Year: 2026

Industrial Designer vs. Product Designer vs. Engineer: Who Should You Hire First?

Posted on by faz_business


The right professional highly depends on what your product specifically needs next. You may start with an industrial designer when your design concept is undefined, or with a mechanical engineer when its manufacturability and functionality are the main challenge, and a CAD drafter when the ones needed are production drawings. Products that involve electronics may require a firmware developer and freelance electrical engineer in parallel. Having a product idea but still unsure who to specifically hire can really be a challenge. The terms industrial designer, product designer, and mechanical engineer are somehow used interchangeably, even though they all focus on different parts of the development process. And this can really be difficult to know, especially when you are just starting and you have difficulty deciding which one to account for first with regard to the right expertise your project needs.

In this article, we will highlight a significant breakdown of the differences between each role and further explain what it typically handles during product development. You’ll learn when the right time is to hire a product designer, mechanical engineer, or an industrial designer, and how their skills overlap. Platforms like Cad Crowd help you find the right expertise for your project’s next stage of the process.

RELATED: How to Find the Right Industrial Design Company for Successful Product Development

🚀 Table of contents

What is the difference between: industrial designer, product designer, and engineer?

Job titles may vary over industries and companies. So, the specific responsibilities of an industrial designer, product designer, or engineer can really overlap. Instead of merely focusing on the titles, why not focus more on what they are expected to deliver?

Industrial engineers

They are known as professionals whose work focuses on how a certain product looks, feels, and interacts with the actual user.

Typical Deliverable Purpose
Concept sketches Explore product directions
3D renders Visualize appearance
CMF boards Define materials and finishes
Ergonomic studies Evaluate user interaction
Styled CAD Establish product form
A-surface models Define high-quality visible surfaces

Product designer

They work across product development and industrial design services, connecting user needs, product requirements, functionality, and appearance. It highly depends on the company what they contribute to, such as product concepts and user experience, prototyping and design refinement, and product decisions.

Top 50 Industrial Design Services Firms for New Product Design & Development in the US

Typical Deliverable Purpose
Product concepts Define and explore product ideas
Prototypes Test and refine design ideas
CAD models Develop the product digitally
Design specifications Document design intent and requirements
Product development documentation Support the product development process

Mechanical engineer

Freelance mechanical engineers are the ones who ensure how a certain product performs and functions. They may work closely on several factors like mechanical systems, internal architecture, tolerances, materials, and structural requirements, while still considering both design for manufacturing (DFM) and design for assembly (DFA).

Typical Deliverable Purpose
Engineering CAD Develop functional mechanical components
Mechanical layouts Define how internal components fit together
Tolerance schemes Control variation between parts
Engineering drawings Communicate manufacturing requirements
Bills of materials (BOMs) Define required components and materials
DFM reviews Evaluate manufacturability
Prototype specifications Define requirements for physical testing

CAD drafter/modeller

CAD drafters and modelers specifically focus on executing CAD models and converting design direction into more detailed technical documentation.

Typical Deliverable Purpose
3D CAD models Create accurate digital product geometry
2D drawings Communicate dimensions and specifications
Manufacturing documentation Support manufacturing with technical information
Assembly drawings Show how components fit together
GD&T documentation Define acceptable dimensional variation when qualified

Expert drafters may have GD&T expertise, but CAD modeling and drafting alone do not always replace engineering judgment. For powered or connected products, electrical engineers are significantly needed for power systems, PCBs, circuits, and electrical architecture. On the other hand, typically handle software embedded in the hardware, like controls, device behavior, and sensors.

RELATED: How to Quickly Cut Prototype Design Costs in 2026 for Product Design & Engineering Firms

When do you need an electrical engineer or firmware developer?

Some products mostly need expertise that is beyond mechanical engineering services and industrial design. If a certain product uses sensors, batteries, electronics, wireless connectivity, a firmware developer or an electrical engineer may actually need to be involved throughout the process of development.

Professional Typical Responsibilities
Electrical engineer Schematics, PCB requirements, power systems, wiring, sensors, electrical safety, and hardware integration
Firmware developer Embedded software, microcontroller programming, device logic, sensor behavior, and communication protocols

These professionals typically work in parallel with mechanical engineers and industrial designers in making sure that the physical products, software, and electronics work perfectly together. For example, a wearable device may need an industrial designer, specifically for its ergonomics and form; a mechanical engineer, who specializes in its enclosure and internal structure; an electrical engineer, who handles its power system and sensors; and a firmware developer to appropriately control how the device operates. This collaborative approach is mostly common for products like wearables, IoT devices, robotics, smart appliances, and connected consumer electronics, where there is a need for multiple disciplines to successfully produce. The distinction between all these professionals is not simply based on job titles.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), mechanical engineers and freelance industrial designers are known as distinct occupations with different areas of expertise. In May 2024, the median annual wage for industrial engineers was $79,450, and for mechanical engineers was $102,320. It mainly highlights the different professional paths and responsibilities that have been associated with each of the disciplines. This also reinforces why it’s best to select the right specialist according to the specific work that your product needs, and not merely on the job title alone.

RELATED: 8 Impressive Industrial Design Portfolios on Cad Crowd

Are you confused about which professional your product specifically needs next? Whether you’re refining the ideas and concept, preparing designs for manufacturing, or solving a mechanical challenge, platforms like Cad Crowd can help you connect with the right and experienced engineering and design expertise that can attend to your project’s current stage.

Who should you hire?

Discipline Primary Focus Typical Deliverables Common Tools Typical Hourly Range*
Industrial designer Form, ergonomics, CMF, A-surfaces Sketches, renders, CMF studies, styled CAD KeyShot, Rhino, Alias, SolidWorks $50–$150/hr
Product designer User needs, product concept, form + function Concepts, prototypes, product specifications, CAD Figma, SolidWorks, Fusion, Rhino $50–$150/hr
Mechanical engineer Function, architecture, DFM/DFA, tolerances Engineering CAD, drawings, BOMs, DFM reviews SolidWorks, Creo, Fusion, Inventor $60–$180/hr
CAD drafter/modeler CAD execution and documentation 2D drawings, 3D models, assemblies AutoCAD, SolidWorks, Inventor, Fusion $25–$100/hr
Electrical engineer Electrical hardware and systems Schematics, PCB layouts, wiring diagrams Altium, KiCad, Eagle $60–$180/hr
Firmware developer Embedded software Firmware, device logic, communication code C/C++, Python, embedded IDEs $50–$150/hr

​

Finding the right professional highly depends less on their job title and more on the deliverable that your specific project needs next. The table below shows the general comparison of the different roles that are commonly involved in the process of product development. Hourly rates are generally illustrative freelance market ranges and not fixed Cad Crowd pricing. It can surely vary significantly by experience, location, specialization, and project complexity.

industrial-designer-vs-product-designer-vs-engineer-hire-first

One of the major practical rules is to hire according to what the next milestone of your product mainly needs. If you are still in the exploration stage, especially when it comes to your product’s appearance and user experience, it is safe to hire an industrial or product designer. But if you need tolerances, DFM design services, functional development, or engineering drawings, one that’s more appropriate is to opt for a mechanical engineer. And for any technical CAD documentation, a CAD drafter or modeler is what’s best for it. Powered and connected products may need additional care for electrical engineering and firmware expertise. In most projects, the best approach is usually bringing in different specialists at different stages, where specific expertise is most needed.

RELATED: Best 50 Platforms to Hire Freelance Mechanical Designers, Engineers & 3D CAD Modeling Experts 

What does the typical product design sequence look like?

This is a typical product development process, general sequence.

