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An NPR journalist in Gaza describes his harrowing experience seeking food from a distribution site run by private American contractors. He found himself facing Israeli military fire, crowds fighting for rations, and masked thieves.

(Image credit: Anas Baba)

Whether you have the latest iPhone or an older Samsung Galaxy, this Fourth of July is a great time to take firework pictures

July's full moon, also known as the Thunder Moon, will fill the sky on July 10.

• Strong webcam and infrared login make daily video calls simpler and more secure for professionals
• No 4K resolution makes these monitors feel outdated for today’s professional display needs
• ViewSonic VG41V Series USB-C charging limited to 15W is a major letdown for modern laptop users

The new ViewSonic's VG41V Series marks the company’s latest effort to carve out space in the crowded business monitor segment.

These monitors target video conferencing and productivity users by integrating Windows Hello facial recognition, a built-in 5MP webcam, and enhanced ergonomic designs.

On paper, they check a lot of boxes, but in practice, the lineup leaves a few open questions, particularly around display resolution and power delivery.

Productivity perks can’t mask a resolution compromise

The VG41V Series includes three models: the 24-inch VG2441V and two 27-inch options, the VG2741V and VG2741V-2K.

While the VG2741V-2K supports QHD (2560x1440) resolution, the VG2741V and VG2441V only support FHD (1920x1080) resolution.

None of them reach 4K resolution, which is increasingly expected in higher-end office monitors - but still, the lineup introduces thoughtful touches like infrared-enabled facial recognition via Windows Hello.

The 120 Hz refresh rate and Eye ProTech+ (flicker-free technology and low blue light) make extended sessions more bearable, features that align well with ViewSonic’s productivity branding.

This series enables secure, instant login to digital workspaces, which could appeal to enterprises managing device access without passwords.

It also integrates a 5MP webcam, tiltable by ±5°, and includes a physical privacy cover, while dual microphones and stereo speakers support a more complete conferencing setup.

For remote workers or office-based teams regularly joining Zoom or Teams calls, this package could provide a plug-and-play convenience that some will value.

However, powering the VG41V Series via USB-C introduces a compromise.

While USB-C is undeniably a flexible standard for video, data, and charging, its implementation here feels awkward.

ViewSonic offers dual USB-C ports, one upstream for data and video, and one downstream that supports just 15W charging.

That’s enough to charge a phone or small accessory, but it won’t power a laptop or meet the needs of many desk setups.

This could frustrate users relying on a single-cable solution, especially Apple users searching for the best monitor for Mac Mini or MacBook Pro.

That said, the series performs well on ergonomics, with support for height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustments. It also includes a compact stand to maximize desk space.

ViewSonic’s VG41V Series uses FSC-certified, recyclable packaging and meets EPEAT and ENERGY STAR standards.

The VG41V Series will arrive in select markets in North America, Asia, and Europe in the coming months.

Pricing for the VG41V Series remains unknown at the time of writing, making it difficult to judge whether the trade-offs in resolution and power delivery are ultimately justified.

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Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for July 3, #753.

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 3, No. 487.

Here are hints and the answer for today's Wordle for July 3, No. 1,475.

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 3, No. 283

Samsung's next Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on July 9 and will mark the company’s big summer showcase.

It’s there we expect to see follow-ups to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, along with other products, likely updates to the Galaxy Watch lineup.

This Unpacked will be the third one of the year; the first was the Unpacked that saw the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S25 phones, then the second was the full launch of the Galaxy S25 Edge.

So read on for how to watch the next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked and a brief overview of what to expect.

How to watch Samsung Galaxy Unpacked

The next Galaxy Unpacked showcase will be held on Wednesday, July 9 at 7am PT / 10am ET / 3pm BST and midnight July 10 in Australia.

You’ll be able to watch a live stream of the launch on Samsung’s own website. However, a simpler route would be to visit the brand’s YouTube channel and watch the showcase there, or use the video embedded below.

TechRadar will also be at the showcase, where you can get updates live from Unpacked on our TechRadar TikTok account. And we’ll be covering Unpacked live as it happens, so make sure to check back with TechRadar for all the news, views, reactions, and more.

What to expect at July 9th‘s Galaxy Unpacked

The ‘summer’ Unpacked events tend to be all about Samsung’s latest foldable phones, and we expect this event to be no different with the reveal of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7, and perhaps a third phone, say a Galaxy Z Fold Ultra.

In general, the rumors so far are pointing towards iterative design changes and a few spec improvements, but nothing hugely radical in terms of design or performance. Samsung is likely to tout new Galaxy AI features and use the new foldable phones to showcase them on, though such features are very likely to roll out to other Galaxy phones and devices too.

We’re also expecting to see new smartwatches, likely the Galaxy Watch 8 and its ‘Classic’ stablemate, and perhaps a Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

An evolved design has been tipped for the Watch 8, with a potential ‘squircle’ design reminiscent of the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s square-meets-circle aesthetic, and the potential return of a rotating bezel.

Expect new AI-centric fitness features and tools in the software for these watches, but I’d also expect such features to roll out to other Galaxy Watch models.

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When it comes to web hosting and website management, there is no shortage of options. The vast majority of companies out there offer affordable services that are good enough to get the job done.

Kinsta is a cloud-based hosting solution providing services for WordPress websites, web applications, databases, and static sites. They provide you with access to high-performance servers and features such as staging environments, automatic backups, enterprise-level Cloudflare integration, and more.

Kinsta also includes quality security features such as DDoS protection, SSL certificate with wildcard support, and malware scanning and removal.

