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  • Steve Wozniak on fighting internet scams

    Steve Wozniak on fighting internet scams

    At the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, the exhibits chart how technology got to where it is today. And there could be no better guide to this history than Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple.

    In 1976, Wozniak built the Apple 1, and from that he and Steve Jobs built a company. “Incredible times,” said Wozniak. “Just came on down wanting to build a neat product.”

    Wozniak was the inventor, Jobs was the master salesman; and when Wozniak created the Apple II, Jobs had something new to sell: the first personal computer to display color. “That was the machine that really made personal computers go, because it was so fun,” Wozniak said. “So many breakthroughs in there that are just so far out-of-the-box.”

    Steve Wozniak and correspondent John Blackstone with the prototype Apple 1 computer. 

    CBS News

    I asked, “You helped start the computer revolution that brought us where we are today – good or bad?”

    “Well, it was good,” Wozniak replied, “until the internet came and it offered new business models, you know, ways to have power over other people and control a lot of customers. That’s when some of the bad started happening.”

    And some of that “bad” has happened to Steve Wozniak, when a scam on YouTube was using his image to steal bitcoin. 

    “Of course it’s fraud”  

    Wozniak’s wife, Janet, learned of it from one of the victims. “I got an email on our web server, and it said, ‘When are you gonna send me my money?’ And I wrote back and I said, ‘What are you talking about?’”

    The scammers had taken video of Wozniak talking about bitcoin. “And then, they put a nice frame around it with a Bitcoin address, [saying] that if you sent him any amount of bitcoin, he would send you double that back,” said Janet. “Of course it’s fraud.”

    “Some people said they lost their life savings,” said Steve.

    scam-faking-wozniak.jpg
    A scam video posted online using video of Steve Wozniak promised to double the amount of bitcoin people sent in. 

    CBS News

    You might think that YouTube, owned by Google, would be quick to take down a fraudulent video using the image of Apple’s co-founder, but you’d be wrong. “We never got to YouTube; our lawyer has gotten to their lawyer, that’s all,” said Steve.

    Brian Danitz, Wozniak’s lawyer, said, “We’ve asked YouTube over and over, and it keeps happening.”

    So, Wozniak sued YouTube on behalf of some of those who lost money in the bitcoin scam. 

    Jennifer Marion is one of those scammed. “I sent in 0.9 bitcoin, worth $59,000 at the time,” she said. Expecting to get more than $100,000 back, Marion said, “I got back nothing.”

    I asked, “You didn’t think this is too good to be true? Doubling your money in minutes?”

    “You know, in retrospect it seems so obvious that this must be a scam,” Marion said, “but in that moment, I was just comfortable at home, was on YouTube, a well-known platform. I was watching a video from a verified business. And in that moment, I viewed it like a business transaction. Like, if I was in a physical Google store and the Google store representative told me, ‘There’s a representative from a company over there,’ and they said, ‘Okay, we’re doing a special, 50% off if you’re buying cash,’ I kind of viewed it like that. It was kind of like a ‘buy one, get one free’ for a bitcoin.”

    Wozniak said, “That’s a crime. You know, a good person, if you see a crime happening, you step in and you do something about it. You try to stop it.”

    Wozniak’s lawsuit against YouTube has been tied up in court now for five years, stalled by federal legislation known as Section 230. Attorney Brian Danitz said, “Section 230 is a very broad statute that limits, if not totally, the ability to bring any kind of case against these social media platforms.”

    Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act is sometimes called “the 26 words that created the internet.” It became law in 1996. It reads:

    “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

    “It says that anything gets posted, they have no liability at all,” said Wozniak. “It’s totally absolute.”

    Google responded to our inquiry about Wozniak’s lawsuit with a statement from José Castañeda, of Google Policy Communications: “We take abuse of our platform seriously and take action quickly when we detect violations … we have tools for users to report channels that are impersonating their likeness or business.”

    Janet Wozniak, however, says YouTube did nothing, even though she reported the scam video multiple times: “You know, ‘Please take this down. This is an obvious mistake. This is fraud. You’re YouTube, you’re helping dupe people out of their money,’” she said.

    “They wouldn’t,” said Steve.

    janet-and-steve-wozniak.jpg
    Janet and Steve Wozniak.

