At the supermarket checkout, three women clustered in front me, surrounded by kids. The women were friends or family members—and they were on a budget. One went to pay for her groceries, using her Pennsylvania Access EBT card. Food stamps. It was declined. Read the rest
A few years back, a friend of mine experienced a classic foot-in-mouth moment. “Congratulations!” she said to a coworker, who dryly replied, “I’m not pregnant.” An embarrassment like that makes you want to crawl under a rock and never show your face again. Tempting, but it’s probably healthier to recover from that moment.
I’ve had my share of embarrassing moments (I swear, the above example was a friend!), and I’ve been on the flip side of the coin, too. Sticking your foot in your mouth is never fun, but how you respond to it can make the situation considerably better or worse. In general, it helps to own up to it, avoid dwelling on it, and, depending on the situation, laugh it off. But here are some additional tips to keep in mind with specific moments of embarrassment.
I should probably add a disclaimer here: never assume a woman is pregnant if you don’t know for sure. Even if she is pregnant, I figure it’s not really my business, anyway, until she decides to share that fact with me. She might be dealing with some medical issues; she might not be ready to announce it.
That being said, I asked my friend how she recovered after making this mistake. “I apologized, then avoided her as much as possible until she quit, years later,” she told me.
It’s certainly a natural reaction, but it might not be the best long-term solution. Immediately after it happens, it’s best to quickly apologize, and then put the misunderstanding on you. Manners expert Adam Lowe recommends a self-deprecating joke:
Use some humor or self deprecation to show what you said wasn’t mean spirited...tell her that you’re blind without your glasses and that you failed biology twenty times.
Another friend of mine was on the other end of this scenario; someone assumed she was pregnant. I asked her how she felt about it. She told me, “The woman kept apologizing every time I saw her. It was annoying and embarrassing.”
Groveling seems natural, too. And it’s important to offer a genuine apology. But you don’t want to say I’m so sorry to the point of annoying the person. This can be a little selfish, because it forces them to reassure you.
If you really feel bad about the situation, offer to make it up to them in some way. Everyday Life suggests:
If your embarrassing moment involved hurting someone’s feelings, make an extra-special effort to go out of your way and make it up to your co-worker, such as buying him lunch or covering for him on his break. This helps build up a good rapport so your blunder can be sooner forgotten.
It takes a little courage, but approaching the situation in this way probably makes it easier in the long run.
It’s the stuff of sitcoms, but this mistake happens all the time. I once called a new boyfriend the name of my last long-term boyfriend, and I immediately panicked. Instead of addressing the fact that it was purely habit, I said: “Well, that was weird.”
Of course, this was not comforting. It suggested I wasn’t sure why it could happen, and that maybe there was some deeper, Freudian reason behind it. There wasn’t, but I was scared, and I’m terrible on my feet, so I blurted it out.
I’ve been on the other side of this one, too. A new boyfriend called me a different name, then said, “Woah. That was, like, two girlfriends ago.” Also not the best response. There are a few additional responses that don’t work well immediately after this mistake:
There are a number of perfectly understandable reasons why you might call your current partner your ex’s name. When you’re doing damage control, focus on those. Maybe the names sound similar. Maybe it’s just habit. Research published in Psychological Science points out that a slip of the tongue often happens simply because our brains think faster than our mouths:
...aside from environmental intrusions, word-substitution errors reflect problems stemming from linguistic processes rather than extralinguistic ones like visual attention...These cases constitute objective data to support the subjective sense that speakers know what they wish to say at a conceptual or message level even when the words that they say are wrong.
It’s why my mom often mixed up my name with my brother’s (and our dog’s and cat’s, unfortunately). The bottom line: instead of trying to cover up your mistake, it helps to make sure your partner understands why it happened. After offering a rational explanation, here’s what psychologist Michael Wiederman suggests:
...it may be worth focusing on soothing the underlying source of his anger or frustration when you slip up: uncertainty. That is, when it happens, simply reassure him that there’s no one you’d rather be with than him, and then let it go and focus on something else. Also, as your relationship matures, the occasional slip-up will mean less, as there will be a more solid history that provides reassurance that the mistake has no emotional meaning.
If it keeps happening, Wiederman suggests a workaround: come up with a nickname for your current partner that sounds nothing like your ex’s name.