  Idea

↓

  Industrial design/concept development

↓

Concept selection

↓

Mechanical engineering

↓

Prototype

↓

Testing

↓

DFM/DFA review

↓

Detailed CAD + drawings

↓

Manufacturing

The process of product design services usually begins with an idea and is followed by industrial design and concept development, exploring the product’s form, user experience, and appearance. After choosing the best concept, mechanical engineering significantly focuses on the design’s internal structure, functionality, and manufacturability. They will then create a prototype for testing, which allows the team to identify any design issues to address them early. Next is a DFM or DFA review to optimize the product for efficient manufacturing and assembly. The design will then go through detailed CAD and technical drawings before it moves into manufacturing. This practice is generally iterative, with teams moving back and forth between stages as feedback and testing lead to improvement of the design during the process.

How do industrial designers and mechanical engineers work together?

choosing-specialists-for-product-development-stages

Industrial designers and mechanical engineers are known to typically work in a relay instead of just working on separate or one-time hires. The industrial designer usually leads the product form, CMF, user experience, and ergonomics, while the mechanical engineer, on the other hand, specifically focuses on the internal architecture, function, tolerances, and manufacturability. Their work can usually overlap throughout the development. A mechanical engineer can determine a manufacturing or internal constraint that needs the Industrial designer to adjust with the exterior, while design changes may need an engineering revision. This back-and-forth collaboration helps greatly in ensuring that the final product is not just functional and manufacturable, but also comfortable and appealing.

RELATED: Why Hardware Startups Fail: 11 Reasons and Actionable Fixes for Hardware Founders

Who should you hire first if you only have an idea?

When the thing is you only have a rough idea, product vision, or sketch alone, it’s safer to start with an industrial designer or freelance concept designer. Their main role is to turn those abstract ideas into a visual concept, help you explore different form directions, consider ergonomics, and define what your product could become. At this stage, the primary goal is not for production-ready CAD, but to answer the most relevant question: what should this product be? And once everything is clear- the concept and the overall direction- that is the time when you could bring several specialists for further development.

What if the product looks defined but doesn’t work?

If your product already has a clear visual direction, defined exterior, or a basic CAD model, but has problems with assembly, strength, mechanisms, manufacturability, or internal packaging, a mechanical engineer is what’s best for you. Their major role is to evaluate the design from both functional and engineering perspectives. At this very stage, the most relevant question is: how do we make this product work reliably? And a mechanical engineer helps in developing the internal architecture, addressing any structural concerns, refining mechanisms, and preparing the design for manufacturing.

What if the product works but looks ugly or feels unusable?

If the product already works but has poor ergonomics, an appealing appearance, weak visual identity, awkward proportions, or poor material and finish choices, this is where you should hire an industrial designer. They are the ones who refine your product’s form and user experience without the need to compromise its intended function. Mechanical engineers may remain involved throughout the process in order to protect the product’s critical interfaces, internal architecture, functional performance, and structural requirements. This healthy collaboration helps ensure that improvements to the product’s usability and appearance do not meet with any other engineering problems later.

RELATED: Rugged Product Design Strategy: How Product Development Firms Can Deliver for Startups

Who should you hire when you need factory-ready drawings?

If your product design has already been completed and what you need are detailed drawings, assembly drawings, GD&T dimensioning, or manufacturing documentation, you most likely need to have a CAD drafter or modeler who has GD&T competence. However, if tolerances, structural requirements, materials, or manufacturing specifications are still not clear, you most probably need to have the help of a mechanical engineer. Drafting can document an engineering decision, but it must not replace the engineering judgment that is required in determining whether the design will reliably perform and can be manufactured as intended.

What if your product includes electronics?

product-development-design-professional-hiring-guide

For products with sensors, PCBs, motors, batteries, or wireless communication, you must bring in electrical engineers, and in parallel with mechanical design. PCB dimensions may significantly affect enclosure size, battery placement may affect its internal packaging, connectors can heavily influence housing geometry, and heat generation may affect mechanical design. And for any connected products, a firmware developer can begin working alongside the electrical engineer in developing embedded software, communication functions, and device logic as the hardware is being developed.

What happens when you hire the wrong specialist?

Hiring the wrong specialist may lead to greater problems that go far beyond the cost of an hourly rate. For example, if you hire a CAD drafter when your project needs engineering expertise, you can produce an accurate CAD model services that looks accurate, but fails to meet structural, functional, or manufacturing requirements. On the other hand, if you hire an engineer without any industrial design support, it may lead to a product that works well but doesn’t look attractive or feels uncomfortable to use. It is important to choose the right specialist based on what your project specifically needs next, so you can avoid any potential problems.

RELATED: 10 Costly Errors that Engineers Make for New Product Design at Development Firms

Stuck and unsure about who to hire first? You don’t have to guess. You can just easily post your project on CadCrowd’s website and explain what you already developed and what you currently need next. And we can connect you with different design or engineering professionals whose expertise best matches your project’s current stage.

Frequently asked questions:

  • Does a mechanical engineer need an industrial engineer?

Depending on the product to be designed. Highly technical products may need an engineer. Consumer products usually benefit from both industrial and technical design expertise.

  • Can an industrial designer also create engineering CAD?

Sometimes, but surface-focused or styled CAD is unlike any engineering-ready CAD. You can start by checking the designer’s portfolio and deliverables before expecting that they could cover both disciplines.

  • When should GD&T be added to a product design?

GD&T should be added when the functional relationships and standard manufacturing requirements are clearly understood, usually as part of engineering documentation before proceeding to production.

  • Do electronics need to be designed before the enclosure?

Not necessarily. Electrical and mechanical teams mostly develop the architecture together. So, both electronics and physical enclosure design may accommodate each other.

Choosing the best professional begins with identifying what your product specifically needs next. It depends on its specific needs who you hire as the right professional that could help in developing its process. It’s either a mechanical engineer, industrial designer, or a product designer. What matters most is that you are aware of your next goal to know who to go to for a successful production. But if you are still unsure and unaware of where your project certainly fits, Cad Crowd can help you. So, there’s no need to worry. You can just provide your project, explain its current stage and goals, and Cad Crowd will automatically connect you with the right professionals who best suit the work ahead.

RELATED: Top 5 Prototyping Mistakes to Avoid in Product Development (And How to Fix Them)

How Cad Crowd can help

Choosing the right professional for your product development project can make a significant difference in how smoothly the design moves forward. Cad Crowd connects businesses with vetted industrial designers, product designers, mechanical engineers, CAD professionals, electrical engineers, and firmware developers who can support different stages of development. Whether you need help refining an early concept, improving functionality and manufacturability, creating detailed CAD models and drawings, or integrating electronics and embedded systems, Cad Crowd can help you find the expertise that matches your project’s current needs. Contact Cad Crowd today for a free quote and connect with the right professional to move your product from concept to production with confidence.

author avatar

MacKenzie Brown is the founder and CEO of Cad Crowd. With over 18 years of experience in launching and scaling platforms specializing in CAD services, product design, manufacturing, hardware, and software development, MacKenzie is a recognized authority in the engineering industry. Under his leadership, Cad Crowd serves esteemed clients like NASA, JPL, the U.S. Navy, and Fortune 500 companies, empowering innovators with access to high-quality design and engineering talent.

Connect with me: LinkedIn ✦ X ✦ Cad Crowd

Send in the Clown is a turn-based RPG comedy about fighting one annoying child at a birthday party where there’s only one fight in the whole game

Posted on by faz_business



I generally find it quite frustrating how limited the medium of games insists on being when it comes to engaging in a wide breadth of genres. One particular genre that its filmmaking cousin frequently utilises but is rarely seen within games is comedy. Sure, occasionally a game makes an attempt at telling a joke within a cutscene (failing more often than not (comedy’s hard!)), but rarely is it a genre mechanically. So I’m quite pleased to learn of Send in the Clown, a turn-based RPG where you play as a clown that has to save a 12 year old’s birthday party… and it only has one turn.


In Send in the Clown, you play as Pockets, a horrendously sad name for a clown. He has been hired to perform at Miranda’s birthday party, except it’s being ruined by her shitty brother Tad. Your goal, then, is to save the day by saving the party by, uh, fighting a child! That’s Tad, to be clear. The problem is, Tad is a dirty trickster, and despite you being a literal adult, isn’t easy to take down. Your solution to that is by trying to make friends with everyone and anyone at the party.

