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Attack of the Hammerhead Worm

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Could your garden be doomed by a predator smaller than a drinking straw? If you’re unknowingly hosting the invasive hammerhead worm, the outlook could be grim, indeed.

You’ve likely heard of hammerheads, but you probably never expected to find one hanging out in your own backyard. Hammerhead worms feed just as aggressively as hammerhead sharks, though on a much smaller scale. But don’t let their size and innocent appearance fool you. Depending upon where you live, hammerhead worms may have already invaded your garden and begun wreaking havoc on your backyard ecosystem. And their favorite snack, unfortunately, is the common earthworm. Here’s why you don’t want to find the carnivorous hammerhead worm tunneling among the roots of your freshly planted garden.

So, Who Cares About Earthworms Anyway?

Earthworms are like tiny tillers, aerating the soil and leaving castings (worm poop) behind that is highly beneficial to plant life. Thanks to the common earthworm, tough, impenetrable soil becomes loose and well fertilized. This allows crops such as corn, wheat, and soy to flourish. It may also be why you have the prettiest roses on the block.

If the earthworm population were suddenly to vanish, life for humans could change pretty drastically. There would be less food produced, more pollution in our soils, and heavier flooding. Since the ancient days of Egypt, when earthworms churned and fertilized the soil in the damp river valleys along the Nile, earthworms have long been touted as one of the more influential species on earth.

And now they have a serious predator that’s completely capable of decimating the entire population. And it could be happening right beneath your feet. Enter the hammerhead worm.

Where Did the Hammerhead Worm Come From?

Hammerhead worms are native to Southeast Asia, but they’ve infiltrated other countries through the import of nursery plants. To date, hammerheads have been found in the United States in various southern states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. They’re carnivores whose preferred buffet is a nice, juicy earthworm. Just like the hammerhead shark, they’re especially aggressive hunters. Scientists think they’re capable of tracking earthworms beneath the ground. When they find one, they emit a deadly neurotoxin that causes paralysis.

What to Do If You See a Hammerhead Worm

Essentially, a hammerhead worm looks like a normal worm with the exception of its unusual, hammer-shaped head. Don’t handle it without gloves. Don’t feed it to pets or livestock, and don’t cut it into pieces. Like many worms, the hammerhead can reproduce asexually. So, if you cut it into three pieces, you’ll eventually be left with two additional hammerheads.

The Texas Invasive Species Institute recommends dowsing hammerheads in salt, vinegar, or citrus oil to kill them. Use gloved hands to place the worm in a plastic baggie and then add your killing solutions. Wash your hands well afterward.

Hammerhead worms may be the worst predators visiting your garden this year, so glove-up when you’re digging in the soil, and be on the lookout for the predatory hammerhead worm.

4 Physical Aspects of Cybersecurity You Need To Get Covered

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As brain-deep as cybersecurity is, you don’t have to leave it to computer gurus. There’s a lot you can do to guard your digital properties at home and work. These physical hacks will get you started.

Turn from the Window

Are your screen and keyboard facing a window? Then peeping Toms can easily read, photograph, or video the passwords, account numbers, or love emails you type in.

  • The asterisks that appear in place of your password won’t protect you. Anybody who sees your keyboard can figure out what you’re entering.
  • You’re not safe even if you’re in a 5th-floor office with no other buildings directly around you. If there’s a structure within viewing distance, somebody could be using a smartphone zoom or binoculars to spy on your screen.

Thwart any snoops by turning your screen and keyboard toward a wall. If you can’t do that, then shut the curtains or put up a divider in front of the window to block the outside view.

Lock Up the Surplus

What do you do with that old smartphone, laptop, or tablet? It’s easy and convenient to just throw the gadget in an unlocked drawer, put it on a high shelf, or leave it in an unused corner of your desk.

This works fine if you’re at home because you’ll hopefully know who’s running around your spaces. But don’t try this at work or any place where the public wanders around. It takes microseconds for someone to grab the gear, spirit it away, and check out any data you’ve left on it.

Ideally, you’d wipe any devices clean of any data before trashing them. But if you want to keep them around for sentimental reasons, put them in locked containers and drawers.

Keep a Video Eye Out

Here’s another hack that’s mostly for the office but can also work for your home setup. Install a big and showy camera that keeps a video eye out for your computer.