And if there is some deeper, Freudian stuff going on there, and you think you might still be in love with your ex, well, that may be a different post altogether.
To this day, I get nervous at the mere suggestion of a surprise party. It all goes back to high school, when I asked a friend what time we were meeting up for her party, and she said, “what party?”
If you find yourself in a similar situation, Etiquette Survival tells you how to deal:
You can’t stuff the cat back into the bag, but you should handle it with care once it’s out. “If you collaborate with the person for whom the party is being thrown, you won’t ruin it for the host, too,” says author Peggy Post. If the host finds out the surprise is blown, however, Post recommends admitting to the mistake and doing your best to make up for it, either by helping to get ready for the party or by sending the host flowers.
In the future, they add, you might want to limit contact with the guest of honor as the date approaches to avoid any spoilers.
Gmail’s undo feature is a godsend, but mistakes still happen. At work, it’s a bad idea to talk smack in general. But let’s say it happens, and you send an email to a coworker (or worse, your boss) that includes a complaint about them. Business Insider says it’s best to address the complaint, rather than sweep it under the rug:
if it does offend the recipient, it’s best to confront the situation immediately and as the sender, you should be the one making the first move. This way, you are not waiting for the other party to come to you, but you are bringing it up first because it’s your wrongdoing.
Or maybe it’s not an offensive email. Maybe it’s just personal. Either way, own up to it and follow up with an apology email. Make it simple and to-the-point. You don’t want to draw more attention to the situation with a long, drawn-out explanation.
Try this template from PR Pro Peter Shankman:
Subject: Apologies
My apologies - I just sent you an email that obviously wasn’t for you. My sincere apologies.
Best,
-Peter Shankman
And we’ve got some additional tips on how to avoid this in the first place.
It’s less a slip of the tongue and more a slip of other bodily functions, but the point is: passing gas can be mortifying.
It’s not limited to tooting or belching, either. Maybe your stomach won’t stop growling during a meeting. Whatever the scenario, recovering from a bodily function mishap can be tricky. Do you own up to it, or do you avoid drawing attention to it altogether? Workplace Diva makes this suggestion:
The more obvious the bodily malfunction, the more you should just own it. If you fart in a staff meeting and everyone heard it, point the finger at yourself (or have someone pull it) and have a sense of humor about the whole thing.
If you’re not quick on your feet, steal this line from an old story Abraham Lincoln reportedly told about a man who passed gas at a dinner party. Let’s see if I can’t cut up this turkey without farting.
Humor works well, but depending on where you are or what your workplace environment is like, it might not be appropriate. If it’s really obvious, you might have to fall back on a simple “excuse me.”
Of course, every bodily function story is different, and your mileage may vary. I once sat down quickly at my desk while wearing a skirt. My legs rubbed against each other, causing an unfortunate sound. I was horrified. I wasn’t quite sure if everyone heard, but one coworker definitely did, because she turned to look straight at me. In that moment, I almost stopped what I was doing to explain to everyone in the room what actually happened. But I knew my explanation wasn’t much better, so I completely ignored it and kept on working. No one ever mentioned it, and even when we became friendly lunch buddies, my coworker never brought it up. It was one of the best snap decisions I’ve ever made.
You usually know when ignoring a situation only makes it more awkward, so use your best judgment and diffuse only if necessary.
It takes a little effort, but it’s typically better to recover from an embarrassment than simply pretend it didn’t happen. We all do stupid things every now and then, so people are usually more understanding than you think. Addressing the flub makes it easier to face coworkers, friends, or loved ones in the future. It’ll also help you move on from that moment and forget it ever happened in the first place.
If you use the Plex media server for your movie and TV library, you’ll need to change your password this morning. The company announced it’s forum servers were hacked, leaving email addresses, forum messages, and hashed passwords vulnerable.
The company sent out an email this morning to its users notifying them of the hack. While Plex says that the passwords that were stolen were hashed and salted and, thus, should be safe, it’s still a good idea to change your password. If you visit the site while logged in, you will be automatically redirected to the “Change your password” screen, so it shouldn’t be too hard. You also should’ve gotten an email with a link to the page where you can change your password.