• Want to try Kinsta? Check out the website here

From the main website, you can access Kinsta’s official blog. It’s easy on the eye and filled with a myriad of articles, most of which are related to WordPress and software development. In addition to this, Kinsta offers a fresh and video-packed YouTube channel and relatively active presence on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

(Image credit: Future)Kinsta features

Kinsta offers high-end CPUs, as well as global availability thanks to Google’s C2 and C3D machines on its premium tier network. By using these top-of-the-line CPUs, you are guaranteed that your website will be up and running faster than ever before.

To further improve the speed of your website, Kinsta also offers a global content delivery network with over 260 locations around the world. This allows Kinsta to deliver fast pages and serve cached assets from your visitors’ closest location.

Kinsta also comes with built-in application performance monitoring (APM), which is its custom-designed performance monitoring tool specifically for WordPress sites. We used this feature to identify any potential issues or bottlenecks slowing down our site during our test of the hosting service.

Kinsta's DevKinsata feature provides a comprehensive development environment that makes it easy to develop applications locally on your computer. DevKinsata includes many helpful features such as version control which allows developers to roll back to previous versions of their code if needed, easy debugging capabilities with Xdebug integration, and deployments to production servers with just one click.

With the new Kinsta Cloudflare integration, we took advantage of a wildcard SSL certificate which let us secure our subdomains with just one certificate. A wildcard SSL is an SSL certificate that secures both a root domain and its individual subdomains. This is in contrast to other types of certificates that require you to list each individual subdomain on the certificate.

As part of its Cloudflare integration, Kinsta offers customers a unique benefit - reserved IP addresses. Reserved IPs are unique IP addresses assigned to each Kinsta customer site. These IP addresses are reserved exclusively for use by that specific customer and ensure that the DNS A-record IP address will not be shared by other sites on Cloudflare's network. In some cases, this can cause problems if a service blocks a spam site that happens to share the same Cloudflare IP address as your site.

We were also impressed with the Kinsta Brotli Compression Tool (a lossless compression format that is supported by all major browsers and achieves better compression ratios than gzip).

Brotli compression works by compressing web content with a very large built-in static dictionary that contains various strings in multiple languages. By taking advantage of this feature, the Kinsta Brotli compression tool helped us optimize our page speed by reducing our website's page size by up to 45%.

Kinsta also released a tool called Edge Caching. This is an incredibly powerful tool for websites running WordPress that can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to serve cached HTML to site visitors. Edge Caching is included free with all Kinsta plans, and no additional plugins are required.

Kinsta’s Edge Caching works by saving your website/page cache to Cloudflare’s global network of over 260 data centers. When site visitors load your website, cached responses will be delivered from the location closest to them, helping to reduce latency and ensure faster loading times.

With the help of the Early Hints, you can further improve site speed. Early hints is a modern web standard that defines a new 103 HTTP status code. Enabling this web standard on your site, it gives your site visitors’ browsers the chance to download certain resources in advance or in parallel with others. This results in a faster page rendering speed

For web hosting services in Australia, Kinsta CDN is in six Australian cities, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

(Image credit: Future)Is Kinsta easy to use? 

We find Kinsta easy to use - from signing up to navigating through the dashboard. The web host provides you with an intuitive dashboard that makes hosting your website easy. The dashboard let us quickly access all the features and settings in one place, which makes it simple to manage our website’s performance and security.

With Kinsta, you can also set up and manage multiple websites from one account, as well as deploy applications, databases or static sites, meaning you don’t have to switch between different accounts every time you want to make changes or update your site or create a new web app.

Kinsta also has a number of helpful features that make managing your website easier. All these features are designed so that even those who aren’t tech-savvy can easily manage their website without too much hassle.

As a fully managed WordPress hosting provider, Kinsta's prices are higher than other web hosts (Image credit: Future)Kinsta plans and pricing

Kinsta offers different plans, ranging from $35/month to $1700/month. All plans include free wildcard SSL, CDN, staging, and unlimited migrations. But what do you get when you purchase one of these plans? The Single plans starts at $35/month and allows you to install 1 WordPress, 10 GB of storage space, 125 GB free CDN, and 35,000 visits per month. The Single-site plans scale with each step up getting more site visits, storage, and CDN bandwidth. Each Single site plan denotes the support amount of visits. The plans go as high as 1,250,000+ visits, 15 GB+ storage and 1000GB CDN bandwidth.

Multiple-site plans support multiple WordPress installs. Each plan name denotes the amount of WordPress installs supported. Each multiple-site plan supports multisite network and site cloning. For WP 2 ($70/mo) you get two WordPress installs, with 70,000 visits, 250 GB of CDN bandwidth, and 20 GB storage. As the plans increase in price the resources, site visits, and amount of WordPress installs increase too. The WP 40 plan ($450/mo) supports 40 WordPress installs, 60 GB storage, 1500 GB of CDN, and 75,000 monthly visits.

Kinsta also offers an Enterprise Plan for multiple sites, which starts at $675/month and includes 60+ WordPress installs, 100+ GB of space, 1,250,000+ visits, and a 30-day backup retention.

All the above plans come with unlimited free migrations and a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you are not satisfied with the service, you can request a refund. Select plans on Single and Multiple-site tiers also include a one month free trial.

We used GTmetrix to measure the uptime and response time of our Kinsta site (Image credit: GTmetrix)Kinsta speed and experience

Kinsta argues that it is almost a certainty that users will see “faster page load times, along with back-end (WordPress dashboard) speed” when hosting with them. Faster than what, we asked ourselves. Faster than the average speed, faster than lightning or faster than Superman?

