Perusing the grocery aisle in the Westside Market on 23rd Street in Manhattan, you might not even notice the screens. They look just like paper price labels and, alongside a bar code, use a handwriting-style font weve come to associate with a certain merchant folksiness. Theyre not particularly bright or showy. The only clues that theyre not ordinary sticky shelf labels are a barely distinguishable light bulb and, on some, a small QR code.
These are electronic shelf labels, chip-enabled screens that some stores are now using to display product prices. Unlike their paper predecessors, the prices arent printed in ink but rendered in pixels, and they can change instantaneously, at any time. The labels also come with additional features. An LED light can switch on to flag something, perhaps a product that needs restocking, explains Vusion, the company that made the labels Westside Market is now using. The QR codes are designed to help customers find more information about a product, or integrate with a personalized shopping list someone might have.
Of course, these labels arent just labels, but end-points of a much larger effort to digitize every way we now interface with products. You have a network in the store. You send the information that you want to transmit to the labels, and there you go, says Finn Wikander, the chief product officer at Pricer, another company thats manufacturing ESLs with the hope of making them a fixture of 21st century shopping.
Unsurprisingly, electronic shelf labels have become a flashpoint for consumer anxiety. The companies selling the devices, and the stores buying them, say the technology isnt about screwing people over but about making their businesses easier to run. Automating price changes eliminates hours spent replacing labels. It also makes it simpler to respond to new tariffs or account for rising inflation.
But in a world spooked by dynamic pricing, electronic shelf labels can look to some like a goblin of digitizationa symptom of late-stage Silicon Valley campaigns to streamline and optimize seemingly all elements of commerce. Even members of Congress have raised suspicions about the technology, arguing that it enables price gouging and discrimination, particularly as it becomes more common in the United States.
“Historically, when we thought about brick and mortar stores, prices were relatively stable,” Vicki Morwitz, a Columbia Business School professor who focuses on marketing and consumer behavior, tells Fast Company. “These electronic shelf tags break that assumption which makes pricing feel less stable. Even if average prices aren’t necessarily going up, that shelf instability can become a psychological flash point.”
Screenified everything
A handful of companies sell this technology as part of broader enterprise software packages. Theres Pricer, a Swedish firm, and Vusion, headquartered in France. Solum operates out of South Korea, and Opticon, known for barcode scanners, is also in the mix. Electronic shelf labels can also be bought, ahem, off the shelf and integrated into a stores Bluetooth networkno enterprise startup required.
The pitch for these devices is exactly what unsettles so many shoppers: Electronic shelf labels make it much easier for stores to change prices dynamically and more frequently. The companies that manufacture and deploy these tools say there are legitimate reasons to do so. For example, a store might raise prices if suppliers increase costs, or cut them quickly when a product is nearing its expiration date.
ESLs also allow chains to keep prices consistent across locations and respond more quickly to competitors (especially valuable at a time when shoppers are already carrying smartphones to compare prices between stores). Most consumers today are used to either doing their own scanning or use ChatGPT or Gemini to find the best offer or use price comparison sites, says Pricer’s Wikander.
Then theres labor. Employees might spend hours replacing labels for a price surge or sale. The idea is to liberate people from very tedious tasks in a store. Changing prices could be one. Launching promotions could be one, argues Loc Oumier, a marketing executive with Vusion. There are also regulatory considerations: France, for instance, passed a law mandating that prices at checkout match advertised prices on aisles, which pushed stores in that country to adopt the technology, says Wikander.
They are now rolling out more broadly in the United States, especially at large chains. Vusion says its labels are in use at Fresh Market, Mattress Firm, and Leons in Canada. Walmart, which declined to comment for this story, announced in 2024 that it would begin installing electronic shelf labels, with plans to bring Vusions technology to more than 2,000 stores by the end of 2026. Tests or deployments have appeared in Whole Foods, Schnucks, and even smaller retailers like Westside Market.
The reception can be frosty. While there are some scenarios, like from Uber rides and airline tickets, where consumers have come to accept rapidly changing costs, the practice often feels jarring. That tension was evident in 2024, when Wendys faced backlash after announcing plans to install digital menu boards and later promised it wouldn’t introduce surge pricing for burgers. Shoppers also worry about price gouging, where retailers spike prices during emergencies. Exploiting consumers when they have no real alternatives or limited alternatives, says Columbia’s Morwitz. The problem is consumers may feel exploited long before an economist would say they are.
There is also the understandable anxiety that the technology is designed to cut jobs. Some workers, as reported in The Nation, say the labels do not simplify their work but replace one kind of labor with another form of algorithmic babysitting. Unlike paper tags, screens can break, and computer programs fall victim to bugs and internet outages. Employees at one chain store operated by Kroger, which has also deployed the tech, have apparently complained that the labels heat up stores. (Kroger did not respond to Fast Company‘s request for comment.)