Watch on YouTube


That involves playing a range of minigames. There’s a single dad who wants to impress with his dance moves but has two left feet, so you teach him through a rhythm game. There’s an exhausted mum who you help give a “much-needed break from parenting with Uncharted-style quick time events.” And there’s an awkward shy kid who you have to hype up a bit to get him involved. After befriending them, they essentially get added to your party (the RPG kind) and can be used to take down Tad; I’m particularly fond of the mum’s incredibly powerful attack where she throws her newborn baby.


It’s not just about making friends, there are a range of secrets to unlock and discover that can aid you in taking down Tad. Eventually all of this culminates in a single battle, and yes, an entire battle system was developed just for this one battle. That’s commitment! It’s just the bulk of the game is in the delightfully silly prep work you have to do. Best of all, it’s not trying to outstay its welcome; the game is only an hour long, so it doesn’t sound like any grinding will be necessary. I also greatly appreciate this note on the Steam page: “No artificial intelligence, or intelligence of any kind, was used in the making of this game.”


If any of this sounds up your alley, you can try out a demo, or just shoot it a wishlist, on its Steam page.

Find Lost Android Phone with Google Find Hub

Posted on by faz_business


A missing Android phone feels like an emergency, but Google’s Find Hub is the fastest way to locate a lost Android phone, since it’s built into every Android device and lets you see its location, ring it, lock it, or erase it from a web browser or another phone in minutes. It works whether your phone slipped between couch cushions at home or went missing somewhere across town.

A person searches sofa cushions while another calls a missing phone.

The tool comes preinstalled and switched on by default for most Android phones, so there’s a good chance it’s already working for you without any setup. Knowing how to use it, and what to do when it can’t find your phone right away, makes the difference between a five-minute recovery and a stressful, drawn-out search.

How Do You Locate Your Phone with Google Find Hub?

You can locate your phone by signing into Find Hub with the same Google account that’s on your missing device. The service shows a live map with your phone’s approximate position, along with options to play a sound, lock the screen, or wipe the data if recovery looks unlikely.

A person checks a phone while looking for a missing phone under a sofa cushion.

Sign in at android.com/find or Use Another Phone

Open android.com/find in any browser and sign in with your Google account. If you have access to another Android phone, the Find Hub app gives you the same controls, and adding a guest account is possible if the second phone belongs to someone else.

Check the Map and the Time of the Location Update

The map pin shows where your phone last reported its position, along with a timestamp. A location from two minutes ago is far more useful than one from six hours ago, so glance at that detail first before you head out the door.

Make a Nearby Phone Ring

If you suspect the phone is somewhere in your home or car, the “Play Sound” option makes it ring at full volume for five minutes, even if it’s set to silent. This trick has saved more searches under couch cushions and car seats than any map ever could.

What If Your Phone Is Offline or Turned Off?

A phone with no signal or battery isn’t invisible; Find Hub can still show its last known location and, for some devices, keep tracking it for a short while after it powers down. The details depend on your phone model and what you enabled beforehand.

A person checks a laptop while searching for a missing phone at home.

Check Its Last Known Location

Find Hub stores the most recent location your phone reported before it went dark. That last known location is often your best clue, especially if it places the phone at a specific address or business rather than a vague area.

Understand When Offline Finding Can Help

Android’s offline finding network uses nearby Android devices to detect your phone over Bluetooth, even without Wi-Fi or cellular service. On supported devices, including the Pixel 8 series, this network can keep reporting a location for several hours after the phone loses power, since a small reserve of battery keeps Bluetooth active briefly after shutdown.

Check Which Settings Must Be Enabled in Advance

Offline finding and location reporting need to be turned on before a phone goes missing. Check your device’s Find Hub settings now: location sharing, offline finding, and network participation should all be active so you’re not troubleshooting them during an actual emergency.

How Do You Protect a Lost or Stolen Phone?

Securing a lost phone matters more than finding it the instant it goes missing. Locking the screen and marking the device as lost through Find Hub blocks access to your apps, notifications, and payment cards right away, even before you know exactly where the phone is.

Lock It and Add a Contact Message

Marking your device as lost through Find Hub locks the screen and displays a custom message with an alternate phone number, so an honest finder can reach you without unlocking anything. This step also disables features like tap-to-pay so a thief can’t use stored cards.

Secure Your Accounts, Payments, and Mobile Service

Change passwords for your email and financial accounts, especially any that don’t use two-factor authentication tied to a separate device. Contact your mobile carrier too, since suspending service prevents unauthorized calls, texts, or data use on your line.

Erase It Only When Recovery Is Unlikely

A factory reset through Find Hub wipes personal data but also ends your ability to track the phone afterward. Save this step for situations where getting the phone back looks doubtful and protecting your data matters more than recovery.

What Else Can You Try If Find Hub Cannot Locate It?

Samsung owners have a second tool worth checking, and a bit of old-fashioned detective work still helps when Find Hub comes up empty. Between Samsung’s own Find app and your phone carrier’s records, there are a few more avenues before giving up.

Check Samsung’s Finding Tools If You Have a Galaxy Phone

Galaxy phones include Samsung Find, a separate service with its own map, ring, and lock features that sometimes picks up a location Find Hub misses. Sign in at Samsung’s Find website with your Samsung account to check it, since Samsung’s tool taps into a different device network alongside Google’s.

Retrace Your Steps and Contact Your Carrier

Think through your last few hours and check your Google Maps Timeline or location history for a trail of where you’ve been. If the phone still doesn’t turn up, call your carrier and report it lost or stolen, and have your IMEI number ready. Carriers can blacklist that IMEI so the phone becomes unusable on their network even if someone else tries to activate it.

Give Yourself the Best Chance of Getting It Back

A lost Android phone is usually recoverable when you act fast and have the right settings switched on ahead of time. Sign into Find Hub as soon as you notice it’s missing, check the timestamp on its last location, and use the ring feature if you think it’s close by.

If the phone appears offline, don’t assume it’s gone. The last known location and offline finding network still give you a real shot at tracking it down for hours after it loses power.

Lock the device and change your passwords before worrying about getting it back. Protecting your accounts and payment methods costs you nothing and takes only a couple of minutes, while a factory reset should wait until recovery looks unlikely. Keep your IMEI number written down somewhere separate from your phone, since your carrier will ask for it the moment you report a lost or stolen device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I find my lost Android phone for free?

Yes, Find Hub is a free service included with every Google account on an Android device. There’s no subscription or app purchase required to locate, ring, lock, or erase your phone.

Can I find my Android phone using my Gmail account?

Yes, since your Gmail address is tied to the Google account that Find Hub uses to identify your device. Sign into android.com/find with that same Gmail account and password to see your phone’s location and available options.

Can I find my lost Android phone if it’s turned off?

You can often still see its last known location before it powered down. Supported phones, including the Pixel 8 series, can also report a location for several hours after shutdown through the offline finding network, provided that feature was enabled beforehand.

How do I locate my Android phone from another phone?

Open the Find Hub app on the other phone and sign in as a guest with your Google account, or use that phone’s browser to visit android.com/find. Either method shows the same map, ring, lock, and erase options you’d get on a computer.

How do I locate a lost Samsung Galaxy phone?

Try Google Find Hub first, then check Samsung Find as a second option, since Galaxy phones support both services. Sign into Samsung Find with your Samsung account for a map view, ring feature, and remote lock that works alongside Google’s tools.

How Much Has the Iran War Cost the Average Family So Far?

Posted on by faz_business



The Iran War has sent prices soaring for the typical American family. But how much more are we all paying thanks to President Donald Trump’s decision to launch his idiotic war of choice? About $2,000 per household, according to an estimate from Moody’s.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, spoke with CNN on Tuesday, explaining, “Many Americans have rightly connected the dots between the Iran War and the painfully high cost of living and thus want the war to end.”

