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Seniors: Carol Watson, 72
Owner of Carol Watson Greenhouse and Landscaping in LaFayette enjoys her growing business — still puts in six-, seven-day weeks By Mary Beth Roach Carol Watson, the owner of Carol Watson Greenhouse and Landscaping, has been in gardens since she could walk. Literally. She said she learned to walk in her grandfather’s garden, which was next door to her current home and business in LaFayette. Today, at 72, she is running the business that her mother, Claire, opened in 1981 as Watson Greenhouse. Watson worked part-time for her mom until 1990, when she joined her full time. While she may not have had any formal horticultural experience, she said she learned so much about growing and raising plants from her mom, who had an abundance of energy and talent. Now, after 35 years in the business full time, Watson has no plans to retire, although she joked that she’d like a couple of days off a week. On her seven-acre site, complete with four greenhouses, Watson said her favorite parts of the job are working with and educating her customers; helping some of her young customers build terrariums; conducting occasional class field trips; and supporting local art by decorating the shop with an eclectic mix of pottery from at least four area craftspeople. A one-time employee of the former Dey Bros. department store in Syracuse, Watson said she loves merchandising and enjoys displaying unique pieces of art on shelves and even suspending from ceilings. “We’re creative. We also had top quality plants. We got a reputation of quality plants and unusual products,” she said. It’s tending to her customers and her plants, showcasing the unusual products, and hosting special events to benefit the community that keep her motivated to work six to seven days a week. “I just love it. I love taking care of the plants. I’m one of the few people that really enjoys watering,” she said. And while she has cultivated a solid customer base over the years, she remains savvy in her marketing efforts to draw in new customers. For example, she does a gardening segment on CNY Central television; her active Facebook page has thousands of followers; and she hosts a number of unique events and classes that not only introduce her shop to potential new clients, but some benefit nonprofits as well. About 13 years ago, when the local symphony orchestra was struggling, she said she wanted to help. So, partnering with the group, she began offering concerts, called Soirees, featuring the Syracuse Orchestra’s string quartet. Following up on a suggestion from a customer whose brother is a deejay in retirement, specializing in sock hops, she hosted the greenhouse’s first sock hop. Plants got moved back toward the walls to make room for dancing; a caterer was brought in, offering diner-like food; guests came in period outfits; and proceeds went to the Food Bank of CNY. She is excited about doing it again in October. Via her website, she promotes the greenhouse as an “oasis in the snow,” offering visitors the opportunity to pick up some decorating and gift ideas while taking in the floral and citrus scents. And she also caters to her four-legged friends. Over this past winter, she said, she came up with a “brilliant idea,” although at the time she didn’t appreciate just how brilliant it would become. Feeling it too cold outside to take her dog for a walk, she opted to bring it into the greenhouse. And before long, she was inviting people to bring their dogs into the big greenhouse as well. She looks forward to extending that invitation again this upcoming winter season. For Watson and her customers, the greenhouse is always in season.
Not All “Plant-Based” Diets Are Equal for Brain Health
A large study suggests healthier plant-based diets may be linked to lower dementia risk, while processed plant foods may not. The findings show association, not proof.
Two simple eating habits linked to lower weight, study finds
A major study suggests that when you eat could play a key role in staying lean. People who fast longer overnight and start their day with an early breakfast were more likely to have a lower BMI years later. Scientists think this is because eating earlier aligns better with the body’s internal clock. But skipping breakfast as part of intermittent fasting didn’t offer the same advantage—and may even be tied to unhealthy habits.
Isla Vista Businesses Share Exclusion Concerns After Soltopia Festival
While Soltopia succeeded in lowering arrests, citations and hospitalizations compared with past Deltopia events in Isla Vista, some business owners felt
Health researchers say GLP-1 drug may lower health risks
Flourishing entrepreneur: How one student manages college life with business hustle
Balancing school and work is never easy, but one Brigham Young University student has taken their ambitions outside of the classroom and said her success smells an awful lot like flowers.
