Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Officials are urging people to stop spreading misinformation amid Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.</li><li>Both Republicans and Democrats have called out misinformation and false rumors.</li></ul>As rescue workers respond to the destruction in North Carolina after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-north-carolina-flood-insurance-2024-10">Hurricane Helene</a>, government officials on both sides of the aisle are calling for a misinformation cease-fire.Since the hurricane made <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-slams-florida-power-outages-flooding-2024-9">landfall in Florida</a> and swept up <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/analysts-estimate-up-to-34-billion-damage-from-hurricane-helene-2024-10">to the Carolinas</a>, the storm itself has been swept up in another powerful force: American politics in a presidential election year.Some social media users are sharing unsubstantiated claims, some accompanied by fake AI-generated photos, criticizing the response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the government's disaster relief group, and, by extension, the administration of President Joe Biden."It's not necessarily unusual for emergency situations to be breeding grounds for mis- and disinformation, but I do think we've seen a particularly large amount of false claims proliferating at this time," Mekela Panditharatne, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit policy institute at New York University's School of Law, told Business Insider. "I don't think it's a coincidence that it's so close to a very consequential national election."<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>, the billionaire owner of X and a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-donald-trump-rally-butler-pennsylvania-assassination-attempt-2024-10">vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump</a>, has posted on his social media network saying that "<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1842284913279586447">FEMA is both failing to help AND won't let others help</a>" and has reposted similar claims from others.Musk shared another claim that Asheville, North Carolina's airspace had been closed to block recovery efforts, prompting a fact-check from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who said the Federal Aviation Administration was not shutting down the airspace. Buttigieg <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/SecretaryPete/status/1842271678274928964">told</a> Musk to call him with any issues, and after they <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.msnbc.com/inside-with-jen-psaki/watch/-he-called-buttigieg-reveals-details-of-conversation-with-elon-musk-about-storm-response-221029445906">spoke on the phone</a>, Musk posted that flights were underway and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1842350122899739050">thanked</a> Buttigieg.Trump has seized on the disaster to criticize the Biden administration and, by extension, his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, saying the Biden administration "stole the FEMA money" and "spent it all on illegal migrants," the Washington Post reported.His comments came after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said FEMA would need more money from Congress to get it through the rest of hurricane season.A <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/04/no-biden-didnt-take-fema-relief-money-use-migrants-trump-did/">Washington Post</a> investigation found no evidence that the Biden administration used disaster relief funds on the migrant crisis. However, amid hurricane season in 2019, Trump himself approved using $155 million in disaster relief funds for immigration detention at the border, the Post reported.<h2 id="27fd660a-73db-4a3c-9a26-23e6b84ae71d">Bipartisan calls to stop spreading 'junk' information</h2>Following the spike in false rumors, FEMA created a searchable <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response">fact-checking page</a> to tackle misinformation about the relief efforts. In North Carolina, the Department of Public Safety also shared a fact-check on social media, which Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has reposted.Republicans have also joined the fight against the false information. Kevin Corbin, a Republican member of the North Carolina Senate, issued a plea on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.facebook.com/kevin.corbin/posts/pfbid02VZiZFjsikbNeD3AKwkkpv5nnXpmkxWr5sJRG1G51D6yN82NvywWVaA8M8XjcNdeol">Facebook</a> for people to stop spreading "conspiracy theory junk." He listed bizarre claims that he said he and other officials have heard, ranging from accusations that "FEMA is stealing money from donations" to the "government is controlling the weather from Antarctica.""It is just a distraction to people trying to do their job," Corbin wrote.<div type="image" title="A young man hands supplies down to a woman from the bed of a truck amid hurricane recovery efforts." height="3050" width="4575" msid="113997193" hostid="261" sizebytes="310870"></div>US Sen. Thom Tillis, also a Republican, echoed Corbin's comments on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thom-tillis-senator-north-carolina-face-the-nation-transcript-10-06-2024/">CBS News</a> on Sunday. He said many of the claims are "not even from people on the ground" and complicate rescue and recovery operations."It's at the expense of the hard-working first responders and people that are just trying to recover their life," Tillis said. "Quite honestly, most of what I've seen out there is a distraction and not helping the core of the effort right here, which is to save lives and start rebuilding."Panditharatne told BI that the spread of misinformation can "dissuade people from seeking the assistance that they need in this time of crisis.""It's perfectly legitimate to express an opinion or criticize the sufficiency of a response, but a number of the claims that we are seeing, particularly from high profile actors and politicians, are baseless, and they're contradicting verifiable facts or unsubstantiated by evidence," she said. "Where that is the case, I think it can divert public information and resources and demoralize officials on the ground."In a crisis, there may be gaps in available information, creating a vacuum for misinformation to "flood in to fill the void," Panditharatne said. However, she added that's not an excuse."I think anyone like Musk, who has a significant influence over the information ecosystem, should feel a sense of responsibility to promote information that doesn't undermine people's ability to access the aid that they need or undermine officials' response to a crisis," she said.The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for X also did not immediately respond.

