Disaster response psychology needs to change

Reblogged from Mind Hacks:

I've got an article in today's Observer about how disaster response mental health services are often based on the erroneous assumption that everyone needs 'treatment' and often rely on single-session counselling sessions which may do more harm than good.

Unfortunately, the article has been given a rather misleading headline ('Minds traumatised by disaster heal themselves without therapy') which suggests that mental health services are not needed.

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This reminds me of the story I was told as a child I refer to as "Saving fish from drowning" ( I don't remember the parable word for word & haven't found it on the internet yet) But it went something like this, if I can portray it well enough for you in a short version: There was a preacher with a heart of gold who was traveling to save the world. He had never seen the beach until one day he found himself at the shore... Later they found him at the beach in a panic surrounded with dead fish lying everywhere on the shore. When they asked him what was happening, he frantically exclaimed he had found all these fish drowning in the ocean. He keeps pulling them out of the water & they are still alive gasping for air when he gets to them and places them safely out of the water so they can breath. But sadly every-time he is just a little too late because they all keep dying.. He says help me, help me save these fish from drowning! there must be thousands of them.. I think you get the idea & I would love the parable if anyone has/knows it. Sometimes the best intentions can be the most harmful instead of helpful. Understanding is key. - BlotterMonkey (RW)

Social Media Awareness – T-H-I-N-K – The Acronym That Stood Out

Reblogged from talinorfali:

In recent months I have been writing a lot about this subject about social media, and it is one of the biggest hot topics of this day in age and mostly everything is revolved around social media, promotions, advertising, and so much more that we make social media. Nowadays there are clever ways to advertise and get viewership rolling, making photo acronym's and there are so many quotes out there that makes people think and social media is one of the biggest ones and all to do with success, business and so much more.

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I agree on so many levels, so much I felt the need to re-blog to friends.

Stanford Magazine – Seeing at the Speed of Sound – March/April 2013

Re-posting Via~ Stanford Magazine – Seeing at the Speed of Sound – March/April 2013. & The uncertain dance of the spoken word « Mind Hacks | http://bit.ly/ZlQlE2 .

Stanford Magazine has a wonderful  article [ Seeing at the Speed of Sound ] by a writer who relies on lip-reading and experiences speech through this subtle movement-based language.

Seeing at the Speed of Sound

Lipreading, which makes one sense do the work of another, is a skill daunting to describe. Rachel Kolb, ’12, deaf since birth, shares its mysteries.

Rachel Kolb skilfully describes how this works, and more importantly, feels.

Rachel Kolb
Rachel Kolb, ’12, is a graduate student in English from Albuquerque, N.M., and a Stanford magazine intern.

The part where she describes how she experiences accents is just amazing:

Accents are a visible tang on people’s lips. Witnessing someone with an accent is like taking a sip of clear water only to find it tainted with something else. I startle and leap to attention. As I explore the strange taste, my brain puzzles itself trying to pinpoint exactly what it is and how I should respond. I dive into the unfamiliar contortions of the lips, trying to push my way to some intelligible meaning. Accented words pull against the gravity of my experience; like slime-glossed fish, they wriggle and leap out of my hands. Staring down at my fingers’ muddy residue, my only choice is to shrug and cast out my line again.

The full article is highly recommended. Both fascinating and wonderfully written.

Thanks original articles via~
Stanford Magazine – Seeing at the Speed of Sound – March/April 2013 | http://stanford.io/ZlQt6r
Mind Hacks - The uncertain dance of the spoken word| http://bit.ly/ZlQlE2

How do I convert my personal account or my company profile to a Facebook Page?

I’ve notice many people on Facebook are still using very limited profile accounts for their company’s social media presence or “online business card” & communication to the public instead of taking advantage of having a Facebook Page!

AND You may say..“But I have put too much work & time into my profile” 
There is a fix, They built you a migration setting just for this situation!

I have a very EASY answer for you: Facebook’s Migration Tool 

A few things to keep in mind before you make the transfer: 

The launch of Facebook Pages left many businesses owners in a scramble to design their Pages & learn in what ways those pages could help their companies grow online for them. BUT Those with existing profiles had a dilemma of whether to abandon their profile and build a page or have both a page and a profile..
What to do.. What to do…
But there is another option; Migrate your account to a Facebook Page.