    CBS News

    Jennifer Marion said, “I think that users in general, on YouTube, need to be cautious and know that YouTube isn’t fighting back. These scams that have been refined to be very effective and psychologically manipulative are allowed to continuously be put up on YouTube, so they’re there every day. So, you need to be aware that it’s not safe. Don’t think, ‘Oh, YouTube, Google be good,’ that kind of thing, that it’s safe. It’s not.”

    YouTube is not the only platform used by scammers. They now operate across the internet. “Over $10 billion in AI scams are happening on the internet,” said Danitz. “$5 billion in cyber currency scams on the internet. We get contacted every week by people who have been scammed on the internet.”

    “Look at spam, look at the phishing attempts just all over the place,” said Wozniak. “And there’s not enough real, I don’t know, muscle to fight it.”

    As a pioneer of the personal computer, Wozniak’s goal was to give computing power to the people. The internet did that as well.

    I said, “When the internet really began to be a public thing, it seemed to be there to democratize information.”

    “Oh, I loved it for that!” said Wozniak. “You could talk to people all over the world. They could publish knowledge that they knew without having to go through a third-party book publisher.”

    “What happened to that democratization of the internet?”

    “Well, what happened to it was, companies figured out how to exploit it,” Wozniak replied. “Then came the social web and Google. Google had to make money. And the only way to make money is tracking you and selling it to advertisers.”

    Wozniak sold most of his Apple stock in the mid-1980s when he left the company. Today, though, he still gets a small paycheck from Apple for making speeches and representing the company.

    He says he’s proud to see Apple become a trillion-dollar company. “Apple is still the best,” he said. “And when Apple does things I don’t like, and some of the closeness I wish it were more open, I’ll speak out about it. Nobody buys my voice!”

    I asked, “Apple listen to you when you speak out?”

    “No,” Wozniak smiled. “Oh, no. Oh, no.”

         
    For more info:

           
    Produced by Christine Weicher. Editor: Ben McCormick.

         
    See also:

    The crypto craze sweeping Washington and Wall Street

    07:56


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  • Netanyahu defends Israel’s plan to ‘take over’ Gaza City as European leaders call for decision to be reversed – follow live

    Netanyahu defends Israel’s plan to ‘take over’ Gaza City as European leaders call for decision to be reversed – follow live

    International criticism of Israel’s plan – who’s said what?

    EPA/Shutterstock

    European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said that a “ceasefire is needed now”

    Israel’s plan to expand its military operations into Gaza City has sparked international criticism, including from Israel’s allies.

    Here’s a brief look back at what we’ve heard:

    United Nations’ human rights chief Volker Türk warned the Israeli plans would cause “more massive forced displacement, more killing, more unbearable suffering” in Gaza.

    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the decision “must be reconsidered”, while president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas described the move as a “fully-fledged crime”.

    German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would suspend the export of arms to Israel that could be used in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the decision “wrong”, adding it would “only bring more bloodshed”.

    In Israel, hostages’ families said the plan is “endangering the hostages” in Gaza, while thousands have protested the decision to expand the war.

    Arab nations including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia also condemned the proposals, describing the “persistence” as “ethnic cleansing”.

    China‘s foreign ministry said “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory”, and called for an immediate ceasefire.

    During a trip to the UK, US Vice-President JD Vance said the Trump administration wanted to see Hamas eradicated so Israeli civilians were not attacked again, but also to solve the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.

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  • Sleep may amplify negative memory bias in anxious youth

    Sleep may amplify negative memory bias in anxious youth

    New research published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry indicates that sleep may amplify the tendency for anxious children and young adolescents to overgeneralize negative experiences. In a controlled experiment, higher anxiety was linked to a greater chance of mistaking new but similar negative images for ones seen before—but only after a night’s sleep.

    The study was motivated by growing evidence that sleep shapes emotional memory. During sleep, the brain tends to reactivate and consolidate recent experiences, with emotionally charged material often receiving priority over neutral content. That bias can be adaptive, helping people learn from significant events. In anxiety, however, this same machinery may tilt toward negative material, feeding what researchers call negative overgeneralization—when a memory of one unpleasant event carries over to similar, harmless situations.

    Because late childhood and early adolescence are marked by heightened emotional responses, changing sleep patterns, and rising rates of anxiety, the team examined whether anxiety interacts with sleep to change how emotional memories are recognized and generalized during this period.

