Author: NY TIMES

The main character at Dolly Lana Meckler’s wedding was probably her dress: a theatrical, reconstructed Pucci gown that was more than two years in the making.Her parents, both “eccentric” artists, first spotted the dress at a Pucci store at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Woodbury, N.Y., in February 2022, Ms. Meckler said. They sent her a photo of the dress, but a wedding hadn’t yet been on her radar.Over a year later, after getting engaged, she couldn’t stop thinking about that voluminous, ruffled dress that looked a bit like a giant snowball. After searching for it everywhere, and even sending…

Sometimes, it’s illegal to spend money that you set aside for yourself.When you save money in many types of workplace retirement accounts, the Internal Revenue Service doesn’t collect income taxes on that money until it’s time to take it out, when you’re older.Need money before then? Certain types of “hardship” withdrawals are permissible. But you must have a very good reason, and you definitely can’t lie about it.Last week, a sentencing hearing took place after a rare case involving this sort of legal violation. Federal prosecutors had won convictions against Marilyn Mosby, the former Baltimore prosecutor who may be best…

When Frank Pine searched Google for a link to a news article two months ago, he encountered paragraphs generated by artificial intelligence about the topic at the top of his results. To see what he wanted, he had to scroll past them.That experience annoyed Mr. Pine, the executive editor of Media News Group and Tribune Publishing, which own 68 daily newspapers across the country. Now, those paragraphs scare him.In May, Google announced that the A.I.-generated summaries, which compile content from news sites and blogs on the topic being searched, would be made available to everyone in the United States. And…

It was heartening, though, to see a spotlight on the violist Cynthia Phelps in Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E flat, a double concerto that also showcased the violinist Sheryl Staples, always a welcome soloist. Violists don’t get enough love as it is, and Phelps was among the first, courageous players to perform with the roving NY Phil Bandwagon in pop-up concerts during the pandemic. (Another of those pioneering musicians, the violinist Fiona Simon, was honored on Thursday for her retirement, after 39 years with the Philharmonic.)Phelps and Staples blended beautifully with each other, but less with the orchestra, in another…

A day after President Biden called on Israel and Hamas to reach a truce, declaring that it was “time for this war to end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas still retains governing and military power.In his statement, Mr. Netanyahu did not explicitly endorse or reject a proposed cease-fire plan that Mr. Biden had laid out in an unusually detailed address on Friday. Two Israeli officials confirmed that Mr. Biden’s proposal matched an Israeli cease-fire proposal that had been greenlit by Israel’s war cabinet.…

A day after President Biden called on Israel and Hamas to reach a truce, declaring that it was “time for this war to end,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas still retained governing and military power.In his statement, Mr. Netanyahu did not explicitly endorse or reject a proposed cease-fire plan that Mr. Biden had laid out on Friday, which would lead to a permanent truce. Two Israeli officials confirmed that Mr. Biden’s proposal matched an Israeli cease-fire proposal that had been greenlit by Israel’s…

Wendy Mazur said her “jaw hit the floor” when she saw her favorite pop singer, Goldford, walk out with his guitar during her first dance with Jerry Bedwell at their wedding in April 2022.The couple considered the ballad “Upside Down” their song and had made it the theme of their reception at City Winery in Nashville. Their guest book, for example, was a custom puzzle of the “Upside Down” cover art.Mr. Bedwell, 55, who works in information technology, surprised Ms. Mazur, 47, by hiring the musician to perform the love song live.“I still get teary-eyed thinking about what Jerry did…

The president of McDonald’s USA, Joe Erlinger, pushed back on “inaccurate” reports this week that said the chain had more than doubled its prices on some items over the last decade. But his retort wasn’t exactly reassuring: The average price of a Big Mac is up 21 percent from 2019.Erlinger’s rebuttal underlines the heat that some companies are facing as the news media, politicians and consumers focus on steadily rising prices. Whether persistent price increases reflect price gouging, or simply companies’ own rising costs, is a matter of fierce debate. Either way, one thing is clear: Consumers are becoming fed…

When Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, introduced a generative artificial intelligence feature for the company’s search engine last month, he and his colleagues demonstrated the new capability with six text-based queries that the public could try out.The questions included “how do you clean a fabric sofa” and “what should I use to get a coffee stain out of my carpet.” These were intended to highlight how Google’s new feature, A.I. Overviews, could generate full and useful information summaries above traditional search results.But by Friday, only one of the six queries still yielded an A.I. Overview, according to tests by The…

Eminem attempts to recapture past glories on his exhausting new song “Houdini,” the first single from his upcoming 12th album, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).” Atop a garish, carnivalesque beat that interpolates a sample of the Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra,” the M.C.’s crass alter ego Slim Shady surveys the current cultural moment and strings together some stiltedly rapped jokes, desperate to offend at every turn. Oldest trick in the book. LINDSAY ZOLADZ“Clancy,” the new album by the two-man band Twenty One Pilots, is the fourth installment in a series of concept albums. But “Navigating” doesn’t necessarily need…