How to Stay Cybersafe When Shopping Online

Online scams proliferate during the winter holiday shopping season. You need to be extra careful to protect your personal information, your account, and your devices. Here are some suggestions:

• Be sure you are shopping on a legitimate site. Don’t click an ad; instead type the name of the retailer into your browser or shop through an official mobile site. Check that the URL starts with https, not just http. Look for a padlock icon that shows you will have an encrypted connection.
• Stop and think before you press “BUY”. If the deal seems too good to be true, it’s probably fake. The bad guys rely on your FOMO (fear of missing out) to get you to give out your info without thinking carefully.
• Protect your payment information. Use a credit card rather than a debit card; credit cards offer better fraud protection. Digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal mask your card number. Never send payment information by email, text, or messaging apps.
• Delivery scams are another way that fraudsters steal your information. If you get an email or text claiming to be from a retailer or delivery service telling you a package couldn’t be delivered or a payment is necessary, go directly to the retailer or delivery service website to check your order. Never respond to a request to confirm an unexpected order. Don’t click links in the fraudulent email or text message.
• Multi-factor authentication can prevent personal data breaches. Use a unique password for every store, service, or app you deal with; if you use the same password for everything you do online, a stolen password at one site opens everything you do online to the thief. Create strong passwords and use a password manager to help you remember them all.
• Since cybercriminals often target unprotected or outdated devices, keeping your computer, tablet, and phone updated with the latest security patches can be a big help in staying safe during online shopping. Install antivirus/antimalwaresoftware. Avoid public wifi if possible. If you must shop on an unsecured network, use a VPN.

Foil the scammers during online shopping season by taking these simple steps to protect your purchasing activities.

TIP - Some Produce Is Incompatible!

Did you know that various produce items emit gases that can affect other produce items?

Apples, avocados, bananas, pears and tomatoes put out ethylene gas. This is a natural process, as ethylene causes chemical changes that help ripen the fruit. In fact, this is why it is recommended that you put green bananas in a paper bag along with ripe apples, to encourage the bananas to also ripen.

The problem is, ethylene can speed up rot and spoilage in other produce, including broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, leafy greens and peppers. These vegetables are extra sensitive to ethylene.

Storing ethylene-producing with ethylene-sensitive fruits and veggies can waste good food. Instead of leaving ethylene producers in plastic bags, store them in breathable bins to allow the gas to dissipate. And don’t store them together with ethylene-sensitive produce.

 

For more information, read “Ethylene in Fruits and Vegetables.”

 

Buckwheat is the December Grain of the Month

The Whole Grains Council has declared buckwheat to be the grain of the month for December. However, despite its name, buckwheat is not a grain because it is not part of the Poaceae cereal grass family. It  is a pseudo grain, similar to true grains in terms of nutrition and its use in foods.

Buckwheat is not a common crop. It has a very short growing season, only 10-12 weeks. It can grow in poor soil and is often planted as cover, to protect bare soil from erosion. It can be plowed under instead of harvested in order to improve the soil.

Buckwheat is thought to have first been cultivated in northern China about 6000 years ago. It was not introduced into Europe until the Middle Ages. Common buckwheat is insect pollinated, with much of that done by honeybees. It is thought that domestication of honeybees may have influenced the spread of buckwheat as a human food.

The grains of buckwheat can be eaten whole after being boiled or steamed, or they can be ground into flour. Buckwheat is common in Asian foods, where it is used for making traditional noodles such as soba. 

It is also popular in Eastern Europe, cooked into a type of porridge called kasha or used as a flour in making crêpes, blinis, and blintzes.

Buckwheat is very nutritious. It is high in protein and is a complete protein since it contains all nine of the essential amino acids humans require in their diet. It is gluten-free and more satiating than wheat or rice. It also acts as a prebiotic to stimulate the beneficial bacteria in your gut.

Give buckwheat a try. You may discover a new favorite grain. 

Did you know? Smart phone use can cause hemorrhoids

Nowadays it seems everyone is on their smartphone most of the time. In fact, 2/3 of people in a recent survey use their smartphones while sitting on the toilet. Toilet-seated smartphone users were on average younger than non-smartphone users. While seated in the bathroom, half of smartphone users were reading “news,” and 4 out of ten were following “social media.”

