Summary List PlacementTable of Contents: Masthead StickyPremium (Annual Plan) (small)Premium Plus (Annual Plan) (small)
Peacock Premium is a subscription streaming service with access to a growing library of NBC shows, Universal movies, and original series. The platform offers monthly payment plans starting at $5, but you can get a discount if you opt for one of the service's annual plans instead.
The standard monthly cost for the ad-supported Peacock Premium plan is $5/month, and the ad-free Peacock Premium Plus plan is $10/month. If you pay for 12 months with a monthly subscription that comes out to $60 for Peacock Premium or $120 for Peacock Premium Plus.
But, if you sign up for an annual plan, you can pay around 17% less. The annual rate for Peacock Premium is $50, and the annual rate for Peacock Premium Plus is $100. That's a yearly savings of up to $20 compared to the monthly plan.
Peacock Premium members get ad-supported access to the entire Peacock catalog with thousands of hours of popular series, movies, exclusive content, and sports. Meanwhile, Peacock Premium Plus offers on-demand streaming without ads. That said, though Peacock Premium Plus is primarily commercial-free, a small selection of titles and live events may still include ads.
How to save up to $20 with an annual subscription to Peacock Premium
Visit the Peacock website, enter your email address, and click "Get Started."
Scroll down and click "See Annual Plans" on the bottom right of the webpage.
Click "Get Premium" or "Get Premium Plus," depending on which plan you want.
Fill out the requested information and click "Create Account."
Next, fill out your payment information.
Your shopping cart will reflect the discounted rate for the Peacock Premium annual plan.
Your subscription to Peacock will auto-renew after one year, so make sure to cancel your subscription if you no longer want the streaming service.
Premium (Annual Plan) (small)Premium Plus (Annual Plan) (small)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free trial for Peacock Premium?
Even though Peacock Premium no longer offers new members a free trial, you can stream a limited library of content without signing up for a Premium Plan. The free, ad-supported Peacock catalog features more than 7,500 hours worth of movies and TV shows, including select seasons of hit series like "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation."
What are the best movies and TV shows on Peacock Premium?
Peacock Premium includes access to over 15,000 hours of movies, TV shows, and originals. The rotating library of films includes hit franchises like "Harry Potter" and "John Wick." For more information about the streaming service, check out Insider's full review of Peacock Premium.
Popular movies currently available on Peacock Premium include:
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The computer graphics cards designed by Nvidia and AMD serve as the heart of a gaming PC, with cards at a wide range of prices offering increasing levels of image quality and rendering speed.
As home-built gaming computers become more common, demand for individually sold graphics cards has spiked dramatically, leaving most stores out of stock on a day-to-day basis. Just a few retailers, like Microcenter, Best Buy, and Newegg, have advertised restocks.
Best Buy is planning to offer Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards at specific stores on August 26. You'll have to check this list to see which stores will have graphic cards in stock. Best Buy employees will start handing out tickets to customers in line starting at 7:30 a.m. local time.
To help you make the best graphics card purchase without overpaying, we've broken down the ins and outs of Nvidia's RTX 30 and AMD's RX 6000 series products. That said, it's important to remember that stock remains hard to come by for all the models we've listed, so prices above MSRP are likely unavoidable for the time being.
The starting prices we've listed are for reference so you can decide whether any higher prices you may come across are worth the premium. We'll update this page with more buying options and restock alerts as they're announced.
Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards
Nvidia has described the demand for its latest series of RTX 30 graphics cards as "unprecedented." Seven different cards have joined the RTX 30 line since September 2020, with recommended prices ranging from $329 to $1,500.
Priced at about $700, the RTX 3080 is an ideal choice for most people that will meet the needs of all but the most hardcore PC gaming enthusiasts. The $400 RTX 3060 Ti is a perfect pick for midrange and budget PCs, delivering excellent performance at 1080p, but struggling when pushed to 4K.
Nvidia graphics cards also have excellent software features and developer support that can benefit gamers who stream or record their gameplay for YouTube and Twitch. Nvidia's exclusive DLSS software helps improve performance in certain games by using artificial intelligence to upscale visuals.
AMD's graphics cards aren't quite as popular as Nvidia's, but they boast plenty of power and are generally less expensive than their RTX counterparts. AMD cards get an additional performance boost when paired with AMD processors, which compete with Intel as the most popular gaming CPUs, and are generally more cost effective.
At $649 AMD Radeon 6800XT offers comparable performance to the RTX 3080 for $50 less, while the $579 AMD RX 6800 is a parallel to the $599 RTX 3070ti. The $999 Radeon RX 6900XT outperforms the $1,500 RTX 3090 in some games, but AMD's cards struggle with some newer features, like ray traced lighting and AI-powered resolution scaling.
Certain newly released games with those features will likely run slightly better on Nvidia hardware until AMD develops its own solutions to boost performance. On the other hand, some popular titles like "Borderlands 3" run better on AMD devices, so the performance differences will vary depending on your choice of games.
Recommended retailers for an Nvidia or AMD graphics card include Microcenter, Best Buy, Newegg, and Amazon (Nvidia, AMD). Unfortunately, inventory remains sold out at most store, but restocks occur from time to time. AMD also sell units from its own online store, and Nvidia has a tool for checking stock at other retailers.
Best Buy will sell RTX 30 cards on August 26 at select retail locations. You can check to see if your local store will carry inventory at Best Buy's website. Best Buy employees will hand out tickets to customers in line at 7:30 a.m. local time on August 26. Customers who receive a ticket will be able to purchase a card once the store opens.
If you're on the hunt for an Nvidia or AMD graphics card online we recommend checking these landing pages on a regular basis:
Manufacturer EVGA is also offering a virtual waitlist via its website, so you can choose to be contacted by email when stock is available. However, the EVGA waitlist is months long, and the RTX 3080 and RTX 3060ti are in especially high demand.
How to shop for a graphics card
New graphics cards are incredibly hard to buy right now due to an international chip shortage that began in 2020. Resellers are charging far more than retail price on eBay and Amazon and even older cards are selling for above market rate. Given the current market situation it may be more affordable to shop for a pre-built gaming PC or laptop, rather than buying a graphics card separately and building your own.
Prices for the same cards can vary between manufacturers, with upgrades like extra cooling fans or RGB lighting increasing the cost. Graphics cards shipped were also impacted by a US tariff increase that arrived in early 2021, leading manufacturers to increase their prices by $70 to $300 more than what RTX 30 series and AMD 6000 series cards originally sold for in fall 2020.
What to know before buying a graphics card
The graphics card might be the most important part of building a gaming PC, as it will likely determine your computer's peak performance. However, the more you spend on a graphics card, the more you'll need to spend on other parts to make sure you're not limiting its potential.
Even a $1,500 graphics card like the RTX 3090 can struggle if paired with an old processor or motherboard, so be sure to make sure the components in your PC are all modern and compatible before spending most of your budget on a graphics card.
Specifically, you should make sure your power supply can deliver requirements for your card of choice, and you should see if your motherboard supports PCI 4.0. A weak CPU can create a bottleneck that limits the overall speed of your gaming computer too, so don't overspend on your graphics card if you can't upgrade your CPU to a similar quality.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki condemned defense contractor Erik Prince for his plans to charge $6,500 for seats on a chartered evacuation flight out of Kabul, Afghanistan.
When first asked about private contractors profiting off the ongoing evacuation of Americans, Afghans, and others from the country, Psaki said the Biden administration doesn't approve of charging evacuees.
"We are evacuating people free of cost because that is the right step to take and certainly we wouldn't be supportive of profiting off people who are desperate to get out of a country," she told reporters during her Wednesday press briefing.
After being asked specifically about Prince's plans, she condemned the proposal in harsher terms.
"I don't think any human being who has a heart and soul would support efforts to profit off of people's agony and pain if they're trying to depart a country and fearing for their lives," she said.
Prince, a Trump ally and founder Blackwater Worldwide, said he'll charge extra to transport passengers to the airport from their homes in Kabul, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
.@PressSec Jen Psaki on Erik Prince offering to fly people out of Kabul for $6,500 each: "I don't think any human being who has a heart and soul would support efforts to profit off of peoples' agony and pain as they're trying to depart a country."https://t.co/qBPWqi4QvVpic.twitter.com/EV2L9QP8c3
Since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 14, US troops and allied forces have evacuated more than 82,000 people, including more than 4,000 Americans and their families, Psaki said on Wednesday. She added that there are about 1,500 additional US citizens still in Afghanistan who the government has been in touch with or reached out to "multiple times a day through multiple communication platforms."
