Here are this week’s 5 things you should know.
01. Access to your passwords is protected under the 5th amendment but access to your fingerprint is not
There’s been a lot of talk about security recently surrounding Apple’s decision not to unlock iPhones for the FBI. You should know that under the 5th amendment which states “no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,” you cannot be required to give up any passwords if doing so would incriminate you. The Supreme Court has ruled that this applies in both criminal and civil cases. However, this protection only applies to things you know, like passwords, not things you have, like keys, fingerprints, etc. Therefore law enforcement and courts are well within their rights to order you to give up your fingerprint to unlock your devices without a passcode if you have enabled the feature.
There is a legal precedent for passwords. Courts can hold you in contempt for withholding passwords if they already know of the existence of or have witnessed themselves evidence of incriminating files on your device. If they merely suspect it then you cannot be compelled to give up the password. Read about it here.
02. How to de-skunk yourself or a pet
Tomato juice is a myth and does not work. Mix peroxide and dish washing soap, then throw in baking soda. Wash yourself or your pet with the soapy foamy peroxide water. Skunk scent is oil based, dish soap breaks it down. The smell is neutralized by oxygen. This mix drowns it in oxygen. There will be huge improvement in just one wash. Repeat next day and it will be nearly undetectable. No matter what it will take days for the smell to be gone entirely, but it will be very much weakened by this.
03. CPR never restarts the heart. It only buys time till help arrives
You should never expect CPR to restart the heart in case a person stops breathing or collapses. It just keeps blood flowing around the body till a defibrillator and professional help can come in. You should also know that even if you have no first aid training, don’t know a single thing about CPR, and there is nobody else around to help, you are better off pressing up and down on the chest than just leaving the person there. Any sort of movement of the chest is better than no movement at all. You don’t have to breathe into the mouth if you think it is difficult or don’t have training.
04. How to prevent foot cramps
Pointing your toes upwards just as you feel a foot cramp coming on usually prevents the crippling episode from occurring. I’m talking about shrivel up into a ball and bite your pillow case kind of foot cramp. Also, if you are experiencing middle of the night leg cramps often, one of the main causes can be dehydration.
05. “Cruelty Free/Not Tested on Animals” labels on products mean absolutely nothing
According to FDA,
“Some cosmetic companies promote their products with claims of this kind in their labeling or advertising. The unrestricted use of these phrases by cosmetic companies is possible because there are no legal definitions for these terms.
Some companies may apply such claims solely to their finished cosmetic products. However, these companies may rely on raw material suppliers or contract laboratories to perform any animal testing necessary to substantiate product or ingredient safety.”