In any case, GTmetrix (a tool we used to test the speed performance of Kinsta’s main website) appears to agree with them given that it rated the performance of their website with an A (91%), which is not a result we often see. All major core metrics related to the speed were above the average, which looks pretty promising.

When it comes to uptime, Kinsta’s technical team monitors all of its users’ websites at all times, which means that they will be notified if any downtime occurs and lasts longer than five minutes, and, thus, prompt them to rush to resolve the issue. After monitoring Kinsta’s main website for a month using UptimeRobot, we couldn’t find a single trace of downtime, which does inspire confidence.

Latest results

We recently ran more tests on Kinsta for our best hosting for agencies guide. We did the same test we do for every host. We migrate a simple website and perform some baseline WordPress benchmark test and do some Siege testing for concurrent visitors. We used the Agency 20 plan. While these don't show what the server is like under load. It does show a good baseline score for site performance.

Show more

WordPress benchmark

Performance metric

Result

Operations with large text data

6.68

Random binary data operations

8.24

Recursive mathematical calculations

7.32

Iterative mathematical calculations

8.63

Filesystem

Filesystem write ability

9.71

Local file copy and access speed

9.56

Small file IO test

10

Database

Importing large amount of data to database

9.23

Simple queries on single table

9.88

Complex database queries on multiple tables

8.23

Object cache

Persistent object cache enabled

0

Network

Network download speed test

10

Server score

8.1

Siege

Performance metric

5 concurrent visitors

9 concurrent visitors

Transactions

8484

13580

Availability

96.37

96.36

Elapsed time

299.43

299.19

Data transferred

91.72

145.90

Response time

0.17

0.18

Transaction rate

28.33

45.39

Throughput

0.31

0.49

Concurrency

4.87

8.11

Successful transactions

8164

13068

Longest transaction

1.33

39.76

Failed transactions

320

513

Shortest transaction

0.09

0.08

Kinsta security

Kinsta is one such provider that offers quality security measures (in our opinion) including SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates. An SSL certificate is a type of digital certificate that provides encryption and authentication for data sent over the internet. It helps protect user information, like credit card numbers and passwords, from being accessed by malicious third parties.

An SSL certificate also helps verify the identity of a website so that users know they are connecting to the correct server and not a malicious one.

Kinsta uses Cloudflare's infrastructure to provide wildcard SSL certificates with 128-bit or higher encryption as well as 2048-bit RSA keys. Kinsta says its servers are also constantly monitored 24/7 for any signs of suspicious activity or hacking, which is good to know. Kinsta also offers a 99.9% SLA-backed uptime guarantee.

There's also a Malware Security Pledge in which Kinsta's team will help restore a site in the event of an attack. Kinsta have earned SOC 2 and ISO 27001 compliance so security standards are high and hopefully you'll never have to use that.

You'll find plenty of how-to guides in Kinsta's knowledgebase (Image credit: Future)Customer support

Kinsta offers knowledgeable sales representatives who can help you find the hosting plan that best fits your website or project.

If you want a deeper dive into all of Kinsta’s features, consider scheduling a personalized demo with one of its experts. This is an excellent way to get familiar with Kinsta's powerful dashboard and hosting features, as well as ask any questions that come up during the process.

We had a few questions about our website and contacted Kinsta through its question form on the website. They got back to us the next day with answers tailored specifically to our hosting dilemma.

Kinsta’s support team is available 24/7/365 via live chat in the MyKinsta dashboard so that you can quickly receive help. You can also open up tickets here if there are ever any issues with your site.

Kinsta also offers free webinars to its customers (Image credit: Future)

There are more than a few self-help options including regularly updated documentation, free e-books, free webinars, a newsletter and a blog we mentioned before, and everything is dedicated to bringing knowledge about WordPress to its users. In addition to this, Kinsta’s YouTube channel is filled with step-by-step guides and the new ones are coming out on a week-to-week basis at the very least.

As an alternative, you can reach Kinsta’s “timely and knowledgeable” support via email and chat.

Kinsta alternatives

Much like Kinsta, Flywheel is a fellow US-based host specialized in “top-of-the-line” managed WordPress hosting solutions. Both of them strive to be beginner-friendly, offer well-rounded, feature-packed packages and are on the high-priced side of the spectrum. However, Kinsta’s least expensive solution starts at a whopping $30, half as much as what is offered by Flywheel. Therefore, if the price is the key criterion (since both hosts are competent) for you, you could save some bucks by going with Flywheel.

Bluehost is one of the most popular hosting options on the market today, even when it comes to managed WordPress hosting. In comparison with Kinsta, Bluehost has a myriad of hosting types and options besides WordPress and its WordPress plans are well-structured and suitable for newcomers. If you are, however, looking for premium managed WordPress options, you might find yourself at home with Kinsta.

DreamHost is a US-based provider supplying WordPress-optimized hosting solutions and related services, including a domain registration, which is something you won’t get with Kinsta. Another thing they don’t provide is a website builder and you’ll have that as an option with DreamHost. What is more, in addition to offering more hosting options, DreamHost has more pocket-friendly plans, so you’ll save some money as well.

Although HostGator does not specialize in WordPress hosting, it has a few rather attractive solutions on the offer. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a premium fully managed WordPress hosting (and you are ready to shell out the money) Kinsta might be a better pick. If you would rather have something simpler and more on the affordable side, HostGator is an excellent choice.

