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Artificial intelligence: its not just for tech experts anymore. Instead, a heaping helping of free online resources has emerged. These classes are specifically designed to welcome beginners into the world of AI, even if they possess little or no prior technical background. I selected these Coursera courses for their beginner-friendly approach, high ratings, and comprehensive coverage of foundational concepts and key AI domains. AI For Everyone If youre taking your very first steps into AI, “AI For Everyone” on Coursera is a great starting point. The course requires no prior experience in AI or programming, making it truly accessible to everyone, and its got a reasonable completion time of around six hours. The curriculum is structured into four modules: What is AI?, Building AI Projects, Building AI in Your Company, and AI and Society. Google AI Essentials Another good starting point for your AI journey is the “Google AI Essentials” course. It offers a unique perspective on Googles AI philosophy and features hands-on activities and real-world scenarios. Similar to “AI For Everyone” mentioned above, “Google AI Essentials” is designed to be accessible to individuals of all skill levels. The six-hour course is structured into five modules: Introduction to AI, Maximize Productivity With AI Tools, Discover the Art of Prompting, Use AI Responsibly, and Stay Ahead of the AI Curve. Introduction to Artificial Intelligence For a slightly more structured and in-depth introduction to the foundational concepts of AI, the “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence” course offered by IBM on Coursera is an excellent option. This 12-hour course aims to equip beginners with a solid understanding of core AI concepts, and incorporates videos, readings, assignments, and even hands-on labs. The curriculum is divided into four modules that cover a range of essential topics: Introduction and Applications of AI; AI Concepts, Terminology, and Application Domains; Business and Career Transformation Through AI; and Issues, Concerns, and Ethical Considerations. Introduction to Generative AI Dont have 612 hours to get up to speed with the aforementioned courses? Skip right to the good stuff with the “Introduction to Generative AI” course, which offers an overview of . . . well, what most people are referring to when they mention AI nowadays (whether they realize it or not). The course defines generative AI, explains its underlying mechanisms, describes the different types of generative AI models, and discusses how the technology is used in the real world. It’s worth noting that this course is part of a larger “Introduction to Generative AI Learning Path Specialization,” so if you find the topic particularly engaging, youll be able to keep the good times rolling with additional courses.
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E-Commerce
Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday. Biden was seen by doctors last week after urinary symptoms and a prostate nodule were found. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone. While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” his office said. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians. Prostate cancers are given a score called a Gleason score that measures, on a scale of 1 to 10, how the cancerous cells look compared with normal cells. Bidens office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive. When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones. Metastasized cancer is much harder to treat than localized cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumors and completely root out the disease. However, when prostate cancers need hormones to grow, as in Bidens case, they can be susceptible to treatment that deprives the tumors of hormones. Many political leaders sent Biden their wishes for his recovery. President Donald Trump, a longtime political opponent, posted on social media that he was saddened by the news and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery. Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, said on social media that she was keeping him in her family’s hearts and prayers during this time. Joe is a fighter and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership, Harris wrote. The health of Biden, 82, was a dominant concern among voters during his time as president. After a calamitous debate performance in June while seeking reelection, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term. Harris became the nominee and lost to Trump, a Republican who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus. But in recent days, Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president. In February 2023, Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer. And in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion. In 2022, Biden made a cancer moonshot one of his administration’s priorities with the goal of halving the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. The initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president to address a disease that had killed his older son, Beau, who died from brain cancer in 2015. His father, when announcing the goal to halve the cancer death rate, said this could be an American moment to prove to ourselves and, quite frankly, the world that we can do really big things. ___ By JOSH BOAK, Associated Press Associated Press writer Jon Fahey in New York contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
