap decorations and actors in cheap costumes, one thing stood out: "The Unknown," a fake villain they made up. An evil candymaker, this horrifying silver-faced ghoul is now, I declare, officially Wonka canon. And it is for this reason that we must now accept that "The Unknown" is officially part of the Willy Wonka canon. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers.

Persons: Willy Wonka, —, it's, Charlie Organizations: Service, Business Locations: Glasgow

☆ Tumblr is selling user data to train AI. Things could get weird.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read preview404 Media reported that Auttomatic, the company that owns WordPress and Tumblr, is making a deal to provide data from their sites to help train OpenAI and Midjourney. The blog post says that Auttomatic's sites currently block AI crawlers, but when they start sharing data with the AI companies, they'll offer an opt-out from doing so in the future. Reddit has a $60 million-a-year deal to license its data to Google to train its AI. This can be controversial for some users, who feel uncomfortable about their content — on Tumblr, this is often personal writing or photography or art — being used to train AI. When platforms with user-generated content are selling that content to train AI, it feels, well, understandably weird.

Persons: —, Auttomatic, Sherlock Holmes fanfiction, Sherlock, Watson, Reddit, I'm, Midjourney Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Facebook

☆ Some shoppers are spending big money on 'craft ice' fridges and high-tech washing machines, Lowe's exec says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Dominick Reuter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

While most shoppers are more budget-conscious, Lowe's execs say some are spending big on appliances. One smart LG fridge that makes "craft ice" is a "top-seller despite retailing for over $2,500," one exec said. This fridge makes really nice ice. Lowe'sIndeed, one model in the LG line that makes the fancy ice has a list price of a whopping $4,299. "They're not afraid to invest in, for example, the GE Profile all-in-one washer-dryer combination that retails for over $2,500," Boltz said.

Persons: —, Lowe's, Marvin Ellison, They're, Bill Boltz, that's, Boltz, Katie Notopoulos, Notopoulos Organizations: LG, Service, Home Depot, GE, Wall Street Journal

☆ Meet the DIPS parents: Double Income, Public School. They've got it better than the POLKs, or Parents of Little Kids.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-25 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But the double whammy of housing plus childcare costs doesn't hit all parents — just parents of very young kids. However, after-school programs or an afternoon babysitter are typically a fraction of the cost of full-time day care.) I propose we call them: DIPS, or Double Income, Public School. For example, Massachusetts has the highest average childcare costs, where day care for an infant is $24,472. I'm stuck in between — one kid in public school and a younger one still in day care.

Persons: —, Alcynna Lloyd, Lloyd, Zillow, it's, I'm, Rich, Stanley, you'll, they'll, POLK Organizations: Service, Business, Public School, Kids, Nationwide Locations: Los Angeles, San Diego, California, Massachusetts, Iowa, In Massachusetts

☆ Reddit aims to ride the AI wave by going public
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The platform's listing, expected next month, would be the largest IPO by a social media company since Pinterest in 2019. That means some are wondering why Reddit has waited until now to make its move, but AI might have something to do with it. Reddit also listed data licensing and AI training as part of its income streams. "We are going public to advance our mission and become a stronger company," he said in a founder's letter included in the prospectus. AdvertisementRepresentatives for Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI, made outside normal working hours.

Persons: Reddit, Sam Altman, Steve Huffman, Huffman, Fortune, Katie Notopoulos Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Facebook, Twitter, Business, Securities and Exchange Commission, Google, University, Virginia, GameStop, AMC Locations: Reddit

☆ The Tooth Fairy Is Getting Out of Control
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

But when I read in Axios that the going rate per tooth from the Tooth Fairy is $5.84, well, I nearly choked on my Werther's Original. Frankly, the Tooth Fairy price is too damn high. AdvertisementThe Tooth Fairy's going rate is $5.84 a tooth, according to a Delta Dental report. These parents are following a trend of doing big celebrations for not just milestones like Sweet 16s or graduations, but "inchstones" like a lost tooth. AdvertisementMy son did mention to me that he had heard that other kids got $20 from the Tooth Fairy, which I sort of brushed off.

