🐤 Making movies

Markets: Election week ended with a bang on Wall Street as a rally that began with the election of Donald Trump on Tuesday continued. All three major indexes set records, with the Dow Jones hitting 44,000, the S&P 500 crossing the 6,000 threshold, and the Nasdaq Composite reaching an all-time high before retreating later in the day.

Bringing back Boone: The Yankees might have come up short in the World Series, but the manager who helped get them there in the first place is getting at least one more season at the helm. According to reports this week, Aaron Boone has officially been named the upcoming season’s manager, his eighth with the team overall. Not only did Boone manage to get the Bronx Bombers to the top of their league for the first World Series appearance in 15 years, but General Manager Brian Cashman noted his leadership skills as a major benefit.

Tesla’s triumph: Even though President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t been the biggest fan of electric vehicles, some say his association with Tesla CEO Elon Musk could give that EV maker a leg up on its rivals over the next four years. Tesla saw its market value reach $1 trillion on Friday, just three days after Trump’s election. The company’s share price hit a two-year high after a single-day increase of more than 6%. It remains to be seen whether Tesla technologies will receive a faster route to approval under a Trump administration.

Election examination: Now that the outcome of the presidential race is in the history books, both campaigns will be taking a close look at what worked — and perhaps most importantly for Team Kamala Harris, what didn’t. In comparison to Joe Biden’s 2020 win over Trump, Harris underperformed among young voters by six percentage points and recorded a smaller margin of victory among young women in particular. Meanwhile, Trump was able to attract wider support among young men with a campaign that prioritized social media and podcasts.

Missing monkeys: Dozens of primates reportedly managed to escape from a South Carolina research facility and locals are being cautioned not to try to make contact with them. According to authorities, an improperly locked door at Alpha Genesis allowed 43 monkeys to take off in the direction of a nearby wooded area. All of the escaped animals are young females and weigh around six or seven pounds. The facility, which was the site of another monkey escape a couple of years ago, says it hopes to lure the monkeys back with food.

For several years, tech companies of all types have been looking for ways to pack as much artificial intelligence into their products and services as possible. And one Silicon Valley titan is determined to remain at the head of the pack.

Reinventing video

While the first AI-generated videos were laughably bad, the technology has improved by leaps and bounds since then. Now, it’s often hard to tell which clips are authentic and which were created by a bot.

And Google is poised to capitalize on that progress with its latest app.

According to early reviews, Vids gives users access to a wide range of tools and resources for creating video presentations based on a simple prompt. Some of its notable features include:

• Generating scripts
• Inserting stock footage
• Creating voice-overs

From concept to finished product, Vids boasts a bevy of benefits to anyone who needs to create footage on the fly.

Some limitations apply

There are many things Google says Vids can do, such as summarize meetings, create videos from articles, and produce training videos, but before you rush to download the app there are a few things to keep in mind.

Although it’s a default feature for teams already using the Workspace suite, the full line of tools might not always be available. Google acknowledged that there could be a need to throttle access to voice-overs and other features in the future.

Furthermore, the app itself can be operated in a number of languages but certain features — Help Me Create and the teleprompter, specifically — are only compatible with English.

And even though Vids first became available on Thursday, it might not show up on some devices for another two weeks or so.

The era of remote work has allowed many employees to turn any environment into their office for the day. That freedom has led to the creation of a new class of worker: the “digital nomad.”

Making it official

During the pandemic, working from home became routine across many industries. Five years later, some remote workers have decided to trade their home office for a spot in the sand on a tropical beach.

And thus the era of the digital nomad was born.

But it’s not as easy as simply booking your flight and packing up your laptop. NerdWallet travel expert Sally French said it’s important for any prospective digital nomad to cover all the legal bases. For Americans considering one of many popular destinations around the globe, that involves obtaining a temporary residency permit … often referred to as a digital nomad visa.

“Especially as COVID-19 enabled the rise of remote work, digital nomad visas have become increasingly attractive,” French explained.

Mexico, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands are among the countries that offer such permits.

Know the rules

Even though obtaining a digital nomad visa can be a pretty straightforward process, there are a few things to consider before taking the first step. If you’re thinking about it, French recommends a basic web search for “digital nomad visa” and whichever country you’re considering.

From there, you’ll need to think about:

• Cost: The application process usually costs $100 or less, but expenses like health insurance, transaction fees, and shipping costs can add up.
• Time: In some cases, a visa might be granted in under two weeks, but you should be prepared for possible delays in the process.
• Taxes: Digital nomads can face some complex tax liabilities, so it’s a good idea to seek a knowledgeable pro for advice.

Ferocious animals have long been selected as mascots for athletic teams, but usually the version that shows up at games is just someone in a costume trying to pump up the crowd with some silly dance moves.

That won’t be the case at today’s game between LSU and Alabama.

Release the tiger

It’s been nearly a decade since a live tiger made an appearance at an LSU game, and the team thought its big matchup against the Crimson Tide this weekend would be the perfect opportunity to revive the tradition.

In fact, the gimmick was put in motion by none other than LSU alum Jeff Landry, the current governor of Louisiana. He recommended restoring a practice he remembered from his days at the university and the school agreed.

But it won’t be Mike, the Bengal tiger who lives in an enclosure near the LSU campus.

“As you would expect, it would be very difficult to be able to try to move Mike out of an area he’s never been out of,” the governor said.

Mike is simply too old to attend games, so a younger tiger will be on hand to make an appearance before a stadium expected to be filled with more than 100,000 screaming fans.

Prepare for pushback

Circuses, fairs, and other attractions involving live animals have come under intense criticism over the past few decades over how those animals were being treated. Now, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is among the activist groups setting their sights on LSU and Landry.

“It’s shameful and out of touch with today’s respect for wild species that LSU has bowed to Gov. Landry’s campaign to display a live tiger at its football games to amuse the fans,” said PETA Foundation Associate Director of Captive Wildlife Research Klayton Rutherford.

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