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What to Know About Omicron and Its Subvariants (Including BA.5)

What to Know About Omicron and Its Subvariants (Including BA.5)

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the

WHO

and

CDC

websites.

What's happening

The omicron variant of COVID-19 keeps changing, creating newer, more contagious variants. BA.5 seems to be the most contagious version to date and is causing most of the current COVID-19 cases in the US.

Why it matters

BA.5 is causing more reinfection in people who already had COVID-19, including earlier versions of omicron. It's also evading immunity from the vaccines.

What it means for you

The vaccines are still effective at preventing severe disease and death. To stay protected, get the booster shots you're eligible for and wear a mask in public.

COVID-19 cases in the US appear to be on a downward trend, according to a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York Times COVID-19 tracker. But most counties in the US still have a "medium" or "high" level of COVID-19, which continues to guide COVID-19 recommendations after the CDC recently updated its guidance. The updated guidance removes the quarantine recommendation for people who aren't vaccinated and other adjustments as the CDC tries to move the US into a new phase of COVID-19.  

The cause of most COVID-19 infections this summer is BA.5, the newest subvariant of the omicron variant. Scientists believe BA.5 is the most contagious version of COVID-19 thus far, and it's responsible for about 89% of current cases, according to the latest data from the CDC. 

At a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing July 12, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, explained how the virus that causes COVID keeps mutating and that the virus has "essentially bumped one variant off the table after the other," which has led to a long parade of increasingly contagious subvariants of omicron. BA.5 is the newest, and a highly problematic, mutation.

Though BA.5 "substantially" evades antibodies from prior infections and vaccines, health officials say being up-to-date with a booster (or two boosters if you're 50 or older) still protects against severe disease and death. Research so far shows that BA.5 doesn't overcome those protections against severe disease, though more research is needed to understand its clinical severity compared with earlier subvariants of omicron.

In an effort to target the most relevant strain of virus causing COVID-19, vaccines based on the BA.5 subvariant (along with BA.4) will be the first choice for COVID-19 booster shots this fall, to be rolled out as early as September. Response Team Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha encouraged everyone to get a booster if they're eligible and haven't opted for one yet, because it won't affect people's ability to get vaccinated come fall or winter when they become eligible. Second boosters of the existing vaccines will likely only be recommended until then for adults 50 and up and younger adults and teens who are immunocompromised.

COVID-19 treatments, including Paxlovid, are predicted to be effective still, and the US Test to Treat clinics are still up and running to connect people most at risk with prescriptions for treatments if they need them. 

Here's what we know about BA.5. 

Read more: Best COVID Face Masks For Kids  

Do the at-home tests detect BA.5?

Right now there's no reason to suggest that the at-home rapid COVID-19 tests (a few boxes of which are free when you order through the government's website) are less effective in regard to BA.5 compared with earlier versions of omicron. Generally speaking, the FDA says early data suggests the antigen tests detect omicron but may have reduced sensitivity. BA.5 is a version of omicron, and tests are expected to work the same. 

But as of last week, the FDA strengthened its stance on the importance of testing more than once. To be positive you don't have COVID-19, the FDA says you should take a third test if the first two were negative, but you're concerned you were exposed to COVID-19. Taking another home test 48 hours after your second negative test will help catch an infection, as a study found that repeat testing over a longer time frame is more accurate, per the FDA.

"Positive results remain highly accurate for these tests, though there still can be false negatives," Shaili Gandhi, vice president of pharmacy at SingleCare, said in an email. This is because it takes a higher amount of virus to test positive on a rapid test than the highly sensitive PCR or lab-based tests. People who are fully vaccinated and boosted, for example, may have a very low viral load (smaller amount of virus) and that may mean they test negative even if they do have COVID-19.

Typically, rapid home tests work by detecting the part of the COVID-19 virus protein that doesn't change much between variants, called the nucleocapsid, Slate reports. "Because of that, the tests are able to detect the different variants," Nate Hafer, an assistant professor of molecular medicine at UMass Chan Medical School, told the publication.

Long story short: take the test.

Read more: New Booster for COVID: Here's the Fall 2022 Vaccine Plan

How severe is BA.5? Do COVID-19 treatments still work? 

BA.5 is a subvariant of omicron, which means it's different from the "original" omicron, but not different enough to constitute its own variant status. (Delta is a different variant from omicron and beta, for example.) BA.5 is understood to be the most contagious version of the virus yet, however, and it's evading immunity. This means more people will get reinfected with COVID-19, which can put them at risk of complications and long COVID symptoms, even if the infection itself was mild. 

Walensky said last week that we don't definitively know yet about the clinical severity of BA.5 compared to earlier subvariants of omicron. As the pandemic drags on and most of the population has some immunity from vaccines and prior infections, it can become harder to compare variant and subvariant severity in the real world. 

In an analysis of a preliminary (not yet peer-reviewed) report from the Kirby Institute in Australia, however, Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, wrote that BA.5's ability to infect cells might be more similar to the delta variant than other versions of omicron. He also writes that changes in BA.5 might explain reports of people taking longer to test negative compared to illnesses with earlier omicron subvariants. 

As with other versions of omicron that whittled down our immunity, the vaccines and boosters available are still expected to provide protection against severe disease and death. Boosters -- including a second booster -- have been particularly important for protecting older adults and other people more vulnerable to severe disease in the age of omicron, and have substantially cut the risk of death from COVID-19.

Paxlovid, an effective antiviral medication, is still expected to be effective at treating COVID-19 in people at higher risk of severe disease, Fauci said. The monoclonal antibody therapy available, bebtelovimab from Eli Lilly, is also predicted to be effective against BA.5, as is Evusheld. Evusheld  

If you test positive for COVID-19 and are at higher risk of severe disease (you're an older adult or you have a health condition), reach out to your doctor or find a Test to Treat clinic near you. 

What are the symptoms?

Right now, there aren't any reports that show BA.5 is giving people different symptoms compared to earlier versions of omicron. 

For many people who become sick with COVID-19 these days (particularly those who are fully vaccinated and boosted), symptoms resemble cold symptoms such as sore throat, runny nose and fatigue. Back pain is a peculiar new symptom of COVID-19 that some people with omicron have reported, and the once very common loss of taste or smell appears to be much less common with omicron variants than with older strains.

If you have symptoms and are wondering whether it's COVID-19, taking a test and staying home while you're sick will help protect people more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease. 

Read more:  Is It Allergies or COVID? How to Tell the Difference  

Sarah Tew/CNET

Understanding omicron, variants and subvariants 

Variants are made up of multiple lineages and sublineages. Each variant has a "parent" lineage, according to the CDC, followed by other lineages, which you can think of like a family tree. As the virus spreads between people, mutations occur, but not all of them change the characteristics of the virus in meaningful ways. 