By Zandi’s calculations, the war has cost U.S. consumers about $265 billion, totaling about $2,000 per household. Slightly over half of that $2,000 is from higher energy prices, including gasoline and home heating bills, according to Zandi.

But that’s just the tally for the war so far. The war was launched on Feb. 28, when President Trump insisted that it might last 4-6 weeks. Obviously we’re coming up on eight months of conflict at the end of this month and there’s no end in sight.

In fact, there’s probably a lot more financial pain ahead. 18 commercial ships have been hit by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz so far this month. And Reuters reported Tuesday that the headquarters of Saudi Arabia’s oil company Aramco was struck today. It’s unclear at this point if the building was a direct hit by a missile or shrapnel from a missile interception. Saudi Arabia has been the target of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen, which is aligned with Iran.

At least 16 people were killed over the weekend at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and hundreds more were wounded, according to Bloomberg. The airport will remained closed until at least Oct. 17. President Trump whined about the Houthis in a post on Truth Social Tuesday, writing that they were “purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices, probably prior to the U.S. Elections — NOT NICE.”

There’s no doubt that the Houthis are helping drive up oil prices by bombing targets in Saudi Arabia, but not everything happening in the world is necessarily tied to the U.S. elections. The Houthis have been targeting Saudi Arabia for years and President Joe Biden hit Houthi sites in Yemen several times in 2024, long before the start of Trump’s second term or his disastrous war in Iran.

The national average for a gallon of gas in the U.S. currently sits at $4.34, according to AAA, with diesel prices averaging $6.27. A year ago, the average for gas was $3.08 and diesel was $3.65.

The average price for a domestic airline ticket last week was $386, according to Kayak. The price a year ago was $306. The average cost for an international ticket is $1,038, while a year ago it was $820.

Valor Mortis: Tips and Tricks to Survive the Crimson Plague

Posted on by faz_business


The Crimson Plague is ravaging Europe. Scattered across every level, echoes of the fallen and journal pages reveal the army’s secrets and the horrors of the plague. In Valor Mortis, you play William, a young Englishman disillusioned with the monarchy who joins Napoleon’s cause, drawn by the promise of a unified Europe. He dies for that ideal — and you’ll need every tool at your disposal to survive what follows in Valor Mortis, available today for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, Game Pass, and with support for XBOX Play Anywhere. Before you lead William into battle, the team at One More Level wants to share how its combat really works, and a few things we hope you will go looking for.

A Few Simple Tips

Valor Mortis Screenshot

Valor Mortis is a soulslike, but its systems are built to feed each other. Your blade breaks posture. Your firearms hit weak points. Hitting weak points refills your nephtoglobin (nephto), and killing enemies often drops ammo. Once that loop clicks, you are always one move away from your next advantage.

  • Break their posture. Enemies have a posture meter, similar to Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Land hits and parries to break it, then follow up with heavy attacks or a powerful finisher.
  • Commit, then parry. You can’t cancel an attack animation into a parry, so never start a swing you can’t finish. On weapons that support it, a clean parry lands with a metallic clang and sets up a counter-attack. A perfect dodge gives you a moment of slow motion.
  • Block, then counter. Counter-attacking right after a block restores the health you lost while blocking. In Valor Mortis, defense is also a way to heal.
  • Make every shot count. Ammo is scarce, so aim down sights at glowing weak points (the pustules, or “lambent blisters”). Detonate the explosive barrels some enemies carry, and shoot glowing red-orange nodes to reveal blocked paths.
  • Burn, then finish. The Fire Transmutation sets enemies alight, and burning enemies are open to finishers.

Change Your Playstyle with Ambers

Valor Mortis Screenshot

Ambers are where your build gets personal. Some simply make you stronger, but the best ones change how the game plays. Slot them in when you visit a lantern. The more you level William, the more Ambers you can equip, so use catalyst clots from your inventory to push past the next level threshold.

Here are three that show how far an Amber can take your build:

  • Marksman’s Bane. Lets you parry bullets, and every successful bullet parry gives you a Pistol round. Enemy gunfire becomes a source of ammo.
  • Volatile End. Shooting an enemy’s weak point causes a damaging explosion. Every precise shot now hits even harder.
  • Butcher’s Carnage. Your melee strikes restore health, but you can no longer heal with Ferrofluid Flasks. It rewards staying aggressive and punishes every moment of hesitation.

Every major boss has a strategy that works best against it. If a fight isn’t going your way, try different Transmutations, firearm combinations, and items from your inventory, and come back with a new plan.

Explore Every Corner

Valor Mortis Screenshot

Valor Mortis rewards you for exploring, like a metroidvania. Abilities you unlock later open up areas you have already visited. Later levels open into combat arenas with fights across multiple heights, and villages are full of shortcuts and alternate paths.

The best rewards are off the main path. Echoes of the fallen and journal pages fill in the story of the Crimson Plague. Many Ambers are tucked into optional areas, and you are unlikely to find every one of them in a single playthrough.

Some of the most powerful enemies in Valor Mortis are also the best hidden. Optional mini-bosses wait in the corners of its interconnected levels for players curious enough to look. You never know what you will discover, or what kind of trouble you will find.

Ready to Die for Napoleon?

Valor Mortis Screenshot

Valor Mortis is available today for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, Game Pass, and with support for XBOX Play Anywhere. We can’t wait to see the builds you create and the secrets you uncover.


Valor Mortis
Xbox Play Anywhere

Valor Mortis

Lyrical Games


☆☆☆☆☆


★★★★★


You served Napoleon. You died for Napoleon. You have risen for Napoleon.
You are William, a soldier of the Grande Armée brought back from a battlefield grave. But the Europe you awaken to is not the one you sacrificed for. A mysterious plague now sweeps the continent, and you have been reborn with its corrupting power pulsing through your veins.

HARNESS CORRUPTED POWER
Each death is a chance to grow stronger. Master a combat system of parries, dashes, and visceral finishers across a variety of weapons. Channel your power to enhance attacks and unlock new supernatural abilities to inflict upon your enemies.

SECRETS LITTER THE BATTLEFIELD
Navigate a 19th-century alternate history where the costs of endless war have corrupted the landscape. Use your newfound mobility to outmaneuver the plague-ridden abominations of Napoleon’s Eternal Guard and uncover environmental secrets that may increase your chances of survival.

UNCOVER A HORRID CONSPIRACY
Witness a compelling story where historical figures and realities intertwine with elements of horror and the supernatural. Explore beyond the dark corners of the world to discover the truth behind the plague and your unholy resurrection.

Samsung Galaxy Glasses leak reveals lightweight design and a surprising range of styles

Posted on by faz_business


What you need to know

  • Samsung’s Galaxy Glasses could weigh just 41 grams with standard lenses, making them lighter than earlier leaks suggested.
  • Battery life could reach nine hours, with the charging case extending total runtime to 72 hours.
  • Gentle Monster reportedly offers six frame designs across 16 variants, while Warby Parker plans three styles with multiple color and lens options.
  • A November launch is reportedly planned, with Gentle Monster models targeting South Korea and the US, and Warby Parker versions initially limited to the US.

Samsung’s first AI-enabled smart glasses might be lighter than previous leaks have suggested, and they look to be available in a wider range of designs than we’ve seen so far.

New information obtained by SammyGuru reveals that the upcoming Galaxy Glasses weigh around 41 grams with standard lenses, alongside a detailed look at frame options from Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.

30 Bible Verses About Marriage (Love, Husbands & Wives)

Posted on by faz_business


I got married at an incredibly young age to get away and flee from a very physically abusive mother. I wasn’t saved at the time, didn’t love him, and honestly, without my knowledge, I just traded one set of abuses for another.

But I believed in the fairy tale romances, that love would get us through. Through his p*rn, through his illegal crimes, through bouncing around from one family member’s home to another and we remained married for many years.

