Website operator fined for using Google Fonts “the cloudy way”

Google Fonts are OK, it seems, but only if everyone keeps their own copy of the fonts they use.
from Naked Security https://ift.tt/XguBq35D2

How to Catch a Shiny Pokémon Every Time

Pokémon Legends: Arceus turns the video game series on its head in more ways than one. and from its open-world concept to the redesigned way you interact with wild Pokémon, plenty of these changes are for the better. And one of the biggest isn’t obvious, but might dramatically affect the way you catch Pokémon from now on.

When you encounter wild Pokémon in other games in the franchise, the creatures that appear are randomized each time. As you run through the tall grass, you might encounter any available Pokémon, with varying types, genders, and, rarely (but most importantly, to some), colors. If you have luck on your side, you might meet a shiny Pokémon, which sports a different color but is otherwise the same as its normal Pokémon counterpart.

For most games, the chance of running into a shiny is one in 8,192. According to Austin John Plays’ video on catching shinies, Legends: Arceus has a shiny rate of one in 4,096, doubling the chances of finding one (but still making them quite rare). There are additional deviations to this statistic, such as if you use the Shiny Charm found in more recent titles, but even still, catching shiny Pokémon has always been an exercise in patience—and stress.

Why stress? Because in order to capture a shiny Pokémon, you, of course, need to capture it when it appears. If you finally manage to come across a shiny in the wild, you better hope you don’t accidentally kill it or scare it away. If you lose the battle, that’s it: That shiny is gone, and you’re back to another 4,096 random encounters before you find another (statistically speaking).

Legends: Arceus makes catching shinies much easier

That is, until Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Game Freak’s latest title seemingly changes the traditional formula when encountering random Pokémon. If you save before heading into an encounter, resetting the game from that save point will produce the same exact Pokémon on your net run: the same stats, same levels, same color. This is a major deviation from past games, where Pokémon would be entirely randomized every time you booted up from the same save.

While Austin John Plays covers this tip in his video, Reddit user Azoth_Magnum was the first I saw discussing it. They discovered it by accident, running into a shiny Glameow only to scare it away moments later. Azoth_Magnum had just happened to save seconds before the encounter, and, on a whim, tried restoring from the save. Lo and behold, the shiny Glameow was there to greet them as if it had never been scared away in the first place, giving them another chance to capture it.

This new encounter system has more implications than solely shiny hunting. If you’re looking for a particular Pokémon with specific stats, for example, saving ahead of time can ensure you get more chances to capture it. However, I can imagine those looking for shinies will get a lot of use out of this quirk.

Here’s another tip from the comments of that Reddit post: Turn off the game’s default autosave feature if you’re going shiny hunting. That way, you can save manually before running into an area without worrying the game will autosave after you lose a shiny.

For more tips on shiny hunting in Legends: Arceus, including how to increase the shiny appearance rate as well as where to look for shinies, definitely check out Austin John Play’s video.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/ieHW8fTkZ

Add Outdoor Space to Your Home With a DIY Roof Deck

Photo: Artazum (Shutterstock)

Outdoor space is always a good thing in a home. No matter how nice your interiors are, human beings are animals, and as such, we are meant to roam free with the wind in our hair. While typical suburban homes often have a sizeable backyard, and some rural homes come with plenty of acreage to enjoy, the more urban your environment, the less likely you’ve got access to an expansive outdoor space. You might not have any outdoor space at all.

If that’s the case—or if you just want a nice bit of private outdoor space to enjoy—consider your roof. Roof decks can be great additions to your home, adding extra space to sunbathe, do yoga, host cocktails, or start a planter garden (or all of the above). The benefits of a roof deck go beyond just gaining some usable space—they can also be very private and peaceful, and they can increase the value of your home.

You might think that installing a roof deck is an expensive project requiring expert contractors, but depending on the type of roof you’re working with, it doesn’t have to be. Here’s how you can add a DIY roof deck to your home without going broke—or stressing yourself out.

Do your due diligence

If you want to avoid being forced to actually read the fine print of your homeowner’s insurance policy, there’s some due diligence you need to do before embarking on a DIY roof deck project:

• Hire an engineer. Most flat roofs are definitely not engineered to handle the load of a roof deck along with several people standing on it. Your first step should be hiring a pro to inspect your roof to determine if it’s capable of handling the loads, or if it can be augmented to handle them. And don’t assume that an existing deck means you’re okay unless you know for a fact that the previous owner did their due diligence.
• Check the material. Flat roofs can be made with different materials. Ideally, you want a rubber roof with a smooth surface—a roof with gravel means your deck will push the gravel down into the membrane, potentially puncturing it and ruining your waterproofing. And if your roof is covered with terracotta tiles or something similarly brittle, you most like won’t be able to pull this off at all.
• Check your codes. Finally, roof decks may run into all manner of local building codes, HOA rules, and other regulations. Check on this thoroughly before you’re forced to remove a brand-new deck.
• Delivery. Building a roof deck requires you to bring a lot of very heavy and awkwardly-sized material up to the roof. Check to see if your hardware supplier can deliver your materials via crane, dropping them right on the roof for you. Unless you’re that weirdo who thinks carrying a hundred pieces of wood up three flights of stairs is just wholesome exercise.

Consider the type of roof

Saying you have a “flat roof” isn’t very specific—or accurate. All flat roofs have a pitch, which is why the water drains off of them. The pitch is typically subtle, but it’ll be there, so you’ll need to determine the pitch of your roof so you can factor it into your deck construction.

The ideal roof for a DIY deck is one with an existing railing or parapet walls. These are the “half” walls that run around the perimeter of the roof. If the roof you’re eyeing for a deck is one of these, you may not have to install railings (which are not only a good idea but almost certainly required by code) and you can easily drop a “floating” deck into place (see below). If your roof isn’t bordered by parapet walls, you’ll need to factor in the installation of a railing around the edge.

You can DIY a deck on a non-flat roof, and it’s not that difficult—but it’s a little more challenging and a lot less safe. You do you, but most folks will be much happier and safer on a flat roof.

Consider the type of deck

Once you’ve selected your spot, assuming you’ve got parapet walls or railings installed, there are a couple of different approaches to a DIY roof deck.

• Mats, tiles, turf. The easiest thing to do is to just purchase some rubber mats or plastic tiles that snap together and drop them into place, or cut a piece of outdoor carpet or artificial grass to fit. This sort of deck can be completed in under an hour and gives you a nice surface to walk on without any construction necessary.
• Floating deck. A step up from rubber mats is to build an actual deck. This will involve lumber and other materials but isn’t difficult. You’ll need sleepers—these are typically 2-by-6 pieces of pressure-treated wood that are laid flat on the roof. Placing some pieces of rubber or other roofing material under them is a good idea, and you will likely need to adjust them for the roof pitch by either ripping (cutting) them down at the appropriate angle or building up the material under them gradually so they are level. You’ll need to lay the sleepers 16 inches apart on center, and make sure they run parallel with the slope of your roof—otherwise, they’ll block water drainage, and you’ll have a big problem.
• Pedestal deck system. An alternative to wood sleepers is a pedestal deck system like those made by Bison Innovative Products. Depending on the size of your roof, this option can be a bit more expensive, but the adjustable nature of the pedestals makes it easier to get a level roof. Instead of sleepers, depending on the system, you’ll attach pressure-treated framing wood to the pedestals or pre-fabricated decking modules. For deck boards, your cheapest option is pressure-treated boards, which you can find at any big-box hardware store or lumber yard. Pressure-treated wood will last you anywhere from 10 to 20 years, depending on the weather conditions, and is easy to cut and install. Alternatively, you can use composite decking like Trex. This material is a mixture of wood and plastic and basically will never rot, making it a more expensive but much longer-lasting material that’s generally as easy to use as wood.

If you have a deep, flat roof with high parapet walls, the deck’s weight is probably all you need to hold it in place—no need to penetrate the waterproofing or attach the deck. If your roof doesn’t have parapet walls or you’re concerned about holding your floating deck in place (or if building code requires it), you’ll need to anchor your sleepers to the roof by penetrating the membrane and then sealing over the screws with a polyurethane caulking (note: not latex or silicone caulking), or by attaching a header to the house and attaching your sleepers to that.