The omicron variant and its sublineages made the virus much more contagious and capable of infecting more people, but it's led to less severe disease, on average, than the delta variant. 

One of the most important things we can do to stop the virus from mutating is keeping community levels of COVID-19 low so the virus has less chance to mutate, Fauci said. 

Genomic surveillance can detect variants and sublineages. Scientists in South Africa were able to quickly identify omicron as a new variant because of the way it presents through PCR tests. The original omicron causes a dropped signal or marker on the test that sets it apart from delta, which was the dominant variant prior to omicron. BA.2, however, didn't have the same signal, called an S gene target failure. This made it more "stealthy" and gave it its name. Genomic sequencing will detect all omicron subvariants and coronavirus variants in general.

However, detecting new variants or subvariants may be becoming more difficult as the number of sequences shared across the world have "dropped precipitously," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease specialist with the World Health Organization, said in June. While the impact was still enormous, having real-world data available quickly after scientists detected omicron was a benefit during the worldwide surge last winter. 

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

---

Source

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What to Know About Omicron and Its Subvariants (Including BA.5)

What to Know About Omicron and Its Subvariants (Including BA.5)

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the

WHO

and

CDC

websites.

What's happening

The omicron variant of COVID-19 keeps changing, creating newer, more contagious variants. BA.5 seems to be the most contagious version to date and is causing most of the current COVID-19 cases in the US.

Why it matters

BA.5 is causing more reinfection in people who already had COVID-19, including earlier versions of omicron. It's also evading immunity from the vaccines.

What it means for you

The vaccines are still effective at preventing severe disease and death. To stay protected, get the booster shots you're eligible for and wear a mask in public.

COVID-19 cases in the US appear to be on a downward trend, according to a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York Times COVID-19 tracker. But most counties in the US still have a "medium" or "high" level of COVID-19, which continues to guide COVID-19 recommendations after the CDC recently updated its guidance. The updated guidance removes the quarantine recommendation for people who aren't vaccinated and other adjustments as the CDC tries to move the US into a new phase of COVID-19.  

The cause of most COVID-19 infections this summer is BA.5, the newest subvariant of the omicron variant. Scientists believe BA.5 is the most contagious version of COVID-19 thus far, and it's responsible for about 89% of current cases, according to the latest data from the CDC. 

At a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing July 12, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, explained how the virus that causes COVID keeps mutating and that the virus has "essentially bumped one variant off the table after the other," which has led to a long parade of increasingly contagious subvariants of omicron. BA.5 is the newest, and a highly problematic, mutation.

Though BA.5 "substantially" evades antibodies from prior infections and vaccines, health officials say being up-to-date with a booster (or two boosters if you're 50 or older) still protects against severe disease and death. Research so far shows that BA.5 doesn't overcome those protections against severe disease, though more research is needed to understand its clinical severity compared with earlier subvariants of omicron.

In an effort to target the most relevant strain of virus causing COVID-19, vaccines based on the BA.5 subvariant (along with BA.4) will be the first choice for COVID-19 booster shots this fall, to be rolled out as early as September. Response Team Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha encouraged everyone to get a booster if they're eligible and haven't opted for one yet, because it won't affect people's ability to get vaccinated come fall or winter when they become eligible. Second boosters of the existing vaccines will likely only be recommended until then for adults 50 and up and younger adults and teens who are immunocompromised.

COVID-19 treatments, including Paxlovid, are predicted to be effective still, and the US Test to Treat clinics are still up and running to connect people most at risk with prescriptions for treatments if they need them. 

Here's what we know about BA.5. 

Read more: Best COVID Face Masks For Kids  

Do the at-home tests detect BA.5?

Right now there's no reason to suggest that the at-home rapid COVID-19 tests (a few boxes of which are free when you order through the government's website) are less effective in regard to BA.5 compared with earlier versions of omicron. Generally speaking, the FDA says early data suggests the antigen tests detect omicron but may have reduced sensitivity. BA.5 is a version of omicron, and tests are expected to work the same. 

But as of last week, the FDA strengthened its stance on the importance of testing more than once. To be positive you don't have COVID-19, the FDA says you should take a third test if the first two were negative, but you're concerned you were exposed to COVID-19. Taking another home test 48 hours after your second negative test will help catch an infection, as a study found that repeat testing over a longer time frame is more accurate, per the FDA.

"Positive results remain highly accurate for these tests, though there still can be false negatives," Shaili Gandhi, vice president of pharmacy at SingleCare, said in an email. This is because it takes a higher amount of virus to test positive on a rapid test than the highly sensitive PCR or lab-based tests. People who are fully vaccinated and boosted, for example, may have a very low viral load (smaller amount of virus) and that may mean they test negative even if they do have COVID-19.

Typically, rapid home tests work by detecting the part of the COVID-19 virus protein that doesn't change much between variants, called the nucleocapsid, Slate reports. "Because of that, the tests are able to detect the different variants," Nate Hafer, an assistant professor of molecular medicine at UMass Chan Medical School, told the publication.

Long story short: take the test.

Read more: New Booster for COVID: Here's the Fall 2022 Vaccine Plan

How severe is BA.5? Do COVID-19 treatments still work? 

BA.5 is a subvariant of omicron, which means it's different from the "original" omicron, but not different enough to constitute its own variant status. (Delta is a different variant from omicron and beta, for example.) BA.5 is understood to be the most contagious version of the virus yet, however, and it's evading immunity. This means more people will get reinfected with COVID-19, which can put them at risk of complications and long COVID symptoms, even if the infection itself was mild. 

Walensky said last week that we don't definitively know yet about the clinical severity of BA.5 compared to earlier subvariants of omicron. As the pandemic drags on and most of the population has some immunity from vaccines and prior infections, it can become harder to compare variant and subvariant severity in the real world. 

In an analysis of a preliminary (not yet peer-reviewed) report from the Kirby Institute in Australia, however, Dr. Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research, wrote that BA.5's ability to infect cells might be more similar to the delta variant than other versions of omicron. He also writes that changes in BA.5 might explain reports of people taking longer to test negative compared to illnesses with earlier omicron subvariants. 

As with other versions of omicron that whittled down our immunity, the vaccines and boosters available are still expected to provide protection against severe disease and death. Boosters -- including a second booster -- have been particularly important for protecting older adults and other people more vulnerable to severe disease in the age of omicron, and have substantially cut the risk of death from COVID-19.