Psaki on Erik Prince: I don’t think any human being with a heart and soul would support efforts to profit off of people’s agony and pain as they’re trying to depart a country and fearing for their lives pic.twitter.com/ABCyvlRtTZ
There are tens of thousands of Afghans eligible for special immigrant visas for their work with the US military who are still stuck in the country. Human rights groups believe there are about 300,000 Afghans who have worked with US forces over the last two decades and are therefore at high risk of being targeted by the Taliban if they stay in Afghanistan.
Prince's defense contracting has long drawn scrutiny. In 2014, four of his Blackwater contractors were convicted of killing 17 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women and children. Last December, Trump pardoned the contractors. Earlier this year, UN investigators found that Prince violated a UN arms embargo on Libya when he delivered weapons and foreign mercenaries to a Libyan militia leader planning to overthrow the country's government in 2019.
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PlayStation 5 (small)Playstation 5 (All-Digital) (small)
The PlayStation 5 is Sony's fastest-selling video game console ever, with more than 10 million systems sold since its launch in November 2020. However, the record demand and an international chip shortage have made the PS5 one of the hardest items to buy in stores or online.
The high demand for PS5 also makes it a target for resellers, many of whom use automated tools to purchase consoles online as soon as they're available. Sony acknowledged the supply challenges in a July 2021 statement, but it remains unclear when the console will become readily available.
We've seen weekly restocks of the PS5 ($500) and PS5 Digital Edition ($400) at retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, and Sony's own PlayStation Direct store. Nearly all PlayStation 5 sales are handled online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and overall demand, but some GameStop locations have made consoles available for in-store purchase.
According to CNET, Walmart will offer a batch of PlayStation 5 consoles online at 9 p.m. ET on August 25. Walmart usually announces PS5 restocks a few hours before consoles are available online, and another batch was available earlier in the day on August 25.
GameStop sends emails to subscribers ahead of PS5 restocks but typically only makes the PS5 available in bundles. Amazon and Newegg have also made PS5 consoles available, though on a less consistent basis. Newegg uses a raffle system to give shoppers a chance to buy rare items like the PS5.
We'll keep this post updated as we get more information about PS5 restocks, but ultimately you'll need to keep checking multiple stores and get a bit lucky with timing to secure the console.
Where to buy a PS5: stores and price
Several stores, including Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target, and Newegg, have regularly restocked PlayStation 5 consoles since launch, but they typically sell out as soon as they're available online. Some GameStops have had consoles for sale in-store, but availability depends on when they're shipped.
The PlayStation 5 comes in two different models — one that has a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive and a "digital edition" with no disc drive at all. The standard model is priced at $500, and the digital edition is priced at $400.
At popular sites for resellers, like eBay and StockX, you can expect to pay between $700 or $800 for the PlayStation 5.
You can check the links below to see if the PS5 is currently available at each retailer; we'll update this post if a specific store announces a restock.
PlayStation 5 (Standard Edition)
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PlayStation 5 (Digital Edition)
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Tips for buying the PS5
Buying the PlayStation 5 has been a struggle since release, but retailers have been making a steady stream of consoles available. If you have a preferred store, you should look into setting stock alerts with their online tools.
Third-party stock-tracking websites like HotStock.io can tell you when a store last had the PlayStation 5 in stock and let you set alerts for multiple retailers. A reseller who made more than $40,000 reselling PS5 consoles last year shared more specific tips on how to find the console online.
If you encounter issues while trying to check out with an online retailer, keep trying to refresh the product page to add the console and make sure the PS5 is available and in your cart. If possible, create an account with your preferred retailer and enter your payment and shipping information in advance to help the checkout process move quickly.
PlayStation 5 specifications
The PlayStation 5 boasts much more powerful hardware than the PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro. Upgrades include a solid state hard drive and a graphics card capable of ray-tracing technology.
The new PlayStation 5 family of peripherals haven't been nearly as hard to find as the console itself, though they're not of much use without the main course. That said, they do complement the features of the PlayStation 5, so we've taken to the time to explain what they all do.
Sony's $70 DualSense controller is a worthy successor to the PS4's popular DualShock, implementing a built-in microphone, haptic feedback for adjustable trigger tension, and advanced rumble features while also improving the battery life and adopting a USB-C charging cable.
Wireless Controller for PS5 (small)
The $100 Pulse 3D headset is a direct successor to the gold and platinum wireless headsets Sony released for the PlayStation 4. The headset has an adjustable band, built-in microphone, and hardware buttons for mute, voice monitoring, and volume. While the Pulse 3D headset is worth the investment, PS5's 3D audio features will also work with any third-party headset that's been licensed for use on PS4.
Pulse 3D Wireless Headset (small)
The $30 PlayStation media remote might look appealing, but for $30 you can find a better or cheaper universal remote to control the console. Several smart TV brands also let you control the PS5 with your standard TV remote too, so it's worth giving that a try before making this investment.
PlayStation 5 Media Remote (small)
The $30 DualSense charging stand can charge two controllers and makes for a nice stand alongside the PS5, but it doesn't actually charge your controllers any faster than using a regular cable.
PlayStation 5 DualSense Charging Station (small)
The $60 HD camera can be used for streaming in full 1080p and even has a background removal tool, but it cannot be used as a microphone like the PlayStation 4 camera. Luckily, you can just use the DualSense's built-in mic to communicate while playing.
PlayStation 5 HD Camera (small)
PlayStation 5 exclusive games
Sony is committed to creating a full lineup of exclusive games for the PlayStation 5, repeating the same strategy that helped make the PS4 a massive success. Because there are still so many gamers waiting to upgrade to PS5, many of the games released on the new console will also work on PlayStation 4, like "Spider-Man: Miles Morales" and "Sackboy: A Big Adventure."
Keep in mind that new games like "Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War" have been designed to run better on PS5, even if they're available on the PS4. Below, we've listed all the games that require a PlayStation 5 to play, including upcoming titles that don't have release dates yet.
Table of Contents: Masthead StickySummary List PlacementRelated Product Module: Related Product
This article was reviewed and updated on August 25, 2021.
Overall bank rating
Feature
Insider rating (out of 5)
Savings
4
Checking
3.25
CD
3.75
Money market
3.5
Trustworthiness
5
Total
3.9
Pros and cons
Pros
Cons
Strong mobile app
Low-fee savings account
Wide range of CD options
Only in the East and Midwest
Low APY on your account balances
Money market account does not have debit card
Savings
BB&T eSavings Account
The BB&T eSavings Account is an online-only option, and like many digital accounts, it comes with no monthly fees and no minimum opening deposit.
Most online savings accounts pay higher rates, around 0.50%, but BB&T only pays 0.01% APY. This rate is more comparable to what a brick-and-mortar bank would pay for an account you have to open in person than what online banks pay.
The bank website says the BB&T Bright Banking Account is its most popular checking account. Unfortunately, this option comes with a lot of fees.
You'll pay a $12 monthly fee unless you're eligible to have it waived. You'll pay a $3 fee if you use an out-of-network ATM and a $36 overdraft fee. You can link your checking account to another BB&T account so the bank transfers funds each time you risk overdrawing, but you'll pay $12.50 each time BB&T has to transfer money.
CDs
BB&T Personal Certificate of Deposit
BB&T offers a variety of CD types. Its traditional, fixed-rate BB&T Personal CD comes with terms as short as seven days. Most banks' shortest terms are three months, making BB&T a good option if you want to lock in a fixed rate but need access to your money relatively soon.
BB&T offers a money market account, but you must also have a BB&T checking account to open one.
The BB&T High Performance Money Market Account comes with paper checks, making it easier to access your money than if you had a regular savings account. But unlike some money market accounts, this account doesn't come with a debit card. There's a $12 monthly fee unless you maintain a $1,000 minimum balance.
How BB&T Bank works
BB&T has merged with SunTrust to become Truist Bank. However, BB&T and SunTrust still offer separate products, including accounts and loans, and you'll still see a BB&T sign outside a branch location.
BB&T has over 1,700 branches in 15 states and Washington DC. Locations are mostly in the East and Midwest; here's the full list of states:
Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Kentucky
Maryland
New Jersey
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
BB&T has around 2,500 ATMs nationwide. Because BB&T has merged with SunTrust to form Truist Bank, BB&T customers can also use SunTrust ATMs free of charge. If you use an out-of-network ATM, then you'll pay a $3 fee along with any fee charged by the ATM provider.