    “Our interest was sparked by a growing recognition that sleep plays a pivotal role in cognitive processes like memory consolidation, especially during critical neurodevelopmental periods such as early adolescence,” said study author Liga Eihentale, a doctoral student at Florida International University and member of the REMEDY research group.

    “Anxiety disorders often emerge during this time, and understanding sleep-dependent memory processes—such as overgeneralization—could shed light on early mechanisms driving psychopathology. By bridging cognitive neuroscience with clinical science, we aimed to explore how sleep interacts with anxiety to influence negative overgeneralization.”

    The researchers studied 34 participants between 9 and 14 years old, recruited from both clinical settings and the community to capture a broad range of anxiety severity. Anxiety was assessed with a clinician-rated measure. Participants were randomly assigned to either a sleep condition or a wake condition. Everyone completed an emotional memory similarity task. In the first phase, they viewed 145 images—negative, neutral, and positive—and rated each one’s emotional tone. They were not told there would be a later test.

    After a 10- to 12-hour interval, which included overnight sleep for one group and a daytime period of wakefulness for the other, participants took a surprise recognition test. That test included exact repeats of some images, new but similar “lure” images, and entirely new images. The main outcome was how often a participant labeled a similar-but-new negative image as “old,” adjusted for any general tendency to say “old.”

    Among children and young adolescents who slept, higher anxiety was linked to greater generalization of negative images—that is, a stronger tendency to believe that new but similar negative pictures had been seen before. This relationship did not appear in the wake group. The three-way interplay between anxiety, emotional tone, and condition was statistically significant for negative images, but not for neutral images. Positive images showed a weaker and less consistent pattern.

    Exploratory comparisons suggested that the effect was most pronounced at higher anxiety levels. Participants with high anxiety generalized negative memories substantially more after sleep than those with low anxiety. At the other end of the spectrum, participants with low anxiety sometimes generalized negative memories more after daytime wakefulness than after sleep, which hints that sleep may reduce negative generalization in less anxious individuals.

    “The key message is that sleep plays an active role in shaping memory and our perception of the world, particularly in emotionally vulnerable youth,” Eihentale told PsyPost. “Specifically, children and adolescents with higher levels of anxiety tend to overgeneralize negative experiences more after sleep compared to wakefulness, meaning they are more likely to extend negative associations to similar but non-threatening situations, which can perpetuate anxiety.”

    “Our findings underscore sleep’s key role in emotional memory processing during a sensitive developmental stage and point to the need for a deeper understanding of what is happening during sleep (i.e., sleep neurophysiology) in anxious youth to drive aberrant memory consolidation processes.”

    These findings align with theories proposing that sleep strengthens emotional memories and extend that idea to a pattern that may be maladaptive in anxiety. The data indicate that sleep-related memory consolidation could be one pathway through which negative overgeneralization takes hold in anxious children and young adolescents. That interpretation fits with broader work suggesting that the brain extracts the “gist” of experiences during sleep and integrates that gist into existing knowledge, which can be helpful in many situations but may become problematic when negative themes become dominant.

    This line of research also points toward potential clinical applications. If sleep can strengthen memory traces, it might be possible to guide that process toward more adaptive outcomes. Some experimental approaches cue specific memories during sleep to change how they are stored, and there is interest in testing whether such techniques could help reduce negative overgeneralization by reinforcing neutral or positive interpretations. The present findings indicate that such strategies might be especially relevant for children and young adolescents who show heightened anxiety.

    But anxiety severity did not meaningfully change recognition accuracy for negative images in either condition.

    “We were surprised to find that anxiety severity did not interact with sleep to predict recognition accuracy of negative images,” Eihentale said. “Emotional reactivity, which is often heightened in individuals with anxiety, is typically associated with better recognition of negative memories after sleep. However, in our clinical sample, this relationship did not hold—possibly due to differences in memory processing in clinical versus non-clinical populations. Perhaps more affirming, we found that at low levels of anxiety, sleep appeared to reduce negative generalization—highlighting a potential therapeutic effect of sleep in dampening the emotional intensity of negative memories in non-anxious youth.”

    The authors noted some limitations.

    “Our sample size was relatively small, which limits the statistical power and generalizability of the findings,” Eihentale noted. “We also relied on actigraphy and sleep diaries to assess sleep, which, while ecologically valid, do not capture the detailed neural processes—such as slow-wave activity and sleep spindles—that are integral to memory consolidation. Additionally, circadian factors and emotional arousal were not fully controlled or directly measured, which could have influenced memory encoding and retrieval. These limitations underscore the importance of replication using larger samples and more comprehensive, multimodal assessments of sleep.”