WP Engine is also a great alternative as it offers a wide range of services, from shared hosting to managed WordPress hosting and dedicated servers. WP Engine is known for its fast speeds and reliable uptime, as well as its excellent customer service and support team.

SiteGround is another great option if you’re looking for an alternative to Kinsta. This provider offers a variety of hosting plans that range from shared hosting to VPS and cloud solutions. SiteGround also has excellent customer service and support, which makes it a great choice if you need help getting started or have questions about how to use their services.

Is Kinsta right for you? 

Kinsta offers a range of features to help businesses get up and running quickly and easily, including easy scalability, managed updates, automated daily backups, and 24/7 support.

Kinsta offers a range of features to help businesses get up and running quickly and easily, including automatic scaling, managed updates, automated daily backups,SSH access, WP CLI, a powerful API, Application Performance Monitoring, and 24/7/365 support in 10 languages, with a response time within a minute and 98% client satisfaction.

Kinsta also prides itself on its performance and reliability - It’s caching technology ensures websites load faster than ever before; this helps keep visitors on your site longer which can lead to increased conversions.

Kinsta FAQsIs Kinsta only for WordPress?

No! While Kinsta is an excellent choice for WordPress websites, that’s not all it can do. It also supports static sites, application hosting, and database hosting.

Do I need a security plugin with Kinsta?

No - and that’s one of the many advantages of using Kinsta hosting. The security at Kinsta is built into the platform itself; all accounts are automatically scanned daily for malicious code and activity and protected with regular backups as well as enterprise-grade DDOS protection.

Plus, every account includes free SSL/TLS encryption to protect your data in transit.

60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris during last fall's elections.'/>

With a $16 million payment to settle President Trump's lawsuit over 60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris, CBS becomes the latest media outlet to bow to his power.

(Image credit: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

• OWC's hardware-level encryption activates instantly without dragging your computer’s performance down during transfers
• Randomized touchscreen keypad helps block spying eyes and shoulder-surfers trying to steal passwords
• Encrypted or not, OWS Guardian SSD’s 1000MB/s speed is fast enough for 4K video editing

OWC has announced Guardian, a compact portable SSD focused on delivering strong hardware encryption and fast transfer speeds.

The OWC Guardian connects via USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) and delivers up to 1000MB/s in real-world read and write speeds, making it capable of handling 4K video files, media archives, and quick backups.

Designed with 256-bit AES OPAL hardware encryption, the Guardian handles data protection at the hardware level.

Seamless encryption without system slowdown

The encryption process starts automatically when data is written and is reversed (decrypted) when accessed by an authorized user.

This avoids reliance on host system resources, preserving performance even during large data transfers.

It's one of the few devices in its price range that combines both speed and encryption without demanding software installation, which may place it among the best secure drives for routine professional use.

OWC says the device is compatible with macOS, Windows, Linux, and even iPadOS.

It includes a touchscreen interface, which serves as the primary method for user authentication through PIN or passphrase, but also allows access to additional features such as multi-user profiles, read-only mode, auto-timeout, secure erase, and a randomized keypad layout.

Physically, the drive is housed in anodized aluminum for improved heat dissipation and general durability.

However, unlike some of the best rugged hard drives, the Guardian lacks an IP rating for dust or water resistance.

This may limit its reliability in field conditions or outdoor environments, where environmental protection is a priority.

The Guardian comes with a 1TB OWC Aura Pro IV NVMe SSD (960GB usable) but is also available in higher capacities, including a 4TB version.

The internal firmware reserves a portion of space for data correction and redundancy.

It’s formatted in APFS for Apple devices by default, but can be reformatted for Windows or Android using OWC's Drive Guide utility.

However, full cross-platform read/write access requires separate software like MacDrive.

“We designed the OWC Guardian for anyone who needs simple, reliable data protection on the go, but without the typical hassles,” said Larry O’Connor, CEO and Founder, Other World Computing (OWC).

“Whether you're transferring a huge file in the boardroom, backing up data at the local coffee shop, or editing a 4K video for your latest content drop, you shouldn’t have to choose between security, speed, and ease of use. The OWC Guardian delivers all three, in a rugged, intuitive design built to travel.”

Pricing starts at $219.99 for the 1.0TB model while the 2.0TB and 4.0TB models cost $329.99 and $529.99, respectively.

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One in twelve people online visit a website hosted on WP Engine daily. They host over one and a half million sites across 150 countries and still maintain a customer satisfaction rate of 96%. That is reliable hosting.

WP Engine uses its own caching system and content delivery system (CDN) and your get your choice of data centers in North America, Europe, or Asia. Plus, your websites are hosted on the fast Google Cloud Platform. This all means your customers should have a better user experience because of faster loading times and reliability.

WP Engine’s managed WordPress hosting solution
WP Engine provides everything needed for a true managed WordPress solution, including automatic PHP and WordPress updates, effortless backups, all without compromising on security and speed. Currently offering 4 months free for TechRadar readers. Get 4 months free on all new annual plans with code: techradar20.

WP Engine manages your WordPress site for you making the day-to-day running of your site easier allowing you to focus on your business. In addition, WP Engine provides features like automatic plugin updates, malware detection, and automated backups. Although managed hosting comes at a higher cost than unmanaged, it's not until a vulnerability is discovered at 2am on a Saturday that the value of having someone look over the security and updates of your server becomes really noticeable.

The cheapest WP Engine plan starts at $20/month (Image credit: WP Engine)WP Engine Plans and pricing

WP Engine have three main types of hosting: WordPress Hosting, WooCommerce Hosting, and Headless.

