Supplement on Guidelines for developing a sustainable e-waste management system
Source: Egypt, Uganda

Proposal of second draft of K.soft_ba "Overview of particle radiation effects on telecommunications systems"
Source: Fujitsu Limited, Xilinx Incorporation

Single-ended line testing for digital subscriber lines

Improved impulse noise protection for digital subscriber line (DSL) transceivers

Handshake procedures for digital subscriber line transceivers

Implementation of the generic mechanism in the IEEE 1905.1a-2014 standard to include applicable ITU-T Recommendations

End-to-end quality of service for video telephony over 4G mobile networks

Very high speed digital subscriber line transceivers 2 (VDSL2)

Interface between the link layer and the physical layer for digital subscriber line (DSL) transceivers

Indoor optical camera communication transceivers - System architecture, physical layer and data link layer specification

High-speed indoor visible light communication transceiver - System architecture, physical layer and data link layer specification

End-to-end quality of service for voice over 4G mobile networks

Assessment of the LTE circuit switched fall back - Impact on voice quality of service

Application of optical transport network Recommendations to 5G transport

Physical layer management for digital subscriber line transceivers

Serial asynchronous automatic dialling and control

Procedures for establishing communication between two multiprotocol audiovisual terminals using digital channels at a multiple of 64 or 56 kbit/s

Serial asynchronous automatic dialling and control

a modem operating at data signalling rates of up to 28 800 bit/s for use on the general switched telephone network and on leased point-to-point 2-wire telephone-type circuits

List of definitions for interchange circuits between data terminal equipment (DTE) and data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE)

Electrical characteristics for balanced double-current interchange circuits operating at data signalling rates up to 10 Mbit/s

Procedures for the end-to-end connection of analogue PSTN text telephones over an IP network utilizing text relay

List of definitions for interchange circuits between data terminal equipment (DTE) and data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE)

Automatic answering equipment and/or parallel automatic calling equipment on the general switched telephone network including procedures for disabling of echo control devices for both manually and automatically established calls

Automatic calling and/or answering equipment on the general switched telephone network (GSTN) using the 100-series interchange circuits

A family of 2-wire, duplex modems operating at data signalling rates of up to 9600 bit/s for use on the general switched telephone network and on leased telephone-type circuits

A modem operating at data signalling rates of up to 33 600 bit/s for use on the general switched telephone network and on leased point-to-point 2-wire telephone-type circuits

List of definitions for interchange circuits between data terminal equipment (DTE) and data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE)

F.745 and H.625: Proposed Amendments
Source: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
Study Questions: Q21/16

LS/i on draft new Report on production, emission and exchange of closed captions for worldwide language character sets (Latin and non-Latin) [from ITU-R WP6B]
Source: ITU-R WP6B
Study Questions: Q26/16

Workshop on e-Health Standards for Interoperable Services
Source: Rapporteur Q28/16
Study Questions: Q28/16

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

Steven Heller takes a closer look at Jamie Clarke’s 3D Rig Solid font family.

The post Steven Heller’s Font of the Month: Rig Solid appeared first on I Love Typography.

Read the book, Typographic Firsts

How important are fonts in user interface and user experience design? We have the answers in this monster edition of Expert Lists authored by typography expert Johannes López Ayala. Johannes shares 16 font families that he recommends for use in UI/UX design.

The post Expert Lists: Fonts for UI/UX design appeared first on I Love Typography.

If you’ve ever been on an Easter egg hunt, you understand the thrill and disappointment that typically comes with this activity. You see a colorful object and rush towards it only to find out it’s a candy wrapper. When you eventually stumble upon an easter egg, the thrill and frisson of relief you feel are […]

The post 3 Ways to Show Your UX Specialist Knowledge in Your Resume appeared first on Usability Geek

When it comes to testing your user experiences, there are plenty of methods you can use that will get you the information you need. From interviews to assistive technology testing, these methods offer a more streamlined and beneficial process capable of revealing the insights you need to revolutionize your UX. But how can you know […]

The post Testing: User, Usability, and Others You Should Be Using appeared first on Usability Geek

User Interface (UI) design serves as the critical link connecting users with digital products, culminating in seamless and delightful experiences. UI design is more than just entertaining visuals; it’s the magic wand that transforms digital interactions into seamless and pleasant experiences. Whether you’re a seasoned UI design expert or someone just beginning to explore this […]

The post Unveiling Inspiring UI Design Examples and Insights appeared first on Usability Geek

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take a slew of executive actions on his first day in the White House to ramp up immigration enforcement and roll back President Joe Biden’s flagship legal entry programs, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The executive actions would give federal immigration officers more latitude to arrest people with no criminal records, surge troops to the U.S.-Mexico border and restart construction of the border wall, the sources said.

Trump also is expected to end Biden’s humanitarian programs that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally in recent years and could encourage those with expired statuses to leave voluntarily, according to the sources who declined to be identified.