Concerns reach D.C.
Lawmakers have taken notice. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania wrote to Kroger after the company announced it would introduce the technology, amid accusations that it was using facial recognition to show different customers different prices. In a letter of response obtained by Fast Company, Kroger defended the rollout, saying ESLs helped it manage the 1.3 billion price changes it implements each year and freed up associates to assist customers. Paula Walsh,Krogers director of retail operations, denied in the letter that the company was using facial recognition or collecting personal information from customers through the tags.
Kroger dodged my questions but confirmed my key concerns: Its using electronic shelf labels to change grocery prices in real-time and collect data that could be used to jack up grocery prices for Americans, Warren tells Fast Company. Ill keep pushing to make sure consumers arent being exploited while they work hard to put food on the table.
Wikander, for his part, dismisses the idea that retailers would use the technology that way. Just because you have the possibility of screwing your customers doesn’t mean that retailers will do that,” he says. “I don’t think retailers would typically do it, because the consumers are smarter than that. Wikander says it takes a typical business around a year or two and that, while the investment upfront is big, the labels last for many years.
Indeed, for all the eeriness surrounding the labels, research shows that it might not be much of a change, price wise, for either consumers or businesses. Ioannis Stamatopoulos, a business professor at the University of Texas at Austin, says there is little evidence that digital shelf labels lead to significant price swings. He pointed to a 2025 study involving an American grocery store that found no evidence of the practice, and another involving an international grocery store that showed that prices tended to decline, particularly for items with short shelf lives.
Much of his research, at least, suggests that the labels are most effective at stopping food waste, since it makes it easier for stores to offer sales on products like bananas and strawberries when theyre about to go bad.
For now, the future of grocery shopping may look almost exactly like the pastexcept the price tag is oh-so-faintly glowing.
Meta announced on February 10 that it’s introducing a new AI animation feature that lets users turn their still profile photos into AI-generated looping videos. It reads like an uncanny valley version of yesteryear’s Boomerang.
The option to animate appears when users click “Animate profile picture” on their Facebook avatars, and the feature gives a limited set of animation options, including party hat, confetti, wave, and heart, in which a photo’s subject makes a heart shape with their hands. Meta says there will be additional options in the future for “seasonal moments and special events.”
[Image: Meta]
The tech is imperfect and can only work with what it’s got. Meta says for best results, photos should show a single person with their face clearly visible and holding no other objects. Some users may find it too uncanny valley to see a fake video of themselves, but there are other options, too.
The company also launched the ability to restyle photos with Meta AI by filtering posts with aesthetics like “anime,” “illustrated,” or “glowy,” or by generating artificial backdrops on pictures. Text posts can also receive animated backdrops under the new updates.
[Image: Meta]
Response online to the idea of AI-animated Facebook avatars ranged from indifference to eye rolls over more AI content no one asked for. Some listeners have responded similarly to AI-generated animations applied to album artwork on Apple Music. For apps looking to integrate AI into their products, animating pre-existing content is low-hanging fruit, but whether or not it takes off remains in question.
[Image: Meta]
The new AI features, however, do fit in with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for AI as laid out on last month’s earnings call. In short, he wants more of it.
“Today our apps feel like algorithms that recommend content,” Zuckerberg said. “Soon, you’ll open our apps and you’ll have an AI that understands you, and also happens to be able to show you great content or even generate great personalized content for you.”
Meta, which is now along with Google’s YouTube in a landmark trial over accusations their apps are engineered to be addictive for children, has integrated Meta AI into its apps through AI search bars and chatbots. Last year it launched a stand-alone app called Vibes that’s designed with an all-AI content feed.
By adding an easy preset way to animate profile photos with AI, it’s bringing the technology to one of the most public-facing personal spaces for users on the platform.
James Van Der Beek was one of the biggest stars of the late 1990s and early 2000s. His family still couldn’t afford the cost of cancer.
The actor, 48, best known for his portrayal of Dawson Leery in the 90s hit Dawson’s Creek, died Wednesday.
Van Der Beek’s passing comes a little more than a year after he announced on social media that he was battling colorectal cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 2023. And while the actor and father’s untimely death is undeniably tragic, there’s another heartbreaking piece of the story to be told. His family was desperately struggling to afford the cost of his cancer treatment.
Despite having enjoyed a successful careerwhich included hits like Varsity Blues (1999) and The Rules of Attraction (2002), as well as playing the lead role in a popular TV drama for six seasonsthe actor still spent the final years of his life struggling financially.
Last year, Van Der Beek teamed up with the auction house Propstore to sell his personal collection of memorabilia, wardrobe items, and set pieces from Dawson’s Creek and his most notable films to raise money for his treatment.