The BB&T mobile app, U by BB&T, has received 4.8 out of 5 stars in the Apple store and 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
To contact customer service, call BB&T Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, or Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to noon ET. You can also chat online with a live representative Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET.
BB&T is accredited through Truist Bank. The Better Business Bureau has given Truist an A+ in trustworthiness. A great BBB rating signifies the company is transparent in how it handles business, has honest advertising, and responds effectively to customer complaints.
Not all large banks have good BBB ratings. For example, Wells Fargo used to have an F, possibly for its fraudulent bank accounts and predatory lending toward racial minorities — now it isn't rated because the BBB is investigating its profile. Truist, on the other hand, doesn't have a scandalous history.
How BB&T Bank compares to similar banks
Most BB&T branches are in the East (especially the Southeast) and Midwest, so we're comparing BB&T to two banks with branches in similar areas: SunTrust and Regions.
BB&T and SunTrust have combined forces to become Truist Bank, but the two still offer separate products. For the most part, account types and rates are pretty similar. They both offer various types of CDs, so if you want to open a CD, compare and contrast your options between the two institutions.
When trying to decide which bank to open accounts with, your decision may come down to which has a branch closer to your home or more branches in your general area. SunTrust only has locations in the Southeast, while BB&T also has branches in parts of the Midwest and a little farther up the East Coast.
BB&T review vs. Regions Bank review
Like BB&T, Regions has branches in the Southeast and Midwest. Some of the states differ, so your choice might come down to which bank has a location closer to you.
Regions offers similar bank accounts and rates as BB&T. The main differences are with CDs. BB&T offers much more variety in the types of CDs it offers — but you can earn significantly higher rates through Regions if you meet certain criteria.
A brother of Republican US Rep. Devin Nunes said he has "no idea" who is funding a lawsuit he filed against political journalist Ryan Lizza, according to a deposition excerpt included in a poorly redacted court filing.
The comment from Anthony Nunes III, the congressman's brother, was included in a legal brief filed in federal court Monday by lawyers representing Lizza and Hearst Magazines. Hearst published an Esquire magazine article by Lizza in 2018 suggesting the Nunes family dairy farm in Iowa employed undocumented immigrants, even as the congressman advocated for restrictive immigration policies.
Insider was able to read redacted testimony from the filing by simply copying and pasting the redactions.
"When asked "[W]ho is funding the lawyers for this lawsuit?", Anthony Nunes III answered "I have no idea," according to a redacted segment.
In other failed redactions, lawyers for Hearst and Lizza wrote that members of the Nunes family paid just $500 to their attorneys for the lawsuit.
"Plaintiffs' apparent lack of investment in prosecuting their own lawsuit was buttressed by their deposition testimony admitting they have not incurred out-of-pocket payments to counsel, with the exception paying $500 to former local counsel Joe Feller," the partially redacted section says.
The lawsuit was filed in January 2020 by the family farm, called NuStar Farms LLC, as well as two members of the Nunes family who manage the farm: Anthony Nunes Jr., the congressman's father, and Anthony Nunes III. Rep. Nunes himself is not a party to the case.
The plaintiffs accused Lizza and Hearst of defamation, claiming the Esquire article was a "hit piece" designed to undermine the California congressman's political prospects and demanding $25 million in damages.
Lawyers for Hearst and Lizza, who now writes for Politico, asked US District Judge CJ Williams to dismiss the case, arguing the defamation lawsuit was too vague and that the Esquire article was accurate. But Williams, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, allowed parts of an amended version of the lawsuit to proceed in a September 2020 order.
Rep. Nunes and members of his family sat for depositions in the lawsuit in July and August 2021, court filings reviewed by Insider show. Insider was unable to review excerpts from those depositions, which were sealed on the case docket and also filed to court Monday.
Attorneys for Nunes' family, Lizza, and Hearst didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment, nor did a representative for Rep. Nunes.
It's not clear who's paying for the lawsuit
Rep. Nunes has filed multiple lawsuits against media organizations, few of which have been successful.
Monday's filing sought to compel the Nunes family members' attorneys to turn over information about who was funding the lawsuit. Rep. Nunes himself sat for a deposition in the case on August 10. In it, he "regaled about the libel strategy" he and attorney Steven Biss employ in a "nationwide assault on journalists and media organizations," the lawyers say.
"Now my policy is, and I have a new policy, that if you defame or slander me, I take you to court," Nunes said in the deposition, according to an improperly redacted section of the filing.
Hearst and Lizza have suggested that Rep. Nunes is bankrolling the case because he is upset that his own lawsuit over the Esquire article was dismissed. In redacted segments of the brief, the lawyers for Hearst and Lizza say Nunes family members testified that they had little involvement with the lawsuit, and that they haven't paid Biss, who is representing them in the case.
"Plaintiffs admit making no payments to Biss for his services in this lawsuit, and presumably Biss does not work for free," Hearst and Lizza's lawyers write. "This prompts the question of whether Plaintiffs are the real party in interest, particularly if they do not stand to materially benefit from its outcome."
Rep. Nunes' brother even testified he wasn't interested in winning money from the case, the lawyers argue, citing the deposition.
"For instance, Anthony Nunes III testified at his deposition that he is not interested in winning any money in this lawsuit—yet the Complaint seeks, in bold face type, $25 million dollars," they write.
A man who helped concoct a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in protest of COVID-19 quarantine rules was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
Ty Garbin pleaded guilty after his arrest last fall and is among six men charged in federal court in relation to the kidnapping plot. He is the only one to plead guilty so far.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
You said at CinemaCon that simultaneous release isn't good for anyone and I wanted to get some clarification on that. Do you mean at any time, even right now during the pandemic?
Clearly we in exhibition understand that release models during the pandemic had to change. We needed movies in our theaters and the distributors could not make the same returns on their movies that they could pre-pandemic. But coming out of the pandemic, it's important for the industry to return to exclusive [theatrical] windows. We believe that simultaneous release cannibalizes ticket sales in favor of streaming-service viewership, or sales if it's a premium offering.
The bigger problem, though, is piracy. It's one thing to have a movie thief try to record a movie in cinemas and posting it online. When a movie is released simultaneously to a streaming service, a pristine copy of that movie is made available day one that it's in cinemas. So for both of those reasons, we think it's more profitable for the entire industry to have a period of exclusive release in cinemas and we think distributors agree with that. The challenges have been two-fold: the pandemic and secondly the streaming wars, or distributors using straight-to-streaming movies to increase their subscribers, which is a business model about jacking stock prices.
I agree that piracy is a big issue. But I want to play devil's advocate a bit. In terms of "Black Widow," for instance, it's the biggest movie in the US. Obviously without the pandemic it would have been a lot bigger, but it's still the biggest.
I would challenge your basic assumption on grosses during the pandemic. I think all these movies would have grossed more theatrically during the pandemic if they weren't released simultaneously in the home. "Black Widow" is a big movie that did well in theaters and it would have done even better without a simultaneous release, same with the Warner Bros. pictures.
If you look at "F9,""A Quiet Place Part II," and "Free Guy," and other movies that were released with windows, you're seeing movies that generally held a lot better after their openings because they were only available in theaters. It's not that we didn't appreciate the simultaneous release movies being released. During the pandemic, that's a different ballgame. But now, we're talking about a need to go back to exclusive windows.
To your point about declining consumer confidence and whether we're out of the pandemic yet: Yes, confidence has dipped a bit but it's still higher than last fall and winter. We believe it's a dip no doubt, but as vaccinations continue to climb we believe we'll get back to strong confidence numbers leading into the fall and winter this year. That's why we're talking about the importance of getting back to release models with windows. We believe that the trend will continue to improve.
[Recent Morning Consult surveys of 2,200 US adults found consumer comfort with going to movie theaters dropped to from 52% to 47% from July 10 to August 3.]
Studios like Universal and Paramount have already struck deals with theater chains to shorten, not eliminate, the theatrical window. Warner Bros. starting next year will do that with a 45-day window.
So my question is, why is there such concern from NATO about theatrical exclusivity? Is there concern about Disney because they haven't committed to anything like that yet?
