You Should Know

If you're concerned about Trump's nominations, the most impactful thing you can do is to reach out to your US Senators and voice your opposition. A large volume of brief phone calls do make a difference at strategic times. Immediately after a nomination announcement is one of those strategic times, because they are figuring out how/whether to respond publicly. Democracy must be fought for even after elections have ended.

Contacting Senators from both parties also matters right now. The prevailing message in the media is that Dems need to cater even more to Republicans to win the next election, they need to hear your voice if you disagree with that.

The most effective phone calls take less than a minute: say your name, your city or ZIP code, and what you support/oppose, maybe a sentence on why. You'll be marked down on a spread sheet that is discussed at the daily office strategy meeting.

Other actions like brief emails, meeting in-person at the district office, meeting in-person at the DC office, can also be effective, but take more time and energy. Emails aren't always read right away like a phone call must be answered for example. And you generally need to make an appointment for an in-person meeting.

Find your Senators' contact info

Why YSK: For those looking for an introduction to feminist thought, bell hooks’ work is always remarkably both insightful and accessible, and The Will to Change is no exception. In a world where feminism and gender dynamics are so fiercely polemical and accusatory, I have found this work to be a breath of beautifully fresh air, approaching the topic with utter love and compassion. bell hooks frames masculinity as a social structure that often restricts men’s ability to fully experience and express love, vulnerability, and connection. She acknowledges the ways in which patriarchy harms men as well as women, inviting readers—especially men—to consider feminism as a tool for liberation, not blame.

For anyone who wants to better understand themselves, their relationships, and the broader impact of societal expectations on masculinity, The Will to Change is both eye-opening and healing. I highly recommend this work as a concise and thoughtful jumping-off point for you—or for the men you know—to more deeply understand what it means to be a man in today’s world. :)

Australia - https://www.donotcall.gov.au/

Canada - https://lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/en/Consumer/Register-your-number/!/

United Kingdom - https://www.tpsonline.org.uk/

United States - https://www.donotcall.gov/index.html

why: so the government won't be able to use your money for whatever the fuck they're planning for the next 4 years.

as a traveler, none of my money has been funding Israel, for example.

one-step method: you basically fill out one extra tax form called FEIE while you're doing your taxes, write down the dates you were outside of the country, and then since you aren't in the country and are not receiving any services from the US, you don't have to pay income tax up to a certain amount (it's a little over 125k this year).

There's a bot that's tracks Lemmy communities for Active User Growth and Subscribers Growth each day and posts it to the following community.

https://feddit.nl/c/trendingcommunities

Check out the trending communities and join the ones you like!

NAPS2 (Not Another PDF Scanner.) Free versions for Linux, Windows, and Mac are available for download. Simple interface but fully featured, NAPS2 is much better than the overly bloated proprietary software that comes with most document scanners. Compatible with many devices.

Definition: A gaming dark pattern is something that is deliberately added to a game to cause an unwanted negative experience for the player with a positive outcome for the game developer.

Learned about it from another lemmy user! it's a newer website, so not every game has a rating, but it's already super helpful and I intend to add ratings as I can!

While as an adult I think it'll probably be helpful to find games that are just games and not trying to bait whales, I feel like it's even more helpful for parents.

Making sure the game your kids want to play is free of traps like accidental purchases and starting chain emails with invites I think makes it worth its weight in gold.

EDIT: Some folks seem to be concerned with some specific items that it looks for, but I've been thinking of it like this:

1 mechanic is a thread, multiple together form a pattern. It's why they'll still have a high score even if they have a handful of the items listed.

Like random loot from a boss can be real fun! But when it's combined with time gates, pay to skip, grinding, and loot boxes.... we all know exactly what it is trying to accomplish. They don't want you to actually redo the dungeon 100 times. They want you to buy 100 loot boxes.

Guilds where you screw over your friends if you don't play for a couple days because your guild can't compete and earn the rewards they want if even a single player isn't playing every single day? Yeah, we know what it's about. But guilds where it's all very chill and optional? Completely fine.

Games that throw in secret bots without telling you to make you think you're good at the game combined with a leader board and infinite treadmill, so you sit there playing the game not wanting to give up your "top spot"? I see you stupid IO games.

But also, information is power to the consumer.

Given the recent front page posts about Vanessa Guillen's funeral fuckery, you should know what your rights are surrounding disposition and treatment of the recently deceased. My late mother-in-law Lisa Carlson devoted much of her life and professional career advocating for consumer rights in the death industry.

• https://books.google.com/books/about/Final_Rights.html?id=-qxJEAAAQBAJ
• https://funerals.org/

The death industry is very slimy and relies on high pressure sales tactics when people are grieving. Don't let them. KYR!

So I went to check in online, and it asked me to check some boxes for what luggage I wanted to bring on board. I did, and it told me that to carry on both a backpack and a roller bag it’ll be $45, or $65 if I try to play games and they have to check stuff at the gate.

I said fuck that, and unchecked some boxes. It said I couldn’t check in without putting a credit card on file, that they would charge if there were any issues and they wound up needing to charge me for my luggage. It wouldn’t let me continue without putting a credit card on file and checking a box that said they could charge me for my luggage, if they felt it was excessive.

I said fuck that and decided to check in at the airport. I threw all my stuff in a backpack to remove any wiggle room, and the kiosk said the same thing. I talked to one of the people, and she said it’s a new policy. I pointed out that I paid for my ticket, she could see I had only a backpack, and I wanted to get in the airplane. She told me to go talk to the guy at the end.

