Despite vast amounts of space in space, cosmic stuff still bumps, smashes, and sideswipes other celestial objects, with no traffic cops in the sky to tame reckless drivers.
The James Webb Space Telescope, the powerful observatory orbiting the sun about 1 million miles from Earth, has made rubbernecking space impacts that much easier. It recently caught the aftermath of a catastrophic collision on camera. The subject, known as the Cartwheel Galaxy, shows what happened after a smaller galaxy impaled a large spiral galaxy similar in shape to the Milky Way. The shockwaves from the crash kicked up gas and dust and ignited new star-forming hotbeds.
Other telescopes such as Hubble have previously studied the Cartwheel, about 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, to learn about the collision that reshaped it over billions of years. But much of the galaxy’s structure has eluded astronomers because of how much has remained hidden from sight. NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency are using the new photo released on Tuesday to demonstrate, yet again, the power of their new telescope.
Left:
Webb August 2022 Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Webb ERO Production Team
Right:
Hubble January 2018 Credit: ESA / Hubble / NASA
Webb, which can see through previously impenetrable space mirk, has upped the ante in the forensic analysis of the Cartwheel Galaxy. Astronomers say they can now see baby stars on its outer edges, new details of the supermassive black hole at its center, and two smaller companion galaxies, along with a deep canvas of distant galaxies upon galaxies upon galaxies.
The Cartwheel has two concentric rings — an uncommon galactic shape found in the universe. The galaxy’s bright center features a black hole surrounded by dense gas and hot dust. The most torrid areas host older stars, while the outer rim, expanding over 440 million years, is teeming with young stars and explosive supernovas.
“As this [outer] ring expands, it plows into surrounding gas and triggers star formation.”
“As this [outer] ring expands,” according to the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, “it plows into surrounding gas and triggers star formation.”
Astronomers are also learning more about what makes up the dust in the galaxy with images from Webb’s mid-infrared instrument. Credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / Webb ERO Production Team
The telescope’s near-infrared camera data are shown in blue, orange, and yellow. The blue dots are individual stars or pockets of star nurseries. This camera also displays the contrasting smooth old star regions and clumpy new star areas.
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Astronomers are also learning more about what makes up the dust in the galaxy with images from Webb’s mid-infrared instrument. The data, colored red, shows regions chock full of hydrocarbons, silica similar to that found on Earth, and other compounds. These chemicals form a framework of spiraling wheel spokes.
Scientists say though the Hubble photo taken four years ago captured the “spokes,” too, Webb’s picture brings out significantly more detail in them.
Save $200: As of Aug. 2, the latest model of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) is $799.99 at Amazon thanks to a 20% discount. That’s its lowest price ever.
A good laptop sets a student up for success once school starts. There are plenty of budget laptops available, but sometimes it pays to splurge.
One of your premium options is the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4, which is just $799.99 at Amazon. Released earlier this year, this 13.5-inch touchscreen laptop is already at its lowest price ever.
SEE ALSO:
Best laptops for students: See where the MacBook falls on our list
The Surface Laptop 4 is one of the best options if you want portability without sacrificing too much performance. It’s powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 processor built exclusively for Surface laptops. This base model features 8GB of memory and a 256GB solid-state drive. It might not go toe-to-toe with a MacBook Pro, but it provides more speed and multitasking capabilities than your typical Chromebook.
Students will certainly like the fact that it’s easy to lug around campus all day: It’s ultra-thin and lightweight at less than three pounds.
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Credit: Microsoft
Microsoft Surface 13.5-inch Laptop 4 (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) (opens in a new tab)
One easy way to up your privacy game and communicate securely online is to start using apps that utilize end-to-end encryption. End-to-end encryption prevents any bad actors from picking up your messages in between you and the person you’re sending a message to. Basically, end-to-end encryption means that your messages are for your eyes and the eyes of your recipient only.
End-to-end encryption used to be for the tech savvy and elite only — but more recently, tons of apps and platforms have made end-to-end encryption available to the masses.
What is end-to-end encryption and how does it work?