Both Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina say misinformation is complicating Hurricane Helene relief efforts

As Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Union <keyword id="19955368" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="budget-2024" source="keywords">Budget 2024</keyword>, all eyes were on the <keyword id="20024321" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="housing-sector" source="keywords">housing sector</keyword>, which has been a focal point for both developers and <keyword id="19907145" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="homebuyers" source="keywords">homebuyers</keyword>. Expectations were high for increased deduction limits on home loan interest repayments, higher principal repayment deductions, and more robust incentives for first-time homebuyers. Last year's budget focused on increasing <keyword id="20254620" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="affordable-housing" source="keywords">affordable housing</keyword> through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (<keyword id="19945794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PMAY" source="keywords">PMAY</keyword>), with a significant allocation to achieve the goal of "Housing for All." The <keyword id="20152263" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="real-estate-sector" source="keywords">real estate sector</keyword> had previously seen incentives for developers building affordable housing, such as tax holidays under Section 80IBA and increased allocation through the SWAMIH fund to improve liquidity for stressed projects. <h2>Major announcements in Budget 2024</h2>As per FM Sitharaman's 2024 Budget announcements, PMAY is set to add an additional 3 crore affordable housing — houses priced under Rs 40 lakh — in rural and urban sections of India. This will be accomplished with Rs 10 lakh crores, which includes assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crores over the next five years. A provision of <keyword id="21240797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="interest-subsidy" source="keywords">interest subsidy</keyword> to facilitate loans at affordable rates is also envisaged, the FM noted in her speech. “This is certainly pertinent – the affordable homes category has been seeing a decline in overall sales since the pandemic, to approximately 19% in H1 2024 from over 38% in the period before the pandemic in 2019,” notes Anuj Puri, Chairman of ANAROCK Group. “Consequently, this segment’s percentage share of the total housing supply in the top 7 cities also fell to 18% in H1 2024 from nearly 40% in 2019. Any boost to this vital segment is therefore welcome.” As per December 2023 reports, 65% of houses under PMAY-Urban had been completed and delivered to beneficiaries since the scheme was introduced in 2015. This amounts to over 78 lakh pucca houses out of the 1.18 crore sanctioned. The new addition to PMAY will thus attempt to more than triple the quadruple the number. <h2>Tax reliefs and transparent rental policies</h2>This year, the sector expected further <keyword id="20345361" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tax-relief" source="keywords">tax relief</keyword> measures for homebuyers and developers. Key demands are aplenty, including increasing the deduction limit for home loan interest repayment from the current Rs 2 lakhs to Rs 3-4 lakhs for self-occupied properties, reintroducing tax exemptions for first-time homebuyers, standardising the definition of "Affordable Housing", and reducing GST on construction materials like cement and steel. However, there has been only disappointments on this front based on the announcements so far. However, in terms of the tax changes, the Budget has proposed a massive reduction in rental matters for the individual. While the current tax deducted at source (TDS) for Payment of rent by individuals or HUF under Section 194-IB stands at 5%, the new budget is set to bring this down to 2%, effective from October 1, 2024. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111946291" title="Union Budget 2024-25 key highlights: Angel tax to be scraped" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Further, the government has promised to enable and implement policies and regulations for efficient and transparent <keyword id="20071228" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rental-housing" source="keywords">rental housing</keyword> markets with enhanced availability. <h2>Additional initiatives</h2>Further, dormitory-style accommodations have also been announced for industrial workers in public-private partnership mode with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support and commitment from anchor industries. VGF is a scheme that helps support important infrastructure projects that may not be financially viable, through grants that total up to 20% of the total project cost. The FM also announced that policies and regulations for efficient and transparent rental housing markets with enhanced availability will be put in place, to ease the rental and home-owning process. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="111953230" title="Union Budget 2024-25: Mobile Phones to get cheaper, as FM Nirmala Sitharaman reduces basic customs duty to 15%" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>Markets are optimistic in the aftermath of these announcements, with many housing finance companies recording healthy gains since the speech. Puri notes that the renewed focus on rural and urban job creation, if effective, may provide some boost to affordable housing in even tier 2 and 3 cities. “The Finance Minister's allocation of ₹10 lakh crore to help 1 crore poor middle-class families buy houses will boost the demand for residential properties,” remarks Divyam Mour, Research Analyst at Samco Securities. ”This funding, along with interest subsidies, will greatly benefit real estate developers like DLF, Macrotech Developers, NBCC, and Sunteck Realty, as well as housing finance companies focused on the lower and middle classes, such as Aadhar Housing Finance, Aptus Value Housing Finance, and Aavas Financiers.”

