How to avoid sharing Social Media Scams in the Wake of a Disaster

The world is full of disasters. It is also full of people who have learned to profit off of disaster. It is an unfortunate fact of life in the modern social media/online environment that in order to avoid spreading scams, you have to make a continuous effort and you have to be cynical.

There are a lot of wonderful, well-meaning people in the world who want to help everyone who asks for it. Unfortunately, those people are easy to scam.

These are some rules to prevent you from either falling victim to scams or from passing scams along to other people.

These are not suggestions, these are not things to take into consideration, the rules listed here are RULES that you need to adopt in order to keep from spreading scams on social media.

Rules:

• Never, ever share screenshots of fundraisers or resources that you haven’t verified yourself. If you see a screenshot of, say, the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds Instagram announcing that they will be accepting evacuees with RVs, you go find the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds website, you find the social media linked on their website, and you check that the post you’re seeing actually came from the entity it’s claiming to. Once you have proved that the post actually came from the entity it’s claiming to, double check that entity with a couple of verifiable sources.
  So, for instance, if I was checking on the Guitar Center Music Foundation I’d check Guitar Center’s website and maybe I’d look for news articles about donations from the foundation. If I was looking up the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, I’d look for a local newspaper calendar of events that linked to the fairgrounds or would check the city websites in the area and search “fairgrounds” on them. I would not share a link to a social media page for an organization until I was 100% certain that it was actually associated with the organization. You shouldn’t either. If you see a post that claims to come from a specific group but all you have is the screenshot of the post, go find the group’s website and if it all checks out you may share it IF AND ONLY IF you add the link to the post.
  And if a post has a link already, click through it and STILL check that everything looks okay.
• Never give money or information to someone with a free email address. This sucks. I know. But if the group you’re looking at only has a gmail address or a protonmail you have no way of knowing if they’re legitimately associated with the organization at a glance. And even if they ARE associated with the organization, the free email account demonstrates a lack of planning/commitment that has troubling implications for the handling of your money or data.
• Do not share screenshots of “resources,” headlines, social media posts, or news articles. I’m done with screenshots. Screenshots are easy to fake and almost always remove context from the discussion. A standalone screenshot isn’t information, it’s a trap to get you to share something without thinking. Do not *trust* screenshots of “resources,” headlines, social media posts, or news articles. Always assume a screenshot is faked unless you have found the original post yourself. A screenshot isn’t a “resource” it is an un-source, it is intentionally removing information from the viewer and we are well past the time when people should have understood that sharing screenshots without a link to the original text in context is never, every trustworthy.
• Do not give money or information to accounts without a history. This may mean individual social media accounts, or it may mean a shiny new mutual aid project that popped up near your house. It’s unfortunate that people have their accounts deleted, it’s unfortunate that new orgs have trouble finding support, but the likelihood that a new account is a scam is simply too high to trust your money or information with it. If someone is asking for money or offering help on an account that hasn’t posted for years, or that suddenly changed all its content, or that has only existed for a month with no links to other, older sites and socials, you shouldn’t trust that account.

Okay, those are the RULES. Those are the lines you draw in the sand. The TL;DR version is this:

• Don’t share posts you haven’t personally verified
• Don’t give money or information to accounts with generic email accounts like gmail
• Don’t share or trust screenshots that have no links or further context
• Don’t give info or money to brand new accounts

I absolve you of any guilt you have surrounding this. You want to share that post to help a stranger but they have only had an account for a week. You want to spread that resource, but unfortunately it is only available as screenshots of an anonymous instagram account. You think that perhaps that mutual aid group really can help people, but the only way contact them is to put your info into a google form and send an email to their gmail account. That post seems really helpful, but actually you can’t find anything that suggests that the Mt. Pacifico Aquatic Center exists outside of this twitter account. No more guilt! Guilt be gone! You do not have to feel bad for not sharing these things, or not reaching out, or not giving money because doing so would be irresponsible and would put other people at risk of being tricked by scammers or wasting what money they can donate on a potential fraud.

Now, some tips:

• Always, always, always take at least ten minutes to think about giving someone money or your information online. Read the post that moved you, then re-read it, then go sit away from it for ten minutes and think about it. There’s a good chance you will still want to give, or sign up, but ten minutes away will give you a chance to consider if there are any red flags in the post that inspired you.
• Independently search everything you’re going to share. Go outside of social platforms and check on search engines. Check Wikipedia. Look up the website and send a while clicking around. Go on a *different* social media platform and check their account.
• Just straight up search “[SUBJECT] Scam” before you do anything. See if this thing you’re looking at is actually an old scam that’s revamped for a new disaster. See if you can find an explanation of how something might be a scam or risk in a way that you didn’t understand before.
• Get used to getting away from social media. Go check websites.
• Learn domain name syntax. “musicfoundationguit.arcenter.com” is a bullshit scam. “guitarcenterfounditaon.org” is a bullshit scam. “guitarcenter-foundation.org” is a bullshit scam. The actual domain is “guitarcenterfoundation.org” and the link to the correct page isn’t going to be “guitarcenter.foundationfires.org” it’s going to be “guitarcenterfoundation.org/fires”  

Tips for Orgs:

If you do not want your org to look like a scam you are going to have to put some effort into it. Unfortunately this will probably also require at least a little bit of money; I know it’s hard to get money together at the beginning, but it will pay off in the long run.

