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Bill Gates sure is strict on how his children use the very technology he helped bring to the masses.

In a recent interview with the Mirror, the tech mogul said his children were not allowed to own their own cellphone until the age of 14. “We often set a time after which there is no screen time, and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour,” he said. Gates added that the children are not allowed to have cellphones at the table, but are allowed to use them for homework or studying.

The Gates children, now 20, 17 and 14, are all above the minimum age requirement to own a phone, but they are still banned from having any Apple products in the house—thanks to Gates’ longtime rivalry with Apple founder Steve Jobs.

While the parenting choice may seem harsh, the Gates may be onto something with delaying childhood smartphone ownership. According to the 2016 “Kids & Tech: The Evolution of Today’s Digital Natives” report, the average age that a child gets their first smartphone is now 10.3 years.

“I think that age is going to trend even younger, because parents are getting tired of handing their smartphones to their kids,” Stacy DeBroff, chief executive of Influence Central, told The New York Times.

James P. Steyer, chief executive of Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that reviews content and products for families, additionally told the Times that he too has one strict rule for his children when it comes to cellphones: They get one when they start high school and only when they’ve proven they have restraint. “No two kids are the same, and there’s no magic number,” he said. “A kid’s age is not as important as his or her own responsibility or maturity level.”

PBS Parents also provided a list of questions parents should answer before giving their child their first phone. Check out the entire list below:

• How independent are your kids?
• Do your children “need” to be in touch for safety reasons—or social ones?
• How responsible are they?
• Can they get behind the concept of limits for minutes talked and apps downloaded?
• Can they be trusted not to text during class, disturb others with their conversations, and to use the text, photo, and video functions responsibly (and not to embarrass or harass others)?
• Do they really need a smartphone that is also their music device, a portable movie and game player, and portal to the internet?
• Do they need something that gives their location information to their friends—and maybe some strangers, too—as some of the new apps allow?
• And do you want to add all the expenses of new data plans? (Try keeping your temper when they announce that their new smartphone got dropped in the toilet…)

This article originally appeared on 05.01.17

A childhood game can go very wrong in the blink of an eye.

“You’ll never get me!”

“Freeze! Put your hands up.”

If you’ve ever played cops and robbers, you know how the game goes.

John Arthur Greene was 8 and he was playing that game with his older brother Kevin. Only the two brothers played with real guns. Living on a farm, they were both old hands at handling firearms by their ages.

The blast from the gun must have startled them both.

“We were always extremely safe. They were never loaded,” John said.

Except this time it was. And John’s brother died in his arms while he watched.

It happens more often than you would ever want to imagine.

In federal data from 2007 to 2011, which is likely under-reported, an average of 62 children were accidentally killed by firearms per year.

Here’s a chilling example from Everytown for Gun Safety:

“In Asheboro, North Carolina, a 26-year-old mother was cleaning her home when she heard a gunshot. Rushing into the living room, she discovered that her three-year-old son had accidentally shot her boyfriend’s three-year-old daughter with a .22-caliber rifle the parents had left in the room, loaded and unlocked.”

And the numbers may actually be getting worse.

With an increase in unfettered access to guns and philosophical opposition to gun regulations, the numbers seem to be on the rise. Here’s how many accidental shootings happened at the hands of children in 2015 alone, by age:

From January 19-26 of 2016 — just one week — at least seven kids were accidentally shot by another kid.

If the pace holds up for the rest of the year, America would be looking at over 300 accidental shootings of children, in many cases by children, for the year. That’s far too many cases of children either carrying the guilt and pain of having shot a loved one or hurting or killing themselves by accident.

John Arthur Greene has been able to manage his feelings of guilt and sorrow through music and by sharing his story for others to hear.

He told his story during an audition for the final season of “American Idol.” He says music has helped him keep his brother’s memory alive:

“Right now I lift him up every day and he holds me up. Music is how I coped with everything.”

It’s a powerful reminder. No matter how we each feel about gun safety laws, guns should always be locked away unloaded and kept separately from ammunition.

Our babies are too precious to leave it to chance.

Watch John Arthur Greene’s audition for “American Idol” here:

This article originally appeared on 03.07.16

Back in the late ’80s, NASA was looking for ways to detoxify the air in its space stations. So it conducted a study to determine the most effective plants for filtering the air of toxic agents and converting carbon dioxide to oxygen.

In 1989, their results were published in a clean air study that provided a definitive list of the plants that are most effective at cleaning indoor air. The report also suggested having at least one plant per every hundred square feet of home or office space.