Budget 2024: More affordable housing, lowered rent TDS — here’s what will change for the housing sector this year

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dr. Jennifer J. Bryan used to work an extra 10 to 20 hours a week, note-taking for her job. </li><li>Last fall, she began using an AI assistant to create notes and says it's alleviated her stress.</li></ul>This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Dr. Jennifer J. Bryan, 47, about using an AI voice assistant in the medical field. The following has been edited for length and clarity.I work in family medicine, treating newborns up to patients in their 90s.I graduated from my residency in family medicine in 2006. I've been practicing in Mississippi for 18 years and joined the Hattiesburg Clinic a year ago.I work at my clinic 40 hours a week, but I used to spend a lot of my time documenting patient notes outside those hours. Documentation admin would take an extra 10 to 20 hours a week.Last fall, I started using <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/suki-medical-assistant-for-doctors-2018-4">Suki AI</a>, an AI-powered voice assistant, to help me make notes from patient interactions. I now use it all the time.It reminded me of the old days of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-neurosurgeon-mom-demanding-job-parenting-2024-6">practicing medicine</a> when I wasn't constantly typing notes into a computer. It's provided a more organic way for me to interact with patients and alleviated a lot of stress about note-taking.I'm in favor of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-use-ai-same-time-work-chatgpt-claude-jasper-2024-9#psychiatrists-1">using AI for notetaking</a>, but do have hesitations about using it for other purposes in the medical field.<h2 id="0e3448a1-1ff6-41da-ab17-340d27917a5e">I used to type my notes or use a dictation software</h2>When I first started practicing medicine in 2006, I took handwritten notes. I'd get hand cramps sometimes, but I could get my notes done during consultations.When <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/electronic-health-records-benefits-challenges">electronic health records</a> came into effect, doctors could type notes, but typing while interacting with patients was distracting. So, most typing would happen over a lunch break or at home on the couch. This is when the time I spent documenting notes increased significantly, and it also caused <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doctor-burnout-ai-assistant-help-paperwork-administrative-tasks-2023-8">burnout for a lot of physicians</a> around the country.As the president of the Mississippi State Medical Association, I speak to a lot of physicians. They say button-clicking and typing adds extra strain to their lives. Personally, I never burned out, but I was often stressed and looked to alleviate it.I started using dictation software around six years ago. I would speak into a handheld microphone, and it would type my words out. It was a good product, but verbally recreating each visit took a long time, and it misspelled and misheard some words.A fellow physician at my clinic encouraged us to try using an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-personal-assistant-ai-age-chatgpt-2024-2">AI assistant</a> for note-taking. I signed up to trial Suki AI, which I heard the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/practices/physicians-group-testing-out-ai-tools-to-combat-pain-points-for-doctors">American Academy of Family Physicians endorsed</a>, and a competitor product. I preferred Suki, and it's the product I still use today.(Editor's note: A spokesperson for Suki AI told BI that the company has no financial partnership with either Hattiesburg Clinic or the AAFP, and the listing price for the technology is $399 a month per provider.)