Paxlovid, an effective antiviral medication, is still expected to be effective at treating COVID-19 in people at higher risk of severe disease, Fauci said. The monoclonal antibody therapy available, bebtelovimab from Eli Lilly, is also predicted to be effective against BA.5, as is Evusheld. Evusheld  

If you test positive for COVID-19 and are at higher risk of severe disease (you're an older adult or you have a health condition), reach out to your doctor or find a Test to Treat clinic near you. 

What are the symptoms?

Right now, there aren't any reports that show BA.5 is giving people different symptoms compared to earlier versions of omicron. 

For many people who become sick with COVID-19 these days (particularly those who are fully vaccinated and boosted), symptoms resemble cold symptoms such as sore throat, runny nose and fatigue. Back pain is a peculiar new symptom of COVID-19 that some people with omicron have reported, and the once very common loss of taste or smell appears to be much less common with omicron variants than with older strains.

If you have symptoms and are wondering whether it's COVID-19, taking a test and staying home while you're sick will help protect people more vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease. 

Read more:  Is It Allergies or COVID? How to Tell the Difference  

Sarah Tew/CNET

Understanding omicron, variants and subvariants 

Variants are made up of multiple lineages and sublineages. Each variant has a "parent" lineage, according to the CDC, followed by other lineages, which you can think of like a family tree. As the virus spreads between people, mutations occur, but not all of them change the characteristics of the virus in meaningful ways. 

The omicron variant and its sublineages made the virus much more contagious and capable of infecting more people, but it's led to less severe disease, on average, than the delta variant. 

One of the most important things we can do to stop the virus from mutating is keeping community levels of COVID-19 low so the virus has less chance to mutate, Fauci said. 

Genomic surveillance can detect variants and sublineages. Scientists in South Africa were able to quickly identify omicron as a new variant because of the way it presents through PCR tests. The original omicron causes a dropped signal or marker on the test that sets it apart from delta, which was the dominant variant prior to omicron. BA.2, however, didn't have the same signal, called an S gene target failure. This made it more "stealthy" and gave it its name. Genomic sequencing will detect all omicron subvariants and coronavirus variants in general.

However, detecting new variants or subvariants may be becoming more difficult as the number of sequences shared across the world have "dropped precipitously," Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease specialist with the World Health Organization, said in June. While the impact was still enormous, having real-world data available quickly after scientists detected omicron was a benefit during the worldwide surge last winter. 

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

---

Source

What to Know About Hidden Fees That Increase the Price of Everything

What to Know About Hidden Fees That Increase the Price of Everything

This story is part of Recession Help Desk, CNET's coverage of how to make smart money moves in an uncertain economy.

What's happening

Many companies have found ways of passing down increased costs to consumers, with extra charges tacked on to your bill at checkout.

Why it matters

It's called drip pricing, and these new fees and surcharges are affecting customers who are already struggling with rampant inflation.

What it means for you

Knowing what merchants are charging can help you manage your budget and make better buying decisions.

The prices for nearly everything have ballooned in the past year. Record high inflation means the cost of food, fuel and other everyday essentials has gone up, which has put severe financial pressure on US households, particularly low-income Americans. 

Look out for surcharges like these on your restaurant bills.

Courtney Johnston/CNET

And then there's the hidden costs added to your purchase before checkout, or tacked on to the receipt without warning. 

These additional merchant fees are called drip pricing, and they're inflicting pain on our already-stretched wallets. Businesses often claim these fees are the only way to offset the burden of inflation and supply chain shortages. For consumers, it means the things we buy are pricier than they initially appear. 

"Most of the time we find out about these fees when it's time to pay, not before," Ashley Feinstein Gerstley, author of Financial Adulting, told me via email. "Because these fees really run the gamut, you never really know what you are going to get." 

I asked my Instagram followers about these new and surprising fees, and they gave me loads of anecdotes. From restaurants to medical offices to rideshare services, here's a look at some charges that I discovered. 

And I'll offer tips on how to manage these unexpected surcharges.

---

Restaurants are charging more, and not just for food

Many restaurants are still reeling from a fiscal slump during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, with rising food and payroll costs, eateries continue to struggle. "Average small business restaurants run on very tight margins of around 3 to 5% pre-tax," said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of research with the National Restaurant Association. "The typical restaurant business model is not set up to deal with this sustained and accelerated cost of food and labor, which is putting extraordinary pressure on operators, and indications are these will continue." 

Here are some of the new fees you may see on your restaurant bill: 

Credit card surcharges

Earlierthis spring, major creditcard companies like Mastercard and Visa increased interchange fees, which is what merchants pay to card issuers every time a customer uses a credit card. Also known as "swipe fees," they cost businesses 1.5 to 3% per transaction. They're most challenging for smaller establishments like restaurants, and some are passing this expense on to customers as a percentage of their total bill. 

When Feinstein Gerstley dined out with her family last summer in Sapphire, North Carolina, the restaurant charged a credit card processing fee that she says was not mentioned until the bill arrived: "We were a party of 15 who had drinks, apps, dinner and dessert so the charge was substantial, over $100." Many states permit businesses to pass on their card swipe fees to customers, but they must properly disclose the surcharges on visible signage and their websites. The customer fee also cannot exceed what the business pays to the credit card companies.

Increased labor costs

Back in April, Sarah Morisson saw a $5 surcharge when the bill for her enchiladas arrived at a restaurant in Alpharetta, Georgia. The reason? "Increased labor costs." This may also be called a "kitchen appreciation fee" in some eateries and comes in the form of an added $3 to $5.

Health care charges

Restaurants are competing for workers and offering more benefits as a draw. This added cost may show up on your receipt next time you eat out. In Chicago last month, Rema Shamon noticed a few dollars added to her dining bill labeled "health care for staff." Similarly in West Hollywood, California, Claudia Scott was charged 3% more for "employee health insurance" at a local eatery. 

Add-ons for staff who don't get tips

At a sandwich shop in Portland, Maine, a couple weeks ago, Jennifer Steralacci and a friend paid a $4 fee "for non-tipped staff" -- and that was on top of the gratuity. "I didn't recall seeing anything on the menu that indicated this charge," Steralacci told me.

---

Rideshare and food delivery apps are charging more for gas

Fees were already climbing because of the pandemic, but as rideshare companies compete to hire drivers, they're luring them with sign-on bonuses and higher pay. That's another reason your rideshare total seems more expensive than ever. On top of that, in March, Uber and Uber Eats announced a new fuel fee to help drivers cover the cost of rising energy prices. 