    Future studies could examine the sleep stages and brain rhythms most closely tied to emotional memory generalization, include larger and more diverse samples, and use image sets that are matched for arousal as well as content. It would also be useful to follow children and young adolescents over time to see whether sleep-related generalization of negative memories predicts later anxiety symptoms, or whether shifting sleep habits changes the tendency to generalize.

    “Our long-term goal is to map how sleep-related memory mechanisms contribute to the onset and persistence of anxiety in early adolescence,” Eihentale explained. “This includes investigating specific features of sleep microarchitecture—such as slow-wave activity and spindles—that are critical for memory formation and long-term storage. By identifying when and how overgeneralization becomes maladaptive, we aim to inform targeted sleep-based interventions that can disrupt these processes early and reduce the risk of chronic anxiety disorders.”

    The study, “Anxiety severity in peri-adolescents is associated with greater generalization of negative memories following a period of sleep relative to wake,” was authored by Liga Eihentale, Adam Kimbler, Nathan A. Sollenberger, Logan R. Cummings, Carlos E. Yeguez, Guadalupe C. Patriarca, Jeremy W. Pettit, Dana L. McMakin, and Aaron T. Mattfeld.

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  • Perhaps we underestimated the challenge for Lewis Hamilton

    Perhaps we underestimated the challenge for Lewis Hamilton

    Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has admitted that he and Lewis Hamilton may have underestimated the challenge that the driver faced at the start of the year.

    The seven-time Formula 1 champion joined Ferrari after a 12-year stint with Mercedes. Prior to his time at Mercedes, he drove for McLaren – a Mercedes customer team. Since his arrival at Ferrari, Hamilton has struggled to adapt to the new car and environment. While he has shown glimpses of success with a win in the Chinese sprint race and fourth-place finishes in Emilia Romagna, Austria, and Britain, Hamilton has been outperformed by his new team-mate Charles Leclerc.

    “I think perhaps that we underestimate the challenge for Lewis at the beginning of the season,” Vasseur explained to F1.com. “He spent almost 10 years with McLaren and then 10 years with Mercedes – that’s almost 20 years with Mercedes in the same environment.

    “It was a huge change for Lewis in terms of culture, in terms of people around him, in terms of software, in terms of car, in terms of every single topic was a big change, perhaps that we underestimate this, Lewis and myself. But I’m very, very pleased because the last four or five races he was back into the pace.”

    The British driver was particularly downbeat during the Hungarian Grand Prix, the last race ahead of the F1 summer break. He claimed he was “useless” and that Ferrari might want to consider a new driver.

     “When you have a feeling, you have a feeling. There’s a lot going on in the background that is not great,” he explained when he was asked to clarify his previous comments.

    Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

    Photo by: Erik Junius

    Despite his strong comments, Hamilton explained in the Ferrari debrief that he was looking to reset and recharge during the break.

    “It’s been a challenging weekend and one to move on from. We weren’t able to make the progress we hoped for but I’m grateful for the effort everyone in the team put in throughout the weekend. Now we head into the break. I’ll be using the time to reset, recharge and come back stronger. I’m not where I want to be yet, but the fight’s not over – don’t count me out.”

    In this article

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  • Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung is an excellent Pakistani television host and actor who is admired for her innocence and brilliant acting skills. She also got huge fame from Morning show hosting at Hum TV. Sanam Jung’s other famous television appearances include Mein Na Janoo, Qaraar, Alvida, Haya, Dil-e-Muztar, Muhabbat Subh Ka Sitara Hai, Mere Humdam Mere Dost, Pyari Mona and Dhoka. She is currently on a break from acting after the birth of her second daughter. Sanam Jung has a strong Instagram following of more than 2.5 million.

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung shares a great camaraderie with her Mere Humdam Mere Dost’s cast members including Hareem Farooq and Adnan Siddiqui and the producer Nina Kashif.

