4 reasons why you should buy a Galaxy Z Fold 8, and 4 reasons why you should skip it


Samsung did a thing this year, making its foldables exciting again with the launch of the smaller, wider Galaxy Z Fold 8. It’s basically the little brother of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, a larger foldable that follows the taller and more square design of its predecessors.

Apparently, the smaller Galaxy Z Fold 8 is very popular, as Samsung has highlighted a dramatic increase in preorders and has reportedly ramped up production. But should you buy the Galaxy Z Fold 8? Here are my thoughts after spending a few weeks with the phone and extensively testing its camera.

Why you should buy the Galaxy Z Fold 8

It really is the perfect size

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 with a passport

(Image credit: Derrek Lee / Android Central)

I have an affinity for flip phones and have used one as my go-to. I like that they’re small and pocketable, though they tend to be quite thick when folded. On the flip side, I tend not to care for larger book-style foldables, as they are quite tall and only open to a larger, square-ish display.

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The Airseekers Tron is an impressive mulching robot mower with a couple of frustrating flaws


While the autonomy, RTK precision, and mulching capabilities of the Airseekers Tron are fantastic, the obstacle avoidance and wheels leave a lot to be desired. It does a great job clearing open swaths of land, even handling drastic inclines, but it’s rough around the edges and struggling with avoiding contact with certain objects.

The only thing better than having a great yard to hang out is not having to spend half your free time maintaining it. Today we go beyond setting up an automatic sprinkler or hiring the neighbor’s kid to do some work; today we can deploy robotics to do the job.

The Airseekers Tron ($1999.99 at Amazon) is a capable robot lawn mower that cuts and mulches, for a totally hands-off experience, but there are a few drawbacks to this beast of a mower that keep it from challenging the best in the business.

I tested two separate Airseekers Tron robot mowers over several months, with both bots provided by Airseekers. Here’s what I found out.

Anatomy of a Tron

Airseekers Tron front

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

The Airseekers Tron is a four-wheel unit that suspends a mower blade in the center. The battery lives in a door at the rear, and there are cameras facing all directions. The blade is a spinning disk with multiple razor-like blades mounted around it.

The true value of the Airseekers Tron as a robot mower lies in its mulching function. Instead of simply chopping grass, it creates a vortex that sucks the cut grass up into a second set of blades that reduce the debris to shreds. With regular mowing, the shreds of grass simply disappear into your lawn. No mess to clean, just short grass.

Airseekers Tron sunset

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

The Tron is available in three variants: the SE version manages up to 0.37 acres, the standard version manages 0.59 acres, and the Plus version handles one acre.

It is rear-wheel drive, has multi-directional front wheels, IPX6 waterproofing, and a swappable battery. The cutting blade assembly cuts a swath from 8.66-inches up to 11.8-inches wide, and is adjustable from 1.18-inches up to 3.54-inches high. You adjust the blade height in the app and can create custom patterns to cut different sections of your yard at different heights.

Charging the bot is automatic. The charger is a waterproof base station that the bot drives up to on its own. You set the base station before you begin mapping, which locks it into place on the map.

Airseekers Tron unbox

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

The setup took me about one hour, but be advised that you need tools and that you need to plan out the install. The base station needs power, but so too does the RTK antenna. In my instance, the best place for the base station was near a tree, and the best place for the RTK antenna was a poor place to put the base station — that’s two power sources needed in my yard, then.

You need to screw the base plate and the power tower together to create the base station, screw a mud flap onto the bot, and run wire and build the post for the RTK pod. Plus, there are ground spikes you use to secure the base station to the ground.

Setup is not hard, it just takes a little while to perform. And, don’t forget that these things are heavy. The bot weighs over 40lbs (~18kg), so please bring a friend if you are not prepared to haul that weight by yourself.

How does it work?

Airseekers Tron bottom

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

On the surface, the Airseekers Tron is made to cut grass. It can handle some light weeds or other simple plants in your grass, but it is a single-purpose machine. This approach allows it to focus on the nuances that your yard can throw at it.

When setting up the Tron, you first manually drive the bot around your space. Outline the edges, one section at a time. The app has two virtual joysticks to control the bot. Remember that with RTK enabled, the mower deploys millimeter-level precision, so take your time and drive accurately. If you run into a plant pot while mapping, the bot will rely on its obstacle-avoidance sensors to avoid hitting the same pot in the future.

Airseekers Tron RTK antenna

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

After you’ve run the perimeter of your yard, you can use the app to outline obstacles within it. Of course, you can also just let the bot mow and it will automatically identify obstacles as well.

You can drive the bot to multiple yards, or you can drive it all and use no-go and “transit” zones within the map to carve out your spaces. The benefit of splitting up your map is that you can set different schedules per space, and you can control the cut height for those spaces as well.

Airseekers Tron rear

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

The Tron is a two-wheel drive machine. The rear wheels are large and grippy, each powered by a strong motor. It can handle inclines up to 65% (33°) and push through taller grass with little hassle. The front wheels are free-spinning omnidirectional, meaning they spin on their axles like normal wheels, but the tire tread consists of a series of rollers. The rollers can spin, so the wheel can rotate forward/backward, while the rollers can spin side-to-side, providing infinite directionality.