• Invest in a domain and hosted email. You can get relatively inexpensive hosted email through most domain registrars and even if you only get one email address for your domain you can forward it to all the free gmail and protonmail accounts you want. But buy a domain, set up a simple website, and get an  info@[yourdomain].com email set up because you don’t want people emailing “MyOrgInfo@gmail.com” because it’s super fucking easy for a 1337 hax0r like me to set up “YourOrgTeam@gmail.com” and scam the people who want to reach out to you.
• Make a blog on your actual website, not on a social media site.
  A blog means that you can make regular posts and establish a history to prove that you are real and you do real stuff; it will also help with SEO and help to ensure that when people search for your org YOU are what comes up.
  Keeping up calendars of previous activities with links to those activities is also good.
• Set up social handles on all the sites you use, make a “socials” page on your website, and link to your handles so that people can verify if you’re the one posting something. If you don’t make it extremely easy to find your socials, that means it’s extremely easy to set up fake accounts claiming to be you. Then put the link to your website in the bio on your socials.
• If you are offering something or holding a fundraiser or doing anything on your social media page, link it back to your website. If you have an IG post offering resources, you should include a url for your site in each image. If you share a photo on twitter with the info for a march, that should link back to your website with more info about the march. If you post a fundraiser on tumblr you need to link the fundraising page of your website on that post.
• If you absolutely positively cannot set up a website and a real-ass email address, set up a linktree, choose a primary social media to post on that all the others refer back to, and very explicitly state what your email address is and that you do not have other email addresses somewhere that's difficult to miss. Build a history of posts and link to other orgs that you work with or any writeups or stories about your events or projects. The point of all of this is making yourself easy to verify. "northfullertonfnb@gmail.com" sucks but it sucks a lot less if it's in the bio of "@northfulltertonfnb" and that page has a two year history of posting meal share schedules and menus.

In conclusion, don't share things that you haven't personally checked. When in doubt, it is always safer not to share.

A fantastic guide!

why is the Denny's job application asking me these things

Question 3: Will you lie to your supervisor/manager?

Question 4: Can you handle frustrating situations without getting violent?

Question 25: The same as question 4, but asked in a different way to try and trip you up.

Rule #1 ALWAYS answer these questions as Strongly Agree or Strongly Disagree. These are typically graded by an automated system that does not recognize nuance.

Rule #2 Always think of the questions being asked as being from the perspective of a manager who wants the perfect employee that never does anything wrong. They don't look at these questionnaires and are not going to bring them up later like "You lied? On the questionnaire you said you NEVER lie". These are pass/fail and they are used to weed out applicants and will probably never be seen by human eyes.

Rule #3 Lie. They always give you a spiel in the beginning like "please answer all questions truthfully" and that is a TRAP. Do NOT.

❗❗ Remember, these rules only apply to the Denny's application!

If you are applying to Waffle House, the correct answer to #4 and #25 are actually reversed!

The only good white washing

You can also add color to the mix! All those quaint postcard-esque colorful European houses that tourists clamour to see? That's limewash babey!!!

And you can apply multiple coats a year if you want the color to be opaque faster :]

This is a long read, but worth it. Some takeaways:

-Don’t use “buy now pay later.” The fine print isn’t what it seems.

-The fine print on medical financing, store credit cards, and contactless payment is also not what it seems.

-Payday loans are still predatory, even when offered by your employer

-Rewards programs are an income stream for the companies that run them. The points systems are manipulated so that the house always wins. They depend on people leaving money in rewards accounts and not in interest-bearing traditional bank accounts.

-Electronic payment apps like VenMo are not banks. You don’t earn interest. Your money is not protected.

-Your financial information is not private if your money is not kept in a regulated bank.

-None of this is regulated by the FDIC. Your money is not protected if it is held by a non-bank doing banking business. Our economy is not protected from the collapse of financial institutions that are not banks.

-The Biden administration was making progress in increasing accountability for non-banks operating as predatory financial services providers. The current administration is reversing those protections to favor corporations.

Oh boy.

 A third of younger Americans hold their savings on nonbank tech platforms like Venmo

PEOPLE! DO NOT LEAVE YOUR MONEY IN VENMO OR APPLE PAY OR ANY OF THIS SHIT. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GO FIND A REAL BANK OR A CREDIT UNION.

If Venmo were to close tomorrow all your money would vanish. There's no insurance or guarantee on any of these things. I know banks aren't great but legit banks will have the "FDIC insured" logo on their doors and websites, which means if my bank goes under tomorrow I still get my money back. Also I guarantee you there is a credit union somewhere in your town, go find it.

