"Some missions are using more than what their paperwork would say."

I bought the Amtrak USA Rail Pass, and there are a few things I wish I had known beforehand. Malia Yoshioka I purchased Amtrak's USA Rail Pass, which allowed me to take 10 trips for $499. Although I thought the pass was a great value, there are a few things I wish I knew ahead of time. For example, long trips provide the best value, but sleeper-car upgrades aren't available. I took my first long train ride when I was 18, heading upstate from New York City. I can still remember the view of the gold, rust, and deep-red leaves out the window. I grew up in Hawaii, where there are no trains or fall foliage, so the experience felt completely new to me. That trip stayed with me, and now, I try to travel by train whenever possible. Last year, I traveled through the East Coast and Midwest by rail, and by the time I reached Chicago, I finally decided to give Amtrak's $499 USA Rail Pass a try. With 10 rides to use within 30 days, I traveled through 11 states in a single month. Here are eight things I wish I knew before buying the pass. Long trips provide the best value When using the USA Rail Pass, I like to book long trips to get the most value for my money. Malia Yoshioka The pass allows riders to book 10 "segments" on almost any Amtrak route. A segment refers to one time that you board and disembark, regardless of the distance traveled. In other words, a short regional train counts the same as a multi-day route that crosses several states. So, I learned I was better off booking long trips to really get my money's worth. However, if a trip requires a transfer, that counts as two segments, so choosing the most direct route helps to stretch the pass further. Plus, long rides in coach can often run passengers hundreds of dollars if booked individually, so even a few rides might cover the cost of the pass. Sleeper-car upgrades aren't available when using the pass I'll be honest — there have been times when I wished I had a private room so I could stretch out or have a little more privacy on the train. But one of the tradeoffs with the USA Rail Pass is that I'm placed in a coach seat for every segment and don't have the option to upgrade to a sleeper car. Luckily, the seats on Amtrak (which are typically about 23 inches wide) recline, have a decent amount of legroom, and are generally quite comfortable. However, the only downside is they don't lie flat. So, when going on multiple long-distance trips with the pass, I recommend taking a break between rides to stay at a hotel. I can save money by packing my own snacks I come prepared with lots of snacks. Malia Yoshioka Dining-car meals are included for passengers traveling in roomettes and sleeper cars, but unfortunately, they are not included for coach passengers traveling with the USA Rail Pass. Although I can sometimes request a dining-car reservation if there's space, it's first-come-first-served and can fill up quickly. Plus, the additional cost adds up quickly. As a coach passenger, I do get access to the café car, which serves coffee, snacks, sodas, salads, and a few reheated items like breakfast sandwiches or mac and cheese. However, I usually pack my own food to keep costs down. Although the staff cannot reheat or refrigerate anything for me, they sometimes give me hot water if I ask nicely. So, I bring things like powdered soups, oatmeal packets, tea, and snacks that keep well at room temperature. Even though the baggage policy is generous, it's important to pack light and keep essentials on hand All passengers can bring two carry-ons and a personal item with them. Malia Yoshioka All passengers, regardless of ticket type or class, can bring two carry-ons and a personal item with them on the train. However, I recommend packing light to allow yourself enough time to get on and off the train quickly. In order to keep myself organized, I also like to pack a smaller bag in my carry-on that includes anything I'll want easy access to during the trip. For example, I carry extra layers of clothing in case I get cold, a neck pillow, a light blanket, earphones, an eye mask, earplugs, and hygiene products. The WiFi isn't always reliable While on long-distance routes, I've noticed that Amtrak's WiFi often becomes unavailable. I've sometimes been able to use my phone's hotspot, but even so, I've encountered long stretches without any cell service at all. Now that I'm a seasoned traveler, I like to plan ahead by downloading movies, music, books, or maps before my trip. However, I've also found that train travel is a good excuse to disconnect. I like to journal or sketch, write a postcard to a loved one, or simply daydream. The Sightseer Lounge offers the best views I love spending time in the Sightseer Lounge. Malia Yoshioka Certain trains come equipped with a Sightseer Lounge, which offers beautiful views of the country from large windows. The louge, which includes a mixture of booths, single, and double chairs, is my favorite spot on any train that has one. As a frequent traveler, I've seen the glow of golden hour over a field of wheat, the soft rise of mountain ranges, and canyons filled with rivers and patches of fall color. In my opinion, sights like these are what make rail travel truly special. This story was originally published on February 4, 2026, and most recently updated on June 11, 2026. Read the original article on Business Insider

New York Times: Some investors question SpaceX's projected $1.77T valuation, citing its $4.3B loss on $4.7B in revenue in Q1, concerns over space data centers, and more  —  Elon Musk's rocket company is spending big and losing money.  That has raised questions about whether it can justify its valuation for its blockbuster initial public offering.