<h2 id="f93c9ca3-2f16-44ba-b52a-4c311e5da2ec">How the AI assistant works</h2>Suki is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/generative-ai-smartphones-mwc-artificial-intelligence-assistants-apps-2024-2">an AI assistant</a> app on my phone that I use for notes. When I walk into a room with a patient, I ask my patients for consent to use the software. I'll hit record and my phone will listen to the conversation with the patient. I'll walk out of the room and stop recording.Unlike the dictation software I used before, which couldn't produce summaries of what I said to it, Suki generates a summarizing note from the appointment, which I send to my computer.If my phone dies or I don't have it on me, I can speak directly to Suki about the appointment. It creates a solid note as if it were listening to the exam room interaction, but I think it's more accurate when I have it in the room with the patient.At the end of the day, I'll spend 15 minutes going through my notes on my computer, making sure <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-down-rounds-rise-valuations-investors-2024-9">the AI</a> spelled the drugs correctly, and cleaning things up. It's a huge contrast from the 10 hours a week I used to spend on notetaking.I'm very legal-minded, and one of my first questions about Suki was how long it stores patient information. I learned that the audio and transcript from patient interactions are erased from Suki after seven days, so I felt comfortable with how it handles privacy. Before the notes are erased from Suki, I send them to my computer, and they're permanently stored in my electronic records.<h2 id="390a5732-407e-48d8-9ff6-68fd25bc4a68">Using AI at work has reduced my stress, but the technology isn't perfect</h2>I use Suki all the time now. I pay for the service, which is deducted from my paycheck.It's made my workflow easier. I'm more able to accommodate patients into my schedule. Patients have also noticed that I don't have to type anymore and can keep eye contact without looking over a computer.It's alleviated stress in my personal life. I'd never miss family events for work because family is my priority, but I did overload myself and would have to stay up late to finish notes. Now, when I'm home, my family and I are watching movies or doing homework, and I don't have to type notes for work on my laptop.The technology isn't perfect. Sometimes, when it generated notes, there were two paragraphs that almost said the same thing, so I'd cut one out when editing. Every now and then, it will misunderstand a medicine I say and put in something else.I don't see this as a problem. There are plenty of errors with scribbly doctor's handwriting and some with other dictation software. As physicians, we're responsible for reviewing notes for accuracy. With any technology, there will be an acceptable degree of edits that need to be made.<h2 id="994fc1a5-2b7a-4345-9a6e-73e00286e83f">I'm in favor of using AI for transcription and cautiously welcome it in other medical areas</h2><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-deals-growing-faster-healthcare-tech-svb-venture-capital-2024-6">AI has been part of medical care</a> for quite some time now, particularly in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0720048X18302250">radiology</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/200673/application-artificial-intelligence-ai-surgery/">surgery</a>.When it comes to medical transcript and scribe work, I see AI as a welcome relief from typing for physicians, who were trained to diagnose and treat, not to type.I don't see <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatbots-tech-doctors-medicine-healthcare-system-empathy-quality-email-2023-6">AI ever replacing the physician</a>, but I can see it chipping away at the medical scribe career. Scribes sit in exam rooms and type for doctors, but they're very expensive to have on board.I cautiously welcome AI in the medical field. There are <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-healthcare-doctors-drugs-treatments-patients-2023-12">definitely benefits that can help humans practice medicine</a>, such as using it to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/249573/new-ai-tool-detects-13-more/">detect breast cancer</a>. However I am cautious about errors from AI when it comes to patient lives and patient safety. In medicine, you can never underestimate the value of human interaction and understanding pain and feelings.I'm all in when it comes to using AI for transcription and summing up visits, but we have to make sure we have appropriate guardrails when going beyond that.Do you have a personal story about AI in the workplace you want to share with Business Insider? Email ccheong@businessinsider.com