“I’ve been storing these treasures for years, waiting for the right time to do something with them. And with all of the recent unexpected twists and turns life has presented recently, it’s clear that the time is now,” Van Der Beek told People magazine at the time. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the auction raised around $47,000.
His plight begs the question: If one of the most successful actors of the late 1990s and early 2000s can’t afford cancer treatment in the United States, who can? According to a 2022 survey from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), not many. Per the survey, more than 70% of respondents said they made significant lifestyle changes in order to afford their care. And more than half (51%) went into medical debt due to treatment.
The statistics were worse for certain groups, with women more likely to report medical debt than men (57% versus 36%), and Black Americans more likely to go into debt than white Americans (62% versus 52%). Likewise, states with fewer people enrolled in Medicaid had higher rates of medical debt due to cancer (58% compared with 49% in states with expanded Medicaid offerings). But overall, almost three-quarters of the cancer patients surveyed were worried about being able to afford the cost of their current care, as well as costs that may stack up in the future (73%).
On Wednesday, amid the tributes and heartfelt words, a GoFundMe page dedicated to the actor’s family also showed up online. The page, which GoFundMe told Fast Company has been verified, explained that the family has been under “significant financial strain” due to Van Der Beek’s medical expenses.
“In the wake of this loss, Kimberly and the children are facing an uncertain future,” it said. “The costs of Jamess medical care and the extended fight against cancer have left the family out of funds. They are working hard to stay in their home and to ensure the children can continue their education and maintain some stability during this incredibly difficult time.”
At present, the page has raised over $1.4 million for his wife and six kids.
The efforts being made for the actor’s family may be touching. They are happening, in part, because the actor was well loved. Shortly after his death was made public, the tributes from friends and colleagues began pouring in. One belief, which seemed to be shared by those who knew him, was how deeply genuine and kind he was, with many describing him as the antithesis of everything Hollywood actors are known to be.
“There are people in this industry who are talented. Some who are charismatic. A few who are generous,” wrote actress Alyssa Milano. “And then there were the rare onesthe truly kind and thoughtful. James was the rare kind. He showed up for his people. He listened. He cared.” She went on to call him a “unicorn of a man.” The sentiments were echoed by many other actors he grew up alongside, including Katie Holmes and Melissa Joan Hart.
In the end, the outpouring of love for Van Der Beek underscores both how deeply he was valued and how precarious illness remains in the United States, even for those who seem outwardly successful. That his family needed to rely on auctions and crowdfunding to survive a cancer diagnosis is not an anomaly, but a reflection of a system where serious illness often comes with financial ruin attached.
January filled our inboxes with productivity advice. Set stretch goals! Think bigger! Dream audaciously! What was conspicuously absent from all that exhortation was any practical guidance on how to move from grand vision to daily action without becoming paralyzed by the enormity of what we’ve committed to.
And now, its February.
Here’s a counterintuitive truth I’ve learned from decades of navigating complex creative challenges: The secret to tackling big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAG) isn’t summoning more willpower or grinding harder. It’s learning to approach complexity the way babies learn to eat solid food: one tiny, digestible bite at a time.
I call it the Baby Food Method.
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Why your brain rebels against big goals
When you declare a massive objective- launch a company, write a book, transform your organization’s culture- your brain doesn’t throw a parade. It throws up barriers! Neuroscience tells us that ambiguity and uncertainty trigger the same stress responses as physical threat. Your amygdala can’t distinguish between “I need to escape this predator” and “I have no idea how to execute this strategic pivot.”
This is why so many January resolutions collapse by February. The goal itself becomes a source of anxiety rather than motivation. The solution isn’t to dream smaller. It’s to digest smarter.
The Baby Food Principle
Think about how infants transition from liquid to solid food. No parent hands a six-month-old a steak and says, “Figure it out.” Instead, they puree single ingredients into smooth, manageable portions. Carrots become orange mush. Peas become green paste. One new taste at a time, until gradually the palate, and the digestive system, can handle increasing complexity.
Your audacious goals deserve the same graduated approach.
The Baby Food Method works in three stages: puree, introduce, and integrate.
Stage one: puree the complexity
Before you can act on a big goal, you need to break it down into its most fundamental components, the equivalent of pureeing that carrot. This isn’t the same as creating a project plan or building a Gantt chart. It’s more elemental than that.
Ask yourself: What are the irreducible units of this ambition? If your goal is to write a book, the puree might be: capture one idea worth exploring. Not “write Chapter One.” Not even “outline the book.” Just: find one compelling thought and get it out of your head.
When I left a 16-year academic career to become an entrepreneur, I didn’t start by building a business plan. I started by having one conversation with someone who’d made a similar leap. One conversation. That was my puree.
Stage two: introduce new elements gradually
Babies don’t eat pureed carrots forever. Once they’ve mastered one food, theyre introduced to another. Then you start combining- carrots with sweet potato, apple with banana. The complexity builds incrementally, and each successful integration expands capacity for the next.