End-to-end encryption means no one — not hackers, not government officials, not the company that owns your device — can read your message while it’s being sent. It basically takes your message, jumbles it up, sends it, and unjumbles it once it reaches your recipient. So anyone who tries to intercept your message in between you and your recipient just gets a bunch of mess instead of the message itself. This is important because messages can pass through loads of hands on their way from sender to recipient, such as the service you use to send the message, the internet service providers involved, and servers that store the message data for any amount of time.
SEE ALSO:
What is Signal? The basics of the most secure messaging app.
Does it protect you against everything?
Nope! End-to-end encryption protects your privacy against anything trying to mess with your messages in between you and your recipient, but it won’t protect you against everything. It protects you from information inside a message, but doesn’t protect metadata about the message, like the date and time it was sent or who sent it and received it. It also doesn’t protect you from the recipient of your message sharing whatever information you send them.
If I’m not sending secret messages, does it really matter?
Whether or not you use apps with end-to-end encryption is ultimately up to your personal taste. Some people like using end-to-end encryption for all of their messaging because they prioritize privacy, and it’s often free and just as easy to use as other apps that offer fewer privacy-focused features. Overall, end-to-end encryption is just one way you can use your right to privacy.
Which apps use end-to-end encryption?
If you want to jump into the fray of end-to-end encryption, there couldn’t be an easier time than now. Some apps cost money and some are free, and they all offer different features, so pick one that feels right for you.
Streaming week 1 of the NFL preseason actually just means streaming one game. The Hall of Fame Game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars is set for 8 p.m. ET on August 4.
But that’s OK, because it’s exciting that the preseason is officially starting — insofar as a collection of exhibition games with no official significance can be considered official. And also, three of the last 12 Hall of Fame Games were cancelled, so it might not happen anyway. Confused yet? Well, keep up, because streaming the NFL is a tricky business.
In the US, there’s no single option that lets you stream every game you’ll want on any device you want. Here’s the good news though: You have a lot of options. The bad news? You have a lot of options.
But without further ado, here’s the answer you came here for: For most Americans without cable, satellite TV, or a working TV antenna, the best way to stream this particular game is probably with Peacock’s $4.99-a-month tier.
But it’s not the only option! For a more complete explanation of why Peakcock as well as a list of other options for streaming this game, read on.
How to stream the Hall of Fame Game in any US market for cheap
In terms of bang for your streaming buck, this particular Hall of Fame Game has a clear winner: NBC’s Peacock. Sign up for at least the $4.99 tier of Peacock, and you can watch the Jacksonville Jaguars square off against the Raiders, on any device, including a TV.
But Peacock’s NFL coverage is far from comprehensive, mostly providing in-market Sunday games during the regular season. In fact, it doesn’t appear that they’ll be showing any other preseason games. Since you’re paying for a full month, you’ll probably want to consider other similarly priced methods which will allow you to watch the Hall of Fame Game, as well as the rest of the preseason, and the regular season.
How to stream the Hall of Fame Game on mobile if you’re not in Jacksonville or Las Vegas
If you plan to watch a lot of games, and this is an out-of-market NFL game for you, that makes this next part a little easier: one way to stream this game for cheap, along with the rest of the preseason and season (minus the games in your local market) is with NFL+, the NFL’s new streaming service. NFL+ has a base tier for $4.99 a month that will give you access to this game, and the other out-of-market preseason games, but only on a mobile device like a phone or tablet. There’s no NFL+ app for, say, Roku, and you can’t use a device like a Chromecast to legally beam the game onto your TV from your mobile device.
How to stream the Hall of Fame Game on mobile in Jacksonville or Las Vegas
Bad news: If you’re in the Jacksonville or Las Vegas area, and you plan to stream the whole preseason and season, starting with your local team on NFL+, you’ll need to pony up $9.99 for the premium upgrade, which is pretty pricey for a football game on a tiny screen. This might be worth it if you plan to watch the rest of the preseason and season, and you’re content to use a mobile device to do so. But at this point you might be happier if you can resign yourself to spending some serious coin.