“All of these should be on the table,” said Mark Morgan, an immigration official in Trump’s first term who said he did not speak for the Trump transition team.

Trump’s early executive actions would kickstart his immigration agenda, which includes a promise to deport record numbers of immigrants in the U.S. illegally.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated there were 11 million immigrants without legal status in 2022, a figure that may have increased. Some cities that received migrants including New York, Chicago and Denver struggled to house and aid them.

Trump, a Republican, defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in last week’s presidential election. He made claims that the Biden administration allowed high levels of illegal immigration a focus of his campaign.

Trump’s transition effort remains in its early stages and plans could change before his inauguration on Jan. 20. A Trump spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Migrant arrests reached a record during Biden’s presidency, straining U.S. border enforcement. But illegal crossings fell dramatically this year as Biden instituted new border restrictions and Mexico stepped up enforcement.

Trump aims to drive illegal crossings even lower and use a whole-of-government approach to arrest, detain and deport large numbers of people.

Trump announced on Sunday night that former hardline U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Tom Homan would serve as a White House “border czar” overseeing security and immigration enforcement.

Vice President-elect JD Vance on Monday appeared to confirm that Stephen Miller, architect of Trump’s restrictive first-term immigration agenda, would return as deputy chief of staff for policy, assuring the issue will remain central.

Trump’s aggressive agenda will likely encounter legal challenges from states governed by Democrats, the American Civil Liberties Union and pro-immigration advocates.

Day one takes shape

One of Trump’s Day One executive actions is expected to be an order on so-called interior enforcement, arresting and detaining immigrants in the U.S. illegally, the sources said.

Trump intends to scrap Biden administration guidance that prioritized people with serious criminal records for deportation and limited enforcement against non-criminals, they said.

The Trump order would call for deportations to prioritize people charged with felonies and people who have exhausted their legal avenues to remain, but would not restrict officers from picking up other potentially deportable immigrants.

More than 1 million immigrants in the U.S. have exhausted their legal options and been ordered deported, according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council.

Homan told Fox News on Monday these people would be a priority. “A federal judge said, ‘You must go home,’ and they didn’t,” Homan said.

Certain groups – such as international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas—could also be listed as a priority, two of the sources said.

ICE could use military planes in deportations and seek help from other government agencies to transport deportees, one source said. “All options are on the table,” the source said.

Another order would deal with border security, the two sources said. Trump intends to send National Guard troops to the border and declare illegal immigration a national emergency to unlock funds for border wall construction, the sources said.

Wall construction in Arizona—where Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs has opposed Republican enforcement efforts—could be a priority, two sources said.

Ending Biden programs

Trump plans to end Biden’s temporary humanitarian “parole” programs that have allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants to enter legally and access work permits, the sources said.

The programs include an initiative for certain migrants with U.S. sponsors and another that allows migrants in Mexico to use an app to schedule border appointments.

People in the U.S. with expired parole status who leave voluntarily could be allowed to apply for legal admission without penalties, the sources said.

Trump is also expected to talk with Mexico about reinstating his “Remain in Mexico” program which required non-Mexican asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while their U.S. cases were decided.

—Ted Hesson, Reuters

Wall Street firms are expected to pay heftier bonuses for this year, the first increase since a bumper year in 2021, according to a report by compensation consultancy Johnson Associates.

Payouts will probably rise after financiers benefited from several factors in recent months: a recovery in dealmaking, the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates and equity markets surging to record highs, said the consultancy’s founder, Alan Johnson.

“This year has been surprisingly good, and the industry is quite optimistic about 2025, especially with the potential of announcing more M&A deals,” he said, referring to mergers and acquisitions.

While bonuses will be more generous, they will remain below the record levels from 2021, when revenue and compensation were “abnormally good,” Johnson said.

Investment bankers in debt underwriting are projected to receive the biggest surge in bonuses of 25% to 35% for 2024, the estimates showed, buoyed by a resurgence of activity. Their counterparts in equity capital markets will likely get boosts of 15% to 25%.

Meanwhile, a slower recovery for M&A will result in more modest bonus increases of 5% to 10% for bankers advising on transactions.

Traders will also reap a windfall from more volatility and rising equities, the report showed. Equity sales and trading professionals can expect their bonuses to climb about 15% to 20%, while in fixed income, payouts will probably rise 5% to 10%.

But not all bankers will share in the recovery, the consultant said. Bonuses for retail and commercial bankers will probably decline or stay flat for the year.

—Tatiana Bautzer, Reuters

Shares of Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) are skyrocketing in early-morning trading after the company announced its Q3 2024 results, which beat expectations. As of the time of this writing, SHOP stock is up an impressive 23% to above $110 per share. 