After that, he had, yet another physical affair and this time, me and the kids ended up homeless.

It was directly after I got out of the homeless shelter and into my own, small apartment, that I gave my life to God and I wondered why He had allowed all of that to happen to me.

I started learning how to become a godly woman, how to please God, and how to live a righteous life and in turn, I learned how to become a wife above reproach.

It was a lot of fun for me. I was learning all I could and growing in the Lord. That was a long time ago, and one day, in God’s timing, I’ll have someone godly to marry (until then, I refuse to settle for anyone who’s not completely sold out to God, like I am!)

Whether you’re single like me or married already, you must learn all you can about marriage. How God intends it to be, what the responsibilities of the man are and what the responsibilities of the woman are.

The more you learn about God’s design for marriage, the more you please God and shine God’s light on a dying world, whether married or not.

Let’s look at some amazing verses and Scripture marriage encouragement: 30 Bible verses about marriage, to get you started.

*Update: A lot of people want to know what Bible I use in particular. I have read many, MANY study Bibles on the market. My absolute favorite, hands down, is Charles Spurgeon’s Bible!! It’s my go-to for everything. His notes are amazing and you learn a lot! This is the exact Bible I have and LOVE!

Be sure to check these out too:

30 Bible Verses About Marriage

Looking for a cute Christian Daily Planner? Here’s my FREE 500+ page rainbow Christian Daily Planner.

1) Proverbs 18:22

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.”

A good wife is to be a blessing to her husband all the days of his life. Our main goal as a woman is to be a blessing to everyone around us, particularly our husband.

2) Colossians 3:18-19

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”

This verse gets a bad wrap, but wives aren’t the only one in the marriage called to submit! Husbands are called to submit to their wives as well!

Do not take this out of context, the husband is to submit to his wife, as a weaker vessel and heir in Christ as well. They BOTH submit to each other!

3) Ephesians 5:25-27

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

Loving your wife with GOD’S love is key here! Not human, selfish love, but with Christ’s love, who was willing to lay down His life for the church.

4) Deuteronomy 24:5

“When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife whom he has taken.”

When I get married, I’ve asked (and God has approved) to give me TWO years with my husband, just me and him, before we begin any big ministries, to enjoy each other, learn about each other, and love on each other. This is very, very important for a newly married couple! If you’re just setting up your home or you’re struggling to balance everything, be sure to download my free Household Binder here! It was such a foundational help to me to streamline all my home activities and work and I know it will be for you too! ❤️

5) Matthew 19:4–6

“He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

As a woman, you will be tempted to listen to the gossip of your friends telling you how your husband is bad or how their husband is bad. Steer clear of women who have poison on their tongue, even if it’s covered in syrup! What God brought together, don’t let Satan creep in and separate on the sly, because he WILL try, even through your friends, parents, and any other relationship he can get his foot in.

6) Hebrews 13:4

“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”

Do not sleep with anyone other than your husband. Period.

7) Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!”

Your spouse is designed to lift you up, help you, and encourage you at all times. When you’re feeling drained, you can go to your spouse and they will help strengthen you, hold you, be tender with you, love you. Knowing your spouse always has your back is important. It’ll keep you grounded and both of you strengthened.

8) Ephesians 5:28-30

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.”

Husbands are to tenderly care for their wives as they would their own bodies. It’s a sacrificial love and it goes both ways.

9) 1 Peter 3:7

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite verses. Want to hinder your prayers with God? Be mean to your wife. It’s as simple as that. God calls men to a standard, and it is to treat their wife with respect and honor (and her to him as well), not as property or meanly.

10) Isaiah 62:5

“For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

It is pretty standard for a young man to marry a young woman, but it is not sin or found anywhere in the Bible saying not to marry at differing ages (think: Ruth and Boaz, which is the ideal couple). I happen to like younger guys (think: 10ish years younger) and I’m not ashamed of it in the least. I refuse to marry someone my own age for many personal reasons. Mostly, because my personality is like a big kid, I’m like Peter Pan and I never want to grow up. 😆 I’d much rather play video games (Mario is my fav), travel, and have fun than be adult-ish. I watch cartoons. I play and joke around. And men don’t live as long as women do; I don’t want to bury a husband. I need a guy a bit younger than me so I don’t have to bury him and so our personalities match. 😊 Some women like older men, though. Someone I am close to happens to like older men (totally opposite of me) and that’s okay. Again, nothing in the Bible forbids marrying someone of a certain age or race. Is it common to marry someone of a similar age, yes. Is it sin to marry someone of a different age? No, as long as you both know fully what you’re getting into.

11) Proverbs 21:9

“It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.”

A quarrelsome wife is THE WORST! She’s cantankerous all the time, you’re never able to please her, and she’s always just so argumentative. There’s no peace in your home and it’ll drive you nuts. Be on the same page with your wife and seek to remain in unity and peace at all times.

12) 1 Corinthians 7:2-5

“But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

It is SO very common for a woman to withhold sex from her husband and use it as a tool of manipulation. This is WRONG and should not ever be done! I would also say that most married couples only have sex once a week on average and the man needs it more than that. Men read sex as you wanting them. They read it as love. If you’re not intimate with them, they think you don’t love them!! You both should be actively striving to please each other, in all ways, and by doing so, once a week is usually never enough for the guy. You want to make purposeful time to be together each and every day. That doesn’t always mean sex every day (although it can), but spending loving time together every day is a must in any good, healthy, godly marriage. This will also help your husband not be tempted by Satan.

13) 1 Corinthians 16:14

“Let all that you do be done in love.”

Everything you do in your life, should be done with love. This is especially true in our daily living with our families. Are we gruntled, gruff, and treating them badly, or are we kind, sweet, polite, and loving?

14) 1 Corinthians 7:10-11

“To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.”

There is a lot of teaching in the Bible about marriage and divorce. If a woman divorces her husband for any other reason than he’s had a physical affair or he has abandoned her, she should not remarry as this would be sin. Divorce is not to be used flippantly. What do you do though if your husband wants a divorce? God intended marriage to be for life and this is how we must view it also!

15) Proverbs 19:14

“House and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”

The very first thing I did when I heard this verse was to look up the word prudent so that I have a good working knowledge of it to make sure I qualify in this area. I would encourage every woman to do the same (as well as single men to know what to look for in a future wife!) Basically, it’s a wife who cares for the future, prepares early, etc. As a mom, this tends to come naturally to women (think: packing a diaper bag), but it’s very important to make sure we’re lining up with this verse in all areas of our life. 😊

16) Ephesians 4:32

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

A marriage without forgiveness cannot last a week! At some point you AND your spouse are going to step on each other’s toes and it’s about asking forgiveness when you sin, when you mess up, and the other person forgiving. Forgiveness is important in ANY type of relationship! If you don’t forgive, it leads to bitterness, which is poison to the soul.

17) Ephesians 5:33

“However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

If your husband is not living a godly life, it can be super hard to respect him, but we are commanded to respect our husband. So, what do you do? I wrote a post all about it here to help!

18) Genesis 2:24

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

There is a point in a man’s life where he is not a child anymore. He becomes a man and so he will leave the home of his parents and be united (flesh, heart, mind) with his wife. If a man is holding onto his parents, not letting them go, it can add a lot of problems in the marriage. Of course, that never means to ignore them, as the Bible says to honor our parents, but it does mean there needs to be biblical boundaries. His wife becomes the #1 person to him on earth (after God), no longer his parents.

19) Proverbs 31:10-12

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”

I love this verse so much for so many reasons. She is to do him good. Think about all the ways you can do your husband BAD. Talking about him behind his back, belittling him in public, tearing down his name to his friends, just so many ways. Wives are NEVER to participate in these things. We are to build UP our husband, treasuring him. He can safely trust her that she means him no harm, ever, even when she’s mad!!! Retaliation is the worst thing possible in a marriage. If you work on one thing in your life, work on that. That when you are mad, you never, ever retaliate. Better to take the offense and be innocent before God and man, then to attack back.