How to watch NFL preseason games live on any device
We are now leaving the realm of affordability, but as someone watching the preseason, you probably came here because you’re a die-hard who needs to stream a whole lot of football. The Hall of Fame Game is going to be airing live on NBC, which you can stream using a live TV streaming service like Sling Blue ($35 a month), the even more comprehensive YouTube TV ($64.99 a month), FuboTV ($69.99 a month), or Hulu with Live TV ($69.99 a month with ads, or $75.99 a month ad-free). There are other live TV streaming services, but they don’t appear to be carrying this particular game.
The advantage of live TV streaming services is that after you fork over that eye-watering monthly fee for this one game, they’ll keep the gridiron action streaming to your TV for as long as you’re subscribed by simply letting you stream your local network affiliates like NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX (though read the fine print to see which of these they do and don’t have), along with channels like ESPN and NFL Network in some cases. YouTube TV in particular might be the clear center of the NFL-streaming universe soon if it scores a deal to allow users access to 13 additional games per week by winning the bidding war for NFL Sunday Ticket.
How to watch the Hall of Fame Game livestream in the UK
Whether you’re a British NFL fan, or an American who moved to the UK simply to stream NFL games for much, much less money than you could across the pond, congratulations: NFL Game Pass, which is unavailable in the US, is the envy of all American NFL fans stuck on native soil. The Hall of Fame Game is available live to those who pay for the Game Pass “Essential” tier, which costs £42.99 annually, or about £3.58 a month. Unlike preseason games, most games are replays at this tier, and for £150.99 annually (£12.58 a month) you can watch the Hall of Fame Game at the same time as fans across the pond, and then tune in live from now until the Super Bowl. I just hope you enjoy staying up late.
It absolutely bears mentioning that there are other ways to stream the NFL, including the pricey standalone NFL Sunday Ticket service from DirecTV, and the relatively cheap offerings on Paramount+. Those may be options worth exploring, but they aren’t germane here, because they aren’t showing the Hall of Fame Game.
I don’t suffer from chrometophobia — the fear of spending money — nor do I have a compulsive buying disorder, which actually affects about 18 million adults in the U.S. But despite a desire to be an earth tone/thrift store/reusable soap kind of person, I just really want stuff.
I want the baggu hat that you can fold up and put in your bag. I want the Frankie Shop cargo trousers from Net-a-Porter. I want a tofu press and Dolce Vita Wiley heels and the Tekla X Stüssy cotton poplin shirt and honestly, I want the platform crocs. But I don’t buy any of them because I don’t have the money to buy any of them. Enter: Buy Now, Pay Later.
Using context clues, I bet you can decipher what Buy Now, Pay Later, or BNPL, means: You can have those platform crocs by only paying a fraction of the cost today, as long as you finish paying the full price over the next few weeks. With a world primed to lean into our every material desire but an economy that doesn’t quite match, BNPL has been a hit.
And BNPL is just the latest variation on a retail theme. In the 1970s, layaway, in which consumers paid fees to reserve goods they couldn’t yet afford, was so popular it was the name of an Isley Brothers song. And still popular today are rent-to-own stores like Aaron’s, which let consumers take things home from a big box store for a fraction of the actual cost, and then incrementally pay them off, for a price. The common thread: these are all credit-free ways to make owning items more attainable that, if we’re honest, also make the items themselves cost more. Sometimes a lot more.
BNPL in particular makes money with transaction fees. So, if I were to use BNPL to buy that baggu hat off of Urban Outfitters, Urban Outfitters would have to pay about three to six percent of that purchase price to the BNPL firm. If you don’t meet the deadlines to finish your payment, you have to pay a late fee, which is another source of revenue for BNPLs.
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Buy now, pay later: How to use Affirm responsibly this Prime Day
People — particularly young people and low-income people — are buying things with aplomb, assured that they’ll be able to pay for all of it with small chunks of cash every week or so. BNPL allows shoppers to pay less now without having to worry about interest rates, like you might on a credit card. It’s an attractive option at checkout — but it has the potential to impact young people and low income people more than anyone else.
Benedict Guttman-Kenney, an economics PhD candidate at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, has studied some BNPL trends in the U.K. He found that “mainly younger people” and low-income people use BNPL, and they tend to put it on their credit card — which can compound the added cost.