Latency, bandwidth, and fidelity all matter when you're chasing milliseconds.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is becoming a CEO for the first time since stepping down from his post at Amazon in 2021. He is co-CEO of Prometheus, a physical AI startup. Eva Marie Uzcátegui/Bloomberg via Getty Images Jeff Bezos said "government regulation has a lot of reasonable purposes." When it comes to AI, Bezos said regulators have to be careful not to go too far. The Amazon founder used the analogy of outlawing knives just "because it can be used in a bad way." The way Jeff Bezos sees it, AI and the data centers that support the novel technology are like knives. "You don't want to accidentally outlaw the knife because it can be used in a bad way," the Amazon cofounder said on CNBC on Thursday. "Knives are important tools and yes, every once in a while they get misused by someone, but you don't say the solution to that isn't to say, 'OK, no more data centers, right? No more knives.' That's not a smart approach to regulation." Bezos said that government regulation has a lot of "reasonable" purposes, pointing to federal regulatory agencies like the FAA and the FDA ensuring public safety when people board planes or take prescription drugs. "There's lots to be said for healthy government regulation to improve safety and products and so on," he said. "And I don't see why that won't be applied at some point to the kinds of new tools that are being built by AI." The balance, Bezos said, is not going too far. "You want to regulate the application level," he added. Bezos, in addition to advising Amazon on AI as executive chairman, is taking on his first CEO role since stepping down from his post as Amazon's CEO in 2021. Bezos is serving as co-CEO of Prometheus, a physical AI startup that he launched with Vikram "Vik" Bajaj, who helped create Google's life sciences company, Verily. Prometheus raised $12 billion in a Series B round. "That is a big chunk of the funding we've raised," he said. "And one of the reasons we've had to raise a significant amount of funding is because what we're doing is very compute intensive." Addressing speculation about what Prometheus will do, Bezos said the startup is not building robots. Instead, the company wants to build AI models that change the future of engineering and manufacturing, ultimately achieving Bezos' goal of creating an "artificial general engineer." "It's really a set of tools that will give those engineers the ability to turn their dreams into reality much, much more quickly than is possible," said Bajaj, who was interviewed alongside Bezos. AI regulation is top of mind The debate around AI regulation has heated up in the last year amid wider backlash against the technology. Meanwhile, AI companies are spending big on lobbying efforts as various states weigh potential regulations. President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order that allows frontier AI model makers to voluntarily submit models for federal review up to 30 days before their public release. On Wednesday, Trump said he expects leading AI companies to agree to "giving back" to the public, a reference that came after news outlet NOTUS reported that the White House is considering whether the US government should hold equity in AI firms. Bezos did not directly address Trump's order, nor did Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who on Wednesday suggested that "models above a threshold of compute" should undergo mandatory third-party testing by the government or private organizations. Amodei also wrote in an essay that the government should have the power to block the release of AI models if such testing showed they would "present unacceptable risks." Read the original article on Business Insider

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Orion Hindawi, cofounder and executive chairman of Tanium. Bloomberg/Getty Images Tanium, a $9 billion cybersecurity startup, lost five top executives. Tanium's legal, people, marketing, and information security chiefs departed. Tanium's IPO plans remain uncertain, and the company has stayed private since its founding in 2007. The cybersecurity startup Tanium, which was last valued at $9 billion, recently underwent a leadership reshuffle after losing five top executives. Tanium, based in the Seattle area, was founded in 2007 and has stayed private since then. It has raised nearly $1 billion, according to PitchBook, and is backed by investors such as Andreessen Horowitz, TPG, and Salesforce Ventures. Tanium hired its chief financial officer, Marc Levine, in 2021 to conduct a "readiness assessment" for an initial public offering. Several employees and executives had left Tanium in the past few years over uncertainty about whether the company would ever go public, Business Insider previously reported. The departures mark another period of uncertainty for one of tech's longest-running IPO candidates. Now, with several senior leaders gone and new executives cycling into key legal, people, and strategy roles, the company faces fresh questions about its next chapter and whether an IPO is still part of it. Tanium's chief legal officer Brady Mickelsen, chief people officer Tobias Julén, and chief information security officer Chris Hallenbeck left the company in May, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Mickelsen now has the same role at DigitalOcean, and Julén now works at StillFront as chief human resources officer. Tanium's chief marketing officer, Tara Ryan, no longer appears on the company website. She and Mickelsen were listed on the website in early June, according to the Wayback Machine. Ryan did not respond to a request for comment. Tanium also brought on a new chief people officer, Carol MacKinlay, who was hired in April and has since resigned. MacKinlay says she resigned due to a sudden issue with her family. "I feel sorry that I left them in a lurch, but family has to come first. Great company with a great trajectory, and I wish them the best," she said. Since then, Russ Evans has been promoted to chief legal officer, and Shannon Rosales Mirani is the interim chief people officer. Paul Black also joined as the chief information security officer in May. The website does not list a chief marketing officer. In May, Tanium also promoted Ben Stein, previously senior vice president of global operations, to chief strategy officer. "Like all responsible companies, Tanium continues to adapt our approach, as well as our team, to best serve our customers and partners," a Tanium spokesperson said. "We will continue to evolve to meet the needs of our constituents — and best serve them at a time when they need us most. We are confident in our experienced team at the helm, our momentum, and our ability to continue driving innovation and value for our customers and partners." Last year, Tanium cracked down on its return-to-office policy in an unusual way by withholding some equity grants from employees who don't comply, Business Insider previously reported. Have a tip? Contact this reporter via email at rmchan@businessinsider.com, or Signal at rosal.13. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read the original article on Business Insider

The true bottleneck was never the analysis. The post BI Is Dead, Long Live BI appeared first on Towards Data Science.