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Last week, Adnan Siddiqui arranged a party in the honour of his friend Sanam Jung who is on a visit to Pakistan. Adnan Siddiqui prepared a wonderful feast for Sanam Jung, Hareem Farooq and Nina Kashif but didn’t prepare dessert. Sanam Jung made fun of Adnan Siddiqui for serving mangoes as a dessert. She also called him out for the quantity of Mangoes. First watch the video here:

    Social media users are quite upset with Sanam Jung’s unnecessary leg-pulling of Adnan Siddiqui, with many expressing their anger. One said, “I will never invite that kind of guest again at my house.” Another wrote, “He has gone silent because he is amazed at how rude you are acting.” One remarked, “Hahaha, what a mindless lady. Generally, guests bring some sweets or dessert as a gesture of thanks — it’s your job.” A fan said, “Instead of thanking her host, she has created this drama.” Another stated, “She really disrespected the host like that? If you can’t bring yourself to say something nice, just keep quiet.” Read the comments:

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui

    Sanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan SiddiquiSanam Jung Faces Backlash For Making Fun of Adnan Siddiqui


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  • The Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Second-Quarter Results Are Out And Analysts Have Published New Forecasts

    The Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) Second-Quarter Results Are Out And Analysts Have Published New Forecasts

    NasdaqGS:TXRH 1 Year Share Price vs Fair Value

    Explore Texas Roadhouse’s Fair Values from the Community and select yours

    Shareholders might have noticed that Texas Roadhouse, Inc. (NASDAQ:TXRH) filed its quarterly result this time last week. The early response was not positive, with shares down 5.5% to US$173 in the past week. Revenues of US$1.5b were in line with forecasts, although statutory earnings per share (EPS) came in below expectations at US$1.86, missing estimates by 2.8%. Earnings are an important time for investors, as they can track a company’s performance, look at what the analysts are forecasting for next year, and see if there’s been a change in sentiment towards the company. Readers will be glad to know we’ve aggregated the latest statutory forecasts to see whether the analysts have changed their mind on Texas Roadhouse after the latest results.

    Trump has pledged to “unleash” American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit.

    earnings-and-revenue-growth
    NasdaqGS:TXRH Earnings and Revenue Growth August 10th 2025

    Taking into account the latest results, the most recent consensus for Texas Roadhouse from 24 analysts is for revenues of US$5.88b in 2025. If met, it would imply a modest 3.7% increase on its revenue over the past 12 months. Statutory per share are forecast to be US$6.58, approximately in line with the last 12 months. In the lead-up to this report, the analysts had been modelling revenues of US$5.86b and earnings per share (EPS) of US$6.69 in 2025. The consensus analysts don’t seem to have seen anything in these results that would have changed their view on the business, given there’s been no major change to their estimates.

    View our latest analysis for Texas Roadhouse

    There were no changes to revenue or earnings estimates or the price target of US$197, suggesting that the company has met expectations in its recent result. Fixating on a single price target can be unwise though, since the consensus target is effectively the average of analyst price targets. As a result, some investors like to look at the range of estimates to see if there are any diverging opinions on the company’s valuation. There are some variant perceptions on Texas Roadhouse, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at US$227 and the most bearish at US$170 per share. Even so, with a relatively close grouping of estimates, it looks like the analysts are quite confident in their valuations, suggesting Texas Roadhouse is an easy business to forecast or the the analysts are all using similar assumptions.

    Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. It’s pretty clear that there is an expectation that Texas Roadhouse’s revenue growth will slow down substantially, with revenues to the end of 2025 expected to display 7.6% growth on an annualised basis. This is compared to a historical growth rate of 17% over the past five years. By way of comparison, the other companies in this industry with analyst coverage are forecast to grow their revenue at 10% per year. Factoring in the forecast slowdown in growth, it seems obvious that Texas Roadhouse is also expected to grow slower than other industry participants.

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  • New Xbox Games Launching This Week, August 11 – August 17

    New Xbox Games Launching This Week, August 11 – August 17

    Ready to play more? Another wave of weekly Xbox releases is here, with new games launching like Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 26.

    The latest entry in the annual sports franchise is leaving the Xbox One behind this year, a first for the franchise since 2013’s Madden NFL 25 (not to be confused with last year’s Madden NFL 25).

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  • Everyone’s worried about the economy, but executives have been talking less about a recession

    Everyone’s worried about the economy, but executives have been talking less about a recession

    By Bill Peters

    Earnings Watch: A quieter week ahead, with results due from Cisco and WeightWatchers

    Cisco reports quarterly results on Wednesday.

