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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has placed new restrictions on Congressional visits, a policy change that is likely to escalate tensions between the controversial federal law enforcement agency and its critics. ICE detailed the policy changes in a memo published to its website. Under the new rules, ICE asserts that lawmakers must give 72 hours of advance notice before visiting an ICE field office. Lawmakers are explicitly allowed by law to visit ICE facilities that detain or otherwise house aliens unannounced, but the agency wants to stop surprise visits to its broader constellation of immigration enforcement centers across the country, which it claims do not meet that criteria. The new guidance comes as Democrats clash with the Trump administration over its immigration crackdown, which has targeted refugees who were offered legal status during the Biden administration, mistakenly deported a Maryland resident to a mega-prison in El Salvador and expanded immigration raids at farms, hotels and restaurants. The policy also states that Congressional staffers must now provide 24 hours of notice before entering a detention facility. Visitors attempting to circumvent entry requirements may be subject to arrest or other legal action, the agency warns. Under its new visitation policy, the agency tries to draw a distinction between its detention facilities and field offices, the latter of which it claims arent used to detain people. ICE does not house aliens at field offices, rather these are working offices where Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) personnel process aliens to make custody determinations based on the specific circumstances of each case, the memo argues, adding that anyone brought to a field office who needs to be detained is transferred to a purpose-built facility. ICE operates 25 field offices across the country. According to the agencys field office directory, the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the ICE law enforcement arm that conducts deportations, manages all aspects of the immigration enforcement process through those offices. ICE clashes with elected officials are escalating In Trumps second term, ICE officers have not hesitated to handcuff, arrest and even press charges against elected officials. Earlier this week, New York City comptroller Brad Lander was arrested at a Manhattan immigration court while escorting a man sought by immigration agents. In a video of the incident, Lander is shown repeatedly asking a group of plainclothes agents if they have a judicial warrant before being wrestled against a wall and removed from the building. In another recent confrontation, California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference when he tried to interrupt Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with a question. On Friday, Congressional Democrats sent a letter to Noem and the acting director of ICE accusing the agencies of continued obstruction of legal oversight visits by members of Congress. The lawmakers specifically named a Manhattan field office that normally serves as a brief stop for immigrants moving through the system but is now reportedly overcrowded and forcing people that are detained for multiple days to sleep on the floor. ICEs deputy field director in New York confirmed that multiple detainees slept on the floor or on benches in the facility, an admission the group of Democrats pointed to in their letter demanding access. The lawmakers also demanded that ICE rescind its new guidance claiming that its field offices are not subject to unannounced visits by members of Congress. Given the overaggressive and excessive force used to handcuff and detain elected officials in public, DHSs refusal to allow members of Congress to observe the conditions for immigrants behind closed doors begs the obvious question: what are you hiding? the group of lawmakers wrote.
Category:
E-Commerce
Anshul Ramachandran knew theyd landed on something special when engineers started having opinions about color palettes. Probably one of my favorite moments was when we showed other people at the company the brand book for the first time and I heard the audible wows and ahs, the cofounder and head of product and strategy at Windsurf says. If you can get a bunch of engineers in a room to do that about colors and lines, you probably did something that works.Windsurf, formerly known as Codeium, is an AI-based development environment that was bought last month by Open AI for $3 billion30 times its valuation. Ramachandrans clients are mainly engineers, and so any redesign needed to speak directly to them. So Windsurf enlisted Vancouver design agency Metalab to create a visual identity that looks more like athletic gear than business software. The result breaks every rule about how tech companies are supposed to look. [Image: courtesy Metalab]Back to the humanWindsurf builds AI tools for more than a million software engineers, helping them accelerate their coding workflows through what the company calls seamless AI collaboration. But their previous brand identitya black background with teal accentsfelt limiting for a product that was expanding beyond basic code generation.The previous branding iteration. [Image: Windsurf]Theres sort of a very grayscale, kind of boring treatment to a lot of [technology] products, says Allison Butula, marketing director at Metalab. The standard tech aesthetic had become a liability for a company positioning itself at the intersection of human creativity and machine intelligence. When machines seem to be taking over our world, it makes sense that a brand should work to make technology feel more human.[Image: courtesy Metalab]The timing of the redesign aligned with broader changes at Windsurf. The company released the Windsurf Editor in November, which generated such momentum that users began identifying the company by its product name rather than its corporate name. The company officially renamed to Windsurf in April. It was a natural time as we were also changing the name of the company, Ramachandran says.[Image: courtesy Metalab]The big creative riskYash Mittal, lead designer at Windsurf who oversaw the project internally, tells me the team was deliberate about taking creative risks. At the end of this process, where do we want to be? And were like, we want to take this big risk. And even if it fails, were okay with that because we dont want to end up with a brand that looks just like any other tech brand, he says.