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For the ladies of the Las Vegas Aces and the Phoenix Mercury, its time to leave it all on the court. The 2025 WNBA finals start tonight (Friday, October 3) at 8 p.m. ET. Notably, this is the first year that the WNBA finals are a best-of-seven games format. The Aces may be favored to win, but dont count out the scrappy Mercury squad. Lets take a deeper look at how these two teams got here, their strengths, and how to tune in. A season and playoffs recap The WNBA consists of 13 teams, with the top eight moving onto the postseason playoffs. This year, the Minnesota Lynx, Las Vegas Aces, Atlanta Dream, Phoenix Mercury, New York Liberty, Golden State Valkyries, Indiana Fever, and Seattle Storm got the chance to battle it out in a bracket-style tournament consisting of three rounds, including the finals. In the regular season, the Aces went out on a high note, winning their last 16 games. The team traveled a bumpier path to the finals and fought hard to earn their spot. In Game 5 of their semifinal series, the women defeated the Indiana Fever in overtime, 10798. Coach Becky Hammon joked, “Our road has been broken. It’s been a twisty, windy one but here we are,” as ESPN reported. The Aces are no strangers to the finals, having participated in four of them in the last six years. They were victorious in 2022 and 2023, becoming the first team since the Sparks to win back-to-back championships. On the other side of the coin, the Phoenix Mercury entered this season with almost all new players. This roster thrived in the playoffs as the underdogs. They first took on defending champions New York Liberty and came out victorious. Next, they defeated No. 1 seed Minnesota Lynx. The franchise has not won a championship since 2014, but was present in the 2021 battle. Coach Nate Tibbetts embraced the team’s darkhorse standing. “No one has had expectations for us except ourselves,” he mused, according to to ESPN. “The pride and the togetherness for such a new group, it’s pretty impressive.” Strengths and weaknesses Each team has their own unique power plays and pitfalls. The Aces greatest assets come in a trio. Center A’ja Wilson, guard Jackie Young, and guard Chelsea Gray are at the top of their respective games. They have experience winning two previous championships together and have helped mentor newer player NaLyssa Smith. The Aces will also have the home court advantage for games 1, 2, 5, and 7 because they are the higher seeded team. A potential Achilles’ heel is relying too much on their star players. Wilson and Young cant score all the points themselves. They need backup from their teammates, and without it might not get the results they so desperately want. Their opponents have their own set of advantages and vulnerabilities. Phoenix is on a roll, and this momentum could help them win it all. They are not afraid to go all-in. Their defense is going to have to continue to bring the heat to defeat the Aces, just like they did against the Lynx. A failure to do so might just end up in a loss. Travel searches to Phoenix and Las Vegas skyrocket Fans are preparing for an epic showdown and appear willing to travel to see it live. This is evident in data from Booking.com, the WNBA’s official travel partner. The site has seen a 103% increase in travel searches for Phoenix for October 810, and 166% increase for October 15, Booking.com shared with Fast Company. Aces fans have also gotten in on the action, with Las Vegas searches increasing 67% for October 35 and 127% for October 17. Overall, searches for Las Vegas sustained increased searches during the entire series. How can I watch or stream the WNBA finals? If you cant make the trip to see the players in person, never fear. To see game 1 of the 2025 WNBA finals, tune into ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. You can also catch the action on ESPN.com and the ESPN app, but you will need a traditional pay-TV subscription to watch it this way. The easiest way for cord-cutters to see it all is to sign up for a live-TV streaming service, including: Hulu+Live TV Fubo Sling TV YouTube TV. The entire series will be broadcast across ESPN and ABC. Below is the full WNBA finals schedule, per the WNBA’s website. If one team dominates the first four games, the last three could be unnecessary. Game 1: Mercury at Aces (Friday, Oct. 3, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 2: Mercury at Aces (Sunday, Oct. 5, 3 ET, ABC) Game 3: Aces at Mercury (Wednesday, Oct. 8, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 4: Aces at Mercury (Friday, Oct. 10, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 5: Mercury at Aces (Sunday, Oct. 12, 3 ET, ABC) Game 6: Aces at Mercury (Wednesday, Oct. 15, 8 ET, ESPN) Game 7: Mercury at Aces (Friday, Oct. 17, 8 ET, ESPN)
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E-Commerce
U.S. technology company Nvidia and Fujitsu, a Japanese telecommunications and computer maker, agreed Friday to work together on artificial intelligence to deliver smart robots and a variety of other innovations using Nvidia’s computer chips.“The AI industrial revolution has already begun. Building the infrastructure to power it is essential in Japan and around the world,” Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang said, hugging his Fujitsu counterpart Takahito Tokita on stage.