    This summer, creeping optimism has crashed into July’s flop of a jobs report, President Donald Trump’s widening trade war and signs of its potential impact. Sentiment on the economy and the consumer is muddled. IT consulting firm Gartner Inc. (IT) last week said even small spending decisions among its corporate clients were getting kicked up to top executives for sign-off – behavior its CEO said they’ve seen in “every recession.”

    But overall, executives on quarterly earnings calls have talked about a recession a lot less over the last two months, according to a FactSet analysis published Friday.

    FactSet searched for the word “recession” in earnings call transcripts for S&P 500 companies over a period that ranged from June 15 to Thursday. Over that period, “recession” came up on 16 earnings calls, marking an 87% drop from the first quarter.

    Over that period, the harshest of Trump’s tariffs targeting specific nations were on hold or had yet to take effect, and markets had shrugged off his biggest threats. Investors were also awaiting more hard data on the trade war’s impact, betting that Trump was bluffing, or hoping the deals he struck with a handful of nations offered some clarity on the U.S.’ approach to negotiations. New U.S. tariffs kicked in on Thursday.

    After two jam-packed weeks, the week ahead in earnings is quieter. More detail about how shoppers are doing will emerge later this month, when big retailers like Walmart Inc. (WMT) and Target Corp. (TGT) report results.

    “The common theme across our food retail coverage includes a consumer seeking value,” BMO analysts said in a note on Friday.

    This week in earnings

    Eight S&P 500 companies report second-quarter results this week, according to FactSet.

    Highlights include farming-equipment maker Deere & Co., as it tries to work around what, as of May, was a roughly $500 million hit from tariffs for its fiscal year. For more on the trade war’s impact on fashion, look to results from handbag and accessories maker Tapestry Inc. (TPR), which relies heavily on Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines for production.

    Brinker International Inc. (EAT), the parent company of Chili’s, also reports, as casual-dining restaurants and their fast-food counterparts battle to offer the lowest prices. Earnings are also forthcoming from AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. (AMC), Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP) and CAVA Group Inc. (CAVA)

    The call to put on your calendar

    WeightWatchers’ new start: WW International Inc. (WW), the company also known as WeightWatchers, reports quarterly results on Monday, after emerging from bankruptcy last month with a renewed focus on helping women through menopause. Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy have upended the way people think about their diets. While WeightWatchers last month said it wants to bring together “the best tools of modern medicine, like GLP-1s, with science-backed lifestyle change,” Wall Street will likely have questions about the road ahead.

    The number to watch

    Cisco sales: IT networking giant Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) reports results on Wednesday. The focus will be on the company’s moves in artificial-intelligence infrastructure, after showing momentum during the spring, as well as in quantum computing.

    -Bill Peters

    This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. 

    
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  • 6 Adobe Creative Cloud subscription secrets I wish I knew first

    6 Adobe Creative Cloud subscription secrets I wish I knew first

    I’ve subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud for over ten years. Before that, I had Photoshop and Lightroom installed via disks. It was a simpler time back then, and if I had the choice, I’d stick to the disk installs. If I had known what I was getting into when subscribing to Creative Cloud, I might have​​ reconsidered getting a subscription and used other tools. After a decade of learning, there are a handful of things I wish I’d known before jumping into an Adobe subscription plan, but hopefully I can share my thoughts with someone else before they blindly sign up too.

    6

    The variety of Adobe plan types

    There’s more than one option

    Adobe plans aren’t all the same. Rather than subscribing to all Adobe apps, you can opt for specific plans tailored to your needs. If you’re a photographer, a videographer, or a designer, you may only need select tools for your needs rather than all apps.

    I’ve always subscribed to the All Apps plan, consisting of all of Adobe’s apps in the Creative Cloud offering. This plan doesn’t include the Substance 3D tools (which have their own subscription bundle), nor any enterprise tools.

    While you can subscribe to individual Adobe apps, like a sole Photoshop or sole Premiere Pro plan, if you need two or more Adobe tools, it often isn’t cost-efficient to get two sole-app plans.

    The Photography Plan bundles both Lightroom and Photoshop in one subscription. This includes all versions of both apps, including mobile premium plans. There’s also a Photoshop Web and Mobile plan, which offers access to Photoshop but only via the Photoshop browser version and the mobile app, which was announced in 2025. It doesn’t include the desktop version of Photoshop.