I use an AI assistant as a doctor and cut hours off my workload. But, I'm still cautious about AI's future.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The CFPB found student-loan servicers put up "excessive barriers" when it came to helping borrowers.</li><li>Long hold times and inaccurate information about debt relief harmed borrowers, the report said.</li></ul>Many student-loan borrowers aren't getting the help they need <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-company-mohela-late-statements-borrowers-biden-withholding-pay-2023-10">from their servicers</a>, according to a new report.On Tuesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-exams-find-loan-servicing-failures-illegal-debt-collection-practices-and-issues-with-medical-payment-products/">latest edition</a> of its supervisory findings covering the auto and student loan servicing industries from April 2023 to December 2023.Over the past few years, borrowers with both federal and private student loans have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-bills-are-wrong-borrowers-servicers-fixing-errors-education-2023-11">reported challenges with their servicers</a>, from an inability to get the information they need to make their payments to inaccurate information. The CFPB's latest <a target="_blank" href="https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_supervisory-highlights_issue-34_2024-07.pdf">report</a> detailed its findings that many of those companies did not operate in borrowers' best interests."Loan servicers and debt collectors harm borrowers when they fail to provide required information, create barriers to customer assistance, or harass people about their debts," CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement. "The CFPB is working to ensure servicers, debt collectors, and other financial service providers follow the law to protect consumers."According to the report, servicers put up "excessive barriers" for borrowers when they needed help — specifically with hourslong hold times with customer service that lead to many borrowers dropping their calls without actually speaking to anyone. This was representative of an "unfair and abusive" act because servicers didn't give borrowers an avenue to resolve issues in a timely manner, the CFPB said, and since borrowers cannot choose their servicer, they had no other option but to continue waiting on the phone for help.The hold times were not just inconvenient; the report also said it caused injury to borrowers because they were sometimes unable to make payments on time due to the lack of assistance from their servicer, resulting in late fees. The CFPB said that in response to its findings, servicers "developed plans to reduce hold times and drop rates."Additionally, the report found servicers provided inaccurate information to borrowers regarding forms needed to qualify for certain program benefits or debt relief, like forbearance, delaying borrowers' abilities to access those benefits.Federal servicers have previously said they do not have the funding they need to fully assist borrowers, which is a factor for the long hold times and errors borrowers have faced. Business Insider has also previously reported on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-forgiveness-defrauded-borrowers-navient-borrower-defense-relief-2024-6">administrative difficulties some borrowers with private loans are facing</a> to get debt relief — an issue the CFPB said it would be monitoring, as well.Both President Joe Biden's administration and the CFPB have taken action against student-loan servicers for failing their contractual obligations. The Education Department <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-companies-education-department-punishment-borrowers-repayment-errors-billing-2024-1">withheld pay from all four major federal servicers</a> for failing to deliver on-time billing statements to borrowers, and the CFPB <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-company-pheaa-illegally-collected-borrowers-payments-cfpb-lawsuit-2024-5">recently filed a lawsuit against PHEAA</a>, a servicer that facilitates private student loan programs, accusing it of illegally collecting discharged payments.