“Japan can lead the world in AI and robotics,” Huang told reporters at a Tokyo hotel.The companies will work together on building what they called “an AI infrastructure,” or the system on which the various futuristic AI uses will be based, including health care, manufacturing, the environment, next-generation computing and customer services. The hope is to establish that AI infrastructure for Japan by 2030.It initially will be tailored for the Japanese market, leveraging Fujitsu’s decades-long experience here, but may later expand globally, and will utilize Nvidia’s GPUs, or graphics processing units, which are essential for AI, according to both sides.The two executives did not outline specific projects or give a monetary figure for planned investments. But exploring a collaboration in AI for robots with Yaskawa Electric Corp., a Japanese machinery and robot maker, was noted as a possible example. AI will be constantly evolving and learning, they said.Fujitsu and Nvidia have been working together on AI, speeding up manufacturing with digital twins and robotics to tackle aging Japan’s labor shortages.Tokita said the companies were taking a “humancentric” approach aimed at keeping Japan competitive.“Through our collaboration with Nvidia, we aim to create new, unprecedented technologies and contribute to solving even more serious social issues,” said Tokita. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
A major Japanese beverage producer says it has been hit by a cyberattack that left its operations disrupted for the fifth day on Friday, and Japanese media are reporting that stocks of the company’s popular beer and other beverages are running low in some stores.Asahi Group Holdings said its computer systems were hit by a cyberattack on Monday, creating glitches that have affected orders, shipments, and a customer call center in Japan. Overseas systems were not affected.A company spokeswoman told the Associated Press on Friday that the problem had still not been fixed, though some emergency shipments were made on Wednesday, with employees entering information into computer systems manually.The cause and motive of the attacks were still under investigation, the spokeswoman said. She requested anonymity, which is customary for Japanese companies.Japanese media said some convenience stores weren’t getting their deliveries and that stocks were low and the products were even being sold out in some places.A 7-Eleven convenience store in Tokyo visited by an AP reporter on Friday evening still stocked plenty of Asahi beer, though the saleswoman said she expected the stocks to start running low soon.It’s unclear when the system will be back up and running, Asahi said. The company has canceled events and is delaying the launch of products. Some Japanese media reports said the attacks may be ransomware, but Asahi declined to comment.Tokyo-based Asahi, founded in 1949, makes beer, including its popular Super Dry rice lager and other beverages, including cider and juices, as well as baby food, candy and some other food products. Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
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E-Commerce
Teslas Cybertrucks might be the most polarizing vehicle on the market. And due to their electronic door-open mechanism, they’re far from the safest. A new lawsuit underscores this, alleging that 19-year-old college student Krysta Tsukahara died during a fiery crash because the trucks electric doors shut down, preventing the door from opening on either side, as the New York Times first reported. Tsukaharas family is suing Tesla in Alameda County Superior Court. In Cybertrucks, a passenger has to click a button for the door to open. The only manual mechanism to open a rear door is to pull a cablebut reaching said cable involves removing the rubber mat on the bottom of the rear door’s map pocket, according to Tesla. The person then has to pull the cable forward before pushing the door open. These manual releases are in different locations in various Tesla models. The November 2024 crash occurred when a Cybertruck carrying four people crashed into a tree and caught fire. A friend following in another vehicle broke one of the Cybertrucks windows and rescued one of the four people. He was unable to rescue Tsukahara, who the suit alleges died from burns and smoke inhalation, not the impact of the crash. Tsukaharas family is also suing the estate of the driver, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol, amphetamines, and cocaine when the car crashed. Fast Company has reached out to Tesla for comment and will update this post if we hear back. Teslas door handles have a history of malfunctioning Elon Musk’s electric car company uses door-open buttons across its vehicles, with further accusations beyond the Cybertruck. On September 10, a Bloomberg report revealed that over 140 customers had complaints related to Teslas doors getting stuck, not opening, or otherwise malfunctioning since 2018. Multiple cases mirror Tsukahara’s case of being stuck inside a burning vehicle, unable to get the doors open. Take a Toronto crash, in October 2024. A Tesla Model Y crashed into a barrier and caught fire, killing all four of its passengers. The electric door buttons didnt work, trapping the individuals in the car. Five days after the Bloomberg report, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into Teslas Model Y vehicles, specifically looking at opening doors from the outside without power. Its preliminary evaluation points to incidents in which parents have been unable to get their child out of the car. In a September 17 interview on Bloombergs Hot Pursuit! podcast, Tesla design chief Franz von Holzhausen claimed that the company is working on a redesign to help in a panic situation. It would combine the mechanical and electronic door releases. So in the moment that youre in a panic situation, the muscle memory to go to what you know is right there, von Holzhausen said. You just pull a little bit further on the lever and you have the mechanical release. It seems Teslas solution to its dangerous design is to provide a normal, functioning door handle.