Apply this to your BHAG. Once you’ve captured that one idea, introduce the next element: share it with someone whose perspective you trust. Then another: test it against a real-world problem. Each small introduction builds your tolerance for the ambiguity that initially triggered resistance.
This is where I see leaders stumble most often. They puree beautifully, break their goal into components, and then they try to swallow everything at once! They mistake “understanding the pieces” for “being ready to execute them simultaneously.” Your nervous system doesn’t work that way. Neither does sustainable progress.
Stage three: integrate toward solid food
Eventually, a child graduates to actual table food. They’ve developed the motor skills, the digestive capacity, and the palate sophistication to handle complexity. The same progression applies to creative execution.
Integration means combining your mastered elements into increasingly ambitious iterations. That one conversation becomes five conversations, which reveal patterns, which suggest a framework, which informs a proposal, which shapes a pilot project. At no point do you face the full weight of “build a business.” You face only the next natural increment of what you’ve already proven you can handle.
A practical application
Here’s how the Baby Food Method might work for a common goal: transforming your team’s approach to innovation.
Puree: Host one 15-minute “what if” session with your team. No agenda beyond exploring one assumption you’ve never questioned.
Introduce: Add a second element, perhaps a “So what?” follow-up the next week, where you examine whether any of those “what ifs” have practical relevance.
Integrate: Combine the pattern into a monthly rhythm. Then invite a cross-functional colleague to join. Then pilot one small experiment that emerged from the discussions.
Twelve months from now, you may find you’ve built an innovation culture. And not because you announced “We’re becoming innovative!” but because you fed your organization one digestible bite at a time.
The gift of graduated ambition
Th Baby Food Method isn’t about lowering your sights. It’s about respecting the neuroscience of how humans actually change. We don’t transform through declarations. We transform through accumulated micro-actions that gradually rewire what we believe we’re capable of.
Those early bites build what I call your inventory of courage. Each small success deposits evidence that you can handle complexity. When you eventually face the full weight of your audacious goal, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re drawing on months of proven capability.
So remember, don’t just set the big goal. Puree it. What’s the smallest, most digestible first bite you could take this week? Start there.
The steak can wait. The puree is where transformation begins.
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As the Trump administration prepares to close the Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation, the head of Washington’s performing arts center has warned its staff about impending cuts that will leave “skeletal teams.”In a Tuesday memo obtained by the Associated Press, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told staff that “departments will obviously function on a much smaller scale with some units totally reduced or on hold until we begin preparations to reopen in 2028,” promising “permanent or temporary adjustments for most everyone.”Over the next few months, he wrote, department heads would be “evaluating the needs and making the decisions as to what these skeletal teams left in place during the facility and closure and construction phase will look like.” Grenell said leadership would “provide as much clarity and advance notice as possible.”The Kennedy Center is slated to close in early July. Few details about what the renovations will look like have been released since President Donald Trump announced his plan at the beginning of February. Neither Trump nor Grenell have provided evidence to support claims about the building being in disrepair, and last October, Trump had pledged it would remain open during renovations.“Upon the completion of these upgrades, Americans and visitors from all over the world, for generations to come, will enjoy the Center and marvel at its spectacular features and design,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday.It’s unclear exactly how many employees the center currently has, but a 2025 tax filing said nearly 2,500 people were employed during the 2023 calendar year. A request for comment sent to Kennedy Center Arts Workers United, which represents artists and arts professionals affiliated with the center, wasn’t immediately returned.Leading performers and groups have left or canceled appearances since Trump ousted the center’s leadership a year ago and added his own name to the building in December. The Washington Post, which first reported about Grenell’s memo, has also cited significant drops in ticket revenue, whichalong with private philanthropycomprises the center’s operating budget. Officials have yet to say whether such long-running traditions as the Mark Twain Award for comedy or the honors ceremony for lifetime contributions to the arts will continue while the center is closed.The Kennedy Center was first conceived as a national cultural facility during the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s. President John F. Kennedy led a fundraising initiative, and the yet-to-be-built center was named in his honor following his assassination. It opened in 1971 and has become a preeminent showcase for theater, music, and dramatic performances, enjoying bipartisan backing until Trump’s return to office last year.“This renovation represents a generational investment in our future,” Grenell wrote. “When we reopen, we will do so as a stronger organizationone that honors our legacy while expanding our impact.”
