Category Archives: Golden Rule

It didnt start yesterday.

Every day, I have owners contacting me, looking to solve unwanted behaviors. They all have a common theme. Their frustrations are the same. It was unprovoked. Or It came out of nowhere. Or Hes never done this before. Regardless of the end result, I tell them all the same thing: It didnt start yesterday.

You missed the beginning stages, I tell them. There was communication long before the behavior you saw today. You just missed it. Body language is universally understood. Except by humans. Weve given most of it up in favor of verbal communication. What little is left is subconscious, and most people dont even realize they do it. If youve ever taken a good class in people management, youve probably touched on some of it.

Animals do it without thinking. Its their first form of communication. If you expect to be an effective owner, youll have to learn it, too. Really learn it.

That means paying attention. Being there, watching and not getting involved. Thats the hardest part for most people they have to get involved. Its part of the human condition.I had Reina, a young female livestock guardian dog, doing chores with me, recently. She followed me into the horse pasture while I handed out hay, sniffing around, until she found a choice frozen cobble. Our newest addition, a pony, has only been here for a short time and is still uncertain about the dogs.

The pony came forward, head lowered. Reina watched her approach and stood up as she got closer. When the mare pinned her ears, Reina lowered her head and dropped the horse cobble. Moving backwards slowly, all of her body language said she understood and had no intention of being a threat.

She moved well back, until the mares body relaxed again. Reina promptly flopped down and sighed, over her lost treat Im sure. Although I was keeping an eye on them to make sure everyone succeeded, they didnt need me. Im confident in Reinas good sense. The mare is a level headed individual, too. They worked it out.

When you tell me something happened out of the blue, Ill say you missed those first conversations where it wasnt worked out. Now, its come to blows. Aggression toward their livestock is the most common theme.

My young dog attacked a goat, completely unprovoked. Really? Forgive my skepticism. Something along the way led up to this altercation. Maybe its an older doe who had no experience with livestock guardian dogs and overreacts. Livestock guardian dogs can get tired of pot shots and eventually defend themselves.

Young dogs can sometimes resource guard bedding, food that doesnt belong to them or prime sleeping spots. If you arent there, youll miss those first signs of inappropriate behavior. Maybe its a new addition still trying to figure out its place in the herd. If you arent there, youll miss the interventions when they try to interact. The hard stares as the herd queen asserts her position.

Young dogs can misconstrue normal herd maneuvering as hostile and take steps to protect their stock from new members. The same goes for breeding season. A new buck or ram can be viewed as hostile and aggressive.

Then, theres the other side of the coin. Ive seen stock that were just plain mean to dogs. I know that putting a young pup in with mothers to teach them manners is an accepted practice, but stock arent always reasonable. Young dogs who are bullied grow up learning the golden rule: always bully those who are smaller than you.

House dogs are another common theme. I hear of livestock dogs attacking them out of the blue on a fairly regular basis. On the one side, we have those with only a relationship through the fence or from afar. The house dog runs back and forth, barking at livestock and dogs alike, threatening to show everyone who is boss. When the inevitable meet up does occur, the only reasonable conclusion is a fight. At long last, the livestock guardian dog gets to say its piece.

On the other side, there are the house dogs who resource guard the new puppy from its owner, the bed, the food and snap and growl whenever the puppy approaches. It always comes as a surprise when the livestock dog grows up and, eventually, plows the house dogs into the dirt.

These are just simple examples of complex relationship failures. Missed communication that leads to behaviors seen as unprovoked. But, in all cases, the underlying theme is the same: It didnt start yesterday.

Up-to-date agriculture news in your inbox!

See the rest here:

Don't miss the cues with livestock guardian dog behavior - Farm and Dairy

At the start of the new year, global NFT sales leapt over the $4 billion mark. Simultaneously, like the stench of a bloated trash bag busting open, talk of scamming in the space spread with gusto: Google searches for NFT scam hit an all-time high the week of Jan. 1. With droves of people buying in some far more tech-savvy than others Rolling Stone asked experts for tips on how to avoid expensive blunders.

As more money flows into the metaverse, so do bad actors hoping to extract value at the expense of everyday crypto users, says Georgio Constantinou, who discovers, builds, and produces crypto projects. Crypto scams have been getting increasingly more sophisticated, and it emphasizes the caution that people need to exercise in a decentralized ecosystem. As Constantinou explains, there are various types of scams, and its important to know how to identify them in order to avoid them.

According to Greek mythology, the Trojan War started when a goddess, Eris, threw something sparkly a golden fruit now known as the apple of discord into a party of feasting revelers. Nowadays, a fake link on Discord the decentralized, online network of chatroom servers can be similarly enticing and chaos-inciting.

Discord hacks are one of the most common NFT scams out there. They happen when hackers gain administrator-level access to a Discord server and post a fake minting link in the announcements channel. The message, according to Constantinou, will usually look like its coming from a project organizer and offer a deal that seems too good to be true something like, Due to demand, were releasing 1,000 more NFTs. Often, hackers will intentionally seek out sold-out collections, because of the ability to create demand. Once a collection is sold out, most will never do a surprise mint of additional NFTs, he says.