However, Shopify’s stock isn’t on fire only because of its good Q3. There are some other reasons why Shopify is exciting investors this morning. Here’s what to know:

Shopify’s ‘outstanding’ results

Shopify would probably disagree with the statement that the company had a good Q3. As the company’s president, Harley Finkelstein, said in a press release, the results were “outstanding.”

Why was the quarter so outstanding? A big part of it was the company’s Q3 revenue, which came in at $2.16 billion. That represents a whopping 26% year-over-year growth rate from Q3 2023.

As Reuters notes, it even surpassed many analysts’ lofty expectations of $2.11 billion in revenue, leading to the ninth time in a row that the company has beat analyst expectations on sales.

Not only did Shopify beat analyst expectations again, but its 26% revenue growth for this quarter marked “our sixth consecutive quarter of greater than 25% revenue growth excluding logistics,” Shopify CFO Jeff Hoffmeister said.

In a slide deck, Shopify also announced that as of Q3 2024, the company had facilitated $1 trillion in global sales since the platform’s inception and that it now has a 10% share of the U.S. e-commerce market.

Okay, but why did Shopify have such a good Q3?

As also noted by Reuters, Shopify attracted more merchants to its online e-commerce platform this quarter. One of the attractions for the merchants seems to be a new artificial intelligence tool Shopify started rolling out in June called Sidekick.

Sidekick is an artificial intelligence assistant currently in early access for some merchants. Shopify says the AI bot “will act as your very own advisor, guiding you with tailored, skilled advice to make your business stronger.”

It does this by shouldering some of the mundane but necessary tasks that any businessperson needs to do to manage their business. Sidekick can help easily keep track of a merchant’s inventory, generate myriad reports that reveal new insights about your business, and even suggest ways to attract more customers to a storefront.

Sidekick is in addition to another AI tool Shopify offers, this one called Shopify Magic, which helps merchants create product images for their wares, write product descriptions, and even help them generate FAQs for their stores.

These AI tools are making it easier than ever for customers to manage their storefronts, and their availability is clearly a draw for some merchants.

The future looks promising, too

But Shopify’s stock isn’t only surging because the company had a terrific Q3. If anything, investors seem most excited about what the company has predicted will happen next.

Shopify’s current quarter, Q4, is arguably the most important of the year for the company and its merchants. This is the all-important holiday shopping quarter—and Shopify has anounced it has strong hopes for the period.

The key metric that Shopify has forecast is its revenue expectations for Q4, which the company says it expects will “grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.”

That’s music to investors’ ears, as it means Shopify expects it may do even better in Q4 than its just-completed outstanding Q3. That revenue growth estimate is also more than the 22.7% revenue growth many analysts were expecting, noted Reuters.

A resurgent stock

Shopify’s stock started 2024 with prices hovering in the high seventies before dropping to the low sixties over the summer. But since the beginning of the fall, SHOP shares have been on an upswing. Today’s 23% surge means SHOP shares are actually up over 38% year-to-date.

However, despite the resurgent stock, SHOP shares are nowhere near their all-time high of above $152 per share. Those highs were achieved in mid- to late-2021 when e-commerce was enjoying a pandemic boom as more people preferred online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores.

AARP has tapped Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan as its new CEO while promising a “new chapter” of advocating for Americans who are 50 and older and their families, the group said on Tuesday. The organization, which claims nearly 38 million members, touted Minter-Jordan’s career as a physician and public health advocate, and as a business leader who has worked to improve the health and wellness of individuals and communities.

While AARP repeatedly touts its nonpartisan status—it neither supports nor opposes candidates for offices—it devoted a rather significant portion of its announcement to highlighting the voting trends of older Americans. Since last week’s election, AARP has been dissecting how voters ages 50-plus cast their ballots.

In a statement, Minter-Jordan pointed to the association’s legacy over the past 65-plus years of helping to improve the lives of older Americans, age on their terms, and live their lives to the fullest, while teasing some changes in its future. 

“This is a pivotal moment for AARP and the nation,” she said. “As AARP looks ahead, we have exciting opportunities to empower, uplift, and make a positive impact on the health, wealth, and wellness of the more than 110 million Americans ages 50 and older and the entire country.”

Working to protect Social Security and Medicare

AARP long ago distanced itself from a direct connection with retirees—in 1999, it officially rebranded as AARP in lieu of the American Association of Retired Persons—and has since opened up membership to adults 18 and older. But the core of its advocacy still focuses on older Americans, including to protect Social Security and Medicare, support family caregiving, lower the costs of prescription drugs, and shift public narratives on aging.

Minter-Jordan joins Washington-based AARP after serving in previous executive leadership roles at three Boston-based healthcare organizations. Most recently, she launched the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health in 2021 and served as president and CEO until July, according to her LinkedIn profile.

In September, a Boston Globe columnist included Minter-Jordan among an “alarming pattern” of at least 10 Black CEOs who had recently left prominent leadership posts in the past year. 