20) 1 Corinthians 7:39

“A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.”

One of the things I look forward to most about being married in the future is BELONGING to someone and here you have it spelled out very clearly for us. We are to BELONG to our husband, we are his, we belong to him and he belongs to us. It’s a fitting together of the souls. You fit with each other in unison. It’s such a beautiful picture of marriage. 💎 But if her husband dies (she becomes a widow; again men usually don’t live as long as women do), she is free to marry someone else, but if she does, he must be a believer.

21) 1 John 3:18

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

So often we throw around the word “love”. I love video games. I love traveling. I love baseball. I love graphic design. But God’s love has a much deeper meaning than we like something or that we’re physically attracted to our spouse. It’s about choosing them, sacrificing for them daily. It’s not just saying “I love you”, but rather SHOWING them that you love them daily, and yes, you SHOULD show your spouse you love them daily, even if it’s in the smallest of ways. You will do well to strive the rest of your life to show your spouse you love them in different ways every single day of your life. It’ll force you to get creative, to think outside the box, to put a lot of mental effort forth for your marriage, but it makes the other person feel good. It makes them happy and content, to know they are loved. It makes them feel secure, that you’re still chasing them AFTER marriage (both men AND women should do this). It’s about showing them how much they mean to you, that love is more than love, not just some words you said at your wedding day many years ago.

22) 1 Corinthians 13:13

“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

This is a vital verse in the Bible and can apply here to marriage as well. The greatest characteristic to have, above all else is love, and love is cultivated in marriage. We understand love more when we are married because it is daily on display in our hearts and lives.

23) 1 John 4:18

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”

This is such a wise statement, there is no fear in love. While we may experience fear, when we love, it is focused on the OTHER person. Fear is focused on ourselves. I’m afraid of public speaking. I place my focus on myself. What will they think of me, will they like me, hate me, will I stumble and trip over my words? But if I’m focusing on loving someone else, I’m not worried about my fear of public speaking. I’m just talking to YOU, loving you, doing what is necessary for YOU. My thoughts are on you, not myself. Therefore, where there is fear, love cannot exist and where love exists, there is not fear.

24) 1 Peter 4:8

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

This isn’t saying that the other person doesn’t sin or that we just forget when someone’s hurt us, covering it over like a rug. Here it’s talking more about loving someone so much that you forgive them, even when they mess up really bad. That you love them so earnestly, with all your heart and soul, that you can’t bear to stay mad at theme and you forgive them and let the offense go.

25) Ecclesiastes 9:9

“Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.”

This has GOT TO BE one of the LEAST romantic verses on marriage in the entire Bible, for sure, but in it, there’s a lot of wisdom. Solomon is basically saying, enjoy your wife because in your feeble, insignificant existence, that’s the best you get. Work is vanity, life is vanity, everything is vanity, and you work so hard for your wife anyway (providing for her, meeting her needs, etc.), might as well enjoy her. It’s really hard to believe that this same guy wrote Song of Solomon, a book full of PASSION and romantic words for your cherished one, but he did and he wrote Ecclesiastes AFTER Song of Solomon to boot. Either way, that’s what he’s saying here: enjoy your wife because it doesn’t get any better than that.

26) 1 Corinthians 7:8-9

“To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

This one totally tripped me up years ago. I thought that it was better to be single than be married so I can serve Christ more, but I realized that I can serve Christ just as much with a husband than without (it’s just about balancing my time). It’s really up to your own conscience if you want to be married or not and what the Lord has allotted for you. For me, I want to be married. 🥰

27) Genesis 1:27-28

“God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God has blessed man with a wife, for many reasons. One, being that he not be alone. A wife is a gift from the Lord. Listen up men, never forget that. 😊

28) Song of Solomon 8:6-7

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.”

I love that…many waters cannot quench love. It’s so true, isn’t it? Love cannot be quenched. It makes me think about Christ’s love for us, how He died for us, how He will never leave us, how His love for us will never end. ❤️

29) 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

This is a fantastic verse that shows us the standard of what God’s love is! Definitely worth deep diving into it and applying every aspect to your life!!

30) Proverbs 12:4

“An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.”

A good wife is a jewel to her husband, a gift from the Lord, someone who makes him look good and be a better man. But a bad wife is like rottenness to his bones. It’s a SLOW kind of death, but a death, none the same. She slowly kills him, crushes his soul, discourages him, manipulates him, he becomes miserable over time and all joy is sucked from his life.

 

When Your Heart Feels Heavy in Marriage

If you’re here reading Bible verses about marriage, there’s a good chance your heart is carrying something heavy. 😔

Maybe you feel lonely inside your own home, even though you’re married. Maybe the same argument keeps coming back up over and over. Maybe you’re wondering if your marriage is “too far gone,” or if God is disappointed in you for past sins.

God is not surprised by these things. He is near to the brokenhearted, even in the middle of messy, imperfect marriages. He cares about your covenant, and He cares deeply about your tired, hurting heart.

You don’t have to fix everything today (Rome wasn’t built in a day), but you can take one small step toward having a better marriage. ❤️

👉 Did you like this Christian marriage verses list? If so, be sure to check out all the Bible verses by topic here. 

 

Want Your New iPhone Duo Fast? Lock in Your Details Now

Posted on by faz_business


If you’re eager to get your hands on the highly anticipated iPhone Duo, the first foldable iPhone, here’s how to get a head start on ordering. Apple has opened a staging page for preorders on apple.com, where you can get ready to place a preorder for the viral phone.

Head over to Apple’s online storefront, and you’ll find that a new iPhone Duo configurator is now live. On that page, save your preferred phone color, storage, mobile carrier and payment method. Saving these details in advance ensures you can complete your purchase immediately when preorders open at 5 a.m. PT on Friday.

Apple unveiled the iPhone Duo, one of its first new products under the helm of new CEO John Ternus, during its Surprise and Shine event in Cupertino, California, on Friday. It’s the first foldable from Apple, although merely the latest in a wave of new bendy phones to hit the market.

The iPhone Duo opens to reveal a 7.6-inch display and folds down to a pocketable passport size. The shifting shape supports split-screen multitasking and Apple Pencil, and brings a host of new features and animations to Apple iOS 27.

Pricing starts at $1,999 for the 512GB model and tops out at $3,199 for the 2TB version — before carrier subsidies — making the iPhone Duo the most expensive iPhone ever released. Price aside, observers expect demand among early adopters to be high, so prepping your order now is a smart idea.

iPhone Duo First Look: Amazing Battery, Features and Zero Crease?!

Not quite sure that the new iPhone Duo is the right phone for you? I’m also on the fence. Check out CNET’s coverage leading up to the launch of the new foldable and iOS 27, as well as the more conventionally shaped iPhone 18 Pro, so you can make an informed decision.

Antuan Goodwin

Antuan Goodwin


Senior Writer, Electrified Cars


Antuan has nearly 20 years of expertise and experience testing hundreds of cars, including electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, hydrogen, and traditional combustion vehicles.

Okko The Exiled Free Download (v1.1.0)

Posted on by faz_business


Okko The Exiled PC Game




Okko The Exiled Direct Download:

Fight to join the isolated world of Kutala with the heavens and fulfill an ancient oath! Camp Whittlewood

Get ready to embark on an action-packed adventure where you stomp, launch, deflect and bash your way through Kutala, a land of demons, on a quest to defeat the Demon Lord Yalda and link Okko’s isolated world with the heavens! After 1,000 years of concealment, Okko is ready to wield the Mighty Fang and take down Kutala’s lords one by one. Defeat powerful foes, overcome obstacles and unleash your heart as Okko fights to fulfill an ancient oath. Enjoy meticulously hand-drawn 2D animations that bring Kutala’s characters to life in retro-inspired pixel art glory!