  • Make sure that everybody who enters your area knows the device is there by installing signs that announce what it’s doing. The warning may be enough to deter evil-doers. But if anyone is stupid enough to either hack a device or steal it, you’ll have a record you can use to trace the rascal.
  • While you’re at it stash a second camera in a hidden location. If somebody blocks the view of the obvious camera, you still have the second one to video the culprit.

Deny Dumpster Divers

Everybody rummages through trashcans and dumpsters nowadays: the down and out searching for recyclables to sell, bargain hunters looking for usable gear they can sell, and thieves hunting for a way into your life. They’re interested in the account numbers, money transactions, and personal info that appears on paper bills and printouts. They can then use this info to try to hack into your credit cards, online banking, and web stores to steal what they can get.

Buy yourself a shredding machine that’s easy to use. Then feed any paper into it that contains any personal information, whether you’ve received the document in the mail or print it from your computer. Even if someone takes the shredded material, they won’t be able to make heads or tails of it.

Want to Keep Your Computer Working Perfectly? Here are the Regular Maintenance Best Practices You Should Be Aware Of

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When it comes to computers, there is a common misconception that devices start to slow down from essentially the moment that you turn them on for the first time. While it’s true that today’s technology may not be quite so “state-of-the-art” even as soon as six months from now, that doesn’t mean that everything you buy will need to be put out to pasture quite so quickly.

In fact, there are a number of basic steps that you can take to keep your computers running totally efficiently – so long as you’re proactive about the process, that is.

Regular Computer Maintenance: Breaking Things Down

By far, one of the most important regular maintenance steps that you can take to keep your computer running perfectly involves downloading updates whenever you’re able to do so.

Note that this includes updates to both the operating system and to any critical apps that you’re using. On a MacOS computer, you can find operating system updates by going to the “System Preferences” screen and selecting the “Software Updates” button. On a Windows machine, you can find the same option by opening the “Control Panel.”

In addition to offering important security fixes, operating system software updates often include crucial changes to the code that help your machine grow more efficient over time. This is why, even though they’re admittedly a minor inconvenience, you should still make it a priority to download them.

If you’re willing to put additional money into your machine to increase its lifespan, you should definitely focus on adding more RAM. There are certain hardware-based components of a computer that you essentially have no control over, with the motherboard being the primary example. If you decided that you wanted to upgrade the motherboard, you’d essentially just be building a new computer.

But if you spend a few hundred dollars on RAM, you can easily swap it out yourself and enjoy an almost instant speed boost as a result. If your computer came with 4GB of RAM, the best thing to do would be to upgrade to at least 8GB. If you’re willing to go to 16GB, that’s even better – the machine will feel as good as new and you won’t have to think about an upgrade for years to come.

Keep in mind, however, that you’ll need to make sure you’re buying RAM that is comparable with the machine you have. Determine the model number of your computer and check online for which types of RAM are compatible.

Finally, if your computer has a traditional hard disk drive, you could always upgrade to a flash-based solid state drive for an instant performance boost. It will make even the most resource-heavy apps feel faster. Just be sure to back up the contents of your old hard drive before you make the change to help guarantee that you won’t lose any critical data in the process.

Four Things You Didn’t Know Are Good for Your Spirit

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Do you ever feel tired or stressed, but in a deep, hard-to-explain kind of way? It’s like something is off in the very core of your being, and it eats away at you.

 

If this sounds familiar, then you need to get your spirit right. The idea of the spirit is nebulous, and no two people perfectly agree on what it means, but we can probably all agree that when things feel off that deep inside, any source of relief sounds great.

 

There are things that are good for your spirit. Some you have considered. Others might seem novel. The four below can help you search your soul a bit to find a way to relieve your stress and lift your spirit.

 

Walking Away

 

You don’t need to completely upend your life over some advice you read on the internet. But, there is a good chance that there is something in your life that you don’t need. There’s a bad habit or vice — something small — that you are actually ready to walk away from.

 

You already have it in mind, don’t you?

 

Walk away. Resolve to do it right now. You aren’t quitting all of your vices. You aren’t fixing everything in your life that brings you down. You’re just getting rid of this one small thing that bothers you. In a few weeks, when you look back, your spirit will thank you.

