• Your one stop for college news and resources!

Technology

WhatsApp Services Go Down in Multiple Countries

WhatsApp Services Go Down in Multiple Countries

WhatsApp services have gone down across multiple countries. Despite being the most popular messaging app in over 100 countries, it is not immune to service disruptions. Wordwide, users have had to resort to other services when they were unable to access the app late Monday. Alex Himes, who was unable to contact her brother, used Apple FaceTime to communicate with him. Meanwhile, her mother used Signal, another messaging app that competes with WhatsApp.

Popularity

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in over 100 countries, with users in more than 100 different languages. While it started as a simple messaging app, it has evolved into a feature-rich communication platform. Its global audience has steadily increased since its initial launch in 2009, and WhatsApp statistics indicate that the growth will continue well into 2020. In the US, for instance, one out of every four adults uses WhatsApp. According to the company, its user base is made up of men and women from every age group.

In the United States, WhatsApp users are most active among those who are university graduates, with nearly a third of users accessing the service daily. While male users tend to be more active than females, there were still significant differences among the genders. For example, in the United States, 33% of WhatsApp users have college degrees, while 20% of users have only completed high school. WhatsApp users in the US also earn higher than average incomes, with 23% earning less than $30k per year, and 48% earning between $50,000 and $75,000 per year.

Cheaper Than SMS

While the cost of SMS messaging remains high in most regions of the world, it is significantly cheaper to use WhatsApp. SMS texting is free on some carrier plans, but in Europe, it costs as little as 0.07 cents per message. Some carriers in the EU even offer data packages, which allow you to send unlimited texts for less than a dollar per message.

In addition to being cheaper, it offers a variety of features that make it ideal for businesses. For example, businesses can send messages as an individual or entity. They can also use the tool to send canned responses to customers. This makes customer communication much easier than it is with SMS, which often involves one- way communication. Another benefit of WhatsApp is that it offers end-to-end encryption, which keeps your communication confidential.

With its low cost, WhatsApp became a popular alternative to SMS messaging. Previously, phone providers charged per text message, with a limit on the number of messages per month. However, with WhatsApp, there is no limit on the number of messages you can send – you simply need an internet connection and an app.

Alternative to Text Messages

WhatsApp is a messaging application for mobile devices that is free of charge. It can send text messages, photos, video, and audio files. It also has voice and video calling options and the ability to leave video messages. What’s more, it doesn’t cost you a dime to download, and it won’t cost you anything unless you use up your data allowance. Be cautious, though, since video calls can use up a lot of data.

A recent global Facebook outage affected the entire service for several hours. The outage affected both WhatsApp and Facebook. Many people were cut off from their Facebook accounts, which may have made them leave WhatsApp for good. Regardless, this latest scandal could be just what WhatsApp needs to move forward with its plans.

WhatsApp allows you to send messages to many people at once. It also allows you to create a group chat where you can view and reply to messages from other members. The advantage of this feature is that it lets you stay in touch with friends and co-workers while at the same time letting others contribute to the conversation.

Author Bio:

Leanne Smith is a professional writer with over eight years of experience and has completed several successful projects. My main goal is to offer excellent work and cheap essay writing service for students that is unique, plagiarism-free, well formatted, and delivered on time.

SEE ALSO: Rihanna to Headline 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show

Is Modern Life Making Today's Youngsters More Depressed?

Is Modern Life Making Today’s Youngsters More Depressed?

Since 1990 there has only been an increase in the number of youngsters taking their life due to depression. From 2012, there has been an additional spike in teenagers reporting mental distress and depression. With cyberbullying, social media, exams, drug abuse, etc., the pressure on teens is only increasing, and the present time is a difficult time to be a teenager. Read on to know what is depression, its causes and what we can do to fight this disease?

What is depression?

