REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 31, 2023--

With the invention of phones, gaming consoles and other devices that keep us inside, the wholesome days of playing outside carefree seem to be drifting further away. So much so, that it appears some adults have forgotten how to skip. You know… the thing you used to do as kids around the playground, where you move forward hopping from one leg to another. Thanks to many on TikTok recording their hilarious attempts to try and skip again, the activity is now trending on the platform. What is the Skip Challenge that people are posting on TikTok? Skipping has gone viral on TikTok thanks to multiple videos showing people’s failed attempts at trying it, with the hashtags #skipchallenge and #forgothowtoskip. In the clips, typically a person is being filmed while having an attempt at doing it, with some hilarious results. In one video that has been viewed over 5.3 million times, TikToker Trina Kay tested her son-in-law’s skipping skills and it didn’t go well. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter @trinakaydesigns I asked my son-in-law if he remembered how to skip. Here is attempt #1.... #forgothowtoskip #howtoskip #growingupsucks Rather than skip, the man appeared to do more of a prance, leaving Kay and many viewers of the clip in hysterics. Another video that has been viewed 8.7 million times showed a TikToker’s manager bravely doing his failed skipping attempt in front of the whole office. @nickelback_loves_u Thought this “forgot how to skip” trend was a joke. I was mistaken ?. @Morris-Jenkins #forgothowtoskip #howtoskip #funnyvideos #trending #skipchallenge #fypシ They captioned the clip: “Thought this ‘forgot how to skip’ trend was a joke. I was mistaken.” According to the many failures posted on the platform, it appears we have lost our child-like joy. But, some are trying to recapture it by skipping for the first time in decades. @maryborderskennedy #skip #skippinginstyle #skipchallenge #pawpawsteve In the comments, one person wrote: “This is so funny. I just tried skipping for the first time in probably 30 years. It's not easy to do.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Concerning messages showing on people’s phones have led to fears that they are being listened to. The app appears to be attempting to access the microphone within people’s phones, when users are asleep, according to the privacy menus within Google’s Android operating system. But WhatsApp said that it believes the issue is a bug within Android, and has stated categorically that the app would not access user’s microphones without their permission. The problem was raised by Twitter engineer Foad Dabiri, who shared a tweet which included a screenshot of a page in Android that shows when a given app accesses the microphone. He noted that it showed a range of attempts to do so, even when he had been asleep. The post was further amplified by Mr Dabiri’s boss, Elon Musk, who shared the tweet and claimed that “WhatsApp cannot be trusted”. Mr Musk’s post followed a range of other criticisms of Mark Zuckerberg, largely for political reasons, and Twitter also competes with WhatsApp with its direct messaging platform. In another post, Mr Musk pointed to the fact that WhatsApp is “owned by Meta/Facebook”, and claimed that WhatsApp’s former owners had left the parent company “in disgust”. “What they learned about Facebook and changes to WhatsApp obviously disturbed them greatly,” he claimed. Other users also reported seeing the same problem, on Twitter and Reddit, even before Mr Dabiri brought it to widespread attention. The screen can be seen within Google’s “Privacy Dashboard”, which is found within the Settings app and collects information about how personal data is being used by apps on a phone. Some claimed that page even showed WhatsApp accessing their camera. Others said that the microphone appeared to be getting accessed every few minutes. The same privacy dashboard can be used to turn off the microphone for any apps that users may be concerned about. But that could lead to certain features not working, such as voice notes or calls on WhatsApp. WhatsApp said that it believed the screen was showing the microphone being accessed as a result of a “bug”. It said that it was showing the wrong information in Google’s privacy dashboard screen and that it had been in touch with Google to fix it. “Users have full control over their mic settings,” WhatsApp posted in response to Mr Dabiri’s tweet. “Once granted permission, WhatsApp only accesses the mic when a user is making a call or recording a voice note or video – and even then, these communications are protected by end-to-end encryption so WhatsApp cannot hear them.” Meta-owned apps have long been plagued by fears that they are accessing the microphones of users. For years, users have accused Facebook and Instagram of listening to them to collect data and show them more relevant sponsored ads, which Meta has always firmly denied. Many experts have argued that the sometimes uncannily accurate sponsored posts are simply the result of the app’s advertising tools accurately profiling users, without needing to listen to them. Read More WhatsApp just fixed two of its most glaring quirks Google to unveil major new AI Quantum computer discovers bizarre particle that remembers its past Google to unveil major new AI Quantum computer discovers bizarre particle that remembers its past Why is Elon Musk purging Twitter accounts?