The affected users may be limited to those Plex users that have their account tied to the Plex forums. That being said, it may still be worth resetting your password on the off chance you created a forum account and forgot (like I did). Here is the text of the email the company sent out:
Dear Plex User,
Sadly, we became aware this afternoon that the server which hosts our forums and blog was compromised. We are still investigating, but as far as we know, the attacker only gained access to these parts of our systems. Rest assured that credit card and other payment data are not stored on our servers at all.
If you are receiving this email, you have a forum account which is linked to a plex.tv account. The attacker was able to gain access to IP addresses, private messages, email addresses and encrypted forum passwords (in technical terms, they are hashed and salted). Despite the password encryption measures, we take your privacy and security very seriously, so as a precaution, we’re requiring that you change your password.
Be sure to choose a strong password, never share it, and never re-use passwords for different accounts! Even better, use a password manager (1Password, for example) to manage a unique password for you. Access to your Plex account will be blocked until you do so.
Please follow this link to choose a new password.
We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but both your privacy and security are very important to us and we’d rather be safe than sorry!
We will post more detailed information on our blog shortly. Thanks for using Plex!
The Plex Team
Plex has not yet posted on its company blog with more details about the hack, but we’ll update this post when they do.
Last week, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal said that the UK spy agency hadn't spied on Amnesty -- this week, they admitted that they had, and claimed they hadn't deliberately misled the organisation about the spying.
Read the rest
Technology that can wirelessly power our devices on the go could change our world. Imagine never having to plug in your cell phone again, or technology that continuously keeps your electronic car battery running. According to Energous Corporation, that day is just around the corner. Energous’ WattUp is a wireless charger for electronic devices. It can charge your cell phone and… Read More
We've seen a ton of Android games launch in June, but even so there are some clear standouts. There are true premium games for fans of top-down shooters, space flight games, tactical RPGs, and crafting... and that's without even dipping into the Honorable Mentions section. On a technical level we've got everything from 60fps 3D masterpieces to a game that looks like it was made in Microsoft Paint. Check out the best offerings from an extremely generous month on the Play Store below.
[Game Roundup] Our Top Seven Picks For The Best New Games Of June 2015 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
June didn't see any huge releases in terms of Android apps, though we did finally get a publicly-available version of the Kodi Media Center, and Photoshop for Android (yes, yet another version of Photoshop). There are also some new tools for cloud storage fans, and probably the best cooking app on the Play Store. We've got some notable extras (especially if you're a Stephen Colbert fan). Here in no particular order are the best seven new apps from June, along with some honorable mentions.
[App Roundup] Our Top Seven Picks For The Best New Apps Of June 2015 was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Google Play has switched it up this week, with some movies going free instead of apps. This time around we have All Creatures Big and Small listed as free in the US, while the UK is seeing Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry.
The past five years have seen a huge shift in the way we consume media, as brick-and-mortar stores shift to digital subscriptions. It's been a valuable tradeoff for some, building billion-dollar companies and unlocking huge libraries of music and video for relatively paltry subscription fees, but it's also been a challenge for cities that rely on those businesses for revenue. Now, Chicago wants to take back those missing taxes, and the way it's retaking them has some lawyers up in arms.
Today, a new "cloud tax" takes effect in the city of Chicago, targeting online databases and streaming entertainment services. It's a puzzling tax, cutting against many of the basic assumptions of the web, but the broader implications could be even more...
The Guardian Project, the group behind previous efforts to bring Tor and other privacy-preserving software to Android, is working on a Tor-friendly browser built on the desktop equivalent's codebase. This app, named Orfox, will replace its WebView-based predecessor Orweb.
Just like Orweb, Orfox will require the companion app Orbot to connect to Tor. Orfox sets itself apart by being a fully-featured standalone browser, with the basic trappings even privacy-conscious users would come to expect like bookmarks and tabbed browsing.
Read MoreOrfox Is The Guardian Project's Latest App For Bringing The Tor Browser Experience To Android, First Alpha Release Is Available was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
Lots of big movies these days want to revisit a classic franchise, taking elements from the older films, twisting storylines, adding in fancy effects tricks and recasting to ensure actors in case a new series is ignited. But Creed – which stars Michael B. Jordan – is ready to instead revitalise the Rocky movies with some appropriate new blood. Take a look at the first trailer for the film.
Creed, shot by Jordan’s Fruitvale Station director Ryan Coogler, finds the actor as Adonis Johnson, a driven young fighter who despite the boxing ability pulsing through his veins, never knew his father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died in the ring before he was born.
