Category: Facebook

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Facebook Rolled out Education Features to Combat Anti-Vax Propaganda

It’s amazing that in 2019, a lot of parents out there buy into the anti-vaccination rhetoric and expose their kids (and others’) to potential harm.

That’s why it’s encouraging that Facebook has taken steps to fight harmful misinformation and “fake news” that appeals to these anti-vaxxers. On Facebook, informational windows will pop up when a person searches for anything related to vaccines, taps related hashtags on Instagram (which Facebook owns), or visits vaccine-related pages and groups.

Furthermore, in the U.S., users can use pop-up windows to connect to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to read about accurate, credible information about vaccines. If you live outside the U.S., you can connect to the World Health Organization through the pop-up windows.

A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the organization is fully onboard with the move by Facebook:

“We know that parents often turn to social media to access health information and connect with other parents, and it can be difficult to determine what is accurate and who the credible sources of information are. [Combating] vaccine myths and misinformation is a shared responsibility and we applaud these efforts.”

A new feature is rolling out on Facebook and Instagram to combat the spread of anti-vaccine misinformation.Facebook,…

Posted by Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services on Friday, September 6, 2019

Health experts have said that anti-vaccination information online has played a large role in fewer people getting vaccinated against diseases and that has led to outbreaks in measles and other illnesses—in fact, the US is close to having its status as a measles-free country. So this is very timely and very important.

Nice work, Facebook. Let’s see more of this in regard to the spread of misinformation, because we all know how harmful that can be to Americans and others around the world.

The post Facebook Rolled out Education Features to Combat Anti-Vax Propaganda appeared first on UberFacts.

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Period Trackers Used by Millions of Women Are Sharing Your Sensitive Data with Facebook

A new research study showed that period tracking apps, including MIA Fem and Maya, have sent your personal information to Facebook. This not only includes when you’re on your period, but the type of contraception you use, how often you are having sex, and any PMS symptoms like mood swings.

When does the invasion of privacy stop?

Photo Credit: Pedro Sandrini, Pexels

Buzzfeed news explains:

“The data sharing with Facebook happens via Facebook’s Software Development Kit (SDK), which helps app developers incorporate particular features and collect user data so Facebook can show them targeted ads, among other functions. When a user puts personal information into an app, that information may also be sent by the SDK to Facebook.”

Great. So they know about your period because – you guessed it –advertising.

“Advertisers are often interested in people’s moods because it helps them strategically target ads to them at times they might be more likely to buy. And women who are pregnant or seeking to become pregnant are likely to change their shopping habits.”

When BuzzFeed News broke the story, the owner of the Maya app emailed a warning to BF, fighting back:

“As BuzzFeed has not been the intended recipient of the email, it should have never been shared with BuzzFeed and you as its representative,” the email said. “Considering that the unauthorized disclosure has already happened, we hereby urge you to erase all the material erroneously obtained without prevarication and delays. We shall be waiting on your confirmation of the erasure.”

“All data accessed by Maya are also essential to the proper functioning of the product. Predicting information pertaining to menstrual cycles is complex and dependent on thousands of variables,” the email added. “Location information, the significance of which is highlighted in the report, helps us triangulate regional variations in cycle lengths and thus help improve accuracy of our prediction over time.”

Right…as if a news agency that received info on a story ‘erroneously’ is required to delete the info because of its ‘erroneous’ origins. NOT.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

I mean, maybe they don’t share all your info, as they suggest, but there is residual proof that what their app collects can trigger certain ads even without specific information. Per Buzzfeed:

“MIA Fem asks users about all kinds of habits ranging from smoking to coffee consumption and tampon use. This data isn’t immediately shared with Facebook, Privacy International’s analysis found, but it enables MIA Fem to suggest articles to app users. Those articles — which are tailored to a user’s selected interests — are shared with Facebook. It also shared “reminders” within the app to take birth control medication with Facebook.”

Really what this is telling us is to read the terms of service before downloading an app. As consumers, we need to understand what information these companies are collecting. Sure, it might seem like a waste of time to read pages of legalese, but it just might save you the headache of your privacy being invaded.

Or maybe our government could step up and regulate an industry that is clearly flouting the reasonable standards of privacy that we’ve lived with in the law for generations? Or not. Whatever.

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This Hack Reveals That Private Instagram Accounts Are Not so Private

It’s a battle keeping your photos and posts private on social media – no matter how many times you update your privacy settings, Facebook and Instagram always change them (Facebook owns Instagram).

