Hot wheels

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today. Here’s what to know about admin nights, Apple music will now tag AI created content, news of an EV battery with way more range, and Wendy’s might just have your dream job coming up 🍔

Let’s get into it!

You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who enjoys dealing with all the paperwork that comes with taxes and finance and doesn’t have the job title isn’t “accountant”.

To ease the dread of these necessary activities, millennials have been sharing their stories of “admin nights,” in which friends get together and knock off their tasks in a social setting, including tax-filing, job applications, and investment planning.

On top of making the work more bearable, admin nights also apply social pressure in an ultimately positive way, according to Monisha Sharma, chief financial officer at Fig Financial. They keep everyone accountable to the group in a way that actually keeps them accountable to their own important priorities.

“People avoid things they’re not comfortable with,” she said, comparing it to the idea of having a gym buddy to ensure you’ll work out even when you don’t want to or don’t know how to.

Could there be a case for admin nights when approaching retirement? There’s a whole list of important and time-sensitive financial planning to be done as we approach the next chapter so why not do it together?

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly commonplace in music creation—from the music itself to lyrics, album artwork, and videos. Apple Music recognizes this and notified industry partners the other day that it is unveiling a new tagging policy to accommodate the evolving technological environment.

Called Transparency Tags, these labels can now be voluntarily included by content uploaders in the metadata files that accompany their uploads.

If a material portion of a song or an album’s accompanying artwork was generated by AI, the record company or independent uploader will soon be required to label it with the Artwork tag. If significant sections of the lyrics were generated by AI, the Composition tag will be required, followed by Track for AI‑generated music, and Music Video for AI‑generated video content.

“Proper tagging of content is the first step in giving the music industry the data and tools needed to develop thoughtful policies around AI,” Apple said in the newsletter that went out to its partners last week.

The company went on to describe the push for openness as “a concrete first step toward the transparency necessary for the industry to establish best practices and policies that work for everyone.”

Researchers at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, are working on a solid-state battery that can provide considerably higher volumes of energy for electric vehicles, allowing them to run for up to 1,000 km (620 miles) or more on a single charge.

A solid-state battery differs from a lithium-ion battery in that the material between the cathode and anode is solid rather than the gel-like electrolyte used in most electronics today, from your smartphone to electric vehicles.

Lithium ions bounce between the anode and cathode through the gel, which—if overloaded—can heat up, leak, and catch fire. The tough material in a solid-state battery can handle a greater charge, providing more energy for the machine it’s powering.

While it’s considered solid-state, the battery’s electrolyte is actually a hybrid structure that combines a solid material with a mechanism called “super-wetting” which increase the conductivity of ions.

Improving the super‑wetting process while identifying the optimal element for ionization could lead to even greater energy efficiency and storage capacity, faster charging, and a longer battery life cycle.

Retirement may still be a few years away for many, but even for those who have already hung up their boots for good, Wendy’s has an opportunity that pays and tastes so good, you might want to lace them back up.

The restaurant responsible for the Baconator and the Frosty needs your help getting the word out about what could be the next legendary menu item, and it’s willing to pay you $100,000 for your trouble.

The Chief Tasting Officer can forget about focusing on KPIs, according to the Ohio-based chain, and instead focus on JBCs (Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers).

You’ll likely need to be fairly social‑media‑savvy for this role, so if that’s not your thing, maybe your millennial son or daughter is looking to get paid for those skills while loading up on fast food.

The job description includes keeping the restaurant’s name on as many people’s minds as possible while mastering “vibe curation.” The posting describes this as “bringing a unique brand of ‘controlled chaos’ and creativity to the company.”

On the other hand, it also states directly that the company has no interest in résumés when evaluating applicants, and instead only cares that they have a pulse, a mouth, and an opinion on square burgers.

“Are you too iconic to be opening PDFs for your boss?” it says. “You’ll make cheddar just for liking cheddar.”

Okay, you might have some Gen Z competition, as well…

Great in ’88

Let’s take a trip back to this week in 1988 with today’s trivia. Blow out the cobwebs, put on your thinking cap, and let’s go!

Complete the game and earn a shot at a $25 eGift Card ;)

Winner will be notified on Tuesday afternoon. Keep an eye on your inbox and don’t forget to check your spam folder! *