1. Dwarf Date Palm

2. Boston Fern

3. Kimberly Queen Fern

4. Spider Plant

5. Chinese Evergreen

6. Bamboo Palm

7. Weeping Fig

8. Devil’s Ivy

9. Flamingo Lily

10. Lilyturf

11. Broadleaf Lady Palm

12. Barberton Daisy

13. Cornstalk Dracena

14. English Ivy

15. Varigated Snake Plant

16. Red-Edged Dracaena

17. Peace Lily

18. Florist’s Chrysanthemum

What’s in our air?

Trichloroethylene – Found in printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes, adhesives, and paint removers. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: excitement, dizziness, headache, nausea, and vomiting followed by drowsiness and coma.

Formaldehyde – Found in paper bags, waxed papers, facial tissues, paper towels, plywood paneling, and synthetic fabrics. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: irritation to nose, mouth and throat, and in severe cases, swelling of the larynx and lungs.

Benzene – Used to make plastics, resins, lubricants, detergents, and drugs. Also found in tobacco smoke, glue, and furniture wax. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: irritation to eyes, drowsiness, dizziness, headache, increase in heart rate, headaches, confusion and in some cases can result in unconsciousness.

Xylene – Found in rubber, leather, tobacco smoke, and vehicle exhaust. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: irritation to mouth and throat, dizziness, headache, confusion, heart problems, liver and kidney damage and coma.

Ammonia – Found in window cleaners, floor waxes, smelling salts, and fertilizers. Symptoms associated with short-term exposure include: eye irritation, coughing, sore throat.

Please note: Some of these plants may be toxic for your pets, so please do your research to ensure your furry friends stay safe.

This article originally appeared on 08.13.21

Writer and illustrator Aubrey Hirsch jokingly asked her followers on Twitter what’s a “universal thing that most men like?” because she was writing a comic and “just realized I don’t actually know any men in real life.” The tweet inspired an avalanche of funny responses.

Hirsch is the author of “Why We Never Talk About Sugar,” a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Child, American Short Fiction and Time.

The interesting thing about the responses is that they weren’t the typical stereotypes about men. She didn’t get a ton of people talking about sex, sports or toxic masculinity. Instead, there were a lot of folks that mentioned very specific male behaviors as if they were talking about a bizarre species they discovered in the wild.

There were two things that got the most comments on her post. First, men enjoy throwing heavy objects into bodies of water. Preferably, the larger the rock, the deeper the body of water and from the highest vantage point possible.

The other is watching construction sites. Evidently, the phenomenon is so popular in Italy that there is a specific word for this type of person in Italian.

Here are 19 of the best responses to the question, “What’s a universal thing that most men like?”

Whatu2019s a universal thing that most men like? Iu2019m making a comic but I just realized I donu2019t actually know any men in real life.

— Aubrey Hirsch (@Aubrey Hirsch)
1647902733

1.

It’s so common in Italy that there’s a name for ithttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umarell

— James Billot (@James Billot)
1647938793

When asked why men enjoy watching construction sites so much, a poster on Reddit named justdaps had the perfect response. “I just find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built,” he wrote.

2.

https://t.co/SpjqBiViFr

— Daniel Larkin 🌹🏴 (@larkin721) March 22, 2022

3.

Me: Thinking intently trying to come up with a good answer.nAlso me seeing this tweet: Ooh, yeah, this is a good one. A good deep sounding sploosh with a big splash. Yeah, this is a good one.nWe aren’t complicated.

— Michael Miller (@Michael Miller)
1647967400

pic.twitter.com/33W9wqOYP4

— Uhtred Ragnarson (@Iskander861) March 22, 2022

Skipping a stone an unexpected number of times on a lake

— Van Weasel (@vanweezer) March 21, 2022

4.

standing while watching tvhttps://t.co/RJBUGPyJBw

— Russ Shanahan (@russshanahan) March 23, 2022

I have seen dudes do this and I have done it plenty of times myself. I usually stand while watching TV when I want to really focus on what’s happening and do not want to be distracted. This usually happens while watching sporting events or the news. It’s also a great way to use your body language to let other people know that there is something very important happening on the television.

5.

https://t.co/mlTq6HmYBJ

— Randojoeblow (@randojoeblow) March 21, 2022

6.

My work life got a lot easier when I started saying “I don’t know enough to have an opinion on this subject”. Life changing.

— PG (@PG)
1647907387

7.

A man will buy a knife, and if there is another man, he will ask to hold and admire it for 4 seconds and then give it back and say: “Nice.”

— Nathan (Elemeno P) (@realNathanWheat) March 22, 2022

8.

https://t.co/b56zP1KrTx

— AreaMantis, Hat Guy 👒 (@AreaMantis) March 23, 2022

9.

