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News.com.au
3 hours ago
- General
- News.com.au
‘Have a problem?': Gen Z are freaking people out with their staring habit
Have you ever walked into a store and asked a young worker a question only to be met with a blank look? Or maybe you have been in a meeting and felt like you were being silently judged by a younger colleague? You may have experienced the infamous Gen Z stare. The viral phenomenon is categorised by a prolonged, unwavering gaze that can look like disinterest, or even disapproval, and is usually given in response to a question or request. The expression has taken social media by storm, sparking a much wider conversation about its implications and how it is perceived between the different generations. Older generations have been sharing their own encounters with the 'stare', branding it bizarre and, in many cases, downright rude. However, Gen Zers have been quick to defend themselves, claiming the blank look some in their generation choose to wear is simply the result of people asking ridiculous questions that don't deserve a response. There are many situations where one might be met with the Gen Z stare, but one setting where young people should be wary of applying this pointed tactic is the workplace. Rebecca Houghton, middle management expert and author of Impact: 10 Ways to Level Up Your Leadership, warned this is one tactic young workers should be avoiding at all costs. 'Every generation shakes things up at work and pushes boundaries. Gen Z is no different. But if your go-to move is the Gen Z stare, you might want to find a better strategy,' she told 'Young people usually don't have authority at work, so they need to work out how to influence without it. Silence and staring aren't the answer.' Ms Houghton has experienced the Gen Z stare at work first-hand, so she understands the different ways in which is can be interpreted by the receiver – none of them very positive. 'As a manager, a few thoughts escalate through your mind pretty quickly. Are they listening? Do they understand? Do they care? Do they have a problem?' she said. Being perceived as authentic and real is something many Gen Zers value, which may be one explanation for why so many people in the younger generation have adopted the stare in response to situations or questions they deem unreasonable. However, Ms Houghton noted there is a 'big difference' between being authentic and being absent. For young employees who want to be taken seriously, particularly by those in leadership positions, the workplace expert said it's important to show you are 'in the conversation', even if you are challenging what is being said. 'Instead of the Gen Z stare, stay engaged. Ask a clarifying question. Use neutral language to challenge a decision, set a boundary or buy time,' she said. 'If Gen Z wants to shift workplace norms, and I believe it's inevitable they will), they'll have more impact by learning to navigate the system strategically, not just rejecting it outright. 'You don't need to people-please, but you do need to participate.'
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Kmart August Living range reveals bold new red decor trend
For years, it has been all about neutral tones and capsule wardrobes, but finally that trend is being ditched thanks to an 'unexpected' addition. Kmart launched its August Living range, set to hit stores on July 24, and while neutral tones were still very much present it seemed this season was all about colour. For those unsure how to bring a pop of colour into their home, Kmart buyer Nic Holmes recommended the 'unexpected red theory'. The theory refers to a design concept popularised by Taylor Migliazzo Simon, which is the idea that a touch of red can make any space feel more vibrant, stylish and pulled together. This is because the colour instantly demands attention and draws the eye in. It purposefully goes against what we've been told for half a decade — that we should be trying to make our homes as neutral as possible. 'We're seeing some very viral moments — so anything red, this 'unexpected red theory' that's coming through,' the longtime Kmart buyer told The budget retailer has brought red into store in small ways, such as the $19 Nico Portable Rechargeable Lamp and the $39 Hourglass side table. 'They're small pieces where you can introduce red into your home without significant investment,' he said. 'Layering these berries and reds is becoming a real theme of the season.' Mr Holmes said customers did love the peeled back, neutral tones but the global trend was shifting towards dopamine decor — putting items you love in your home to make it more inviting and ditching trends in favour of what brings you joy. 'It's about being able to introduce colours into your home and making that very big statement away from what you're used to seeing,' he said. 'And you don't have to spend a lot of money to sneak in a dopamine piece — a cushion is enough. You can bring in side tables, you can bring in different pieces. 'And once you get comfortable with that, you can really layer on. We started introduce a bit of colour last season, and there was a lot of appetite for it.' Kmart's latest range features green, blue, red, pink and mustard yellow all for the sake of that dopamine decor trend. He said Kmart saw that, and decided to run with it. Mr Holmes said it is something he is expecting to see a lot more of in coming collections. Last year, Isfira Jensen, CEO and principal interior designer at Jensen & Co. Interiors, told ELLE that dopamine decor was a 'much needed' trend after years of neutral and minimalism.