“It seems to be like the people who you are potentially most worried about are using these products and putting them on their credit cards,” Guttman-Kenney told Mashable.
Beyond his own research, there’s data in the U.S. that backs this up. Many, although not all, people use BNPL not as a way to spread out heavy financial costs, but because they have to. According to the Federal Reserve Bank, just over half of people who used BNPL also said it was “the only way they could afford their purchase.”
But they also use it because it’s easy. According to a Philadelphia Fed survey, 52.6 percent of people who use BNPL do so out of convenience. The size of the purchase and the ability to better manage finances were also top reasons folks used BNPL at 46.2 percent and 43.8 percent respectively. The least chosen options were “it is my preferred payment method” at 11.5 percent, “inability to get approved for credit” at 13.6 percent, and lack of credit at 19.1 percent. “This particular observation is interesting, given BNPL’s reputation as a last-resort credit product for those who do not have access to traditional credit,” the report reads, adding that other data does show there is variation across demographics. For instance, people who earn less than $40,000 were more likely to cite “inability to get approved for credit” than people who earn $75,000 or more.
The Federal Reserve Bank also reported that people with lower income and less education tend to use BNPL more.
“Around 13 percent of those with income below $50,000 used BNPL in the prior year, compared with 7 percent of those with an income of $100,000 or more,” the report read. “Similarly, 14 percent of people with less than a high school degree used BNPL, compared with 8 percent of those with at least a bachelor’s degree.”
Because of that, some people say BNPL can be a bit predatory. A Credit Karma survey shows that 22 percent of BNPL consumers in the U.S. repay using their credit card — which is consistent with research out of the U.K. conducted by Guttman-Kenney and his peers.
“I don’t see it as a predatory product. It’s not like a payday loan where it has very high interest rates and it’s very easy for someone to get into a problem with,” Guttman-Kenney said. “The thing with BNPL is how good or bad it is depends on how the consumer uses it.”
Hyepin Im, the president and CEO of Faith and Community Empowerment, a nonprofit that helps connect communities of color and underserved communities with resources and opportunities, says that this kind of a tool has the potential to lead people into buying things they simply can’t afford — and might be difficult to dig themselves out of.
“It’s predatory in the sense that a lot of people get pulled in, but there’s hefty fines if you miss a payment,” Im told Mashable. “And unfortunately, a lot of people are pulled into this situation by using this tool to buy things from multiple vendors who have their own payment schedule.”
But Im sees how something like this could also be attractive — or helpful — to low-income communities. She said that the no interest payments seem nice, and can help people to buy the things they need when they need them. That’s where it can get sticky, though.
“For many people who are low income, the safety net reserves are really very low,” Im said. “You have one car accident, you have a health problem, whatever, and you don’t get to go to your work. Then that ability to pay that partial payment becomes very unrealistic. And so it’s not just that you forget the payment, but you also then face life circumstances for which you don’t have reserves. And so that increases the likelihood of missing that payment.”
Im said one way to make BNPL “less predatory” is to increase regulations around it. And Guttman-Kenney agrees. He compared BNPL to a single transaction on a credit card, which is precisely how the government might want to look at it while considering regulations.
“One [regulation could be] having some form of disclosure standardizing what is required. That is probably useful, and I’d be very surprised if that didn’t happen,” Guttman-Kenney said. “And the way disclosure is done at the moment isn’t great. It’s here’s this long table, or these many pages that no one reads. So I think as a more general point, there are some disclosures that could be done better.”
Guttman-Kenney is referring to things like making the terms and conditions more clear. Im made a similar point, but added that no matter what, all of us should be circumspect “of any new players without regulations.” With the term “players,” in this context meaning “ways of doing business.”
“History demonstrates that [in cases of] businesses without regulation, their priority is making money at the cost of consumers and customers,” Im said. “We should all be wary and to advocate and fight for greater oversight and regulation before too many people get hurt along the way.”
Pillows are not one-size-fits-all. Anyone who’s ever purchased a $3 pillow from the bin at Target on the basis that it was $3 probably found that out the hard way. Sorry about your neck, pal.