This might sound complicated, but it’s a one- or two-day job, depending on your roof—and then a decade or more of enjoying a fabulous outdoor space and feeling literally superior to your neighbors.

  

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/iIG1mdLCY

How to Open the Most Stubborn Jars, Even If You Have Weak Noodle Arms

Photo: Alliance Images (Shutterstock)

We’ve all been psyched to dig into some Kosher baby dills or fresh jam, but after twisting, grunting, and vowing I will not ask for help, I can do this myself, we realize our meager hands aren’t cutting it. Many of us reach for a silicone grip, a jar-opening kitchen gadget, or try to create friction with a dish towel. If these methods fail though, you should turn to one of these clever approaches that may not be in your standard repertoire.

Improve your grip with rubber (or an open hand)

Of course, if the lid or your hands are damp, it’s a non-starter. After drying them off, the obvious next step is to use the dish towel (or a piece of grippy silicone) to help increase your grip power. But failing those, you can try any number of other rubbery aids, from plastic wrap and rubber dish gloves to placing a thick rubber band around the lid. Any of them will improve your grip. You can also try using an open hand grip—which looks hard, not gonna lie.

Try some (strategic) lid banging

Many articles suggest you tap on the top and sides of the lid with a “wooden spoon” to break the seal. Which sounds well and good—but have you tried “tapping” the lid up against the nearest counter edge repeatedly (while spinning the jar so the lid is equally tapped all around)? It requires finesse and self-control—we’re not suggesting a lid-banging massacre—but as an inveterate counter banger, we can recommend this careful-yet-firmly-executed contact.

Break the seal with a knife or spoon

If you’ve already tried the “water hammer” method (slapping the base of the jar with an open palm) to no effect, it’s time to bring in some utensils. Insert a butter knife, spoon, bottle opener, or flat-head screwdriver underneath the rim of the lid and move it slowly around, using it as a lever to pry the lid away from the jar. When it pops, the seal’s been broken, and you can twist it off easily.

Heat up the jar lid

Heat serves to expand the lid making it less tight—running the lid under a steady stream of hot water or placing it upside down in a bowl of hot (not boiling) water for 30-60 seconds can do the trick. You can also opt to toast it with your hair dryer, but don’t use your bare hand to open the heat-blasted metal lid—use gloves or a hand towel as a barrier before opening. (This approach will also melt sticky stuff that may be keeping an already opened jar sealed shut).

Make a duct tape handle

If nothing else works, could it be time to swallow your pride and ask a housemate to step in? No, of course not—it’s time to make a tape handle. For this (unorthodox) option, tear a piece of duct tape about eight inches long, and stick a few inches of it on the top, tucking some under the lid. Fold the remaining tape in half to create a “handle.” Rotate the jar so the handle forms a 90 degree angle with the tape on the lid. Holding the jar steady with your non-dominant hand, pull the handle with your dominant hand. (Have that dish towel nearby, because the force of pulling it off this way can create a mess.) Then enjoy your victory pickles. Because nevertheless, you persisted.

 

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/NfbSJ7ed8

You Might Be Storing Your At-Home COVID Tests Wrong

Photo: Ink Drop (Shutterstock)

Whether you’re waiting for your free at-home COVID-19 tests from the government to arrive in the mail, or you’ve already stocked up and have a few sitting around, you should know that how—and more importantly, where—you store these rapid tests matters.

Though there may be some slight variation between the different brands of rapid tests, storing them at temperatures above or below a certain range can make the tests less effective. But this isn’t like taking slightly expired acetaminophen that might not work quite as well as it did when you first bought it: Given their purpose, at-home COVID tests need to be effective.

How temperature affects at-home COVID-19 tests

In order to produce the most accurate results, at-home COVID-19 tests should be stored at room temperature. Check the instructions that come with the test to get specific details, but generally speaking, “room temperature” ranges between 68 and 74 degrees Fahrenheit.

This may sound obvious, and like something you would do anyway, but depending on where you live and how you get the tests, there are a few other temperature-related factors to consider:

Hot temperatures

Exposure to hot temperatures can permanently damage chemicals and sensitive proteins used in rapid COVID tests, compromising their effectiveness, Dr. Amy Mathers, associate professor of medicine and pathology and associate director of clinical microbiology at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, told NBC’s TODAY Show.

Cold temperatures

At-home COVID tests fare a little better in colder temperatures, Mathers says—as long as the liquids in the test kit don’t freeze. Just be sure to bring them back up to room temperature before taking a test, and store any remaining tests at room temperature for future use.

How to keep at-home COVID tests at the right temperature

While the tests should be stored and used at room temperature, if they temporarily end up in temperatures between 35 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit, they should still be salvageable, says Dr. Omai Garner, associate clinical professor and director of clinical microbiology at UCLA Health. But that’s where the flexibility ends: “The box shouldn’t get outside of those temperatures—even temporarily,” he explains.

This means taking into consideration how they’re getting to, and where they end up in your home.

Transit/delivery

If your tests are being delivered to your home, use the tracking information provided for the shipment so you know when the package is supposed to arrive. Then, bring it in from outside as soon as possible so it doesn’t sit in your mailbox or on your front steps exposed to extreme temperatures.

Along the same lines, if you’re purchasing the tests locally, don’t leave them in your car (or the trunk of your car). A few minutes here and there between other errands is one thing, but avoid leaving the tests in there for hours, or overnight.

At home

Some parts of your home are warmer and cooler than others, so keep that in mind when storing your at-home COVID tests. For example, if you have a closet you use for storage that is also where your hot water heater lives, find another place for your tests. The same goes for a cabinets or other storage areas near heaters, vents, or other sources of heat. You also want to pick a spot that isn’t humid or damp, like an unfinished basement or garage, or a poorly ventilated bathroom.

And in case you haven’t ordered yours yet, you can do so by following the directions on this page of the USPS website. You can get additional information on the program and how to take at-home COVID tests from the government’s new website COVIDtests.gov, or from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest self-testing guidance.

   

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/NZroq3eln

How Much PDA Is Too Much PDA?

Photo: AJR_photo (Shutterstock)

Public displays of affection have long been a touchy topic, pun intended. Some people just have handsy, exhibitionist tendencies while others are horrified by the idea of copping any type of feel in public. Since the world has opened up post-lockdowns—with a few starts and stops along the way—and we have reemerged into restaurants, workplaces, and event venues after months stuck indoors, the line between appropriate and inappropriate out-of-home behavior got a little blurry.

So, how much PDA is too much PDA? It depends where you are.

How much PDA is too much PDA at work?

Any PDA is too much PDA at work. Sorry, those are the rules.

If your partner stops by your office with lunch, maybe a quick peck is okay. No lingering. No tongue. Work is a professional place. If you happen to be dating a coworker, read this existing guide to how to pull it off while ruffling as few feathers as possible. The gist of it is this: Don’t do anything too affectionate at work, for a variety of reasons. Whether your colleagues know about your inter-office romance or not, it’s not a good look.

Of course, if you’re one of those who are still working from home amid the pandemic or your workplace gives you more freedom to pick and choose in-house days, displays of affection between you and your mate might not fall under the public category at all. You can smooch all day as long as you’re not in a Zoom meeting, but try to set some boundaries so you get a little work done. Having personal rules for when and where you show affection is helpful even when you’re not trying to navigate those hot and heavy honeymoon-phase days on your first few outings as a couple. Now, maybe more than ever, keeping a little structure in your life is key.

How much PDA is too much PDA in front of family?

Only you know your family and what will fly in front of them. Have you ever seen an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians? That family talks about their sex lives all the time with no problem. The sisters have even waxed one another. There are few barriers with families like that, while for other families, it can be a scandal if an adult child has their adult partner stay in the same room with them during a trip home to visit their parents.

Each family has its own unique tolerance for affection and sexuality, so before you go publicly displaying yours, think back on what you’ve experienced in the past. If “the talk” was miserable—or impossible—for your parents, they might be horrified if you kiss your boo in their house. Consider, too, what messages you’re trying to give your kids about physical touching.

“I grew up where my parents didn’t show much PDA,” said Krista M., a 29-year-old hairstylist in the Midwest. “Like, I’ve seen them kiss twice in my 29 years of life. But my boyfriend and I kiss and hug at home in front of our kids all the time. I think a little bit here and there is fine, as long as you aren’t full blown making out on your parents’ couch at age 30 on Christmas or something.”

Consider the setting, too. There is a difference between an at-home dinner at your mom’s place, your cousin’s wedding, and your grandma’s 85th birthday bash. Don’t steal anyone’s thunder or cause a scene, even when you want to show off to that nosy aunt that yes, you finally did find someone, so she can quit asking when you’re going to.

How much PDA is too much PDA in a public place?

Here is where you can cut loose a little bit! People get touchy-feely at the bar all the time. Depending on what kind of bar you’re at, you can probably get to second base if you want, but you probably still shouldn’t. Context matters here, of course. An upscale wine bar isn’t the spot for full-on canoodling, but a dive bar might be more appropriate.

Movie theaters have long been the go-to destination of PDA seekers because they’re dark and quiet. Relive your high school days by getting a little action at a matinee. That seems safe enough.

Of course, put yourself in someone else’s shoes. You probably wouldn’t be offended by seeing someone hold hands, kiss a little, or do that uncomfortable walk-and-embrace thing that really only works when both people are the same height. All of that is fine. You might, however, be alarmed to see someone sticking their tongue down another person’s throat in the mall food court. Use your judgment.

“Too much PDA in a public space is a little subjective, I feel like,” said Melissa Porcaro, a 27-year-old Floridian. “I’d expect to see a little bit more PDA at the bar than I would at the mall or the restaurant. I think it would also be more expected to see PDA from younger, high-school aged kids at the mall, since that’s probably one of the only places they’re allowed to go. ‘Too much’ PDA starts with anything in pants, in my opinion. Keep your hands visible and there will be no problems!”

If you absolutely must get some smooches in, wait until no one is looking, until you get back to the car, or until you find a more secluded area of the park, mall, or venue you’re at. One trick is to save all your groping for your final goodbye. People tend to be more forgiving of PDA if you and your partner part ways afterward.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/kSLTlfNZm

Cybersecurity staff turnover and burnout: How worried should organizations be?

The heightened risk of cyberattacks on businesses is being compounded by significant recruitment and retention issues within cybersecurity teams, making businesses more vulnerable to potential attacks, according to a research from ThreatConnect.

With the number of data breaches in 2021 soaring past that of 2020, there is added pressure on cybersecurity teams to keep businesses secure. The research has found a concerning level of staff turnover, skills shortages, burnout, and low staff morale, pointing towards depleted reserves trying to manage the growing risk.

Cybersecurity teams recruitment and retention issues

• Senior decision-makers across the US report an average security staff turnover rate of 20%.
• 64% of senior decision-makers have seen a rise in turnover over the past year.
• 43% of US respondents attribute a lack of skills as the biggest barrier for recruitment.
• 1 in 5 US respondents are considering quitting their jobs in the next six months.
• 57% of US respondents have experienced an increase in stress over the past six months.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created what many are calling the Great Resignation, which has affected all industries for the past two years. Employees, specifically those in the security industry, are now being expected to do more with less.

Cybercrime has increased significantly over the past year, making digital protection for businesses both more important and more difficult to achieve. Companies cannot afford to lose any security team members with cybercrime increasing so rapidly.

“In today’s digital ecosystem it is crucial that security employees receive adequate training, support, and resources needed to work efficiently in their jobs,” said Adam Vincent, CEO of ThreatConnect. “As employee turnover increases in this sector, it creates a vicious cycle that impacts a company’s performance and ability to mitigate cyber risks.”

“This makes it even more difficult for security teams to fulfill the company’s needs. Organizations must look at these numbers and recognize that there is more that can be done to protect their employees and in turn, the welfare of their company.”

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/wRe8fcG6v

How costly is an insider threat?

Proofpoint released a report to identify the costs and trends associated with negligent, compromised, and malicious insiders. Notably, on average, impacted organizations spent $15.4 million annually on overall insider threat remediation and took 85 days to contain each incident.

The report, conducted by Ponemon Institute, surveyed over 1,000 IT and IT security practitioners across North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Each organization included in the study experienced one or more material events caused by an insider.

The report reveals that over the last two years, the frequency and costs associated with insider threats have increased dramatically across all three insider threat categories, including: careless or negligent employees/contractors, criminal or malicious insiders, and cybercriminal credential theft.

“Months of sustained remote and hybrid working leading up to “The Great Resignation” has resulted in an increased risk around insider threat incidents, as people leave organizations and take data with them,” said Ryan Kalember, EVP of cybersecurity strategy at Proofpoint.

“In addition, organizational insiders, including employees, contractors, and third-party vendors, are an attractive attack vector for cybercriminals due to their far-reaching access to critical systems, data, and infrastructure. With people now the new perimeter, we recommend layered defenses, including a dedicated insider threat management solution and strong security awareness training, to provide the best protection against these types of risks.”

Insider threat costs and trends

• Organizations impacted by insider threats spent an average of $15.4 million annually—that’s up 34 percent from $11.45 million in 2020.
• The overall number of incidents has increased by a staggering 44 percent in just two years. The frequency of incidents per company has also gone up with 67 percent of companies experiencing between 21 and more than 40 incidents per year, up from 60 percent in 2020.
• The negligent insider is the root cause of most incidents. 56% of reported insider threat incidents were the result of a careless employee or contractor, costing on average $484,931 per incident. This could be the result of a variety of factors, including not ensuring their devices are secured, not following the company’s security policy, or forgetting to patch and upgrade.
• Malicious or criminal insiders were behind 26% of incidents at an average cost per incident of $648,062. Malicious insiders are employees or authorized individuals who use their data access for harmful, unethical, or illegal activities. Because employees are increasingly granted access to more information to enhance productivity in today’s work-from-anywhere workforce, malicious insiders are harder to detect than external attackers or hackers.
• Credential theft incidents have almost doubled since the last study. At an average of $804,997 per incident, credential theft is the costliest to remediate. The intent of the credential thief is to steal users’ credentials that will grant them access to critical data and information. A total of an average 1,247 incidents (or 18%) involved cybercriminals stealing credentials.
• The time to contain an insider incident increased from the last study. It takes an average of nearly three months (85 days) to contain an insider incident up from 77 days in the previous study. Incidents that took more than 90 days to contain cost organizations $17.19 million on an annualized basis, while incidents that lasted less than 30 days cost an average of $11.23 million.

Financial services and professional services have the highest average activity costs. The average activity cost for financial services is $21.25 million and professional services is $18.65 million. Service organizations represent a wide range of companies including accounting, consultancy, and professional service firms.

Organizational size affects the cost per incident. The cost of incidents varies according to organizational size. Large organizations with a headcount of more than 75,000 spent an average of $22.68 million over the past year to resolve insider-related incidents. To deal with the consequences of an insider incident, smaller-sized organizations with a headcount below 500 spent an average of $8.13 million.

North American companies are spending more than the average cost on activities that deal with insider threats. The total average cost of activities to resolve insider threats over a 12-month period is $15.4 million. Companies in North America experienced the highest total cost at $17.53 million. European companies had the next highest cost at $15.44 million.

Five signs that your organization is at risk

• Employees are not trained to fully understand and apply laws, mandates, or regulatory requirements related to their work and that affect the organization’s security.
• Employees are unaware of the steps they should take to ensure that the devices they use—both company issued and BYOD—are secured at all times.
• Employees are sending highly confidential data to an unsecured location in the cloud, exposing the organization to risk.
• Employees break your organization’s security policies to simplify tasks.
• Employees expose your organization to risk if they do not keep devices and services patched and upgraded to the latest versions.

Dr. Larry Ponemon, Chairman and Founder of the Ponemon Institute commented: “Insider threats continue to climb, both in frequency and remediation cost. That said, we are seeing the risk of malicious insider threats increase – with more users accessing business data from outside the confines of the office. This can blur the security team’s ability to identify and differentiate between well-meaning employees, and malicious insiders trying to siphon sensitive business data.”

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/BCqtijEr8

Number of data compromises reaching all-time high

According to an Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) report, the overall number of data compromises (1,862) is up more than 68 percent compared to 2020.

The new record number of data compromises is 23 percent over the previous all-time high (1,506) set in 2017. The number of data events that involved sensitive information (Ex: Social Security numbers) increased slightly compared to 2020 (83 percent vs. 80 percent). However, it remained well below the previous high of 95 percent set in 2017.

The number of victims continues to decrease (down five (5) percent in 2021 compared to the previous year) as identity criminals focus more on specific data types rather than mass data acquisition. However, the number of consumers whose data was compromised multiple times per year remains alarmingly high.

Other findings

• Ransomware-related data breaches have doubled in each of the past two years. At the current rate, ransomware attacks will surpass phishing as the number one root cause of data compromises in 2022.
• There were more cyberattack-related data compromises (1,603) in 2021 than all data compromises in 2020 (1,108).
• Compromises increased year-over-year (YoY) in every primary sector but one – Military – where there were no data breaches publicly disclosed. The Manufacturing & Utilities sector saw the largest percentage increase in data compromises at 217 percent over 2020.
• The number of data breach notices that do not reveal the root cause of a compromise (607) has grown by more than 190 percent since 2020.

“In 2021, we saw a shift in the identity crime space,” said Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “Too many people found themselves in between criminals and organizations that hold consumer information. We may look back at 2021 as the year when we moved from the era of identity theft to identity fraud.

“The number of breaches in 2021 was alarming. Many of the cyberattacks committed were highly sophisticated and complex, requiring aggressive defenses to prevent them. If those defenses failed, too often we saw an inadequate level of transparency for consumers to protect themselves from identity fraud.”

“There is no reason to believe the level of data compromises will suddenly decline in 2022. As organizations of all sizes struggle to defend the data they hold, it is essential that everyone practice good cyber-hygiene to protect themselves and their loved ones from these crimes.”

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/dGn479azw

Manufacturing firms turning to the cloud to increase their business agility

European manufacturing firms are embracing cloud-based technologies and services to accelerate their go-to-market plans and improve digital marketing efforts, according to an Information Services Group (ISG) report.

The report finds manufacturers on the continent also looking to the cloud to enable direct-to-consumer business models.

“Manufacturers in Europe are turning to the cloud to increase their business agility,” said Christian Decker, EMEA partner, ISG Smart Manufacturing. “And they are turning to manufacturing services providers to help them create new reference architectures and bring resiliency to their operations.”

In addition, manufacturing firms want service providers to help them establish robust configuration management databases and leverage automated testing, including shift-left techniques, the report says.

Looking for more transparency into their supply chains

The report also sees the manufacturing industry in Europe looking to revamp its supply chain infrastructure by using predictive models. Manufacturers are looking for more transparency into their supply chains following shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In some cases, companies are using AI for client or customer forecasts.

A chip shortage across all industries, meanwhile, is a challenge for the European automotive industry, which uses older chip designs, the report says. Fabrication facilities (fabs) are available for 3 and 5nm nodes, which are applicable for servers and mobile and laptop processors, but there’s a shortage of 28, 40 and 65nm fabs to make chips used by automakers.

Most of the new fab investments are directed towards new nodes and there is an ever-increasing demand from medical, industrial, and automotive verticals. The automotive industry may face chip shortages until 2023, when it may begin using more high-performance parts.

Automobile manufacturers working to scale up their EV infrastructure

Another trend among automakers in Europe is a focus making more electric vehicles, the report says. Automobile manufacturers are working to scale up their electric vehicle infrastructure, which is now taking precedence over autonomous driving technologies. Many auto manufacturers in Europe have announced plans to end sales of gas-powered vehicles, but they face several challenges before realizing these ambitions.

Manufacturers of industrial and off-highway vehicles, meanwhile, are looking for ways to optimize their outputs, the report says. Many of these companies are focused on integrating their manufacturing shopfloors across agriculture, construction and heavy vehicles. They are also integrating many layers of automation.

The report also sees many European manufacturers looking for custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) instead of traditional, complex processes and systems on chips. With the rapid adoption of the IoT and edge computing, companies are integrating multiple sensors on the edge to deliver powerful and intelligent end-to-end systems. Even mid-sized companies are considering developing their own custom ASICs.

In response, service providers have evolved their offerings from conventional design and validation to multiple stages of ASICs. Some service providers are developing smaller and less complex ASICs through turnkey development engagements for clients that are new to this space.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/xuTolzIBP

Cloud infrastructure spending jumped to $18.6B in 3Q21

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud infrastructure, including dedicated and shared environments, increased 6.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2021 (3Q21) to $18.6 billion.

This increase resumes the trend of net positive year-over-year spending growth per quarter, which saw a pause in the second quarter of 2021 when spend decreased 1.9%. This follows seven quarters of year-over-year spending growth that started in 3Q19, highlighted by 38.4% growth in 2Q20 as the first global pandemic wave led to business and country closures causing a spike in investments in cloud services and infrastructure.

Investments in non-cloud infrastructure rising

Investments in non-cloud infrastructure increased 7.3% year over year in 3Q21 to $14.6 billion, the third consecutive quarter to see an increase in year-over-year spend after a period of declining spending that started in 2Q19.

Spending on shared cloud infrastructure reached $13 billion, an increase of 8.6% compared to 3Q20, and a 6.6% increase from the previous quarter. This continues a trend of year-over-year growth since 4Q19, interrupted in the previous quarter (2Q21) by comparison to an exceptionally strong 2Q20 that saw spending increase 55.1% driven by the spike in demand for public cloud services in the first months of the pandemic.

IDC expects to see continuously strong demand for shared cloud infrastructure with spending surpassing non-cloud infrastructure spending in 2022. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure increased 13.4% year over year in 3Q21 to $5.6 billion, the highest year-over-year increase since 1Q19 with 45.5% of this amount deployed on customer premises. Spending on cloud environments will continue to outpace non-cloud spending throughout its forecast.

For the full year 2021, cloud infrastructure spending is expected to grow 8.3% compared to 2020 to $71.8 billion, while non-cloud infrastructure is expected to grow 1.9% to $58.4 billion after two years of declines. Shared cloud infrastructure is expected to grow by 7.2% year over year to $49.7 billion for the full year. Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure is expected to grow 10.7% to $22.2 billion for the full year.

The service provider category includes cloud service providers, digital service providers, communications service providers, and managed service providers. In 3Q21, service providers as a group spent $18.9 billion on compute and storage infrastructure, up 10.2% from 3Q20 and up 6.7% from 2Q21. This spending accounted for 57.1% of the total compute and storage infrastructure market. Compute and storage spending by service providers is expected to reach $72.6 billion for 2021, growing 7.4% compared to 2020.

Cloud infrastructure spending by region

At the regional level, year-over-year spending on cloud infrastructure increased with the level of growth varying across regions. The Asia/Pacific subregions, Canada, and the Europe subregions saw double-digit growth in spending, while Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and the United States saw more moderate single-digit increases in spending.

The Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan and China) showed the strongest year-over-year increase in cloud infrastructure spending in 3Q21 at 64.3% while the U.S. recorded the weakest growth at 1.1%. For the full year, spending on cloud infrastructure is expected to increase across all regions compared to 2020, particularly in Asia/Pacific regions (excluding Japan), Canada, and Central & Eastern Europe. The United States is expected to show only marginal year-over-year growth of 0.4%.

Long term, spending on compute and storage cloud infrastructure is expected to have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.4% over the 2020-2025 forecast period, reaching $118.8 billion in 2025 and accounting for 67.0% of total compute and storage infrastructure spend. Shared cloud infrastructure will account for 70.9% of this amount, growing at a 12.7% CAGR.

Spending on dedicated cloud infrastructure will grow at a CAGR of 11.5%. Spending on non-cloud infrastructure will rebound in 2021 but will flatten out at a CAGR of 0.5%, reaching $58.6 billion in 2025. Spending by service providers on compute and storage infrastructure is expected to grow at a 1.3% CAGR, reaching $115.4 billion in 2025.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/tQTLxNMsJ

IT leadership appointments: Arkose Labs, IDEMIA NSS, McAfee, Seagate, Transmit Security, and Zenoss

Here’s a selection of recent prominent IT leadership appointments. The featured executives are: Brett Johnson, Chris Pick, Gee Rittenhouse, Patrick Clancey, Trent Fitz, and Yolanda Lee Conyers.

Arkose Labs appoints Brett Johnson as Chief Criminal Officer

“We have a clear and distinct objective – to increase the costs of attacks so that they aren’t worth the resources bad actors are putting into them. To that end, fresh intelligence is key, and Brett’s expertise is in identifying and collecting that type of information,” said said Arkose Labs Founder and CEO Kevin Gosschalk.

Chris Pick joins Transmit Security as CMO

“People re-use passwords, forget them, choose weak ones, and write them on piles of sticky notes. It’s time we move the entire industry past the password problem, and I joined Transmit Security because it has the team, vision and vast resources to do so,” said Chris Pick.

IDEMIA NSS appoints Patrick Clancey as CEO

“Patrick Clancey is a leading biometrics and digital identity subject matter expert and will help position NSS for its exponential growth in the years to come. He brings a track record of accomplishment and a reputation for leadership and integrity that will enable NSS to continue to serve its customers at the highest levels,” said David Langstaff, Chairman of the NSS Board of Directors.

STG appoints Gee Rittenhouse as CEO of McAfee Enterprise

“Gee Rittenhouse is a proven technology leader with a distinguished track record of innovation, talent development, and a deep knowledge of cloud security. We’re excited to partner with him in leading a separate entity focused on this very distinct customer problem,” said William Chisholm, STG Co-founder and managing partner.

Yolanda Lee Conyers joins Seagate Board of Directors

“Yolanda is a highly regarded global human resource leader with expertise in organizational and leadership development, cultural integration and building diverse talent pipelines. Her extensive knowledge and broad technology industry expertise will be a strong addition to Seagate’s board and support our efforts to cultivate a more diverse and inclusive workforce to drive successful business outcomes,” said said Mike Cannon, Seagate’s Board Chair.

Trent Fitz joins Zenoss as CMO

“Trent Fitz is a subject matter expert who can skillfully communicate our vision, culture and innovation to customers, partners and the industry,” said Greg Stock, chairman and CEO of Zenoss.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/xymqITbnr

How to Melt Ice Without Salt

Photo: Nancy Bauer (Shutterstock)

After any winter storm comes the time when you have to get out from under the blanket, and head outside to take care of your sidewalks and/or driveway. Clearing the snow away is one part of the job, but once the rest of the snow starts to melt when the sun comes out during the day—and then freezes again when temperatures drop at night—you can find yourself with some very slick walkways.

Whether you don’t have rock salt or ice melt on hand, or you’d prefer not to use either, there are other options out there to help melt icy pavement. Here are a few to consider.

Rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and hot water

No ice melt? No problem. This DIY solution is not only simple and effective, but it’s made using stuff you probably already have at home. Here’s what to do:

1. Fill a bucket with a half-gallon of hot water.
2. Add around six drops of dish soap and ¼ cup of rubbing alcohol.
3. Pour the mixture onto your sidewalk or driveway, and watch the snow and ice bubble up and melt.
4. Grab a shovel and scrape away any remaining chunks of ice.

Coffee grounds

We’re big proponents of repurposing coffee grounds instead of throwing them out, and this is another example. That’s because coffee grounds contain nitrogen, which helps lower the melting point of ice. They have a secondary function too: Because coffee grounds are dark in color, they absorb more sunlight than lighter-colored materials—like snow, ice, and rock salt—which may help speed up the melting process.

Fertilizer

If you happen to have some fertilizer leftover from this year’s gardening season, you can try using that to melt driveway ice. The key here is reading the label and keeping an eye out for three key ingredients: Ammonium sulfate, potassium chloride, and urea. That’s because like rock salt, these compounds lower the melting point of ice. But unlike rock salt, it won’t damage your driveway or yard.

Sand

Although sand doesn’t actually melt ice, it does provide pedestrians and vehicles with some much-needed traction on slippery pavement. Plus, the layer of sand helps reduce the chances of more water freezing on the surface, creating more ice. This is thanks, in part, to the fact that like coffee grounds, sand absorbs more sunlight (and, in turn, heat), raising temperatures on your sidewalk or driveway.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/wKauLk0Pg

How to Keep Your Dog or Cat Safe From Coyotes

Photo: Matt Knoth (Shutterstock)

Though we may associate coyotes with the desert, or the mountains—or wherever roadrunners live—there’s a good chance they’re in or near your area. It doesn’t matter whether you live in the suburbs, the country, or even in a city, because coyotes are quite adaptable and can make their home in a variety of climates.

And don’t think that just because you haven’t seen a coyote in your own backyard that you live in a coyote-free zone. According to the Humane Society of the United States, the reason we typically don’t see coyotes in our area is because they tend to only come out at night to hunt small critters like mice, voles, and rabbits.

But, they can also easily make a meal out of a cat or smaller dog. If your local TV news channel does a segment on coyote sightings, that’s probably what happened. Here’s how to keep your dog or cat safe from coyotes (and the local news).

Don’t let them out at night without you

As the Humane Society notes, the best way to keep your dog or cat safe from coyotes is not to let them go outside without being there to watch them—especially at night.

Be extra careful during mating season

As it turns out, there’s typically a spike in coyote sightings at this time of year. That’s because coyote breeding season starts in the middle of January and lasts through the end of February. So, right now.

“As animals are going through their breeding courtship and being territorial, they tend to be more visible as they’re moving around with their mates,” Brett Beatty, the supervisor for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources-Division of Wildlife Wildlife Management, told WCPO.

Don’t leave your pet’s food outside

If your pet has the option of dining al fresco, be sure to bring their food and water dishes inside at night. Otherwise, you’re basically welcoming the coyotes into your yard for a snack, and chances are, they’ll be back.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/nLGoHP8cq

NEC Corporation acquires Blue Danube Systems to enhance its 5G product portfolio

Blue Danube Systems announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by NEC Corporation. The deal is expected to close around March of 2022, pending regulatory approval.

Blue Danube has successfully demonstrated its Coherent Massive MIMO 5G beamforming technology in numerous trials around the world, delivering up to 3X capacity increases with first generation software in commercial mobile networks using existing mobile phones. Deploying Coherent Massive MIMO together with autonomous AI/ML beam optimization software, mobile network operators can economically improve overall multi-site performance in both FDD and TDD bands.

Blue Danube’s technology has been demonstrated not only to improve network capacity, but also to greatly improve coverage, for instance avoiding new sites at higher frequency bands and cost-effectively providing 5G user experience to rural communities. Blue Danube’s products have been in commercial service for over 5 years, are compatible with both 4G and 5G baseband processing and have proven to be reliable over a wide range of deployment scenarios and environmental conditions.

Mark Pinto, CEO of Blue Danube, said, “We are excited about joining the NEC team that is an Open RAN leader and recognized for its end-to-end Open 5G solutions and system integration capabilities. Becoming part of NEC enables Blue Danube to expand our 5G product offerings, and together we will bring ever more powerful hardware and software products based on O-RAN specifications to customers worldwide.”

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/HKkI8ECFu

Okta appoints Brett Tighe as CFO

Okta announced that Brett Tighe, Okta’s interim Chief Financial Officer, has been appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately.

“Brett has been a key member of the finance organization since joining Okta nearly seven years ago, and a great partner to me and the executive team,” said Todd McKinnon, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Okta. “Since stepping into the interim CFO role last year, he has been instrumental in driving us towards achieving our financial and operational goals. We look forward to Brett’s continued success and leadership at Okta in the years to come.”

Before becoming interim CFO in June 2021, Tighe served as Okta’s Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer. Prior to joining Okta in 2015, Tighe spent nearly 11 years with growing responsibilities in the finance organization at Salesforce. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of San Francisco, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“Okta is an exceptional organization with a unique opportunity to become an iconic cloud company,” said Tighe. “I am thrilled to take on this role, and look forward to continuing to execute on our strategic and established financial goals, including reaching $4 billion in revenue and a 20% free cash flow margin in fiscal 2026. The company is on a fantastic trajectory.”

As CFO, Tighe will lead Okta’s global finance organization and will be responsible for accounting, financial planning and analysis, internal audit, investor relations, tax, and treasury.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/7txrAS4kR

Airspan hires Glenn Laxdal as President and COO

Airspan, a U.S.-based provider of disruptive software and hardware for 5G networks, has hired Glenn Laxdal as President and Chief Operating Officer.

Overseeing the Company’s Operations, Customer Service and Product Management divisions, along with the Broadband Mimosa division, Glenn will be responsible for accelerating and executing the company’s revenue and growth strategy.

Laxdal is a senior technology executive with over 25 years of global experience in the wireless, software and computing industries, most recently at Infinera. He has also held senior leadership positions at Ericsson, Blackberry, and Nortel. Laxdal has an established track record of attracting, recruiting and advising senior leadership teams and has led global businesses driving profitability and long-term value.

“Bringing on the right leaders with the ability and experience to execute on our aggressive plans is a critical component of our strategy for long-term, sustainable growth,” said Airspan CEO Eric Stonestrom. “Glenn has deep expertise in RAN, working with mobile network operators and understanding the needs of enterprises. He and the other executives who have recently joined the Airspan team are some of the best talent in the industry. They are all focused on accelerating our plans to grow revenue and market share to take advantage of the tremendous market opportunities for 5G, Open RAN, Private Networks and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions.”

“Airspan is a global leader in 5G networks, wireless broadband, WiFi solutions, and related software and automation capabilities,” said Laxdal. “I am excited by the opportunity to build on that foundation, intensify our customer focus and grow our solutions to capitalize on the emerging growth opportunities.”

In addition to hiring Laxdal, long-time Airspan executive Uzi Shalev has been appointed Chief Technology Officer and will continue to lead the company’s R&D operations.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/asE48O5DB

Zadara appoints Tony Craythorne as CRO

Zadara announced that Tony Craythorne has joined the company’s leadership team as chief revenue officer (CRO).

An experienced executive with more than 25 years in the industry, Craythorne joins Zadara to lead worldwide sales, drive the adoption of the company’s Federated Edge program, grow its channel partnerships, and expand Zadara’s edge cloud solutions to the enterprise.

“Zadara will soon offer an edge cloud location near every major city in the world and we are working diligently to accelerate edge cloud availability and adoption across our partner network,” said Nelson Nahum, CEO and co-founder of Zadara. “Tony brings experience not only in building world class sales and channel programs but also leadership as a former CEO. His unmatched industry experience and customer-first approach makes him a natural fit for the Zadara team.”

The addition of Craythorne comes at a time of tremendous growth as the company has recently expanded its offerings with production-ready compute-as-a-service, zCompute, and doubled its global partner network to include over 250 unique channel partners, with more than 300 edge cloud locations.

In the past year, Zadara has teamed with best-in-class providers, including Cyxtera, Sandz, Viatel, CenturyLink, NTT, KT, Africa Data Centres and K3 Starcom. Nearly 100 new employees have joined Zadara over the last year and the company has expanded its corporate presence in Tokyo, Brazil, Tel Aviv, and throughout the US.

“Hybrid, multi-cloud and edge computing are the next frontier and Zadara is offering something truly unique,” noted Craythorne. “While most cloud providers today are offering large data centers, Zadara is the only true edge cloud provider. Zadara delivers a full stack infrastructure of storage, compute and networking, all at a fraction of the cost of the hyperscalers. The opportunity to expand Zadara’s customer base to build the world’s largest edge cloud is very exciting. I’m proud to join the team that is making a differentiated cloud experience a reality.”

In his role as CRO, Craythorne will leverage his expertise leading sales and channel programs for disruptive companies. Most recently, Craythorne served as CEO for server-class platform provider Bamboo Systems Group. Under Craythorne’s leadership, Bamboo completed a successful rebranding effort, added multiple Fortune 500 customer accounts, and secured over $11M in Pre-Series A funding. Craythorne also held senior positions at Komprise, Nexsan and NexGen Storage.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/7ZE1Lb5On

Trent Fitz joins Zenoss as CMO

Zenoss announced Trent Fitz, a cybersecurity expert, as the company’s chief marketing officer.

Trent Fitz is a technology marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience leading global marketing, product strategy and business development at technology companies of all sizes. He leads the company’s global marketing team, responsible for brand management, sales pipeline acceleration, channel enablement and customer experience.

Fitz served as an executive consultant for Zenoss before joining as CMO. He has helped transform the company brand, elevated relationships with key enterprise customers and strategic partners, including Google, Amazon (AWS), Nutanix and ServiceNow, and expanded the sales pipeline by 40%. Under his leadership, Zenoss has been recognized in the Gartner Market Guide for AIOps Platforms, the Forrester Wave for AIOps Platforms, and the Gartner Market Guide for IT Infrastructure Monitoring.

“Trent has already excelled at Zenoss, epitomizing our core value of ‘customers for life,’ and I’m thrilled he has now joined our leadership team,” said Greg Stock, chairman and CEO of Zenoss. “He is a subject matter expert who can skillfully communicate our vision, culture and innovation to customers, partners and the industry.”

Prior to joining Zenoss, Fitz spent six years as an executive consultant for technology companies around the globe. Before that, he held executive positions at SailPoint, Trustwave and Mirage Networks. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma.

“Zenoss has established itself as the market leader in AIOps and full-stack monitoring,” Fitz said. “I’m truly excited about the potential for significant growth, and I’m privileged to have the incredible opportunity to work alongside this talented leadership team as we serve our customers, partners, teammates and community.”

Zenoss Cloud is a SaaS-based intelligent IT operations management platform that collects all machine data, uniquely enabling the emergence of context for preventing service disruptions in complex, modern IT environments.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/zLUwp7EjC

AvePoint expands FedRAMP authorization to meet hybrid workplace demands

AvePoint announced the expansion of its FedRAMP (moderate) authorization, an indication that its security controls have been rigorously evaluated and its SaaS solutions verified for use within all federal agencies. The addition of new FedRAMP (moderate) authorized products, as well as its corporate status as an ISO and SOC 2 Type II certified vendor, signal the AvePoint commitment to upholding the highest security standards for its customers, including public sector and federal organizations. Building on … More →

The post AvePoint expands FedRAMP authorization to meet hybrid workplace demands appeared first on Help Net Security.

from Help Net Security https://ift.tt/jNJXeqMtd

You Need to Change How You Think About Being 'Lazy'

Photo: banu sevim (Shutterstock)

Part of the appeal of Fridays is looking forward to what you’re going to do over the weekend (at least for those who typically have Saturdays and Sundays off). Maybe you start off thinking that you’ll take some time to relax, but after an hour or two on the couch or in bed (or wherever you go to unwind), a feeling of guilt sets in.

After all, you have so much you need to get done at home, and are always too tired to do it after work, that you feel like any time spent not being productive on the weekend is time that’s wasted. Or, more specifically, that you’re being lazy. But are you, really? We don’t know your personal situation, but there’s a decent chance that you could benefit from reframing how you think about laziness. Here’s how to do that.

How to reframe ‘laziness’

If you ask social psychologist Devon Price, PhD, about laziness, he’ll tell you that it doesn’t exist. (If he says something else, he may need to rethink the title of his book Laziness Does Not Exist.) This may sound extreme—especially in a culture that glorifies productivity and vilifies entire demographics by labeling them “lazy”—but that’s kind of the point.

“Laziness is usually a warning sign from our bodies and our minds that something is not working,” Price told NPR in a September 2021 interview. “The human body is so incredible at signaling when it needs something. But we have all learned to ignore those signals as much as possible because they’re a threat to our productivity and our focus at work.”

In other words, instead of seeing laziness as a character flaw and/or something we need to fix, Price recommends looking at it as your body and brain letting you know it needs a break—not to do more work.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/UyxIbMDpJ

Have Babe Ruth Teach Your Kids How to Pitch

Image: Library of Congress

Even if you know nothing else about baseball, you probably are aware that Babe Ruth is one of the game’s most famous players. Sure, if you grew up in the 1990s, then there’s a chance you were introduced to The Babe—aka the Sultan of Swat, the Titan of Terror, the Colossus of Clout, the King of Crash, the Great Bambino—in the movie “The Sandlot,” but that totally counts.

Born George Herman Ruth in 1895, he’s best known for hitting home runs as an outfielder for the New York Yankees, but got his start in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for the Boston Red Socks. Whether you’re curious to see him in action yourself, or have Little Leaguers of your own and want them to learn from the best, here’s how to access instructional videos made for kids, by The Babe himself.

How to have Babe Ruth teach your child to pitch

No time machine is required for this tutorial—just access to YouTube. That’s where you’ll find a roughly eight-minute video entitled “Perfect Control.” It was one of five shorts in the “Play Ball with Babe Ruth” series Universal Pictures produced in 1932 (and subsequently rereleased in the 1950s following Ruth’s death).

“Perfect Control” tells the story of a young boy who nods off during a boring arithmetic lesson and dreams that Ruth came to his school to teach his class how to pitch in a nearby sandlot. The King of Swat (as he is billed at the beginning of the film) then goes on to teach the boys how to throw a fastball, a curveball, and a knuckleball:

And this wasn’t Ruth’s only experience as an entertainer. Like many baseball players of the era, he spent time on the vaudeville circuit during the off-season, performing numbers like this little ditty:

Catchy, no?

from Lifehacker https://bit.ly/33Uxaw9

How to Overcome ‘Productivity Dysmorphia’

Working and surviving in a capitalist system has always led to a unique sludge of emotions for us all. There are names for these self-perceptions and feelings, some of which—like “imposter syndrome”—we were familiar with before the pandemic, and some of which—like “burnout”—have become trendier to discuss in the last two years.

A newer term, coined by Anna Codrea-Rado, has entered the lexicon and could explain why you feel down about your productivity, even when it’s clear to everyone else you’re doing a great job. It’s called “productivity dysmorphia” and, per Codrea-Rado, it sits in “the intersection of burnout, imposter syndrome, and anxiety.”

Say you manage a coffee shop. In one day, you placed all the orders with your vendors, cleaned all the machines, launched a new promotional push, scheduled your employees’ shifts for the following month, and responded to every review and email. In this hypothetical scenario, you did great! You got all those tasks done and were attentive to your employees’ needs for time off and fair schedules. So why do you still feel like you didn’t do enough and you’re failing Productivity dysmorphia.

Don’t worry, though. There are ways to battle this feeling and relieve some of that anxiety.

Write down your to-do list

The key to battling productivity dysmorphia is recognizing intellectually that you’re meeting your goals and doing good work. It can be helpful to see those facts represented in a tangible way. Write down your to-do list every morning, but don’t be overwhelmed if it’s long. You can and will get it all done in a timely manner. You are more than capable.

Crucially, mark off each goal as you accomplish it. It’s important that you see your successes and wins here. At the end of the day, even if only half of the items on the list are checked off, you’ll see how much work you really did. If you still feel like you didn’t do enough, that’s okay. Try to focus on the list of things you did do and remember it’s pretty huge.

These days, we’re all still working in adaptive, ever-changing environments. We might be back in an office one day, then working from home the next. Worries about finances, family members, and the overall state of the world can seep into our productivity, too, and it’s all made worse when a coworker is out sick, which is, of course, happening a lot these days. You’re probably shouldering more responsibility than usual, so be sure to keep an accurate log of all you’re doing. (Bonus: Keeping these written records can come in handy if you ever go to your boss to ask for a raise.)

Take positive messages to heart

Next time you get an email or Slack message thanking you for all your hard work, don’t just reply, “No problem.” Sit for a second and think about the message, whether it’s from your boss or a third-party connection. We get a lot of feedback during the workday that can go unappreciated because of the pace at which we work. Stop letting positive reinforcement pass you by. That’s what the productivity dysmorphia wants.

Create a folder on your phone or computer where you can save screenshots of positive appraisals. Any time you get a Slack message commending you for a great job on a project, stick it in the folder. Same goes for a text from a friend saying they’ve noticed you working hard lately or a comment from a consumer saying they love your product.

Don’t rely entirely on outside validation, but take care to remember that people notice the work you do and their lives would be more difficult without your productivity.

Reframe your idea of “productivity”

Productivity dysmorphia can impact you outside of your job, too. Say you were aiming for a seven-day streak on your Peloton, but you were too tired or had too much work to do on that last day. You might feel like you are a failure for not working out that day, but that just isn’t true. You worked out the six days before that! Missing one goal does not invalidate everything else you’ve done up until that point. We all get overwhelmed and overworked.

Try to reconsider what you think of as “productivity.” It’s productive to get all your work done, yes, and productive to work out or devote a certain amount of time every night to your side job or hobby. It’s also productive to rest. Relaxing and refreshing your mind and body will enable you to accomplish more in the near future without risking the dreaded burnout. Celebrate everything you do as a step toward productivity. Write down your rest periods, too. They count.

Finally, you aren’t defined by your accomplishments. Your accomplishments should be defined by you. You are more than the deadlines you meet, the subscribers you rack up, or the money you earn. And that’s good news because you’ve done a lot, no matter what your productivity dysmorphia tells you.

  

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/3ra83yf

How to Turn Off ‘Read Receipts’ on Most Popular Messaging Apps

Photo: Kaspars Grinvalds (Shutterstock)

Ignorance is bliss. Accountability isn’t. If you’re the sort of person who likes to take their own sweet time to reply to messages, you probably don’t want the pressure of read receipts hanging over your head.

Read receipts are an integrated part of every popular messaging platform. When you (or someone else) reads a message, you get that double-tick or timestamp. It’s good to know that the message was delivered, and read. But what if you’re on the other side?

You can take yourself out of this game by disabling read receipts on all popular messaging services. We’ll walk you through the steps below.

Note: Disabling read receipts works both ways. Once disabled, you often won’t be able to see when your messages are delivered and read either.

WhatsApp

Let’s start with the most popular messaging platform on the planet: Go to Settings > Account > Privacy and disable “Read Receipts.”

iMessage

On your iPhone, you can disable read receipts for iMessage from the Settings app. Go to Settings > Messages and disable the “Read Receipts” option.

Google Messenger

On the Android side, the steps are slightly different. Open the Google Messenger app on your Android smartphone, and tap the three-dotted Menu button in the top-right. Go to Settings > Chat Features and disable the “Send Read Receipts” option.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn lets you disable both read receipts and the typing indicator, though the steps are different for the website, and the mobile apps.

On the website, click your Profile icon and go to Settings & Privacy. Go to Communications > Messaging Experience and click the “Change” button next to the Read receipts and typing indicators option. Here, you can disable the feature.

On the mobile app, go to Profile > Settings > Communications > Messaging Experience > Read receipts and typing indicators, and disable the feature.

Signal

In the Signal app, tap your Profile icon, go to Settings > Privacy and disable the “Read Receipts” option.

Microsoft Teams

Want to stop your co-workers from knowing the exact second you’ve read a message in the Microsoft Teams app? Click your Profile icon from the toolbar and go to “Settings.” From the “Privacy” section, disable the “Read Receipts” feature.

What to do if there’s no option to turn off read receipts? (Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Telegram)

Not every popular messaging app supports this feature. Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Telegram don’t give you the option to disable read receipts.

But there’s a workaround you can use to read messages without alerting the sender—by using airplane mode. Enable airplane mode on your device, then open the app, and read the message. While you’re in airplane mode, the person won’t know you have read it.

  

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/34jEFME

Do Collagen Supplements Even Do Anything?

Photo: Svittlana (Shutterstock)

Scrolling through social media, one could get the impression that taking supplements can fix just about anything. However, when you look closer at the evidence, you’ll find that the majority of them just don’t work. In a possible exception to this rule, collagen supplements have been receiving a lot of attention lately, and there are studies that suggest taking them may actually improve skin elasticity.

In the past, our stance has been that collagen supplements are just expensive protein powder, given the lack of evidence for its benefits. But with the release of more recent studies, as well as a renewed interest in it, we felt it worth taking a closer look.

What to know about collagen supplements and clinical trials

There are a number of clinical trials that suggest taking collagen supplements can help improve skin elasticity and hydration. This includes studies where half the participants received a placebo, and the people involved in the study didn’t know who received the placebo until after the experiment and analysis had ended.

Generally speaking, designing studies in this way can help eliminate unconscious bias. Even when we are trying our hardest to be impartial, wanting a specific outcome can often influence us in subtle and hard-to-detect ways.

However, as Michelle Wong, a cosmetic chemist who regularly debunks beauty myths on Instagram, noted in an email to Lifehacker, “Most of the clinical trials were sponsored by supplement companies, which introduces an element of bias.”

Current theories for how collagen might work 

One of the main reasons I’ve been so skeptical about taking collagen supplements is that during the process of digestion, it’s just going to get broken down into its individual amino acids, like every other protein out there. Taking a collagen supplement with the idea that it will somehow magically make its way to your skin doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

However, there are other ways in which ingesting collagen might have an effect. As Wong explains, collagen contains a large proportion of the amino acid hydroxyproline, which is unique to collagen and isn’t found in any other protein sources we eat.

One of the current working theories is that this acts as a signal, one that tells our body to increase the amount of collagen it produces, and to stop destroying some of the collagen we already have. At minimum, this is a possible mechanism that makes a little more sense.

Should you take a collagen supplement?

There is often a big difference between clinical trials and real life. In the case of collagen supplements, what is given during a trial and what is in the bottle of collagen protein powder you just bought may substantially differ.

As Wong explains, “[Collagen supplements] can be hydrolyzed using many different methods. This breaks up the collagen in different ways, which means the individual peptides found in each supplement can be very different.”

With all that said, would it be worth taking a collagen supplement? Given how expensive some of these supplements can be, the benefits may not outweigh the cost. If you are only taking collagen out of the hopes it will improve your skin, a more cost-effective approach might be to concentrate on regularly wearing sunscreen and using retinoids, which is known to work.

After all this, our stance is still that collagen supplements are mainly just expensive protein powder—albeit with a little more evidence for some added benefits.

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/3KUtFqb

Happy Data Privacy Day – and we really do mean “happy” :-)

We give you some simple digital lifesytle tips that cost nothing.
from Naked Security https://ift.tt/3s305pT

The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide To Kid Culture: Should You Watch ‘Euphoria’ or ‘Yellowjackets?’

Teenage culture can be depressing, dark and senseless, whether we’re talking about hopeful movements falling apart for no reason, game show winners being bullied, or bleak adolescent TV dramas.

Should you watch ‘Euphoria’ or ‘Yellowjackets?’

There are two ways Hollywood tells stories about teenagers. There are the ones looking-back on the vagaries of youth through an affectionally ironic lens, like Freaks and Geeks, and the ones that take the overblown emotions of adolescences seriously, like Dawson’s Creek.

Yellowjackets is Freaks and Geeks, but with cannibalism. Euphoria is Dawson’s Creek, but with nudity and drugs. Both are really well-written, compelling, and beautifully shot shows. If you’re the kind of person who thinks “Oh, the first day of school is hard? Try paying a mortgage.” Watch Yellowjackets. If you want a picture of just-before-the-apocalypse teenager-ness in America, and you can stomach stories that imagine kids today invented sex, drugs, and angst, you’ll like Euphoria.

Reddit’s antiwork board melts down

Back in November, I wrote about the burgeoning “antiwork” board on Reddit, and the idealistic young people powering a movement dedicated to better wages and conditions for workers. The subreddit grew to over 1.7 million members, but this week it completely imploded. One of moderators decided to appear on Fox News to be interviewed by Jesse Watters, and to say it was a train wreck is an insult to both trains and wrecks. I don’t want to heap further disapprobation on the poor moderator who must be having a very bad week, so I’ll just link to the video and let you judge.

The backlash from the subreddit’s members was fierce, and many users were banned for criticizing the moderator. The sub was set to private, reopened with a suspicious “new” moderator who was then un-modded, and people left in droves. What’s left are a million posts about the situation and many moderator attempts to apologize and “restructure.” It’s all very sad. Sorry, workers.

Turds target teen ‘Jeopardy’ winners

Sometimes the internet serves to amplify the very worst instincts of teenagers. Case-in-point: Jeopardy Teen Tournament contestant Claire Sattler (@clairesat) recently posted a video on TIkTok where she reports her victory on the game show resulted in legions of online dorks harassing her, stalking her, suggesting she slept with Alex Trebek for answers, and otherwise being insufferable. Other young Jeopardy contestants commented that they were targeted too. “I was on Kids’ Jeopardy! and they really tried to sexualize me and diagnose me at age 11,” contestant Aria Gerson (@not_like_stark) said. Read all about it on Dailydot, if you have the stomach for it.

Tiny TikToklets to enjoy

The kid-internet isn’t all cyberbullying and public meltdowns. On the positive side of the ledger, TikTok is great for letting people with obscure interests and tastes find likeminded folks. Here are three communities that could become your life (if you’re into these sorts of things.)

• Cleantok: If you like watching things be cleaned up, washed, and otherwise put in order, check out #cleantok. You’ll find videos of all kinds of weird cleaning jobs like bees being removed from a washing machines, satisfying clips of smudged electronic screens wiped clean, and somber clips of headstones being washed. It’s very relaxing.
• Eggpeelchallenge: Look, I’m not going to waste my time trying to peel the shell off a raw egg without breaking the sack inside it, but I applaud other people who at least have a hobby. Check out these eggpeel challenge videos then give it a shot yourself; shit’s hard.
• Plogging: Plogging combines fitness and cleaning up after society’s slobs in a delightful way. The idea is that you go jogging and stop to pick up trash along the way, turning your workout unselfish while adding a variety to an often drudgerous pastime.
• Moon Phases: The Moon is trending on TikTok, with users figuring out what phase it was in when they were born and imagining that means something about who they are. Kids, am I right?

Viral video of the week: DABABY X NBA YOUNGBOY - HIT [Official Video]

I really like DaBaby, and everyone on YouTube seems to as well. His new video for the song “Hit” with NBA Youngboy has been viewed over two million times in a couple days, and was created under difficult conditions: Youngboy is under house arrest, but that didn’t stop him from contributing his part to this compelling video. I like the way the Nerf guns subvert the idea of gangster rap (at least, I think they’re Nerf guns) and poke fun at DaBaby’s recent gun charge, andI like that everyone seems to be having such a good time. But don’t take my word for it. Check out a some reaction videos to see what committed fans think.

 

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/3KRILfZ

The Easiest DIY Furniture Projects to Make With Leftover Wood

Photo: Pixel-Shot (Shutterstock)

If you have leftover boards from a previous home-improvement project—or you’re just looking for a simple carpentry project to tackle—there are several things you can make that will add budget-friendly storage and function to your home. Try these DIY projects, each of which only requires three or four tools and materials and are perfect for beginners.

Hexagon shelves

With just a board, a saw, and some wood glue, you can make a fun—and functional—hexagon shelf. You’ll need a saw that can cut at a 30-degree angle, and some blue painter’s tape for the joints. We’ve got full, detailed instructions for you here.

Ledge shelves

Simple floating shelves are easy to make, as long as you’e got wood glue, a finish nailer, a miter saw, and some sand paper. To make the ledge, you’ll nail together two wider boards and one narrow board. Brittany Goldwyn has complete instructions here.

Blanket ladder

For stylish blanket storage, try making a blanket ladder. This is easy project requires only glue, screws, a saw, and some square-cut boards. Cut your pieces to length, square them up, and screw in the sides. Designer Corey Willis walks you through the project here.

Shoe rack

Build a simple shoe rack with a few boards, screws, and glue. Cut your side pieces, drill holes for your screws, and attach your shelves to the sides. “The Poor Swiss” shows you how here.

Coat rack

You can build a simple coat rack using just some 2 by 2 pine, a miter saw, and screws. Cut your angled legs first, and then cut the branches for the top. Screw in the feet, making sure they’re level, and then screw in the branches for the top and you’ve got a simple, low-cost coat tree. I Like to Make Stuff has the full instructions here for how to make one for just $10.

   

from Lifehacker https://ift.tt/3G68fCS