Six Flags Entertainment Corp (FUN): Leadership Changes Increase Operating Agency
Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:FUN) is one of the small cap stocks that make up 0.28% of George Soros stock portfolio. On April 1, Oppenheimer maintained its Outperform rating on Six Flags Entertainment Corp (NYSE:FUN) stock but lowered the price target to $26 from $40. According to the equity research firm, a new chief executive […]
Swashbuckling co-op survivor Windrose sets sail into early access next week, which means it's time to battle Blackbeard and a big flower
Pirate survival game Windrose releases in early access next week, its devs have revealed with a new trailer.
OpenAI has quietly launched its ads manager as it races to build out its ads business
The AI platform launched the ads manager within its ChatGPT ads pilot advertisers last week, and also lowered the barrier to joining the test.
Flutter Entertainment (FLUT) Stock Trades Down, Here Is Why
Shares of global online betting powerhouse Flutter Entertainment (NASDAQ:FLUT) fell 4.3% in the afternoon session after an analyst from Citizens lowered the price target for the company, citing a cautious outlook for the U.S. online gaming sector.
Scientists Are Turning Bread into Fuel. It Could Revolutionize Manufacturing.
Bacteria and breadcrumbs could soon replace fossil fuels—and drastically lower harmful emissions.
Video Boy goes viral sharing his love of science
Sean Atitsgobe, 11, has gained more than a million followers on social media and hopes to attend college by 13.
High Health Care Costs Are Fueling a New Fight Over Old Laws
The White House wants states to drop certificate of need laws in hopes of lowering health care costs. Researchers and state leaders are split.
Vaughn Gittin Jr. Accuses Car And Driver Of Using AI After A Negative Review Of His 800 HP Mustang That’s Slower Than A Mustang GT
After disappointing test figures from an RTR Spec 3 Mustang, Vaughn Gittin Jr. seems to be accusing a writer of using AI.
Influential Democratic think tank pushes plan for government to lower health care costs
Democrats are honing in on health care affordability as a key issue, ahead of the midterm elections.
Should’ve put a ring on it? Maybe! Marriage is linked to lower risk of cancer
A new study suggests marriage may be linked to a lower risk of cancer, adding to a growing body of research tying it to improved health outcomes.
Oil is crashing, but don’t expect $3 gas anytime soon. Here’s why
Oil futures are plunging – but it could still take weeks or months before gas prices are dramatically lower.
Oscar-winner Steve McQueen on the flowers that outlived empire
Atmos reports on Steve McQueen's latest project, a photographic book titled "Bounty," exploring the flowers of Grenada and their historical significance.
Oscar-winner Steve McQueen on the flowers that outlived empire
Atmos reports on Steve McQueen's latest project, a photographic book titled "Bounty," exploring the flowers of Grenada and their historical significance.
iPhone Air 2 and iPhone 18e Reportedly Launching Early Next Year
Apple plans to release an updated iPhone Air and a lower-end iPhone 18e early next year, according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In a report this week, he said Apple plans to unveil the two devices in spring 2027, alongside a standard iPhone 18. If so, Apple will likely announce the trio of devices in March or April next year. It is unclear if there will be a live-streamed event.
Washington’s most powerful drug industry lobbyist is stepping down
Steve Ubl built PhRMA into a more aggressive operation as its longtime leader. The White House has tangled with Ubl and the pharmaceutical industry in its bid to lower drug prices.
New Yorkers Mostly Like What They See From Mamdani So Far
Residents gave Mamdani high marks on his leadership, but his approval rating is lower than Eric Adams’s was around the same period.
Massachusettsticks: health risks, types, and prevention tips
The cold spring means ticks may be off to a slower start, but disease transmission keeps climbing.
Why art is important for your health, just like exercise
Regular participation in the arts improves cognition, lowers blood pressure and reduces stress, according to "Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives."
Lowering Healthcare Costs Without A Disastrous Government-Run Model
The right prescription for our healthcare ills is free markets, not more government.
Democratic ally lays out health affordability plan
Democrats are increasingly talking about lowering underlying health care costs.