I'll preface this answer by saying, as a trade association executive, it's not my job to comment on any specific window policy. Regarding those indications you just referenced, we know that windows coming out of the pandemic won't be what they were before the pandemic. But we're also not going to have the simultaneous releases we had during the pandemic. We understand there will be more flexibility with windows, but that doesn't mean simultaneous release.
You asked why we are still concerned about this when some studios have articulated their future plans, and the key word is some. There are several big remaining questions about major distributors' thoughts coming out of the pandemic, and we would like to see where that's going. We don't have all those answers yet and that's why we're making the case. Without drilling in on specific companies, I'll leave it there.
I wrote a piece recently that argued studios should consider delaying big-budget movies again because coronavirus cases are rising, consumer confidence is declining, and based on what we've seen, the current theatrical market is not a market where these movies can thrive, streaming or not streaming.
I read your piece and it probably won't surprise you that I strongly disagreed with it.
It's a process of growing back into the same kind of numbers from 2019. In order to get the industry growing again, and to keep theaters open, you have to make progress step by step. If every single time some analyst says we can't make 100% of what we would have made pre-pandemic and we have to move our movies, then there will never be a recovery and theaters will not survive. If distributors don't want a theatrical marketplace to distribute their movies, then they should just keep postponing all their movies and they can have the home and that's it, and they will have lost an ability to reap billions of dollars in global revenue. There is a need to keep releasing movies in cinemas in order to keep people coming back to cinemas in growing numbers and keep the industry alive.
The other part of this is that there are so many movies in the pipeline. If distributors keep delaying movies, they will never get their money back on these movies. They will line up like jets on a runway unwilling to take off, and then they can never take off on time ... Studios' choices are: get a decent return on your movies now, take them straight to streaming and sacrifice all of the box office, or keep delaying until the industry dies.
I've seen, across the board — streaming or not — big second-weekend drops at the box office. And those were common before the pandemic, but in this market it's troubling. And you're right, "A Quiet Place Part II" is an outlier and held great. But I think that had a lot to do with that particular movie and the timing of its release. "F9" for instance was released exclusive to theaters and had a big drop, and is trailing behind "Black Widow" at the box office.
"F9's" second weekend drop wasn't as big as "Black Widow's."
["F9" dipped 67.2% in its second weekend at the North American box office compared to "Black Widow's" 67.9% drop, according to IMDbPro.]
Here's a comparison to look at when it happens. Look at the comparison between "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and "Black Widow" in their second weekends. I guarantee that "Shang-Chi" will have a better second-weekend hold than "Black Widow" because it's an exclusive theatrical release. Those are both big-budget Marvel properties. Look at the Friday, Saturday, Sunday numbers on "Shang-Chi" [which opens on September 3]. The Friday-to-Saturday drop on "Black Widow" was dramatic because the pirated copies were available in less than 24 hours.
You've said that vaccine mandates for theaters are a "mixed bag" because it could cost theaters business. What do you think theaters can do to be a safer environment to entice audiences to come back? Wouldn't mandates make more people more comfortable going back to theaters?
It is a complicated issue because yes, we will lose some business in the short term in jurisdictions that have vaccine mandates because many people aren't yet vaccinated and therefore they can't buy tickets ... But that doesn't mean we oppose vaccine mandates, because the long-term implication of more people being vaccinated is a very positive thing for the theater business.
We're suggesting that there be a sunset provision so that when these jurisdictions get to a goal, a defined point of vaccinations, then the requirement of checking people's vaccination records goes away ... We don't have an agreement on that yet [in markets like New York City, which is introducing a vaccine mandate for some indoor activities starting next month].
But we want to be part of the campaign to get more people vaccinated, and so our theaters in New York will be working with the mayor to drive that message.
What's your outlook for the fall and winter release slate?
We have confidence in the slate and confidence that the recovery will continue to grow. Am I saying that this fall will be back to 2019 numbers? No. But we will have grown substantially ... I think the MGM announcement [that the Bond movie "No Time to Die" will stay in October] was a big deal for us that will send a signal to other distributors.
Jupiter and its largest satellites recently performed a rare dance.
Three of the planet's enormous moons— Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — all paraded across Jupiter's swirling surface at once, casting their shadows on the clouds below.
Christopher Go, an amateur astronomer in the Philippines, captured images of the spectacle around midnight on August 15. Then Kunio Sayanagi, a planetary scientist at Hampton University, compiled them into the below video.
Each second of the video represents 30 minutes of real time.
"I already knew what was going to happen, but seeing it live was surreal," Go told Insider.
In a blog post, he said he'd been waiting for this "grand slam event" all year.
From the surface of Jupiter, the area that falls in shadows of these moons would see a solar eclipse. But from Earth, this occurrence is called a "transit," since as the moons pass between us and Jupiter, they're transiting the giant planet. Transits are common on Jupiter — several hundred happen each year. But it's rare for three to occur at once. The last time a triple transit happened was in 2015, according to Sayanagi, and the next one won't happen again until 2032.
"This is a very difficult data to capture," Sayanagi told Insider. "I am convinced that this is the best movie ever made of Jupiter's triple transit event."
Go was especially lucky to capture this footage, since it's the middle of monsoon season in the Philippines. It rained every night the week of the triple transit, but the skies cleared just in time for Go to prepare his telescope and watch the Jovian trio parade across the planet's bands.
One moon briefly eclipses the other
There's more to this video than the triple transit, though. At the beginning, the yellow-hued moon Io makes a brief appearance as it zips behind Jupiter. Then about halfway through, something more unusual happens: Europa passes between Ganymede and Jupiter.
Europa, a small icy world with an ocean deep below its surface, briefly disappears behind the larger Ganymede. As it reemerges, Ganymede's shadow is visibly eclipsing the little moon.
"That was really exciting was to see the shadow of Ganymede split," Go said. "Half on Europa and the other half on the surface of Jupiter."
Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system and has its own hidden ocean, just like Europa. Many scientists think these moons' subsurface oceans could host alien life.
Galileo Galilei first observed the four moons in this video — Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, and Io — in 1610. It was the first time anybody had documented objects orbiting another planet. That got Galileo thinking that maybe Earth wasn't the center of the universe.
"We all know that today, but even then, seeing the moons dance around Jupiter casting shadows and eclipsing each other is awe-inspiring," Sayanagi said.
In total, scientists think Jupiter has 79 moons, but the rest of them are much smaller than the four Galilean moons.
Even without its moons, Jupiter's colorful clouds and raging storms make for a stunning astronomical sight.
"I have been observing Jupiter whenever I can since 2003," said Go, who runs a furniture company with his wife. "Jupiter is so dynamic that you can see changes everyday."
Though still in the early stages of rollout, 5G technology could bring about positive changes to the retail industry, as retailers seek to maintain their digital transformation efforts and bring consumers safely back into stores in 2021. Retailers will use their IT investments in 5G to enhance the customer experience, both in-store and online.
As noted in our December 2020 report "Future of Retail 2021," digital-first retail experiences with zero-touch checkout will become more commonplace this year. There's already significantly higher consumer interest in mobile payments and mobile app orders: 30% and 28% of US consumers expressed interest in those respective technologies in a June 2020 survey from Periscope By McKinsey, both up more than 10 percentage points from similar polling in March 2020. The industry can also expect frictionless stores of the future to proliferate, as digital-first retail experiences such as Amazon Go continue to expand.
Amazon Go, a cashierless convenience store concept featuring its patented Just Walk Out technology, is continuing to expand its footprint. Amazon also has expansion plans for Amazon Fresh grocery stores, which feature "Dash Carts," shopping carts that automatically scan and charge the items placed in them. The stores have been popping up near big cities including Los Angeles and Chicago.
In September, Amazon also unveiled the Amazon One handprint scan technology that can identify customers upon store entry. The company will look to license these technologies to other physical retailers, which could dramatically scale its footprint and hasten consumer adoption.
Integration of Amazon's accounts and payment systems with in-store tech, such as computer vision systems and smart shelves, is part of the magic of its contactless stores—but not all cashierless stores will rely on computer vision technology. Shekel Brainweigh has developed an autonomous retail store format with AI-enabled smart shelf systems that count inventory by weighing items on shelves.
The technology operates in tandem with a Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) system from Hitachi that uses light to measure object distance for shopper tracking instead of facial recognition, according to Guy Moshe, co-founder and CTO of the retail innovation division at Shekel Brainweigh. Groupe Casino is currently testing the store format in France. The stores can be placed wherever there is a cellular network, including 5G, but Moshe expects they will cost less and require less compute power than computer vision-enabled stores do.