Facebook has launched a migration tool that converts a Facebook profile to an official Page with the click of a button, transforming friends to fans.
This for many is a welcome change compared to the messy process of creating and designing a Page totally from scratch and EVEN WORSE …starting with an empty friends list! (Did you just hear the woman screaming sound bite with that thought in your head too?)

How to convert your Facebook profile to business page?

Facebook profile to business page migration is actually quiet simple:

1. Any migration is susceptible to data loss. Therefore, it’s best to keep a backup of your profile data before you start the migration process. You can learn how to back-up your Facebook profile here.
2. The starting point is to access the migration tool here. Be mindful that only your profile photos would be preserved. Other content including additional photographs would be discarded. So be sure you have that backup folder for reloading any photos & videos you may want to re-load to the new page.
3. Choose the appropriate business category, specify a name, subcategory, and a few other items. Once your business page is live, you will be asked to fill in any other necessary details.

Some things to keep in mind..

Facebook profile migration is a one way street. Once you convert your profile to a page, there’s no way you can restore it back to a profile. So be sure you’re sure and then be sure-er. You really need to make up your mind first.

So, is your business better off with an existing profile or should you transform it to a page? There are several considerations that need to be accounted for.

• Personal profiles with business orientation – Facebook warns that having a personal profile for anything other than a single individual violates its guidelines. Facebook suggests converting such profiles to business pages, or else risk being banned for policy violations.
• Pros and cons – Converting to a page has it’s own pros and cons. Though it offers special features to better administer fans and customers and to manage a business’s social ads, a business page can’t view and befriend fans’ personal profiles.

Facebook’s Profile to Page Migration Permalink: https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=116067818477568#How-do-I-convert-my-personal-account-to-a-Facebook-Page?

How do I convert my personal account to a Facebook Page?

If you’d like to convert your personal account to a Page, click here.When you convert your personal account to a Facebook Page, we’ll transfer your current profile picture and add all your friends and subscribers as people who like your Page. We’ll also make your account’s username the username for your Page.No other content will be carried over to your new Page, so be sure to save any important content before beginning the conversion.To avoid losing important content, we recommend taking these steps before you convert your personal account:

1. Download your profile (timeline) information. You can download a filethat contains all of your sent and received messages and all of the photos and videos you’ve uploaded to Facebook.
2. Appoint a new group admin to any groups you manage. The account you’re converting will lose these admin rights during the conversion process.

My added advice 

Be sure to be READY! I also have some help pages to share with you when you’re ready to work on the actual Fb Page design.

• Tips for Successful Facebook Timeline Fan Page Design (must have tips & how-to’s for design)
• UPDATED! BlotterMonkey’s Facebook Timeline Cover Art Design Template
• BlotterMonkey’s Information Architecture & Design Pag (For ever growing list of helps & how-to’s for Web Business & Design)

Have you used the Facebook profile to business migration tool? Are you planning to convert your profile into a business page? Please share your opinion by leaving a comment below this post

UPDATED! BlotterMonkey’s Facebook Timeline Cover Art Design Template

UPDATED Template Design (Built After the April 26-Facebook Page & Profile re-sizing)

Facebook has made some minor tweaks to the size of profile pictures which has thrown off a lot of people’s and brand’s custom designs for their personal profiles and now YOUR Facebook Pages.

Before the Fb Tweak & After!

So I went ahead and did the research for us and have an updated Photoshop template to get you started HERE:
Get the new UPDATED Fb Cover Template in Zip form – http://db.tt/3ipZHX3J 

After company designers have meticulously created custom designs for their Facebook Page cover photo to cleverly connect with their profile picture, (Just like this example)  as have individuals for their page, Facebook has updated the size since April 26, of the profile picture on all Pages to 160 x 160 pixels to site 23 pixels from the left and 210 pixels from the top of the page.

The change has messed-up the appearance of many pages, as seen below, rendering once beautiful and custom pages and profiles into a mess:

Before And After!

Has all of that cleverness gone down the drain? NO WAY! And I bring you the answer – an Updated Photoshop Facebook Cover Template (a beautifully rebuilt re-mix template: into new better, easy to use for nearly every stage of Photoshop user.. it’s a very well thought-out Template that’s been re-sized perfectly for the latest sizes(After Facebook’s April 2012′s Update!)..

So you can get your creative juices flowing again and get your Page &/or Profile back to its once glorious design or bring an entirely new idea into reality.

Learn more and get the NEW template below:

UPDATED Sizes!- Facebook Timeline Cover Art Template | Download the Template NOW: http://db.tt/3ipZHX3J

OK my second round of Fb Cover Art Templates is ready.
I really hope I thought of everything to make it a Fun & easy process using and in case you are wondering,
This Template works for both Pages AND Profiles (since last updates)

Get the new Template in Zip form – http://db.tt/3ipZHX3J

Rub Here to Download the Template for your Fb Cover Here!

List of new dimensions summery:

There are important dimensions that you should know:

Cover photo size for Pages and Profiles: 850 pixels wide, 315 pixels tall.
New profile picture size: 160 pixels wide, 160 pixels tall.
New profile picture arrangement: 23 pixels from the left, 210 pixels from the top.
Cover photo size for Groups (which has no profile picture featured): 800 pixels wide, 250 pixels tall.

Detailed measurements when working on your own or for tweaking creatively:

• Official Facebook cover photo size: 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall
• Official minimum image dimension: 720 pixels wide
• Profile icon cut-out: 133 168 pixels wide by 74 103 pixels tall, spaced 24 pixels from the left edge of the cover photo
• Profile icon size: 160 x 160 pixels, with a minimum image upload size of 180 x 180 pixels

Important tips:

• Facebook will overlay a 1-pixel transparent gray border on top of your image.
• If you upload an image smaller than 851 x 315, it will be stretched to fit. This will make your image quality appear slightly grainy or distorted. The best practice is to upload an image that’s sized to Facebook’s dimensions.
• Screenshot measurements reveal that only 314 pixels are displayed from a 315-pixel image upload. The top edge appears to be covered by the Facebook header bar. A test with a 314-pixel tall image became distorted when uploaded, so do upload a 315-pixel tall image even though only the bottom 314 pixels will be displayed.

So Get your hands on my Facebook template now Download the Template NOW: http://db.tt/3ipZHX3J 

and let me know what you think!

Here is my tips for Fb Page Size Hacks - Tips for Successful Facebook Timeline Fan Page Design | http://wp.me/p1Cg9T-6Y 

Need I mention my Template? UPDATED Sizes!- Facebook Timeline Cover Art Template | Download the Template Zip file NOW: http://db.tt/3ipZHX3J

Tips for Successful Facebook Timeline Fan Page Design

Reblogged from AlmostHumor By BlotterMonkey:

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Here's some Must Have Tips & Tools to reference for a Successful Facebook Timeline Page Design!

Facebook has introduced the new timeline to all Facebook Pages on March 30, 2012. Now, all Facebook Company/Fan Pages have automatically changed to new Facebook Timeline Layouts whether we like it or not. We all know that the superior business leader adapts, So instead of complaining about the change, Take this opportunity to use it for your advantage to renew your Facebook Page Design..

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You need these timeline & app size tips to design a successfully Branded FaceBook Page... "Very Informative & a Great Reference for getting your brands look & page design in control on FaceBook." Rub Here> http://almosthumor.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/tips-for-successful-facebook-timeline-fan-page-design/ <For More!

Cure for Cancer: We Already Have a Cure For Cancer...

Reblogged from AlmostHumor By BlotterMonkey:

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We Already Have a Cure For Cancer... So why didn't you know about it? 

"WHAT You Say?!"
"There's already a cure for cancer?"

(This Almosthumor post is to help bring informed awareness about this very real cure for cancer and to give you the link trails to help loved ones in a war with cancer now to find how to get treated with the 

Read more… 2,456 more words, 1 more video

Q? What happens when someone actually does cure cancer? think about how large the cash making industry is based on cancer. The Money spending on & from the people inflicted with Cancer to the money spending on the 'Research" of Cancer. Will the Medical Community recognize openly when it is cured? will the government openly recognize the answers even if they aren't the synthetic answers they backed with their ..sorry 'our' money?