It is usual for people of all ages to get an occasional feeling of sadness, which goes away with time. This sadness can result from fights, breakups, exams, etc. However, if this feeling of sadness does not seem to go away and affects the youngster’s daily life to the extent that they find it challenging to feel motivated, it can be a sign of depression. If depression is not treated on time, it can affect the patient’s well-being, and there are also chances that they may try to commit suicide.

Due to hormonal changes, it is normal for teenagers to feel irritated and get occasional mood swings. However, if these symptoms last for more than 14 days and make it difficult to focus on day-to-day life, it can be a sign of depression. Some signs of depression are nervousness, feelings of worthlessness, change in behaviour, constant exhaustion, bodyweight fluctuation, sadness, drug abuse, suicidal tendency, loss of interest, etc. These symptoms are not always a sign of something serious; however, these signs should never be ignored.

What are the causes of depression in youngsters?

Research shows that today’s teenagers are much more depressed than their forefathers and mothers. Many people believe that it is because we have raised our kids with unrealistic expectations, while others believe that exam pressure and social media have made youngsters depressed. There is only no shortage of people who blame the parents and think that they have made the kids weak and not provided them with enough coping skills to survive in this cruel world. In reality, these and many more factors are responsible for the rise of depression in youngsters.

The present generation is much more stressed than any of the prior generations, and this stress is the biggest reason behind depression and other mental conditions. While lack of exercise, support, unlimited social media are more factors responsible for depression, the effects of genes cannot be ignored when we talk about depression.

Technology and depression

While technology has made life easier for many, a considerable number of teenagers cannot imagine their life without a smartphone. Many youngsters in the present times are so obsessed with social media that it has become difficult for them to differentiate between real life and online life. Not only youngsters, but people of all ages do things to impress their online friends while conveniently forgetting people in their lives. Teenagers’ obsession with social media is to the extent that they feel left out and stressed if they do not check their social media for some time. Moreover, with their innocence, they get easily fooled by things they see on social media and start comparing their lives with their online friends, which puts them in depression. Unmonitored social media also puts teenagers under the threat of cyberbullying, which can take a serious turn if appropriate steps are not taken at the right time. Not only this, but youngsters today are also busy on social media that they do not take time for studying, social life or exercise, which pushes them towards depression.

While technology is a significant reason behind the rise of depression in teens, it is not the only reason. Society’s growing stress on money and fame is also something that has pushed youngsters towards depression. The constant competition and the breakdown of the societal bond have been a reason behind teenagers becoming alone, pushing them towards depression and other mental health-related issues. So, yes, it can be said that modern life is making our youngsters depressed.

Treatment

One cannot stop the advancement of society and technology. However, what we can do is try on our level to ensure that teenagers don’t take stress about unimportant things in life. Youngsters should be encouraged to share their feelings with someone they trust, and they should be heard. Also, there is a need to remove the stigma around mental health and take the kids to a doctor if you think they are suffering from depression. Other than this, parents should also monitor the kids’ time on social media and make them aware of the ill effects of social media. As a society, we all should come forward and lay stress on the emotional well-being of our children, putting stress on their happiness rather than their marks. If all this is done, we will see happy, carefree, compassionate youngsters who will build society.

SEE ALSO: Is Your State Splurge-y Or Stingy?

Apple Becomes World’s First Company to Hit $3tn Market Value

Apple Becomes World’s First Company to Hit $3tn Market Value

Technological giants Apple have become the first company in the world to hit a stock market valuation of $3tn, tripling in value in four years.

On the first day of trading of the new year, the company’s shares for a little while managed to hit $182.88 around midday on Monday however dipped slightly towards the end of the day.

Apple share price has grown by approximately 5,800% since co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs released the first ever IPhone in 2007. However, under current chief executive, Tim Cook, the share price has grown sharply with help from the emergence of music and video streaming.

The Silicon Valley-based giants alone are worth more than Disney, Boeing, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Walmart, Netflix and Exxon-Mobil combined emphasising the sheer size of the company’s valuation.