WordPress hosting has five plans which are all on a shared infrastructure. The most basic plan is Startup which provides hosting for one site, 25,000 monthly visits (with a 50GB bandwidth cap which is enough for the average website), and 10GB local storage.

With this plan you get chat only support, security patching, plugin risk scans, daily backups, EverCache, and global CDN. This plan is $20/mo and refreshingly there are no confusing renewal prices.

From there onwards, the plans support 3, 10, and 30 sites and the bandwidth, storage space, and monthly visits increase as you would expect. There is also the option to completely customize your plan starting from $600/mo.

For WooCommerce, the plans are similar in their specs and what they support but they come with lots of features as standard such as elastic search capabilities, support for unlimited products, Live Cart, and more. These plans are slightly more expensive than the WordPress hosting plans and the custom plan costs a minimum of $800/mo.

You can use the Page Performance tool to diagnose issues with a slow-loading site (Image credit: WP Engine)Features

The core reasons to choose WP Engine over cheaper WordPress hosting are increased reliability, performance, support, and management, but these are hard to quantify. Some features stand out when you browse the interface, however, that can give you some insight into the service offered.

WP Engine Page Performance is a neat tool designed to help you speed up your WordPress site by offering meaningful metrics on performance.

Running a test returns you a page-performance report that details how quickly your page rendered, how long it took to load in its entirety, and the total size of the page. It even includes historical data on your site’s performance over the past six months and recommendations on how you can reduce page load.

You can develop your WordPress site in a Staging or Development environment before making the changes live (Image credit: WP Engine)

Avoid embarrassing mistakes on your site by making changes to a copy of your website before it goes live. This is called Staging, and it allows your developers to make extensive changes to your site without affecting your customers.

WP Engine has a comprehensive list of plugins that are disallowed (Image credit: WP Engine)

In a relatively unusual move, WP Engine restricts the WordPress plugins you can install. Those typically restricted are plugins that have been noted to cause performance issues and security holes. For important features such as caching, backups, and search engine optimization tools, WP Engine has made alternatives available that don’t put a high load on the server.

Interface and in use

WP Engine’s interface is professional and well laid out, but the powerful features might mean a steep learning curve for inexperienced users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and redirect rules, you’ll be right at home here, but otherwise you’ll need to spend some time on the support site.

Creating a site in WP Engine is made simple, thanks to a straightforward process. Whether you’re hosting on a domain, or building a staging site, the process is automated, so you don’t need to do anything. Once the name of the site has been set, and you’ve decided on adding WordPress on its own, or Word Press with WooCommerce, it will self-install while you make a coffee.

Note that WP Engine doesn’t offer any AI-guided site generation tools here. Anything you create will have to be done manually through the current WordPress theme management environment.

One of the main attractions for many customers is promised easy migration. Intended to make it simple to move a WordPress site from one host to another, WP Engine offers a dedicated plugin specifically for this purpose. Using it is simple enough – you install the downloadable plugin on the source (old) web host, create a secure key when prompted, then paste this into the plugin on your WP Engine hosting. In testing, the migration of a site around 500MB in size was pretty slick, completing in just a few minutes.

The WP Engine support center has detailed guides on using each of the service’s key features (Image credit: WP Engine)Support

A managed WordPress service should offer extra value through its support, and WP Engine delivers. The support site includes videos and articles of a quality you’d expect from a paid training course, with help on deeper WordPress functionality that many WordPress hosts don’t go into.

There’s 24/7 live chat support and a ticket system, too. In our testing, the response was quick and the agent knowledgeable. For all plans except for single-site plans, there’s telephone support, too.

Testing

Testing the performance of WP Engine – specifically, the Essential Startup – I was intrigued to find that while reasonably slick, it seemed slower than other hosts. Now, I’ll preface this with the knowledge that WP Engine specifically aims for efficient WordPress hosting. It is known to block some plugins that can affect performance; it opts for its own caching plugin, for example. So, gauging performance with benchmarking tools on WP Engine is a little different to other hosts.

However, the tests delivered results around 30% slower than other hosts. Given that the comparisons were with plans for a similar budget and server specification, I was surprised at how poorly WP Engine scored.

show more

WordPress Benchmark

Performance metric

Result

Operations with large text data

6.9

Random binary data operations

7.93

Recursive mathematical calculations

5.06

Iterative mathematical calculations

7.9

Filesystem

Filesystem write ability

7.79

Local file copy and access speed

8.25

Small file IO test

9.76

Database

Importing large amount of data to database

1.94

Simple queries on single table

6.66

Complex database queries on multiple tables

5.78

Object cache

Persistent object cache enabled

0

Network

Network download speed test

9.5

Server score

6.4

Siege

Performance Metric

5 concurrent visitors

9 concurrent visitors

Transactions

9583

17028

Availability

96.28

96.31

Elapsed time

299.70

299.33

Data transferred

106.33

189.25

Response time

0.15

0.15

Transaction rate

31.98

56.89

Throughput

0.36

0.63

Concurrency

4.84

8.15

Successful transactions

9578

17028

Failed transactions

370

652

Longest transaction

2.25

5.67

The competition

If it’s the higher level of customer support you value in a managed WordPress host, Liquid Web often tops customer satisfaction polls. It has a focus on high-end products like virtual private servers (VPS) and dedicated servers, so if your needs extend beyond a high-performance WordPress site into other software solutions, we recommend checking it out.