Explore side-scrolling stages with precision platforming, link attacks to form devastating combos, send enemies flying and face down enormous bosses that require quick-thinking strategy! As capable as Okko may be, he won’t be alone in his quest. A colorful cast of allies will sell you valuable items, fill your belly and provide useful information at The Old Throne, a place of respite with its own buried secrets to uncover. Upgrade and unlock new abilities to give Okko an edge in combat, collect Deevols to unlock Underground challenge levels and more. A devilish world of discovery is at Okko’s fingertips!

Game Features:

  • Vibrant, hand-drawn pixel art brings Okko’s world path of destruction to life as he explores the demon lands of Kutala.
  • Captivating soundtrack composed by an industry veteran to immerse you in Okko’s epic journey!
  • Focus Mode: consume Heart Energy and time Okko’s attacks to inflict extra damage on enemies and break their shields!
  • Launch, Stomp, Bounce, Shoot, Deflect, and more, as you send enemies flying across the screen, pop them into the air, and link attacks to form devastating combos!
  • Fill your belly, purchase goods, and chat up a colorful cast of characters at The Old Throne, a place of respite, while also uncovering the secrets of its depths.

Screenshots

System Requirements

Minimum
Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
OS: Windows 10 or 11
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo E8400, 3.0GHz or AMD
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: Geforce 9600 GT or AMD HD 3870 512MB
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 4 GB available space
Support the game developers by purchasing the game on Steam

Installation Guide

Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game

1 :: Download Game
2 :: Extract Game
3 :: Launch The Game
4 :: Have Fun 🙂




Control AI Without The Drag

Posted on by faz_business


Ask a franchise owner how they wrote last week’s Instagram caption, and the answer is often ChatGPT. The store manager who replied to that one-star Google review probably used it too, and so did whoever wrote the job ad at the Tampa location.

None of it went through HQ. There was no rollout, no training, no memo. People found tools that saved them twenty minutes and kept using them. That’s why AI governance for franchisors has moved from an IT side project to an operations problem.

It shows up in the data, too. Across industries, IBM’s 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report found shadow AI involved in 43% of breached organizations, more than double the year before.

The questions that follow are uncomfortable. Which tools are people using? What are they pasting into them? Does the output match the brand, the current offers and the legal fine print?

The instinct is to clamp down, and that usually backfires. The better answer is governance built for how franchise networks actually work: locations keep moving fast, and HQ keeps control of what matters.

What Is AI Governance?

AI governance is the set of policies, permissions, systems and processes a company uses to control how AI is accessed and used. That’s the textbook version. The practical version is simpler: good governance gives clear answers to six questions.

  • Which AI tools are approved?
  • What data is off-limits?
  • Which tasks can AI help with?
  • Who can access which company knowledge?
  • When does a person need to check the output before it goes anywhere?
  • How does the company see what’s actually happening?

For a single-office business with one marketing team, those are manageable. A franchise system is a different animal. You’re governing HQ, regional teams, franchise owners, store managers and frontline staff across dozens or hundreds of locations.

Each group needs different things, and most of them don’t report to you. Franchisees own their businesses, which limits what HQ can simply require (more on that below). It also helps explain why so many companies are behind: in IBM’s 2026 report, 68% of breached organizations lacked AI governance capable of managing AI use or detecting shadow AI, up from 63% a year earlier.

Shadow AI Is Already Happening Across Franchise Networks

Shadow AI is when employees or franchisees use AI tools without formal company approval, visibility or oversight. If you remember shadow IT (the Dropbox account marketing set up without telling anyone), it’s the same idea. It just spreads faster and is harder to spot.

In a franchise network, it looks completely ordinary:

  • A franchisee uploads the operations manual to a free AI tool so they can ask it questions.
  • A local marketer uses ChatGPT to write a promo for a discount HQ retired last month.
  • A manager pastes a month of customer complaints, names and phone numbers included, into a chatbot to look for patterns.
  • Twelve locations write twelve different prompts for replying to reviews.

Nobody here is trying to cause problems. They’re trying to get through a busy week. That’s the part most companies miss.

Shadow AI is often a usability problem disguised as a compliance problem.

If the approved way of doing something takes longer than opening a browser tab and typing into ChatGPT, people will open the browser tab. Every time.

Diagram comparing HQ's view of a franchise network with the unapproved AI tools locations actually use.

Why an AI Policy Alone Is Not Enough

Most companies respond to shadow AI the same way: they write an AI policy for employees. A typical generative AI policy says something like this:

  • Don’t share confidential or customer data.
  • Only use approved tools.
  • Review AI output before using it.
  • Don’t publish anything sensitive without sign-off.

All reasonable. The trouble is that a policy describes the behavior you want without changing the conditions that produce the behavior you’ve got.

Picture a store manager who has read the policy. To follow it, she still has to pay for her own AI subscription, dig the latest SOP out of an email thread, paste chunks of it into a chat window, write a prompt from scratch and guess which model is best for the job. Or she can skip most of that and get something good enough in two minutes. You can guess which one happens on a Saturday afternoon.

An AI policy tells people what they should do. AI governance makes the right behavior easy to follow.

The policy still matters. It just needs a system behind it.

The 5 Biggest Risks of Uncontrolled AI Use

Good AI risk management starts with knowing what you’re actually worried about. For franchisors, it usually comes down to five things.

1. Sensitive data ends up in unapproved tools

Customer details, internal pricing, supplier terms, employee records, franchise agreements. Once that information goes into a personal AI account, you’ve lost track of where it lives and how it might be used. It’s also expensive when it goes wrong: breaches involving shadow AI averaged $5.39 million in IBM’s 2026 report, against a $4.99 million global average.

2. Locations publish off-brand content

AI writes quickly, but it doesn’t know your brand voice, which offers are live, what legal won’t allow or how marketing rules differ from one state to the next. The result is content that sounds fine and is quietly wrong.

3. AI gives confident answers that are incorrect

A new manager asks a chatbot, “What’s our refund policy?” It answers instantly and clearly, based on what refund policies usually look like on the internet. Not yours. Nobody notices until a customer does.

Side-by-side comparison of an unsourced chatbot answer and a cited answer from a franchise's refund policy.

4. Every location reinvents the same workflow

Fifty locations each work out their own way to write review replies, job posts, social captions and customer emails. That’s fifty versions of the same work, at fifty levels of quality, when a handful of shared automations for franchisors would cover most of it.

5. HQ can’t measure adoption or ROI

You may know AI is being used. You probably can’t say how many people use it, which locations rely on it, which workflows save real time or where the risks are. Without that, it’s hard to invest in AI with any confidence, and even harder to defend the spend.

The Franchise Questions to Take to Your Attorney

Most AI governance advice assumes you employ everyone you’re governing. Franchisors don’t, and that changes what HQ can actually require. None of this is legal advice. These are the questions worth putting in front of your franchise counsel before you roll anything out.

Can we require a specific AI tool? It depends on the franchise agreement. Many include a technology clause covering required systems, software and technology fees. Plenty were written before generative AI and are vague about it, so mandating a platform may mean an amendment or waiting for renewals.

Who owns the data a franchisee pastes into a chatbot? Customer lists, reviews and sales data often sit in a gray zone between franchisor and franchisee. Whose data it is shapes who carries the risk if it leaks.

Are we exposed when a location’s AI gets it wrong? If a franchisee publishes a false pricing claim or a discriminatory job ad written by AI, the complaint may name the brand alongside the franchisee. How much control you exercise over that content affects how strong that argument is.

How far can we go before it looks like joint employment? This is the tension that makes franchisors hesitate. The more tightly HQ dictates how franchisee employees do their daily work, the stronger a joint-employer argument becomes. Governing brand standards and data is different from directing someone’s job, and that line deserves careful drafting.

Does a required platform change our FDD? A new mandatory system or technology fee usually has to be disclosed to prospective franchisees. Ask counsel what needs updating and when.