Minter-Jordan attended Brown University for her undergraduate studies and medical degree and completed an MBA at Johns Hopkins University. She succeeds Jo Ann Jenkins, who announced in March that she would be stepping down when her contract is up at the end of the year, after a decade leading AARP.

If hybrid cars can cut CO2 emissions on the road, can hybrid-electric planes do the same in the air? 

NASA is exploring that possibility, announcing this week two contracts to aviation startup Electra. The company claims it can meet NASA’s goal of reducing airliner fuel use by 60% to 80% by 2035 with a hybrid design that features generators powering motors to drive a large number of propellers. While this may sound like a convoluted way to power an airliner, the company claims it ultimately requires far less fuel than a traditional plane. 

Electra is already flying a two-seat test plane with this kind of system and will debut a nine-seater with a 380-mile range this week. It’s now partnering with American Airlines, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, MIT, and the University of Michigan to guide the design and scale up the tech to airliners.

Electra’s grants, totaling about $3.5 million, are part of the $11.5 million, to four companies and one university for the first phase of its Advanced Aircraft for Sustainable Aviation (AACES) 2050 program. First announced in August 2023, AACES challenges companies to propose aircraft concepts that could help bring passenger and cargo plane emissions to zero by 2050.

The aviation industry has long touted zero-emission fuels (for example, jet fuel made from biomass, or hydrogen produced with green electricity) as the ultimate climate solution. It’s easier to make enough of these fuels if new planes need a lot less of them—hence NASA’s challenge to Electra and the other winners to develop radically more-efficient designs.

The case for electric-powered planes

A number of companies are developing electric airplanes, but most are for short-range air taxi services. Toyota-backed Joby Aviation, for example, promises to put a four-passenger plane into service as soon as 2025. Powered 100% by heavy batteries, packing about 1/40th as much energy per pound as jet fuel, Joby’s plane can fly 100 miles per charge.

Electra stands out as one of the few companies, alongside Sweden’s Heart Aerospace and Ampaire and Whisper Aero out of the U.S., testing different hybrid concepts to dramatically extend range. (NASA has also been testing hybrid tech with other companies.) Electra and its allies’ initial concept for NASA is a 114-seat airliner that can fly nearly 3,300 miles, says Electra’s vice president and general manager, JP Stewart. But he says the tech can scale to NASA’s largest target: carrying about 300 people up to around 8,600 miles.

Electra’s take on hybrid technology is called a “series hybrid.” On a traditional plane, each propeller (or jet engine) requires a big, expensive turbine that burns jet fuel. By using turbines to power generators instead, Electra can run more props using lightweight electric motors. Electra’s initial sketch has five propellers across each wing (plus three in the tail), which the company says can improve airflow and boost the wing’s ability to lift the plane—tech that’s already working on its two-seat prototype. For its NASA proposal, Electra envisions an airliner that uses this hybrid tech and a new design of the fuselage (the tube carrying passengers) to take off with smaller wings, which will produce less drag and save fuel in flight.

Another benefit of hooking a turbine to a generator, says Stewart, is that the turbine can run at its most-efficient speed throughout the flight. Airplane engines have to be very flexible, gunning it on takeoff and landing and running less intensely when the plane is cruising in the air. Turbines that power the propellers directly don’t have the flexibility to do both tasks efficiently; electric motors do. Finally, by adding batteries to the mix, the plane can use a smaller turbine that needs to produce just enough power for cruising, says Electra. For takeoff and landing, battery packs join in to provide the extra oomph only when needed.

Electra’s concept is just one of several ideas NASA has given the green light to. Another contract winner, JetZero, has proposed a liquid hydrogen-powered, “blended wing body” concept for a jetliner or cargo plane that ditches the traditional design of a metal tube with wings and a tail. Instead, it has a tail-less, triangular shape that looks a bit like a B2 Stealth Bomber and promises major fuel savings. 

Other winners include Georgia Institute of Technology, Pratt & Whitney (part of the RTX conglomerate), and Boeing-owned Aurora Flight Sciences, which are working on several engine and body technologies. (Aurora founder John Langford went on to found Electra in 2020.)

The task now for Electra, JetZero, and other winners is to produce a final airplane design in 18 months. Getting real planes in the air will take many more years.

United Nations annual climate talks stuttered to a start Monday with more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda for the next two weeks. It then turned to the main issue: money.

In Baku, Azerbaijan, where the world’s first oil well was drilled and the smell of the fuel was noticeable outdoors, the talks were more about the smell of money — in huge amounts. Countries are negotiating how rich nations can pay up so poor countries can reduce carbon pollution by transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, compensate for climate disasters and adapt to future extreme weather.

In order to try to start the 12 days of talks, called COP29, with a win, Monday’s session seemed to find a resolution to a nagging financial issue about trading carbon pollution rights — one that has eluded negotiators for years. It could free up to $250 billion in spending a year to help poor nations, said new COP29 president, Mukhtar Babayev.