Apple passed the $1tn mark in August 2018, making it the first company to reach that mark and only 18 months later, in 2020, passed the $2tn mark due to the high demand computers, laptops and tablets had during the lockdowns across the world because of the COVID-19 pandemic, therefore showing that Apple were one of the big winners of a pandemic which saw a lot of major company’s heavily affected.

‘Fantastic Accomplishment’

Chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management, Jake Dollarhide, said: “It’s a fantastic accomplishment and certainly worthy to be celebrated.

It just shows you how far Apple has come, and how dominant it is seen as in the majority of investors’ eyes.”

Senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo, Scott Wren, said: “The market is rewarding companies that have strong fundamentals and balance sheets, and the companies that are hitting these sort of huge market caps have proven they are strong businesses and not speculation.”

According to Bloomberg, in 2022 it is expected that Apple’s next significant launches will include the iPhone 14, upgraded AirPods and possibly a virtual reality headset.

SEE ALSO: U.S. Announce Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

Social Media Sites Return Following Outage

Social Media Sites Return Following Outage

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are running again after an outage that barred people from all across the world from accessing its services which lasted for nearly six hours.

All three platforms crashed on Monday afternoon at around 12:00 AST and services remained down until 18:00 AST, as users failed to receive and send messages or refresh their feeds.

Facebook named the cause of the outage due to a “faulty configuration change” which not only affected their services but also their employees passes and emails.

CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, apologised for the outage after the three sites had been restored, saying in a Facebook post: “”Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger are coming back online now.

“Sorry for the disruption today – I know how much you rely on our services to stay connected with the people you care about.”

It is reported that the outage affected Zuckerberg himself as according to Fortune, a business website, the founder of Facebook had lost an estimated $6bn in shares during one point of the outage.

Downdetector, a platform that tracks outages from various sites, stated that around 10.6 million issues were reported from across the world. Reports came from areas including North and South America, Russia, New Zealand, Europe and Australia. Despite this, with more than 3.5 billion users from all sites, the real number of people affected would have been significantly more.

Security experts have predicted other possible cause for the outage with suggestions including a sabotage from an insider or an unintentional mistake.

Facebook released a statement, which said: “”To all the people and businesses around the world who depend on us, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused by today’s outage across our platforms.

“We’ve been working as hard as we can to restore access, and our systems are now back up and running.

“The underlying cause of this outage also impacted many of the internal tools and systems we use in our day-to-day operations, complicating our attempts to quickly diagnose and resolve the problem.

“Our engineering teams have learned that configuration changes on the backbone routers that coordinate network traffic between our data centres caused issues that interrupted this communication.

“This disruption to network traffic had a cascading effect on the way our data centres communicate, bringing our services to a halt.

“Our services are now back online and we’re actively working to fully return them to regular operations.

“We want to make clear at this time we believe the root cause of this outage was a faulty configuration change.

“We also have no evidence that user data was compromised as a result of this downtime.”

Due to the outage of these sites, other social media giants such as Twitter and TikTok benefitted, as they reported higher-than-normal usage, with Twitter recording its highest number of people on its platform at one time.

SEE ALSO: The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets in 2021

The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets In 2021

The 8 Coolest Tech Gadgets in 2021

When it concerns technology devices, the coolest ones will certainly always halt you in your tracks.

You find by hand inadequate them even if you suspect you don’t unquestionably necessitate them.

Yet even if you do not require them, it’s nice to treat them on your own now and then, and also the most effective devices will still be beneficial and also make your life much easier.

As well as with our list of the calmest tech gizmos, we sought to trace tools that fit this expenditure.

Maybe they’re not as significant to your everyday life as a mobile phone or a laptop, yet they’re the items you wish; they’re the ones you wind up blowing your tax obligation repayment on.

Whether that’s a new pc betting cabinet like the Nintendo Shift, a Simulated Practicality headset like the Oculus Quest 2 or a robovac like the iRobot Roomba, this stuff is the avowal items that you’ll appraise your helpers concerning the succeeding time you talk to them, or show off when you have entities sighted.

