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President Donald Trumps proposed fiscal year 2026 discretionary budget is called a skinny budget because its short on line-by-line details. But historic preservation efforts in the U.S. did get a mentionand they might as well be skinned to the bone. Trump has proposed to slash funding for the federal Historic Preservation Fund to only $11 million, which is $158 million less than the funds previous reauthorization in 2024. The presidential discretionary budget, however, always heads to Congress for appropriation. And Congress always makes changes. That said, the Trump administration hasnt even released the $188 million that Congress appropriated for the fund for the 2025 fiscal year, essentially impounding the funding stream that Congress created in 1976 for historic preservation activities across the nation. Im a scholar of historic preservation whos worked to secure historic designations for buildings and entire neighborhoods. Ive worked on projects that range from making distressed neighborhoods in St. Louis eligible for historic tax credits to surveying Cold War-era hangars and buildings on seven U.S. Air Force bases. Ive seen the ways in which the Historic Preservation Fund helps local communities maintain and rehabilitate their rich architectural history, sparing it from deterioration, the wrecking ball, or the pressures of the private market. A rare, deficit-neutral funding model Most Americans probably dont realize that the task of historic preservation largely falls to individual states and Native American tribes. The National Historic Preservation Act that President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law in 1966 requires states and tribes to handle everything from identifying potential historic sites to reviewing the impact of interstate highway projects on archaeological sites and historic buildings. States and tribes are also responsible for reviewing nominations of sites in the National Register of Historic Places, the nations official list of properties deemed worthy of preservation. However, many states and tribes didnt have the capacity to adequately tackle the mandates of the 1966 act. So the Historic Preservation Fund was formed a decade later to alleviate these costs by funneling federal resources into these efforts. The fund is actually the product of a conservative, limited-government approach. Created during Gerald Fords administration, it has a revenue-neutral model, meaning that no tax dollars pay for the program. Instead, its funded by private lease royalties from the Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas reserves. Most of these reserves are located in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska. Private companies that receive a permit to extract from them must agree to a lease with the federal government. Royalties from their oil and gas sales accrue in federally controlled accounts under the terms of these leases. The Office of Natural Resources Revenue then directs 1.5% of the total royalties to the Historic Preservation Fund. Congress must continually reauthorize the amount of funding reserved for the Historic Preservation Fund, or it goes unfunded. Despite bipartisan support, the fund has been threatened in the past. President Ronald Reagan attempted to do exactly what Trump is doing now by making no request for funding at all in his 1983 budget. Yet the fund has nonetheless been reauthorized six times since its inception, with terms ranging from five to 10 years. The program is a crucial source of funding, particularly in small towns and rural America, where privately raised cultural heritage funds are harder to come by. It provides grants for the preservation of buildings and geographical areas that hold historical, cultural, or spiritual significance in underrepresented communities. And its even involved in projects tied to the nations 250th birthday in 2026, such as the rehabilitation of the home in New Jersey where George Washington was stationed during the winter of 177879 and the restoration of Rhode Islands Old State House. Filling financial gaps Ive witnessed the funds impact firsthand in small communities across the nation. Edwardsville, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis, is home to the Leclaire Historic District. In the 1970s, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The national designation recognized the historic significance of the district, protecting it against any adverse impacts from federal infrastructure funding. It also made tax credits available to the town. Edwardsville then designated Leclaire a local historic district so that it could legally protect the indelible architectural features of its homes, from original decorative details to the layouts of front porches. Despite the designation, however, there was no clear inventory of the hundreds of houses in the district. A few paid staffers and a volunteer citizen commission not only had to review proposed renovations and demolitions, but they also had to figure out which buildings even contributed to Leclaires significance and which ones did notand thus did not need to be tied up in red tape. Edwardsville was able to secure a grant through the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office thanks to a funding match enabled by money disbursed to Illinois via the Historic Preservation Fund. In 2013, my team created an updated inventory of the historic district, making it easier for the local commission to determine which houses should be reviewed carefully and which ones dont need to be reviewed at all. Oil money better than no money The historic preservation field, not surprisingly, has come out strongly against Trumps proposal to defund the Historic Preservation Fund. Nonetheless, there have been debates within the field over the funds dependence on the fossil fuel industry, which wa the trade-off that preservationists made decades ago when they crafted the funding model. In the 1970s, amid the national energy crisis, conservation of existing buildings was seen as a worthy ecological goal, since demolition and new construction required fossil fuels. To