Oct. 9, 2020, 9:05 a.m.
Volume 1, Resources 18: Covid-19 White House Data Viz, iChill, & Stopping a Coup
Enthusiastic Encouragement & Dubious Advice
Hi friends! I’m writing this the night of the VP debate here in the U.S. Today at work, my manager asked if I was going to watch the debate. My response was, “No, because I value my mental health. I will not gain anything from watching the debate. I will catch the highlights on Twitter, which will be far more entertaining.”
Boundaries, ya’ll.
I want to share a bit of joy from today: I had hot tea in the middle of the day. Which means it wasn’t so sweltering hot that a hot drink would make my face melt off.
<image is a pink coffee mug that says "I'm a lot cooler on the internet." Laptop keyboard is in the background with two stickers. They say "Do not fuck with me I will cry" & "Hello I'm doing my best.">
It’s resources week, so let’s get to it!
Resource #1: How to Opt Out of Pre-Screened Credit Offers
Okay, so, sometimes on Lifehacker there are articles that someone writes about as a “life hack” when people of color have been doing since the dawn of time, like storing your leftovers in soup containers. Are people trying to colonize my refrigerator now? Get the fuck outta here. Anyway, rarely do I find something that is actually useful, but recently there was an article sharing how to opt out of pre-screened credit offers. I get a shit ton of these and you know what’s better than recycling? Not receiving the trash in the first place! I have yet to try what the article suggests, but at this point it will be worth it not to get at least a half-dozen of these each week.
Resource #2: Covid-19 at the White House Tableau Dashboard
For those of you playing along at home, some wonderful person has used Tableau to make a data visualization of Covid-19 at the White House. If you’ve never used Tableau before, I love it. You can click around and see the data presented in different ways.
Resource #3: iChill App
Full disclosure: I have not yet gone through the entire app. That being said, these sorts of things really depend on the person using it so your mileage may vary.
The iChill App from the Trauma Resource Institute aims to help users with stress by teaching the Community Resiliency Model, a set of self-help skills. The web app offers a clear overview of the app’s intent. To learn more in depth about this model, you can find Elaine Miller-Karas, LCSW’s book, Building Resilience to Trauma: The Trauma and Community Resiliency Models, on Bookshop.org or at the library.
The app walks you through building six core skills:
Tracking
Resourcing
Grounding
Gesturing
Help Now!
Shift and Stay
The app offers check-in meters to check your resilience before and after the exercises but the thing I appreciate most is that they try to make it accessible. The web app is available in Spanish as well as having narration for those unable to read or see the text. If anyone tries it, I’m curious to hear what you think about it.
iChill is available via web app, Google Play (Android), and the App Store (iOS)
Resource #4: 10 Things You Need to Know to Stop a Coup
What is a coup? A coup, or coup d'état, is a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government. Why am I bringing this up? Why would we want to stop one? OH, YOU KNOW, NO REASON. JUST VERY INTERESTING INFORMATION TO SHARE.
For a screen reader-friendly version (I think) check out the information on Choose Democracy. This information was used to make this abbreviated version on Instagram by @soyouwanttotalkabout
That’s it for this week! If you enjoy this newsletter, feel free to subscribe, share it with a friend, and/or give me a tip!