But Erika Lennon, Center for International Environmental Law’s Senior Attorney, warned that pushing through resolutions this early in the conference “without discussion or debate, sets a dangerous precedent for the entire negotiation process.”

When it comes to discussions on finance, the amount of money being talked about to help poor nations could be as high as $1.3 trillion a year. That’s the need in the developing world, according to African nations, which have produced 7% of the heat-trapping gases in the air but have faced multiple climate crises, from floods to drought.

Whatever amount the nations come up with would replace an old agreement that had a goal of $100 billion a year. Richer nations have wanted numbers closer to that figure. If an agreement is struck, money is likely to come from a variety of sources including grants, loans and private finance.

“These numbers may sound big but they are nothing compared to the cost of inaction,” Babayev, said as he took over.

Signs of climate disasters abound

This year, the world is on pace for 1.5 degrees of warming and is heading to become the hottest year in human civilization.

A goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times was set in the Paris Agreement in 2015. But that’s about two or three decades, not one year of that amount of warming and “it is not possible, simply not possible,” to abandon the 1.5 goal yet, said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

The effects of climate change in disasters such as hurricanes, droughts and floods are already here and hurting, Babayev said.

“We are on the road to ruin,” he said. “Whether you see them or not, people are suffering in the shadows. They are dying in the dark. And they need more than compassion. More than prayers and paperwork. They are crying out for leadership and action.”

United Nations Climate Secretary Simon Stiell, whose home island of Carriacou was devasted earlier this year by Hurricane Beryl, used the story of his neighbor, an 85-year-old named Florence, to help find “a way out of this mess.”

Her home was demolished and Florence focused one thing: “Being strong for her family and for her community. There are people like Florence in every country on Earth. Knocked down, and getting back up again.”

That’s what the world must do with climate change, Stiell said.

A backdrop of war and upheaval hangs over talks

In the past year, nation after nation has seen political upheaval, with the latest being in the United States — the largest historic carbon emitter — and Germany, a climate leading nation.

The election of Donald Trump, who disputes climate change and its impact, and the collapse of the German governing coalition are altering climate negotiation dynamics here, experts said.

“The global north needs to be cutting emissions even faster … but instead we’ve got Trump, we’ve got a German government that just fell apart because part of it wanted to be even slightly ambitious (on climate action),” said Imperial College London climate scientist Friederike Otto. “We are very far off.”

Initially, Azerbaijan organizers hoped to have nations across the globe stop fighting during the negotiations. That didn’t happen as wars in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere continued.

Dozens of climate activists at the conference — many of them wearing Palestinian kaffiyehs — held up banners calling for climate justice and for nations to “stop fueling genocide.”

“It’s the same systems of oppression and discrimination that are putting people on the frontlines of climate change and putting people on the front lines of conflict in Palestine,” said Lise Masson, a protester from Friends of the Earth International. She slammed the United States, the U.K. and the EU for not spending more on climate finance while also supplying arms to Israel.

Mohammed Ursof, a climate activist from Gaza, called for the world to “get power back to the Indigenous, power back to the people.”

Jacob Johns, a Hopi and Akimel O’odham community organizer, came to the conference with hope for a better world.

“Within sight of the destruction lies the seed of creation,” he said at a panel about Indigenous people’s hopes for climate action. “We have to realize that we are not citizens of one nation, we are the Earth.”

Hopes for a strong financial outcome

The financial package being hashed out at this year’s talks is important because every nation has until early next year to submit new — and presumably stronger — targets for curbing emissions of heat-trapping gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.

How much money is on the table could inform how ambitious some nations can be with their climate plans.

Some Pacific climate researchers said that the amount of money on offer was not the biggest problem for small island nations, which are some of the world’s most imperiled by rising seas.

“There might be funding out there, but to get access to this funding for us here in the Pacific is quite an impediment,” said Hilda Sakiti-Waqa, from the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. “The Pacific really needs a lot of technical help in order to put together these applications.”

And despite the stalled start, there was still a sense of optimism.

“My experience right now is that countries are really here to negotiate,” said German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan.

“We cannot leave Baku without a substantial outcome,” Stiell said. “Now is the time to show that global cooperation is not down for the count. It is rising to the moment.”

—Seth Borenstein, Melina Walling and Sibi Arasu, Associated Press

Charlotte Graham-McLay, AP reporter, contributed to this report.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, fueled by the internet of things (IoT), is dramatically reshaping the manufacturing landscape. This new era, often referred to as Industry 4.0, integrates advanced digital technologies with traditional manufacturing processes, creating a highly automated and interconnected production environment. From factory floors to our daily lives, sensors are now ubiquitous, connecting disparate systems and driving unprecedented innovation and advancements in productivity, efficiency, and automation.