For side sleepers, “I think I slept on my neck wrong” is a very real thing that could be causing neck pain in the morning — but not in the awkward, twisted, contortionist way that everyone pictures. In reality, the real offender is probably a flat pillow.
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The best memory foam mattresses for every kind of sleep position
Sleeping in the lateral position takes the pressure off the mattress and puts your body weight on a single shoulder. Because your shoulder is also holding you higher off the mattress, there’s now a gap between your neck and the mattress. While a flat pillow is ideal for preventing a stomach sleeper’s spine from curving upward, too little loft causes a side sleeper’s head to sink below the plane of the neck — causing a gnarly kink that will definitely hurt in the morning.
How high should a pillow be for side sleepers?
A loft of at least four inches is a side sleeper’s best bet in maintaining neutral spine alignment. (Some extra-lofty pillows measure as tall as eight inches.) That elevation relieves pressure on the shoulders and keeps your head at a nice upward angle to prevent neck strain and maintain a healthy posture.
Firmness matters, too. Regardless of whether the stuffing is down, down alternative, gel, polyester, memory foam, or some unique combo of a few, your pillow needs to be firm enough to keep its shape throughout the night — and buoyant enough to keep your 10-pound head afloat instead of sagging down in the middle. Sturdy fill also has a way of puffing up around the area being pressed down, keeping your head still and up on its side.
PSA: Correct binge-watching posture is a thing
Take your fixation on neck support while sleeping and apply it to your time camped out on the couch. Streaming a season of Yellowjackets could have us lying on our sides for hours — potentially the same amount of time as a decent night’s sleep — and we’ll do the whole thing resting our head on a shitty decorative pillow.
Switching a pillow out for an arm or the couch’s armrest cranes our neck even more. Chilling like this on a regular basis could end up canceling out any pain or alignment progress you’ve made with mattress and bed pillow upgrades. Falling asleep like that is probably likely, too, and that’s just begging for a day of soreness.
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From Netflix to HBO Max to Disney+: The best streaming sites for movies
It’s totally fine if lying on your side is your go-to binge-watching position. We’re just here to confirm that, yes, binge-watching posture is something to keep in mind, and no, using a legit side sleeper pillow to watch TV isn’t “extra.” Because pillows for side sleepers should already be firm and lofty, they make for the perfect head prop while watching a screen.
This is your sign to start lying with a pillow between your legs
The ol’ “pillow between the knees” trick is game-changing for more than pregnant people. Not only is it comfy as hell, but it mitigates some of the awkward hip twisting that occurs when lying laterally — in bed or on the couch. Slipping some firm cushioning between your knees helps to prevent the leg on top from tugging on your spine and hips to lean on the other leg. (The same thinking suggests putting the pillow under both knees while sleeping on your back, or under your pelvis while sleeping on your stomach.) Parallel legs lead to less misalignment, and keeping your hips, pelvis, and upper back aligned can prevent irritation of the sciatic nerve.
The slight elevation also facilitates blood flow through the vena cava — a major vein that carries blood back and forth from your heart. Better blood circulation through your lower body could lessen the chance of a foot falling asleep or a muscle cramping. Sign us up for whatever narrows the possibility of a Charley horse.
The leg pillow doesn’t necessarily have to be a ~leg pillow.~ The spare one in your closet could do the trick if it’s relatively lofty and not ridiculously fluffy. But those who sleep on their side a majority of the time might consider opting for a more dedicated design, like an L-shaped pillow or an ergonomic pillow with special contours for your legs.
What else should side sleepers look for in a pillow?
No one is expecting you to switch pillows every time you change sleeping positions. But if you know you’re a diehard side sleeper for a decent portion of your eight hours, or you’re a pregnant person who must now navigate doctor’s orders to sleep on your side, shopping with these features in mind could decrease your middle-of-the-night fluff and flip sessions.
Once you find a good loft and firmness, you can start shopping based on personal preference:
For people who hate the spongey feel of memory foam: The world of pillows has gotten strangely high-tech in the past five years, which is great for people who have hated all of the traditional foam pillows they’ve tried. Many modern ones are instead filled with shredded foam, which offers the same bouncy support while being able to spread out for a more fluffy, down feel. (Also less lumpy than cheap pillows that are stuffed with balls of cotton.) Most of these pillows are also adjustable, meaning you can literally reach inside and take foam out to adjust to any finicky preferences. Just make sure you have a vacuum handy.