One of the great ironies of Gov. Gavin Newsoms on-again, off-again push to make health care available to all Californians is that, to hear him tell it, it worked too well. That successan unexpectedly high number of Californians who signed up to see a doctor under Newsoms expansions of Medi-Calis now cited as one of the reasons Newsom wants to back away from the program he loudly championeda cornerstone of his election and re-election campaigns. The proposed move to roll back Medi-Cal access, announced Wednesday as part of the governors revised 2025-26 state budget, will have profound repercussions for many of the estimated 1.6 million undocumented immigrants who use the safety net program. It left the director of one California immigrant rights group outraged, as he put it. Newsoms explanation for the cuts is prosaic: The state is facing an additional $12 billion budget deficit, bringing the total to $39 billion, and the money has to come from somewhere. Modifying a program that benefits undocumented people is probably also politically expedient, although you wont find Newsom acknowledging that. And there is the ongoing pressure from Washington, D.C., for states to quit providing health care to their undocumented populations. What it actually means for California is harder to gauge. The governors office says the proposed Medi-Cal changes will save $5.4 billion by fiscal year 2028-29. But budget figures cant predict what happens when people who work and live in California get sick and cant afford to receive care, nor how hospitals will handle a likely surge in emergency room visits by patients who put off health issues until they become severepatients whom the hospitals by law cannot refuse, even if they have no ability to pay. * * * Newsoms proposal will freeze Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented adults (age 19 and older) beginning next year. It also would charge $100 a month to those already in the program, even though by definition Medi-Calthe states version of Medicaidis designed for those whose earnings are so close to the poverty level that any medical expense is likely to be too much. Given the states financial picture, some have argued that the Medi-Cal cuts couldve been worse. Newsoms office was quick to point out that no ones coverage is being cut off, and theres truth in that. But the key word in the conversation is undocumented. Under Newsom, the state dramatically expanded health coverage for undocumented residents, a program first begun under Gov. Jerry Brown to cover those under age 19. Newsom has used a series of moves to extend that Medi-Cal coverage to Californians of all ages regardless of their immigration status, and he has touted it as a fulfillment of his campaign promise of universal health care. In truth, Newsom originally campaigned for office as a strong advocate of single payer health care, a very different program. Under single payer, a lone (usually government-run) entity provides for and finances health care for all residents. That position won Newsom the support of powerful nurses unions and helped him get elected. But once in office, the governor, whose heavy political contributors have also included Blue Shield and the California Medical Association, quietly backed away from the issue. Newsom chose instead to try for a mix of public and private insuranceincluding the Medi-Cal expansionso that almost all the states residents have some form of coverage, even if, as critics have consistently pointed out, the insurance is often too expensive for many Californians to actually use. The effect of the Medi-Cal expansions regardless of immigration status has been significant, and it shouldnt be dismissed. It isnt a perfect system; more than half a million undocumented Californians still earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal yet dont have employer-based coverage, rendering them effectively uninsured, according to research by the University of California, Berkeley, Labor Center. But by bringing so many of the states residents under the Medi-Cal umbrella, the program has offered care to people who live and work in the state. Undocumented workers paid $8.5 billion in state and local taxes in 2022, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and theyre the source of more than half a trillion dollars of products in California, either by direct, indirect, or induced production levels. Although no one can factor that output into a state budget, keeping these people and their families healthy and productive makes straight common sense. But thats only if you factor out the politics. * * * Running in the background of this discussion is the obvious: Donald Trumps administration and the GOP-led Congress are threatening to penalize states that provide health care to undocumented immigrants. California could lose as much as $27 billion in federal funds between 2028 and 2034, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. And without question, the Medi-Cal expansion has cost more than expected. The Department of Health Care Services estimated that the state is paying $2.7 billion more than budgeted on Medi-Cal for undocumented immigrants, driven by higher than anticipated enrollment and increased pharmacy costs. (There has also been a significant uptick in overall Medi-Cal sign-ups, especially among older adults.) In other words, the expansion worked. California residents, including those who are undocumented, signed up for Medi-Cal. And now that the budget crunch is real, its immigrants whose coverage is deemed the most expendable. We are outraged by the governors proposal to cut critical programs like Mei-Cal, said Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. At a time when Trump and House Republicans are pushing to slash health care access and safety net programs while extending tax cuts for the wealthy, California must lead by protecting, not weakening, support for vulnerable communities. Wednesday was a step back in that regard. It certainly wont be the last word. And what does not change is the most profound truth: The need for Californias immigrants to have access to basic health care didnt go away. Itll be there again tomorrow. This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues.