And now there’s a creepy work around where your followers can easily get your photos and videos and share them. It doesn’t matter if your account is public or private – your followers can distribute your pics and vids either way.

And that’s not supposed to be the case.

Photo Credit: Pexels, energepic

Here’s how the simple hack works

  1. Open up Google Chrome
  2. Go to the Instagram photo you would like to ‘rip’ the URL from
  3. Right click anywhere in the browser
  4. Click “INSPECT”
  5. A side bar will open. Click on “NETWORK” at the top tool bar of the sidebar.
  6. Click IMG

Photo Credit: Google Chrome, Nicole Flasco

Below this tool bar a list of several small thumbnails with apear. You can right click the IMG and copy the web address. I tried it and this is a valid fact.

According to BuzzFeed News, this is possible for public feeds, “private feeds and stories” and “can be viewed, downloaded, and shared publicly…”

Is this the same as taking screen shots of photos?

A Facebook spokesperson says yes.

“The behavior described here is the same as taking a screenshot of a friend’s photo on Facebook and Instagram and sharing it with other people. It doesn’t give people access to a person’s private account.”

The report says no.

“There is a difference between being able to screenshot a private image from a webpage and being able to easily publicly share the URL of that private image with un-authenticated users. These public URLs contain some basic info about the photo or video they link to, including details about how it was uploaded and photo dimensions. They also prove authenticity; you can’t fake one. Beyond this, deleted photos and videos are being stored and accessed on Facebook’s content delivery network after a person took an action to remove them from their profile.”

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The other issue with ripping the URL is traceability. All of your IG and Facebook data is hosted by the social media company’s content delivery network. Currently, Instagram tracks who sees your content. However, if someone grabs the URL, traceability is lost. Now your photos can be used without your permission, and you’d never even know they were floating around the internet.

We’ve all heard the news about Zuckerburg and the privacy issues Facebook has gone through in the past. He promised users that Facebook would shift to being a privacy focused network. So far, I’m not sure things have gotten better.

It this a flaw in Facebook’s security? Or is it unavoidable given internet browser permissions to view HTML? Let us know what you think!

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A Woman Wrote a Heartfelt Post to the Nurse Who Helped Her Brother After His Tragic Accident

These days, there is so much hate and overall unpleasantness being spread around on social media so often that it’s refreshing to see a story like this, even though it is based around a terrible tragedy.

A woman named Lydia Graham reached out on Facebook to try to find an off-duty nurse who showed incredible bravery when her brother Ian M. Graham died in a motorcycle accident in North Carolina.

Posted by Ian M. Graham on Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Here is Lydia Graham’s Facebook post in its entirety:

“Hi you guys/strangers who see this….

I feel funny writing this, and have debated writing it for a while now. I’ve decided I want to go for it, and the only way I can really think to get it out there is on facebook. I’d really appreciate if you’d share.

I’m trying to find the woman who witnessed and responded to an accident on September 10, 2014 around 6:30 PM on Route 147 between Chapel Hill St and Swift Ave in Durham, North Carolina.

What I know about this woman is this:

-she is (or was at the time) a nurse at Duke Hospital
-I *believe* she told the police she had just finished her shift at the hospital and was driving home, but that is not 100% verifiable
-She performed an emergency airway procedure on a stranger, in the middle of a busy road, shielding his body from oncoming traffic
-I was told she called the police the following week to ask about his progress, and was informed that he had passed away

I’m asking that you share this, especially if you are in North Carolina/the Durham area. If you know any medical staff at Duke Hospital, I ask especially that you share with them.

I’d like to find her, because I’d like to send her the following message.

Thank you.

——

You don’t know me; you don’t know I exist. I feel like I know you. I know you exist. I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while now.

In September 2014, you witnessed a gruesome accident. I am so sorry that that happened to you. I can imagine that it has probably haunted you at least a little ever since.

Your reaction was to get out of your car and put yourself into a dangerous and scary situation in order to shield and keep alive a complete stranger, in the middle of a busy road. I know that that was scary and traumatic for you. I know you saw things nobody wants to see. I’m sure you feared for your own safety, and I’m sure it was really difficult for you to find out that the man you threw yourself into helping and saving did not survive despite it all.

His name was Ian M. Graham. He was my brother.