 

Giving Something Away

 

This is an old idea. We all know that selflessness can be great for your spirit. The key idea here is to really hone in on a specific act of selflessness. If you give away something that you personally value, your spirit will thank you.

 

For some, it might be money. For others, time means more than anything else. It could be an object of personal value. If you give it to someone who will need or appreciate it more than you, and you do it in person, you will reap spiritual benefits.

 

Doing Chores

 

There are two ways chores can help you. The first is psychological. Getting chores off of your list gives you a sense of accomplishment. It can also quiet some of the nagging in the back of your mind, and both of those things are good for you.

 

There’s also a spiritual component. When you do your chores, you are expending time and energy to show respect to your environment (which is not necessarily THE environment). Investing some of yourself into your surroundings puts a little of your spirit into them, and that will reflect back to you in positive ways.

 

Active Meditation

 

Most people recognize that meditation can be good for you, but meditation doesn’t have to be about quiet and stillness. Active meditation is the idea of doing an activity that allows your mind room for freedom.

 

For many people, taking a walk counts. Yoga might be great for you. A lot of crafts and hobbies can be meditative too. The point is to immerse yourself in the activity to allow it to bring you to a meditative state.

And, if you haven’t found your meditative activity yet, start exploring. That process will be good for your spirit too.

 

 

Why Operating System Updates are More Important Than You Realize

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Few people like the experience of turning on their computer in the morning only to be greeted by a series of messages saying that updates are available and need to be downloaded. Many of us even put these updates off for long periods of time, consistently clicking on the “Remind Me Later” button. This is particularly common with operating system updates as, even though the OS is a major part of how your computer is able to function, it’s still something of an “out of sight, out of mind” situation.

In reality, this is definitely not something that you want to do. Operating system updates are far more critical than most people realize for a number of different reasons, all of which are worth exploring.

Why Operating System Updates Matter

One of the biggest reasons why operating system updates should be downloaded immediately has to do with the security flaws that they often patch.

Yes, it’s true that sometimes OS updates can seem superfluous – meaning they make changes to built-in apps that can seem inconsequential or they adjust the graphical user interface (GUI) in a way we might not actually enjoy.

But more often than not, the major changes that an operating system update is bringing happen on “the back end.” This means it is fixing the code that average users never really see.

If a security vulnerability with an operating system is discovered – and rest assured, one will be – an update is likely pushed out to address it. Every day that you don’t download and install that update is a day that your machine is potentially vulnerable to hackers with malicious intentions.

This is also a big part of the reason why it’s so important to pay attention to when the “End of Life” date is on an OS. Microsoft’s Windows 7, for example, was undeniably one of the more popular versions of Windows to ever be released. However, Microsoft announced years in advance when they would stop supporting it. It’s simply not feasible to pay programming teams to regularly update software that is a decade old when they could be working on whatever the newest version happens to be.

If anyone continued to run Windows 7 after the “End of Life” date, they would essentially be running a computer that could be easily exploited. Any piece of personal data on that machine – be it bank statements, photos, confidential documents, etc. – could be easily taken advantage of because no further updates were coming.

Therefore, it’s always important to update your operating system whenever the opportunity arises because those updates only happen for a very good reason. Likewise, when a newer version of your operating system is released, which happens with both Windows and MacOS on an annual basis, you should download and install those, too. For the most part, they’re all about protection – making the minor inconvenience of the download process more than worth it in the long run.

Sneaky Ways To Get More Protein Into Your Diet

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Whether you’re a health and fitness guru or you simply feel better when you eat a high-protein diet, it can be tough to get the protein you need to support a healthy lifestyle and metabolism. Here, we’ll check out some ways that you can sneak protein into your diet–without constantly loading up on tuna and chicken.

1. Load up on ricotta.

This creamy staple of Italian cuisine packs a surprisingly high protein punch. A half cup of part-skim ricotta (the perfect amount to enjoy in lasagna, on top of toast, or on another kind of protein with a sprinkle of fresh basil) adds 14 grams of protein to your diet. If you’re looking to add a touch of decadence to pasta sauce or soup, stir in a healthy amount of ricotta instead of heavy cream–you’ll love the way the extra protein makes you feel, and your family will be none the wiser that you gave them a healthier option.