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Acting like they're on parole': Proof Aussies are straight-up paranoid at tax time
Aussies love to chew the fat over just about anything, except if it is about their tax returns, apparently. From July 1, Australians can start lodging their tax returns for the financial year from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. This is a shock to approximately no one, as that is how the financial year works. However, when hit the streets of Sydney's CBD to find out if Aussies were clamouring to submit their returns or putting it off, the vibe was off. People acted less like we were asking if they had submitted returns, which is something pretty much anyone who earned money in the last 12 months needs to do, and more like we were asking them to admit to a crime on camera. Some were happy to stop and chat, but as soon as the word 'tax' was dropped, they immediately fled, one man even broke into a jog. Is anything worth jogging over? Keep in mind, we weren't chasing, I said, 'no worries have a good day!' At one point, the Gen Z cameraman I was with pointed out that everyone was straight-up 'acting like they're on parole'. Aussies were acting suspiciously, and there was a lot of nervous laughter. Finding out if people had lodged their returns yet felt as taboo as asking a Boomer how much money they earn. The response was nothing short of cagey and borderline paranoid. We spent over three hours approaching people and got five people to agree to be on camera, with the rest seeming genuinely terrified at the prospect. The most amusing part was that the people who did stop to chat certainly didn't say anything controversial. When asked one woman in a fancy scarf if she had gotten around to doing her tax return, she said she was on top of things. 'I have, yes,' she said. The woman then explained that she was happy with what she got back, but it would be going towards something pretty boring. 'Cost of living expenses and paying off a number of debts' she explained. Similarly, another woman who had already completed her tax return said she was planning to funnel what she has received back into her savings. 'Saving for a house and marriage. All that good stuff,' she said. She did add that she used to have way more fun with her tax returns. 'Not one cent went into savings. It went straight into shopping,' she said. Meanwhile a man in a trendy blazer admitted he was less on the ball. 'Definitely have not done it yet,' he said. When he does get around to doing it, though, he certainly doesn't have big plans for the tax return. 'I'm not much of a spender so I'll probably save it,' he said. Although he did add, 'I have a partner that likes to spend.' Another man said he was in 'the middle of doing' his taxes right now and the 'vast majority' would be going back into his savings. A tradie that filmed us chatting to him for his Snapchat story admitted he hadn't gotten around to it yet either. 'I haven't,' he said. Accountant Linda Mirams told that she's unsurprised that we got a frosty reception roaming the streets of Sydney. 'It is so much to comprehend and that is why people get nervous,' she said. Ms Mirams argued that people get nervous around tax time because there's not enough education around it. 'Most ordinary people don't have any idea about the basic tax system. It is crazy,' she said. 'There's also so much publicity and hype around audits.' The accountant advised that Aussies shouldn't worry so much, as long as they're not actively trying to deceive the tax office, any issues can usually be sorted. 'If you're way outside the norm, which is when you get flagged. There's so many little tricks around how you're allowed to claim stuff,' she said. 'If you do get flagged there are two parts. Firstly the ATO will go 'you're outside the norm' and you've got 28 days to respond.' Ms Mirams said as long as you can justify the expenses, then you're fine, and she stressed that there's a 'review process' and it isn't a witch hunt. 'You're not out having coffee and next minute you're audited and then being dragged away by the police,' she promised. The accountant said that, even if you make a mistake on your tax return and the ATO flags it, you don't need to panic. 'People think 'oh my God', but if we put everyone in jail that has a tax debt half the country would be in prison,' she said. Ms Mirams said that often, when you make a mistake, the ATO adjusts the outcome, and you pay back any shortfall. If you can't afford the bill, you can then go on a payment plan.
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Deceitful trick married men are using to bamboozle OnlyFans models
A popular adult star has revealed how some men are now posing as women online in order to trick OnlyFans models into giving them exclusive content for free. Layla Kelly said that she's noticed an uptick in men pretending to be women by using photos that they've obtained without permission. Speaking to about the shocking trend, Kelly said that these men will try to disarm creators by using a fake female persona. They'll then pretend that they're interested in getting plastic surgery or a medical procedure in order to obtain exclusive, explicit content. In some cases, men are using intimate photos of women that they know in real life to create their fake female alter-egos. 'Where it crosses the line is when someone who hasn't consented or given permission is having their identity and photos used unknowingly, especially given that this is a very intimate platform,' she explained. 'Often nude images are used too and these women have no idea. It's so wrong,' Kelly added. Kelly went on to say that some men are even using IDs and photos from their own wives and girlfriends to scam OnlyFans stars. 'What bothers me most about this is the clothed and unclothed images of the women they are using when pulling this sneaky act,' Banks said. 'One guy even sent me a wedding photo paired with a driving licence and I knew it had to be his wife or his sister. Either way, I highly doubt she knew what he was up to,' she added. When it comes to OnlyFans scams, it's a two-way street. Many popular OnlyFans creators now hire third-party companies to run their accounts, who provide 'chatters' to handle all of the creator's private messages. So while subscribers may think that they're chatting directly to the models, they could be speaking to absolutely anybody. One professional chatter hired by popular OnlyFans models is a 27-year-old man from Venezuela. With the large amount of subscribers that popular creators have and the amount of money they're raking in, it's no surprise that many models have turned to third-party companies to run their pages. Reality star and OnlyFans creator Farrah Abraham recently revealed that she makes seven figures from her page.