That'll cost an additional $0.45 or $0.55 on each Uber trip and either $0.35 or $0.45 on each Uber Eats food order, depending on the location. Uber says 100% of that fee goes to drivers.Rival rideshare companyLyft has also announced a 55-cent fuel surcharge. Grocery delivery app Instacart says it's tacking on a new 40-cent fuel fee, too.

---

Fees at doctors' offices are adding to the shock, too

Increased supply and materials fees

Keep an eye out for this line-item cost at your next medical visit, which ranges in price. In Dallas, Kelsie Whittington got hit with an unusual $18 "supply fee" after her son's routine pediatrician visit in May. The medical office explained that it was for pricier bed covers, needles, gauze and other equipment. 

With insurance companies slow to issue reimbursements, the clinic was having patients eat the cost. "I was a little shocked at first, then empathetic. I needed to pay for my son's health," Whittington said.

Facility fees

While doctors' offices have been charging facility fees since before the pandemic, patients may not know about them until they receive an itemized bill. According to Consumer Reports, facility fees, which typically cover the cost of maintaining the medical office, urgent care center or clinic that's owned by a hospital, can add hundreds of dollars to a bill... and insurance may only partially cover it.

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What can you do about all the extra hidden charges?

To minimize the blow of these new fees and surcharges, we need to gather facts and self-advocate. Here are four pieces of advice:

1. Question the fees: We may feel awkward or embarrassed to ask about new and unusual charges. But if a business is not upfront and hasn't disclosed their charges ahead of time, it's within our right to understand and ask questions. We may learn that the fee is justified and we're actually happy to pay it and continue patronizing. In other cases, it may deter us from returning.

2. Ask for a cash discount: Like many gas stations, some restaurants offer cash discounts to help minimize their credit card processing costs. For example, at The Fifth Season restaurant in Port Washington, New York, cash-paying diners receive a 3.5% bill reduction through its Cash Discount Program promoted on the eatery's website. 

Even if not advertised, ask if a business will offer you a cash discount, a win-win for both you and the merchant. I've successfully used this trick at small, independently owned stores, too. 

3. Think twice about using third-party delivery apps: Delivery apps are convenient but they can quickly double the cost of your pizza order after fees, taxes and the suggested 25% tip. Ordering takeout the old-fashioned way by calling the restaurant directly could result in substantial savings. Some eateries may require you to pick up the food, but others may offer free delivery of their own -- just be sure to tip the driver. If you want to stick with third-party deliverers, MealMe helps identify the lowest options by comparing pricing across the board.

4. Vote with your feet: It's our choice where and how to spend, and if paying extra fees is too much to bear, we have the right to walk away and patronize a different business next time. When a restaurant manager refused to remove the surprise credit card surcharge, Feinstein Gerstley said a family member in attendance shared the experience on Yelp. "We definitely didn't return to the restaurant," she said. 

If a charge does not come with any adequate disclosure, the merchant may be in violation of state laws, so consumer advocates recommend filing a complaint with both your credit card issuer and the state attorney general. According to Riehle, "The restaurant industry is very competitive, and operators know that if a consumer's last experience doesn't meet their expectations, they are likely to vote with their feet." 

---

Source

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NFTs explained: Why people spend millions of dollars on JPEGs

NFTs explained: Why people spend millions of dollars on JPEGs

Take a quick look at the image to the right. What, if anything, could convince you that image is worth $9 million?

Richerd/OpenSea

What you're looking at is an NFT, one of the first ever created. It's part of the CryptoPunks collection, a set of 10,000 NFTs released in 2017, a time when much of the world was still finding out what bitcoin is.

Most likely you've already rolled your eyes, either at the $9 million figure or at the very idea of NFTs themselves. The response to nonfungible tokens hasn't changed much since March when they first started exploding. The public at large has reflexively dismissed them as environmentally harmful scams. The bigger the sale, the more brazen the injustice. 

Which brings us back to the above pixelated chap. Its owner is Richerd, an affable Canadian software developer. He started building cryptocurrency software around 2013, but eventually tired of it. After discovering NFTs earlier this year, Richerd bought CryptoPunk #6046 on March 31 for $86,000 in what he said was the biggest purchase he'd ever made in his life.

Richerd, who has over 80,000 followers on Twitter, last month claimed that his CryptoPunk was priceless to him and wasn't for sale no matter the price. The very next day his determination was tested when an offer came through for 2,500 ether, or $9.5 million. It was made not because Richerd's CryptoPunk is worth that amount -- similar NFTs now go for about $400,000 -- but rather because his bluff was very publicly being called. It was a challenge, but it was still a legitimate offer. If Richerd clicked "accept", 2,500 ether would have flowed into his wallet.

Richerd rejected the offer. 

"Well, obviously, the day before I said 'I'm not selling it for any price,' so if I sell it for that price, I'd be going against my integrity," Richerd told me over a Zoom call. "On top of that, I've used this CryptoPunk as my profile pic, as my brand. Everyone knows that's me."

Not too long ago, Richerd's explanation would have sounded insane to me. How divorced from reality would someone need to be to offer eight figures on a picture that looks like a Fiverr job? How scandalously misguided would a person need to be to rebuff that offer? After I spent a few months researching and following NFTs, however, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest. In fact, it makes a whole lot of sense.

There are 10,000 NFTs in the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. Here are three examples. The middle one is owned by Jimmy Fallon.

Yuga Labs

Bitcoin millionaires

Here is one quick fact that explains why NFTs are bought for the equivalent of a CEO's salary: Bitcoin is estimated to have made over 100,000 millionaires. It's no surprise that NFTs became a phenomenon in March. That's when bitcoin hit $60,000, up over 500% from just six months prior. 

When you see a headline or a tweet about some preposterous sum being spent on an NFT, it's easy to become bewildered over how absurd that purchase would be for you. What's easy to forget is that very expensive things are almost exclusively bought by very rich people -- and very rich people spend a lot on status symbols. 

Take Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example. It's a collection of 10,000 ape NFTs, all with different traits that make some rarer than others. Rare ones have sold over for over a million bucks, but common variants go for around $200,000. (At the time of launch back in April, BAYC developers sold the NFTs for $190 each.) BAYC, owned by the likes of Steph Curry and Jimmy Fallon, is what you'd call a "profile pic collection." The main purpose of the images is to be used as your display photo on Discord, where most NFT business goes down, or on Twitter, Instagram or wherever else. 

To recap: $200,000 minimum for a profile picture. 

In isolation, that's insane. But place it on a spectrum of how wealthy people spend money, and it becomes less staggering. You can right click and save a JPEG, so why spend money on it? Well, you can buy a nice house in a safe neighborhood almost anywhere in the world for $1 million, yet celebrities regularly snap up $20 million mansions. You can find a fashionable dress for under $500, yet brands like Chanel build their business on selling ones for 20 times that amount.