Student-loan companies put up 'excessive barriers' and gave borrowers inaccurate information about debt relief, a federal consumer watchdog says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>My name is Alexa and growing up I absolutely loved it. </li><li>That was until Amazon created their smart assistant and gave it the same name as me.</li></ul>Growing up, I loved having the name Alexa. Aside from a brief first-grade obsession with the name Rebecca, I've always been happy with it and never had a reason to feel otherwise.That's until <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa">Amazon created Alexa</a>, the ubiquitous little device that took the world by storm in 2015.At first, the references were subtle. People would ask if I liked sharing my name with a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-alexa-can-delete-everything-you-say-how-to-ask-2019-5">know-it-all robot</a>, and I'd say that while they should have gone with something more obscure, it hadn't really affected me.I was so naïve.<h2>I've heard all the jokes</h2>Within a few years, the mentions really picked up. I worked at a department store in 2018, and at least once a day, a customer would make fun of my name. "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/top-amazon-alexa-skills-2018-12">What's the weather today, Alexa</a>?" "What time is it, Alexa?" Some would even say things like, "I bet you get those jokes all the time," as if they weren't part of the onslaught themselves.I couldn't go a few hours — much less a whole shift — without someone <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/picked-son-baby-name-unique-no-longer-trendy-angry-2024-1">acknowledging my name</a>.Then, the "<a target="_blank" href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/this-is-so-sad-alexa-play-despacito">This is so sad, Alexa play 'Despacito'</a>" meme came along. That cultural moment was the peak of my torment: I couldn't introduce myself to anyone without having a dreaded Amazon moment.Some people <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/health/mental-health/empathy-vs-sympathy">were sympathetic</a>, others continued to make jokes, but everyone just had to chime in on my misfortune.The one silver lining during those early years was my college graduation cap. I'd gone to college in Texas and planned to move back to my hometown of Los Angeles after graduation, so I decorated my grad cap to say, "Alexa, play 'Going Back to Cali.'" It felt like my one tiny win — if I had to be subjected to bad jokes for the better part of a decade, at least I could own the narrative for a brief, shining moment.<h2>In virtual meetings, when someone named it, their devices would go off</h2>The pandemic era didn't offer any relief. You'd think working from home would help the references slow down, but you'd be wrong. During <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/people-using-random-zoom-meetings-found-on-youtube-pretend-work-2024-2">Zoom calls</a> with coworkers, if anyone said my name, someone's device would go off in the background.In almost every meeting, there would be a one-minute distraction for us to listen to Alexa say, "I'm sorry, I'm having trouble understanding right now…" while everyone snickered to themselves and waited for her to finish. Then came a round of, "So sorry, that must be so annoying," before we'd rinse and repeat on the next call.And yes, in case you were wondering, this still happens. I had my latest incident just last week.The memes have slowed down, and I'm back to loving my name again. If anything, being able to say "Alexa, like the Amazon robot" makes it more memorable when I meet new people. It's actually helped cut back on the misnomers I used to get all the time: Alexis, Alexia, and Alex are (mostly) a thing of the past.Do I still wish Amazon had chosen a more obscure name for their product? Of course. There's a reason Apple went with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/siri-apple">Siri</a> (sorry to any Siris out there), and Google's device is activated by saying, "Hey Google." The most ironic part is that the Amazon device can actually be named something else. In my own apartment, my device responds to "Echo" instead of "Alexa" to keep the chaos to a minimum.Despite the ups and downs, I'm still proud to be named Alexa. Just please stop asking me about the weather, OK? The other Alexa has that covered.

My name is Alexa and I loved it until Amazon's smart assistant came along and ruined it