Posted by Ian M. Graham on Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The post continues…

Because of you, he reached the hospital alive. He received the best medical attention and care any person could possibly receive.

I want you to know there is nothing- truly nothing- you could have done better or differently. I want you to know you did everything perfectly.

I want you to know that you did not save Ian’s life only because Ian’s life could not be saved.

But more importantly, I want you to know that that day, your courage and your humanity and your selflessness actually saved many lives.

Ian was an organ donor, and because he made it to the hospital and onto a ventilator alive, his organs were viable.

taken by Carter Smith at the wedding of Tina Patterson-Marcinkevich and Aaron Patterson-Marcinkevich

Posted by Ian M. Graham on Monday, July 28, 2014

Ian’s life actually helped save others, as the post reveals…

I want you to know that you saved the life of a 60 year old man with a wife of 36 years, a daughter and 2 grandchildren. He received a kidney from Ian.

I want you to know that you saved the life of a 66 year old man with 3 children and 7 grandchildren. He received Ian’s other kidney.

I want you to know that you saved the life of a man in his 50s, who had already penned his own obituary when he received the call letting him know that he was going to get Ian’s liver. His obituary can wait; because of you, his story is not done.

I want you to know that you are the reason a newborn child received a desperately needed heart valve the day Ian left this world.

I want you to know that you’re the reason a young child will not go blind after all. Because of you, she received Ian’s corneas.

Ian may have died days after the accident but I want to make sure you know that it was the accident that killed Ian, full stop. And because of you, multiple lives were saved and/or dramatically improved.

Also because of you, my brother didn’t die alone on the side of a road, scared or in pain. Because of you, my brother died with me holding his hand, whispering how it was OK for him to go now. He was in no pain. He was surrounded by pure love. Because of you, I got to say goodbye.

If my brother were still here he would have long ago tried to track you down, and had you been receptive he would have gone to any lengths to buy you a beer and give you the warmest, most amazing hug you’ve ever received. That’s the kind of guy he was. I owe it to him and to you to try to do the same.

Here my Halloween costume, Charlottesville. My name is "your ass on November 9th."

Posted by Ian M. Graham on Thursday, October 31, 2013

And get ready to get the tissues…

On a personal note, I want you to know that for a long time following the accident, you are the reason I woke up every morning and decided that on that particular day, I still wanted to be alive too. Because on so many days, the faith and love you gave me in and for humanity were the only things stronger than the devastation of what happened to me. And on those days I got up and I got through it. Because of you.

I’ve long thought it was unfair that you only knew Ian died, and nothing else. I’m sorry it took me this long to decide to write this and try and see if it could reach you. You deserve to know that you are a hero.

You are my hero.

I don’t know your name. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know if we have anything in common. But I want you to know, finally, that I love you.”

Graham added an update to her Facebook post:

“**I’m editing this to say: I found her and we’re in touch. Thank you. I’m beyond grateful and humbled that all of these people helped me so quickly and so effectively. I love you all, too. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.**”

A very sad story, but a timely reminder that there are still a lot of great people out there willing to put themselves in danger to help others in times of need.

The post A Woman Wrote a Heartfelt Post to the Nurse Who Helped Her Brother After His Tragic Accident appeared first on UberFacts.

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This Little Girl Wasn’t Impressed by the Birthday Cake That Called Her a “Loser”

To be fair, it takes quite a bit to impress a toddler, so “unimpressed” is kind of their default. That said, you might have a shot with the right, well-executed cake on their birthday.

Which was pretty much the opposite of what mom Melin Jones ended up with when trying to get a cute cake for her daughter Liz’s 2nd birthday party.

Editing this with a little more information -Some of my family & friends know about the cake mess up we had with Liz’s…

Posted by Melin Jones on Sunday, June 30, 2019

Here’s the full text:

Some of my family & friends know about the cake mess up we had with Liz’s 2nd birthday cake but I recently posted it in a Facebook group I’m in (Sad Sales, Stolen Goods, and Sketchy Services )and had a lot of people ask me to post it to my public profile so they could share  it – so here’s the story !

September 7th, sometime in the afternoon I had went to Wal-Mart in Desloge to get things for Liz’s birthday party, which we were having that next day.

We hadn’t ordered a cake or anything days a head like one should /would normally so I swung by the bakery and picked out one that was already made, and asked the lady behind the counter if she would write “Happy Birthday Lizard.”