Up to 100,000 people became millionaires when that green line shot skyward. 

coinmarketcap.com

We accept that rich folks buy extravagant items offline. Is it so inconceivable they would buy extravagant things online, too?

"In the real world, how do people flex their wealth?" said Alex Gedevani, an analyst at cryptocurrency research firm Delphi Digital. "It can be buying cars or watches. How scalable is that versus if I buy a CryptoPunk and use it as my profile picture?"

Obviously, status symbols aren't specific to the rich. All of us indulge in some way or another, be it buying a $20,000 new car when a $7,000 used vehicle will do, or buying a $30 T-shirt when Walmart sells basics for under $5. What most status symbols have in common is that they have a specific audience in mind. The banker sporting his Rolex and the chief executive stepping into her Bentley don't care that I think either of those purchases is excessive. They have a small but powerful group of people they're trying to influence. So, too, with NFTs. 

In the case of Richerd, he runs his own business, Manifold, where he helps show digital artists like Beeple how they can use blockchain technology to make art that could only exist as NFTs. Being a part of the most sought-after NFT collection helps in those circles. And when he says his brand is built on his Punk, he's not exaggerating -- a group of investors even named their organization after him.

"Anybody who owns a CryptoPunk believes certain things," Richerd explained. "Either you've been in the community for a long time so you believe in what these are, or you've paid a lot of money to get in, which shows conviction.

"I want to show my conviction. This is one of those projects that makes you put your money where your mouth is." 

A bit of trouble

NFTs are polarizing. There's a small group of people who believe in the underlying technology (tokens that prove ownership of a digital good), but there are many more who regard it as a hoax. Just as the second group struggles to see any value in NFTs, the first group can sometimes be defensive about the technology's imperfections.

And make no doubt about it, there are a lot of issues with NFTs. 

First is the confounding inaccessibility. There's a reason software developers tend to do well in crypto and NFT trading: Setting up blockchain wallets and other required digital apparatus is difficult. Even just buying and selling can be perilous. Send money to the wrong wallet address by accident, and it's gone forever.

Then there are the fees. Imagine you're interested in dipping your toes into nonfungible waters and you have $1,000 you're willing to lose. If you're minting a new NFT during a public sale you'll usually spend between $120 and $400. Not too bad -- until you factor in the transaction fees. Most NFTs are built on the ethereum blockchain, which is notoriously inefficient. The more people using ethereum, be it through trading altcoins or buying NFTs, the higher the fees. At a good time you'll spend about $100 per transaction, though double or triple that amount is common. Suddenly that $1,000 doesn't go very far. 

This is especially troublesome for NFTs, which are infamous for causing "gas wars." It's possible for 100,000 people to buy shiba inu coins at once, since there are a quadrillion in circulation. But when 10,000 people try to buy an NFT, it results in a massive spike in transaction costs as some users outbid each other to speed up their purchase. It may only last a minute or two, but a lot of damage can be done in that time. People spending over $10,000 on a transaction fee isn't rare. People losing $1,000 on a failed transaction isn't, either.

This is what it looks like when someone spends $4,000 on a failed transaction. It's rare, but not rare enough. 

Etherscan screenshot by Daniel Van Boom

Ethereum's inefficiency also contributes to the other major criticism of NFTs, the massive amount of energy they consume. Note that this is something of a semantic issue: NFTs aren't bad for the environment as much as ethereum is. Other networks, like Solana, use a fraction of the power. Ethereum developers are expected to implement an upgrade next year that will make mining it consume 1% the energy it currently does. At this moment though, while no one can say precisely how much energy ethereum consumes, we know it's a lot. (Bitcoin, despite getting all the headlines, is even less efficient than ethereum, which is why almost nothing is built on its blockchain.)

And finally, there's the fact that most people trading NFTs are doing so to make a profit. Scams are everywhere, and prices are volatile. Most of the people who create, buy and sell NFTs are ignorant or uninterested in the technology. If there is a technological leap taking place, it's likely to be obscured by the dizzying price movements.

"I'd call it a bubble," Gedvani said, "because the amount of speculators that are entering the market is outpacing genuine creators." 

But a bubble can pop and leave something better in its wake. Think of Pets.com. It had a peak valuation of $290 million in February 2000 but by November of that year, as the infamous dot-com bubble began to burst, it had already closed shop. It's used as a cautionary tale for speculative trading in bubbles. But the impulse to invest in Pets.com evidently ended up being justifiable. That particular venture was misguided, but the e-commerce trend it was flicking at was legitimate. Seven-figure pixel art may not be forever, but proof of digital ownership, which is what NFTs are really about, may be. 

A big 2022

Where NFTs will end up is anyone's guess -- and anyone who claims to know is probably trying to sell you something. What we do know is that the amount of people buying NFTs is almost definitely about to grow.

It's estimated that around 250,000 people trade NFTs each month on OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace. In the short term, CoinBase will soon open its own NFT marketplace, for which 2 million users are on the waiting list. Robinhood has similar plans.

More importantly, giant companies that already make money outside of the crypto space want in. Niantic, the company behind Pokemon Go, has just announced a game in which players can earn bitcoin. Twitter and the company formerly known as Facebook plan to integrate NFTs into their platforms, and Epic Games says it's open to doing so too. Envision a world where instead of buying skins in Fortnite, you buy an NFT for those skins that you own -- meaning you can trade it for outfits and weapons in other games, or sell it once you're done with it. (Epic said it won't integrate such a mechanic into Fortnite, but that may not stop competitors.) 

Richerd reckons the flood of people soon to enter the NFT marketplace will create a broader diversity of digital products sold for different audiences. Your neighbor might not want to spend $200 -- much less $200,000 -- on a profile picture, but maybe they'll be willing to spend $10 on a one-of-a-kind skin, or on a product in Facebook's Metaverse. But though the space may change, he remains confident that CryptoPunk #6046 is safe for a while yet. 

"Even if every NFT falls," he said, "CryptoPunks will be the last one."

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Zoom anxiety lingers even a year into the WFH era

Zoom anxiety lingers even a year into the WFH era

This story is part of a series on life one year into the pandemic. Make sure to read part two:  Zoom anxiety is real. Here's how to combat it . We've also got stories onwhy COVID may have changed our habits forever, andhow the pandemic gives health care workers a chance to shine on social media.

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When coronavirus lockdowns began a year ago and much of the world turned to Zoom and other video chat services for work and socializing, Amanda Stevens, a project manager for New York state, found herself with a couple of very specific anxieties about her work-from-home video meetings. One was fighting the urge to fix her hair all the time, now that she was spending hours on end staring at her own reflection. The other? "My very old dog is prone to loud, unpredictable flatulence and I live in fear of it being picked up by my mic... and it not being attributed to my dog," she said. 