But while he’s not so eager to embrace connections to his father, he knows he needs a good trainer, so he heads to Philadelphia to find one of Apollo’s most famous opponents: Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Despite his misgivings and insistence that he’s out of the fight game, Rocky sees in Adonis the spirit of his father, and agrees to take him on. And both men realise they need this, as they’re facing dangerous opponents.
With Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashad and real life pro boxer Anthony Bellew in the cast, Creed will land here on November 27. It’s already looking like it could be something special...
The first few hours of Beats 1 radio have come and gone, and now you can relive most of the music that's been played courtesy of... Spotify user Peter Bowles. Perhaps it was inevitable that someone would make a playlist mirroring what Apple's DJs are playing for Beats 1 listeners, and that's just what's happened here.
Obviously you lose out on the glowing personalities of Zane Lowe, Ebro Darden, and Julie Adenuga with this track list. Early fans of the station would tell you they're a key draw, and the whole "live, linear radio" thing also goes out the window when you're just jumping around a Spotify playlist. Spotify doesn't have that new Pharrell song either, so here it's been replaced with "Happy" — a cruel joke in its own right. But...
. But fret no more, because today’s Gmail update includes emoji for just about every occasion
.
. Running a few minutes late? Let your friend know you’ll be there at
. Whatever the situation, sending emoji is now a piece of
.
! 
Pinterest is starting to roll out a buy button on its pins today in the iPhone and iPad apps, the company said. Buyable Pins let some retailers who are partners with Pinterest and retailers using Shopify and Demandware. The company unveiled Buyable Pins earlier this month, and said at the time that they would be rolling out later in June. The tool lets retailers add a buy button to pins that… Read More
iOS 8.4 with Apple Music is here, so of course we didn't waste any time taking it for another spin after our original hands-on back at WWDC. As Walt Mossberg wrote at Recode, it's an impressive if slightly confusing first cut at a full-featured music streaming service. After you get through the usual Terms of Service agreements that you won't read, you're dropped into the classic Beats Music interface that lets you choose your favorite genres and artists. I did my level best to get my late '90s and early aughts bands to show up there, but only a handful did. Perhaps Apple has better taste in music than I do (Apple probably has better taste in music than I do).
After that, you get your five tabs. It starts with "For You," which presents...
Google is pushing out an update to Gmail today that adds in hundreds more themes and new emoji. The update’s trickling out to users right now [Gmail Blog].
One question immediately stands out when you start to compare the biggest music streaming services: where are the differences?
The reality right now is that Apple Music and Google Play Music, Spotify and Rdio, and any other pair of other music streaming services sound pretty similar on the surface. They offer about 30 million songs for about $10 a month. They let you play music offline and offer radio services and playlists if you don't feel like picking something yourself. They stream in relatively high-quality audio, and they probably have some videos for you to watch.
Apple Music is now streaming. The subscription music service has gone live as part of iOS 8.4, which is now available for iPhones and iPads. Though the update includes a small number of other changes, it's primarily about the release of Apple Music. The service is available inside of a redesigned version of iOS' Music app, which has been changed to almost entirely focus on the streaming service. It's a big moment for Apple, which was once the biggest name in digital music and is now trying to reclaim its title. Alongside the release of Apple Music, Apple's digital radio station, Beats 1, is going live as well. It's supposed to kick off at 12PM ET. There should be new Pharrell and an Eminem interview.
The world doesn't need yet another messaging app. You already have WhatsApp, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and a litany of others to choose from, so anyone else trying to get involved in this field must have something unique to offer. Pushbullet is one such unique proposition. This multi-platform app already has a loyal following of fans who use it to "push" files, links, photos, and notifications across their devices and among friends. Like Apple's Continuity, Pushbullet allows you to send and receive SMS messages on your desktop computer without ever touching your phone.
In true Marvel style, there isn’t an awful lot of information floating out there about the still-gestating Guardians Of The Galaxy sequel. But now, we do know the title for the new film: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, as confirmed by writer/director James Gunn.
Yes, the official title of the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.Kevin Feige...
Posted by James Gunn on Monday, 29 June 2015
Lest you think this will set Kevin Feige off on a mission to hunt down a mole, he won’t have to go very far for the source of the leak. In fact, he’ll be looking in the mirror, as it was Feige himself who let the title slip while talking to Collider. Planned PR move or unusual stumble by the Marvel boss? We’d guess the former, though if it’s the latter, he’ll be giving himself a stern talking-to.