You can leave some money in Venmo or Apple pay or whatever, but NOT ALL OF IT for the love of God.

If you don't want to deal with the large banking industry i get it. Go sign up for a local credit union. They're FDIC insured, your money stays local, and you can personally get to know and talk to your bank.

Probably the best piece of advice I ever got from my lawyer was opening a credit union account. They really are noticably better behaved than banks.

Your money IS NOT insured under the FDIC in a credit union account (they’re bank-only); it is insured under the NCUA instead. Insured institutions will typically put the logo or a statement about said insurance on the bottom of their webpages and mailers or letters. (Investment accounts in brokerages would be insured via the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, SIPC, but only against the brokerage going out of business or similar, not against market losses when the prices of things an investor owns go down.)

This matters a lot in this administration because there are so many attacks on regulation, especially the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) and attempts to do bullshit like force banks to bail out crypto speculators before US dollar holders, so I would not be surprised if they tried something there too.

We go over this exact topic (the FDIC, NCUA, and even threats to the CFPB) in this video essay:

FDIC Insured Banking Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means: The Truth About Securing Your Savings 

If someone drops something by you, pick it up or help them pick it up. This goes double if people drop a bunch of stuff that scatters everywhere, as it's more likely they're going to need help picking it up.

Some people might have back or joint issues that make bending over to pick things up more difficult or more painful. But even if someone has a healthy back and joints it's still always nice to know the people around you are willing to help you even with the small stuff, and it's a kind gesture that can make someone's day a little nicer.

Hello everyone Experiencing Winter right now, I would like to express a friendly holiday message on behalf of ER workers everywhere:

BE CAREFUL ON ICE

1. YES, EVEN IF YOU ARE ONLY WALKING. When a fresh wave of ice comes in, 90% of my mom's ER isn't car accidents, it's people w/trauma from falling on their way to the car.
2. LOOK FOR ICE. Mostly in the morning, but Be Looking. Ice manifests suddenly in strange places.
3. You cannot get friction on an unbroken icy slope. No power of will or special stance will change this. Either wear treads to dig into the ice, or find a non-icy path.
4. Never be afraid to drop on your butt and scooch across ice. If you aren't sure if you can safely cross an ice patch or get down off a icey hill, then get on your butt. It is 10000% safer to help you not slip, and also if you slip. Yes you might look silly, looking silly is better than head trauma.
5. Penguin shuffle if needed. Little baby steps keeping your center of gravity centered. This only works if you aren't on a slop. If you are on a slope, see the above.
6. Walk on the grass. I cannot stress this enough. If the sidewalks aren't cleared or you're unsure, any grassy section nearby will be a safe alternative. Even if it means walking on someone's lawn.
7. Handrails are your friends, use them please.

8. Wear gloves. Years ago now, my dad slipped while he had his hands in his pockets, and couldn't get them out quick enough to arrest his fall. He ended up shattering his ankle. Since then, my family has treated gloves as winter safety equipment.

9. Look for water on the road or sidewalk. If you see what appears to be liquid water, GO AROUND IT. This is black ice. It's even slipperier than regular ice because it's so smooth and it will lull you into a false sense of security. I'm only alive today because when I fell on black ice on a sidewalk my backpack cushioned me and I didn't slam my head into the concrete from a full standing position.

10. If you have no ice treads on your shoes, no other available path, and must traverse an icy hill, just roll down it or sit and slide. You can choose to do this and pick your own safe and comfortable position, or you can be an idiot and then Mother Nature will select a position for you.

11. If you happen to be in a car and you slide on ice, TAKE YOUR FOOT OFF BOTH THE GAS AND BRAKE. I know, I know. Instinct says brake will stop you. I get it. Been there, done that. Unfortunately physics disagrees with instinct and brake will only put your car into a spin, thus allowing it to actually pick up speed. Foot off pedals, turn into the slide, and stay calm (yes, I know, it can be terrifying). If you're sliding into traffic, lean on your horn. It maximizes the chance people will see you in time to get out of your way without also putting themselves in danger.

Do not salt your driveway stoop stairs etc to get the ice to melt!!!

Use sand or grit. You can get that anywhere you can get salt for de-icing!

Why, you ask?

1. Once the ice has melted, you can sweep up the sand or grit, and reuse it
2. Salt kills. It kills plant roots, it kills micro organisms, it kills insects. It gets into the ground water and fucks with that.
3. In plenty of jurisdictions it is even illegal, as a private person, to use salt on ice!! Even if not, though, see point #2. Sand or grit is better.

Gloves are necessary to penguin-shuffle effectively! They absolutely ARE winter safety equipment, beyond the obvious use of “keeping your extremities warm enough to move”.