One year into the pandemic, video chat platforms have afforded many people the ability to work from home and stay connected with family and friends. We've heard a lot about "Zoom fatigue" -- the sense of utter exhaustion you feel after a day of staring at your screen for on-camera meetings, worsened when most of your after-work socializing is happening through video, too. But the related concept of "Zoom anxiety" has gotten less attention, though it can be more debilitating for many -- and have potential career implications. 

Few studies on Zoom anxiety exist, but a November survey of 2,000 home workers found that it stems from several sources: having tech and audio problems that you can't fix; being unable to read people's body language; feeling like you aren't being heard; having to take a call without time to prepare your appearance; worrying about an unprofessional background; and being talked over. (To be clear, in this story I'm using Zoom as a stand-in for all video chat platforms, since it essentially became a verb for video calls in 2020.) 

"When you're face-to-face, you can pick up on a lot of things unconsciously in people's body language -- you notice if someone isn't reacting well, or if someone looks a bit uncomfortable," said Libby Sander, assistant professor of organizational behavior at Bond University in Queensland, Australia, who is studying the psychological effects of working from home. "You can get cues about when to interject into a conversation, and whether or not to pursue a particular line of discussion based on reading the room. It's pretty difficult or even impossible to do that on Zoom." 

Even as vaccines are rolling out nationwide, the pandemic and moving to working from home are spurring many companies to create a hybrid workforce, where people split their time between home and the office -- which means video conferencing is likely here to stay. But if you suffer from anxiety using these on-camera tools, know that you're far from alone.

Read more: How to use Zoom Escaper, a sneaky tool for sabotaging your video calls

'The nightmares followed'

Zoom anxiety can come from having strangers see your space.

vgajic/Getty Images

Vivek Wadhwa, a distinguished fellow at the Harvard Law School Labor and Worklife Program, does a lot of TV appearances through Zoom. Once, he had to quickly change a shirt before an interview, and did so without realizing the camera was on. Luckily he wasn't on air, but it was a close enough call that "the nightmares followed," he said. 

"Remember the 'college dream' or 'examination dream' in which you're late for class and miss the exam, or you can't find the classroom, or studied the wrong subject?" Wadhwa said. "The new 'college dream' is when you forget to change out of your pajamas before going on Zoom." 

At the start of the pandemic, Caroline Jo, a brand marketer in Orange County, California, would dress up for video meetings, wear makeup and play around with Zoom filters. But as time went on, the energy that went into these meetings became draining, and she found herself riddled with stress and unable to sleep the night before days packed with video calls. 

"I'm a marketer, and marketers are stereotypically known to be the vivacious, outspoken bunch, but I am keenly introverted and introspective, which I do believe are still very valuable to work," Jo said. "However, when it comes to Zoom meetings specifically, the anxiety comes from even the most basic things -- awkward silences, the game of 'who should speak next?', the constant attention, the forced small talk, and technological snafus like audio issues or being bold and speaking up yet realizing I was on mute the whole time." 

These stressors can arise outside of the workplace, too. Kristen Taylor Hunt, an artist from Louisville, Kentucky, started avoiding her therapy sessions when they moved to a video chat format. "I often can't concentrate on what's actually happening or being said because I'm worried about if my reactions look genuine, or do people think I don't care about what's being said because I look bored or angry," she said. As a person with multiple autoimmune diseases, "COVID has really taken a toll on my mental health ... I really need to be in therapy." 

Social video chats can also trigger stress. When you see friends in person, you don't feel the same pressure to "perform socially" that you do on video chat, Suzanne Degges-White, a professor and chair of the counseling and higher education department at Northern Illinois University, pointed out in a Psychology Today column. Just being present in the same space is enough. But on video, you're more likely to feel like you have to be constantly talking or entertaining in some way -- otherwise, you're just sitting there smiling at the camera. 

Career opportunities and the gender gap

Women typically have more trouble being heard during meetings than men, and video conferencing can make this worse.

FilippoBacci/Getty Images

Some aspects of Zoom anxiety appear to be gendered. A number of studies have shown the gender inequities present in in-person meetings and group settings. Generally, men are viewed as more competent for speaking longer, while women are viewed as less competent for doing the same. Women are also far more likely to be interrupted or spoken over. These issues are exacerbated over video chat, Sander said, and women may struggle to get chances to get across their point of view. 

One small 2017 study examined women's gaze during Skype video calls and found that those who were socially anxious spent more time looking at their own image -- particularly if the person they were speaking to was being critical of them. 

Video chat platforms also tend to reward those who are the loudest, since that's whose voice will get picked up. And when you have that awkward moment where two people are talking, the lag can make it difficult to circle back to the other person, Sander added. 

Outside of the talking elements, many women have also reported feeling stressed and being apologetic over their appearance on camera, while men tend to worry less about how they look or what they're wearing. Jason Sudeikis wearing a hoodie to accept his Golden Globe award via Zoom, compared to the full makeup and evening gowns of most female nominees, is a pretty solid example of this. 

For people across the gender spectrum, working from home can offer fewer opportunities for building professional relationships, especially if you were new to a job when the pandemic hit. Your work may be less visible to your manager, and you have fewer opportunities for casual discussions that arise in an office environment about the work you're doing or any problems you're having, Sander said. 

"We'll have to wait and see how it plays out in terms of career progression, but right now people are most concerned about health and safety, and the continuity of business and having a job," she added. "But I do think there are big issues we have to be aware of." 

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Love very play kits reviewed are these subscription services love very play kits reviewed are these subscription definition love very play kits reviewed are these subscription meaning love very play kits reviewed in spanish love very play kits reviewed journal lovevery play kits for sale lovevery play gym washing instructions

Lovevery Play Kits Reviewed: Are These Subscription Boxes Worth the Money?

Lovevery Play Kits Reviewed: Are These Subscription Boxes Worth the Money?

I started seeing the Lovevery Play Kit ads almost immediately after I became a mom. The ads showed colorful, aesthetically pleasing baby toys that seemed to be curated around developmental milestones. 

Because my newborn was more of an inanimate blob than I'd expected (they all are, it turns out), I'd been having trouble figuring out what to do with him between nap times. Not only was it kind of boring to try to interact with an inanimate blob, but I also felt the modern parenthood anxiety of milestone-meeting, experience-fostering and lesson-learning bubbling almost from day one. 

