Posts

shot

Getting Your Next Covid-19 Vaccine, With Or Without Insurance

/in , , /by

Federal authorities are urging Americans to get the new Covid-19 vaccine, and to reach out to their insurers if they’re having issues getting the shot for free, as it’s been made available for no cost to any American citizen.

Read more

Instagram Now Allowing All Users To Tag Products As Ads In Posts

/in , /by

Instagram is now allowing all users to tag products in the posts they upload to their feeds, enabling any photo to act as an advertisement for whatever product is tagged.

Instagram initially announced their plans to give everyone the ability to tag products in their photos last month. The feature is now currently available for all users. Originally this feature was only available for content creators who make their income by selling products through their Instagram posts.

Users can now tag products in their images as long as the business is registered and set up with Instagram Shopping. The company made a statement regarding the update to the app and their hopes for the future.

Embed from Getty Images

“From supporting brands you love to helping your friends and family discover new products they may like, sharing products on Instagram just got easier.”

Full instructions on how users can tag a brand and specific product are posted on the company’s blog, but it essentially works the same way as when you would tag a person in your picture.

Like when another individual is tagged in a post, users will be able to see when an image has product tags, and can easily click the image to have the link appear. Users can then purchase the tagged product directly in the app or through the brand’s product page.

With this new feature any Instagram post can be an advertisement, something that is likely very exciting for brands, however, it’s not clear what the benefits are to the average user, who’s essentially providing free advertising through their posts. Instagram, however, believes that this is a feature many users will utilize.

Embed from Getty Images

Business owners will receive a notification whenever someone tags a product of theirs in a photo and they can manage and view all tagged content on their profile. Businesses can also manage who can tag their products in their preference settings.

Instagram claims that this is just the beginning for product tagging for the average user, and they’re currently working on more ways to bring this feature to other aspects of the app as well. For the past couple of years Instagram has pivoted to become more of a platform for shopping, and the company has been transparent about the ways in which they’re trying to monetize every aspect of the app.

The company even said they no longer want to be viewed as just a photo-sharing app, unless it’s referring to their goals of expanding shopping and video features on the app.

In December, Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri said that it” is prioritizing Reels as well as shopping in 2022,” so time will tell what other features will be implemented to further support the app’s goals.

Two Positive Covid Tests

US Government To Begin Shipping ‘Free’ At-Home Covid Tests To Citizens 

/in , /by

A new federal law now states that health insurance companies in the US must pay for at-home Covid test kits. Customers will be able to be reimbursed for up to eight tests per month per individual, or receive them for free at participating pharmacies; meaning under this new law a family of five could get up to 40 free tests per month. 

Individuals with health insurance will be able to receive their free at-home tests directly from the federal government starting Wednesday January 19th by going to COVIDTests.gov to request their supply. Kits will begin shipping out within seven to 12 days. 

Embed from Getty Images

“This program will ensure that Americans have at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests available in the weeks and months ahead — in addition to the number of other ways they can get tested,” the White House said on Friday. 

“The administration is quickly completing a contracting process for the unprecedented purchase of 1 billion at-home, rapid tests to distribute as part of this program.” 

The US Postal Service will be delivering kits throughout the continental US through First-Class Package Service, according to the government. Any shipments made to Alaska, Hawaii, and other US territories will be sent via Priority Mail. 

President Biden announced Thursday the government was “doubling the number of available free tests to 1 billion and providing 5 million PCR tests for free to schools per month.” 

Embed from Getty Images

“Colorado, Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Washington, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon,  and New Hampshire. Washington, DC, is making at-home tests available for pickup at area libraries while other cities, such as New York and Boston, are distributing them to local health clinics,” according to the White House. 

In another plan announced by President Biden, health insurance companies are now required to reimburse Americans for eight at-home antigen tests per person per month. If an individual is required to undergo testing due to an underlying health condition, or other factors, there will be no limit implemented on the amount of tests covered. 

For those without insurance, Biden announced that there would be “thousands of locations” where Americans can pick up free Covid-19 test kits to use at home, rather than needing to go get tested at a facility. 