    5

    How strict Adobe subscriptions are

    There’s no pausing, and it’s difficult to cancel

    It can be very difficult to cancel or pause an Adobe subscription. When I began my subscription, I never envisioned a time when I might not want to continue being subscribed to Adobe Creative Cloud in the future.

    Adobe subscriptions feel like a lifelong tax for digital creatives ever since Adobe moved from disk-based software to a cloud-based version. The only way to use its software is by paying for the subscription. If you cancel, you’ll lose editing access to your files.

    To avoid hefty cancellation fees, you need to time your cancellation perfectly as well. This is something I’ve had difficulty with over the years; I’ve often let the subscription roll over. You can’t pause for a few months, and if you incorrectly time your cancellation, it can be a costly choice, as you often have to pay for the remainder of your subscription length.

    It’s hard to move to new software now

    Since Adobe tools are considered the industry standard software for use in most digital design and video situations, it can feel like peer pressure to use Adobe from the beginning.

    After so long working with Adobe tools, I have become attuned to their inner workings. As a result, I find it very difficult using non-Adobe tools in my workflow, and usually revert to Adobe instead of spending extra time learning a new tool.

    Adobe products feature a consistent interface, with the same tool icons, names, and shortcuts throughout the suite. It’s difficult to use other software because the small differences, like tool placement or shortcut keys, add a bunch of time and frustration to what is usually a quick, simple task in an Adobe product.

    3

    You constantly need to learn more

    Your learning is never complete

    A MacBook with Adobe Photoshop showing the Object Selection tool on a photo of a woman

    Once you think you’ve cracked Adobe tools and learned all there is to learn, Adobe releases a new update, and you have to start the process again.

    Since Creative Cloud became standard, Adobe pushes new updates more frequently than when using disk-installed software. And the updates often occur at the worst time or when I’m in a rush.

    New tool pop-ups get in the way and slow me down. Sometimes, menus have changed slightly. Figuring out new ways to do things with updated features makes me feel a little on edge, as it takes away the familiarity of what I know.

    While it’s a good thing to keep learning, I’d rather use that learning power to educate myself on design principles or trends and research, rather than learning how to use the latest AI feature or the new way to select a subject in an image.

    2

    The software will crash

    Control/Command + S is your best friend

    Save and export options in Adobe Photoshop

    Anyone working in computers will have experienced the despair of realizing you didn’t save the project you’ve been working on for hours just as your computer crashes or the power cuts out. For Adobe users, frequent saving is a skill we learn from the beginning.

    Big files, multiple layers, too many complex tasks, it’s a Tuesday: these can all be reasons Adobe might crash. Sometimes there’s logic, but often there’s none.

    Although some causes of Adobe crashes might be local to your system, it’s well-known among Adobe users that it often crashes. I wish I knew this early on in my Adobe journey — but it didn’t take me long to learn. Save after every action.

    1

    Adobe adds bloatware

    You get more than the programs you install

    Adobe apps on Macbook

    Adobe programs are big once installed on your system. Creative Cloud users benefit because you only need to install the apps you use, so you’re not overfilling your system with all the apps for no purpose. There are over 20 available if you subscribe to the All Apps plan.

    I keep around eight installed on my desktop at any one time. However, those eight apps also require additional extras to be installed, resulting in a total of 21 apps in my Launchpad.

    This includes beta versions of apps for testing new features, render engines, media encoders, distiller apps, and more that don’t appear on the Launchpad of my Mac.

    Using an open-source alternative to Adobe is often better if you’re trying to run a machine with less bloatware. Most open-source tools are smaller in size, typically have only one installable program, and don’t require any additional software to run.

    Now I know more about Adobe

    After a decade of subscribing to the lucrative Adobe Creative Cloud, there are many things I’ve learned about its subscription service. Had I known all these things before signing up, I might have reconsidered — especially knowing now how difficult it is to cancel the subscription at any point and learning how much bloatware is added to my computer just for wanting to access Adobe tools. From subscribing to Creative Cloud, I have benefited from a whole host of creative tools, but I wish I’d done a little more research first.

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  • Does dementia hit ‘smart’ people worse? Here’s what science says

    Does dementia hit ‘smart’ people worse? Here’s what science says

    Turns out, dementia does discriminate!You might’ve heard that being smart, having a high IQ, or years of education can be a blessing when it comes to dementia. In fact, elders are recommended to indulge more in brainy habits to keep cognitive decline at bay.However, the popular belief comes with a cruel twist.Yeah, it might sound like a head-scratcher, but science sure does have fascinating insights.Read on to know’em!

    Dementia and smart people: The intriguing link

    Being brainy might help you avoid dementia for longer, but if it does arrive, unfortunately, it could take you faster. That’s the surprising conclusion from the largest-ever study on the topic. Researchers found that people who spent more years in education or had more mentally demanding lives tended to decline more quickly after a dementia diagnosis.The team calls this the “cognitive reserve paradigm,” the idea that our brains can build a reserve of resilience through learning, problem-solving, and mental challenges like puzzles. This reserve can protect against symptoms for years, even when the disease is already damaging the brain.But here’s the twist: once the disease finally becomes noticeable, those with bigger reserves tend to be further along, leaving less time for treatment and, ultimately, shorter survival.

    Dementia (23)

    Cognitive reserve: The silent shield

    What exactly is it? Scientists talk about cognitive reserve, a term that describes how the brain adapts and compensates when faced with damage. It’s like a mental savings account built through education, mentally demanding jobs, and lifelong learning. People with higher reserve can walk through early brain changes without showing symptoms.In one early study, researchers found that some elderly people’s brains looked very damaged on the inside, yet they had no signs of dementia, thanks to high cognitive reserve.

    What does research say

    The research analysed 261 studies, including 36 looking at education levels. On average, people lived about 10.5 years after diagnosis. But for every extra year of education, life expectancy dropped by around 0.2 years, roughly two and a half months. That means someone graduating with a degree at 21 could, statistically, live a year less after diagnosis than someone who left school at 16.As reported by The Telegraph, researchers at Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam explained: “This paradigm postulates that people with higher education are more resilient to brain injury before functional declines. Once this reserve has been used up and dementia is diagnosed, however, these people are already at a more advanced stage of the underlying disease, and clinical progression will be faster.”In other words, a sharper mind hides the damage for longer, but by the time symptoms show, the brain is already more affected.

    Dementia (25)

    Smartness delays, but doesn’t prevent

    The new findings don’t mean learning is dangerous for the brain. Research shows that intelligence and education grant a valuable head start, keeping cognitive function strong longer, even amid disease progression. That’s because individuals with higher reserve start with better functioning and have more buffer before symptoms appear.In fact, most research says the opposite: the more education and mental stimulation you have, the less likely you are to get dementia in the first place.Alzheimer’s Research UK urges people to keep challenging their minds: “Regularly challenging our brain and staying mentally active can help protect our brain health as we age, lowering our risk of memory and thinking problems and dementia,” the charity says.But once dementia sets in, it may feel like a steep slide downhill.

    Rapid decline in high-reserve individuals

    Here’s the bitter truth: Smarter people often decline faster once dementia symptoms emerge.Think of it like a landslide of a glacier. As per a study, education delayed the onset of memory decline, but once decline began, each extra year of schooling meant about a 4% faster drop in memory. Someone with a college degree might see half as much, again, a faster decline compared to someone with minimal education.

    Dementia (26)

    What’s the science behind reserve and decline

    Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience explored how cognitive reserve affects dementia progression. In people without signs of cognitive impairment, high reserve meant slower decline. But for those on the Alzheimer’s spectrum, high reserve was linked to a sharper drop once symptoms began, mirroring the pattern that scientists expect.Having said all that, it’s crucial to note that smartness doesn’t equal immunity; lifestyle still matters heavily when it comes to dementia. Even a strong reserve isn’t a guarantee against dementia. Lifestyle plays a huge role. In fact, the Lancet Commission identified modifiable risk factors, things you can actively change, that could prevent up to 40% of dementia cases. Social interaction, mental puzzles, regular exercise, healthy eating, and good sleep all help, not just to delay dementia, but also support brain strength across a lifetime.

    To sum it up…

    Yes, dementia can feel “worse” in people with higher intelligence, but only in the shape and pace of its progress. Smart people often stay sharp longer thanks to cognitive reserve, but that same reserve means dementia is diagnosed later, when the brain’s decline is more advanced. That’s why symptoms then appear steeper.The good news? Brain fitness, through learning, keeping active, socializing, and a healthy lifestyle, remains a powerful ally. Keep learning and challenging your brain, but also pay attention to early warning signs, no matter how sharp you think you are. In the end, lifelong mental and physical habits matter just as much as IQ.

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