My hunch was that I could quell this anxiety by creating and executing daily activities with my baby, almost like a curriculum. That would make maternity leave a lot less boring, too. The problem -- I'm not a trained Montessori teacher or a child development expert. I was also busy nursing, changing, bathing, burping (the baby, not myself) and rocking to spend any time lesson planning for a newborn. Could the Lovevery Play Kits do the heavy lifting for me? (And the better question: Would they be worth the price?)

My colleague Alison DeNisco Rayome and I tested four Lovevery Play Kits with our real kids (The Looker for kids who are 0 to 12 weeks old, The Senser for 5- to 6-month-old kids, The Realist for kids aged 19 to 21 months and The Helper for kids who are 25 to 27 months old) to answer that question. Read on for what we thought. Plus, check out the list of hot kids' toys to buy as gifts, toys for the kid at heart, STEM toys we love and the best gifts for 2-year-olds. 

Read more: Here's a toy that makes the perfect gift for any age . 

What are Lovevery Play Kits?

Lovevery is a US-based toy company that sells Montessori-inspired subscription boxes focused on "stage-based play." The idea is that kids have different needs at different stages in their development, and the right toys can support those needs. 

The Play Kits (Lovevery's name for its curated subscription boxes) are separated into four buckets by age: 0 to 12 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years. Each age bucket is further broken down by smaller ranges, with boxes named after their respective developmental stage (e.g. The Charmer Play Kit is for months 3 to 4, while The Observer Play Kit is for months 37, 38 and 39).

Every kit includes a few toys, a book and a parents' guide that provides ideas for using the toys inside to help your child meet their milestones. The toys are made from sustainable and baby-safe, natural materials -- and they look pretty sleek on your shelves, too.

Is Lovevery Montessori?

Yes, Lovevery is inspired by the Montessori method, which emphasizes independence, STEM skills and toys that develop skills used in real life. That also means you won't find any flashing lights or noisy toys inside your Play Kit. Instead, the toys tend to favor "open-ended play," so kids can continually invent new ways to play with them. (Read more on Lovevery's approach to the Montessori method.)

Read more: Baby Registry Checklist: 10 Baby Products I Wish I'd Asked For

A toy from The Senser, Lovevery's play kit for kids aged 5 to 6 months.

Lovevery

How much does a Lovevery Subscription cost?

When you first sign up for a Lovevery subscription, you'll enter your child's birthday (or due date or adjusted age), and Lovevery will suggest a Play Kit to get started with. You can also add a few of the earlier boxes to your initial order, because the toys inside will likely still appeal to older kids. 

Boxes for kids aged 0 to 12 months cost $80 a box and ship every two months. Other ages will get a box every three months for $120 a box. You can also prepay for several boxes at a time, which lowers the cost per box down to as little as $72 for infants or $108 for older kids.

Because you can skip boxes or cancel your subscription at any time, it's easy to buy a one-off box to try it out or to give as a gift. Since the Lovevery website shows what's inside each box before you order, you don't have to buy the ones that don't look as compelling.

Read more: 9 Book Subscription Services for Kids and Young Adults

Is Lovevery an American company?

Yes, the subscription box company is based in the US. Boise, Idaho, specifically, is the city that the company calls home and it's where the toys are designed. They're manufactured, however, by a network of suppliers throughout Asia.

Testing the Play Kits (with a real baby and toddler!)

Boxes for 0 to 12 months

Cost: $80

Boxes we tested: The Looker (weeks 0 to 12) and The Senser (months 5 to 6)

The Looker box includes:

• A double-sided mobile
• Sensory links (soft, high-contrast toys that can hook together or on a stroller or play mat)
  
• Two black and white card sets (one with simple patterns and one with complex patterns)
  
• A standing cardholder (to put the cards in during tummy time) 
  
• Black and white mittens (to promote hand discovery and body control) 
  
• A wooden book with black and white animal pictures
  
• A silicon rattle with a removable ball
  
• The parents' play guide
  

What we liked: 

The double-sided spiral mobile, with high-contrast black and white on one side and colorful circles on the other side, was a big hit with my newborn daughter -- she loved looking at it when we held it up or tied it to her play gym. (Lovevery suggests hanging it over the changing table as a distraction, too.) The black and white cards were a mainstay in her play gym, and the little book seemed to hold her attention more than some of her other high-contrast books did (perhaps because it's "baby's first book made with sustainably harvested wood" and she's a budding environmentalist? Who's to say). 

Not listed on the website, but my kit came with a mug for a parent that reads "The Days Are Long But the Years Are Short." It's not my favorite child-rearing sentiment, though it's proven true for me, but it was nice to have a little gift included.  

The real winner, though, was the parents' play guide. It's difficult to know how to engage with a newborn, but Lovevery gave some practical ideas to align with her weekly development. I found that helpful as a first-time parent who was overly stressed about being able to give her enriching playtime.

What we didn't like:

The sensory links were never a favorite, perhaps because she had several other similar clip-on toys that came with her play mat and and stroller. And while the black and white mittens were a good idea, in theory, the effort it took to get them on and off a squirmy newborn wasn't worth it for me most days.

--Alison DeNisco Rayome

The Senser is Lovevery's Play Kit for babies aged 5 to 6 months old.

Lovevery

The Senser box includes: 

• A spinning rainbow wheel
• A magic tissue box (to pull cloth tissues out of and put back in)
  
• Magic tissues (cloth tissues that can link together) 
  
• An organic cotton rainbow ball
  
• Parts of Me book
  
• A pair of play socks with bells on the toes
  
• A tummy time wobbler
  
• The parents' play guide
  

What we liked:

Once my daughter hit the 6-month mark, the way she played changed dramatically, particularly since she could stay sitting up with little assistance. The spinning rainbow wheel is one of her favorite things to play with, and it keeps her occupied longer than most other toys. Once she got the hang of the magic tissue box, she enjoyed pulling the tissues out of that as well (and using them to chew on and play peek-a-boo with). The tummy time wobbler has been another solid choice both while on her tummy and while sitting up. She still tries to eat that, too, like everything else.

I'll admit, I was a Lovevery skeptic, just given the price tag. But this box convinced me these are great toys that can give your baby plenty of entertainment, and I'm already planning to buy the next one. 

What we didn't like:

The play socks seem like they might have been a bigger hit when she was younger, as she discovered her feet long ago. The rainbow ball is also pretty but only holds so much interest. 

--Alison DeNisco Rayome

The Looker box from Lovevery comes with a magic tissue box.