The penguin shuffle involves putting your arms out to your sides while keeping your hands at roughly hip-height (so, don’t stick them all the way out perpendicular to your body, more like a 30° angle with your body), along with the shuffling steps. Spreading your arms makes your center of gravity widen a bit and makes it harder to lose your balance! Shuffling keeps your center of gravity underneath your torso without a lot of weight shifting, which helps you move and keep your balance!

i saw someone say nobody needs to know what a .txt file is anymore. what the fuck is the world coming to

unironically i think we need to bring back computer labs because APPARENTLY some people WERENT taught basic computer literacy and internet safety in school

things about computers/the internet i think kids should be formally taught in schools because theyre important to know and the amount of soon to be grown adults i know who know NOTHING about any of these is quite frankly almost all of them (and resources to learn if you dont know these things, because its never to late to get better with computers)

• how to troubleshoot by yourself when you have a technical problem
• what common file types are
• some very basics on how to use ""developer tools"" on your computer (because i cant think of a better way to refer to them) like task manager and command prompt (and their mac equivalents, terminal and activity monitor ofc)
• how to read and understand a privacy policy and what your personal data is, as well as what it being collected actually means and steps you can take to keep it private
• how to understand terms of service
  (hey. if you have trouble with reading legalese and worry about being able to understand these policies anyways, here's a site that gives basic summaries of privacy policies and ToS)
• what a cookie actually is
• internet privacy and your digital footprint!! seriously i dont know why we stopped teaching people that they shouldnt be putting their entire real identity online in a world where your online actions can ruin you irl
• basic safety measures like antivirus software (and why you should use it or if the built in one on windows or mac is enough for you) and backing up your computer (also a mac guide)
• common keyboard shortcuts (and on mac)

as an additional note: things i think everyone should know on computers and the internet but schools may bit hesitant to teach about for whatever moral/legal standards schools pretend to operate on

• vpns and adblockers! (btw for most of these where you can pay for things im purposefully not recommending any specific software but seriously just use ublock origin for an adblocker)
• how to not get a virus while pirating something
• what a temporary email is and when to use one
• red flags that you shouldn't trust a website (and how to quickly check the security of a site)
• what javascript on a website does and how to disable it to get around paywalls

ok one last addition! if you want to take it one level higher, i think learning the very basics of at least one programming language is good for people. it makes computers less scary and it makes you feel very cool, and a lot of people get discouraged about it because it seems overly complicated and hard to learn outside a formal classroom setting, so heres some resources for learning the very basics of python (because i consider it the easiest language to learn and knowing one language will make it easier to learn others)

• an online compiler so you dont need to download anything or worry about running code directly on your computer if that makes you nervous
• a basic video guide to introduce you to python and walk you through beginner steps
• a guide to some syntax and commands you should know (this was literally my lifeline in my first CS class)
• some performance tasks to give you things to code to practice and assess yourself

When the hurricane hit, the were SO many conspiracy theories floating around about it. That the hurricane was deliberately created via cloud seeding in order to kill off Christian republican voters and take the land. That the death toll was in the thousands and that the ~250 was a deliberate lie. That the entire population of towns were dead and missing. That the mainstream media was covering it up. You had disaster influencers on TikTok fundraising for basic necessities claiming that thousands were dead and dying of cold and the like. (Pocketing the funds of course).

They created this weird mass hysteria about a natural disaster being created to attack republicans and… republicans left them out in the cold.

(Obligatory ‘no one deserves this based on who they voted for & also the margin was pretty thin.) These rural communities are overwhelmingly republican, with urban NC being where most of those dem votes are… and still the republicans can’t even pretend to care about their core constituents. Unfortunately, we’ve seen time and time again that no matter how hard rural America gets fucked by republicans, they see it as ‘the government’, while anything that benefits anyone but them is a crime by ‘the liberals’… and even the things they do benefit from are a crime by ‘the liberals’.

Regardless of who is actually responsible for what, the GOP is credited with any positive changes, the dems are raked over the coals for anything that’s less-than-perfect, and anything that is undeniably a republican decision is simply The Government (with no expectation of accountability).

Oh my. I've been waiting for this to happen for almost fifteen years.

Not the "(((they))) are controlling the weather to wipe out Christian Republicans" and all of the other conspiracy shit, no. What I've been waiting for is the storm that would wipe out coastal homes in North Carolina, and I've been waiting since 2012.

Why 2012?

Because in 2012, the North Carolina General Assembly passed Replacement House Bill 819, which, being blunt and sarcastic, tried to outlaw sea level rise.

More technically, in order to keep the high valuation of beachside developments and properties from crashing due to the accurate fact-based assessment that they'd be worthless in a few decades due to climate change, as "beachfront property" is worth a lot, but "underwater property" is not...

Well, to keep those properties and investments from having to face that reality of their future residents being shellfish and tidal pools, the General Assembly made it illegal to use science-based models to predict how high sea level change would go over the next century. Instead, they mandated that a simple linear increase based on historical data would be used--saying that the sea level would change by only 8 inches (20 cm) by 2100... instead of the 3 feet (1 meter) that climate science was predicting. That way, all of those pricy developments on the Outer Banks and beachfronts would maintain their high assessed worth... at least until the sea and storms showed up and said to the General Assembly, "What, are you going to arrest the ocean?"