Those without insurance are also able to access free testing kits at community health clinics, and other local participating sites. The Department of Health and Human Services has also provided an online search tool for Americans needing to find a community-based Covid-19 testing site.

Kids using technology

Biden To Call For Universal Preschool As Part Of New Family Plan 

/in , /by

President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first joint address to Congress this week, where he is planning on calling for universal preschool as a part of his American Families Plan. According to his administration Biden is looking to make a major “investment in our kids,” and will be laying out how his proposal will help families with basic expenses. 

White House officials claim that the administration has held briefings with key senators to discuss the details of the proposal itself. The child care proposal comes after Biden began enforcing the American Relief stimulus packages to help aid Americans struggling to make ends meet with the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Embed from Getty Images

According to the White House Biden will be calling for a national partnership among all the states to provide free, high quality, accessible preschool care to all 3 and 4-year-old children. Once fully implemented, the act will help more than 5 million children and save the average family $13,000. 

The $200 billion investment is set to prioritize more underprivileged areas first, as these have been the hardest within the past year. The main goal is to give every family the freedom to decide where they want their child to go to preschool without worrying about the cost. The plan will also work to ensure all publicly-funded preschools are high quality, meaning they have a low student-to-teacher ratio, offer a developmentally appropriate curriculum, and create an overall supportive environment that is inclusive for all students. 

According to reports from CBS news, “the president is seeking to leverage tuition-free community college and teacher scholarships to support those who wish to earn a bachelor’s degree or another credential that supports their work as an educator, or to become an early childhood educator. Educators will also receive job-embedded coaching, professional development, and wages that reflect the importance of their work.”

Embed from Getty Images

All employees working in pre-k programs and Head Start will earn a wage of at least $15 an hour as a part of the American Families Plan. Additionally those with the proper qualifications will receive compensation commensurate with kindergarten educators. 

Currently the average child care worker earns $11.65 an hour, so the inclusion of these financial provisions for workers will hopefully work to bring back some of the thousands of child care workers who were forced to leave the labor force due to the pandemic. 

Studies have shown that kids who participate in pre-K are more likely to take honors classes and are less likely to repeat a grade while kids in lower-income areas do better once they reach middle school. This is due to a multitude of educational inequality issues within America, but a lot of it roots back to the access most children have to preschool programs. 

“Together, these plans reinvest in the future of the American economy and American workers, and will help us out-compete China and other countries around the world.”

This proposal, along with the proposals for the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, will include a tax increase for major corporations and the wealthiest 1% of Americans.

Art Museum

Free Contemporary Art Museum Opens In Massachusetts

/in , /by

The Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) opened a new art museum to the public on February 22nd with a bang, as they announced that admission to the museum would be completely free all year. According to their website, MassArt knew from the start they were going to create  a free art museum as a way “to open eyes, expand minds, and create opportunity through the lens of contemporary art.”

The MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), is located within the MassArt campus and is completely accessible for individuals in wheelchairs as well as welcoming to those with strollers. The individuals behind the museum wanted the entire establishment to feel immersive, so much so that even the bathrooms have a slew of wall art and intricate mirror designs that allow for the perfect selfie as you make your way through the museum. Besides just galleries MAAM also has an educational center where it will host workshops for not only students, but members of the community as well; anyone is welcome and encouraged to come. 

Embed from Getty Images

“We have reimagined the museum-going experience to create an inviting and welcoming place for all our visitors, offering a richer engagement with exhibitions and programming. Our artists will also feel supported to realize their vision, and our students will be invited into the process to learn from the professional artists they aspire to be,” said Lisa Tung, Executive Director of the Museum.

MAAM is currently displaying artwork of all mediums created by MassArt faculty, students, and artists from all around the world who’s pieces have been curated by MassArt within the past decade. Tung went on to explain how students make up a majority of the museum staff, as one of the other main goals of the museum is to prepare students for careers in “art, education, and design.” All museum staff are also trained and paid accordingly, which is always helpful for college students in general. 