If a guy walks under a low hanging sign he will jump up and try to tap the bottom of the sign as he passes.

Guys like being asked to open jars.

Power tools. Give a guy a new drill and he’ll wander around looking for stuff that needs holes.

— Alan Morgan (@lettersndigits) March 21, 2022

When we do this 99% of the time we’re pretending that the sign is 10 feet high and that we have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are two types of men, those that can dunk and mere mortals.

10.

Memorizing favorite lines from their favorite movies, then reciting them with their friends (or even strangers) who’ve also memorized them, doing entire scenes. Extra points for using accents. A true source of unparalleled amusement & male bonding.

— cautiously optimistic 🙏🏼✌🏻 (@BethCal84918882) March 22, 2022

As a man, this one is near and dear to my heart. I can’t tell you the number of hours I have spent with my friends just throwing lines from “The Big Lebowski” back and forth.

“Nice marmot.”

“The Dude abides.”

“Say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it’s an ethos.”

A movie that’s running up the ranks of being among the most quotable is another dude buddy pic, “Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood.”

“All right, that’s too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?” … “Rick, it’s a flamethrower.”

11.

Right, no-one else has posted this yet, I know my duty: pic.twitter.com/HPwd8qwgUP

— Katie (@ZiziFothSi) March 22, 2022

12.

Talking about their athletic glory days pic.twitter.com/9LmaG2oEiD

— Ben Ross (@BenRossTweets) March 21, 2022

13.

Dining tables made with resin pic.twitter.com/3WQOjEjvcK

— 🌹Robin Isomaa🐕 (@RobinIsomaa) March 22, 2022

14.

Using tie down straps to secure a load in the back of a truck, then twanging the straps and going “that’s not going anywhere”

— Gom Jabbarjaw (@SensitiveWigi) March 22, 2022

15.

When my dad had to chainsaw branches off a dead tree, neighbor men just gathered with various saws from all corners of the subdivision. It was like a siren song.

— Liz (@WarmestRegardss) March 21, 2022

16.

Posing for photos while holding fish.

— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) March 22, 2022

17.

Given a wood fire and a long branch, 100 of 100 men will find a reason to poke the fire every few minutes. Just, you know, to make sure things are burning evenly.

— Patrick Fessenbecker (@pfessenbecker) March 21, 2022

18.

explaining things to women

— ˗ˏˋ Hayley DeRoche ˎˊ˗ (@hayleyderoche) March 21, 2022

Unfortunately, this is true and men do far too much of it.

19.

When shopping at a grocery store, leaning forward with your forearms on the handle of the carriage, while you walk up and down the aisles

— Joe DellaGatta (@JoeDellaGatta) March 23, 2022

Evidently, after reading the responses, Hirsch knew what was going to happen next. No need to feel ashamed about going viral. It just means you created something that people love.

I really feel for the poor Buzzfeed intern currently searching for the perfect gifs to turn this into an article that will support 8 ad spots.

— Aubrey Hirsch (@aubreyhirsch) March 22, 2022

This story was originally published on 3.42.22.

Even though it’s 2023 and schools are much more concerned with protecting children from bullying than in the past, parents still have to be aware that kids will be kids, and having a child with a funny name is bound to cause them trouble.

A mother on Reddit is concerned that her future children will have the unfortunate last name of “Butt,” so she asked people on the namenerds forum to help her convince her husband to name their child something different.

(Note: We’re assuming that the person who wrote the post is a woman because their husband is interested in perpetuating the family name, and if it were a same-sex relationship, a husband probably wouldn’t automatically make that assumption.)

“My husband’s last name is Butt. Can someone please help me illuminate to him why this last name is less than ideal,” she asked the forum. “I totally get we can’t shield kids from everything and I understand the whole family ties thing, but c’mon. Am I being unreasonable by suggesting our future kid either take my name, a hybrid, or a new one altogether?”

The posters on the forum overwhelmingly supported her.

“I can see hubby being a bit of a stickler because he wants to keep the family name, but I find it a bit baffling that he doesn’t get why it would be a concern,” Babelight wrote. “If you have to club him over the head with it, indicate that for children/young persons hearing the name, they would equate it to someone’s last name being ‘Pooh,’ ‘Vaginah’ or ‘Peenis/Peniss.’”

Other posters noted that her opinion is just as valid as her husband’s when naming their child.

“You are absolutely not being unreasonable. Your husband’s last name is objectively pretty awful, and of course, you don’t want your child to have it. Also, even if it wasn’t that bad, you would be still entitled to at least suggest that your child takes your last name since you are also going to be their parent,” SwordfishBrilliant 40 wrote. “Also, he needs to think about his child, let’s be honest, their life is going to be a lot easier with a ‘normal’/not bad’ last name.”