Which has now happened.

And, just as predicted back in 2012, the insurance companies are taking one look at this and going, "Nuh uh".

As that article I linked up above notes at the close...

In short, HB819 proposes a number of potentially far-reaching changes that may result in unintended consequences for coastal property owners, local governments, insurers, emergency managers and other organizations and agencies.

And now those consequences are here.

I want to be very clear here, what happened with Helene and the fallout is not just an issue effecting North Carolina. It is effecting disaster response as a whole. After disasters, FEMA does what's called door-knocking. Essentially they go on foot in these effected areas and go door to door/encampment to encampment to make sure everyone knows what help is available to them, help people fill out forms, provide resources to do it if you don't have internet and such, etc..

Except they don't do it anymore. And it is in large part because of Helene. The rhetoric around it was so violent, and the rumors that FEMA was going to steal people's houses were so pervasive, the door-knockers were threatened over and over, even had guns pulled on them. How true this is doesn't particularly matter, it may have just been more rumors, but either way it resulted in door-knocking being stopped for Helene and eventually stopped entirely. It is not a thing FEMA does anymore.

Now, to get individual post-disaster assistance if you don't have a way to access the internet or a working phone, you will have to go to dedicated facilities. Can't get there due to disability or injury? Don't have a way to access news about where those facilities even are and how they work? All the roads washed out or impassible due to debris? Too bad, you're on your own now.

So not only is the aid being delayed if not fully withheld for the Helene survivors, many of them may not have even had help in the initial application process the way they should have, and now in every disaster going forward, other people are going to face the exact same thing.

This government has done so many horrific things, but FEMA specifically has drawn some of the highest levels of ire and destruction. We'll be feeling the effects for a long, long time, and I truly hope we find ways to fix things sooner rather than later.

Side note:

If you live in a disaster-prone part of the USA, it might be worthwhile to download and fill out the Emergency Financial First Aid Kit, especially if FEMA isn't going to be helping you work through that anymore. We initially got ours from the FEMA site, but it looks like there are a few other places out there.

If/when you need to evacuate your home, take it with you.

It'll give you a head start on all the paperwork mess you're going to have to fill out and you'll have all the information you need with you already.

I spy, with my little eye, a photo that was faked by an AI image generator! Can you spot the clues?

FB is turning into a parade of fake AI images churned out by click-farming pages. More misinformation is on the way. Learn some tricks for spotting AI photos!

y'all PLEASE spread this around. @busybussinbee and I were just talking about studying images to see if they're ai or not.

Educate thyselves my friends and let's fight ai together!!

Couple of things from an AI artist.

First, these are all good suggestions, but they are only valid for maybe the next 12 months. The ones that are timeless are looking out for "to good to be true" and checking sources and looking for outside confirmation. But the tools are only getting better.

As a demonstration, this is the same prompt on Midjourney v1 (2022) and V6 (2024):

Soon, they won't be able to be distinguished from the old fashioned photoshop-and-or-miscaptioning clickbait from the olden days.

Second, and I cannot stress this enough, check the tags. Go to the OP's site/blog/whatever. Because I run a blog called "Deepdream Nights" named after one of the earliest AI art processes, tag my work, and often include the frickin' prompts and tools used.

And I still get wanna-be Scoobies trying to yank off my mask for posts where there's a full tutorial with in progress pics under the fold.

Third, do not automatically associate a lack of AI with trustworthiness. I'm not going to go into the myriad proper uses for genAI, I know that's not likely to get traction in this thread, but if you're spending all your time paranoid about genAI stuff, you're going to be tempted to see a lack of AI as a sign of being legit on its surface, and analogue trickery still works.

You should apply this skepticism and critical thinking to ANY kind of post, AI or not.

Making your bullshit detector work universally will protect you from advancements in the tech.

Also, photoshop still works on AI images. If the creator spends 45 minutes in photo-editing, most of your tells can be eliminated.

i saw someone say nobody needs to know what a .txt file is anymore. what the fuck is the world coming to

unironically i think we need to bring back computer labs because APPARENTLY some people WERENT taught basic computer literacy and internet safety in school

things about computers/the internet i think kids should be formally taught in schools because theyre important to know and the amount of soon to be grown adults i know who know NOTHING about any of these is quite frankly almost all of them (and resources to learn if you dont know these things, because its never to late to get better with computers)