Hillel Italie, AP National Writer
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, a likely medal contender at the Milan Cortina Games, was barred from racing Thursday after refusing a last-minute plea from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to not use a helmet that honors more than 20 athletes and coaches killed in his country’s war with Russia.The decision came roughly 45 minutes before the start of the competition and ended a three-day saga where Heraskevych knew he was risking being pulled from the Games by wearing the helmet, one that the IOC says breaks rules against making statements on the field of play.The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said his decision to wear the helmet was “inconsistent with the Olympic Charter and Guidelines on Athlete Expression.” He wore the helmet in training, but the IOC asked for him to wear a different helmet in races. It offered concessions, such as wearing a black armband or letting him display the helmet once he was off the ice.“I believe, deeply, the IBSF and IOC understand that I’m not violating any rules,” Heraskevych said. “Also, I would say (it’s) painful that it really looks like discrimination because many athletes already were expressing themselves. . . . They didn’t face the same things. So, suddenly, just the Ukrainian athlete in this Olympic Games will be disqualified for the helmet.”IOC President Kirsty Coventry, who was slated to be in Cortina d’Ampezzo to see Alpine skiing, went to the sliding center instead to meet Heraskevych. She was waiting at the top of the track when he arrived around 8:15 a.m., and they met privately. After about 10 minutes, Coventry was unable to change Heraskevych’s mind.“We didn’t find common ground in this regard,” Heraskevych said.Tears rolled down Coventry’s face after the meeting. The Olympic champion swimmer made clear that she wanted a different outcome, and the IOC said the decision was made with regret.“As you’ve all seen over the last few days, we’ve allowed for Vladyslav to use his helmet in training,” Coventry said. “No one, no oneespecially meis disagreeing with the messaging. The messaging is a powerful message. It’s a message of remembrance. It’s a message of memory and no one is disagreeing with that. The challenge that we are facing is that we wanted to ask or come up with a solution for just the field of play.”Coventry and Heraskevych agreed that the helmet isn’t clearly visible during races anyway, given that sliders are zipping down the icy chute at around 120 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour). That, the IOC hoped, was the window to a compromise. Heraskevych would not budge.“Sadly, we’ve not been able to come to that solution,” Coventry said. “I really wanted to see him race today. It’s been an emotional morning.”Heraskevych said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but the race went on without him. The first two runs were Thursday, the last two are Friday. Regardless of what CAS says, if anything, his chance to race in these Games is gone. The IOC is letting him keep his credential, meaning he can remain at the Olympics as an athletejust not a competing one.About a dozen Russian athletes are being allowed to compete at the Olympics as neutral individuals along with seven Belarusians. They are not allowed to compete under their national flag or anthem. Heraskevych has spoken out several times about why he believes they shouldn’t be at the Olympics and said the IOC’s decision “plays along with Russian propaganda.”The decision drew immediate condemnation from officials in Ukraine and some athletes.“Sport shouldn’t mean amnesia, and the Olympic movement should help stop wars, not play into the hands of aggressors,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “Unfortunately, the decision of the International Olympic Committee to disqualify Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych says otherwise.”“Disqualified. I think that’s enough to understand what the modern IOC really is and how it disgraces the idea of the Olympic movement,” added Ukrainian skier Kateryna Kotsar on Instagram. “Vladyslav Heraskevych, for us and for the whole world, you’re a champion. Even without starting.”The IOC had sided with Ukraine’s top slider before. When he displayed a “No war in Ukraine” sign after his fourth and final run at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the IOC said he was simply calling for peace and did not find him in violation of the Olympic charter.This time, Heraskevych said he believes there are inconsistencies in how the IOC decides what statements are allowed. Among those he cited: U.S. figure skater Maxim Naumov bringing a photo of his late parentsformer pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who were among the 67 people killed in a plane crash on January 29, 2025to the kiss-and-cry area after his skate in Milan this week, and Israeli skeleton athlete Jared Firestone’s decision to appear at the opening ceremony wearing a kippah that bore the names of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches killed in the 1972 attack during the Munich Games.“A competitor literally placed the memory of the dead on his head to honor them,” Heraskevych wrote on Instagram. “I frankly do not understand how these two cases are fundamentally different.”Firestone said he admired Heraskevych. “I think he’s a man with strong values,” he said.In Milan, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said if athletes were allowed to display messaging without restrictions on the field of play “that would lead to a chaotic situation.”“Sport without rules cannot function. . . . If we have no rules, we have no sport,” Adams said.Heraskevych was fourth at the world championships last year and was among the fastest in training leading into the Olympic races. A medal was certainly within reach, but to Heraskevych, the helmet mattered more.“The International Olympic Committee destroyed our dreams,” said Mykhailo Heraskevych, the slider’s coach and father. “It’s not fair.”