TsoHost is another managed web hosting provider we recommend. The price can ramp up, with even the most basic VPS options starting at $52 per month, but you get a level of on-hands customer support that’s virtually unrivaled.

Final verdict

WP Engine is not the cheapest hosting around and it doesn't seem to be the fastest either. It's also not the first WordPress host we’d recommend to newcomers, as the breadth of tools can be intimidating.

WP Engine used to be the champion of WordPress hosting but I think that's starting to change with hosts like SiteGround and Kinsta taking over.

Now is the time to get those cards you might have missed from the First Chapter and Floodborn, as well as some special packs.

Screen Time is an app that gets right to the point, with a name that tells you exactly what this piece of software does, and its one of the best parental control apps.

When we’re all spending more time on our phones and children are easily distracted by inappropriate online content, it’s crucial to be able to restrict what they’re seeing and how often they’re able to use devices.

Despite the name, though, Screen Time doesn’t just concentrate on that feature – it’s actually got a full range of parental control abilities. And, as a bonus, there’s a free version.

Plans and Pricing

That free version includes daily reports on your children’s app usage and, on Android, it allows parents to view web and YouTube histories. The free product also includes some social media monitoring on Google’s platform.

The free version only includes support for one child device, though, which is a tight restriction. KidLogger’s free version includes support for five devices, and Qustodio’s free product also monitors just one device – but it has a better set of features.

Google Family Link and Microsoft Family Safety are both free, too, and both are more powerful.

Screen Time’s free product isn’t really representative, though, and its paid version is a far more compelling prospect – because it has the full range of features included. It’s affordable, too, at $6.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. That price is a little cheaper than the monthly cost of the full-fat versions of Qustodio, Bark, MMGuardian and KidLogger – four of our paid favorites.

Features

If you call your app Screen Time it has to impress in this category. And, thankfully, Screen Time doesn’t disappoint.

Parents can set daily screen time limits using the software, choose from preset options, alter timings for weekdays or weekends, and apply time limits to individual apps. It’s easy to build different schedules for different children, and one button allows parents to instantly pause their children's devices – handy if you need to get their attention.

(Image credit: Screen Time)

There’s an innovative feature here, too, thanks to Free Play – an option to override all limits and schedules with just one tap. If you’re stuck with bored kids on a long journey, it could be a huge relief.

Screen Time also allows parents to maintain family harmony by rewarding kids with extra device time if they complete tasks, like chores or homework. Parents are able to set up the tasks and approve their completion to grant a custom amount of time as a reward.

Screen Time pairs its impressive device and app controls with solid reporting. Parents can see what apps children use most often, how much time they’ve spent on each app, and get daily summaries of all the important data – handy when things are hectic.

And if you want to prevent certain apps from being used entirely, Screen Time allows you to see what apps are installed, block specific apps, and only allow new apps to be installed with parental approval.

(Image credit: Screen Time)

Screen Time also has conventional location-based features. Parents can see current child locations, monitor routes when children are travelling, and use geofencing to get alerts when kids enter or leave approved or restricted spaces. Trip and location records are kept for seven days – other apps provide longer histories.

Screen Time has some additional features that are only available on Android. Web filtering, for instance, is only available on Google’s platform, and there are 25 categories of content that parents can allow or restrict, and it’s possible to add or restrict individual websites too.

(Image credit: Screen Time)

Android users can also monitor text messages, view photos on child devices, and monitor third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber and Kik.

This app is certainly weaker on iOS, then, and some features are not as comprehensive as those you’ll find elsewhere.

Its web filtering, for instance, is not as strong as those on rivals – apps like MMGuardian provide more categories for parents to use when filtering. Bark is notably better for social media monitoring, too.

(Image credit: Screen Time)Interface and in use

Screen Time has an effective, uncluttered interface with easy, color-coded buttons that let you see your schedules, app and web filter allowances and your children’s routes.

Other apps certainly pop with more color, but Screen Time looks good, and its effective design means it’s very easy for parents to use. This approach carries over to the monitoring interface available in web browsers, too.

Installation is similarly straightforward, at least on Android: sign up, download the app, follow easy instructions to pair with the app on your child’s device and you’re nearly there.

Once that’s done, you’ll have to set up a parental control PIN and allow the relevant permissions, then you’re good to go.

If you’re on iOS, it’s a little more complicated. Parents have to download and install profiles and change Remote Management settings on their devices.

Thankfully, both platforms are covered by comprehensive instruction articles and videos on the Screen Time website.

Support

This is one area where Screen Time didn’t impress – because clicking the Support link on the website led to a 404 error page.

That’s not a good start, but it is possible to use a web form elsewhere on the main Help Center page to request support from the Screen Time team, and the company assures parents of a response within 24 hours.

The FAQ and Help Center sections are also reasonable, with plenty of articles covering every aspect of the app.

Just don’t expect the phone support or live chat that you’ll sometimes find with rival products, like Qustodio or Norton Family.

The Competition

Screen Time lives up to its name – when it comes to scheduling and controlling how often your children use their devices and certain apps, this software matches every rival. Its location abilities compare well with other apps, too.

Go beyond this, though, and Screen Time begins to fall short. MMGuardian is stronger with web filtering, for instance, and Bark is better with social media, messaging and calls. If you’re on iOS, consider OurPact too.

Screen Time may undercut other paid options with slightly lower prices, but if you want a free parental control product then you’d potentially be better with Microsoft or Google’s in-built tools or with KidLogger.