Update, safeguard Colorado’s mail ballot with voter ID
By Chuck Broerman and Suzanne Taheri Coloradans often refer to our state as a leader for accessible and secure elections. We have led on all-mail ballots, automatic voter registration, and same-day registration, turning Colorado into a model for modern elections while also increasing turnout and lowering costs. But leadership also means staying ahead of the […]
Baton Rouge General's Health Tip of the Week: What to know about new cholesterol guidelines
Sponsored by Baton Rouge General Heart health is getting a head start—and the new guidelines say your 30s are the time to begin. Updated recommendations call for annual cholesterol screenings starting at age 30, lower LDL (“bad” cholesterol) targets (under 100, or 70 if you’re higher risk), and additional tests like lipoprotein(a) at least once. […]
A Patients’ Bill of Rights To Lower Health Care Costs
CAP’s plan would deliver immediate relief on premiums, deductibles, and insurance denials.
Executive Summary: A Patients’ Bill of Rights To Lower Health Care Costs
CAP’s plan would limit unjustified premium increases; reduce deductibles by reining in outlier hospital prices; and replace prior authorization with independent, evidence-based clinical review to lower health care costs and increase access to timely care.
Gardening’s Cultural Return Is Reshaping How Consumers Invest In Home, Health And Time
From RHS Chelsea Flower Show to OKA, Pooky and Blue Diamond, outdoor living is evolving th
Cattle futures lower ahead of direct business
At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were lower waiting on the week’s direct business to develop. June live cattle closed $1.22 lower at $245.80 and August live cattle closed $.50 lower at $242.37. May feeder cattle closed $3.72 lower at $366.62 and August feeder cattle closed $3.77 lower at $366.05. Direct cash […]
NEW: Phil Weiser Unveils ‘Healthy Colorado Plan’ to Lower Costs, Deliver Better Health Care for All Coloradans | Phil Weiser for Colorado
Three-part plan launches ‘Primary Care for All’ to transform Colorado’s "sick care" system into a true "health care" system.
Wilmington's Yearly Flower Festival Presents Stunning Seasonal Blooms With Live Entertainment
Visit Wilmington, North Carolina, during the North Carolina Azalea Festival for azalea blooms, historic garden tours, live music, and street fairs.
Why You Should Stop and Smell a Flower For Just 30 Seconds
The scents around you can slow your heart rate, shift your mood, and trigger vivid memories—often in seconds.
Nate Diaz rejected bigger UFC offer for Netflix MMA return
Nate Diaz chose to accept a lower payday than the UFC’s offer for his upcoming return to fighting, Nakisa Bidarian has confirmed. Diaz walked away from the UFC back in September 2022 after a long, tense stretch with the company and made his first move into boxing against Jake Paul.
US core capital goods orders increase in February
New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased more than expected in February, but data for the prior month was revised sharply lower, suggesting some moderation in business spending on equipment in the first quarter.
Phil Weiser’s health plan emphasizes primary care, using courts to lower costs
Weiser’s plan called for the state to shift investment toward preventive care, build on the Colorado Option and use the courts to challenge health care consolidation and enforce laws limiting surprise medical bills.
Computing, Sciences, Math at UT Among Best in U.S. for Graduate Study
In 2026-2027 rankings, all UT computer science programs rank in the top 10, while math and more are in the top tier at The University of Texas at Austin.
Oil rises above $110 as Trump deadline looms for Iran to reopen strait
IMF head warns Middle East war will lead to higher inflation and slower global growth
Older adults with high-dose flu shot had lower risk of Alzheimer’s, study shows
Club sports athletes report minimal damage after Morning on the Green festival
Women's Ultimate Frisbee and Rugby Team Captains share their thoughts on the impact of the Morning on The Green Festival on the Lower Sports Complex fields.
Lavonte David gives blunt assessment Jalen Hurts after retirement
The Super Bowl winning quarterback has never been given his flowers and it doesn't seem they are coming anytime soon.
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo and George Mason University scientists mine past air temperature forecasts, lower cost with greater subseasonal prediction accuracy
Researchers at Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo and George Mason University‘s College of Science have developed a new method that improves air temperature forecasts one to five weeks in advance—without requiring additional model simulations.
Politics made Alabama power bills high. Politics can lower them.
The Alabama Legislature's attempt to protect state utilities from public outrage over high power bills has a notable weakness.