The thing is, those front wheels are also a little cumbersome. They are not mounted straight; they are toed in to ~30 degrees. When the bot is driving straight forward, the wheels are not aligned with the movement, and the bot saunters across the yard as if dazed. Worse, the front wheels crush the grass with this action, making it harder for the mower blades to pick back up, and resulting in some wavy, unevenly-cut lines down the yard.

Airseekers Tron stuck

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

When the bot reaches the edge, it often makes a multi-point turn to head back down the next strip of grass. That turn is multiple “spin-in-place” operations, and since the wheels are not straight, the rollers are not rolling cleanly. To be fair, this spin operation is where the outside front wheel rolls perfectly straight, but the other is dragged at an angle. The causes more distress on the grass than I’d like.

Navigation is simultaneously great and the worst thing about the Tron. RTK truly does offer extremely precise routing. Within that space, the multiple front-facing, two side-facing, and single rear-facing cameras look for obstacles. This works exceptionally well for larger objects; anything as tall as the bot is expertly mowed around.

Smaller objects are where the rails come off. I’ve had to rescue this bot after it tried to run over a stick, got hung up on a brick, tried to suck up some ground sheeting from a space it wasn’t supposed to be mowing, and got wrapped in some electrical cords. In all these cases, the items were shorter than the front bumper of the bot. I’m just glad the frame got stuck on the stick and brick before the blades could contact, and the cords got wrapped around the rear wheel. I remembered to remove the battery before shoving my hand up into the blade assembly to remove the tattered garden ground sheet. No harm done on any of this, but it’s annoying to have to rescue the bot so often.

Airseekers Tron blades

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

Finally, how well does it cut? Grass seems to be cleanly sucked up, cut, then further mulched; that’s great. I have a section of grass that has clover growing. My bees love it, so I don’t fight it, but I want it cut to the same length as the grass. The Tron had no problem at all cutting the flower heads off the taller clover, but was unable to suck those flower heads up for mulching.

I also intentionally left a patch of grass to get very long for the Tron to handle. The bits that were six or more inches tall were detected as an obstacle and not cut; the rest was cleanly cut if it got into the blades, but the drag of those front wheels tramped the grass more than anything, so it lay crashed and did not get cut.

Airseekers Tron mapping

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

Two things to note: I cannot figure out how to change the cutting orientation of the mower, so it will continue to cut length-wise for now, and I can’t figure out how to change my home time zone in the app, so I have to adjust the schedule by a few hours to get the actual start time that I want. These are not deal-breakers, just not ideal.

Airseekers Tron review verdict: Should you buy it?

Airseekers Tron RTK battery

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

Homeowners who maintain distinct swaths of flat yard without obstacles or common debris will love this bot. The Airseekers Tron handles ongoing yard maintenance with ease. Map the space, ensure it’s clear, set up automation and schedules in the app, and you never have to think about your yard again. The rain sensor prevents wet mowing, the bot is quick and efficient, and the mulching feature is a game-changer for overall appearance and yard health.

Truly, if I owned a golf course with vast amounts of grass with very little interruption, I’d purchase one Tron per acre of land.

Airseekers Tron stuck again

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

But I, and so many who will be looking at the Tron, do not own a golf course. I have a fairly basic yard, aside from some rock and garden areas around the outside. The only real obstacle in the mowing area is an above-ground pool.

Admittedly, that pool is difficult terrain, with protruding brick on one side and a small drop-off on the other; it’s enough to cause issues as the Tron likes to get stuck there. These are things that could be adjusted via OTA updates, and there have been a few firmware updates during my testing, so I trust that the team at Airseekers team will continue to improve the Tron over time. However, the issues with obstacles, combined with the front wheels being sub-optimal, are serious caveats to consider for a product that is $2,000 MSRP.

Airseekers Tron obstacles

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

As for the competition, I have tested the eufy E15 ($1599.99 at Amazon) in my own yard. It’s a little older and, on paper, far less capable, but it has been maintaining my yard for a while now without the same issues with obstacles and navigation. I can confidently say, however, that the Tron is better at tackling the taller grass at the edges. The E15 allowed that grass to get long, and then identified it as an obstacle, so much of my edging needs hands-on care. Likewise, while I find it easier to modify the map for the E15, the Tron has better battery life.

It’s when you look at newer competition that things get really tricky for the Tron. The brand new Roborock RockMow X120H ($2499 at Amazon) is a capable device that relies on LiDAR for navigation and obstacle avoidance. It’s a little pricier than the Tron, but Roborock has a pedigree in the robot vacuum space, and the RockMow range looks excellent.

There’s also our favorite robot mower right now: the Mammotion LUBA 3 AWD ($2799 at Amazon). If the Tron’s setup complexity and small-obstacle misses are dealbreakers for you, the LUBA 3 AWD is the more forgiving (if pricier) alternative.

Airseekers Tron undock

Jonathan Feist / Android Authority

In the end, for me, it comes down to the front wheels. The toed-in angle makes perfect sense on paper, but in practice, it is performing very poorly in my yard. I have enough clover and moss in my grass that the yard is too soft, not enough friction to make the rollers operate cleanly, and that added restriction, dragging the rollers along, is causing visible damage to my space. Not to mention, the way the bot makes a multi-point turn at every edge makes the skid-steer approach rough on the grass. These are realities of every robot mower I’ve seen in action, but are exaggerated on my poor-quality grass.