Before you even walk into the museum you will be greeted by a small plaza outside the main entrance which has a bunch of different outdoor seating options, as well as some outdoor art on display. Once inside, you’ll immediately take in the open concept design which displays two separate galleries within the museum entrance itself. One gallery is currently housing a group art exhibit titled  “Game Changers: Video Games & Contemporary Art.” The exhibit uses “animations and computer-generated images to explore the crossover between artmaking and game design.

Embed from Getty Images

That exhibit will be on display until April 19th, and it only scratches the surface of the unique pieces that are so effortlessly spread throughout the museum. There are dozens of other large and intricate art displays within the 15,000 square foot museum space, all of which was recently renovated thanks to funding raised MassArt’s UNBOUND capital campaign; the campaign raised $12.5 million to fund the project.

“The MassArt Art Museum offers us an opportunity to introduce contemporary art to some members of our community for the first time. I am deeply grateful to our generous donors who have shared our vision and helped us to create this free contemporary art museum. In this space we will be able to inspire the next generation of MassArt students and art enthusiasts, and encourage longtime art lovers to consider new artistic perspectives and practices,” said MassArt President David Nelson in a press release. 

The MassArt Art Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, hours vary based on the day but doors typically stay open until 6 pm. So if you find yourself in the area, take a day to go explore some contemporary art for free!

Streaming Services

The 5 Top Free Movie Streaming Services

/in , /by

There’s no question that streaming video technology has fundamentally changed the world of entertainment, as physical entertainment media has all but disappeared in favor of on-demand content delivered over the Internet in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. Subscriptions for these services can add up, however, particularly during a time when content is made exclusive to competing services like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and now Disney Plus, requiring pop culture aficionados to subscribe to multiple platforms to keep up with the most-talked-about stories of the moment. That being said, a tremendous amount of content can now also be found on free, legal, ad-supported services which provide valuable alternatives for those who don’t mind ads but want more out of their television-watching experience. While these platforms won’t host the most recent, blockbuster productions, they often include classics from the history of cinema, making them a valuable resource for fans of the storytelling medium.

Plex, for instance, has recently expanded its business to include free access to stream a wide selection of content. While Plex has long been well-known as a platform for streaming media hosted on one’s desktop computer or server to any number of other devices, the service now also grants access to a wide variety of classics such as Rain Man and The Terminator. Considering the fact that accessing these critically-acclaimed titles from the 20th century requires only that users sign up for an account, taking advantage of Plex can enable hours of entertainment without spending a dime.

Embed from Getty Images

Another service, Crackle, offers a similarly impressive collection of titles and doesn’t even require users to make an account, though the option is available for those who wish to sync their watching history across multiple devices. In addition to classic titles, Crackle includes some recent movies as well, such as Captain Phillips and Whiplash as well as several popular TV shows. As the service is broadly compatible with a wide range of devices, requiring little more than a modern web browser to function, it’s likely worth checking out.

IMdB TV, a service owned by Amazon and previously called FreeDrive, makes for another worthy Netflix alternative. The platform gives access to a number of titles that may be difficult to find elsewhere, particularly for free, including David Fincher’s excellent The Social Network and classics like The Shining and Groundhog day. However, the service only works on Windows and Fire TV devices and requires users to create an IMdB account.

Though its library of content is not as impressive as others on this list, Tubi offers a polished and streamlined interface as well as access to thousands of movies and TV shows, which include critically-acclaimed selections like Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Nightcrawler. Similarly, the Walmart-owned Vudu lets users stream a selection of titles, but also gives users the option of renting or buying films from the service directly for a small fee. While the platform’s selection of ad-supported content is understandably less than stellar, the option to rent or buy recent hits like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood makes Vudu an attractive option, particularly because the first rental on Vudu is only 99 cents.

Embed from Getty Images

Lastly, Hoopla is a service that, in coordination with your local library, allows you to digitally “borrow” films as well as other media like music and eBooks using your library card. There are some obvious drawbacks to this service; not everyone has a library card, and not every public library works with Hoopla to enable access to content. That being said, Hoopla is the only service on this list not to serve ads, as the business is funded by library systems. Also, its selection of content is unique relative to other platforms, particularly when it comes to audiobooks and eBooks, which may in fact be the most valuable aspect of the service. Public libraries are an under-utilized free knowledge resource, but with services like Hoopla that enable easy and free access to library materials, that could soon change.