Mobile Payments
Shop-and-go experiences that leverage computer vision, Lidar, and other technologies for inventory management and customer identification should become more commonplace. We forecast that US mobile payment volume will rise from $705.28 billion in 2019 to $2.541 trillion in 2025 across mcommerce, proximity mobile payments, and mobile peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. In short, mobile devices are becoming central to enabling payments to retailers.
With mobile wallet use on the rise, the bandwidth and latency advantages of 5G networks can help speed up the payment process, whether it's via a contactless or proximity payment method. Additionally, the use of SIM authentication via the cell service provider (meaning no Wi-Fi logon), as well as fast networks for processing of biometric data for identification, also provides new opportunities to speed up the payment process while reducing the opportunity for fraud and ensuring the transaction is secure.
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A female journalist in Afghanistan said she has to change her location daily to hide from the Taliban, Fox News reported Wednesday.
"They are checking for the people who always talked against them," the journalist, who remained unnamed in the report, told Fox News. "Every day, I'm changing my address to be sure that they can't track me."
"I don't know what will happen to me, because if they find me, they will kill me," she added.
She said she "was one of the females to always talk against Taliban in the media because what they did to the women, what they did to the innocent people in Afghanistan, what they did it to the children in Afghanistan," saying Taliban fighters "burned" and "killed them."
At first, the journalist said she wasn't allowed to enter the newsroom where she worked, saying that a Taliban fighter told her "we don't need females here" and that she should "go to your home. Don't come back."
"They told me 'you're not allowed to come to the TV. We will have our own presenter, our own journalist. And we don't need you anymore,'" the journalist said.
She later fled her home with her 17-year-old brother out of fear that Taliban fighters would begin killing female reporters. The journalist told Fox News she had been staying with friends but remains wary of who she can place her trust, saying that she was worried they could turn her over to the Taliban to protect themselves or become targets of the militants themselves.
"My friends are afraid because they think that they might be targeted because of me," the journalist said. "I don't know who is actually my enemy right now."
"I don't know how long I can do this," she continued. "I can't put more people in danger because of myself."
"My message to the world and to America and to people all around the world is the Talibans (sic) are not change," she said, citing the report. "The only thing that the Taliban did for the last 20 years was killing people. People will never forgive the Taliban for what they did to the Afghan people for the last 20 years and what they are doing … now."
"And the very basic rights as a human that I have to speak, to go out of my home, to choose everything I want, it's gone," she added. "There is no hope for me, for my generation, for my people, for females, especially for the journalists, who are very afraid."
A US judge has ruled that the pro-Trump attorneys who sued Michigan officials over false claims they broke state election law and manipulated the vote will have to pay the defendants' legal fees and face sanctions over unethical behavior.
The decision stems from a lawsuit filed by the Sidney Powell and L. Lin Wood, among others, following former President Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 election. President Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 155,000 votes in what state and national officials described as an election that was "the most secure in American history."
In a scathing ruling issued on Thursday, US District Judge Linda V. Parker said Powell and Wood had engaged in a "historic and profound abuse of the judicial process." Their claims — made against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the City of Detroit, and state election officials — were not just flimsy and unfounded, alleging a massive and implausible conspiracy to steal the election, Parker said, but actively harmful.
This case "was never about fraud — it was about undermining the People's faith in our democracy and debasing the judicial process to do so," the judge wrote.
Thursday's order grants the defendants' motion for unspecified sanctions, instructs the attorneys to pay any fees incurred by their litigation, and instructs the lawyers to complete at least 12 hours of legal education within the next six months on election law and pleading standards. The order also refers to them for potentially further disciplinary action, including disbarment.
Parker provided numerous instances of what she termed legal abuse. In one example, the lawyers claimed to have evidence that votes were changed by election workers. Asked for evidence, they presented an affidavit from a woman who said only that "I believe some of these workers were changing votes." Asked if that woman had actually seen that, "The Court was met with silence."
In another instance, the judge noted that the lawyers claimed ballots were run through tabulation machine more than once — and that there is no legal reason to do so. "But bafflingly, Plaintiff's counsel did not offer a cite to the law violated," the judge wrote. In fact, however, there are a "myriad of reasons" why ballots might be run through a machine several times, such as if the reader is jammed.
The same inability to present evidence presented itself when the lawyers were asked to support the claim that had been an irregular "dump" of votes for Biden. They could not, the court noted, "And speculation, coincidence, and innuendo could never amount to evidence of an 'illegal vote dump' — much less, anything else."
A 50-year-old Florida father was arrested and charged with one count of child abuse on Wednesday after authorities say he pushed a female high school student and twisted her arm over a mask dispute outside Fort Lauderdale High School.
Dan Bauman, the father of another female student at the high school, was already known to local authorities as a vocal anti-masker and frequent disrupter, according to an arrest report released by Fort Lauderdale Police Department and reviewed by Insider.
Bauman and his 10th grade daughter have openly defied the district mask mandate since it was implemented earlier this month, according to WFOR-TV in Miami. The outlet reported Bauman's daughter has refused to wear a mask in school and has been turned away by the administration each day.
"I want to be able to go to school like everyone does but I can't wear a mask, I can't breathe in it and I want to have that choice," Bauman's daughter told CBS on Wednesday morning before the incident.
According to authorities, Bauman was at the front entrance to the school yet again on Wednesday morning, recording other students with his phone and "causing a disturbance." Recognizing Bauman as a protester of the school board's mask mandate, the school resource officer turned his body worn camera on, according to the affidavit.
As Bauman continued to record, a passing student told him she did not want to be videotaped, saying "I've had enough for four days" before trying to grab the cell phone out of Bauman's hands, according to authorities.
Rabid anti-mask parent at Fort Lauderdale High School physically assaults a student and is arrested by police. A 50-year-old man hitting a young girl with a mask. Deplorable. pic.twitter.com/a25APyDzCG
Bauman responded by pushing the student into a fence, grabbing her hand, and twisting her arm "in an aggressive manner," the affidavit said. The school resource officer and security pulled Bauman off the student and placed him into custody.
Following the incident, which was partially caught on camera, Bauman was booked into Broward County's main jail and charged with one count of child abuse, according to county records. No bond has been listed as of yet, and it was unclear if he had an attorney.
The incident is one of the latest examples of parents resorting to violence and threats over proven COVID-19 mitigation methods like masks and vaccines in schools.
Broward County Public Schools addressed the situation in a Wednesday statement to Insider, calling safety the district's highest priority.
"There was an incident today involving a student and the individual you referenced, which resulted in Fort Lauderdale Police intervening and taking the individual into custody," the statement said.
Over the last few months, Black US Representatives have been applying pressure on their counterparts in the Senate to pass sweeping voting rights laws. Many of those protesting have been arrested as they seek to send a message.
An additional bill, the For the People Act, passed in the House in March but was killed in the Senate in June.
The John Lewis Voting Rights Act focuses on restoring the Voting Rights Act that was gutted following two major Supreme Court decisions. The For the People Act focuses on making it easier to vote in a federal election, reforms campaign finance laws, and is meant to protect US elections from foreign interference. If passed, the institutional changes would begin to take place by the 2022 midterm elections.
The members of Congress organizing and participating in the actions have invoked the legacy of the late Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis, who passed in July 2020.
Lewis held a crucial role in the passage of voting rights during the Civil Rights movement. Lewis, alongside activist Hosea Williams, organized a peaceful demonstration in support of voting rights. Nearly 60 of 600 attendees were injured — Lewis suffered from a fractured skull. The demonstration was named Bloody Sunday.
As of August, GOP lawmakers across a total of 17 states have passed over 28 bills tightening access to the ballot box, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. At the federal level, Republicans are continuing to mount a legislative strategy of blocking voting rights legislation, after Trump and his allies in office attempted to overturn the 2020 election results based on lies.
A demonstration outside the Capitol earlier in August "centered on voting rights, immigration reform, a $15 an hour federal minimum wage and eliminating the Senate filibuster that has stymied passage of related federal legislation" and led to over 200 arrests, according to Religion News.
Here are the lawmakers who have been arrested this year protesting for voting rights:
Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio
Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio was arrested by Capitol Police on July 15, while leading a demonstration advocating for voting rights at a Senate office building.