Having a last name like Butt opens a child up to being bullied, which can lead to feelings of rejection, exclusion, isolation, diminished self-esteem and long-term mental health struggles, including depression and anxiety.

“I knew a kid named Zack Butt. Teased relentlessly. At every age,” Kwam26 confirmed.

There is also the practical problem of living in a digital world where algorithms often filter out names deemed offensive. This issue is known as the “Scunthorpe problem.” Back in the late ‘90s, people from the town of Scunthorpe in the UK couldn’t sign up on AOL because a filter blocked out the name due to the offensive term that sits in the middle of it.

The husband is proud of his family heritage and, possibly, of having learned to live with a name that would make most people chuckle. But it’s also understandable that his wife has a real problem bringing a child up in this world with a name that will make them the butt of jokes throughout their lives.

One wonders why this wasn’t discussed before the couple got married.

This article originally appeared on 9.5.23

Going to the gym can be a daunting prospect for a lot of people. It shouldn’t be—the whole point of going to the gym is to exercise, which is something that should universally be applauded—but sometimes it can feel like there’s pressure to be at a certain fitness level or have a certain physique before stepping foot in the door.

For people who are heavier, gym culture can be especially intimidating. Unfortunately, not everyone remembers to practice kindness and fatphobia appears to remain a fairly tolerated prejudice. That shouldn’t stop people with big bodies from enjoying all that fitness centers have to offer, but all too often, it does.

It hasn’t stopped a woman named Steph from working out regularly at her gym, albeit with some trepidation. As she shared in a hugely viral TikTok, she’s experienced some unkind behavior at the gym that made her nervous when a man approached her recently. But her description of the encounter ultimately demonstrated how powerful a few positive words can be.

In a video made from her car just after leaving the gym, Steph explained that a “hardcore” gym-goer who is “super tough” and covered in tattoos had came up to talk to her. Her initial response was to be afraid of what he was going to say to her, based on previous experience. She shared in the video how hard it’s been to stay steady with her workouts, especially with medications she’s on making her body hold onto weight, but she’s been working hard to be consistent. She steeled herself for whatever he might say.

She didn’t expect it to be this: “I’ve seen you in here every week, almost every day. I’ve seen you in here every week—and I’m proud of you.” Nor did she expect that such simple words of encouragement could make such a huge impact.

Watch her tell the story:

@steph5468

#gymprogress #workputjourney #keepgoing #healingjourney

People had a lot to say about the interchange and Steph’s emotional response to it.

“People do not realize, how one person can change everything,” wrote one commenter.

“Girl you are CRUSHING IT,” wrote another. “That man you encountered is what real men do. Encourage. Support. Be human! It isn’t hard! ❤️”

“No one knows your story, your struggles. You’re doing the dang thing and that takes courage and strength. You. Keep. Going. I’m proud of you too!” shared another.

More and more words of encouragement flooded Steph’s comment section, and people on Upworthy’s Instagram page weighed in as well.

“I’m a fitness coach and this made me cry 😢 just having someone say they are proud of you can move mountains for so many of us who didn’t/ don’t get the praise growing up,” wrote one person.

“Who knows? He may be going through something too and saw a determined, consistent, fellow traveler,” wrote another. “You share your Truth so powerfully. You may not know how many people will see this and be encouraged by your honesty. I’m in awe that you show up for YOURSELF every day. And as for the rude and ill-mannered? Well they struggle too—just to be decent kind human beings. Some people have not been shown Empathy and therefore do not know how to use that muscle. You are beautiful, smart, articulate, wise and a woman who knows where she’s headed. Keep walking, head up knowing there are many many more who do empathize, who see you and are on your side❤️”

“It’s amazing to think about how this man’s single act of kindness, spread through you to affect us all in a positive way,” shared another. “This made all of our days, and I’m crying tears of joy while I write this. Please thank him from all of us the next time you see him, if you’re comfortable with that. And thank you for sharing! ❤️”

Indeed, thanks to both Steph and the hardcore, tattooed gym bro for being wonderful examples for us all. We never know what a small act of kindness or a few words of encouragement will do to make someone’s life significantly better, but it’s always worth trying.

This article originally appeared on 9.5.23

(WARNING: Spoilers for the most recent Power Book III: Raising Kanan episode will be found below.)