Lovevery

Box for 1-year-olds

Cost: $120

Box we tested: The Realist (months 19, 20, 21)

The Realist box includes:

• A wooden lock box with four locking mechanisms 
• A puzzle with shapes that nest and stack
  
• Fabric "critters" that can be tucked into matching pockets on a quilted wall hanging
  
• A cup and pitcher for pouring your own drinks
  
• Bea Gets a Checkup board book
  
• A wooden "ring chute" with rings
  
• A flashlight that lights up
  
• The parents' play guide
  

What we liked:

The lock box is my 2-year-old son's favorite toy, and the fabric critters have taken up residence inside it. Locking and unlocking each of the doors -- and putting things inside, then taking them out -- has occupied more of his time than pretty much any other toy. Unfortunately, he's now learned how to lock his own bedroom door. Thanks, Lovevery.

The flashlight is easy for a toddler to turn on and off and my son likes to use it to find toys in his bedroom when the lights are off, since he can't reach the light switch. We've also read the included board book, Bea Gets a Checkup, dozens of times and the requests keep coming.

What we didn't like:

The ring chute toy is aesthetically pleasing but it seems to only have one real use, a use my son is not very interested in. Considering how large the toy is, I'd have preferred something with a little more versatility. 

--Karisa Langlo

The Helper Play Kit comes with a play sink that pumps water.

Karisa Langlo/CNET

Box for 2-year-olds

Cost: $120

Box we tested: The Helper (months 25, 26, 27)

The Helper box includes:

• A play sink with a real pump, plus cups and dishes for washing up
• Felt flowers in a stand that can be removed, counted and bundled
  
• Washable tempera paint "sticks" with paper in a travel-friendly zippered pouch
  
• Making Muffins board book
  
• A "dot catcher," which looks like a rainbow Connect Four game
  
• A two-sided puzzle that uses the same pieces for two separate designs
  
• Routine cards with photos of everyday tasks for mapping out routines
  
• The parents' play guide
  

What we liked:

My son couldn't get enough of the play sink. Its ingenious design lets you keep the water running without the sink ever overflowing or running out of water. Because it's not hooked up to a waterline (it just recycles the same reservoir through its pump repeatedly), you can't get any dishes clean in it, but my son loved pretending to wash dishes next to me at the real sink while I washed real dishes.

The box arrived just as we were starting to work on learning colors, and the rainbow dot catcher couldn't have been a more perfect toy. My son now knows his colors like the back of his hand, but he still likes to drop the colored wooden discs into their corresponding slots, and he gets a kick out of the quick-release lever.

What we didn't like:

The puzzle and routine cards both seemed a little too advanced for a young 2-year-old. They both also seem like toys you could make yourself, if you had the inclination for DIY. 

-- Karisa Langlo

Box for 3-year-olds

Cost: $120

Box we tested: Didn't test one (yet!)

Lovevery offers four Play Kits geared toward three-year-olds, up to age four: 

• The Observer Play Kit: Months 37, 38, 39
• The Storyteller Play Kit: Months 40, 41, 42
  
• The Problem Solver Play Kit: Months 43, 44, 45
  
• The Analyst Play Kit: Months 46, 47, 48
  

While we haven't tested one of them yet, the Lovevery Play Kits designed for 3-year-olds all include a similar mix of items as the younger boxes, with more sophisticated, preschool-age appropriate toys and books.

The Looker Play Kit from Lovevery.

Lovevery

Beyond the Play Kits: The Lovevery app and other products

The Lovevery app requires a subscription to the toy boxes to access (though you can also get the app if you received a box as a gift). Like the parent play guides, I found it to be a great resource for ideas for what to actually do with your baby all day long.

On the Activities tab, you'll see a list of toys from the age-appropriate toy box that you can tap on to get ideas for how to use by the month of your baby's age. There are also suggestions for using toys from prior boxes that are still age-appropriate in new ways. Beyond that, you'll find several other DIY activities to try (at 7 months, things like playing with paper and teaching your baby to clap), which you can check off to keep track of what you've tried. 

The My Baby tab shows what motor, cognitive, communication and social/emotional skills your baby will be learning that month with a pediatrician's video. This section reminded me of a more in-depth What To Expect app. But I appreciated that it makes sure to note that all babies are different to ease the minds of worried parents. An Ask and Learn section lets parents write or search for different questions and topics that Lovevery's developmental psychologists and pediatricians answer. 

If you have the toy boxes, it's worth downloading the app (if you have an iPhone -- there's no Android version) to get the most out of them. 

The other Lovevery product you'll often find on baby registries is The Play Gym. As with all of its products, it's more aesthetically pleasing than many others on the market -- and more expensive, at $140. It's also a bit larger, since it's meant to be used for the baby's entire first year, with relatively tall wooden posts -- so it may not be the best choice for people in apartments or smaller spaces. 

The Play Gym comes with a few toys that my baby loved, including a bell to ring and a crinkly teether. But to be honest, she seemed to get bored more easily on this mat than on the less expensive Skip Hop one I originally registered for, which is decidedly not a Montessori product. I think if I'd been invested in the ecosystem of toy boxes, it might have given us more to do there. 

As with everything else with parenting, it depends on what you want: If you have the resources to invest in the Lovevery system, it's a great choice. But your child will be just fine without it, too. 

--Alison DeNisco Rayome

Is the Lovevery subscription worth it?

If you're looking for a one-off, curated toy box to give as a gift, the Lovevery Play Kits are definitely worth the money. The quality of the toys individually makes the price reasonable, and you get the added bonus of knowing they've been hand-selected by experts. If you can afford it, you likely won't be disappointed. Lovevery knows what it's doing!

As a subscription box, though, the price becomes a bigger concern. Do you need to spend the equivalent of $40 a month on toys (or $36 a month, if you factor in the prepay savings)? One thing to think about: As your child ages, the mystery of how to interact with them naturally dissipates, and they'll likely begin playing with whatever you have lying around the house anyway (including the Play Kit boxes themselves). At this point, an expertly curated toy box becomes even more of a nice-to-have.

And another thing: Between birthdays, holidays and overindulgent grandparents, a lot of children are positively drowning in toys. A monthly box will only worsen the problem of clutter, which goes against the Montessori ethos. According to the Lovevery website, "parents say these are the 'only toys you'll need.'" I'm inclined to agree! But I have no idea how to keep all the other stuff out of my house.

"We did all the research so you don't have to," the company's website also declares. And for those parents who otherwise would spend hours researching developmentally appropriate kids' toys, the statement isn't wrong. But not every parent does -- or should -- fret over toy research. And even for parents experiencing anxiety around optimizing a child's playtime, there are far cheaper ways to fill a toy chest. 

Correction, June 7: This story initially estimated the monthly cost of a subscription incorrectly. The box costs the equivalent of $40 a month or $36 if you pay in advance.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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