2. Add yogurt to your morning.

It can be easier to add items to your diet instead of taking them away when you’re working to load up on the protein. There’s no need to change your current breakfast–enjoy what you already enjoy, plus a side of Greek yogurt. A single serving can add 18 grams of protein to your morning, helping you stay satiated through lunch. If you already enjoy fruit as a part of your breakfast, try dipping it into your Greek yogurt for a delicious way to get the protein you need. Prefer to drink your breakfast? Add a scoop of Greek yogurt to your morning smoothie for protein on the go.

3. Choose quinoa for your evening grain.

It’s comforting to have a warm bowl of rice or pasta in the evening, but tagging quinoa into your dinner game can help you get the protein you want, without sacrificing comfort or flavor. A bowl of quinoa has about eight grams of protein per cup. If your dinner includes meat or another protein (like beans), using quinoa as a base can help you get the high-protein dinner you need to support a good night’s rest.

4. Don’t forget about shakes.

We know–protein shakes don’t have the best reputation for being tasty, but it’s easy to sneak a scoop into your morning smoothie or bowl of oatmeal. If you’ve tried protein shakes before and haven’t been a fan, trying a different type of protein (like whey, soy, or pea) may provide you with the consistency that you prefer and a taste that you’ll love. If you find that protein powder bothers your stomach, start with half a scoop added to your breakfast and work your way up to a full scoop.

How to Deal With Self Sabotage

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Before we dive full force into how to deal with self sabotage, let’s define what self sabotage is.

Self sabotage can be described as:

You, acting against your own best interests.

Why would anyone decide to act against their own best interests, you ask?

Most often, it has to do with the way a person frames their expectations. But we’ll get to this further on. For now, let’s look at an example.

Let’s say you’re trying to lose 30 pounds. Let’s even say you’ve been trying to lose these 30 pounds for the last 10 years.

The question, then, is: Why have you fallen short?

The answer is: Self sabotage stemming from impossible expectations.

(We promise this isn’t circular reasoning. Keep reading …)

Why Self Sabotage Often Wins

The reason you haven’t been able to stick with your plan to lose 30 pounds is because of the way you’ve framed your problem. Instead of using logic and reasoning, you’ve likely been setting totally out-of-reach expectations for yourself and framing your problem (the challenge to lose 30 lbs.) as an all-or-nothing affair. 

Here are some examples of this phenomenon in action:

  • You wake up in the morning and tell yourself you want to lose weight, so you should completely stop eating sugary, fatty foods. Later that day, someone offers you a donut at work, and you take it and eat it. This is an example of self sabotage.
  • You wake up in the morning and tell yourself you want to lose weight, so you need to start going to a walk-in aerobics class every single day after work. That day, you feel too tired, though, so you ditch and go home instead. This is an example of self sabotage.
  • You wake up in the morning and tell yourself you want to lose weight, so you should eat a healthy, well-balanced breakfast every morning. You take too long getting ready for work, however, so you have to grab a sugary “breakfast bar” on the way out the door instead. This is an example of self sabotage.

Self sabotage is when you actively give yourself permission to go against your own “rules”. But here’s the kicker: It’s self sabotage because you are the one who has created those rules … and often, they are not at all realistic.

So, how do we change this?

Deflating the Negative Power of Perfectionism

Perfectionism is often what’s at the heart of self sabotage and outrageous, self-inflicted expectations.

Note that in each of the examples above, what you told yourself “in the morning” was a goal that is actually very difficult to achieve — especially when you do little to no planning. 

The expectation, for instance, that you can completely cut out sugary and fatty foods is absurd. Telling yourself that you’ll exercise every day after work when you know you’ll be tired and will just want to go home? Give yourself a break! And finally, deciding to have a huge, well-balanced and nutritious breakfast every morning is fine … but how exactly are you going to execute this when you probably never have enough time in the morning to begin with?

You must learn to work with yourself and be realistic.

What all of this comes down to is slowing down, looking at each issue that is causing you problems or that you could possibly change, and deciding on a realistic, logical, doable task that could make your situation better.

This is how you deal with self sabotage. You stop giving yourself permission to act against your own best interests. And you start strategizing and creating realistic thinking patterns and attainable doing patterns that will actually create change for the better in your life.