I talked to the guy at the end, politely, and eventually he printed a boarding pass for me. But you should know they’re up to some bullshit.

Why YSK: Websites on the internet often try to uniquely identify your device, this extension attempts to prevent that and make it hard for them to do so.

"The body mass index has long been criticized as a flawed indicator of health. A replacement has been gaining support: the body roundness index." Article unfortunately doesn't give the freaking formula for chrissakes; it's "364.2 − 365.5 × √(1 − [waist circumference in centimeters / 2π]2 / [0.5 × height in centimeters]2), according to the formula developed by Thomas et al.10"

My girl was looking for a dress for Halloween. Yesterday she found one on Amazon for € 35 and put it in the cart, but did not buy it. Today she looked it up again and it was € 50 so she asked me to look it up with my phone with my Amazon account - it turned out to be € 23 for me, less than half of what it’s for her!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/31187638

Earlier today I came across a Reddit comment with a link to an Instagram post. The link had ?igsh= at the end.

When I clicked on the link, I got this popup. It had a name and profile photo that was different from that of the post being shared.

Join Firstname Lastname on Instagram

See photos, videos, and more from Firstname Lastname.

[ Open Instagram ]

not now

I avoid link trackers. However, I did not realize it was this bad.

To my knowledge, TikTok does the same thing and lists the name of the person that shared the link. Assuming this increases engagement, any website could enable such a feature, even on old links that you shared in the past.

You should manually remove any trackers before sharing, or use an app for it.

Google is weakening ad blockers as part of their MV3 extension standard and this will trickle down into all Chromium browsers. Built in ad blockers lack features compared to uBlock Origin as well.

There are 1.65 trillion barrels of proven oil reserves in the world as of 2016.

The world has proven reserves equivalent to 46.6 times its annual consumption levels. This means it has about 47 years of oil left (at current consumption levels and excluding unproven reserves).

This means that the oil is going to run out in our lifetime

Source/more reading: https://www.worldometers.info/oil/

Update: It is infact not true (or just partially true), because it only considers already known oil reserves that can be pumped out with current technology.

There is more oil that can potentially be used as technology and infrastructure advances, so the estimate of 50 years is wrong.

For the correction thanks to [email protected] (their original comment)

Amendments to the PayPal Privacy Statement Effective November 27, 2024:

We are updating our Privacy Statement to explain how, starting early Summer 2025, we will share information to help improve your shopping experience and make it more personalized for you. The key update to the Privacy Statement explains how we will share information with merchants to personalize your shopping experience and recommend our services to you. Personal information we disclose includes, for example, products, preferences, sizes, and styles we think you’ll like. Information gathered about you after the effective date of our updated Privacy Statement, November 27, 2024, will be shared with participating stores where you shop, unless you live in California, North Dakota, or Vermont. For PayPal customers in California, North Dakota, or Vermont, we’ll only share your information with those merchants if you tell us to do so. No matter where you live, you’ll always be able to exercise your right to opt out of this data sharing by updating your preference settings in your account under “Data and Privacy.”

edit: update title to reflect this is for PayPal USA users

Dishwashers won't clean these gaskets if they're washed while installed. Oh, and those silicone straws can come out of the dishwasher nasty too.

If you plug a USB drive into Microsoft Windows, in many cases it will try to do things "for you" with the drive. Not a great idea. There could be malware lurking on that USB drive.

There are a couple of things you can do to help mitigate the issue. These tips assume Windows 11.

Turn off Autoplay

• Open Settings. Press Windows + I to open the Settings app.
• Go to Bluetooth & devices. In the left sidebar, click on "Bluetooth & devices."
• Select Autoplay. Scroll down and click on "Autoplay."
• Turn Off Autoplay. You'll see a toggle switch labeled "Use Autoplay for all media and devices." Turn this off.

This will turn it off completely. You can, if you want, make individual settings for different types of devices.

Deny Execute Access (Pro or Enterprise versions of Windows 11)

• Open Group Policy Editor. Press Windows + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
• Navigate to the Removable Storage Access Policies. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access.
• Modify Policies. You can enable the policy "Removable Disks: Deny execute access" to prevent execution from removable drives.
• Apply and Reboot.

Note, there are some cases where you may want to execute scripts or programs from a removable drive. If that's the case, you may not want to do this, or make a note of it so you can re-enable if needed.

Why you should know? Money.

Both courses and certification selections are offered for free and paid options.

https://www.classcentral.com/subjects

https://www.classcentral.com/subjects?topic=certifications

Autumn is upon us in the northern hemisphere, and parts of the southern ought to still be pretty chilly. If you start getting cold, try tucking in your shirt. If you're wearing long pants and long socks, you can even tuck your pants into your socks, and this one's a big help too.

Why YSK: this one tip can save you a ton of money over your lifetime by lowering the threshold for when you need to put the heat on in your house, and it can make you feel more comfortable in the colder seasons. Wearing thicker clothes and layering helps, but there's only so many layers you can comfortably wear and clothes can only be so thick before you probably don't feel comfortable wearing them inside. If you're out and about, it might not be realistic or convenient to throw on another layer. This has become my first line of defense when I start getting cold. You should feel noticeably warmer within minutes.

Additional tip: if you have two shirts on, you can tuck the overshirt into your pants and the undershirt into your underpants to create a pocket of warm air that's way more insulating than if you tucked them into the same layer.

Edit: I know this is "common sense", but you'd be shocked at how many people either don't know about this or forget to use it.