There’s a lot to like about the Airseekers Tron, the mulching function makes it a powerhouse, and there are frequently discounts that take it below the $2,000 asking price. But in an emerging market where robot mowers are swiftly improving, the Tron’s awkward front-wheel setup and questionable obstacle avoidance make it truly great only for very specific conditions.

Airseekers Tron

RTK precision • Mulching

MSRP: $2,099.99

The Airseekers Tron is a wire-free robotic lawn mower that combines AI vision, RTK-assisted navigation, and a unique FlowCut mulching system to deliver precise, autonomous lawn care. Designed for gardens up to 2,400m², it features five-camera obstacle detection, app-based multi-zone management, adjustable cutting heights, and automatic return-to-charge functionality for hands-free mowing.

Positives

  • Excellent cutting and mulching performance
  • Precise RTK navigation
  • Strong performance on slopes and taller grass
  • Good battery life and automation features

Cons

  • Unreliable obstacle avoidance for smaller objects
  • Front-wheel design can damage grass and compromise cutting
  • High price considering the drawbacks

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How Much Does It Cost To Develop A Chatbot Like ChatGPT?


How Much Does It Cost to Develop A Chatbot Like ChatGPT? 

What is ChatGPT and How It Is Useful?

ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) is a breakthrough in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI. Since its introduction into the tech world in 2022 by OpenAI, ChatGPT has been a buzz in the tech world and across social media. Leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning like major subfields of AI technology, ChatGPT is well-trained to interpret user queries and generate accurate content that the users look for. Initially, OpenAI launched ChatGPT in Noven 2022 for the Android mobile app version in the USA and witnessed great attention soon.

Later, upgrading the version and adding the latest advanced tech features like GPT4 integration, OpenAI released the newest version of GPT on March 2023 and made it available for iOS users. Surprisingly, with its first month of launch, the app has generated approximately four million downloads in the USA in its first month itself. This newest language model-based AI Chatbot has its applications in many areas. From supporting students in preparing essays and other materials to assisting software developers in writing code, ChatGPT has its significance. 

Additionally, ChatGPT is also popularizing in the field of Marketing and sales, where it is supporting marketing people to create compelling digital campaign content and also giving suggestions to write SEO-friendly website content. Further, for sales teams, ChatGPT’s contributions are incredible. It is helping sales personnel to write crispy introductions and follow-up emails faster. Likewise, the ChatGPT use cases are enormous. On top of all top applications, AI-powered ChatGPT is a great assistant tool for graphic designers, where it accurately interprets user queries and recommends ideas for video or image designs. 

Since the hype of ChatGPT is incredible, why don’t come up with an app like GPT? USM Business Systems has best practices in designing and developing of ChatGPT-like similar AI chatbot. In this article, with our experts’ input, we have given the estimated cost to develop an app like ChatGPT. Our app development consultants have also given insights into cost optimization strategies and how to create an AI Chatbot within your budget.

AI ChatGPT Chatbot Downloads Per Month from May 2023 to 2026

chatgpt downloads

Since the renowned ChatGPT mobile app launch into the U.S. iOS market on May 2023, the application generated approximately four million downloads within one month. When expanded to other global markets, the app reported total downloads of 12.5 million in July. Additionally, the Android version release propelled total downloads to almost 16 million in August. These numbers indicate the rapid growth and quick evolution of ChatGPT AI and GenAI’s implementation. This is the right time to invest and attract user attention towards ChatGPT-like AI innovations. Let’s look at how much it costs to create a ChatGPT clone app for Android and iOS.  

The Cost to Make an AI Chatbot Like ChatGPT App

The ChatGPT app development costs will depend on multiple technical factors, such as the language learning model it deploys (Either GPT 3 or GPT 4), the database which is used to train the algorithm, and agile methodology implementation will all take an essential part of the development cost of ChatGPT AI app. 

Further, the cost of developing a ChatGPT-like AI app will also be impacted by the complexity of the User interface and the other computational and analytical potentialities of this innovative software solution. Accordingly, the expertise, location, and team size of the AI development company will also be significant cost-impacting factors in ChatGPT clone mobile app development. The hourly rate of mobile app development agencies will vary based on their industry experience and team capabilities. 

For instance, a top AI app development company in the USA will cost much more than the cost of hiring AI developers from India. Considering all these factors, we estimate that the cost to build an app like ChatGPT will fall between $90,000 to $450,000. The cost might increase beyond the estimated range because ChatGPT is purely a novel and advanced revolution of AI.

Recommend To Read: The Best 13 AI App Development Companies List

Tips To Reduce the Cost Burden of ChatGPT App Development

By seeing the above-estimated cost figure, you might be concerned about the budget to kick start the development process of ChatGPT AI Chatbot. Being one of the biggest AI mobile app development companies in the USA, we would like to share a few tips to optimize the cost of ChatGPT clone app development.

  • Hire The Top AI App Developers 

This is one of the most significant cost-cutting strategies when stepping ahead of ChatGPT like AI app development. An expert AI app development company will deliver fully advanced software solutions like ChatGPT on-demand. Top mobile app development companies with their vast industry expertise and required skill sets in their development team, will ensure quick development without compromising on quality. A faster development process will consume less time for app developers and help you save costs.