Lizard is our nickname for Liz. She said yes and within a few minutes she handed it back.

She didn’t ask me how it looked and I didn’t check .

Remember, I’m in a hurry here as it’s the day before her birthday party and I’m just now picking the cake out and getting everything else.

Little did I know life lessons were about to be had! We get home, I’m unloading the car and quickly glance down at the cake and noticed that the worker wrote Loser , not Lizard . At first I was a little shocked and speechless but quickly started dying laughing.

I hurried and carried the cake and Liz into the house, put the cake down on the table and put Liz in the chair to send a picture to my husband of the cake .

Liz wasn’t told to look at the cake, she can’t read so she didn’t know what the cake said, we didn’t tell her what it said and she doesn’t even know what a loser is. She just happen to be looking at the cake when I took the photo.

My husband and I laughed about it together when he got home, enjoyed every bit of the loser cake (eat up , mom of the year ! you deserve it !) and later that evening I made another trip to Wal-Mart for another cake for her party.

I never brought it to the bakery’s attention because had I took the time to just look at the cake when she handed it to me I would have never walked out the door with it and also , I didn’t want her to get into any type of trouble or be mocked by her coworkers for writing loser on a child’s birthday cake .

It was a simple misunderstanding and I didn’t want her to get any backlash from it .

This is a funny story , it’s ok to laugh . Lizard got a new cake, the idiot that couldn’t be bothered to take a few mins to stop and check it also got a cake.

I promise you my now almost 3 year old didn’t have a clue what happen. She’ll go on to live a somewhat normal life….. as long as someone else starts picking out her birthday cakes.

The good news is that Liz can’t read, so even though she looks un-enthused, she “wouldn’t know what a loser is,” her mom told the Mirror back in 2018.

Editing this with a little more information because some of the news stations have really butchered it & have false…

Posted by Melin Jones on Sunday, June 30, 2019

She also said that while the cake might have called their daughter a loser, the family was the winner.

Because the cake was delicious!

Posted by Melin Jones on Monday, July 1, 2019

“I ate every bit of that loser cake,” Melin told People magazine.

Proof that happy endings do exist, my friends!

The post This Little Girl Wasn’t Impressed by the Birthday Cake That Called Her a “Loser” appeared first on UberFacts.

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Cities Are Using This High Pitched ‘Mosquito’ Sound to Get Rid of Teenagers After Curfew

This next viral sensation will make you go Hmmm? Or maybe Ouch!

Kodie Helmer came across the next phenomenon racking up over 95,000 shares on her post:

I need your help! 😳 Okay so I nabbed me a younger man, I said it….I am slightly OLDER than Chris #cougar 🐆❤ BUT I am…

Posted by Kodie Helmer on Sunday, July 21, 2019

“I heard on the radio that some businesses and even towns are using a sound wave as a deterrent for teens after curfew, INTERESTING right?! So I looked into it and found a series of sounds that become harder to hear as you *ahem* age. This one in particular cannot be heard by most people over the age of 40.

I CANNOT FLIPPING HEAR THIS!!! But, Chris Helmer can 🤨 I called all our kids in and they were covering their ears!!! So, I got to know below, help me feel better (or worse) Tell me, are you OVER or UNDER 40 and CAN YOU HEAR THIS SOUND?!?!?”

I couldn’t help but check this out. If cities and towns can deter teens with it, it’s gotta be something! Here’s the sound.

Did you hear anything? I sure didn’t! I’m almost forty so my hearing must be going… Drat!

I decided to test this on my husband. He’s forty-three, and I thought if I can’t make out this noise he won’t either. I played it and he shrieked in his recliner, cupping his ears and yelling, “Turn that off! Don’t ever do that again! What the hell is that?”

I asked what it sounded like and he responded, “Like the Devil’s dog whistle.”

(I did play it again. I’m mischievous like that.) 

Anyway, it was strange! How could he cringe and shout and I got nothing?

I did some digging on Helmer’s comment about these sounds shooing away teens after dark and came up with something called the Mosquito. It’s a sonic device used throughout Philadelphia and some other municipalities – but it has also been banned in various cities around the world.

What do you think?

The post Cities Are Using This High Pitched ‘Mosquito’ Sound to Get Rid of Teenagers After Curfew appeared first on UberFacts.

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In 2005 graffiti artist David Choe…

In 2005 graffiti artist David Choe was offered $60K to paint multiple murals at Facebook headquarters. He chose to take his compensation in stock which was eventually worth more than $200 million.