Upstate flower business celebrates 70 years
FOX Carolina's Margaret-Ann Carter has the details.
To lower cholesterol, these patients got a one-time tweak to their genes
Doctors have never had so many cholesterol-lowering drugs at their disposal, but getting patients to take them every day is difficult. Gene-editing could open a new frontier.
Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) Rating Lowered to "Strong Sell" at Wall Street Zen
Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday.
On plant health and embracing new plant-breeding techniques in South Africa
The major challenge currently confronting South Africa’s agriculture is the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. For many farmers across the country, the most urgent tasks are both securing sufficient vaccines and rolling them out quickly in the coming months, particularly as the beef and dairy industries continue to suffer big losses. There is also pressure on sheep, goats, and other livestock to prevent the disease from spreading. As efforts to get the country through this monumental challenge continue, I believe it is important to sharpen our focus on the broader task at hand: strengthening biosecurity. This covers both animal and plant health. In recent years, we haven’t focused much on plant health, except a few times, such as when we had a goss’s wilt scare in the maize industry, a few cases of citrus black spot, or cases of sclerotinia in sunflower seeds. But the fact that South Africa managed to control the outbreaks of these particular diseases when they occurred a few years ago was due to organized agricultural and government scientific capabilities, and, most importantly, the availability of crop protection or agrochemicals necessary to address some of them. Therefore, as the animal health division in the Department of Agriculture focuses on the pressing challenge of the day, the foot-and-mouth disease, there is an opportunity for the plant health division to assess if they have all the requirements to tackle any outbreak that may occur on fruits, vegetables or crops in future. The challenge with crop diseases is that they can spread quickly and cause much more rapid damage in the field than we typically see with livestock. Therefore, speed is everything in ensuring the appropriate controls are available. I raise this as an important area, particularly given the drastic climate variation we observe across the country. The production conditions in some areas have changed noticeably over time, which may introduce new risks. The other essential part is ensuring that South Africa has access to the best crop protection technology available in the market. Many technology developers worldwide have operations in South Africa. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture, along with the Agricultural Research Council, must continuously interact with technology developers to assess the various crop protection technologies they are releasing globally and determine their suitability and need in South Africa. This will require a proactive approach from the government, unlike the current approach, in which technology developers typically approach regulators with new technologies. The government, recognising the food security risks, must take a proactive approach to ensure that South African farmers have access to the latest crop protection technologies, thereby safeguarding the country’s food security. Beyond crop protection, we must never forget that South Africa’s agriculture is key to ensuring that the country is the most food-secure country at the national level in sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa is also the only African country in the top-40 global agricultural exporters, having more than doubled since 1994 on the back of the adoption of high-yielding seed cultivars. South Africa has been the only African country to adopt a bold approach to embracing science and adopting genetically engineered seeds for grains and oilseeds in the early 2000s. Since then, we have seen crop yields improve noticeably, contributing to the gains we mentioned above. But ensuring that South Africa improves further is not a given. The key lies in South African regulators’ attitudes towards new technologies. We have to maintain a progressive approach and not give in to the politics of non-food and non-scientific voices that shout on the sidelines. Food security is national security, and the government must ensure we progress, leaning on science. Therefore, the registration of high-yielding new genomic techniques is required. South Africa cannot afford to fall behind the EU, the USA, South America, and many of its competitors in global agriculture. The Department of Agriculture’s crop science division must adopt a progress-and-science-embracing approach for the good of the country. Thanks for reading AgriView! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Subscribe Share
Health experts offer tips to navigate allergy season
As flowers bloom and trees rebound after winter, many people across the Ohio Valley are also bracing for seasonal allergies as pollen counts rise.High pollen co
March’s top selling sports cards, plus the Shohei Ohtani card defying the odds
Two big Aaron Judge card sales led the way, but did he actually lower the value of one he shared with Ohtani?
Diabetes rates are lower in high-altitude environments — and scientists may have discovered why
A new study finds that in low-oxygen environments, red blood cells absorb more glucose and convert it into a molecule that helps release oxygen into tissues, revealing an unexpected way the body regulates blood sugar.