So, if you’re seeking suggestions on awesome technology gizmos to spend lavishly on, keep scrolling to see our choices.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

Samsung’s most current foldable phone unquestionably covers the list of coolest technology gizmos of 2021, while it just exists for pre-order right nowadays.

It’s an ordinary smartphone touch awning that folds up into a 4.2 ″ small enterprise for agility and luxury.

The tower is made of strong aluminum that braces the dual, and the front and back cover are thru from the hardest glass Galaxy Z has seen so far.

It’s got a 1.9 ″ shelter screen that exhibitions are pushing notices, and also, it’s got Flex Scenery for hands-free selfies.

Apple Watch Series 6

With each passing year, given its 2014 launch, the Apple Watch has continued to become a growing number of helpful in the lives of the average discrete.

Whether it’s easily offering phone notifications, tracking exercises, checking important signs, or making telephone calls without having a phone close by in all, there is a lot that this little wearable can do. In simple it is one the best in the list of watches for businessmen and regular watch lovers.

The up-to-date iteration, the Apple Watch Collection 6, even features an enormously timely feature that will certainly allow you to monitor your blood oxygen stages.

If you’re dealing with Covid-19, monitoring SpO2 can be a key in establishing when you need to see a physician or health center to be dealt with.

And if the last seven years have essentially been any kind of sign, the Apple Watch will just cultivate to be better in the forthcoming

Oculus Quest 2

Virtual reality could be captivating its period to have its ‘iPhone moment,’ yet it is still quite the next big point when it anxieties the coolest tech gadgets.

And also, there is not a solo VR maneuver that flashes that assurance more than the Oculus Mission 2.

Deprived of the obligation for the commanding computer or special gear, you can just band the Mission 2 to your head, get the supervisors and also move openly in the VR area thanks to its inside out invention, which makes use of electrical cameras outside of the headset to track your gesture in the space everywhere you.

2020 Apple M1 MacBook Air

Apple’s up-to-date version of the MacBook Air is the most actual laptop processor you can attain and transformed the entire commerce when it was unconfined vertebral in 2020.

Not solitary does it involve of sooner chips than 98% of mainframes now for auction; it’s gotten an 18-hour battery life that’ll last you all day.

It’s likewise been constructed without a noisy follower and nearly ever examined when it first came out promoted that it might deal with every task tossed at it without one.

It’s geared up with 8GB of quick memory, a sensational 13.3 ″ retina presentation screen as well as is like-minded with a lot of the prevailing claims you use to work- containing of Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365, and Google Drive.

It’s similarly developed with the currently ill-famed Apple M1 mark with an 8-core CPU that works at speeds 3.5 x faster than previous models while utilizing less vigor.

Anker Nebula Solar Portable Projector

Typically, when you think of house theater projectors, you assume they call for an unduly included installment process and also a PhD-level data of gear to start all of it up.

Though, we are in a period where you can take out the Anker Galaxy Solar. Barely bigger than a book, you can aim it at a wall, as well as have it predicting a 120-inch, 1080p variation of your favored Netflix flick without needing to set up the picture setups or discover an electrical power outlet.

Will this change your elegant 65-inch 4K HDR TV? Never. But also, for those minutes when you’re really food craving that cinema experience in the house (and also truly, who hasn’t over the last year?), you’ll recognize why this made our checklist of cool tech gizmos.

Apple AirPods Max

Apple’s most current earphone drop featured a shocking price, but one that just Apple, with its quality of products, might carry out asking for.

These headphones are built with 3D border audio that settles based on your setting and heat setting, and also, they have really gotten Active Noise End that shuts out the rest of the world with the media of a switch.

The headphones themselves have a knit-mesh cover and recall foam earpads for a wonderful fit.