 (Does that make you wonder what the tenth person was looking at?)

The September 2025 study of 125 adults undergoing endoscopic colonoscopy diagnosed 43% with hemorrhoids. The hemorrhoid and non-hemorrhoid groups were compared on a number of variables. 

Smartphone users in this study spent much longer on the toilet than did non-users. Almost 40% of those looking at their phones spent over 5 minutes in a seated position, whereas only 7% of non-users spent that long on the porcelain throne.  

After adjusting for other variables such as age, gender, BMI, level of exercising, fiber intake and straining to have a bowel movement, researchers found that smartphone users had a 46% higher risk of having hemorrhoids than did non-users.

If you routinely take your smartphone into the bathroom with you, you’ve been warned!

 

Read the research report here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329983

Displays and Exhibits for Healthinfo Island for December 2025

You can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the Second Life SLURLs in this posting. In Second Life, click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set, and you will get a notecard that contains all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images.  If you click each poster, you will get a private message with additional information and live links.

Constipation
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/195/158/22

Cough! Wheeze! It's Bronchitis
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/188/181/24

Caffeine!!! Benefits and Risks
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/155/22

Mucus
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/114/79/24

Disability Employment Myths
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/98/40/26

Bad Breath
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/50/28/28

Messages From Your "Cogfog"
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/24/23/30

Autonomic Dysreflexia
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/63/32 

How to Deal with Holiday Stress

 

The fall and winter holiday season can be particularly stressful. There’s the shopping, extra cooking, guests, severe weather, strained budgets, overall chaos… and all while you are supposed to be cheerful, happy and jolly. What are some ways to handle holiday stress?

 

 

One important strategy is to avoid stress as much as possible by making holiday plans in advance. Think back to previous years. What was causing your holiday stress? What could you do to prevent those troubles this year?

Plan early, make a list of what has to be done when, and consult it often. View the holiday months as a challenge, not a threat. Expect the unexpected, so allow yourself some flexibility in your plan.

Focus on the positives when things don’t go as you had hoped. Deep breathing can help you remain calm, especially when combined with an affirmation statement. Try saying to yourself “I inhale calm. I exhale stress.” as you breathe slowly in, then out. Other good two-part affirmations are “I do my best, one step at a time.” and “I forgive myself and others. I release the past.”

Having available strategies for dealing with the stress of the holiday season will help you stay healthier and allow you to enjoy this time of year. Here are some articles that might offer additional stress-busting strategies:

• 9 tips to fend off holiday stress

• Coping with Holiday Stress

• 7 Tips to Help with Holiday Stress

• The Holiday Blues: A Public Health Perspective

Fall is Road Trip Season

Whether you are going leaf peeping or visiting family for the fall holidays, you may be thinking about an extended road trip. If you are traveling as or with a person with a disability, here are a few tips to make road trips less hassle and more fun. 

• Map your routes. Consider ensuring plenty of places to stop and stretch your legs, such as scenic overlooks or small towns with central parks. Be sure you know where rest stops and other restrooms are located.

• Reserve lodging in advance if you will need it. Be sure to ask the reservationist about accessibility of rooms, parking and other facilities.

• Check the weather report for the location you are headed to, and find out the sundown time. Since fall afternoons are sorter, you will want to leave enough time to drive to your destination while it is still light out. It’s dangerous to drive unfamiliar roads as daylight fades into night.

• Bring extra layers, just in case. You may need rain gear, a sweatshirt, or a blanket to cover up.

• Don’t forget medical and hygiene supplies and mobility gear. Pack them where they are easily accessible.

 

Have a great time exploring the autumn beauty all the way to your road trip destination and back.

 

TIP - Why do we need storage bins?

Storage bins are great tools! You can get them cheap at dollar stores. Many people find them useful for storing out-of-season clothing and décor items. Here are two other types of materials you should stash in storage bins.

Store bulk purchases of paper goods (napkins, paper towels, toilet paper) in a storage bin to protect the paper from dust, moisture, mold and pests that can ruin the paper.

Secure large bags of pet food in a storage bin. Leaving pet food in an open bag is an invitation for ants, mice and other pests to invade your home for a feast. Plus storing pet food airtight keeps it fresher longer. Remember to keep the storage bin in a cool, dry environment.