3 Things Remote Workers Need to Consider Before Going Full Digital Nomad

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The pandemic accelerated a remote employment trend many embrace for its attractive work-life balance. Last year, upwards of 44 percent of office professionals held positions with offsite capabilities. That begs the question: Why live somewhere when you can live everywhere? About 35 people worldwide and 11 million Americans agreed and went full digital nomad.

Transitioning from the daily commute and workplace structure to working from home wasn’t for everyone. Some trailed back to cubicles once offices reopened. On the other hand, the taste of freedom experienced while enjoying home-brewed coffee with a laptop on your patio can be like a daily Zen moment. Those considering the logical next step of buying an RV, tricking out a van, or hotel jumping around the world, would be well served to conduct thorough due diligence. Life on the roam presents new challenges.

1: How To Maintain Power

Solar panels rank among the trendy options remote workers too often believe will keep their electronics powered. Jackery emerged as the big name among RV-ing nomads in the last few years. Maintaining enough battery charge to complete a project using a portable panel is unlikely to work consistently. Digital nomads develop a heightened awareness of just how many cloudy and rainy days there are when you occupy a confined mobile space.

Mounting several commercial-grade solar panels on your rig’s roof with a cache of batteries is a good start. It’s also prudent to carry some type of traditional generator — gas or propane. Ignore advice about hauling 20 gallons of water — unless you’re heading to the desert — and prioritize consistent energy resources.

2: How To Nomad At A Low Cost

Some polls indicate the majority of digital nomads stay at a hotel or Airbnb while traveling. One of the ways digital nomads staying at Airbnbs can cut costs is by using online coupons. In some cases, you may be able to negotiate a lower price with the host. In terms of saving money on hotels, booking well in advance typically provides a lower nightly rate. And visiting before and after peak season usually results in lower-cost rentals.

If you’re considering wheels on the ground living, like Frances McDormand in the film “Nomadland,” the cost of campgrounds with leisure amenities can also prove a bit pricey. Finding inexpensive and free places to live-work has become increasingly easy. There are platforms such as FreeCampsites, Campendium, theDyrt, and iOverlander, to name a few, that list low-cost and free boondocking opportunities. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and state parks and forest websites are also valuable resources.

But the nuance to utilizing these spaces involves planning your stays. Most have maximum limits between 3-14 days. When planning your travel, think about staying power and check reviews about Wi-Fi availability and cell signal strength.

3: Know Your Traditional Infrastructure

Once you step away from suburban or urban landscapes, Wi-Fi grows inconsistent. Peaceful forests, beaches, and mountains may not necessarily offer five bars, or any at all for that matter. The same may hold true of staying at a remote beachfront cottage or a cabin in the woods. Lack of work connectivity puts the first part of your new life in jeopardy, that being a “digital” nomad.

Purchasing a Wi-Fi booster helps, but job security may require leaning on traditional resources. Public libraries typically offer reasonable internet access and private study rooms to hold video conferences or concentrate. Keep in mind, librarians shushing people who talk loudly has become something of a movie myth. College and university libraries are often open arms to traveling professionals, offering guest passes in many cases.

Many of the things housed people take for granted can be challenging when traveling. Don’t sweat the little things. Stay warm, well-fed, and digitally connected. The rest will fall into place in time.

Why You Need to Forgive Yourself

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We have all done things that we regret. It’s an unfortunate part of the human experience. Most of the time, you can just acknowledge that it was a bad decision, apologize to the people you need to apologize to and move on. Sometimes, though, you can’t let go, can’t get past it – you can’t forgive yourself.

But you need to – and here’s why.

Why should you forgive yourself?

Self-forgiveness brings peace. It is good for both your mental and physical health. When you can’t forgive yourself, it brings torment and suffering. You ruminate on what happened and it erodes your emotional wellbeing.

This affects your relationships, how you function at work, how you sleep, even how well your organs function and how easily your body can fight illness. You may not realize it, but holding on to that thing and refusing to forgive yourself for it is like holding a toxic substance in your body. And like a toxic substance, it will eventually destroy you.

Why is forgiving yourself so hard?

We are our own worst critic. Most people are harder on themselves than they are on others. This can lead to difficulty in self-forgiveness. Often, though, the person carries a skewed sense of responsibility for the event, and they feel shame for it. Often, they believe that:

  • They don’t deserve to be happy.
  • If they do forgive themselves, then they are condoning what they believe they did.
  • By forgiving themselves for this, they open themselves up to repeat the hurtful or harmful act.
  • They deserve to suffer.

These things are not true, but they can certainly keep you from giving yourself the gift of forgiveness.

What should you forgive yourself for?

The things you need to forgive yourself for are the things that you can’t seem to put behind you. It’s the thing or things that replay in your mind, that keep you awake at night and cause you to feel shame. That looks different for different people.

Maybe you have a past you’re not proud of and even though you have moved past those things and live a different life, you can’t stop beating yourself up for it.  If you have failed relationships in your past, if you have weaknesses, if you’ve made mistakes, those could all be things that you need to forgive yourself for.

If it is eating you up, you need to process it and forgive yourself.

What if you can’t forgive yourself?

The first step in forgiving yourself is to accept responsibility. It’s hard to forgive yourself if you don’t take responsibility both personally and to the person you hurt or wronged. Sometimes it is not possible to talk to the person, but if you can, you need to – even if you just send them a letter. If possible, try to right the wrong.

If the person has passed on or you cannot talk to them for whatever reason, write a letter to them, asking for forgiveness. Just the act can be incredibly healing.

Then it is time to work on you. First, stop ruminating on the past. Focus on now and accept that what is done is done. Be kind to yourself, show yourself empathy, love. When those invasive thoughts try to bring shame, change that thought! Don’t let your mind play and replay what happened. You deserve forgiveness. You deserve peace. You deserve love.

Give it to yourself.

5 Tricks to Learn DIY Repairs

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Have you ever wanted to be better at DIY repairs? Most people do. It’s nice to feel self-sufficient with these kinds of things, and that’s to say nothing of how it can save you money. Plus, completing a project often just feels good.

If any of that sounds appealing, and you’re not sure where to start, these five tips are for you.

1. Do Your Research

Do you know who the best car mechanic in the world is? Trick question. The answer is YouTube. It’s also the best drywall expert. And carpenter. You get the idea.

It’s not just YouTube either. Instagram, TikTok, and anything else with video can teach you exactly how to do almost any repair. Just Google your question as specifically as possible, and the answers will come out.

As an example, if you need to fix a door lock where the key gets stuck, you can Google that exact phrase and get a good answer (which is graphite, by the way).

Is this cheating?

Yes. And that’s exactly why you should do it.

2. Use the Correct Tools for the Job

A large piece of doing your research in trick #1 above is paying attention to the tools being used for the repair.

If you do not have a specific type of tool, this is a great time to round out your home toolbox or see if you can borrow a tool from a friend or family member (and remember to return it).

If you need something a little more specialized and/or expensive, a lot of hardware stores do tool rentals or even loaner programs.

3. Take Safety Precautions

There are a few golden safety rules that will do you a lot of good:

  1. Use the right tool for the job (yes, it’s a safety issue too).
  2. Turn it off before you start (water to the house, electricity at the breaker, etc.).
  3. Wear the right clothes (good shoes, long pants, gloves when necessary).
  4. Don’t work alone (they don’t have to help, just be present in case there’s an emergency).
  5. Take safety advice seriously (especially when watching DIY videos).

4. Jump Into the Deep End

This is where everyone tells you to start small. They’re wrong.

Jump right into the deep end. It will be frustrating. You will run into dead ends. But, you’ll learn a lot this way, and your confidence will grow rapidly.

Naturally, this works best when you have a safety net below you. If you know someone who can help if you get in over your head, it’s a lot safer to learn this way. Or, if you can afford it, you can call a pro to bail you out if things get tricky.

One quick disclaimer. If the work requires legal certification (work that involves electricity, fuel lines, or air conditioning refrigerant), then scrap this advice. Such repairs are often dangerous, and even when they aren’t, the fines for doing unqualified work are a lot steeper than the cost of a professional repair.

5. Ask for Help

Do it yourself doesn’t have to mean do it alone. As you’ve seen, it’s ok to do what you can and then hire a professional. You can ask friends or family members when they can help. You can even take community classes that teach you more about repairs. And, you should have someone at least nearby in case there’s an accident.