AP journalists Julia Frankel, Vasilisa Stepanenko and Graham Dunbar contributed.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Tim Reynolds, AP Sports Writer
A little known security feature on iPhones is in the spotlight after it stymied efforts by U.S. federal authorities to search devices seized from a reporter.Apple’s Lockdown Mode recently prevented FBI agents from getting into Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s iPhone.Agents seized the phone, as well as two MacBooks and other electronic devices, when they searched Natanson’s home last month as part of an investigation into a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally handling classified information. But the FBI reported that its Computer Analysis Response Team “could not extract” data from the iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode, according to a court filing.So what is Lockdown Mode? Here’s a rundown of how it works and how to use it:
Highest security
Apple says Lockdown Mode is an “optional, extreme” protection tool designed to guard against “extremely rare and highly sophisticated cyberattacks.” It’s not for everyone, but instead for “very few individuals” who could be targeted by digital threats because of who they are or what they do.“Most people will never be targeted by attacks of this nature,” Apple’s support page says.It’s available in Apple’s newer operating systems, including iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. It works by putting strict security limits on some apps and features, or even making some unavailable, to reduce the areas that advanced spyware can attack. It also restricts the kinds of browser technologies that websites can use and limits photo sharing.
Can Apple turn it off?
Apple has previously rejected U.S. government requests to build so-called backdoor access for its devices.In 2016, Apple refused a request by authorities to help bypass lockscreen security for an encrypted iPhone belonging to a shooter who carried out a terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California. The company also declined to add an ability to input passcodes electronically, which would make it possible to carry out “brute force” attempts to guess the combination using computers.“It would be wrong to intentionally weaken our products with a government-ordered backdoor,” Apple said in explaining its decision.
How to turn on Lockdown Mode
Make sure your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook has been updated. You’ll have to turn the feature on separately for each of your Apple devices.On your iPhone, go to Settings, then to the Privacy and Security section, scroll down to the bottom and tap on Lockdown Mode. Enter your passcodenot a facial or fingerprint scanto activate it. The device will restart and then you’ll again have to use your passcode to unlock it. On MacBooks, follow a similar procedure from the System Settings menu.Apple recommends that you switch it on for all of the company’s devices that you own.
Better than biometrics
You might assume that requiring facial or fingerprint recognition to unlock your phone is good enough to protect it from snooping. But experts say passcodes are better than biometrics at protecting your devices from law enforcement, because they could compel you to unlock your device by holding your phone up to your face or forcing you to put your finger on the scanner.FBI agents told Natanson that they “could not compel her to provide her passcodes,” but the warrant they used to execute the search did give them the authority “to use Natanson’s biometrics, such as facial recognition or fingerprints, to open her devices.” According to a court filing, Natanson said she didn’t use biometrics to lock her devices but agents were ultimately able to unlock her MacBook with her finger.
This is how it affects your phone
Apple says some apps and features will work differently when Lockdown Mode is on.Some websites might load slowly or not work properly, and some images and web fonts could be missing because they block “certain complex web technologies.”In Messages, most types of attachments are blocked, and links and link previews won’t be available. Incoming FaceTime calls are blocked unless it’s from a number you’ve called in the past month.In Photos, location information is stripped from shared photos and shared albums are removed from the app. Focus mode won’t work normally.There are also tighter restrictions on connecting your phone or computer to unsecure Wi-Fi networks or to other computers and accessories.When I tried it out on my own iPhone, some apps warned me that certain functions might not work. I noticed that one of my news apps started using a different font and photos on some websites didn’t appear, replaced by a question mark.The biggest disruption happened when I went to the gym, which involved using a web-based check-in system to scan a QR code. But my phone camera wouldn’t work so I had to turn off Lockdown Mode in order to get in. To be sure, my iPhone’s standalone Code Scanner app still worked, so the problem seemed to center on using a website to activate the camera.
Turn it off
Follow the same procedure outlined above that you used to turn on Lockdown Mode. You’ll need to enter your passcode and the phone will perform a restart.
Is there a tech topic that you think needs explaining? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your suggestions for future editions of One Tech Tip.
Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer
Valentine’s Day may seem romantic, but to candy companies, it’s serious business. Our annual ode to St. Valentine is one of the most important and competitive days on candy company calendars, and every year, confectioners roll out special-edition heart-shaped chocolate bars and other product innovations to capture consumers’ dollars (nevermind hearts).
When it comes to speaking to modern courtship, though, one candy brand has a unique leg up on the competitionand it’s built into the candy itself. Sweethearts were designed to be updated.
The pastel-colored conversation hearts stay relevant year over year because their embossed messages can be easily and quickly updated, transforming a generic shape into a crunchy candy canvas that’s adaptable to the moment. That makes the face of these tiny hearts some of the most valuable real estate in the Valentine’s Day candy landscape, because the right quip could convert a passerby into a sale. And this year, their newest messages are all about the struggles of dating in today’s economy.
[Photo: Spangler Candy Company]
Sweethearts’s latest sayings have been dubbed “Love in This Economy” after an online survey that the brand’s owner, the family-owned, Ohio-based Spangler Candy Company, conducted last December of 2,000 Gen Z and millennials who are single, casually dating, or in a serious relationship, making an edible sort of consumer sentiment index.
