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BYU professor seeks to improve local political outreach
Looking to reform local political efforts in Utah County, Darin Self has a community-based approach to getting people involved in politics.
Breakout Bras Builds Its Business On Personal Service...And A Perfect Fit
Melissa Thomason's 'Breakout Bras' in Greenville offers a rare personal bra fitting experience, helping women find comfort and confidence.
‘Wheel of Fortune’: Vanna White Parties With Her Kids at Coachella
The longtime co-host, 69, shares two adult children, Nikko and Gigi, with her ex-husband.
France is replacing 2.5 million Windows desktops with Linux - and I mapped out its new stack
Officially, we don't know what France's forthcoming Linux desktop will look like, but this is what my sources and experience tell me to expect.
PBR | 2026 PBR World Finals: Unleash the Beast to bring nearly two weeks of Western-themed entertainment to Fort Worth from May 7–17
Celebration features live music, fan experiences, cultural events and the richest purse in bull riding.
Venezuela hopes to lure back international miners, but it's a risky business
Venezuela's effort to attract foreign investors to develop its gold, iron and bauxite seams has enthusiastic backing from the Trump administration but faces big challenges, including armed groups with deep interests in the chaotic, largely illegal prospecting industry that has developed over the past 20 years, according to nine miners, residents and community activists who spoke to Reuters.
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences inducts 44 students into Phi Beta Kappa Society
Forty-four students were inducted into the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa Society by Mercer University’s Zeta of Georgia Chapter for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The Message Man: Ferraro Award Winner Matt Corridoni ’13 Helps Political Campaigns Connect
Forty years after Geraldine Ferraro ’56 became the first woman nominated for vice president by a major political party, Kamala Harris mounted her own ba...
JPMorganChase Partners With Sports Legends to Help Athletes Master Their Money
Learn more about JPMorganChase's partnership with sport legends in this sponsored article by JPMorganChase.
Blue Jays Facing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Decision After Unfortunate News
The Toronto Blue Jays were dealt an unfortunate blow against the Tampa Bay Rays.
'Steve Witkoff, Trump's favorite negotiator, boosts his business more than peace'
COLUMN. The billionaire's fortune has risen by 15% since Donald Trump appointed him special envoy for peace, historian Jean-Pierre Filiu observes in his column.
10 Vintage Plates That Are Worth a Small Fortune
Vintage dining ware from these 10 makers has become highly collectible, often selling for thousands. See which creators' pieces are most valuable today.
Mississippi reveals its full history for America's anniversary year, a contrast to federal efforts
America’s history is being seen through different lenses as the country celebrates its 250th anniversary | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
I grew up in a family of entrepreneurs. Here’s what I had to unlearn to build a $1 billion business
I grew up in Switzerland surrounded by entrepreneurs: my grandfather in construction, my father in surveying, my uncles in packaging and construction.
Let the state’s narrative-laundering season begin
Politics is a game of narrative. Whoever controls the narrative wins. Sure, the truth is interesting. But truth doesn’t sell. It takes time to uncover, assuming people care enough to go digging for it. Narratives are easier. They’re simple, comforting and come pre-approved by the crowd. Groupthink isn’t just easy. It’s safe. The truth, on […]
Bob on Business: From riverfront residences to office/restaurant
Also, Go Texan grants; esports looks to score; real estate deals; and awards for area leaders, company.
Mental Health Awareness of Michiana holds cake fundraiser
Mental Health Awareness of Michiana offers a bite of comfort food — cake. The fundraiser at Howard Park will feature professional and amateur bakers.
Ken Bridges explores Roger Mills in Texas' Civil War efforts, politics
In his latest Texas history column, Ken Bridges explores the life and impact of Roger Mills - from Civil War battles to conflicts in U.S. politics.
Former ‘Citgo 6’ political prisoner sees ‘karma’ in Maduro ouster, but Venezuelan oil won’t rebound until there’s true regime change
Former 'Citgo Six' captive sees democratic elections as the only way to build international business trust in Venezuela again.