[Image: courtesy Metalab]Metalab has helped to turn technical products into emotionally resonant brands in the past (including Slack). Jordan Darbishire, brand director at Metalab, anchored the visual identity in a core emotional concept. It was the idea of feeling this unlimited potential. So its all about flow state. Its all about doing your best work and the tool affording you time, which is obviously a very precious resource, she says.[Image: courtesy Metalab]The brand flows indeed. The flat white logomark is a stylized W that makes it look like waves in the ocean. Its smooth thickness variations give it a hand-drawn quality, but at the same time it is precise, recalling an engineers calligraphy on a blueprint. The variable width typographyhow the W letterform grows wider, then thinner, then wider again, creating visual rhythm that suggests energy and movementtransmits a flow state, Mittal says. The logomark also visually echoes the wordmark: The Ws curves literally repeat the delicate thin ligatures of the brands typeface, Tomato Grotesk, adding to the repetition and the flow Mittal speaks aout.[Image: courtesy Metalab]The design process required balancing seemingly contradictory elements, Darbishire says. We want to really meld the natural and the technical, she says. To achieve that, the team created wavelike gradients that guide the eye through compositions while incorporating blueprint elements that communicate technical sophistication, which are at the same time a big contrast to the flat nature of the Windsurf brand and, at the same time, extend its human nature.Early design concepts and inspiration [Image: courtesy Metalab]Surfing UX AIThese pretty gradients are a key part of the brand book. Metalab developed a comprehensive gradient system with dotted line language and dash patterns that Windsurfs designers could use to build new shapes and applications. The color palette drew inspiration from actual windsurfing sails. A lot of them utilize these bright neon colors so you can see them on the water. Its also sort of the design language of that sport, Darbishire says. It looks like it could be a windsurf, like a windsurfing athletic company. And we really want to lean into that because its just so unique.[Image: courtesy Metalab]It wasnt the most aggressively sporty option, however. The team explored directions that felt too fashion-forward, too technical, or too vibrant before finding the balance point. We arrived at the sweet spot where we were very creative and expressive, but also we communicated our product values extremely clearly, Mittal notes. The gradients and colors will be an element that permeates the entire UX.[Image: courtesy Metalab]Luke Des Cotes, CEO of Metalab, says his company has had a front row seat of these kinds of waves in technologythe big boom of crypto companies that all come forward. And now its been AI companies that have kind of come forward. Creating a unique brand is key during a gold rush, he adds. There is going to be like this real renaissance of value put towards brand as being a core differentiator, he says.While Windsurf launched its new logo in mid-April, testing market reception before the full brand rollout, the complete rebranding across the site and all materials happens today (a day before International Surf Day). The logo has been a success so far, Ramachandran says. Almost all of our customers, especially on the enterprise side, theyre like, okay, yeah, thats great. You see the W, I see the wave, I see the flow. It makes a lot of sense.
Category:
E-Commerce
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL) was the most recent target of a sophisticated cybercrime group that has led a campaign against a number of insurance companies in recent weeks, according to a statement issued by the company today.The cyberattack, which was first identified by the company June 12, was stopped within a few hours and business operations were not impacted. However, the number of Aflac insurance-holders affected by the breach is still unknown. Files containing personal information, such as Social Security numbers, health information, and insurance claims information, could have been compromised during the attack, the company said. We regret that this incident occurred, the company wrote in a statement. We will be working to keep our stakeholders informed as we learn more and continue investigating the incident. During the investigation, Aflac is offering credit monitoring, identity theft protection, and a two year Medical Shield policy for free to any customers who call their incident-dedicated call center. The company suspects social engineering helped the cybercrime group infiltrate its networks. Social engineeringwhich includes tactics like phishing emailsinvolves deceiving a victim into revealing personal information or providing access into otherwise secure systems. Aflac is only the latest insurance company impacted by these cybersecurity incidents. Erie Insurance and Philadelphia Insurance Companies issued statements about similar cyberattacks earlier this week, exposing a growing threat to the insurance industry. The insurance industry is a recent target of a cybercrime group called Scattered Spider, John Hultquist, chief analyst of Googles threat intelligence group, shared Monday on X. Scattered Spider, also known as UNC3944, is reportedly a group of hackers who target large organizations primarily in English-speaking countries. The group previously gained attention targeting U.K. retailers, such as Marks & Spencer and Harrods. To defend against attacks by Scattered Spider, Googles threat intelligence group suggests companies should educate employees about social engineering tactics and strengthen security measures, such as identity verification and authentication procedures. Aflac did not immediately respond to a request for comment about which social engineering tactics were used in the attack and whether additional cybersecurity measures would be put in place to ward off future attacks. After a 1.37% drop between the close of trading Wednesday and opening on Friday, Aflacs stock price is looking up as the dust settles following the incident.
Category:
E-Commerce
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