For people who can’t sleep if they’re hot: Too sweaty to relax? A pillow with cooling gel or a copper-infused cover will keep heat away from your head for that cool, breezy sleep we all covet.
For people with broad shoulders: The wider your shoulders, the more space you’ll need to fill between the mattress and your neck. A loft of at least six inches should do the trick.
For sleepers who have neck pain: If you can’t take any chances on your neck not being fully supported, a non-rectangle shaped pillow could be more reliable. A U-shaped pillow allows you to slide your shoulders right into the curve, and a contoured pillow offers a higher loft under your neck to ensure minimal straining as your head lays back.
The prices listed are the starting prices for each pillow, but know that most of these will increase if you buy a bigger pillow (say, a king instead of a queen). Here are the best pillows for side sleepers and side binge-watchers in 2022:
Save $40: As of August 2, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is $40 off at Amazon. This 25% savings brings the tablet back down to its record-low price of $119.99.
If your kid is begging for a back-to-school tablet, you have a cheap yet reliable option that’s not a Fire tablet. A 25% discount means that the Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite at $119.99 at Amazon, which matches its lowest price ever.
Samsung designed the A7 Lite to entertain. It’s thin, it’s lightweight, and it features an 80% screen-to-body ratio, making it a great choice for reading or streaming on a commute or keeping kids entertained in the car. The Dolby Atmos speakers are an obvious win in the entertainment column as well. You can test them out during your two free months of YouTube Premium, which are included with your A7 Lite purchase.
Amazon’s Fire HD 8 tablet is probably its closest competitor in terms of dependable devices near the $100 price point. Compared to the Fire HD 8’s quad-core processor, the A7 Lite’s octa-core processor should clock speedier performance and handle more intensive school or work-related apps. Though both devices’ front cameras are 2 MP, the A7 Lite is the better memory maker with an 8 MP rear camera.
The fintech industry has made huge leaps forward in powering cashless and digital payments around the world. Nowadays, pretty much anywhere you are, from a village square to a big city, money flows through taps, swipes, and clicks of your cards, apps, and devices. Nearly everyone on the planet is carrying a digital wallet for everyday transactions.
With e-commerce booming, consumers and businesses seek the fastest, easiest, and most secure ways to pay. To keep up with how people are using money, Mashreq Bank recently rolled out NeoPay, a paytech business aimed at simplifying payments for goods and services.
“The launch of NeoPay is a strategic move that will help fuel the growth of Mashreq’s payment business, and enable us to solidify our leadership role in the rapidly evolving payments space,” said Kartik Taneja, Executive Vice President, Head of Payments & Consumer Lending at Mashreq, which is headquartered in Dubai.
In the UAE and other countries, the wholly owned subsidiary is helping push fintech innovation forward.
Revolutionizing digital payments now
As one of the UAE’s biggest banks, Mashreq handles some $22 billion U.S. dollars in the annual volume of payments. The launch of NeoPay marks a move to merge and consolidate their existing merchant acquiring operations into a single platform. It comes at a time when digital payments are at an all-time high with more than 70% of individuals in the Middle East and North Africa willing to pay with credit cards or mobile phone apps, according to recent statistics.
Expanding a digital-first vision
The bank has embraced digital-first services as the way forward. As the fintech arm of the bank, NeoPay empowers seamless payments for merchants and consumers using advanced technology for lightning-fast card processing and merchant acquisition systems, as well as processing switches and point-of-sale inventory. For everyday shoppers, it means more convenient ways to settle your bill at a restaurant, pay back a friend, or purchase some sweet wireless speakers.
Credit: B4LLS / Getty Images
Growing ‘buy now, pay later’ convenience
On the backend, NeoPay allows companies to collaborate with a bank that already has a large customer base and is investing heavily in fintech locally and globally. The bank recently put $10 million into a fintech company called Cashew, which is growing the “buy now, pay later” market in the UAE and Saudi Arabia through an app and a web-based platform. Cashew will also expand to Egypt soon.