They’re furthermore built to faultlessly switch in between gadgets and have on-head finding, so your music will certainly stop if you require to eradicate them for a second. They come in five different sunglasses, with this efficient Space Gray.

Sony SRS-RA5000 360 Fact Sound Audio Speaker

With the capacity to make the audience seem like they are standing in the center of a show, Sony’s SRS-RA5000 360 Truth Sound Wi-Fi speaker could be advanced.

But this isn’t merely an elegant piece of equipment; 360 Fact Sound is an entire podium for music-focused 3D sound.

Similar to a movie-focused layout, such as Dolby Atmos, Sony is skilled in providing real-time material so that we can enjoy displays and shows in these plague times.

Fortified with seven separate chauffeurs, the SRS-RA5000 can spot the room it’s in and scatter the audio thru a room to create an immersive upshot.

However, while you’re not utilizing this speaker for real-time performances, you can likewise connect to your preferred music solution via Chromecast, Bluetooth, or Spotify Link.

As well as if you have a gathering of wise residence gadgets, you can use this audio orator as an Alexa or Google aide hub.

Sonos Wander Smart Speaker

Whereas the Bubble Comprehensive and Amazon Resonance all have their precious one worth as Wi-Fi smart speakers, and also the UE Wonderboom 2 is the unworldly superlative of the Bluetooth speaker, the Sonos Roam is a blend audio speaker that offers the utmost active of both orbs with negligible negotiation.

When connected to a Wi-Fi network, the Roam can make use of much better audio high quality and voice-controlled assimilation with Google Aide and Alexa.

When allied to your phone by Bluetooth, you can take the Roam everyplace you longing and have expediency to aural as long as your phone series isn’t dead.

Finest of all, the Sonos Roam still links with your prevailing network of Sonos stuff, as long as you have one more audio speaker in your multi-room conformation.

SEE ALSO: Is Your State Splurge-y Or Stingy?

 

OnlyFans Announces Ban on ‘sexually explicit’ content

OnlyFans Announces Ban on ‘Sexually Explicit’ Content

OnlyFans, a site that allows models and performers to charge their viewers for their explicit images and videos, announced that it will ban “sexually explicit” images and videos from its site from October – then promptly changed its mind after a backlash from users.

The London-based subscription platform had declared that from October 1st, they would change their regulations by not allowing any sexually explicit photos and videos from being uploaded onto the site. However, people will still be able to post nude content within the guidelines provided by the site.

This decision comes after the pressure applied onto them from banks and financial transaction services to stop the explicit imagery.

The popular social media platform, founded in 2016 by Essex businessman Tim Stokely, has been used by a range of content providers such as celebrities and musicians, but has been heavily patronised by sex workers and models allowing them to share their images and videos to their subscribers for either a tip or a monthly fee.

During the heart of the pandemic, OnlyFans grew rapidly in popularity, with millions of people subscribing to various creators, with the site claiming it has 130 million users. But it now admits that certain changes need to be made.

A spokesperson for the company said: “In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the platform, and to continue to host an inclusive community of creators and fans, we must evolve our content guidelines.”

The OnlyFans website affirms that its creators receive 80% commission on their earnings, while the other 20% covers “referral payments, payment processing, hosting, support, and all other services”. The site has therefore allowed some creators to earn a vast income. Movie celebrity Bella Thorne is said to have made $1m in her first day on OnlyFans, sparking complaints that she had ‘ruined the platform for other content providers.’ Thorne charged users $200 for a single image, and soon after the company initiated a $50-per-image cap. The actress is reportedly the second-highest earning user on the site, with an estimated monthly income of $11 million, while Blac Chyna is said to be the top earner, with estimated monthly earnings of $20 million, while Cardi B is third with $9.34 million a month

The BBC has recently revealed in an investigation that the changes announced by OnlyFans followed concerns about how the site has handling the accounts posting the explicit imagery and videos.

In a response to the investigation carried out, OnlyFans said that it does not tolerate violations of its terms of service, and its systems and age verification go far beyond “all relevant global safety standards and regulations.”