Persons: —, Fred Durst, Louis Vuitton, he's Organizations: Service, Delta Dental, Street Journal, New York

☆ Redditors don't want to buy Reddit stock
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It's offering something unusual: the chance for moderators to buy stock. The possibility of a bunch of Redditors holding stock is enough of a risk for volatility that they had to mention it in their IPO filings. But are Reddit's power users actually interested in buying Reddit stock? r/WallStreetBets is a subreddit with 15 million subscribers devoted to meme-heavy stock chatter, best known for being the 2021 GameStop stock craze. AdvertisementAs far as what this means for Reddit's IPO, who knows?

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Google, Business, GameStop

☆ This husband and wife are the biggest trolls on TikTok — and it pays
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Christi Fritz and her husband have gone viral on TikTok for cutting the soles off their shoes to go barefoot. Advertisement"My husband and I have removed the bottoms of all our shoes," Christi Fritz says in a voiceover of their most viral TikTok video, with 56 million views. "We decided to start walking barefoot," Christi explains. ("Grounding" or "earthing" is a Gwenyth Paltrow-endorsed practice meant to commune with nature by walking barefoot on the soil. In a follow-up to their viral barefoot video, the Fritzes stroll down the streets of downtown Cleveland barefoot and into the public library.

Persons: Christi Fritz, —, Seth Fritz, Christi, Paltrow, ike, y oung, ideo, ealth, iral Organizations: Service, ritz, ust

☆ Vindication for the cheap white refrigerator! Those fancy appliances break — and are so expensive to fix.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New and fancy appliances have electronic parts that break down more easily. Maybe the humble white fridge deserves our respect. Being budget-friendly, the white fridge is something of a "landlord special," like painting over an electrical outlet. Unlike fancier stainless steel refrigerators with digital buttons and ice makers, a white fridge is built to last. Justice for the white fridge!

Persons: Nene Leakes, castmate Kenya Moore, Leakes, fridges, Mansoor Soomro, they've Organizations: Housewives of Atlanta, castmate, Street Journal, Teesside University, Justice Locations: Middlesbrough, England

☆ Is your mom a 'Temu victim?'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Read previewWe know several things to be true about Temu, the Chinese-owned e-commerce app:This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. So we know that older shoppers love Temu, and they love the fun, whimsical, and cheap household items it sells — wall art, shower curtains, kitchen items, etc. AdvertisementOne Gen X Temu shopper told me he likes Temu because it reminds him of the stuff he's seen on late-night infomercials. Here's the flip side of this: The children, often Gen Z young adults, of those Gen X or boomer shoppers, are making fun of them for being "Temu victims." I say: Let the moms (and dads and grandparents) enjoy their Temu.

Persons: —, X, boomer, Steffi Cao, Stanley Organizations: Service, Business

☆ Mark Zuckerberg has entered his Posting Era
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Mark Zuckerberg put out an Instagram video reviewing the Apple Vision Pro this week. AdvertisementHaving not personally tested both devices, I am not fully qualified to judge whether Mark Zuckerberg's video review accurately compares Apple's Vision Pro to the Meta Quest 3. Mark Zuckerberg has entered his Posting Era. I don't attempt to think too hard about Mark Zuckerberg's inner life, but I don't get the sense that what we're seeing is a window into his soul. What I see now is something I never thought might happen: Mark Zuckerberg is getting high on his own supply.

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's, He's, —, Mark Zuckerberg's, We've, Zuckerberg, it's, Priscilla, Mark, I've, Andrew, Boz, Bosworth, Steve Ballmer, poopooed, Ping, Cook, Elon, Zuckerberg's, Apple, It's, Tim Cook, Meta Organizations: Apple Vision, Service, Meta, Vision, Morning, Vision Pro, Microsoft, Apple, Apple's, Facebook, iTunes Locations: TikTok

☆ You have to read this story about a woman who was scammed out of $50,000
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

New York Magazine's personal finance writer just published a personal essay about how she was scammed. Believing she was talking to the FBI, she handed a shoebox with her $50,000 in savings in cash to a stranger. New York Magazine published an astonishing personal essay from one of their writers (a personal finance writer, no less!) Charlotte Cowles says she was scammed out of $50,000. Just read it: The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger

Persons: —, Charlotte Cowles, Dia Dipasupil, they'd Organizations: FBI, Service, New York Magazine

☆ TikTok is pissing everyone off right now. Here's how its brute-force tactics could pay off — or backfire.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Dan Whateley | Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. The move was an about-face for the president, whose administration had spent years calling it a national security risk. AdvertisementIt’s been deep in a public spat over music licensing with one of its most important partners, Universal Music Group. Some users have said it’s ruining the app by promoting shopping over the funny skits and dancing videos that first made TikTok popular. For leaders at ByteDance, who often have the final say over product decisions at TikTok, copying ideas from Douyin to TikTok is part of their playbook.

