Mediaboss Marketing

Recent news reports have highlighted several disturbing reports of teens and tweens live streaming their own suicides on Facebook and other social networks.

In response, Facebook on Wednesday announced that its suicide prevention tools will now be integrated into Live, so if you're watching a broadcast and someone expresses suicidal thoughts, you can report the video and get the person help.

If you're ever in this scenario, press "report live video," and when Facebook asks you what's going on, select the option that says "suicide or self-injury." From there, the broadcaster will see suicide prevention resources on their screen, including a phone number for a crisis help line. When you report a suicidal video, Facebook will also show you information on how to help your friend.

Facebook is also making it easier to connect with crisis support organizations over Messenger. Now, those who need help can message with someone from the Crisis Text Line, the National Eating Disorder Association, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in real time. You can initiate a chat from the organization's Page or through Facebook's suicide prevention tools.

Finally, Facebook is using artificial intelligence to identify and help people report suicidal posts. The system uses pattern recognition to automatically identify posts likely to include thoughts of suicide. On these posts, Facebook will also more prominently display the option to report it for suicide or self-injury.

"We have teams working around the world, 24/7, who review reports that come in and prioritize the most serious reports like suicide," the company said.

"If you or someone you know is in crisis, it is important to call local emergency services right away," Facebook Product Manager Vanessa Callison-Burch, Researcher Jennifer Guadagno, and Head of Global Safety Antigone Davis wrote in a blog post. "You can also visit our Help Center for information about how to support yourself or a friend."

They added that there's one death by suicide in the world every 40 seconds. Moreover, suicide is the second leading cause of death for 15- to 29-year-olds. "Experts say that one of the best ways to prevent suicide is for those in distress to hear from people who care about them," the team wrote.

Read the original post:
Facebook Adds Suicide-Prevention Tools for Live Video - PCMag India

Free privacy software

Online privacy is a hot topic, with even world leaders weighing in on the subject. Many of the big-name websites and companies will track your activities to deliver targeted advertising, and can build up an astonishingly detailed profile including your interests, spending habits, age, location and more.

If you would prefer to keep your personal details private, a VPN or proxy tool will help. See our guide to setting up and maintaining a VPN.

As well as preventing third parties building up a profile of you, the best free privacy software can open up the web, granting you access to sites blocked in your country, to access region-locked content when you're travelling away from home, and to add a layer of protection when you use a public Wi-Fi network.

A whole browser dedicated to your privacy, Tor Browser is the cornerstone of any privacy toolkit

Tor Browser is probably the best-known anonymous browsing tool out there, and it is described as a 'censorship circumvention tool'.

Tor Browser has a vast following in the online privacy and security communities. It works by bouncing your communication through numerous encrypted node on the internet, making it impossible to determine your location or other identifying information.

Tor Browser employs complex technology, but is refreshingly accessible. It's based on the same code as Firefox, and guides you through the process of getting online one step at a time.

It uses different connection methods depending on what you're trying to achieve, but there's no need to understand the details because it's all taken care of for you. This combination of effective protection and ease of use makes Tor Browser the best free privacy software you can download today.

Download here: Tor Browser

Privoxy gives you total control over your privacy, but the options might be overwhelming

Privoxy is a web proxy tool that's available not only for Mac, Windows and Linux, but also Android and iOS. It is a tremendously powerful tool, but you'll need to invest a little time and effort to get it up and running.

Privoxy can be used in conjunction with just about any web browser, which is a big bonus; simply set the browser to run its traffic through the tool.

However, one of Privoxy's key features could also be a drawback for new users: it gives you very granular control over privacy settings, and configuring them is very much a manual process. There's a helpful quick start guide available, but it has the potential to be off-putting.

That said, if you're happy to persevere, this free privacy software lets you set up advanced filters that will not only ensure you remain anonymous online, but also protect you against unwanted ads.

Download here: Privoxy

Free privacy software that protects your identity by hiding your IP address from prying eyes

Hotspot Shield VPN is available in two flavors: a free, ad-supported one, and a paid-for version that offer unlimited bandwidth. Hotspot Shield hides your IP address and provides encrypted traffic tunnelling (ideal for use on public Wi-Fi networks) to improve security and ensure privacy.

You may not want to use Hotspot Shield at all time. For instance, you may only be interested in using it to access certain sites that are blocked in your country. In this case you can create shortcuts to individual sites in the Hotspot Shield window which will enable protection before launching the sites. Protection can also be toggled on an off with a single click.

The paid-for version, Hotspot Elite, only costs a few pounds or dollars a month, but it's worth trying the free edition first before opening your wallet. Its additional features, including ad-free browsing and dedicated customer support, make it a tempting proposition.

Download here: Hotspot Shield VPN

Free and user-friendly, TunnelBear is VPN made easy but keep an eye on the data limit

In addition to anonymous browsing, free VPN tool TunnelBear can also be used to bypass traffic-shaping and throttling put in place by ISPs.

The free version of TunnelBear gives you up to 500MB of data each month, but if this isn't enough, unlimited data is available for a subscription fee, with prices starting at US$4.16 per month (about 3, AU$6).

Whether you go premium or stick with the free version, you can share a single account between up to five phones, tablets, Windows PCs or Macs.

Configuration is incredibly simple, and TunnelBear's free privacy software can be used with any browser. It's probably the most accessible VPN tool there is, and is just about impossible not to recommend.

Download here: TunnelBear

A great VPN tool for protecting your privacy online, but free users have to wait their turn

Another multi-platform VPN tool, CyberGhost VPN is available as a free ad-supported app, as well as a paid-for edition offering better performance and more features.

For day-to-day or occasional use, the free version should be perfectly adequate. Configuration is very simple, with the only potential stumbling block being the installation of a virtual network adaptor.

With a single click, CyberGhost VPN will activate, giving the impression that you're browsing from another country. The free privacy software also lets you keep an eye on how much traffic you've transferred through the service using a handy graph.

The downside of using the free version is that there's a limited numbers of spaces on the servers, so you may have to wait to gain access (although you're unlikely to be kept hanging for long).

Download here: CyberGhost VPN

Link:
The best free privacy software 2017 - TechRadar

News-Leader staff 6:05 a.m. CT March 1, 2017

File Art(Photo: News-leader)Buy Photo

The Internal Revenue Service reminded the millions of taxpayers who have yet to file their taxes that IRS Free File remains available either online at IRS.gov/FreeFile or through the mobile app, IRS2Go. The IRS2Go app is available for Android and iOS devices.

The IRS Free File service makes brand-name tax software products and electronic filing available to most taxpayers for free. Some products offer both free federal and free state return preparation.

The IRS has developed a series of tips, the Tax Time Guide, to help taxpayers navigate common tax issues as this years April 18 deadline approaches. This is the second in a series of 10 tips.

Taxpayers have the option to prepare their return at any time and schedule a tax payment as late as the April 18 deadline. Taxpayers who cannot meet the April tax filing deadline can also use IRS Free File to request an automatic six-month extension until Oct. 16.

Anyone who earned $64,000 or less last year qualifies to choose from among 12 software products. Those earning more than $64,000 can use IRS Free File Fillable Forms, the electronic version of IRS paper forms. The Fillable Forms option is best for people who are comfortable preparing their own tax returns.

More than 70 percent of all taxpayers 107 million people plus are eligible for the software products. Each of the 12 companies has its own special offers, generally based on age, income or state residency. Taxpayers can review each company offer or they can use a Help Me tool that will find the software for which they are eligible.

Active duty military personnel with incomes of $64,000 or less may use any IRS Free File software product of their choice without regard to the criteria. IRS Free File software does the hard work. It walks users through the tax preparation processand helps identify those tax changes that may affect their return.

IRS Free File allows taxpayers to deposit all or part of their refunds into myRA, a free starter retirement savings account from the Treasury Department. Just use Form 8888 or follow the software products instructions.

IRS Free File will be available through Monday, Oct. 16, only through IRS.gov/FreeFile.

All taxpayers should keep a copy of their tax return. Beginning in 2017, taxpayers using a software product for the first time may need their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) amount from their prior-year tax return to verify their identity. Taxpayers can learn more about how to verify their identity and electronically sign tax returns at Validating Your Electronically Filed Tax Return.

Read or Share this story: http://sgfnow.co/2ly2EwA

Link:
Use Free File for help with tax returns and extensions - Springfield News-Leader

Okay, Ineedto go off for a minute. You guys knowI dont get fired up often and it really does take a lot to fire me up, but once that fire is lit its all, Burn, baby, BURN!

Well, its burning and heres why:

LADIES: I love that so many of you are embracing your second amendment rights and not only becoming gun owners, but becoming responsibly armed! I cannot tell you how immensely proud I am to know that there are so many more women, daughters, mothers, caretakers, wives, nurses, teachers, homemakers, and female citizens who have joined the ranks of gun owners in America and are ready to defend themselves and protect their loved ones if needed.

That being said, as it iswith every trend, there area few women who have been all too happy to jump on the 2A train for their own advancement. You know who Im talking about. The ladies that post videos of themselves shooting ARs in tank tops, posing with their gun as they aretea cupping, posting pictures with their finger on the trigger you know: showing their assets while announcing their ignorance.

Well Im done.

I have had it with the social acceptance of these pistol princesses. It does nothing to advance our cause and it makes us all look like the gun-licking idiots the gun control advocateskeep saying we are.

If you really are a proficient gun owner and true advocate of our second amendment rights, dont talk about it, show people.

Stop talking about changes and makethem, stop posing with guns and shootthem, stop posting stupid selfies from the gun range and pay attentionwhen youre there, stop talking about things you know nothing about and learnabout them, stop bragging about what youre going to do for 2A and just DO IT, stop it just stop it already, you look RIDICULOUS!!!!

Okay, so in all seriousness 99.4% of women just want to help others, not advance their own popularity through firearms. We look at things like, if you know something that you think other women may not know, why not show that in aselfie? If you have a question about something, why not research the answer and put that into a post or make a Facebook Live video to encourage others to chime in to find their answers? If you take a firearms course, why not share the information and geo-tag your area so others looking for quality training can see your review? If youre volunteering with an NRA grassroots campaign, why not challenge your friends to join you in a smart social media post?

There are so many ways toshow your 2A assets without looking like an ass.Try thinking more of the greater good than focusing your camera on your goodies.

If youre half the gunny gal you claim to be, youll get twice the attention for being the real deal.

or continue beingjust another flash in the pan, thats fine, too. Those will eventually burn out and are quickly forgotten, although they do make good cautionary tales for the next generation of women.

Author's Bio: Jenn Jacques

See the original post:
Ladies: Stop Posing and Start Advocating For the Second Amendment - Bearing Arms

AmmoLand Shooting Sports News

Two New Second Amendment Challenges AmmoLand Shooting Sports News Healey alleges that electrical weapons are arms in common use and therefore their possession by law-abiding adult citizens is protected by the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The complaint alleges that the constitutional rights of the ...

Read the original:
Two New Second Amendment Challenges - AmmoLand Shooting Sports News