But days after the announcement of the change of policy, OnlyFans announced it has suspended the move, saying in a tweet: “Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard. We have secured assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1 policy change. OnlyFans stands for inclusion and we will continue to provide a home for all creators.”

The change of heart may be too late may be too late for some sex content creators who have already announced that they would move from OnlyFans to other platforms such as Justforfans, Fansly, LoyalFans or Pocketstars.

SEE ALSO: Social Media sites Remove Offensive Comments following Lizzo Abuse

Streetwear

Voice of Insiders Streetwear

Redefining modern streetwear and conveying a new freshness to the “jungle” of fashion.

Unless you’ve been camping out in the actual jungle for the last several years, you’d have noticed that technology and fashion have started to blend together in new ways. In fact, probably almost everyone you know has a Fitbit (which started with a bracelet and has now branched into apparel) or Apple Watch (which did a collaboration with Hèrmes to create luxurious leather straps for the timepieces) or some other kind of wearable device that can measure heart rate, calories burned, and a wide array of other metrics. And the appeal of such devices is easy to see. Sure, a watch tells time, but why shouldn’t it do more for us? The Fitbit and Apple Watch do indeed, do much, much more.

But, why confine such obvious benefits to simply accessories? While a watch is a great accessory, not all of us prefer or choose to wear one. However, putting on clothes before we head out the door every day is not an option for any of us, it’s an obligation. “No shirt, no shoes, no service” still applies in most or all public spaces, so unless you happen to live in a nudist colony, you may want to keep reading.

Some brands offer clothing made from high performing textiles. These special fabrics have properties far beyond what fibers like cotton, linen, silk and wool can offer. Benefits of these textiles may range from anti-wrinkling, quick drying, antibacterial, light-up/color-changing, antimicrobial, moisture-wicking, water repellant, UV protection, temperature regulating, and might offer the wearer energy return and even support the treatment of injuries. While some of these streetwear technologies are more gimmick-y or just for fun, some of them are really incredible. For example, Outlast, a technology originally developed by NASA for use in spacesuits on account of its temperature regulation properties, is now used in products like bedding, apparel, footwear, seating and beyond. Another amazing technology we discovered is called Celliant, which originally had a variety of uses for aiding performance, recovery and sleep on account of its proprietary infrared energy technology, but is now also being used in a multitude of different products, including fashion garments!

Modern streetwear

Although the number of fashion brands that have discovered the benefits of using technologies like Outlast and Celliant are still few, there’s no doubt that performance textiles being used in clothing is going to be a huge trend. One brand that’s ahead of the flow and combining fashion and function in a way we’ve never seen before is the NYC-based performance streetwear brand, Voice of Insiders. Voice of Insiders was founded in 2016 with a mission to seamlessly fuse technology and fashion and a vision to re-define modern streetwear and convey a new freshness to the “jungle” of fashion. Their simple, yet thoughtful designs are comfortable and wearable, yet elevated at the same time. We can see their Energy Zip Dress pairing equally well with sneakers for running errands during the day or with a strappy sandal for a night out, and the Energy Track Pant can take you from the basketball court to dinner, just pop on a jacket (like their Double Zipper Aviator Jacket) and you’re good to go! All pieces feature technologies like Outlast and Celliant and each one comes with a tag detailing the unique benefits of each individual piece. For example, the Transformable Down Filled Parka is a true 2-in-1 piece, with a water and wind repellant shell that zips off, showcasing a down filled jacket underneath. The piece is also breathable and packable! Voice of Insiders’ collection is the ideal capsule wardrobe for someone who wants to do a lot with a little and who believes that clothes should do more than simply look good.

You can find performance streetwear from Voice of Insiders online at www.voiceofinsiders.com and use code “INSIDERS” for 10 percent off your order. You can also check out what they’re up to on Instagram @voiceofinsiders.