Persons: —, TikTok, Joe Biden, Biden, Brandon, TikTok isn’t, it's, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, UMG, ” TikTok, it’s, TikTok's, ByteDance, It’s, Meghana, Pissing, ” Michael Huppe, Katie Notopoulos, ” Dhar Organizations: Service, White, Business, Universal Music Group, Music, Black, Facebook, Google, Big Tech, ”, YouTube, Shopping Network Locations: TikTok, Washington, Meghana Dhar, China, ByteDance

☆ Gen Z has discovered the ultimate anti-layoff hack: government jobs
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-13 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gen Zers and millennials are wary of layoffs — especially a recent wave hitting the tech sector. Job security, a pension, strong benefits, and student loan forgiveness. "People in private sector jobs are three times more likely to lose their jobs than people in federal government jobs," she said, adding that public sector workers can also expect to enjoy a "better work-life balance" with a lot more paid time off. It's no secret that Gen Z is looking to rethink their approach to work and careers. It may seem counterintuitive to want to work in the public sector, which typically has lower salaries than the private sector.

Persons: Gen Zers, —, Uncle Sam, Bonnie Dilber, They're Organizations: Service, Meta, Google, CIA, Big Tech

☆ Wow, turns out owning 75 Stanley cups isn't environmentally friendly
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

But the impact of manufacturing a stainless steel cup is significant, so you really need to use that cup a lot to make it worthwhile. And you're replacing dozens or even hundreds of single-use cups with that one reusable mug," said Sandra Goldmark of Columbia University's Climate School. Of course, this gets even hairier when you consider that Stanley cups have peaked in trendiness, and are now the domain of middle schoolers. The takeaway — at least environmentally: one Stanley cup is good. Many Stanley cups … not so good.

Persons: Stanley Quencher, Stanley, Sandra Goldmark, you've, —, … Organizations: Service, Business, The New York Times, Columbia, Climate Locations: California, trendiness

☆ Sam Altman wants to raise up to $7 trillion. That's, uh, a lot of dough.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Sam Altman is trying to raise up to $7 trillion to manufacture new chips to power AI. According to The Wall Street Journal, he's partly trying to raise money in the U.A.E. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe Wall Street Journal reports that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has met with officials from the United Arab Emirates to pitch his plan to build lots and lots of new chip factories. OpenAI needs more computing power (currently, it relies on Microsoft for this) — and this means it needs more silicon chip factories.

Persons: Sam Altman, he's, — Organizations: Wall Street, Service, Street Journal, United, Microsoft Locations: United Arab Emirates

☆ The biggest winners and losers from the new sports streaming service
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. ESPN, Warner Bros., and Fox announced plans this week for a new sports streaming service set to launch this fall . That could put an end to cable TV as we know it , Nathan McAlone, Business Insider's deputy media editor, writes. Ashley Rodriguez, BI's media editor, has a breakdown of the six biggest questions about this new sports streamer . Games on YouTubeTV, for example, are noticeably delayed compared to cable TV broadcasts .

Persons: —, Katie Notopoulos, David Jensen, Nathan McAlone, it's, Ashley Rodriguez, Peter Kafka, BI's, Peter, Nathan, Ashley —, We've, Ashley, Fox, Rick Wilking, Reuters Leon Cooperman, Marc Rubinstein, Yi Huiman, Xi Jinping, Jordan Hart, It's, Justin Metz, Blackstone, Bob Iger, Donald Trump, Dan DeFrancesco, Hallam Bullock, Jordan Parker Erb, George Glover Organizations: Business, Service, ESPN, Warner Bros, Fox, ESPN2, ABC, FOX, Peter : Media, Nathan, Warner Bros ., NFL, Cable, Comcast, Paramount, Reuters, Signature Bank, New York Community Bancorp, Securities, Commission, that's, Apple Vision, Microsoft, BI, of Foreign Labor, Apollo, KKR, Bain Capital, Disney, Epic Games, ConocoPhillips, US Locations: New, China, Beijing, New York, London

☆ TikTok is kind of bad now, right? The emphasis on shopping really bums me out.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Let's start with what deserves most of the blame: the TikTok Shop. The emphasis on Shop content has two bad effects. AdvertisementThe first is the simple fact that I'm being shown lots more low-quality videos that I'm not actually interested in. Tiktok / ScreenshotIt used to be that TikTok would try to convince me I had undiagnosed ADHD; now, it just insists I want to buy Halara brand pants. Reels is still way worse than TikTok: The content is awful and the algorithm is stupider.