preservationists, diverting federal carbon royalties seemed like a power play. But with the effects of climate change becoming impossible to ignore, some preservationists are starting to more openly critique both the ethics and the wisdom of tapping into a pool of money created through the profits of the oil and gas industry. Ive recently wondered myself if continued depletion of fossil fuels means that preservationists wont be able to count on the Historic Preservation Fund as a long-term source of funding. That said, youd be hard-pressed to find a preservationist who thinks that destroying the Historic Preservation Fund would be a good first step in shaping a more visionary policy. For now, Trumps administration has only sown chaos in the field of historic preservation. Already, Ohio has laid off one-third of the staffers in its State Historic Preservation Office due to the impoundment of federal funds. More state preservation offices may follow suit. The National Council of State Historic Preservation Officers predicts that states soon could be unable to perform their federally mandated duties. Unfortunately, many people advocating for places important to their towns and neighborhoods may end up learning the hard way just what the Historic Preservation Fund does. Michael R. Allen is a visiting assistant professor of history at West Virginia University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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I have not found much joy in iPhone photography of late. Between the flat, HDR-heavy image processing and the stagnant hardware compared to competitors, its rare that Ill use my iPhone for anything beyond quick, functional snapshots. Here is the price of eggs at the supermarket today in a chat message. That sort of thing. But over the past week, Ive been having more fun with my iPhone camera than Ive had in years. The reason for that is !Camera, a new app that completely reimagines the experience of taking photos on your phone. Inspiring design !Camerano, I am not entirely sure how youre meant to say that out loudcomes from Not Boring Software, which also makes a suite of iOS apps including a weather app, a timer, a calculator, and more. Ive tried some of these in the past and admired their stylish, original design, but none of them really stuck with me; I tend to lean into functionality if Im going to learn a new app. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/multicore_logo.jpg","headline":"Multicore","description":"Multicore is about technology hardware and design. It's written from Tokyo by Sam Byford. To learn more visit multicore.blog","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.multicore.blog","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}} But cameras are the opposite. Unless Im shooting professionally at a critical event, I want cameras to have their own personality and inspire me to use them. Thats exactly what you get with !Camera. Although !Camera solely exists in software, its unique 3D interface makes your iPhone feel like a new device. The colorful, customizable UI is not intended to look realistic, exactly, but the combination of visual effects and haptic feedback is surprisingly believable. I set up a shortcut to open !Camera with the iPhones physical Action Button, which adds to the verisimilitude. The chunky virtual dials show shadows in the knurls as you tilt your phone, based on input from the gyroscope. The iPhones haptic system lets you feel every notch along the dials, together with satisfying clunks when you swap between lenses or turn the flash on. And I cant remember the last time I didnt immediately turn off the beeps on a digital camera, but the stereo sound effects here actually add to the experience. Simple UI The UI itself is extremely simple. There is a huge shutter button thats impossible to miss, plus two key dials: one for exposure compensation, and the other to select photo styles. You do have the option to switch to a manual mode, but it feels intentional that the two virtual dials are dedicated to accessible features that are more likely to make a real difference on a phone camera. Theres also a clever take on manual focus that brings up a loupe-like ring when you drag directly on the viewfinder. The UI is rounded out by two switches for the flash and to swap between lensestheres no option for 2x or any other fake digital zoomas well as a settings button that takes you to a more conventional menu with all the customization features. One feature you wont find is the ability to view all your photos; they just get saved straight into your iPhones photo app. This is presumably so that you dont spend half your time chimping, or immediately checking the pictures you took rather than concentrating on taking some more. Its a good decision, especially since the photos themselves can take a second or two to process. After pressing the shutter button, you get a quick preview on the viewfinder that doesnt quite match the final results but is enough to let you know whether you got the shot or not. Great results The results are usually great. !Camera can shoot in Apples ProRAW format or use the basic JPEG processing, but it defaults to its own SuperRaw system that adds a slight grain and goes for punchy exposure. These photos can all capture HDR data, and you can also save a regular RAW file at the same time for editing later. !Camera supports importing LUTs, or lookup tables, the same kind of presets used by many pro photographers. It also comes with several styles of its own, including a couple of monochrome filmlike options by Tokyo-based AgBr, the collective behind the excellent Mac and iOS photo editing app of the same name. These arent just filters: Theyre embedded right into the image-processing pipeline. Last month Apple announced that it is shifting all of its operating systems to a new visual style built around a virtual material called Liquid Glass. Design chief Alan Dye said in a statement that it combines the optical qualities of glass with a fluidity only Apple can achieve, as it transforms depending on your content or context. !Camera takes a similar approach in some ways, as it acknowledges the physical properties of the iPhone and reacts in real time. But you couldnt make !Camera out of Liquid Glassits already made out of something else. Its materials have a style and a charm entirely their own, and they make your phone feel like a timeless camera in the real world rather than something that exists only in the Apple universe. More to the point, it is simply a heck of a lot of fun. Id fallen out of love with iPhone photography, but !Camera has pulled me right back. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/multicore_logo.jpg","headline":"Multicore","description":"Multicore is about technology hardware and design. It's written from Tokyo by Sam Byford. To learn more visit multicore.blog","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.multicore.blog","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}