  • Partnership With Cloud Service Providers

According to the research analysts, training a large language model such as GPT-3 and GPT-4 will cost millions of dollars. ChatGPT-like AI chatbot requires huge data to train the algorithm. Hence, to reduce the burden of ChatGPT-like chatbot mobile app development expenses, partnership with cloud companies is a good strategy to access the information legally and train GPT.

  • Go-To-Market with MVP Approach

Here is another best strategy to lower mobile app development costs. Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development with primary features and user-friendly UI design will help you reduce the development costs. The release of MVP will also help you get the user feedback about the application performance and how your app is fulfilling their desired requirements. Hence, eliminating the development of advanced features does not add any value to the application, organizations can reduce AI-based app development costs. Top mobile app development companies perform extensive research to match your application requirements with the ChatGPT trends, release MVP faster, make the application qualitative, and test GPT modules multiple times to ensure efficiency.

Recommend To Read: How Can Startups Reduce the Mobile App Development Costs?

 

Conclusion

Technology developments continue to emerge with the innovations in AI, such as the evolution of GenAI. Hence, GPT-like applications will need to be customized according to the business objectives. Currently, the ChatGPT Enterprise version using advanced GPT4 and GenAI capabilities is a hot topic now. Businesses across the industries are in plans of integrating GPT 4 like complex LLM and GenAI to create accurate images, videos, and content in response to user prompts. Such advanced Enterprise ChatGPT development cost might go beyond $500,000 as it needs more development time, a huge database, and fully generative capabilities. Hire the best AI developers and get expert guidance to Introduce your new version of an AI Chatbot app like ChatGPT.

 

Let’s discuss your AI app idea and get a free quote!

Whisper of the House Unpacks Cozy Xbox Preorders Today


Summary

  • Pixel-art cozy organizing game launching August 27.
  • Pre-order today to secure a 20% discount.
  • A preview of my creative process and some of what fans can experience at launch.

Hello, XBOX community!

I am Zhicheng, Producer at GD Studio. I work with a small, tight-knit indie team of fewer than ten people who pour our hearts into making warm, meaningful games. Today, I am incredibly excited to announce that my pixel-art cozy game, Whisper of the House, is officially available for preorder on XBOX Series X|S and Windows PC!

Whisper of the House is a pixel-art cozy mystery simulation where you become the go-to housekeeper for a quirky town full of hidden magic. Your heartwarming commissions range from unpacking for new arrivals and prepping storefronts, to organizing a loved one’s belongings or even finding a missing cat. While earning money to design your own dream home, you will soon realize this isn’t just about chores. By putting your neighbors’ lives in order, you might accidentally alter their destinies—and uncover the town’s extraordinary secrets.

Whisper of the House screenshot

Narrative Woven into the Environment

When designing Whisper of the House, my vision was to tell stories without relying on heavy dialogue. I wanted you to discover the residents’ true feelings simply by interacting with their private spaces. As you tidy up, you will stumble upon strange secrets blooming in a quiet garden, uncover faded photographs hidden in a hospital room, or dust off equipment in a long-abandoned alchemy lab. By collecting these environmental clues, you are essentially piecing together a deeply emotional, puzzle-like narrative of their unspoken regrets and wishes.

Whisper of the House screenshot

A World That Reacts to Your Touch

I always wanted this town to feel tactile, playful, and alive. It is not just about placing objects; it is about playing with them! I highly encourage you to get distracted while you work. Go ahead and press the button on that vintage gramophone, squeeze the rubber duck resting by the bathtub, or see what happens when you pull a tissue from the box. You will notice drawers practically begging to be opened, and flicking light switches will completely shift the mood of a room. These tiny, satisfying interactions are my way of making the town whisper its secrets directly to you.

Whisper of the House screenshot

Total Freedom to Build Your Dream Space

All your hard work should pay off, and I wanted to make sure you have a space that feels entirely your own. Whether you prefer a soft, modern cream aesthetic or the elegance of traditional styles, I packed the game with over 1,800 interactive items and more than 10 unique floor plans for you to experiment with. You can build a cozy study lined entirely with bookshelves, curate a vibrant indoor greenhouse, or even construct a fully stocked doomsday bunker! From the exact placement of your sofa to the style of your bathtub, the choice is entirely yours.

Whisper of the House screenshot

This Town is Your Second Home

Bringing this game to XBOX has been a huge milestone, and because I want this town to feel like a true second home for you, Whisper of the House fully supports XBOX Play Anywhere. You can relax on your couch and uncover secrets on your XBOX Series X|S and then pick up right where you left off on your Windows PC to perfectly micro-manage your decorations.

Whisper of the House is available for preorder today on XBOX Series X|S and Windows PC for $14.99 USD. Preorder now on the Microsoft Store before our official launch on August 27 to take advantage of a special 20% preorder discount ($11.99 USD). Thank you for taking on this housekeeping job and opening the doors to our town.

Whisper of the House screenshot

See you in the neighborhood!

Whisper Of The House

E-Home Entertainment Development Company Ltd





$14.99

$11.99


ABOUT WHISPER TOWN

Welcome to Whisper Town—a cozy and heartwarming game about decorating, organizing, and uncovering little stories.

You’ll step into the role of the town’s all-around housekeeper, taking on charming, quirky tasks: moving into new homes, tidying cluttered rooms, preparing new shops, sorting through treasured keepsakes… even tracking down cats! Complete each task to earn rewards, collect furniture, and freely design a space that’s entirely your own.

As you help others put their lives in order, you may unknowingly change the course of their stories, and slowly discover the unusual secrets hidden in this charming little town…

MOVING AND HOUSEKEEPING JOBS

For lovers of tidy spaces! Turn cluttered rooms into warm, organized havens in a soothing, detail-rich gameplay experience. The teacup by the bed, the plant by the window, the letters covered in dust—each one will find its perfect “home” in your hands. Sweep through forgotten corners, sort every keepsake, and uncover the quiet stories and traces of life hidden behind every item you place.

HEY, THAT’S NOT YOURS TO PLAY WITH!

Ahem… but some furniture is just begging to be messed with! You might find yourself pressing the button on that vintage gramophone, giving the rubber duck by the tub a playful squeeze, or sneakily pulling a tissue from the box. It’s as if this little town is whispering to you through these tiny, mischievous gestures.

In Whisper Town, every resident has untold troubles or hidden wishes—secrets buried in a garden, a faded photo left in a hospital room, an alchemy workshop long abandoned. Piece together the smallest clues to uncover their unspoken memories, weaving a story where mystery and love intertwine.

DECORATE YOUR OWN HOME FREELY

Your style, your rules. With over 1,800 pieces of furniture and more than 10 unique home layouts, every space is yours to design. Line a study wall from floor to ceiling with bookshelves, fill a sunlit mini-greenhouse with blooms, or stock a doomsday shelter to the brim with supplies—create the home you’ve always dreamed of. However you imagine it, every detail is yours to choose.

Wallpapers, flooring, and select pieces of furniture can be recolored or retextured to perfectly match your mood and style.

Dozens of items also feature custom sound effects—tap the drums, snap a photo, run the tap. In this home, you don’t just see it—you hear it.

THE STRANGE, CUTE LITTLE TOWN

As you spend time with the townsfolk, you grow closer to them, and slowly form bonds with them. But beneath these warm, everyday moments, the town hides something.

A number—42—flickers above the museum. A sudden rainbow across the sky. A “heart-stealing ghost” haunts the well. Tentacles creep from the cracks. What lies behind these mysteries? Perhaps the one destined to uncover the truth… is you.

Helping A Child Through Abandonment


I have to be honest here…when my husband was home, because he was unsaved, I spent 99% of my focus on him. Being a godly wife to win him without a word, trying to be a godly witness to him so that he would repent and give his life to God. All of those things are great, but not if you let your kids slip through the cracks, which is exactly what I did, and I say that through tears.

My kids weren’t given the attention that they needed during that time. It was all about my husband. The attention, the devotion, the sacrificing love was all for him. I don’t know how my kids managed to cope and make it through all that without hating me. Thankfully, they were still pretty young when he took off, 4 and 6 years old.

After he left, they really acted out in some major ways because of the effects of their abandonment issues and I had to re-evaluate everything. I’M SO GLAD THEY DID. What I found was some major changes that needed to be made, not on their part, but ON MINE!!!

Helping a Child Through Abandonment

1) Starved for Love and Attention

I know it’s hard to show love to a child who is completely wreckless in behavior, who shows no regard for you or your family, but I tell you the truth, THAT is when they need it the most!

Is it not the same with us? When we feel grumpy and have lost our tempers and are angry, mad, and hurt all at the same time, what is it that we would love more than anything right then and there? I can’t speak for you, but I sure would love someone who genuinely cares to put their arm around me and tell me everything is going to be okay. To tell me they will listen to me, as long as I am talking calmly. That they WANT to understand my frustration.

In our day and age now, it is MUCH harder to be a kid than it was when I was younger. Wowzer, the things they see everyday, the things they have to deal with. I thought my childhood was hard, until I walked a mile in theirs. The peer pressure is so much stronger. The world gets eviler by the day. The selfishness, the disregard of authority is gone. Prayer is not allowed in schools, you bring a Bible with you and you’ll be automatically suspended. Even what my own children go through is sickening. The kids evil and WAY beyond in knowledge what they should be, I will just leave it at that.

Every day my son goes to school, there are 3 boys who chase him and want to hurt him. One child broke another child’s arm by pushing him down on the cement. This is first grade people! It’s mortifying!!

There are too many students, not enough teachers and the ‘good’ kids who are meek, slip through the cracks and are easy prey to bullies.

After dealing with all of that all day long, there is nothing more than your child wants than to be held in your arms, I don’t care how old they are, even teens.

Now, a side note, you must also deal with their pride. When you first begin wanting to hold them or hug them or show affection and listen, they may reject that. I remember when I started doing that with my daughter after my husband took off, it took her a good month of every day rejection and my PERSISTENCE to finally come around. Now, when I hold her, she cuddles up to me. She ASKS me to be held. The other day I found a picture of ME with stickers all around it in her binder. This from a girl who says that her friends say it’s “embarrassing to be loved on by their parents.”

She thought it was embarrassing too, but again, I was persistent. I still hold both their hands as we walk home from school. It is when you show so much love at home, that it becomes second nature to them and they don’t think about it at school. Maybe that is not true of a teen or older kids, I get that, but you can still love on them at home, and YOU MUST!!! Whether they reject it or not, they know that you care. That you’re willing to put your hurt feelings of being rejected aside for them. I do not believe that enough parents do this. I heard a stat that the average child my daughter’s age watches 6 hours of entertainment a DAY! How is that even possible. 6 hours! That’s a lot. My kids are allowed 30 mins, maybe an hour if we play the Wii as a family, but 6 hours. That’s insane.

2) It’s Not About Actions

If you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty, you cannot change a heart. You might be able to change an action, change their behavior when they are around you at best, but you can’t change their heart. It is not the action the child is doing that is so bad. Yes, if they steal, it’s wrong. Yes, if they throw a screaming fit, it’s bad, but it’s not the action we should focus on, but the underlying HEART OF REBELLION. They don’t want to obey you. That means they are being selfish and think that their way is more important than yours. They are mad because they didn’t get their way and it’s more important than you. That’s selfishness. There are many heart issues we all have, and if you want to see real changes and help a child going through emotional trauma the most, you have to get to the root of it.

I’ll put it like this. My ex-husband was and continues to be a bad man. He steals, he never tells the truth, he comits fornication, he is an apostate, he commits illegal acts, he has been in jail a few times for physical abuse and disregard of the law, and I’ll stop there though I could go on for hours. BUT he CLAIMS he’s Christian. Funny because when he left, he gave me an ultimatum, I either give up God entirely or I give up him. There’s nothing in his life that says anyone should take him seriously in his claim of Christianity. This outward evilness is just a true representation of the evil that is in his heart. He’s not saved. His heart is evil and wicked. We are all born into sin. We all sin. I can’t tell you that I’ve never lost my temper, that I’ve never been selfish seeking my own way. That I’ve never looked at something someone else has and not wanted it too. But my HEART wants to follow Christ, my HEART WANTS to obey, it’s just hard because of my flesh.

Teaching our children, whatever age they may be is NOT about actions. It’s NOT about getting them to be ‘good’ people doing whatever you tell them to do. That’s a robot. Do you really even want that?

Raising our children is about getting to their HEARTS. While God is the only One that can truly change a heart, you can help that process by molding, sculpting, and refining their hearts. You have to force yourself (and I know it’s hard in the moment) to look beyond the situation, beyond the action, and look at their HEART. What is the root cause of what they are doing? How can you help them be more Christ-like? How can you be a better role model playing out how to handle situations that come up every day? How can you lead them to Christ? These are all questions I intentionally try to ask myself daily.

There is a really fantastic sermon series by Paul Tripp called Getting to the Heart of Parenting that I’m currently going through. It breaks it all down by age and I’ve listened to my sons’ age and am now on my daughters’ age group and it is just mind-blowing!!! He speaks in a very down to earth way, something that a Christian of any length of time can fully grasp.

There are 10 sessions:

  • Session 1 & 2: What is family?
  • Session 3 & 4: Getting to the Heart of Behavior (see, there you go!) 🙂
  • Session 5 & 6: Ages 0-5
  • Session 7 & 8: Ages 6-12
  • Session 9 & 10: Ages 13 and up.

I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about parenting. I am really learning a lot! I bought the DVD set, but there is a CD set and even MP3 and MP4 as well that are a little cheaper depending on your preferred method.

What have you found the most helpful in helping a child through abandonment?

How to tell if your AI platforms’ accounts have been hacked


Just like any other online service, hackers can target and break into your accounts on popular AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. 

TechCrunch has created a comprehensive guide to help you protect yourself if you suspect someone has broken into your account on one of the internet’s most popular platforms, social networks, or messaging apps. Now, we’re here to show you how to check whether your accounts on AI platforms have been hacked.

As usual, we recommend using unique passwords stored in a password manager, and turning on multi-factor authentication (MFA), so that even if someone steals your password, they won’t be able to log in without that second piece of information. 

ChatGPT and Perplexity offer MFA. Claude doesn’t, because instead of asking for a password, Anthropic’s AI chatbot sends a login link to your email address.

All three of these AI platforms offer similar ways to check if there’s a suspicious device logged into your account. Here’s exactly how each platform works.  

ChatGPT

To find out if someone has broken into your ChatGPT account, open it on your computer’s browser, click on your username in the bottom left corner, go to “Settings,” then “Security and Login,” and finally click on “Active Sessions.” 

You will see where you are logged into your ChatGPT account. If you see any device you don’t recognize, you can log out of that single device. You can also click on “Log out all.”

Image Credits:Screenshot/TechCrunch /

At this point, if you want to change your password, you need to log out of your account. 

Then, on ChatGPT’s website, click “Log in” located in the bottom-left corner, enter your email address, click on “Forgot password,” and then “Continue.”  

ChatGPT will then send you an email containing a six-digit code. Enter the code on the ChatGPT login page, click “Continue,” and then enter a new password. 

You can also click “reset your password” in the email you received to see the official instructions on how to do that. 

Claude

For Claude, open it in your computer’s browser, click on your username in the bottom-left corner, then “Settings,” and click on “Account.” That’s where you will see your “Active sessions.” 

If you don’t recognize one of them, hover over it, click on the three vertical dots that appear on the right, and click “Log out” or “Terminate.”

Image Credits:Screenshot/TechCrunch /

If you want, you can click on “Log out of all devices.” 

At that point, you’ll be able to log back into your account using your email address. You will receive an email with a link to log in. Claude does not allow you to use passwords at all, so there’s no password to change.

Perplexity

In the case of Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine does not show you where you are logged in. 

So if you’re worried someone may have broken into your account, go to Perplexity in your browser and click your username in the bottom-left corner, then “All settings.” Finally, click on “Sign out of all sessions,” and then “Confirm.”

Image Credits:Screenshot/TechCrunch /

At that point, you can log back in by entering your email address. You will then receive an email with a unique six-digit code. Enter the code on the website to log in, or click on the “Sign in” button in the email to log in directly. 

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

Six tough questions to ask your LOS mortgage provider


The post Six tough questions to ask your LOS mortgage provider appeared first on Tech Research Online.

What Development Banks Screen Out & Sheikh Ahmed Takes On


What Development Banks Screen Out
Source: Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum Development Finance

Multilateral development banks were designed to be careful. Their capital comes from member states, their lending follows mandates, and their approval processes exist to keep public money out of failures. Care of that kind has a side effect: a filtration system that screens out many frontier projects before anyone assesses whether the underlying asset would actually work.

Understanding that sieve explains the space where Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum operates. Inmā Emirates Holdings, the Dubai company he chairs, signs directly with state authorities and commits capital where multilateral lenders hesitate, a positioning that only makes sense because so much viable activity ends up on the wrong side of institutional screens.

Anatomy of the Screen

Projects in hard markets fail three familiar filters before merit ever gets discussed:

  1. Currency risk. Revenue arrives in local currency while debt service runs in dollars or euros, and thin hedging markets make the mismatch expensive to insure at frontier scale.
  2. Political risk. Long assets outlive the governments that sign them, and lenders discount heavily for the chance that a successor administration renegotiates, delays, or repudiates.
  3. Payback period. Grid, port, and identity infrastructure repays over decades, far past the horizon at which most institutional credit committees stop counting.

Development banks layer their own requirements on top, from safeguard compliance to board approval cycles that can run years. None of these filters is irrational alone. Stacked together, they produce the outcome ODI research on private infrastructure investment identified: a $1 trillion annual financing need through 2030 sitting beside some $100 trillion in global institutional assets, separated mainly by information gaps and risk perception.

Compounding is what makes the sieve so fine. A project that survives the currency screen at a higher hedging cost carries that cost into the political-risk assessment, where it worsens the projected return, which in turn lengthens the payback period past the next threshold. Marginal projects do not fail one test narrowly; they fail three tests that feed each other.

What Can Development Banks Realistically Do?

That same ODI analysis reached a sober conclusion about the development banks themselves. Their most realistic role is coordination rather than provision, using instruments such as project bonds, securitized loan portfolios, and syndication to connect institutional money with infrastructure demand. Balance-sheet lending at gap-closing scale was never on the table, a limitation the paper treats as arithmetic rather than criticism, since shareholder capital cannot stretch across a trillion-dollar annual need.

Coordination, though, works best on assets that already exist. Securitization needs performing loans; syndication needs a lead investor willing to hold the riskiest tranche. Someone has to originate projects in the markets the screens exclude, and that origination role is the one institutional design leaves empty.

Origination in this context means more than writing a first check. It covers negotiating terms a government can sustain, carrying construction risk, and operating the asset until its cash flows earn a track record, all before the instruments that mobilize institutional money have anything to work with. Years of unglamorous holding stand between a signed frontier agreement and a security anyone in London or New York would buy.

How Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum Fills the Empty Role

His model, as his office presents it, inverts each filter rather than ignoring them. Direct agreements with state authorities put a named counterparty on both sides of the table, trading the anonymity of syndicated lending for personal accountability that survives government transitions. Horizons stretch to match the assets, with agreement durations the company puts near sixteen years on average, a figure that rests on Inmā’s own count. Exposure to currency and political shocks gets carried on family capital, which answers to no redemption schedule.

Selection follows the gaps: Inmā’s stated portfolio concentrates on markets and sectors where the shortfall is a binding constraint on development, spanning categories from power to digital identity across a claimed fifteen-plus destinations. October 2025’s incorporation gave the operation a formal holding structure, consolidating what had run through earlier entities, including the longer-standing Private Office.

None of this eliminates the screened-out risks. It relocates them onto a balance sheet built to hold them, in exchange for terms and market access that filtered capital never sees, and whether that exchange nets out is settled deal by deal rather than in aggregate.

The Questions the Model Leaves Open

Governance leads the list, because institutional screens exist partly to protect against misjudgment, and a structure that replaces committee review with one principal’s conviction takes on exactly the failure mode the banks were built to avoid. Dispersed authority and planned succession are treated as basic protections under the UK Corporate Governance Code maintained by Britain’s Financial Reporting Council, and the model runs counter to both by design.

Verification runs a close second, since most of the portfolio’s claimed scope rests on company accounting, without a published independent audit, which leaves outsiders unable to test how much screened-out risk Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum’s vehicles have actually absorbed and how much remains unannounced. Sustainability is the third, since a model dependent on one office’s capacity can originate only so many projects a decade, no matter how wide the gap grows.

Pricing discipline deserves an entry of its own. Filtered lenders publish rates, terms, and conditions that permit comparison, while bilateral private agreements stay dark, so no outsider can establish whether the capital reaching screened-out markets arrives on terms those markets can afford. Opacity cuts both ways, protecting commercial position and preventing scrutiny in equal measure.

Two Systems, One Unfinished Bridge

Filtered capital and founder capital need each other more than either admits. Development banks hold the scale and instruments to move institutional money, once assets exist to move it toward; originators like Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum can create those assets, but never at the volume the gap demands. A working bridge between them, where privately originated frontier projects season into securitizable portfolios, remains mostly theoretical, sketched in policy papers but absent from any live frontier market.

A functioning version of that bridge has a recognizable shape. Frontier assets originated privately would operate long enough to earn credit histories, refinance through instruments the banks already know how to distribute, and return the original capital to originate again, converting one balance sheet’s capacity into a rotating pipeline. Nothing in the current architecture forbids it, and nothing in the current record shows it happening yet.

Whether his projects eventually feed that pipeline, or simply operate alongside it, will determine if the model stays a niche or becomes a template. Either way, the sieve keeps sorting, and the markets on its wrong side keep waiting for capital built like his.

Find a Home-Based Business to Start-Up >>> Hundreds of Business Listings.

Best sex and hookup apps in 2026 (UK)


This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience.

It’s 2026 and times are good for low-effort consumers. Yes, you can get pretty much anything you want by just tapping and swiping of your smartphone: Your shopping, your favourite takeaway, your high-ticket tech, even — our personal favourite — a hot date. And why shouldn’t you? Online dating is nothing new. Apps and websites have dominated the dating world for the best part of 20 years. In fact, some sites go all the way back to the mid-1990s. But things are constantly evolving in the world of app-based dating.

According to our favourite sex-perts at Lovehoney — the progressive sex toy brand that sells everything from lingerie to lubricants and dildos — we’re living in horny-but-wholesome times. Lovehoney has named 2026 “The Year of Pleasure.”

Hookup apps for everyone


AdultFriendFinder


readers’ pick for casual connections


Tinder


top pick for finding hookups


Hinge


popular choice for regular meetups

That doesn’t mean quick-and-easy pleasure from one-night stands and flings. It may come as some surprise, but research says that one-night stands are on the out. Would-be daters are now cruising for “purposeful pleasure” and “meaningful connections.” That means hookups with substance — flings that mean something. Yes, we’re still hooking up, but we’re getting more selective about who we hookup with and why. So, it’s important to get the right dating app because each app offers something a little different. And you need the right tools to find the right date.

To help you get started, we’ve looked at the top apps and taken advice from sex and relationship experts.

What to know before you swipe

Before you start downloading apps, it’s good know just how to approach online dating. Our advice is to be 100 percent honest about who and what you’re up for. And maybe give a pass to the mainstream dating apps that are more about romance and happily ever afters (the likes of eharmony, in other words). The best hookup apps make chatting quick and easy (messaging, video calls, all that good stuff), and even the best free options will have features like profile verification to keep you safe.

Our main advice though is to stick to apps which are purpose-built for hookups, casual fun, and satisfying your kink (whatever that kink might be). It can be freeing, not to mention productive, to be open about specific desires. The ways in which we understand sex and relationships are changing all the time — just looking at fast-growing “heteroflexible” sexuality — and hookup apps allow you to explore curiosities with no judgement or social anxiety.

It doesn’t matter what you’re looking for, whether it’s the chance to explore a new sexual frontier, a friends-with-benefits situation on the reg, or an old school one-night stand (the one-night stand might be going out of fashion, but it’s still hella fun as long as it’s safe and on your terms).

Whatever your desire, we’re here to help make it happen. This guide to the best hookups apps is based on Mashable’s own real-world testing, expert input, and general experience. We’ve broken down each of the best hookup apps available right now, with an option for every type of dater and every dating desire.

These are the best hookup apps for 2026.

Low-Budget Repairs Free Download (Build 24719542)


Low-Budget Repairs PC GameLow-Budget Repairs PC Game





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Low-Budget Repairs Direct Download:

Imagine yourself as a DIY handyman, running your own small business in a Polish block of flats during the 1990s. Your mission? To make as much money as possible by cutting costs wherever you can! Duskfade Diluting paint with water to make it last for the entire apartment? Sure, the color might not be as vibrant, but who’s going to notice? Laying tiles without a level? A bit of unevenness adds “character” to the space. After all, what matters is the quick result, not perfection! Don’t worry—if the client spots any flaws after you’ve left, the profit is already yours!

Furniture doesn’t fit through the door? No problem—quick thinking, open the window, and… everything flies out into the yard! Clean room and a happy client… as long as they didn’t park under the window. In the hardware store, you’ll be like a seasoned hunter, searching for the cheapest tools that will “sort of” get the job done. A hammer on sale that barely lasts a few hits? Grab two! After the job’s done, take pride in your work—just ignore those little imperfections! Take on various renovation and repair jobs. Fixing a flooded bathroom, or maybe a complete remodel? Every day is a new challenge, and every decision can bring a quick profit… or a cascade of problems.

Screenshots

System Requirements

Minimum
OS: Windows 10 64bit
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1st gen / Intel Core i5 7th gen
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 580 4GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Storage: 25 GB available space
Support the game developers by purchasing the game on Steam

Installation Guide

Turn Off Your Antivirus Before Installing Any Game

1 :: Download Game
2 :: Extract Game
3 :: Launch The Game
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