Power Book III: Raising Kanan season three officially got underway today with the first episode in the new season. Much of the cast from season two has returned for the third season including Mekai Curtis as Kanan Stark, Patina Miller as Raquel “Raq” Thomas, London Brown as Marvin Thomas, Malcolm Mays as Louis “Lou-Lou” Thomas, Joey Badass as Unique, and Hailey Kilgore as LaVerne “Jukebox” Thomas. There’s also a new name to the cast that being a man named Ronnie who plays the role of Unique’s brother who is fresh out of prison and it seems like his presence will be felt in season three.

Who Plays Ronnie On Power Book III: Raising Kanan? Meet Grantham Coleman

Ronnie is played by actor Grantham Coleman whose career spans over a decade. Coleman’s appearance in Power Book III: Raising Kanan season three marks his first role in a show within the Power Universe. Over his career, he’s appeared in television shows including The Americans, The Night Shift, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Carmichael Show, and Lawmen: Bass Reeves.

New episodes of ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ are available on the STARZ app on Fridays at 12:00 am ET/PT and on the STARZ TV channel at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

It’s eight years later, and Star Wars fans are still giving Adam Driver a piece of their mind about what his character Kylo Ren did in The Force Awakens. In the first installment of the sequel trilogy set 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia, who’s seduced to the Dark Side by Supreme Leader Snoke. When father and son share reunion in the film’s climax, Kylo does the unthinkable by murdering the legendary pilot.

During a recent appearance on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, Driver revealed that Star Wars fans have consistently given crap about the patricide ever since.

“Somebody reminds me about that every day,” Driver told Wallace (via Entertainment Weekly) before conceding, “Not every day, but yeah. It used to be more but now it’s probably once a month somewhere.”

Obviously, killing Han Solo is a huge deal in the world of Star Wars, but Driver shared that working with Harrison Ford made it surprisingly easy despite all of the emotions involved.

“Obviously, John Williams wasn’t playing in the background and it was very emotional actually, shooting it with Harrison,” Driver said. “Harrison was so generous and contemplative and to me that was a great moment on set, actually, even though it was his death.”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available for streaming on Disney+.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)

Billie Eilish isn’t quite ready to drop an album, which will be her first since 2021’s Happier Than Ever, but her drops aren’t limited to music. In November, Eilish’s “Eilish No. 3” perfume arrived in an all-red bottle, and she designed red sneakers to match. This morning, December 1, Eilish announced her all-red Nike Air Alpha Force Lows will drop soon.

Eilish shared photos of her wearing the new colorway and instructed her followers how to buy them in her Instagram caption, writing, “”My newwwww @nike air alpha force lows [heart exclamation emoji] available december 5th on my website & december 8th on the SNKRS app [!!].”

Eilish did not specify how much her new Nike Air Alpha Force Lows will cost. However, she released two Nike Air Alpha Force Low colorways in August, and each pair retailed at $130. Some sizes are still available on Eilish’s official store. Eilish’s store also has select sizes of the Billie Eilish x Nike Air Jordan 1 KO ($170), Air Force 1 “Mushroom” ($170), Air Force 1 High ’07 Sequoia ($170), and Air Force 1 Low SP Sequoia ($130), and Air Force 1 Low White ($130). See all of the options here.

Eilish will next appear as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on December 16 — her third time serving as the musical guest on SNL.

There are countless Halloween movies (both the holiday and the franchise) and we all know how many Christmas movies Hallmark churns out every year, but there is one holiday that doesn’t get any movie representation, and that’s Thanksgiving.

Assuming you haven’t seen Thankskilling, there are no fun movies to watch after you’ve had your meal (unless you opt for the awkward Thanksgiving scene in Spider-Man). Eli Roth saw the opportunity and took it by making Thanksgiving, a perfect movie with an extremely un-Googleable name. And now there another one is in the works.

Roth confirmed via Instagram that a Thanksgiving 2 is underway, aiming for a 2025 release. He posted a video announcing that the slasher will get a sequel, “We want to out-do ourselves, make it better than the first one,” he said. He captioned the video, “BREAKING NEWS! John Carver will kill again! @thanksgivingmovie sequel is a GO!!! Thank you everyone who supported ORIGINAL HORROR in theaters!!! Go see it now on the big screen while it’s in cinemas, sequel set for release in 2025! Taking a year to really get the script right, working on it starting today!”

Thanksgiving follows a group of teens living in the aftermath of a deadly Black Friday sale, which inspires a Thanksgiving killer who will stop at nothing to make sure there are no leftovers (get it?). The film stars 2023’s Sexiest Man Alive Patrick Dempsey alongside Gen Z whisperer Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, and Rick Hoffman. And there is a killer but I won’t spoil it.

(Via People)