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I have a brain tumor. The good news is that its benign. The bad news is that I need surgery to remove it. Brain surgery typically involves a lengthy recovery period. Six weeks, at a minimum. On top of navigating the emotions that come with such a diagnosis, Ive had to figure out what work will look like as I recover. More specifically: how I will manage not working for such a long period of time. This isnt the first time Ive experienced a major life event in my career (unfortunately). The Extreme Planner in me immediately started to figure out the logistics. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/04\/workbetter-logo.png","headline":"Work Better","description":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn't suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more visit workbetter.media.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}} If youre going through something similar, I feel you. If youve never faced a significant medical challenge, I hope it stays that way. But I write this so that if you ever need it, you can return to this article. And I write this so if you need to support someone going through a medical challenge, you know where to start. Talking with your boss or team Telling other people about a medical diagnosis is deeply personal. Theres no right or wrong time. Im self-employed, so I talked with my clients as soon as I had more definitive information (a surgery date). For 10 agonizing days, I knew that I had a brain tumor and my clients didnt. I somehow fumbled my way through deadlines and normal client communications as though nothing was wrong. But for me it made sense to talk about my diagnosis as soon as possible. My clients could start to plan for my absence. Plus, I have a lot of doctors appointments leading up to the surgery date that I need to work around. When I previously had a medical issue in 2017, I told only my boss and one or two close colleagues. I didnt want to talk about it. It was strictly a need-to-know basis. Bottom line: Do what feels right for you. Navigating the pressures of working Living with a brain tumor is Not Fun. There are a lot of unknowns around the outcome of surgery. The same is true for many medical conditions: Fear, pain, or both may impact your life daily. One benefit of telling your boss or team is that hopefully theyre compassionate. Theyll lighten your workload or understand if you have to rearrange deadlines. But youre likely also facing financial pressure. With most companies having limits on paid sick time, you probably feel like you have to keep working until the point when you cant anymore. I certainly feel that pressureeven guiltas I think about the gap in my familys income as I recover. I finally decided to take a break between my last working day and my surgery date. During that time, Im going to take my family to a show in Chicago and maybe get a pedicure. I have a special lunch date planned with my husband. If youre facing a potentially life-altering surgery or other procedure, dont spend your last few days before working. Enjoy the time as best you can. How to ask for support Heres the thing about telling people that youre experiencing a major medical issue: People want to help. Theyll ask you if theres anything they can do, because they know youre going through something rough. When I first told people about my brain tumor, they told me to let them know if there was anything they could do. For a long time, I said, Ill let you know. I couldnt think of anything, because my mind was still reeling from the shock of the diagnosis. But then I started to ask for help with specific things. I thought about the people in my life, and how their skills might help keep my business running while I cant work. I circled back with some people who had offered support and said, Can you do XYZ for me? If you work for a company, you can do the same thing. Make a list of the things that would truly make your workday easier so youre ready anytime someone asks, How can I help? How to provide support If youre on the other side and a colleague or professional contact is going through something hard, offer specific ways you can help. So many people (like me) are overwhelmed and dont know how to reply when someone offers support. Say, Can I take ABC off your plate? Or XYZ? rather than Let me know if theres anything you need! It reduces the mental load of the person youre trying to help. Check in again, even after weeks or months have passed. The persons needs may change. Significant medical issues can be long-lasting. People are eager to offer help at the beginning, but that fades over timeespecially at work, where its easy to be removed from peoples personal lives. Be the person who continues to show up, saying, How can I help? Or simply, How are you feeling? Do you want to talk? Im here to listen. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/04\/workbetter-logo.png","headline":"Work Better","description":"Thoughts on the future of work, career pivots, and why work shouldn't suck, by Anna Burgess Yang. To learn more visit workbetter.media.","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.workbetter.media","colorTheme":"blue","redirectUrl":""}}
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