Sooo ... About Last Night
Last night (Sat., April 11, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida for UFC 327. Was this the deepest numbered event since UFC 300? Maybe Jon Anik was onto something! There were great fights from top to bottom, like Kelvin Gastelum vs. Vicente Luque on the early “Prelims” card. […]
Sports Highlights
Chris Hayashi: Chris Hayashi, a senior on the Lake Oswego boys track team, put in one of the best efforts of the season during his team’s meet against Oregon City […]
The Universe is expanding too fast and scientists still can’t explain it
A major international effort has produced an ultra-precise measurement of the Universe’s expansion rate, confirming it’s faster than early-Universe models predict. By linking multiple distance-measuring techniques, scientists ruled out simple errors as the cause of the discrepancy. The persistent “Hubble tension” now looks more real than ever. It could mean our current model of the cosmos is incomplete.
ON THE JOB: “What is the Best Business Advice You’ve Ever Received?
Interviews by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant Sound advice can contribute to your success. We recently asked area business leaders, what was their best advice they’d ever received. Here’s what they said: “The best advice I ever received was from my then –boss, Gerry Church, Fulton plant manager at Miller Brewing Co. He told me that whenever I wanted to discuss a business problem or issue with him, I should also be prepared to offer possible solutions. It’s the difference between being proactive or reactive. It’s also the difference between being a leader or follower. That has served me well in any business relationship I have had since then.” — Stephen Chirello, Owner, Steve Chirello Advertising, Fulton “Someone will always do it for less; they will also take the most effort to service or satisfy and leave you for the next lower price.” — John M. Henry, Owner, Speedway Press, Mitchell Printing, Phoenix Press, Oswego “I’m going to answer this question by turning it around and giving my own advice that is, ‘Always treat every customer as if they were your only customer!’ We are celebrating our 50th anniversary in business this year. We started our business on March 25, 1976. My advice works.”” — Nick Chervinsky, President, Brewerton Pharmacy, Brewerton “’You need to toot your own horn, my grandfather, Howard D. Dice, told me.” — Beth Ann Dice, Women’s active aging and cancer recovery coach, Mission Movement Wellness Studio & Breast Cancer Recovery Studio, Fulton “In the micro enterprise class, they taught, ‘Get a good lawyer, accountant and bank.’ That was over 30 years ago and I still have those three today. I chose good people I could grow with.” — Tony Pauldine, Owner, Anthony M. Pauldine General Contractors Inc., Oswego “From my grandfather; ‘Listen to everyone! You never know where you will get the solution you need.’” — Kevin Dean, Executive director, Oswego County Opportunities, Fulton “‘Preparation is the mother of success.’ My dad always drilled that into my head growing up, and it has helped me avoid a lot of snags in both my personal and professional life. Thanks, Dad!” — Bekkah Frisch, Owner and president, iHeart Holdings, Inc., Fulton “If you don’t take a risk and try, you will never know.” — Justin Taber, Owner, Torbitt’s Service Center, Oswego “Be ready to take a loss.” — Cody Seymour, Manager, Damiano’s Eatery, Mexico “I’ve received so much good business advice over the years. When people are giving you advice, always be curious rather than judgmental. Follow your gut. Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing.” — Dana Decker, Principal owner/broker, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Oswego ’Do it and figure it out later.’ It hasn’t failed me yet. Too many people take time to think about doing this and this and this and then the opportunity is over with. If it’s somewhat reasonable — if it’s not something outrageous — do it and figure it out later.” — Jeremy Allen, Licensed real estate salesperson, Acropolis Realty Group, Syracuse “’Try to meet the needs of the customer. Treat them like you’d like to be treated.’ It’s like the Golden Rule says.” — Douglas Dickson, Physician and associate at CNY Foot Surgery and Podiatry Care, East Syracuse “The best piece of business advice I’ve ever received applies to life in general: always be honest. Never overstate your capabilities and always be willing to ask questions. The more specific you can be in any given topic will always lead to a better outcome.” — Tom Fernandez, President, Woodbine Hospitality, Syracuse “As a business owner, the advice would be ‘Don’t overextend yourself. Especially in agriculture, expect issues to come up.’ If something is going right, it’s not true agriculture. This last season, we scaled very hard to field another crew. We got more drones, crew and generators based on projections. This last season hit the ag community hard with a very wet spring. We did 15,000 to 20,000 acres for fungicide and the same for cover crop seeding in 2024. We scaled to 25,000 to 30,000 for 2025. We ended up doing 2,000 for fungicide and 3,000 for cover crop seeding. That’s why that advice was good.” — Rick Jordan, Operations manager, CNY Drove Services, Clinton “’Keep your head down, mind your own business and do the best for your clients that you can do.’ It has a lot to do with my success in working for Galloway Century 21.” — Ed Fayette, New York state licensed real estate agent, Century 21 Galloway, Oswego “’Expand in all ways, always.’ It just keeps you going and keeps you growing.” — Stephen Baier, Licensed real estate person, The Real Estate Agency & Bouck Commercial, Auburn “The best advice is, ‘Your biggest asset you won’t see on the books because it comes from your employees.’” — David Flickinger, Owner, Edible Arrangements, Syracuse “Don’t take things personally when you’re working with the public.” — Leeann Desimone, Manager, Annie’s Hallmark Shop, Auburn “‘Follow up.’ The customer knows that you care about what you are doing and that their opinion counts. Sometimes they might be on the fence about whether they want to use your company. If they’re asking your opinion on things, they feel you are concerned about what you’re doing. They like to be kept in the loop if they’re spending money with you.” — Dorothy Casper, Saslesperson, SweetWoods Memorials, Phoenix “The best business advice I received is ‘Never be the smartest person in the room. Surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.’ That’s how you learn.” — Debbie Bilello, Owner, Virtual Office Solutions, Central Square “’You need to grow your business but you can’t grow too big too fast.’ That’s what we’ve done at Pinnacle Maintenance. We’ve tried to grow but not too fast. Along those same lines, there’s another good piece of advice, ‘Don’t take on more than you can handle because it only leads to a bad name for your business and a bad experience for your customers.’ It goes along the same lines as growing your business slowly and carefully.” — David Wines, Owner, Pinnacle Maintenance, Central Square “Always be on time and do what you say you are going to do.’ I’ve done very well following that advice. Most of my work is referral and I don’t really do any advertising so I have a pretty good customer base. It’s mostly word-of-mouth from satisfied customers.” — Robert J. Fleming, Owner, Bob Fleming Windows & Doors, Brewerton “’Concentrate on your finances, always pay your taxes, and form a team you can depend on. Try to help the community you’re in as much as you can.’ We do all of these all the time here. We give and give and give to the community and the community gives back to us always.” — Susan Bonnet, Co-owner, Bonnet Sales and Service, Central Square “Keep smiling. It brings a positive attitude to the workplace.” — Karin Lindsley, Vice president, DTS Truck Service, Syracuse “‘Customer service above all.’ Following this advice has served us very well.’ — Guy Fox, Owner, Fox’s Discount Parts, West Monroe “The best thing to do is to make sure you’re taking in more money than you’re spending. I wish I could say I’m a good businessman but I have been in business since 1981. I’m not a bean counter but work well with my hands and its’s served me well all these years and I am still in business.” — Matt McGill, Owner, Matt McGill Collision, Brewerton
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.
Chelsea Star Speaks On Exit From Manchester United
Garnacho, Chelsea Move Signals Reflection After Man United ExitThere is often a moment, quiet and uncomfortable, when a young footballer begins to understand that talent alone does not carry a career....
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
Women's Six Nations 2026: England 33-12 Ireland - hosts open title defence with victory
England open title defence with comfortable win over Ireland in front of a record Women's Six Nations crowd of 77,120 at Allianz Stadium.
Photo Of Cameron Brink, LeBron James Grabs Basketball World's Attention
WNBA star Cameron Brink was at Crypto.com Arena on Friday night to watch LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers square off against the Phoenix Suns. Unfortunately for the Lakers, this month hasn't been very kind to them. A few days ago, All-Star guard Luka Doncic suffered a grade 2 hamstring ...
OPINION: Gen Z’s political frustrations are causing an analog counterculture
Gen Z’s frustrations with political polarization and life in the digital world have led to a new counterculture. In seeking to divert from the mainstream, they have popularized rock music, tangible media, and analog systems. This pattern is as old as time, though its most unique aspect is the technological regression in the effort to be more present.
These women had their breasts removed to thwart cancer. Then came the pain.