Our nation’s mobility ecosystem is now in the early innings of a similar transformation. Simply put, the mobility ecosystem can be defined as the critical infrastructure—physical and digital—that touches people’s lives every day. It’s where vehicles get fueled, charged, washed, serviced, and repaired. And it’s where travelers get their necessities.

Modernization of the convenience store

This industry is becoming increasingly complex. And as driver expectations evolve, technology advances and a multi-energy future takes shape, there is an urgent need to digitize, connect, and optimize these operations. One prime example of this need is the modern convenience store.

These stores are becoming go-to destinations and now offer a range of essential services, including fueling, charging, car wash, craveable food, beverages, and other on-the-go staples. A recent survey by Vontier found that American drivers are not only prioritizing convenience and a one-stop-shop experience but are also willing to pay more and even drive a little out of their way to get it. Nearly 60% of respondents indicated they would be happy to pay a markup on convenience store products if it meant making only one stop. This suggests a growing consumer demand for convenience and efficiency that aligns with the broader trends of digital transformation. However, many of these assets and services still operate in silos like they did decades ago, missing out on valuable data and insights that could enhance efficiency and revenue.

Imagine a future where the early morning rush at a bustling convenience store is seamlessly orchestrated. The store owner, feeling confident and prepared, watches as her employees anticipate the familiar routine. An Amazon delivery driver rolls in for his usual fill-up and coffee, while a family on their way to the beach picks up sandwiches to go while charging their electric vehicle (EV). Behind the scenes, linked payment systems can make this a reality, streamlining transactions and providing valuable data insights. By leveraging advanced analytics, businesses—from large convenience store chains like Circle K, 7-Eleven, Wawa, and Sheetz, to the small family-run businesses—can understand driver behavior, tailor offerings for digital-savvy consumers, track asset usage, optimize maintenance, avoid downtime, anticipate trends, improve workflows, and perhaps most importantly, exceed customer expectations and improve customer loyalty.

The commercial fleet market

A similar transformation is happening in the commercial/industrial fleet vehicle market. As the industry looks to modernize and decarbonize, integrating traditionally disparate systems and data can help fleets make better, quicker decisions and improve their key performance metrics. Managing mixed fleets (gas, diesel, natural gas, EV, and hydrogen fuel types) and deciding the right time to transition fleets is a major challenge and requires multiple technologies and capabilities across telematics, route planning, fuel logistics, EV network management, and energy management. An integrated platform can help make recommendations on how to best manage and fuel fleets at the lowest total cost of ownership while helping achieve sustainability and compliance goals. It can also provide valuable visibility, planning, monitoring, reporting, and control across the entire fleet, optimizing operations and reducing costs.

It’s time for the mobility industry to seize this opportunity and pioneer a smarter, more sustainable and connected ecosystem. By leveraging IoT principles, we can digitize and improve operations, unlocking new revenue streams, improving customer experiences, and enhancing productivity, uptime, safety, and sustainability,

Industry 4.0 has paved the way. To achieve Mobility Ecosystem 4.0, we must break down the silos that have traditionally hindered progress. The stakes are nothing short of monumental: increased productivity, efficiency, and a more sustainable future for all. 

Mark Morelli is president and CEO of Vontier. 

While Donald Trump has announced a few people who will be part of his new administration, when it comes to Cabinet appointees, things appear to be ramping up fast. Trump has named people to several roles, including chief of staff and border czar, and media reports in the past 24 hours have leaked a number of potential Cabinet appointments–with more to come.

On Monday night, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was expected to name Florida Senator Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State—the first of the 15 Cabinet posts to be filled. And on Tuesday South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was tapped to head Homeland Security. Trump also confirmed that former Rep. Lee Zeldin would be his EPA administrator and that John Ratcliffe, the one-time director of National Intelligence during the final year of Trump’s first term and a former congressman who is unflinchingly loyal to Trump, is his pick to lead the CIA. Trump also surprised many with his pick of Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary.

The job of Cabinet secretaries is to advise the president on issues that are related to their office—and whoever fills those must first be confirmed by the Senate . . . at least, for now. Trump is already calling on the Republican-controlled Senate to change those rules and let him appoint nominees without a Senate vote.

Nominees for Cabinet positions are normally trusted advisors, experts in their field, and sometimes major donors. Tesla CEO and Trump backer Elon Musk also may or may not be involved: He recently put out a call on X saying it “would be interesting to hear recommendations for roles in the new administration for consideration by the President.”

Whether those recommendations will carry any weight is, of course, unknown, but given how close Musk and Trump are now—and Trump’s fondness for social media feedback—it can’t be discounted entirely.

That said, here are some of the leading and potential candidates for select Cabinet posts:

Attorney General

Senator Mike Lee: Considered by some as the leading candidate, the Utah Senator aided efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He has also spread conspiracy theories about the January 6 attack on the Capitol. That’s a big turnaround from 2016, when he did not vote for Trump.