• how to troubleshoot by yourself when you have a technical problem
• what common file types are
• some very basics on how to use ""developer tools"" on your computer (because i cant think of a better way to refer to them) like task manager and command prompt (and their mac equivalents, terminal and activity monitor ofc)
• how to read and understand a privacy policy and what your personal data is, as well as what it being collected actually means and steps you can take to keep it private
• how to understand terms of service
  (hey. if you have trouble with reading legalese and worry about being able to understand these policies anyways, here's a site that gives basic summaries of privacy policies and ToS)
• what a cookie actually is
• internet privacy and your digital footprint!! seriously i dont know why we stopped teaching people that they shouldnt be putting their entire real identity online in a world where your online actions can ruin you irl
• basic safety measures like antivirus software (and why you should use it or if the built in one on windows or mac is enough for you) and backing up your computer (also a mac guide)
• common keyboard shortcuts (and on mac)

as an additional note: things i think everyone should know on computers and the internet but schools may bit hesitant to teach about for whatever moral/legal standards schools pretend to operate on

• vpns and adblockers! (btw for most of these where you can pay for things im purposefully not recommending any specific software but seriously just use ublock origin for an adblocker)
• how to not get a virus while pirating something
• what a temporary email is and when to use one
• red flags that you shouldn't trust a website (and how to quickly check the security of a site)
• what javascript on a website does and how to disable it to get around paywalls

ok one last addition! if you want to take it one level higher, i think learning the very basics of at least one programming language is good for people. it makes computers less scary and it makes you feel very cool, and a lot of people get discouraged about it because it seems overly complicated and hard to learn outside a formal classroom setting, so heres some resources for learning the very basics of python (because i consider it the easiest language to learn and knowing one language will make it easier to learn others)

• an online compiler so you dont need to download anything or worry about running code directly on your computer if that makes you nervous
• a basic video guide to introduce you to python and walk you through beginner steps
• a guide to some syntax and commands you should know (this was literally my lifeline in my first CS class)
• some performance tasks to give you things to code to practice and assess yourself

One thing not talked about enough with the wave of people going onto injectable (primarily weight loss) drugs:

Please do not just throw your applicator needles in the bin! Even if they are technically tucked away inside the cap!

You can get sharps disposal containers from pharmacies. Community health hubs also do them. Some pharmaceutical companies provide them (I know NovoCare does, at least for Americans). Check your local bylaws and recommendations for disposal (I know in some places they say you need a strong, plastic container of any kind, which needs to be strongly duct taped shut, and left out on certain days).

Inappropriately discarded sharps can injure people and spread illness. They can cause injury and entanglement for animals and wildlife. They can make environments unsafe.

The NURSE at my demonstration appointment told me you can throw them in the household rubbish! Thankfully I know better.

Also while we're talking sharps disposal, if you use single blade razors please put those in your sharps bin too; I know a lot of us were taught to just wrap it in a lot of toilet paper but that isn't safe either.

Tangentially related because I use the double edge razors:

I find a cost-effective way to store used ones (there are razor banks but they can be pricey) is an old, thick medication bottle. Child-safe seal which means they’re not going to get loose, thick enough they’re not going to cut through it if they get jostled, and you can mark on the side what’s in there depending on how you dispose of them.

Just tacking on because I used to work in a pharmacy:

Anything you make yourself that keeps them secure is better than nothing (such as the method with the old pill bottle mentioned above).

The BENEFIT TO YOU about getting the official disposal containers is that you can keep adding sharps without removing the lid and potentially spilling the others all over the floor. The BENEFIT TO YOUR COMMUNITY is that it is super clearly labeled, so waste disposal professionals (and anyone else touching your trash, for any reason) can immediately tell they need to be more careful with that object.

why are so many canners so determined to get botulism 😭

"our great grandmas fed their entire families with their knowledge. they didn't need the government telling them how to do it."

great grandma also lost babies for want of vitamin k shots and antibiotics and would have had fewer babies to start with if she'd had the option to access birth control.

great grandma did the best with what she had and knew.

why can't we do the same 😭😭

edit after

@princessxombie an excellent point!

the reason for a preference of bottled lemon juice over fresh squeezed for canning (as reported through the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach): "It is a USDA recommendation that bottled lemon juice be used.  And consistent with the recommendation, reputable canning sources will agree that the best source of lemon juice for canning is commercially bottled lemon juice, as opposed to the juice of a fresh lemon. The reason for the recommendation is that bottled lemon juice has been uniformly acidified or standardized per FDA regulations: “lemon juice prepared from concentrate must have a titratable acidity content of not less than 4.5 percent, by weight, calculated as anhydrous citrus acid.” With a guaranteed pH...there is a consistent and known acid level which is essential for the critical safety margin in canning low-acid foods and for making jams gel properly. "

as for resources:

• the usda guide to canning (revised in 2015). you used to be able to find it on the usda website but for SOME reason (two guesses as to why 🙄) that website is now routing to a broken error 404 page not found. fortunately, it's available other places! here it is hosted on the internet archive! if you want it printed in color and spiral-bound, you can also purchase it for $25 from perdue university.
• if you want more resources, the university of utah has a whole section of their preserve the harvest extension website dedicated to safe food storage practices including freeze drying, fermenting, drying, etc.
• ball (the mason jar company) also has a section of their website dedicated to canning 101, including the basic process, recipes, a glossary of terms, and videos for their tutorials if you're a visual learner. they also offer free online recipes broken down in a way that's meant to be easy even for new canners.

go forth and enjoy canning without giving yourself and others botulism, friends.

yes! an excellent thing to point out!

as reported through michigan state university: "The acidity of a tomato is considered borderline between a high- and low-acid food. Tomato varieties have been changed through the years and as a result, many now have milder flavor and lower acidity than in the past. Testing has shown that some current tomato varieties have pH values at or above pH 4.6; a few have values of pH 5 or even higher."

for reference (thank you, university of georgia): "The bacteria that cause botulism poisoning can grow and produce toxin in sealed jars of moist food at room temperature if the pH (measure of acidity) is above 4.6."

so great grandma's recipe might have been perfectly safe with the ingredients she had access to! but you may or may not still have those same ingredients.

It's also important to note that if your recipe relies on vinegar for acidification (some recipes do), you need to need to need to check that your vinegar is 4% or greater vinegar. Many vinegars now are 3% or lower and they WILL NOT get you to the necessary ph. Companies have lowered the percentage slightly, and for someone who's, like, making salad dressing, it doesn't really matter, but for canning? It really really matters.

OMG THIS IS THE MOST HELPFUL THING EVER

Seriously, thank you for all of the links and information. This is really really valuable right now to many people, me included.

Go forth and reblog!

HOW TO GET YOUR ACCOUNT BACK FROM RANDOM NIGHTMARE SURPRISE TERMINATION!!!!!!!!!!!

I woke up on sunday morning to find that my whole account had been terminated out of the blue. VERY DISTRESSING!!! if this has just happened to you, YOU CAN GET YOUR ACCOUNT RESTORED. the best part is, everything remains intact! your messages, asks, followers, posts, etc. don't fret!! they restored my account only a day after it had been terminated. usually, it takes one to two weeks for a response. HERE'S WHAT I DID!!!

• it's important that you send a SUPPORT TICKET. don't randomly email them!!! go to https://www.tumblr.com/support and choose "terminated account" as your reason.
• include the email of the account that got terminated. this makes it easier for them to recover it! if you can't send it from that email, just include it in the message.
• include the following: to the best of your knowledge, you have re-read the site rules and you haven't broken any site guidelines. state how important your account is to you, and stress how thankful you are for their help in recovering it. BE POLITE. EVEN IF YOU'RE UPSET OR PISSED OFF!!!! it significantly ups your chances of being listened to. I included the phrase "I'm sure you understand the importance of this" which is corporatespeak for "FIX THIS OR SO HELP ME GOD" and that seemed to get their attention.
• you can also @ support on tumblr with the issue, and @ them on another site (e.g. twitter). there's a chance they'll see and respond quicker! cover all your options. the reddit for tumblr account termination is no longer active so don't bother with that.
• if they don't respond within a few days, reply to the confirmation email they sent after you sent in your request. follow up! ask for updates! reiterate the urgency of the situation! make sure you're not responding to an address with "noreply" in it!

REALLY HOPE THIS HELPS!!!! all is not lost you just gotta be STERN AND POLITE. it's terrifying to have your entire account vanish overnight but there is always hope okay. love you good luck

UPDATE: I had to do this whole thing AGAIN because my art blog ALSO got terminated out of the blue and they got back to me the very next day. this shit works!!!! I think the main factor is following up by replying to their confirmation email because as soon as I did that they got back to me.

Can confirm this is how I tackled it when this blog was randomly terminated a while back; I had to do this before. I got my whole blog back, which is good, because I think this one is over a decade old by now.

Any specific tips for plasma donation? Most of the stuff I’m finding online is just like “do breathing exercises to manage anxiety 😊” and I’m over hear dealing with an intense phobia that all these writers seemed to age out of around 18-21 and I’m almost 30 and still want to cry every time my doctor orders a blood test (which is basically every appointment now).

Also they say to eat a healthy, filling meal before hand but a filling breakfast for me has to have eggs and carbs and it’s hard to do those in a low fat way that is enjoyable to eat (and I reblogged a post yesterday about how we absorb nutrients better from food we like to eat). Maybe Grape-nuts, barley is pretty great, but a single box is so pricey. So I’m also a little stuck on how to make sure I’ve eaten well, but maybe I just need to bite the bullet and spend $5 on way less cereal than I usually spend $5 on.

I've done it 42 times in New Zealand (where it's illegal to pay for donations of body parts including blood parts) and it was very much because I wanted to, and I have still had a couple of not-great experiences with it that do make me a bit anxious every time. And I don’t normally have anxiety about needles, like, at all.

The biggest differences between plasma donation and blood donation (if you've done that) is that the stuff is cold when they put it back in, so you're going to want a blanket and/or a hot drink. It also takes a lot longer, like over double the time. Being super well hydrated and making sure your blood sugar is up is really important, otherwise it will go slow and be kind of miserable.