Spectrum showing AI governance controls from low to high joint-employer sensitivity.

Regulation adds another layer, and it’s still moving. The EU AI Act treats AI used in hiring and employment decisions as high-risk, which matters for brands with European locations. New York City already requires bias audits for automated hiring tools. Colorado went further and repealed its 2024 AI Act outright: in May 2026 it replaced it with SB 26-189, a narrower law covering automated decision-making technology that materially influences decisions such as hiring. It takes effect January 1, 2027, so any franchise system using AI to screen or rank Colorado applicants has a real date to prepare for, even if enforcement waits on the attorney general’s rules.

What an AI Governance Framework Should Look Like

An AI governance framework doesn’t need to be a 40-page document. Formal standards like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 42001 are worth knowing about, but for most franchise systems, governance comes down to six building blocks.

1. Approved AI tools

Decide which models and platforms people can use, then give them access so they don’t need personal accounts. The goal is fewer random logins, not fewer people using AI.

2. Approved company knowledge

Give AI controlled access to the material it should draw on: SOPs, policies, training documents, brand guidelines, product information and internal FAQs. That’s what fixes the refund policy problem.

3. Reusable, approved prompts

HQ builds prompts once for the work every location repeats: replying to a negative review, drafting a local promotion, summarizing feedback, writing a job post, turning an SOP into a checklist. For marketing teams, prompts with built-in approval rules keep speed and brand control together.

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4. Role-based access

Not everyone needs everything.

Role What they can access
HQ Company-wide knowledge, settings and reporting
Regional manager Knowledge and reporting for their region
Franchisee Operational resources, brand assets and approved workflows
Location employee A small set of everyday workflows

5. Human review for high-risk tasks

Pricing claims, legal responses, hiring content and anything regulated shouldn’t go straight from AI to the public. The flow is simple: AI drafts, a person reviews, someone approves, then it’s published.

6. Usage monitoring

Track active users, the most-used workflows, usage by location and time saved. That’s how you find the wins worth scaling and the gaps worth fixing.

How the pieces fit together

Each risk from earlier maps to a building block, and each block maps to a function in the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.

Risk Building block that addresses it NIST AI RMF function
Sensitive data in unapproved tools Approved tools, role-based access Govern
Off-brand content Approved prompts, human review Manage
Confident but wrong answers Approved company knowledge Manage
Every location reinvents workflows Approved prompts Manage
No visibility into adoption or ROI Usage monitoring Measure

NIST’s fourth function, Map, is the Discover step in the plan below: understanding where AI is already in use before deciding what to control.

How to Control AI Without Slowing Franchisees Down

This is the part that decides whether governance works or becomes one more thing people route around.

Make the approved option the easiest one. If the approved tool gets a usable answer faster than a free chatbot, convenience does most of the enforcing.

Standardize repeatable work, not every thought. Lock down customer replies, promotions and hiring content. Leave brainstorming alone.

Give teams freedom inside guardrails. Franchisees know their local market better than HQ does. Let them experiment with ideas and tone, and draw firm lines around sensitive data and what gets published.

Keep one source of truth. When every location keeps its own copy of the brand guidelines, some copies are out of date. One shared, current source means AI answers from the right version.

Match approvals to the risk. Brainstorming subject lines and publishing a pricing claim shouldn’t go through the same process. If they do, people start skipping it for both.

Centralize the guardrails. Decentralize the creativity.

From AI Policy to a Governed AI Setup

Today, a typical franchise employee’s AI setup is a personal ChatGPT account, brand guidelines in Google Docs, an SOP buried in their downloads folder and a few favorite prompts in a notes app. HQ can see none of it.

A governed setup pulls those pieces together: approved models, AI that answers from company knowledge, shared prompts and agents, permissions by role and visibility into usage. Some franchisors build this with an internal team. Others bring in a partner to build and run it. Either way, that’s where governance stops being theoretical. A policy on paper can’t change what someone does at 6 p.m. on a Friday. A setup where the right knowledge and prompts are already waiting can.

A Simple 5-Step AI Governance Plan for Franchisors

You don’t have to solve everything at once. Here’s a practical order to work in.

Step 1: Discover. Find out what’s already happening. A short, anonymous survey works well: which tools are teams using, what for and what information goes into them? Expect the answers to be broader than you’d guess.

Step 2: Define. Set the basics: approved tools, prohibited data, acceptable uses and which tasks need human review. Run it past counsel using the questions above, and keep it short enough that a store manager will read it.

Step 3: Centralize. Bring company knowledge, prompts and AI assistants into one controlled environment. Plan the switchover for franchisees already paying for ChatGPT or Claude: give them a cutover date and decide whether HQ covers access from then on, so nobody pays twice.

Step 4: Enable. Train franchisees on workflows that help them, not just on the rules. Franchise networks have a real edge in AI adoption because one good workflow can roll out to every location. Show a manager how to answer three reviews in five minutes and you’ll get more buy-in than any policy memo.

Step 5: Measure. Track adoption, time saved, workflow usage, location participation and output quality. Then adjust. Governance isn’t a one-time project.

How Weam Helps Franchisors Put AI Governance in Place

Weam is an AI implementation partner for franchise and multi-unit businesses. Instead of handing HQ another tool to configure, the Weam team designs, builds and maintains the governed setup for your network. The product views in this article are illustrative mockups of the kind of setup Weam builds. It includes:

  • Prompt libraries, training and governance guidelines built around your brand, so every location uses AI the same way
  • AI grounded in your operations playbook and brand standards, so answers come from your documents
  • Model choices reviewed and approved with your legal or operations team during setup
  • Role-based permissions across HQ, regions and locations
  • Usage tracking that shows which teams use AI and which tasks save the most time

That covers the operational side of governance. It doesn’t replace your franchise counsel, a model-level risk assessment, the audit logs a regulator may ask for, your data retention and deletion policy or due diligence on the AI vendors themselves. Those still need an owner at HQ, and naming them early saves a scramble later.

Once the guardrails are in place, the next step is putting AI to work where locations lose the most time and money. Our guide to 10 AI workflows that stop revenue leaks picks up from there.

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Want to see what a governed AI rollout could look like across your locations? Book a demo call.

Final Takeaway: Don’t Fight AI Adoption. Govern It.

Franchisees using AI isn’t the problem. They found tools that save them time, and that’s a good thing. The problem is AI use that nobody can see, guide or measure.

So the goal shouldn’t be to stop people from using AI. It should be to give them a faster, safer, company-approved way to use it.

The organizations that get AI governance right won’t be the ones with the longest AI policies. They’ll be the ones where the approved way to use AI is also the easiest way.

FAQs

What is AI governance for franchisors?

It’s the set of policies, permissions and processes a franchisor uses to control how AI is used across HQ and franchise locations. It covers approved tools, data rules, access by role, human review and usage monitoring, shaped around what the franchise agreement allows.

Can a franchisor require franchisees to use a specific AI tool?

It depends on the franchise agreement. Many include a technology clause covering required systems and fees, but older agreements may not mention AI. Check with franchise counsel, and remember that a new required platform may need to be disclosed in the FDD.

What is shadow AI?

Shadow AI is the use of AI tools without the company’s approval or visibility, such as pasting internal documents into a personal chatbot account. It’s usually driven by convenience, not bad intent.

What should a franchise AI policy include?

At minimum: approved tools, data that must never be shared, allowed use cases, when human review is required and who to ask when something’s unclear. Keep it short and use real examples.

How can a company stop employees from using unapproved AI tools?

Bans rarely work on their own. Offer an approved option that’s faster and more useful, with company knowledge and ready-made prompts built in, then monitor usage and follow up where gaps show.

What is an AI governance framework?

It’s a structured approach to managing AI use. A practical one covers approved tools, approved knowledge, reusable prompts, role-based access, human review for high-risk tasks and usage monitoring. Those map onto the Govern, Map, Measure and Manage functions of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework.