Latest news with #Forbes
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Today's NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers For Thursday, July 3
Mini Crossword In case you missed Wednesday's NYT Mini, you can find the answers here: The NYT Mini is a quick and dirty version of the newspaper's larger and long-running crossword. Most days, there are between three and five clues in each direction on a five by five grid, but the puzzles are sometimes larger, especially on Saturdays. Unlike its larger sibling, the NYT Mini crossword is free to play on the New York Times website or NYT Games app. However, you'll need an NYT Games subscription to access previous puzzles in the archives. The NYT Mini is a fun daily distraction that usually takes no time at all. I try to beat the standard weekday grid in less than a minute. But sometimes I can't quite figure out one or two clues and need to reveal the answer. To help you avoid doing that, here are the NYT Mini Crossword answers (spoilers lie ahead, of course): FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder NYT Mini Crossword Clues And Answers ACROSS 1) Glaswegian or Edinburgher - SCOT 5) 2025 Pixar film about a boy who gets abducted by aliens - ELIO 6) Strong string - TWINE 7) Religious devotee with a shaved head, maybe - MONK 8) Calligrapher's assortment - INKS DOWN 1) Attach, as a button - SEWON 2) Sound of two glasses being "cheers-ed" - CLINK 3) Noises from a pig - OINKS 4) "Little piggy" - TOE 6) "Did I overshare?" - TMI Mini Not a bad one today, as we have a few 'what else would it be' answers like CLINK and OINKS. I don't know much about TWINE but I guess that's a strong string. You probably did not get ELIO, the Pixar film, given that it just came out and is setting records as its worst performing movie ever, despite decently good reviews. Pixar just ain't what it used to be, I suppose. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Arabian Post
5 hours ago
- Business
- Arabian Post
Trump's Tariff Bombs Often Fail To Explode; Latest 500% May Also Fail To Fire
By K Raveendran President Donald Trump's latest volley in the global economic battleground — a proposal to impose a 500 percent tariff on countries that do business with Russia — marks the continuation of a pattern that has come to define his trade diplomacy: bold, blustering declarations followed by strategic backpedalling. The move, targeted at nations like India and China that have maintained significant trade ties with Russia, particularly in the energy sector, has raised eyebrows for both its sheer magnitude and its potential ramifications. But the most striking aspect of this announcement may not be the policy itself, but the growing predictability of its eventual unravelling. Trump's tariff manoeuvres, more often than not, start with a bang and end in a whimper. While he sells them as economic nukes, they tend to behave more like firecrackers — noisy, momentarily dazzling, but rarely resulting in lasting damage or transformative policy shifts. At the core of Trump's approach is a belief that tariffs are not just an economic tool, but a geopolitical weapon with near-limitless deterrence power. Much like how nuclear weapons were once seen as the ultimate equalizer and enforcer of peace through mutually assured destruction, Trump appears to view tariffs as a way to enforce American dominance by threatening economic devastation. His narrative is simple and characteristically combative: trade partners have been taking advantage of the U.S. for decades, and now it's time for them to pay up or face the wrath of an uncompromising American president. This weaponization of tariffs has not only disrupted decades of carefully negotiated trade agreements but also upended the norms of diplomacy, turning global trade into a game of high-stakes brinkmanship. The efficacy of this tactic, however, has always been questionable. While it's true that Trump has managed to extract some concessions from U.S. trade partners — including Japan's agreement to increase American agricultural imports, and a limited Phase One trade deal with China — these victories often came at a high cost. American farmers, manufacturers, and consumers have borne the brunt of retaliatory tariffs and supply chain disruptions. More crucially, Trump's tendency to dramatically announce tariffs only to retract or modify them under pressure has undermined his credibility as a negotiator. A Forbes report chronicling 22 such reversals paints a vivid picture of a president who relishes the drama of trade war more than its actual implementation. The 500 percent tariff proposal is a textbook Trumpian gambit — shocking enough to dominate headlines, vague enough to avoid immediate scrutiny, and flexible enough for a later walk-back. It is designed less to be enforced than to serve as a warning shot, a way to jolt countries like India and China into reevaluating their oil deals with Russia. However, the flaws in this strategy are manifold. For one, such a tariff would be nearly impossible to implement without causing collateral damage to the U.S. economy. India, for instance, is a major defence partner of the U.S., a huge market for American technology, and a crucial player in the Indo-Pacific strategy aimed at counterbalancing China. Imposing a crippling tariff on Indian goods would not only alienate New Delhi but also complicate U.S. strategic interests in the region. China, meanwhile, is too economically enmeshed with the United States to be bullied into compliance by tariffs alone. The 2018–2019 trade war, one of Trump's signature confrontations, illustrated the limits of tariff pressure. Despite rounds of tit-for-tat tariffs that disrupted global markets, the underlying issues — intellectual property rights, market access, and technology transfer — remained largely unresolved. What's more, the U.S. trade deficit with China continued to balloon even after tariffs were in place, suggesting that punitive duties did little to change structural imbalances. Beyond the practical difficulties of imposing a 500 percent tariff lies the deeper issue of Trump's inconsistency. His repeated flip-flops on tariff threats have eroded trust among both allies and adversaries. Trade policy, especially one as drastic as the one proposed, requires not just boldness but also predictability and consistency. Trump's track record offers little of either. His erratic tariff diplomacy creates confusion in markets, triggers unnecessary panic, and leaves trade partners skeptical about the durability of any agreement reached. The problem is not just that Trump wields the tariff like a sledgehammer, but that he rarely follows through when the real hammering begins. Initially, Trump's tariff threats were taken seriously — global markets tumbled, central banks scrambled, and foreign governments rushed to negotiate. But over time, as these threats routinely failed to materialize or were quietly rolled back, the international community has become more desensitised. The 500 percent tariff now risks being viewed not as a serious policy but as political performance art — a gesture more aimed at the domestic audience, particularly Trump's base, than at the global players it ostensibly targets. There's also a moral and strategic incongruity in punishing countries for buying Russian oil when the U.S. itself continues to engage in various economic activities with questionable partners for its own strategic or economic reasons. Attempting to enforce a one-size-fits-all moral compass through a blunt tariff instrument not only reeks of hypocrisy but also invites a backlash. Countries like India have made it clear that they will pursue their national interests, including energy security, with or without American approval. Threatening them with economic ruin only reinforces the perception of U.S. high-handedness and may push them closer to rival blocs, precisely the opposite of what American foreign policy aims to achieve. Moreover, the idea that tariffs could be the modern geopolitical equivalent of nuclear deterrence is, at best, flawed. Nuclear weapons, for all their horrors, have a certain strategic clarity: their very existence changes the calculus of war. Tariffs, on the other hand, are messy, slow-moving, and laden with unintended consequences. They rely on complex supply chains, market psychology, and domestic political tolerance for pain. Unlike a nuclear strike, a tariff war doesn't create immediate shock and awe; it unfolds in economic reports, unemployment lines, and inflation indexes. The damage, while real, is diffuse and often politically self-defeating. The 500 percent tariff is likely to go the way of many other Trump proclamations: a tweetstorm, a few fiery interviews, a week of market jitters, and then a quiet disappearance from the headlines, supplanted by the next attention-grabbing announcement. It is, in essence, economic theatre dressed up as grand strategy — a dramatic performance whose actors are growing weary, and whose audience has begun to leave before the final act. (IPA Service)
Forbes
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Today's ‘Wordle' #1475 Hints, Clues And Answer For Thursday, July 3rd
How to solve today's Wordle. Looking for Wednesday's Wordle hints, clues and answer? You can find them here: Yesterday was Wordle Wednesday and I gave you an extra puzzle to solve before the daily Wordle. Today, I'll give you the answer. This was the puzzle: A knight awakens, shackled in a stone cell. Water trickles in through the cracks, slowly rising. Across the room sits a sturdy table. Upon it rest three boxes: one red, one blue, and one gold. One and only one of these boxes contains the key to the cell. The knight may open only one box. These are the labels: Which box contains the key — and the knight's only chance at escaping his cruel prison alive? FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder The answer? The Gold box! Alright, here's today's Wordle! How To Solve Today's Wordle The Hint: An intoxicating flower. The Clue: This Wordle has a triple letter. Okay, spoilers below! The answer is coming! . . . Today's Wordle Every day I check Wordle Bot to help analyze my guessing game. You can check your Wordles with Wordle Bot right here. I started off kind of badly with STONE with 173 words remaining and just one yellow box. POUCH was a very lucky second guess. I was thinking COUCH because I'm looking for a new one for my TV room, but I didn't like the double 'C' so I moved to POUCH and snagged the first two green boxes. I still had 6 words left and no clue what the Wordle would be. I went with POLYP and finally narrowed it down to just one: POPPY for the win! Today's Wordle Bot I get 0 points for guessing in four and one point for beating the Bot. The Bot loses 1 point for guessing in five (ha!) and another for losing to me. That's -2 for the Bot. This brings our totals back to where we were at the start of July: Erik: 0 points Wordle Bot: 0 points The word "poppy" comes from Old English popig, which likely came from Latin papaver, meaning the poppy plant. The Latin word may have imitative origins, mimicking the sound of popping or the milky juice (pappa, meaning "milk" or "pap") found in the plant. The term originally referred to the flower and its opium-producing properties. Let me know how you fared with your Wordle today on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Also be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me here on this blog where I write about games, TV shows and movies when I'm not writing puzzle guides. Sign up for my newsletter for more reviews and commentary on entertainment and culture.
Forbes
9 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Are One-Click Job Applications The Best Solution?
Generative AI has turned job hunting into a single-tap experience, letting candidates crank out polished résumés and cover letters in seconds and apply to jobs in a single click. That convenience sounds like a win for both sides, yet the overwhelming job application volume is making hiring harder. A Forbes report notes that the average corporate role now attracts more than twice the applicants it did just two years ago. Recruiters tell WIRED they routinely face 'hundreds or thousands' of résumés per posting, many generated by the very AI tools meant to streamline hiring. AI Opens the Floodgates Easy-apply buttons and résumé-writing agents have removed friction for job seekers, but they have not removed the human bottleneck inside talent-acquisition teams. Many candidates don't realize that there is often still a human behind the resume reviews and decision-making. While AI may help narrow down potential job matches, overwhelmed recruiters are still combing through thousands of applicants or screening those who may appear on paper to be a suitable option but in conversation prove otherwise. While many talent acquisition professionals agree the whole recruiting process has the potential to be automated, only part of the process has automated at present. Which leaves leaders to wonder: are we in recruiting purgatory? Making the mismatch worse is what's happening behind the scenes. Enterprise adoption of AI is moving far slower than applicant enthusiasm. Inside organizations, executives are struggling to create and adapt AI policies as fast as the technology is being developed. While they are eager to leverage the value of AI, it's not as easy as creating a few agents or enabling an 'easy apply' option within their existing tech stacks. Deloitte's 2025 TMT Predictions finds that only 30 percent of generative-AI pilots reach full production, largely because of data-quality and governance hurdles. McKinsey's latest State of AI survey shows that just 1 percent of senior executives describe their gen-AI rollouts as 'mature.' Until screening, scheduling, and decision making are equally automated, recruiters are often an important bottleneck but that means candidates keep waiting. Waiting on a response from a recruiter may be fruitless. (Photo by: marka/Universal Images Group via ... More Getty Images) Candidates notice the disconnect when their resumes go into a black hole. Forbes columnist Keith Ferrazzi warns that delayed or absent responses slash candidate goodwill and, by extension, consumer trust. The vicious cycle is familiar: applicants feel ignored, so they shotgun even more résumés, further clogging the system. The future of recruiting from the organizational lens though seems exciting. A fully AI-automated talent acquisition system could revolutionize how we hire candidates against business needs. But the present-day operations of most organizations means it may be years before we can begin to see the value of automation. In the meantime, the job application volume is hurting both candidates and the employers who want to hire them. Four Practical Moves to Break the Cycle Since this purgatory may last for some time, what can organizations do in the meantime? Recruiters can't own the pace of change, this isn't a forever situation. It may seem strange to become experts in the technology that may replace your job, but it also forces recruiters to be proactive and carve out their strengths–where they can be valuable in ways technology can't. Negotiating an offer is ripe with emotion, and may never be the best thing to automate if employers want to start off on the right foot with new employees. It's important to remember, AI is not the villain here; unmanaged scale is. By pairing recruiter strengths with disciplined change management, talent teams can turn today's flood of applications into tomorrow's more focused pipeline, and protect the candidate experience along the way.
Forbes
11 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
How To Tackle Tech Debt Without Slowing Innovation
Technical debt is a hidden weight that can quietly undermine the long-term stability of both products and platforms. Yet addressing it often feels at odds with the pressure to keep building and releasing. Experienced tech leaders know it's possible to both strengthen foundations and deliver new capabilities—it just takes careful resource management. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council share practical strategies they've used or observed to reduce technical debt without slowing development. From disciplined processes to small, consistent improvements, these approaches show how thoughtful planning can support innovation and sustainability across systems. 1. Plan For Debt As You Would For Features One strategy that works: Plan for tech debt as you plan for features. We assign small, intentional cleanup tasks alongside major work so it's not an afterthought. This way, quality improves steadily and the team never has to pause progress just to 'fix things later.' It keeps velocity up and the codebase up to the mark. - Nidhi Jain, 2. Make Small Improvements During Feature Work Implement a 'boy scout rule' under which developers are encouraged to make small improvements to existing code during feature work. This maintains development momentum while gradually improving code quality, and developers are more motivated to clean up code they're already actively working with. - Kevin Cushnie, MC Systems Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify? 3. Analyze User Engagement To Pinpoint Friction Proactively analyze user engagement metrics to pinpoint friction points where users spend excessive time. Prioritize these areas for targeted debt reduction, aligning technical improvements closely with meaningful user experience enhancements. This strategic approach ensures teams efficiently address critical technical debt, boosting productivity and product value without slowing down development. - Antara Dave, Microsoft Corporation 4. Bring In Someone From A Different Team If your team wants to maintain velocity, consider adding someone from another team to the mix. They can bring fresh eyes and, potentially, newer architectures or development practices to your group. A senior engineer can usually spot opportunities for improvement pretty quickly, and even the act of explaining the code to a new team member can make areas for improvement obvious. - Luke Wallace, Bottle Rocket 5. Hand Over Tasks When Someone Takes Vacation Pre-vacation handovers are an excellent opportunity to reduce tech debt. Planning and carrying out handovers before we take a holiday are crucial to maintaining smooth IT operations. Giving your employees the choice to hand tasks over to automation or a human colleague can help reduce tech debt and automate tasks. Critically, it utilizes time already allocated for addressing this work. - Kevin Korte, Univention 6. Implement A 'Fix Forward' Approach A 'fix forward' approach helps ensure the absence of critical technical debt in a product or platform. Additionally, holding regular hackathons outside the standard release schedule incentivizes extra participation among developers and offers learning opportunities for individuals not directly involved in specific modules or features, thereby promoting collaboration. - Satyabrat Chowdhury, CORESTACK Inc. 7. Make Sure The Product And Engineering Teams Are Aligned Resolving technical debt is development. The Shangri-la of 'no tech debt' does not survive contact with reality. It's a balance of doing what's right for the business. Making sure the product and engineering teams are on the same page is critical. You should have sprints where tech debt is the focus. - Patrick Emmons, DragonSpears, Inc. 8. Start Every Build With An Assessment The best approach is to embed assessments early. Before jumping into builds, take time to evaluate: What do we remove, migrate or rebuild? Most failures stem from skipping this upfront evaluation, not from the execution itself. That prework keeps the team from dragging legacy systems forward and saves you from cleaning up later. - Benjamin Niaulin, ShareGate by Workleap 9. Have A Plan To Avoid Tech Debt Altogether Tech debt needs to be avoided at all costs. Everything needs to be planned, mapped and strategized without having an option for accumulating tech debt. It's harder to get rid of a 'patch job' than it is to take the time to build a solid solution. - Sabrin Freedman-Alexander, Cloudvoid 10. Tackle Tech Debt As Part Of Each Sprint Dedicate 10% to 20% of each sprint to technical debt. This ensures debt reduction is ongoing without disrupting feature delivery, balances priorities in the backlog, and prevents long-term buildup. It fosters a culture of quality and ownership while maintaining development speed and ensuring healthier, more sustainable code over time. - Dileep Rai, Hachette Book Group 11. Thoroughly Vet New Tools Before Adding Them One strategy that works is to evaluate new tools, especially AI, with a disciplined lens before adding them. Too many teams chase AI without asking if it supports their mission or just adds complexity. To avoid tech debt, focus on three things: integration, consolidation and whether your team is ready to support it long-term. - Todd Fisher, CallTrackingMetrics 12. Get Executive Buy-In And Investment Tech debt cannot be a 'taboo subject' hidden from view—you'll never make progress. One strategy that is a must-do is to get the executive team's buy-in (go to the board if necessary) so that proper investment and resources can be allocated to tech debt reduction. The dev team needs to explain the risks associated with ignoring it—the execs will listen closely and support. - Bruce Kornfeld, StorMagic 13. Leverage 'Context-Driven Debt Fixing' Implement 'context-driven debt fixing'—when developers get stuck debugging legacy code during feature work, they must refactor that specific problem area before continuing. Why this is effective: Frustration becomes the trigger for improvement. Devs naturally want to fix what's blocking them, so the refactoring feels productive rather than like overhead. Compound improvements happen organically. - Stoyan Mitov, Dreamix 14. Adopt A 'Progressive Refactoring' Mindset One strategy I've seen successfully employed is adopting a 'progressive refactoring' mindset within Agile sprints that is driven by clear ownership and measurable impact. Developers become responsible not just for delivery, but also for code quality and future maintainability in their area. - Diganta Sengupta, Oracle Corp. 15. Focus On Strategic Goals And Flexibility When Selecting Solutions There are two important things, really—a focus on bigger, strategic goals when selecting tools and solutions and an emphasis on flexibility and customization. Most software tools only get teams and organizations 80% of the way to a solution, but it's that 20% that can be the difference between success and failure when choosing to add to your tech stack. Embrace flexible tools that are easy to build and scale. - Ed Jennings, Quickbase 16. Take Advantage Of The Overlap Between Releases And/Or 'Clean As You Go' I employ two strategies: Use the overlap between releases for focused debt reduction, ensuring smooth production while clearing debt before new work begins. Alternatively, dedicate 20% of each sprint (that is, one dedicated developer) to addressing technical debt concurrently with new feature development. This 'clean as you go' approach prevents tech debt accumulation and keeps the codebase healthy. - Uttam Kumar, American Eagle Outfitters 17. Bundle Debt Work With Related Feature Work One effective strategy I've used to reduce technical debt without slowing development is to bundle debt work with related feature work. If you're touching the code anyway, pay down nearby debt while you're in there. It's like fixing that leaky pipe while you renovate the kitchen—not six months later when it floods your basement. - Andrew Siemer, Inventive 18. Make Tech Debt Reduction Part Of Digital Transformation Technical debt reduction should be defined as a part of any transformation. There is a cost associated with sunsetting applications, but there is a benefit as well. - Bhushan Parikh, Get Digital Velocity, LLC 19. Embed Identity Governance Into The Software Development Lifecycle One effective strategy is embedding identity governance into the SDLC using digital twins to simulate access policies before deployment. This prevents access sprawl and identity debt (both forms of technical debt) without slowing delivery. It's a lightweight, proactive approach that keeps security aligned with speed. - Peter Hill, Gathid 20. Configure 'Debt Heatmaps' Use 'debt heatmaps' to identify pain points, then apply a sprint 'debt tax' to clean up the worst offenders during normal dev cycles. It's strategic and continuous and keeps the team shipping without backlog bloat. - Mark Mahle, NetActuate, Inc.