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E-Commerce
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. During the Pandemic Housing Boom, housing demand surged rapidly amid ultralow interest rates, stimulus, and the remote work boomwhich increased demand for space and unlocked WFH arbitrage as high earners were able to keep their income from a job in say, NYC or L.A., and buy in say Austin or Tampa. Federal Reserve researchers estimate new construction would have had to increase by roughly 300% to absorb the pandemic-era surge in demand. Unlike housing demand, housing stock supply isnt as elastic and can’t ramp up as quickly. As a result, the heightened pandemic era demand drained the market of active inventory and overheated home prices, with U.S. home prices rising a staggering 43.2% between March 2020 and June 2022. While many commentators view active inventory and months of supply simply as measures of supply, ResiClub sees them more as proxies for the supply-demand equilibrium. Because housing demand is more elastic than housing stock, large swings in active inventory or months of supply are usually driven by shifts in demand. For example, during the Pandemic Housing Boom, surging demand caused homes to sell fasterpushing active inventory down, even as new listings remained steady. Conversely, in recent years, weakening demand has led to slower sales, causing active inventory to riseeven as new listings fell below trend. Indeed, during the ravenous housing demand at the height of the Pandemic Housing Boom in April 2022, almost the entire country was at least -50% below pre-pandemic 2019 active inventory levels. BROWN = Active housing inventory for sale in April 2022 was BELOW pre-pandemic 2019 levels GREEN = Active housing inventory for sale in April 2022 was ABOVE pre-pandemic 2019 levels Of course, now its a different picture: National active inventory is on a multiyear rise. Not long after mortgage rates spiked in 2022causing affordability to reflect the reality of the sharp home price increases during the Pandemic Housing Boomand return-to-office gained a bit of momentum, national demand in the for-sale market pulled back and the Pandemic Housing Boom fizzled out. Initially, in the second half of 2022, that housing demand pullback triggered a “fever breaking” in a number of marketsparticularly in rate-sensitive West Coast housing markets and in pandemic boomtowns like Austin and Boisecausing active inventory to spike and pushing those markets into correction-mode in the second half of 2022. Heading into 2023, many of those same Western and pandemic boomtown markets (excluding Austin) stabilized, as the spring seasonal demandcoupled with still-tight active inventory levelswas enough to temporarily firm up the market. For a bit, national active inventory stopped rising year-over-year. However, that period of national inventory stabilization didnt last. Amid still slumped housing demand, national active inventory began to rise againand were now in the midst of an 18-month streak of year-over-year increases in national active listings. Where active inventory/months of supply has risen the most, homebuyers have gained the most leverage. Generally speaking, housing markets where inventory (i.e., active listings) has returned to pre-pandemic 2019 levels have experienced weaker home price growth (or outright declines) over the past 34 months. Conversely, housing markets where inventory remains far below pre-pandemic 2019 levels have, generally speaking, experienced stronger home price growth over the past 34 months. BROWN = Active housing inventory for sale in April 2025 was BELOW pre-pandemic 2019 levels GREEN = Active housing inventory for sale in April 2025 was ABOVE pre-pandemic 2019 levels As ResiClub has closely documented, that picture varies significantly across the country: much of the Northeast and Midwest remain below pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels, while many parts of the Mountain West and Gulf regions have bounced back. Many of the softest housing markets, where homebuyers have gained leverage, are located in Gulf Coast and Mountain West regions. These areas were among the nations top pandemic boomtowns, having experienced significant home price growth during the Pandemic Housing Boom, which stretched housing fundamentals far beyond local income levels. When pandemic-fueled domestic migration slowed and mortgage rates spiked, markets like Cape Coral, Florida, and San Antonio, Texas, faced challenges as they had to rely on local incomes to sustain frothy home prices. The housing market softening in these areas was further accelerated by higher levels of new home supply in the pipeline across the Sun Belt. Builders in these regions are often willing to reduce prices or make other affordability adjustments to maintain sales in a shifted environment. These adjustments in the new construction market also create a cooling effect on the resale market, as some buyers who might have opted for an existing home shift their focus to new homes where eals are still available. In contrast, many Northeast and Midwest markets were less reliant on pandemic migration and have less new home construction in progress. With lower exposure to that domestic migration pullback demand shockand fewer builders doing big affordability adjustments to move productactive inventory in these Midwest and Northeast regions has remained relatively tightwith home sellers retaining more power relative to their peers in the Gulf and Mountain West regions. While national active inventory at the end of April 2025 was still -16% below pre-pandemic April 2019, ResiClub expects national active inventory to surpass pre-pandemic 2019 levels later this year. Big picture: The housing market is still undergoing a process of normalization following the surge in housing demand during the Pandemic Housing Boom, when home prices went up too fast, too quickly. To date, that normalization process has pushed some marketsincluding Austin (mid-2022-present), Las Vegas (second half of 2022), Phoenix (second half of 2022), San Francisco (second half of 2022), Boise (mid-20222023), Punta Gorda (2022present), Cape Coral (2023present), and Tampa (2024present)into correction-mode. In some other areas, so far, it has caused home price growth to stall out. Meanwhile, some markets still remain tight and have only seen a deceleration in home price growth from the highs of the Pandemic Housing Boom. ResiClub PRO members can access my latest monthly inventory analysis (+800 metros and +3,000 counties) here, and my latest monthly home price analysis (+800 metros and +3,000 counties) here.