Jeffrey Clark: Known best as the assistant Attorney General who pressured officials in the Justice Department to overturn Trump’s loss in 2020, Clark is currently under indictment in Georgia for his role in that election. Three months ago, a disciplinary committee in Washington, D.C., said Clark should be disbarred for two years for efforts to interfere with election results.

Treasury Secretary

Scott Bessent: The former Soros Fund Management executive (and founder and CEO of Key Square Group) is reportedly Trump’s “go-to economic advisor” and has become the frontrunner in the race for Treasury Secretary after John Paulson removed himself from consideration Tuesday.  He has known the Trump family for decades and is friends with JD Vance. Bessent has expressed concerns about the country’s debt levels and believes the way to correct that is by increasing growth. Asked about a possible Treasury secretary role by CNBC, he said, “I’m going to do whatever Donald Trump asks.”

Howard Lutnick: While Lutnick, who is CEO of investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, might be under consideration, he’s busy right now leading the Trump transition team with Linda McMahon (who was administrator of the Small Business Administration, 2017-2019, during Trump’s first term). Lutnick and Trump have been friends for more than 20 years and he raised or donated more than $75 million for Trump’s reelection bid.

Larry Kudlow: Best known as a Fox Business financial commentator, Kudlow served as director of the National Economic Council during the Trump Administration, 2018-2021. Throughout this election cycle, Kudlow has been a vocal supporter of Trump and his economic policies on Fox.

Wild cards

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: While Kennedy has said Trump “promised” him “control of the public health agencies,” the exact role he will play in the administration (if any) is still very much up in the air. Asked by CNN in August if he would appoint the independent politician to his cabinet, Trump said “he probably would,” but public criticism of Kennedy’s stance on vaccines and water fluoridation has grown considerably since then.

Elon Musk: Musk has stuck close to Trump since the election, even sitting in on a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Musk has, however, taken himself out of the running for any Cabinet positions, according to Trump. “He doesn’t want to be in the Cabinet, he just wants to be in charge of cost-cutting. We’ll have a new position, secretary of cost-cutting—Elon wants to do that.” On Tuesday, Trump announced that Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy would indeed head a new agency called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut government spending, although a new agency cannot be created without Congress.

Update, November 12, 2024: This article has been updated with Trump’s picks for CIA and Defense Secretary, and announcement about Musk and Ramaswamy.

Facebook and Instagram users in Europe will get the option to see less personalized ads if they don’t want to pay for an ad-free subscription, social media company Meta said Tuesday, bowing to pressure from Brussels over privacy and digital competition concerns.

Meta Platforms has been offering European Union an ad-free subscription option for about a year to comply with the continent’s strict data privacy rules, but regulators had accused the company of giving people a false choice.

The company said in a blog post that while people will still be able to choose between the subscription and existing free versions, it would also start giving free users an extra option over the coming weeks to see digital ads that are less personalized.

This means ads will be targeted at users based only on what they see during their current session on Facebook or Instagram going back no more than two hours, plus minimal personal information such as age, location, gender as well as how they engage with ads.

Data from all of a user’s previous time spent on Facebook or Instagram, which is typically combined to precisely target an individual with tailored ads, won’t be used.

“While this new choice is designed to give people an additional control over their data and ad experience, it may result in ads that are less relevant to a person’s interests,” Meta said in a blog post. “That means people will see ads that they don’t find as interesting. This drop in relevance is inevitable given that drastically reduced data is being used to show these less personalized ads to people.”

People who choose the new option will see ad breaks that can’t be skipped for a few seconds, Meta said.

European Union regulators had accused Meta of breaching the 27-nation bloc’s digital rules when it gave user the option to pay a monthly fee to avoid being targeted by ads based on their personal data.

The U.S. tech giant had rolled out the option after the European Union’s top court ruled Meta must first get consent before showing ads to users, in a decision that threatened its business model of tailoring ads based on individual users’ online interests and digital activity.

The company also said Tuesday it’s slashing monthly subscription prices for the ad-free option. Web users will pay 5.99 euros ($6.36), down from 9.99 euros previously, while iPhone and Android users will be charged 7.99 euros instead of 12.99 euros, which includes commissions charged by the Apple and Google mobile app stores.

Meta’s new subscription model could hit the company’s lucrative digital ad business in one of its biggest markets. The company said it has already factored the new offering into its most recent business outlook and financial guidance.

The options are available to users 18 and older in the EU’s 27 member countries, plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

—Kelvin Chan, Associated Press business writer

After a tumultuous year filled with anxiety and a legal battle about its future in the U.S., TikTok may have just been thrown a lifeline by the man who was once its biggest foe: Donald Trump.

