WASHINGTON, March 17, 2025 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins today announced new actions to reduce burdens on the U.S. pork and poultry industries, allowing for greater efficiency while maintaining food safety standards. The directive instructs the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to eliminate outdated administrative requirements that have slowed production and added unnecessary costs for American producers.

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2025 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced today that USDA will be delivering any assistance it can for communities and agricultural producers affected by the weekend storms that cut a path of devastation through the South and Midwest.

These storms have sparked tornadoes, dust storms and wildfires that have engulfed hundreds of square miles, left hundreds of thousands of homes without power and taken dozens of lives.

WASHINGTON, Mar. 14, 2025 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins today applauded President Trump and Republican leadership in Congress for securing critical victories for American farmers, ranchers, and rural communities through the passage of a continuing resolution that keeps essential funding in place.

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If you’re tired of websites bombarding you with intrusive banners, pop-ups, trackers, and ads, this AdGuard family plan is worth a look: It’s a lifetime subscription that is currently $39.99 on StackSocial (down from $169.99), but it gets even better—applying the coupon FAMPLAN drops the price further to $15.97. That’s a lifetime of ad-blocking for less than what some services charge per month. That said, this plan is only for new users, and you’ll need to redeem your code within 30 days of purchase.

You can access and utilize this plan across nine devices, making it a solid pick for families or anyone juggling multiple gadgets. It works on Windows (7 and newer), macOS (10.15 and newer), iOS (12 and newer), and Android (7 and newer), covering most modern setups. AdGuard goes beyond standard ad-blocking by filtering out annoying pop-ups, stopping autoplay videos, and blocking phishing attempts. It also cuts down on trackers that follow you around the internet, which means less targeted advertising and a little more privacy. Unlike browser-based ad blockers, AdGuard works at the network level, meaning it can block ads in apps and games, too. Setup is straightforward—you’ll get your redemption code via email immediately after buying, so you can start using it right away.

If you’re already an AdGuard user, this deal won’t apply to you, but for new users looking for a one-time payment solution to dodge ads and boost privacy across multiple devices, this might be one of the best deals out there right now.

A mysterious bug is affecting numerous older Chromecast devices, as per a lengthy thread on Reddit—specifically, the second-generation Chromecast and the Chromecast Audio, which both launched in September 2015. If you’ve been affected, hold off on trying to factory reset your device, as Google is now rolling out a fix.

The bug started appearing over the last five days, rendering affected devices pretty much unusable. One of the error messages reported reads as follows: “Untrusted device: [name] couldn’t be verified. This could be caused by outdated device firmware.”

Further investigation from users suggests that this is a server-side problem—so the issue is at Google’s end. It looks as though there have been complications with expired security certifications, so the Chromecast dongles that have been hit are being incorrectly identified as unsafe to connect to.

Because of this, there hasn’t been anything for Chromecast owners to do to fix the issue other than to sit tight and wait it out, without any streaming audio or video to entertain them in the meantime. Various troubleshooting steps have been taken, including reconnecting to wifi and running a factory reset, but no easy workaround has been found.

In fact, Google explicitly said factory resetting your device is something you shouldn’t do—even if it’s the obvious first fix to try with a problem like this. It’s still not clear exactly what’s happened, but Google does have a fix on the way, as well as steps for users who may have tried factor resetting their devices to no avail.

A fix is here (for some users)

Google’s first announcement about the issue was as follows: “We’re aware of an emerging issue impacting Chromecast 2nd-gen and Chromecast Audio devices and are working on a fix. Do not factory reset your device—we will keep you all updated when the fix rolls out. If you have already factory reset your device, we will provide instructions to set your device back up as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.”

It was a bit light on details, but at least the acknowledgement was there. Then, on Thursday, Google posted an announcement on its support page, informing users it was rolling out a fix “over the next few days.” Critically, Google says your device needs to be connected in order to receive the update. Hopefully, that timeline means that, by Sunday, the problems are all resolved.

If you did factory reset your device, Google acknowledges you might not be able to setup your device as new. The company’s official solution is to simply wait, as they are working to fix this new issue on their end as well. There is a rather complicated workaround you can try that’s detailed on Reddit, but unless it’s especially urgent for you to get back up and running, I’d recommend sitting tight for now and waiting for Google to issue a fix.

Given that the bug hasn’t hit more recent Chromecasts, including the Chromecast Ultra, there was some concern that Google might have quietly killed off its older devices, now they’re approaching their 10th birthdays—but that no longer seems to be the case.