Diabetes rates are lower in high-altitude environments — and scientists may have discovered why
A new study finds that in low-oxygen environments, red blood cells absorb more glucose and convert it into a molecule that helps release oxygen into tissues, revealing an unexpected way the body regulates blood sugar.
Intel shows Texture Set Neural Compression, claims up to 18x smaller texture sets
TSNC Variant A delivers 9x texture compression, lower-quality B variant up to 18x Intel has shared new details on Texture Set Neural Compression, or TSNC,
Your ‘normal’ cholesterol and blood pressure may not be anymore
Americans should start guarding against heart disease earlier — and aim for lower cholesterol and blood pressure than ever before, according to new guidelines for heart health.
Small businesses need AI help
Small businesses should get more help in the changing world of AI, one reader writes. Another said plug in solar could lower utility bills.
Maynard D. Pitan Obituary 2026
View Maynard D. Pitan's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.
State of Texas: Smokable hemp ban takes effect, businesses work to adapt
A new state rule banning the sale of intoxicating hemp flower is now in effect in Texas. Business owners say the impact is immediate.
Album Review: 6WA by BigXthaPlug & 600 Entertainment
BigXthaPlug spent eight months in Nashville making a country-rap album that debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, put “All the Way” with Bailey Zimmerman at No. 4 on the Hot 100, got him a Rolling Stone cover, and filled arenas with Jelly Roll. And then he came back to Dallas, rounded up four of his signees, and made a gangsta-rap record with N.W.A’s Straight Outta Compton on the cover. 6WA is the second group release from 600 Entertainment, named after the 600 block of Meadowridge Street in Ferris, Texas, where BigX and his people grew up. The whole thing is loaded with West Coast samples. From N.W.A.’s “8Ball,” Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” and “Boyz-N-The-Hood,” Ice-T’s “6 in the Mornin’,” Snoop Dogg’s “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” and more. BigX is staking his name on the lineup he built—Rosama, MurdaGang PB, Yung Hood, KevanGotBandz, KaineMusic—and claiming a lineage from 1,400 miles away while insisting Dallas is its own thing. A million dollars in cash, split and handed straight to his mother. That’s the first place BigX goes on “From the Bottom.” He’d probably still be in the streets if he didn’t have his son and daughter. He only started rapping to make life better for Carter. Couldn’t start his car back then, now people get starstruck at Starbucks, and he throws the whole field away in one sentence: “How you think we competin’? You on the same bag, I just made me some millions off country.” Goyard bags off a Nashville payday, and he wants you to know exactly how far he’s come from everybody else. “Safe to Say” does something similar but looser. It’s a straight Ice Cube “It Was a Good Day” flip, and BigX nails it. Wakes up, checks both phones, nobody’s locked up, kid accounts look good. Gets pulled over, only catches a warning. Pulls up on the squad to liquor, ladies, and haze. Rosama takes the second verse and matches him. Wakes up to his girl cleaning his cuticles, twins playing peekaboo, pays off his car, calls a cousin, sees the opps and they don’t trip. Lawyer calls, he beat his case. Rosama is the strongest voice in the 600 camp after BigX, and “Life of a Gangster” is why. Third person, riding low, blacked-out windows, snub-nose revolver. A character who chose sticking people up over selling dope. “Quick eraser like a number-two pencil.” He never breaks character, and his delivery drops lower and slower than anything he does on the group cuts, like he’s telling you something at a cookout that he probably shouldn’t. Then on “Long Live Fre$h” he’s a completely different rapper. “Short-bus diamonds, these bitches retarded,” wide-body Durango he can’t even park. That kind of range matters on a group record. MurdaGang PB’s best verse is on the title track. Feds at his door at 6 AM, cameras busted, flushing dope, ram truck putting everybody on the floor. Yung Hood on “The Hottest” just lays out four reasons to keep hustling. Who wants to be broke, women cost money, you need bail, and home has to be straight. It’s funnier and more honest than most rappers get when they’re trying to explain why they sell drugs. KevanGotBandz on “Ain’t Never Slowin’ Down” talks about his father getting caught on the dope while he’s sitting on $300K