Welcoming the Inaugural Cohort of Databricks Student FellowsApplications are now open for the Databricks Student Fellows...

SWE-Explore: Benchmarking How Coding Agents Explore Repositories

The author has lived with her adult children on and off. Courtesy of the author Living with my adult children has changed my approach to parenting. Sharing a home with grown kids requires new boundaries and flexibility. Some of my favorite moments now are late-night conversations with my daughter. There's a world of difference between raising a teenager and cohabiting with a verified adult. But sometimes they need to come back home, just like mine did. My own kids were eager to get out of the house and set up their own homes. Right now I'm sharing space with a mid-20s kid who is desperately trying to accumulate enough money to move into her own apartment. Despite her desire to be on her own, we get along beautifully and enjoy one another's company. I went back and forth when it came to rent I've been living with my adult children on and off for several years, and the situation remains fluid. For example, I've been back and forth about asking them to pay rent. At one point the rule was that if you lived at home and were in school it was free to stay here and if you were out of school you paid (fairly minimal) rent. I wanted them to feel a little pressure to get it together, make some money, act like the responsible adults they wanted to be. The author says she changed her parenting style now that her children are adults. Courtesy of the author At this point I know my daughter is good with money, and I'd rather she saved it for her eventual move, so she doesn't have to pay to live here. Setting a standard is important, but then again so is flexibility. The part of rooming with your grown-up kids that's challenging for a lot of us is recognizing that they are, in fact, adults. Which means that if they're over 21 they can drink if they want to, or ingest cannabis if that's legal where you live. They can come and go as they please. Of course we require basic respect, as we would of any roommate, but you don't really get to set the rules of behavior anymore, at least when they're outside of the house. It's a different type of parenting It's so tempting sometimes to just tell them what to do. Obviously I want my children's happiness above all else, but it's not my job to secure it for them. I've moved from a parenting role to more of a coaching model. We talk through their options and I keep my mouth shut once they've made their decisions. It's not my business, but it's really hard to keep my thoughts to myself when they aren't welcome. I'd do anything for my kids, and sometimes I forget that doing for them isn't helping them develop their independence. The author has gone back and forth on changing rent to her adult kids. Courtesy of the author The big difference between living with my kids versus living with another adult is that I am prone to extreme empathy with the kids (call me an emotional pushover). I listen to way more complaining than I'd put up with from anyone else and I have a tendency to drop what I'm doing when they need me to listen to their difficulties or help them with tasks. I know I'll miss her Honestly one of the biggest challenges I have living with my kid right now is that she's a total night owl. She's at her entertaining prime right around the hour I'm trying to get to bed. I've relinquished many hours of sleep talking about movies, the state of the world, the ins and outs of the music industry, who's who in the world of track and field — you name it. The author knows she'll miss her adult kids when they move out for good. Courtesy of the author These hours are among the sweetest of my life. Someday she'll be gone, ensconced in her own little home, and as I brush my teeth I'll miss her following me around the house, dropping nuggets of comedy gold, letting me peek into her heart and her brain. I'm so grateful to have had this extra time with her. I've made it clear to both of my kids that there is always a home for them with me. I think I've managed to raise really smart, kind, capable people. And I guess that's the secret to having a really great relationship with your live-in adult kids; raise them to be good roommates and you may reap the benefits yourself. Read the original article on Business Insider

A public SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic would become some of the best-capitalized acquirers on the planet, writes MGV's Marc Schröder, who explains that the bigger impact for startups is likely to be stronger M&A activity, with acquisitions rather than IPOs being the most important exit path for many founders and investors.

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By integrating an AI assistant directly into Edits, Meta is aiming to keep creators engaged on Instagram as it continues to compete with TikTok and YouTube for creators' attention.

Archaeologists found apparent scrape marks inside a skull; long bones may have been sharpened into tools.

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This is a collaborative post from Databricks and Microsoft. We thank Jason Pereira,...

Coinbase's agent can use x402 protocol to get access to data and APIs.

Quantum Space says SPACs aren't dead as it seeks a $1.2 billion deal to build military spacecraft.

With a strong focus on logistics, payroll, construction and other sectors, San Francisco-based Base10 Partners has raised two funds totaling $850 million: a seed and Series A fund 4, and a Series B fund 2 to invest in automation for the real economy.