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E-Commerce
The headlines scream it daily: Markets are fluctuating wildly, AI is transforming entire industries overnight, supply chains are fracturing, and the workforce is reshuffling at unprecedented rates. According to the World Economic Forum, 78 million new job opportunities will emerge by 2030, but this comes amid massive workforce transformation, with 77% of employers planning upskilling initiatives while 41% anticipate reductions due to AI automation. All these moving parts are playing out against a global background of financial insecurity, war, climate change, and political disruption. The age of anxiety Welcome to the age of VUCAvolatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguitya concept adopted by the military to describe post-Cold War conditions but now perfectly capturing our business landscape. And here’s the brutal truth. We’re facing this unprecedented VUCA while collectively and perfectly depleted from the trauma of the past five years. A recent American Psychiatric Association survey reveals that 43% of U.S. adults feel more anxious than they did the previous year, with 70% particularly anxious about current events. Research from meQ also finds that depression and anxiety rates are more than four times higher for people who feel least prepared for change. This isn’t another challenging period to weather. Chaotic change isnt a bug in the code we can just rewrite. It’s a fundamental feature of our era, requiring a complete reinvention of our relationship with change itself. Why the U in VUCA Hurts So Much Right Now In a word, trauma. The pandemic threw us into societal trauma at a level few of us had ever known. Unlike normal adversity, where mental health improves once the challenge passes, the pandemic created persistent mental health issues that have worsened even after the acute phases passed. When it comes to mental health, trauma has a long tail. The pandemic delivered a perfect storm of traumatic conditions: Chronic and unrelenting. Rather than a sharp, short crisis, it dragged on with no clear endpoint. Pervasive impact. It transformed every aspect of life simultaneouslywork, relationships, health, finances. Global with no escape. You couldn’t get on a plane to avoid it. Beyond our control. Individual actions had minimal impact on the overall trajectory. Shifting goalposts. Vaccines were promised, then delayed; variants emerged; reopenings were followed by new lockdowns. Aversion to Uncertainty This roller coaster of false hope and disappointment forced us to experience unrelenting uncertainty, and even in good times, our brains hate uncertainty. In a 2016 University College London study, people experienced more stress and anxiety when facing a 50/50 chance of receiving an electric shock than when facing a 98% certainty of receiving that same shock. Uncertainty was more unbearable than guaranteed pain. This preference made evolutionary sense when stability increased the chance of survival. In today’s business environment, it’s a dangerous liability. The fight-flight-freeze responses that helped our ancestors survive short periods of uncertainty now paralyze us in boardrooms, strategy sessions, and daily decision-making. We are not yet equipped to handle the ongoing uncertainty of todays nonstop change. The New Approach to Change I often describe our current relationship to change as abusive. Another disruption shakes us off course, and we think “this time will be different,” but it never is. The resulting uncertainty plagues us as much as before, because we haven’t changed our approach. Transforming our ingrained fear of uncertainty requires a process that rewrites our own relationship with change. We are then empowered to lead our teams and organizations through this era of VUCA without end. Step 1: Reject our old-fashioned beliefs about uncertainty and change We all have deep-seated beliefs about how the world should work. I call these Iceberg Beliefs because theyre enormous and largely lie beneath the surface of our awareness. They often define how we react to change. Classic beliefs about change and uncertainty might sound like: If I keep my head down and work hard, certainty should be my reward. “Uncertainty is unbearable and unfair.” The more control I get, the better my life will be. Steady as she goes wins the race. Change is frightening. It should be resisted or ignored. We have to discard these beliefs. For one, theyre not accurate. While hard work helps achieve our goals, it brings no guarantee of certainty or constancy. Second, they frame VUCA in a way thats not useful. VUCA is happening to us all, and fair has nothing to do with it. These beliefs push us to waste our time and energy fighting for an illusion of certainty that will never come. We must reject these naive Icebergs and replace them with beliefs that reflect reality and point to a path ahead. Step 2: Reinvent and reimagine our beliefs about uncertainty and change Reinventing our relationship with change means rejecting old