somewhere in the hills, which is a specific kind of guilt that doesn’t usually make it onto crew tapes. KaineMusic, the newest signee, takes the back half of “Who Dunnit” and introduces herself in third person—“Took flight just to show these hoes how to perform”—but it’s too short to know if she can hold a full song. The flex tracks fill the middle of the LP and mostly run together. “I Go” is Rosama and PB trading brands, guns, and food punchlines. Rosama’s “anemic, my iron tucked low in this shirt” is a slick gun bar, PB fires back with “.223 with a clip ‘bout as big as a toddler” and “I go Burger King, stay with that whopper.” Quick, funny sometimes, but it’s all shopping lists. “Dopeman” is a chant. “6ixer Party” brings Snoop Dogg, who does exactly what you’d expect Snoop Dogg to do. BigX contributes the night’s wildest overshare: “She say she brought a friend too, well, I’m tryna put sausage on her dental.” These songs move fast and don’t overstay, but three or four of them could trade verses and nobody would catch it. Midway through, The D.O.C. shows up for a spoken-word interlude. Tracy Curry. West Dallas native, former N.W.A affiliate, co-writer on a lot of the records getting sampled on this very album. He thanks BigX for the tribute and then gets direct: “This your time, this DFW time. You need to do it like we do it down here.” Leave bread crumbs so everybody behind you can eat. Keep God in your life. It’s fatherly and generous, and it does raise the question of whether 6WA follows that advice. The album borrows heavy. The cover art, the Eazy-E samples, “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted” opening with a direct “Boyz-N-The-Hood” lift, Yung Hood rapping “Flag on my left side, Crip until I die.” But the stuff that actually stays with you is Dallas. BigX talking about Pleasant Grove, Rosama calling himself a country boy, PB recounting a raid that could’ve been last Tuesday. The record smells most like itself when it smells like Ferris, Texas, and least like Compton. BigX on “The Hottest” says his father was the first person he knew who had chickens. Not the way rappers usually wave at the drug trade. He means his actual father, his actual family. On “600 Degrees,” Rosama compares his chopper’s stutter to a speech disorder, PB claims he still has the block on his back even after leaving the city. BigX closes that one saying he used to spin and smack, and now the plaques are platinum. Thirty-two minutes was right for this. Nobody overstays, Tony Coles and Rance and Charley Cooks keep the production punchy, and BigX gives his signees real room instead of crowding every song. 6WA doesn’t reinvent anything. Five rappers, good beats, short clock. Most of what they say you’ve heard before. Some of it—the million to his mother, the cuticles and peekaboo, the four reasons to hustle—you won’t forget. Solid (★★★½☆) Favorite Track(s): “Safe to Say,” “From the Bottom,” “The Hottest” Subscribe
Companies are replacing workers instead of hiring more
Recruiters say companies are swapping out employees for more skilled or lower-cost talent as hiring slows and budgets tighten.
A Look At Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) Valuation After Recent Analyst Downgrades And Earnings Miss
Recent shifts in analyst sentiment toward Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MLCO) have put the stock in focus, after several major banks flagged slower expected Macau EBITDA growth, liquidity questions, margin pressure, and mixed quarterly results. See our latest analysis for Melco Resorts & Entertainment. At a share price of US$5.68, Melco Resorts & Entertainment has seen a 1 day share price return of a 1.56% decline and a 90 day share price return of a 24.37% decline. The 1 year total...
KU trade expert says 70% of regional businesses feel impact of higher tariffs, local flower shop is among them
A year after President Donald Trump's Liberation Day, which imposed tariffs on countries around the world, Kansas City flower shop Fiddly Fig is still navigating changing tariff rates.
Galaxy S26 FE Is Up To 33% Slower Than Exynos 2600-Powered Galaxy S26 In Benchmark Leak, Highlighting Samsung’s Lack Of Interest In This Lineup
Samsung is once again treating its non-flagship smartphones with poor specifications, with the Galaxy S26 FE shipping with an inferior SoC
Tribal gas stations see surge in business as fuel prices hover significantly below WA state average
Tribal gas stations in Washington are experiencing a significant surge in business as drivers seek lower prices amid rising fuel costs.