The candy company’s survey found 80% of respondents said the economy was impacting their Valentine’s Day plans. Their new two-line messages, then”Split Rent,” “Share Logn,” “Car Poll,” “Buy N Bulk,” and “Cook For 2″reflect the realities of dating and courtship during a time of high prices, persistent inflation, and low consumer confidence.
But just because the company has introduced new messages doesn’t mean it’s abandoned more evergreen ones. “We’re careful about evolving the sayings because Sweethearts must be both nostalgic and new,” Spangler Candy Company vice president of marketing Evan Brock tells Fast Company.
Classic messages like “Marry Me,” “Cutie Pie,” and “Ooo La La” are included every year, while new sayings reflect how people express affection and connection today, she says. “Our role is to strike a balance between enduring tradition and modern expression.”
[Photo: Evan-Amos/Wiki Commons
Some of the original messages stamped into the first Sweethearts from 1902 were Be Mine, Be True, and Kiss Me,” according to Smithsonian Magazine. But over the years, the candy has been updated with the times. “Fax Me” turned into “Text Me,” and in 2024, the candies were purposefully misprinted to symbolize the confusion and mixed messages of situationships.
[Photo: Spangler Candy Company]
Unlike M&Ms or Skittles, which use the surface of their candy shells to display their visual brands, Sweethearts has more flexibility to adapt to culture. But even so, it’s thoughtful about adding new sayings. Embossing the hearts is a highly coordinated process that involves engraving new phrases onto custom-made printing plates that will stamp the words onto each individual candy.
There’s no understating how important Valentine’s Day is for candy sales. Along with Easter, Halloween, and the winter holiday season, the four holidays generate a whopping 62% of annual sales for the $54 billion confectionery industry, according to the National Confectioners Association.
For Sweethearts, it’s practically the whole ballgame, since no one’s buying conversation hearts for Christmas. By tapping into current events and changing trends in courtship, the more-than-a-century-old brand is resonating with Valentine’s Day now.
Want to use Discord from next month? Youll have to hand over a photo of your ID or a scan of your face to verify youre of age. Its part of a new process introduced by the chat app aimed at ensuring no one underage is using the platform. All new and existing users, the company says, will be given a teen-appropriate experience by default, including content filtering and limited access to spaces that host adult content.
To regain the experience they previously had, users will need to prove their age through one of several options, including video selfies or sharing a photo of an identity document. (Discord did not immediately respond to Fast Companys request for comment.)
Users have reacted pretty unfavorably toward the proposal, with many saying theyre unhappy about sharing personal data with Discord, which faced a massive data breach reported just months ago. In that instance, ID photos of 70,000 users were potentially leaked after a cyberattack. (Discord said the incident involved a third-party customer support provider, not its own systems.)
What worries privacy groups most is not just Discords plan, but the precedent it sets for other platforms. Its a reflection of growing concerns over the erosion of privacy online, and the slippery slope of mandating identity and age verification across the internet, making these systems a prime tool for surveillance and tracking, says Rin Alajaji, associate director of state affairs at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Mandating age verification on a platform like Discord directly undermines the platform and the internet’s long-standing culture of anonymity.
There are also broader concerns about the growing requirements for users to prove who they are and how old they are to do things they previously did without scrutiny. U.K. polling suggests that while people may support age checks in principle, they are far more reluctant to hand over ID or facial footage in practice. Willingness to comply drops significantly when specifics are involved, and the public is split on the use of face video and photographic ID. Only 23% of Brits say theyd hand over ID to access discussion forums like Discord. That same tension appears in the U.S.: people want children protected online, but are less comfortable when those protections infringe on their own rights.
Elinor Carmi, a senior lecturer in data politics and data justice at City St Georges, University of London, argues the backlash isnt just about biometrics or ID checks in the abstract, but about whether people believe this kind of gatekeeping will actually work. People just don’t think that age verification actually works, she says, adding that users see policymakers and platforms reaching for a patch rather than a fix. The social media platforms and the regulators are basically saying, We have an issue, but let’s not deal with it. And let’s try to solve it in the most technical and easy solution, which is obviously also not working, because you can obviously fake it.
Theres also fatigue with the concept, with users feeling the burden is being shifted onto them, including teenagers as well as adults, rather than platforms. And beyond that, there are worries about the consequences of a papers, please era of the web. For many usersespecially vulnerable groups like LGBTQ+ youthhaving a space to connect without revealing their real identities is essential for safety and free expression, says EFF’s Alajaji. Age verification puts that at risk, forcing users to choose between privacy and participation.
She calls the decision to ask people to hand over more personal data after some users already lost theirs in last years Discord-linked data breach reckless. People are wary because theyve been burned before and know theyre being asked to trade their likeness and other sensitive information simply to participate online. Many users are understandably alarmed about their data being exposed or misused, Alajaji says.