Persons: Something's, I'd, I'm, TikTok, whimsy, it's, Rebecca Jennings, Vox, I've Organizations: Business, New York Times Locations: lifecycles

☆ Bluesky is finally open to everyone. But will anyone come? We ask its CEO.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Starting Tuesday, Bluesky is finally out of "beta" and will be open to anyone — no codes needed. Like Mastodon and Threads, Bluesky is an experiment in a new, "decentralized" way of running a social app, where users can create their own communities and moderation rules. AdvertisementJack Dorsey was involved in creating Bluesky while he was still at Twitter and now sits on its board. Business Insider spoke with Jay Graber, the CEO of Bluesky, about the app — which she said now has 3 million users. If you've never modified anything else, that's like a normal social app experience.

Persons: —, Bluesky, Joe Biden couldn't, Jack Dorsey, Meta, Jay Graber, We've, we've, you've Organizations: Service, Twitter, Meta, Business

☆ Gen X and boomers love Temu. I asked them why.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Recent research showed that boomers and Gen Xers shopped more frequently on Temu than younger people. I was surprised when I read a research study recently that said that Gen X and boomer Temu shoppers tended to spend slightly more per order and placed orders more often than younger shoppers. AdvertisementSo I asked readers who were boomers or Gen Xers to write in and tell me: Why do they love Temu so much? The Gen X and boomers denied this — most of them said they ignored the annoying roulette wheels. —LanieA variety of items bought by a Gen Xer on Temu Kristy MeeksA crafter who gets jewelry-making supplies:I shop on Temu mostly for jewelry, crafting and jewelry supplies.

Persons: Gen Xers, —, fanny, Elsa, X, Temu, Xers, Tyrone A, I'm, They're, it's, — Linda, Kristy Meeks, Lydia, I've, Randy, Bill Craft supples, Bill Eldridge The Organizations: Service, Amazon Locations: Temu, Toronto, China

☆ Mark Zuckerberg has a new look
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Mark Zuckerberg was forced to stand up and apologize to the parents of dead children in the room. Zuckerberg has kept his hair short over the last decade. AdvertisementLet's investigate:Mark Zuckerberg walks into the Senate with a new growth. Kevin DietschAnd yet here, the hair doesn't look long at all; it's barely touching the top of his collar:Here, the hair is just slightly down his neck.

Persons: —, Mark Zuckerberg, Linda Yaccarino, Sen, Tom Cotton, Zuckerberg, Caesar, he's, Alex Wong, Anna Moneymaker, Kevin Dietsch, BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, Champ, Brittany Stevens Organizations: Service, Meta, Business, Pillsbury, Senate, Alex Wong Computer, USA

☆ Why dragging tech CEOs in front of Congress might mean something this time
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Katie Notopoulos | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

download the appSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. But his consistent criticism of some of the real issues happening in Big Tech has sometimes reminded me of a classic Clickhole headline: "Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made a Great Point." Section 230 is controversial and has become a rallying point for some conservatives and others, who think it allows Big Tech to hide from criticisms that it isn't fair to all sides. Clearly, these big platforms haven't succeeded — sometimes motivated by a whole bunch of internal factors, including profit. AdvertisementBut if there were some magic bullet to stop child exploitation, I truly believe the companies would've used it by now.

Persons: —, Sen, Josh Hawley, Hawley, Mark Zuckerberg, flay, Sundar Pichai, Zuckerberg, Utah Sen, Orrin Hatch, Zuckerberg blinked, Meta, sextortion, Marsha Blackburn, Wednesday's, there's Organizations: Service, Big Tech, Republican, Business, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Street, Meta, ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation Locations: Big, Missouri, Utah, Florida, Tennessee

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