Constantinou notes that most projects will put all official links in a separate, designated channel and wont let minting happen via sketchy looking URLs just on the projects primary website. Constantinou also suggests that everyone turn off the direct-messaging function on Discord. If a community member says theyre having trouble with something and innocently asks for help on a hacked Discord, theyll immediately get like five DMs from scammers, says RAC, a longtime crypto enthusiast, musician, and entrepreneur who co-founded Six, a Web3 consultancy firm, with Constantinou and their colleague Jesse Grushack last year. Project teams will never DM you first, says Constantinou. Its best practice to assume everyone is a scammer until proven otherwise.

A fake Discord link will probably ask for Ethereum (ETH) tokens to create a new NFT that never actually materializes, as the perpetrator runs off with the money but an even greater problem arises if said perp asks for the victims seed phrase, which is a series of confidential words used to gain access to a crypto wallet. Due to FOMO, people will rush to mint the fake collection and, in many instances, not only lose their ETH, but their tokens and NFTs as well, says Constantinou. No one should have your private key ever, adds RAC. Thats a big one. People are literally just getting their funds stolen.

Outside of Discord, phishing can happen in Twitter messages and emails. RAC likens the NFT space right now to an inbox: You wouldnt jump to give your social security number to any old emailer. Constantinou suggests that people buy hardware wallets USB-sized, tangible devices that plug into computers and recommends the brands Ledger and Trezor, which are arguably more secure than online options. A hardware wallet allows you to avoid ever having to enter [seed phrases] into a browser, he says. It will protect you from yourself. Hes also a big fan of using two-factor authentication when possible, as well as complex passwords. (He recommends a software called 1Password for storage.)

Although hes never been scammed himself, Constantinous heard stories of hackers pretending to be representatives from OpenSea, the Internets largest NFT marketplace, and Metamask, a popular NFT-storing digital wallet. In some of these instances, he says the representatives told their victims they were randomly selected to receive a surprise airdrop of virtual goods, directed their victims to fake a login page, and told them to sign in. He says people should only ever download and interact with wallet extensions via their official websites. If using an app, triple check the reviews. If browsing, eyeball that URL closely.

Airdrops themselves can have malicious coding in them as well. As a prominent figure in the space, RAC says tokens are randomly airdropped into his online wallet all the time. The name of the token is a website to try and get you to go to your website, he says. They want you to think, Oh hey, I got these free tokens. Let me go to this website and try to sell them. Everythings programable, so what they do is they make these tokens unsellable. It basically locks you into something and forces you to give them access to your funds, and then they steal your money. Anyone can send anyone tokens at any point: The wallet holder, like an inbox-owner getting an email, doesnt need to approve or accept a transfer. The best thing to do is simply ignore it, he says. Thats what I do.

But sometimes these airdropped tokens dont actually do anything other than serve as smoke and mirrors: If someone is creating a project with both a fake NFT collection and useless tokens, they may airdrop said tokens into influencers wallets so they can technically say that the influencer holds their currency, implying that they back the project.

Fake, or half-baked collections, have become a huge problem. When a person or group of people positions a preliminary set of basic NFTs as the beginning of a bigger project that will unfold over time perhaps with a video-game component, merch, and/or in-person events and then runs off with the millions of dollars raised well before any of the promised steps could take place, thats called a rugpull. If the only thing the creators ever promise is an NFT that could then unlock additional perks later on, theyre probably not liable when glassy-eyed sheeple lose money. Constantinou only gets behind projects with online hubs that are brimming with thoughtfully presented information. Big collections with massive potential dont come together at lightning speed, he says: If a project looks like it was spun up in a day and the website is janky, theres always a risk that its just a quick cash grab.

Paying for a Ferrari and getting Hot Wheels is made worse if the proverbial vehicle holds a malicious smart contract the kind that send assets from the wallet its in to the hacker. When that happens, Constantinou encourages the use of a website called revoke.cash, a tool that essentially checks which websites have permissions to engage with a wallet and lets the wallet owner revoke those permissions. To be clear, revoke.cash cannot return monies lost, but it can stop the action from happening again and if you realize that you fell for a scam quickly enough, you may be able to stop the hacker before they have a chance to set that part of the plan in motion.

Ragzy, a visual artist who debuted her first NFT series last year and has since become a collector, says that she always looks for a fully doxxed team one made up of reputable figures whove openly identified themselves before she gets involved in any project. Undoxxed teams, she says, get away with it because nobody knows who to hold accountable.

Ragzy, who has a second TikTok just for educating Web3 beginners on NFTs, has noticed that a lot of undoxxed rug-pullers name themselves after the project. She sees that as a red flag. She brings up a hypothetical collection of cartoon cats: It would be like Lead Cat 1 and Blue Cat 2 with no affiliation to any specific person. Ragzy pushes cryptos golden rule of doing the research. Look at their backgrounds, she says. What is their reputation in this space? Did they have another successful project? Who is the artist? Look at the art itself. Does it translate well? Constantinou echoes this sentiment. Dont trust. Verify, he urges. Slow down and triple check everything.

Even if a reputable person is advertised on a projects website as a team member, that doesnt guarantee their affiliation. So, her modus operandi is to question everything: Who are the people investing in this project and do they want to see it survive longterm or are they gonna dump their NFTs?

Ragzy also points out that social media numbers dont necessarily mean anything if theres no clear value to the project. Communities come together for a common purpose, and if the common purpose is to buy the NFT and flip it, thats not really a community, she says. Of course, followers can be bought, and so can celebrity backings. Youll see a lot of celebrities being asked to promote not just NFTs but other cryptocurrencies, and theyll have no clue what it is. Its not their fault. Theyre looking at it like its a sponsored ad. If theyre endorsing it like theyre part of the project, it still doesnt hold any weight for me. Just because a celebrity endorses a project or creates it, does not mean its going to survive.

As a visual artist, Ragzy is fearful of the long-lasting impact this ebb-and-flow pandemonium may have. A lot of artists have never been paid fairly. Artists are often asked to do work for free or are underpaid and are told to be grateful. Our work isnt valued. You were a rich artist when you were dead. NFTs are changing that, she insists. Not only are we creating an environment wherein were getting compensated fairly but we get a royalty on our work if its resold. This is why I hate all the scams and the rugpulls that have been happening, because I think it gives the space such a terrible name. What was meant to be so innovative and such a beautiful way for artists to finally capitalize on their work and ideas is now turning into a place with a lot of scams and negative things associated with it.

RAC, on the other, is confident that this too shall pass. In his eyes, its cyclical. There was a time when people didnt dare put their credit card online. They were like, Oh my god. Never do that! Youre going to get your money stolen. The Internet wasnt always the safe place that we think it is. Hes not worried about mainstreamers writing off crypto and running away for good: This always happens when theres money, when its a bustling new thing. I saw this happen in 2017 the year Bitcoins value slingshotted from $900 to $18,000 and then it completely died out in 2018 and 2019. It came back full force in 2020, and I think were now seeing the NFT version of that.

Being scammed is the risk you take by entering into this relatively uncharted territory, RAC says, adding that people should really look at their participation as a form of investing. This system is safe in a lot of ways, but you cant stop people from trying to scam you. Because this is a completely open system with no safeguards on by design were going through that early growth phase. Its not fully professionalized yet. Its not fully trusted Nefarious individuals are just going to take advantage of less-educated people. He admits that its really unfortunate, but also says you kind of just have to live with it to some extent.

Six co-founder Jesse Grushack agrees: The reality is its a new frontier and if you dont understand, dont do it. If youre not willing to lose, dont play. Coinbase and other custodial options are great for beginners. Theres no such thing as a free lunch so, if it sounds too good, it probably is.

See the rest here:

NFT Scams Are Everywhere. Heres How to Avoid Them - Rolling Stone

A couple times a month, my mom, or sometimes my dad, butt-dials me and accidentally leaves a voicemail that is several minutes long. I always listen to the entire thing, even though Ive never overheard anything interesting. Why do I continue to do this? And is it OK to eavesdrop on peoples lives without their knowledge?

Scuttle Butt

Dear Scuttle Butt,

The butt-dial voicemail is the most aesthetically underrated artifact of our time. Years from now, when cell phones are relegated to the museum of technological obsolescence, we will finally recognize the strange beauty of these ghostly dispatches, recordings captured without human intent, wisps of life that occasionally rose to the level of art. The muffled, vaguely sonographic rustle of a pocket, or a purse. The familiar voices that seem to be speaking from the depths of the ocean. Everyone listenshow can you not? There is always the possibility of emergency. Someone has fallen and is lying, helpless, unable to speak. A thief has broken into the house and your loved one is crouched in the closet, afraid to whisper for help. Voicemails, after all, are messages, and you wait in vain for the missive long after its clear that there is none, that there is only the crunch of footsteps across gravel, the buzz of an electric razor, the unmistakable sound of your mothers laughter, reaching you for no reason as you sit at your desk on the other side of the country, eating lunch in the glow of your Twitter feed.

Thats not to say there isnt some garden-variety voyeurism at play. Overhearing some revealing tidbitperhaps even about yourselfis always a non-negligible possibility. Pocket-dial voicemails belong to a larger category of technological seepage that, as far as I know, doesnt have a name. Lets call it accidental surveillance. Long before cell phones, car radios occasionally picked up the voices of truckers talking over CB. Before that, there was the party line, its circuit running through several households, carrying gossip and intrigue through the neighborhood. In John Cheevers story The Enormous Radio, a couple discovers, much to their amazement, that their new radio intercepts conversations taking place in other apartments in their building. Instead of Mozart and news briefs, they turn the dial to hear marital spats, bedtime stories, the feverish tail end of a cocktail party. The wife becomes obsessed with listening in on the neighbors, much to her husbands chagrin. Its indecent, he says. Its like looking into windows.

Perhaps these examples strike you as quaint. What appeal, after all, can voyeurism still hold in an age when people gladly throw open the curtains? The windows we peer into are seemingly endless, opening onto the bedrooms of celebrities, the cabins of private yachts, the breakfast spread of British royalsimages that appear in the feed alongside the intimations of ordinary mortals: the post-chemo haircut modeled by your former boss, the positive pregnancy test proudly brandished by your high school nemesis. I suspect, Scuttle Butt, that there is some measure of guiltor fear of ingratitudecontained in your question. It cannot but seem greedy to crave yet another peek into the lives of others when you can, with a few clicks, be privy to so many intimacies.

Maybe theres a paradox at play. It has become something of a clich to point out that the technologies designed to connect us end up creating more alienation and loneliness. Perhaps its also true that the plasticine flavor of self-presentation has made us more hungry for the raw material of lived experiencenot the curated aura of intimacy, but what might be called the deep private, glimpses into lives as unvarnished as the one you actually live. Given that this material depends upon the ignorance of those it depicts, it is rare and fleeting. The impeccably crafted Zoom backdrop is occasionally breached by a shirtless husband; the screen-share reveals a desktop folder labeled divorce; a politicians snarky aside to her aide is caught on a hot mic.

Back when public life was more robustthat pre-pandemic era when restaurants were crowded and offices fully operationalour lives were rife with moments of accidental surveillance: the phone calls that carried over from the neighboring cubicle, the domestic grievances aired on the subway. Such glimpses into the lives of others could be oddly comforting, a reminder, if nothing else, that you were not the only one whose private life often failed to live up to the gleaming model of social composure you projected online. Its a fact that is difficult to remember during periods of isolation. The writer Megan Stielstra wrote an essay several years ago about how her video baby monitor, which came with two frequencies, picked up the feed of her neighbors child. In the lonely throes of new motherhood, she found herself switching between channels, watching this other sleeping infant and searching for signs of its mother, who would occasionally step into the frame. One night, she heard the woman sobbing. I shouldnt have listened, she writes, but it was the first time since my son was born that I didnt feel alone.

As for your question about the ethics of eavesdropping, it seems that the law is on your side. In 2013 an airport board chairman spoke freely, on the balcony of a hotel, with his vice chairman about firing the airport CEO for discriminatory reasons, only to realize later that he had pocket-dialed his assistant, who recorded the entire conversation. The chairman insisted that his assistant had broken the law by listening in on his private conversation, but the court disagreed: A person who knowingly operates a device that is capable of inadvertently exposing his conversations to third-party listeners and fails to take simple precautions to prevent such exposure does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. (The court noted, additionally, that phones are capable of being locked.) Given that such accidents are more common among people over a certain age, its tempting to see this as generational comeuppance. The frequency with which Rudy Giuliani butt-dialed journalists seemed, for a time, to augur that an administration that remained undaunted by mass protest and the rule of law would self-destruct through senility and technological incompetence.

I would hope, Scuttle Butt, that you dont harbor such animosity toward your parentsor anyone else who warrants a place in your contacts. With that in mind, I might recommend the Golden Rule. Would you want someone listening in on your private life without your knowledge? Surely you are not so careless as to allow this to happen. But ancient wisdom suggests that life tends toward moral symmetry. The high will be brought low, we will reap what we sow. What lies in darkness will be brought into light, and even you might wake up one day to find yourself on the dispatch end of the generational divide. Few of us today believe such justice is encoded in the laws of the universe, but it is, oddly enough, reflected in modern communications technologies, which tend to run in two directions. Where there is a speaker, there is most likely a microphone. The device that receives a videofeed also has a camera. Its a truth that dawns on the wife in the Cheever story only after its too late. Turn that thing off, she says to her husband, in a moment of panic. Maybe they can hear us.

Faithfully,Cloud

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.

This article appears in the October 2021 issue. Subscribe now.

Let us know what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor at mail@wired.com.

More Great WIRED Stories

Read more:

Is It OK to Listen to a Butt-Dial Message? - WIRED

Mitchell: NIU has been home for me. It has been home for me for 33 years.

On Jan. 1, NIU Interim Chief of Police Darren Mitchell formally became NIU Chief of Police. Mitchell was announced as the Universitys next permanent police chief on Dec. 14, but Mitchells ties to the DeKalb and NIU communities span 22 years in uniform and 33 years as a part of the Huskie community.

Darren came to NIU in 1988 to pursue a bachelors degree in political science and has since earned his masters in adult continuing education, married his college sweetheart and raised a family all in DeKalb. For Mitchell, NIU and DeKalb are more than just a community.

NIU has been home for me, Darren Mitchell said. It has been home for me for 33 years.

Darren grew up in the Chicago South Side neighborhood of Bronzeville, raised by a single mother who made it a point that education was the key to a future.

My mother was very insistent on pursuing education, Darren Mitchell said. Thats the way in which you know, you achieve your dreams and goals.

While education was the vessel toward success, Darren never thought he wanted to become a police officer.

I wanted to be an attorney, Darren Mitchell said. When my friend introduced me to the policing opportunity (at NIU), I said, no.

The Bronzeville native said that growing up on the South Side, he had a lot of the same feelings young Black men still have to this day toward the police, which included a lack of trust. While never directly toward him, Darren saw a lot of negative engagements with the police growing up in his neighborhood which shaped his view toward law enforcement.

It wasnt until after a meeting with then NIU Chief of Police John Pickens that Darren decided to join the force. Becoming an officer allowed Darren to support his family while allowing him to pursue his law degree.

While his motives for joining the force were to help him pursue a law degree, those motives quickly changed as he began his shifts for the NIU Police Department.

At the time, it was a selfish motive because I was more focused on getting a law degree than I was to actually, you know, be a longtime police officer, Darren Mitchell said. Once I got into the job, I fell in love with it.

Since 2000, Darren Mitchell has risen through the ranks of the NIU Police Department. Starting as a patrol officer and working through various commands and departments within NIU Police, no matter where Darren went, his personality and value of living by the golden rule followed with.

The values she (Darrens mother) instilled in him is living by the golden rule, Melody Mitchell, wife to Darren Mitchell and Chief of Staff and assistant dean of strategic communications at the NIU College of Law said. Treating people how you want to be treated, you know, treating people with dignity and respect.

Over their 32-year relationship, Melody has seen those qualities and his experience as a father lift up Darren in his job within the NIU Police department and prepare himself to handle this position as Chief of Police.

Our two sons recently graduated and our daughters in college, Melody Mitchell said. As a father, he understands how parents are concerned about their most prized possession, their children and their safety.

Darren said a domestic violence incident involving a mother and young children opened his eyes to the good he could do as an officer.

After that, I was just so focused and determined, Darren Mitchell said. My work just kind of helped bolster my ambition to want to just have more impact.

Darren is the first NIU Chief of Police to be hired from within the department over its 58-year history. Darren said that he has either supervised, served or coordinated with every aspect of this department.

As a father, he understands how parents are concerned about their most prized possession, their children and their safety.

Melody Mitchell, wife of Darren Mitchell

Since 2000, the view of the police as a public service has changed. With current events such as George Floyd in Minneapolis and Laquan McDonald in Chicago, trust in police has diminished, but Darren hopes he can contribute to changing that narrative as chief.

As a member of the police force, I started to think to myself, more people like me should pursue these opportunities, Darren Mitchell said. Youll see the benefit that you can have on helping to improve police and connect with it thats beneficial for the individual and for the community.

As chief, Darren wants the NIU Police Department to operate in a manner thats supported through procedural justice measures. These measures are built by establishing trust, giving people a voice when you have encounters with them and conveying a level of trustworthiness when working with the community.

The level of trust, its sad to see, but I also understand, Darren Mitchell said. Policing has to continue to evolve, and we will. I think were at a place now where the die is cast and people expect more from police as they should.

Read this article:

More than a job for NIU's new chief of police - Northern Star Online

Published Jan. 20, 2022

To determine the Best Auto Insurance awards for 2022, The Ascents experts evaluated accounts with our ratings model, focusing on industry factors and user benefits, including:

Top-rated offerings were selected that we think represent the top pick for most people. Our final awards winners were determined by vote to ensure objectivity, with a final Golden Rule check: would we recommend them to a family or friend? Special attention was also paid to:

For 2022, weve introduced an exciting update, our Editors Choice awards. These awards are favorites from our experts, tailored to unique consumer needs, allowing us to explore a more diverse range of offerings and user experiences.

Jump to a Category Select Awards Category None Best Car Insurance Overall Best Cheap Car Insurance Best Car Insurance for Teens/New Drivers Best Car Insurance for Veterans Best Car Insurance for Rideshare Drivers Best Car Insurance for Bad Credit Best High Risk Car Insurance

*A complete list of 2022 award winners, from credit cards to stock brokers, can be found here.

**You can also find more car insurance companies to compare by checking out The Ascent's best car insurance companies page.

Original post:

The Ascent's 2022 Car Insurance Awards - Motley Fool

Gov. Doug Ducey gave his State of the State address to the West Valley at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale on Jan. 12, hosted by WESTMARC.

Avondale Mayor Kenn Weise welcomed the room filled with local dignitaries, business leaders and community members to the event. He referred to the West Valley as the heartbeat of Arizona and deemed the area the economic driver for the state of Arizona in the decades to come.

Ducey took the stage, marking his eighth and final State of the State address. It may be his last year, but he promised a busy 2022, focused on education and changes to the southern border.

As I stand here today, the job is not done, Ducey said. The goodbyes are going to come later, much later. Today is not a farewell tour. I intend to make the most of every moment and work very hard every single day all along the way for my employers, the citizens of this state.

To begin, Ducey assured the state is strong, touching on some of the highlights during his time as governor, including telemedicine and Arizonas largest tax cut, which now stands as the lowest flat tax in the nation. Ducey said Arizona has changed during his seven-year tenure.

Today, a lot is different in Arizona, he said. We have more citizens, our budget is balanced, our economy is roaring, and our government is smaller and more efficient than its ever been.

Ducey focused on education in his speech, addressing the impact the pandemic has had on children. He added that schools will remain open.

Theres been too much attention put on masks and not nearly enough placed on math, Ducey said. A focus on restrictions rather than reading and writing. And its students of color and those in poverty who have been most impacted.

To help students who fell behind due to the pandemic, Ducey said he will open free summer camps in June so they can catch up in math, reading and civics.

We will lead the way to eliminate learning loss, he said. Arizona schools are open, and they will remain open.

Ducey continued that students will not be taught critical race theory. The governor signed a bill six months ago banning state or local governments from requiring critical race theory training in the area.

In Arizona schools, we will not divide people by race, Ducey said in his address. Arizona schools should be instructing our kids in the golden rule to treat one another with respect and judge people as Martin Luther King Jr. taught, on the content of their character and not the color of their skin. This session well make it clear, students should be taught to think critically, not taught critical race theory.

Duceys address also focused on the border, calling it a public safety, humanitarian and national crisis.

Public safety will always be at the top of our list, and we are going to be leaning on our law enforcement more than ever, Ducey said. Our southern border has never been more deadly or more dangerous. Meanwhile, the White House and Congress have decided to turn a blind eye.

Ducey said his team will launch a five-point plan to address the border and will seek stricter penalties and stronger support and action from federal leaders.

Part of his plan includes building a wall at the southern border. During a recent visit to Yuma, he said he witnessed a lack of security and people easily walking across the border.

Where Arizona can add physical barriers, we will, he said. But if the entire southern border isnt secure, neither is our nation.

Ducey touched on water conservation and the work that needs to be done. He referred to the Drought Contingency Plan and the $200 million invested last year to water technology.

Now, with resources available in our budget, along with a relationship with Mexico that we built and strengthened over the last seven years, what better place to invest more? Ducey said. We propose that we make a historic investment: $1 billion. Our goal, secure Arizonas water future for the next 100 years.

Ducey lastly promised to invest more money to speed up the completion of the I-10, connecting the state north to south.

Its our turn, our moment to leave this state better than we found it, and Im confident we will rise to the occasion.

View original post here:

Ducey gives final State of the State to West Valley - Glendale Star

Russell Henley is a former PGA Tour winner who almost added another to his tally over the weekend.

Getty Images

Russell Henley seems to be solving one of the most elusive problems in golf: hes figured out how to recapture his best form.

It was less than two years ago that Henley, a multiple-time PGA Tour winner, had tumbled down to 251st in the Official World Golf Ranking. For many golfers, its hard to climb back up. But Henley scrapped his way back: A third at last years Honda Classic, followed by a combination of top 10s, 15s and 20s (including a T13 at the 2021 U.S Open, where he at times held the lead) means hes now back inside the top 50.

A win in Hawaii wouldve been a nice way to cap it off, but Hideki Matsuyama and his 3-wood was too good down the stretch. But Russells deserved trophy is surely just around the corner. And when it happens, his fully-realized comeback will be courtesy of a few principles that may help you capture your best form.

Its a cruel truth in golf that so often, the harder you try to fix a certain aspect of your game, the more broken things become.

Shots dont start going sideways by accident its the result of subtle swing flaws that hinder your ability to square the clubface. Its in trying to find and fix that flaw which often sends golfers down a rabbit hole they never come back from.

Its easy to fall down the rabbit hole of trying to search a lot, because every week you play with somebody that you might think does this or that better, Harris English, who snapped his seven-year winless streak last season, says. Ive learned not to go up and down the range saying, I need to be like Dustin or Justin Thomas or Xander Schauffele. I need to be the best version of myself and work at doing the things I do well.

Henleys issue was a high hook. The ball was curving aggressively left and he didnt know why. He consulted with legendary GOLF Magazine Hall-of-Fame teacher Jim McClean early last year, who quickly spotted the issue: Henleys arms and club were getting stuck behind him, causing a club path that moved too in-to-out.

But Henley isnt concerned with the technical details of the golf swing. Instead, he wants to find a simple thought he can use.

Russell definitely does not like too much detail from the teaching, McLean says. He does not want complicated answers to questions he asks.

The thought that worked for him, McLean says, was the feeling of getting his arms to move faster, or in Russells words, to be aggressive with his arms.

That cue allowed Henley to put into action a fix to the problem that had been plaguing him, without getting overly technical.

Another cruel irony in golf is that one of the places where golfers often need to go to fix problems the driving range can create a raft of new problems itself.

Standing in a singular spot and hitting golf balls into a wide open space in rapid succession, often with the same club, from a flat lie, is not golf. Its not even a good simulation of golf. Its a logistical necessity that can come in handy at times, but it can also do more harm than good in others.

Its why theres a growing number of voices within golf who espouse the benefits of randomized practice.

Henley, it turns out, is one of them.

I use a Trackman its a great way to practice he told the PGA Tours Sean Martin over the weekend. It throws me random yardages and I try to hit it and guess [how far I hit it] and see what it is. Its constantly giving me feedback and throwing curveballs at me.

This strategy, coincidentally, was one that Dustin Johnson used to improve his own wedge game. And while it certainly helps to have a high-powered Trackman spitting out randomized numbers, there are ways the rest of us can follow a similar path.

First, you could simply invest in a more affordable version of technology, or you could follow the golden rule: Never hit the same shot on the range on back-to-back shots. This means choosing a different club for one shot, aiming at a different target, altering the distance you hit your club, or all of the above.

By forcing yourself to make small adjustments on the range, youre mirroring more closely the task we face on the golf course itself. Which, as it did for Henley, could leave us all better off.

Luke Kerr-Dineen is the Director of Service Journalism at GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com. In his role he oversees the brands game improvement content spanning instruction, equipment, health and fitness, across all of GOLFs multimedia platforms.

An alumni of the International Junior Golf Academy and the University of South CarolinaBeaufort golf team, where he helped them to No. 1 in the national NAIA rankings, Luke moved to New York in 2012 to pursue his Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University and in 2017 was named News Media Alliances Rising Star. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Golf Digest, Newsweek and The Daily Beast.

The rest is here:

2 tips that helped a PGA Tour player recapture his best form - Golf.com

The key to the success of ITV's The Masked Singer is keeping the contestants' identities a secret - but how is it done?

The third series of The Masked Singer UK started on ITV this month, with fans eagerly trying to guess the identities of characters including Bagpipes, Lionfish, Robobunny and many more.

A celebrity panel including Davina McCall, Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross and Mo Gilligan make their guesses about who is under the masks each week, with the TV programme hosted once again by Joel Dommett.

READ MORE:ITV The Masked singer fans 'raging' as they 'work out' Doughnut's identity

Identities of the contestants are kept secret from all until the very last minute when the "take it off" chants result in another celebrity being unmasked.

Here are some of the ingenious ways that The Masked Singer UK manages to successfully keep its secrets while filming the season.

Audience members need to abide by certain rules to ensure that no show secrets are spilled.

Before even entering the studio, all audience members must hand in their phones and sign a non-disclosure agreement.

And, while the best part of The Masked Singer is ultimately the moment where the audience chant Take it off! as the mystery celeb is finally unmasked the live studio audience isnt actually there for the crucial moment.

Host Joel Dommett revealed the secret on Sunday Brunch, as he said: "We record the whole show and then they get to the bit where they go 'take it off, take it off', they go to take off the mask and that's the point where, I don't know if I'm allowed to announce this, we then get rid of the audience so they can then keep it a secret."

The audience are also not allowed to discuss the guesses that the celebrity panel makes, or any rumours they hear in the studio about the character's identities once they leave the building.

Televisions shows have literally hundreds of people working on them, and The Masked Singer is no exception.

But if every single person on the show knew who was under the masks then it would be very likely that someone could spill the beans and ruin the fun for all.

In order to keep the identities of the celebs beneath the costumes a secret until the last minute, show makers make sure less than a handful of people know who is taking part in the show.

Host Joel Dommett told a virtual press conference in 2020: I think theres six people in the production staff who know, out of a production team of probably 250 people. Thats two producers, a clues team person, a make-up person and a costume person and thats basically it.

Even the contestants taking part in the show have no clue who they are going up against in the competition - they find out at the same time the rest of us do.

There are several rules that they have to follow to keep the secrets of the show.

The contestants wear a big black hoodie saying Dont Speak To Me and a visor to hide their faces when they are backstage and not in costume. They also have to wear a balaclava and gloves too, to ensure every part of their body is hidden.

The singers are even told to bring all their belongings in plain black bags, to avoid revealing any clues about themselves.

Show judge Mo Gilligan revealed: "You don't see. You see that show, when you watch it on the show, the T shirts 'Don't talk to me' that's real.

"The set is huge. I got in the car, the driver was instructed he cant talk to me. I cannot talk to you, I'm not allowed. There's a gate. There's another gate with huge security guards. This happened every single day."

As well as secrecy around the set, the celebs taking part in the show sign strict contracts before appearing on the show that forces them to promise not to reveal their involvement even to their nearest and dearest.

Presumably the clause amounts to an NDA which could lead to financial consequences if they break the golden rule.

Show bosses previously revealed: "It was written into their contracts that they couldnt tell anyone, even their families, what was going on. In the end they were as worried about their secret getting out as we were."

Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here

Originally posted here:

ITV The Masked Singer audience rules and key to keeping identities hidden - Liverpool Echo

Maurie Backman| The Motley Fool

Fed's Powell: Inflation is a major threat to jobs

Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged Tuesday that high inflation has emerged as a serious threat to the Federal Reserve's goal of helping put more Americans back to work and that the Fed will raise rates more than it now plans if needed. (Jan. 11)

AP

Many Americans were disappointed to see 2021 come to an end without receiving a fourth stimulus check in their bank accounts. But will a new year mean a new windfall to look forward to?

Right now, there's no indication that lawmakers are looking to send out another stimulus check. But that doesn't mean we should definitively write one off. Here's why we may or may not see another stimulus payment come in.

TheDailyMoney: Get our latest personal finance stories in your inbox

We're starting off 2022 with a surge of COVID-19 cases, fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant. Health experts are saying that cases could peter off by late January. But if that doesn't happen, and the outbreak persists, we may be in for months of disruptions.

That scenario could force businesses to shut down and layoffs to ensue. If that were to happen, and the economy were to decline, then it could make the case for another stimulus payment.

Record inflation: Consumer prices jump 7% in 2021 to highest rate in 39 years

It's true that the U.S. is deep in the throes of a major COVID-19 outbreak one that threatens to overwhelm hospital systems, force schools into remote learning, and impact supply chains. But the silver lining is that omicron is said to result in milder illness than its predecessors, which means it may not be as disruptive.

Furthermore, the CDC recently updated its guidelines to shorten the length of quarantine for those diagnosed with COVID-19. That could mean fewer workplace disruptions and closures.

All of that would be a good thing for our economy. And speaking of the economy, it continues to improve. In December, the national jobless rate dropped to 3.9%, the lowest level since the start of the pandemic. Additionally, the labor market is loaded with jobs right now, so much so that many companies are raising wages in an effort to attract talent. This is a very different scenario than the one that presented in March 2021, when the most recent stimulus check was approved.

Finally, lawmakers aren't looking to impose massive shutdowns to combat the current COVID-19 surge like they did early on in the pandemic. That alone could prevent a massive wave of layoffs.

Powell says high inflation poses major threat to job market: Commentsraise possibility of faster rate increases

The idea of not getting another stimulus check may be disappointing, especially at a time when inflation is rampant and everything seems to cost more. But you can still take steps to boost your income.

First, research salary data to see if you're being paid a fair wage where you work. If not, you can either fight for a raise or dust off your resume and seek out a new employment opportunity. Or if you're looking for extra work, the gig economy is still very much alive, which means you have a chance to take on a side hustle for extra money.

You can also put yourself on a stricter budget if you're struggling to make ends meet. That could mean cutting back on some expenses temporarily until the cost of living dips back downward.

Of course, if the economic situation takes a drastic turn for the worse, then a follow-up stimulus round could be in the cards. But that's a scenario no one should hope for.

What is driving US inflation to a 39-year high? The reasons and solutions are complicated

Offer from the Motley Fool: If you're using thewrong credit or debit card, it could be costing you serious money.Our expert loves this top pick,which featuresa0% intro APRuntil 2023, an insane cash back rate of up to 5%, and all somehow for no annual fee.

In fact, this card is so good that our expert even uses it personally. Click here to read our full review for free and apply in just 2 minutes.

Readour free review

We're firm believers in the Golden Rule, which is why editorial opinions are ours alone and have not been previously reviewed, approved, or endorsed by included advertisers. The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

Here is the original post:

2022 is starting with a COVID surge and high inflation. Could that mean more stimulus checks? - USA TODAY

Data breaches have become an unfortunate fact of life. But just because data breaches happen every day doesnt mean your own enterprises incident isnt big news that should be handled with great care. During cyber incident response, one public relations misstep can multiply the damage significantly.

Heres a look at some bad behaviors youre going to want to avoid:

Some companies try to keep a data breach relatively quiet by following only the minimum legal requirements and hoping it will blow over. In reality, its much more likely to blow up than blow over.

Oftentimes, breach notifications are only done as a result of mandatory statutory reporting requirements and these requirements can vary widely depending on jurisdiction, says Ryan R. Johnson, data privacy attorney and chief privacy officer at Savvas.

Johnson says that some US states data breach notification laws set very narrow reporting parameters such as mandatory notification triggered when specific types of personal data have been accessed by unauthorized parties. By comparison, other states give organizations broad latitude in a risk of harm approach, which allows the breached organization to decide whether it is necessary to notify customers.

Simply put, it's up to a company to make the determination on whether customers would be adversely affected by data compromised in a breach, says Johnson.

And dont forget: Some data breaches dont include personal information at all. Breaches of intellectual property, for example, could impact entire supply chains.

Its rare to know the full extent of the harm during or immediately after a data breach. But hopes often run high that the breach isnt as bad as it seems. Dont start off downplaying the damage in your initial disclosure to affected customers. If you do, you may face a worst situation later.

The TJX management in the US would probably admit that their response to the [breach of 45.6 million credit card numbers] back in 2007 did not go well, says JD Sherman, CEO of password manager Dashlane. While they communicated on a timely basis, they underestimated the impact in their initial communications, making the news that the breach was much larger even harder to swallow.

One terrible way to handle a breach situation, is to not handle it at all, warns Cassandra Morton, senior vice president of customer success and service delivery at NTT Application Security. Even worse is to use the event as an opportunity to sell a series of new tools and services in an attempt to course correct the situation.

Dont dangle free services as a way to get out of the situation either. After its 2017 breach that exposed Social Security Numbers, birth dates, and addresses belonging to what amounted to more than 40% of the US population, they took their time disclosing that Equifax offered victims complimentary credit monitoring (provided, ironically, by Equifax themselves), but only if the victim first provided their credit card number and waived any rights to take legal action against the company. After public pressure from regulators and advocacy groups, Equifax later removed the arbitration clause.

After a data breach, time is of the essence. If notification -- to regulators, law enforcement, media outlets, and/or impacted customers -- is mandated by regulators, your penalties can increase substantially as time drags by. (The European Unions General Data Protection Regulation may require you to break the news to authorities within 72 hours of discovery.)

Sometimes law enforcement investigations will prohibit you from informing affected customers right away, but dont unduly delay. More damage can result from the use or sale of that data elsewhere. If you delay warning your customers, third-party vendors, or others affected by the data breach, you are setting the scene for increasing harm.

The worst way to handle notification is not sending at all or exceptionally late. This approach will immediately raise a level of mistrust by the consumers, says Ron Tosto, CEO and Founder of Servadus, a cybersecurity and compliance consulting firm. The message in the notice is that your organization is hiding something, and the information may have false statements within it.

There have been examples of notifications two years after the fact and only after an investigation revealed an omission of the exact details, Tosto says.

The other approach is to avoid is placing blame or giving false credit for sophisticated hacker methods. Statistics show breaches are common with unpatched vulnerabilities for six months or more, Tosto adds.

When credit bureau Equifax discovered a breach in 2017 that exposed Social Security Numbers, birth dates, and addresses belonging to what amounted to more than 40% of the US population, they took their time disclosing it. They waited 40 days

However, if your company stays quiet about a data breach unless and until the news media gets wind of it and publicly announces, or if news breaks and you still take your time getting those notification letters out, youve likely created a public relations nightmare.

The worst way to handle customer notification is for customers to hear about it in the news first, then get a notification -- weeks, or even months later, says Johnson.

Fortunately, all these bad moves can be circumvented by simply relying on the Golden Rule.

Customers often become angry with and lose trust in organizations that are not transparent, communicate no action or play a victim, says Megan Paquin, APR, CPRC, leader of the firms crisis management team and vice president of Poston Communications, a PR and crisis communications firm. They understand that criminals are behind these attacks, but they need to feel confident that businesses have their backs when it comes to their data privacy and security.

Read the original:

Data Breach Customer Relations: What NOT To Do - InformationWeek