Final Verdict

If you want an affordable app that provides comprehensive scheduling alongside device and app limitation and control, then Screen Time is one of the best choices around. In this regard it’s got good core functionality alongside a couple of innovative features.

Beyond that, though, it’s middling. Its location-based functionality is fine, it blocks apps, and provides reporting, but rivals do that, too – while also being stronger in other categories. And weaknesses on iOS mean Screen Time is only really suitable for families on Android.

Screen Time is not a bad parental control app – and if you do want to concentrate on restricting the amount of time your kids spend on their devices, it’s excellent. But for a more rounded experience or a better option on iOS, we’d rather spend a little more and shop elsewhere.

• Huawei has filed for patents for a sulfide-based, all-solid-state battery
• The company theorizes it could unlock up to 3,000km (1,864 miles) of range
• Ultra-fast charging could top the battery up in under five minutes

Huawei is the latest in a growing list of automakers and tech companies that are exploring the possible benefits of fitting an EV with solid-state batteries, with the likes of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, VW, BYD and Stellantis all publicly touting the tech.

Car News China reports that the tech giant has filed a patent that outlines a solid-state battery architecture with energy densities between 400 and 500 Wh/kg, which is two or three times that of the current EV battery landscape.

Currently, Huawei doesn't manufacture its own branded vehicles in China, but instead works with various automakers to apply some of its existing technologies to vehicles.

According to the patent application, its batteries use a method that ‘dopes’ sulfide electrolytes with nitrogen to address side reactions at the lithium interface. However, it is keeping the remainder of its technology close to its chest, as the race to mass-produce solid-state battery technology safely and at scale is well and truly on.

What’s more, the company theorizes that it is able to eke some 1,864 miles of range from its battery technology, as well as complete the industry standard 10-80% charge in less than five minutes.

However, some industry experts are skeptical of those bold claims, pointing out that it is a leap of more than three times the current range abilities of the most impressive electric vehicles on sale today.

Speaking to Electrek, Yang Min-ho, professor of energy engineering at Dankook University, said that such performance "might be possible in lab conditions" but went on to explain that reproducing the results in the real world, where energy loss and thermal management play a key role, would be "extremely difficult".

The professor was also quick to point out that the nitrogen doping method is a "standard technique" that, again, can be applied in a laboratory environment but is currently difficult to scale to a point where it can be mass produced to meet the demands of global automakers.

Analysis: big headlines, small steps

(Image credit: Porsche)

Understandably, China is basking in its EV dominance at the moment and it isn’t afraid to publicize innovations that have the potential to change the game.

MegaWatt charging is one of the more recent topics, but solid-state batteries have also been bubbling sway under the surface for some time. Undoubtedly, China will be the first to this technology, but it likely won’t be as soon as many domestic companies make out, nor as impressive.

What’s more, the 1,800-mile figures seem largely pointless, as it would require a huge battery pack that is going to add excess weight and blunt driving dynamics in a vain attempt to dispel notions of range anxiety.

Should Huawei be able to nail energy densities between 400 and 500 Wh/kg, it would be far better placed producing smaller packs that can still offer an impressive range without the need for enormous, expensive batteries.

When an EV can easily cover 600 miles on a single charge, range anxiety largely becomes obsolete, as there are so few drivers that want to sit for hours on end without a break. Plus, with the public charging network expanding and improving year-on-year, it is now arguably easier than ever to find a spot to plug in and stretch the legs.

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OpenDNS is a cloud-based Domain Name System (DNS) provider that delivers enhanced security with web filtering and various blocking features – and OpenDNS Family Shield is its consumer product for protecting entire households from inappropriate content on the internet. So while it isn't a fully fledged parental control app, it does offer some similar functions.

Family Shield is designed to offer fast, easy parental control – the kind of product where parents can set it up once and forget about it, knowing that it’ll block adult content on all devices. It’s easy to use, but doesn’t include customization.

OpenDNS also has a free product called OpenDNS Home, which allows parents to customize their web filtering and view basic usage stats. It’s more involved, but trickier to set up.

Since 2015, OpenDNS has been part of the Cisco organization, so there’s no shortage of cloud computing and cybersecurity knowledge underpinning this tool.

Plans and pricing

Family Shield gets off to a pleasing start – because it’s entirely free, just like the customizable Home product.

Despite that free status, Family Shield covers an unlimited number of devices, and it doesn’t require an account to use – unlike the free Home product, which requires account creation in order to use its customization abilities.  

Features

Family Shield is free, then, but what does it do? Put simply, it’s a preconfigured web filter that you can set up on your router, PC, smartphone or server. Once it’s configured, it blocks potentially harmful traffic.

The best way to use OpenDNS is to set it up on your router – that way, it’ll filter all the traffic that goes through your router, whether that’s from phones, games consoles, laptops or anything else.

(Image credit: OpenDNS)

Family Shield’s preconfigured filter blocks content in four categories: pornography, tasteless, proxy/anonymizer, and sexuality. You’ll find virtually everything you don’t want your children seeing within those four categories. On top of that, OpenDNS Family Shield also blocks phishing sites and other potentially dangerous websites.

The filter works extremely well, and the fact it works on routers means it works across a broader range of devices than most parental control tools.

Bear in mind, though, that more conventional tools like Qustodio or MMGuardian allow you to filter using a far wider array of categories.

If you want a wider array of categories or if you want to add your own permitted or blocked sites to lists, then you’ll have to use OpenDNS Home – a more customizable product that’s admittedly a bit more technical.

Once Family Shield is configured, there’s no dashboard, control panel or app to worry about – you apply the settings and let it work.