Also it's worth making sure your latest food has plenty of calcium because the anticoagulant they use (sodium citrate) binds to calcium, so if you're already kinda lacking in that department it will fuck with your nerves for a minute, makes your fingers, lips, and toes tingly. Taking a calcium carbonate antacid will help.

The major way plasma donation specifically can go wrong is if the tech doesn't get the needle all the way into the vein, or nicks the far side - if that happens it will start putting returning blood into your muscle tissue instead of straight back in the vein, which sucks majorly at the time and will leave you with a gnarly bruise. If it hurts more on return than on draw, get them to turn down the flow rate. BUT. If you notice the skin around the needle site swelling AT ALL or if it hurts on return even with the lower flow rate, YOU NEED TO GET THEM TO STOP. Be as insistent as you need to. Leaving half a cup of blood in the machine won't hurt you. Dumping it loose into your body will.

I've never worried too much about eating beforehand but I'm certifiably weird about eating in general.

This is in no particular order and again only applies to my experience in New Zealand but that's been pretty considerable so if you wanna know anything specific uh I'm here until they shut Tumblr down.

Oh, getting cold isn’t something I’d seen mentioned before, I’ll have to remember to bring a sweater or something and wear pants instead of shorts.

We went to try and have me donate the other day and I got really anxious about it, but like. My fear of needles isn’t the only issue, my OCD or my autism (not sure which) does NOT like when I’m planning to do something and am not familiar with the process at all. And I’ve never donated blood before even so the fact that so much of the information compares it to whole blood donation isn’t helpful for me.

But also while we were there I was a bit chilly just sitting and reading through the informed consent packet. So knowing I will likely feel colder after is very useful!

It’s seeming more and more like a bowl of Grape-nuts is going to be the way to go, get the calcium from the milk and plenty of energy from the super carb. And we have Tums on hand all the time for IBS symptoms, so that’s ready to go!

And I super appreciate the advice on how to tell if there’s something going on during the returns, that seems very useful (although I hopefully won’t actually need it!).

If it helps at all (am also autism but not OCD) I can do a written walk through of a typical plasma donation as I've experienced it, recognising that it will be a bit different where you're at.

Okay here we goooooo under the cut for Very Long Post!

@mathsbian here's the rebloggable lol.

Keep reading

Just some stuff about CSL in America that I know is the same or different from my stop-in the other day:

• You have to bring a photo ID (DL or state ID are both valid, possibly student IDs are also allowed?), proof of citizenship or legal status (SSN card or green card are the two I remember being options), and proof of address (postmarked mail with your name and address on it).
• CSL has an informed consent video and packet for you to watch and read. The video explains the science a bit (layperson level, obviously) and how they ensure your safety and potential recipients’ safety. The packet has more specifics but did also seem to cover the same information as the video, just less engaging because it was a list of bullet points instead of one of the doctors talking on video.
• They do not have tea, but they have water fountains and cups, and vending machines with snacks and beverages (the beverage machine was broken when I went so everyone was stuck with just water). The vending machine should have a cheap option like peanut butter crackers. They might have snacks they can give people who are actually donating, but I didn’t make it to the chair. Presumably you can bring a drink (probably something in a bottle with a lid just in case of spilling!) and a snack (I would actually suggest avoiding peanut butter because of potential allergies of another donor, but anything else that’s not going to cause problems for the staff is probably alright? Like try to avoid messy or pungent snacks), since they sell drinks and snacks there, but you can save money bringing something from home!
• CSL also uses big comfy recliners! They’re blue. I don’t know what the recovery area looks like, I just was able to see one donation chair from the waiting area I was in while working through the informed consent.
• CSL staff are all very friendly and professional. The video reminds you several times that you can ask a staff member questions about any part of the process or anything you were concerned about. They do the basic health screening at a touchscreen computer kiosk, and they aren’t allowed to tell you how to answer the questions about your health, but presumably you can get some help understanding a confusing question and what it’s checking you for.
• Stand-down for whole blood in the US is also 6 weeks! My dad was a regular blood donator (I think he may have had one of the universal or near-universal blood types? I don’t know my own blood type though so I can’t even be sure that was why), and would get reminder calls every 6 weeks (and then weekly if he didn’t go back in right away, they really wanted my dad’s blood which is why I assume he must have had a good donation type) from the center he donated at reminding him he was eligible again. Whole blood donation can’t be paid for like plasma donation can be in the US (selling a body part for it to go into another body directly is not allowed, but plasma donation isn’t necessarily being used for transfusion! A lot of it is used as an ingredient in medicine or for research purposes, and that stuff can be paid for; the US is a nightmare), but a lot of them will give you thank-you gifts like gift cards or coupons (my dad liked getting BOGO coupons for movie tickets, it made it way cheaper to take my mom to the movies on Date Night).