The Chromecast device line as a whole has now been discontinued, so we won’t get any more streaming dongles in the future, but Google hasn’t said anything yet about pulling support for existing hardware. Chromecast functionality continues to be available in televisions running Google TV, as well as the Google TV Streamer.

It’s been about six months now since Apple’s big iOS 18 update introduced RCS support to the iPhone. In many ways, it’s been a game changer: Ditching SMS for RCS has meant group chats function better, and videos are sent in higher quality. But there’s still one big drawback to RCS on iPhone that has yet to be fixed: Your messages aren’t encrypted.

What is RCS?

To fully understand the issue, it’s important to know what RCS actually is. RCS stands for Rich Communication Services, and is basically a souped up version of SMS: The platform supports modern messaging features, like typing bubbles, high-quality image and video sharing, functioning group chats, and end-to-end encryption. SMS doesn’t support these features, so using it—especially in group settings—can be a pain.

RCS isn’t available on all Android messaging services, but if your partner’s Android setup supports it and you have it enabled on your iPhone, your conversations should feel very similar to iMessaging between other iPhones (minus the green bubbles, of course). Now, most of these features are currently working: You should be able to see when they’re typing; you should be able to send photos and videos in high resolution; and group chats should function much as they do between iPhones. There’s just one big issue.

RCS on iOS isn’t encrypted

At this time, messages sent and received via RCS between iPhones and Androids are not end-to-end encrypted. That means any conversations you have with Android friends are vulnerable, since these messages are sent without modern security protections.

That’s not a deviation from the norm for those of us on iOS: If you’re used to texting over SMS with Android users, those chats weren’t encrypted either. But the promise of RCS on iOS includes encrypted messaging. When you see that RCS tag in your green bubble chat, you should be safe in the knowledge that no one other than the parties involved in the chat can read these messages.

That said, RCS isn’t end-to-end encrypted everywhere, either. Google Messages is the biggest platform that supports default end-to-end encryption through RCS, but unless the other user is also using Google Messages and also has RCS enabled, your messages may not be encrypted after all. Other popular platforms, like Samsung Messages or Textra, do not support end-to-end encryption at all.

RCS will soon be encrypted on iOS

But things are changing for the better. The GSMA, the association that works with mobile operators to set unified standards, announced new specifications for RCS that enable end-to-end encryption based on the Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol. In simplified terms, these new specifications mean that, no matter which platforms you’re using, all RCS messages will be end-to-end encrypted.

This isn’t necessarily a surprise: The GSMA publicly said it was working on end-to-end encryption for RCS on iPhone. There’s no timeline for this new standard, but Apple and Google both support adopting it as fast as possible. That’s good news, and the standard can’t get here soon enough.

However, it doesn’t change the fact that some may be using RCS with misunderstood assumptions about their security: Until this future update hits, RCS messages on iPhone are never end-to-end encrypted. If you want all of your conversations with non-iPhone friends to be protected, you’ll need to stick to encrypted messaging platforms, like Signal or WhatsApp. Again, iMessage is end-to-end encrypted by default, so no worries there.

Android users: Everyone can see your group chat names

If you’re an Android user who is used to how things work on Google Messages, listen up: Group chat names are not private when messaging with iPhones.

On Google Messages, you can rename a group whatever you want, and only you will see it. That’s helpful for keeping tabs on specific groups, without worrying that other people in the group will know how you’ve designated the chat. That’s not how things work when iOS is involved, however. iPhones users will know that group chat names are controllable by everyone in the group, and are very much public: When one person changes the group name, it changes for everyone.

If you’re new to messaging iPhones on RCS and you happen to have one in your group chat, don’t change the name to anything you wouldn’t be happy with everyone in the group seeing as well.

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We lose time in small increments. Simple, everyday tasks and chores might only take a few minutes, but those minutes add up and can have a serious impact on your stress levels. But take heart: We’re living in the future, and you can easily automate a wide range of many everyday tasks, gaining back precious minutes and even hours.

Automate grocery shopping

If your grocery list is pretty stable—you buy the same things in the same quantities every time you stock the pantry—you can automate it to a large extent. Amazon Fresh allows you to set up repeat items that get added to your shopping cart and automatically delivered during your selected window. You can put together a standard weekly list and Amazon will deliver your groceries to you on the selected day, without you having to think about it. You can make adjustments at any time, so if you’re not eating those cornflakes as fast as you thought you can change the quantity or the frequency of the delivery.