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Apple has finally released the headline feature of its new Watch. The Apple Watch Series 9 was launched last month, alongside new iPhones and other products. But Apple said that its top feature – the ability to navigate the Watch without touching it, by pressing your fingers together in a gesture Apple calls “Double Tap” – was not actually available. Apple said the feature would instead come later this year. And now with the latest software update numbered WatchOS 10.1, it has finally launched. The feature will also come to the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Apple says that older Watches that lack the latest chip do not have the processing power to accurately recognise the gesture, and so it will not be available on those devices. The new Double Tap feature is intended to be used when the user only has one hand free. Apple has pointed to the example of carrying a cup of coffee or walking a dog. To use it, the Watch’s owner taps their two fingers together to select whatever is on screen. The Watch’s sensors are able to detect that gesture – using the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor – and the software will register it as an input. That input allows users to take whatever action is displayed on screen, so long as it is in one of Apple’s apps. Pressing it will end a phone call, snooze an alarm, or replying to messages, for instance. Apple has not said whether future updates will bring the option to use the feature with third-party apps. But for now, users can control notifications from third-party apps but not the apps themselves. The feature is turned on by default but can be switched off in settings. It is automatically off in some apps, such as during workouts. Read More Apple Watch 7 pre-order: How to buy the new smartwatch in the UK Apple introduces new version of Watch with complete redesign iPhone 13 - live: UK contract deals and prices for Apple, EE and O2

Mark Zuckerberg and I have very little in common. My bank account is much smaller, and nobody would ever be tempted to make a film about my life. But we do share two very important things: we're both tech nerds, and we like putting on pyjamas and having people pretend to kill us. Like Mark Zuckerberg – and now Elon Musk, who he is planning to fight in what would be the world's biggest MMA match – I am a relatively recent convert to Brazilian jiu-jitsu. And like Mark Zuckerberg, I have found that it has improved my whole life, and changed who I am. My own journey with BJJ began in typically nerdy fashion: my partner described it as "human chess", which was enough to make me intrigued. I joined a local gym, 313 Fitness, in London's Manor Park, about a year ago. Initially, I was confused by the complexities of the sport – the "gi" kimono that you wear, the complex positions you're required to get into, the various kinds of rolls and handstands that you do to warm up – but they quickly became both everyday and absolutely thrilling. This is the game of jiu-jitsu: the winner is the person who makes the other submit, by placing them in a position that would lead to their joints being broken or putting them to sleep. This might sound grisly. In some ways it is. But in that violence can be found some of the most important lessons I have learnt in my life – it is an experience that teaches you invaluable lessons about the world, other people, and yourself. The thing that first becomes clear about jiu-jitsu is that you cannot be thinking about anything else. There is no time for anxious overthinking when someone is sat on top of you, trying to break your arm. If you let your attention drift, your opponent will use it to their advantage; losing focus for a moment can mean losing your fight. It's probably obvious how this applies to the rest of your life. But even in the moment there is a brutal thrill in training your focus in this way, and facing painful consequences if you don't. It is a particularly unsparing kind of mindfulness, which teaches you just how valuable your own attention span is. The raw demand on your attention is just one of the very primal parts of the sport. There is a harsh simplicity in the rules of jiu-jitsu: your opponent wants to submit you, and you want to submit them. But at the same time, it employs its own very specific and particular logic. It is a game of leverage, of positioning, and of anticipating the movements of a person who is right on top of you. As with chess, the best players are not thinking about the thing in front of them, but the thing that is coming a few moves down the track. And just like with chess, the winner is the person who can exploit their own strengths, even if they are in a weaker position. This pitiless logic is perhaps the reason that BJJ has proven so appealing to poindexters: Zuckerberg and Musk are far from alone in the sport, and one of its leading lights is Mikey Musemeci, an athlete who calls himself "Darth Rigatoni" and has happily referred to himself as a nerd. Jiu-jitsu might punish overthinking, but it is a profoundly thoughtful martial art. It is a humbling one, too; jiu-jitsu is actively destructive to any sense of pride. Starting as a beginner means literally being forced to submit to another person, something that happens repeatedly even as you become better at the sport. Without the humility to tap, you can find yourself with a broken arm, and it is only through repeatedly submitting to better opponents that you will learn from them. You very quickly realise that having too much ego will hold you back. All of that means that it is also the ideal situation to make human connections: it's hard to feel shy or aloof after someone has thrown you around, and humbled you by making clear that they could put you to sleep if you wished. My gym, 313 Fitness, is just as important for the physical challenge it gives me every couple of days as it is for the collection of local friendships and guidance I receive in each of those sessions. On its mats, I have made friends and found wisdom of a kind that I would not have discovered anywhere else. There are few cures for loneliness like having someone in pyjamas squish you. And there aren't many more important things to learn that the importance of humility, of focus, of finding your own strengths and weaknesses and the hard work required to deal with them. Jiu-jitsu can change you profoundly, reshaping the way you see yourself and the world. Don't let Mark Zuckerberg ruin it for you. Read More Keke Palmer’s boyfriend isn’t the only one who should stop telling women how to dress The work on men’s issues is happening, but who’s been listening? | Elliott Rae Editorial: The BBC should remain as an independent institution Musk, Zuckerberg and the bitter battle for the future of social media Twitter threatens legal action against Meta over its new rival app Threads I tried Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter rival, Threads – I’m not impressed

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