 

Millet and Teff are the November Grains of the Month

 The Whole Grains Council has declared millet and teff to be the grains of the month of November. Although these ancient grains are not as well known as wheat, barley or corn, they are important gluten-free sources of nutrition.

Millet was the earliest dry-land crop in east Asia. It is very drought resistant and was cultivated in China as long as 10,000 years ago. Its spread can be traced to Korea around 5500 years ago and then to India.

Millet is a fast-maturing crop that grows well in the semiarid poor soils of Africa as well as southeast Asia. Fertilizing and irrigating the soil can double production or more, as can introduction of disease-resistant varieties. India is the world’s leading producer, followed by Niger, China, and eight other African nations.

Because it is gluten-free, millet is a good food for people with celiac disease, gluten sensitivity or wheat allergy. In addition to use as human food, millet is sometimes used as a grazing or forage crop to feed animals.

Teff is an annual grass native to Ethiopia, where it is one of the most important crops, despite its low yield and susceptibility to pests and other issues. Teff is highly nutritious and gluten-free, a good source of protein, calcium and manganese and higher in fiber than most other cereal grains. In Ethiopia, it is the main ingredient in injera flatbread, which is served at most meals. Teff is also used as animal food and the straw is mixed with mud to plaster walls.

Teff has been involved in an intriguing international scandal! In 2003, a Dutch company worked with an Ethiopian organization to introduce teff to European markets. The CEO of the Dutch company took out patents on processing methods for teff. The government of Ethiopia, noting the domestic shortage of quinoa in South America after that grain became popular in the US and Europe, outlawed export of raw teff in 2006. The Dutch patents were declared invalid by a Dutch court in 2019, ending what was being called a biopiracy conspiracy.

 

Have you tried cooking and eating these two historic whole grains?

 

Erica Mones - 7:30 am Nov 6

Erica Mones is a writer and disability advocate who was born and raised on Long Island, New York. She earned her Bachelors in writing and classical civilizations from Loyola University Maryland and her Masters in disability studies from the City University of New York School of Professional Studies. Her work has been published in New Mobility, Rooted in Rights, Pop Sugar, and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation blog among other online and print publications. When she is not writing or doing advocacy work, she is usually watching and overanalyzing Apple TV's latest series. She currently lives in Wyoming with her cat, Atticus. 

Healthinfo Island Displays and Exhibits for November 2025

NOTE: Many of this month's poster sets support the International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference, Nov. 6. The theme is "No Health Without Peace."  Find out about the conference presentations here:
https://virtualability.org/idrac-2025/

You can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the SLURLs in this posting. In Second Life, click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set, and you will get a notecard that contains all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images.  If you click each poster, you will get a private message with additional information and live links.

Central Pavilion of Healthinfo Island
Check out the calming breathing exercise on the back wall!
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/128/126/24

Stress Reducers
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/195/158/22

What is ableism?
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/188/181/24

Music and Mental Health
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/172/155/22

Health Benefits of Yoga
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/114/79/24

Why is Community Important to People with Disabilities?
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/98/40/26

What Can They Be Thinking?
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/50/28/28

Quotes on Peace
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/24/23/30

Quotes on Health
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/21/63/32 

Arash Javanbakht - 9:00 am Nov 6

Arash Javanbakht, M.D., is an award-winning psychiatrist and neuroscientist, and the founding director of the Stress, Trauma, and Anxiety Research Clinic (STARC) at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan. He treats civilians, refugees, and first responders with PTSD. He has written a book about fear. Dr Javanbakht holds patents on artificial intelligence and augmented reality and telemedicine technologies for treatment for anxiety disorders and PTSD. 

Tiago Horta Reis Da Silva - 9:45 am Nov 6 Panel

Mr. Horta Reis da Silva is a Lecturer in Nursing Education at King's University, assisting with the BSc programme and teaching other modules. He has experience in other HEIs and NHS and collaborates with international teaching organizations. Tiago teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses nationally and internationally, including Nursing Practice 2 and Fundamental Knowledge and Skills in Older Person's Care. He is a Senior Fellow in Higher Education, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, and a Fellow for Faculty Nursing and Midwifery Royal College of Surgeons Ireland. 

How to Motivate Yourself to Be More Productive

Sometimes you just don’t feel like working on something. Maybe you can’t get up the oomph to finish, or perhaps you’re not feeling ready to start. Here are some simple strategies to get yourself moving.

 

If you are facing a big project that will require a lot of time and effort, or if what you need to do appears unconquerable, try chunking it. Create smaller, short-term goals or divide the work into smaller task segments. It’s easier to work on a short project than a long one.

 

A related strategy is to promise yourself “Just five more.” If you agree to yourself to straighten five more shelves, write five more thank-you notes, finish reading five more pages in your class textbook, or polish five more windows, you have set an achievable task for yourself. The end in sight makes it easier to have the motivation to finish.

 

For some people, setting a deadline is a useful motivation technique. A deadline provides a concrete boundary for your project. A deadline for a short period such as “five more pages read” can be set into a timer; a deadline for a multi-day short-term goal can be added to your daily planner. This strategy won’t work for everyone. It is probably not appropriate if what you are trying to accomplish requires creativity.

 

Have you considered making a public commitment? Telling a friend what you will have accomplished by a certain date, or posting your intentions on social media, can be very motivating. You don’t want to have others see you fail! But you must be specific in your commitment for this strategy to work.

 

Believe it or not, taking a break from work can help you be more productive when you return to the task. Make it a short break, but use the time to get some exercise, such as taking a walk outdoors. Don’t worry about what you need to do when you are done with your break. Try thinking of this short time away from unmotivated work using a different term. The French and Germans call it a “pause,” in Portugal it’s a “pausa.” So nothing is broken, only paused, and you’re intending to get back to It when you are done with your walk.

 

Perhaps these strategies will help you initiate or regain your motivation to finish whatever it was that you weren’t making progress toward.

Carol Miller - 9:45 am Nov 6 Panel

Carol Miller, whose work focuses on language development, is a professor of communication sciences and disorders at Penn State. She is a member of the AI Institute for Exceptional Education's subgroup on learning science for children with disabilities.

Rose Hill - 9:45 am Nov 6 Panel

Rose Hill, MLIS, CPC, SUDP-T, is a Certified Peer Counselor with a focus in trauma and crisis counseling. She is in her final year of a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate program. She has extensive professional and lived experience with a wide range of therapy modalities with specialized training in relational therapy, somatic therapy, existential therapy, psychotherapy, CBT, DBT, EMDR, and crisis intervention. She is currently an OUD specialist at Crisis Connections in Seattle, WA

Charee Thompson - 11:00 am Nov 6 Panel

Charee M. Thompson is a Professor of Health Communication at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She teaches and researches health communication within families and between medical providers and persons living with chronic illness. She focuses on health issues that are associated with uncertainty, stigma, and contestation--namely pain, mental illness, and, recently, long COVID. She also creates communication skills trainings for social network members and healthcare professionals, with the goal of equipping individuals to be more empathic and supportive providers of care to people navigating health issues. 

Henry Germain-McCarthy - 11:00 am Nov 6 Panel

Dr. Henry Germain-McCarthy is Professor Emeritus at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (New Orleans). His research about and advocacy for disability rights is long-standing. He works to promote the legacies and leadership of disability activism movements and improve public awareness, professional education, and social policy regarding quality of life for all people. His work has brought him to more than 40 cities in the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and the U.S. His most recent publication is titled “Self-Advocacy and Ally-Advocacy for Disability Justice: Organisational, Psychosocial, and Political Resources.” 

November 6 – “No Health Without Peace” conference

Virtual Ability’s annual fall International Disability Rights Affirmation Conference will be
held on Thursday, November 6, in the Sojourner Auditorium in Second Life.  

This professional conference is free and open to the public. Presenters and panelists
from a wide variety of backgrounds will discuss the various definitions and
interconnections of “health” and “peace.” This promises to be an informative and
thought-provoking day.

The full schedule of the conference, presenter biographies, and session information are
available here: https://virtualability.org/idrac-2025/

If you are not in Second Life, you can watch the livestream on Virtual Ability’s YouTube
page here: https://www.youtube.com/@VirtualAbilityInc

Come and share discussions of “No Health Without Peace” with our presenters,
panelists and other audience members on November 6.

The October Grain of the Month is Corn

  

The Whole Grains Council has chosen corn, including popcorn, as the grain of the month for October.

A corn plant doesn’t look much like grass, but that is the plant family it belongs to. Corn has been domesticated for over 9000 years and has changed drastically from its original shape and size. Native to the Americas, it originally produced no cobs nor did it form ears. Indigenous peoples selectively bred the plant to increase the amount of starch produced in the seeds. The corn plant we are familiar with has separated male parts (the tassels) and female parts (the ears). 

For more on the complex origin of the domesticated corn plant, see Chapter 1.1 “Corn, Strange and Marvelous: But Is a Definitive Origin Known?”.

 

North American tribes planted the Three Sisters—corn, beans and squash—together as companion plants. Together these three crops provided all nine amino acids, creating a full protein meal.

 

Corn has a history of world travel. It is thought that Christopher Columbus introduced corn to Europe, although it did not thrive because it wasn’t understood how to grow it. Native Americans showed corn cultivation techniques to the European colonists. It then became a major crop in Europe by the 17^th century. The Portuguese introduced it to East Africa and Asia, including India and China.

 

In the UK and most of the English-speaking world, the plant called corn in the US is known as maize. The British use the term “corn” to mean various other grains, including wheat, barley and oats. 

Corn is one of the most common grain crops worldwide. It supports about a fifth of human nutrition. Corn is grown for many purposes besides human consumption. In the US, about a third is used for animal feed and another third to create biofuel. In addition to corn on the cob, humans use this grain as a sweetener (corn syrup), and in making cosmetics, fabric, glue, ink, laundry starch and medicines, among other products.

 

There are many varieties of corn. Fresh corn, on the cob or off, is usually thought of as a vegetable rather than a grain. It is often called sweet corn because of its high sugar content.

Field corn has a higher starch content. When dried, field corn kernels become indented, so it is also called dent corn. Most field corn is used for animal feed, or to produce ethanol or sweeteners. Some is also turned into cornmeal or grits.

Flint corn, with its tough outer layer, holds on to its internal moisture when dried. As the kernels are heated, the water inside turns to steam, and the kernels explode from the pressure. This is the type of corn called popcorn!

However you choose to eat corn, it’s a nutritious whole grain, therefore a good source of fiber. It also has greater than 10% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium and thiamine. Corn is rich in Vitamin A, antioxidants and carotenoids. And it’s a gluten-free grain. So eat some corn today and enjoy the taste of a healthy whole grain food.

 

Biji Kuu - 11:00 am Nov 6 Panel

Biji Kuu (his avatar name) is a fifty year health industry executive on the business and administrative side. He has been volunteering with global programs, often with veteran or special needs population for twenty years. He has an MBA and executive education at Wharton, University of Chicago Booth School and Kellogg School, and is a military veteran. Biji is presently spending time in various civic pursuits and global engagement and betterment programs.

Kimberly Lopez - 1:45 pm Nov 6 Panel

Dr. Kimberly Lopez (she/her) works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She is interested in critically examining social structures and processes that reinforce difference and marginalisation. As a community-engaged qualitative researcher, she is interested in aging and long-term care (LTC), care labour, and well-being. In particular, Kim values working collaboratively and creatively to amplify BIPOC and other Othered identities (gender, ability, class, ability, and age) in the context of caring labour and leisure – practices inextricably linked to the social through labelled bodies. To learn about practices of labour engaged in LTC caring work and hear about the different ways identity is embodied, Kim looks to influencers of anti-racist feminisms, anti-colonial/restorative practices, and post-identity literature/art. 

Ronnie Kraegel - 1:45 pm Nov 6 Panel

Ronnie Kraegel is the Executive Director of the Brain Energy Support Team (BEST). BEST provides peer support, education, and skill development for persons with brain injuries and their families to help them live healthy lives and build on their strengths. On Second Life as Namaara MacMoragh, Kraegel is the Chief Grounds Keeper at Etopia Sustainable Communities, Etopia Island, where supportive and engaging activities are provided for neurodivergent individuals.