The variety of streaming media services, both free and paid, can be overwhelming, especially because navigating the enormous selection of (mostly mediocre) titles available on each platform can be tiring. That being said, free, legal access to media of all sorts via the Internet has never been greater, and many hidden gems await those who are willing to navigate various services and libraries.

Headphones

The Best Free Music Streaming Subscriptions

/in , /by

Music streaming has quickly become the main way that we all consume our favorite songs and albums. There are so many services available now that offer millions upon millions of different discographies for users listening pleasure. If you aren’t one of the many who already is paying for a music streaming platform monthly, don’t fret. Plenty of these platforms offer free subscription packages so users don’t have to add another monthly payment on top of all their other bills. These free packages are often limited in terms of song skipping, and contain some advertisements, however, that doesn’t mean they don’t still offer the same great quality music. 

Spotify has definitely become one of the most popular streaming services currently on the market. The company offers multiple payment packages that include other perks such as Hulu, Disney Plus and ESPN Plus as well. These packages allow for customers to pay one monthly fee for both either Spotify and Hulu, or Spotify and Disney/ESPN Plus. Additionally, if you’re a student, the monthly price for all the packages are cut in half. That would equate to about $5 a month for both music and video streaming service. However, some individuals don’t want the visual additions to these packages and want to remain completely cost-free when it comes to their music. The free package of Spotify has a lot of the perks similar to the premium packages, making it one of the most desirable free packages for music streaming. 

Embed from Getty Images

With Spotify’s free package you still have access to the entirety of their music library and can access the service on any compatible device including Alexa and Google Hub speakers. When you’re listening to playlists, whether it be ones you made yourself or pre-made ones, you can select whichever song you want to listen to, however, you have a limited number of skips forward and can’t go backwards. Additionally, you are subject to advertisements, however, Spotify has a pretty standard algorithm in which they let users have thirty minutes of uninterrupted listening, and then commercials appear every fifteen minutes for every given streaming session. When on the mobile app, you can’t select songs to listen to in a given playlists library like previously mentioned, that feature is exclusive to desktop listening. You also are only able to listen to albums and custom made playlists on shuffle mode, and are given a total of six skips per hour, according to Gizmodo Magazine. 

Amazon Music is another music streaming service that has newly emerged for free users. Previously, you had to have an Amazon Prime account to have access to Amazon’s music streaming, however, now the company has two separate services. Amazon Music Unlimited is what’s included with Prime, and standard Amazon Music is available for users free on any compatible device, you do need to have a regular Amazon account though, but that’s also free.

Embed from Getty Images

The free package is much more limiting compared to Spotify’s free package, but it still definitely has its perks. According to Gizmodo, the free package only includes a library of 2 million songs to stream, compared to the Unlimited Package which has a library of 50 million songs. Like Spotify, you can’t select songs within albums, you have a limited number of skips, and are subject to frequent advertisements. You also can’t create your own custom playlists either, and Amazon will pretty much be constantly harping you about upgrading to the Unlimited package, but if you’re the type of person who wants a streaming service that can deliver you a good radio mix based off a certain artist, album, mood, etc. than this service could definitely be for you. 

Finally, another relatively new streaming service that’s entered the market is YouTube Music. Like Amazon and Spotify, this service is available on any device that’s compatible with music streaming. Additionally, like Amazon, if you have a YouTube Premium membership, YouTube Music is included for free, however, you can have the music streaming without a premium account, just with some more obvious restrictions. Unlike the other streaming services, all that applies to desktop use, also applies to mobile use with the service. On the mobile app, however, you have to keep the app open in order for the music to continue to play, which could be a major drawback. Other than that, users are able to skip around inside given playlists, pick out specific songs they want to hear, listen to their music in any order they’d like and create their own playlists. Advertisements are a given, but users have reported that they’re relatively infrequent, and most of them can be skipped (Gizmodo). 

Regardless of what you choose, there are definitely plenty of free music listening services online today that can help you save some money every month. Just do your research and find one that can fulfill your specific streaming desires.