Daily Telegraph
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Telegraph
Real reason Andrew Johns isn't the greatest of them all
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News. A halfback in rugby league is as pivotal to success as a quarterback to an NFL team or Charlie Sheen to Two and a Half Men. Even with extensive rehearsals and a stellar support cast, no premiership charge is a chance without a quality number seven — even if their replacement is serviceable and sober. But while the role has enjoyed prime ministerial prominence since the game's advent in 1908, its stocks have soared in recent years thanks to a golden era of playmaking talent. The 21st century has been a glorious fiesta of superstar halfbacks, with the NRL's profile ballooning on a generation of box office ballplayers with skillsets as broad as their wallets. Four names stand out from this era on the Mount Rushmore of modern halfbacks: Andrew Johns, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk and Nathan Cleary. To celebrate the launch of the new app, we're celebrating the people, places and events we'll never forget from the first quarter of the 21st century by asking for Australia's view. Our 25@25 series will finally put to bed the debates you've been having at the pub and around dinner tables for years – and some that are just too much fun not to include. But if you could only select one to earn you a repeat set while marketing premium deodorant, who would it be? Of course, Johns' masterful domination of the early 2000s makes him the default choice for 95 per cent of romantic millennials and 100 per cent of Novocastrians. Born with every conceivable footy attribute and a backside like a rhinoceros beetle, the Newcastle native is a divine Maradona-esque figure in league — not just for his footballing mastery either. A well-documented party boy, Johns achieved everything in rugby league across a glittering 14-year career despite being hampered with ill-fitting pants and a hangover the entire time. However, what further set apart the four time Dally M Medalist was his profound influence at Origin level. Considering names like Brett Kimmorley, Mitchell Pearce and Jarrod Mullen, Johns set such lofty standards for NSW that he even ended the careers of Blues halfbacks just with his shadow alone. Yep, the Eighth Immortal was so outrageously talented that he could even beat New South Wales, and to be fair, if Queensland had any sensibility they'd smelt Wally's statue and replace it with a big blue arse in his honour. But despite being an unlikely Maroons legend, does Johns outshine a champion terrier like Thurston? Andrew Johns weaves some magic. Johnathan Thurston saw the game like nobody else. AAP Image/Michael Chambers. Even though halfbacks have always been the smallest guy on the team, Thurston took it to the next level by mastering the game despite 75 per cent of his playing weight being his boots. Put simply, the two-time premiership winner wasn't your traditional bubble-wrapped halfback train-surfing on the back of his forwards. That's because he was a pound-for-pound bull-ant who seemed to enjoy digging in to the line and getting his ribs crumpled like a venetian blind. It was this dogged tenacity that not only lead to four Dally M awards and three Golden Boots, but also ensured Thurston remains universally adored to this day by everyone in rugby league except Spencer Leniu. But if Johns had the magic and Thurston had the perforated lungs, it was Cronk who had the black market software. The human equivalent of an Excel formula, Cronk was programmed for any scenario in rugby league imaginable — even fobbing off Cameron Smith from his wedding. Everything about the Storm general was square; he played square, he kicked square and besides his schnozz, he even looked square. While this saw him initially dismissed as a mere cog in Craig Bellamy's operating system, Cronk silenced any doubts about his roboticism by firstly falling in love, then by following his heart to Sydney and immediately adapting to the Roosters' game plan. Eventually retiring in 2019, Cronk sailed off in to the sunset with back-to-back premierships at Bondi to go alongside his four titles at the Storm (albeit two stripped for cap breaches), a fine reward for a player who began as a humble utility and finished a tactical commissar. But for all his self-made success, what about his modern day equivalent in Cleary? Much like Cronk, Cleary was not gifted with God-given sorcery but made up for the shortfall by dedicating to his craft with the discipline of a German gymnast. And even nowadays with defences more stout than ever, Cleary has become one of the rare million dollar playmakers in the NRL who can consider himself criminally underpaid. In a shortage with desperate clubs splooging top dollar on anything with a pulse, Cleary represents value for money when a 'halfback' can cop squillions even if they're just an untested prodigy or a rebranded centre who passed the ball twice in under 12s. But don't let this landscape detract from the two-time Clive Churchill Medalist. Cleary is the quintessential playmaker's playmaker, a man born to be first receiver whose first act upon leaving the crib was to dribble one in behind for a repeat set. Better yet, he is eloquent, humble and universally pursued by premium brands like Adidas and rugby union. And if you think Johns and Thurston had it tough dealing with size issues, spare a thought for Cleary who still managed to secure four straight comps with his dad helicopter-parenting the entire time. Yep, despite his career still yet to conclude, Cleary is at home alongside the best of the best. But of the four doyens, who stands above, who really is the greatest of the past 25 years? Anointing only one is a task so inherently dangerous it could land you on a watch list or even get you extradited to Penrith court. However, with his nine grand finals and multiple premierships across two clubs - one in a fishbowl and the other a pro-AFL nation state - Cronk is not just the choice of hipsters and supercoach poindexters, he stands alone as the greatest by sheer weight of numbers. Plus shunning Smith from his nuptials has to count for something. Not just a sports nut? Take the rest of our 25@25 polls below Originally published as Real reason Andrew Johns isn't the greatest of them all