Beatty chairs the Congressional Black Caucus and called for passage of the For the People Act as well as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
"I stand in solidarity with Black women and allies across the country in defense of our constitutional right to vote. We have come too far and fought too hard to see everything systematically dismantled and restricted by those who wish to silence us," Rep. Beatty said in a statement after her arrest. "Be assured that this is just the beginning. This is Our Power, Our Message."
Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia
Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia has attended multiple demonstrations in support of voting rights at the Capitol, and he was arrested at a demonstration on July 22.
Following his arrest, he tweeted: "@BlackCaucus I was arrested today protesting against Senate inaction on voting rights legislation & filibuster reform. In the spirit of my dear friend and mentor – the late Congressman John Lewis – I was getting in #goodtrouble."
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1418300330555625475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw .@BlackCaucus I was arrested today protesting against Senate inaction on voting rights legislation & filibuster reform. In the spirit of my dear friend and mentor – the late Congressman John Lewis – I was getting in #goodtroublepic.twitter.com/JjN51mRpaC
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas was the third Black member of Congress to be arrested at a similar action supporting voting rights on July 29 outside of the Hart Senate Office Building.
"Any action that is a peaceful action of civil disobedience is worthy and more, to push all of us to do better," Jackson said in a video posted to Twitter after her arrest.
Tweet Embed: //twitter.com/mims/statuses/1420877157501489154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw I engaged in civil disobedience today in the spirit of John Lewis in front of the Senate Hart Building and was arrested. #GoodTroublepic.twitter.com/1CTpfiIQeu
Rep. Al Green of Texas
Rep. Al Green, who has long taken part in various civil rights protests, was arrested at a voting rights demonstration alongside Texas lawmakers on August 3.
Rep. Green posted a video on Twitter next to Democratic Texas state Rep. Ron Reynolds as they were both arrested by Capitol Police. His caption "Good trouble, necessary trouble," lends homage to one of John Lewis' famous sayings.
When it comes to personal finance, I've been trying really hard to set goals and plan ahead of time to make sure those goals are met. It took me years to set a budget and stick with it for more than just a few weeks.
It took me even longer to stick with the goal of doing monthly inventory on all of my credit card rewards and points. But as this year comes to an end, I've already found myself thinking about goals for next year and ways I can start getting organized now so it benefits me later.
Let's say you're planning something big next year, whether it's a wedding, a vacation, or a move to a new city. You can start working now on getting a plan in place to maximize how you pay for that big-ticket item, especially if you want to use credit card rewards to cover your costs.
Here's a guide to help you get going now to hit your goal later.
Set a goal for your credit card rewards
Before you open up a new credit card or even take inventory of your current rewards, look at the calendar for the year ahead and set your goals. Perhaps you're planning a summer vacation to Greece in 2022 and want to pay for 75% of it using credit card points or you want to use credit card cash-back rewards to cover 25% of your move to a new city.
Think through the goal you want to hit. Make that goal specific so it's something you can start to strategize and plan for.
Plan out the costs
Sort through all the expenses of the goal that you've set. Map out a budget of how much everything will cost. If you're planning a trip, create line items for the travel, accommodations, activities, food, fees, and even souvenirs.
The more costs you identify ahead of time, the more you'll be able to plan for in advance. Then go through that list and mark the things you want to pay for with cash.
After that, determine how much you want to cover using either credit card rewards, points, or cash back. Knowing that will let you reverse engineer a game plan and help you pick the right credit card to open.
Tap into existing resources
Look at any existing rewards you have and see the best way you can use them. Check the benefits your card offers and make a list of which card gives you the opportunity to redeem points for shopping (for example, some credit cards let you use points to pay for Amazon purchases), for travel or activities, or to convert to cash.
Let's say one credit card gives you the option to book a rental car using your points — for example, a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards or Amex Membership Rewards points. Write that down so as you go to budget and plan, you'll have a clear understanding of which existing rewards and points to use for what budgeted item.
Determine the type of credit card you need
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Start to understand what credit card rewards offering fits in best with what you need the most.
If you're looking to cover the expenses of this big goal with cash, consider a cash-back credit card like the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express or Chase Freedom Unlimited®, both of which offer strong welcome bonuses and bonus categories.
If your goal revolves around travel, pick a card from a transferable rewards program that allows you to use your points for many different parts of the trip (travel, hotels, activities, rental cars, etc.) and also offers a big welcome bonus. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is currently offering a record-high bonus of Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Once you earn the welcome bonus from opening the new card, be sure to factor that into your goal's budget. Take a look at all your cards and their benefits and bonus categories to plan out, every week, what card to use for items you plan to buy.
For example, the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers 6% cash back on your first $6,000 in U.S. supermarket spending each year (then 1% back), so using it for grocery purchases can help you maximize rewards (cash back is received in the form of Reward Dollars). Other cards offer bonus points in a wide variety of categories — like the Citi Premier® Card, which earns 3x points at supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations, and on air travel and hotels, and 1x on everything else.
Doing this will help you accumulate more rewards and points, helping you inch closer to your big goal.
Related Content Module: More Credit Card CoverageRelated Product Module: Related Product Credit Cards
Table of Contents: Masthead StickySummary List Placement
Choosing a kid's mattress is different from choosing one for an adult. Because children weigh less, they're less likely to suffer from aches and pains as a result of a mattress that's too firm or too soft, said Daniel Ganjian, MD, a pediatrician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.
Craig Canapari, MD, the director of the pediatric Sleep Medicine Program at Yale Medicine, agrees. Because kids don't put as much pressure on a bed, most won't need a high-priced mattress. "For a child, unless they are complaining that they are uncomfortable or that their joints hurt, I would not spend a lot of money on a children's mattress," Canapari said.
In addition to speaking with three experts, I researched reviews, including Insider's mattress guides. The mattresses in this guide are supportive and comfortable but still affordable.
Here are our top picks for the best mattress for kids
To find the best mattresses for kids, I spoke with three experts to figure out what a child needs to sleep comfortably. Daniel Ganjian, MD, a pediatrician at Providence Saint John's Health Center; Craig Canapari, MD, the director of the pediatric Sleep Medicine Program at Yale Medicine; and Lisa Klaus, DC, a faculty clinician at Palmer Chiropractic Clinics, all offered advice on how to choose a good mattress for kids.
Based on their input, I researched reviews to find mattresses kids and parents will both like. I also consulted Insider Reviews' rigorously tested mattress guides to find reliable brands that make comfortable, supportive products.
Because of kids' size and resilience, most of our mattress picks are priced under $500.
The best kids' mattress overall
Made for kids graduating from a toddler bed, the Nest My BKB Big Kids Bed uses a safe, comfortable, supportive foam.
Pros: Supportive, good edge support, affordable, ventilated foam design
Cons: Weight limit is 120 pounds
Foam-based mattresses discourage jumping on the bed, but they can sink in too much for small bodies. That's not the case with the Nest My BKB. Rather than buying an adult mattress in a twin size, the Big Kids Bed is made specifically for children. The mattress is a bit on the firmer side, which is ideal for kids graduating from a toddler bed and older kids who often sleep on their sides or back.
Foam mattresses tend to sleep a bit hot, however. Nest worked to alleviate that issue by using a breathable Energex foam. While that may not allow as much air movement as a coil-based mattress, reviewers note that the bed doesn't sleep too hot. Foam mattresses also tend to lack support towards the edge, which could make it easier for kids to roll out of bed. However, the My BKB has an edge that's more supportive than most foam mattresses.
Another downside of foam mattresses is that they typically have a smell to them and require airing out for a few days — a process called off-gassing. Nest off-gasses the foam in the factory. Many parents say that the BKB doesn't have the typical strong odor that you get with a foam mattress. Nest says that the mattress uses a natural fire barrier rather than chemicals.
The best kids' memory foam mattress
The Nectar Original is a reasonably priced memory foam mattress that conforms to the hips and shoulders of side sleepers and reduces motion transfer.
Pros: Soft memory foam, good edge support, reduces motion transfer
Cons: Heavier kids may sink in too much
Memory foam conforms to the body, making it a good fit for kids who tend to sleep on their sides. The Nectar Original is a reasonably priced memory foam mattress, selling for under $400 for a twin. But the mattress is also thicker than many budget options.
The medium firmness also helps kids from sinking in too much and prevents the edge from collapsing too easily. Wirecutter notes that the Original feels cushiony without too much sink. The mattress is constructed with a quilted top layer designed for cooling. While this isn't going to be as cool as an innerspring mattress, it may help compared to foam mattresses without a breathable layer.