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Sen. Elizabeth Warren led a group of Democrats in pushing for increased Federal Student Aid funding.</li><li>They said that key student-debt relief programs, like SAVE, are at risk without more resources.</li></ul>A group of Democratic lawmakers is pointing to one key thing that will help student-loan borrowers and families navigate financial aid: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrowers-repayment-more-hurdles-gop-budget-cut-proposal-2023-7">more funding</a>.On Wednesday, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren led 24 of her Democratic colleagues in calling on Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Shelley Moore Capito — chair and ranking member of the Senate appropriations subcommittee for education funding, respectively — to grant President Joe Biden's $2.7 billion <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-budget-proposal-child-tax-credit-social-security-taxing-rich-2024-3">budget request</a> for the Office of Federal Student Aid in fiscal year 2025.Over the past couple of years, Biden has requested that Congress provide increased funding to FSA to help it facilitate the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-repayment-issues-debt-relief-broken-industry-2023-9">return to student-loan repayment</a>, the rollout of the new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fafsa-why-parents-students-have-to-wait-financial-aid-awards-2024-1">Free Application for Federal Student Aid</a>, or FAFSA, form, and a host of new repayment and debt relief programs.However, Republicans have opted to flat-fund the agency, and this year, they <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrowers-repayment-more-hurdles-gop-budget-cut-proposal-2023-7">proposed funding cuts</a>. The Democrats wrote in their letter, first viewed by Business Insider, that the lack of funding is "severely undermining FSA's ability to implement critical programs.""FSA's responsibilities have increased to protect students and borrowers, but its federal funding has remained stagnant," they wrote. "The lack of adequate resources creates more barriers for students to start and continue their education."Since federal student-loan payments resumed in October, many borrowers have <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-bills-are-wrong-borrowers-servicers-fixing-errors-education-2023-11">faced a list of challenges</a>, including hours-long hold times with their servicer, payment inaccuracies, and delayed or missing billing statements.On top of that, the Education Department has been working to carry out a series of reforms to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, it implemented the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-borrowers-apply-income-driven-repayment-save-plan-2023-7">new SAVE income-driven repayment plan</a>, and it's in the process of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-borrowers-being-transferred-from-mohela-to-new-servicers-2024-4">overhauling the student-loan servicing system</a>.Each of those efforts requires more resources to implement effectively — something servicers themselves have previously acknowledged when explaining their own challenges in assisting borrowers.When it comes to the FAFSA, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have been highly critical of the way the Education Department has facilitated the rollout. While the department intended to create a simplified form for families and students, technical glitches delayed the form by months, and aid calculation errors followed, forcing many schools to push back their commitment deadlines.Just one day before the Democrats' letter, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.help.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/bipartisan_bicameral_fafsa_25_26_finalpdf.pdf">letter</a> to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting that the department ensure the FAFSA form is ready, without errors, for students to access as they apply for aid for the next school year. The Democrats wrote in their Wednesday letter that FSA needs more funding to live up to that commitment.Cardona also expressed the need for Congress to boost the Education Department's funding in <a target="_blank" href="https://edworkforce.house.gov/uploadedfiles/5.7.24_cardona_testimony.pdf">written testimony</a> for a Tuesday hearing before the House. He wrote that Biden's $2.7 billion request for FSA will allow the agency to "support students and student loan borrowers as they navigate these modernized financial aid application and student loan repayment processes."The Education Department is also in the process of crafting its <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-announces-new-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-who-qualifies-relief-2024-4">broader student-debt relief plan</a>, which is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-new-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-how-to-comment-relief-2024-5">currently in the public comment period</a>. The department plans to begin implementation of the new debt relief this fall, but the presidential election — and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/will-new-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-be-blocked-scotus-chevron-2024-4">likely legal challenges</a> — present uncertainty to that timeline.

You Searched For "relief assistance" and got 6 results

Both Democrats and Republicans in North Carolina say misinformation is complicating Hurricane Helene relief efforts

Katie Balevic

Budget 2024: More affordable housing, lowered rent TDS — here’s what will change for the housing sector this year

Ankush Banerjee

I use an AI assistant as a doctor and cut hours off my workload. But, I'm still cautious about AI's future.

Charissa Cheong

Student-loan companies put up 'excessive barriers' and gave borrowers inaccurate information about debt relief, a federal consumer watchdog says

Ayelet Sheffey

My name is Alexa and I loved it until Amazon's smart assistant came along and ruined it

Alexa Nizam

Key student-debt relief programs are at risk if Congress doesn't boost Education Department funding, 25 Democratic lawmakers say

Ayelet Sheffey

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides