Technologies
Gender inequality online is ‘expensive for all of us,’ says web inventor’s foundation
Tim Berners-Lee’s Web Foundation hopes governments will be spurred to act upon seeing the economic cost of the digital gender divide.
When women and girls don’t have access to the internet, it costs governments a lot of money. How much money, exactly, has only been estimated, until now.
New research released Monday by Tim Berners-Lee‘s Web Foundation and its subsidiary, Alliance for Affordable Internet, has calculated that over the past 10 years, 32 low- and middle-income countries have lost $1 trillion by not helping more women get online. Some of those countries include India, Nigeria and the Philippines.
The digital divide is a global problem, but there are still distinct groups that are less likely to have access to the internet. These groups can be defined by their geography, their gender, their race, or all three. Women in low- and middle-income countries are even less likely to have internet access than their male counterparts.
«This report reveals just how expensive gender inequality is for all of us,» Boutheina Guermazi, director of digital development for the World Bank, said in a statement. «For governments looking to build a resilient economy as part of their COVID-19 recovery plans, closing the digital gender gap should be one of the top priorities.»
In the 32 countries the Web Foundation looked at in its report, just over a third of women had access to the internet, compared with almost half of all men. And this divide doesn’t seem to be closing over time, even as digital connectivity plays an increasingly central role in our lives. The coronavirus pandemic has shown how vital it is to have access to internet at home, for everything from remote school to health care. Over the past decade, the gap between the number of women and men online has dropped by only half a percentage point, the Web Foundation’s research says.
The lack of internet access for women means many are excluded from education and employment opportunities, which often keeps them in poverty or other dangerous situations, without access to health care or other assistance. That alone should be enough for governments to want to try to close that gender divide, but that hasn’t always been the case.
Inclusive broadband policies for economic gains
With its new report, the Web Foundation is laying out the cost of the digital gender divide in stark economic terms, in the hope it’ll be the push that governments need to take the problem seriously. According to the report’s calculations, closing the digital gender gap in the next five years could help generate an enticing $524 billion for the economies of the countries studied.
«It is not just good social policy, but it’s also good economics … to include women and girls in the online world,» Teddy Woodhouse, the Web Foundation’s senior research manager for access and affordability, said in an interview. For him, the big test of the report will be whether the information awakens new allies and helps move the needle in closing the digital gender gap. «It’s really trying to be quite practical and thinking about how can we build a case for change,» he said.
Focusing on the broad financial implications is also a way to ensure that the digital gender divide isn’t dismissed by those in power, as gender equality debates so often are, added Ana María Rodríguez Pulgarín, one of the report’s co-authors.
«Sometimes our gender discussions are with politicians that are already working on gender equality, closing the digital gender divide and all that,» she said. «But I think we want to bring the message that this will affect everyone.»
One of the main problems identified in the research as holding women back from getting on the internet is a lack of gender-responsive broadband policy — explicit targets for ensuring women have internet access.
Governments interested in narrowing the digital gender divide have a number of areas to choose from where they implement policy, including rights, education, access and content. Woodhouse pointed to Costa Rica as an example of a country that has implemented such measures by specifically setting targets for getting more women into STEM.
Every year Costa Rica publishes a report on how it’s meeting the targets. «That’s only possible if you’re setting those indicators in the first place,» said Woodhouse. It’s an example of how creating systems of accountability can be best practice.
Internet access beyond the binary
The Web Foundation’s research on gender has focused on traditional male-female lines and doesn’t incorporate the experiences of trans or nonbinary citizens. The «crucial problem» with expanding the research, Woodhouse said, is data availability. Even getting data that’s been broken down enough to show the discrepancy between the experience of cisgender men and women (people whose personal identity and gender correspond with their birth sex) has been challenging, he added.
«To then get data that is disaggregated even more comprehensively, is essentially nonexistent in most contexts, and particularly in the economic context we’re looking at of low- and middle-income countries,» he said. In some countries, being transgender is illegal and punishable by jail time or other serious measures, making the tracking of different genders impossible.
The lack of data is something Woodhouse hopes will change. But, he added, the overall goal of the research remains the same.
The aim is that we will «see less of the idea that gender should predetermine what rights someone should have, what kind of experiences they should have, what kind of access to the internet,» Woodhouse said. «That’s going to be a net benefit for everyone.»
Technologies
How to Get the Most Out of Apple AirTags: A Comprehensive User Guide
Apple’s tiny trackers have become invaluable additions for travel as well as keeping tabs on everyday items. Here’s how to make them work best for you.
The last thing you want to deal with when traveling is lost luggage. In the past, you were at the mercy of the overburdened airlines to find a missing bag, but that’s all changed now. I consider Apple AirTags essential everyday items — small enough to stash in a bag or purse, battery life you can forget about for months and able to give you peace of mind when something goes missing, even if that’s just your keys inside the house.
Apple’s portable Bluetooth trackers are quickly becoming nearly ubiquitous. They’re so popular that major airports and airlines are now plugged in to Apple’s Find My service and can help you pinpoint a bag that could be wending its way through an airport’s luggage system or was left behind where you started your trip.
I already use Apple’s Find My service to keep tabs on devices, such as the iPad I frequently leave in my living room, as well as where family members are via their iPhones. For other items like my keys and everyday bag, I’ve come to rely on several Apple AirTags that fit into or onto almost anything I want to track. Apple’s tracker depends on the crowdsourced Find My network to help you pinpoint your items, from keys you’ve misplaced at home to a bag you may have left in the office.
Here’s all you want to know about AirTags. For more, learn about why you shouldn’t put an AirTag on a pet and discover five unexpected places to stash an AirTag.
What’s an Apple AirTag?
An AirTag is an individual tracking device that securely broadcasts its location using Bluetooth wireless networking. It’s a small glossy white puck not much larger than a US quarter and about the height of three stacked coins. A CR2032 coin cell battery keeps the AirTag powered for roughly a year.
Once the AirTag is paired with an iPhone or iPad, you can essentially forget about it. Hang it on a keychain or drop it into a bag —anything you want to be able to track or find later.
How much do AirTags cost and where can I buy them?
A single AirTag retails for $29 direct from Apple, and can be bought for around $24 from most outlets that sell electronics.
However, it’s always more economical to buy AirTags in packs of four — once you find a use for a solitary AirTag you’ll soon think of other things you want to track. Apple sells the set for $99 and some retailers, such as Amazon
, Best Buy and Walmart, have them for around $75, bringing the per-item cost down below $20. AirTags are also frequently reduced for big sales such as Black Friday and Prime Day.
If you do order from Apple, you can engrave initials, numbers and emoji for free, which can help you tell the AirTags apart (or just add a personal spin).
Is it difficult to set up a new AirTag?
In typical Apple fashion, activating a new AirTag is easy. Initially, a plastic tab slipped in between the electronics and battery keeps the AirTag inert. Once you pull that tab and the pieces make contact, the AirTag starts broadcasting its presence. When you bring it close to an iPhone or iPad, a dialog box appears, giving you the option to connect the AirTag.
When you tap Connect, choose a description of what the tag will be associated with, such as «Handbag» or «Luggage»; you can also enter a custom name. Choose an emoji to represent the AirTag in the Find My app and tap Continue. The AirTag is linked to your Apple ID.
How do I locate an AirTag?
In the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, tap the Items button to view the AirTags you’ve activated. On an Apple Watch, open the Find Items app.
Tap the item you want to locate. If you think it’s close by, the easy option is to tap the Play Sound button, which makes the AirTag emit a high-pitched trill. However, if you have an iPhone 11 or later (not counting the iPhone SE), tapping Find uses the iPhone’s Ultra Wideband (UWB) chip to locate the AirTag with more precision —not just estimating the distance, such as «1.5 ft nearby,» but also point you in the right direction as you move around.
If the item is not in your general vicinity, the Find button becomes a Directions button that will hand off the location to the Maps app for driving, walking, transit or cycling routes.
What if I forget items while I’m heading out?
Being able to find something I’ve lost is invaluable, but it would be better if I didn’t forget it in the first place. For every AirTag, you can enable Notify When Left Behind, an option that sends a notification if you and an AirTag that was with you are no longer together.
That could be as simple as forgetting a bag at a restaurant or — more alarming —if someone swiped the item and is making a getaway.
What’s the secret to how AirTags work?
You know how in many thrillers and spy movies someone plants a tracker on a person and is then able to pinpoint the target’s location no matter where they are? That always seemed far-fetched to me — what sort of range would a tiny piece of electronics have, really? — but an AirTag is essentially that.
The AirTag itself does not have that sort of range, but it has something better: millions of devices carried by Apple customers surrounding it. On a regular interval, the AirTag sends out a low-power Bluetooth signal containing an encrypted ID. Any nearby iPhone, iPad or Mac picks up the signal, adds its location coordinates (if it knows them) and sends that to Apple servers in a secure background transmission.
That’s how, when my luggage chose to spend an extra day in Europe without me, I knew it was still in the airport in France. Likely an iPhone owned by a traveler or employee picked up the ID of the AirTag in my bag and relayed that to Apple. When I opened the Find My app on my iPhone in Seattle, it queried the servers and presented the AirTag’s last known location.
All of this happens in the background — no personal information is sent, and the impact to the relaying device’s performance and battery is negligible.
What about privacy? Can a hidden AirTag track me?
Just as you can use an AirTag to track your personal objects, it is possible that someone could drop an AirTag into your bag or coat pocket to try to track your movements. Apple has put a few safeguards in place to try to prevent that type of situation.
If your iPhone or iPad detects an unknown AirTag in your vicinity that is persistently near you, a notification appears that says «AirTag Found Moving With You.» When you ransack your belongings and find it, open the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad, tap Items and then tap Identify Found Item. Place the AirTag against the back of the device at the top until you see a notification. When you tap that, you’re taken to a web page with the tag’s serial number and, optionally, contact information.
If it turns out a family member’s AirTag fell out of a bag, no worries. If it’s one that’s unfamiliar, you can follow instructions for how to disable the tag.
For more, see how to protect yourself from being tracked.
What if I suspect that my AirTag is stolen?
You’ve looked everywhere, used the Find feature to scan for it, but your item containing an AirTag is nowhere to be found. Now what?
In the AirTag’s details in the Find My app, scroll down to Lost AirTag and tap Show Contact Info. If someone finds the tag and checks it as described just above, you can have a phone number or email displayed, plus an optional message, when they look up its information.
The other option is to choose Share Item Location, which creates a link you can send to someone identifying where the tag is. The link is active for just one week, which is hopefully more than enough time to let someone track it down. For example, suppose your bag is swiped: You could give the shared link to the police so they can track it down. (For safety reasons, don’t confront someone who’s stolen your property.)
When the item and its AirTag are returned, a notification appears that you’ve been reunited. Or, you can make the tag’s whereabouts hidden at any point by tapping Stop Sharing Item Location in the same screen, which invalidates the shared link.
How can I share an AirTag with someone I trust?
An AirTag is linked to your Apple Account, but for years that presented a problem: AirTags assigned to other people in my household would trigger the «AirTag Found Moving With You» warning — not great on family trips when we’d take my wife’s car.
Now, fortunately, it’s possible to share an AirTag’s location with up to five people. Tap a tag in the Find My app and under Share AirTag tap Add Person. Tap Continue on the screen explaining what will happen, then select a contact and tap Share.
In that person’s Find My app, they can accept the shared item. Note that all people you add can track the location.
How long does the battery last and how do I replace it?
In my experience, the CR2032 coin battery in each AirTag lasts about a year. When the level dips below about 10% remaining, you’re alerted that the battery is low and a red indicator appears in the Find My app.
To replace the battery, turn the silver back counter-clockwise to release its latches. Lift the existing battery out and replace it with a new one, making sure the battery’s identifying markings are facing you. Then align the tabs of the metal portion with the slots in the plastic piece, press lightly and turn clockwise. The AirTag will chirp when the electronics and battery are securely in contact.
Can I use AirTags with an Android phone?
AirTags are not directly compatible with Android phones — there’s no app that ties into Apple’s Find My network. To get the same tracking functionality, look into the Chipolo One Point tracker that uses Google’s Find My Device network.
Apple once offered an Android app called Tracker Detect that would let you identify a found AirTag, but that’s not available for newer Android devices — an app with that name in the Google Play store is from a separate developer. However, for phones with NFC chips installed, you can place a found AirTag against the back of the device to view information about it.
For more, learn about this year’s best AirTag accessories and everything about Apple Intelligence.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 15, #888
Here are some hints — and the answers — for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 15, #888.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s NYT Connections puzzle includes some tricky words. If you need help sorting them into groups, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Yum!
Green group hint: Grammar time.
Blue group hint: They win Oscars and Tonys.
Purple group hint: Think DMZ.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Enhance the taste of.
Green group: Punctuation marks.
Blue group: Kinds of actors.
Purple group: ____ zone.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is enhance the taste of. The four answers are flavor, salt, season and spice.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is punctuation marks. The four answers are colon, dash, period and slash.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is kinds of actors. The four answers are character, film, method and stage.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is ____ zone. The four answers are buffer, comfort, time and twilight.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 15, #418
Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 418 for Saturday, Nov. 15.
Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. Not really sure what the yellow category has to do with sports, but OK, whatever. If you’re struggling but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.
Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.
Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta
Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: Keeps your head warm.
Green group hint: Nothing but net!
Blue group hint: College signal-callers.
Purple group hint: It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups
Yellow group: Headgear.
Green group: A score in basketball.
Blue group: First names of SEC QBs.
Purple group: Super ____.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is headgear. The four answers are balaclava, cap, hat and visor.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is a score in basketball. The four answers are basket, bucket, field goal and make.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is first names of SEC QBs. The four answers are Arch, Diego, Trinidad and Ty.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is super ____. The four answers are flex, Sonics, speedway and star.
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