(Image credit: OpenDNS)

It couldn’t be easier, then, but it’s worth noting that OpenDNS Family Shield is a filter, not a conventional parental control app, so you miss many features you’ll find elsewhere.

You won’t find screen time controls, location monitoring, app blocking or anything else here, for instance – because OpenDNS Family Shield is simply not that kind of product.

If you want those, you’ll have to explore a free tool from Microsoft, Google or Mobicip, or a paid product like Norton Family Safety, Qustodio or Bark.

Interface and use

The most effective way to use OpenDNS Family Shield is by setting it up on your router – that way, it filters all of the web traffic that goes through the router across your array of devices.

To set up Family Shield on your router, you’ll have to go into your router’s browser settings and alter its DNS settings – the numbers that control how web traffic flows through the router. Once those settings are saved, web traffic is routed through OpenDNS’s filters, which means inappropriate sites are blocked.

The process will likely be almost identical for most routers, but OpenDNS provides dozens of useful guides, with pictures, for many common models.

That’s great, although people who aren’t technically savvy may still struggle to set OpenDNS Family Shield up because they’re unsure about delving into router or device networking settings – and that’s entirely understandable.

If you want to install OpenDNS filtering on individual devices, like smartphones, then it’s just as easy – and this is an effective way to apply filtering on technology that won’t always be connected to the internet through your home router.

On Android and iOS, it’s as simple as heading to the network settings and changing the DNS configuration. On Windows and macOS, it’s a similar process. And for a huge variety of devices, from phones and games consoles to Linux laptops and Windows devices, OpenDNS provides clear tutorials.

If you want to use OpenDNS Home instead, setup is largely similar – and you can use a web-based dashboard to manage your network, alter filters, and view statistics about network usage.

Support

We’ve already mentioned the wealth of setup guides you can use with OpenDNS Family Shield, and support is comprehensive elsewhere. The Documentation section is full of guides that take a deeper look at OpenDNS technology, and you can delve into configuration if you’d like to use OpenDNS Home instead.

The user forum is extremely busy, so it should be relatively easy to get answers to common technical issues, and there’s a ticket-based system for submitting support requests. Reports online suggest that replies are both quick and helpful.

The only thing missing here is phone support or live chat, but that tends to be offered by larger organizations with parental control apps that have more features. While OpenDNS is certainly a huge company, Family Shield is a relatively basic filter rather than a fully-featured parental control app.

The competition

That status means that it’s quite difficult to weigh up OpenDNS Family Shield with any close rivals – because this web filtering product is unique.

It does a great job of filtering your network, for instance, but you’ll also find excellent filtering in Qustodio and MMGuardian – albeit on individual devices. Both of those products, and Bark, also provide a broader slate of parental control features, even though they are paid-for products.

And if you want parental control without paying a penny, then shop around: Microsoft Family Safety and Google Family Link both have basic filtering, and Qustodio offers a free parental control app for single-device monitoring.

Final verdict

There’s no doubt that OpenDNS Family Shield is an excellent web filter. When applied to your router, it’ll do a tremendous job of blocking inappropriate traffic across every device in your home – and all for free.

When used on smartphones and laptops, it’ll block those same websites when children are using other networks, too, and OpenDNS Home is an ideal next step for customization if you’re comfortable with more technical setup and customization.

Beyond the filter, though, OpenDNS Family Shield has little to offer because it’s not a full parental control suite.

If you’re happy with using a filter on your networks, then Family Shield is a free and effective option. But if you want parental control features like location tracking, screen time restrictions and app control, then you’ll have to look elsewhere – and maybe spend some money, too.

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• Anthropic's MCP Inspector project carried a flaw that allowed miscreants to steal sensitive data, drop malware
• To abuse it, hackers need to chain it with a decades-old browser bug
• The flaw was fixed in mid-June 2025, but users should still be on their guard

The Anthropic Model Context Protocol (MCP) Inspector project carried a critical-severity vulnerability which could have allowed threat actors to mount remote code execution (RCE) attacks against host devices, experts have warned.

Best known for its Claude conversational AI model, Anthropic developed MCP, an open source standard that facilitates secure, two-way communication between AI systems and external data sources. It also built Inspector, a separate open source tool that allows developers to test and debug MCP servers.

Now, it was reported that a flaw in Inspector could have been used to steal sensitive data, drop malware, and move laterally across target networks.

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Patching the flaw

Apparently, this is the first critical-level vulnerability in Anthropic’s MCP ecosystem, and one that opens up an entire new class of attacks.

The flaw is tracked as CVE-2025-49596, and has a severity score of 9.4/10 - critical.

"This is one of the first critical RCEs in Anthropic's MCP ecosystem, exposing a new class of browser-based attacks against AI developer tools," Avi Lumelsky from Oligo Security explained.

"With code execution on a developer's machine, attackers can steal data, install backdoors, and move laterally across networks - highlighting serious risks for AI teams, open-source projects, and enterprise adopters relying on MCP."

To abuse this flaw, attackers need to chain it with “0.0.0.0. Day”, a two-decade-old vulnerability in web browsers that enable malicious websites to breach local networks, The Hacker News explains, citing Lumelsky.

By creating a malicious website, and then sending a request to localhost services running on an MCP server, attackers could run arbitrary commands on a developer’s machine.

Anthropic was notified about the flaw in April this year, and came back with a patch on June 13, pushing the tool to version 0.14.1. Now, a session token is added to the proxy server, as well as origin validation, rendering the attacks moot.

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