Making settling up a tab with a friend or a restaurant easier
Reaching more globally, Mashreq also invested in Touché, a fintech company based in Singapore that is transforming the hospitality industry with Oracle-approved solutions. Restaurants, bars, and hotels can use a single certified device to connect their infrastructure and payment processing system. It has several modules for full-service and quick-service businesses, including Order@Table, Pay@Table, Benefit@Table, RoomChg@Table, and Order&Pay, and runs on a fully integrated, Android smart payment terminal.
Credit: Korrawin Khanta / EyeEm / Getty Images
Improving virtual cards for businesses and beyond
Working with Visa, Mashreq helped develop a new digital reconciliation platform to track, trace, and analyze company expense accounts in real-time. For large businesses, the benefits of having virtual cards include having more insight and protection against fraud. On the other end, Mashreq also invested in NymCard, the only banking as a service (BaaS) provider in the Middle East right now. This open application programming interface will enable businesses of all sizes to build payment card features.
These are just some of the exciting ways that Mashreq is catalyzing groundbreaking FinTech solutions that will improve digital customer service in the banking industry.
Screen time is arguably one of the hottest parenting topics of the past 20 years. The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic that closed schools and caused kids to be home at all times forced the topic into the spotlight even further. Youngsters spent more time online than ever before, due in part to the switch to virtual school and their parents’ need to get work done while WFH.
It’s natural for parents to freak out every time a new study about children and devices comes out, but here’s our advice: Don’t. The evidence between screen time and cognitive or behavior development isn’t super strong. Plus, parents cannot blame themselves for handing a kid a tablet when it’s time for a Zoom meeting, dinner prep, or a nap, especially when it’s high-quality content like an educational show or interactive learning game.
That said, it would be naive to assume that kids are always soaking in high-quality content when they’re on the internet. Though modern kids are scarily adept with technology and social media (TikTok is basically run by teenagers), it doesn’t mean that parameters for web use aren’t necessary. Keeping kids safe by monitoring their online activity (and setting reasonable limits) is just another task modern parents have to juggle.
Minecraft may be distracting them from their school work, or maybe you’d just feel more comfortable about this increase in screen time if you knew that your child wasn’t landing on any inappropriate sites or scrolling through Instagram at 3 a.m. Maybe you want them to engage more in family time together, sans screens. Whatever your reason, parental control software offers a solution to managing your child’s screen time.
How does parental control software work?
The short answer is that parental control software lets you monitor your child’s device — phone, tablet, or computer — remotely. The corresponding apps let parents monitor internet searches and browsing history, block inappropriate apps (or block distracting apps during homework hours), or limit screen time altogether. It’s a less invasive and more respectful method than physically going through their phone or computer — and when kids know that their activity is being watched or managed, cyber safety habits might stick better. While much parental control software requires a monthly or annual fee, there is some free parental control software available.
Is geofencing worthwhile?
Parental control software can also help keep tabs on your kid when they’re not at home. Though most have GPS and some sort of basic “Where’s my child?” function, only a select few software options offer geofencing, which is a big help for parents juggling the schedules of multiple children. This location-based service lets you set up virtual boundaries around where a child should or shouldn’t be, as well as a specific time that the child should (or shouldn’t) be there. Let’s say that your child goes straight from school to a sports practice three times a week. The geofencing feature will monitor their phone’s location and will alert you if your child doesn’t show up to the scheduled area on time. Teenagers may even enjoy the functionality of geofencing as it means not being bombarded with “Where are you?” texts.
Geofencing can also be used to monitor web time when your child is in a designated location. For instance, many parents like to disable games or social media apps during school.
What is the best parental control software?
Every parental control software (even free parental control apps) can put limits on screen time, show browsing history, and block sites. Got it. But some features might apply more to your family’s needs than others.
Households with a lot of devices in the mix will need to look at device limits. Some software allows unlimited accounts while others work like cell phone plans: More devices, more money. If you have three or four kids who all have a phone and a laptop, the unlimited route will be the best value. Families that share a device will need to ensure that their software doesn’t have a “one account per device” rule, which pretty much locks parents into dealing with kid settings (or vice versa, but that kind of defeats the purpose of the software in the first place).