The president-elect, who tried to ban the social media platform the last time he was in the White House, has repeatedly pledged during his most recent campaign to oppose a ban on the short-form video app, which could happen as soon as mid-January if the company loses a court case that’s currently underway in Washington.

For months, TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance have been embroiled in a legal battle with the U.S. over a federal law that forces them to cut ties for national security reasons or stop operating in one of their biggest markets in the world. The measure, signed by President Joe Biden in April, gives ByteDance nine months to divest its stakes, with a possible three-month extension if a sale is in progress. If that happens, the deadline could be extended into the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.

The companies have claimed that divestiture is not possible, and the law, if upheld, would force them to shut down by January 19, just a day before Trump’s second inauguration. Attorneys for both sides have asked a federal appeals court reviewing the case to issue a ruling by December 6. The losing side is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, which has a conservative majority and could decide to take up the case, potentially dragging out the process even longer.

When reached for comment, the Trump transition team did not offer details on how Trump plans to carry out his pledge to “save TikTok,” as he said on a Truth Social post in September while encouraging people who care about the platform to vote for him. But Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the transition team, indicated in a statement that he plans to see it through.

“The American people reelected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail,” Leavitt said. “He will deliver.”

During a March interview with CNBC, Trump said he still believed TikTok posed a national security risk but opposed banning it because doing so would help its rival, Facebook, which he has continued to lambast over his 2020 election loss. He also denied changing his mind on the issue because of Republican megadonor Jeff Yass, a ByteDance investor who Trump, at the time, said he had only met “very briefly.” He said Yass “never mentioned TikTok” during their meeting.

Still, ByteDance—and groups connected to Yass—have been attempting to exert their influence. Lobbying disclosure reports show that this year, ByteDance paid veteran lobbyist and former Trump campaign aide David Urban $150,000 to lobby lawmakers in Washington in favor of TikTok. The company has also spent more than $8 million on in-house lobbyists and another $1.4 million on other lobbying firms, according to the nonprofit OpenSecrets.

Meanwhile, in March, Politico reported that Kellyanne Conway, a former senior Trump aide, was being paid by the Yass-funded conservative group Club for Growth to advocate for TikTok in Congress. A spokesperson for the organization said Conway was hired as a consultant to conduct polling. Conway and Urban did not respond to requests for comment. TikTok, which has long denied it’s a national security risk, declined to comment.

If the courts uphold the law, it would fall on Trump’s Justice Department to enforce it and punish any potential violations with fines. The fines would apply to app stores that would be prohibited from offering TikTok, and internet hosting services who would be barred from supporting it. Leah Plunkett, a lecturer at Harvard Law School, said from her reading of the statute, the attorney general has to investigate violations but can decide whether or not to drag such companies to court and force them to comply.

Trump could do other things to prevent TikTok from disappearing.

He could issue an executive order to nullify the ban—which Plunkett believes would not be lawful—or urge Congress to repeal the law. That would require support from Congressional Republicans who have aligned themselves with Trump but have also supported the prospects of getting TikTok out of the hands of a Chinese company.

In a statement sent to the AP after the election, Republican Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, said Trump’s “long-standing concerns” about TikTok align with the law’s requirement for divestment.

“The Trump Administration will have a unique opportunity to broker an American takeover of the platform,” he said.

ByteDance, though, has previously said it has no intention of selling the platform despite interest from some investors, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Analysts say the company is even less likely to sell the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app. That means even if TikTok is sold to a qualified buyer, it is likely to be a shell of its current self and would need to be rebuilt with new technology.

Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute, said it’s also possible that Trump could take the issue back to the drawing board and direct his administration to negotiate a new deal with TikTok.

TikTok said in 2022 that it presented the Biden administration with a draft agreement that would bolster protections for users and provide it more oversight over the company’s U.S. operations. But the administration has argued in court documents in recent months that it would be challenging to enforce the agreement due to the size and the technical complexity of the platform.

Trump hasn’t been privy to new intelligence material on the matter for a few years and it’s possible he could change his mind—and abandon his campaign promise—once he does, Kreps said.

Plunkett, the Harvard Law lecturer and author of Sharenthood: Why We Should Think Before We Talk About Our Kids Online, said if she were counseling TikTok, she would advise it to come up with a divesture plan that is compliant with the law and as favorable to the company as possible, noting, “There is too much uncertainty about what a Trump administration is likely to do.”

—By Haleluya Hadero, Associated Press

This post describes how to install a Cisco ISE evaluation VM for labbing. The VM will run for 90 days, providing a full feature set for up to 100 endpoints. Start by downloading the software. I’ll be using an OVA

When ISE is installed, all the certificates used for different services such as EAP, Admin portal, etc., are self signed. Below is a short summary of the certificates that ISE uses: The certificates can be seen by going to Administration

The Aarke Coffee System is built for simplicity and style while ensuring that it brews the perfect cup of coffee every single time.

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