Gemma 4 and what makes an open model succeed
Having written a lot of model release blog posts, there’s something much harder about reviewing open models when they drop relative to closed models, especially in 2026. In recent years, there were so few open models, so when Llama 3 was released most people were still doing research on Llama 2 and super happy to get an update. When Qwen 3 was released, the Llama 4 fiasco had just gone down, and a whole research community was emerging to study RL on Qwen 2.5 — it was a no brainer to upgrade. Today, when an open model releases, it’s competing with Qwen 3.5, Kimi K2.5, GLM 5, MiniMax M2.5, GPT-OSS, Arcee Large, Nemotron 3, Olmo 3, and others. The space is populated, but still feels full of hidden opportunity. The potential of open models feels like a dark matter, a potential we know is huge, but few clear recipes and examples for how to unlock it are out there. Agentic AI, OpenClaw, and everything brewing in that space is going to spur mass experimentation in open models to complement the likes of Claude and Codex, not replace them. Especially with open models, the benchmarks at release are an extremely incomplete story. In some ways this is exciting, as new open models have a much higher variance and ability to surprise, but it also points at some structural reasons that make building businesses and great AI experiences around open models harder than the closed alternatives. When a new Claude Opus or GPT drops, spending a few hours with them in my agentic workflows is genuinely a good vibe test. For open models, putting them through this test is a category error. Something else to be said about open models in the era of agents is that they get out of the debate of integration, harnesses, and tools and let us see close to the ground on what exactly is the ability of just a model. Of course, we can’t test some things like search abilities without some tool, but being able to measure exactly the pace of progress of the model alone is a welcome simplification to a systematically opaque AI space. Share The list of factors I’d use to assess a new open-weight model I’m considering investing in includes: Model performance (and size) — how this model performs on benchmarks I care about and how it compares to other models of a similar size. Country of origin — some businesses care deeply about provenance, and if a model was built in China or not. Model license — if a model needs legal approval for use, uptake will be slower at mid-sized and large companies. Tooling at release — many models release with half-broken, or at least substantially slower, implementations in popular software like vLLM, Transformers, SGLANG, etc due to pushing the envelope of architectures or tools. Model fine-tunability — how easy or hard it is to modify the given model to your use-case when you actually try and use it. The core problem is that some of these are immediately available at release, e.g. general performance, license, origin, etc. but others such as tooling take day(s) to week(s) to stabilize, and others are open research questions — with no group systematically monitoring fine-tunability. In the early era of open models, the days of Llama 2 or 3 and Qwen pre v3.5, the architectures were fairly simple and the models tended to work out of the box. Some of this was due to the extremely hard work of the Llama, Qwen, Mistral, etc. developer teams. Some is due to the new models being genuinely harder to work with. When it comes to something like Qwen 3.5 or Nemotron 3, with hybrid models (either gated delta net or mamba layers), the tooling is very rough at release. Things you would expect to “just work” often don’t. I’ve been following this area closely since we released Olmo Hybrid with a similar architecture, and Qwen 3.5 is just starting to work well in the various open-source tools that need to all play nice together for RL research. That’s 1.5 months after the release date! This is just to start really investing more into understanding the behavior of the models. Of course, others started working on these models sooner by investing more engineering resources or relying on partially closed software. The fully open and distributed ecosystem takes a long time to get going on some new models. All of this is lead-in for the most important question for open models — how easy is it to adapt to specific use-cases? This is a different problem for different model sizes. Large MoE open-weight models may be used by entities like Cursor who need complex capabilities in their domain, e.g. Composer 2 trained on Kimi K2.5. Other applications can be built on much smaller models, such as Chroma’s Context-1 model for agentic search, built on GPT-OSS 20B. The question of “which models are fine-tunable” is largely background knowledge known by engineers across the industry. There should be a thriving research area here to support the open ecosystem model. The first step is to understand characteristics of different base and post-trained models to understand what they look like. The second step is to tune pretraining recipes for open models so they’re more flexible. Interconnects AI is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe For The ATOM Project and other Interconnects endeavors, we’ve put in substantial effort to measuring adoption trends in the open ecosystem. Everything takes a long time to unfold after a model is first publicly available — and adaptability is why. What we know for sure now, when Qwen has been going from strength to strength with its releases, is that technical staff across the industry has gotten comfortable working with Qwen models. Countless research methods and datasets were made to work with Qwen. It’ll take patience for any other model family to get to this point — a patience I’m not sure many open model builders have. This takes us to Gemma 4, Google’s latest open models. Gemma 3 was released more than a year ago, in March of 2025, and is a bit underrated. Gemma 4 comes in 4 sizes for now, with a bigger, MoE model of over 100B total parameters rumored but not released yet. The models we have today come in sizes of ~5B dense, 8B dense, 26B total 4B active MoE, and 31B dense. I’m most excited that they’re finally adopting a standard Apache 2.0 open source license. This’ll massively boost adoption. The standard of better licenses for strong open-weight LLMs was set by mostly Chinese open model labs in the last 1-2 years, and now U.S. companies are following suit. I will personally be so happy if the horrible Llama licenses and Gemma terms of service were an ~18-month transient dynamic of the industry being nervous about releasing strong open models. The Gemma 4 scores look very solid, the small models have incredible benchmark scores (especially in general domains like LMArena) and the 31B model rivals the recent Qwen 3.5 27B, which is the leading member of that class. The ~30B size range is an important one, as it’s accessible both to researchers and to enterprises looking to deploy the model in real use-cases. Where the 7B model scale is the default for tinkering and research, a 30B model is the default for seeing if an open model can unlock substantial value in your specific workflow — a good mix of intelligence, low price, tractability for downstream training, etc. This takes us back to the above adoption criteria I mentioned for open models and the bigger question — do I think Gemma 4 will be an overwhelming success? Previous Gemma models have been plagued by tooling issues and poorer performance when being finetuned. Gemma 4’s success is going to be entirely determined by ease of use, to a point where a 5-10% swing on benchmarks wouldn’t matter at all. It’s strong enough, small enough, with the right license, and from the U.S., so many companies are going to slot it in. I’m cautiously optimistic that Gemma 4 is going to work better here. Winds are shifting for open models built in America. We saw GPT-OSS go through a bumpy launch to become an overwhelming success. There’s a collective energy around the likes of Reflection, Arcee, Nemotron, Gemma, Olmo, and peers that show substantial demand for building new stacks around open models. There’s capital to be spent on AI stacks across the economy by those who want more ownership of everything, including the model. After launching The ATOM Project 240 days ago, the conversation is shifting into the next stage. Summer of 2025 was a crisis moment where the U.S. AI scene realized it can’t wait and figure out open models after building AGI. The two markets will capture different areas and proceed in parallel. Now that more companies in the U.S. are releasing strong models, we need to improve the ecosystem so that these models are easy to use, understand, and build value around. It’s the hard work to build another inflection point in these adoption plots I’ve been updating consistently, but that’s the work to be done. Join me in it. More data coming soon! Here’s a sneak peek:
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Exclusive: US upends global supply program for malaria and HIV amid warnings of gaps
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Austin home-based business rules could change under new pilot program
Austin is considering a pilot program to allow more home-based and “front yard” businesses, aiming to lower startup costs and help residents launch small ventures within their neighborhoods.
Austin weighs allowing front-yard businesses to help residents launch dreams from home
Austin is considering a pilot program to allow more home-based and “front yard” businesses, aiming to lower startup costs and help residents launch small ventures within their neighborhoods.
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Trump signs 100% tariff on brand-name pharmaceuticals
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School of Health Undergraduate Wins 2026 Goldwater Scholarship
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US Cardiologists Have Just Published New Guidelines For Managing Cholesterol
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Fighting Hawks Sports Partnerships to Launch Uniform Branding RFI on March 31
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Opendoor acquires Doma's closing and escrow business in bid to lower mortgage refinance costs
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UD leads nation with five Goldwater Scholars
Students recognized for excellence in science, engineering and mathematics research
Predicting spring bloom is an art
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Spring cleaning boosts mental health, improves sleep and lowers stress
Why I (Almost) Regretted My Lower Blepharoplasty
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Sheldon Keefe credits Devils’ resiliency after Blackhawks win
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Just a few minutes of effort could lower your risk of 8 major diseases
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