If you don’t want to give Amazon any more of your money, most grocery chains offer similar services through their web sites and apps. Acme Markets, for example, offers a Schedule and Save feature that operates the same way: You set up a “subscription” for items with a regular schedule and the items are delivered to you automatically until you make changes.

Start automatically saving

It can be a struggle to save money—most people couldn’t scrape together $1,000 if they had to, which is not an ideal place to be. If you’ve tried to save money and repeatedly failed to reach your savings goals, try automating it by simply adjusting your direct deposit or scheduling automatic transfers from one account to another. Changing your direct deposit is usually a matter of filling out a form (you may even be able to do it online through a portal, if your employer has one), and you can set up automatic transfers through your banking app at any time. Even a relatively small transfer will add up, and you won’t have to remind yourself to do it.

Put your bills on an automatic payment schedule

If you’re currently spending some time every week keeping up with your bills, it’s time to set up automatic payments for most things. Most companies and vendors these days offer the option of setting up automatic payments, so setting this up for just about every bill that comes your way should be relatively easy.

Of course, you will still need to track those payments and make sure you’re being billed correctly, and you should make sure the vendor offers an easy way to stop automatic payments if you ever change your mind. You can always revoke their access to your bank account if this proves difficult, but it’s best to check their policies before you dive in.

Use pharmacy services to automate prescriptions

If you have any regular prescriptions, you know that managing refills can be a real time-suck. Many pharmacy chains like CVS and online pharmacies like Express Scripts let you easily set up automatic refills—when your medications run low, they’ll process the next refill and deliver a fresh supply to you automatically (and even contact your doctor if you’re out of refills).

Have a robot clean the floors

If you hate cleaning your place you might have already hired professional cleaners to come in on a regular basis and make it look like a civilized human being lives there. If not, you can automate some of the cleaning by setting up not just a robot vacuum, but a robot vacuum and mop (like this one, or this one). It will patrol the floors, sucking up grit and dust, and when it encounters a spill or a stain it spritzes the area with a cleaning solution and mops up—while you do other things with your time.

Automate your pool maintenance

If you have a pool, you know that keeping it clean can take up several hours of your week. You can automate a lot of that by investing in a pool-cleaning robot that will do all that dirty work for you, leaving you more time to actually enjoy your pool.

But wait! There’s more: You can automate just about every aspect of pool maintenance, from monitoring (and adjusting) chemical and water levels to surface skimming. Once you have everything set up, you can just, you know, enjoy your pool.

Let a robot mow your lawn

If you have a lawn, you probably spend about eight hours a year mowing it. That might not sound like a lot, but imagine what you could do with an extra eight hours—that’s about half an hour each week you get back. Setting up a robotic lawn mower along with a sprinkler system on a timer will automate the bulk of your lawn maintenance, giving you a chance to finally break in that hammock.

Use AI-powered tools to job search

Looking for a new job is probably the biggest time sink known to man. Sifting through hundreds of listings, tweaking your resume, filling out applications, writing mission statements and cover letters—it’s an exhausting grind. And that’s before you even get an interview.

Using AI-powered tools like Sonara, Massive, LazyApply, and LoopCV all work similarly: You load up your resume and set some parameters, then they scour the internet looking for job descriptions that match. Then they automatically fill out applications and send in your resume while you’re busy doing other things. While your job search still won’t be quite “set it and forget it,” you can automate the tedious parts to gain back some free time (and reduce your job search-related stress).

Install smart window treatments

Carve out little bits of time every day by installing smart window treatments (like these automatic shades) that can be programmed to rise and fall on a set schedule, so you won’t have to think about maximizing your light situation anymore.

Set up a meal service

Cooking can take a fair amount of time out of your day, even if you don’t include the grocery shopping. Setting up an automated, oven-ready meal service like Home Chef means that prepared meals are delivered to your house, in their own oven-safe tin. All you do is pop them into the oven, pop them out, and eat.

Use a laundry service

If you spend a lot of your time doing (and folding) laundry, you can automate this by finding a laundry service in your area that will pick up, clean, and deliver—a lot of dry cleaners and laundromats offer the service. If you can’t find a local place to do it, you can check if a national service like Poplin works in your area. Most will pick up your dirty clothes and return them to you—washed and folded—within a day. What you do with the time you’re not doing laundry is entirely up to you.