Because this mattress is made for adults, it should still work well for kids as they become teenagers.
The cons to the Nectar Original are the cons to every foam mattress and bed-in-a-box. The mattress will off-gas and should be aired out for two to three days. After being in a box, the mattress will also need that time to fully expand.
The best firm mattress for kids
The Novaform ComfortGrande is a denser, firmer memory foam that helps prevent back and stomach sleepers from sinking too much.
Pros: Dense memory foam, 14 inches thick
Cons: Tends to sleep hot, no trial period
The natural sink that comes with memory foam isn't always best for those who sleep on their back and stomach. The Novaform ComfortGrande is a firmer memory foam mattress that doesn't sink as much. Wirecutter recommends the mattress for back and stomach sleepers who weigh under 200 pounds.
The top layer is built with a cooling memory foam designed to also wick sweat and sits underneath a quilted cover. Despite its $400 cost for a twin, the mattress is still 14 inches thick. Available from Costco, it's made from denser foam not often found with budget mattresses.
The downsides to the Novaform ComfortGrande are those common among every memory foam mattress: heat. Memory foam traps heat more than a mattress with springs, so it may not be the best choice for kids who sleep sweaty or have a hard time falling asleep on warm days. Some may also find the mattress too firm, so it's not ideal for side sleepers and kids who change sleep positions often.
One major drawback is that you can't test this mattress like you can with the others on our list.
Pros: Hybrid mattress sleeps cooler, springs offer more support, choice of thickness
Cons: Hybrid design may encourage more jumping than all foam
Even memory foam mattresses with cooling layers tend to sleep hotter than the options made with coils. The Zinus Cooling Copper Adaptive Hybrid mattress is made with both an innerspring base and a memory foam top. That allows for more airflow than cooling layer foam. A similar Zinus Cooling Gel Memory foam mattress made our top choice for the best budget mattress on our overall mattress guide.
The foam-with-coil construction offers a mix of firmness with a little bit of bounce. Wirecutter's pick for a budget mattress, the Zinus Cooling Copper Adaptive is versatile enough for any sleeping position. The 12-inch version is made from a 3-inch copper-infused memory foam layer, an inch of high-density foam, 7.5 inches of pocket coil springs, and a final 0.5-inch high-density foam layer.
As a hybrid mattress, however, it's going to have more bounce than an all-foam option. Bouncier mattresses are more tempting to bounce on than foam. It's also going to need to be off-gassed.
For kids who sleep hot, as well as stomach sleepers and heavier kids that need more support, the hybrid design may be well worth considering.
The best mattress for teens
The Casper Element is a firm, affordable mattress that should last until your teen moves out.
Pros: More supportive for big kids, ventilated foam, limited motion transfer, zip-off cover
Cons: Not as comfortable for side sleepers, bad heat dissipation
Weight plays a major role in how a mattress feels. Bigger kids and teenagers will sink into a bed more than younger or lighter children. That means that a bed that feels medium-firm to a lightweight child may feel too soft for a teenager. The Casper Element is an affordable all-foam mattress that offers a good balance of support and softness for heavier kids and teenagers.
The Element is made from a top layer that's dotted with small holes to allow heat to escape and a base foam layer. However, Insider Reviews' James Brains found that the heat dissipation was pretty poor. The design does minimize motion transfer, which would make it a great choice for kids who share a bed.
The top includes a zip-off cover for easier washing. As a mattress that's made for adults, the Element could last some teenagers into young adulthood. Like other foam mattresses, expect to let the mattress off-gas for a few days.
Brains has tested every Casper mattress and recommends the Nova Hybrid as his top pick, especially for side sleepers. It's far pricier than the Element but could be worth the investment if your teen is looking for something softer.
A couple of brands we recommend make mattresses for kids:
Saatva Youth Mattress: Saatva makes our favorite spring mattress. The kids' version comes in twin, twin XL, and full and is flippable. One side is geared towards three-to-seven-year-olds and the other is for kids who are between eight and 12.
Purple Kid Mattress: With many of the same features as its mattresses for adults, Purple added a washable cover for the kids' model. We like the Premier Hybrid's pressure-relieving grid, which is great for all sleeping types. This is pricier than any of the mattresses on our list, but Purple claims it will last 14 years.
Here are some models we recommend for adults that you may want to consider for older kids and teens:
DreamCloud Premier Hybrid Mattress: This is our pick for the best mattress overall. It has an average firmness that's appealing for most sleeping styles. Along with its good motion isolation and edge support, it's great at dissipating heat.
Zinus Cooling Gel Memory Foam Mattress: From the same company as our cooling pick above, this model has a gel memory foam and is our reviewer's pick for the best budget mattress. The twin doesn't come in as many thicknesses as the other sizes, but it's a sub-$300 mattress that has a lot to offer.
Nest Bedding Flip Hybrid Mattress: Our recommendation for side sleepers on a budget, Nest's hybrid mattress has two firmness based on which side you flip up. That makes it great for all sleeping styles, plus it gives you some versatility if your child suddenly prefers a softer or firmer mattress.
Tuft & Needle Original: If your kid prefers a firm mattress, we like Tuft & Needle's original mattress. It's more suited to stomach and back sleepers than side sleepers, though.
FAQs
What is the best type of mattress for a child?
Because children weigh less than adults, a mattress will feel different to a child than it does to an adult. A parent may sink too far into a mattress, while a child may find that same mattress has the perfect feel. That can make it difficult for parents to pick out the appropriate mattress for their children.
Parents shouldn't stress too much about mattress selection because kids tend to be more comfortable sleeping on a variety of different surfaces. "Kids are lighter than adults," said Canapari, "... they are super comfortable on anything." Parents shouldn't feel that they need to spend a lot of money on a kid's mattress, he said. Other factors are more important than a fancy mattress.
"Thinking about your child's sleep is an important and valuable thing to do as a parent," said Capanari. "Ensure your kid has a quiet, dark sleeping area [and] consistent bedtime habits, and if you have any concerns, talk to your child's pediatrician."
How often should a kid's mattress be replaced?
Ganjian says that kids' mattresses generally need to be replaced every five to seven years. But some will wear out sooner while others will retain their shape longer. Lay down on the mattress and feel for any dips and inspect the top for indents that remain after the child has climbed out of bed.
Should parents use a cover for a kid's mattress?
Canapari says that changing the mattress doesn't typically solve issues that he sees in his sleep clinic. One of the things that he often recommends, however, is a mattress cover designed to prevent dust mites.
However, these covers are often either pricey or too plastic feeling, so he mostly recommends the covers for kids who have tested positive for certain allergies such as dust mites. Besides allergies, mattress covers can keep mattresses fresh longer, particularly for children prone to bedwetting or sweating. (You can read more about them in our guide to best mattress protectors.)
Should a kid's mattress be firm or soft?
The heavier the person sleeping on the mattress is, the firmer the mattress should be, said Lisa Klaus, DC, a faculty clinician at Palmer Chiropractic Clinics. That means young kids will typically prefer a softer mattress, while older kids and teenagers may want a firmer mattress with more support. (The same is not true for infants, however. Due to the risk of SIDs, babies need to sleep on a firm mattress that's specially designed for infants.)
Kids who sleep on their side will typically want something a little softer. "Memory foam is the best choice for side sleepers because it offers support but also cushions areas of pressure points like shoulders, hips, and ankles," said Klaus.
She also added that memory foam is great for restless sleepers. Memory foam doesn't bounce like a traditional mattress, which can help kids from waking themselves up when they roll over.
What type of mattress is best for kids?
Like in the nursery rhyme about monkeys, Ganjian receives a lot of calls from parents about kids getting injured jumping on the bed. He said that foam mattresses are his favorite because they absorb the jump, discouraging kids from bouncing.
On the flipside, foam mattresses tend to sleep hot and aren't ideal for kids that tend to wake sweaty.
The different types of mattresses all have their pros and cons. When it comes to kids, consider what each type has to offer:
Innerspring. Innerspring mattresses are the more traditional mattress with, as the name suggests, springs inside. These mattresses are often more affordable. Because of the space between coils, they also tend to be more breathable, which is great for those who tend to sleep hot. The springs don't reduce motion transfer when tossing and turning, however.
Memory foam. A mattress made with memory foam or other types of foam tends to conform to the body more than a mattress with springs. That can help reduce pressure on the body and keep motion to a minimum, Klaus said. On the downside, the foam doesn't breathe as well as springs and retains more heat. These beds can also be more expensive.
