I hope you never need to use them, but everyone should set up emergency contacts. I’ll walk you through the process. It only takes a minute!
Social media to the rescue when 92-year-old man loses college jacket
Social media can be a dangerous place. We hear the stories all the time, from Facebook’s privacy issues to the toxic misinformation that’s spread without much thought. Facebook was even slapped with a couple of antitrust lawsuits over its alleged bad behavior.
What we don’t hear much about is the good side of social media. These platforms, while sometimes problematic, also bring us together in ways we could have never imagined.
One recent example? A 92-year-old man lost one of his most treasured items, and his family took to social media to help him get it back. This heartwarming story is just the kind of thing we all need to hear right now.
Tale of the lost jacket
Mal Osborn wore his varsity jacket since the day he won it as a track runner at the University of Maine, the AP reports. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina resident treasured the jacket for more than 60 years — before misplacing it back in October.
He told his daughter, Beverly Amick, and she and a few other relatives took to the streets to help him retrace his steps. They assumed he’d placed the jacket on top of the car and it had fallen off while driving.
No dice, so they took to Facebook. In the post, Amick asked for help finding the jacket and posted a photo of her dad wearing it at a Master’s swimming competition in 2016. “This man would be ecstatic if this well loved jacket was found,” she wrote.
Related: How to succeed on social media
The post caught fire and was shared by more than 1,000 people who wanted to help.
“I just know how much it meant to him,” Amick told The Associated Press. “I was going to do everything in my power to find it.”
The plan worked. Less than 24 hours after posting, Amick got an email from a woman who lived near her father. The woman found the coat in her yard, the email said, where it had been covered with leaves.
The woman who discovered the jacket told Amick said she just had a feeling that she shouldn’t discard it and kept it around just in case. She had the prized jacket dry-cleaned and then returned it to Osborn. As expected, he’s been sporting it ever since.
How Apple Watch is revolutionizing PTSD treatment and unlocking hope
When I heard about how the Apple Watch was helping soldiers with PTSD, I wanted to know more. I interviewed a soldier who was on over 35 meds, losing his family and had no hope. Thanks to the Apple Watch and a special app, he’s now living a happy productive life. And I also spoke with the developer of the app who came up with the idea for his Dad, a military vet. Bonus: The Apple Watch and iPhone are covered by insurance.
Tag, you’re it: Watch out for tagged posts from random people on Facebook. You can’t stop the tags completely (thanks, FB), but you can turn on “tag review.” That lets you review tags before they’re posted to your feed. Go to your Profile > Settings & privacy > Settings > Privacy > Profile and Tagging > Review tags. Hope you like Whac‑A‑Mole.
$12,000 in flights
To one winner in Frontier’s free-airfare-for-a-year contest. Another 100 folks will win a $1,000 voucher. You have until July 2 to enter. Hope you win!
$161 million in bitcoin
Purchased by the state of Wisconsin. It’s the first state to invest in the newly approved bitcoin EFTs. I always say you shouldn’t invest in crypto unless you can afford to lose it. Hope that’s true for the Wisconsin state pension fund.
Lost the thread: Neuralink says its brain chip has already malfunctioned in its first human patient. Some of the “threads” — hair-thin electrodes meant to monitor his brain activity — stopped working. Neuralink tweaked the chip’s algorithm and now says its performance is “better than ever.” I hope this is true and not PR BS.
The best players are on the bench: MIT researchers created “smart gloves” that help you play the piano. Using haptic technology, they recorded an actual pianist’s hand movements and then passed those to a student through a glove’s fingertip vibrations. There’s still hope I might be able to play piano one day.
AI has stock photographers worried (WSJ, paywall link) about their jobs. Clients now have a faster, more affordable way to find pictures of “synergy.” I’m holding on to hope … There will always be a place in my heart for photos of real people in a conference room high-fiving.