and tired thinking and constructing new belief systems. We can ease into this by first endorsing beliefs that get us more comfortable with change. Not all uncertainty ends badly. There have been college applications, new jobs, and reorgs that turned out well. Ive been through change before, and most of the terrible stuff I worried about at 3 a.m. every night didnt actually happen. I am powerless to change change, but I alone have the power to change my relationship with it. Next, we can finally turn the tables on this abusive relationship by edging toward embracing change. Well get there with beliefs like there is no growth without change” and every change brings opportunity. We can also recognize that some of life’s most exhilarating momentsfalling in love, becoming a parent, getting a promotion, starting a new ventureinvolve profound uncertainty and change. Part of this work must include recalibrating our sense of what is under our control and mapping our sphere of control daily. Trauma distorts our sense of what we can and cannot influence. For example, during the pandemic, I found myself obsessively worrying about my elderly parents’ health in Australiasomething I had limited control overwhile neglecting my children’s online education happening right in front of me. I was systematically failing to control what Icould because I was exhausted trying to control what I couldn’t. Step 3: Lead your people through change With the threat of uncertainty neutralized and our beliefs about change and control starting to shift, we turn attention outward. How can we react to disruption more productively? And how can we successfully lead the people who count on us through VUCA? Practice a growth mindset These habits of mind help us see opportunities and stay focused through chaotic disruption. As leaders, we shift our teams response to change when we approach challenges with principles such as: Abandoning perfectionism. Accepting inevitable mistakes. Reframing mistakes as progress to value. Encouraging creativity without judgment. We can also educate our managers in this new approach to change, and help them learn to coach their teams to do the same. When this training happens at scale, our entire workforce is much more equipped to navigate and accelerate through organizational changes. Adjust work to the demands of VUCA We cant lead like business as usual when VUCA rules. However, with our greater resilience in the face of change, we can skillfully shift workplace expectations and norms to reduce VUCAs impact, thereby protecting growth and well-being as changes unfold. Reduce Volatile Processes. Slow processes down when possible. External forces put a ceiling on how much volatility you can control, but even small reductions help. The greatest athletes visualize the game in slow motion, while they respond in real time. Deal with one thing at a time rather than everything simultaneously. Reduce Uncertain Outcomes. While you can’t eliminate uncertainty, take actions today that narrow the field of possible outcomes. Thats why we try to exercise and eat healthfully. While never a guarantee that well dodge illness, it renders that uncertainty small enough to set aside for now. Reduce Complex Problems. Break problems into smaller pieces. Think of untangling yarnstart with one strand, simplify it, then move to the next. Organizations like NASA excel at this approach, breaking seemingly impossible challenges into manageable components. Reduce Ambiguous Information with Clarity. The U in VUCA is future-directed, while the Aambiguityis happening now. During change, people will fill information gaps with their Icebergs and fears. In my research, organizations that fare better during VUCA have transparency of process and open information. Its widely held in military circles that in a battle, communication is often the first thing to fail. By the time an organization is in VUCA, its too late to develop lines of communication. Work now, preemptively, to build strategies to keep your people informed. The payoff is clear. Research at meQ shows that most change-ready, resilient, and supported employees are significantly VUCA-proofed, with rates of depression, anxiety, and burnout slashed by around 75% when compared with their less change-ready peers. Taking the Power Back from Change The ultimate reality? Periods of stability will become increasingly rare. The concept that we just need to get through this “liminal time” before returning to normal is outdated. It’s the brief periods of stability that are now liminalunusual spaces between the predominant times of change, turmoil, and flux. Those who can adapt internally rather than demanding external stability will be best positioned to thrive. The pursuit of stability is a fool’s errand, and what we’re chasing is fool’s gold. The only thing at stake is this: Our entire mental health, wellness, happiness, productivity, and performance. It’s time to take back the power in our relationship with change.
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E-Commerce