Some software gives kids more autonomy than others. If you’re worried about smothering them, consider an option that provides warnings about screen time instead of immediately locking the device, or an option that lets them request extra time or access to a site that they feel is wrongfully blocked. Things may go smoother when older kids feel like they can have a say in the limits being set.
What should I consider before choosing parental control software?
There are a few different things to keep in mind when searching for the best parental control software for your family’s needs. First, consider the age of your child(ren). Younger kiddos will need more stringent parent control features than tweens and teens. You may also want to block out more devices for the younger set than you would for older kids.
As mentioned above, you’ll also want to do the math as to how many devices should be included in any parental control subscription. If you have too few devices included then you may not be fully keeping tabs on all of the screens your kiddo may have access to. Too many devices on your subscription and you may be paying for more coverage and control than you need.
You’ll also want to consider whether or not you need any parental controls to work at home or while they’re out and about. If your kids can get around any limits you set by simply leaving home, then the software isn’t ideal. However, if you have older kids and don’t worry about what they access while at school (maybe their phone doesn’t have data?) then you might not need features that work outside your family’s WiFi network.
Finally, consider using any built-in parental control options your device might already have. For example, use the passcode or password feature on cell phones, tablets, and laptops, to ensure little ones aren’t logging on without your knowledge. There are also several free browser plugins that will block specific websites with inappropriate content. On iOS devices, you can set screen time limits, block certain apps and websites, or restrict new downloads or things with an explicit content rating altogether. Your modem or router may also offer the ability for you to access parental controls that set limits on when specific devices can access WiFi.
With the above information in mind, here are our top choices for the best parental control apps and software for 2022:
In the song “Last Kiss” off of her 2010 album Speak Now, Taylor Swift sings “I ran off the plane, that July 9th.” Nowadays, Swift likely finds herself running off the plane every other day of the year as well.
A recent study by the sustainability marketing agency Yard looked into the usage of private planes by celebrities in order to track carbon emissions and find out the worst celeb contributors to climate change.
At the top of the list when it comes to CO2 emissions from their private jets: music superstar Taylor Swift.
According to Yard, Swift’s plane took to the skies 170 times in the first 200 days of 2022, emitting 8,293.54 metric tons of carbon dioxide. That’s 22,923 minutes, almost 16 total days, of airtime. The CO2 released into the atmosphere courtesy of Taylor Swift’s private plane during these past 7 months is the equivalent to what 1,184 average people would emit in a year. The data came from the Twitter account, @CelebJets, which tracks celebrities’ jets.
In response to this information, which is now going viral online, Swift’s representatives say Swift isn’t responsible for all the flights.
”Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” said the pop star’s spokesperson in a statement. “To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”
Still, it is Taylor Swift’s private plane! The fact that the list wasn’t topped by someone like Kylie Jenner with her 12-minute flights or her sister Kim Kardashian seems to have surprised social media users a bit. But, the Internet still delivered with some jokes. (And to be fair, it seems like it’s all just a variation of the same joke over and over again. But, damn, they’re all still pretty funny.)
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Eve 6, the alternative rock band most well-known for their 90s hits “Inside Out” and “Here’s to the Night,” got a little creative and decided to crack a joke about the statement from Swift’s team.
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And one Taylor Swift fan decided to make a compilation of times that the artist mentions flying, airplanes, or any sort of travel in the lyrics of her songs.
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Some Swift stans are even jokingly playing damage control for Swift by posting photoshopped messages claiming the singer is donating to their (fake) environmental charity. It also might not be a joke, “Stan Twitter” can be quite unhinged at the best of times.
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As for the rest of the list, boxer Floyd Mayweather comes in at number two. He’s followed by Jay-Z, Alex Rodriguez, and Blake Shelton. After the top 5, Steven Spielberg, Kim Kardashian, Mark Wahlberg, Oprah, and Travis Scott make up the rest of the list.
While these rich and famous celebs certainly deserve your scorn for their contributions to climate change, don’t forget that roughly 100 companies are responsible for the most significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions.