Gunn hasn’t revealed much more about the new movie, though it will apparently be “more emotional” and will see Chris Pratt's Peter Quill encountering his father. The title seems entirely apt given the original film’s musical choices and the presence of Quill’s Awesome Mix Vol. 1.
While Marvel won’t be bringing anything movie related to the San Diego Comic-Con this year, we can expect more about Guardians to when the company hits Disney’s D23 event in August. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, meanwhile, lands on our screens on April 28, 2017.
Following in the footsteps of young trendsetters Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin, AC/DC is finally bringing its music to streaming services. The New York Times reports that the band is set to put its music on subscription services such as Spotify, Rdio, and Apple Music as soon as this Tuesday, having held out longer than most of its ageing rock contemporaries from making its music available digitally.
The band, which has sold 72 million records in the United States according to the RIAA, only made the decision to put its catalog on iTunes in 2012. Previously, its members had argued that the band's albums should be heard in full, rather than broken up into chunks available to purchase or stream individually. "I know the Beatles...
The European Union reached an agreement today that will end roaming charges for people travelling within its 28 member countries as of June 2017. The new agreement, brought into effect after months of deliberation, also introduces the EU's first net neutrality rules. As part of the agreement, companies across the EU are not allowed to block or throttle online content, applications, or services — rules that the Union says will ensure every European has access to the open internet, and that all traffic is treated fairly.
The EU's parliament had originally pushed for the ban on roaming charges to come into effect in 2016, but the union's member countries wanted a later implementation. In the end the two sides compromised, with the June...
Amazon has expanded its one-hour delivery service for Prime members to parts of central London. An update to the Prime Now app notes the services is now “available in selected London postcodes”. Read More
Peas, celery, parsley, and a variety of lettuces are growing in an old London WWII bunker 100 feet underground. To enter the 2.5 acre farm you must first wind your way down a 129-step spiral staircase near the Clapham North tube station.
Read the rest
Night photography specialist Jack Fusco has a special love for framing his images of the Milky Way using sea caves, like this one in Malibu. Read the rest
These fluffy panda infants are too cute for words! Born to mothers who weren't able to care for their babies (one had cancer, another wasn't able to properly care for them) Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute is hand-feeding them up to seven times a day.
So far they are doing great and breaking hearts around the world.
A cluttered home gives you less space to work, play, and relax, but getting rid of it is often easier said than done. Sometimes the trick to finally parting ways with your clutter is letting go of the “what ifs.”
You probably have a few things in your home that, deep down, you know is something you’ll probably never use again. So why do you keep it? Adrienne Breaux at Apartment Therapy suggests there is one big reason why most people hold on to clutter:
You’re hoping you’ll use something again. In other words, you’re keeping things just in case.
Obviously there are some things that fit this description you don’t want to get rid of—emergency supplies, most tools, etc.—but a lot of things that you keep around with the hope of future use will just continue to sit there, cluttering up your home. There’s a big difference between “I think I’ll need that again someday” and “I hope I’ll need that again someday.” Be honest with yourself and start moving forward with your decluttering campaign.
The Biggest Reason You’re Still Drowning In Clutter (And What to Do About It) | Apartment Therapy
Photo by kris krug.
You can’t wear your earrings as a pair if you keep losing one of them. With a few standard clothing buttons, however, you can keep all of your earrings together.
Tossing earrings down on your counter, nightstand, or into a jewelry box is a recipe for disaster. They can get knocked off accidentally and hidden under the bed forever. Or they can hide in plain sight, surrounded by so many other earrings you would have to go through them all to complete the pair. Instead, Instructables user littleCUPCAKEZ suggests you always keep them together using pant and jacket buttons. This makes it easier to organize them, and makes it a lot easier to travel with them. Of course, you could still lose the button, but that’s always a risk with small jewelry.
How to Keep Your Earrings Together When Travelling | Instructables
Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.
Looking for the previous roundup editions? Find them here.
Today's app roundup is sponsored by the Photo Wall FX live wallpaper by Handy Apps.
Read More31 New And Notable (And 1 WTF) Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 2 Weeks (6/16/15 - 6/29/15) was written by the awesome team at Android Police.