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E-Commerce
Last month, more than 450 artists designed a custom sticker to support Zohran Mamdanis New York City mayoral campaignand, pretty soon, youre going to be seeing the winning design everywhere. On September 25, Mamdanis campaign announced through an Instagram video that it would be hosting a sticker design contest to get New Yorkers registered to vote before the October 25 deadline. The competition gave followers just 36 hours to submit their designs, during which hundreds of pieces of art flooded the campaigns submission portal. Now that a winner has been selected, anyone who is registered can submit a form on Mamdanis website and pick up the sticker at one of Mamdanis canvases or volunteer events. Mamdanis campaign took a page out of other regions playbooks through the sticker design contest, which, in recent years, have proven to be both effective fodder for social media discussion and a real avenue to boost voter engagement. Its part of his larger goal to get more New Yorkers, and especially young people, registered to votea mission that, so far, has yielded impressive results. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani) Why voting sticker contests are on the rise Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has run his campaign with an internet-savvy eye for design. In the election run-up, he masterfully shot candid short-form video content to reach young voters and establish himself as an authentic candidate for the people. His campaign posters balanced a hand-drawn quality with a healthy sprinkling of nostalgia, presenting Mamdani as less corporate and more down-to-earth than his rivals. These aesthetic choices helped pave the way for him to defeat Andrew Cuomo in the primaries. Now that the November 6 election is fast approaching, Mamdanis campaign is using those same creative sensibilities to prepare New Yorkers for the polls. Most Americans will be familiar with the classic red-white-and-blue I Voted stickers, and for good reason. According to a 2016 study by four researchers at Berkeley, Harvard, and the University of Chicago, were more motivated to vote when we know others will know that we voted. These now-ubiquitous stickers are a key way to signal our civic involvement. Recently, though, another kind of voting sticker has taken center-stage. In 2022, Ulster County in New York decided to forgo the traditional sticker, opting instead to solicit sticker designs from local artists. The public overwhelmingly voted for a crazed-looking monster spider, designed by a 14-year-old, which became an immediate viral sensation. Since then, other local governments have similarly turned sticker design into a contest, from Denver to South Dakota and San Luis Obispo County, California. Last May, Michigan residents selected a image of a werewolf ripping off its shirt in front of an American flag to represent that theyd performed their civic duty. Submissions to Mamdanis call for designs included a giant pigeon head, a psychedelic interpretation of Mamdanis face, and a swaggering NYC alley cat. Mamdani himself chose his 10 favorite designs before allowing the public to vote on the winner. Nearly 7,000 votes later, the winner, created by local artist Nishan Patel, was chosen. Fittingly, the design features an NYC bodega with a cat in the window and the signage, Vote for Zohran. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani) How Mamdani is boosting voter turnout Historically, sticker design competitions have been used to boost final voter turnout on election day. Instead, Mamdanis campaign opted to catch potential supporters sooner by using the contest to encourage New Yorkers to register to votea goal thats been central to the campaigns success so far. According to an analysis from The New York Times, published on June 29, Mamdani has already changed the electoral map. In the 14 days leading up to the registration deadline for the Democratic primary, about 37,000 people registered to vote, compared with about 3,000 people in the same period in 2021, the publication found. Mr. Mamdanis campaign had focused on registering voters, and he also appears to have drawn thousands of voters to the primary who did not vote four years ago, the report reads. Mamdanis campaign told Fast Company that it even believes certain social media videos may have driven spikes in voter registrations. After Mamdani posted a call-to-action in mid-June specifically encouraging New Yorkers to register, registrations shot up. While such data is correlational and not necessarily causal, the campaign says that the narrow timeframe suggests a likely connection. As Vote for Zohran stickers begin to appear around the city, the design competition may prove to be another way that Mamdani convinces New Yorkers to get to the polls.
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E-Commerce
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