Hybrid: A hybrid mattress has both coils and foam. That design makes this type better for more sleep positions, with more support, better breathability, and often more durability, Klaus said. The downside is that they're heavy and expensive.
What size is a kid's bed?
In the US, mattresses fall into the sizes in the chart below. We haven't included any toddler mattresses in this guide. Most children will only sleep in them for a few years, typically between the ages of two and five.
Twin-sized beds can work for kids until they leave home, but older children and teens may prefer a full- or queen-sized mattress.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to drive consumers online, the pressure for incumbent insurance companies to adopt digital technology is intensifying. Incumbent insurers have been pushed to accelerate their use of mature AI deployments over the past year to meet changing customer expectations and better compete with tech-centric firms. For context, consumers are now twice as likely to buy insurance from big tech firms, versus four years ago.
Summary List Placement
This digital, tech-centric environment makes it all the more necessary for insurers to look at real AI use cases that can offer more competitive services. For example, some insurers are using AI to more accurately underwrite customers, allowing them to offer better-priced policies. And insurers are integrating AI implementations across their front, middle, and back offices in order to fend of tech-savvy startups.
Front-office insurance
AI deployments are manifesting in front-office insurance via IoT devices and in the form of virtual assistants, to deliver a more seamless digital experience and to improve customer satisfaction.
Middle-office insurance
Insurers are using AI in the middle office to accelerate risk underwriting and create more accurate risk profiles—making the customer onboarding process smooth and cost-effective.
Back-office insurance
AI is streamlining claims management in the back office of insurance, including reducing fraudulent claims, to drive operational efficiencies.
To help insurance professionals navigate this digital transformation, Insider Intelligence put together the AI in Insurance Report. The report assesses the business impact of insurers that choose to implement AI in their front, middle, and back offices. And because insurers also need to be conscious of the hazards that come with AI technology—including data security and compliance concerns—Insider Intelligence also explores these risks.
The companies mentioned in this report are:
Allstate
Aon
LeakBot
Progressive
Prudential
Zurich Insurance UK
Interested in getting the full report? Here's how you can gain access:
Join other Insider Intelligence clients who receive this report, along with thousands of other Fintech forecasts, briefings, charts, and research reports to their inboxes. >> Become a Client
For the 2021–2022 TV season, US upfront ad spending will bounce back to nearly pre-pandemic levels, if not to its 2018–2019 peak, according to our latest estimates.
Advertisers will increase their upfront TV spending by 7.6% this year to $19.90 billion—this assumes a continuing recovery from the pandemic and economic crisis in the US.
Our upfront TV ad spending forecast includes TV ad spending resulting from the national primetime TV upfronts. This includes linear and digital inventory that broadcast networks and cable channels sell during the upfronts but excludes upfront commitments that don't ultimately result in a transaction. Because some upfront commitments get canceled, commitment estimates differ from what advertisers end up spending.
We last forecast upfront TV ad spending in June 2020, when we expected big decreases as a result of the pandemic—but those decreases took a different shape than we had predicted at the time.
In June 2020, we estimated only a 1.4% drop in upfront TV ad spending for the 2019–2020 season, but the pandemic led TV advertisers to ultimately cancel $3 billion of their upfront commitments for that season, according to Media Dynamics. This development led us to lower our estimate for the 2019–2020 upfronts, and we now believe upfront TV ad spending dipped by 6.8% in that cycle.
During the 2020–2021 season, not as many advertisers exited the TV market as predicted. In June 2020, we had forecast a 27.1% decrease in that season's upfront TV ad spending. We now estimate just a 3.5% dip, however, as advertisers spend $18.50 billion on upfront commitments with TV networks.
Another reason the percentage drop isn't steeper for 2020–2021 is the pullouts that happened at the end of the previous cycle. When we compare the 2020–2021 season with the cycle two years prior, we see about a $2 billion drop in upfront TV ad spending.
Upfront commitments don't always translate to ad dollars spent. In a typical year, advertisers cancel about 4% of their upfront commitments, and in the atypical H2 2020, cancellations rose. We expect that cancellation rates will return to normal levels during the 2021–2022 upfronts as the economy recovers and brands gain more certainty over their long-term media plans.
Interested in getting the full report? Here's how you can gain access:
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Two members of Congress who went to Kabul after the Taliban takeover faced bipartisan criticism over their "secret" informational trip.
Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan, chartered a direct flight to Afghanistan in an effort to push President Joe Biden to extend the August 31 deadline to evacuate Americans and others who helped the US.
"We conducted this trip in secret, speaking about it only after our departure, to minimize the risk and disruption to people on the ground, and because we were there to gather information, not grandstand," the lawmakers, who are both veterans, said in a statement Tuesday.
"Washington should be ashamed of the position we put our service members in, but they represent the best in America," they added.
In the statement, Moulton and Meijer said, "after talking with commanders on the ground and seeing the situation" in Kabul, he believes that it likely won't be feasible to complete evacuations by the deadline set by the White House.
"Sadly and frustratingly, getting our people out depends on maintaining the current, bizarre relationship with the Taliban," the lawmakers said.
Moulton and Meijer's trip drew backlash from both sides of the aisle on Wednesday, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
"This is deadly serious," Pelosi said. "There's a real concern about members being in the region."
In a letter sent Tuesday night, Pelosi asked lawmakers not to travel to Afghanistan and warned them that such trips could "unnecessarily divert needed resources from the priority mission of safely and expeditiously evacuating Americans and Afghans at risk from Afghanistan."
House GOP leader McCarthy also said he understands the initiative of the two lawmakers but believes the trip could have "put people in jeopardy."
"I explained to them that I don't think they should," he said during a press conference. "I think it creates a greater risk. You've got enough Americans over there that could be held hostage. They'd make a point out of a member of Congress. I think you take military away from doing their job of getting as many Americans out we can."
Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat from Colorado who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told MSNBC on Wednesday that he thought the trip was "a pretty irresponsible thing for these two members to do."
"The bottom line is we are just trying to secure our troops and soldiers, we're trying to get as many people out as possible, and the only thing that I thought about when I heard this is how many Afghan women and children were not able to be evacuated yesterday because they had to pull Marines off the line or out of rest to provide security for VIPs?" Crow said. "It shouldn't have happened."
GOP Rep. Mike Gallagher told Fox News that he thought the trip was a "publicity stunt."
"As for members going to Afghanistan on their own, I think it's a bad idea," he said. "I think it's a publicity stunt, and I think it actually is counterproductive to the effort as getting as many people out as possible."
Rep. Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat serving on the House Armed Services Committee, also denounced the trip on Twitter.
"Whether it is Haiti or Afghanistan, taking up space in a disaster zone for your own ego helps no one," she tweeted.
Salesforce is evolving from a seller of business applications into a fully fledged platform that has the potential to take on Microsoft.
On Wednesday, Salesforce CFO Amy Weaver said "seven-figure" customer deals in the latest quarter included four and a half of the company's software tools. The number of big deals that included five or more Salesforce tools grew 29% from a year ago, she added on a call with analysts.
That's a positive sign as Salesforce integrates its $28 billion acquisition of workplace chat service Slack. That huge bet is based on the idea that Slack can be the glue that binds other Salesforce apps together in such a compelling way that businesses just buy the whole software suite, rather than one or two services.
"These two companies are racing to build the post-COVID work center," said Futurum Research analyst Dan Newman.
Salesforce is playing catch-up, while Microsoft dominates with Teams chat and video conferencing, and its suite of Office 365 productivity software such as Word and Excel.
Wednesday's fiscal second-quarter results showed solid progress toward this goal, sending the stock up about 2% in after-hours trading. That puts the shares on course to trade at their highest level of 2021.
Salesforce COO Bret Taylor also highlighted the success of other large acquisitions, MuleSoft and Tableau. In the last quarter, Tableau was in nine of the 10 top Salesforce deals and MuleSoft was in eight of the top 10. That's an increase from the previous quarter.
This is one way the company will measure the success of Slack: how many big deals include the chat service. Salesforce unveiled its first round of Slack integrations earlier this month, including one with Tableau. The company is also seeking new use cases for Slack, whether those show up "in the context of customer service, in the context of sales, in the context of marketing," Taylor added.
"Slack has the potential to really accelerate every single product in the Customer 360," he said, referring to Salesforce's platform.
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