Oklahoma State football players’ helmets will feature a QR code linking to a “general team fund” for student-athletes during the 2024 season, the program announced Tuesday.

The initiative is “believed to mark the first time that a college football team will wear QR codes in regular-season games to promote players’ earning potential,” according to the school.

The QR codes will take up 1.5 square inches of the helmet.

The codes are expected to be scannable in “close shots during broadcasts,.

Also, as well as postgame photos posted to social media,” according to OSU. (CNN)

The commercialization of college sports continues.

Ford on Wednesday acknowledged America’s electric vehicle market just isn’t what the automaker expected it to be:

Customers are increasingly price-conscious and range-anxious.

So, Ford is making big changes to its EV plans, focusing on hybrids and affordability.

Ford ditched plans for its next lineup of all-electric SUVs, replacing them with hybrid models.

That plan alone will cost the company at least $400 million because it needs to write down the manufacturing equipment it had put in place to build the EV SUVs it no longer plans to build.

Ford said the change in plans could ultimately cost it upwards of $1.5 billion. (CNN)

Sometimes, we all have to make difficult decisions!

Ford had one of those times!

Long lines have been forming at gas stations in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, amid fuel shortages and a price spike in recent months.

But electric vehicle driver Mikial Belayneh avoids them completely.

“I no longer line up for petrol on the road,” Belayneh, an Addis resident, told CNN.

A full charge of his imported Toyota bZ4X – a popular EV in the country – “is more than enough for two days.”

This blog is intended for husbands.

I’ve always believed that marriage is a lifelong courtship.

With that as a goal, here are some surprises for your spouse:

Clean up the table after a meal.

Make the bed.

Take out the trash.

Clean out the car(s).

Look for the opportunity to pay a compliment.

When you’re going out, open the door for her.

Do you catch my drift?

If not today, when?

Do you realize the impact of a compliment?

The receiving person gets an immediate boost to their self-image.

They might have been having a bad day.

And you turned it into a good day!

Do you think that giving a compliment is old-fashioned?

WRONG!!!!

If there was ever a time when kindness is needed, it’s now.

And one of the kindest things you’ll ever do is pay a compliment!

If not today, when?

Today’s world probably upsets you on a regular basis.

The irony is that you usually become more angry with loved ones.

That’s because you spend more time with loved ones than anyone else.

A temper can undermine your relationship with family members.

And most importantly, your spouse.

You must ALWAYS keep your emotions under control.

Remember, you can’t take back words spoken in anger.

If you feel your temper rising, walk away and give yourself a moment to calm down.

You owe it to your loved ones!

If not today, when?

Eating an anti-inflammatory diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables instead of an inflammatory diet lowered the risk of dementia by 31%, a new study found.

An inflammatory diet is focused on red and processed meats and ultraprocessed foods, such as sugary cereals, sodas, fries and ice cream,

That benefit held true even for people with existing diagnoses of cardiometabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke, said Abigail Dove, lead author of the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open. (CNN)

Enter battery skyscrapers.

At the end of May, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the architecture and engineering firm behind some of the world’s tallest buildings, announced a partnership with the energy storage company Energy Vault to develop new gravity energy storage solutions.

That includes a design for a skyscraper that would use a motor powered by electricity from the grid to elevate giant blocks when energy demand is low.

These blocks would store the electricity as “potential” energy.

When there is demand, the blocks would be lowered, releasing the energy, which would be converted into electricity. (CNN)

It sounds like the conversion to clean energy won’t be easy, but possible!

Months ago, my wife planted a flower in the kitchen near a window.

We were not familiar with the flower, but, to our amazement, it flourished year-round.

Do you flourish year-round?

Remember, your degree of happiness is entirely up to you.

That flower made the adjustments necessary to thrive in its new environment.

YOU CAN DO THAT TOO!

If you awaken with a frown, your day will go likewise.

Or, given the same circumstances, a smile allows for possibilities.

Like the flower in our kitchen, “Bloom Where You’re Planted!”

If not today, when?

(New York Times Column, “Here To Help”)

Looking to make more friends?

Here are 5 ideas:

ANSWER THE QUESTION: “I AM ____?” Such as a mom, a gardner, a book lover. Join communities that reflect your attributes.

BECOME A REGULAR: The more times you show up where people gather, the more opportunities you have to make a connection.

GET CLOSER TO YOUR NEIGHBORS: To meet your neighbors, try doing them a small kindness.

JOIN A GROUP: Push yourself to join an existing group in which a friend is already a member.

CONTACT A PERSON WHO HAS HELPED YOU IN YOUR LIFE: Contact them and tell them how you appreciate their previous kindness. Maybe, it will form a closer bond.

If not today, when?