Many women are afflicted by post-mastectomy pain syndrome, which spans from uncomfortable to disabling and can last years. It’s inconsistently diagnosed and treated, leaving some women in agony as they hunt for relief and struggle to find doctors who take their pain seriously.
Fort Myers Community’s Choice Awards business spotlight: Gavins Ace Hardware
We’re in the final stretch! Ready to recognize your favorite local businesses? Submit your nominations for the Fort Myers Community’s Choice Awards today.
I tested the AirPods Max 2, Sony WH-1000XM6, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra — here's the only pair I’d keep
This might ruffle some feathers
Dig for fossils, learn to code, and more: HCC's Community Science Night returns
Haywood Community College is welcoming back Community Science Night from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, April 23. This event is part of a statewide effort to hold community-based science-related events throughout April.
In praise of popular science
As a kid, I was enthusiastically and unreservedly in favor of a manned space program. Our destiny lay in the stars, I figured. Get people out there. We need Star Trek here and now. As I got older, I became rather disenchanted with the idea. Humans are expensive, fragile, and inefficient as space cargo. We could flood the solar system with 100 robotic probes for the price of any single manned mission and get back just as useful data. Besides, it turns out space travel is dangerous. Tusk is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe When it came to the recent Artemis II mission, my cynical side didn’t really see the point. Flying around the Moon and back is literally something we did before I was born, and I once owned a Members Only jacket. Apollo 8 circled the Moon ten times and returned to Earth safely the same month that “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was released. What was the point of repeating a feat that far braver people once did with tin foil and slide rules? Yet I’ve surprised myself with how moving I’ve found the Artemis II mission to be. The photos have been stunning. The crew has been professional and engaging. There have been modest but important milestones — the farthest humans have travelled from Earth; the first woman, person of color, and non-American to leave low-Earth orbit; innovations in communication, and more. One thing that really stood out is that this is really NASA at its finest. Not that this is the most important mission they ever pulled off, but they did this in a competent way that celebrated the achievements and kept the crew and the science at the forefront of the project. This wasn’t some billionaire throwing celebrities or cars into orbit as a vanity project — this was a collective effort to send experts in to do a job and come home safely. We don’t see that sort of thing much these days. I’m guessing few people would describe many government agencies as inspiring, but this one counts for me. We’re living through a profoundly anti-science era, in which pathbreaking, lifesaving discoveries like mRNA vaccines are routinely downplayed or even vilified. As I’ve noted previously, this era is something like that of the Red Scare in the 1940s and 50s, in which “egghead” professors were portrayed as out of touch or even hostile to regular Americans. One of the things that helped break that spell was Sputnik — the Soviet communications satellite that demonstrated that the United States was falling behind in crucial scientific research and applications. Its launch triggered a new appreciation for American science and goaded the federal government into supporting research universities and labs. I’m not saying that Artemis is the equivalent of Sputnik, but it potentially reminds people that there’s some value to scientific endeavors and the human faces attached to them. Despite my love for the show “For All Mankind,” I’m far from convinced that there’s any real value to putting colonies on the Moon or Mars that would justify the capital investment and the massive health risks to the astronauts. But sending scientific good will ambassadors on a trip into space once in a while? Bring it. Share
Vance meets Pakistan PM as US-Iran peace talks begin
Pakistan has emerged as a key player in efforts to extend a fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, hosting high-stakes talks involving Vice President JD Vance and senior advisers as both sides explore a path toward a more lasting agreement.
Energy drink boom raises heart health concerns, doctors warn
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — As energy drinks continue to grow in popularity, health experts in Fort Wayne are raising concerns about what frequent consumption could be doing to the heart. Many of the…
Efforts to establish social media guardrails for children stall in Congress
Experts say one factor is lobbying by Big Tech, which spent over $100 million last year
Wales Bonner Gives Adidas' Gazelle a New Rattlesnake Treatment
Wales Bonner is bringing a rattlesnake look to the Adidas Gazelle for its latest exotic sneaker collaboration. Find out more on the forthcoming collection here.
Trump administration admits a glaring error in its New York health fraud accusations
The error, admitted first to the AP, prompted health analysts to question how many of the Republican administration’s sweeping anti-fraud efforts were based on faulty findings.
AP report: Trump administration admits a glaring error in its New York health fraud accusations
The error, which the administration admitted first to The Associated Press, prompted health analysts to question how many of the Republican administration’s sweeping anti-fraud efforts around the country were based on faulty findings.
Epic Games Pins ‘Fortnite’ Comeback on Disney Partnership
Recent updates of the hit game have flopped. A Disney collaboration aims to turn things around.
Microsoft finally lets Windows 11 testers unlock experimental features without ViVeTool
The changes are part of the fix Windows 11 effort
France to ditch Windows for Linux to reduce reliance on US tech
France's move to ditch Windows for Linux is its latest effort to reduce its reliance on American tech giants.
Trump admits error in accusations about New York health care fraud
The error prompted health analysts to question how many of the Republican administration’s sweeping anti-fraud efforts around the country were based on faulty findings.
Maine group asks for changes in ballot language
The ballot question criticism is the latest twist in a controversial effort that began last fall when the group began gathering signatures to call for a public vote on the issue.
Calls to Impeach Trump Collide With Reluctant Democratic Leadership
Democratic leaders are urging against efforts within the party to impeach Trump before the midterms, say those involved in the debate
Make Your MacBook Battery Last Longer With This Setting
If you own a MacBook and work from home, it's easy to have your laptop plugged in for hours on end without thinking about the long-term battery life implications. Fortunately, Apple recently added a setting that lets you cap how high your Mac's battery charges, and if you own an iPhone that was released in the last few years, you may already be familiar with it.
How the White House tried – and failed – to push a candidate out of a Republican state Senate primary in Indiana
With Trump’s sights set on unseating Indiana lawmakers who opposed his redistricting effort, his aides and allies feared a third candidate could play spoiler in one race.
Behind China's 'active efforts' for an Iran ceasefire: Business trumps politics
The big risk for Beijing is that the Iran war drags down global demand for the exports that are driving China's economic growth.
Behind China's 'active efforts' for an Iran ceasefire: Business trumps politics
The big risk for Beijing is that the Iran war drags down global demand for the exports that are driving China's economic growth.
Eureka! Flathead Valley students have their moment at state science fair
Flathead Valley students displayed their fortitude for the scientific method at the Montana Science Fair with Kalispell Montessori School bringing home the first-place Division II trophy for its outstanding performance among small middle schools.
Trump’s tenuous Iran exit plan isn't healing Republican rifts exposed by the war
President Donald Trump's efforts to exit the war in Iran are causing tension within the Republican Party | 830 WCCO
Trump’s tenuous Iran exit plan isn't healing Republican rifts exposed by the war
President Donald Trump's efforts to exit the war in Iran are causing tension within the Republican Party | KMBZ
Federal judge finds Pentagon in violation of court order to restore reporters' access
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that the Defense Department is violating his earlier order to restore access to the Pentagon for reporters, a setback in the administration's efforts to impede the work of journalists.
How to fix the UN Decade of Ocean Science
In a previous post an uncomfortable reality was highlighted: that the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) has, so far, delivered more branding than transformati…
Healthy Petaluma’s Ben Spierings named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40
“The scale of need often far exceeds the capacity of local funders, and the idea of shifting the responsibility entirely to philanthropy is neither sustainable nor equitable.”
Treasury Wine Estates’ Elise Spangenberg named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40
“Being part of a newer generation of leaders allows me to challenge legacy thinking, introduce modern people practices, and help organizations adapt in ways that keep them competitive and relevant.”
Top health officials highlight efforts to make medical records more portable
Health tech companies are working to make medical records more portable, but so far, the effort is voluntary.
Matt Maurer
Fortune Brands Innovations has hired Matt Maurer as its Outdoors GM, B2C.
GHD’s Adrienne Young named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 of 2026
“You have to learn to trust your own judgment and speak up around other technical experts. And it can be intimidating when you might be the youngest person on that project team.”
Summit State Bank’s Ken Wu named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 of 2026
“He was promoted into management because of his ability to guide others without ego, foster an environment of trust and accountability, and encourage learning and cross-training throughout the department.”
'At the edge of the future': ASU breaks ground for better health outcomes for Arizona
Arizona State University is taking a huge step toward addressing one of the biggest crises in the U.S. — the disparity in health care, according to ASU President Michael Crow.Crow spoke Thursday in downtown Phoenix at the groundbreaking of the headquarters for ASU Health, the hub of the university’s efforts to improve health outcomes for Arizona residents.He told the crowd that despite great wealth, the U.S. health care system is failing.
'At the edge of the future': University breaks ground on ASU Health building
Arizona State University is taking a huge step toward addressing one of the biggest crises in the U.S. — the disparity in health care, according to ASU President Michael Crow.Crow spoke Thursday in downtown Phoenix at the groundbreaking of the headquarters for ASU Health, the hub of the university’s efforts to improve health outcomes for Arizona residents.He told the crowd that despite great wealth, the U.S. health care system is failing.
SANE-SART’s Keiran Swift named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 of 2026
The advocate for families and human trafficking victims “balances empathy with professionalism, demonstrating resilience in a high-stress field while maintaining a solution-oriented mindset.”
Andy’s Produce’s Josh Skikos named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 of 2026
“We prioritize sourcing from regional growers whenever possible and actively support the farming community through partnerships with local producers and organizations like the Sonoma County Farm Bureau.”
Old Caz Beer’s Rob Saccuzzo named to North Bay Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 for 2026
“He has cultivated a front-of-house team with the lowest turnover rate in the Sonoma County beer industry, reflecting his commitment to inclusivity, mentorship and employee development.”
‘Blaming the conduct of companies may provide some comfort’
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
Amazon Just Revealed This 1 Business Is Worth More Than 82% of Fortune 500 Companies (Hint: Not Cloud Computing)
While AWS generates the bulk of Amazon's profits, this business is growing even faster.
Republicans block effort to halt Trump's war with Iran after 'civilization' threat
House Democrats tried to force a vote on a war powers resolution during recess. Senate Democrats will launch a more serious attempt to rein in Trump when Congress returns next week.
Estrogen patch shortages are getting worse and could last for years
A spokesperson for the FDA said the agency is coordinating with companies to support efforts to boost the supply of patches for women with menopause symptoms.
San Quentin Uses Sports as Rehabilitation. It Could Soon Be a Model Elsewhere.
Eli Tan, who covered the San Quentin Giants last year, shares how the story inspired one effort to expand prison sports in California.
What’s really going on at UT Austin? Inside UT goes behind the scenes
This free newsletter will deliver reporting from the Forty Acres and include exclusive, behind-the-scenes details she won’t share elsewhere.
How Colorado Prioritizes Public Health Data Modernization
The Pew Charitable Trusts recently spoke to Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE’s) state epidemiologist Dr. Rachel Herlihy and COVID-19 surveillance program manager Alicia Cronquist, MPH, about how updates to the state’s public health data reporting policies will help the agency’s efforts to protect Coloradans from communicable diseases, such as flu, salmonella, measles, and HIV.
Entertainment briefs | Trio performs with Fortuna Concert Series
The Department of Dance, Music, and Theatre at Cal Poly Humboldt will present “Contemporary Music for Percussion” performed by the Cal Poly Humboldt Percussion Ensemble and “Samba of Bahia” performed by the World Percussion Group.
Halfway through spring football, Notre Dame is putting things together
So far, it’s been a comfortable spring for Notre Dame Football, but will it lead to a productive fall?
Cavs withstand Hawks comeback in 122-116 win
The Cavs win a wild back-and-forth game for their 51st win of the year.
Urban Mission joins national effort to spotlight health disparities
As organizations nationwide mark a month dedicated to educating people about health disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority communities, the Urban Miss
Hawaiʻi weighs shorter probation, lighter punishment for drugs
The proposed changes come after criminal justice stakeholders from across the state took an extensive look at the state’s penal code in a effort to address concerns and outdated practices
Ishbia family taking swing at youth sports facility for vacant Office Depot
(Editor’s Note: Alex Harrison Perry reported this story for Evanston RoundTable, a neighboring independent newsroom. It was shared with The Record as part of an ongoing collaborative effort.) The vacant Office Depot building at 2722 Green Bay Road — just a block south of Wilmette — could become a year-round site for youth sports, as a North Shore family […]
Former Fort Bragg employee charged with leaking classified information to journalist
A North Carolina woman has been charged with sharing classified defense information to a journalist following her work as a civilian operational support technician at Fort Bragg, a large US Army base in the state.
RFK Jr. launching podcast in ‘transparency’ push
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is launching a podcast that, in his words, will focus on “telling the truth, especially when it’s uncomfortable” and R…
Lots of Social Science Won’t Replicate. Does That Mean It’s Bunk?
Scholars are debating the results of an effort to assess hundreds of papers’ credibility. Where some see failure and cause for urgent reform, others see reason for hope.
Poll: Colorado Gov. Jared Polis loses support among Democrats
Gov. Jared Polis is losing steam among members of his party, particularly progressive Democrats, according to a recent poll. Other statewide Democrats also saw their favorability ratings drop, though relatively stable compared to the governor’s numbers, the poll conducted by the Colorado Polling Institute in late March said. Forty-four percent of respondents said they view […]
Texas hemp industry leaders ask for temporary injunction against state
Restrictions set forth by DSHS include increased licensing fees, testing requirements and child-resistant packaging for hemp-derived THC products.
Jamie Dimon warned high taxes would push business out of New York, but the city is honing its edge over Miami in attracting top talent, report finds
More skilled professionals are moving to New York than Florida, according to a white paper from real estate firm JLL shared exclusively with Fortune.
5 Questions with Public Health Senior Ammad Hasan
The Class of 2026 graduate works to boost heart health, with a legacy that will endure on the Forty Acres.
The Southern Group rides Southwest Florida wave with Fort Myers expansion
'There’s no better team to lead that effort than Nick and Eddie.'
Keir Starmer welcomes Iran war ceasefire as he heads to Gulf to meet regional leaders
PM to meet partners in region to discuss effort to ‘support and sustain ceasefire’ and reopening the strait of Hormuz
Southeast Asia’s business leaders want wellness at work—as long as the programs get real results
Successful wellness benefits should avoid portraying the worker as the problem.
The Boundless Deep: Young Tennyson, Science, and the Crisis of Belief by Richard Holmes
Pantheon Review by Walter Cummins The image of Alfred Tennyson I’ve carried for decades goes back to the childhood card game of Authors that depicts him with a stately continence sharpened by a jutting black beard. He’s formidable, his aura superior. Holmes opens his biography of the youthful Tennyson by describing the similar formality of the imposing Tennyson statue at Trinty College Cambridge, sharing the honor with other Trinity greats, including Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Holmes doesn’t want to chip away at that statue but rather reveal its inner youthful core of the man—tall, handsome, and talented but unformed, emerging from a disturbed family of addicted or insane male siblings and four unusual sisters struggling under a violent alcoholic clergyman father. Alfred was certainly statuesque, but would he end up a block of unformed stone like his equally promising brothers? He was youngest of three equally regarded Tennyson brothers at Cambridge, all bright, handsome, and talented, in fact Alfred regarded by some as less promising than his elders who also wrote poetry. Yet Alfred wrote one of his major poems, “The Kraken,” at twenty, revealing both his talent, his interest in geological forces, and the haunting creature that embodied his anxieties. While Holmes focuses on Tennyson of the 1830s and 1840s, he can’t tell his story without exploring his involvement with the Victorian intellectual upheaval. Tennyson was fascinated by new scientific perspectives, following the latest findings as soon as books and articles were published. He was especially taken with Charles Lyell’s deep studies of geology and the discovery of fossils and a timeline of the planet’s development that did much to question fundamental religious assumptions. The impact of these discoveries is reflected in Tennyson’s poetry and led to the crisis in belief he shared with so many contemporaries. He was especially taken by the cycles of destruction and renewal that informed the struggles he confronted in In Memoriam, Maud, and Idylls of the King. Tennyson was only one of the eventual major figures at Cambridge at the same time, young men just beginning to realize their potential. Charles Darwin was at Christ College, although there is no evidence that he and Tennyson even met as students or later in life. Yet evolution became significant in Tennyson’s thinking and the issues of his poetry. One of Tennyson’s best and most important Cambridge friends was Edward FitzGerald, who became the translator of The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám and in their on and off relationship served as Tennyson’s harshest critic. FitzGerald was also a friend of the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, the two of them partying in Paris as undergraduates. That connection led to a friendship between Thackeray and Tennyson. Others who came to play significant roles in Tennyson’s life were Thomas Carlyle, the Brownings, and the Pre-Raphaelites. Tennyson’s deepest friend at college was Arthur Hallam, who at twenty wrote a glowing review of Tennyson’s first poetry collection, travelled on European adventures with him, and fell in love with his sister Emily. Hallam was also regarded as one more very promising Cambridge student. His sudden death at twenty-two in Vienna from a stroke while travelling with his father devastated many friends, but perhaps Tennyson most of all. He did not write immediate poems of grief but took years to compile those collected in In Memoriam A.H.H., published in 1850, almost twenty years after Hallam’s death For all of Tennyson’s early poetic successes and successes, Holmes reveals him as an often troubled young man suffering periods of depression, fearing planetary upheaval, concerned about supporting himself, disappointed in romances, and worried that he would inherit the family’s mental illness tendencies. Yet despite his seeming withdrawals, he was always writing poetry that he kept private and would not let go, constantly revising. 1850 became a transformative year for Tennyson. He finally consented to publishing In Memoriam with a last-minute prologue that acknowledged God and perhaps convinced the religious Emily Sellwood to marry him after years of pursuit.. He opened up to Emily, revealing his struggles with fears of depression and “weird seizures.” The devastating event of that time was the stillborn death of his unnamed first son. It shook him, but Emily’s faith brought them closer and convinced him to believe in an afterlife. Two later sons survived. With the death of William Wordworth in April of 1950, Tennyson was named poet laureate at age forty-one, reluctantly accepting. It’s as if Tennyson’s life split in half in that year. He lived another forty years, now a recognized success, with the prestige of being an official poet writing patriotic verse, wealthy and revered, no longer the insecure young man seeking an outlet for his immense talent. He earned a place in the Authors deck, now dignified and in 1884 elevated to the peerage as Arthur, Lord Tennyson. Richard Holmes is the author of twenty previous books on the Romantics and Victorians, several of which received awards. The Boundless Deep was shortlisted for the 2025 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction. He captures the complex vicissitudes of Tennyson’s youth, illustrated by frequent excerpts from the poetry, placing that life in the full context of the shattering discoveries that led to an upheaval of thought in the Victorian age.
Sony is starting a weird service that scans people to put them in PlayStation games
Sony just announced something called The Playerbase. This is a forthcoming service that scans people's likenesses to put them in PlayStation games.
LA business groups unite behind Bass and switch up their playbook
For the first time, the city’s fragmented business interests are coordinating their political efforts.
Small businesses are ‘doing fine.’ That’s a problem for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Small business owners are feeling uneasy about the Iran war. They're doing just fine, but that's not good considering all of the tax incentives created to help them do much better.
Liberals will try to expand their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a Tuesday election
One year after Elon Musk donned a cheesehead hat and unsuccessfully poured millions of his personal fortune into a judicial contest in the state, Democrats are hoping to deliver another setback to conservatives in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election on Tuesday.
Finding Trends in Sports Stats and ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Puzzles
Ben Blatt, a data reporter for The Upshot, dreams up inventive ways to answer questions like: “Is Taylor Swift actually increasing N.F.L. ratings?”
GRATON RESORT & CASINO ANNOUNCES APRIL PROMOTIONS, ENTERTAINMENT, AND MAY 4 EXPANSION OPENING
This spring marks the start of a new era at Graton Resort & Casino. On May 4, the resort will unveil the next phase of its expansion, introducing new dining, entertainment, and gaming experiences. At the heart of the expansion is a new 144,000-square-foot, fully smoke-free gaming floor, creating a more spacious and comfortable environment for guests while expanding Graton’s…
Public trust in AI in health care is slipping, survey finds
Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere—in our jobs, in our homes and at the doctor's office. While the use of AI grows, a new survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center ...
Statewide effort highlights prevention and health equity
The Illinois Department of Public Health is launching "30 days of public health."
Some business owners in Old Town Fort Collins object to proposed paid parking
Businesses in Northern Colorado's Old Town Fort Collins object to proposed paid parking
The City of Fort Collins in Northern Colorado continues to press forward with plans to bring back paid parking to Old Town, even as some residents and business owners object.