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15+ Hilarious Area 51 Memes for People Who Want to “See Them Aliens”

Ya’ll ready for this?

Have you heard about the “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All Of Us” event on Facebook? It’s gonna happen on September 20th… and it’s COMPLETELY REAL! Really!

We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry. If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens.

In that spirit, let’s see them memes!

1. Dat me!

Photo Credit: Someecards

2. Let’s go!

Photo Credit: Someecards

3. All day, every day…

Photo Credit: Someecards

4. They won’t suspect a thing…

Photo Credit: Someecards

5. I wanna go home now…

Photo Credit: Someecards

6. OMFG!

Photo Credit: Someecards

7. We’ve made a terrible mistake!

Photo Credit: Someecards

8. He got this!

Photo Credit: Someecards

9. Love this!

Photo Credit: Someecards

10. Space cheese!

Photo Credit: Someecards

11. They ready!

Photo Credit: Someecards

12. Dat forehead!

Photo Credit: Someecards

13. Go back to bed!

Photo Credit: Someecards

14. Bitmojis everywhere

Photo Credit: Someecards

15. The new Fyre Fest?

Photo Credit: Someecards

16. She’ll thank me later…

Photo Credit: Someecards

Them memes is funny!

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Millennials Pretend to Be Baby Boomers on Facebook and It Is Very Amusing

Millennials and Baby Boomers don’t really get each other, do they? Boomers think Millennials are entitled brats and Millennials think Boomers can’t keep up with the modern world.

Twitter user Anna (@manhattanna) recently stumbled on a Facebook group in which Millennial users pretend to be Boomers in order to make fun of the way they use social media, and shared some of her screenshots on Twitter.

People love. So will you.

14. I mean why waste time with a second post?

13. “Is he a predator?”

12. Not good with the photos

Image Credit: Twitter

Image Credit: Twitter

Image Credit: Twitter

11. THE MALL!

10. Please enjoy the incongruous backgrounds in the next several posts

Image Credit: Twitter

9. Balloons for days

Image Credit: Twitter

8. That is not a crying emoji…

Image Credit: Twitter

7. Neither is this

Image Credit: Twitter

6. Who among us does not miss a good cheddar biscuit?

5. God bless

4. MAGA

3. So polite

2. These posts kill me

1. Ummmm…

Image Credit: Twitter

Stay funny out there, friends.

It’s the only reason to keep the internet alive.

The post Millennials Pretend to Be Baby Boomers on Facebook and It Is Very Amusing appeared first on UberFacts.

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Did You Know the 16th Century Had Its Own Version of Facebook?

In the 16th century, young people in the Netherlands and the Rhineland might not have had Facebook, Snapchat, or Twitter, but they were way ahead of their time. Instead, they had what they called alba amicorum, which means “friend books” in Latin.

In the books, the nobility of 1560 and later traded thoughts, commented on others’ opinions, sought advice, and celebrated their favorite songs. The books also doubled as both yearbooks and as a sort of LinkedIn recommendation, as young men traveled abroad and met scholars, philosophers, scientists, and other students to complete their education. They would ask these people to write a quick entry in their alba amicorum, or sometimes, if the new friend was an artist, to draw an illustration.

margarethahaghen

Women of the 16th century didn’t have much opportunity for travel or education, which tended to make their friend books more personal and, for us, more revealing. They drew in each other’s books, traded secrets, gossip, and inside jokes, and the women’s books were generally less organized and pretty than those kept by the men. But, I’m guessing, they are a lot more fun to read.

album_amicorum_van_jacob_van_bronckhorst_van_batenburg_8077131573

“The alba kept by women are mostly full of ugly, busy pages on which up to 15 people scribbled down their name, motto, or a short saying,” says Sophie Reinders, a Dutch Ph.D. student specializing in the alba amicorum.

So, they may not have contained links, hilarious GIFs, or daily memes, but they did often include song lyrics, poetry, pictures, memories of great events, and things of the like. When two people married, they would announce their union with new, joint entries. Kind of like changing your relationship status, I suppose.

album_amicorum_of_michael_van_meer_004

Basically, these were prettier, more personal ways to show off your popularity, as well as the status and stature of your friends around the continent. I, for one, would love to bring this back even if it would mean forcing people to interact again face-to-face.

A real-life Facebook. What a concept.

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