Airport lounges used to be a perk. In 2026, they are a battleground.
American Express is refreshing Centurion Lounges and adding faster Sidecar formats. Chase is experimenting with champagne parlors and hyperlocal chef partnerships in its Sapphire Lounges. Citi is back in the ultra-premium card game. And Capital One, the relative newcomer, is making a different bet.
Instead of building another lounge at LaGuardia Airport, it built a restaurant.
The new Capital One Landing at Terminal B is a 12,500-square-foot, chef-driven dining space created with José Andrés. It has a 2,250-square-foot working kitchen, the largest in the terminal, and a menu built around Spanish tapas cooked from scratch. It looks more like a stand-alone dining destination than a cardholder waiting room.
That is the point.
[Photo: Capital One]
From lounges to ‘landings’
Capital One’s airport strategy started with lounges at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Denver International Airport, and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Those spaces became known for local partnerships, individually plated food made on site, and drinks from neighborhood breweries and distilleries.
The idea was that even if you never left the airport, you would still get a sense of the city.
The Landing concept is an evolution of that thinking. Instead of adapting lounge food to feel more local, Capital One asked what would happen if the airport space felt like a real restaurant first and a lounge second.
When we went to the lounge space, we similarly felt that lounges were becoming totally cookie-cutter . . . They were all kind of buffets. The drinks were the same, lounge to lounge, Matt Knise, SVP of premium products and travel at Capital One, tells Fast Company.
The Landing is Capital Ones answer to that sameness.
[Photo: Capital One]
We felt that there was room for a restaurant type experience, so you could still sit somewhere a little bit more comfortable and put your stuff down and get a really quality restaurant, quality bite of food and still make it to your gate on time, he says.
Why a chef matters in a card war
To make that work, Capital One sought out someone who could actually run a restaurant inside an airport.
We needed a partner on the other side of the equation, the hospitality and food side of the equation, who had the same passion about solving what we saw, and we found that with José and team, Knise says.
For Andrés, the project feels personal.
For me, in a way, it’s kind of a dream, he says. Capital One helped me build my own kitchen away from home.
That kitchen is not decorative. It is central to the pitch.
[Photo: Capital One]
What makes this differentthis Landing and this placeis that were making the food from scratch,” he says. “It’s not sitting there three, four hours in a place waiting for you to arrive.”
In fact, Capital One built Andrés a kitchen with top-of-the-line equipment akin to what you would find in a high-end restaurant outside the terminal.
Tapas for travelers on a clock
The menu leans into Spanish tapas for a reason.
I believe in smaller portions and I believe in in the rainbow of possibilities, says Andrés. I don’t know a lot of concepts that are quicker than tapas.
Guests can grab plates from the tapas bar, order via QR code, or take items to go. Dishes like croquetas, the bikini sandwich, cheeses, and flauta bread are designed to be eaten quickly or slowly.
Knise says the design balances both.
We felt deeply that a great dining experience and a relatively quick dining experience, those two things did not have to be mutually exclusive, he says. Its a bit of a choose your own adventure.
Capital One is also leaning into what it calls Daily Rituals. At LGA, that includes tableside martinis, vermouth carts with garnishes and pintxos, oysters during select windows, and dessert carts.
[Photo: Capital One]
The airport as the new loyalty showroom
In the fight for affluent travelers, the airport has become the most visible showroom for what a premium card actually promises.
For Capital One. the space itself is part of the strategy. Skylights, a terrace filled with greenery, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the Manhattan skyline, and a 30 foot mural by Queens artist Amrita Marino all reinforce that this is meant to feel like a place, not a waiting area.
The thinking is straightforward. If the first memorable part of your trip happens before you even board the plane, and it happens inside a space tied directly to your credit card, the card stops feeling like a payment tool and starts feeling like part of the journey.
For years, perks lived on paper. Points multipliers, statement credits, travel portals, concierge access. Useful, but abstract. You only felt the value when you booked a flight or scanned a benefits page. Lounges changed that. They turned benefits into something physical you could walk into, sit inside, and experience before your trip even began.
[Photo: Capital One]
Now that every major card issuer is investing in lounges, the competition has moved past who has a lounge and into what that lounge feels like.
Is it a place to grab a snack, or is it somewhere you plan to arrive early for? Does it feel interchangeable with every other airport space, or does it feel like a destination tied to the city you are in?
Knise puts it this way: We want a manifestation of what we stand for as a brand . . . we want them to leave and go, Oh, wow. Capital One is a company that totally has my back and is innovating to make my life easier.
For Andrés, the payoff shows up in a different way. Not in brand metrics or cardholder retention, but in what travelers say as they walk out.
Ive had people say I cannot wait to travel again so I can come back to eat the croqueta. [That] something like this happens in an airport. It’s very special.
